Celebration in Hikari Villa (Open)

The star-dusted streets of Hikari Villa were busily crowded that humid day within the Light Nation, the citizens of the nation's spirits were high and joyful that day for a band of merchants and minstrels had come to visit Hikari Villa that day and so everyone was preoccupied in purchasing wares from far off places whilst watching acts such a juggling, tight-rope walking, fire-breathing, dancing bears and much, much more.
Laughter and joyful music filled the light-filled streets and just about everyone within the Light Nation was gathered in Hikari Villa to enjoy the atmosphere.
Queen Osen included, however she had not come for the merchants.

Within one of the city's courtyards, practically empty due to the celebrations that were taking place elsewhere, a winged bronze-coloured wolf lounged beneath the shelter of a bronze-leafed tree where the blazing sun did not reach him.
Kin's bright blue and highly intelligent eyes watched unblinkingly as his mistress, Queen Osen, sparred against two members of the traveling performers, his long fluffy bronze tail curled around his large body and his magnificent wings were folded to his back as he rested his face upon his front paws.

A smirk was plasted on Osen's beautiful face as she spun her weapon inches above her head, a few strands of her long dark hair obscuring her face, her dark eyes moving from one tall behemoth man to the other, waiting patiently for one of them to make the first move.
With a roar the man who stood to her right charged at Osen, his arm pulled back to direct a crushing punch upon her, and his companion quickly followed, mimicing his friend's movement.
Taking a step back, Osen brought the end of her polearm that did not possess a spear into the right man's stomach, winding him and causing him to pause in his movements. Not giving him any time to recover, Osen used her weapon to send the man crashing into his charging compion, causing both to fly backwards and away from Osen where they crashed painfully into the nearest wall, moans of pain escaping their lips.

Bringing her polearm down to her side, Osen released a disgusted sound, tossing her head to remove the strands of her hair from her face.
"I thought that you two were meant to be 'Strong men'," she commented, her voice soft and pleasent to listen to but bearing notes of pride and scorn. "If that's so then why didn't you show me any strength? Are you trying to scorn the Queen of Light?"

"N-No, your highness," one of the two men stuttered as he got gracelessly to his feet, afraid of any concequences that might come with his quick defeat at Osen's hands. "We meant no offence, my brother and I really did try to d-defeat you. H-Honest!"

"Phtt," Osen closed her dark eyes briefly and shook her head in a dissapointed motion. "That was so boring, absoultely no fun at all ..."

Lifting her polearm up, Osen secured her weapon behind her back using the oddly designed belt that she wore around her waist, giving both men a good glimps of her clevage, flaunted by the revealing dress that she wore.
"I'm beginning to believe that there is no-one here that can even match my prowess in battle. How dissapointing ..."

Valioren walked from his seat within the shadows, a smile on his face as he loudly applauded the queen's performance. "Well done, you are truly a skilled fighter... or perhaps these men are just weaklings, made even more so by the fear of injuring the queen." He gave an evil glance at the men, and quickly turned his attention back to the queen. "You seek someone who could provide a challenge you say? may I suggest you try the dark nation, the thunder nation, or the lightning nation? all would be excellent choices." Valioren stopped his applause, and kept moving closer to the queen, until he was but 5 feet from her. His red eyes glowed in such a way that you could feel the wish for chaos and darkness wash over your very soul. One could assume that the gargantuan men could sense Valioren's wishes, becuase they were cowering and even more distraught than they were before. He looked once more at them, analyzing them. "I do emplore you to let them go, it'd be a waste of time to do anything else with them." Valioren said, as he drew cassiel from his waste, and pointed it at each of the men. He then put Cassiel away, and short sighs of relief could be heard from the two brothers.

Osen had two minutes of warning before the stranger announced his presense by applauding and emerging from the weak shadow that was cast by a nearby house, as Kin, who's sharp nose had smelt the man, got to his strong feet in a single movement, his bright blue eyes focussed on where the man had been standing.
His top furry lips curled back to expose a mouthful of frighteningly sharp canine fangs, deep and threatening growls issueing from deep within his throat.

Osen frowned at the stranger, suspecion and dislike visible on her beautiful face. She did not approve of the words that the man spoke nor did she appreciate the tone in which he spoke them. It seemed almost mocking to Osen.

"I didn't have any intention to do anything to them in the first place," Osen snapped back in response, her dark brown eyes unhappy as her short temper flared. She did not flinch under the man's crimson gaze when he stopped five-feet from her nor did she react in any manner, though his gaze gave her some discomfort.
At that point Kin motioned his body into a manner that people would instinctively feel that the winged-wolf was about to attack, his growling had now become snarls.

"If you are here for the celebration then leave my presence now and return to the main streets, however, if you are not, state your buisness and your name immediately," Osen demanded. "And I'd do so quickly. Winged-wolves are hardly trusting creatures and it would seem Kin here is dying to tear your throat out," Osen added with a cold smile.

"My, my... Such a harsh tone is not needed, and I am very disappointed you do not know who I am Osen, I would have thought you would know a fellow Nation Leader when you saw them. I am Valioren, humble king of the Thunder Nation" He said with a grin, and a mockingly deep bow. "As for your wolf here, I must apologize I did not bring Calcifer along for him to play with." He rose from the bow, and rested his hand on the hilt of Cassiel.

At Valioren's words the hostility that had been visible throughout Osen's body subsided though suspecion showed visibly within her dark hues as she made a sharp motion with her left hand. Immediately Kin ended his snarls, sitting down upon his hind legs however his gaze did not leave the Thunder King's form.

"That's Queen Osen," she corrected Valioren with a note of irritation, "and what brings the Thunder King to my lands of Light? Are you here to start trouble?"

A smirk formed on Osen's face. The prospect of fighting with Valioren filled her with excited anticipation, for Osen would enjoy proving her strength against a king.

Valioren continued his grin, and spoke once more. "I am happy the hostility has been removed, but trouble making? I am sooo very happy that's how the other Kings and Queens view me." He said, taking his hand off Cassiel, and producing a small pocket watch, with very intricate patterns inlaid in obsidian and ruby. "I am simply here, because I want to see the other nations, but outside of official business. It never ends, I swear, my Adviser just makes stuff up so he can keep me couped up in that dreadfully bright castle all day long." He began slowly walking around, swinging the watch in circles before putting it away once again. "I shall ask you a question as well, what are you doing here? you should be at the celebrations, should you not?"

Osen folded one arm beneath her breasts, her brown eyes falling away from Valiorean's figure and onto the stardust-covered ground beneath her bare feet.
"It is not an official celebration, just a troop of merchants wishing to show their wares and a gang of minstral wishing to bring smiles to my people's faces, thus my presense is not actually needed," was Osen's reply.

"As for your desire to visit other lands, I believe that you've made a poor choice," she added, raising her dark gaze to focus upon the king before her once more. "There is no castle that shines more brightly than my own, nor does there exist a country more bright than the Light Nation. If you believe that your own castle is 'dreadfully bright' perhapes you should have chosen the Dark Nation to explore first."

Waiting for an apropriate pause in the conversation, Draft emerged from the shadows of a large, old tree. "It sounds to me, King Valioren of the Thunder nation, like your advisor isn't giving the best advice. Perhaps he should have suggested a different nation to visit, or to be more careful with you wits when conversing with the Queen, hmmm?" he said in a voice that was not quite grovelling, as that was annoying, and not quite cynical, as that was out of his place, but perfectly acceptable whilst still portraying his feelings.
The old man hobled forwards, relying on his staff to keep him standing. He looked the King up and down.

Osen turned her head slightly to her right as her own advisor, Draft Wilton, approached Valiorean and herself, her dark eyes following him as he hobbled forward with the use of his staff.
Not that far away from where Osen stood, the winged-wolf Kin raised his bronze-coloured and rather furry face at the old anthro but made no sounds of warning or dislike towards him, reckognising Draft's place in the Light Nation's society.

"You've been watching all this time, Draft?" Osen frowned, her dark lips pursing tightly. "It's not like you to spy on me, Old man."

"But of course," he said, smiling and walking ever closer "I'd have to be here to advise you not to kill these men because of the fuss it would make." he chuckled. The old man was now level with the wolf and reached out a hand to stroke it before stopping and retracting it again, thinking better of it. He liked his hand in tact.
"Besides, it's not really spying when it's my job to be at your side, is it?" It was technically his job, but he viewed it that way all the same. Draft had seen Osen grow up and looked at her almost like a relative. Not a doughter or anything, maybe a niece at most. Even so he cared for her and made sure she was okay at all times.
Draft head whipped round to see the face of Valioren as he began talking again, probably not wanting to hear this conversation any longer, Draft reconed.

Osen rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner, a sound that was caught between annoyance and frustration escaped from between gritted teeth. Osen had known Draft for a long time, nearly all of the seventeen years of her life actually and she could not truthfully say that she disliked the old man. He was almost family to her. But his habit of always keeping an eye on her, like she was still the young princess who used to wrestle with the Padawans-in-training or gamble with passing travelers who visited the Light Nation, was a constant annoyance to her.

"Do I really strike you as someone who would do that?" She frowned, continuing to speak before Draft could get a word in to reply, "I was only going to cut them a little. Jeez, it's not like I'm a tyrant."

"I'd hardly call staying silently in the shadows so that I'm not aware of your presense your job, Old Man. That's almost the very definition of spying," Osen added dryly as Kin walked over to where she stood, resting his large side against Osen's body. Dropping her arm from she had been keeping it folded beneath her breast, Osen ruffled the bronze-coloured fur of Kin's head with a strong hand.

"If I may speak I'd like to say... that as for visiting the nations, Since I must be visiting them all, why not get the worst one done with as soon as possible? and I'm afraid She's right umm... Mr. Old guy. You were pretty much spying on her." Valioren said, pointing both his hands in the direction of the apparent adviser of the Light Nation. "And honestly, it doesn't matter how bright the castle is as long as it isn't my castle." Val gave a puzzled look upwards as he mumbled "Granted... I do technically have two palaces, and one is much darker than the other.... good ol Arkanna.... Anyways!" Valioren started saying as a loud, deep bark was heard coming from a distance, and some loud yells as well. "Oh my! It seems Calcifer has found me." Valioren said with a warm smile.

"Calcifer", Osen soon saw, was a very large wolf of an unusual appearance, its fur was dark and smoke-like, wispy fur of shades of orange and vermillion covered its belly and its eyes were identicle to its master's - crimson with a sinister feel to them. Osen also noticed that Valioren's wolf seemed much more fearsome than her Kin, it was also larger than Kin by a foot or so.
But despite the difference in height, Kin's maginificent bronze wings became outstretched to their full length above his body whilst his intelligent blue eyes began to glow with a inhuman light as he bared his fangs at the foreign wolf.
This was how Winged-wolves tried to intimidate their enemy before attacking with their full strength.

However, before Kin could do so, Osen placed a firm hand down upon Kin's skull, catching her pet's attention immediately.
"Enough, Kin," she commanded in a bored tone of voice.
Gazing back at Valioren, she said, "I won't tell you to leave these lands, Thunder King, as you haven't exposed yourself as a threat to my people or myself. I have grown tired of talking so I'll be taking my leave whilst you can deal with those two baffoons over there," she inclined her head towards the two giants who she had defeated earlier.

"Between you and me though, I've grown bored of the serenity of my kingdom," Osen added, a small smile on her beautiful face, "so if you should ever feel the need of challenging your strength with my own then you can find me within my castle."

Turning her back to the Thunder King and his pet, Osen began to stroll away back towards the main streets of Hikari Villa, Kin following her obediently, his fluffy bronze tail swinging with his every movement.

||| Meanwhile |||

In the midsts of the celebration that was taking place within Hikari Villa, hidden within the laughter and the smiling faces of the Light Nation's citizens, stood a small group of people.
There were five of them in all, all ranging in appearances but all dressed in dark clothing and supporting dark expressions on their faces. Despite the fact that they were the only ones a part of the celebration who were garbed in dark toned clothing, nobody seemed to pay them any mind - a grave error.
They were members of the vigilante group known as "Dark Cloud" who existed within the forests and rural areas of the Light Nation, plotting against the ruling Zen family. They didn't agree with how things were being run within the Nation of Light and despised the royal family, they wanted to take power for themselves and had tried plans of revolting and assassination upon the Zen family numerous times to take control of the Light Kingdom. All of their attempts had failed.
But it would seem that they hadn't been pursuaded to give up yet and that their next plan involved the celebration.

"How's the situation?" one of the five - tall, powerfully masculine with long unkept coal-black hair and a sizeable burn marring the right-side of his powerful face - asked his comrades, his dark gaze moving around the crowd of estatic people.

"The Zen whore is nowhere to be found, nor any of her guards. There are several Padawans on duty but they shouldn't be too hard to take out and we've secured all the exits. No-one will be able to escape."

The supposed leader of the five released a self-satisfied smirk, a dark chuckle leaving his lips before he replied, "excellent. Tell the rest of our troops that the plan can now begin."

Valioren gave her another mockingly deep bow, and waited until she had gone completely before turning to the two men, whilst wearing the most malicious of grins. Had the celebrations been quieter, maybe their screams would have been heard. Valioren wiped the blood off of Cassiel, while Calcifer glared hungrily at the corpses. "Do as you wish Calcifer, but do try to finish it all this time, we don't want a repeat of the River Incident." Calcifer quickly disposed of anything that could be considered 'evidence' to use against Valioren. "Come Calcifer, let us join the celebration." He said, as they trotted carelessy along the streets, Valioren being quite recognizable in his black and scarlet clothing. People didn't quite as much about him as they did his giant wolf. Calcifer did not mind, he just kept walking, his and would bark excitedly at all the new things. As the two were walking, Valioren saw a group of men, dressed in dark garb. He could sense malicious intent, and immediately his attention was focused on them, as he and Calcifer slowly began making their way towards them.