Here I Stand...

The dull chiming of the crystal that served as a time peice in this timeless realm gently echoed and encased the seated figure in it's comforting hum... During the chiming of the hours, a low, yet penetrating trill emitted from the alligned crystal spires, like someone took a damp finger and ran it over the rim of the wine glass of time itself.

The pile of white shifted as the chime announced that it was deep into the evening, papers and scrolls scattering as he shifted his arm slightly. So amny reports... New arrivals, old depatures, missing people and revealed turncoats... So many to-ing and fro-ing... And he was expected to take care of it by himself?

The figure sighed, wondering where he had gone wrong... Sure, the people needed a leader... Someone to guide them, not just to battle, but to victory and more... He just haden't pictured the position being permement...

A young woman stood by the door, hidden in shadow, far from the desk's hovering orb of light. The seated figure chuckled, raising his hand and welcoming the woman in closer.
"Loki, you know you have no need to be so courteous..." The figure, a browned furred, short eared rabbit steped into the light, bowing lowly before straightening.
"Ghost-Sama... I have news of the Paulk-Or'beith..." She faltered, wondering how to break the news...

"They were overcome..." She rose her head again, tears trickling down her fur.
"Y-yes Master..." She hiccuped, having very rarely ventured outside the Hikari Forest's protective boundaries. The sheer carnage that awaited her... Ghost, the Leader of not only the Light guardians, but of the Guardian's ruling body, the Watchers, turning in his chair, eyes half closed.
"Oh Loki..." He stood up, quickly pulling her into a tight embrace. Hesitating for a moment, conflicted between her beliefs as a Servent and as the long history they shared, she wept into his fur as the wolf ran his fingers through her hair.
"I'm sorry Loki.. You know that If I could send someone else..." She shook her head, using her Water gift to wipe away her tears.

Each Guardian was blessed by a gift of the Elements... Light, Thunger, Fire, Water, Earth and Air... Recently, the birth of several new Guardians, Shadow, Time, and Life, had tipped the battle against the Defilers, weilders of Darkness and other elements, in their favor... They were even some Dark Guardains now, tolorated only because Ghost demanded it.

The war had raged since the dawn of time itself... And it had only gotten so much harder as the years went on...

----

Ghost sighed, leaning on the wall. His Beast growled at him, reminding him he hadn't hunted in ages, nor indulged in the needs that every creature needed to obey. He firmly stamped it down. Other guardians could indulge their beast's demands, but he had so much to do! The Dark City had only just been completed, and The Watchers had to elect one of the Dark Guardians to both the Watcher's circle and to rule the Dark population, the Terra Plains had requested the Light Guardian's assistance with a troublesome Wraith infestation, the Atlantis City had been needing new supplies shipped in if they were to continue their experiments into harnessing Time energy without a Time Crystal and...

He moaned, covering his eyes with one paw.

And it was Tempest's decadely birthday tomorrow...
"Stressed?"
Said tigress formed herself out of Electricity, grinning. His fellow Watcher. leaned on the wall with him, noting his haggered looks. She just maanaged to trail a finger over him before he ducked out of the way, the Healer rounding on him, sparks flying off her coat.
"Gods-Damnit Ghost! When was the last time you slept, let alone hunted?" Ghost sighed, rubbing his face slightly. When the sun would rise, he was soak up enough solar energy to last him another 24 hours... For now, he was nearly running on empty...

His wife gripped his wrists, pulling them away from his face, and letting her eyes meet his.
"You're the one who tells the Students how stupid this is..." She nuzzles his hand, thinking carefully.
"You need a holiday... Something, anything to get you away from those damned reports..." He growled, already turning back to the desk.
"No time. Too much to do, no one else to do it..." She shook her head, snarling at both him and herself. Why did she always have to go for the stubburn ones? before he could pick up another scroll, she snatched them up, glancing at the seals and making connections.
"Hydra? She's asking for more supplies? Surely her own lands can fufill their needs? And Terrador... I sympathise, but Wraiths are only a minor annoyance..." She smirked, glancing at her partner.
"We've known each other since before this whole Guardian thing... They'll listen to reason... Besides, If you do all the work and then get killed, whose gonna have the experiance to take over?" He opened his mouth to reply, but the white tiger had already placed one finger against his muzle.

"Not another word Sam." He winced. When she called him by his Mortal name, he knew he had lost... No male could hope to win in a fight with their wifes...

----

That was a week ago. She had planned this, he was certian. All the arrangements that would have needed to be made were already more or less completed. Everything that would have tied him down to the Guardians was effortlessly divided between the remaining Watchers and even Loki seemed to take charge of the Hikari Forest, although, to be fair everytime he went on a mission, she had already done so. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He was painfully aware of his dimisnished status here... Damned Council... The Eternals woudn't let any Guardian, not even him, out of their sights if they could help it...

He felt horribly exposed... Sure, the training helped... And he was as deadly as ever with his blades, or staff, but still... If he were to come across a Defiler, here and now...

"DAmned Eternals..." He muttered under his breath as he filled out registration form after registration form. They couldn't put a tracker on him... The Council would revolt against them, and they'd lose all protection from the Defilers. Still, they somehow managed to have his poers temporarily removed... Somethign about how Defilers wouldn't recognise him without that aura of power around him... Although, if they were to see his actual face...

He shuddered. 'Try not to think about it', he told himself, readjusting the strap of his over-the-shoulder bag. Currantly his weapons were stored in their crystal form, hanging suspended from his neck in a chain. He grumbled as a needle jabbed his arm, taking a blood and DNA sample. Despite his age and experiance, Needles still scarred the crap out of him...

Within moments, he was clutching his new IdentiCard, grimacing at his photo... He always managed to make himself look stupid in these things...

"Someone! Stop him!" The Canine's head jerked up just in time to see a C-Sec officer pushed to the ground, some sort of tentacled faced alien running through the crowd with a package under his arm. Insint acting before brain, he tightened the strap on his bag even as he dropped to all fours, giving chase. It was a dog thing, though those who mentioned it would certianly either die by his sword, or be "Somehow" designated clean-up duty for months.

The runner pulled a weapon of some sort out of his jacket pocket, Ghost just having enough time to drag a woman to the floor to escape the blast. Claws scrabbling on the slick metal floor, his inner Beast rose up and bayed, estatic that they were hunting once again. With his powers fully intact, it would be a simple matter of making a Ward, but instead...

He focused, the lights above them flickering as the energy was drawn out of them and focused slightly. The additional heat caused the sprinklers to go off, soaking the floor and making the theif slip, falling backwards with a sickening crunch. Leaping up and over him, he grabed a crystal from round his neck and focused, forcing it to release its true form, pointing the business end of a grey-metal blade at its... Throat? He had to subdue his beasy before dragging him upright, pushing him towards the Station's security officers, and hiding his Shadow Sword back into it's power confined.

----

The speakers perfectly replicated the voices of the mostly humanoid creatures bustling to and fro on the small midway station, most of the cameras focused on one in particular. A White furred, young looking creature, with shining silver eyes. It vaugely resembled the old werewolf tales of Old Earth, but more... Cultured than it's beastly counterparts. Sleek fur, from its ears to tail, shone in the chea, dim lights used for public areas. And only one person saw the little trick he pulled with them...

"Clever... Very clever..." She tapped her fingers on the large armchair, a smile creeping over her face. Sergio might take some convincing, but this new speciman would prove to be a most interesting addition...

She tapped a small comunication device set into the arm of the chair, saying only two words...
"Take him."

----

That was only yesterday...

Now he was stuck inside the belly of some transport ship, heading for gods knew where, and without any of his crystallised weapons. Hells, they only let him keep his bag and its contents after examinign everything. Rummaging inside, he pulled out a small locket, flicking open the lid...

"Sigh. Things were simpler back then... Good guys were good guys... bad guys were bad guys, and you had the decency to tell which was which..." He felt the chip slow, coming into dock. Wrapping the delicate-looking chain and oval shaped slab of silver round his wrist, he made his decision.

"When I get back, I'm gonna be the one to force her into a holiday..."