Ian smiled.

As he walked beside her on the wall, his emotions slowly bubbled upward, like the gas bubbles of a carbonated drink. His intimidating spiked armour changed into a purple t-shirt, he looked absolutely nothing like the menacing barbarian that he was.

Especially now. He was getting more and more like a "teddy bear" that some females had touted him to be, rather than the enraged beast that he became in battle.

It had been a good day, with him managing insult Ephraim till Natalie's boyfriend could not fire back a reply. Of course, it could have something to do with him getting knocked unconscious by a mace.

The enemy had also pulled an early retreat, with Joshua and Jane cutting a swathe through the horde to give Sheryl a chance to hurl her spear and kill the Dark Elf Commander. And now, he was walking alongside...her.

It was funny, seeing how her presence alone made the rest of the days' events seem boring and ordinary. He laughed.

She cocked her head,her black lustrous hair tossed to one side.

"What's so funny?"

He hesitated. Then he grinned.

"Remember this place? It was where you got lost, and kept looking for someone familiar, and finally bumped into Ephraim?"

She laughed, a beautiful peal of sound which Ian found that he warmed to. Then she waved, and he turned, and saw Brian and Leon walking towards the Wall Two tavern, Singa Black. Brian saw the both of them, and jeered: "Wah lao Ian, walk with girl only..."

Leon jumped in: "Aye Brian, don't disturb them lah. Wait something happen, then Ian's eyes go 'pop-pop'"

They laughed and Ian's face reddened before he retorted:"Aye shuddap lah Leon. You not much better yourself right, hah, what Novitamins sial?"

They laughed again, this time along with the girl covered in her jacket. Then her eyes caught something, and she turned to Ian.

"Hey Ian, I think I see my sister there. I gotta go now."

He nodded, and she waved goodbye before sprinting towards them. Ian sighed, and turned towards Wall One, where the enemy, orcs, dark elves, trolls and the like had gathered.

Staring at their foul forms(maybe except for the dark elves; they had a sexy quality to them.), he suddenly wondered why he was even here.

Could it be...

He saw his father with his trusty warhammer, his brother the Hunter protege and his mother with her mind for the economic problems of the war.

Or maybe it's...

Images of Ephraim with his green katana, Apart, appeared in his mind, along with Joshua with his light-based skills and Hyperion longsword, Royston with his spear and his quiver of javelins, and even Titus with his Swords of Blood and Fire and Shannon with her twin long knives.

But then...Then again, it could be...

She appeared in his head, her smile brightening up the recesses of his heart, her melodious voice like a fragrant scent in the air, an aura of beauty surrounding her. The very thought of her lifted his spirits.

But then...

Then he saw it, a cross, rugged and wooden. A man with a crown of thorns, spread out across it, bloody and wounded. Arms open wide. Ready for Ian. Ready for everyone who would come to him, and accept Him.

So which one? For men died and lived for only a short span of time, in comparison to the mountains and rivers that had was crafted by His hand thousands of years ago. As Joshua had often quoted: "You think the mountains will care whoever says owns them? They will outlast anyone except God."

But this was no ordinary war. This was a war that involved all of those who followed Christ, and not some little squabble over a plot of land or a piece of treasure.

If they failed here, it would be genocide of all of Jesus's people.

And Ian knew, that if he did this because of mundane reasons, his deed would not be eternally preserved. But he could not shake the fact that he had other reasons for doing this as well, other than for God.

He was getting a headache from all this when his stomach rumbled. Shrugging, Ian shuttled his thoughts to the back of his head, and focused on the one thing now important to him.

Food.

***********

Hello friends.

Its after the 'O's!

And I've not been updating -_-"

Bad. That is basically an oxymoron in itself.

However, I do have a LOT of commitments right now, given my commitment to both the Youth Performance/Worship and Alternate Tab bands, my novels, my business aspirations, health classes, etc...

Not to mention this widdle blog. -_-"

Anyway, this is what's been happening:

The Reunion of the Three Kings/Bush Brothers = Ah, yes. Last night I watched an episode of Three Kingdoms, which showed the reunion of the three brothers. Beautiful neh...

Leader's Retreat = Intensive. We didin't even make it to the second Morning Devotion. Thank God its Dr. Kameel. If not sure die of boredom. Learned alot about the Spirit there. And having visions, demon-filled or holy. (or not)

Learning Da Bi-Torrent = Jon got pissed at me cuz Glen pissed him off. Plus a lot of stuff other stuff other than our thick-skulled rodent, but I managed to get the gist anyway. Now for someone to actually teach me how to burn the stuff into CDs. Then I'm there...

Setting up the future of Alternate Tab: I'm pretty much sure this name is taken, but yeah, whatever. Everyone progressing along nicely, except me. I still haven't getting around training my voice or even learning my first guitar chord (The latter cuz of Titus being in Oz =S ). Ah well.

Return of the Youth Performance/Worship Band: Peekaboo! We're back. Pretty good practice sessions, with Abraham and Nick and Titus. However, now that there are THREE guitarists, what the hell's gonna happen?! Is Abraham turning Darkness? Is Ian going to break his fingers playing the punk version of the "Happy Song"? Is Joshua gonna get kicked out? Will Ephraim lose more of his hearing and sprain the other wrist? Stay tuned to "Dream Band" find out!

Getting my butt kicked cuz of the affairs of the...never mind.

By the way, I think I just noticed a trend. It seems that one reaches the pinnacle and anti-climax of one's secondary school life at Sec 2. For me, it was the Genesis of the Bush and the Betrayal to Sundering. For Sheryl, it was the Love and the Loss. For Melodie, perhaps the Backstabbing?

Okay. It seems like almost EVERYONE thinks "Glory of Love" is sappy. Arggh. You know, hearing it from the lips of the wrong people can make me pissed. Jon, is pretty fine. He's the pragmatic type. I understand. The rest...wait, they're postmodern (picking it up from Dr. Kameel -_-") AND pragmatic too! Great.

Here's a little version of mine that describes my reality...the "Folly of Love"

I am a fool who would fight for your honor
I'll be the idiot you've been dreading of
I'll live for a girl
Knowing full on that I
Did it all for the folly of love

**radio announcer's voice** This song's dedicated to Jon, Shannon, Melodie, Sharyl, Ian and all those who think this song is sappy.

Jeez. This feels like Clay Aiken all over again...

Joshua: Does anyone think Clay Aiken is gay?
Everyone: YES!!
Joshua: **speechless** ...

Why oh why ain't there another Joshua in the world? Wait, cuz if that's so then the End of the World will take place? Yup.

Y'know what I told Titus one night? That I was "C & C"

"Corny" and "Cheesy".

Bah. Whatever. Gotta go church office early or suffer Olyna's WRATH!!!!

***********

Joshua performed leaps and twirls in the air, the sweat glistening off his exposed upper body. Firing swift punches and high jump kicks into the air, his eyes moved about the environment, seeking imaginary attacks from imaginary opponents.

Furiously blocking now, an elbow attack with a sideways push of the palm, a raised knee with a pushing motion downards. His fist now rocketed forwards, and proceeded to crash into his make-believe opponent's solar plexus. Joshua now moved in for the kill: the spinning back-handed throat thrust which would crush the windpipe.

Then he stopped in mid-blow, for his fictional opponent suddenly had a face, and he recognised who it was. Shocked, he leapt backwards into the Crane Vanguard position.

Then he realised that it was only his imagination, for there was nothing now in the place of the one he had seen. Falling to the ground into a sttting position, he bowed his head and leaned into his sweaty arm.

What in the world... Joshua thought, was that? How could he attack him? Now, that he actually considered it, it was possible. Closing his eyes, Joshua remembered all that he had seen and heard, about him. Then he sighed.

He had wanted to kill him.

What would make me want to do that? Immediately, he knew.

Jealousy. Envy. Anger. The very things that had caused part of the Sundering. For Joshua that is. He sighed.

Her beautiful visage now vivid in his mind, followed by his. Joshua suddenly howled and struck the wall, and to his surprise and shock, it actually trembled.

Stumbling backwards, he continued to stare at the part where he punched the white, God-blessed wall for around ten or more minutes. Then increasingly vivd images in his mind appeared, each one more painful to behold then the next.

He was once told that he was blessed with a powerful mind, but he now saw it as a curse as his imagination continued to create pictures and scenes in which he could do nothing but cry.

And cry he did.

Just then, a girl's voice, concerned and caring, right beside his right ear spoke:

"Why are you crying, Joshua?"

josh fatesealer turned back time on 12/04/2004 08:13:00 am.