[System]
Kynna of the Heavens
Age: She appears around the age of 18, though she doesn't know for sure.

Race: Human

Inherent Ability: Toughness.

Acquired Abilities:

Healing: Kynna is able to heal with just a touch of her hand and pure will. Though this leaves her weakened when healing a large or otherwise deadly wound, and she is unable to heal anyone too close to death.

Intuitioni] Kynna has very strong intuition. These will eventually lead up to occasional visions, but the intuition on things is still stronger. This intuition is her driving force, and she's always pulled to where she needs to go. Unfortunately for Kynna, she doesn't yet realize this is an actual gift.

Heaven Song: Arvas has bestowed upon his daughter a very unique gift. Because of her hatred for taking life, Kynna is able to change the mood of those around her. (She will be unaware of this for a while). By playing a flute, she is able to calm the very souls of people and spirits. Although, if a sad tune is played, they become saddened, just as a shrill sound might cause severe pain.

Appearance:

Personality: Kynna is a quiet young woman with a gentle nature about her. Soft-hearted, she cares deeply for those she considers her friends and is willing to risk her life to help them. She can't bare the thought of taking life, and for this reason, she does not kill for her food.

History: Not much is known about Kynna, even to herself. All she knows is that she woke one day in the middle of a field when she was very young. At the age of sixteen, her adoptive father was badly injured by bandits. She healed him. She has been on the run since the discovery of her magic, and has finally entered the Blackwood.

[User]
Oh for fuck's sake...

It was like there was some sort of cluster fuck palooza that he wasn't invited to. There was already a bunch of people when he first got there. Four including himself. That was reasonable. He showed his dominance, made sure nobody messed with him, and he went to go take a nap. He would look around in the morning and search for whatever the spirits had been leading him to. It was a great plan.

But apparently the asshole patrol came out in full force in what was supposed to be the deserted woods. He knew before they came that they were coming, the spirits around would not stop bugging him about the approaching individuals. The short man on a pony was coming, however slow that the short legs would take him. He didn't seem much of a threat, maybe a lost midget dwarf type person. Strange, but alright.

Now this asshole centaur came galloping his happy ass over, decided to be an absolute dick and just treat everybody like they were beneath him besides the attractive looking elf. Why did everybody like her so much? Even he didn't feel as hostile as usual towards her, yet, although their strong-willed personalities were sure to collide. But this half horse half man son of a bitch interrupts his nap, mistakes him for a barbaric human, and completely ignores him?

Oh but no, oh no it wasn't over. Some voice was calling from the shadows, over in a tree not far away. From what the spirits told him he was over there, holding a bow, some kind of half-elf half breed abomination that decided to make fun of their lack of stealth. He seemed to be the only one needing to hide, as Cedran could easily break him in half. The fact of the matter is, Cedran was scared of nobody and did not need to hide.

And finally, some teenager simply walked up to their group, strolling along, coming up to the younger human girl like he was hey boyfriend. Jesus Christ he couldn't take this. Too many people. Too many people talking. Too many weapons pointed at him. There was so much ignorance and not enough IQ points around him. That was it.

Cedran slowly rose, his skin melting into a much darker shade, a tint of red as jet black wings grew on his back and flexed outwards before folding on his back. His black hair grew longer, tougher, also tinted with slight red. His eyes glowed a fire red. It seemed like he grew slightly as well, a much more scary and intimidating figure, this was the true look of a demon. He stood directly in front of the centaur, looking down upon him in disgust as his low booming voice echoed.

"How dare you look down upon me and call me some worthless human scum, halfbreed. It's quite funny how you try to impose with your shield and spear, acting like you own this forest. Telling me I have little chance to leave. You should address me first you worthless creature, and if you beg for your life you have a little chance of keeping it. If you hate humans so much, I should do you a favor and rip your human half off of your patethetic horse half. Or maybe you'll run, take your little aquestrian hide away from death. But first, get your toy out of my face."

Cedric pushed the centaurs spear tip away from him, roughly brushing past the centaur as if he was a lowly servant to a king. He directed his focus to where the voice in the woods was coming from, looking up towards it.

"And you, you seem to be a pathetic half breed as well. Who gives a fuck why any of us are here, it certainly is not your business. And you would be a fool to rob anybody here. The reason I choose not to hide is because I do not fear, I do not need to hide from anything. Like a man I take any challenge and laugh in it's face. But you are the one who needs to hide in the shadows, for you are frail and I could crush you under my boot. Go ahead, shoot me with a bow if you like. It will be the last thing you do. The only people who hide in trees any point there bows at people out of fear are cowardice half-breed bitches like yourself. A spineless bitch."

Cedran made his way away from the camp, venturing deeper into the ruins, looking for a place as far away from this place as he could. He could not deal with such stupidity. He did not want to senselessly murder people, and he would much rather take a nap somewhere. Going from missing the sight of people to not standing the sight of them. Maybe he should carry this out alone, people always seemed to drag him down.

"I will not associate myself with such lack of worth. The majority of you are imbeciles. You all can have your nice gathering, kill each other for all I care. I attend on finding peace and quiet before I decide to start rolling heads."

And with that, Cedran made his way further into the ruins, glad to be gone of that whole mess. A few of them, especially the more reasonable ones, he could handle. But he needed to get out of there before he started trying to murder people. Truth be told, he tried not to kill people for little reason. He wasn't that angry. Yet. Senseless slaughter only made him the monster that people claimed demons to be. He was a monster. And trying to change that was proving to be more difficult each passing day.

[Assistant]
The girl reacted nicely to Fredrick's offering as she gave the dead rabbit back to the elf woman, much to the centaur's dissaproval who insisted that she should eat it. She returned the favour and gave Fredrick a handfull of red berries, saying that they taste like vanilla then going back to her place and munching on the apple. Fredrick looked at the berries as he took one and put it in his mouth. "Thank you. They're good." He said as he took one more and put the others in his bag as he took out the waterskin and took a sip of water and putting it back in the bag. "I agree with the centaur for once. You really should eat that rabbit. Meat is important to our diet. Why do you think people eat all kinds of things? Because one type of food can't offer us everything. And besides that...I don't know about you but I would get bored eating the same things over and over again." He said as he chuckled.

But just as the tense athmosphere seemed to be calming down a voice from the shadows heats things up again. Fredrick grabbed one of his swords and pulled a quarter of it out as the voice kept talking telling them how vulnerable they are and how easy prey they would be. Normally in this situation Fredrick wanted to call him out and make him prove his words but the girl literally exploded, throwing harsh words at the mysterious man. Amazed, Fredrick put the weapon away and sat back down. "Congratulations. It seems you have guts after all." He said applauding her. But there was much truth in her words. None of them didn't belong here. They were all invaders.

And to make matters worse yet another person, a teenager, by his looks even younger then the girl pops up out of nowhere and talks to the girl who was clearly familiar with him. Then the arrogant guy rises up from the ground, clearly bothered by all the events taking place, transforms into a demon and starts a huge rant as he directed very harsh words towards the centaur and the mysterious person from the shadows. Fredrick was shocked. He knew about the existence of demons but never actually saw one. Or perhaps he did, but they were disguised like this one was. After the demon finished his rant he walked away.

For Fredrick this was the drop that filled the glass. Although the centaur and the mysterious guy from the shadows totally deserved every word that the demon directed towards them, he just couldn't take it anymore. "You know what girl? You're right. We're nothing but invaders and we don't belong here. Which is why i'm gonna do the right thing and walk away, like our demon friend did." He said as he rised up, took his side bag, putting it on his shoulder, checking his weapons and taking his cloak from the ground as he shook it hard once and equipped it while he was walking away, covering his head with the hood. "And I advise the rest of you to do the same." He said to the rest of the arrivals without looking at them as he took a first step back inside the forest, followed by the other, dissapearing in it's darkness.

[User]
Kynna rolled her eyes at the centaur when he spoke to her. "Stuff it, pony-boy." She retorted, already still irritated at everything going on. "If I wanted meat, I'd eat it." Then the other man stood, and her eyes went wide in shock as what she thought was human turned into a literal demon. Her hand gripped Mikael's tightly, ready to turn and run, but a moment later, he was gone. She barely heard the man with the apple when he spoke to her, and by the time she realized he had, he was already walking into the darkness.

"ENOUGH!"

The female voice suddenly boomed loud enough that one could swear the forest itself spoke. Without warning, the dark forest suddenly went white. When those in the forest could see again, they stood in a circle, side by side each other. In the middle of the circle, a slender woman in a flowing white gown with golden hair stood hovering over the white expanse of ground. Nothing else seemed to be in sight, the forest, the ground, the sky, nothing but white expanse as far as the eye could see.

"Fools." The woman frowned. "Bickering among yourselves. Did you really think that one small flame drew you all to the same place? Did you really think that your meeting each other was just happenstance?"

Kynna stood close to Mikael, peeking out from around his shoulder at the sudden change. She bit her lip a moment, watching the woman before finally speaking. "E-Excuse me, but...Who are you? If...If it wasn't just chance then...why are we here?"

The woman looked at her for a moment before speaking a bit less heatedly. "Kynna." She spoke. And then she began to turn in a circle, looking at each person as she called out their name. "Mikael. Cedran. Denryr. Amelise. Denrig. Fredrick. Halen. I am Lyphera, Messenger of the Old Gods. It is they who have chosen all of you. Through the hands of fate, you have been guided to one another. For far too long, the people of these lands have suffered. Yet even now, a shadow grows that would threaten the lives of every race and person upon the earth."

The area they stood flashed again, and they stood in the midst of a village as it burned. The screams of the dying and those trying to escape could be heard as easily as if they were really there as monsterous beasts flooded through the village. No man, woman, or child was spared. Elves, humans, centaurs, dwarves, demons, fairies... all mercilessly slaughtered by the giants.

"This is what will come, if it is not stopped." Lyphera spoke. The image lingered a moment before they were once again in the white expanse.

"Denrig, the Mountain Lord. Your axes and knowledge of the mountains will prove vital in this quest. Halen, Archer of the Ice. Your knowledge of the lands beyond the sea will be needed. That land, too, will be ravaged, and all that you hold dear to you will fall. Fredrick, the Armsmaster. You have lived alone far too long with no real purpose. Now, your task is to see this mission complete. Denryr, the Horselord. Valliant and strong, your skills will be needed to gather what is required. Mikael. Amelise. Your abilities will help to ensure the wrath of the Gods is brought upon this evil."

She turned then, looking to Kynna and Cedran. "The son of Darkness and the Daughter of Light. The Sword that will protect the Key. Trust in your instincts, Kynna. They will not lead you astray. Find the Crystal of Amenel, beyond the Blackwood in the mountain of Valron. You will know what to do when you have it. If you should fail in this quest, if you refuse the will of the Gods, all life on this earth will perish."

The forest returned, and the eight of them all stood in the clearing by the fire again. Kynna glanced around as she slowly sat back on the fountain again. Those things were going to destroy everyone. And she was some sort of...key? She was visibly shaken, her eyes raising to look around at the people who were all suddenly with her. They needed a crystal from a place she'd never heard of, and somehow, they were meant to stop this...evil. She didn't understand it, but she couldn't just ignore what was happening. Not with a risk like that.


[System]
Gender: Female
Age: 16

Appearance: Coming up at a measly 5'1 with brown eyes stuck behind the perpetually smudged glasses she wears, Ai is, outwardly, about as threatening as a dandelion. Her hair is a plain brown color, bobbed a few inches above her shoulders, with the only thing resembling "style" being a quick comb-through behind the ears. She dresses unnecessarily nicely no matter what the occasion - wrinkle-free button-down shirts combined with a pair of dark jeans, stud earrings, and heeled boots (not to compensate for height or anything, of course not!) are a wardrobe staple. Her build is lightly pudgy from the sweet tooth she was cursed with.

Personality: Ai likes to portray herself as being an easygoing person who is quick to action and slow to anger.

Unfortunately, this is often not the case.

No, Ai has inherited quite the temper from her mother, and as a result can be particularly cruel to those she sees as "inferior" to her intellect. A hard atheist, she sees no reason to believe in "childish things" like religion - or the occult. But more on that later. She is incredibly narcissistic, and this is obvious from one's very first interaction with her. She'll go into completely "pompous ass" mode, in which she pulls out every ounce of sesquipedalian loquaciousness she has to impress you. If you pass her "check", she may lower her guard and act more like, well, a human person. And if you don't? Well, prepare to be treated like the scum of the earth.

But if one is resilient enough to get a little bit closer to her (or, perhaps, if she thinks you're cute), a wholly different side emerges. When Ai sets down all pretenses of superiority, she becomes what she truly is: an insecure wreck who pushes away others to protect herself. Around these select few people, her jokes will soften; her body language will loosen; you might even catch a glimpse of that small, sincere smile, the one she usually masks with a scoffing sort of grin.

...But she's much more likely to just be an ass.

History
Her family history is about as vanilla as it can get, aside from the divorce of her parents. They have quite a bit of tension between them; her father threw himself into his work, while time seemed to stop for her mother. Since her mother can barely take care of herself, it is Ai who must keep up with things such as cooking and the rent while they feed off of child support money.

For years now, Ai has become increasingly dissatisfied with what she sees as a "boring, cookie-cutter life". She took up the guitar in attempts to make herself more interesting - but, fearing rejection, never plays it in front of others, let alone lets anyone know she has one.

Then she took up cryptography, which proved to be so interesting that she practically went into a month-long frenzy of codes, codes, codes, until she lost steam. She'll still scribble down a Caesar or two, but not the the fervor she once held.

The next logical step in the quest for the recognition she deserves was the student paper, which among its pages upon pages of sappy love-poems and angsty "open letters" towards society or whatever had the sorry lack of true intellectual material. So, she began to submit her essays: long-winded, arrogant, but ultimately coherent enough to warrant frequent publication. Hey, if nothing else it padded out the papers. Now they were big enough to be used as doorstops!

...And then she got bored. And when she first heard that voice over the school's loudspeakers tittering on about something as absurd as an Occult Club, she couldn't resist some old fashioned debunking. Yes, she'd show these blind sheep how the world really works...

Skills
- Writing nonfiction, such as essays; she is a frequent name in the student paper
- Quite good at recognizing patterns and cracking codes
- Is moderately 'okay' at the guitar

Other
- Unsure of her sexuality
- Allergic to cats
- Secretly listens to grunge rock
- Has unironically worn a fedora
- Creates codes in her spare time to the point that almost all of her school supplies are covered in ciphers
- Has a vast database of obscure and completely useless trivia

[User]
"Uh-"

Before Ai could do so much as even respond to one of those follow-ups, Yoshi had rushed off to the Musical Type - Travis, she corrected herself. Her eyes instinctively snapped to the items left behind for her to "watch over" as the others around her began talking. No one really seemed to catch her eye as she sat in her chair, pose having loosened back into its default...or at least, anyone she figured was worth talking to. Seiko was rather eye-catching, after all, but unfortunately she seemed to be busy with two other girls. A tiny twinge of something twisted in her gut - must be those brownies, she figured.

There was nothing outwardly interesting about Yoshi's bag. No, what Ai was more interested in was whatever could be inside it. A crucifix, she figured, picking up the final bite of brownie and shoving it into her mouth shamelessly. As far as she could tell, no one was watching. Maybe a smaller Bible. But surely there had to be more to the fanatical girl than that. Something. Anything. Who knows - maybe she'd find something compromising. Maybe, if that were the case, she'd have an excuse to talk to the self-proclaimed "resident journalist".

Ai looked around once more. Yes, it still appeared that no one was watching.

...Just one little peek. No harm.

Slowly, the girl moved forward and began to open the top of Yoshi's bag.

Location: Classroom 2-A, YHS
Interacting with: N/A
Inventory: Wallet (in pockets), House Keys (in pockets), cellphone (in pockets)

[Assistant]
It was a good thing that Watanabe Yoshi was unaware of the antics Yamauchi Ai was currently committing. Truly this invasion of property was a shady deed; both in the realm of Caesar and that of the Lord. But since it appeared guilt in either realm wouldn't hinder Ai's actions it was trivial to open Yoshi's bag and see what was in it.

Well at least the stuff buried near the top anyways.

The most notable things at this top level were, the Book of Common Prayers, a standard one piece swimsuit in dark blue, an advertisement for a nearby arcade with one full coin roll and one half coin roll on it, a script for the play Lady Aoi and a metal pencil container.

Certainly there had to be other items in the bag if dug through. But would searching for those items really be worth the guilt of continuing this invasion of property?

[User]
Ai's gaze skimmed over the various items in the bag passively. As she had no personal connections to its owner aside from one slightly awkward conversation, there really was not much guilt to be felt (at the moment at least) other than the vague sense of wrongdoing and the fear of being caught.

The script and the pencil container were barely even noted, and the amount of money held in the coin rolls was trivial. The prayer book was expected, and the swimsuit (What a prude...) more or less blended into everything else in the pile. But the bag appeared to be a bit too sizable to hold just these unremarkable items. Maybe if-

Without checking around once more (as she figured that any large movements would surely just bring more attention to herself...were those her palms sweating?), Ai slowly flipped over the Book of Common Prayers to see what lay underneath it.

Location: Classroom 2-A, YHS
Interacting with: Watanabe Yoshi's bag
Inventory: Wallet (in pockets), House Keys (in pockets), cellphone (in pockets)

[Assistant]
Without the worry of falling to either the realm of man or that realm of The Lord, it was quite easy to succumb to temptation delve even further into Yoshi Watanabe's bag. While flipping the prayer book it was pretty obvious that the book was pretty well used but not to the point that it was about to fall apart. As for what was underneath the Book of Common Prayer; the answer seemed to just as mundane as before.

For the most part it was a series of scroll paper that were stacked together and had red handles at the end of it. Scattered alongside these scrolls quite a few magatamas. For the most part the majority of these magatamas were pretty small and were indigo. And there was a single crucifix that was around hand-size among those as well.

With a simple glance it appeared that scavenging through this bag for "something compromising" was a fruitless endeavor. But of course, there was the chance that the infection of Sin from Adam and Eve's misdeeds, still managed to infect Watanabe Yoshi much like the rest of man.

Having that in mind it was curious to see that there was something that poked between a few of the scrolls. This thing that poked through, looked like a golden and rather glittery piece of a skirt. Perhaps there would be enough time to allow the wandering mind to decide whether or not it would be worth the risk to pull out. Perhaps it would be better to just let it lay there and be unsure of what it was.

[User]
Ai pursed her lips at the initial look of the bag's second layer. The papers might have been at least slightly interesting if unfolding one wouldn't create so much noise. The magatamas were useless; the crucifix at least gave her a brief moment of satisfaction at being correct.

Ai was just about to shut the bag, defeated and bored, when suddenly the light caught a dappling of sparkles somewhere in the area of the scrolls. Briefly she considered if pushing her luck any further would be worth it - and she decided yes. Why not? She'd already gone this far.

And so, head tucked low under the chairs surrounding her, Yamauchi Ai began to tug at the golden fabric stuck at the bottom of Yoshi's bag.

Location: Classroom 2-A, YHS
Interacting with: Watanabe Yoshi's bag
Inventory: Wallet (in pockets), House Keys (in pockets), cellphone (in pockets)

[Assistant]
Aika Aramachi

"Oh, I don't mind. Lots of people say that." Indeed, more than a few people had expressed surprise that she was involved in an athletic club at all, let alone the track team. On top of that, a few people on the track team seemed dismissive of her due to her expressed reasons for joining. "Yeah, I just joined because I needed to do something to keep the carbs off. If I just sat around all day, I would totally get all bloated and fat, right? Track seemed like the easiest way to burn pounds. The other sports were, like, way too competitive for me." There was more to it than that though; Aika also reasoned that she could stand to be a good runner for whenever the government came after her, or if she happened to discover someone's deep dark secret and they set out to murder her. Naturally, she wasn't about to speak a word of those reasons to Yuki here.

"Anyway, the hot topic about you often seems to be about what's between your legs. Oh, hope that wasn't too rude to say, haha!" Truth be told, Aika worded it that way on purpose. Being somewhat crass was always a good way to shake up the conversation. "No but seriously, some people insist you're one thing and some people insist you're the other. You get that a lot?" Aika was interested to see just how deep Yuki went into the gender debate. If she had been playing it up herself, then that was one more piece of evidence towards her real purpose in Aika's books.

North

[User]
And now under the cover of darkness, or really just the cover of the chairs, Ai once again found it easy to pull at the material that was hidden in the bag. What it was, at least for now was unknown, besides a rather glittery piece of fabric. The scrolls and crucifix were shuffled around as the fabric was being pulled upwards.

Perhaps this was the 'controversial piece' that was being searched for? Would this item really be worth all the trouble that it was to observe it? Would it, at the very least, shine a bit more light about Yoshi beyond her faith? What would going through another girl's schoolbag lead to?

For the most part these questions could only be answered through the eye of the beholder. And at this particular junction in time the beholder was Ai who decided to keep going through Yoshi's bag. The answer of this particular object was going to be revealed now that Ai finally got it up towards the top.

The golden fabric was indeed part of a glittery and golden skirt. Upon a closer inspection this item was a Western-style Cheerleader Uniform. The skirt itself was pleaded and appeared to be a touch shorter than what typical regulations would be for the item. The uniform had its focal colors as rose pink and gold. The top was sleeveless and mostly rose pink except for the golden stripes that formed a triangular pattern pointing downwards. Written across the breast in lavender was the word 'ANGEL' in some cutesy font with a little white halo above it and the L have a little pointed tail hanging from it.

[Assistant]
Ai was sweating bullets. The absolute madwoman. Surely she had crossed the line, looking through the surely innocent schoolbag of a devout Christian schoolgirl. Who knows what this mysterious item could be?

It was...

It was...

It was a cheerleader uniform.

I mean - it was a kind of skimpy, unusually Western cheerleader uniform, but it was still just a cheerleader uniform. Ai turned it around in her hands, felt the soft fabric fall between her fingers. She...honestly didn't know what she was expecting. The whole "angel" thing on the front had to be at least a little sacrilegious, which she supposed was funny seeing who it was coming from, but other than that it was, Ai had to admit, anticlimactic.

Alright, this wasn't worth it. Oh well. No harm was done, she guessed, and perhaps she could slip a little something about this discovery into a conversation later. Ai began to put the uniform back into the bag, paused, pulled her phone from her pants pocket, and snapped a quick picture before slipping it back out of sight. The uniform was shoved back into the darkness, Ai not bothering to put everything back into its proper place as she shut the bag once more.

Location: Classroom 2-A, YHS
Interacting with: Watanabe Yoshi's bag
Inventory: Wallet (in pockets), House Keys (in pockets), cellphone (in pockets)


[System]
Description: Indigo stands tall at 6' 4", with square, black lenses and hair so dark it almost has a blue tinge to it.

Age: 22

Personality: Indigo is a tactician above all else, mentally plotting out conversation, battles, and everyday life tasks alike. His observational way of thinking has kept him and his pokémon safe from the Regime, though it has cost him some of his humanity at times. Up to this point, he has not risked his own skin for the life of strangers. He fears capture or worse if he were to attempt to save another's life from the Regime. More importantly, he may lose Maximilian if he isn't careful. He regrets the decisions to remain unseen when strangers were being held captive by the Regime, but remains vigilant to his code in order to continue fighting. He is often kinder to pokémon than he is to people, feeding rations to estranged or wild pokémon from the palm of his hand. Given he had the supplies and time, he would like to establish a pokémon ranch far into the country, away from the struggle of the times. But he regretfully realizes this is a dream that will likely never be in his lifetime. Perhaps he can make that future possible, though, through his actions. Indigo stands stalwart in the face of the oppressive Regime, and would never bow to them under any circumstance.

Background: Indigo knew little of the ways of pokémon by the time he set out on his adventure, only one pokéball in his possession and a belief that if he weren't to stand, the Regime would march over not only every revel but every person in the land. The town he grew up in was forced to bow down; Indigo was only able to steal a pokéball through sheer luck and inattentiveness of a rookie guard. Now he strides onward driven, a single pokémon in his possession, a more powerful ally than any he could hope for. Indigo insists on keeping Maximilian within his only pokéball to protect him from surprise attacks by the Regime.

Pokemon Name and Nickname if applicable: Nidoran♂, nicknamed Maximilian

Pokemon Background: Maximilian was in the back of a Regime convoy when he was discovered: caged, malnourished, but still friendly to the young, approaching Indigo. He was the product of a ruthless yet inattentive officer squadron. Indigo quietly undid the hinges of the cage as the guards had made a stop, and the Nidoran♂ willfully leapt into Indigo's arms. Upon their escape, their bond was eternal, and the two have usurped the Regime's tactics to this day. Where Indigo is the brains, Maximilian is the brawn.

Other: N/A

[User]
"Ah, I get it," Kale said to the soldier, "You think if we can breed then, we could make a bit of money. I'm listening." Chris was interested in pokemon breeding, especially a pokemon like Eevee and Umbreon, but he assumed that the solider wouldn't want someone superior helping with the breeding, and a civilian wouldn't want a member of the Regime helping out, even if he was a medic. Chris didn't mind though, he had his own pokemon to deal with, and it wasn't like he had an Eevee or an evolution that could be bred.

Since Chris had been walking for so long, his legs were starting to get tired, and he decided to lean against a tree. Even when leaning against the tree, he was still considerably taller than both of the boys. Whilst the boys went to their talk, the pokemon came over, and started using baby doll eyes. Even though he would usually be smarter, he fell for it. He stared at the pokemon, not listening to Kale or the soldier talking to each other. He didn't even notice when the Eevee went and came back - he was too busy admiring Umbreon.

Suddenly, Chris heard the soldier shout out, "Eat this Regime scumbag!" and he looked at him. He noticed that he was holding up the staff that he was holding, and he got ready for an attack. "What!?" he shouted out, "I'm not Regime! Duksull, help me out here!"

"Skull!" Duskull said whilst flying out of the tree that he was in, becoming visible now.

[Assistant]
"Wait, you too?" said Kale, pausing. There's no way he'd meet two ex-regime members at the same time in a place known for its sting operations. Then there was the pokeball he heard. "It was a trap (said Admiral Magikarp). Eve, run."

With that he took off towards the city, as he at least had a few places to hide there if he needed to. A few minutes later, after realizing he had gotten away safely, he stopped to catch his breath. After he could breathe again, he looked at the city and noticed that the lights were off. What's going on there? he thought, Power outage? That's when he saw the answer to his question flying away from the city. Huh, so the rumor was true. They were using Zapdos as a power plant. He then remembered reading something about legendaries in his father's journal.

Pulling it out of his backpack he flipped through it until he got to the right page.

May 17:
I got a call from a Professor Willow today, trying to raise money to test a theory he has. He thinks that it may be possible to manufacture new Stones using the power of legendary pokemon. Of course, if he went to any of the major companies the Regime would learn of it and he'd rather not get bogged down in bureaucracy, so he's raising the money himself.

I'll have to keep an eye on his research. It could prove useful for Eevee line I'm breeding.

Kale smiled. "Come on, Eve." he motioned to the pokemon to follow him more closely. "I think I found out where to get you a Thunder Stone." With that, he headed to the power plant.

[User]
Indigo scratched his palms, watching the few people around as closely as the people he was with. They'd made an agreement before entering the city. At an impasse each person had one vote, and no vote was greater than another. Though, a word only went so far these days. Indigo's pupils shivered. His breath was shallow and rapid. Sam's shoulders were poised. Bo's stride was swift. Indigo knew, though, they were afraid as him. Being a rat in a maze did that to a man. Even if they were a group of three rats, they were still rats. The passages were narrow and there was only one exit.

Indigo took the rear and allowed the other two an advance position. His eyes shifted to the side, looking to the back of Woods' head. They hadn't spent enough time together for Indigo to really gauge any sort of his character. On top of that he seemed quiet, or perhaps wary. Maybe both. His Pokémon, a Makuhita, was a strong addition to their current roster. A fighting Pokémon was difficult to defeat in physical combat. With supporting attacks from Growlithe and Nidoran♂, her punches would become nigh unblockable for a single Pokémon. For that to work, though, they needed security in each other. They and their Pokémon, each of them needed to know what the other was to do as it occurred. Such as a trainer has a relationship with their Pokémon, so it must be in a team battle. There is no talking, no mistakes, simply execution. Three stranger rats in unknown territory had to work in absolute coordination. And there was that last part of that bond, the most important thing to consider: trust. They shared about two days of travel and a loose coalition they followed. Indigo pulled on his collar and cleared his throat. If somebody had noticed, they hadn't said anything.

Eyes between blinds shot glares at the trio as they walked through the rougher parts of the city. Their gazes pierced Indigo's own. Trash rolled across gutters. Mangy animals hid in dark alleyways. They knocked over cardboard boxes and hissed from yellow, glowing eyes. Maximillian maneuvered between Indigo's shoes, taking three steps for every one Indigo made. The Nidoran's♂ ears turned and twisted in unheard of directions. Maximillian looked up to Indigo, who returned his glance with a faint smile. His eyes arched upward beneath his black, square frames, and his heart could be heard thumping against his chest. Maximillian nodded, and continued to adjust his antennae ears. Indigo didn't like the idea of Maximillian being outside of his pokéball in such a dangerous area, but it was necessary. Indigo needed to hide the technology from the Regime, but he also needed Maximillian's hearing capabilities. It might be the difference between an ambush and an escape. Indigo still traced the outline of the sphere in his pants pocket, but he didn't dare grasp it.

Indigo's mouth began to dry as they approached Manhattan bridge. Some invisible force pushed down on his chest, and he was visibly paler. Indigo's palms shuffled against his purple suit coat. He felt a scrape against his pant leg. Indigo looked down to meet Maximillian's stare. His pupils vibrated and his neck swiveled, motioning forward. Sam and Woods continued to walk farther forward, but they hadn't noticed Indigo's pause yet. Maximillian stomped on the ground twice with his front two legs, and swung his head from side to side, unleashing a flux of air from his nostrils. He revealed his neck and stood high upon his front legs, vibrating pupils boring holes into Indigo's face. Indigo swiveled his head, looking at the crossroads sign toward Sam and Woods and back the way he came. Indigo made hours out of moments. His lips tucked inward and he nodded at Maximillian, rushing to catch up to the now distant Rebels.

Civilians and Regime alike contained the trio. Indigo did not mind the feel of a city, but this was worse, much worse. It was like the boot of an officer permanently stuck digging into your stomach. People knocked against Indigo, sending him into others, into others. Indigo saw Regime in every citizen. He profusely apologized in-between knockings and goings. Indigo felt another scrape against his pant leg, and he took a deep breath. There were no more apologies. Sam gave a sort of signal, and as he merged with another tide Indigo figured the trio were to split up. Indigo and Maximillian ducked and weaved within the heavier rapids of the crowd. Even if they were spotted by the Regime as outsiders, they would need to traverse difficult terrain. Despite their efforts of blending in with numbers, scarce amounts of Regime became visibly suspicious. Maximillian noticed before they acted. His superb hearing was able to differentiate the different voices in the sea of sound, and he picked up on Regime conversation. They'd been detected. There was a light push against his inner, left ankle. They were to the west, far enough but still approaching. Indigo's tall form ducked beneath the waves of heads and began maneuvering toward an alleyway on the same side of the street. Leaping from the crowd, the two sprinted into the alleyway as they heard a shout, again to their left. They rounded a sharp corner. Spikes shot from Maximillian's body and covered the floor and walls of the turn, glowing purple even in the dim light. The two navigated through narrow passages and avoided dead ends. Indigo had studied this route. No, that was a dead end, take a left instead. That led back to the street. Right, left, straight, hold, okay keep going. They leapt over trashcan hurdles, murky puddles, and climbed over chain-link fences. Eventually, their breath in unison merged with an exit, just as Woods came careening from another path, and Sam from the opposite way.

The three fell silent to collect themselves. The world held it's breath, and then it screamed. The sound and the fury of a golden storm erupted from the sky. Glass erupted from street lights as Indigo crouched over Maximillian and covered his own face with bent arms. Maximillian's ears turned every direction, head swiveling, front legs pacing in place. A shadowy fist clenched the city as almost all light ceased to be. The only remaining illumination came in intervals, lightning striking down from furling clouds. "What's happening?" Indigo said, still in his hunched position. His eyes widened as his neck arched upward. The sky became bright with another strike. No, it couldn't be. But this storm was so sudden. The sky challenged the earth in a battle to the death. Or perhaps something challenged them all. Indigo's thoughts became interrupted by the world screaming once again. Thunder surrounded them, deafening, on all sides. Sam sprinted off down the street randomly, and Woods soon after. Indigo exhaled incomprehensible babblings before following soon after, Maximillian leaping as lightning may between each stride.

Indigo travelled by the storm's strobe. "Wait, wait, stop running!" Indigo said, unable to scream over crashing thunder. A flash of light revealed Sam was turning into an alley way, and Indigo was close behind. He nearly crashed into Sam and Woods as the brightening of the sky revealed others, one of them in Regime uniform. Indigo hunched over, hands on his knees, and his chest heaved repeatedly. His neck craned forward and his eyes bobbed up and down. Three people, four Pokémon, two evolved. Maximillian remained silent but his spikes vibrated against the leather of Indigo's shoes. The encounter was too tense for words, not yet. Any wrong action could lead to an all-out brawl that they could very well lose in this enclosed space. And just as Sam ventured into the silence, Indigo's raven hair stood on end all about his body. A static charged permeated his skin and navigated around goosebumps.

The sky came down. It was true. Nobody could catch a storm, even if they wanted to.

Golden undulations of energy radiated out of its brilliant form. It was jagged as its power, wings piercing the dark veil around it. Each flap of its wings caused the sky to scream and the clouds to furl. God gave man fire, and now it was to give them lightning. Meek dots trailed in its wake, ants trailing conveniently amongst a king. Indigo looked up as the entirety of a city did. "Why here? Why now?" Indigo managed to stand and arch his neck, but kept his torso facing the opposite party. His chest contracted slowly, breath travelling slowly out of his mouth. "We can't stay here," said the speck of dust.


[System]
* 0: The GM has the last word in case of disputes.
* 0.1: DM approval does allow one to get around certain rules, but only express permission.
* 1: No invincibility, immortality, invisibility, psionic powers (these just tend to be generally powerful with few drawbacks), or flight. Use common sense, and ask if you're uncertain if something is allowed or not.
* 2: This is common sense, but no godmodding or metagaming.
* 3: Unlisted abilities or equipment are assumed to not exist. If you want your character to have an item or ability you did not list on your character sheet, ask me for permission first.
* 4: One character per player, PM me if you want more characters.
* 5: If you wish to keep parts of your character sheet secret, PM the full sheet to me for approval.
* 6: If you want a character that isn't one of the primary races, ask.
* 7: Really, just ask on the thread or in a PM if you want to do unique things

[User]
Malston
Republic of Laith, Samare
Western border of the Explored World

Spring, Archor 22 - Igni
Early afternoon, clear weather

---

Within the Republic of Laith, one of Samare's northernmost nations on the Western border, lies the town of Malston, a popular stop for adventurers and explorers as it's the westernmost town within Laith to have an establishment belonging to the League of Explorers. It's a small town, built on a hill overlooking the grasslands of Laith, and is within a days' travel from the unexplored western lands.

Outside of the town, past the farmlands, is grassland with an occasional patch of woods. A small stream runs through the land here, marging into a river somewhere in the unexplored lands. Within one of these patches of forest, to the north, is the ruins of an old temple of some kind. It has already been thoroughly explored, but it's a popular hangout for local kids, though rumour has it that there's a hidden basement that is used as a lair by bandits.

Within Malston, there are few buildings of note. There is an independent inn/tavern, known as the Silver Piglet, a market square, and of course an Explorer's Guild courtesy of the League of Explorers. Beyond that, most other buildings are either townhouses, shops, or farmhouses.

The local Explorer's Guild is of unique design. While most are standard two-storey buildings, with a tavern and stalls to do business on the ground floor and inn rooms on the top floor, this structure has a watch tower League members can use for free. On a clear day, one can see the forest that mark the beginning of the unexplored wildlands off in the distance from atop this tower. Furthermore, it only has one floor, and has traded in the tavern area for just a few rooms, as the building was built with the help of the owner of the Silver Piglet, in exchange for the Explorers' Guild not getting a tavern as to not steal away customers.

The Silver Piglet, meanwhile, is a two-storey building, with the ground floor dedicated to being a tavern/restaurant, while the top floor (and part of the ground floor) housing rooms for guests. Many of it's guests are League members as the Explorer's Guild usually has rented out all it's rooms, though it often is home to independent explorers as well. It is the best place in town to get some food or a drink, as well as getting some rest. Because of it's popularity, it's also common for people to put requests on the noticeboard inside if they are looking for people to do things for them for payment, and often recruiters recruit people for expeditions here.

It is within this town that our story begins. It is this town that everyone's travels have brought them to, one way or another. The day is nice, it's the middle of spring, and the weather is pleasant. There's a gentle breeze, and the sky is clear, no sign of rain. Locals are minding their own business, and the Silver Piglet is quiet during this time of day, with just a handful of people there.

[Assistant]
At one of the many tables within the Silver Piglet tavern establishment, center aisle and directly West of the building's entrance, sat Victoria by her lonesome and her equipment sprawled about upon, more than a quarter, of the table's surface. Her backpack took precedence over one of the remaining seats surrounding the circular platform, essentially leaving three more vacant. Though Victoria was both observant and considerate; her eyes would dart away from her work now and then and study the patrons within the tavern, along with those outgoing and arriving, noting their movements and anticipating their trajectories. It was just in case if a group of explores decided to rally at her table, prompting her if that moment came so she could relinquish one of the seats. Although it was unlikely anyone would bother her at her claimed spot. The tavern was quite tame at this time of day and only a dozen or so patrons were present. As such, the number of open seats and unclaimed tables were considerably plentiful.

Victoria took a moment to down a portion of the alcoholic brew, still bubbling and accumulating froth, within her glass mug.

She had just gotten back from a solo expedition not too long ago. Her task, as of week ago, was charting a few possible paths leading Westward, particularly into a thick forest-rich and unmapped sector called Dalton. A temporary name really; only a placeholder picked by an earlier group who had discovered the untouched area. The job itself was fairly easy and paid well enough. She was there evaluating the density of the forests, the flora and fauna that inhabited those woods, and the safest clearing to venture through. For five days, she would camp back near familiar and already established roads before venturing around those, notably dark, woods and only briefly probing further to gander at the topography and biology behind the imposing foliage.

Unfortunately, there was very little regarding the out of the ordinary where she researched. No new plants or undiscovered species were present at the time she wandered around. Perhaps the only thing that did capture her interest was a segment of the forest which was consumed by what appeared to be a thick and complex tendril-like mass of thorns and vines. Upon stumbling across the natural fortification, it had intrigued her about how silent the woods had become, how the sounds of the wind nor the cries of smaller creatures suddenly died down. The atmosphere had become quite eerier, to say the least. But Victoria knew better than to venture any further, especially without any back-up. From there, she and turned and left the way she came. After a day of travel, she arrived at the town of Malston and beelined to the nearest and only tavern, the Silver Piglet, to recuperate and finalize her report.

Victoria picked up one of the articles of paper she had doodled and notated on before referring to a large map spread out on the table, detailing the explored regions and, to a lesser extent -- which was a nice way of saying empty and completely white; the unexplored and mostly-empty Dalton area. Upon conferring with her notes and pinpointing her search area, she scribbled another couple of paragraphs of detail into her report. Victoria, undoubtedly still exhausted from her trip, placed the feather pen within its inkpot and eased her self into a stretched within her seat before finally exiting a yawn. Looking back at her mug with almost tired eyes, she noticed it had been thoroughly emptied with only a handful of froth resting and dispersing at the bottom. She perked up and waved down one of the roaming waitresses.

"Another round, please!"

[User]
Jack

---

Jack sat in the corner of the Silver Piglet, downing his (tenth) pint of beer. He was trying to drown out the absolute disaster of the last expedition. How the bloody hell did they miss that a rogue mage was active in the area?

---

Flashback - One Week Ago

---

You know, there are probably worse situations to be in than being hung upside down over a magically mutated spider monster, but in the moment other thoughts don't seem to come to mind. The only saving grace was that the one controlling the beast fell into the typical villain pitfall of monologuing.

What was it about these guys and monologues? I mean, here it was probably understandable, the crazed lunatic had probably not had any interaction with people for some time. That tends to happen when you breed spiders that eat people.

He had been caught unaware as he was exploring the temple. Apparently the Spider Mage Bittertooth had chosen to make the remote place his lair. He was completely overwhelmed by the organised arachnids and captured.

While Jack was thinking about this, and ignoring the monologue, he was working away at the spider silk keeping him trapped. Just a little more and... there.

"And furthermore, those League bastards who called me crazy will... WHAM" The Mage was interrupted by a flying kick to the face, courtesy of a now free catman.

"Sorry, but I'm not really in the mood to deal with the ravings of a lunatic."

The mage grabbed his jaw and pulled it back into place. "You dare injure the mighty Bittertooth? DEATHFANG, KILL HIM!"

Oh right, the giant spider. Jack completely forgot about that for a second. Summoning his Shadow Blade, he launched into combat with the monster. Despite the cutting power of his weapon, the creature's carapace was like steel. Fortunately the arachnomancer was merely cheerimg on his creation, so could be put out of mind.

The only real weak spot was the creature's eyes, but he would be damned if he was getting near that. After dodging for a solid minute, he decided to use a Chill Touch to at least partially blind the beast. In his mind, one of the lines from his studies came to mind.

"If you cannot break the stone, let it break itself."

Translation, use the enemies strengths against it. Jumping on the back of the spider, he grabbed it's head and forced it to charge to try and get him off. While he was at it, he finished the job of blinding the creature to put his plan into full effect. The arachnomancer saw what he was doing, but when he tried to heal the creature Chill Touch prevented it.

It took a couple of tries, and some major damage to the walls, but he finally managed to get the giant spider to crush its master. As he did so, the creature and it's brethren let out a sickening scream, as they began to fall apart. As Jack was on top of the giant spider, this naturally meant he got covered in the guts of it.

---

Even with Prestidigitation, it took five tries to remove the smell of spider guts from his clothing. Fortunately the rest of the mission was simple, and he retrieved the Cursed Blade Skulltaker. He also made a note to kick the arse of the region's scout for missing the fact that a bloody Raid Class threat was in the temple. If the creatures hadn't been linked to their creator, he'd have been in deep shit.

[Assistant]
Also inside of the Silver Piglet, the door opens, a short Halfbeast meandering in to look around emotionlessly. With a faint sigh, she looked around, noticing what appeared to be a mage calling for another round. Silently considering her options, the girl shook her head, ears twitching slightly, sitting down not at the same table as her, but rather at the nearest table. As the waitress stepped over to refill Victoria's drink with a friendly smile, the halfbeast leaned over to gently tap on her arm, sending a shiver down the waitress spine at the cold touch of the leather gloves, stating calmly "Excuse me, could you get me a glass of water?" She handed the waitress a few crusted over coins, and the waitress blinked, then smiled and nodded. "Of course! Just let me handle her, sweetie."

The waitress filled up Victoria's glass with a fresh round of ale, careful to avoid spilling over what Victoria was writing on, before meandering over, returning shortly with a glass of water for the halfbeast, who took it with a faint smile. Saying nothing, the halfbeast merely studied Victoria's map, and the paragraphs of text. She honestly didn't seem to be doing much, just out of range of her aura affecting Victoria.

[User]
The Silver Piglet
Malstom
Republic of Laith, Samare

Spring, Archor 22 - Igni
Early afternoon, clear weather

---

As people sat around the tavern, minding their own business, the day proceeded like normal. The tavern's waitress walked from table to table, serving the tavern's few patrons as they took the time to take a break.

It was at that point that a woman entered the tavern. An Anubite, about 5'9 tall, dressed what appeared to be a mix of a fancy green dress with a darker green cloak, though the cloak's hood appeared to have been torn off, likely because it would not fit an Anubite's ears. The woman's ears were short - for an Anubite, that is - and she had silver eyes, partially concealed under her pitch-black hair. She carried an annoyed look on her face as she stepped into the build, glancing around at the building's patrons without saying a word, before gesturing to someone outside.

Entering the building after her was what appeared to be a man in full plate armour; an unusual choice for something to wear on a day-to-day basis, but something about the figure seemed... off. The armour seemed flexible unlike regular plate armour, but the figure's movements were... rigid. Stiff and a bit slow, but not from the weight of the armour nor because of the large backpack they carried on their back. The woman looked at the armour-wearing figure for a moment, then gestured towards the noticeboard. The figure simply nodded, and made their way over to the board, pulling out what appeared to be a sheet of paper. They held the paper against the noticeboard, then took a pin, and hammered it through the paper and into the noticeboard with their armoured fist.

Once the paper was stuck to the noticeboard - covering some other requests in the progress - the armoured figure took a seat in the corner near the noticeboard, seemingly waiting. The anubite he had accompanied, meanwhile, had already vacated the building, nowhere to be seen.


[System]
False ID Name: Anna Slaski

Nationality: Polish

Age: Seventeen.

Height: Four feet, nine inches.

Weight: eighty-nine pounds (BMI 19.3)

Appearance: Her shortness being her only notable trait, Kazia is in most other ways fairly average. In part due to her height, and in part due to the way she styles her appearance, she is often taken to be several years younger than she actually is. She has an average, if slightly on the thin side, figure, dull hazel-blue eyes, and unremarkable wavy medium brown hair that hangs to the middle of her back. Aware that it's too long for practicality, she normally keeps it braided and rolled into a low bun, and the flyaways held down with a colorful headscarf, though she has also been known to plait it into pigtails when attempting to appear more childlike.

Other Appearance: Kazia has fairly unblemished skin, save for a scattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and a small vertical scar at the very corner of her mouth, from once being too close to an exploding window.

Superpower(s): Kazia's power is rather passive- vocal mimicry. She can mimic nearly any sound she hears, from the full range of human voices to various bird songs and animal sounds. She has also proven adept at mimicking alarms, though she's fairly useless at many other environmental sounds. It should also be noted, though she's not entirely sure if this counts as part of what makes her special or if this is just a quirk of her mundane brain, that she has a nearly-perfect photographic memory. The combination of her memory and her mimicry is such that she is sort of a human tape recorder – she can listen in on a conversation and repeat it back days or weeks later, verbatim, and with the voices of the people who had originally spoken. Given the passive nature of her powers the only real limitation on them is the strain on her vocal chords, but an interesting quirk of them is that she doesn't seem to have her own voice- whenever she must converse with someone, she uses phrases that she's heard spoken around her in a variety of other people's voices.

Skills: Kazia is conversational in Polish, reasonably understanding of Russian (As she was required to study it in school, and has some (broken) understanding of English, French, and German due to listening to the people around her. The nature of her power is such that she can use full sentences of any language she's overheard with no accent or hesitation, but a lot of times what she says will not be entirely fit to the scene at hand, as there is no promising she understands all the words in all the sentences. She's physically fit, though never properly trained, and a decent runner with good endurance. Also, she is known to be quite resourceful, if a bit impulsive.

Personality: Kazia is, to be summed up in one word, very reserved. She always prefers to listen rather than talk- though once she decides she can definitely trust people she will at least begin conversing with them, if not ever really "open up." Her outlook on life is rather cynical, and she is normally rather sarcastic- though she does a good job of (externally, at least) seeming to be perfectly docile and naive. This said, she is decidedly not a killer, never having taken a life despite working in and around the front lines – if the resistance could even be seen as having a "front line". Above all, she is fiercely loyal to whatever cause she puts herself behind.

History: Born in Warsaw in 1924 to an upper-middle-class family, Kazia lived a relatively normal childhood. She has one elder brother and a younger brother and sister, and her family is devoutly Catholic. She went to a public school for all six years of her primary school, and three years of grammar school.

In regards to her power she, and her family and friends, have known about it since she was little more than a toddler. She distinctly remembers one day in particular as the "onset" of her ability. She'd been toddling around the house while her mother was cooking and singing along to the radio, and then for whatever reason her mother had stopped and turned the radio off. She had wanted to hear more of the song, but didn't have the words to ask, so instead had mentally replayed the song and sang along with her mother's voice. Understandably her mother was absolutely confused, as her daughter who had never made a sound before had suddenly perfectly mimicked her voice, but they assumed it was just a quirky talent. They didn't think it might have been something more until a few days after Kazia turned eight; she had overheard her mother and father arguing about something, and a few weeks after the argument confronted her mother about it by reciting it verbatim and then asking in her schoolteachers' voice, "Now what was the meaning of THAT?"

Rumors of "magic" and such were prevalent, of course- but this was Poland, full of hyper-superstitious Catholics. And in any case, whatever this… quirk or power that Kazia had was, it seemed mundane enough to pass as a normal talent. She was everyone's favorite study partner in school, given that she could repeat verbatim her teacher's lectures, no matter how long ago they had been.

All in all she had a rather happy childhood…Until, that is, the bombs started falling, on September 1st, 1939. Kazia had been walking home from school, minding her younger siblings and entertaining them by singing various songs from the radio in the artists' voices. A flight of aircraft, not like any they'd really seen before, flew in formation over the center of the city, dropping what she would later realize were bombs, though she wasn't aware of that at the time. The blast, though they were over a kilometer away, was still enough to knock them off their feet, and immediately they saw the columns of smoke and fire. Fleeing to their home on the outskirts of the city, the younger children were the ones who had to describe to their mother what they had just seen.

Kazia's older brother had recently enlisted in the Polish army, and her father- a reserve soldier – was soon called away. The church soon became a sanctuary for their family, a place they could go no matter what, and for a few hours at least shut out the terrible thought of what was going on outside.

On September 28th, the city was surrendered, prisoners of war taken. Kazia had no idea if her father and brother were in that number, dead, or perfectly safe elsewhere. The following Sunday found the family in church, of course, and that same Sunday the Germans marched in, took everyone at gunpoint into the courtyard, shot the bishop and priests and anyone else who dared make a sound of protest.

At first it seemed like the people would be broken by it. But then, not even a month later, there was a not-so-quiet rebellion, the secret Polish army. Quiet whispers that they were seeking people with "unusual skills" circulated. Finally, Kazia mustered her courage and went to TAP, convinced her ability would be outright rejected- it wasn't like she had something terribly useful. It was much to her surprise when they seemed glad to have her, and even more to her surprise that she was shuffled around to increasingly more-important reconnaissance jobs. It seems she underestimated the value of a small, quiet listener.

Finally, she was shuffled over to a French operation that was working alongside the polish resistance, and then over to a British operation working alongside them, and now she's landed here, still slightly befuddled as to what, exactly, is going on.

Equipment: Standard British issue, an assortment of the crude, handmade smoke and noisemakers that youth in the resistance were so fond of.

[User]
Óscar raised an eyebrow as the popsicle escaped from his mouth "Eh, niñata!" he said, frowning as he looked at her older brother "What's the matter with her, can't she enjoy a joke or what? Agh...", the Spaniard really didn't like when someone took a joke south or just wasn't the kind of person that enjoys humor overall. He closed his eyes, looking at the splattered popsicle and instantly boiling it to clean it, looking back at the kid "Alright, Jesús, sorry for yelling..." he chuckles, tapping with his foot on the ground.

"Cards? Mierda, I used to play poker with some friends...and mús, but eh, I went over to music..." Óscar smirks slightly "I mean, if we get to a café I used to work, they may still have my old guitar." he grins once again, as the road gets slightly cleaner and he hears the planes, quickly raising both of his eyebrows and opening his mouth, nodding softly and leaning his head back onto the "wall" of the truck.

"Anyways, as Ms. Bianco said we should...you know, get to know each other? I'm Óscar Guijarro, but in the field you'll call me Tony Bamanaboni...or just Tony, seh." He then accommodated his pompadour, taking a look at his tattoos before rolling down the sleeves and covering them, either afraid or ashamed of them, scratching his magnificent black beard "Well...at least we won't be bored..."

[Assistant]
There was a moment of silence as Henry waited for the young woman next to him to reply. In that dreadful moment he thought that perhaps she had not heard him, and that he would be forced to sit in the awkward quiet of the truck while other members of the group observed his blunder. Thankfully, during the interim a voice came from beside Henry, and he turned his head to regard the young man who had spoken. A minute earlier the same man had patted Henry on the back and joked about catching him after their planned para-drop into France - he had chuckled at that - but before he had a chance to respond the man's attention had been drawn to the laughs of the young woman sitting on Henry's other side.

"Nice to meet you, Izkry," Henry replied. Izkry looked young - he couldn't have been much older than Henry himself - and along with a broad smile and bright brown eyes, his laid back demeanour instantly put the young man at ease - but to an extent also concerned him. The idea that someone could be so calm while en route to Nazi occupied France was almost unimaginable, yet here such a person was, making jokes and warmly greeting men and women who he had never met but may well die beside. Come to think of it, so many of those who sat in the truck bed seemed alarmingly calm. Still, to see a friendly face was warmly welcomed. "And nice to meet you as well, Belasý," said Henry, leaning forward to see her. She appeared rather timid, but as they made brief eye contact he was struck by the vivid blue of her eyes. In that instant his pale green eyes washed over with the ferocious blue of the woman's own, perfectly replicating their cellular structure for but a fraction of a second before once again giving way to the much less remarkable green of Henry's own eyes.

Hoping the incident had gone unnoticed, Henry quickly withdrew his gaze. It was not unheard of for him to subconsciously mimic the physicalities of another person, much like the way he had assumed his mother's face while just a young boy. While studying his abilities Henry had become acutely aware that he tended to do this when he was particularly fond of a trait, be that the colour of a person's eyes, the shape of their nose, or even their hairstyle. It's something I need to work on, he noted.

Izkry spoke again, this time of aliases. "Well then, you can call me Tommy," Henry said. Tommy was a nickname that had come about after one of his nannies began to refer to him by the name, believing it was his actual name for whatever reason. Likely the result of moving from house to house, caring for the children of various families in his hometown. At the time Henry was too young to understand, but ever since he was often referred to as Tommy in casual situations - never outside of the estate. "Tommy Ashwell, will that do?"

[User]
Kazia flushed, mildly embarrassed, as the tall blonde youth beside her noticed her laughter. He seemed gentle enough, addressing her softly, and quite polite and articulate. He introduced himself as Henry.

The girl scrambled with her thoughts for a moment, sorting out which voice she was going to use. It wasn't much of a challenge, really- she would use her best friend's. Lena had always been talkative, and as soon as she'd figured out that Kazia couldn't make words on her own, she'd had Kazia write what she wanted to be said and would read it off. The result was that Kazia had conversational phrases that worked without being too disjointed.

"My name is Kazia Andrysiak." She said, in reply to Henry, her English quite accented - Lena had been taking classes in it, but she was by no means fluent. "It is nice to meet you." She had to switch voice for the next question, bought it was to another of her female classmate's, not noticeable to someone not paying perfect attention. "Have you ever been on a plane before?" Damn it, that sounded too childlike, the curiosity of a young girl who'd never been in the sky before. Oh well.

As she spoke to Henry, she noticed a tall, very thin boy approach her. In good English - though still slightly hesitant - he asked if she was Polish. She turned to look at him, realizing as he spoke that he, too, was from her country. She flashed him a soft smile, switching back to her native language- well, switching back to Lena's Polish. "Yes. It would be nice, to become friends." She hesitated for a moment, wincing at her disjointed voice. "My name is Kazia. What is yours? Also. Would you sit with me?" She patted the bench next to her.

Someone else- a tall young man, sitting next to an exceptionally sullen-looking girl, spoke up loud enough for everyone in the truck to hear, reminding them to get used to their aliases.

Right. Crap.

The small girl turned to the two males beside her. "As far as the rest of the world knows... I am Anna Slaski." She bit her lip, realizing that she'd used her grandmother's voice for the first part of the line, and then one of her friend's voices for the last part, a clear change. (Anna Slaski was the protagonist in one of their favorite books - a terribly obscure one that someone who wasn't Polish wouldn't know, and even most Polish people likely wouldn't - when they were small, and the line had been stolen from when they were playing pretend once.) She wondered if anyone would notice and realize that her "superpower" was her mimicry.


[System]
Age: 26

Height: 5' 2"

Gender: Female

Appearance:

Occupation: Track Coach at the local High School

Personal Interests: Track, Hiking, Making sick weapons

Fears: Heights, tripping, bridges

Power: Wayfinder (Wayfinders can see the fastest way to get to where they are going and have the ability to run at high speeds during the secret hour, although this power may not be extended to another Midnighter Like acrobats, they eat alot during daylight hours and like all midnighters, their eyes turn indigo when they look at the Midnight Moon..)

Misc. Info: Moved to Brisbane about a year ago after graduating college. When she discovered there was an opening at the local High School she jumped on it, already having developed a love of running. She loves nature but refuses to go into the woods from Eleven to midnight unless it is during the blue time.

Sample: Echo felt the adrenaline rush through her as she ran down the streets, the blue glow surrounding everything as it always did at midnight. Her black hair flowed behind her, making her head look like a comet with a blackish blue tail.. Were the cars able to race next to her she would be side by side with them, able to keep up until the dreaded time came when the Blue Moon would set and she would be living life in 5 Mph again. She sometimes wished that the players on her track team could feel the rush of 25 Mph, or even the other Midnighters. She had tried once, to give one her speed. It hadn't gone well, the other Midnighter had ended up with a sprained wrist. Returning her thoughts to her surroundings, she looked at the line of "Focus" which showed the way to the Cafe. Hopefully the others wouldnt be too mad she was late...

[User]
"Haha, I'm sure you're very tough, hell I wouldn't want to mess with you."
"Fiery passion, so that's what that lovely smell is?" Tyler says with a flirty laugh.
He takes the things handed to him and listens to the instructions.
Afterwards he looks down at his shirt, it had become quite the tattered mess, blood stains, beer and who knows what.
"If you had anything that would be great, thanks." He gives Danielle a final nod, "actually I could probably use some help in here." He jokes just before closing the door and the sound of water rushing through the pipes ensues.

[Assistant]
Ved
As most of the others, he had his own rituals for preparing himself for the extra hour. He had been waiting quietly in the time being, but exactly 13 minutes before midnight he went to work, starting from the feet up. He undressed down to his underwear behind the cafe bar, then removed 13 white cloth wraps of varying thickness from his inner hacket pocket and began to work. 13 wraps on each foot, calf, thigh, around his waist/hips, up his torso/chest, hands, forearms, and neck. Stepping from behind the counter, he slipped in his pure Malachite plug gauges, which finished his ensembale. Earth stones and 13 layers of 13 wraps. He would be safer that way, and more flexable. And frankly, the protective clothing was more than a bit flattering to his naturally lean form.

[User]
@Ryuzaki

Aslynne rolled her bright blue eyes with a snort. "Can you at least not think so loud then? You're going to make me paranoid about Darklings. I'm already crazy enough, I don't need to start hallucinating." The images his mind screamed out all but smacked her in the face. Making her head pound all the harder.

'Wayfinders are the best!' She heard from Echo making Aslynne scoff out loud. "Yeah sure, the best until a Darkling figures out a way to match you in speed." Aslynne could imagine some of the old ones doing that. They never had a solid form and those freaky tendril things... she shivered at the thought of being touched by one of them. Her fears couldn't have been something normal like spiders or bugs, no she had to be afraid of fire... you know painful stuff.

"Danielle left to go pick up Tyler from jail, I can taste them, they're at her place, but she pushing it too close." Aslynne spoke up about Danielle. Nine more minutes until she could breathe without feeling like her head was about to explode. Aslynne got up to pace the floor of the cafe anxious like she always was about the impending blue time wanting that silence. Checking her watch literally every thirty seconds. "I'll go up and escort her and Tyler down if they're not here before Midnight. Best go check on them now though. Don't wait for us." Aslynne stood from her seat and grabbed her back full of weapons to climb the external staircase to Danielle's home, she could feel the relief of the acrobat's shower washing over him and she shuddered at the image it forced into her head. Rubbing her arms against the chill she took the stairs two at a time until she was before Dani's door.

Knocking and shifting the backpack over her shoulder she said loudly. "Hey! Dani, you're pushing it close let me in!"

[Assistant]
"In your dreams!" Danielle called to Tyler before she went to go find him clothes. She managed to find a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from a previous boyfriend that looked like they would fit Tyler. She set him in front of her bathroom door, just as she heard Azzy knock on her door.
"It's fine Az, I still got a couple minutes." Dani opened the door regardless, letting her friend into the apartment.
"You know me, I'm the pinicle of caution. I just have Tyler in my shower and it would be weird if I opened the door and left as he's in the shower. I figure the closer I get to midnight, the safer I am there. Besides, it's not like I'm miles away from my safe place." Danielle said, as she checked her clock. All of her clocks were exact, as she didn't want to be caught unawares of the time. She still had seven minutes left, and there was no need to be hasty.
"Is everyone else down there?" Dani asked, peaking outside to where her parking lot was.

[User]
"Yeah, we're all downstairs. Ved is even all dressed and ready to go. For what I'm not sure exactly... Darklings and Slithers are at an all time low." Aslynne's eyebrows shot up to her hairline as if she had just remembered something. "I brought something for you." Her bag hit the floor with a light thump and Aslynne quickly pulled out the black steel Maglight. "I know you don't like going outside during the blue hour, but this should help in case you have no other choice." Aslynne held it out to Danielle, the weight of the cold steel was heavy. It would make a good weapon just to hit something with, but in the hands of the Fire Bringer it was life saving.

"In case I'm not around to beat those damn Slithers into submission." Aslynne's lips curled up into a silent snarl that could rival a Darkling Panther's at the thought of zapping those damn blood thirsty creatures with the sparkly blue fire metals seemed to give off. "Anyway, I don't think we're going to be going outside for a while tonight. We have a new member to 'initiate'." Aslynne did a pretty good imitation of Lee when she wanted to. It was almost scary.

[Assistant]
"I'll try to think of things less...darkling?" He said unsure how to calm the focus he had now for her. She would just have to deal with it for now.

Lee was glad to hear that the two missing were on their way now. And he trusted Aslynne to go get them with little trouble. The hour grew closer and Lee could feel his eyes twitching a bit. The hour made his vision more sharp against the darklings. Everything appearing more clear as well as the Midnighters. There were a few here he hadn't met yet so he offered his introduction while he waited.

@Prints Avoid
He noticed Abel and Ved aside the counter. He walked over to greet them. "Hey there fellas. It's nice to know we have a polymath and metallurge among us." He said. "My name is Lee. Seer. I see and read things clearly that you cannot." He told them.

[User]
Danielle smiled at Azzy as she took the maglite and put it on top of her tv stand.
"I'm surprised everyone is already here." Danielle said before she processed that there was a new midnighter in town. The only new person she knew of in town was currently in her shower.
"Well...he's currently in my shower. How do you propose I tell him he needs to get out so and that we need to meet in my cafe?" Danielle asked, with a raised eyebrow as she glanced at the clock.

[Assistant]
@Dark Light

"Let me handle this." Aslynne said, briskly walking over to the bathroom door. Knocking loudly, and all but yelling, "Hey! Badass McGee. Time's up." Tyler's flash of fear tasted bitter on her tongue like vinegar before it ebbed to the sweet cane sugar taste of relief. "The shower is the worst place to be caught in at midnight around here."

Turning back to Danielle she said, "I'm a little surprised too, I don't think we've all be in the same place at the same time since we were kids. I don't even think Lee has met Ved and Abel and he's been here for four years!" Aslynne's strawberry blonde hair was braided down her back to be kept out of the way. A habit after a Darkling had almost killed her with it's grip on her hair when she'd been a child.

Blue eyes brightening at the thought that Midnight was almost here. "Three more minutes." She said to Danielle stepping over to the window that faced the street below. "I was hoping you wouldn't have to make a mad dash down the stairs."

[User]
There was a crashing and a bang followed by a groan as the sound of water rushing through the pipes came to a squeaking halt. Ty could be heard grumbling within the room then suddenly the door creeked open just wide enough for his injury stricken face to pop through along with a billowing cloud of steam.

"Sorry, what's the rush?" He asks as he suspiciously eyes the clothes laid out for him before snatching them up and disappearing back into a cloud of steam closing the door behind him.

[Assistant]
"Uh... yeah I think we met briefly way back during that first summer I was here." Abel responded to Lee, reaching out from his spot on the counter for a handshake. He remembered that night pretty well, despite having had a little to drink. Still, it had been enough to hamper his judgment. Luckily, it had been a relatively safe night and the other Midnighters had found him pretty quickly. Hopefully this Ty guy could handle himself. Lee's doom and gloom attitude was already getting to him. What was the guy so worried about? It was a relatively safe day. Nothing special in the numbers.

Abel sighed impatiently. "We gonna be waiting on this guy all night? He gonna be sticking around? I don't want to make a habit of this. We only have, what, three minutes to midnight?" He eyed the pipe sitting on the counter top next to him. He'd bought it off a confused plumbing crew on his way to work that morning. The proportions had caught his attention and were too beautiful to pass up. He rarely even had to deal with Darklings, but it was always good to have something on hand. Tonight, Hallucination was his something.

[User]
Light@Kaalee

Aslynne was clearly not tempted by the small amount of flesh she saw from the crack in Danielle's bathroom door Tyler was peeking out of. "Midnight." She said simply. "Midnight is a bad place for you to be in the bathroom you'll get water everywhere and that's rude to your most gracious hostess." She raised her voice a bit as he shut the door on her.

She shuddered and her eyes closed her head tilting back as she sniffed at the air. "Two more minutes, Tyler. You best hurry it up." Aslynne threatened as she sensed the oncoming midnight. Turning towards Danielle Aslynne gave a smirk. "So, what's the deal, you like him or something?" Aslynne poked her friend playfully in the ribs doing a peppy little dance. "You gotta crush?"

[Assistant]
"I gotta a crush on half the guys in this town Az, you know me. I just can't keep it in my pants, but he needs help and I can give it. What kind of person would I be if I did otherwise?" Danielle said, shaking her head before checking the time again.
"I need to go downstairs, it's too close. I'll see you in a bit." Danielle said, putting her shoes back on and going outside, downstairs and into her cafe.
"Ready for midnight?" She asked, smiling at the four in her cafe. She passed Lee first, kissing him on the cheek on her way to get her lighter for when midnight comes.
"How are you Lee, I haven't seen you round here in awhile. You know I have a mug with your name on it." She said with a smile.

[User]
"Hey Danni! As ready as I can be!" Echo called out to the Flame Bringer, waving. She couldn't wait for the stroke of the clock that would bring about the glorious Blue Time that they were all waiting for. She reached into her Track duffle and retrieved a few items from it, including Automatically Criminalizing Contamination which was the titanium field hockey stick. On her neck sat Extraordinary Exterminating Feminizations, a steel chain with 78 (It didn't take a Polymath to figure out that 13x6=78) links and 13 charms, one of which was a Tridecagram. On one arm were 13 thin steel bangles each with its own name. She got up and walked over to where the others were.

"Is there anything secret we're trying to keep from me and that's why we're all huddled over here?" Echo teased, giggling a little.


[System]
Appearance: He stands at 5' 11", Brown hair covering his ears and partial back of his neck, hazel eyes, brown duster and red hat, dog tags with the name 'Reese Schubaltz'.

Age: 25

Personality: Reese is a quite man but doesn't mind conversing with people he finds okay, he's loyal to any companions he meets along the way once he knows them and is always the first one to risk his life first before others do.

Faction: Independent

Equipment: M14 EBR, Silencer, Combat Knife, Canteen, Medical Tools.

Skills: Excellent marksman with long range rifles, also is proficient with medicine, being able to treat illness and injuries as well perform surgery.

History: Reese grew up in New Vegas his family having a small physicians business where he learned his medical skills from his mother and father. One day a group of bandits were looking for any kind of drugs they could get robbed him and his family of all they had, that prompted him to acquire an old lever action rifle where through constant practice, eventually made him a crack shot, able to hit targets at almost 700 meters. The NCR came across him one day when he had been practicing his shots, seeing his skill with a rifle, they recruited him and further developed those skills, though when it came to combat, it wasn't for him, he could kill to defend himself, but he couldn't actively fire upon someone first.

He transferred to the combat medics, finding much more fulfillment in saving lives rather than taking them. He had been sent out to help a squad of soldiers who had been ambushed, one of them being a good friend he met when he was in sniper training, he had been in the middle of patching him up when a mortar shell landed near them, blasting the two of them away as it kicked up dirt and sand; the only thing he managed to grab onto when the explosion occurred was his friends dog tags. When he awoke, his head had been throbbing and blood was running down it, only reason he had survived was because his now minced friend had taken most of damage. There was just one problem though, he couldn't remember anything, not his friend, not his own name, not anything, looking down in his hand, he saw the dog tags with his friend's name he thought they were his and that's how he got his new name.

Picking up the M14 that had been the real Reese Schubaltz's, he put it on his back and made his way to a nearby town where he got patched up. He then soon started to wander the wastes, trying to see if any of his memory would return, the only thing he really retained being his marksman and medical skills, using the latter to sustain and keep him alive. He wandered on foot for a bit, traveling into Utah, then through Colorado, finding a group of settlers and traveled with them a bit till they hit Missouri, the trip taking a few good months and had left him fatigued. He had been ready to turn around and head back home, feeling there was no one and nothing out how far he was traveling when he heard some people talking about a place in North Carolina.

A place where there was fresh fruits and vegetables, since he never saw anything like that out in the wastes, he figured he could at least see if the rumors were true and perhaps he could get some information there as a bonus, a place like that was bound to have a lot of people, perhaps they knew something about him, even if it was only vague, it'd be a start. With him now having a proper destination, he continued his long walk, making it to the edge of the Kentucky boarder where there was a commercial Vertibird offering lifts into North Carolina. It had been an old wreck that had been fixed up and modified to allow slightly more passengers, with that having cut his trip much shorter, it would only take him another hour or two on foot to arrive at the Outer Banks.

[User]
"Well having a doctor is beyond useful," a smile on the red head she held a playful smirk to her sister who stayed silent through the entire thing. "Its a bit of a ways away, we're heading out soon as Brick comes back. But I don't see anything wrong with it."

"You fall behind and we're leaving you." A sigh escaping from the red head she gave Reese a look of apology, they were as close as can be yet they were as different as night and day. A look of surprise began to take her features though when the woman nodded her head at the question. When the fabric was cut it began to show that Eden was three shades lighter under her armour than she appeared to be.

Even when there was three people it seemed that it was a two person conversation. "So Reese, you feeling any better? I heard you took a bit of a beating."

[Assistant]
Reese gently smiled back to Aurora as he tended to her sister's wound, seeing how her skin was much lighter than it appeared, he got a clean rag out, pouring a bit of the liquor onto it before going to apply it to Eden's wound, "This might sting a little." He warned as he started to apply it to the injury, making gentle wipes as she did so so as to not aggravate it any further.

He glanced up at her when she he'd be left if he fell behind, "Well don't worry, I won't, trekked a long ways to travel through here, so I should be up for the task." He lightly smiled to her, he didn't really have a problem with her brash attitude, or at least what it appeared to look like to him anyways. He was used to people being like that in the wastes, but he made sure to never let himself be like that, there was already enough negativity in this mostly barren land, no need to add fuel to the fire so to speak.

"Yeah, I'm feeling fine, just a couple of gunshots, nothing that won't heal with time." He responded back to Aurora as he was near finishing up cleaning her sister's injury, "How about you? Are you alright, I know this whole ordeal was pretty intense," He added, starting to wrap a bandage around the wound after cleaning it up, "There, that should be good for a bit, wound's been cleaned, it'll just be sore for a bit." He spoke to Eden once more, a friendly smile on his face, his cheerful attitude not being a very common one in the wastes which usually made it stand out more.

[User]
"You could be stabbing her and she won't bitch, shes more stubborn than a deathclaw." True to the red head's words Eden simply kept biting her lip, her tooth causing it to start to stain in red. "See, told ya"
All that Eden done was turn her gaze to Aurora yet the girl kept up her little grin. "What? Its true, your worse than dad was." Again she began to laugh slightly yet Eden seemed to change at the mention of their father, simply closing her eyes as she cupped her face in her hand, seeming to start to grow slightly board to anyone who didn't know her.
"Good" It was her only reply to Reese, least it was something different from her usual silence.

Aurora simply shrugged her shoulders at the answer. "I was lucky, moment everything happened Brick hid me in the back and gave me a shot gun and 10mm, came out unscathed aside from a bit tired out for it all." Eyes lighting up from the words though she quickly rummaged through her pockets only to hold out a steampack. "Here, you might need this more than I do."

[Assistant]
When Reese had finished with treating her, he started to put away the supplies he got out, making sure to put his scalpel back with the other equipment and then rolled it up, stuffing it back into his bag. Listening to Aurora talk about her sister and couldn't help but chuckle at the comment. He wish he had that, well more of knowing if he had any other family, something he had been trying to find out for a while now ever since he became and amnesiac.

He merely glanced at Eden when she gave a one word response to his condition, "Nice to know you care." He responded back genuinely, he looked to Aurora when she told him that she wasn't harmed, "Well that's good, I'm glad you weren't hurt," Pausing for a moment when she held out the item to him, "No thanks, you should hold onto it, I'm not so banged up that I can't move, besides it may be needed down the line and I rather not have it wasted on me." He smiled as he spoke.

[User]
@CloseEnough

Brick had just finished showing Dante and Vic around the shop and finalizing a few details with Joe. As they spoke, Brick packed up the tools he'd need if Fuago was to break down, a few boxes of ammo for his weapons, and a small supply of food from his personal stores.

"Well gentlemen" he said as he emerged from the workshop and extended a hand "the floor is yours. Treat her well"
"We will" Bullock said, taking the handshake. Brick and Joe exchanged nods, and the weaponsmith headed out.

"Hey everybody" he said, walking up to load his gear onto the brahmin "About ready to go are we?"
"Aurora, sorry for ignoring you back there, my head was a million miles away. Just hit me all at once, people died last night. People I used to see everyday"
"Reese, can I talk to you before we take off? Wanted to ask you about your rifle, and maybe you could take a look at my injuries?"

[Assistant]
@Sohtem

Taking the steampack she put it in her pocket, Eden standing back up the woman extended her leg in a straight high kick, nodding to herself at the feeling.
"Well than Reese if you do need it tell me okay?" Just as the words were spoken Brick came out of the shop, packing up he actually thought he had to apologize causing the woman to shake her head. "You have no reason to apologize for that, you going to be holding up aright?" She knew that feeling, to wake up and find that people who you knew were gone, that people you trusted were killed. It messed you up, and you never really get over it.

[User]
@CloseEnough

Reese had been enjoying the conversation with Aurora and Eden, well if it could even be considered that, but he genuinely didn't mind their company, it was nice talking to people, especially after what had happened in the town, he could tell that it would be a little while before all the shops and streets were cleaned up and repaired, the raiders and beast really did a number to it, but people in the wastes were resilient, they endured because they had too, no doubt the human spirit being that which refuses to let it's light go out.

"Yes, I'll let you know if I change my mind." He lightly smiled to the red haired girl, finding it strange he was going to be traveling with them, but it's not like he really had any other plans, aside from traveling to OBR, though if this current trip was along the way, he didn't see why he shouldn't go.

He looked over when he saw Brick emerge, someone he also found to be pretty okay, though he tended to like everyone and tried to get along with everyone, even if they had a bit of a sour attitude, "Uh, yeah, sure I'd be happy to take a look at any injuries you have and what do you wish to know about it?" He was actually a little surprised about both requests, but he had no objections to either of them, so he'd gladly help in any way possible.

[Assistant]
"Yeah, I'll be ok, just feel a little responsible for everything is all" he said to Aurora "I actually have something I want to ask you and I guess, your sister. I mean, we got a long trip ahead, so we can talk about it on the road"

Brick turned his attention back to the doctor "Short and sweet question bud: How was the new barrel? She feel ok? Too short or too long? And how was she treatin you overall? I'd hate to have you going around with inferior work, I want everyone who comes to the Forge to leave satisfied, know what I mean?"
He stopped to roll back his shirt sleeves to reveal the four-inch long tear in his shoulder "As for this, that thing got its claw into my shoulder, that's the major one. I might've made it a bit worse, I jammed the butt of my gun into the gash for an adrenaline burst, keep myself from passing out. It seems clotted up, I don't know if it needs to be patched up or anything. Apart from that, I had a bullet graze my head, just above my right ear, and one of those raiders caught me with a knife, across the back of both forearms" he lifted his arms up to show the cuts "It's skin deep at worst, but I guess its better to get it checked out, than run the risk of infection or something right?"

[User]
"Oh, yeah the barrel was fine, felt just right, you did a really good job on it, so no need to worry about that." He smiled to the man as he took off his bag for a moment, getting out what looked like a magnifying glass to get a closer inspection of the wounds. "Wow and I thought my wounds were bad." He joked as he continued to inspect the man's injures, seeing how some would heal over time without any real fuss, though he was a little concerned about the shoulder.

"Well from what I can tell, I can disinfect them all and bandage them properly, however I am a little concerned about that shoulders of yours, it doesn't look like it will need stitches, but if too much stress is put on it, it could tear further and then it will need stitches." He spoke as he then put away the magnifier and then pulled out the vodka bottle once more along with some more bandages, luckily still having spares left, though he'd need to restock or else he'd not be much use to anyone.

He soon started to pour the alcohol onto a fresh rag, going to apply it to his wounds, "Have to say, you're pretty tough, if this was me, don't think I'd be moving too much, I mean I passed out from a graze and two measly wounds." He joked, trying not to make the whole thing serious as he went about treating Brick.

[Assistant]
Brick gasped as the rag was pressed against his wounds and winced at the burning sensation.
"Don't be so hard on yourself man, you were shot twice, that's way worse than a couple of scrapes and, well yeah, this is pretty bad" he nodded down towards his shoulder "Honestly, I think it was just shock that kept me going, and then that adrenaline rush from pushing into it. I thought I was gonna pass out from all of it.... Did afterwards. I hardly remember getting home last night"

[User]
Reese nodded as he focused on patching the man up, it's not like he was really holding it against the man, just that he hoped Brick wouldn't push that injury any further in the next few days, otherwise the wound would tear more and required to be sewn shut which Reese didn't know if he had those supplies in his bag.

"Right, I get it, that creature was attacking and you were doing everything you could to stop it, we all were, just make sure you take it easy with your shoulder and don't over strain." He added, unable to help himself be worried about the man, though he was like that with most of his patients if they had an injury that wasn't severe but could be depending on the circumstances.