[System]
Nicknames: Dodge
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Rank: Cpl
Ethnicity/Nationality: Caucasian/American

Physical Description:
Standing 5'9" with brown hair and green eyes, Eli is of average but sturdy build. With outdoor life in the semi-arid desert of the Texas Panhandle being the norm until the Nam, he is well tanned, and in good shape. Basic has hardened his frame.

Skillset:
Eli has a couple tours under his belt at least, giving him some familiarity with the VC, the jungle, and operation of his weapon systems. He as proven to be capable under fire, and has demonstrated leadership capabilities among his peers. As such he has recently been minted as a Corporal and given charge of a few others.
With a youth spent outdoors, a gun in hand, hunting, exploring, and being in dangerous country sometimes, has attributed to his survival in the jungles of Viet Nam.
M16 Expert
M203 Qualified
Land Navigation Qualified
Army hand to hand

History:
Elijah was born in Borger Texas in 1945. His father was Dale Dodgers, a WWII vet. His mother was Helen who was the daughter of a displaced farmer from the dust bowl. Dale spent most of his time working the oilfield and carbon black after returning home from military to provide for his wife and son. Eli attended public schooling in Borger. He gained a few friends, and even had a girlfriend, Regina Warren. For a time, Regina was all he was about, and intended to marry the girl until the Draft came along.

His dad taught him to shoot and Elijah took to hunting and fishing with his grandfather and father (When he had the time). During his school years, he was a typical kid of the day, when he wasn't parked next to the radio or TV, he would sometimes venture down to Electric City, the small township that had sprung up around the steam-based powerplant that had been erected to power the Phillips-Chevron Refinery as well as the oilfield drilling locations in the area when his dad was a boy. By the time he was old enough to go to Electric City, it had been all but abandoned. Exploring old houses and structures was a fun activity, and occasionally he found something nifty while he was there. More than once he'd found a rattlesnake there, but he'd learned how to handle them, and was always careful about such things.

Something of a loner because of this, as mentioned before he had only a few friends, maybe enough to count on one hand. But those that he had were good ones. Occasionally he would spend time with his cousins, of whom he had several, which between his friends and family allowed him to be decently well-rounded and instilled the value of family. He still maintains a sense of independence and self-reliance.

It was during the last year or so of high school he took an interest in Regina Warren, a dark-haired girl with blue eyes who'd grown up in the same town. At first she turned him down, but with charm and persistence she finally decided he was serious, or at least seriously interested in her. The two started seeing each other outside of school, a little at first, but then more so, even going out on dates.

By this time, Eli's mother had become a working woman at the local J.C. Penny's. Better that than the alternative, as inflation soared. Being well old enough to take care of himself, Eli was left to his own devices much of the time, especially with his father becoming increasingly absent from his life, spending more time at the local watering holes after work, and often stumbling home drunk. This meant it was much harder for his parental unit to wrangle in his 'extracurricular' activities. This gave him something of a badboy vibe, which Gina was drown to, and Eli probably didn't do much to dispel it.

Just before graduation, his father wound up running his car off the bridge of the Canadian River on Highway 136, after traveling down it the opposite way in a drunken stupor. The car dropped a couple stories below and crashed into the river. Unable to free himself, his father drowned, leaving his mother a widow. A month later the Draft came through, and pulled him away from his mom and Gina.

At first Eli resented the military and the draft pulling him away from his little life in Borger, sometimes it was the thought of home that kept him going, as well as the letters back and forth. Basic training kept him pretty busy, and was a distraction needed. After that he attended training at Fort Benning for training regarding the new 11th Air Assault Division. Serving with the 11th, he gained several tours, but wasn't entirely happy about the 11th being rolled over into 1st Cavalry Divsion (Air Mobile) but since then not a whole lot has changed

Equipment: * M79 grenade launcher - "Thumper" - 5 grenades, 3 smoke
* M16A1 (w/ brass deflecter, newer model), "Rebecca" - 3 extra magazines (1 mag empty)
* Colt 1911, 4 extra mags (one loaded in weapon)
* M1942 machete, scout carry (small of back)
* Gerber Mk II fighting knife
* Jungle fatigues, boots, boonie hat, OD Bandana,
* Canteen, e-tool, poncho, 50' 550 paracord, FAK, other soldier sunderies
* pictures of mom and Regina
* couple cans of "dip", pack of cigs, zippo lighter, pack of playing cards

[User]
Ryan flicked his rifle back to safe, cursing as the flare arced overhead. He hadn't had a chance to shoot more than two rounds; the grenade had shredded the first three VC, and his boys had laid out enough disciplined fire to put down the charging line quickly and efficiently. When the echoing gunfire ceased he wasted no time, dropping to a knee and digging his map out of his map and compass out of his cargo pocket.

"Hey, Sarge? Wanna make a phone call and maybe arrange for a ride?"

"No time," he said shortly, waving off his radioman. Instead he quickly oriented the map with the compass, using the locations of a few known landmarks he'd seen on the flight in to triangulate their position as best he could. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would give him an idea of where they were, and where they needed to go.

After a moment or two he pointed one finger at the map.

"Okay, we're about here, give or take some milage. The Cong came from the West...So...Over here. Maybe this village." He indicated the spot.

"There's a river out here to the East...Got some clearings, might make for a good LZ. Couple villages, too…"

He stared at the map for a brief moment, then folded it up and crammed it back into his cargo pocket.

"Alright. First thing's first. We've gotta clear this LZ most ricky-tick. Charlie and his boys will be here any time, following that flare. We need to move East, towards that river. If we can find some open ground, I'll try and call back for an extract, but our main goal is finding somewhere to hide ourselves so I can get a better grip on our pos. If we can spot a village I can figure the rest out from there, but I can't get a solid fix from fuckin' trees."

He pointed at Sgt Pope.

"Pope, you're on point. Eyes peeled, head on a swivel, and watch the fuckin' ground. I don't think there'll be a random trip-wire this far out in the boonies, but there's no sense not playing safe. Everyone else, give me a staggered column behind him. Six meters dispersion, watching your footing. We need to move quick but careful."

Ryan looked to Buck. "Barnes, you're next in line. Derricks, behind him. I want that gun where we can deploy it forward or back. Then it's Hoffman, me, and Dodgers. Dodgers, you'll be at the rear. You'll be able to hear Charlie coming before the rest of us, and if he starts catching up you bust out Thumper and drop a forty-mike down his throat. Shit goes dinky dau, pop some smoke. We don't have the numbers for a stand-up fight."

He stood and hefted his rifle, adjusting his helmet on his head.

"Okay boys. Move 'em out. We're gonna show these motherfuckers why Uncle Sam sends Cav to do the hard shit."

[Assistant]
As the firefight settled, Daniel scanned the environment in front of him just to make sure that there were no survivors. If there was one thing American forces liked to know, it was knowing that there was nothing but dead Charlie. A dead tango was the only tango they liked, and with this particular kind, they tended to be nasty and killing them was the best way to make sure they wouldn't do much damage. Those sons of bitches knew what they were doing against the Americans, and boy, did it work. The helicopter right in front of Daniel acted a testament to that. And that was only one out of a hundred instances just like that. As soon as the environment was deemed clear, Daniel put his M16A1 on safe. Right now, bullets were the most important thing someone could have in an environment like this. All but one bullet would go to Charlie, the last one, on the other hand, would go straight back to sender.

Daniel backed up to First Sergeant Davis's position, crouching down and peering at the map from time to time as he got settled. He did figure out their current location pretty well, which was a good thing considering the nature of the situation they were right now. At least they had their bearings, and that was a valuable piece of information. As First Sergeant Davis dictated his instructions and where exactly they were, Sgt. Pope was put on point. Perfect, at least then he would be able to put his skills to use, finding out whatever booby trap they had. As everyone got lined up, Daniel switched his fire selector to semi-automatic, knowing that having firepower at an immediate notice was a very valuable asset.

Daniel took out his compass and pointed himself due east, signaling for everyone to line up on him as he commenced the traversing towards the river. "Alright guys, on me! We're going to take this nice and easy." He said, pointing his gun and walking forward, careful to maintain his proper footing. He had to be on high alert constantly, never knew when there could be one of those damned traps. It was unlikely this close to here, but it was better safe than sorry.

[User]
The marching orders were a little odd, Eli thought, but this was a seriously SNAFU anyway. The selection gave a relatively decent dispersal of fire, a balance of assault and overwatch, and kept their ass-end covered. A good tracker though could figure out how many survivors, and with a staggered unit, they doubled the chances of catching a mine or tripwire, but this deep in, it wasn't likely to set one off. Charlie didn't boobytrap his own back yard where one of their kids might catch a tin-can trap instead.

Normally Dodgers had his own fireteam to lead, but it looked like they hadn't made it out of the crash. Already he missed the reliability of those guys. They were much more vulnerable, but at least this situation wasn't their problem anymore. Hefting Becca, his M16, he positioned himself to take a sector of fire different from the rest while they got their orders, but now, he was bringing up the rear as they formed up to move out to the east. Not only would he have to watch where he stepped, but where everybody else did as well, and keep an eye out behind.

Once they were moving out of the clearing, he maintained a steady pace gained from years of walking in the rocky terrain around Borger, with it's red clay and red dirt hills, the sand bars around the Canadian River with the occasional patch of quicksand and more frequent slow sand (yes that's a thing), and then a couple years stomping around in the jungles here, he found the travel to be easier for him than a lot of the new guys. He could move without disturbing the vegetation as much, his eyes had learned how to sort out the visual junk of all the vines, bushes, twigs, branches, and trees. The humidity sucked, it made you hot, made you sweat, but you could never get dry, and so you never realized how much water you really lost. With the area he was from, it was a semi-arid region. Desert survival and water conservation he knew about as well.

With the adrenaline crash that came after a fire fight, a sudden emergency... those kinds of things, he knew people were going to get dull soon. Stress, especially combat stress, was the greatest thing for causing mental and even physical fatigue, and with the guys starting to come down, it could lead to some bad mistakes. They were going to be heading into some mean bush too. Besides just VC there were snakes, tigers, wild boar (he thought), and a few other things that could make life... interesting. Not to mention the traps and mines and all they could possibly run into. It was one reason Eli tried to stay emotionally detached... using his head for something besides a hat rack.

Who knew how many miles they were going to have to hump it before they could get extracted? He knew that ounces were going to turn into pounds, in their gear, before the end of the day. Pounds would turn into tons. "Welcome to the suck," he muttered to borrow from a couple Marine buddies. Part of him hoped they wouldn't have to walk the whole way back. Maybe a friendly river patrol boat or huey could pick them up or something.

Elijah paused once in a while to listen to the jungle around them, as well as for signs of pursuit, looking for movement behind them as well. His steps were designed to fall into the footfalls of the others to help at least partially conceal their numbers, and still he kept paying attention for signs of traps and mines, even though others had traveled in front of him, through the same space. Most of all though, he paid attention to his gut instincts, the hairs on the back of his neck, the kind of thing developed with a long time in the bush, and in country.


[System]
Appearance: She is a tall, attractive woman standing 5'10, her body toned and in shape from years of intense physical activity. Her most striking feature is her violet eyes which stand out greatly from her light red skin coloration. Like others of her species she possesses a row of shorter dark horns, almost in a crown pattern along the top of her forehead. Her face is also tattooed, the tattoos holding great meaning to her.
Age: 23

Planet of Birth: Coruscant

Species: Zabrak

Skills/Abilities:
- Hand to hand combat: Vixai is quite skilled in fight with her hands, though she prefers not to fight at all when given the option. Nevertheless she is able to take down an opponent with an array of moves such as grapples, kicks and sweeps.
- Espionage: She is first and foremost a spy, not a soldier, a sneaky spy. Vixai considers herself on of the best in the galaxy and she is not entirely wrong with this line of thought. She is extremely skilled at usage of disguises and crossing enemy lines, her true identity hidden completely.
- Charismatic: She is skilled with her words and is quite often able to coerce others into revealing important information.
- Hacking: Vixai is very skilled with computers and is able to hack them through experience and careful learning.
- Observationist: Vixai has very keen senses and is able to collect information very easily. Her observation skills are top notch. When need be she can blend into a crowd.
- Multilingualism: Vixai is fluent in Galactic Standard, Huttese and Twi'leki.

Equipment:
- KYD-21 blaster pistol
- Vibroknife
- Padded full body jumpsuit
- Computer spikes
- Fibercord grappling hook with a wrist mounted launcher

Personality:
Vixai is extremely quiet and observant, one that rarely starts conversations in casual settings. On missions she is more open depending on the mission, but naturally she is very quiet. Patient to a dot Vixai does not rush anything, taking things at her own pace. She is a very careful person that always thinks of the possible consequences of her actions before she takes them.

She is self reliant and does not trust others with much ease, even in her childhood she did not have many friends, she is used to working on her own and prefers it. It is odd of her to actually have joined the Rebel Cell on Coruscant but it was a partership of positivity to her, partly due to it forming right in her back yard. Truthfully she does not care for the Rebellion but rather wants to see the Empire pushed back.

History:
Born in the seedy underlevels of Coruscant as the only child of two lower class parents, Vixai spent much of her younger years on the streets so she can be considered an expert on life in the undercity. From the start she was watchful of everyone around her, having grown up practically next to murderers, thugs, extortionists and all kinds of criminal filth. She only trusted herself and it served her well as many of her friends from her childhood died far too young in the brutal undercity.

She got her start as a spy in her teenage years. Her expertise was gathering and then trading of information which routinely earned her a constant and livable amount of credits. Vixai briefly entertained moving somewhere nicer, where she wasn't as likely to get shot in the back, but squashed those thoughts as she realized her gift as a spy would be best used in the seedy underworld.

Some time later after she ended up entwined with the Rebellion, while not particularly caring for their plight as a whole she was interested in booting the Empire out of her home.

[User]
The man at the bar had tastes that were... less than expensive. He'd been nursing a succession of cheap lomin-ales the entire night. Trickles of the drink had woven their way through his beard, and he had made no effort to remove them.

Clearly the man came from a very warm planet. He was dressed shoulder to toe in very thick clothing. If he were dumped on Hoth, he would probably have been warm enough to go for a stroll. But he was on Coruscant, not Hoth, and the man swaddled up for a walk in the snow had gotten a few strange looks that night.

He checked the chrono above the bar. Huh. The meeting should have started a few minutes ago. Sithspit. He flicked a credit chit on to the table and got up with nary a word. Weaving through batches of people, human and nonhuman alike, he stepped into the backroom where the meeting was occurring.

It didn't appear he was that late. Not all the seats had been filled. So he sat in one.

"Jernigan Corvi. Pilot," he introduced himself. All business.

[Assistant]
Keenan headed down the avenue looking for the Royal Bantha, he was forwarded a message about a rebel cell there and after what happened at the spaceport he was willing to join them. while he was largely unnoticed on the walkway his armor was still drawing some attention, so when he finally found the bar he first slipped into a side alley and activated his stealth field generator before heading in.

once he got through the bar he deactivated the generator as he entered, he looked around the room at the others that were already there, he didn't know who the leader was, the message had been forwarded through an unknown third party and didn't contain the identity of the leader of this cell, but did notice another person in Mandalorian armor. he made his way across the room to him and leaned on the wall next to him, "I-i'm Keenan" he said, the Mandalorian's voice betraying his timidness and probably ruining any assumptions made based off is appearance, he spoke quietly enough that only the armored individual and likely the Twi'lek next to him could hear.

[User]
Sarkh looked up from his position at the table as the rest of the merry band of misfits entered the room. His reptilian eyes sizing them up as his own hands still polished and reinserted parts with a casual grace. Though he did not outwardly show it he was as interested in the group as his companion was for more pragmatic reasons. Sarkh was going to be the one leading them into the field when it was required for as good as a tactician that La was she just didn't have the mind for actual combat. So as his eyes passed by like spotlights they judged and analyzed and in honesty they were not the best group he had ever seen, but they were not the worst either and that was enough for him. The Jedi had him worried though announcing you were suck to a room of strangers was never a smart idea, and it give Sarkh a moment to contemplate how raw the kid actually was. When the Zeltron handed him the piece of the gas converter he looked at it for a moment feeling the smooth metal brush against his hand. Seemingly satisfied he grunted and stowed it away in one of his many pouches contain a variety of ammo and other spare goods. "It looks corroded because the gun is older than you kid. The LS-150 is old and temperamental tech like most weapons my people manage to smash together. A new converter would damage the cyclic interface and eventually force me to scarp the thing. But thanks... I'm sure I can find a use for it." He explained ideally before turning his attention back to his gun.

While Sarkh was keeping it cool and professional, La was trying her very best to remain on the proper side of dignified as a dreadful mixture of regret and excitement came over her as for the first time a group had actually shown up. Going down her checklist it seemed like everyone was there, she cross-referenced was the faces in front of her just to make sure. The group may not of been the most professional of sorts but they all had certain skills that the Twi'lek knew were going to useful in the coming weeks. As the bounty hunter by the name of Keenan entered she finally checked the last boxo off the list and nodded pleased to herself. Looking around her eyes met with Sarkh's looking for any sign of reassurance but all she got was his normal boring face as he gestured with his off hand for her to begin her show. Taking a breath she collected her thoughts and rose up as the anxious side of her mind screamed that this was a bad idea, and her more courageous side was getting hyped and ready to go. Clearing her throat she began to speak in a calm, warm voice that easily hid away any of her worry. "Well that would be everyone, guess it is time for us to start."

"My name is La as some of you may already know and my companion here is Sarkh, one of the most wanted lizards this side of the Kessel run. As most of you already know you have been gathered here today for a very special reason. The Alliance to Restore the Republic has tasked me wtih a mission to strike out against the heart of the Empire here on Coruscant. But this mission can not be done alone and so this is why you have all been asked to come here. You all have a special set of skills that will be valuable to this task and your own grudges against the imperial rule which is why out of hundreds of options you were chosen. I will not lie to any of you and say that this task will be easy, but I don't think any of you came here expecting an easy job." La explained to them all trying to keep it positive, she turned to Sarkh gesturing for him to say something.

Looking up at her from his seated position he rolled his eyes before he spoke. "Girly has already told you my name and I suppose I am going to have to be the one in charge of your welfare in the field. Words of advice? Well, to be frank if you have any reprimands or fear of the idea of dying you better walk out of here now."

"Sarkh!" La declared in a chastising tone as she did want to big dumb lizard to go and scare away the only group that had actually showed up.

"What? I'm not going to go around and hide the fact. To go against the Imperial Security Bureau on there own turf is practically asking for a massacare. Not that I mind, I just don't want some kid shitting his pants and forgetting how to fire a blaster as soon as things go south. A perfectly reasonable request don't you think." Sarkh responded as La let out a sigh conceding the point to him. He was right of course what they were being asked to do was basically a suicide mission or wose and having everybody on board with the idea was probably the best way to start. La looked back towards the group with a simple shrug of her shoulders before she spoke.

"He does have a point I suppose. So I guess I will get this out of the way before we progress any further. If any of you want to step out now while it is not too late, you may." She explained making a sweeping gesture with her hand opening the floor to anyone that would want to voice their opinion.

[Assistant]
Arimax, who had been leaning against the wall near the door the entire time, checked the time on his PDA. The room had been silent for several uncomfortable minutes. Well, then, he thought. Might as well try to liven it up in here a little bit.

He stood up in front of the group, smiling thinly as he spoke to the jumbled mess of mercenaries and true rebels before him.

"Many of you arrived after me, so I'll just introduce myself again. I am Arimax Lispat, of Coruscant. I have every reason to believe that everyone in here is trustworthy - at least, as long as the money is good and nobody's family gets captured or anything silly like that. I, myself, am here because the Empire is in the way of progress. They need to be removed for the sake of both science and prosperity."

He looked around the room for the others' reactions before continuing in a slightly more serious tone.

"Nobody has left the room, so I assume we're all ready for the next step... What is the first thing we need to do to disrupt the Empire's operations on Coruscant?"

[User]
Renga tried to hide his surprise that the lizard schooled him so hard, but he failed. So he covered the lower half of his face with his left hand and nodded sagaciously as he took a seat and listened to the buildup. The promise of death did make him pale in pink to pastels, but he held his reserve.

"I'm not a warrior, I'm a gun nut who can make you all even better warriors. I bring a job security most of you don't possess and the licenses to carry and operate military firearms. I can't promise you I won't loose my cool staring down a barrel, but I can promise you I'll bow out before I'm a liability to this cause."

[Assistant]
Vixai listened to the others speak from a corner of the room, the whole time her eyes scanning the room trying to read the faces of her potential allies. She was not scared of the ominous speak of death, she was a spy, avoiding death was her top skill. The Zabrak didn't really care for the plight of the Alliance, but she would admit that knocking the Empire down a step or offworld entirely was a sweet goal.

"We don't need to attack the Imperials head on. With such a small, focused group here there's other ways." She pipped in her usual quiet tone of voice when the room fell silent. She disliked actually going blaster to blaster with the might of the Empire, they would fail very quickly if that was the method they were going to choose.


[System]
Age: ?
Appearance:

Personality: Likes chasing people, dragging people around with its claws, terrorizing old ladies and being sneaky. Hates wolves. Thinks fireflies are yummy.

Profession: Staring Contest Champion

History: ??

[User]
When the ground started trembling, Naia immediately let the magic holding the structure together dissipate. She stared with wide eyes at the trees as they thrashed about, trying to figure out what was causing them to act how they were. Feeling something grip her arm, she looked down and saw the child, who looked terrified. Letting him hold her arm for now, she followed his finger to the big mountains in the distance, finally spotting the cause of the earthquake.

Several questions ran through her mind at once. Why was the mountain crumbling? What was going on there? Should they run? Her eyes snapped upward as she spotted a gryphon above them, then went to Palla as she started speaking.

Before she could reply, the sound of rushing water reached her ears, causing her to turn to the source of the sound. Dread gripped her at the sight of the wave of water coming towards them, though her mind was immediately running through solutions to save their lives. Her ears barely registered Palla's whistle, but she knew the gryphon was too far away. In a few short seconds she had settled an idea that would work.

She quickly picked the boy up, ignoring any protests he may have had, and ran the short distance to Palla, already putting the magic of the lantern to work. Wood started to form around the three into the shape of a boat. Knowing the water hitting it would be rough, she put a roof above them for protection, deciding she would take the roof off later, and the wood the boat was made of was sturdy and strong. It was about the size of a small bedroom.

The boat had barely finished forming when the wave crashed into it, the force causing them all to fall onto the floor. They could feel the water moving them along, knocking into a few trees on the way, but thankfully the boat held strong. When the force of the current had calmed some, Naia removed the roof of the boat to reveal the sky above them.

[Assistant]
Artemis barely registered the destruction of the island as she gripped Nura's armor, body held low against the gryphon's back. Her knuckles were white and her teeth were clenched – every muscle was taut with frantic energy. But she couldn't move. She could barely think. Her thoughts raced, too quickly to keep track of, as Artemis flew through the sky. Something was building inside her. Some horrid truth, too dangerous to recognize, too painful to look at, was rearing up inside her, pulling years of hidden emotions with it.

She barely registered when Nura landed on familiar, ashen ground. She stumbled off, inelegantly leaving Nura to squawk and chirp at her. The gryphon was obviously confused – she could sense some change, some foreign energy around her new rider. Artemis just tossed the Witch's staff at her taloned feet. Nura chirped in surprise, sniffing the staff only to dart her eyes back up to watch Artemis. Her feathers ruffled underneath her heavy plate armor, distressed sounds escaping her.

Artemis was pacing. Her heart hammered in her throat, her chest fluttering up and down like her very skin was struggling to contain her. Oseely's words echoed again and again in her head.

She had too much energy. She was too hot. She was freezing cold. With every step she took, saplings sprouted from the barren, charred earth, only to curl and blacken, smoke rising from their dying bodies. Magic sparked in her blood, uncontrollable, as the two Lords' runes glowed fervently bright on her hands. She clenched and unclenched her fists. In a flash of motion, she reached up and ripped the rabbit mask from her face and tossed it to the ground. Embers sparked into existence, following her hand, only to flicker and fade in the night in the next instant.

Losing the mask's energy didn't seem to calm Artemis at all. She was still restless, her breath coming out in frantic puffs as her fists clenched and unclenched in rapid succession. She just felt clumsier now, more cumbersome and less focused.

Artemis remembered the plague – the Climbing Vine, they'd called it. She remembered the panic that'd seeped through the valley when more and more people began dying from it. She remembered being quarantined from her parents when they fell to it. She remembered how her heart stopped when her brother caught it.

Idris' face flashed in her mind. Not as he'd been in life – no, Artemis saw him ashen and dull eyed, blindly telling her how much faith he had in her to do a job she was never meant for.

Her warm, loving, trusting little brother. The plague had taken him from her – it had stolen her life just as it'd stolen his.

Something nudged into her back and Artemis spun in a blur of motion, rounding on Nura, who immediately flinched back. The gryphon had a worried look in her eye, the staff held hopefully in her beak. Artemis wanted to feel guilty. But she was too overwhelmed by her own emotions to feel any more for Nura. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes and clenched her teeth. This was too much. She lowered her hands to find them wet with fresh tear stains. She didn't even know. But if –

She looked up over Nura's armored head to see a familiar back – Oseely. He was standing in a tree on the edge of the waste. Suddenly her energy had a focus.

Artemis walked around Nura without glancing at her and began marching towards the Lord of Flame. Without slowing, she bent to scoop up the rabbit mask as she passed, frantic embers dancing off of her skin. Saplings were born and killed with every silent footstep. The barren trees themselves seemed to sway with her movement. Nura chirped around the staff in her mouth before jumping to follow nervously after her rider.

"Oseely!" came her ragged shout when she finally drew close. There was something desperate and grieving in her voice as it broke over his name. She came to a stop several yards away from his tree, looking up at him with bright, wet eyes. "Oseely, you tell me why I'm here!" For all its force, it wasn't a command – it was a plea. "Why am I here? You said that thing," she lifted a hand to point to the dragon, shaking itself out of the mountain, "stole lives from my world." She lowered her hand and looked at him. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She had to force the words into the world. "Which ones?" They were hushed. But her voice grew again. "The ones closest to me?" Burning tears were starting to trail down her cheeks as she struggled to speak. "Am I here because the dragon drained the life from my family? My Valley?" She dared him to tell her the truth – why it was that her entire world had come crashing down. "Did it take my brother from me?" The person standing before him wasn't Artemis. It was the girl she'd abandoned with her family. Still grieving. Still in pain. She couldn't keep from holding her halting breath as she looked up at Oseely.

Still waiting for answers.

[User]
During the tumult -- while the water hissed and roared against the walls of Naia's ark -- somehow Palla and the little Kith boy ended up clinging to one another for safety, their eyes squeezed shut against the violent shifts and bangs along the swirling waves and barrier trees. The boat tossed and lurched, slammed and spun.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, everything grew quiet. Naia had removed the roof, and only then did Palla and the boy open their eyes to stare up at the sky, clouded by dust and billows of debris. The only sound was the quiet lapping of ripples against the sides of the boat, and the occasional crack of a stone falling in the distance.

The boy wrenched away from Palla in disgust, stumbled back, and turned around to peer up at two blue fiery dots that seemed very different from stars.

Palla shifted to her feet, unsteady on the rocking boat. "The others will wonder what happened. I wonder what the hell just happened --"

"Uh, guys?" The Kith boy straightened his arm and pointed up at the two blue dots in the dusty sky. They moved together, slow and fluid, like eyes. When Pallas squinted, she could make out a dark, enormous shape half-hidden behind the dust-clouds. She could make out a long neck, bony wings, a skeletal and serpentine tail; a lizardlike colossus as tall as a mountain. The creature rummaged in the ruinous rubble of the mountain, and slowly drew out something small and glowing-white between its talons.

"The Dragon," Palla breathed. She glanced to Naia and swallowed. "The Dragon is the ancient god of this island," she explained. "It was supposed to have been sealed away forever."

While she watched, the Dragon raised the little white-glowing Lanter up to its bony jaws and swallowed it whole. Sparks of energy rippled along the Dragon's skeletal frame, and leather grew between the black bones of its wings. The Dragon was so distant, so huge, that all this was completely silent to those watching from the boat.

Both Kith and Pirate stared in fascination -- until the Dragon's bright blue eyes spotted them.

The Dragon turned toward Naia's boat, raised its head, and focused its attention entirely on her. The new wings stretched and tested the wind, preparing to take flight.

Palla gasped, put her fingers to her lips, and blew a piercing whistle to call her gryphon. "Naia, it wants the Lantern," she said quickly, pressing her hands against Naia's arm. "You mustn't let it have the Lantern. Promise me."

The gryphon lighted on the edge of the boat, which lilted deeply with the added weight, and flapped precariously. The light of the violet Lantern illuminated its runed armor and frayed tawny feathers. "Take the gryphon, his name is Goldquill," said Palla. "Go alone -- go! The Dragon has its sights on you. We'll get to higher ground, don't worry about us. Hurry!"

---

For a moment, Oseely only stood staring out at the vision of the Dragon's moving black bones, and the brief spark of the Lantern of Flight before it disappeared into what remained of the creature's gullet. His fingers curled against the ashen bark.

Finally he turned his head, peered back at Artemis out of the corner of his eye. He shifted on the branch and turned his back on the Dragon to face Artemis. With steady eyes he studied her, his mouth set to a grim line.

"It's probable that the Dragon could have attached a link to your bloodline," he said, gentle but firm. "Used that link to draw power. Maybe you resisted or you were immune. That bloodline link would've made it easier to summon you over anyone else. The cause is the same, the effect is different."

Oseely dropped lightly to the ground, but didn't approach. The moonlight shifted in and out of the moving clouds of dust; the burned-out wasteland undulated in the passing shadows, haunting and alive at the same time. "That link -- that same link -- probably still exists. You could give in to it -- or it could be your advantage."

He waited while she processed this -- grieved, fought, whatever she needed to do. During this time he noted the mask, the glowing stone she'd picked up, the pocketwatch, the lightning-staff -- and the slight sparkle of a green rune on the back of her hand.

"Those people's spirits are what powers the Dragon -- and the Lanterns. Your family, your brother, might be dead, technically. But here, as long as the Lord of Shadow's in charge, the dead never really die." He tilted his head a little in thought, while in the distance behind him, dark leathery wings shifted in the smog. "Your link is with the fire Lantern, right? That'd be the same part of the Dragon that took your family. I'll bet their spirits are still in that Lantern. All you'd have to do is crack it open." He gestured to the pocketwatch. "Looks like ya already found the machine that can do it."

---

Anise would wake to find herself sheltered by a lamplit tent. She lay in a bed of furs, with bandages wrapped around her head. Her old clothes had been removed and replaced with a blue smock-dress. She was barefoot, though soft shoes had been found and set on the floor for her.

The inside of the tent was stacked with books; the oil lamp burned atop one of these stacks. At first glance, something shadowy shimmered at a corner. It took the shape of the old man she'd killed in the woods so long ago, grinning at her -- but he faded when Peck scrambled forward, having just noticed that Anise had opened her eyes.

"Hey, you're back." He grinned a little, uncertain. "Don't move fast, you're okay, you're at the Roost. There's nothing to be done right now."

When he was sure she could handle sitting up, he handed her a cup of cold water. Outside the tent, people were running and gryphons were huffing and scratching; murmurs of voices mentioned dragon and lantern in rough and hateful voices.

"The white Lantern is with the Dragon now," Peck informed Anise. "Everyone sees this as a bad omen, but we know the Dragon's return will be a good thing, right? Just three more Lanterns -- is that how it works? -- and the sun can come back." He offered her a smile. "You did it. Too bad Pirates are hard-headed and hard-convinced."


[System]
Age: 17
Gender: M

Appearance:
Normal: Rou wears a large black Kamen Rider baseball cap that shades his green eyes and makes his black shaggy hair fan out to shoulder length. He often forgets to shave. He wears a short sleeved button up shirt that is usually left open to show whatever Toku/Anime shirt he has chosen to wear for the day. His light blue jeans are a little stained and torn, but still decent.

Ball Guy: Rou's alter ego is modeled after his Toku heroes. Ball Guy's outfit consists of a stark white spandex suit and a plastic helmet that sports a red hexagon and a green opaque visor. On top of the helmet is a small pair of mini turret "antennas".

Nationality: American

Backstory: All his life Rou has loved Tokusatsu heroes and giant robots, especially combiners. He began collecting Super Sentai robots, gunpla and merchandise when he was 8 and his collection is still growing. He can quote Riders, sing theme songs, and name any mobile suit. However, his biggest problem is that he can rarely discuss his hobbies due to his timidness. This was onset by his first gunpla battle at the local hobby shop. Rou built a simple GM to test the waters of the new game. He was stomped and ridiculed for his inexperience, and quickly left the shop and never returned. He longed for companions to help him. Better yet, a team. Despite his trepidation, he attempted to find friends at a different hobby shop. He laid low, but no one really stood out to him. Rou began to only fight matches in private, fearing what the audience would say about his skills.

Struggling to overcome his fear of confrontation and people, Rou discovered that he wasn't too timid if the opponent didn't know who he was. He began planning a cosplay suit to hide his identity, but could not seem to fathom what mobile suit to base it from. Rou surveyed his shelf. He wanted something simple. Zaku? Nah, cliche. BCUE? Too animalistic. His eyes finally rested on something he constantly over looked. The quaint little cannon fodder known as the Ball. It was perfect. Rou's skills were good enough that he could hold his own with such a puny gunpla, ad it fit his hero theme quite nicely. He finished his suit in a week and went to the shop. People stared, but no one knew who he actually was, and it made Rou feel so much more comfortable. "Ball Guy" was what they called him. He didn't win many matches, but he was well known and rather liked, even if he was just acting like a "gaudy super hero". Rou decided that a simple upgrade would not suffice. He needed something extra. Then it dawned on his. What about...extra balls? IF that was the case then he would need a Flash system, and that's something that an ordinary Ball wouldn't be able to handle. Rou brainstormed. Balls were what made him so renowned in his town, he couldn't just stop using one. He crafted for weeks and weeks until he found a solution. The transforming ball! he could still use the Flash system as a Gundam, but still look like a ball. Weeks later, his prototype was complete. In a private match he quickly lost ground, but once he transformed his Ball, his opponent dropped like a rock. Now he just needed to know how to use his backup Balls. Constantly controlling them would be tedious and require immense effort. As he wracked his brain, the Super Sentai show running in the back ground showed a scene of them calling their mecha together. It was miraculous, and it fit Rou's personality perfectly. He was going to make a Ball Sentai. He began winning his local matches, preferring to keep his Ball Squad's ability a secret. It was for only those eyes he thought deserving. Learning of his fame, he was invited to Neilsen Labs to participate, signing up under the guise "Ball Guy", to keep his identity a secret for just a little longer. The suit had become a crutch, but its ability to keep him calm in social situations was invaluable.

Other information: Rou changes into costume before every match, or constantly wears it if expecting challenges.

Main Gunpla: Round Sentai: Ball Squad!/DAI-BALL-OH!

Scale: 1/144

Based from: Balls

Equipment and Weapons: Fireworks hidden in the tubes of each Ball arm. (Gotta be flashy right?). When combined into a single unit, all attributes are increased due to combined power output and source.

Brigadier Ball (Red Stripe): The Ball Rou Controls and uses to command his squad. It is capable of transforming into a Gundam-esque mobile suit to combine with the rest of the balls to form DAI-BALL-OH!. Chest can fire an extremely powerful beam when connected to the other Balls as power sources.

Blade Ball (Blue Stripe): Right arm of DAI-BALL-OH!. Equipped with four beam beam sabers to be wielded. Unfoldable hand.

Blaster Ball (Green Stripe): Left arm of DAI-BALL-OH!. Equipped with twin beam rifles. A hand folds out from underneath when attached.

Bomb Ball (Yellow Stripe) Legs of DAI-BALL-OH!. Equipped with four tri missile pods, two on each side. Added support on bottom to be used as feet.

Booster Ball (Pink Stripe): Unfolds to become the backpack and cape for DAI-BALL-OH!, very fast but otherwise useless in combat.

Other Gunpla:

Name: Brave Knight
Based From: GNX- Brave
Appearance: Silvery gray. Same basic format, but with some more regal additions like a thin cape and a knights visor on the face that hides the green mono eye and a green feather plume. The upper arms and legs have been beefed up. The Astray Tactical Arms serve as the backpack and as a weapon.

Armaments:
GN Lance (Thinner and longer)
Beam Rapier
Tactical Arms (Arm blades (3 pairs) and Bow mode)
Wrist vulcans
Feet daggers (Al-la Blue Frame)
Beam Shield
Royal Mode (Half strength Trans Am but double the duration)
Flight mode

[User]
shot pierces through the Reborns Gundam, and with a clear shot through it, the suit explodes.

With that, the battle system announces: "BATTLE ENDED!"

Sakuya's opponent was disappointed that his plans had failed against his opponent, feeling he had the faster unit.

A while later after his battle, Alex was heading back down one of the halls of the labs. He was putting together the pieces from the Freedom that broke off during the fight. Though he couldn't fully fix everything, he'd get a good start till he gets back to his room to finish up the repairs. Thoughts from the fight were going through his head. It was true that Alex was technically still a rookie when it came to Gunpla battles, despite winning the tournament. Though through all his fights, his usual preferred weapon that he uses the most was the Beam Saber, even if it meant heavy damage to his Gunpla. He had feelings during his fight that Alexis was no doubt a long time pro with battling, so he felt that he fared well, but still had a lot of work to do. However, he smiles when he feels that he was indeed on the right track. With that, he hurried his way back to his room.

Alex enters the room and notices Rou at the desk nearby his bed: "Hey Rou." Just like that, he sits down at his desk and places Freedom at the desk. But instead of going to work on his new Gunpla right away, he pulls out his Star AGE Gundam and starts taking apart some parts, pulling out some tools that were provided at each desk.

[Assistant] Nodding to herself for the victory well earned in her opinion she picked up her gunpla nodded to her "foe" and started leave. It was a decent battle she supposed she managed to see how her crossbone matched up though she supposed that despite the early lose of her peackock smasher it did real good. Just as she though though the main feature of the crossbone will become is I field and versatility in a battle. Though as she went back to her room she couldn't help but wonder just how would things turned out if she was against a stronger person?

[User] Rou looked up drowsily from the desk. "Oh, what's up. How'd your battle go?" Rou brushed off some excess plastic bits from the desk, luckily he had hidden the new Ball modules he had been working soon before. He posed the Brave Knight on his GP Base and laid back on his bed. Kasumi had really done a number on him. If he had played along with her game, he would have lost so much sooner. Rou struggled to wrap his head around what today's lesson was supposed to teach him. Was he too reliant on his custom weapons? Was he, in reality, using customization as a crutch?

[Assistant] continues to work on his Gunpla while he answers: "It went amazingly. Alexis really is a top of the line Gunpla Fighter. Just shows that i have a lot more to learn if i want to become a better fighter. Also, when i was using the Freedom, i was moving so much more smoothly than i had before. And if the tips i learned and the help i got from Dani, then I can only imagine what will happen when i finish with fixing up the Star AGE Gundam."

[User] Rou smiled at Alex's enthusiasm. "Yeah, I don't really feel like I've learned much today." Rou laughed. "I'll probably realize it in the middle of a battle, anime style you know?" Rou said, mindlessly lining the inside of some spare parts of a HG Jesta Cannon with layers of aluminum foil.

[Assistant]
@FerriteFox
Dani had totally not followed alex back to his room after the battles. This was now totally not the reason why both Alex and Rou heard a knock on their door, at about waist level height none the less. Dani was sitting in her wheel chair outside the door, her victory two gundam sitting in her lap as she waited for someone to answer.

[User]
mentioned: "You know, i don't think there was one specific lesson that needed to be learned. Everyone had something to learn, and maybe they'll realize it later. I know i have learned something, and that's only gonna help make my partner and I stronger."

door was knocked, catching their attention and Alex asked: "I wonder who's here?" He sets down his Star AGE Gundam he was working on and heads to the door, opening it revealing their guest: "Dani? What brings you here?"

[Assistant] Rou leaned over behind Alex and swallowed hard. It was the girl in the wheelchair, Dani? He hadn't really seen or spoken to her since the first day of the academy, he wondered what she could possibly want. In her lap was a nicely made V2 Gundam, was she looking for a battle? Rou exhaled and looked at her. "Yeah, what's up?"

[User] As Alexis sat at the desk working on Wing Zero she replayed the battle in her mind, looking for things she could have done differently to win, and coming up with a few things, not over using the Buster Rifles for one. She'd need to work on that, she normally avoided the super high output beam cannons like Zero's Buster Rifles due to the energy drain, these kits practically demanded an upgrade just to handle that, let alone general performance, and it annoyed her greatly she wouldn't be able to make those changes.

[Assistant]
@Pilot231
The V2 wasn't painted yet, but it looked beautiful none the less. "Alex, i'm here to be your mentor, like it or not." she said and rolled into the room regardless. "Rou... if i recall hearing your name correctly, if you want to sit in on my lesson, then feel free to do so." she said and rolled up to the work table and looked at the gunpla on the table. "well made and put together. however, i'm here to teach you how to paint it." she said to them.

[User] Rou sat at his desk while Dani entered. He looked at Alex coyly. "You know, if you wanted to bring a girl into the room I'd have gladly left." He teased. Rou straightened his cap and toyed with an ink pen before finally breaking it on accident. As the ink flowed into his hand, an idea struck him. Slowly, his rubbed it into his hand, testing the stickiness and viscosity. When he noticed the others staring, he blushed. "Sorry...theorizing..."

[Assistant] Sakuya sighed to herself as she walked back towards the dormitory area but as she was passing she spotted Alexis sitting at a building table. Seeing that she was by herself she decided to try and see what she was doing it wouldn't hurt after all plus it gave her a potential person to help her with her idea. Walking up to her she tried to announce her presence as to not startle her. "Ah hello Alexis was it?" she opened up as she grabbed a chair and pulled it next to where alexis was sitting.

[User]
@FerriteFoxAlex was a little caught off guard: "Mentor? When did, i mean, why would, i uh..." And when he heard Rou's comment: "It's not what you think! Could we maybe, um..."

Alex ending narration: "Well, I'll admit, i've had a lot more crazier things happen to me than this. But I'm sure this will likely end very well. After all, the more I can learn from others, the better things will be. Just like the AGE system on the normal AGE-1 Gundam, we'll both keep evolving."

[Assistant] "Yeah, Sakuya right? Hows it going?" Alexis asked as Sakuya sat down next to her. Alexis was still working on Wing Zero, and it was tore down to the frame work in some spots still, with the damaged parts laying about beside the Gunpla in no real 'order'.

[User] @FerriteFox"Right..." she said to rou on the comment of the girl thing. "Anyways... i'm going to teach you how to properly paint your gunpla. not that you did a bad job, because it's looks fairly ok." she said examining the star age. "Anyways, do you know the first step before you even begin to paint your gunpla is to do to the gunpla?" she asked.

[Assistant] Rou shot off the rubber band that was wrapped around his fingers. Would a Gunpla have enough flexibility to utilize something like that? He snorted as it pinged off of Alex's shoulder. He looked at Dani. "Picking a color right?"


[System]
Age: Young Adult

Gender: Male

Magic: Fire magic, he can conjure it from his body and make it take the form of objects and animals. He can even make it take the shape of another fairy. It is obviously a mass of fire but he can make them move around like they are normal creatures. He can make normal fireballs and such too, though he rarely does so. He is unable to use his magic if he is wet.

Appearance: Sonny is an average height fairy with a slender yet well-toned body. His skin tone is a dark chocolate brown color. Other than some bold black freckles on his cheeks, his skin is without any major scarring and blemishes. Fiery orange hair with yellow tips is neatly cut mid-neck and the bangs are swept to the left. Sonny's hair is tidy and straight without a single strand out of place. It naturally ends up like that despite the minimal care he does for it. A bright yellow eye peers strongly out from below the orange hair which gives him an assertive image. As for his wings, they have the shape of the common yellow swallowtail butterfly except the edges are a little more wavy giving it a fiery look. The part of the wings close to his back is solid black and lightens up to an orange color before turning yellow at the edges.

All Sonny really wears these days is an off-color white lace-up top, tan knee-length shorts, an orange scarf, a dark orange sash, and a pair of black knee-high boots. The sleeve hole and bottom of the shorts are frayed from being amateurishly cut giving them a torn look. Everything else about the outfit is in excellent condition as proof it hasn't really been worn much. An eye patch covers Sonny's left eye and it is black with a flame design on it.

For the party, though Sonny has been 'encouraged' to wear a pristine button-down vest that is white with gold borders, long black slacks, and spotlessly clean black dress shoes. The fire fairy also was given a crown of orange flowers to make him more presentable. He is still wearing the scarf which adds some color to the attire and his eyepatch.

Personality: To put it frankly, Sonny is eccentric to the point that after meeting a pirate he decided to give himself a pirate name and be one. He is quite compulsive and willing to jump on anything that sounds interesting. He is one to do unconventional and inconvenient activities￼ just for the fun of it. Many find his actions idiotic and reckless, seeing him as nothing more than a troublemaker. It doesn't help that people nearby get dragged into his nonsense. These negative opinions of him rarely even get registered in his brain and he just continues doing whatever pops into his brain. This is mostly contributed by having an awful attention span that results in him getting very easily distracted. Sonny also has a terrible habit of half-listening to people which causes much trouble and misunderstandings. While not a bad person, Sonny doesn't even factor in how his careless actions affect others. So many of his wild actions more times than not just causes problems for everyone involved.

Because is his admiration of pirates, Sonny has been taking a pirate guise. He dresses similar to them, and talks in a pirate accent. He has even given himself the name Captain Aldridge. There is not must difference between his pirate persona and his usual self. Though his tendency to drag in others is on purpose as he attempts to be a leader.

History: Sonset was born in Pompfey like most fire fairies. He is actually a part of the royal family though he is just the 2nd cousin to the future heir with dozens of older fairies in higher lineage. So there is little chance he would ever inherit the throne, which is fine by him. His childhood to teen years was spent in the fire fairies of Pompfey territory. He found life in the barren wastelands they call home plain boring, but living in the royal family castle was even more unbearable. So often, he would sneak out to play near the lava pools of the active volcano they lived near or at the edge of town where he played around with his magic. Many times his hunt for something exciting to do has almost resulted in terrible accidents or injuries. Luckily nothing serious ever occurred from his reckless behavior.

Right around when he reached the age to be considered and young adult, he finally got to leave Pompfey. Sonny was excited to see something other than endless sand and a few stray cacti. The Fey Tropics still had sand but it seem different as it sat at the border of the large body of water. There was so much green and water, that Sonny couldn't help but get distracted and separated from the rest of his family. It didn't take long for him to be hopelessly lost without really knowing where he should be going. Then a strong windstorm passed through and he got blown away from the city.

As fate would have it he met with a water fairy named Neptune that called himself a pirate. He was a combination of strong, cool, and kind, and it made Sonny look up to him. After half a day of traveling, he was brought back to The Fey Tropics and his family. Sonny had a new love of pirates to much dismay of his family.

Other:
- His full pirate name is Captain Aldridge Rowley.
- The eyepatch he wears is cosmetic and both of his eyes are perfectly fine.
- Sonny oddly likes water despite the negative effects it has on him.

[User]
Feydellia Palace

Sky took several deep breaths trying to calm himself. Ok Sky, get it together. It's prince time! He stood up, smiled, and kissed the hand of the blue fairy that asked what happened. He also kissed the hand of the orange fairy that asked the same question. At least, that's what he thought he was asking… This fairy talked funny.

"Greetings, I am Prince Sky. This is horrible, absolutely horrible!" He started flying around in circles. "All of the guests have been turned to stone! Including my own mother and father, the king and queen! I don't know what happened. They were perfectly lively and having fun before, and then when I came down to make my entrance, this!" Suddenly, he stopped flying around, and landed when a realization hit him. "I bet those dark fairies have something to do with this! Our kingdoms have been at odds for as long as I can remember. Never in my life did I think they would be brazen enough to attack us at the Fairy Festival!"

[Assistant]
Feydellia

The festivities in Feydillia hadn'd been as vexing so far as Dragon and his crew had feared. While the entire event was a lot more... pink, than Dragon would have liked himself, he understood it as "cultural differences" and this had to just be quiet about it. Luckily for him, he had one of his retainers there with him, as well as his fiancè, Anathema, to keep him in check and to hinder that he accidentally start some sort of scandal with the kingdom. The last thing the dark fairies of Transfeyvania needed now, was yet another reason for people to shoo them all under one bus as a dubious people at best. Besides, she had been excited for this event for months on end, and he wouldn't be the one to stand inbetween his fiance and her current obsessions.

Besides, as mentioned earlier, and while Dragon would struggle with admitting this to himself and to the others, the festivities were quite lovely save for the tacky decor. There were stalls in the streets, and the air was thick with a sweet scent hinting at all the goodies presented below. There were fairies from all over the world present as well, all enjoying themselves and taking in the scenery.

"You know, sir. We would be able to explore more thoroughly had we not been late to the event." his retainer, Alva spoke. "Fashionably late." Dragon corrected her as they flew. "Nobody expecting us, and we have all day, so there is no need for us to rush" he continued. He only got a sigh from Alva in return. While the retainer was very talented talented, Alva was not the kind of fairy to mince her words.

However, the trio's friendly banted of excitement was cut short when a peculiar fireworks of sorts displayed in the sky further ahead, near what Dragon assumed was the Feydillian castle. The fireworks in question, which looked like it was created through magic, spelled out the word Help. Quite a strange display for such an event. Regardless, the group landed in a crowded area full of stalls and booths. It didn't seem that too many of the crowd noticed the possible call for help, as only a small handfull of fairies could be seen heading towards the castle.

After a short while of asking around, nobody seemed to know what was going on. "Allright, i will go and take a look", Dragon decided after arguing with Alva and Anathema for a few minutes. "If it actually is an emergency it would do us good to be on the scene to offer our help, after all.". He then ordered Alva to take Anathema to enjoy the festival until they get more information, after which they were to return to Transfeyvania to inform his father while he himself stayed behind to lend a hand.

Parting ways with the two ladies, Dragon took to the sky and started heading towards the castle. While he had no idea what was happening, he didn't seem very concerned. Knowing this place it was likely just someone having a bad case of Sugar rush.

He would then arrive at the castle and spot a small group of fairies looking distressed. Assuming they might know anything about what was going on, he landed by them, still not noticing how eerielly quiet the ballroom was.

[User]
@Crimson Flame @Yasha

Well, this was the last thing Zircon needed. She bristled as an orange-haired fairy landed in an exaggerated action pose, and addressed her as if this was an appropriate time to act like a pirate. Biting back a snippy reply, she took a deep breath. "I don't even know. I went in there, and everyone..." She gestured towards the ballroom. "Everyone was like that."

When the prince could bring himself to speak, he explained what he'd seen - the king and queen, turned into stone along with all the other guests. That seemed to get through to the wannabe pirate, who dropped the act and headed inside to investigate. Zircon clenched her fists. What was this - some kind of coup? With several innocent bystanders caught up in it, including Coralie? She closed her eyes, as if that would block the mental image of her stone features. Instead, it made the memory all the more vivid.

At Prince Sky's next words, she couldn't help but groan. He had to go and jump to conclusions, blaming the dark fairies. She recalled her visits to Transfeyvania, selling wares. While their culture wasn't as lively as those of most kingdoms, that didn't make dark fairies bad. Many she'd met had been polite and respectful. She knew from personal experience that anyone who didn't fit in with the norm was going to get picked on.

"Look, with all due respect, is there any proof?" The words, despite being addressed to a prince, came out a little harsher than she intended. That was when she spotted the young man who had just arrived. She cringed inwardly. The deep red and black of his wings indicated he was probably a dark fairy. There was a good chance he'd just heard all that, and even if he hadn't, things weren't exactly bound to go well between him and Sky.

[Assistant]
Feydellia

Juniper paused as her father called out for her to slow down. She obeyed and flew closer, but kept throwing anxious glances behind her. "There's a message right above the castle. It appeared right when I was looking at it – it says HELP in big capital sparkly letters... and... and nobody else saw it right away, and I got scared. Sorry for flying off like that." She hesitated, then decided she didn't want to leave time for him to argue that it might be dangerous to help, and instead turned back around. "Come on!" she urged, flying at a reasonably slow speed so that Dad wouldn't lose her.

Juniper followed the light to the castle. "Down here!" she piped up so Dad knew why she'd suddenly changed directions. The first thing she noticed was several out-of-place statues of fairies in the ballroom, though she didn't immediately realize the significance of them, so didn't narrate them to her father. There was a small group of fairies chatting nearby, so Juniper flew over to them, realizing that Prince Sky was among them after she was already in front of them. She'd never been in the presence of royalty before. "P-Prince Sky!" Juniper squeaked, hastily bowing. "U-um, I'm sorry to interrupt, I saw the HELP above the castle... and... um... thought maybe somebody needed help."

[User]
At the Feydellia Palace

Shortly after arriving, Sonny's hand was kissed by some blond fairy guy. It was kind of weird. But he wasn't one to judge weird people's actions. The guy began to go on some kind of spiel first introducing himself as something Sky, and that people were turned into stone including… Sonny's attention was suddenly attracted to some untouched very delicious-looking pastries… His yellow eyes locked onto them… so sweet smelling and in perfect stacks. In the middle of the explanation that he was totally still listening to, he was gathering the food in his arms and stuffed various sweets in his mouth. The fire fairy tune fully back in right in time to hear something about an attack on the Fairy Festival. That got draw him back into the conversation.

"Mmmph thmmpg flmmpf ph mmplk!" Sonny blurted out incoherently with a full mouth. He finished chewing and swallowing a little bit of pink cream at the edge of his lips. Before he could repeat his statement, the girl asked a persuading question that stop him from repeating what he said before. Having multiple times of being accused of things he didn't do, Sonny understood it wasn't good to jump to conclusions. "The lass gots a point. Ye need proof before causin' a mutiny… there might something around to prove the… the….. the one's responsible treachery."

With that said he twirled around to examine the ballroom area. Still tons of statues of once fairies, delicious pastries, melting ice chuck... Maybe a new perspective would help him find something. With much vigor, Sonny began zipping around examining the floors, walls, and ceiling. With his sudden stop-and-go movement, he would drop some of the pastries he was still cradling in his arms. Eventually, he settled upon the sparkling chandelier of pink crystals that was mounted on the ceiling. Sonny dropped several more sweets as he pressed his hand on his forehead to give the area another scan. More arrivals, appear, and… did she say something about a prince?


[System]
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Species: Human?

Occupation: Professional exorcist and cleanser

Personality: He's a bit of a strange little guy. Lucas is very peculiar about who he interacts with and how. He doesn't like crowds, being photographed, cameras, or being asked questions. Any of these things will have him become frustrated and he'll probably storm off in a huff. He can be a bit childish. If irritated, he will quickly resort to lashing out physically to get his point across. Seeing as he can't yell, one might think that this is his alternative.

If one gets on his good side, he's typically a mild, friendly man. Once he decides he trusts someone, he doesn't seem as stand offish anymore.

Appearance: Lucas can easily be described as a bean pole: tall and lanky. He's been told often that he's too thin and needs to gain weight. Lucas has a PEG tube that sticks out of his abdominal wall; it's basically a port straight to his stomach where liquid food and nutrition can be pumped. Due to the all liquid diet, he stays just above underweight.

He's pretty unassuming looking: hidden under oversized clothes with his face tucked into a scarf. He has a head of messy black hair, usually worn short due to his tendency to not take care of it. He has a natural olive tone of his skin, hinting at a possible Italian heritage. His eyes tend to catch people's attention. Some say he has the eyes of a feral animal, dark and a bit wild. Others say they see the eyes of a sad hound dog. Either way, his eyes are dark brown, the color almost indistinguishable from his pupils.

Lucas's most predominant feature by far is his face. He sort of doesn't have one. While his forehead and eyes appear normal, Lucas's face below the bridge of his nose is malformed. His nose appears to be incomplete, like someone cut the fleshy end off of it. And he completely lacks a mouth. His chin is narrow and pointed, his features almost elfish in appearance. If not for the deformities of his face, Lucas might be considered handsome.

Other:

Lucas has a very unique skill set. He has a 'gift'. Lucas can draw energy from surrounding sources, fire, sunlight, heat, electricity, and produce his own light. This light burns monsters that get too close to it, namely demons and vampires. While his light in ineffective towards werewolves, witches, and most other foul creatures, most are unable to touch his skin as if it were made of silver.

His gift of light is accompanied by an ability to defeat demons in a way that even the most experienced of priests have yet to figure out. When he comes into contact with the creatures, he seems to absorb them. If he is performing an exorcism, he draws the demon from the victim and into himself. This usually results in a short inner battle before the demon is completely eradicated. So far, Lucas himself has never been possessed.

weaknesses: Because of his deformity, Lucas is mute.

When tackling more powerful demons, there is a chance that they may escape, weakened, rather than be destroyed. After dealing with demons of high power, Lucas usually has to take time to recover.

Biography:

Where Lucas came from isn't entirely clear. He showed up in LA during a string of violent possessions at the hands of demons. He had been only just a boy, no older than 9, when he proved his worth by banishing demons that even the most experienced priests couldn't. The boy was a gifted exorcist.

It didn't take long for a local priest to take the young boy in. He allowed Lucas to live at the church, very interested by the boy and his mysterious heritage. Even as he has grown, not much is known of how Lucas came to be, or even what exactly he is. It seems to be a touchy subject, and he becomes impatient and irritable if asked about it. He, himself, doesn't even seem to know the entire story.

Lucas has remained at the church, being called on for particularly difficult demon cases. Some people have come to avoid taking his help, as the process in which he removes demons from their victims seems to have a 10% chance of killing the victim. While these deaths seem completely accidental, some the patrons of the church and demonology world have labeled the strange man as a murderer.

Supporting Characters:

Father Walter: The priest that serves as Lucas's main caregiver. He watches over the odd ward and allows him to live at the church for free. Father Walter is in his middle ages, and has been an exorcist for many years now. Priests of his experience level are becoming a rare breed. As the years go by, less and less people believe in possession, and mental illness tends to be blamed for the culprit. He took Lucas in because he saw the boy as a valuable asset, and he didn't want him to fall into the wrong hands.

See No Evil: He is a man around Lucas's age, cleverly named Seymour. He, like Lucas, is deformed. He has no eyes. Seymour also has powers similar to Lucas. He lives in Louisiana and is sort of a penpal to Lucas after having heard about him from an acquaintance. It's still yet to be discovered if there is a third "Hear No Evil".

[User]
Tony Lee with Yukie

 Tony lit up a smoke to fit in with the rest of the crowd and relax as he waited for the band to play. He listened in on the chatter around the bar, hearing about how the band was from New York and they were as hardcore as it gets. Tony was usually one for peace and serenity, but he did like his fair share of brutality now and again. Among the chatter, he swore he heard some people praising God. Tony was bewildered how any holy men would be in a seedy place like this, but he put the thought aside as the band came out to play. The three men on stage cracked open a beer and began chugging them down. Quite the ritual, Tony thought.

 "What's up, L.A? We are Splintered from New York, hope you fuckers are ready to get rowdy!" The main singer said on the microphone. Tony noticed something...musky smelling coming off of them. Either they had been playing with some filthy dog or it was something else entirely. As the slow guitar opened up the song, the drums came crashing down as the vocalist began to sing. Tony could feel the vibrations of anger in the air, the raw emotion from the singer was simply palpable. He could sense the man and his band were outcasts on the fringe of society, and they put their anger at the world into their songs. Tony admired the actually melodious singing from the leader, cutting through the chaos of the music elegantly.

 "FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT! Return to hell were you belong, dogs of Satan!" Voices cut through the music as a crowd of men with swords and guns started shooting the air and slaughtering people left and right. They were bum rushing the stage and Tony realized what the holy chanting was coming from. The Society of Leopold. A female hunter appeared behind Tony and drew a sword on him.

 "I can smell you, monster!" Tony casually grabbed her arm and set her on fire with his gift. He watched as she squirmed and rolled around on the floor. Tony ducked into covet and tried to sneak to the exit. Meanwhile, Yukie heard the gunfire and was shocked. She knocked on the window again, asking for help from the person in the car.

Hector Sea

 The van came to a stop as the men carried the battered and bruised guy, now revealed to have no mouth into the warehouse. The darkness Hector was occupying flew and shaped it's way to the entrance of the warehouse, and dissipated into Hector's body. Hector looked inside at the warehouse and listened in on the conversation.

 "You've been a real thorn in our side. Tell us, what did you do with our lord Cidahl?" The man said to the faceless man. Hector had heard of Cidahl, he was a demon of immense power. This was it, these had to be the cultists. Hector casually walked into the warehouse.

 "So, you guys are apart of the cult I've been sent to take care of?" Hector said.

 "Who the FUCK are you? Get the fuck outta here! Boys, go escort him into a bodybag!" The men walked towards Hector, and as one of them came to punch him, his hand floated through Hector's body.

 "What the FUCK?" Said the cultist.

 "Hmph." Hector said unenthused, appearing behind their leaders shadow. Hector lifted up the man with one hand by the neck, and stared into his eyes.

 "Tell me, where is your base?" Hector said, peering into his eyes with a dominating glare.

 "It's in Santa Monica, in a beach house!" The cultist said, obeying Hector's dominate.

[Assistant]
Simone did not bother to look at Yuki as she spoke "If there are demons, it is because the designs of man have brought them into this world. Based on the present situation, I think my plans are not the ones that you should be most concerned about at the moment." Senses told her about the carnage within the structure, natural and supernatural of such strength that it was impossible to ignore. Still, Simone's face remained an unchanging mask of calm, even as she made preparations to leave.

Of course she knew that Yukie was asking for help, but it was not in her nature to offer an obvious gesture. She continued "It's tragic how much time we spend teaching children that demons are the source of our problems, as if they can only be the result of some outside force rebelling against the norms of the universe. The world has no will or grand design of it's own." By a coincidence to perfect to be mere chance without outside aid, a taxi driver pulled into the lot, tired from his long shift and ignorant of the danger. He stepped out of the car to stretch. "That is not to say that it lacks a sense of humor." Simone pointed to it with one finger, suggesting the obvious benefits of procuring it as a means of escape. She started her own car, getting ready to roll out of the parking lot and expecting some of those escaping to follow her.

[User]
Priscilla's car pulled up just behind the van as Hector made his appearance. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Priscilla used Forces to bend light and sound around herself, rendering her invisible and inaudible as she snuck towards where Lucas was (presumably) still held by the cultists.

While Hector made for a good distraction - Priscilla had figured out from the vast amounts of Quintessence in his blood that the man was a Vampire - the female priest knew to stay away from potential danger when it wasn't necessary. Priscilla would then lightly touch Lucas's shoulder, and using Correspondence, as well as the fact that the people in the Cult won't generate Paradox as they believed in Magic, the woman would teleport herself and the young man (and Damien if he was still there) to the basement of her church.

Oh, and she also summoned her enchanted letter opener back to her with more teleportation just before doing that.

@Metronome@Grec

[Assistant]
Lucas was, of course, silent as the cultists began to demand where their demon lord had gotten off to. The scrawny man gave away nothing, knowing full well that they would kill him whether he gave up information or not. As his persistent silence went on, the cultists grew more aggravated. One grabbed him by the front of his sweater and shook him.

"Do you think this is a game?!" He bellowed into Lucas's ear. Through the now ringing in his ears, Lucas could hear the scrape of metal on concrete. One of the men picked up a rusty crowbar and began to approach them. Lucas remained frozen to the spot, unable to fight, and unable to flee the grip of the man who held onto him.

Then, behind him, a new man strolled in. His voice made Lucas jump, and the cultists whipped their heads around to look at him. The one holding onto Lucas let go to approach him angrily.

Lucas was about to turn and make a run for it when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. He jumped and whirled around, only for the warehouse to be suddenly gone and replaced by what looked like a dark, dull basement. Lucas's wild, dark eyes landed on the face of the woman from the cafe, Priscilla. The relief from the man was tangible. His willowy body trembled, his heart beating out of his chest from the whole ordeal. Lucas lowered himself to the floor, afraid that he would fall if he remained on his feet. His hands were still zip-tied in front of him, his broken wrist looking nasty, swollen, and purple.


[System]
Human, Female

---

Appearance (description): appearance pic, roughly 5' 7" with a lean build, confident mannerisms, clothing doesn't stand out or indicate any form of wealth/lack of wealth

Age (<50): 21

Personality: Polite but reserved. Straightforward, tenacious and somewhat selfish. Curious, adventurous and calm. Can be witty and sarcastic but isn't usually the first to speak up. Morally ambiguous. Meticulous and organized but has a rebellious spirit.

Occupation: Healer

Brief history: She was born into and raised by a religious family. She learned medicine through family practice and left out on her own after her 20th birthday. Through old manuscripts (found in the apothecary shop she purchased) she learned of a man named Celderon, who studied something he called "thistlization" almost 150 years earlier. She has become obsessed with the idea of recreating this thistlization process.

Aspiration: To recreate the thistlization process she has studied

Flaw: Aversion to large/fast moving bodies of water

Inventory: Various home brewed potions and remedies

Color: 40ceb6

[User]
Ivory
Location: The Cerberus
Notes: Interacting with Ogre
appearance pic, roughly 5' 7" with a lean build, confident mannerisms, clothing doesn't stand out or indicate any form of wealth/lack of wealth

---

The door didn't budge. It was clearly locked and Ivory didn't have the skills to pick it. She turned back and slumped down into the chair. Maybe this was a mistake. She didn't really know this Xen guy and, despite his confidence in the idea that she would get the bloodthistle she was after, there was nothing to guarantee her safety. But at this point, did it matter? She had sold most of her belongings and moved into the tiny apartment above her apothecary. Her business was dying. When she went into alchemy training, her goal was to help people. Everyone in her family was a natural healer so she had no reason to think she wasn't the same. She did ok, but there were far better options for Delteria. When she came upon the journals, she discovered the power of bloodthistle. This would be her ticket to success. She wouldn't give up until she knew there was no other option. She would stick with Xen until he got her what she wanted.

Just then the massive ogre crossed at the bottom of the stairs from the sitting area. He was carrying a pouch that smelled of sweet rolls. Her stomach growled. "Um, pardon me." she spoke up. He stopped and turned to look at her wordlessly. "Are you carrying rolls?" The ogre looked down into his pouch and back up at Ivory. He grunted a response. "May I.....may I have one?" The ogre stared for what seemed like forever. Her stomach growled again, audibly. He finally reached his hand into the bag and pulled out two. He walked over to her and placed them into her lap. She trembled slightly at his size but otherwise didn't move. She could feel the warmth coming off of the bread. "Thank you," she whispered in a meek voice so as not to startle him. He didn't respond and turned to move. "Wait." She called out. He stopped but didn't look back. She knew that she would be walking out on a ledge with her next request but she was pretty convinced he didn't intend to hurt her in any way. "Would you be willing to let me into Xen's room? I'd like to take a nap soon."

The ogre grunted again and simply replied, "no," then he walked out of sight. In truth, Ivory was somewhat surprised. Xen must be pretty well respected to have his own sleeping place instead of one of the many bunks that were traditional on a ship. She peeled a bit of the bread and ate. It was the most extraordinary roll she had ever tasted. She would have to compliment the chef once she saw him again. After she finished the last roll, she decided to rest her head against the wall and wait for Xen's return. She was soon asleep.

[Assistant]
Xen
Location: Cerberus
Notes:
Ornate weaponry. Slightly pale face. Red eyes.

---

Xen was returning to his quarters when he spotted Ivory fast asleep next to his door. Crumbs of Loro's biscuits were scattered about the floor, and another could be seen peeking out of her bag. Xen reached in and grabbed it. Vampires got hungry for more than just blood, after all. He sunk his teeth into the familiar taste of rat blood. Delicious, he thought to himself as he opened the door.

His room was full of artifacts from times past, decorated as regal as one would expect from a Captain's Quarters. He put hung up his weapons and coat and pulled one of Celderon's journals out of its pocket. He sat at his desk and ran his hands over the aged leather volume, bound pages sticking out at unequal lengths. It had been a long time since he left them in a shop, hoping to leave his old identity behind. He opened it up and slowly turned its pages, periodically pausing to channel flux through its pages and reveal glowing characters on an otherwise blank page. Ivory had just woken up and was peering inside the room...

[User]
Ivory
Location: The Cerberus
Notes: Interacting with Xen
appearance pic, roughly 5' 7" with a lean build, confident mannerisms, clothing doesn't stand out or indicate any form of wealth/lack of wealth

---

Ivory woke up when an unidentifiable pull moved past her and into Xen's now open room. She sat up and leaned over to see inside. He had disarmed and removed his jacket and somehow looked even taller than he had before, but somehow less threatening at the same time. She stood silently, aware of a nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe the food the ogre had given to her wasn't as heavenly as she had first believed. She took a few steps forward, assuming Xen would turn at any second to confront her presence. She made it until she was standing close enough that she could nearly touch him and he still didn't give any indication that he was aware she was there. It was then that she noticed the book he was holding. It was...glowing.

"What is that?" she asked, speaking barely above a whisper.

[Assistant]
Xen
Location: Cerberus
Notes:
Ornate weaponry. Slightly pale face. Red eyes.

---

"What is that?"

The sound of Ivory's voice right behind Xen broke his concentration. The glowing pages faded and he snapped the book shut. He responded without turning to face her.

"Let me make one thing clear, my dear. This is my ship. You don't enter the captain's chambers without permission, and especially not without announcing yourself first." Ivory felt a tinge of fear run down her spine. Even though Xen's voice was calm, she could tell he was displeased.

"That being said," he turned to face her and followed up before she could respond, "You look pale. Go find Loro in the galley. Tell him you need something without rat in it and that the Cap'n says you're lodging with him."

He got up and showed Ivory the door, presenting her with the journal he had been reading. After she took it, he added: "By the way, we don't tolerate stowaways. We have a small hard working crew. If someone doesn't pull their weight, they're a stowaway in our book."

The door shut. Ivory felt slightly confused as to why she didn't even get a word in during the entire exchange.

[User]
Ivory
Location: The Cerberus
Notes: Interacting with Xen
appearance pic, roughly 5' 7" with a lean build, confident mannerisms, clothing doesn't stand out or indicate any form of wealth/lack of wealth

---

The whole scene had been a blur. Xen was the captain? It suddenly made sense why no one had thrown her off the ship and Grimsley's little act in the Captain's office had seemed so off. It was almost comical looking back on it. She wondered what Xen would say if he knew that one of his crew had tried to pass himself off as the commander of the boat. She looked down at the book he had handed to her. It wasn't glowing now. She briefly flipped through the pages. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. How odd. Somehow he had gotten one of Celderon's journals away from her without her realiizng it. How did I miss this? She tucked the book away into her cloak, making the decision to investigate it further when she had the time. Before she realized what she was doing, she found herself outside of the galley. She barely remembered deciding to follow Xen's orders. It dawned on her that he could likely influence her ability to comply. She would have to be more of aware of that in the future. As she pushed open the door to find a man named Loro, she remembered what Xen had said about the rolls. "Wait...rat?"

[Assistant]
Loro
Location: The Cerberus
Notes:
Large, slightly round, tan leathery skin. Almost twice as tall as tall as an average human.
Caring facial features, wears an apron-like leather belt that looks like it's been altered countless times.

---

"Hah-hah-hah!" Loro let out a loud, deep, hardy laugh. "I knew when you devoured that vermincake that yore stummick'd be hatin' yah for it."

"It was so delicious, though." Ivory didn't want to offend the gentle giant. "It was the most extraordinary roll I've ever had."

"Glad to hear I haven't lost my touch. It's been a long while since I cooked for anyone other than the crew." His speech was as slow as his movements as he pulled something out of an oven. "You ain't got a taste for rat, though, if that's what yore thinkin'."

"What do you mean?"

"What type of magic user are yah, miss?"

"It's Ivory.... And I'm a healer and apothecary."

"I-vore-ee." Loro tried sounding it out but had trouble. "How about just Ivy?" Ivory smiled. His slow pronunciation was actually kind of endearing. She didn't mind having a nickname; it was a welcome respite from the journey she had been on thus far. "Ivy is just fine."

"Well, Ivy the Healer, I'm a cook." Loro channeled magic through the plain looking bread. Suddenly Ivory was overwhelmed with the smell of fresh bread. Her mouth watered. "Well, Loro the Cook, I think we're going to get along just fine."

[User]
Location: The Cerberus
Notes: Interacting with Loro // Grimsley
appearance pic, roughly 5' 7" with a lean build, confident mannerisms, clothing doesn't stand out or indicate any form of wealth/lack of wealth

---

Ivory sat on the counter in the kitchen while Loro entertained her with various tales of cooking on the high seas. Its seemed like there was always something dramatic happening at dinner time. She only stopped laughing when he would hand her a puffed pastry to try or a ladle full of a stew to taste. Occasionally he would have her help chop a vegetable, wipe down a dish, or sweep something he had dropped on the floor, but for now her main task was to give him an audience.

Soon her stomach ached from laughter and food. "Xen said I'm to room with you," she mentioned during a lull in the conversation. Loro didn't turn to look at her while he stirred a pot, he simply raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked, assuming he was thinking more than he was saying.

"Rumor was that you were here for the Cap," he turned his back to her as he grabbed something she couldn't see off of the table next to him.

"For the Captain?" As soon as the sentence finished, it dawned on her what he was saying. "Oh. Uh. No. He's just helping me find...some things for my apothecary. Some more rare...herbs." She wasn't sure how familiar the crew was with Xen's knowledge of Celderon and the blood thistle and she wasn't going to give away what she didn't have to.

"Mmmhmmm." Loro didn't say anything else and Ivory became aware that the good-natured attitude the two had shared was now gone and Loro's wordless demenor was back in its place. Attempting to flee from the now awkward silence, Ivory slid off the counter top, grabbed an apple and walked to the door.

"Would you be so kind as to direct me to your room? I'd like to freshen up before dinner this evening." Before he could answer, the door to the kitchen swung open and Grimsley stood in the doorway. He leaned forward and took the apple from Ivory's hand.

"We've ported. Cap'n sent me to fetch ya." He bit the apple and a bit of the juice ran down his chin.

"Where are we?" Ivory asked, trying not to cringe at the gruff display in front of her.

"We're at Calhearth," he answered. Ivory stared at him, still unsure of what that meant.

"Calhearth? I've not heard of this place and we've only been on the water for a few hours. Where is it?" Loro let out a loud, aggressive laugh. She crossed her arms, unamused at the joked that was lingering in the air. Grimsley smirked, tossed the apple core back on to the table, and leaned down, putting his face mere inches from hers.

"Ah, no worries there, sunshine. It's just a simple pyrat's bazaar." He chuckled as a bright smile took over Ivory's face.