[System]
Age: 17

Birthday: 21st Spring

Occupation: Villager/Librarian

Sexual Orientation: Straight

Background: Whiskey was born in another town, but doesn't have much impression about her childhood, her mother had her at 15, and her mom's boyfriend ditched her, the only thing Whiskey remembers is that she had been moving from houses to houses for the first 5 years of her life. Her life got stable after her mom settled down and found a good job, and a decent husband. That's until they divorced after 9 years of marriage. Fed up, she ran away from home along with her boyfriend, which she would break up with after a year. Too guilty of abandoning her mother back then, she left the town for Bellville village, paying rent there and hoping to start afresh & live with her own pride rather than to freeload on her ex.

Personality: Whiskey has a temper that defines herself, she would resort to violence if someone got her unnerved. She doesn't trust people much, sometimes overanalysing people as if they have a motive. Since her mom's divorce, she wasn't really good at facing reality, often making bad choices due to that. She likes reading shoujo manga, and thus she would sometimes make a big fuss over relationship issues. She is a perv who thinks that most boys would like her, and she is kinda love-blind and would easily change just for her partner.

However, if one knows her better, one could tell that she lost her sense of self & that she wasn't acting naturally. Her upbringing, especially with that year with her ex, made her defining traits, which is her anger, violence & confidence, suppressed like a mask. She is nice & friendly overall. Deep in her heart, she have a strong spirit, and wouldn't falter in her misfortunes (That's only if she stops looking down on herself) . She has a soft spot for her pet bird. She is committed to her work & is often punctual.

Likes: Birds, spicy food, Potato, girls' present

Dislikes: Cats, Winter, tbd

Appearance

[User] Lane grabs out some tomatoes, onions, green peppers, hot peppers and a jar of pineapples in light syrup. He tosses together a salsa, more for himself and anybody wanting to taste the salsa he had in jars for sale already. He grabs a bag of tortilla chips and takes a bite of the salsa and chips together just snacking as he continues to wait. After a bit more time passes he hops up inside the back of the truck and leans against the side. Allowing himself to watch as he waits for anybody needing vegetables or eggs.

[Assistant]
Lorrena's lessons were finally done for the day and it was now time for the picnic. Sega hummed a tune as she got the food ready, and Lorrena put Bernie on an ant pile. She laughed as the ants wandered onto her furry friend.

"Mom! Look!" she yelled as she tossed her teddy bear while holding its paw. Ants went flying all over their quilt.

Sega gave a slightly grossed out look, but her face relaxed again as she began sweeping away the little black insects with her hands. The mom tapped the spot next to her, signaling for Lorrena to take a seat there. Which she did. They both enjoyed their meal and packed up. Sega picked everything up, and felt a gentle tug on the back of her shirt. When she turned, Lorrena had a large, goofy smile on her face. With her little hands she pointed to a small grassy hill, "Let's roll down it!!" Sega returned her daughters smile with a large goofy one of her own. What was nice about living here in Bellview was that it wasn't a trash dump like the city. You could freely roll down hills or walk barefooted without worry of stepping on broken glass or the like.

"Wee-weee-weee-weee-weeeeeeee~" they both yelled as they laughed the whole way down the hills. When at the bottom, they looked at each other and hugged. Sega was so happy her daughter was so happy. Moving to Bellview was truly a great thing.

That's when it popped into her mind that Lorrena's birthday was coming up soon. She wanted to surprise her with a gift. How she was going to get the chance of being alone without Lorrena seemed impossible but that didn't stop her from wanting to try. Today seemed like a great day to window shopping and get some ideas.

"Let's walk around a little more before we go home!" Sega said enthusiastically. It was right at that moment that she noticed her daughter rubbing her eyes and letting out a yawn, "But moooommmmm~ I'm getting tired...Nappy time." It was usual for Lorrena to have a nap after class, but Sega really wanted to window shop. "I promise a nap afterwards." Sega smiled hoping to sway the little girl. Lorrena grumbled but nodded.

They made their way to the town center, passing a few shops. Sega looked curiously at them, and felt Lorrena's hand slip from hers. She looked down and seen the girl running towards a muscular man wearing blue with cowboy boots who was standing infront of a truck packed with fruits and veggies.

Lorrena kept a distance from the man but peeked from him eating, to his pineapples, back to him eating again. Sega walked up, smiling at the man. She had seen him in the town center before with his shop and purchased a thing or two, but never really got into deep conversation with him. "Hi there!" she said sweetly. Lorrena looked at her mom then went to hide behind her legs, tugging at her dress while she did so. "You have some great looking produce and eggs today!" She folded her arms confidently and felt the light breeze toss her hair and tickle her neck.

Night

[User]
Hearing the woman speak he smiles and gives her a nod.

"Good morning hun and thank you, I started most of these last month inside and got them planted a few days ago, except for the pineapple, that was grown indoors completely."

He hops down setting down his chips and salsa. He notices Lorrena and smiles.

"Too bad there isn't a little girl here, I bet she would like some fresh pineapple or maybe some fresh heirloom tomatoes."

[Assistant]
It almost seemed like Lorrena's ears wiggled at her name. A small smile almost escaped her at the thought of how easily she hid from him. But pineapple did sound good... She put a hand out towards the man, but didn't move from her spot. Her big eyes looked in protest at him, then at her mom.

"Sorry," Sega laughed, "She's a bit shy." She bent down next to Lorrena and whispered,"I'm sure if you went up to him and gave him this-" she slipped Lorrena a little bit of money, "he will be happy to give you some pineapple! We can even make a pineapple bowl later!" And with that, she gave Lorrena a gentle nudge forward.

The girl tugged at her shirt and stood with her feet pointed inward. She had the money, but didn't like she was ready to offer it.

"Go ahead. It's okay." Sega stayed at Lorrena's height with her fist holding up her chin. Looking like she was enjoying this.

Lorrena's face turned red and she stomped up to the man, then held out the money."Pineapple!"

"Lorrena..."

Looking at her mom with embarrassment, she glanced at the man,"Pineapple! ..please..."

Night

[User] Ralph was a little off-put by the potato chip eating lady's demeanor, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he smiled, nodded and grab the things she wanted and put them in a bag. After that, he grabbed the 300 G coin and said "you're welcome to make change yourself in the register next time I'm not around. It isn't locked," the store owner pointed out, opening it to make change. As he finished doing that, Ralph handed Whiskey her change, saying "and here's your change. Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a great day." He really did mean that, even if she didn't really seem to be in the mood for small talk.

[Assistant]
Aria's eyes widened along with her smile at the simple hello she just heard. With a simple black apron and pep in her step she emerged from the kitchen into the main room. Her ember eyed gaze shifted over the room, only to stop when she saw a young lady (who appeared to be in her teens) standing in her restaurant. She was slightly surprised to discover that she did not recognize her, but she didn't look it.

"Hello dear, can I get you something?" she inquired, walking over to the young lady. "Would you like to take a seat, see a menu…?"

Hopefully she didn't come across as pushy, first impressions were always important.

[User]
He smiles and gives her an entire pineapple with a smile, taking the money from her then kneels down handing her a yellow and brown tomato.

"That is called a pineapple tomato, I use that in my salsa here. Next week I will be back in town with a salsa that has 8 tomatoes in it. Be sure to get some more money and you can try some of it then."

[Assistant]
Lorrena's eyes widened with curiousy at the pineapple tomato. She held the pineapple like a baby in one arm and the other hand grabbed the tomato. She gently squeezed it, feeling it's texture. She gave a small smirk, "Okay!" she said as she turned to her mom, "Mom! We need more money!"

Sega laughed as she rolled her eyes at her daughters in a silly manner, "Yes yes, my dear! More money! On the double!" She turned her focus from Lorrena to the man, "I'm not sure if I caught your name before, I'm Sega. I'm still pretty new around here and haven't introduced myself to everyone yet." She held her hand awaiting a handshake.

Night

[User]
Smiles watching the girl get so excited about money and the tomato. He turns his attention from Lorrena to Sega when she mentions not knowing his name.

"The name is Lane, my family for 5 generations grew up in this town."

He shakes her hand then looks at Lorrena with a smile.

"If only we could be that age again huh? Or even just have that level of energy. Well now, anything else I can sell to you?"

[Assistant] Sierra's face turned immediately to one of derisive incredulity. "Pfft," she scoffed, "If you're here to con me, then you're shit outta luck, kiddo. Im from the city, so not your average, gullible townsperson. Go back in town and find whoever is living the most comfortably right now, they're usually the kind of people who aren't willing to work hard to earn their way in this world and are more likely to want a 'magical' solution to their problems." Sierra thought for a momemt, "Why am I giving you pointers? Get out of my mine if you don't have anything better to do."

[User]
Guinevere paced around the shop for a moment, looking at the different plants on display. The different textures, the shapes of the petals, fine details, the color combinations.... "I should take from these flowers and put it into my work..." she muttered to herself. The owner of the shop came up to the counter and spoke up.

"What can I do you for? Or what can I do for you –– I just like the other version," he said at the wooden counter. "Everything okay?"

Turning her attention to him, she gave a smile and leaned over the counter. "Morning, Mr. Honeywell!" the tailor beamed. "The shop hasn't been busy at all lately, so I decided to do my errands rather than later this evening." Noticing his hidden arm, she gave Arthur an odd look. Assuming he didn't want anyone to see what happened, Guinevere shook her head, with a small smirk on her face. "I'm here for my order of flowers, to make my dyes."

[Assistant]
Lyra, the priestess of the year

"Ah, the sister." This is why strangers were nice. Most people didn't like making bad first impressions so they gave her no reason to dislike them. And this stranger was fairly charming.

"Special requests... Hmmm... Well, it's a gift so perhaps a heart carved into it and a ribbon wrapped around it? That's all I can think of right now." She thought it over for a second before she heard that there were examples. Lyra smiled at the woman.

"That would help. Thank you." She said, nodding. Did she have anywhere to go after this? She felt like she needed to get some fresh fruits and veggies afterwards but that's about it.

[User]
"Thanks for letting me know," Whiskey put her change into her pocket as she let a michievous smile, "Next time, I will empty the cash register hahas~" She joked, grabbing her bag of goods, heading back to her workplace.

"Better hurry, been stuck in that place for quite a while now..." Whiskey paced herself back towards the library, she's glad that nobody had touched any books there, until she realized her desk being messed up from some wind. She had forgotten to secure her papers with a heavier object. "Damnnit, that stupid shop owner!" She ranted while rearranging her desk to the proper order. "Mom's letter, where did it go?" Whiskey frantically shoved around every possible corners of her desk, but to no avail.

"F**K!" Whiskey slammed her desk in frustration, then laying back on her chair and sighed. Even though she doesn't read those letter, she wouldn't want to lose any of them, especially when its one that came after a long long time. "Haizz... I will just send my letter later, at least I didn't lose this one..." She folded her letter into the envelope, placing it into the drawer to prevent the same thing from happening again. "Must mail it after my shift..."


[System]
Valasca Del Viento

" When I was drowning, that's when I could finally breathe."
-Valasca
Nickname:
Val

Age:
27

Gender:
Female

Sexuality:
Asexual Panromantic

Relationship Status:
Single

Gang Rank:
Associate

Title:

Species:
Mermaid

Occupation
Mortician

Likes:
- Death
- Salty Foods
- Her daily swims

Dislikes:
- Anyone who treats her clients ill
- Being lied to
- Sweets
- Theft

Fears:
Have her establishment and sanctuary taken from her

Personality:
Now that Valasca's been living in Fall Hollow, she finally feels free for the first time in her life. She doesn't need to change her name or hide who she is. However, despite that freedom, old habits die hard. Despite her warm and caring nature, Valasca is still very much a secretive and closed off individual that has a great deal of trouble opening up to people about who she really is or letting them into her more private life. This can make her come off as a bit distant, but despite that she is still never much a caring mortician that will go above and beyond for her patients. She is more than happy to take care of her clients needs as well as take notes on the various different species in the city to further her knowledge.

History:
Valasca was born in the murky waters of a town that was submerged in water to stop the flooding of Spain five decades ago. Unlike most pods who stuck to areas easily evacuated the pod Valasca was born to had a higher purpose, or so they believed. Valasca pod was connected to others who all believed in their own Gods that lived in the stars above, a world they considered to be a vast ocean. To make it to this place in the after life their role in the life they currently lead was to care for those bodies tossed off boats, thrown from peers to hide murders, sunken graves and mere accidents. They were to help these people move to their own afterlife. So when the town of Capel Celyn sank and became the reservoir it turned into their pod home, to watch over the graves of those who had now sunk beneath the water.

The devotion to their religion was a heavy one. They prayed to a mermaid who was as big as the earth, she had formed the oceans with her body, carved them as she swam through the infinite waters of the life beyond, a world that rested on top of their own. It was not just her though, their were many mermaids, each representing something new. Interitus was merely the main one, the one who judged them at the end of their time to decide if they began anew, having to try again, or made it through to a new life in the waters above. Like most in the pod Valasca took her devotion to Interitus seriously, praying to her, making offerings and participating in the rituals of the tribe.

One of the main rituals was the summoning of the spirits to bless them. It was the one that focused most on the deceased beings, praised them as those of a higher purpose as they were in the world beyond the one where Valasca and her pod rested. This was where Valasca's obsession with death began. Even the sea creatures she feasted on she treated with the utmost care, making sure their move into the world beyond was a gracious one.

Things only escalated when she was sent to perform the ritual to adulthood. One of the few females who were sent out she was expected to return home for the future of their pod. Valasca didn't. Much like the ritual of Rumspringa the mermaids were to go to the surface for seven evenings and return the wiser for it. Valasca instead found herself half intoxicated with desire and half sick with hate at the ease of access she had to death. The parts of animals that lay on display for others to judge and chose for consumption revolting her but then there were large homes, homes that looked after the dead, treated them with a beautiful respect and laid them to rest in exquisite manners. Valasca believed she had found her calling.

Wales was nice for a while. Valasca trained as a mortician at a funeral parlour she found by the sea. Her hours were whenever someone knew came in and since the town was small she was able to spend as much time as she needed in the water. However she was constantly hiding and the rumors of people seeing a mermaid sprang about. Even cutting her hair seemed to make no difference. This was when she met a man, her heart still. Valasca's pod with their special connection to death she knew what the man was immediately. Valasca introduced herself - looking for someone in the town who it turned out had moved on - as a member of the vampire council in a town in America. He offered Valasca passage there but she declined, knowing she wouldn't be able to survive that long without water, and instead accepted directions.

In Fall Hollow she took a job at the towns local morgue, the one used by police and most of the town since it was convenient. Unlike in Wales deaths in Fall Hollow were unexplained and with everyone's desire to dispose of the bodies in unseemly ways Valasca made herself open to all the killers in Fall Hollow. She would hide their mistakes and in return she could give them the treatment they deserved. Each body prepared to the best she could manage, prayers and blessings made over the body before she reduced them to the earth, sea or smoke depending on their own species or religion she could make out. For the most part she keeps to herself, though over the past five years she's lived in Fall Hollow she has spent a lot at local vampire hang outs.

On Fall Hollow lies a sanctuary lead by young mermaid, for all supernatural creatures. The building attached to the funeral offers a place for non-humans to live free of persecution and follow what paths they desire, whether that's as regular townsfolk and business owners, criminals and shady dealers. However, in return each tenant must work at the funeral.

Extra

[User]
@rechonq

"You do songs, yeah? How about... Oh I know! 'I write sins, not tragedies' by Panic! At the disco? If ya want, I could join in on the fun and do some singing if ya like." Saoirse replied with a wink and a smile. She then laughed. "The name's Saoirse. Nice to meet you Ali."

Saoirse then scowled at the man who called himself Vorel. "You'll never get in a woman's pants with that attitude, sweet heart. Trust me, I would never enjoy your company or money, with your personality." She replied to him with a smirk, before returning to Ali. There was something about this guy she just couldn't stand.

"So how about it? Mind if I join in on the fun?" Saoirse asked once again.

[Assistant]
Once the two arrived to the bar, it was not long before the merwoman had captured the attention of the bartender. A small smile spread on the bartender's lips, happy to see the such a true beauty. As daughters of the sea, they are beautiful aquatic creatures which rise up from the waves to lure men into their arms.

Beautiful, conniving and dangerous.

She really needed something to drink. Her throat felt dry, and it was a feeling that she didn't quite like. Valasca was about to order a round of drinks for the two of them, when a man came out of nowhere and introduced himself, after he offered to buy the drinks.

Valasca stayed silent as her new friend tried to scared off the older man, and although his face looked so familiar, her mind was too clouded to tell. Unlike, the most of the species in the city. She could not tell who was what by smell or touch. Like the humans, Val had to discover them by show.

"Thank you," she said when her eyes met his, " I am sure, my friend means well." Val placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, a small reassurement and recognition for what the she had done for Val.

Another woman calmly greeted the small group at the bar. " Valasca." she called out to the crowd, but her voice was drowned out by the noises of the crowd. Val felt the buzz in her pocket and knew she needed to leave soon, to attend her business. It's just that the call came on a very bad timing. Val looked at the watch on her hand. 3:07 AM.

Valasca enjoyed live singing, just like any of her kind and to have the chance to experience the new genre of music. It had become more excited when her new friend asked to join in the fun. She raised her arm and order a round of shots for new friends.

[User]
Ali Danea

Ali accepted the drink offered to her by the bartender. Whether it was from Vorel or Valasca, she didn't know and neither did she care. It was a free drink and that was always good so long as the one offering it wasn't a total creep or a demon. There were still witches that worried her, but she doubted any of their kind had attended the bar party.

She took a sip, pondering the suggested songs. She wasn't particularly familiar with 'Say My Name' and she was sure attempting that one song might end up causing more trouble than she could handle. 'Resistance', though, was something she thought her band could perform. It may have been sung by a male lead, but that had never been a problem before. People have, after all, commented that both her voice and her looks gave a masculine edge.

"Resistance might be good. I'll have to discuss it with the others but I don't think they'll say no," she answered, smiling at Vorel. "Good taste in music."

She turned to the redhead - Saoirse. She didn't seem to be going along well with Vorel, and Ali couldn't help but wonder why that was. Was it simply because of a bad first meeting? Or was there more tension hidden underneath? Ali shook her head at herself. She couldn't entertain thoughts like that at a party, especially one that she was going to perform with.

"Well, love, pretty ladies are always welcome to share the stage with me," she fired back, laughing lightheartedly at the wink. Saoirse seemed like the type of person Ali liked to be around, although she still couldn't understand the redhead's aversion to Vorel. Maybe at another time and another place, the animosity between them wouldn't be so high.

She waved a hand in greeting to Valesca, whose introduction she only heard because of keen senses developed from being in the woods too much. She was just about to ask Valesca if she had anything to suggest when she heard Vorel mutter something under his breath. Following his line of sight, she saw the lonely girl from before - Jen, she finally remembered, was a werewolf like Vorel - and the guy who had approached her. She hadn't allowed herself to look at him much earlier, but now that she did, there was a distinct aura around him. She didn't know what to call it, but it couldn't be good.

She moved closer to Vorel, enough to be able to whisper to him in the crowded bar. "Something wrong?"

[Assistant]
This was part of the reason Vorel hated clubs. First starting friendly conversations was ruined by people like Saoirse. He always considered it rude to reject gifts as well. Then Valasca wanted to buy the rounds. Vorel could sense this wasn't meant to be a one up, but it was very inopportunely timed. She seemed polite though, timid as well. Vorel just went ahead and drank with them and decided to let the slightly confused bartender decide who to give the tab. "Thank you. I look forward to hearing you as well. I'm sure preparing lineups for special events like these isn't easy."

Ali even accepted Saoirse's invitation to sing. Vorel thought about it for a moment and realized that all three of these women could be good singers. If Saoirse really was that confident in her voice, then she had to be a good singer. That or she was drunk, but she didn't seem loopy or wild. Mermaids were sometimes mixed with Sirens, and if Valasca had what most called a siren's voice then it must be heavenly. Ali was getting paid to sing, so even if it was small events, he still considered her a professional singer.

Vorel evidently was caught eyeing Jen and Cas. Ali quietly asked about it, but his keen hearing picked it up fine. He kept the conversation private with Ali. "Well, that man over there at the table with the girl. He's an old demon, but he's been known to have been stealing souls around the Hallow. He's kept a low profile, but the girl is an acquaintance, and I don't want her leaving with him."

@Ace of flames01@TheWildBunnii

[User]
Her legs hurt, so damned badly. The muscles felt like they were bathing in lava. She could swear her quads were about to peel off from fatigue. But she didn't stop running. Even as her lungs burned and screamed for oxygen from overexertion, she didn't DARE stop running.

Not if she wanted to live.

Her heart continued to pound, each time she heard the gunshot she expected to feel a burning pain, she expected to feel something more than just fear and anxiety.

The young teen expected to see her life flash before her eyes before it slipped away from her. The ground was dry and sturdy beneath her feet, she was running for her life, doing her best to prolong it even if just for few minutes. However, her body was weak from the past few days, she was exhausted and simply running on adrenaline. Despite that she did not stop, she kept running further into abandoned warehouse.

The gunshots stopped, it was eerily quiet in the dark, not even the sound of the insects reached her ears. Foolishly, she stopped. She couldn't run anymore, her heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Everything felt weak and about ready to give up, using the support of a building. What chance was there that a handful of men would find her this far out, would dare to follow in the dark. SHe figured she was safe. At least that what she thought.

That was when a shadowy figure darted in front of her, she pressed her body into the wall hoping it would protect her from what was to come.
Once again the shadow figure darted across her line of sight and again and again as if toying with young teen. She didn't dare to call out or whisper a word. If she did those hunting her would hear her. Biting her lips, she refused to risk even to breath.

Her amber eyes began to searching the dark, trying to spot the shadow figure.

Then it pounced, this furry creature came running out of the darkness to her....

The late hours of night slowly changed over to the early moments of morning. The tray of shots continued to be brought to the group which in just a short amount of time had managed to enjoy one another's company.

Valasca was about order another round of drinks when her cell buzzed in her jeans. Reaching for the device she took a sip of her vodka with salt, her face turned pale at the familiar number and without hesitation, she pressed accept. Valasca slowly rubbed her eyes, feeling groggy while the world around her sway from side to side.

"Talk to me." She absently nodded her head while continually pushing through the crowd to reach the exit. Once outside, she paced back and forth while she tried to fight the cold wind. She rubbed her face while the detailed were handed to her

"Alright, ETA in about ten." Hanging up the, merwoman placed her phone back into her pocket. " Damn it,"

Once again murder had come to Fall Hollow.


[System]
NICKNAME: JRock, JarBear(his ex's pet name for him), and just Jar
AGE: 23
GENDER: Male
APPEARANCE:
EX: Delilah Christine Duclerc
FAVORITE MUSIC: Hardcore/screamo/metal/rock, but he pretty much likes anything except country
FAVORITE COLOR: Silver
HOBBY(s): plays guitar(among other instruments), DJing, songwriting, partying
ANIMALS: Loves them, but doesn't currently have any pets.
PERSONALITY: Jareth is a party animal and, despite the grungy exterior, he has quite the soft side. He is incredibly artistically-inclined, but not always the most intelligent person in the room. Ambitious and hardworking, hoping to chase his passion for music into stardom.
CAR: Old Faithful (a 1993 black Volvo 240 series)
TATTOOS/PIERCINGS/OTHER: lip ring offset to the left, double pierced ears on both sides, various (mostly tribal) tattoos on arms, chest, and back
MAJOR IN COLLEGE: Music Performance junior
OTHER: Came from an unfortunate upbringing, including being bounced around unloving and unsupportive foster homes. After getting kicked out at age 18, Jar worked at a pizza place for two years while playing in his garage band, Crim Son, before starting college. He has a bit of a drug habit, but nothing serious in his opinion.

[User]
"I'm not asking you to do anything except be completely honest for once and admit to my face that you don't trust me," Delilah's usually bubbly voice burned with anger at his insolence. She always hated the way he skirted around her questions.

"You don't want me to be completely honest—" he began as she turned her back to him and sat at the edge of the bed. Instead of finishing the thought, he just let out a huff-like sigh. Jar braced himself, this is where she would normal shout or swat at him. Instead she just muttered "I can't believe this…" before starting to shiver. Jareth notice the quivering in her shoulders and wondered briefly if she was crying. Just as he started to feel like some kind of asshole for causing all this, she looked over her shoulder at him and began a verbal onslaught.

She accused him of acting, not meaning anything he said or sang to her, claiming that it was all an act to get with other girls. Jar ground his teeth hard, it was his turn to lash out in anger. His voice started out soft and calm, he even reached to caress her cheek. "No, I meant every word…" he began and confusion swept into her eyes. "Because, with you, I can't seem to escape this delusion of our happily ever after. Somehow your looks just make me forget what a crazy, hateful bitch you can be." The name calling fell harsh and bitter on his lips.

Delilah flinched from his touch and spun to grip his arm tight. "Well, you know what, JarBear – Go fuck with someone else's feelings, because I refuse to go down the same road again." she said in a hiss as she got up from the bed to get dressed. "Same to you, sugar. Today was a mistake." He spat with equal levels of spite. Jar didn't hide the fact that he watched her as she dressed, he could be a dick like that, and it was probably the last time he'd get to see her naked. Maybe…

After Delilah stormed out of the room – and the boys condo – Jar sat by himself in silence. As soon as she was gone, his anger waned and was replaced by a cloud of sadness. She might have said some hateful things, but he felt that he deserved it all, as untrue as some of it was. Delilah was the only girl he was ever faithfully committed to, despite the toxicity of their relationship, and she knew that. It was a low blow to accuse him of trying to use her to get other girls.

It had gotten to be quite late, and he'd had an awful day, so Jar took the easiest route to sleep he could think of. Jareth found the sleeping pills he had taken from Adelisa's room and popped enough of them to silence his thoughts without also silencing his heartbeat, and passed out in the huge King-sized bed.

~~~ The next morning ~~~

Jareth awoke to bright sunlight streaming into his room. His head screamed from an unhealthy half-night of sleep, drug use, and lack of caffeine. Begrudgingly, Jar cast aside the sheets and sat up, the motion causing his head to swim all the more. The condo was surprisingly silent as Jareth wandered into the kitchen to make a pot of pitch-black coffee. He wondered where the boys were, deciding that he'd rather spend the day with them than wallowing in thinking about her. That's what this vacation was supposed to be, right? He pulled our his phone and sent a text Grant and Hunter. "I need an escape from reality. Who wants to try surfing?" the text read, he even included a smiling emoji, a mask to hide the pain he was feeling.

[Assistant]
Their was a nice two story house in a nice peaceful neighborhood; Except for the gunshots that started 2 minutes ago. Hunter ran out the front door, his hunting shotgun in his hand. He had blood on him, he was hurt with his other hand on his stomach. "Shit, shit!" He heard the sirens, they were getting closer. He was still bleeding, but he had to run. No way he could claim self defense with his shotgun and his own pistol on him, over 4 miles from the repair shop that he stored them in. His only hope was he had no direct relation to the people.

Hunter made his way to the ocean, no one was around so he threw in his pistol, and his shotgun as far as he could. Hunter limped down the beach for a couple miles and when he made it back to the resort, Amelia was gone. Did she go to stop him? He had to let her know what had happened, that he had stopped them.

He made it back inside the resort, people gave him looks as he tried to keep the bleeding under control. He made it into the elevator and waited for his floor. His vision was going black, his hearing fading. He was passing out and he knew it. He tried to make it back to his condo but he passed out a few feet from the doors. Out cold, still bleeding.

[User] Grant opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. He ignored the buzzing of his phone in his pocket, focused on Adelisa. There were a million things Grant wanted to say. Part of him was furious, another part depressed, but largely he just felt confused. He wanted to make things right with her, but he didn't want to say or do anything that would mess up the situation further. After a few moment of silence, his lips cracked into a weak and minuscule smile. "Hi." He managed to croak out, his voice strained and the sound only aggravating his headache. He hated getting drunk, and decided then and there to never do it again, even if he only did it rarely to begin with. This wasn't the first time he'd made the promise to himself, but right now the hangover hurt enough to make him believe it. Not knowing what to say to Adelisa next, he added awkwardly, "Are you okay?" He bit back the other questions on the tip of his tongue- how did kissing Hunter feel? What did Addie want, what did Grant to wrong to fuck all of last night up? But he kept quiet and waited for her response.

[Assistant]
Adelisa nodded and said "I'm fine. I just… we were talking the night before and you made me feel like I was a princess again. Then the next thing I know, you're getting some blondes number. I… I honestly don't think we can go back to the way things were before." She smiled sadly and leaned against the wall of the balcony, her eyes on the ground. She knew she had to get this out. Maybe this would work out better than them trying whatever it was they were trying before. Adelisa added "not that we can't be friends, but I just can't stop feeling like you lawyer talk me all the time. Even when we're just friends. What do you think?"

She looked back up at him, her blue eyes filled with anxiousness and bottom lip went in between her teeth nervously, the habit rearing its ugly head.

[User]
As she was getting dressed, she heard Jareth say with a level of spite that equaled her own: "Same to you, sugar. Today was a mistake." Lila was so blown away, heartbroken and caught off guard by his comment that she lost her ability to speak for a while. Instead, she waited until she was fully clothed and at the door until she dramatically turned around to face him, her eyes like brown daggers. If looks could kill, there was no doubt that Jareth would be six feet underground by then. "The only mistake I ever made was wasting eight months of my life with you," Lila paused for a moment, then added with tears on her eyes and a slight break to her voice. "You know what? As much as it kills me to even think about it, I'm glad my baby and I didn't have to spend the rest of our lives tied to you. He or she is better off in Heaven than here feeling the pain of a father that didn't want them in the first place." And with that, Lila stormed out of Jar's room, out of the guys' condo and into her own, unable to contain the sobs that were making her whole body shake with so many feelings.

She fell backwards on the bed, sobbing loudly, her mind racing with thoughts about Jareth, their relationship, their angel baby, the future that would never happen. A few hours ago, she had been celebrating getting the love of her life back, but things had gone back to their usual turbulence faster than expected. The old issues were still present, and old habits die hard no matter how much you try. But if she and Jareth were so toxic for each other, why did it hurt so much to let go? Why did it feel like her heart had been ripped off her chest, to be replaced with a painful hollowness? Why had they been blessed with a baby, the angel that now watched over them from Heaven, even if its only life had been eight weeks in her womb? Lila didn't know how many hours she cried into the night, or when it was that her body finally shut off from the exhaustion of the overwhelming feelings or thoughts. The only thing she knew was that her heart would never be whole again.

---

The rays of sunlight seeping from the window fell warm and bright onto Lila's face. Begrudgingly, she opened her puffy eyes: the whites were very red, and the dark, baggy circles resembled those of a vampire. The feeling of the sun bothered her, but she was too weak to do anything besides stare blankly at them. Though she'd slept the whole night without interruptions (more accurately, she'd blacked out from crying), she felt restless, tired and beat-up; no doubt a sure sign that all her emotional baggage was reflecting on her body. Slowly, the events of the past night came to her, but before they could cause her to do more than let the tears quietly stream down her cheeks, she locked the painful memories away and stored them in the darkest, furthest corner of her mind. She wanted nothing more than to remain numb to everything. And so she did, simply laying on her bed, staring blankly into space, ears closed off to any sound, refusing to do anything else.

It seemed like a long time before Lila gathered up the strength to slowly get off the bed, throw some new clothes on and trudge out of her room; no bath taken, no teeth brushed, not even a glance at the mirror. She saw out of the corner of her eye Adelisa and Grant in the middle of a conversation, but the only sign of acknowledgement she gave them was a blank stare of three seconds before turning around and heading out of her condo.

She was making her way to the elevators when she stopped short at the sight of a wet, bloody and passed-out Hunter. Lila's brown eyes grew wide, and she was unable to control the shriek of surprise that ripped off her throat. She ran the short distance to where he was and checked his pulse and breathing. Both were present, which was a good sign, but judging from the wound in his stomach that looked suspiciously like a gun shot and the blood around him things were looking bad. Instinctively, she ran to the guys' condo and banged on the door with a closed fist. "Jar! Grant! Hunter's hurt! I think he's been shot! Help me, please!"

[Assistant]
Grant felt prepared to snap, and he ran a hand through his dreads with a sigh. "I got her number, Addie, it doesn't mean anything. She was nice, but she wasn't you. I'm doing it again aren't I? Lawyer talking." He chuckled quietly, taking another deep breath to subdue the headache. "I care about you, Addie. I was a shitty boyfriend, and I apparently still can't get anything right. But you're amazing, and you're just the right amount of crazy to make me an interesting person. If you want to be friends, I can live with that." He finished, looking at her. The sentence was bitter on his tongue, but whatever it took to prevent another suicide attempt was good enough for him.

He opened his mouth to say something else when Delilah's frantic screams filled the air. Turning with a grimace he ran out of the girls' condo to find Addie's friend banging on their door. "Delilah? What's-" He began before seeing Hunter's body. He whipped out his phone to call for an ambulance, walking over to Hunter. He kneeled down beside his friend, giving him a once over. Fucking Hunter. He was pretty roughed up, with a goddamn bullet wound in his side. He relayed the details to the ambulance, before looking at Delilah. "Do you know what happened?" He asked, not waiting for an answer before he focused once more on Hunter's comatose body. He checked his pulse, which thankfully was still there and not too weak. Hopefully they'd get him to a hospital in time.

[User]
Neither of the guys responded to his text. Sipping the steaming hot coffee, Jar had just about lost faith in both women and his friends as a whole, when Delilah's frantic screaming cut through the air. Jar jumped a little and spilled the coffee on his hand. "Shit!" he exclaimed as the liquid burned his hand and he attempted to wipe it off with a towel. "I'm coming! I'm coming, hold on!" Jar yelled from inside the condo. Once cleaned up, Jareth took a deep breath and faced whatever she had to say next out in the hallway. When he opened the door, his eyes went straight from Delilah to a passed out Hunter. Thankfully Grant was there too, and already on the phone with an ambulance, because Jar would have probably stared in dumbfounded shock for a few moments before thinking to do the responsible thing.

"Jesus! What the hell?" Jar said once he finally recovered his ability to speak. "Will there be a day in this so-called vacation when Hunter doesn't wind up hospitalized?" He asked, using sarcasm to mask his worry about his friend and his discomfort at being so close to his now-recent ex that had just spat some serious venom at him the night before.


[System]
Physical Form:

Abilities:
Smarter then thou: What Twich lacks in physical strength and size, he makes up for with a cruel cunning, a twisted intellect and a surprisingly strong will.

Alchemist Training: There are only two things that an alchemist needs to be able to do in order to be a good alchemist; The ability to flip a table and be on the other side of it when what they are working on explodes and the ability to know exactly when to do this. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

If you don't want to eat it just because it has some mold growing on it, hand it over.: Twich is a kobold. They can eat just about anything regardless of how rotten its become just fine without ill effect. They are also immune to horrible smells that would make others sick.

Love the BOOM!: There is something about arson and explosions that just appeals to Twich's soul. The fact that he is very good at creating things that explode and set things on fire makes his inner hatchling very happy.

WHY?! FOR SCIENCE!: Twich doesn't always create or tamper with things to make them explode or catch fire (At least, not as the end goal). Often he likes to create concoctions or perform experiments for a large number of reasons, more often then not because he felt like it or just wants to see if the current theory in his head has any basis in reality.

Personality:
Those who meet Twich would surprisingly discover that he is, above everything else, quite civil. Those above or greater then him will get the recognition that they deserve of course but those of equal and even lower standing will be treated with professional, polite conversation when talking with Twich. They will also quickly discover that he is quite 'mad'; His mind seems to operate on a completely different wavelength then everyone around him and he often views the world far differently from other people as well.

If one really wants to see him in his prime however, all they need to do is suggest a possible alchemy or science experiment within Twich's hearing range. The quest for discovery and knowledge burns within him brighter then the flames of hell themselves; Despite this he has made it quite clear to several demons that have offered him deals for knowledge and alchemist/scientific discoveries in exchange for his soul that he is not interested because 'That was the path of cowards and fools'.

Even the most evil of beings would find the calm, professional and somewhat detracted approach that Twich takes with his experiments rather... unnerving. Almost all of his experiments are performed on live test subjects... often without their knowledge let alone consent.

Wants/Needs: A bigger lab, more resources and freedom to explore with his various fields of science and alchemy. First pick of any group of slaves and captives with no questions asked as to why he wants/needs them. The right to take any student that he wishes.

Relationships: Fairly civil, shows the needed respect to those that require it.

Backstory: Twich was born to the Snakebiter tribe, a kobold tribe that had its tunnels located underneath a somewhat poisonous swamp. Taken to be trained as an alchemist rather early on when he showed he had a knack for it, Twich rather quickly learned everything that his tribe knew about it and found himself consumed by the desire to learn more. At first traveling to other kobold tribes to study, Twich soon found himself learning from many of the other underworld denizens in exchange for his services; At times he even found teachers among the more open minded of the surface dwelling races. When he ran out of teachers who could offer him new knowledge, Twich wasn't satisfied. He needed to know more and that meant he needed to create more things to learn himself.

This is rather challenging as an independent working alone... but with the raise of the Master and his 'Hordes of Darkness', Twich found a patron who could make his dreams and desires a reality in exchange for his services.

Other: -

[User]
After the meteorite had arrived, Umbra noticed the flow of imps into the streets along with the Master at their sides. It wasn't long before he realized that the meteor was quite possibly the master's doing. Holding back his rage he gathered in the plaza area with the others, and quietly waited.

The Master had little intention of addressing his careless act. Athinar however, refused to leave it be going as far as addressing the Master's actions. The situation only escalated when the Master shoved the question to the side and asked Athinar to beg, as an owner would treat a dog.

As this happened Umbra stood still and watched. While just as furious as Athinar, he had no intention on fighting the master, at least not until he had gotten what he wanted. Instead he possessed a nearby goblin like creature and shouted "Master when you are done, I suggest we get onto more pressing issues, such as the management of this town. In my former life, if you could call it that, I had experience in managing small villages and various other practices that could be useful."

[Assistant]
Torrens gave a salute and started to leave when the altercation with Athinar began. Torrens stayed at the edge of the town square for a few moments to see how the events fared, interested in seeing how this encounter turned for Athinar. A few seconds later, after Athinar had made his response (whatever it was), Torrens turned again and sprinted down the road and out of the town. He found a road which didn't lead to a village they had already razed, which Octavius wasn't covering and which hadn't been thoroughly blockaded by the orcs, and sprinted down it. While he could not match the pace of a galloping steed, Torrens could maintain a full sprint indefinitely, which should be adequate to overtake any villagers fleeing on foot.

After maybe half an hour of travel, he saw the light of torches appear from over the horizon. From that torchlight Torrens could tell that they seemed to be ordinary people travelling away from the town, and lacking any notable luggage, and he inferred that those people must be the refugees he had been sent to hunt down. Instead of charge straight in, however, he left the road and ascended a hill. The undergrowth around his feet burst into flame, although he figured that he was far enough back for that not to be easily noticed. From the top of the hill he had a far better view. The numbers in this group of refugees was quite large- it looked like it must contain several full households' worth of people. To simply charge them, being incandescent as he is, would have them all scatter into the night, meaning he could easily lose some of them. Although he grinned as he noticed that ahead of them, another few kilometers away, was the beginning of a forest. He would wait for them to be in the middle of the forest, then strike.

So Torrens returned to the road and continued to follow his prey, keeping as far away as he could without losing track of them, although even that could be too close, considering that he had no means of concealing his fiery glow. Still, he continued, and as the villagers entered the forest Torrens changed from a walk to a sprint in order to catch them before they left the forest. When he himself reached the edge, he immediately got to work on starting a forest fire, blocking off the way they had came. Torrens spent a good few minutes cultivating the inferno and feeding on the flames, building a ferocious wall of fire which would eventually grow and consume the forest.

However, Torrens could not trust this bush fire to expand fast enough to overtake the villagers before they escaped. He needed to fence them in. So Torrens gathered up some of the energy he ahd gained from this fire and unleashed it all in a ferocious jet directed from his feet, rocketing him high into the air, soaring across the forest to the other side in mere seconds. To land, Torrens did not bother to rocket to a gentle landing, for rocketing is horribly inefficient. Instead, Torrens crash landed in a tree, which exploded into flame on impact. His return to the ground was far from graceful, involving him falling face first into the dirt, but he picked himself up and got to work on setting up a second wall of fire, sandwiching in the villagers.

Torrens cackled with glee, for forest fires were his favourite type of fire. The ferocity, scale and destruction were unmatched by anything else on this world. Sure, other fires might burn hotter, and some things such as lava are hotter again, but none of those span many hectares at any given moment or leave whole swaths of countryside a charred wasteland. His only regret was that he couldn't be in all of it at once, to enjoy every bit of the fire.

He did eventually find the villagers, but by it was already too late for them to escape, as the fire was closing in much faster than they could hope to go around and escape. Given the apparent surety of his victory, Torrens didn't bother to kill them on sight. Instead, he chased them deeper into the forest, although none of them lasted long before they succumbed to the heat or the smoke. Torrens stayed for some hours more, basking in the flames to bolster his strength, and also scouring the rest of the forest and the surrounds to see if he could spot any survivors. While the chances were remote, a villager or two could have escaped his trap and fled into the night. Torrens was counting on that being exceedingly improbable, since he had no hope of finding them if they did successfully escape as they would be employing stealth and could be anywhere in the countryside. For official purposes, he would assume he had caught all of them which had been taking his route.

It was not until the sun had already been up for an hour that the fires started to wane as the forest burned out. Only then did Torrens begin to make his way back to the Dungeon. He would probably get there sometime around midday or the afternoon, and he would seem noticeably brighter and hotter thanks to that forest fire.

[User]
Taking the time to enjoy the homely feeling that the underground gave him, Twich took the time to look around at the work that Clotho's swarm had been up to. Had things been somewhat different, he would have quite happily sent some messages back to his tribe and offered them the chance to move into a proper dwarven outpost that was connected to a massive underground fortress with plenty of room for home improvements and expansions... But alas, the fortress needed to remain vacant by the desire of the Master's will to pit the dwarves against the humans.

When the Queen of the Swarm returned, she did not do so alone. The presence of the squid-head made Twich's scales itch; He had traveled a lot in his pursuit of knowledge and from the other kobold tribes had heard and read about the legends of the squid-men of the deep earth. It was rare for a kobold tribe to dig down deep enough or for one of the squids to dig up enough in the right place for the two species to intermingle, but it had happened before. The stories about what happened next were often told to Hatchlings to scare and warn them of one of the many dangers that exist with digging to deep.

While he did not know just how much truth there were in the legends, Twich couldn't help but feel like he was now standing on the edge of a knife with a large fall awaiting him on either side should he slip. The future had just become more dangerous. "Clotho, how are things coming along?"


[System]
Cody stands at about 6 feet, and has a lean, athletic build.

Age: 31

Personality: Cody is calm and collected, he prefers analyzing and planning out a battle beforehand rather than rushing in. He believes that battles should always be fought with a plan in mind, and abhors those who rush into battle blindly. Although he usually works alone, he is more than capable of working well and communicating with a team. However, he can still commit some mistakes and misunderstandings when working with others. He is always seen wearing his full armor in public, as he feels uncomfortable taking it off unless he's around people he trusts.

Backstory: Born in the city of Hong Kong, Cody Liu had been fascinated by NC's ever since he first laid eyes on them. He grew up studying and learning about them, and when he was old enough, joined the Red Star NC academy in Beijing. Finding himself with a fair sync ratio of 75%, he passed pilot training with flying colors and was assigned the pilot of an unknown NC that Red Star had salvaged with its body intact. Proving himself to be a valuable pilot, Cody was soon promoted to lieutenant and fought across many fronts for Red Star. But during a mission defending a border city from a Volkov Industries attack, the population of the city, along with several Red Star NCs and one of his close friends were killed by a massive airstrike that was authorized by his superior officer despite his objections. He ultimately deserted the army and forged a reputation as a mercenary. Recently, he had heard news of a large-scale Red-star attack on the city of Darwin. Cody felt something inside him, despite not receiving any noticeable rewards it benefits from defending Darwin, he volunteered. Perhaps it was his hidden feelings of anger towards Red Star, or maybe a sense of justice in defending the innocent inhabitants of the city. Nevertheless, he's there now, ready to fight for the defense of Darwin and Haven as a whole.

Tactical Preferences and Skills: Cody prefers staying in his mech, blasting away at foes from a safe distance due to the nature of his NC. His speciality is taking down targets as artillery, but performs equally as well at mid-range. He very rarely engages in melee combat, but knows how to reposition himself and keep the enemy away long enough for him to regain an advantage. Outside of his NC, he is adept in marksmanship, with his favourite firearms being assault rifles and heavy weapons such as rocket launchers and miniguns.

Notes: Cody really appreciates food, and eats rice with nearly every meal.

---

Codename: Halberd

Body-type: Bipedal

Type of NC: Light Artillery/Minor anti-air/Long-range

Equipment and armaments:

Heavy plasma cannons: The Halberd posseses 4 Heavy plasma cannons, 2 mounted on each arm. Used primarily for mid-range and close-range combat, the cannons pack quite a punch and have a decent fire rate as well. The only problem they face is that they are relatively quick to overheat, and thus, must be carefully managed.

Ripper missile launchers: Two ripper missile launchers surround the cockpit of the mech. They possess 4 tubes each, and can fire a salvo of guided ripper missiles, which can be used against ground targets, but are more effective against aircraft. Alternatively, the ripper missiles can be replaced with lancer missiles instead, which function more like anti-ground artillery.

Mass driver cannons: The Halberd's most powerful weapons are its dual mass driver cannons, located on its back. They function best as long-range anti-mech weapons, and can fire armor-piercing rounds at incredible speeds. Although they possess immensely long range, they fire slowly. It is usually loaded with armor-piercing rounds, but can be loaded with different types of rounds as well, such as incendiary rounds.

Shield generators: It is also equipped with energy shield generators to protect it from enemy fire. The generators produce a slightly more durable shield as compared to other NCs.

Rocket boosters: Should the Halberd ever need to escape, it is equipped with 4 rocket boosters located on the back of the vehicle to boost its speed by a large margin. The boosters are quite powerful and can move the Halberd fast enough to outrun interceptor type NCs. However, the boosters guzzle down large amounts of fuel, and thus must be carefully used to ensure the Halberd does not run out.

Notes: The Halberd stands at about 7 meters high. It possesses moderate armor and a moderately fast walking speed. Its primary weakness is its lack of powerful close-range options, as it functions as a light artillery and anti-air unit. The heavy plasma cannons are deadly at close-range but have difficulty in aiming at closer targets as well. The Halberd's only option is to use its boosters to quickly enlarge the gap between it and its attacker, but once it runs out of fuel, it is incredibly vulnerable.

[User]
Cassius Chaplain

---

---

Honestly, Cassius couldn't help but grin at the reactions everyone had towards him, not a single one of them seemed… receptive to alcohol. Though that in itself didn't bother him. He'd been around the block quite a few times, and a bad outlook towards alcohol before a battle was definitely not uncommon, and as such, that didn't bother him. He did however, wink at Isaac after the little comment about not being able to perform at ones best while being intoxicated- hell, that's when Cassius worked best. He didn't say anything to go against it, though. Not everyone was a heavyweight like Cassius, afterall. Only normal for them to want to relax in a… vaguely normal place. Though he bowed his head in slight approval at Zahra, and smiled to her, before straightening up once more, and taking a long puff of his cigar.

"Aye, can't say yer wrong with that. Guess I'll join yaz, just be bringin' in m'own poison." To emphasise, he pulled his vest back to reveal the other three canteens, each one different, some more elaborate than others, then closed it back up again, and continued smiling his toothy grin, before he moved on over and nudged Cody gently with his elbow. "Gimme a look at that after yer done." Adopting a slightly more serious face as he said it, before reverting back to his goofy smile, saluting Theodore, then gesturing back to the door with a quick nod of his head, waiting for the squad to lead, while he took the 'rearguard', focused completely on his own thoughts.

"Very surprising, Pilot Cassius. I thought you would have gone to the bar, with or without them." Oh-Cee's voice ringed out from the subtle earpiece, and he nodded along to her voice, despite her not being able to see him do so.

"I do aim to surprise." He responded in barely a whisper. If anybody had looked back at him, there was a ghost of a smile apparent on his face, as his amber eyes stared ahead without actually paying attention to whatever they saw. The cigar burnt low, as he had forgotten to puff on it for a little. His mind drifted.

---

Coffeehouse looked just about as expected. Cassius had been with Haven for a good six months, and not once had he gone to the coffeehouse, nor the baths. The bar was the only place he was familiar with, probably having spent more time there than he had in his actual room. He looked from patron to patron, studying them intensely in the half second he focused on each of them, then finally settled on Joey. The tips of his mouth curled downwards very slightly at the mention of him formerly being apart of Red Star, but that quickly changed to a smile once more, and he let out a hearty laugh, before walking right past the majority of the group towards the table Chelsea had chosen, and the nearest unoccupied table, before effortlessly lifting the unoccupied one, and moving it over to Chelsea's, and joined the two together so that there's space for the entire squad to sit. He gazed back over to Joey, and couldn't help but shrug.

"It's aight if I smoke 'ere, right? An' drink, yeah?" He didn't wait for an answer, before plopping himself down onto a chair, and almost falling out of it in panic when he heard it creak underneath his size. He laughed again, before rubbing the back of his head with one of his hands, and taking a deep puff of his now re-lit cigar. "Mah bad. Got'chuze a seat."

He allowed himself a moment of quiet as he retreated into the inner parts of his mind, just simply enjoying the taste of the quality smoke he inhaled, before he exhaled through his nose. How long had it been since he had been anywhere other than the bar? Who even knows… not Cassius, that's for sure. He figured he might as well enjoy it, and so he pulled out a canteen, a different one from before, and took a swig. He was sure that there was tap water that tasted better, but it didn't have the same effect on him. He re-opened his eyes to look at the rest of the squad, then at Joey.

"Not hungry, luckily, else I'd eat out th'joint. Though might as well taik a coffee, half a cup though, th'rest'll be my poison. I'll take't black."

[Assistant]
Isaac LaBelle

---

Isaac exited the operations room calmly, seemingly content with the decision to pick the coffeehouse over the bar. He supposed it was better than sitting in their cockpits painstakingly waiting for the order to mobilize. Despite his relative composure, he still visibly tensed up as another pilot slung some French at him right out of the door. His eyes flicked over to Alexei like a wary animal, not too wide as to suggest fear, but not too narrow as to suggest hostility. He hadn't heard about other Paragon agents here. Was this a defector? He'd never heard of a Southshell Alliance, at least in Europe. Had he been found out already? No, he had to play it cool, there was no way this guy could know who he was.

"Isaac LaBelle, nice to meet you," he finally responded, voice meek but otherwise level, "Are you from France? You speak the language well enough." He needed to assess what kind of insight Alexei had. Any insider knowledge of Paragon could be a threat to his cover, and he'd have to be extra careful. Isaac was pretty sure he didn't have a reputation, but he didn't want to take the risk.

He followed along with the group as they made their way to the coffeehouse regardless, shooting an idle glance at Alexei every so often as he kept in close proximity. When the other pilot turned to converse with one of the girls - he never caught her name - Isaac mumbled a quick "Coffee, extra cream." to Joey when he saw an opportunity. He slid into a chair nearby, head craning around the room in idle interest as he tried to look like he wasn't eavesdropping on Alexei and... Ms. Steiner, he called her?

The Battle of Blue Mountain. Sydney. That suggested Alexei had been here in Haven for a while, and thus he was unlikely to have any knowledge of Isaac himself or Algernon. The agent finally let out a sigh, his posture visibly sinking in his chair. He could relax; a bit, at least. The atmosphere helped, even with that huge man from earlier throwing tables around to make a bigger area for the squad to sit. It seemed odd to be sitting here with a whole armada actively bombarding the area, but what could Isaac do? He had his targets, and whether Darwin fell or not wasn't his concern. It didn't make sense for him to be more tense than some of these people with everything to lose. The only thing he had to worry about was unfounded paranoia and making a quick getaway should things go south.

Isaac finally perked up at that thought, scooting closer to the table in an attempt to at least look like he was engaging with the group, if not actively talking at the moment.

---

Valias

[User]
Maria Leonora "Len" Trillanes

---

Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.
Len is in deep concentration as she mentally prays the holy rosary. On her right hand is pearl rosary, a forbidden heirloom of the Trillanes family, forbidden in the Red-Star at least. But Haven is a different place, she can basically flaunt the rosary in public, and show won't be arrested.

On her left hand is an old newspaper cutaway, the the cutaway is a picture of a woman maniacally shooting devotees and civilians during a major Easter Mass led by Cardinal Cardo Martin. This event, the Manila Cathedral Massacre, the trigger to the Blue Semaphore Uprising (So called due to the Christian Anarchist flag resembling a blue and white semaphore flag), the same rebellion her father led.

The woman in the cutaway is Gongdi Jiangshi, born from one of the elite families in the Red-Star. Prior to the incident, she is considered to be the most pragmatic, tolerant, and compassionate of the Gongdi family, she even sponsored Cardinal Martin's rise to the top, both to gain the support of the Catholic Church, and the Catholic populace in the Red-Star, as well as gain Red-Star's influence in the Vatican. But alas, she had proven to be a Gongdi through and through, an Elizabeth Bathory in saint's clothing. And while her life was eventually ended by a Swiss Guard, her ghost still haunts to this day, as she is immortalized by the Red-Star.

She vowed to herself that this tragedy would never happen again. She vowed that God's children would never be martyred again. She vowed to destroy the Red-Star.

Personal thoughts aside, Len would need to know the new recruits, an effective fighting force needs to establish an espirit-de-corps, as well as knowing one's allies' strenghts and weakness.

She approaches Chelsea, Alexei, and company, although her shyness kept her mute.

[Assistant]
Fortunately for him, the Commander General accepted his request and gave the plans to him. He thanked Narra, but decided to wait until they reached the coffeehouse before reading the plans. Suddenly, one of the other pilots, a large man with gray hair and a scar running across his cheek, nudged him and asked to see the plans later as well. He stared at him through his visored helmet and replied with a small nod, before keeping the tablet and joining the rest of the group in going to the coffeehouse.

As he walked inside, he recognized the barista. He had first met Joey Glory when he was still part of Red-star, he and his comrades actually went to him regularly during their off hours. He waited until the rest of the pilots were done before approaching him and casually remarking:

Cody: So when did you switch to Haven? Last time I checked, you were still satisfied working for Red-star.

He paused for a moment, for Joey to respond before speaking again:

Cody: Also, you have any Chinese tea? Haven't had any in a while


[System]
Nicknames/Aliases: N/A

X-Men Code Name: Cosmos

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Physical Description:
Height: 4'10"
Weight: 81 lbs
Skin: Medium-fair
Eyes: Black (Green pre-mutation)
Hair: Dark brown
Distinctive Markings: Freckles, a mole above her mouth
Mutations: Astral Projection
Aya is capable of extending her consciousness outside of her body. Invisible to others, her spirit form is capable of passing through solid objects or going into dangerous situations or environments that she otherwise would avoid. She can also create projections of other people if she's touching them, separating their consciousness from their bodies. She has to be touching them to bring them back for the astral plane, however. If Aya snaps back to her body without touching the other person's projection, then the person will be stuck there until she snaps to the other side again to bring them back.

When maintaining her projection, her physical body is more or less helpless, and she is oblivious to her surroundings. Due to her projection's intangible nature, she's also unable to influence her spiritual environment or talk to anyone through it. She still knows very little about her powers -- she doesn't know how long she can keep it up for yet, or how far away she can travel from her body. Her current record is 3 days and about 1.5 miles.

Aya is still uncomfortable with the fact that she's a mutant and so tends to not use her powers. Of course, this refusal to train her abilities makes it so she has very little control -- when under emotional stress or scared, Aya can accidentally activate them.

However, since coming to the Ashford Institute her powers Aya is gaining more control. She can now activate her powers on command, though it's not always perfect, and she only very rarely uses her powers on accident. She can now also maintain a sense of awareness over her body if she deliberately uses her powers -- she can hear sounds and feel whatever her body goes through physically to a certain degree.
Personality: Aya is quiet and reserved, equal parts mature and insecure. Her introverted nature makes it hard to connect to the people around her, but when she does open up, she reveals a sensitive heart, a sharp mind, and a sardonic sense of humor.

Background: Originally from the island of Oahu, Aya is the only child of an American father and Japanese mother. Her childhood was fairly normal. She played piano, danced hula, went to Japanese school after her normal school day finished... then her father was diagnosed with lung cancer when she was 11, and life got a bit harder. Her mother, unable to deal with the emotional hardship, simply up and left one day. She tried to take Aya with her, but the little girl screamed and cried, refusing to go back to Japan and abandon her father. Aya's relationship with her today is still strained, to say the least. Her dad finally succumbed to his cancer when Aya was 17, just two weeks before she graduated high school. She doesn't like to talk about him.

After graduating she decided to come to Ashford. While she's highly intelligent, her grades had suffered during her last few years of high school due to Aya devoting all her free time to working and caring for her dad, and so her college prospects were abysmal. Ashford was her best option for escaping the island she'd spent her entire life on, and she hopes the school will give her enough control over her powers so she never uses them again.

Recap of your mutations awakening: Aya was 16 years old and at the only high school party she'd ever attended. When the night finished she and her classmate, Kainoa Young, were found unconscious on the bed in his room, Kainoa on top of her. At first everyone just laughed, assuming they were about to get it on when they'd passed out from drunkenness. But then no one could wake them up.

Eventually Aya and Kainoa were placed in a hospital as doctors struggled to figure out why the two teens were in comas -- they were healthy, young, and while they'd been drinking at the party there were no signs of alcohol poisoning. Three days passed.

Then Aya finally woke up. Her eyes, which were once a rich green color, were now black as coal. She seemed shaken and disoriented. She claimed not to remember anything from the party, or why they'd both passed out.

Kainoa never woke up. The longer he slept, the weaker and weaker his body became. Kainoa deteriorated until he needed to be hooked up to a machine to even breathe. Then finally, after months of being on life support, his body simply shut down.

When the school held a ceremony after his death, Aya was the only student absent.

[User]
Ayel Rozenfeldt

"Pretender hunters laying snares, thinking they can catch a deer or two. Not ever considering that in the forest, they are not the only hunters."  Ayel tried to reassure Aya, as he moved towards Heidi. "Time is of the essence, we must make haste. Every moment wasted is a moment longer your friend is in danger." The blonde man nodded towards the much shorter Heidi.

"That's right Heidi, it would take too long on foot. Yet there are swifter ways to traverse our beautiful world." He gave a soft smile and then tried to walk up and place his arm around Heidi's waist and back. "I suggest you hold on. It may get abit windy." Ayel began to shortly afterwards lift himself off the ground, with Heidi aswell unless she would struggle and try get out of his grasp. The hooded man gave a look back to Aya and Jason.

"You two stay behind and let your other friends know what has happened. Tell them to proceed with outmost caution."

Ayel waited to hear Heidi's instructions as to how to get to the place, as he gradually levitated higher and higher up. There was surely going to be all manner of problems, if there were guns involved then it was likely humans behind it. Seldom would those amongst their kind turn to using human weaponry, not when having been bestowed with the power to be a god.

[Assistant]
---

---

Heidi Williams

---

Location: Outside Avalon.
 Interacting With: Ayel @Dezuel; Jason @Eric Horst

---

---

Ayel's metaphor concerned Heidi, as her mind over-analysed it. There were going to the enemy, hat was true. They'd probably be victorious unless there are a lot of men there, or they have their own mutants. But even so, choosing a hunter metaphor over any other possible scenario was concerning. Did he see himself as a predator and the kidnappers as his prey? Was he planning on killing? If he was, Heidi would have to stop him. There was a lot to worry about. They were heading towards a group of armed opponents who knew they were coming, probably have knowledge of mutants, might have a mutant in their ranks, and to add to all that, Heidi would have to keep an eye on Ayel's actions too.

Ayel started to provide his answer to the transportation problem, but then placed his had around Heidi's waist, and told her to hold on. This didn't take a genius to figure out, and Heidi braced herself for flight. When they started to lift off the ground, she grabbed handfuls of his shirt and clung on tight. Clearly both nervous from flying, and embarrassed from being held in such a manner, she couldn't look less comfortable. Se gave an apologetic glance to Jason. They didn't even get to have any time together to have their...date...thing? Nothing had gone to plan tonight.

"Alright. From here, you'll want to head southeast, in the same direction as that factory in the distance. Also, I'll just get this out the way now. Don't kill anyone. We should be able to resolve this without taking lives. Therefore we must."

[User]
Ayel Rozenfeldt

As soon as Heidi had told Ayel in which direction to go, he began to fly in that direction. Being able to get there by air would save alot of effort having to follow the various streets. "Nay need to feel embarassed." The blonde said in a low manner to Heidi, trying to get eye-contact with her. Whomever had taken this Una, were likely humans. Humans kidnapping his fellow kind, this was not new to him. Though upon hearing Heidi's words of not killing anyone, Ayel opened his mouth to reply to her.

"Do you want to rescue your friend? If so, you've ought to purge your mind of any doubt and hesitation. These people have taken your friend, and whom knows what they've done with her. She is still alive however, I know that much. Otherwise they would not wait for more to come." Ayel said in a soft, reassuring tone of voice. One which Heidi wouldn't be able to hear. He set his sight ahead towards the direction they were flying towards, and continued speaking.

"If you hesitate to destroy an evil, if you do not seize the moment when it presents itself. Then perhaps you will be the one dying instead, or one of your friends. Actions have consequences, nay matter how much someone might wish to solve things peacefully. The real world isn't as kind as the world in the fairytales. What will stop these people from doing what they've done anew? If not us, what will? Could you live knowing you could have ended a future disaster if only you would had been able to pull the trigger? Though by such a time, it would be useless to look back. You cannot go back in time to fix things. That's why you must make the right choice, take the right path to begin with. With no hesitation."  Ayel exhaled softly as they were flying, the wind not as violent as he had thought. "Sometimes we are left with cruel choices, yet even so we've have to chose. My advice is to make up your mind before the scenario present itself before you. One may not be able to foresee the future, but one may indeed prepare for it. So what kind of future do you want Heidi? One where these thugs roam free to continue their wicked work? Or a safe future without them as a threat."

The blonde man gave a soft smile to Heidi, looking at her while they were getting closer to their destination.

"They will expect you. They want to capture you and your friends, that is why they have taken this Una. It is as plain as day. For what purpose? To weaponize you most likely, or outright gather you in order to kill you. How much blood do these captors have on their hands now, or could have on their hands if they are not stopped? Do you really want to know? Once we arrive on the scene, I want you to stay hidden. Watch and memorize their looks and weaponry. When the rest arrive, you will give them the intel they need to proceed, lest they dash into the darkness. Knowledge is power after all, I am certain you should know this better than anyone, Heidi?" Ayel had a slight upturn form at the corner of his mouth.

"However... they do not expect..." The blonde said, his smirk forming into a grin. "Me." The dark clothed man took a better hold of Heidi to make sure she would not fall, as they were quite the distance up into the air. Strands of his long blond hair flickered in the wind and his hood fell back from the wind blowing.

 "I'll make them run out of bullets to fire. You'll make it your priority to guide the rest into whatever place we'd be to enter. Your goal is getting Una out of there. Leave the captors to me, I shall draw their undivided attention, perhaps a lesson in nature science would do them well. Aswell as whomever is pulling their strings, if you pull a doll hard enough the puppeteer might appear. As the curtains are closing, some would do anything necessary to extend their act and time upon the stage. Yet what is a play without some drama and tragedy, let's make certain this very lethal play will not have a tragic ending shall we? Rescue Una and the coming applause shall drown the wicked."

[Assistant]
Aya, still in pain and disoriented, couldn't do much but watch as the stranger whisked Heidi away, up into the air. She bit her lip. They weren't prepared. She needed to tell the others, she needed --

A wave of pain shot through her head and down her spine. Aya sucked in a breath, squeazing her eyes shut. She pressed the heel of her palm against her temple. Aya didn't even know where she was, she remembered. Forcing an eye open, she ran her other hand along the wall, using it to support herself as she tried to find the door. It was close enough. Aya stumbled out into the open night air. Immediately a weight lifted from her chest. She hadn't realized how claustrophobic she'd felt in that building.

The bright LA lights shined, illuminating the road. Avalon was across the street. They hadn't moved her very far, at least. There was a crash. Shouts, a roar, and the hiss and crackle of fire. The Sluagh. Aya had to help. She had to --

She tottered forward in her heeled boots, squinting against the neon lights. Aya entered the club, a blast of hot, dry air hitting her face. Cleo, Nik, and Drake were there, hurling words and attacks at the Sluagh that just seemed to shrug off every blow. Aya squeaked and ducked down behind a toppled table as Nik threw explosions that rocked the building.

Uná... Heidi and the stranger... guns... urgency and panic swirled the thoughts in her head, making the different thoughts impossible to pick out. Her head pounded. Her limbs still didn't quite fit right. She didn't know what she could do. What could she do? She wasn't a fighter, she wasn't brave, she didn't belong here.

And yet.

Aya bit her lip, wincing at the sounds of the fight. Drake was slurring out a challenge. They weren't equipped to deal with this. How had this night become such a mess? She needed... she needed --

Aya stood up from behind the table, only stumbling a little from the surge. "Sluagh!" Aya called out before she fully knew what she was doing. Her voice stopped in her throat. She glanced at Drake, like he could somehow help her. She looked back at the monster. "I -- I know where Uná is!" Aya prayed she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life.


[System]
Lass

16

Female

Straight

MerMaid

Sometimes it is hard to guess that Thalassa is actually a princess. Her reserved and naive personality makes that so. She is rather quiet. Seeming to shrink back whenever she is put on the spotlight. She does not handle attention very well. So being the princess causes her great anxiety. In which can result in break downs. Her break downs are not made up of screaming and kicking, like most people would picture. But instead, she freezes. Consumed by her thoughts and dreading worries. Some would say she's being over dramatic. But she knew since she was a little girl, that the responsibility of being the next queen would weigh down on her shoulders. And drag her down. Lass wises only for peace. She believes that all creatures and people could live peacefully together. If they could put their differences aside. She hates the aspect of war. It scares her. If she sees a creature, or anyone, in danger or hurt. She has to help them, it is simply who she is.

Lass is rather small for a Mermaid. A slim and frail creature, with an elegant build. She is slim, and her ribs poke out a bit from beneath her skin. Along with other bones. Although she is rather skinny, she has an odd sense of beauty to her, like most mermaids. Her chest is covered in scales of sea green. Keeping them modestly hidden from prying eyes. Her hair is long, curling against the salty waves as she swims. The ends of her hair are a bright yellow, while the rest is a sky blue. Her tail stands out against the calm colors of her upper body. It is covered in bright pink scales. Streaked with black stripes. Her fin is a dark more magenta pink. Her fin is also not shaped like most other mermaid tails. Instead of the naturally curtain like fin, of say a fish, she has the thick scaled fin shaped like a dolphins tail. Most would think her colors to replicate that of a tropical fish. Which is quite true. Although her fair, pale skin, suggests otherwise. The scales of her tail smoothly blend into her skin. At the tires, slowly blending from fish scales, to smooth human skin. Her eyes are a soft pink, her eye lashes naturally long and dark. Her face is smooth and heart-shaped in nature.

She has a flute that has been passed down the generations of her mothers families for thousands of years. The origins of it's magic is certainly unknown. It is a flute whittled from
A long golden sea-shellfish figure. The legend that has travelled with it through her family is that the flute was a gift from single horns horses on the land. Who needed rain to provide their food, in exchange for rain, they gave her mothers ancestors a flute. Said to be carved out of a unicorns horn. The sound
It makes is higher pitched in key. But beautiful and soothing. By playing this flute, schools of small fish come to her assistance. Depending on what songs she plays, is what they do and how they react. Lass is a talented musician. But few know this fact, due to her shyness and fear of any sort of spotlight.

Klisi, Floga
Krill

23

male

Straight

Naga

Krill's personality and essence can be put simply into three words. Trouble maker, and playful. He can seem like an over sized child at times. He tends to poke at peoples buttons. And it's not like he doesn't intend to. He wants to. Teasing people is his number one sport, next to tricks. Some may describe his tricks as immature, and annoying. While others find his actions rather amusing. Which is possibly the only reason that anyone Bother to have him around at all. His train of thought is often disrupted, and he can hardly stay focused on anything. One moment he's talking to you, the next he's chasing a fish. Although his appearance says otherwise, truly he's a bubbly, sarcastic, exciting male. Krill is goofy enough that he does not care one bit if he makes a fool of himself.

Krill's body is shaped long and thin. Unlike most muscular males, he is rather bony, with a flop like quality. His muscles can be seen through Olive skin, but are rather small compared to most other Mer-men of the same age. His skin, like his twin, is a Olive-grey color. A tan slightly hinted green, making it easier for him to blend into Seagrass. His hair is pure white. Streaked with a Olive green paler than that of his skin. While dry, his hair is long enough that it reaches the tip of his slightly pointed ears. His hair is usually wet, living underwater most of the time, it flows above his head. Krill's eyes are a sea-green. With a bright, electric quality to them. His eyes are almond shaped, just like the majority of his face. His face is long and thin, but with a goofy and kind quality to his brightly toned cheeks. His tail is scattered with green scales, splattered with many different shades and varieties of green. The underbelly of his tail his a soft gold, a color that trails up through his skin, covering his chest. A layer if spines goes from the back of his neck, to the tip Of his tail. The folded between each spine are golden like the underbelly. These spines trail along the back of his arms, to the tips of his fingers. His fingers are scale covered around the pads. With webbing between his fingers.

Nothing about him is very unknown. His twin brother, (name), is very close to him. And together they cause quite a bit of trouble for everyone and everyone

Mairanna
Mare

17 years old

female

Straight

Humacampus

Mare is a strictly serious type of person. She hardly ever smiles, and has literally no sense of humor. Although she is kind, and thoughful of others. Doing anything that is against her standard is strickly forbidden. She believes in equality, that no one race is better than the next. Along with that everything one earth has emotion, from the long blades of sea grass in the ocean, to even the sky and sea. She has little tolerance for anyone who dare talks back to her, or be rude about anyone. She is not afraid to smack someone upside the head to knock some sense in them. She is easily annoyed, but does not explode. Simply curses under her breath. Although her curses are a bit strange, and mostly in another language.

Mare is a sea dragon, Humacampus. Her tail is long and curled, like that of anyother seahorse creature. It a pure white tail. With splatters and speckls of gold and purple. Her skin is pure white, just like that of her tail. Her tail smoothly blended into her torso. the pads and fingertips of her hands are dark purple, while her stomach and chest are brightly colored gold that trails around her tail. Around her back, and arms, there are natural drape like skin. They don't look like skin, more like white seaweed attached elegantly to her. Flowing around her like a dress. Her body is slick and slim. And she has beautiful curves and her chest is covered by a seaweed dress she makes. Her hair is purple, dark and enticing. While her eyes are golden.

She has grown up all by herself. And everything she has ever received, was something that she has earned. Never has she been given anything. She has to work hard for anything and everything. Mkaing her quite a resilent creature. At the edge of town, she has build a small little building, that she carved into the rocks. It doubles as her house and hospital. She has a small hospital, where she uses her healing ablities to help other. She is unnaturally gifted with healing. But her powers are multiplied with a staff she has. It is a magic staff, made of wood, that at the top curls around a gem. with tons at the bottom to keep it from floating away if you were to let it go. No one knows for certain how she recieved this staff. Although the true is she had a sea witch make it for her in exchange for something. She traded the staff for her heart. And if her staff were to be destoried, so would cease to live.

Ramis Yorksure
No nickname currently

10 years

male

Straight

Stable Boy

Remis is a gentle boy. With the personality like that of a stallion. He is calm, and kind. But not afraid to speak his mind. When it is called for. Despite his young age, he is surprisingly wise. Not many would guess that he is actually ten. He has the wisdom of a war veteran, who has seen the horrors of battle. Yet, he has never left the city his entire life. He has no temper at all, and always talks in a calm and collected way.

 Remis is a rather solid individual. With a large build, but a gentle way of movement. His shape is square, and thick. He is a bit on the chubby side, simply because he is still young. And still has the childish roundness of someone who has not yet hit puberty. He hopes that he will grow to be like his big brother. Who had been chubby as a child, but become a solid bulk when he turned 13. His face is square shaped, but still rounded. His hair is cropped short, and black. His skin tan and normally dirty due to his line of work. His eyes are a bright blue, with flecks of gold in their depths. He wears a leather hat, with goggles attached to them, that he puts on when working so nothing gets into his eyes. His clothes are simple and worn. A white long sleeves shirt and worn leather vest he had been given from his father. He wears tan pants, and heavy brown boots.

Remis was born into a mid-classed family. His father was a royal knight, who helped protect the royal family. His mother died when he was born from a diease. He grew up hearing stories from his big brother and father about his mothers song, and about her blue eyes, that he had been given. When he was 5, his father was killed in a squirmish with some bandits. Leaving the two boys to live by themselves. His older brother, Thomas, takes good care of him. And had fallen into his father's footsteps. Being a Knight. Remis has always had a great love for horses. So when Thomas told him about a position open at the stables, he jumped to the occasion. He is now a stableboy, and helps take care and work all of the royal horses at the stables. One of the wealhty families were so pleased with his services, they gave him a horse. Really, the horse has a problem with it's leg, so thats why he has it. but he is overly thankful. The colt is only 6 months old, and was born with a foot that was not formed properly. So it is slightly twisited. The colt is a bay, with a light brown coat, and beautiful black mane. Remis takes good care of his horse, and has named him Crusher.

[User] Thalassa felt as though her skin was crawling with sea crawlers. Her gaze was locked with Arios, and despite wishing to look away. She could not. It was as if his stare was a prison. Once you looked, your gaze could not be removed until he deemed it time. And he would not let her eyes go until she had accepted his request. "Alright" she said softly "I will come along" she felt as though each word was as stiff as rock. As she wondered why her father would want her to patrol. Maybe so she could go use to more of their kingdom, a kingdom that one day she would rule. Her mind worked like her striped tail. Rolling over thoughts at the same pace that her fine pushed to keep her a float. She wondered if maybe she would see humans. And if she did, how would her body respond. She knew the most likely response would be to freeze for a moment, before quickly descending back into the comforting waves where she would be unseen. She feared the slim chance that curiosity would overwhelm her. Causing her to stride closer and closer to the waves. Until she could touch the stern of the ship. She had always had the desire to touch a ship, still drifting above the ocean's exotic world. To jump along side it, with the dolphins that would dance and play in and out of the water. If only there was a way to do this without being seen by men. Thalassa wished every now and again that that she wasn't so fearful. That she could have the courage to explore the things that struck her Interest. But she knew no matter what she did, she wouldn't and couldn't change. She was naive and fearful. That's what made it worse for her. Knowing she would be a queen one day. But what good would a queen be if she couldn't even stand in the crowd of people.

[Assistant]
Arios
"Very good." Arios began to swim away, assuming the princess was following him. He really didn't give her choice in the matter. He had convinced the princess to come along so close to the surface, now the rest was in the hands of lady luck. Once arrived near the city, a small patrol of Naga and mermen were waiting. His people. Half of them were high in rank, were raised in the same orphanage and ready to do everything for Arios. Just as he planned it out. "Okay gentlemen, you know the plan. Let's get to it." And with those words, the 7 Naga and Mermen and mermaids shot up vertically, going straight for the surface. Arios followed them equally fast. Right before they would break the surface of the water, they evened out, going parallel with the waves. And so their patrol began.

And lady Luck was on their side. A caravel, alone in the waters. It was going rather fast. But still, his men and women could follow it. And for an added pleasure, dolphins were accompanying the patrol. A perfect distraction for the princess. Arios thought self-satisfied. With a small hand motion, he ordered the patrol to dive a little deeper. So the sailors on the ship wouldn't see them.

---

Liandrich
"Dolphins at starboard!" yelled a random sailor. And immediately everyone ran towards starboard, where indeed, dolphins were jumping up from the water and making their happy sounds. Even Arios, who was training on the deck once again, stopped and looked over. As usual it was a warm, sunny day. Now with the dolphins, the crew felt very sure that this would be a safe voyage. Though as usual, Liandrich felt something off. His eyes told him that there must be something more in the water. So while most sailors returned to their posts, Liandrich kept looking over the rail of the ship for the 'something more'.

[User] felt something was greatly off as she joined the patrol. Something in the waves, a itching darkness that pulsed through the rolling waves of salty water. Thalassa was certain something would go wrong, but this feeling was chased away the moment that she saw the dolphins. Although her connection with tropical fish, such as the ones at the reef, was much greater, she got along with any sea creature. Dolphins were no exception. She zipped through the water, towards the pod of slick creatures. The wooden hull of the ship cut through the water, and she was careful not to get to close to the surface. Just enough below the starboard side of the side to be unseen. The dolphins splashed in and out of the water. Clicking and playing with the princess. She laughed, as they spun around her, clicking at her to join them. And so she did. Being cautious of course, she zipped through the water with them in the depths. Curling through the warm waves and spinning. Dancing with the dolphins through the water. The threat of humans was still on her mind. Simply stored in the back, where she was still aware of it. But it was not stopping her from swimming. Though her cautious nature was still clear, as she did not come close to piercing the sight of men.