[System]
"I'm still alive, and I can still fight. Shouldn't that be all that matters, at this point?"
-PILOT-
(obviously not as naked as this)
Age: 15

Personality: Lora is unique for having a sort of deadpan confidence, seeming be reserved on the outside but in reality being very empowered and sure of her capability. Of course, she's not headstrong, either, and in fact proves to be rather patient. Off the field, she performs small efforts and tasks in hopes to play a little more than her part. The most emotion she can be noted showing is largely in combat, as if she has some deep-seated feelings regarding the Cruxi (and boy, does she).

Motives: Repel the Cruxi and ensure a better future.

Background:
People who say Lora went through hell don't realize that good people shouldn't go to hell.

The young Lora grew on a colony somewhat on the farther reaches of human society. Her family was one of the most esteemed on that world, and not because they had luxury. No, it was because they shared their luxury, working to create and distributor new technologies to benefit the people and ensure what happened to Earth would not so easily repeat itself. Lora was exposed to this and more, and so learned the better qualities of life and what they meant.

To say it all changed when the Cruxi appeared seemed cliche and inaccurate. Within 24 hours, it all disappeared - homes, families and lives alike. A still-young Lora and her younger brother were one of the few that managed to make it, of the single escape ship that managed to survive the ordeal. She wished she could stop crying, that after she cried all her tears, her voice went hoarse, and her heart ached the worst, it would stop. But the pain never stopped.

Lora practically begged to be enlisted in the project to weaponize Framewerks. She wanted so many things, but the only ones she could hope to get were revenge, and hope itself. She would gladly learn to take life if it meant no more had to suffer like she did. She would become stronger, far stronger than she was on that day of defeat, as strong as she needed to be to take down the enemy. And even if she died doing it, Lora was going to bring peace and happiness back to every last human who deserved it.

Notable Deaths: Pretty much anyone she was related to by blood, except her brother. A couple of her close friends also didn't make it.

Other Things: People think that Lora doesn't show her emotions because she is very scarred inside. While they are partly right, she also represses her emotion to ensure she can remain stable during Framewerk combat. It works for the most part, but there are times where she can get a little loose.

-FRAMEWERK-
Code Name: Caliburn

Primary Weapons System:
 The right arm is equipped with an X-02 Lightstriker, a particle cannon with a trio of edged prongs circling the barrel. The weapon accelerates a payload of Tau particles while charging up to one million volts of energy along the prongs, before the whole blast is released in a high-impact bolt.
 The Lightstriker has a great yield with adept stopping power, but is slow to fire and has difficulty piercing through armor. When you're given the ample time to charge the cannon to full capacity, however, that shot is guaranteed to put at least a smoldering crater in most any physical armor imaginable.
 In the event of a close-range hazard, the weapon's prongs are reinforced to act as an emergency melee weapon. Prolonged use is ill-advised, as damage may dramatically hamper the Lightstriker's stability and risk further damage if fired.

Secondary Weapons Systems:
 Equipped on each shoulder blade is a paired GAU-19 heavy rotary cannon and a TOR-VN railgun system. In the event a pilot wants a quicker, more traditional method of dishing out damage, they will switch primary weapons control to this weapons array. It is then armed by flipping them over onto a set of shoulder mounts, a relatively brief process provided there is ample room for it.
 The chainguns and railguns are fired in their respective pairs, the former more rapid and culling while the latter heavier and more accurate; however, both take a bit of time to wind up before they can effectively fire, however less so than the Lightstriker. For safety reasons, the Lightstriker is powered down (even though at that time it cannot be directly controlled anyway) and the upper range of movement for the arms is locked down.

 Also equipped is a pair of infantry-grade missile launchers on the collarbone in front of the shoulder, and a reinforced shield unit on the left arm. Both are designed to be used independently of the major weapons systems - the shield unit especially is designed to withstand most heavier blows, while reinforcing the right arm enough to enable a fair medium of punching and bashing.

Frame Armor Type: Medium-Heavy ; designed to be a powerful weapons platform with a minor in tanking.
Solid Synchro Rate: 100% [MAX!!!]
Special Ability: -CLASSIFIED-

[User]
Ryan's body reacts as soon as he sees the Caliburn's fire hurdling towards him. Unfortunately, however fast his reflexes are, his synchro rate is not high enough for Macabre to match him. The result is Goodwell's Frame dodging a second too late and the blast ripping the bottom half of the Macabre's left, non-sword, arm off. It isn't the worst thing that could've happened, though, no boosters were lost and he still has Visceral. But Macabre could not wield its pistol anytime soon.

Ryan quickly recovers from the less than successful dodge and closes the distance between the Macabre and Caliburn. When Ryan arrives at Laura's location a fury of sword slashes meet the opposing Frame's chest. The fury is then finished with a booster assisted knee to the cockpit.

[Assistant]
The Caliburn's sliding ended just a few meters short of a mine, the thin layer of earth that was layered over it swept off by the force of air moved by the Frame. It was a round disc colored in stripes of brown and blue and with a pressure button at it's center. On its own, Caliburn did not set the trap off...

---

Lower deckers gave alarming developments of the mock battle: "Miles Vayne's Synchronization Rate has dropped down to zero percent! The Frame's not responding!" "The Frame's sustained critical damage to the torso, and his life signs have dropped below safety thresholds! He has incurred major damage to the ribs, shoulders and cranium!"

"That's impossible, the suits should protect them from injuries like that!" Lorenzo lashed back. "Unless he's bashing his own head against the console like an idiot it's simply out of the-" "Professor, he may have not equipped it. We can't tell until after the exercise, but that is a possible reason for the concussion." The Liutenant moved her eyes to the old man, and then back to the monitors.

"That arrogant prick," Lorenzo said in a low voice, and pressed a red button. The Komodo then deactivated, turned limp and stopped resisting Rose's grappling as it hanged in the air, before dropping down to the ground in a loud thud, kicking up dust in a tall cloud. "He wants broken bones? He's going to have plenty of them when I'm done with him."

---

Elora watched as the Komodo got hit by Archer's shot, and was eliminated from the mock battle. It was then that she realized that Miles may have been hurt if not outright killed by such a powerful attack, and slightly regretted the aggressiveness she showed against him. She was scared at the side of her that wanted to bring pain to the boy, and shivered at what she thought she was becoming. It wasn't like her. However, she didn't have much time to think on it when she watched her map, and saw how Setsuka's movement abruptly stopped in zone C. Her irises shrinked, and she immediately contacted Koehler and Ryan: "Zone C is a trap, don't go there!" She looked at Ryan's position, and saw him dashing straight to the zone. "Ryan! Don't do it!" Diver launched off, and headed to zone C as fast as she could, dashing around and through the pillars in a desperate attempt to stop what he was doing.

She reached zone C, and hovered over the ground so she would avoid any ground-based traps. Then she saw Macabre, and how it charged straight at the Caliburn. The faster Frame knocked the sturdier Frame slightly backwards by the impact, and set off the mine: both of them were caught in the blast radius, and were glued by the payload, unable to move. "Ryan! Are you okay?" Elora frantically asked, not sure of what to do. If she went to move closer and help him, she could risk setting off one of the mines. Her hands trembled, and panic started to take hold of her. Her voice wavered as she opened the voice channel to Koehler: "R-Ryan's...trapped..."

---

"Sir, there was something else," one of the lower deck scientists added. "Mai Twilight's Synchronization Rate spiked to 100%."

"What?" Lorenzo blurted out before he could sip his caffeine-based synthetic drink. "Did it drop?"

"Yes, sir. It only lasted a second before returning to normal."

"Fascinating. The last time that happened her mother had very interesting things to say..."

"Professor, you can't mean-"

"I do. It may have happened again. Damn you Cain...you could be right about her."

[User]
Koehler looked as the Black Komodo seemed to have went dumb or something, was Miles wearing his plug-suit? ...He probably wasn't. Was he having a concussion in there? The others (mainly Elora) began to speak and it was now obvious Miles was disabled for the fight. "Uhh... Uhh.. is... is anyone else freaking out?! What is this? I can't fucking think straight in this thing, what the hell is happening? Wh-what-... Ah fuck it! I'm thinking too hard."

"I... where the hell are the others? Who do you think I should be hitting? Hmm... Uhm... where'd that one- the Caliburn- is that still around?", his Frame looks around, just as oddly confused as its' pilot. He began to think, God DAMNIT, what's happening to me? Wh-why is everything so hazy? Nothing makes sense right now! Too much is happening....

Koehler saw Elora begin flying off, something about a trap? "Eaaaugh... is anyone else feeling like complete and utter shit right now? Damn, it's... I'm going crazy! This sucks!, Koehler complained while following Elora. "Nothing is..", is all he let out. Soon, they arrived at 'Zone C', and Koehler was still suffering from this strange, clouded feeling. Shit happened, is all Koehler could say to himself, when Elora said that Ryan is trapped, in great distress. "Uhh... yeah... I.. I can handle that!". Koehler had a spout of 'Ohh now I get it' when he realized mines were everywhere and something exploded. Koehler hovered over the mines with Elora, and soon flew over to above Ryan, still in his dreamlike state, barely aware of anything else.

He then quietly noticed the Caliburn, yet decided to try and get Ryan out first. He grabbed Ryans' werk by the shoulders and tried to use its' boosters to help get him off the ground. "...Elora... don't you have little lasers on your drone? Cut him out...", he soon realized. Koehler suddenly screamed.

"GOD DAMNIT LET ME GET A HOLD OF MYSELF!". He dropped Ryan, wildly shook his head, and breathed in and out, slowly. "Why's that happen anyway? Does anyone else do that stupid shit?" He stopped regulating himself,"ugh... Sorry... for y'know, geeking out...Don't do drugs, kids. That's what happens!", he joked, mainly to himself. Fucking drugs.

[Assistant]
Damn-! Lora seethed in witness of the shot's yield. The particle cannon had easily taken off the lower end of Macabre's free arm off, but at the current standings it did little to impede the foe otherwise. With thrusters and sword arm still well intact, the ultra-light Frame lunged forth to hack at Caliburn. This wasn't going to get much batter anytime soon, Lora dreaded...

Regardless of the threat, Caliburn stood its ground, raising the shield in anticipation of Macabre's melee assault. The flurry of Visceral's slashes hit harder, the shield's reinforced armor plating unable to withstand the ferocity of each slash. As Caliburn's guard was broken by the over-sized katana, so too was the left arm on which the shield was mounted. Tit for tat, then- until Ryan followed up with a jarring knee strike that slammed Lora's Framewerk in the torso, pushing them both a few meters.

Somewhere below the two dueling machines, one of the glue mines detonated.

Lora was surprised and slightly horrified when the Framewerk's legs were unable to move as she commanded. The skirmish must have set off one of the mine, which now left Calibunr at a yet greater disadvantage to the more agile swordfighter. That thought, however, only lasted until she too realized that Ryan was stuck in the same trap, struggling to move and break free from the sticky substance. It left Lora with mere sweat-laden moments on how to proceed, fighting an enemy that still has a serious weapon superiority over her. How could she ever turn the tides to her favor...?

Her left arm was crippled, which meant she had no chance of stopping that blade. The secondary weapons system would take to long to arm, even if it would be effective at this point. She was able to use the Lighstriker like a blade or spear, but that risked ruining the weapon for the rest of the battle (never mind the fact that Visceral was far stronger anyways). That only left the missile system, but the missiles were weak, not suited for fighting a typical Framewerk.

Two blips zoned in on where Lora and Ryan were held down, and Lora realized she had to act now. Left little better option, the pilot gunned down the trigger button for both launchers, sending six missiles rocketing toward the opposite Frame. Against Macabre's ultra-light armor, perhaps this truly was her best chance yet.


[System]
D A T A
Hometown - Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
Quirk Type - Emitter
Gender - Masc

-

P E R S O N A L I T Y

Earnest
TBD

Friendly
TBD

Honest
TBD
 | Physical Description
Always taller than most boys his age, Shun is big in all respects. Heavier, taller and darker-skinned due to growing up on Okinawa, he sticks out like a sore thumb this far north. His dark brown hair is occasionally gelled up into a pompadour, and he walks around wearing a dumb grin on his face. His casual wear consists of wearing relaxed shirts and shorts, it's a humorous sight to see him shivering as he walks outside between classes. But, as he says, "The clothes are just part of who I am!".
Personal History
Shun was raised by his father, a racecar mechanic in Okinawa alongside three older brothers and a younger sister. Shun barely had any real memories of his mother, who was always "away on business" during his childhood. Her own work was kept secret in their household, as his father seemed particularly upset with his wife's career path. When Shun was 8, his mother was killed on one of her business trips, and his father became colder and more obsessed with work. Shun's more cheerful personality, something he seemed to inherit from his mother and grandmother, continued undaunted in these dark times, even masking his own sadness.

Whilst Shun's father and brothers all had the same quirk, Shun had inherited his mother's quirk: Overdrive. This seemed to create a further rift between Shun and his family, as he was still expected to assist with his family's business after school. In fact, up until his final year in middle school, Shun had never actually considered the hero course at all. During a class trip, one of Shun's classmates tripped over a railing, and Shun was able to grab her in time before she could fall. This was the first moment where Shun's homeroom teacher recommended he consider the hero course for high school, instead of going to a normal high school, and then to a technical school to get a degree in mechanics.

Shun's application process was an awkward series of misadventures. His scores were extremely average, and his aptitude with his quirk was pathetic. A month before his middle school graduation, Shun received a letter from Isshin Academy, a school he had not applied to (due to the sheer distance from home). His scores, quirk tests and interview all felt the same at every other school he applied for, and it all seemed hopeless.

And then he received his acceptance letter. Even without his father's blessing, Shun took the chance to pursue this odd career choice; based on both his teacher's recommendations and a serious conversation he had with his grandmother that same year...
Character Arc
Shun is a fun, relaxed and laidback character, and is meant to be an antithesis to the shonen protagonists that are so popular in the genre (and that I tend to roleplay all the time). Shun is relatively weak compared to his other classmates and has only made it this far due to his quirk's abilities. The goal is to follow this lazy character that in any other medium be a background or punchline character and show how even someone like him can develop into an excellent hero. The other concept of his character is growing into his place as a hero and learning the truth behind some hidden family secrets. Dealing with the serious consequences of taking up a hero's mantle, as well as trying to live up to their ideals and expectations around those who knew them best is an interesting source of drama.
Quirk Description
Many believe Shun's quirk is based around simply charging up energy, but it's a little more than that. Overdrive is simply Shun's ability to store up kinetic energy, then release said kinetic energy any way he pleases. While he can do damage with his quirk, Shun's greatest weakness is both in his physicality (out of shape) and in his ability to store the energy. It can take up to three minutes for Shun to charge up his quirk, leaving him both open to the counter-attack and incapable of performing a rescue. However, when he releases his kinetic energy, he is capable of both extreme speed and strength.

Overdrive is a deeper quirk than simply kinetic storing; as Shun's mastery of his quirk increases, he will be able to sap potential energy from objects (trains, cars, bikes, moving debris, etc) as well as draw out reserves of energy, though this technique comes at a great cost. |

[User]
---

Aw, he spaced out? That was kinda cute. Although he seemed more tense than spacey, but at the same time, that wasn't really any of her business, was it? She wasn't about to be rude and question him on it, though. If there was one thing she learned from middle school, it was that people didn't generally like when you delved too soon into their lives. Instead, she nodded in understanding, hurriedly grabbing her own luggage before chasing after Yasuhide. Excellent, they were in the same class! One friend down, the rest to go!

Asuka stood next to Yasuhide happily, rocking back and forth on her heels as she took a quick look at the others that had gathered. One girl with a set of pigtails and red eyes greeted them after raising her hand, and Asuka couldn't help but wave back, trying to keep herself open and friendly. Maybe she should tone down the enthusiasm? Well, Yasuhide seemed to be alright with that level until he spaced out, so she'd have to play it by ear with each individual to see their reactions. After all, everyone was different.

And speaking of different, one purple haired girl decided to (rather loudly) exclaim and point at someone. Funny, Asuka didn't think elementary school children were allowed in Ishin. Utsuya Hajo, well now she knew who to watch to see what not to say to people. "How rude," Asuka commented, shaking her head as she looked to the tactless child with a small smile. "If we're going to be in the same class, we should aim to get along and not go around insulting one another." She cheerfully said, punctuating her statement with a small giggle.

---

Interacting with @Raijinslayer + @Sunbather

[Assistant]
Scoping out the other first years, Yoru wasn't exactly impressed with the lot of them. More specifically, she wasn't impressed with the foreigner and squidhead. While the majority of students were acting all buddy buddy with each other, the two of them were the worst. Rather than sit down and wait like good little students, they decided to spend at least part of the pre-preamble being generally unpleasant. The girl with purple hair could at least sound innocent when her venomous tongue wounded others, which was actually pretty funny. Squid and foreigner just seemed more bitchy with a capital B. Probably not good to associate with those two, especially for her own image. Well, what was the likelihood that the two of them ended up in the same class as-

Her thoughts were interrupted by an old man's literally chilling appearance. Soon, his monologue began. Despite being considered interesting by no party, Yoru still listened rather intently. If it came down to it and a teacher asked about the monologue, actually showing that one listened to it would increase her standing. Someone getting caught with their pants down only made them look like a idiot. You could probably spin lovable ol' goof into an incredibly popular identity, but not when you're just a student and especially not a student in Ishin.

At least, not yet.

In any case, his monologue came to a close and Yoru was left without much guide as to what to do. The upperclassmen seemed to know, but they didn't really tell them either. Thankfully, it didn't take long for a bunch of upperclassmen to begin to shout out for their respective groups. Class 1A, the girl's voice rang out. That's where Yoru was.

It wasn't much surprise that Yoru's face almost instantly contorted into disappointment and annoyance that she saw the people she was trying to avoid. A couple of the others seemed nice, sure. But those bee-eye-tee-cee-aitch-eee-eses were there too. Yea, sure. Yoru played nice with others, at least most of the time. Her standing was much more important than endless verbal dunkings on fools. That didn't mean she enjoyed it. It was going to be a long school year, unless they were secretly enjoyable to be around. The chances of that? Pretty low. Well, she'd bite her tongue. At least, while other people were watching.

Extending its arm, she wheeled out her suitcase from under her chair. Wasn't really much point in dilly-dallying. Fixing whatever expression she made, she walked towards the girl calling for them. She won the genetic lottery, so it'd seemed. Natural cat ears were super popular. Better than patchy-fur, ugly eyes, and a deformed face. Though, there were always different strokes for different folks. People on the internet often enjoyed weird things.

Which was weird.

Nonetheless, she joined up with the 1A group. Between the general passive aggressiveness of a few notable people and not wanting to get onto the wrong side of drama, Yoru decided to not start shit so early. Plus, she didn't exactly etch out the useful people to be around. The only people that she paid close attention to before the intense old-man monologue were the people she wanted to avoid associating with. Besides that, she could only see the more friendly groups. Well, she might as well introduce herself to the entire class, even with the instantly odd atmosphere of two girls about to go at it. Following the example of another girl with pigtails, she put on a well-practiced smile. Not too intense, not too mute. Just enough to maximize approachability.

"Hello~!" She said in an introduction that could only be described as melodic."I'm Genkuro Yoru. It's certainly a pleasure to meet all of you. Let's have a good school year, no?" It was executed without so much as a stutter or slip. Not really out of an innate talent of public speaking, but from days spent dedicated in front of a mirror.

[User]
Location: Ishin Academy, Sapporo, Japan -- April 7th

---

"Oh, hey, guys! Don't fight! Uh..."

The cat-eared sixteen-year-old rushed to stop any sort of altercation, her ears twitching as she did so.

Nekohara Aia smile nervously as she held out her hands, trying to prevent one misunderstanding start a full-blown argument while people were trying to introduce themselves and Aia herself was trying to act like the upstanding upperclassmen and go about the process she had been tasked to do just as Aia's upperclassmen, Yamamoto Koichi, had been tasked to do before her. She wondered what the cool-headed Koichi would do in such a situation? In no more than three seconds she got an idea.

"If I can have your attention I can tell you your dorm room assignments! And, uh, answer any question you have! I'm Nekohara Aia! I'm glad to be your senpai! Now, if you'd, uh, open your pamphlets to the campus map, lets get started!"

Aia turned a little red at the idea of someone calling her a senpai in such a way, but knew that attracting attention and diffusing any argument in day one was her responsibility. Being chosen to mentor a whole class was a honor and she knew anything bad that happened would look bad on her. This wasn't a day where she could goof off. She turned to look at her peer in Year 2, as he and the other first years apparently were looking at her group in confusion of some of the commentary that the other first years were making. What were they looking at? At least her group of first years were sociable! Aia no doubt preferred liveliness over people standing straight like a board and having the initiative of a lemming. Hmph.

Moving her own clipboard from her arm to her hands so she could read it, Aia looked down. She decided it would be best to start with the girls.

"Which one of you is Kunze-san?" Her eyes moved through the crowd as they formed proper curiosities, "You and Akizawa-san are paired together on the second floor of the Chiheisen Dorm Building."

[Assistant]
Sapporo, Japan
Ishin Academy, Auditorium. April 7th

---

Joining the gathering students was supposed to be easy. Just join up, meet your class and enjoy the exciting springtime of your youth. Here Shun was, away from his father's control, away from the known and in a totally new place. A grand place to make a great first impression, to learn how to become a hero. To spread his wings and fly. This cute upperclassman girl was there to help them and-

"You're the sweaty boy from the entrance."

The color drained from Shun's face. "Wh-what? Sweaty?!" What had happened at the entrance? He'd been running, but then-he looked at her accusatory stare, her pointing finger, and his heart crashed through the ground, deep into the earth's core. Did they think he was on the run? In trouble? A creep? Naturally sweaty!? "Wait no I can explain-"

"If we're going to be in the same class, we should aim to get along and not go around insulting one another."

An angel had come to save him from this torment. To save the day and hopefully give him a chance to explain that he was not, in fact, a super sweaty guy. Or a guy with a sweaty quirk. Sure it made him sweaty if he overextended it's use but…

"I uh, I just wanted to make sure I got to school on time. I had to make a detour before I made my way to school…"

"Oh, hey, guys! Don't fight! Uh..."

The upperclassman girl also came to the rescue. As everyone began to converse and get their room assignments, the attention would naturally move to that and not to whether or not Shun was in fact, a sweaty boy or not. He breathed a deep sign of relief.


[System]
Age: 16

Appearance: light freckles on her face, arms, and legs; honey-brown hair that reaches to her shoulders and is slightly wavy; light grey eyes; glasses; wears male clothes

Occupation: writer

Personality: Naia doesn't talk much. People who don't know her are likely to think she is rude because of this, but the truth is she is just socially awkward when talking to people. However, she does sometimes like to talk to animals, believing that they are smarter and more aware than most people think, even if some people think she's crazy for it. Other than that, Naia is usually pretty calm and polite in most situations. She prefers to think things through and observe the situation around her before making a decision, rather than rush into something. She is quite observant, sometimes noticing the small things that most people don't. Also, she is kind and hates to brag. Also, she needs glasses as she is nearsighted and can't see much without them save for a few inches in front of her.

History: She was born in a wealthy family, but was raised to be humble and caring to all, no matter who they were. Naia sometimes liked to help the cook prepare dinner, learning the basics of how to cook. As she got older, she preferred to focus on her studies rather than attend a fancy dinner or a ball. She also preferred to not wear dresses, claiming it was hard to sit at her desk and write or read while wearing a skirt. She didn't make many friends, the ones she had not being very close either. She usually stayed up late into the night studying, and her parents say she's nocturnal, writing by the light of a single candle.

She had just closed her eyes for a second, resting her head on her desk, frustration, or at least she thought it was the frustration, giving her a headache, the blank paper before her taunting her with the fact that she couldn't think of a good story. However, when she opened her eyes, she was not in her room.

[User]
The green lantern offered bright illumination to Lalna's path -- maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed brighter now that he was holding it. Everything around him sparkled emerald.

Just outside the tent flap, he was greeted by a vast starry sky swept by distant purple galaxies and clusters of pinprick stars. The moon was bright and waning over the edge of a great dark mountain that towered in a silhouetted landscape far below. Faintly, he could see a duality of light -- white and blue -- soaring over the treetops below, toward the towering mountain.

"SQUAAAK!"

A hooked beak and big yellow eyes lunged at Lalna; the gryphon's gray wings flared, and for a moment Lalna's vision was filled with feathers and claws. The beast hissed, squinting in the brightness of the lantern.

A meaty fist gripped Lalna's collar from behind and yanked him back, away from the gryphon.

"Looks like we've got a thief," a low voice rumbled with a slightly sadistic air. The big man had a goatee and a bloodstained smock, and he was smirking.

"That's him! He appeared out of thin air!" the girl squeaked from a few yards away; she kept her distance, her hands clasped at her throat. "Oh don't manhandle him! What if he's a Lord?"

The burly man turned his head and spat on the ground, then set Lalna with a suspicious glare. "What if he's a Kith?" he hissed with disgust.

The gryphon remained nearby, its feathers puffed and its eyes unblinkingly set on Lalna.

---

The little girl was motionless and silent for a long moment -- so much that it almost seemed she wouldn't react at all -- and then a smile slowly grew on her soiled face while her eyes remained unblinking, calculating. "You're hiding, too." She jerked her head at the window. "From the Pirate scum." She was quiet a moment longer to gauge Artemis' reaction to her thoughts on Pirates -- and what she saw must have been a point to Artemis' benefit, because the little girl sat down to finish eating her biscuit.

"You can stay here I guess," she said through a mouthful. "Why are you hiding? Are you a murderer?" She grinned at this thought, her eyes gleaming with excitement at the prospect of hiding out in the company of a killer.

A key rattled in a lock in the next room; immediately the little girl leaped to a corner beside the kitchen doorway, curling up as small as she could. She craned her thin neck to see the panel of dim light that played across the floor as the front door creaked open. A strong old sailor shuffled into the house in the next room, carrying an oil lamp. He left the door half-open, and the floorboards groaned as he made his way to the back of the house and started rummaging in drawers, never looking toward the kitchen.

The little girl pressed farther into her corner; she couldn't see the old man from her angle, but they could both hear him. She swallowed dryly, and her lips moved soundlessly: please don't come in here please don't come in here please don't come in here . . .

---

The Mountain loomed dark above her, while the Lake glistened bright far below and behind. Occasionally she might glimpse the gray mist of a spirit or the flash of fireflies or the blink of red eyes in the treetops.

Above and to her left was another gleam of light: a bright, steady green point of light atop the next cliff. It pulled gently at the two eggs that accompanied Anise through the cool night sky, beckoning.

The blue egg's power warned Anise of an approaching consciousness before she would hear the soft rush of feathers on the wind. A gryphon flapped closer, to glide alongside Anise at a distance to her left. Its rider didn't look at her, but had all her attention on controlling the beast.

A second gryphon came up from behind and soared along at Anise's right, its rider also focused entirely on his task; the gryphon-riders were flanking her, intimidating her as they decided what to do with her.

A third gryphon flapped after them, a distance behind. It seemed every sentry on the island had taken notice of the two bright lights flying over the forest.

[Assistant]
Holy shit this kid gave Artemis the creeps. But she played along like the good lying thief she was, letting the corner if her mouth twitch up like she was indulging the kid in some shared secret.

The sound of the door opening interrupted them though, and Artemis' blood froze. She ducked behind one of the huge iron tables (admittedly not her best hiding place) as the Kith hid beside the door frame. Artemis could barely breathe as heavy, plodding footsteps thudded across the creaking floorboards. A voice rumbled low and incoherent as the newcomer moved past the kitchen door. An old man, by the sound of it. Heavyset. She peered through the table's legs to see the girl frozen and scared, her mouth moving in a silent prayer.

What a mess of a situation. But Artemis had landed herself in worse before. And she hadn't had the advantage of runes at the time, she remembered in a spark of inspiration.

Slowly, achingly slowly, Artemis straitened her legs under her, just enough so she was in a low crouch, rather than a full squat. She took a step forward. She was silent. Her heart thundered in her chest as she took another step, then another. She heard the sound of a drawer opening as she crept her way around the table, to the old hearth. It was little more than a raised brick platform, a mess of blackened wood and charcoal piled atop, and an old metal pot hanging above it.

Long fingers curled around a charred remain, some piece of log that had fallen away after a fire had eaten through it. With it in hand, Artemis made her way to the doorframe, opposite the girl. She was on the hinged side of the door, and had to crane around it to catch a glimpse of the man – broad and graying, slow but no doubt strong. Probably wouldn't take well to uninvited guests. Luckily his attention seemed to be elsewhere at the moment.

She glanced back towards the front door. Still open. So he probably wasn't planning on staying long. Maybe she'd get lucky and he'd find whatever he needed and leave, none the wiser. Hopefully whatever he was after wasn't in the kitchen. That'd be just her luck.

Artemis pulled back, behind the safety of the door again. She curled her free hand around the doorknob to hold it in place, and brought the piece of charred wood to the old door.

She flinched at the sound her makeshift pen made as it scraped against the wood. But it was soft and muffled, she knew, too low for the man to hear (she hoped). After an eternity of seconds, a familiar rune was drawn on the door – silence. She pulled her hand from the doorknob and touched the charcoal image, careful not to smudge it. It took a moment, but soon enough it began to glow a soft white light. Artemis slowly pushed the door closed. She kept her eyes trained on the shrinking sliver of light on the ground until finally the door was closed.

She felt the latch click into place. But the house was silent save for the old man's muffled rummaging. Her heart dropped with relief, her adrenaline switching from fear to excitement. Her eyes found the Kith girl and Artemis raised a single finger to her smirking lips. She was about to move away from the door when she paused, another thought coming to her.

Lifting the wood again, she drew another rune, above the first one. This time there was no sound when she drew, she noticed with some satisfaction. When she was done, she brought her hand up and activated it as well. A spiraling rune glowed in her eyes.

Still.

Hopefully if the man did decide to come into the kitchen, her rune would slow him down and give her enough warning to escape.

With that done, she finally moved away from the door and began her work. It was easy enough to find a bag and empty it of… some… vegetables? Artemis had no idea. As quickly as she could while still keeping quiet, Artemis put dried meats, fruit, jars of who-knew-what in the bag. The room was so huge with so much to choose from, it was overwhelming. Where was she? Who needed to feed so many people? Some sort of school? Inn? Barracks? She didn't plan on sticking around to find out.

Artemis kept one eye on the Kith girl as she moved, sure to grab a small knife that fit easily in her hand. Her time was running out, she knew. Her bag was halfway full when she decided she had enough for the time being (she had other stops to make, still – other things to steal) and she moved back towards the window.

[User]
The feeling of flight was the most freeing sensation Anise could imagine. The air flowing through her hair and around her body. Everything about it felt calming and safe. She found herself smiling with pleasure despite everything that had just happened. She had realized in her time here that she needed to accept the small pleasures in this Forest, or it would consume her. If that happened then she would more likely destroy the Forest than save it. That simply was unacceptable.

As she flew along Anise became distracted by the sensation caused by the visibility of the green light she saw in the distance. She knew that light. She had seen it before. If she could acquire it, then she would be even safer and stronger if it came to a battle against the Lord of Shadow. She found herself drifting towards the light of the Green Lantern instinctively.

The sensation of the approaching griffons and their riders startled her more than seeing them with her own eyes. She imagined that they would be confused and concerned about the flying lights. Perhaps she could send some hope to the denizens of the Forest. She imagined word would likely spread quickly through the Forest.

She reached out to each of their minds and sent them a message. I am the new Lady of Light. My position has been recognized by the Lady of the Pond. I have come to return the sun to its proper place. Please, tell the others of this news and remember there is hope.

She focused on the sun rune she carved into herself remembering the warmth and brightness of the sun she had felt only days ago. Even if she could bring just a piece of that warmth into this world she could present a real case for hope. The Lord of Shadow's reign of terror would not last long.

She noticed that she was getting close to the Green Lantern, and her concentration on the rune broke as she prepared for a landing.

[Assistant]
As the man awoke, Naia scrunched her nose up slightly at the smell, though only for a second. She looked at the man as he spoke, listening intently to every word he said, already formulating a response.

"Oh, sorry, I was just looking at the lantern, I guess I forgot I was holding it," she said as she put the lantern on the ground next to her, "Actually, sir, I'm not, um, 'Palla'. I actually have no idea how I got in your tent, I just woke up here. I was hoping you could help me and, um, maybe tell me where I am?" All the talking she was having to do was making her nervous. She knew there was no way around it if she wanted to know what was going on, but that didn't make her any less uncomfortable, the nervousness evident on her face. The man seemed friendly enough, but that was most likely because he had thought she was somebody else.

Briefly wondering if perhaps the cause of his mix-up was poor eyesight, though not coming to a conclusion on that thought, she subconsciously adjusted the glasses adorning her face. Another thought flitted across her mind, that she should clean the lenses of her glasses when she had a free moment, and she hoped she would be able to find a cloth, but she quickly tucked that thought away for later. She needed to focus on the matter at hand.


[System]
Age: 12
Hometown: Ecruteak City
Appearance (pic preferred):

Starter: Fennekin
Bio: Shiranui had developed a fascination with fox-like Pokémon from watching the Kimono Sisters performing during his childhood. His favourite Pokémon are Espeon, Umbreon, Delphox, Zoroark and Ninetales. He is generally kind, but has a low tolerance to those who speak ill of his likes. He had been inspired to go on a Pokémon journey ever since he spotted Ho-oh taking off from the Bell Tower at age 8, later catching it during his journey through Johto along with two of the three Legendary Beasts.

Having never left the regions of the Far East, Shiranui is excited for seeing the culture of a faraway land whilst also steeling himself for the culture shock he may inevitably feel. As part of his ninja training, his father had told him to expect the unexpected.

[User] "Alright," Shiranui accepted.

[Assistant] The officials walked up to hand Shiranui a big golden trophy and Liam a slightly smaller silver trophy. Liam saw that near by Drasana was standing with Champion Dianatha, and three other people Liam took to be the other members of Kalos' Elite Four.

[User] "I wouldn't have come this far without the bonds shared between me and my Pokémon," stated Shiranui to the audience.

[Assistant] With that, the audience was slowly dispersed out of the stadium. Liam was curious as to what the professors wanted. He noticed that the Elite looked as if they were intrigued at the battle that both he and Shiranui put up.

[User] Shiranui had similar thoughts on the topic of the professors.

[Assistant] The heroes and the professors managed to gather in a quiet place. They congratulated the duo on an excellent match. They also said they had a gift for each of them. It was a new model Pokédex that had all of the known data on Mega Evolution, including which Pokémon were capable of it, and all known info on the mega forms. Sycamore asked the heroes if they had booked travel plans for Heading to the next region.

[User] "I think so," answered Shiranui with uncertainty, "Liam?"

[Assistant] 'I figured we would just teleport or ride on one of our Pokémon there." Liam admitted. Sycamore told them that there was a train in Couiway Town that went to Kilude City. From there they could catch the magnet train that famously runs between Saffron and Goldenrod. From Sadiron they could go to Vermillion and get a boat to Littleroot.

[User] "That sounds like a plan," replied Shiranui.

[Assistant] "It will be nice to take such a scenic route." Liam thought. "Are you going to fight the Elite and Dianatha?" He asked Shiranui.

[User] "I most certainly will," answered Shiranui.

[Assistant] "Well, we know Diantha uses a balance, but has Gardevoir who can Mega Evolve. We also know that one of them, Drasana has dragons. Also of note, Kalos is unique in the fact that you can face their Elite in any order you wish."

[User] "I'll keep that in mind," said Shiranui, mentally noting what Liam just said.

[Assistant] Sycamore informed them of the specialties of the other Kalos E4

[User] "Fire, Steel, Dragon and Water…" Shiranui repeated to himself, thinking up possible strategies. He knew the Elite Four were not walks in the park and would thus have ways to deal with type disadvantages.

[Assistant] "Well, they sure sound like they will be difficult to defeat." Liam thought out loud.

[User] "You've faced and defeated Diantha," Shiranui reminded, "I'm sure she would have been even harder than those four."

[Assistant] "In theory," Liam admitted. "But in her defense, it wasn't a full out battle when I beat Dianatha.

[User] "Looks like I'll have my work cut out with that lot," replied Shiranui before he had an epiphany, "I've faced, defeated and caught some of the strongest Pokémon out there. I'll beat them!"

[Assistant] "Yeah, your definitely able to beat them." Liam agreed. Dianatha approached the heroes to tell Shiranui that the Elite was ready to accept his challenge in the morning.

[User] "Good," replied Shiranui, "That'll give me time to get a good team together."

[Assistant] "Well, these battles definitely won't be a cake walk, even for skilled trainers such as us." Liam stated.

[User] "I'm inclined to agree," replied Shiranui.

[Assistant] "Well, have to you decide on your team, you should get some rest."

[User] "Will do," Shiranui agreed, pondering on who he'd pick. He had to put together a party that could take on all of the Elite Four as well as Diantha.

[Assistant] While Shiranui was piecing together the team he would use, Liam was pondering which starter he would choose from the next region.

[User] Shiranui thought of what team he'd use and with that, after a quick call to Prof. Oak, he turned in for the night.

[Assistant] Liam had gone to sleep as well. He got up early the next day and went for a jog.

[User] Shiranui was getting himself ready for the battles he would face.

[Assistant] After his jog, Liam went to the stadium to watch Shiranui's battles.

[User]
Shiranui's first battle was against Malva. Of note was the lack of an Aegislash on his back as Yoto was not part of his current party. Malva opened with a female Pyroar and Shiranui sent Ryou against the lioness. A Dragon Pulse and a Brine soon took it out though Pyroar did do quite a bit of damage in the process.

Ryou fared better against Torkoal, knocking the tortoise out with one Hydro Pump.

Shiranui switched Ryou for Diamanda when Malva sent Chandelure out. Diamanda had set up a Light Screen and a Trick Room whilst receiving a Confuse Ray and a Hex in the time it took to do so. The Diancie snapped out of its confusion as it fired a Diamond Storm for heavy damage. After getting confused again, Diamanda managed to finish Chandelure off with a Stone Edge.

Against Talonflame, Shiranui remembered how Honoh was easily defeated in the grand final match and had Diamanda mega evolve and use Diamond Storm. Needless to say, Talonflame was defeated with one hit.

---

The next Elite Four member Shiranui faced was Wikstrom. Wikstrom sent a Klefki out and Shiranui scanned it.
"Klefki, the Key Ring Pokémon. It never lets go of a key that it likes, so people give it the keys to vaults and safes as a way to prevent crime."
He sent Ho-Oh out and Klefki managed to lay some Spikes before getting knocked out with a Fire Blast.

When Wikstrom sent Probopass out, Shiranui switched Ho-Oh for Saisei. He had the Mewtwo mega evolve to a Mega Mewtwo X—a bulkier, more muscular version of his former self. One Low Kick was enough to knock Probopass over and out.

Shiranui switched Saisei out when Wikstrom sent a Scizor out. Remembering Sundan's strengths and weaknesses, he sent Ho-Oh back out and one Fire Blast was enough to knock Scizor out the same way as Klefki.

Wikstrom sent an Aegislash out and Shiranui thought of Yoto. Knowing very well the key strategies of battling with an Aegislash, Shiranui had Ho-Oh start with Will-O-Wisp and true to his prediction, Aegislash used King's Shield to avoid getting burnt. Ho-Oh sprung into action with a Sacred Fire and Aegislash managed to block Ho-Oh's attack with a second King's Shield. Aegislash managed to strike Ho-Oh with a Shadow Sneak, changing to its Blade Forme in the process and Ho-Oh unleashed another Sacred Fire and the attack managed to knock Aegislash out in one hit.

---

The next member for Shiranui to face was Drasna. Drasna started with Dragalge and Shiranui sent Saisei out. Like many of Saisei's opponents, Dragalge was finished off with one Psychic attack.

Next up was Altaria and one Blizzard was what it took to knock the hummer out in one hit.

After Altaria was Druddigon and Shiranui switched Saisei out for Diamanda. Druddigon charged in with a Dragon Tail, but Diamanda was immune to the attack. Shiranui had Diamanda mega evolve and attack with a Moonblast, which did heavy damage. Druddigon used Superpower and Diamanda took a lot of damage. Druddigon was knocked out by a second Moonblast.

Last was Noivern and Diamanda barely survived a Boomburst attack, which sounded like an Exploud impersonation. The Mega Diancie used Diamond Storm and a critical hit knocked Noivern out in one hit.

---

The last of the Elite Four to face was Siebold and the first of the Pokémon to battle was a Clawitzer. "Clawitzer, the Howitzer Pokémon. Their enormous claws launch cannonballs of water powerful enough to pierce tanker hulls." Shiranui sent Titania out and had her mega evolve and use an Energy Ball, blasting Clawitzer for heavy damage. Clawitzer blasted a Water Pulse at Titania and the Mega Gardevoir was soaked to the core for a lot of damage. Titania soon finished Clawitzer off with a Magical Leaf.

When it came to Starmie, Titania fared better as she knocked Starmie out with a critical Energy Ball.

Next was Gyarados and Titania felt the effect of its Intimidate ability. The Mega Gardevoir used Wish and Gyarados used Dragon Dance to boost its Attack and Speed stats. The boost allowed Gyarados to finish Titania off with a Crunch attack before her Wish attack activated.

Shiranui sent Ryou out and Titania's Wish healed the Kingdra. Gyarados used Crunch and Ryou felt a lot of damage, surviving thanks to the Wish. Ryou used Blizzard and Gyarados was buffeted for some damage as well. Gyarados boosted its stats further with another Dragon Dance and Ryou set the clock ticking with a Toxic attack, badly poisoning Gyarados. A Crunch from Gyarados knocked Ryou out and Shiranui sent Xeimei out.

Gyarados used Rain Dance to summon some rainy weather and Xeimei used Psych Up to copy the stat boosts Gyarados had. Xeimei used the speed boost to quickly summon and hurl a salvo of boulders, nailing the Gyarados with a Rock Slide for enough damage to knock it out.

The last Pokémon to face was Barbaracle. "Barbaracle, the Collective Pokémon. Barbaracle's legs and hands have minds of their own, and they will move independently. But they usually follow the head's orders." As Barbaracle charged at Xeimei with a Stone Edge attack at the ready, the Xerneas used Grass Knot to trip the one-Pokémon colony over and knock it out with one hit.

---

Shiranui had defeated the Elite Four and earned a well-deserved break while the stadium was prepared for his battle with Diantha.

[Assistant] Liam praised his friend for the battles against the Elite.

[User] "Thanks," replied Shiranui, "Do I have time to get my Pokémon healed before the next battle?"

[Assistant] 'Yes" Liam replied.

[User] "Excellent." Shiranui breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way to the Pokémon Centre.

[Assistant] Liam caught up with Shiranui and asked him in a hushed tone if he planned to use Numeru.

[User] "I'm not sure," answered Shiranui, "Numeru wouldn't last long against her Gardevoir. Do you know what her other Pokémon are?"

[Assistant] "I have heard that she has Hawlucha, and the Kalos fossils evolved, I am not sure about her other two."

[User] "Hawlucha, Tyrantrum, Aurorus and Gardevoir," Shiranui noted, thinking about what Pokémon to use against them. With the other two still unknown, he'd have to look at coverage over type.

[Assistant] "Well, poison, steel, dragon, ice, and fairy would be some types to use."

[User] "Those are some good choices," replied Shiranui, "I'll have to ring Prof. Oak and get Fushigi, Yoto, Numeru and Buta onto my party."

[Assistant] "Well, who would go with them?" Liam wondered aloud.

[User] "Xeimei and Saisei," answered Shiranui.

[Assistant] "Sounds like you have a strong team assembled." Liam said.

[User] "Against a champion like Diantha, I would need a good strong team and an adaptable strategy," Shiranui agreed.

[Assistant]
Liam called out his Goodra. "We'll be cheering for you guys." Liam said.
 "Goodra." Liam's Pokémon replied.

[User] "Thanks, you two," Shiranui responded, "I have a call to make and then I'll be ready for the battle."


[System]
Aliases: scarecrow, devil child, the cannibal.
Sex: Female
Age: Fifteen
Class: Scavenger

Brief Description
Height And Build: Small, hunched stature. Lean and wiry.
Skin Tone: Tanned and burned from sun overexposure, and eternally bruised. Marred with dirt that no cleaning could ever wash off.
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black

Equipment

Rags wears nothing but a very immodest yet warm pelt made from the hide of mountain goats and one mountain lion, which was her 'coming of age' kill. In terms of weapons, she has a stone dagger with a handle made smooth by repeated use, as well as a tapered-edged stone bludgeoning tool halfway between a club and an axe.

Though she will be given her own small sword to train with.

Combat Abilities

People may say that her teacher fights "like a feral cave-lion" as a compliment until they see Rags fight and realize that fighting like a wild, untrained animal might not be the best thing, because Rags' combat style is halfway between 'wolf' and 'bull ape wildly swinging a stick'. Though she is strong, savage, and if she actually manages to pin you, might do something very regrettable to anything within range of her teeth, even a desert-dweller with a basic grasp of swordplay can best her with ease in her current state. That said she is an intelligent girl and a very quick learner.

Backstory

In this cruel world, the strong took from the weak, and this often had bad outcomes for the weak. But those who didn't die fled to anywhere with less competition. Knowing that society, hierarchy and even too many humans in the same spot would cause history to repeat, the strong to rise up and the weak to be oppressed again, the People of the Mountains and Valleys stuck together in small groups no greater than six, and only one man was permitted per group. They hunted with their intelligence, and passed down the techniques of traps, snares, and primitive stone weapons to their offspring, but with less education, the intelligence diminished until the People of the Mountains died out from dehydration and the People of the Valleys were nothing but small tribes of hunter-gatherers, receded to cavemen, albeit cavemen with language, wells and technology, and the tales passed down on rules to survive, to repeat the sins of the past.

To the mountainous range to the West of the known world, food was growing scarce, and the People of the Western Valley developed cannibalistic tendencies, and fought with and ate their rival tribes of six or less. They had rediscovered war. And as such, learned that besides hunting, they needed to teach themselves how to fight fellow humans, developing their own unique and feral brand of combat. 'Rags' was born into this era, a girl trained to speak and hunt and fight and to not repeat the sins of the past, and that was all she knew.

But these skills didn't serve them well when her tribe ventured too far into the desert planes at the wrong time, and encountered a group of real fighters, with real combat training and real, metal weapons. The rest of Rags' tripe was wiped out but she was captured. They could use her. They could train her to fight in their style, and when she was old enough, this tanned, unusual girl would be coveted for her uniqueness, and men would fight over the right to marry her. Of course, she was too naive to realize what an honor it was to be chosen, to be taught by the woman who was to be her teacher...

[User]
Rags' life had become one of strangeness and learning, among the men who slaughtered her tribe. She had initially tried multiple times to enact revenge, before slowly coming to see this group as their new tribe. Though there were a lot of new rules to get her head around. For starters, she was the only woman in this group, which is the exact opposite of the Harem-like build of the tribes of the Valleys. They did seem to have something called 'marriage' to prevent mating from being a problem with this backwards, inefficient system. Rags didn't quite understand it yet.

They explained other things as they traveled, such as heir weapons, which were sharp and made of metal, as opposed to Rags' crude stone knife and club. They claimed they were taking her to be trained in combat, as only then would she have any worth as a person. She'd either die in this school, or come out the other side an exotic, deadly warrior worth marrying, as a status symbol. All of the men laid claim to her, and who would take her was to be decided if and when she stayed alive. There was something about how they talked about this which rubbed Rags up the wrong way, as if she would be property to them. Maybe it was just their strange, dialect. They spoke more words in a sentence in the deserts and caves than in the valleys. They thought her simple because of her dialect, but in truth she was a very intelligent girl. She thought them needlessly complicated because of their dialect, but you could not find a group of simpler men.

After weeks of travel, they arrived at the gates. Rags was marveling at this sight. This was not a cave, nor a cave made of cloth, called a 'tent'. This was a small valley, in the middle of the desert, with smooth, tall walls, and an entrance barred by metal beams like the swords the men she traveled with used. They were let in, and Rags found herself looking up at more strangely dressed men like the ones she was travelling with, not adorned with pelts but with cloth and metal shaped to their body. And one woman. The first woman she had seen since the death of her tribe. Shed never seen a woman so muscular, and her fearsome confidence was nothing like the anxious fight-or-flight state of a Valley Person before combat. This was a woman who believed she could win any fight, and didn't view them as encounters were anyone's life may be lost. Rags marveled at this unusual (in her experience) female.

[Assistant]
"I think she's trying to figure out if you're a man with tits, or a she bear," Devlin proffered to no one in particular at the sight of the girl eying the camp, its occupants, and especially the Doctora after the gate had been wedged open and the troop had entered the main courtyard, captive in tow. Devlin himself was smaller than Aibhilin, and was every bit the barbarian born he had been taken as by the Auxiliary. From the Whit'Mar freehold all the way across the Wastes and North of the accepted border established during the First Crusade, he had only wound up here through a series of poor decisions made as a young fortune seeker intending on returning to his warband a hero, slaves and wealth trailing in his wake. Instead he had taken a bolt to the right shoulder in his first engagement and wound up a slave in the fighting pits of the Southeast, before being offered up to the Empire to take the place of his owner's son in the mandatory tribal Auxiliary drives of the late seventies. None of that would matter to this girl, though. If she was an Imperial subject she wasn't from anywhere Aibhilin had ever heard of.

Once she had gotten through the gate and set her eyes upon the Doctora it was immediately apparent just how tan she really was. Not necessarily particularly dark skinned by birth, but tan. An oddity to be sure, someone the imperials would have wanted as a house slave more than a brutish pit fighter. Must have been from a nomadic tribe, born above ground in a place that wasn't as prone to the erratic weather she would be sure to get her fill of here. She had gotten lucky to have been taken by the group she had been for what it was worth, considering she no doubt only survived because of her youth and had almost certainly lost those closest to her in the engagement. It wasn't legal for the Auxiliary to take personal slaves as such, let alone to sell them for personal gain. They were in the employ of the Empire and couldn't profit from their duty until leaving the service, but that didn't mean the occasional especially high value person didn't fall through the cracks and wind up being exchanged for bronze shards behind closed doors. The troop were either too foolish to note her worth to the right buyer, or were more committed to the cause then the average by far.

None of that mattered now, not anymore. She'd been presented to a school, and from here the involvement of the Auxiliary as an official Imperial body would come to an end one way or the other. This barbarian girl was now a subject of the empire, and would either take the sacramenta and join the camp for which her employer would pay the Empire a finder's fee, or she would be given a day's provisions and pointed towards the nearest settlement, the one which provided Australos with its own provisions and food stuffs, to live out her life as a subsistence level forager. There was no way to keep her from simply returning back to where she had been taken by the troop in the first place of course, and no one would blink or try to stop her if she waited until the Auxiliary moved off and took the same route she'd been taken on to reach Australos back home. Knowing how the Auxiliary operate however, the chances that anything was left for her to go back home to were slim to none. In her experience most who went back turned around a day or two after getting home and realizing there was nothing left for them there volunteered at the camp.

Chances were she had probably never seen so many people in one place in her life as she was about to see flooding into the courtyard. Australos wasn't a large outfit, only twenty to thirty fighters at any given time and a handful of paid staffers, but they were far larger than any group who could manage to survive jumping from hand-dug well to tiny natural spring out in the desert. The larger cities could only exist because of a direct access to a natural aquifer, and even most of them gravitated at around six hundred people in total. Everyone was aware of the arrival at this point, and they'd all made their way to the courtyard to get a look at the new recruit for themselves. Most were not enthused. Too small, female, barbarian, whatever their individual complaint was it was plainly visible that she wasn't going to be quick in making friends of her potential fellow fighters. She shouldn't take it personally. Fight camps were tight knit units, and most would rather a small group who'd known one another for years then outsiders of unknown skill and intent joining the stable, but they didn't say anything out loud. They knew what came next, and would hold their tongue until it was passed.

Aibhilin neither smiled nor glowered toward the youth as she sized her up. She didn't much like looking at people like they were meat, had too much experience on the other end of the ordeal to appreciate being the one preforming the visual dance of half passionless stare down half cold hard napkin arithmetic. It was costly to train a fighter, and every one they took who didn't come out of their first engagement alive was a significant monetary loss to the camp. Aibhilin looked the girl in the eyes only after carefully examining her every other feature in a process that left her feeling like she needed to bathe. She had curiosity in those eyes of her's, and the glimmer of intelligence. Aibhilin herself was not known for her intellect, nor her appreciation of those who thought they could think their way around an axe to the head, but it was enough to come to her decision. "This is a camp. We fight other camps for food, hides, metal," she tapped at the long blade hanging from her sword belt to emphasize the possibly foreign term, "we protect our own. You can stay here and be a camp fighter like us, or go home. Your choice," the Auxililary wouldn't appreciate the, "or go home," bit, but outsiders hound them. The choice would be this girl's regardless of the troop's opinion on the matter.

[User]
"I know she woman" Rags relied up at Devlin with a challenging tone. She was starting to get a bit tired of being treated like a half-wit just because she had to learn what these people took for granted. Her dialect once more got a few smirks and nasty laughter from the hostile onlookers, and her upper lip snarled in response to this reaction like an animal cornered. She did not feel welcome here. Which made it all the more strange to her that the muscular woman was offering her a choice to join.

Rags was used to a system where the man chose. He would either take you into the harem or kick you out, though that was never without a good reason. It was in everybody's best interest to keep a group of six; five women and a man, as that was the optimal tripe makeup in her culture. There were too many people here. Wouldn't they fight? How do they share food and resources? Then again, that question had been answered for her now she thought about it. They take those things from other groups, who might be as large as this. Here, combat between humans wasn't a battle for land that neither party wanted, but that happened because neither party wanted to lose good land either and retreat to the mountains. Here, combat was the primary method of gathering necessities. No wonder they placed such value in it as opposed to the art of hunting.

Without the rest of her tribe, Rags knew she could not survive alone for very long. The default action for a lone Valley Person was to find a new tribe that would take them, and join. So there was no doubt in her mind what she would do here. "Stay here. Learn arts required me. Not survive outside. Confused. What is 'Home'?" she replied, but despite the minimalist structure of her language, there was no stuttering or sign of struggle. She spoke quickly, confidently, and with that same spark of intelligence that showed in her eyes. Then again, the language of barbarians and savages was known for having evolved and mutated into one that didn't waste words, and conveyed a message as fast as possible because the time taken to speak nouns, adjectives and definite articles might be the difference between life and death in their harsh living conditions.


[System]
Age: 23
Appearance:

Power: Tsuki's able to hear and talk with dead individuals. She knows how someone will die when she meets them.

[User]
Tsuki's bleak smile turned upside down, into a visible frown, when the woman recounted something she must have read in a sacred text. The kind of texts priests sold copies of to the masses so the clergy could continue living in luxury. She did not care for the overly religious, and the thought to shoot the woman on pure principle went through her head. Not too kill, but maybe a bullet in the stomach or leg would bring her down a notch. It'd definitely give her more trouble than it was worth though.

She scoffed when the woman clarified that she wasn't there to tell her what not to do. Damn right she wasn't, especially if she wanted Tsuki to keep the door open and listen to her instead of slamming it in her face. It was still tempting to slam it shut, but there was a high possibility that the woman worked for the clergy and had enough wealth to make it worth Tsuki's time to listen. She had recounted the passage about being drunk a bit too well and automatic for your average worshipper. There was the mention of "official capacity" as well. Besides, it'd be awkward if she slammed the door shut only to have the glass break and still be face to face with the woman.

Right… Tsuki thought to herself when she said how it was a simple question. There was no simple question that had people show up at your office in the middle of night. It had to be of some importance and maybe even urgent, or she could very well have waited until morning the next day. It did make her even more curious.

Seers of the twelfth hour? It rang a bell, but the amount of seers in the world was large, whether they were actually legitimate or charlatans didn't matter much. People would give money to them anyway, believing it'd help them in life to know the future. Admittedly, Tsuki was a kind of seer herself, but she knew that few wanted to know how they would die.

She remained silent for a while after the woman had finished talking and opened a box for her to take a paper from. Tsuki hadn't known her neighbours all that well, but even if she had she didn't feel like telling this woman anything about them or their children. Why would someone from the clergy be asking such a strange question in the middle of the night? The child was obviously important in some way, but whether it was to the child's benefit or not was another question entirely. She didn't hold it above the religious to kill infants if seers had told them the child would end or change the world to their disadvantage. It sounded as if it was right up their alley.

"Nope, sorry, can't think of anyone like that." Tsuki said eventually. "I may be willing to help you find them for a fee though." Assuming they even exist in the first place, she thought, but didn't say it out loud. She'd make sure to get paid in advance.

Tsuki turned her attention to the box that the woman still held in front of her. She noticed the moon and sun symbol on the box, which made her look at the septum again. It was a sun too, wasn't it? "Funny…" She muttered amused, as if she had realized someone was playing a prank on her. The woman would be the sun then. Her own name may mean moon in Japanese, but it was a very common name in a world where the moon goddess was one of the main three in all versions of the same religion. Did she go around bothering everyone named "moon" because a seer had told them too?

She figured there was some kind of magic bullshit going on with the papers, but picked one up either way as it shouldn't affect her. These things rarely did what they were supposed to. It was set ablaze and went up in flames faster than her drunk self was able to react too, leaving her left hand vulnerable to the heat. She dropped the paper, shouted in pain and swung the door open revealing the gun in her other hand.

"What the fuck?" She asked, without shouting as she didn't want to draw attention if more people were nearby. Tsuki kept the gun steady and aimed at the woman, holding it with both of her hands. Her left hand may hurt, but if she was going to shoot someone while drunk she didn't want to risk missing by using only one hand. "Who set you up to this?"

[Assistant]
Ruby had thought it would be a breath of fresh air to talk to a normal person rather than a priest or a worshipper for once, but she had to admit that she found the unnecessary reverence and hesitation preferable to the open hostility she could read on the woman's face. She wasn't even saying anything, just staring at her with eyes narrowed in suspicion. At least she was looking at her face this time in stead of staring into space. If this was how people acted when they were drunk, she could understand why the church was so dead-set against it.

When the woman finally spoke, Ruby wasn't even disappointed that she didn't know anything. She clearly hadn't been thinking straight when she thought that it would have been a good idea to come up here alone. At least the woman hadn't seemed to have recognised her, which at least kept her from embarrassing the church. Now she only needed to take a paper and they could both go back to-

Her thought process ground to a halt with the bright flame flaring up between them. For a moment all she could do was gape slack-jawed as everything she'd been expecting was wiped away in the bright glow of the burning paper. Not a child then.

The hesitation was enough to have her end up with a gun pointing in her face, and the bright spark of joy she felt (she was not alone) was just enough for her to be able to push back the memories that came rushing back at the sight of the barrel. A lifetime of practice turned her focus to her breath before she needed to make a conscious decision to do so.

-Three counts in, four counts out. Four counts in, five counts out.-

While she could feel the flames within her pushed away just out of reach, she had this under control. She had to have this under control. With that thought she took a slow step back and held up her hands to show she wasn't planning anything.

 "I… No one 'set me up' to this," she said, not bothering to hide the fear in her voice or eyes. As long as that gun was on her, she was very afraid, though not for the reason the moonchild probably thought she was.

"We were… looking for someone. Like I told you, there was a divination," she didn't much want to tell her she was the daughter of one of the goddesses as long as she was aiming a gun. That had to be a shock, right? The last thing she wanted was to startle her into doing something drastic.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I would never hurt you," she said, hoping the truth of her conviction would shine through in her words. She slowly lowered her hands, gesturing with the paper case to show that she wasn't reaching for anything else.

"I'm the same as you, look." She slowly reached for a paper, not flinching when it burst into flames the moment her fingers touched it. She held it up between two fingers as it burnt itself out in seconds.

"I can explain everything, but I need you to put that gun away."

[User]
Tsuki felt somewhat relieved when she could hear and see the fear in the other woman. It meant she hadn't expected her to pull a gun on her, and she was very much in control of the situation. Whatever that burning paper had been it couldn't have been intended to make her react like this. It did beg the question what its true purpose had been then. She sneered when the woman brought up their divination once more. It didn't explain anything more than why she had set out on this search for someone. Tsuki wanted to know what the person in question had done to get tracked down by the clergy. It was beginning to look more and more like they were in some serious trouble. She wanted none of it personally, yet here she was in the middle of the night aiming a gun at a supposed priestess.

She raised an eyebrow and lowered the gun slightly when the woman said she would never hurt her intentionally. There was that religious conviction they held so high behind the words, which made her lower her guard temporarily. Tsuki raised the gun again before long, with a sinking feeling that the person they had been looking for may be herself. Well, it would be more accurate to say that the woman now believed so because the paper had reacted to Tsuki's touch. They likely would have gone with whatever person made the paper burst into flames first. It was just her luck that it had to be her.

"Whoopty do, you can make inflammable paper burn." Tsuki said, after watching the woman get the same reaction from the paper that she had. "We've got so much in common. Do you want to be BFFs now?" She found it presumptuous that the priestess claimed to be the same as her based on what, setting fire to paper? For all she knew there could be some trick to it that made it burn every time. She did notice how it didn't seem to hurt the priestess like it had hurt her though.

The suggestion that she would get an explanation did appeal to her. If only so she could find out what was going on, and how to get out of this situation. She wasn't particularly keen on putting the gun away to get one. Tsuki had just been tricked into burning her hand and getting way more attention than she had ever asked for from the clergy.

"No." Tsuki said with a hard tone that left no room for argument. "I'm not putting the gun away." However, she did aim it away from the woman and at the floor, but kept both of her hands on it. "Now you can start explaining yourself or turn around, walk away and never return. I won't hesitate to shoot you if you try anything else. It wouldn't be the first time I've shot someone, so I'd suggest you get rid off any doubts you may have regarding that."

[Assistant]
The Woman's final words sent a cold shiver down her spine, but at least she was pointing the gun away. It wasn't ideal, but it was a big improvement from the situation 30 seconds ago.

"I won't try anything," Ruby said quickly. At east, she hoped that bringing news that would uproot her entire life would not count as 'trying anything'.

"I just want to talk. We have got a lot in common, even if it doesn't look like that right now," and even if she didn't know what 'BFFs' were. It didn't matter. Even though the child of the moon appeared to be a bit less... dignified than she'd been expecting, she was sure everything would end up all right.

"This paper it's.... a test of sorts, used by the clergy to... look for certain characteristics," she started out slowly. She hadn't actually expected she would ever have to explain this beyond 'your child is blessed' and though the gun was no longer pointing at her, a conversation where one of the people involved was holding a gun was very difficult to mistake for a conversation where that wasn't the case.

"You know how cmost families with a lot of gifted people can trace their lineage back to some god or another? Well, this paper can be used to show the so-called 'divine spark' a person might possess." As she talked Ruby slowly got some of her confidence back. This, she knew how to do.

"Of course a few drops of divine blood will be only enough to lightly singe the paper. Generally the more poweful the reaction, the more powerful the divine heritage within the person." She paused for a moment, giving the other woman (her name had been on the door, hadn't it? why hadn't she paid more attention?) a chance to start connecting the dots.

"i am the only person currently alive who is able to set the paper aflame like that- or I guess I was." She looked the white-haired woman in front of her straight in the eye, trying to figure out if anything of this was making sense. If they really were the same , surely she must have felt like Ruby had? Out of place, different than anyone else she'd ever known… It could only be a good thing to hear that she really was different, right?

"My name is Ruby Eleana Solaris. I'm… er… You may have seen me on the television sometimes?" she finished rather lamely. It felt… cheesy to introduce herself as 'daughter of the sun', she never really had to before. Of course before she'd only really interacted with people who knew who she was from the get-go, which brought other awkwardness with it. It would't be like that now, though, because now they were the same. The celestial goddesses were equal in every way, after all. Was it really too much to hope that they would be as well?

[User]
Oh, so she wasn't completely ignorant to how the situation looked like from Tsuki's perspective? How about that, a member of the clergy that wasn't blind to everyone else's opinions. No, it certainly did not look like they had a lot in common, but at this point she was very curious what the woman thought they did have in common. It seemed doubtful there'd be anything connecting them, but here she was claiming they had a lot in common.

She'd kind of assumed that the paper had been a test after the woman's initial reaction to Tsuki setting it on fire, but as far as she knew there was no proof that it didn't work on just about everyone. From what she'd seen, it worked 100% of the time it was used. If the woman wanted her to believe this was a real test she should have brought a person it didn't work on, or documented evidence. All she had to go on now was her word.

Tsuki was well aware of how some families could relate their linage to the gods. She'd actually worked on a case some years ago with a family that had stated they had a divine heritage, but the details of that case was irrelevant to the current situation. She nodded in response to the question though.

As much as the other woman believed her own words, Tsuki couldn't help but feel that they sounded as if she was working up to a point where she tried to sell her some kind of product. Presumably the paper she'd already been given a sample of. Either that, or she was trying to scam her. She'd most definitely shoot her if one of those possibilities turned out to be the case.

However, it didn't make sense that she would have stayed after Tsuki had given her a chance to leave if that was all it was. Why risk getting shot over it? The symbols she could see floating around the woman's head made her think that maybe there was a tiny chance there was some truth to what she was being told. She'd denied most of her life that her curse had anything to do with the gods, because what were the chances of that? Her family didn't have any divine heritage. It was likelier her abilities had come from some other source than the divine, not that she'd been able to identify what that source would have been.

"Can't say that I remember seeing you before, lady." Tsuki responded when the woman stopped talking. "I'm not interested in the religious channels or shows, so unless you were on the news or in a movie I doubt I've seen you on TV." ¨

She wasn't all that interested in remembering celebrities to begin with, no matter what had made them famous. Besides, she doubted the woman had ever appeared on TV looking like she did in that moment, which would make her a lot less recognizable to pretty much everyone, even fans. The name was the one clue she had to go on then, but other than the obvious connection to the sun she was drawing a blank there as well.

"Let's get to the point, shall we?" Tsuki said. "You're trying to tell me what? That I'm related to the gods? My family don't have any divine heritage to brag about, I would know. Your paper don't prove much to me either as the two times I've seen it used it worked flawlessly."


[System]
Female
Age 24
Appearance
5'6"
Lean flexible athletic build
Light skin (Japanese)
Appears to have shoulder length jet black slightly spikey hair from the front. However her hair splits into parts, taking the longer half and tying it together at the neck into a downwards facing ponytail that reaches her middle back.
Medium sized ahoge, more of angular/rigid spike shape, changes based on their mood/emotions. And electrical charge in battle.
Dark drab blueish-gray/steel left eye.
Yellow right eye with a slit shaped pupil.
Eyebrow over her left eye has a slit break in it towards the outer middle.
Irezumi tattoos:
Right arm- Nagasode style sleeve tattoo extending down to her wrist. Nara black wind bars for a background, with a green snake with a red belly coiling down her arm with it's head ending at her outer wrist.
Left arm- Shichibu style sleeve tattoo extending down to her middle forearm. Nara black wind bars for a background, with a blue snake with a yellow belly coiling up her arm with it's head resting on the front of her upper shoulder. Kanji for Mamushi 蝮 (pit viper) tattooed in black on the inner blank space of her forearm.
Back- Her entire back is covered in large nara black ink clouds for a background. And a large tattoo of the giant 8 headed and tailed snake Yamata no Orochi, various flowers, and lightning bolts in the foreground.
Slightly elongated fang canine teeth on the top and bottom as compared to normal people. Teeth are overall sharper.
Ear piercings- Left: Two slim steel rings on their lobe. Helix cuff.
Right: Circular silver stud on their lobe. Smaller steel cuff at the middle of the outer ear/lower helix.
Black painted nails.

Customized slightly oversized black leather asymmetrical moto jacket. Worn unzipped with belt hanging loose.
Steel curb chain necklace that extends down to her chest. Medium sized silver upside down cross pendant.
Zip-up black hoodie. Worn under her jacket with the hood laid over the jackets collar. Worn unzipped often with the sleeves pulled up to her elbows.
Vintage oversized heavy metal band T-shirts, some with the sleeves cut off. Worn over fishnet shirt. (Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Megadeth)
Long sleeve black fishnet shirt. Sleeve extends into a fishnet fingerless gloves on the left but is cut off at the wrist on the right.
Silver signet ring on right middle finger with an upside down cross engraved in it.
Mokume-gane Ouroboros shaped ring with pink jeweled eyes on left index finger.
Steel cuban link chain bracelet on right wrist.
Steel studded black leather belt.
Steel chain hanging down at her right side. One end attached to a belt loop, the other to a pocket watch manadial.
Worn/faded slim dark indigo Japanese selvage denim jeans. (Black or stonewash alt. colors)
Black with white accents Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 running shoes.
Black calf length open toe and heel socks.

Secondary hairstyle reference (Somewhere in between the two)

Close type of ponytail style reference

Raiya specializes in destructive magic. She is a master of electrical spells, and ruinous spells. She has a great foundation in most all Catholic magics as well as some Japanese Zen Buddhist/Shinto magic. As with her fascination of Japan, she also has a great fascination with snakes and has developed snake themed fighting style and magic. Every so often she sheds her skin, this makes her immune to aging. With her magic powers, she also has the ability to control certain light metals.

Raiya's parents, Japanese immigrants, owned a successful Japanese cuisine restaurant chain in New York City. Both parents died in a burglary gone wrong leaving Raiya orphaned in infancy. With a large mana constitution, Raiya was immediately adopted by the Catholic cathedral and put into mage training. Growing up in the New York Cathedral, she always shadowed Felix and thought of him as her older brother. Raiya was always proficient in magic, and her studies reflected that. Raiya achieved the rank Grand-Mage at the age of seventeen. At the age of twenty she was sent with two other grand-magi to investigate the sudden disappearance of a remote village in Italy. The village was razed, not so much as a 2x4 left standing upright. Investigating the trace of mana waves left by the spell she made her way to a nearby mountain where she found on a cliff-side the definite point of origin of the spell. Looking around the point of origin she found footprints. The foot prints looked exactly like the sole tread of a typical Catholic Magi officer. The level of destruction and the fact that the mana waves left by the spell accounted for only one spell, coupled with the footprint meant the evidence pointed toward an Arch-mage or higher to be the cause of the destruction. Once she returned to the Vatican, she provided the evidence in a council meeting. The council thanked her for the evidence provided but stated that they would be conducting the investigation from then on. Even though the council told her to no longer investigate this issue, Raiya continued the investigation on her own. Looking into the records of those who were gone the night of the destruction of the remote village, she narrowed it down to two, Arch-mage Thadeus and Arch-mage Felix. After obtaining this information, Raiya investigated both Thadues and Felix's living quarters. She discovered that Felix had never even worn his uniform boots, as he wore his own more comfortable combat boots. Thadeus, on the other hand, did not have any other pairs of footwear besides the ones on his feet, which were the uniform boots. Learning of this information but knowing the Vatican council would never listen to her, she approached Felix whom she knew was innocent. She told Felix all of the information she had obtained, but Felix brushed her aside saying that the Vatican was conducting their own investigation and to go against their demands to keep the investigation within their selected team would mean excommunication, even if the information was correct. Felix told her that he would not tell anyone about her own investigation, but pleaded with her to keep quiet about the issue until the Vatican completed their investigation. Raiya couldn't believe what she was hearing, that her cold hard evidence was being brushed aside because of protocol. But what's more, that the investigation team was comprised with Thadeus's brother as a member meant surely that Thadeus would never be convicted of this crime. All of this put into perspective Raiya's membership with the magi, and soon after she left the magi and Catholicism altogether. When she left two others left with her, the other two grand-magi that were on her initial investigation team with her. Soon after they left, they returned to NYC. Because the Vatican saw them as Apostates, they froze all their accounts and social security information, forcing them to make money through means less savory. Instead of falling into despair, Raiya and her two peers adopted the shady lifestyle altogether. Through their magic abilities, it wasn't long before they were running the biggest criminal organization in NYC. Raiya still resides to this day in NYC with the other two magi as her right hand women.

Raiya is seemingly devoid of any positive emotion. Her normal demeanor could be described as aloof. She is seen as a hard nosed, unwavering leader. This makes her well respected by her subordinates in the gang she runs. Though, to those who know her well enough she can be lighthearted. She has a short temper and a low tolerance for annoyances. In her annoyed state she has no problem threatening her friends with one of her sushi knives she keeps in her inner coat pocket, or electrocuting them with her magic. She loves Japan, even though she wasn't raised there herself. Her fanaticism for Japan runs so deep that she has Japanese tattoos, and has even taught herself the language perfectly. She is an excellent chef and specializes in Japanese cuisine. Even though she isn't very sociable, the few friends she does have are kept close to her and she protects them.

[User]
Raiya could not see what happened from the position she was laying, but she figured that Nemo destroyed the generator somehow due to the loudness of what sounded like an magic induced explosion. Nemo walked back over to her after he finished destroying the generator and began to pick Raiya up in a princess carry. She could feel the warmth from his arms and the closeness of his body, which suddenly made her extremely self conscious, which she personally found extremely odd. Why do I care what this guy thinks of me? He's a roadblock, an enemy. She decided to quickly drop her train of thought because she was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable.

She looked up to notice Nemo was blushing. The otherwise livid pale face was now fairly flushed, which made Raiya feel even more comfortable. "You better not be getting any weird ideas," Raiya said in an irritated voice, "You pervert." She added. She looked away towards the direction the were headed. I'm useless, She thought I wouldn't be in this position if I was competent. It's my fault that I am a burden on this mission She reminded herself.

[Assistant]
As predicted, Roy was forced to rush forward, bursting through gas produced by his grenade after it had detonated. Travis would have admitted that he hadn't expected such an approach from the ex-hunter but it made little difference in the end; Roy was initiating his attack. Still, with the amount of lead time he had planned and created, Travis was able to react fast enough this time the newest set of throwing knives. With only a second or two, he quickly raised his right hand and casted a repulsion spell just as the sharp point of the knife got within feet of him. A transparent sphere flashed out of his palm and rapidly expanded into the projectile's path, the knife itself was then knocked off course, spinning harmlessly until falling on to the deck.

It was then again that Zoey had responded from behind the scenes and delivered her own flurry of projectiles down towards Roy, finally stopping him in his tracks as he frantically attempted to defend himself. Travis watched in the instant as Roy took several hits from Zoey's attack, sending him to the ground. Though wounded with probably limited use of his limbs, Travis was nearly impressed as he observed Roy persisting to get back on his feet. However, it seemed apparent now that he was a assuming a rather desperate defensive posture, almost like a cornered beast baring its fangs, threating anything and anyone who came to close.

Travis materialized three additional runes before him. The center rune seeped heat and embers while the two that flanked it drooled the same dark clouds which loomed over them, faint instances of light pulsing within them. All three runes were aimed right at Roy and were on the slightest brink of firing if Travis even gave a mere thought about it - a sudden movement from his target could be enough to trigger the attack just as well. Though with the walls of ice keeping Roy in place, a discharge from any of his runes would never miss him.

Travis then called out to the ex-hunter, "Had enough?"

[User]
Roy brought himself to his knees, noticing Travis' runes. He let out a sigh, but it turned into a chuckle towards the end. "It's possible I have, what's it to ya lad?" Roy asked, not making any sudden movements. It's likely for a smuggler like him, putting his life on the line for his crew wasn't something he really wanted to do. But in the same regard if they kept him alive, Roy backstabbing them later with one of his knives was equally possible.

---

Nemo continued walking through the ship's interior. "Yeah I'm getting ideas alright, the first one is to drop you." Nemo retorted jokingly. Nemo seemed hesitant to continue, but eventually spoke again. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news and whatnot, but this mission has really only just kicked off. It's going to be pretty hard to fight off the rest of the heavy hitters on this ship if I'm just limited to... kicking. I don't think the Master Blaster technique we got going here is gonna work out." Nemo explained.

[Assistant]
Raiya frowned at the thought of being dropped. Weighing the pros and cons, she decided to refrain from saying anything further about his reddened face. But when he brought up the fact that he was restrained and gimped due to her mistake her slight frown tunred into a forlorn expression as she remembered how she made a blunder out of the last fight. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and take a nap, consciousness was too depressing for her to grasp at the moment. Every time she recalled her mistake she cringed within herself.

"I-it was all my fault... I messed up... I didn't account for the enchanted blade..." She said in a meek voice, "And... my mistake may have just cost us the mission..." There were almost tears behind her confession of guilt, but she didn't have the strength to cry anymore, so she just continued to frown.

[User]
"Hey, don't say that, I'm sure it's all gonna be daijoubu Raiya." Nemo replied with a more softer voice to try to comfort her. "You tried something new, having to work out all the kinks is to be expected. I've made my own share of mistakes in that regard as well. I remember the first time I tested out this new explosion spell out in the field it didn't go so well. Had a bit more power than I thought, wiped out the entire fifth floor of the apartment I was in. I got blown through a glass window myself, would have probably broke every bone in my body when I hit the floor if I didn't crash through a cloth awning first." Nemo remembered.

"D-do you think there would be any ways for you to recharge your mana? You're like an electrical mage right? Couldn't you like find a power outlet or something for that?" Nemo said, his tone left whether he was joking ambiguous.

[Assistant]
Raiya cringed a bit when Nemo used the Japanese word, "daijoubu" in an English sentence. It wasn't really that she had a problem with Nemo speaking Japanese when he clearly was not Japanese himself. It was merely the mixture of Japanese and English that got to her. She thought about saying something about it, but decided to just leave it at her physical fidgeting expression of discomfort.

Raiya raised an eyebrow at Nemo, she couldn't figure out if he was serious or not. Although, obviously as a mage well versed in the theory and practice of the mystical arts himself, Nemo knew full well that mages could not just simply recharge themselves by absorbing the element that is closest to their aura element. So she decided it was just a joke that Nemo was playing, so she just decided to retort with, "Beep Boop: Raiya 9000 must recharge her batteries in order to perform her operational duties Beep Boop."