[System]
Age: 21

Appearance:

Though opinions vary on how beautiful Artemis is, no one can deny she's a striking figure to see, with her brown skin, starlight hair, and aqua eyes. She's a tall, slender thing standing at 5'9", with long, willowy limbs and subtle curves beneath her clothing. Her wardrobe is eclectic, with various scarves, jewelry, and feathers. She paints different markings on her skin and arms, adding to her unique look.

Occupation: Traveling Mystic

Personality: Artemis is whoever she needs to be to get by. But whether she's quiet and mysterious, or flirtatious and inviting, the one constant is that she's always looking out for herself. Though not particularly interested in other people, she enjoys using them as her primary source of entertainment. It's difficult to know who Artemis truly is or what she cares about, as she keeps everything truly important locked away – especially from herself.

History: Before she was Artemis, she was Emira Janan Mathilde Basira Felicity Lujayn Cosima Airtifae-Alqamar, Grande Duchess of the Silver Valley. Young Emira and her little brother Idris grew up with all the advantages that came with nobility. Idris, though younger than Emira, was the heir apparent. This was just fine with her – Emira was not quite suited for nobility. She was clever, worldly, and even charming when she wanted to be, but she had no interest in politics and governing. Idris, with his patience and generosity, would do well, while she entertained herself with seeing how quickly she could insult a dignitary and how long she could keep him from storming out of the palace after that.

When she was fifteen years old, a plague swept through the valley. They called it the Climbing Vine for the slow, crawling way it choked the life from its victims. Their mother was the first to catch it. Then their father. Emira and Idris were quarantined from their parents for more than a year before their died. The night before Idris' coronation, he fainted.

Preparations were being made for Emira's coronation even before Idris passed. Half a year after he first started showing symptoms, Emira charmed her way past the guard and crept into her little brother's room, as she had so many times before. Sometimes he had good nights, in spite of the sickness. His eyes would be bright and his laugh would ring out like a bell as she gossiped with him about the stuffy dignitaries, so full of themselves it was a wonder they fit through the palace doors. But that night was not a good night.

His eyes were glassy and his smile was weak as he clutched his big sister's hand with his waning strength. He whispered how proud he was of her, and how wonderful a ruler she'd be. Emira was the cleverest, strongest, funniest person he knew, and the people would adore her. They'd love her as much as he did. Emira looked at him for a long moment. Then she placed a kiss on his damp forehead, careful not to let any tears fall on him. She ran from the palace that night.

When she was eighteen years old, Artemis locked Emira away with her guilt and tried not to look back.

When she was nineteen, she heard a rumor that the Grand Duke of the Silver Valley had finally died without an heir.

Artemis traveled from one town to another, making her living as a mystic. In reality she was little more than a charlatan. Her ethereal looks, intelligence, and the skills she learned at court – languages, dancing, and singing, among others – helped her sell the facade. Before waking up in the forest, she made her living telling fortunes, selling "enchanted" baubles and sometimes outright stealing. Artemis played whatever role was required to entice her customers, and dazzled them with petty revelations about their futures or innermost thoughts (either flat out lies, generic statements that were easy to read into, or educated guesses based on how the customers presented themselves).

She told herself it was easier to forget over time – easier to push away the guilt. She could turn into someone else and feel nothing at all. After all, it was Emira who'd turned her back and ran from her Valley. Her little brother. Not Artemis.

Maybe if she said it enough times it would make it true.

[User]
The Lady of Stone was as cold as the darkness; at Anise's touch she grinned and returned to the soil, leaving the princess to try her convincing alone in the illuminated cave. She saw the images, felt the words and their meaning -- and when Anise was finished, the Lady was nowhere to be seen ... but her voice rumbled in the walls, thick with sarcasm.

"How lovely! What a quaint little place. All this talk of light and hope has made me remember something I've forgotten to tell you: Shadow has got himself a new champion, one who will crush you and your precious dragon. And now I have something to tell him: there is a place still bathed in sunlight, that is ripe to be plunged into darkness. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear it."

With that, a deadened silence descended upon the cave; the Lady had gone, not to be called back.

After a few moments, the sound of a shovel struck above, and bits of dirt fell on Anise's head; it was Peck, digging his way toward her. A tiny beam of moonlight sifted through -- and Peck's calls of her name were drowned by the roar of the Dragon.

The sword brightened with the call.

As Artemis' fingers curled around the Lantern's handle -- as the cloth fell away from the bright green within -- the Dragon's roar trembled throughout the island.

The dead flickered and hid from the noise. Their own whispers hissed among the trees, questioning.

Artemis' arm suddenly rippled with shining scales. They gleamed and reflected the light of both Lanterns, raced along her skin -- and within a moment were gone again, though she could still feel a slightly itchy, almost metallic sensation, like an invisible chainmail.

"You hold in your hand the Dragon's defenses." The Lord of Shadow spoke behind Artemis, but all there was to see was the illusion of his silhouette at the edge of the light, standing among the dead. "Invincibility. Immortality." There was a grinning hiss in his silky voice. "As frightening as the Dragon is, without this she is as mortal as a lamb."

He paced around the campsite, slowly. The spirits parted quickly, flickering, to let him pass.

"The dead will do your bidding," he continued, while the Dragon roared again in the distance. "As will the darkness, and the cold. I have asked that the Lady of Stone respond to your call, should you require her."

The dead hummed and whispered again, a haunting sound among the dark trees.

"The Dragon herself is not as fearsome as she seems; she has a psychic power, she will attempt to get into your head, convince you of your errors, turn you against your own reasoning. She has the power of illusion; she can make you see what she wants you to see. Keep your mind clear and cold, strike through. Your greater threat will be her champion -- one like yourself, who wields the blessing of Water and the sword of light. Her will has been known to reach farther than her hand -- ensure she does not get close to the Lanterns."

He stopped, and he faced her. "What, then, will you do?"

[Assistant]
Anise closed her eyes as she listened to the Lady of Stone's response. So she had become just as twisted as the Lord of Shadow. She had been prepared for such a tragedy, so this reaction did not upset her too much. However, now the stakes just got greater. Again, the Lady of Stone had another opportunity to kill her and once again the Lady simply gloated at her. She could not understand why that was the case. The Lord of Shadow and the Lady of Stone had all of this power and the both of them barely even tried to stop her. Their apparent inaction perplexed her.

Anise had no need for a champion. She was the champion of her own cause. Somehow, they did. Curiosity did peak in regards to who it could be. She had met a few people from sun-touched lands like herself at this point. It could be any number of them.

She heard Peck digging away with a shovel above her, and she looked up as soon as a beam of moonlight peeked through a freshly made hole. Bits of dirt fell to the ground before her. She could hear him shouting, but the roar of the Dragon drowned out his voice. The sword flared every time the Dragon roared, and Anise watched it as it flashed each time.

Could this sword be the Sun? It would make sense for the Lady of Light to be the one to secure the Sun. Maybe once she had been slain the Lady of Stone created that casket to seal her away and hide the sun with her. The only way she could know is if she presented the sword to the Dragon, and she had planned to approach the Dragon anyways now that she had Light and Water. A purification of light and water was needed to cleanse the corruption that the Lord of Shadow had allowed to settle on the Dragon's bones.

Anise then looked at the moonlight. Light. Could she use it to travel? She connected herself with the beam of light and focused on the space above her where more light touched. She imagined herself being carried by the light until she stood right next to Peck.

[User]
Artemis looked down at the Lantern in her hand, her attention still on the Lord of Shadow. The dragon's angry roar shook the earth.

Not fun when other people take what's yours, is it? she thought viciously.

Runes. Fire. Wood. Shadow. Stone. Dragonfire. Invincibility. The thought was sweet and harsh, wine burning her from the inside out. Intoxicating. She could kill the dragon.

Her bright gaze flicked back up to the Lord of Shadows to see the scheming eyes of a politician.

Keep your mind cold and clear, strike through. His words pierced through her and Artemis sobered. She was not some naive upstart with delusions of grandeur. She wasn't a fool. She was royalty. Intelligent. Educated. The daughter of a woman who'd assassinated her own father and tied his body to the palace gates to end a rebellion.

She would be cold. Her focus would be clear. Artemis would strike through.

The Lord of Shadow's question hung unanswered in the air. What would she do? Artemis considered her options: she could go to the dragon now, or bide her time, gathering her strength.

With the first option she had the element of surprise on her side -- well, as much as she could. The dragon already knew she held the green Lantern, which meant it probably also knew she had the red. But it didn't know who she was, or what other powers she had. The dragon was still weak after escaping from the cave, and would likely only get stronger as time passed. And what about this champion?

Artemis thought back to her tutors from years ago, and the few lessons she'd had on war. Because that's what this was -- war. She was outclassed against a more powerful opponent, who'd only get stronger if left to heal. She didn't know the battleground, but she wasn't helpless. She had resources. Her long fingers tightened around the green Lantern, the memory of scales still itching along her skin.

When fighting against a stronger opponent, wear them out. Be quick. Be untouchable. Small attacks over a prolonged period. Artemis likely wouldn't be able to deal a killing blow, but she could make it impossible for the dragon to gain back its strength if it was always trying to hold her off. She'd figure out her own new abilities as she did so.

Artemis knelt down, gathering the cloth that'd fallen to the ground. She ripped a strip and grabbed the charcoal from her pocket and scrawled two sharp runes on the larger piece: darkness, weightless. She took her two Lanterns and wrapped the cloth tightly around them, hiding their light. The forest turned to shadows. She drew another rune on the strip: un-tearable. Looping the strip around the two handles, she tied it in a knot to hang off the strap of her bag. She hooked the bag back over her shoulders and stood.

"Haven't you been listening?" she finally replied, looking back at the Lord of Shadow. She could see him in perfect detail, still. She tried not to shiver. "I'm going to kill the dragon." She looked to the mountain, crumbled and half-formed after the dragon's escape. "Any other words of wisdom?"


[System]
Species: Human werewolf.
Age: 23.
Gender: Female.
Personality: Ashley is fairly mellow. She's not overly happy, nor is she overly sad or cynical. She walks the middle of the road and would be found refilling the glass for another round than trying to figure out if it's half empty or half full. Ashley is lazy to a point, and generally does things to her own time over taking care of everything at once.

Appearance: Ashley is of average height since she stands at five feet five inches. Ashley's skin is close to copy paper in color due to her extended presence in clubs or bars. Ashley's hair is cut quite short and is black in color. Ashley's eyes are a dark green in color and are thankfully free of any fashion contacts or other oddities. Ashley's eyebrows are rough, but not excessive, and match her hair. Ashley's face is overall free of blemishes, which Ashley is immensely thankful for.

Ashley's body is fairly well rounded. Her upper and lower body is well developed and fit. She's not boasting bulging muscles or a six pack, but she's more than qualified for extended physical activity. Ashley doesn't have much in the way of marks on the rest of her body either, which she is again more than thankful for. Ashley's nails are trimmed down, and have also been painted black to fit with her overall punk look. Ashley's most prominent feature is actually a prominent bust, which she gets annoyingly frequent comments about.

Ashley's wardrobe fits well with her punk theme. Ashley wears a plain black T-shirt along with a light black cloth jacket. Ashley also wears a pair of black jeans. Beneath these jeans Ashley wears a pair of knee length nylon stockings and a pair of calf length black leather boots.

Ashley also wears a pair of fingerless leather gloves. These gloves have small metal studs over each knuckle, though they're obviously not weaponized. However, that doesn't prevent them from hurting a little more than usual should someone suffer a blow from Ashley. Ashley also wears a black one piece kneeskin swimsuit in place of traditional undergarments, since some more unruly members of the audience would sometimes find themselves throwing their drinks at the stage, leaving Ashley and her band members varying degrees of wet from time to time. The swimsuit helped prevent people from seeing more than they needed to.

When transformed, Ashley loses most of her outfit. Thankfully, her swimsuit is stretchy enough to handle the transformation with ease while still keeping everything covered. Her wolf form stands at six feet and five inches, making her taller than most men. Ashley's transformed body is coated with a fine layer of muscle. Not excessive like a bodybuilder, but slim and practical while still being easy to notice. Her legs are digitigrade, which makes her more agile and allows her to run faster at the cost of not being able to operate certain machinery due to her height and how her legs are shaped. Ashley's body is roughly the same shape aside, though everything is scaled up to fit her new size. Ashley's head is that of a wolf in this form, and her hair grows slightly to fit better. Ashley's fur is stormy grey in color with the underside of her torso having a lighter grey. Finally, while transformed, Ashley has a small lightning bolt on the top of her snout.

Powers: Lightning/electricity generation and control: Ashley is capable of generating and controlling electricity and lightning. This is primarily represented in bolts thrown from her fingertips, though she can also charge the studs in her gloves with electricity to make her punches hurt more.

Transformation: Ashley is a werewolf, and is capable of transforming into a werewolf form when enough adrenaline enters into her bloodstream, though this costs her most of her wardrobe for a while. While transformed, Ashley still has access to her lightning abilities, and can now charge her claws with lightning. As a bonus, she's also able to charge her fists with lightning, making her punches devastating.

Strengths: Immune to electric shock. Heals quickly. Physical prowess is enhanced in werewolf form.

Weaknesses: Water shuts down her electric powers due to the fact that she would shock herself if she used them. Skin contact with metal also shuts down her powers, and nearby metal will attract electricity. Silver burns her while she is transformed.

Background: Ashley grew up singing cover songs in bars and nightclubs in order to get by after a crummy early life. Her looks drew a crowd, her voice kept them there. However, this lifestyle turned out to be rather unsustainable. Forced to contemplate her future, Ashley walked to a nearby park to think things over. While she was walking around the trees, it started to rain. In her rush to get home, Ashley was struck by lightning. She passed out, and merely moments later a rogue werewolf tracked her smell. He giggled to himself that nature had cooked him a meal, and sank his teeth into Ashley's shoulder.

The werewolf went flying as ten thousand volts flew into his system. The bite healed shortly after, and Ashley got up and went home with a massive headache. This was three years ago, and her life has been different ever since.

Misc. Notes: None.

[User]
Boxcar nudged Nora's leg and whined with his best convincing puppy dog eyes look. Nora, with no defenses against such a technique, found herself putting together a plate of the fajita mix minus wrap and set it down for him to eat, which he did greedily. Nothing in it that'll hurt him, thought Nora as she reviewed the ingredients in her mind. And it'll keep him quiet - him talking seemed to throw this girl off very badly, and I'm not sure how well she can take the shock of that again.

Ashley's report startled Nora visibly, and she had to adjust her glasses from where they had become unbalanced on her nose. "A...secret door in the basement? Nobody told me about that! Justin didn't mention it during the tour, so he must not have known about it, and I don't know if Cybertronics knows about it either." It seemed hard to believe that her company had inspected the lodge and not found this secret door, yet Boxcar had found it within the first few hours of the lodge's first day of operation. Still, Boxcar had senses that the robots and normal people who inspected the location didn't have.

Nora was distracted briefly by the arrival of Lady Jane, and then by Jaiden after her. With his arrival, that completed her expected roster of guests for the lodge, and that also meant everyone was here for lunch. This was remarkably satisfying for Nora, as a checklist was mentally completed in her head. It was also mildly terrifying, since it meant she now had no real schedule to follow. Theoretically, she was here to observe and offer opportunities for allowing the lodgers to test their abilities far from civilization, in the safety of the lodge's environs and the surrounding terrain. Realistically, she hadn't done anything quite like this before, where there wasn't a rigidly-defined plan or schedule of events. She was on her own.

As the lunch progressed, however, she went over what she remembered about the lodge from the meeting with her superiors. The lodge's previous owner had bought several crates of machine parts from Cybertronics Unlimited, as well as building materials from several other companies, but through what must have been an oversight, Cybertronics had been the only company left unpaid. Her briefing hadn't told her who the previous owner was - her superiors were very careful, she remembered, not to give any details, citing that they couldn't tell her due to privacy concerns - but there was enough information between the lines that even Nora could tell the owner had been some kind of criminal, and that the lodge had been built with far more materials than the building they had just toured couldn't reasonably have contained.

This led her to the conclusion that it would be in their best interests to explore the hidden passage themselves. Nora was already in enough trouble with her superiors as it was, which was why she was out here to begin with, and if she asked for help so soon after getting to the lodge, it might cost her any chance of salvaging her job. And, at least for now, this was where she would be living, along with all of these other people, so it was in everyone's best interest to know what lay beneath the lodge. This, combined with sitting through a lunch with the lodgers and finding that nothing went wrong, gave her the confidence she needed to formulate an idea.

Toward the end of lunch, as everyone was eating the last of the fajitas, Nora stood up at the head of the table and addressed the group. "Thank you all for coming here - I'm Nora Minder, effectively the property manager for the lodge as appointed by Cybertronics Unlimited, who invited you here. Some of you have already introduced yourselves to each other, but we're all new to each other, and my hope is that, while you are here at the lodge, we'll all become friends in time."

Nora adjusted her glasses, a motion that nudged some of her blonde bangs away from her blue eyes as she surveyed the group. "It's come to my attention that the lodge has a secret basement door. Justin Hobbes, our handyman-on-call, did not seem to know about this, and neither did the company, though according to what I've been told, this property was collected by Cybertronics as payment by the previous owner who may have had ulterior motives for building this lodge out here in the middle of nowhere. Since we will be living here together for the foreseeable future, I want to propose we do an exploration of this secret underground passageway, so we'll know what we're sitting on top of and don't have any nasty surprises later."

"Of course, this could be very dangerous, and I have no idea what might be down there, which is why I'm not asking any of you to go down there unless you are willing to do so. I will be going, as it is my responsibility to ensure your safety. I wouldn't mind company, though, and would welcome anyone who wants to come along with."

Truth be told, she was kind of excited. What kind of secrets did this strangely-built and located lodge hold? What was under the lodge that required a secret door to hide? And how had her company overlooked something like this? She waited for the response from the others, knowing full well that she might have to go on her own if no one else volunteered.

[Assistant]
Sam had to choke back an incendiary retort, which she cleverly concealed with the guise of having swallowed wrong. This lady was out of her mind if she thought Sam would be so quick to risk life and limb for a group of perfect strangers. Her addled mind had been given enough time to at least put together the components of a rational argument against such a foolish use of her time and talents; after all, she had ended up here as a result of pursuit by enemies unknown, and there was absolutely no guarantee they did not already have forces on the planet searching for her. She needed to rest and heal, and repair her craft so that she could continue her escape.

"Yeah, about that..." She reminded herself that, without the necessary materials and equipment, it was likely that fighter would never lift off again. As it was, she couldn't guarantee it would return to 100% capacity, even with their assistance. Her memory replayed Nora's comment about the several crates worth of materials and machine tools purchased by the previous owner of the property, and a surge of adrenaline distributed its prickly warmth through her chest.

"Goddammit..." she sighed. She put down her fork and lifted her eyes surreptitiously to study Nora's expression. Was she serious about those supplies, or just lying to coerce the cooperation of her new team? What about the others? She scanned them all in turn as she finished off her glass of water. None of them seemed too worried about their situation, and she could not detect any signs that any one of them had existing knowledge of the subject before Nora mentioned it.

This was the part where Sam was meant to feign interest in the expedition, then leverage her participation against Nora's willingness to part with some of that priceless scrap. But...they did not know her yet. Reluctant acceptance wouldn't have the desired impact on their trust. She had to give them something to lose before she threatened to take it away.

"Can't do anything today," she ventured, rubbing the back of her head gingerly. "I feel a little better, but I still can't concentrate. I better stay here."

"Perfect," she smirked internally. "No promises, no guarantees, no liability."

[User]
Ashley nodded along at Nora's introduction and blurb about how everyone was hopefully going to become friends. That was a rather high expectation for a lot of people who had just gotten to know one another over the course of a few minutes. Perhaps roommates would be a better start than friends. When Nora made her announcement on looking into the secret door and the space beyond it, Ashley set her fork down on the mostly empty plate and finished the last bite of food before she said. "I'll go. I'm interested to see what's down there. Especially if I'm going to be living on top of it." Ashley wiped her mouth down with her napkin before standing up and taking her plate to the kitchen. Running her plate and fork under hot water for a few moments, Ashley opened up the dishwasher and dropped her plate and fork into the proper places on the racks in the dishwasher. Closing the dishwasher again Ashley returned to the table briefly to grab the can of soda she had gotten earlier and returned it to the fridge, her want for the drink having passed. Moving to where Nora was standing Ashley sat down in a nearby chair. Thus potentially starting a trend of those who were wanting to explore the secret door and the area beyond it gathering around Nora.

Unless Nora decided to suddenly lose a lot of bravery, anyway. Then Ashley would probably just lounge around since she didn't have a whole lot to do. Her bike was safely stowed in the garage, her backpack full of clothing was already deposited in a bedroom, and nothing else really needed to be tended to. Thus, Ashley had nothing but free time to waste for the rest of the day. This assumed that nothing came up that needed tending to, which was always an unknown factor and hard to predict.

When Sam mentioned that she couldn't do anything today due to how her head felt, Ashley wasn't surprised. Surviving a plane crash and already being up, about, and eating without a full medical examination was really quite something. Sam was putting a lot of risk into her own health by doing so, though Ashley didn't comment on it outwardly. It wasn't her place to judge the actions of others, so she merely kept quiet about the subject. Ashley thought about keeping an eye on Sam's health to make sure she at least recovered from her injuries, but reminded herself that she wasn't Sam's mother and it wasn't her place to coddle and shelter others. That was largely Nora's job, though Nora would probably blush rampantly at the idea of caring for the others like a mother.

When Amie appeared and sat down to eat, Ashley gave her a nod in greeting as she left the table, but not too much more than that. Ashley made a note to tell her about her werewolf status later, but for now Ashley's stomach was full and contributing to her lethargic nature. The only excitement left for today was exploring the underground area beyond the secret door, and past that very little would motivate Ashley into action unless everyone was called into work.

With nothing more to really think about, Ashley continued to lounge in the chair she had chosen near Nora.


[System]
♬ Theme

CHARACTER
Age: 28 (in human years)
Gender: Male
Race: Zora

Personality: Abrasive and forward, Nikou isn't a man of great patience when it comes to dealing with people and often finds it insufferable to deal with the sensitive world of politics. His serious and pointed nature grates against casual or overly soft personalities. For example, nobody gets along worse with the royal twins than Nikou; so much, that he's often a common target for their pranks simply due to how mad he usually gets. It's no wonder he has a reputation for being overly stern. Despite this appearance, however, Nikou cares strongly for his people and is passionate about trying to ensure a strong future for everyone.

Biography: Born to a guard father and singer mother, Nikou was raised in Zora's Domain as the eldest (and only) son of an upper class family closely tied to the royalty. Being part of the upper class itself, Nikou is all too familiar with the often petty politics of the zora world. Though he had no interest in dealing with the problems of the noble class, his stalwart personality and succession to his father made him a clear candidate as a strong member of the guards.

 Due to his relatively close blood status and natural aptitude for the job, Nikou found himself ending up in the position of a royal guard for the reigning family of Zora's Domain. Though he found the gentle nature of some of the family hard to deal with, Nikou found himself looking up to the strong leadership of the guard captain Goldor. While Nikou couldn't help but agree the reign of peace was what was best for the zora people at the time, he couldn't help but feel like the place was stagnating away as its upper class tore itself apart while the lower class suffered. Something inside Nikou told him that Zora's Domain would be in much better hands if Goldor could lead a bolder, tighter ship. Change something, instead of holding onto a status quo that just isn't working... Or was he just being idealistic?

 Regardless, as of the moment there was little anyone could really do to change the world of Zora's Domain, leaving little else to do but do what you do. For Nikou, that meant getting forced into escorting a Zora Noble into Hyrule Castle City so that they could discuss several trade deals with the Hylians. What was supposed to be a simple escort assignment, however, would soon turn into a much bigger legend...

Notes: - Gets weirded out by most magic. Just, doesn't like it.
- Father shared his hobby of throwing knives with him. Nikou knows his fair share of tricks.

STATS
Health: 6/10
Stamina: 4/10
Magic: 0/10

Hearts: 12 (9 + 3 Armor)
Stamina: 45 (35 + 10)
Magic: 15

FEATS
[RACIAL] Home at Sea: Zoras have the ability to swim and are most comfortable in the water. They move faster in water and can stay in bodies of water for any desired amount of time, giving them huge advantages in watery domains. Improved swimming/diving ability and indefinite underwater breathing.

[TALENT] Acrobatics: The culture of Zora performance combined with the innate mobility the Zoras have in water makes acrobatics, both in water and on land, pervasive in even the most serious places. Because practicing such techniques makes for good practice and an even better past-time, Zora guards often train their stamina, endurance, and finesse through such activities. As such, this trait gives strengthened stamina (+10 to cost pool) and heightened flexibility and finesse.

[TECHNIQUE] Ending Blow: [5 Stamina] Capitalizes on unsteady foes with a decisive strike. Deals extra damage when used against a target that's been knocked away or off-balance. Can be used without consuming stamina, but if done so, it does not deal the bonus damage.

[TECHNIQUE] Sweeping Slash: [10 Stamina] Swings a weapon around in a 260 degree arc in front of the user, aiming low. While not much stronger than a normal slash, the force of the swing knocks down enemies' legs if it connects right.

[TECHNIQUE] Dolphin Dive: [5 Stamina] Uses the zora's innate talent in the water to launch out and then leap onto the enemy with a powerful downward strike. While it covers significantly less distance out of water due to being unable to build up speed through swimming, it can still be used on land to perform a strong leaping strike.

[TECHNIQUE] Spear Flurry: [10 Stamina] Rapidly thrusts a spear at the enemy, hitting four times in quick succession with 50% effectiveness.

[TECHNIQUE] Joint Lock: [5 Stamina] Pinpoint knife throws target certain points in the body to lock down movement. If the knives properly connect, the target will be temporarily stunned. Ineffective against armor.

EQUIPMENT
Main Weapon: Zora Spear [Medium/Melee] Standard issue, military grade.
Off-Hand: Throwing Knives [Sidearm/Ranged] Light-weight knives built for slicing through the air. Given to him by his father.
Armor: Zora Armor [Medium/+3 Hearts] A hardy, breathable armor given to guards; made from hardy scales of a certain type of fish.
Potions: Health Potion [Basic] & Stamina Potion [Basic]
Other: N/A

#1 - Crime Rings & Sweaty Fighters
#2 - Official Guard Business & Official Magicians
#3 - To The Sewer Entrance?
#4 - Hard Evidence (or the lack thereof)
#5 - VS. Dodongo
#6 - The Battle Rages On!

[User]
Tinnun Chordata
Hyrule Castle City, Inner Wall District

A Rito carrying around a lot of food on her wings and stumbling forwards while doing so seemed to be quite a sight to behold, Tinnun had thought to herself. Indeed, she felt a little silly doing so. Not helping is the constant feeling that she's being gawked at, regardless if someone is staring at her or not.

She eventually reached the square where the tournament is being held. She didn't know why they decided to put the stages and the platform near the fountain. Dramatic effect, the woman guessed. Tinnun couldn't help but feel a bit hyped up by the MC, the energy was very contagious. However, Tinnun has to look for the person to talk to to ask them if she could volunteer in cooking for the crowd, and search out this person she did.

[Assistant]
"I can participate by myself! It's my right as a citizen of Hyrule, isn't it? Hardly my fault all these people's eyes are disabled." Confliti pouted a bit, which was normal anytime Gorn brought up his inability to properly interact with the rest of the world. Most minish didn't mind, and even thrived on it. Confliti had... Different opinions. He mumbled to himself, something Gorn wouldn't have a chance of hearing between the minish's size and the expansive crowd around them. Turning his head to give his old friend the proverbial cold shoulder, Confliti caught sight of others in the area. One in particular caught his attention. A small deku scrub moving in behind them. Now that was peculiar. Confliti had seen many unusual creatures in larger metro areas before, including the elusive koroks, but a scrub? Ill tempered and usually defensively paranoid, they were not one to venture out from their forests, and attacked most people they came into contact with.

Confliti decided to observe this scrub as Gorn brought them to register for the tournament, together. Wait, where did that scrub get all that food? That was way too much for one little scrub! "Don't go too far, Gorn! I'm going to grab a quick bite!" With that he jumped off from Gorn's shoulder and gently floated to the platter of treats using a leaf. Ah, this smelled good! Confliti picked up a berry and began to eat it like a melon.

Then something bizarre happened. Shrubs sprouted up around Gorn! The minish narrowed his eyes up at the deku. Forest magic. How dare he pick on Gorn like that? "Go on, get us registered! I'll deal with this ner'do'well!" Confliti lifted his berry with one hand and hurled it at the deku's face in a surprise attack! Not even bothering to ensure it struck its mark, thet minish warrior grabbed more food and chucked it all! Every crumb, every leaf, berry, roll, and whatever else sat on the plate hurled through the air in a crazy fit. To the onlookers it would appear some invisible force had possessed the food and now had it in for the poor deku...

[User]
"You haven't heard?" He asked. "Jaque the Ripper. Charming name. Appropriate, because, allegedly, this individual...Well, rips. People's organs." He made a tearing motion with his hands. "Out of them." They were near the house. The scent of blood was in the air. "So they're asking me to investigate. I'm supposed to have a partner, but he's probably off at some travern." He shrugged. The house was cordoned off, and there was a sense of dread that hung heavy in the air in stark contrast to the festival.

"To be fair, I wish I could do the same, but that's my job." He shrugged. "Thanks for the help, by the way. Duty calls." He said, before heading over to the captain. "Sorry I'm late. Got a bit lost." He said. "Rin Utoh. Sheikah Ninja." He reached into his kimono, taking out the envelope which held the letter he'd recieved. "I've been called here to investigate the murder. May I see the corpse?" He looked over the house, curious how big it was. "Do we know how they got in? Any signs of forced entry?" He was different from how he had been talking to Luna. His airy, lighthearted demeanor was gone. His tone was of a professional, and his eyes had grown focused. They were the eyes of a hunter.

[Assistant]
Nikou - Hyrule Castle City, Inner Wall District Nikou straightened his back as the guard captain eyed him for some sign of validity in his statement. The garb was apparently enough proof of his statement, despite the white lie, seeing as the captain merely nodded and started divulging the information. It seemed Nikou's suspicions were pretty much correct-- the Templars were too busy with quelling cultists and serial killers to deal with other crimes. Nikou couldn't help but grin, though, amused by the fact that they were so short on guards that they would just let some Zora guard come in and deal with it.

 Either way, the captain took out some papers and read some of the details to him. As he listened, though, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It was a lot less information than he was hoping for, but if they had a who, where, and when, then they probably wouldn't need "international cooperation" to pursue the investigation. The names were... also disappointing, though. 'Sewer Steve'? 'Gaunt Grant'? He was plenty familiar with all kinds of criminal pseudonyms, but they never failed to be as stupid as ever. Couldn't they ever be something cool...? Regardless, after a short debriefing, the captain signaled for someone to bring out the actual dossiers they had, and Nikou eagerly looked through them.

 The first one, Gaunt Grant, was pretty much an enigma due to the lack of any specifics about where the guy could even be. The second one, Sewer Steve, was directly referenced in the interrogation of one of the crime ring workers, though similarly, there was little information to work with. So basically all he had were some nicknames and some wanted-poster info. His first worry was if he would even be able to do this in the short several days he was posted in Hyrule City, especially in tandem with his actual job. This was quickly invalidated by the fact that he could pass anything he found out to the actual guards, so pretty much getting any progress at all was his ultimate goal.

 Nikou sighed. While he couldn't take the documents with him, there wasn't much to forget. Before he left to go snoop around the city, however, Nikou looked at some of the information scattered around the guard center. It was mostly standard stuff, like citizen complains and schedules for patrol, but it didn't hurt to look. Though, maybe it'd be a good idea to search around the areas where the guards patrolled the least? The more hidden the place is from the government's eye, the more appealing it would be to a criminal after all... Was this "Sewer Steve" really operating out of the sewer? People hardly ever went down there...

 Nikou realized he'd been holding his breath and exhaled harshly. It really wasn't much to go on, and Nikou didn't even know how to even investigate a sewer system. The first step would probably be just to figure out where it even was, though, so he thanked the other guards for their cooperation and walked out of the station. He doubted they would be much help with this for now. It'd probably be best to find someone who looks like they know the backstreets of the Castle City, but that'd be easier said than done due to the sheer magnitude of people who've came to Castle City from all over the kingdom for the festivities.

 The first place Nikou thought to look was one of the many market streets filled to the brim with people selling and tourists buying. Though, as he walked with the crowd and looked around, it quickly became apparent it'd be hard to really get anyone to talk; everyone just wanted to enjoy the day, and all the shops didn't want him holding up their business. In fact, he'd even got threatened by some feisty Goron seller who was trying to pawn off sketchy 'fireworks' to the crowd. Nikou's first stop on his investigation was about to get marked up as a failure until one more interesting thing caught his eye.

 A Rito street magician was performing for a small crowd, capitalizing on the especially festive tourist crowd. Nikou stopped and watched for a minute, observing the simplistic yet appealing snowflake patterns he was making. It was pretty, sure, but he couldn't help but wonder if that was anything close to any of the mage's true powers. Curious, he waited for a lull in the action and a gap in the crowd to approach.

 "Could you put your show aside for a minute? I'm currently on an investigation-- official guard business-- and I need to ask you a couple of questions." Nikou said, though it felt a little awkward to have to look so far down to talk. He was at least a couple feet taller than the grey Rito. Regardless, Nikou showed the street magician the poster he had taken from the notice board. "Do you know either of these men? Or, would you happen to know how to get access to the sewer system of the city?"


[System]
Alias/Nickname: (not sure yet)

Appearance:

Age: 36

Race: He is convinced he is human.

Personality: Damien is a guy that everyone overlooks and ignores. He expects this, since that is how he has been treated by society for most of his life. He isn't a nice person, as he is severely broken and pessimistic about everything. He doesn't befriend anyone without expecting them to turn on him at some point. He's lonely, jaded, and hateful.

Biography/history: Another orphan story. The only details that matter are that Damien knows his last name from a script of paper that was dropped off with him on a doorstep, and that he was raised an unwanted child in an orphanage with a strict religious theme. As he grew, it became clear he had been favored or blessed by Yishreenok, or maybe the young lad had been secretly seeing him out. Damien acted innocent, but rumors spread, and he was disliked. After he grew up, he met a girl who actually spoke to him and was able to touch his cold heart. She followed Thandarilasad, the god of life, and began to sway young Damien. Theologists had long suspected that the god of life and god of death might actually be the same god. Damien began to question this. He opened up to the girl and they fell in love and married. Immediately thereafter, she was killed without explanation by the Stygian Blade. She could have been a target, or maybe she was just an innocent bystander, but Damien knows they are at fault. Consumed by pain and despair, Damien surrounded himself in darkness and death, never to trust again and blaming the living and their gods for what happened. Exandra would not hear him, for his desire for revenge went beyond justice. Now Damien broods and laments and takes any opportunity to destroy the Stygian Blade.

Reason for recruitment: to promote his own agenda of vengeance, a pain that will never be extinguished, a hatred that will never be satisfied.

Strength of Will: Between potent and greater, depending on how close he is to attaining his goal.

Magic: Damien's magic is all channeled. He can do some interesting things:

Soul sight - Damien can sense or "see" souls within a certain distance around him, which includes seeing them through walls, trees, or complete darkness.

Energy Drain - Upon touch, Damien can sap the strength from another, causing weakness, even to the point of unconsciousness if he holds on long enough. The affect lingers.

Raise undead - Yishreenok allows Damien to actually raise a corpse into a zombie minion for a time.

Controll Undead - Damien can control an undead that he has raised via his will, and he can control other undead if they do not have wills or controller's wills stronger than his. There is a limit on range and number at a time.

Smite Undead - causes serious pain to undead, could kill them if they are weak. Explodes zombies or dispells ghosts.

False life - If Damien energy drains someone, he can temporarily use that energy to heal himself or give himself some strength. If he doesn't then escape and truly take care of his needs, his wounds will re-open and possibly kill him.

Servant of the cold - Damien is resistant to cold and can freeze objects close to him. His skin is cold to the touch.

Damien is still alive and human. His longevity is extended but he is not immortal and does age slowly.

Encourage decay - Damien can cause illness or disease temporarily to targets he focuses on. He has to do this intentionally. This could weaken a warrior or make it more difficult for a caster to concentrate. Only works on living beings and can be resisted by will.

Call of the grave - grasping skeletal hands reach up from bare earth to grab the legs of the target, slowing them or stopping them.

God relations: Feeling he has lost everything worth living for, Damien pleads with Yishreenok to make a servant of him. He longs for death himself, but he is forbidden from taking his own life. He wishes to become a lich in service to the god of death. Yishreenok seems to want Damien to learn something or accomplish something before his requests can be granted. Damien shies away from the God of life, Thandarilsad. The god reminds him of his beloved and that greatly weakens his resolve. Perhaps he feels he has failed somehow. Otherwise he pretty much hates everyone.

Tech: Damien normally wears some kind of Star Knight standard issue armor, in black, with a cloak and hood, and underneath it, a protective metal skull mask with a HUD and a communicator. His main weapons other than his magic are two hand held lightning-shooting arc-spanners that are attached to bracers on his arms. They can be set to stun or to kill by electrocution. There is also a setting that emits a force wave that can push back a charging enemy.

Possessions/items/property: Damien has been poor all his life. He is put up by Star at the moment.

Skills: Damien loves to drive large vehicles, including cycles, cars, trucks, planes, and copters.

Misc: Damien wears the wedding ring of his deceased wife on a cord around his neck. His own ring is on his hand.

[User]
Pandora's Companion

 Ludelle and Damien

Wind Wild

Day 1, Morning

Ludelle's head slowly rose as her ears caught the first change in the buzzing silence that had become her world. Unbelieving at first, too cautious to latch onto fake hopes, she listened to the footsteps as they slowly grew in volume, drawing images in her mind. She didn't dare move least they were coming for her, but at the first sound of voices her awareness awoke like an inflamed and feverish organ, suddenly pushed to trying harder than. It was a pleasant stimulation in a timeless world.

Listening to the voices, she quickly realised what was going on: she was getting a companion. One she immediately took a liking to when he demonstrated his insubordinate nature. "Another one." She thought almost happily. His words were confusing – what did he mean the ring is keeping him alive? - but the voice behind them, a slight growl, the unsaid "fuck you" pulled at her lips and her heart strings. Of corse, he was quickly punished for his insolence but surely he'd foreseen that and still didn't give a shit. And judging by the sounds, he wasn't going down easy either.

The woman tilted her head down so nobody would see her smirk even if they shone a light in the cell. Ah, if only they tried to taze her. Electricity had no power over her, it was a one-sided relationship with her always on top and if they had given her any spark whatsoever... oh, the things she could do. She wasn't a murderer so she would probably stop herself before she incinerated anyone, but right now giving some of her pain back to her torturers was a magical fantasy.

Whatever, that wasn't happening. Everyone in this prison was aware of her magic and was strictly instructed not to give her any opportunities, even despite her alchemical alterations. Putting the violent desires to the back of her mind, she crawled slightly towards the bars, curious to catch a glimpse of the prisoner. If anything, her dark attire made her almost invisible in this darkness unless a light hit the reflective lines on her skin. She managed to see the inmate briefly before he was overpowered by the guards and disappeared into the cell. The guards mentioned something about a hacker that made her hair stand on end but then they vanished as quickly as they'd come.

Ludelle stared into the neighbouring cell even as all light retreated, leaving the place in the same utter darkness as before. It was intimidating, but it was also giving her courage. With one hand on the bars, bitter that she couldn't sense the man's electromagnetic field as she used to, she wondered if she wanted to engage him in conversation. The hype of getting another soul she could talk to was dripping away, slowly replaced with doubt and dread. It seemed almost too easy, too convenient. A rebel like herself, placed in exactly the cell next to her? A little show to gain her trust and then a quick retreat, letting her spill all the confessions the court needed to hang her? Was it all a ploy, a play, staged by the Stygian Blade to expose her? It wasn't beyond them, she knew. Would placing hope in that man be foolish? Or would it be foolish not to accept a gift from the heavens, a chance at freedom?

She was cautious and over-thinking everything. She knew that but couldn't help it, she had to be to survive. Still, caution wasn't always the best way ahead. Sometimes it only stopped you from proceeding.

"Hey." She called softly in the darkness. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

[Assistant]
Fresh Blood
Tracyarmav
Day 1, Morning
Christian, Calder

Calder slept like a stone, not having had much rest prior to arriving at the tower. He rose late, and took his time stretching and planning his opening feint... it would be with the Avatar of Storms. It would be interesting to see how the man would react. He'd doubtless see right through the ploy, but perhaps he would play along and find his own uses for it, like a proper fae lord. If he didn't notice the ruse or chose to ignore it, no matter, it would still give him some practice with the new mask. Calder reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out a sealed clay jar, not much smaller than his head. He opened it carefully and then muttered something under his breath, and his hands warmed up, and in a few moments the jar of thick broth was bubbling gently. Calder put the jar to his lips and drank the whole jar in a series of large gulps, enjoying the warmth flowing down his throat and then seeping into the rest of him. It was time, the late risers were stirring, he'd just make it to Christian's office before a line started if he left now.

Plodding into the corridor, Calder made his way to the lifts, with a slow heavy step, completely devoid of grace. He trudged along, grunting in reply to any greetings offered by others in the halls. Waiting for an empty lift car, he gazed at around him dully, seeming to take in very little of his surroundings. Doing his best to cultivate the dumb strong stereo type with his fellow initiates. Why? simple, the less they knew the less they could tell someone else, regardless of their level of motivation. The elevator opened, and the few beings in it looked at him and quickly emptied the elevator. His scaly body stood 7'11" tall, and close to 4' at the shoulder, he was not a being that others felt comfortable with in an enclosed space, like an elevator. Calder stomped onto the elevator, and gazed at the buttons blankly before pushing one, seemingly at random. The doors closed, and he grinned maliciously. Mortals were so easily deceived preferring to see what they wanted rather than the painful truth of the matter.

The doors opened and Calder plodded out, passing an armed and armored girl(Adéla) he'd not seen before on her way out. He grunted a greeting at her, and plodded on by without changing pace in the slightest. Stopping at the door to Christian's office, Calder waited a moment before raising a fist to pound on the door three times. He then stood there staring blankly at the door awaiting the summons that he expected would soon be forthcoming.

[User]
Pandora's Prison
Wraithblade6
Day 1, Morning
Damien

After a moment of silence, the prisoner dragged himself to the front of his cell and slumped against the wall facing Ludelle with a dull expression. He looked older, with a sun-deprived complexion, and smooth, human skin tht was marred by a few wrinkles around his eyes. He didn't appear to care about cutting his long, dark hair, as it lay freely against his chest. It looked like it had been beautiful once, she could tell, but time and neglect had sapped the life out of it. His eyes were boring and human, of some dark shade, but not black. Humans. They were always so arrogant and racist, but this one looked beaten down, beyond caring about things as trivial as pride. Of course, this was the ward for dangerous magic-weilders, so he had to have something. It was strange that he was able to hurt the guards with his magic despite the anti-magic zone around this place. Perhaps he was powerful.

In his eyes, she noticed something unusual. Gone was the look of fear and trepidation that was so common to first time prisoners. This was no timid whelp. Nor was there petty anger or sexual lust or even a spec of redemptive regret. The eyes were simply cold, confident, and remorseless. It was like looking at someone who had lost everything and yet continued to walk on like an unstoppable zombie corpse, like he had been summoned, controlled, or driven by some oath he could not forsake. It was nearly terrifying to witness.

Then those eyes suddenly flicked to her. Detachment... a broken soul, unable to love, a true psychopath, with the key to unlocking his heart dangling delicately around his neck.

The man's head tilted, and his piercing glare softened slightly. The voice had belonged to a women from another cell. It was dark, but Damien was certain she had the head of a bird. He thought to himself. Surely it didn't matter who or what she was. She was here, and that meant she was a criminal. She was just another failure, a potentially good and righteous person fallen to corruption, a fool, and a shameful loss to society. But what did Damien care about society?

Nonetheless, if he wanted to network his way into the heart of the enemy, if he wanted to serve his god, he was compelled to speak. He had to play the role of fellow convict and glean all the information he could. He'd be getting out of here soon once his guild was informed of his capture.

A soothing, deep, slightly ragged voice flowed slowly like the comforting growl of a male lion. Ludelle's dread ebbed, squelched by the rapture of curiosity satisfied as the man spoke, "Does it matter who I am? I am a villain, a murderer, and now I am a prisoner. I am a fiend, girl, and I will kill as many of them as I can before Yishreenok finds me worthy." That was a pretty morbid statement, but other than his spiritual affiliation, it didn't reveal anything of his street loyalty. Damien intended it that way. He looked at her, making out what he could with his human sight. If he got her name, great. If he didn't, he didn't. In obedience to the mysterious mission he had been given by his chosen deity, to continue to live until whatever Yishreenok wished was carried out, he asked her, "What are you in for?"


[System]
Gender: female

Age: 15

Appearance:
Sophia is shorter than average, in fact she has never met anyone who could look her in the eye without looking down or bending their legs. Her face is very expressive, particularly her grey eyes, due to it being one of her primary ways of communicating. She has a very lithe, slightly muscular build from all the running and climbing she does. Because of her active lifestyle, she prefers to wear t-shirts, shorts, and running shoes or hiking boots. She also wears a shark-tooth necklace.

Personality: Sophia doesn't speak. Period. She has not spoken so much as a single word her entire life, and it is not known whether this is due to some unknown brain condition, or if she simply chooses not to. Regardless, this does not seem to hamper her much, as she always finds some other way to communicate what she wants to others. She's also very active and athletic, usually going on a run before school, participating in her school's track team, as well as being a parkour expert; if she doesn't want to be caught, then no one can catch her short of flying. She's also recently started teaching herself MMA, mostly by watching videos on the interwebs.

Because of her apparent "disability", she is subject to a fair degree of ridicule and teasing, particularly from those who believe that she just chooses not to speak (her most common nickname is "Silent Sophy"). Her typical responses to this are scathing looks, sarcastic comments delivered via a text-to-speech app on her phone that she had downloaded, and rude gestures delivered at point blank range. In fact, Sophia doesn't seem to place much, if any great importance on personal space; she loves to communicate through physical contact, particularly with hugs, slight caresses, or drawing on someone's skin. However, she will give space if she sees that her actions are making the recipient particularly uncomfortable. Those who know her know that this is just her way of demonstrating affection.

Background: At the tender age of 18, Madeline Callahan left her small town roots and made her way to the sunny shores of California, in pursuit of great dreams, good friends and a bright future. Upon arrival, she promptly shirked those dreams and indulged in every pleasure possible. She was a party girl, living the good life without a care in the world…
Until reality came knocking, and she found herself pregnant. Abandoned by most of her friends, Madeline was still determined to live her life her own way. She decided to keep the baby, more or less cleaned up, and managed to support herself and her daughter, whom she named Sophia, as a waitress. It was not an easy life, but with the help of a couple remaining friends, it was a more or less good one for the first couple years.

However, Madeline became troubled. Even up to the age of four, Sophia had still not spoken a single word. There didn't seem to be any apparent medical reason preventing her from doing so, and she seemed to understand others perfectly; she just didn't speak herself. Madeline attempted to get a speech therapist to help her daughter, however she was unable to continue paying for them. Additionally, Sophia had seemed to have inherited some of her mother's wilful attitude, since she didn't pay the slightest attention during the few sessions that she did have.

Out of both options and money, Madeline made the grudging decision to move back home, where she has lived with her brother and sister-in-law ever since.

Relationships: Richard Calhoun has been Sophia's best friend almost since the day she and her mother moved in with her uncle. People love to tease about them being an "item", and while Sophia has never said yes, she's never said no either.

Powers:

[User]
After their last class, Blake and Al had an uneasy bike ride home. They were quite sure it would be more than a little uncomfortable to have to explain what really went down at lunch and why Blake wound up pulled into it. True enough, the atmosphere was a bit heavy when their parents got home. The first thing they did was sit the boys down to give them the whole truth of the matter- which they did do, but filled with reassurances that neither of them did anything to make it worse. The Reyes knew they didn't raise liars, so they bought into it rather well, if a little angrily. What good was it in calling out the people who seriously couldn't do a thing? What kind of teacher calls their students sheep?! And what kind of a detention occurs that late at night on a Thursday?

The family pulled a collective shrug. Mr. Reyes called the teacher who assigned it an asshole.

However, just because they didn't agree with the punishment didn't mean it gave Blake a free pass to skimp out on it. Unfortunate as it was, he still had to attend it. Despite his heavy groaning about it, his parents ordered he finish his homework early so he could just get this over with.

And so he did…

At around 7 PM, Blake biked away from his home in the same old clothes, but with an old, yellow hoodie swapped out for his button-up shirt. Mostly by his dad's nagging and his insistence of always arriving somewhere with half an hour to spare. Blake never made it a priority to actually follow that creed, but if his dad was around to enforce it he didn't have much of a choice. His dad also usually insisted the boys not go out alone around night time, but just this once he decided to test the waters and let Blake go by himself instead of just driving him there or making his brother accompany him.

When Blake arrived, however, he found himself half-wishing Al was here with him. He couldn't help but feel somebody was watching him as he locked up his bike. It didn't help matters at all when he saw something dart just out of sight when he turned to check on it. There was a growing sense of discomfort in the pit of Blake's stomach after seeing that… Was somebody stalking the park? Or was somebody just being a sneaky little sunuvagun? He wasn't sure he'd enjoy the outcome either way. To try and settle down, he just pat his face and started making his way to where he thought the meet-up location was. Surely it was just nothing… Surely.

[Assistant]
Thursday March 21st, 2016

Ice Queen. How did that happen? Mina used to be a very friendly person, a person that everyone could easily become friends with. But after the accident happened, she started to block everyone out, not wanting to get close to anyone.

Mina tried not to remember, and shook everything off.

When Alden arrived, Mina looked up. Since everyone, except The Signing Girl, seemed to be here, she put away her book. As soon as she noticed him looking at her, she stared back. Mina took everything as a competition, and this one was going to be a challenge. After standing there stupidly for about a minute, she looked away first. Damn it! Mina could feel her heart beating, and she desperately tried to slow it down. Detention was going to start soon, after all.

[User]
6:00 pm, Callahan household

Sophia stood in the center of her living room, three sets of eyes gazing at her. Since getting home almost half an hour ago, she had spent the better part of that time being chastised by her aunt, while her mother and uncle simply sat by with very serious expressions. And boy did it suck, especially since she kept her pinned with her "I'm very disappointed with you" look. Tic-tac's evil eye had been pretty impressive, but nobody could make you feel like you just got caught kicking a puppy like her Aunt Kailey. Honestly, facing a courtroom judge couldn't have been any worse.

It didn't help that Kailey was an actual lawyer, so she actually could become a judge if she wanted.

So there she stood, head down, with Kailey standing in front of her with her arms folded. "I mean, do you even know the kind of damage that you could have done to that boy? You struck him in the throat, and then put your knee into his head! What if you had given him a concussion? What if he had stopped breathing?"

Sophia remained unresponsive. She'd already had her chance to argue her case, now this was just facing the music. Kailey looked like she was ready to go on for another half-hour, when Joseph leaned forward from his seat on the sofa. "Kay, I think she gets the point." He smiled as his wife gave him a look, miffed at having been cut off mid-rant, then turned back to his niece. "Look, Lady, we're not mad that you fought back. Ricky's a good kid, and it's good to stick up for your friends. It's why I gave you my old punching bag to practice on, you're always going to be the first and last one to rely on when things get ugly. And I'm definitely going to be having a little chat with my old buddy about this Largent boy. If just getting bumped into gets him this riled up, then there's something wrong there."

Madeline glanced at him. "To be fair, he did get a plate full of spaghetti on him. I mean, when Jessica Andrews dumped her slurpee over my head in high school, I slapped her so hard you could still see the handprint the next day."

The corner of Joseph's mouth quirked, but otherwise his stoic expression didn't break. "The difference is what Ricky did was an accident. Jessica Andrews dumped her slurpee on you because you stole her underwear and taped it to the ceiling of the boys locker-room during gym class. With a sign saying 'Please get in me.'" Ignoring his sister's 'good point' look, he continued on. "What we're upset with, Lady, is that you went too far with it. I'm all for protecting yourself, but you don't want to do worse than what he was already doing. And unfortunately, we live in a world where sometimes the good guys get punished for being good. It sucks, but that's the way of the world. So!"

He stood up, looking down at Sophia with an imperious expression. "To make sure you've learned your lesson, you will wear pants for the rest of the week. INCLUDING the weekend."

Sophia's jaw dropped, and her face paled. The rest of the week! But… but… She looked to her mother and aunt, but the former was pointedly looking away, while the latter simply glared at her, daring her to protest. After a moment, she hung her head again. Yes Uncle.

Joseph gave a single nod, and pointed towards the stairs. "Good. Now march, Lady." He waited until the tiny girl disappeared down the stairs before sitting down, whereupon both he and his sister burst out in a fit of chuckles and giggles.

Holding her stomach, Madeline looked at him. "Pants for the rest of the week? Really?"

Grinning, Joseph leaned back in the sofa. "Hey, I'm not going to punish the girl for doing the right thing. Somebody hits you or your friends, you go on the defense. Besides, you know how much she hates wearing them." His grin faded for a moment. "I am going to have to talk to Charlie about this though. This kid can't just go around hitting people for every little thing."

A steady thumping sound announced Sophia's return, and she bounded into the living room, wearing black sweatpants, black backpack and a black hoodie. Giving a twirl, she smiled brightly. So, how do I look? Am I a proper delinquent? She pulled her hood up, tucking her hair into her collar, and gave a very unconvincing glower.

Her mother and uncle both broke out in chuckles again, and Madeline gave her a thumbs up. Even Kailey broke a grin at her niece's antics. "Very dark and roguish. You'll be falling in with the wrong crowd in no time."

Sophia immediately beamed, and tackled her aunt with a hug before dancing towards the front door. Thanks Aunty. See ya later! She immediately came up short as Kailey grabbed the handle of her backpack. "Wait, wait wait. Where are you off to?"

Sea Side Park for my detention.

Madeline glanced at the clock, frowning. "Already? It's only six o'clock, I thought you didn't need to be there until eight."

Rocking on her feet, Sophia tilted her head and shrugged. That's right.

"Okay, so. It's forty-five minutes to walk there. Probably less for you. What exactly are you going to do until then?"

Digging her toes into the carpet and looking up at the ceiling with her hands clasped behind her back, Sophia was the picture of perfect innocence. You know. Stuff. She gave an impish grin, then spun around and dashed for the door, leaving the three adults staring in her wake.

After a moment, Joseph shook his head and chuckled, looking at his sister. "You know she gets this from you, right?"

Madeline glared at him and smacked his arm. "Uh, excuse me? Whose idea was it to stash Jessica's underwear in the boys locker-room? Because it wasn't mine."

Joseph frowned. "What? Yeah it was, that has 'Madeline Callahan' written all over it."

"Nooo, YOU came up with that idea. I wanted to string them up on the flag pole."

Rolling her eyes as the siblings began arguing back and forth, Kailey made her way into her bedroom and grabbed a book from her bookshelf. "30 years old and they're still children." Taking out her bookmark, she settled down on her bed, then made a small smile. "Shouldn't have stolen my boyfriend, Jess."

---

8:00 pm, Sea Side Park

A single figure perched on a shadowed branch, distance rendering them invisible to the other kids. One of the taller trees in the park, it offered a perfect vantage point from which to observe nearly everything.

Lowering her binoculars, Sophia grinned, then grimaced and tugged at her pants. She'd been wandering around the park for nearly an hour and a half, learning the lay of the land, and she could feel her thighs crying out for fresh air. If it didn't drive her insane by the end of the week, it would be a miracle.

She turned her attention back to the little gathering at the entrance of the park, her grin slowly coming back as she peered through her binoculars. It wasn't ideal, a lot of open space, but she was nothing if not resourceful. Not her night of glory by a long shot, but a good exercise of her talents. A backpack full of goodies and unsuspecting victims, the perfect combination. Their division would be their weakness, their uncertainty her boon. They would know fear. Tonight, The Spectre would make her triumphant return. Let the games begin.

Stuffing her binoculars into her backpack, she dropped to the ground and darted deeper into the park, grumbling to herself as she tugged again at her pants. Stupid… fabric… leg tubes…


[System]
Nickname: Cactus

Species: Turian

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Stands at just over six feet.

Weapons/Equipment:

M-37 Tempest Submachine gun

K-22 Ursus Heavy pistol

Reinforced Gauntlets & gloves

Skills and Abilities:

Rookie - Tacticus has not participated in any combat against real hostiles. While he has been extensively trained and there are several veterans on the team, there is no true substitute to the real thing. This also lends itself to his biotics skills being limited aswell.

Cabalist - At 15 when Tacticus joined the Turian military he was immediately separated from his classmen and put into a Cabal training program. Among biotic training Tacticus was also given heavily specialized training as a shock troop, meaning he is skilled with pistols, explosives, and infiltration.

Combat Biotic - Tacticus's biotics are strong enough for his abilities to be used as weapons on their own. Most of his abilties are focused on augmenting his own body for the time being. Though his manipulation of mass effect fields beyond his own body are limited he only needs his hands to punch a hole through most people and objects.

Pilot - As part of his training in the Cabal he is rated to pilot most vehicles if need be.

Background: Tacticus was born to 40 year old parents both of whom were special forces in the Turian military. This meant that after parental leave one of them had to retire from active combat to raise Tacticus, his father ended up volunteering for the job and took a position planning operations while his mother continued her active service. Since he was an only child Tacticus was given quite a bit of attention from his father which ended up shaping him into a shinning model of Turian selflessness. Though since his parents were both serving the military Tacticus never stayed on one planet or space station long. This meant he generally had few friends which he always knew he would have to leave behind, he never became very attached to them as a consequence. That changed however when his mother was injured during an operation and forced to retire from her active combat position. When Tacticus was given the news he was pulled out of his class. The young Tacticus was so distraught learning this he accidentally discovered his biotics. From that point on Tacticus isolated himself from others his age as he did not want to hurt them. His parents knew that this would force him into the Cabals when he turned 15 so they decided it was best to wait out the last few years and provide support as best they could.

When Tacticus was signing his life to the Hierarchy he was afraid of what his fellow soldiers would think of him in basic. He knew the stigma he was facing, after all his own parents didn't trust him when he first found out. While the following year was not as bad as he thought it would be it still left him alone whenever they were not doing exercises or general training. But when all of their assignments were being dolled out Tacticus was immediately assigned to the cabals. Thus began his grueling two years of training.

An odd thing happened though when he became apart of the all biotic strike force. He finally felt like he was home. Most people in the cabal he was assigned to had similar stories to his and it made Tacticus feel like he truly fit in somewhere. The companionship Tacticus built up with his Cabal through blood, sweat, and tears during their demanding endurance exercises and the fact that they were alone together made him become extremely close with his squad and vice versa. The squad spirit that was exemplified through their well oiled actions later in training was one of power and determination to assist the Hierarchy in any way possible.

Recently the squad was given a handler and moved to the outer reaches of colonized space. They are set to provide security in the Pylos Nebula and to deal with any more dangerous elements that always pop up on new colonies. Currently however they have been assigned to a ship that will act as their temporary home.

[User]
Voira was perfectly willing just to let the human go. If he wanted to get killed by his own actions, it was no problem with her. He had already caused more injuries than all the enemies combined. Raa, however, was not and seemed intent upon both giving up her Medi-gel and following him. The Asari couldn't allow her to do either. Voira sat next to the Quarian, hugging her gently. "The Cabalists and Avatar can go after him. Solares too, if he likes. You're going to stay here and recover, and then we'll go. We'll get medi-gel from whoever we can." She was quiet for a moment, then spoke with a gentleness most people wouldn't have expected the fiery and aggressive Asari to possess. "You're going to be okay Raa. You helped save the Turian's life, and the medic will make sure she makes it. You're going to get through this, it's normal to feel numb after so much death." She didn't add that she had long since gotten used to seeing it and was abnormal in that regard as well. She released Raa with only one arm, using the other to untie the blanket tied around her shoulder. "While we clean you up as much as possible, tell us the schematics for the Yasis, serial 4505, Class C ships. Like the one your grandfather worked on with Devryn for Tevura."

The baby blanket was in surprisingly clean, and Voira fully planned on ruining it. She began to wipe the blood off of Raa, one arm still hugging her.

[Assistant]
Solares opened a private channel for Voira so the two of them could talk without any interruption. "I have no doubt both of you have survived worse, to my surprise you two make an incredibly strong and inseparable team." said Solares as he very carefully and gently picked out pieces of metal debris from Voira's armor with his hands, dropping them onto the now discolored floor beneath her. "I am still concerned for everyone's physical and mental health after what just happened though. I know five of us, including myself, can handle the stress and pressure from war but it seems Donny and Raa are not faring well after what just happened. Did Raa ever go through heightened stress and situational combat training?" There was a short awkward pause, he knew the answer was no just by the way Raa had reacted to the first fight alone.

 "That was a stupid question wasn't it? Once all of this is over and she has healed fully both mentally and physically, my mate and I will help her via the Turian Special Forces training regiment. I personally think that this is a great idea and opportunity for her, it will improve upon her mentality when in combat situations such as what just happened and traumatic events." The medic and Special Forces solider looked Voira in the eyes then spoke once more, a serious tone in his voice. "You and I both know that the Galaxy is a cold, harsh, ruthless, and vicious place where one must learn to fend for themselves. I care for Raa just as much as you do, and only want her to be well equipped for whatever may happen out here in the galaxy." Having put in his opinion and having a private chat with Voira, he sat down next to Raa and guarded her, still feeling as if he had been hit by a large truck due to the shockwave.

"I don't agree with being stuck here while you heal Cabal but I will do what you say for now." Solares watched Voira leave before re-positioning himself in front of Raa and removing his helmet so that she could see his face. "Hey Raa, concentrate on me and let's have a chat alright?" it was clear she was in shock, thankfully it wasn't as severe as he thought it was going to be. He lightly ruffled her hair before bending down on both of his knees and quickly looking her over for any injuries. Glancing back up and holding eye contact, he spoke "Do you remember that one time we were taking a walk in the presidium with Voira and I lost my footing then fell into the lake below? I said it was deliberate but you knew it was a mistake, I can faithfully say that there are indeed no fish in that lake."

Holding someone's attention while they were in shock is important so that they do not focus on the traumatizing events. Donny then had a mental break down shortly after, tossing all logical decisions and thoughts out of the airlock for an unknown reason, then slowly turned and left the hallway. "Someone take care of Donny and talk to him, I am busy over here for the love of all things." Solares turned back to Raa and kept a close eye on her until Voira returned. When she finely did return she took a seat next to Raa, and Solares sat on the other side of her, adding positive comments whenever he could. Pushing himself up onto his feet, he offered Raa a hand to help her stand. "If you require it, I can carry you to the shuttle bay Raa."

[User]
The reaction of Avatar's allies to the situation was not ideal. Donny's misjudgment as to the yield of his explosive, coupled with the emotions brought about by witnessing the execution on the screens around them, caused him to behave irrationally. He quickly began to leave without ensuring that his allies were following. Voira had elected to use her medi-gel to treat the injured hostiles, and while Avatar recognized it to be a humane action, there was a strong possibility that they could require those medical supplies to treat their own wounded. As well, Raa seemed to be enduring acute mental stress, though it did not know exactly which event had provoked it.

As Avatar was quickly attempting to determine the best course of action, it heard Voira attempting to calm Raa. The Asari was the individual best-suited for that task, but her plan was potentially dangerous. Avatar understood the desire to keep non-combatants out of the firefights, but the safety of the security room could not be guaranteed. Avatar had locked down most of the security doors in the area, but the schematics did not indicate that any of them were more durable than the doors the enemy had breached minutes ago. The enemy could break through by force if hacking was unsuccessful.

While Solares seemed to be comforting Raa, Avatar quickly approached Voira. "Warning; this course of action is not recommended. Hostile forces are capable of breaching the security doors, so they will not be stopped entirely. We will likely reach the airlocks before they can follow, but that assumes we move quickly. Additionally, I do not have control over the Human shuttle itself. It is currently free to leave at any point, but the Human forces on the station are yet to reach it. If we clear hostile forces near the airlocks and reach the shuttle, the pilot is likely to follow the orders of the Human ambassador and may leave before non-combat personnel have time to reach the shuttle from this room. Human forces aboard the station have demonstrated a willingness to abandon allied forces in stressful situations." It warned.

[Assistant]
Things began to slow down and fatigue began to set in for everyone as the fighting had been near constant since the ambush. They really needed to leave this place soon before the rebels regrouped and managed pick off each group individually. After picking a piece of shrapnel out of his mandible and making sure the two that had been close enough to the blast to receive concussions were good to go he made his way over to Titus as Sura wanted to know if they could reasonably move the diplomat. It was in the nick of time to as Titus called for someone to help him. He walked by the Turian diplomat still on his feet biting his fingers at the idea of his friend laying on the group dying. Tacticus knelt down next to the Turian women just as she was being rolled over onto her side. "Alright on three I'll yank the tube out. She'll try to claw at the opening in her chest. Keep her from doing that so I can close her up." Tacticus nodded and grabbed the free arm of the diplomat firmly as she struggled to breath. The count down started three...two....one. When he slid out the bloody makeshift tube the diplomat used all of her strength to try and push Tacticus off. Luckily he was much stronger than her and grabbed her other arm as she tried to flail it. She inhaled sharply and was kicking her legs around. Titus quickly went to work applying medi-gel to the inside of her lungs and then to the incision that had been made. Once she started breathing correctly Titus quickly went to work on calming her down. Cactus looked at the scar on her chest and realized that the Quarian had been less than an inch from her heart with that incision. This diplomat could have easily just been killed. Deciding against saying anything Titus informed him he could take care of her and that they could move now if they needed.

Getting up Cactus saw the Human run out the door like he had seen death. He guessed he felt guilty for almost killing multiple of their own people. "Where is he going..." Tacticus said semi aloud. Shortly after that the Asari said she wanted to stay here in this room with the Quarian. If he didn't know better he would have thought that these people wanted to die. He went over to the Geth and the other two gathered around the Quarian now. When the Geth finished telling them what their best chance was and what was likely to happen Cactus chimed in "I somehow don't doubt that they would leave without us, considering he did...again. Look if you guys want to stay here and die that's fine. But we can move the diplomat now and we will be taking the rest of the civies with us to that shuttle. If we have too we can subdue the Human pilot. I... can drive the shuttle."

Sura then walked up behind him. "Guess all that time you should have been sleeping is going to pay off. I don't trust the Human pilot regardless of what happens." She then turned to the rest of the group. "Look, I know that we're tired and want this to be over but we arn't out of here yet. I really hope you three will be on that shuttle with us. Geth, I'm going to assume you like your platform or whatever and want to get out of here to. Quarian, whatever your name is you just saved one of our diplomats and I'm grateful for that. But we do need to move...now." Sura walked away from the group quickly and began barking orders at the rest of the Cabal to get ready to move. Then quickly making her way over to the remaining diplomats and telling them something similar.

"Let's get the hells out of here." Tacticus said as he readied his weapon and then hustled over to the now forming up cabal.