When the little woman began playing coy with the dragon woman, she began spanking her even harder." You can't lie to me!" She yelled at her before delivering another smack to her rump. The dragon woman couldn't believe that this woman would not know who Vesta is, for one thing, Vesta was known by like everyone and everybody around, or at least her family. Zin glared down at the little woman bent over her knee, she looked down at the tears streaming down her face and looked down at the Oni woman." Quit crying I didn't even hurt you all that bad." She told her.

Zin shook her head still not believing that this woman couldn't know about Vesta."How do you not know who Vesta is? I swore myself to Vesta and Vesta alone, she's the strongest earth magic user, and she's a member of the Celestia family, I'm Vesta Celestia's dragon, I belong to her." She informed Midori.

Suddenly the other guy from before arrived with his bow once again, the dragon woman groaned as took Midori from her knee and stood her up on her own two feet. Zin then pointed to the man with her scaled fingers," You!" She yelled." Tell me where Vesta is! I heard you speak of her and mentioned her with that Orc. Tell me where she is right now, or I'll cook you on both sides." She threatened him with smoke rising out of nostrils.

All of this was starting to get on the dragon's nerves she kept getting her questions ignored at first then they tried to question her, after that she had to chase after a human with horns on their head only to catch them and had them say they don't know anything, and now she to deal with this human with a bow. She could see now why members of her species are either hostile towards humans or choose to ignore them they are annoying and as dense as dirt sometimes.

Alexander Sky

The last of the Oosagi had been killed; that much was good enough. Now was the time for loot and clean-up, but mostly loot because Alexander had made sacrifices to go on this mission. And so, Alexander would look around the battlefield, searching for Oosagi corpses that can easily be cleaned and were also intact, and packing them into a small bag he carried alongside his rucksack (one of the things he bought). In response to Vesta and Avery (he had learned their names on the way) asking if everyone was all right, Alexander would say:

"Minor wounds, I can clean and disinfect them myself!" He then turned to Malakaus.

"Also, I'll try and cook Oosagi curry for the first time, once I skin the loot!"

@Lucius Cypher@Seirei no Hai@liferusher@Sir Lurksalot@Letter Bee@FamishedPants@Lunarlors34

Shiraga was faced in the direction of Olipher, crudely drawn white circles replace her cutesy anime ones as tears run down a lot faster. "F-fura sensei? F-fura sensei save meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!" The only thing she could do was whine at this point, her legs were moving about relentlessly, trying to get away from Zin's strong tail in a futile attempt to do so.

She'd be like this until she understands the situation in a calm manner, and not slapping peoples' butts for information they don't even know.

"S-stop slapping my butt already!" The Oni yelled with an irritated expression, now that she was able to get her hands free to cover her mouth... somehow... Eventually, Zin let the adorable Oni girl go, crawling quickly in a nearby crawlspace, sniffling and covering her butt in shame.

@Spriggs27 @Zelosse

Soon, the last of the current demon beasts were dealt with. By the time the other militia men showed up all they needed to do was clean up. Malakaus went to retrieve his axe and was ready to get the group going when Vesta had questions for him. She seemed to want to know if Malakaus had plans to defend the village, which fortunately he did. From the looks of it the villagers had already started what he had asked them to do when he first arrived here. However, from the look Vesta had with him and, more noticeably, Aleph, the gears in Malakaus's head clicked into place.

That was right. Aleph was that trouble maker who had picked a fight with Vesta, only to run away later. Malakaus had nearly forgotten him after all the chaos and bedlam that had happened within the last week. Without missing a beat he spoke. "Boy wants to be a hero. Instead of letting him pick fights with demons in his head, I brought him out here to fight actual demons in front of him. Don't worry Master Celestia, I still remember his actions. This way I can keep an eye on him in case he gets overzealous, and idealy make that fanaticism useful."

It was only a slight white lie in that he made up the reasons on the spot. But everything Malakaus said was true in that it sounded like a good idea to him. If he had found Aleph before, he would have recruited him for this mission just to keep him out of the city and thus prevent him from causing trouble. The fact the boy just sort of tagged along made it easier for Malakaus. With that dealt with Malakaus returned to the wagon. "Now then, let's head into the village. We have much to do before the day ends."

---

Finally the last of the rabbits were killed. It was easy enough, and aside from the two militia on watch, no one died. She largely ignored the conversation Vesta and Malakaus were having and walked ahead towards the village, opting not to go into the wagon. It was crowded enough as it was. She would also be the first to see that the village had gone from a simple farming hamlet to almost a full fledge military installation, albeit a crude one. Many of the young men had their shields and spears, and many of the huts and buildings had defensive fortifications put around them. Wooden spikes, walls made of logs, even a few rocks on the top of the roof ready to be dropped on unsuspecting enemies below. She knew Malakaus told the villagers to "Be ready for war", but if this was what they did, they'll need a lot more help.

@Spriggs27@Seirei No Hai

"I'll tell you when the girl is safe. Shiraga, get away from it. Slowly." He called to his Oni pupil, arrow pulled back and ready to fly at the slightest movement from the dragon. As much as his groin would rather have enjoyed watching what had been occuring, the painful burns from earlier were proving a good reminder.
When the girl with the sore butt was far enough away, the dragon.. thing.. either bored of the chase or simply showing a rare form of patience, just stood where she was looking very angry.

Satisfied that he could give Midori ample cover as she got a proper headstart suould this turn ugly, Olly kept the bow focused on Zin but divulged what little he knew.

"Vesta Celestia is currently traveling with a warband to deal with some demons harassing a village a weeks travel from here. Malakaus Firebelly is the apparent leader of said expedition. The girl you were spanking is part of that same group, myself included, but we have fallen behind after following your tracks.

Commander Aleph has a bad history? thought Alexander. Granted, Aleph didn't give him a good impression in the first place, what with trying to destroy his phone, but hey, the guy wasn't that bad in fighting and had even saved his life. Nevertheless, an investigator knew when to leave off. Better just focus on setting up the firepit, pots, and pans to make the Oosagi curry. And yes, he had the spices needed...

The dragon woman sighed at hearing the news of Vesta with that orc, while she knew that Vesta could take care of herself, she hated the orc for attempting to demand that she conform to whatever rules that he says. While Midori was trying to crawl away from Zin, and covering her wounded bottom, the dragon woman used her tail to slap Midori once more on her wounded bottom before using her tail to grab her ankle and drag her closer to her, all while keeping her hand on her hip. Once her hostage was back by her side once again, Zin felt a headache coming." If you humans knew that, then we wouldn't have had to do all of this." She held her forehead and kept one of her yellow eyes on Olly.

" You humans are so confusing and never straight to the point." The dragon woman held Midori by her leg off the ground, then pointed her thumb at her." I'm going to guess that, you want to threaten or bargain with me on your small friend's life." Zin held Midori in front of her. She began examing her lithe body and thinking out loud." What do you see in this tiny woman?" The dragon hybrid asked." Her body isn't anything to grope at. She doesn't have any muscles I don't think she's very smart considering she ran through the forest loudly. Why don't you let me eat her and get her out of your hair?"

Zin gave Midori's leg a light poke with her claw noticing her limbs being mostly skin and bones with little fat Zin figured she could eat this little woman in a single sitting, Midori isn't that big and probably wouldn't be too chewy from the looks of it." I could probably use her tiny horns to clean my teeth out when I'm finished." She spoke making sure that she showed her sharp teeth to both of them." I'm pretty sure at the right temperature that she could be very delicious." Zin pinched her leg as if she was judging how much meat was on a pig." Yup, she'd be very...Tasty."

"Y-yes Fura-sensei!" Shiraga could feel her hope come back to her, stars filled her inspired eyes as she squiggled away from the dragon girl that was Zin. She could finally go back to not-being-a-slapping-bag as she crawled further away into a dense area of dark green bushes...

...only to feel something scaly slap her fat butt once more, causing her to scream with such an erotic voice that she fell flat on the ground and was dragged back to the cruel dragon girl. "Uwaaaa! Just lemme go already!" She was hung upside down and noticed that her skirt fell with her, revealing her white striped blue panties, this caused her to blush madly and attempt to cover such cute underwear with the short skirt, only to fail and reveal hints of it around her.

"F-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fura-sensei! Don't look you old geezer!" She yelled, she was much more afraid of her chastity than being eaten by a humanoid dragon at the moment.

@Spriggs27 @Zelosse

Once Midori began squirming around, Zin grabbed the little woman with her hand and held her up by her ankle. The dragon watched as Midori attempted to hide her undergarments from the other horned man, the little lady began insulting the man and blushing. As Midori squirmed around, Zin brought her thigh close to her face and gave the leg a long lick with her tongue."Kinda tasteless." She spoke aloud." But some of the best meat needs to be cooked before consumption."

Zin put her yellow eyes on Olly as she opened her mouth wide revealing a set of absurdly sharp teeth housed between her lips, the dragon blew some smoke onto Midori's leg, then let a single one of her sharp teeth graze across her upper thigh. Zin slowly was attempting to intimidate Midori before she would try a bite of her, maybe the fear of being eaten would make her taste a little better, then without warning, Zin pressed her teeth into the soft flesh of Midori's sock covered leg then pulled her face away from her leg." I shouldn't bother eating something so..Tiny." She looked Midori up and down before turning to the direction she figured Vesta's mansion would be." I have no more reason to be wasting my time on the two of you I'm leaving."

Zin turned Midori right side up and roughly threw her to ground bottom first, she then turned her back on both Olly and Midori and began heading off towards the direction she believed was towards Vesta's mansion, she could probably annoy the smaller Celestia. Vivi, once she gets there, and her tail began to wiggle around at the thought of making Vivi angry or annoyed. Then an idea came to the dragon woman's head it was of the Celestia family attempting to attack her, or the various amount of guards that walk around, she figured she'd deal with it once that time came as she strolled around one of the many nearby trees.

---

---

As was tradition among heroes finishing a battle, Aleph sheathed his blade in a very exaggerated manner, spinning it a few times in the process. There was no longer any trace of vicious rabbits left, so at least for the moment the village was safe. That being said, he knew that killing a few bunnies was not the only thing that would be asked of them. Not that it mattered if there was more to do -- A hero should always help those in need!

"I assume you know what you're doing?" a familiar voice asked Malakus. "I believe an indepth explanation is in order."

Despite her best efforts, Vesta's inquiry did not go unnoticed by Aleph. It was likely because there was no "effort" put into hiding the question from Aleph's ears, but it sounded a lot cooler to the Hero if he pretended like he heard it when there was an attempt to keep it secret.

"Boy wants to be a hero. Instead of letting him pick fights with demons in his head, I brought him out here to fight actual demons in front of him. Don't worry Master Celestia, I still remember his actions. This way I can keep an eye on him in case he gets overzealous, and ideally make that fanaticism useful." Malakus answered.

How rude. Did these people believe being a hero was some sort of joke? It wasn't. Being a hero was... well, most certainly a delusion that Aleph became aware of after a certain morning just before he set off with this group, but still... he wasn't capable of coping with his uselessness without being Aleph the Hero! How dare they try to take that from him!

"Ahem!" Aleph cleared his throat loudly before inserting himself into the conversation, focusing on Vesta. "It is nothing out of the norm to take a hero of my caliber along when performing a noble deed such as saving a village from beasts." Aleph narrowed his eyes before continuing "If you're going to worry about something, then shouldn't you direct that worry towards your companions? The big guy is with you, is he not?"

---

Heinrich had survived the battle, but only barely. If he were alone, then he would have died to some feral rabbits. A rather pathetic way to bite the dust. He couldn't help but feel upset at his powerlessness. Playing many games back on Earth, he had filled the shoes of countless JRPG protagonists whom could easily wipe away millions of those little shits without breaking a sweat. But the real him? Even with this stupid, sexy body of his he couldn't survive on his own. He felt like all those insults girls had thrown at him in high school were on the dot. This was one of the reasons he preferred to avoid interacting with people.

He wanted to sigh, but it never happened. Instead, he figured he would regroup with Vesta and company and see what would be asked of them next. Were there more beasts to be slain? He would find out soon, but he came upon the woman as she was speaking to the "party leader" and as the man who had saved him earlier began to get on her case. Heinrich's own incompetence was at fault here, not Vesta, so he felt he should speak up. The large, fabulous man quickly answered Aleph. "It is my own fault for being weak. I asked to tag along despite lacking any experience and do not expect to be looked after like a child, though I am still grateful for the assistance. I am wholly responsible for myself."

The man who saved him offered a kind smile. "Strength to admit your weakness is the key to becoming stronger as a person." he told Heinrich, patting him on the shoulder. Not knowing Aleph, he was unaware how silly this probably sounded coming from him.

Aleph presumably was no longer interested in interacting with Vesta or the group and thus took his leave.

His breathing calmed. The beating of his heart, the pulse of which he hadn't even realized was powerful enough to bounce the (thanks to Vesta) many pebbles near his feet, began to slow. His heightened awareness of the world, as he beheld it, began to scale back to normalcy.

And as Duncan came down from his battle-high... he very suddenly realized he was covered head-to-toe in rabbit guts.

"Aw, for fu-..." The bald man growled but didn't finish, grabbing a rag from his pocket to wipe the filth off his face.

The minute he'd realized that, if he put a little effort into it, he could actually blow away and immobilize the little bastards with a swing of his club, he'd taken to doing just that; Swinging like a madman at the little shits like the most demented game of whack-a-mole ever conceived. The ones he'd missed got knocked in the air and became easy pickings for Atisha's trident or became rock-sponges for their resident Earthshaker. The one's he'd actually hit, however... well...

A club is not exactly a clean weapon. Even less so when wielded by a man who can swing it hard enough to kick up a gale-force wind.

By the time he'd finished wiping his face off, Atisha was already gone. Though he did have to give the Elf credit (and she would never hear a damned word of it and it pained him to even think it) for actually sticking with him and working with him through the fight, even if they hadn't spoken once the entire goddamn time. The Orc, on the other hand... maybe it was a difference in training between knight and soldier, maybe it was the mother-hen reflex that had grown through his war years after seeing a few people he knew get shot in the face on a few occasions that he kept extraordinarily well-hidden or maybe it was because he'd very suddenly left one of their flanks potentially exposed without much in the way of warning, but watching Mally run off on his own to hack down rabbits left and right annoyed the ever-loving piss out of him.

He swallowed and buried that feeling though, as he headed back toward the others; this wasn't Afghanistan, no matter how much he (in retrospect, hilariously) wished it was, the rules of the game here were different... And besides, the Canadian Army didn't exactly have a course on Murder-Rabbit Slaying, so he was still very much the amateur here.

Reaching the main group and catching the last bits of Aleph being... Aleph, Duncan just rolled his eyes slightly at the young man's same old self-promoting hero-speech he'd heard too many times this week and followed after them, subtly avoiding looking at the white-haired Geomancer as he passed for more than a few reasons-

A) The minute he saw her and realized she was actually real, it made a series of events he'd been subconsciously trying to deny happened uncomfortably, undeniably true.

B) As far as most of the party knew, he was just some two-bit hooligan recruited out of a bar on the whim of a Royal Knight and he was so far down the totem-pole here he shouldn't even be talking to her anyway. An excuse that suited him fine as he'd also rather limit the possibility of pissing her off and getting beaten to death with the side of a mountain on this little misadventure.

C) The one time he did actually try and get a good look at her, Avery caught him. And wouldn't shut up about it. For three days.

Instead, he busied himself with giving Aleph a light rap on the shoulder with his gore-covered fist as he passed him on the road.

"Dammit, Al, can we go five minutes without you pissing someone off?" He half-questioned, half-growled, in his usual gruff way... though if you tilted your head and squinted you could almost see something that looked like a smirk on his face.

Call him crazy, maybe the idiot was starting to grow on him.

...Like a tumour perhaps, but still, it was progress.

Vesta Celestia and Avery Ackbar Celestia

Vesta half-listened to what Malakus had to say while she stared off absently up into the sky. It didn't mean that she didn't hear everything he had to say, on the contrary she heard every word. But she didn't seem too interested in the explanation she had asked for and which he was giving to her, almost as if distracted by something else.
Ignoring Alexanders unneeded response to her inquires about the physical health of the group, she instead chose to nod briefly towards Malakus to signal her understanding.
"I see. Wise choice it would be then, last thing we needed was him to stir up some more trouble." Vesta wasn't going to deny that Aleph certainly seemed more than capable in a fight, probably more than she gives him credit for, but so long as he behaved himself Vesta couldn't care less about him being here.
Vesta went to make her way towards the village with Malakus before Aleph decided to butt into their conversation. How indecent of him, she knew this boy had no common sense or manners but this was just annoying now.
After listening to what Aleph had to say, Vesta couldn't help but crack a smile. He really was a disillusioned maniac.
"A hero of any worthwhile caliber would also have a sense of decency, politeness and manners about him. You have none of these traits, so I highly doubt that your caliber is higher than that of a common brigand." Vesta shot back at him, her eyes narrowing at the comment of having her worries misplaced. Her companions were of a higher caliber, as this boy so nicely put, than this 'hero'. There was no need to worry over them like a mother over her children.

As Aleph gave Heinrich a few parting words, Vesta now turned to face the larger man.
"It is quite alright Heinrich. Pay no heed to that delusional moron. His bark is far worse than his bite." Vesta gestured to Avery, the deceptively feminine boy rushing over without a second thought.
"Avery, I require you to get the protective crystals out of the carriage and to ask Shiro where the barrier is it's weakest. Before we can replace the broken ones, we need to strengthen the ones that still function to at least keep back any large force of demons. I will also require you to place some presence detection crystals around the town. They should give us ample warning to at least cut down on the causalities in case of an attack. You and your abilities should be able to get this job done in no time." Vesta briskly explained before sending her attendant off to do her bidding.
"Heinrich. I will require you to accompany me to the village where we will need to devise a plan of Malakus, assuming he hasn't already thought of one of close." With that said, she went to follow after Malakus.

As soon as Avery had left Vesta, he had made a beeline for where the carriage had gone towards the village. Once he caught up he enter the carriage and rummage around a bit in the bags that he and Vesta had brought along, making sure to grab a dozen or so of each crystal. He was sure that would be enough.
Hopping out of the cart, he now closed his eyes and began to concentrate. A blurry image soon began to form in his mind. That of a bird. It's wingspan...that of an 82...no 83cm wingspan. Only a small bird at that. It is dark slate-blue above with a dark head. It has a white or creamy brown forehead, throat and side of the neck. The underside is brown. The bill is a blue-grey colour with a black tip.
Once the image was clear in his mind, the crystal atop the staff began to glow before emitting a strange, glitter-like substance. The magic he had placed in the staff before now took the shape of a small bird matching the exact description of the image he had imagined.
Handing a crystal to the bird, it soon took off at a lightning pace before he exhaled deeply. As per usual, summoning something he could barely remember was a real chore. Oh well, he needed another one to get this job done quicker.
So close his eyes he went about his business once more.

The sensation from Zin's tongue caused the girl to tingle and moan out of surprise. "Kyaa~! So cold!" She continued to squirm about, but that was also when the dragon girl decided to graze her leg with the ridiculous amount of teeth in her mouth.

The unusually sharp tooth that hit first would cause her to start flailing about, her skin would redden and leave a white-blooded scratch. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OW! STOP!" She kept resisting, her face already in the anime-esque (DX) fashion.

"I shouldn't bother eating something so..Tiny." Zin spoke. Turning her posture back and then throwing her aside like spoiled food. She gripped on an overgrown tree root and sniffled, caressing it like some sort of coping object. "Huuuuuuu~ meanie."

@Spriggs27 @Zelosse

After everything that went down with the tiny woman and the odd man with the bow, Zin felt her migraine slowly disappearing as she got further away from the duo, right now she wanted to get back to Vesta or at least wait for her to get back from whatever it was she was doing. As the dragon woman made it to the mansion, she made it to the side she leaped over the first time, as she looked up gate she noticed an odd flag blowing in the wind but after closer inspection, the dragon realized it wasn't a banner, it was her old coat, it must've gotten caught on the gate before she went out hunting.

Once she noticed no guards were watching, Zin hopped onto the gate and retrieved her coat, dropping to the outside once she had her old garb. The Dragon did her damnedest to slip her clawed hands into the piece of clothing without shredding her sleeves, after carefully putting on the coat, and fitting her wings into it, Zin buttoned up one button before she heard ripping and tearing along the seams. Ignoring the fact that some of her only form of clothes were in shreds and hanging off her body, Zin went to the front gates without any real hesitation and spoke to the two guards that were there.

The dragon woman coughed twice into her clawed fist before saying." I am Zin Parallex and demand to speak with Vesta and or Vivi Celestia At this moment."

((IC Collab Between Letter Bee and Lunarlors34))

While Avery worked the crystals, Alexander had finished his first batch of Oosagi curry, and had decided to carry a bowl with it to...Avery, who was either a very pretty girl or crossdressing boy; he didn't actually care. No, what he cared about was, well, talking to someone about how homesick he was, and it seemed that nobody else cared enough to listen to an eighteen-year old merc.

Avery had just finished summoning the second bird and sent it off, leaning against the carriage as to rest a little, and now just awaited the birds to return. He had chosen something with speed, but unfortunately they could only carry one of the small crystals at a time so there would be some coming and going by the flying creatures. But man he could use a bit to eat! Summoning creatures made a guy hungry you know! At that moment, he noticed....was it Alexander? Eh names weren't Avery's strong point, but he was pretty sure that this guy was from earth as well wasn't he? They had talked a little on the way here but Avery had spent most of his time with either Duncan, since he was so much fun to annoy, or Vesta. But the most important thing was....he had food!

Alexander smiled as he neared Avery with his bowl, sitting beside the slightly older teen. He would then set the bowl of Oosagi curry beside Avery, before he said: "For you."

"By the way," he gambled, "I know your accent." Whether Alex was bluffing or not was uncertain.

"Thank you." Avery restrained himself in his response, taking the warm bowl gratefully. He had horrible table manners despite the Celestia's best efforts to 'civilize' him but if he really, really tried, especially around guests, he could at least put on a fairly good bluff that he did. Blowing softly on the curry, he placed a spoonful in his mouth before looking over at Alexander as he spoke. His accent?

"Oh? You do?" Avery asked slyly, taking the spoon and twirling it "Then pray tell. I've heard it a lot, but no one has ever gotten it."

"Let's just say I was a fan of certain...plays back in my homeland," Alex said. "The Tribe - when it had reruns, Round The Twist, Spellbinder...I watched all three of those after hearing about them from someone named 'Trope-tan'."

Avery sat there, sipping on curry and blinked at Alexander with a dead-set, blank face. The hell was he going on about? A Tribe? Spells?

Did his country really have something like that? His memories of the place were still very foggy, even after 8 years, but he was certain they didn't have magic. But one of those sounded familiar. Round The Twist, did it have something to do with Oliver Twist?

"What's a 'Trope-Tan'?" Avery asked, confident he had never remotely heard of that word before. Was it a person? He could guess it was by a honorific, but this guy was pretty confusing. "Why beat round the bush?" Avery set aside the bowl for a moment, leaning further back against the cart so he could look straight up.

"You're from Earth aren't you?"

Alexander looked at Avery warmly, and said, "Yes. And the shows I mentioned are Earth fiction."

A faint smile. "I needed to talk to you because I'm homesick and I haven't pissed you off yet."

"Aahh. Don't remember them. Think I hit my head real hard when I first came here. Well at least, Vesta is convinced I did." Avery felt weird. He wasn't too sure what this feeling was...but it was reminiscent of longing, and it almost made him feel sick. Was this what one meant by 'home-sick'? That comment about pissing people off made Avery raise an eyebrow but decided not to question it too much. He was a master at doing that after all, so he was now under the impression that it was just a specialty of those who came from earth.

"Not sure what I can talk about. Been here so long that I grew my hair to this length." Avery joked, picking up some of his hair and allowing it to fair between his fingertips.

"I need someone to teach me to read," Alexander was blunt as well. "No, more than that, I need someone to teach me how to fight better. I have just reached the end of my capabilities and I cannot ignore that fact anymore. I'm just not good enough to pursue any wider dream and goal or even survive long-term in this world."(edited)

"I want to return home, to my Mom and Dad and my friends and the shitty political situation and I want to bring Magic to my world so that I can finally do something about the terrorism and the income gap and the changing climate," he continued.

The young man - no, boy - gazed up to the stars. "I want to fulfil my dreams and actually earn them this time instead of thinking everyone would just go along with me, but for that, I need help."

Looking at Avery again, Alexander firmly spoke, "And I know help isn't free, so I am prepared to use what I have left to pay for it. Do not just take pity on me, give me something to do to advance myself, please."

Avery couldn't really do much but sit there and listen to Alexander admit to his short-comings and vent out his emotions. Avery wasn't too sure why he chose him specifically to open up to about this, but it was kind of an honor wasn't it? Having someone open up like this to you? Though Avery had a feeling it was more about them both being from earth than anything else, Avery still found it....amusing.

"Not sure what I can do about that sorry." Avery had to be honest with Alexander here, after all Avery didn't really have much standing in this world.
"Everything I learned...everything I've accomplished here...It's all thanks to Vesta." It was Avery's turn now to speak openly, something he had yet to speak to even Vesta about. I mean, how would she understand? The only one who had fully understood him since coming had been Shiro, and she wasn't even human.

"I would've died all those years ago if she hadn't happened to be there. I don't know where you appeared, but I appeared in the middle of a infested forest atop a mountain. Imagine. An 11 year old kid, finding themself in an unknown place, surrounded by strange and frightening plants and animals, even being chased and attacked by some." Avery's voice became soft as he thought back to eight years ago. The fear, the addrenaline flowing through him at the time.

"But...just as they were about to catch me, she appeared. Fear, adrenaline, running, falling, pain earthen spears, blood spilling and a silver haired girl. I only remember it in fragments." Avery took a deep breath "I still don't understand why they took me in. Master Tobias wanted nothing of it, but Vesta insisted and so did Lady Summer. That's how I became Vesta's attendent...." Avery paused, a sudden realisation dawning on him. It was obvious, Avery mightn't be able to help him...but...

"Vesta might be able to help you. If you tell her you're from earth as well, she has quite an interest in the subject. She's one of the few who will believe you in this world, especially if I can back up your story."

"You sound like you need a hug," was the first thing Alexander would say. "And, I actually have two things I can use as proof, although that Oni and Aleph tried to destroy one of them." He then took out the Kindle and Cell Phone from the rucksack from his back.

"Both are powered by the heat and light from the sun, and have something called a battery that stores the energy so that they can be used at night," Alexander then took out the Kindle and turned it on, deciding to select a small concise encyclopedia of Earth History.

"Say," he said, "can you read English? I might teach the knowledge of how to read it, and thus the text contained in this device, to your Mistress in exchange for, well, her teaching me literacy in Lugnican."

Alexander really looked like he wanted to hug Avery, though in a genuinely platonic and friendly way.

"Sorry, but a hug is out of the question just yet." Avery winked suggestively, his usual, mischievous self returning in the blink of an eye.
Avery gave him a brief look of annoyance as he explained batteries. He knew what batteries were, but he wasn't familiar with the concept of this sunlight power. It reminded him of that one spirit Shiro had told him about, but he couldn't remember the name!

"English? If that's what the language was called, then yeah I could. I never really had a need to use it yet, so I might be a bit rusty." Avery leaned over to look at the kindle, tilting his head inquisitively at the sight. It was like a small computer in his hand! Or maybe an electronic book. Avery didn't remember such handy tech being around when he was on earth, but it had been 8 years.

"You know...that might work." Avery mumbled thoughtfully, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he did "You wouldn't know this, but she is quite interested in our world. Even learning such a small amount would at least get her interest."

Alexander chuckled at the suggestive wink, before apologizing to Avery, "Oh, right, you do know such basic stuff. Either way, thanks; I feel hope, for the first time since coming to this world, I feel genuine hope, not presumption."

At Avery's latest words, Alexander would say, "That's...actually a surprise! But yes, your lady does seem - is a decent person. We're both lucky that she's part of this group." The young man would then notice that the Oosagi curry was cooling.

"Anyway, once you've finished the curry, I think I'll just assume the others don't want any and spend the rest of the night teaching you how to use the Kindle - that's what the device is called. There's a lot I have to catch you up on," Alexander offered.

Brushing some hair out of the way, Avery picked up the curry once more at Alexander's mention of it and took another spoonful.

"Well if she wasn't here, I wouldn't be. Plain and simple. My role is to be by her side, and it's a role that I've been entrusted with so would rather not let Lady Summer down." The trap responded with a shrug. It might've sounded a bit rude, but it was true. He had rarely left Vesta's side the last eight years, it was his side of the deal that had gotten him into the Celestia family and he didn't plan on breaking it. Even if he wasn't by her side right now, he was still close enough to count it as such.

"I'm afraid I have other things I must do tonight." The feminine boy smiled softly as he declined Alexander's offer. At that same moment, one of his birds returned. Reaching out a hand, the bird gently plucked the crystal that sat on the palm before taking off.

"Vesta is a slave-master is my only warning about wanting to work with her. She doesn't tolerate weaklings, whingers or quitters. She also isn't a fan of slackers."Avery polished off the remaining curry in a flurry of spoonfuls, wiping any that might've spilled on his face or around his mouth on his sleeve.

"She will expect me to return to her soon." Avery pushed off of the cart and threw another crystal into the air. The second bird had returned and now plucked it from the air, taking off immediately as Avery counted the remaining crystals in his hand. Another five or six should just about do it.

"All right," Alexander said. "Well, better serve the rest of the curry to the others as well, it seems. Thanks and bye for now, Avery; talk to you later."

And with that, the young man would depart...

Seems like I'm not needed for now... Kurokono looked up as the attack was fended off, now keeping his egg-shaped device into his pocket.

"Oh shyt..." He whispered to himself as he noticed that 'ninja' Aleph at a distant corner. Blending amongst the group, Kurokono put his head down to avoid unnecessary attention. He headed to one corner of the village, rummaging his backpack for any suitable disguises. A penguin suit... But he saw that suit before... Kurokono decided to stuff every disguises that he had to make him unrecognisable. Donning a penguin suit, a green cap and mustache, Kurokono personally felt that his altered disguise is imperfect, but its better than nothing.

"Time to train... haven't done any since I arrived in this era... One--"

Drawing his sword at a quieter area of the village, The man with the penguin suit spent the night swinging his sword to practice his rusty skill. Better to increase my chance of survival in this warring era...

"One hundred... one hundred and one---"

The dragoness threw Midori to the ground one last time, scoffed, and took to the air flamboyantly. If Olly had been totally honest with himself at that point, between the burns and Midori being spanked like a toy by some busty scaly dragon woman, the Oni Archer was starting to suspect he would have preferred that fire to have injured him just a tad bit more so he didn't have to experience all of this. It had been one problem after another and the pair was not only horribly lost at this point, but his body was starting to lose the adrenaline-fueled pain suppression for his wounds.
With the Dragon finally gone now was the perfect time.

"Well kid.. I hope you're doing good so far." Hanging the bow around his chest and making his way over to Midori, he bent down and offered his hand. A slight wince and a hiss of his breathe being sucked in, but at least it was an offer. "We had best get out of here before it decides to put up a fight and not just.. Forget it, lets just get the hell out of here. Your mothers gonna be pissed.."

Midori could only sniffle at her "violation" of her nice butt. Scratching it as she whimpered and took the hand of Olly to stand up. "I was violated in the most childish way..." She walked with him out of the forest, following him of course while constantly attempting to cool down her butt with scratches and light pats.

This moment will scar her for the rest of her adolescence. Never fight or attempt to calm a weird dragon lady, ever. "Where are we going anyway? We could be lost y'know."

@Zelosse

Vivi Celestia

The guards had seen some strange things in their lifetime, it was kinda part and parcel of being employed by the most powerful and influential family of mages in the kingdom. But a dragon woman, dressed in what seemed to be the remains of some form of jacket walking up to the front gate and asking to see two of the young mistresses of the house?
Yeah. That was pretty damn weird, even for this family.
It was also highly suspicious, and understandably they pointed their spears at Zin. Though there was some obvious fear in the way one of them looked towards the dragon woman, he was an inexperienced guard, the other, older guard was a lot calmer and was the one who now spoke.
"And what business do you have with the young ladies?" He asked gruffly, glaring at the dragon woman through the slits of his helmet.
"Oh? What is going on here? Who exactly are you, and what business do you have with myself and my sister?" The sound of Vivi's voice came from behind of Zin, and looking in that direction she would find the younger Celestia, her arms crossed over her chest and wearing a deep frown, with the red-haired maid that had been with Avery the week prior. In the maids arms were some brown paper bags filled with what seemed to be bread and other assorted groceries.
Vivi stared at Zin for a moment. This...creature seemed oddly familiar. Like she had met her before.
But also, just what was this woman? She seemed to have scales on various parts of her body, large talon-like claws and of course a large scaly tail. She was reminiscent of a dragon actually, which was impossible. A demi-human that was a dragon? Just how the hell would that even happen?

Somewhere in Zin's brains, she felt that this was kind of a bad idea, but it was a little too late for her to change her mind and go back on it. The guards pointed their spears at her, with one of the guards having shaky hands and unable to keep his pointy stick from moving around, Zin didn't put her hands up at the sight of their spears nor did she plan on doing so, when one of the guards who weren't quick to point a weapon at her asked her what business does she have with them, Zin balled her hands up at her sides before saying." I am the dragon belonging to Vesta herself! " She yelled at the guard." I haven't eaten in some time and demand to see my master and be fed. "

Then out of nowhere the smaller Celestia appeared along with one of her servants behind the dragon woman, and Vivi's first reaction was to ask who Zin was, the dragon woman spun around to Vivi fast enough to nearly slap someone with her tail as she pointed to herself." I took you for tiny Celestia Vivi, but I didn't think you were blind as well." She unknowingly insulted Vivi." I'm Zin Parallex and I've shed most of my mortal being to become what I am before you, the perfect being." As soon as she finished speaking her stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear.

Acting off of impulse, Zin jumped the Maid only to take one of her bags of groceries and shred the bag to pieces with her claws, like a beast she began eating the food that was in the single bag ripping into it with her absurdly sharp teeth and barely savoring the taste and swallowing whatever food it was that she ate, the dragon woman let out a belch and began picking between her teeth with a sharp claw." Where is Vesta Vivi? " She asked the younger Celestia." She didn't go with that stupid Orc did she? Or with those puny weakling humans that she brought here? Tell me!" The dragon woman grabbed Vivi by her arms and began to shake her back in forth attempting to get her to answer faster, even if it meant that she would get a spear to the back or one of her wings.