Kiba

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What seemed like a triumph against the vulcan by Adelyn and Kiba’s combined efforts was short-lived in the wake of the Lightning Beast’s assault. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a pit growing in his stomach that was only exasperated by the fragmented communications of Munroe. A warning and order to retreat. When the lightning began to crash around him, Kiba’s first instinct was to close the distance between himself and Adelyn. Once at her side, the swordsman aimed to grab her wrist and make a run for it, but a surge of static electricity leapt out to jolt his fingertips and give him pause. The energy amassing within Adelyn, who had seemingly withdrawn inside herself, was intense. Kiba stepped back a few feet, glancing between Adelyn and the oncoming assault of the enraged creature. The vulcan had the good sense to flee, but it seemed they were not so fortunate.

“I SAID SHUT UP!” Adelyn’s bellows ignited the air with a crack of thunder, a searing bolt unleashed at the beast with such force that Kiba had to brace himself from the shockwave. When the dust settled, Kiba couldn’t be sure if the attack had caused any significant harm, but he was sure that the young lightning mage would be almost spent from such a spell. He stepped forward to Adelyn, offering himself as support if needed.
“Not safe. Regroup with Mark.” He directed, short and succinct as usual. Kiba was debating the merit of carrying Adelyn out of there, hoping it wouldn’t impact his speed if the beast gave chase, when Mark appeared from the shadows and enveloped their team in a dark mass of tendrils. The cold emptiness of his abyss seemed to sap both light and life from Kiba’s body, a chill dread seeping through to his bones before the warmth of the forest’s light thawed him out. Now back at the horses, Kiba could hear Munroe’s communications more clearly.

So that was that. A mission cut short from external interferences. Something about it didn’t sit right with Kiba, and although Mark’s trained composure betrayed little, the swordsman could tell the dark haired mage shared the sentiment. Kiba tapped the device fixed to his ear, his voice holding a quiet firmness.
“Permission to track the beast to its lair?” Kiba asked, brow furrowed. The persistent threat of the Lightning Beast couldn’t be ignored, but its appearance offered one fortuitous advantage - they could conduct some reconnaissance and attempt to find its den, if it had one. Kiba knew that this creature would be difficult to subdue when they were simply wandering about hoping to find it, but now it was engaged with the creature they had initially come to capture, and its trail of destruction could guide them back to its home, where it would be at its most vulnerable.

Calling the mission? While it was the smart thing - the easy thing - it meant they were abandoning a perfect opportunity to observe and understand the relationship dynamic between the two beasts. After all, the claimed reason for needing a sniper overwatch was to keep an eye out for if the lightning beast showed up. It was illogical - neigh, cowardly - to retreat just because the circumstances changed from handling just the one beast to also contending with the known threat as well. It was too...standard military operating procedure for him. Especially when the original job they accepted was the understand this very situation.

Actually, the more he focused on that - the quieter his world became. It was such a gradual thing that he barely noticed nature was no longer deafening. There was no longer that swell of pressure making even his heartbeat sound like a beating drum. All the easier to focus.

Of course the lightning beast would show. It proved it was a beast by doing so, made this all the more logical and important to study. There was unfamiliar energy - scents - in its territory. Any predator would investigate another predatory intrusion such that they posed. No, they couldn't just surrender this opportunity. It was all laid so properly at their feet. Except that just reinforced that retreat was the correct call. Adelyn was - well he wasn't actually sure what to classify her as at the moment, but he was certain she was not mentally up for the task he had doubted her physically capable of just half hour before. He had no intentions of needing to explain to Jenna how a lightning mage was killed by a lightning beast even if it was her own sheer stubbornness that befell her.

No, he had to accept the mission was a bust. There would be another time, another chance, even if he had to make it without a job.

Markovis was about to voice as much into the VOX until Kiba spoke up. The quiet swordsman would not make the request to track the lightning beast on a whim. While he wasn't sure what Kiba's skill at tracking was, he was confident in his survival skills. He was confident he could operate quietly and safely enough to do it alone. Because he had to. Adelyn's assistance with it would ruin the mission and that was more abhorrent than calling it off completely.

"Perhaps instead of calling the mission completely, altering it is better. If you have visual on the creatures, it will give us the opportunity to observe the dynamic. If the town is unaware of where the lightning beast dens, Kiba heading out to track the path it traveled to arrive here while it is preoccupied will provide invaluable information. If the VOX range is great enough to communicate if the beast disengages, that is." They had to give it a try to salvage the mission. Unfortunately, he wasn't in charge. If Sergeant demanded the return, then he had little room to push back; really, the little he was negotiating here was already a bit more effort than he really wanted to put in. They'd just head back, collect whatever they'd get for the job completed to the guardsman's instruction, and he'd take Kiba back out afterward. It would just be such a burden to make the travel out here twice.

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"I suppose you would call that fun," Ria laughed softly. "Truth be told, I was hoping that was the job still available. But oh well. I'm sure we'll hear that we ended up having more fun!" Despite how taxing it was for her, she did enjoy this job a bit more than she assumed she'd like monster hunting. Well, unless it was monster hunting near the water but then an ash mage probably wouldn't like that too much. No, this was the best mix for them. She'd just tell herself that until it was true.

On the topic of rest, she had turned her attention to the guard and opened her mouth to turn the offer down, except Nolan got to the answer first. Resting if the others were ready to head back to Rembrandt seemed like it was an unnecessary burden on the guards. Surely they were interested in getting back to their original post to rest. Staying at the outpost wasn't exactly rest. Both had their minds made up that she needed to rest. They were right, but - why were men always so certain on what women should do? It was done out of concern. They were just trying to look out for her wellbeing. Someone needed to, and she had been ready to not be concerned about it at all.

Another smile accompanied a shrug. "Okay, yeah. Resting sounds like a good idea. Just a little bit. Okay? I'm sure everyone wants to get back on the road."

While Ariel had initially been talking to Aylin about nothing in particular, when Akemi took charge in that regard. Taking a step back she listened to the two converse for a bit before posting herself by one of the doors. Turning her attention out the window, she watched as the scenery passed by. There was definitely a part of her that wished she was in the outdoors rather than in this box with wheels. Clearly she was going to have to come to terms with the fact that she would essentially be a different person with each magic. There weren't quite enough of them to work out if there was any rhyme or reason to the personality.

Ears twitching and swiveling, the woman's attention was pulled away from her thoughts. The train itself made a decent amount of noise, but there had been a shift in the dull murmurings from the direction of the door she was near. She could barely make out that it was people after giving it a bit more focus. The car next door was being rowdy for some reason. Standing up and peering through the window on the door, she could see there was some kind of commotion going on. "That's weird. Wonder what's going on over there."

{Negative, too dangerous. Fall back and we'll classify the mission as complete as is. Do not, under any circumstances, go after it.} Monroe was watching through the scope of his rifle and the two beasts moved with power and speed, tearing up the clearing. {Believe me, tracking it would be great if it wasn't so dangerous, but orders are to pull all of us back if it shows up. Besides, one of the War Mages should be showing up to lead the hunt for it soon. As I understand it, he'll be meeting with your guild master today and she'll be making the case for you all to help take it down once we found the lair.}

There's a deep breath that comes through from Monroe's end of the VOX unit before he continues. {But I have orders to keep all of us safe and alive, and giving chase is counter-intuitive.} There's a pause and the sergeant chuckles as he lowers his rifle as the two monsters disappear into the trees. {If you were guardsmen, I'd promote you for great initiative and planning, but you aren't, so instead I'll be the first to speak up in your favor for future missions. Wouldn't mind working with you when there's less...red tape involved.}

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"Yeah, canteen's on the west side of the outpost, hard to miss." The Corporal starts to turn away and then pauses before turning back. "I'm going to try and get in contact with command back in Rembrandt, see if they can get artillery support to do its job and if I can get more information. Reconvene in...two hours?" Meanwhile, Damian was stretching after getting out of the truck, the long ride making him feel cramped before he waved at the two Rising Starborn mages and disappeared towards the Outpost's command center after securing his twin revolvers and his sword.

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Jenna sighed as she looked out the window towards the group of three mages. "It's not that I don't have faith in them, Zen. Trinity already told me that combat isn't exactly her forte and we don't know anything about the magics of the other two, so I'd...feel better if you went with." She sighs again and turns back to face the chef. "I know you're technically our official chef, but..." Meanwhile, Karma was getting Matthew and Evangeline their marks for the guild, putting them where they wanted them.

The barkeep couldn't help but grin at the trio as they interacted with each other after she was done and she had returned to her place behind the bar, simply observing them all as they talked.

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The two cloaked figures had moved their way through the train car and now stood near the door leading to the train car the noble and the mages were on. Ariel calling attention to the shift in murmuring's had Aylin's bodyguard moving to investigate. He looked through the windows between the two cars before his eyes widened in realization. "Lady Aylin, get down!" A powerful blast of wind magic sent the door and the body guard flying back. Aylin screamed in surprise and fear before running away from the now open door to take cover behind a table as the two cloaked figures lead the crowd into the car.

"See," says the figure on the right, a female voice coming from the shadows of the hood, "she's traveling with mages from that guild in Rembrandt! Surely they're planning something!" The crowd murmurs in agreement as the other figure drops his hood to expose a bald head tattooed with intricate knot like designs and a nasty scar across his face, a pair of daggers flashing into his hands as he grins at the mages assembled.

"They look like fodder mages, Gren. Let me deal with them..." The other figure lowered her own hood, exposing her turquoise hair with one side shaven and a pair of nose piercings, dark purple lipstick on her lips and heavy makeup on her face.

"By the book this time, Klein, or the master will have our heads. Now come on folks, surely this isn't suspicious to you at all!"

The food Trinity had given Evangeline disappeared so quickly that Evangeline almost felt embarrassed about it. Luckily, her happiness from the aftertaste was stronger and louder than any negative thoughts she could come up with. So this new girl moulded energy. That sounded like it could be an incredibly useful type of magic depending on the way one used it. Although she could imagine that it would take a lot of effort and creativity to get it right, so it could be a drag for the user as well. A soft smile appeared on her face as Trinity asked about Evangeline's magic, a smile filled with both excitement and sadness. "I can show you", she whispered as tears started falling down her cheeks. Her mouth wasn't moving. Her eyebrows weren't moving. One could simply see liquid running down her cheeks. No other signs were present that Evangeline was crying.

Exactly three tears dropped from her chin, only to bounce on the table showing that they now were solid instead of liquid. Evangeline grabbed the three balls with one hand and showed off one of them between two fingers. "I can store magic in these. If I wanted to hurt an enemy, I can make these little guys hurt so hard that your skin will feel as if it were on fire. However, I can also use these to cure an ally or to temporarily relieve someone of hunger or pain. Of course I'm not strong enough yet to use this magic to the fullest, but I try. Currently, my defensive moves are stronger." Not long after her explanation of her magic, she was approached by someone asking her to choose a place and colour for the guild sign.

Evangeline quickly put the balls inside a little bag she was hiding in her underwear as to not lose it, and moved her gaze towards the third person. She didn't have to think long or hard about her answer to the question. She wanted her parents to hurt. No, she needed her parents to hurt. For not allowing her to choose how to live her life. For not allowing her to be herself. There was only one way to actually hurt them. "Right here. Above my right eyebrow. Dark blue, please." If her guild sign was visible on her face, then there was no way for her face to be useful as an actress. And if necessary, she could still hide it with her bangs. And the dark blue color only made it even more visible. Soon after, the person moved on to that energetic dog, so Evangeline returned her focus to Trinity.

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Matthew tried to control himself as he listened in on what the girls were saying. It wasn't right for him to hear what they were saying. They were having a private conversation. He wasn't invited. They didn't wish for his presence. But... But he wasn't doing something wrong by sitting close enough to hear what they were saying, right? It wasn't like he had anything else to do. He listened to Trinity when she explained her magic to Evangeline and ordered an other dish. Matthew sincerely hoped that this one would be more to her taste. Then the other girl started showing her magic and he was equally impressed. Another type of magic that he didn't immediately recognize! Wow! Everyone here was so talented. He couldn't believe his own eyes or ears.

When the girl got asked where she wanted the guild sign and in what colour, he knew that he was going to get the question next. He had to think about it carefully. How did she know so fast what she wanted? He didn't know what he wanted. There were so many colours and all of them sounded absolutely beautiful. They probably would look stunning. So how should he choose? Should he just choose the first colour that came to his mind? But the first thing that came to his mind was a rainbow. He couldn't get a rainbow guild sign. Or could he? Maybe he could ask! No, if it were possible, other people would have chosen a rainbow colored guild sign. It sounded like such a good idea that someone else must have tried it before. He should choose a colour. Oh, and a place of course. What place should he choose? Maybe something like on his neck, that way it would be close to his hair, since he uses hair magic. However, that way he couldn't look at his own guild sign unless he was looking inside a mirror. He wanted to be able to look at his own sign. Thus, his neck wasn't a possibility. Then what was a possibility? His shoulder? No, his clothes would hide it. But maybe it could be useful for a mission to hide it? Oh, he knew what to do. "Can you do dark pink? On the inside of my left wrist?" This way, if he needed to hide his sign for a mission, he could simply use gloves.

@Lunarlord34 Akemi @twave Ariel @zarkun Aylin Blackreach

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D'angelo had been bouncing energetically astride his golden floating companion ecstatic to start racing the train humming away anxiously." Oh can you feel the excitement, Nimbus? A race against such a magnificent metal craft of wicked heavy velocity?!" Pumping his arms up with a delighted

* Aylin screamed in surprise and fear *

Pausing mid-pump mouth open with a confused tilt looking down at Nimbus the cloud seemingly looking back up at him with a wispy bump raise." Er..that wasn't me..was it?" Starting to turn towards the sound seemingly coming from behind when a loud windy crash soon followed after causing the pudgy round man to jump in shock nearly tumbling off.

" Gah! That sounded like it came from...? But we haven't even set off yet?! Ah, Darn it!" An annoyed snap of the finger." Looks like the race is postponed, pal. Gotta go- oh! Should warn the train operator real quick!" A halting catching raise of the finger having the gold cloud shift and propel itself with needy haste nearly bursting into the window to the engine room.

" HEY! I think we got possible intruders and attackers! I'm a..mage temporary with the group guarding Lady Aylin!" Quickly spitting his words out unsure how to refer to himself exactly but carried on while ripping another handful chunk of golden fluff and smacking it beside the closed door." Here, Take this and if any try to take the engine smack it on the door, don't want a rogue train added to this train attack! " Giving a big toothy wide thumbs against the glass panel." I'll leave ya to lock this down, I'll go help handle these race-spoiling troublemakers!" With a backing whisking harumph D'angelo flew off towards Aylin's train compartment.

Nearly a minute later he came skidding to a smacking stop against the glass, his squished flat face taking in the completely disheveled train car that had been completely fine and undamaged mere minutes ago." Ooh...we really picked the worst time to run off playing eh,..Nimby?... heheh...oooh" Muttering to the regretful choice on a pained hissing cringe.* But how was I to know they'd attack this fast..they usually wait till the train's been on the tracks a bit first at least?!*

Shaking his head as he Searched for Akemi and Ariel but took in two cloaks figures and a terrified Aylin hiding first and pressed his face further up to the glass." Oi! Aylin, lady! Quick! Hit the emergency dangling thing!" Waving his arms scrambling to get her attention and tapping vigorously against the glass pointing at the cloud puff hanging a short distance away from her, thankful he had set that up..should help with the screw-up a bit...didn't help the wincing in his frantic face.

**Having given the warning, if Aylin acted and was able to strike it would have the puffy ball blimp up enveloping her in a golden fluffed-up protective ball-like cocoon big enough to hold two adults or multiple small folks meant to protect against harm and easy kidnapping.**

" And you two! Don't know who you are, but that is not how you invite yourselves in. Damaging train property and scaring innocent train-minding folks? And my newly recent friends better be ok or so help me Nimbus will get mad!" Face puffing up with stern anger against the glass hoping his stern reprimanding warning gave them the good scare needed." Long as there's no more door blasting and spell pew pews and we can laugh about this over ice cream before they take you two away. What do ya say?" A curious raised brow in anticipation that this could be dealt with peacefully.