[IC] Ascension 3: A return to Chaos

[Rai]

Nero Capital City

"Tch.."
His lips sucked in air and spat like a vile taste had passed between his prestigious lips which have only graced the meals of the finest chefs Nero had to offer. Indeed a bad taste was more than just bad to a King. It was a symbol of his Kingdom. As he watched with distaste his appointed soldiers remained unmoved around his front. His arms crossed he tapped his foot impatiently. Finely he raised his hand in a waving gesture. "Disappointing... I will have to see to the training of the new legion.. And have the ones who trained these current weaklings before me be put to rest." He was met with a Nero noble. His royal attire was adorned with what appeared as superfluous flower decorations. Large red and pink roses and ebony skin with glowing yellow eyes. He calmly bowed. "Certainly sire and should I have the families of the fallen be notified?" He asked with a sober smile. Sleeth sighed. "It cannot be avoided..."

Sleeth uncrossed his arms and stepped forward. "Don't disappoint me. I'm going to go have some fun now." Sleeth looked up defiantly at the roaring dragon who so arrogantly tore through his city. Long ago the previous kings and queens of this place had slain Basilisks and beasts of terrible power. Mounting their heads upon the walls of the castle. Sleeth smirked as he thought of the location this dragon's head would be placed. He could sense its souls essence seeped in absolute chaos and vigorous eternity within. Sleeth brought his right hand forward and then waved it to his right. His soldiers vanished into their owns shadows like wells of oil. "Is my weapon ready?" Sleeth asked while watching the Dragon feed on the essence of his soldiers. The man behind him bowed once more before speaking.
"Yes your highness."

Black Dragon Knight

Emerging from a dark portal that opened before the consuming titan was a single figure. He stood midair before the giant dragon. This armored knights wings kept him afloat the air. Yet a solid footing of darkness was beneath his boots. His eye pierced the darkness as a red glare. A famous knight in the ranks of the King of Neros army, yet also a previous member of the Sureiya. He was known for slaying Basilisks with ease and clearing many of the most dangerous areas of Nero for the King. For his great prowess he has been chosen to be a special elite soldier for the King. "You dare desecrate the home of the people of Nero and its King! On my honor I will destroy you vile dragon!"

Nobu The Silent

Somewhere Nobu made his appearance. He was invisible to all senses. He made sure to have his aura stifled, even his armor and weapons brimmed with enchantments remained transparent and soundless. It was only a matter of time for him. But he was slowly sapping the Dragon's essence with his two enchanted weapons and a draining spell of his own to draw it into them. It was a covert spell. Meant to sap the foe of their power without them even realizing. Though the well of power was great within this beast it only fed Nobu's weapons more. However the more they drank the harder it was to retain their invisibility.

Ignius Ofleo

"He wants it all to himself. I suppose a dragon got him fired up..." Ignius spoke whilst watching the knight from below. "I think first..." He grasped the handle of his blade. His aura spiked for the dragon to notice. A fat juicy soul for him to eat Ignius thought. A proper distraction, and if not what he was going to do next would be. He released his blade, and re-sheathed it in half a second. "Lets clip a wing." Darkness was released in a thin narrow line aimed to the beast's wings. It expanded. Darkness was within and orchid lightning roared within. The lightning bolts continuously broke out from the half a mile long and forty foot wide portal over the Dragon's wings.

Twilight Mage

The twilight knights were known to protect the outer lands of Vrondi and Nero. Yet one was not a typical knight nor was he solely within their ranks. He was a sorcerer who mastered his seraphim and nayu blood to bring forth the essence of twilight. He had reinforced the barrier around the battle. It was now covered in black with white shining particles like the night's sky. He stood above it. Standing over its surface. A staff in hand with a red glowing sphere. The liquid inside the sphere was crimson and floated in small bubbles of red as if gravity was no longer there.

Scythe of the Dragon God

Finally the King lowered his hand to the ground. A dark portal opened beneath his palm and he plunged it within. Pulling from it a long handle and finally a scythe. He held its weight with his right hand. He brought it before him admiring its blade. "Been a while since I've needed to use this.." He looked up to the Dragon with a fanged smile. "Lets begin..." He vanished. Not from dark illusions, not through a portal, but with sheer speed. His body a blur as he hurtled himself towards the Dragon. Despite how small the King was in comparison his aura flared higher than all the newcomers before the Dragon. As if his own souls well was nearly endless.

With a cloud of mist escaping his lips Sleeth exhaled, relaxing. Time seemed to stop as he came only a few feet from the Dragon's massive neck. A spiral of sound moving him in high speeds and darkness coating his outer being. Protecting him from the pressure of being near this Dragon. "World Separation." With those words he swung his scythe. A concentrated power was unleashed that was as thin as the blade's edge. Yet its power was legendary. Many said the power of the King of Nero's cut could split the world in two. But it was known by few that the truth was... His ability came incredibly close...
@Guy0fV4lor

[Rai]

Gaia / Town Pearl

---

"You certainly have a pride for Onyx. But it is clear you haven't been to these parts in a while..." Raquel kept walking.
"It isn't that you're old. Just that things have changed a bit over the years.." She raised her head to the sky, the wind was always strong within Gaia. Her hair being gently removed from her face from being blown by the sudden gust. She breathed it in as is her custom. The oxygen keeping her muscles and blood pumping. She turned to him. Though she walked at a brisk pace he kept by her side, even as his armor sunk into the soft grass. She could only smile at how naturally he wore his armor. An obvious sign of being near nobility in some capacity. Very few knights hailed from Onyx or Pearl.

"But now the competition is held for both towns and then we combine our winners and compete. I must admit Onyx has been the victor for the last years competition. But this year.. well." She stopped over a dozen feet away from the crowd who stood watching the competition. She looked down briefly as she gathered her thoughts. Then raised her head to see a large boulder being thrown. A red flag was being kept at the longest distance ever recorded. The stone currently thrown was only half that distance... "This competition.. It's just for show.. The strongest have been too injured to participate. Only those willing to keep the spirit of it alive are competing." She looked over the mix of Oro blooded folk in the crowd to better see who was within.

"But to answer you directly..." She sighed. "I have no interest in this." She felt her eyes welling with water and placed her hands to her eyes to catch them before they fell. She sounded sick as she sniffled. "I just.. After seeing Allard. I was reminded of how we lost so many.." Her left eye couldn't hold her tears back. One falling down her cheek. "Why.. Why did I have to lose him..." She spoke softly, almost as a whisper when she said those last words. Her face clear she lowered her hands and gave Garrett a half smile, to show that she was gathered. "I think it is time to head back.. Will you be buying a room for the night?" She began to walk and talk, as she did before. But this time she took the knight's arm to lead. Others noticed her with the knight and simple people had an interesting conversation now about who Raquel was seen with.

A few children followed the two as they headed back to the inn. However Raquel made them stop before the marketplace. "Maybe you could buy us a potion. A few sips is all you might need. I need something to take the edge off... Way off." She asked with a smirk but frowned with a pout. A bit exaggerated but she felt like being cute for him. The inside of the market was only a few steps away from the inn. Once inside they were met by rows and rows of potions, weapons and attire. There were stairs that went up a floor and another that went down a floor. She brought them to a row of potions. She pointed to one and pulled it out. "This is a uhm.. feel good potion. Not like alcohol. More like... Dreaming." She held the orange potion with red matter swirling inside of it up for Garrett to observe. At the counter was a merchant who sat nearly asleep with his farmers hat nearly covering his face.

"Have you ever tried such a thing?"
@Verticus

[Jollan]

Allard nodded, lifting an oversized tankard in the air when she agreed to accompanying them, "Glad ta hear! Here's ta safe travels! But if the winds of chaos should stir, may we all bear our scars proudly, and pass down tha legends fur generations ta come!" It was an old gaian military saying from his younger years usually the night before leaving on a deployment, and with it, Allard toasted the occasion and downed the whole tankard.

He then heard Nailah talk about the other Tyro girl getting rejected. He chuckled a bit before commenting on the matter. "Tha girl has a strong heart and a proud soul, seen it fur myself. Even when wounded she will crack like a whip at a hundred stuck up nobles. Not a single blade falterin' that will o' hers. She'll bounce back in no time," he said, recalling the first time he saw her in the Vrondi palace. It took a certain kind of character to do what she did. Foolish, yes, but nonetheless commendable.

Allard looked around, noticing the time of day and how few of the alliance members were actually here. "Hmm, speakin' of tha other alliance members, doesn't seem like too many of 'em have made their way here yet. I wonder if they are still bein' held up at tha medical center."

[13org]

Sophia

^{@Rai @RumikoOhara @Jollan @Guy0fV4lor @Brithwyr}

After quickly talking with Dremmick, Sophia left to search for the rest of the group. She knew they would be busy, but what she had to say to them was very important. Dremmick said that he would go after he finished talking with one of the researchers at the healing center and Sophia expected Ami to follow him, so she went out to search for the rest.

"I don't know exactly who the rest of the Alliance group is but... It shouldn't be that hard to find them... The weirdest ones and those who stand out the most should probably be the ones she was looking for." Sophia thought to herself as she walked outside of the healing center with a giggle.

Coincidentally, as soon as she stepped out she was greeted by a rather strange sight, a Lassa girl with the characteristic tanned skin from the Sol, peacefully sleeping on the thick grass nearby a medical tent, accompanied by a Lassa pureblood. Both girls looked incredibly out of place on the town of Pearl, let alone where they were right now, the pureblood lassa watching over the other one while she slept on the grass.

Sophia couldn't help but smile as she stopped by both girls.

"You two must be from the Alliance group, right?" she asked, with a giggle.
"I already spoke with Dremmick. I hate to disturb this little one's peaceful sleep, but could you both wait for me just outside the city? I have something really important to say to the Alliance group. I'm sorry for being so sudden. I promise, everything will be explained soon." Sophia completed, looking to the pureblooded lassa with a serious expression.

"Oh, but before I go..." Sophia said, kneeling down nearby the sleeping tanned lassa girl, gently booping her nose.
"She looks so adorable while sleeping! She reminds me of the young monk apprentices back at the temple..." Sophia said to herself with a kind smile before getting up and leaving, waving at the pureblood lassa.

After walking only a few steps though, Sophia felt a smell coming from inside one of the tents. A rather familiar smell she had felt coming from a certain person in Vrondi...

"Is it...?" Sophia said, with a serious expression, getting inside the tent. Inside, she saw none other than Mason himself, laying on the middle of the tent. As she got closer to him, she gently touched his neck with her fingers. His vital signals were weak, but they were still there. Something had happened to him. Mason was very weak...

Be it a result from carelessness, unfortunate events or even foolishness, their journey was only beginning... To lose a member that soon would have a serious impact on both the group's psychological and their overall strength as a group.
Gently putting her hand on his forehead, she passed a small bit of magic to him in order to give his body a little bit of strength. If he would wake up after that or not would depend only on his own willpower and his own body.

"He said that the rest of them would be at the inn... right?" she thought to herself as she stopped in front of the aforementioned place.

Once inside, it wasn't that hard to find those who supposedly were members of the Alliance. Amongst the rest of the normal customers, there were a gigantic oro man, standing over 10 feet tall, a tall, strong Amazonian woman and a dragon-tyro hybrid woman wearing very, very revealing clothes sitting on a table.

"You three must be members of the Alliance as well, right? If so, please meet me just outside the city. The others should already be on their way. I'm sorry for being so sudden but I promise I'll explain everything to you all soon." Sophia said, giving a small bow as an apologize for being so sudden before leaving towards the place where she would meet them.

[RumikoOhara]

@Jollan@13org@Rai

Metis sensed the power coming from the snow white woman with the horns of one of the dragon races, her aura charged with arcane energy as she approached.

As a predator Metis could sense the intention of the strange one (Sophia) as curiosity so she allowed her to get close to her charge.

When she spoke Metis weighed her as a singer would measuring her tone and cadence against her memories passed down from mentor to mentor and finally to her.

"You two must be from the Alliance group, right?
I already spoke with Dremmick. I hate to disturb this little one's peaceful sleep, but could you both wait for me just outside the city? I have something really important to say to the Alliance group. I'm sorry for being so sudden. I promise, everything will be explained soon."

“Ancient” was her first clue then she caught a slight hint of the Singer’s in her tone her every word showing countless use and a tinge of the goddess language.

"Oh, but before I go..." the strange ancient said before kneeling near the sleeping Lynn and softly tapping her nose.
"She looks so adorable while sleeping! She reminds me of the young monk apprentices back at the temple..."

Metis watched as the ancient retreated Metis's body crackling with small arcs of electricity as her sach’s and hunter organs relaxing causing the display as her danger potential fell.

Then she thought of waking Lynn and telling her of the ancients words and her request they leave the city of Pearl and meet her outside of its boundaries but knowing that Lynn had exhausted herself healing thinking it might interrupt her recovery.

(To any looking at Metis she would appear almost blank in expression but her tentacles like a cat’s tail as it thinks moving absentmindedly)

[Jollan]

Lynn was curled up fast asleep, her body exhausted from the amount of magic energy spent while healing the people of pearl. She slept soundly in the grass, trusting that Metis would stay close to her. It's not that she wanted to sleep, it was just that it seemed to take over after exerting herself too much, something that she knew she would need to work on in the future. Her slumber was deep, and being in the shade seemed to slow her recovery process. She hadn't heard any of what was said by Sophia to them, though when Sophia reached down and touched her nose, her down folded ears seemed to twitch and perk up a bit, her tail even moving slightly. It wasn't enough to wake her up, but her ears seemed more upright and receptive now, as if by instinct, listening to the world around her to signal her to awake.

Normally something like this would happen back home, after a long healing session, she would rest somewhere at the infirmary until her mother would wake her up to either go home or in an emergency. They actually lived at the infirmary that they ran. Their home was at the top floor of the three story building, taking about a quarter of it. So it wasn't uncommon to See Lynn all around the place growing up. As her ears became more alert, after a few minutes, the ambient sound seemed to wake her up. Her dream had her believing that she was back home. The similar situation putting her thinking she was waking up to her mother's call and just didn't hear her the first time. She slowly sat up and let out a yawn while stretching from head to tail tip with her arms stretching above her head.

She started rubbing her eyes before opening them, "Mom?" she started tiredly, "I don't think I have enough magic to go back wo-" she then stopped as she opened her eyes, noticing where she was, blushing a little in embarrassment, though there weren't many people around them. "Oh...that's right." She looked over to Metis, noticing that she was watching her intently. She smiled at the girl, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. I didn't mean to leave you alone, it's just if I use too much magic energy, my body seems to go to sleep shortly after. I guess I should be more careful." she said with a chuckle. She was still trying to get used to the idea of traveling and having to adjust be more on guard. "Is everything alright?" she asked, her head tilting slightly as she noticed so arcs of electricity came off Metis, her releasing pent up energy it seemed.



Allard noticed the small, yet quite interesting looking, dragon woman enter the inn. He had never seen a pattern like that on a person before, and he had seen plenty of dragon kin in his time, this one was unique. She asked for the Alliance members to meet just outside of town. "I guess we should see what this is about," he said as he stood up. He held out a hand to help Nailah off the table and then made sure to pay for the meal and tip. "Well, this should be a good opportunity for you ta see tha others at least," he mentioned to Nailah as he held to door for her on the way out.

Walking down the streets, Allard still couldn't help to notice the strength competition and the dire state it was in. He wanted to compete like he used to, but it didn't seem right to just jump into the competition with this kind of turnout. This would also mean that their representative going to Onyx would fair even worse as well. Allard shook his head a bit, "It's a shame really," he thought out loud to himself, reminiscing on past strength festivals. Allard was known to be an insanely strong man throughout Pearl, and he even competed a few times, wining it all and then putting the money into the community after tending to what he needed at the farm. After a while though, he had stopped to let other people compete, feeling that him going up to win again after the first three times to put a bit of a damper on the whole event. Every now and again, he would notice somebody see him, and whisper to the others around them. He paid it no mind. Just like with Raquel, if anyone recognized him, it was probably a shock. As much as he would like to catch up, he had to meet whoever this person was at the edge of town.

---

Shy received her meal and a tall glass of water. She accepted it gratefullyand went ahead and paid before starting on the stew that everyone seemed to be ordering here. One the first spoonful, she could see why. It was a simple meal however the flavor of the stew wasexceptional. The warmth of broth seemed to sweep through her body. It was easy to feel like it was time to settle down and call it a day after the meal, and to be quite honest with herself, she was just about to. That was, until a particular woman entered the inn. It was from her that she heard that the alliance group was to meet just outside of town for some reason. Shye thought for a moment, petting Nix gently as she did so, getting a small purr in responce. It would be risky, though to miss tis meeting could make things harder for her.

If she didn't snoop on whatever this meeting was, she would miss who all was involved, as well as whatever information was imprtant enough to gather her targets in one spot. Once everyone had filed out of the inn, Shye saw it best to make her way there herself. Using speed and stealth to her advantage, Shye exited at a slightly different area of town and quietly made her way in to a position a good distance from the meeting point. She signalled to Nix to keep quiet once again as she settled into position in some brush. If all was quiet around them she should just be able to hear thier conversation. Now, she sat and waited, ever still, ever silent, waiting to eavesdrop on whatever information she could.

Though she didn't know, Dremmick was the first one to arrive. When he came to the gate of the town, he stpped and leaned againced the wall, waiting for the others to show up.

[13org]

---

^@Jollan

---

Nailah laughed as she watched Allard's enthusiastic response to her saying that she would travel with them. Her intuition wasn't wrong. The man was indeed a gentle giant. As he started talking about the Amazonian woman, Nailah got a bit interested. According to his own words, she was a strong and proud woman and wouldn't be affected by such a small thing like being rejected.

"I can imagine that. She certainly doesn't look like someone who would sulk over small things... Still... I don't appreciate being the second option... I'll be sure that she will regret not giving me enough attention..." Nailah said, with a giggle and a mischievous smile.

It was then that Allard mentioned the other members of the Alliance. Whatever it was their mission, it sounded interesting enough to be worthy of a closer look.
Before Nailah could say anything though, a new arrival, and a very peculiar one at that, walked inside the inn asking the alliance members to follow her. A dragon woman unlike any other Nailah had seen in her entire life. Her skin was at the same time as white as the moonlight and as dark as the night, a long hair as white as her skin. She didn't know exactly why, but Nailah had a small feeling about that dragon woman. It wasn't only her appearance, but something told her that the dragon woman was... unique... in some way.

If the Alliance was interesting before, now Nailah was even more curious about it. Whatever it was that group's goal, they were important enough to have a dragon, and not a normal one, to come to them...
"That is really... interesting... Even more than I previously thought!" Nailah said to herself with a smirk as she watched the dragon woman walking away.

"Well, this should be a good opportunity for you ta see tha others at least," Nailah heard Allard saying as he stood up, holding his hand to help Nailah get up.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to lose this by nothing... It's getting more interesting by the second!" she said, with a smirk.

"By the way, aren't you quite the gentleman?" Nailah asked with a mischievous smile, accepting his help. The second she touched him though, even though she wasn't using her charm, he would definitely feel how soft and warm her skin felt against his.

Walking together with Allard to where the dragon woman said to meet her, they passed in front of the strength competition. She did notice a few things, like how some people appeared to recognize Allard, whispering to one another and how Allard himself shook his head, mumbling to himself as they passed in front of it. It seemed that Allard himself used to compete on that festival, and according to his reaction, it was much bigger a few years ago.

"I wonder how the rest of the group looks like... And that dragon woman... She doesn't looks to be just a common dragon, right?" Nailah said, looking to Allard as they walked.

[Jollan]

"I wonder how the rest of the group looks like... And that dragon woman... She doesn't looks to be just a common dragon, right?"
-Nailah

"Aye, that she doesn't," Allard said, snapping out of his previous thoughts. "Not like any I've seen anyway." Allard thought about her other statement, concerning the others. "Now that I can't rightly say. Ta be honest, they haven't been very talkative folk so far. You saw Garrett and Siiga at tha inn. Only ones ya haven't seen yet is one man in a hood, named Dremmick, a high born seraphim lass, tha two Lassa girls, and a young seraphim lad named Mason, who was unconscious when we arrived. I only know those few named I mentioned because they introduced themselves before King Vrondi. As for Garrett, I was asked ta spar with him ta prove my worth so I could come along." He thought about the group, trying to come up with more to say about each person, but there really wasn't much to describe. "Dremmick stays pretty kept ta himself. Even before we left, I hardly saw tha man runnin' about. The seraphim girl seems to be quite tha gifted healer. The two lassa seem ta be inseparable, tha deep sea one never seemin' ta leave the other's side. Mason, the other seraphim boy, seemed ta have somethin' bothering him. Had a bit of a ill fit before reaching town, seems ta still be recoverin' from it." They walked a little bit more, now approaching the gate seeing a familiar man leaning against a wall. "Ah, there's Dremmick now. Don't see many o' the others quite yet it seems."

[13org]

Sophia

^{@Rai @RumikoOhara @Jollan @Guy0fV4lor @Brithwyr}

Sophia waited for a bit for the members of the alliance to arrive. When some of them arrived, she stepped forward from behind the trees. It was a shame that some of those whom she called weren't present, but nothing could be done regarding that. She was already breaking the oath she made to herself... Sure, the situation that the descended would face was beyond anything they had faced in a long while but still...

"I'm thankful for you all to attend to my call. Some of you already saw me back on Vrondi, yet... I was not entirely honest with you." Sophia said, looking to those present. Some of them she had already seen before but the most part were strangers to her. Other than those who were openly presenting themselves in front of her, Sophia could also feel one more presence, carefully hiding herself amongst the bushes. She wouldn't blame her if she didn't entirely trust Sophia, as it was true that she was, to most of them who never saw her before, basically a strange, unknown dragon woman.

"I ask of you to please keep my real identity a secret as not many who know me saw my human form." Sophia said, giving a few steps back as primal magic started to overflow from her tiny humanoid form, swirling around her as she transformed herself to her real form, her oppressive magical aura emanating from her, with it's pressure being almost palpable to those nearby her.

"Please, do not be afraid. There is no need to hide yourself, young one." Sophia said, looking to where Shye was hiding herself, without much success in making her show herself. After a moment without any answer or reaction from the one who was hiding, Sophia finally realized that she forgot to suppress her aura. Perhaps the primal magic emanating from her was making the one who was hiding even more wary of Sophia?

"I'm sorry... I sometimes forget to suppress my aura... Most of those who live near me on the gaian mountains are already accustomed to the primal magic overflowing from me... Sometimes I forget of how oppressive it can be to normal descended..." Sophia said with an apologetic tone, immediately suppressing her aura entirely.

"I am Sophia, the Guardian of Knowledge. I am the one responsible for maintaining the balance of magic in the world, of guarding forbidden knowledge that the descended are not ready to know." Sophia said, introducing herself.

"I made an oath to never interfere with the descended. I do not take sides on wars or political disputes between kingdoms. Normally, I am merely an observer, but I can't afford to simply watch and do nothing. The world is about to face a threat of unprecedented proportions. Bigger than any war between kingdoms, bigger than any conflict that you ever have seen." Sophia said, with a serious tone.

"Dark times are upon all of us. Old enemies rise once more, stronger than ever and new enemies appear by the second. Conflicts that can alter the balance of the magic and the world itself are about to happen. The mission given to your group is not merely a test to you as individuals, but its outcome can alter the fate of the world. The godsmith's hammer might be the only way to beat Nuxta. And if he isn't beaten soon, everything shall come to an end." Sophia continued, making sure that they knew the weight her words carried.

"Even though your journey has only began, you shall face trials that will test not only your abilities, but also your resolve, your wisdom, your knowledge and the very bond between yourselves. You will face many dangers and be tempted by many things, but you should never loose your focus or your resolve. You are not alone. All the descended, young and old stand by your side, I stand by your side." Sophia said, opening her right hand in front of her and cutting her skin with her claw. Taking one of the feather like scales from her wings, she made it float in front of her as the blood coming out of her hand formed many unknown magic runes, symbols and circles, which started orbiting around the feather-like scale, changing rapidly for a brief moment before being absorbed by it.

"When against overwhelming odds, facing a powerful enemy and without hope of wining, remember about me, pour your magic on this scale and I will come to your aid. Be careful though, as it will only work once." Sophia said, as the artifact made with her scale and her blood floated just above her hands as she lowered them.

"As a group, you should put your diferences aside. Trust your companions with your life and they shall trust you with theirs. Knowing your own companions is the first step to mutual trust. Thus, I ask you. Who amongst you believe is worthy of being responsible for this power?" Sophia asked with the artifact hovering just above her hand as she waited for the group to come to a decision of who should carry her scale.

After handing the artifact to one of them, Sophia would give a few steps back, bowing slightly to them.
"I trust you all, young descended. I believe you have what's necessary to overcome all obstacles, complete this trial and change the fate of the world. You are the beginning of a new age, an age where descended of all races and kingdoms stand united against a common enemy. Go now, and do what you must." Sophia said before flying away.

[13org]

---

^{@Rai @Jollan @Guy0fV4lor @Brithwyr}

---

"Not that talkative? Oh but that's not fun, is it? Maybe I can change this a tiny bit?" Nailah asked as she and Allard walked towards where the weird dragon woman was waiting for them. Allard started to talk a bit about the other members of the alliance.

They sounded pretty interesting for Nailah. A seraphim guy named Mason, whom according to Allard was out cold when they arrived at the town of Pearl, a noble seraphim woman and two lassa girls were some of the members that Allard mentioned opther than the amazon woman that she saw at the inn, Siiga and the armored guy, Garret. Due to the way he was talking, apparently there were more but they didn't know each other that well... Maybe that group was just recently formed?

Finally arriving on their destination, Allard's voice as he pointed towards Dremmick interrupted Nailah's thoughts. At first, the dragon woman that called them was nowhere to be seen. Nailah almost thought that it was all just a prank or maybe a trap of some sorts but just when the rest of the members, or at least some of them, arrived, the dragon woman revealed herself. As she started to talk, Nailah couldn't help but keep staring at her. Her exotic appearance was unlike any other she had ever seen. Different from dragons and all other races... Her skin, both as white as marble and as black as dragon's glass, or obsidian as some called it. The more she looked at her and heard the dragon woman's words, the more her feeling that she wasn't a common dragon grew, until all her suspicions were confirmed...

After asking to keep her own identity a secret, the dragon woman gave a few steps back as a weird, unknown type of magic overflowed from her. It was unlike the magic Nailah saw other descended use... It was much more... raw, primitive and volatile... After a brief moment, the dragon woman showed her true form. Towering over even Allard himself, she was different from any other dragon Nailah had heard about. Even though her elegant body was smaller, leaner and more fragile than most of other dragons, the aura emanating from her was nothing short of terrifying. The oppressive primal magic coming from her was enough to make Nailah's insides tremble. Yet, even with all that pressure, it was clear that the female dragon didn't meant harm.

After apologizing herself and suppressing her aura, Nailah finally felt that she could breathe once more. Sophia, the guardian of knowledge, as she introduced herself, started to talk with a much more serious tone. Warning the group about the danger not only them, but all the descended would face, her words carried enough weight to eliminate any doubt that what she said might be only an exaggeration. Her warnings only became even more serious when she heard her talking about Nuxta and the Godsmith's hammer.

Whatever that 'Alliance group' was, it was apparently something pretty important... Their mission, as told by Sophia was of extreme importance. It sounded like she stumbled upon something pretty big... and interesting. As the dragon woman continued speaking, she tried to absorb as much as she could while simultaneously thinking about all that she just heard. Some of the things that Sophia said sounded a bit too big to be true... Almost as if it was something straight out of one of those books telling about things like the Dragon god, the first descended & etc, but the way Sophia was saying, the weight her words had and her expression said something entirely different. It wasn't exaggeration, nor merely a story. It was about to happen sooner than they all could expect.

It was then that Sophia said she had something to give the group. Something to aid them in their trials. Getting one of the strange, feather-like scales from her wing, she made a shallow cut on her hand starting a ritual. Words, symbols and magic circles were formed with her blood, quickly changing and circling around the scale and shortly after being absorbed by it. Even if Nailah tried to read them or memorize them, when she focused on them, she felt a sharp headache and was forced to look away. When the ritual was finally done, Sophia explained what exactly it was and asked to the group who would be responsible for it.

"That was... really... something..." Nailah murmured as she looked to Sophia, in a mix of awe, shock and admiration. She had never experienced nor felt something like that.

"What exactly are you guys after...? The godsmith's hammer? Nuxta?" Nailah asked, looking directly towards Allard's eyes, almost as if she was trying to read his thoughts as she leaned towards him.

"Those names... I heard them only in stories..." Nailah said, turning her head with a confused expression, followed by a moment of silence as she tried to put her thoughts in order. The usually flirty Nailah, whom always had a smirk on her face had a serious expression as she stood there in silence, absorbing all that she had just heard.

"I... technically I'm not yet a part of the group, so I believe that you should be the ones to decide... By the way, what she told you is right, you know? You guys should know more about each other... If what she said is correct, we will face a lot of things... We need to know and trust each other, right?" Nailah said after a while, returning to her usual self as she walked around the other members, close enough for them to feel her warm skin.

"I am Nailah, a priestess of the Fallen Goddess. Allard asked me to travel with him for a bit as a way to repay what I did for him, but I may stay for a bit longer now that I heard what Sophia had to say and saw you guys... You're quite the weird group, aren't you?" Nailah said with a giggle.

"After all, just like Sophia said, you will need all the help you can get. And I can be pretty~ helpful, you know?" Nailah said, winking playfully.

[Jollan]

Dremmick didn't seem too impressed with Allard dragging in what to him looked like some brothel girl. She was somehow even less dressed than the lassa girl they were dragging along. He looked the girl up and down, his relaxed gaze still piercing. He could tell she wasn't some brothel maiden, but he was sure it wasn't far from it. Before they got to say anything though it seemed the girl who had summoned them had arrived and began to speak to them. Shortly after this girl revealed her true form, that of a ancient elegant dragon. Needless to say, while he could tell Sophia was of dragon blood, this had surprised him quite thoroughly. In his life he had sen very few dragons, none that compared to her however. She was of a different build and size, complementing speed and maneuverability over hardened power of other dragons. Dremmick leaned off of the wall now that she had his full attention. At least, until she said something about them being watched. He kept a sharp eye in the direction she refereed to. His hazel eyes started to glow a yellow color with wisps of spectral energy flowing gently out of them as he used his soul sight, noticing that there indeed was someone over there. But, he could hunt the eavesdropper later, he needed to pay attention for now. Though it didn't stop him from watching the bushes even after his soul sight faded away.

She called herself Sophia, the Guardian of Knowledge. He listened carefully to what she had to tell them. Even though Dremmick knew about a number of events that have been occurring lately, he didn't know that things were becoming so dire so quickly. She then started what looked to be a blood magic ritual, the likes of which even Dremmick hasn't seen before. When she held out the scale, he nodded and walked forward. "We accept your offer, and thank you for sacrificing your time. Hopefully, we won't come calling."

"But wait, we can't accept that. While I am sure tha Guardian is plenty powerful, we can't ask her ta break her oath fur our sake," Allard interjected, his arms crossed.

"Oh, oaths huh? Tell me, what's the worth of an oath to sit by and record history and knowledge if the world is destroyed? We are taking it. At least I am. If it means that much to you then make sure we never need to use it." Dremmick said as he put it away. Allard thought for a moment then shook his head. "Alright," he replied, "Go ahead." Allard wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he guessed sometimes, oaths become outdated when the situations change.

After bidding farewell to Sophia, Dremmick turned his attention back to the eavesdropper, who seemed to still be hiding as he used his soul sight once more. "I am Nailah, a priestess of the Fallen Goddess. Allard asked me to travel with him for a bit as a way to repay what I did for him, but I may stay for a bit longer now that I heard what Sophia had to say and saw you guys... You're quite the weird group, aren't you?" the girl with Allard said after Sophia left.

"So it would seem," he said looking from her and up to Allard. "I'm Dremmick." he said, looking toward the brush where Shye hid. There were plenty of children milling about the woods when they arrivrd, so he wouldn't be surprised if it was some kid. Either way, whatever info they would have gathered wouldn't have amounted to much even if it was an enemy. He guessed he would habe to keep an eye out.

"You Don't suppose Sophia would have noticed if it were a threat, would ya?" Allard asked.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Dremmick replied. He looked back over and assessed the two. "I could always go and 'take care' of it if you are that worried about it." He pulled out his karambit and started spinning it on his finger through the finger loop on the end of the handle. His face was neutral, so it was hard to tell if he was being serious or not.

[Brithwyr]

---

Watching the waitress leave with Blight was a painful thing to witness. Siiga knew she shouldn't have been invested in it; the girl was probably totally straight, and with a shit taste in men to boot. But if she had been faster, or if she signalled more aggressively, maybe, just maybe it would have been her walking out of here with a cute waitress on her hip.

Ah well. There was no point moping about it. In her experience, girls who preferred munching muff to sucking sausage when a prized commodity, few and far between. She would just have to try again and another point. Sooner or later, someone had to fall to her charms. Hopefully sooner.

She... Considered the newcomer. Really, there wasn't much reason not to go for her. She was smoking hot, and there was no doubt in her mind she would give a good tumble. But it was that look in her eyes that put her off. She knew that look well. It was the same one she saw every time she looked in a mirror at her own face. That subtle glint in the eye, the slightly arrogant smirk, the posture and clothes that managed to catch the eye without making it seem like she was trying too hard: no doubt, Siiga was looking at one of her own.

Which is precisely what turned her off. Like hell was she gonna be put on someone else's list of conquests! Siiga did not "get seduced". Siiga did the seducing. If she thought she was gonna get Sii in her bed, she had another thing coming!

But if not the waitress, and not the newcomer, then who? Maybe she could find some local belle or a cute country boy, but all things considered, this was the sort of place where people with Siiga's, uhm, "peculiarity" were considered monsters and succubi. No fling was worth getting roasted at the stake.

Whatever. It wasn't like it was life or death. For now, she had the pleasure of strong ale, a hot meal and somewhere to toddle back to at the end of the night.

Although... The company was a bit lacking. Hard as they were, her little troupe of bandits had been her family for the past goodness-knows-how-long. Their dank little cave had been home. Never again would they go on a raid together. No more arguing over who got what loot. No more loving pranks, no more big brawls, no more contests to see who could get the most panties off a girl. It was all gone. And here she was, drinking and eating and flirting like there wasn't a thing wrong in the world. Like everything was just as it always was. She half-expected to hear Crank's obnoxious laugh, or Stretch say something utterly stupid. But she wouldn't. She never would again.

Something wet ran down her cheek.

Come on... Get it together. Don't embarrass yourself in front of everyone. They'll all think you're some kinda overemotional wreck.

She managed a soft, sad smile. Wherever you were, lads, keep a seat ready.

It was time to go. Drinking herself into oblivion was fine when she had a hotel or something to crash in at the end of the day, not so much when she was a stranger in a new town. She stood up, paid for her drinks and left the bar, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone as she went

[13org]

---

^{@Rai @Jollan}

---

Nailah's first impression from Dremmick was that he was a pretty... suspicious guy. She could smell trouble on him. Too serious, too quiet... It was clear as day that he was hiding something... Be it one way or another, Nailah would know what it was. Other than that, it wasn't like Nailah didn't perceive Dremmick's judgmental stare as he looked at her up and down. Needless to say, Nailah didn't like not even one bit to be stared like that.

He was quick to get that artifact from Sophia's hand though. While Nailah had her doubts if he was indeed the best choice to handle that power, she got what Sophia meant when she said that they should be the ones to decide who would carry it. It was a test. Just like she had said herself, she was naught but an observer who was forced to take part due to unprecedented circumstances. Nailah didn't know much about Sophia's story or circumstances, but she could understand her point.

After Sophia was gone, Dremmick said about checking who was the person Sophia said was hiding from them. Nailah remembered Sophia saying that and if she wasn't mistaken, she was looking towards a certain direction when she mentioned it. Whoever it was, probably wasn't part of the group, seeing how Dremmick immediately drew his knife, spinning it on his finger.

"She is a dragon... An ancient one... You felt that weird and powerful aura, didn't you? Probably few things can be considered a 'threat' on her eyes..." Nailah replied as Allard asked if Sophia would have noticed if the hiding one was a threat.

"I will look at it. It will undoubtedly be more interesting than staying here as you stare at me with such a heavy, wary and judgmental stare..." Nailah said as she walked towards Allard, spinning her body around his, going behind him. Using Allard's large body to cut the line of sight between her, Dremmick and whoever it was that was hiding, watching them, she activated Lover's Veil. Suddenly, even if Allard looked behind him, it was like Nailah had disappeared in thin air. Not Allard nor Dremmick saw Nailah moving from behind Allard, and yet, she wasn't there anymore. Looking around also proved to be useless, until Dremmick felt a whisper on his ear and Nailah's hot breath kissing his neck.

"You smell like trouble... You're hiding something, aren't you?" Nailah said, whispering on his ear as she jumped back with a giggle as Dremmick turned around just to see her behind him. It was almost like she vanished for a second, almost like if Nailah was always just our of their field of view, moving just out of reach of their eyes, between their blind spots.

"So dangerous! If you could catch me, that is..." Nailah said with a laugh as she half walked half skipped around Dremmick holding her arms behind her back.

"Hey, I am still your ally, you know? You wouldn't hurt your own ally now, would you?" Nailah said with a smirk, showing her sharp teeth and licking her lips as she raised her hands in an inoffensive posture. Putting her arms behind her once more, Nailah slowly backed away, still looking towards Dremmick. The second Nailah went behind a tree, she disappeared once more. This time, you couldn't even feel her presence as she dashed away towards the direction where whoever was the one who was spying on them was.

Instead of going right towards the direction where the 'intruder' was, Nailah deviated her course a little bit, walking a bit to the side so she could approach the intruder by their right side, instead of simply going face to face. After searching for a brief moment, Nailah saw a tree amongst some bushes, with a suspicious shadow coming from behind it.

"There you are... Nailah thought to herself as she approached the suspicious tree, stopping literally a few steps away from it, just out of the intruder's field of view.

"How did you know I love a little game of cat and mouse?" Nailah whispered, as she revealed herself to the intruder.

"Meow~" Nailah said with a smirk as she looked at the figure who was spying on them. Even though it was hiding itself with a hood, Nailah was able to identify it as a woman due to it's curves under her clothes.

[Jollan]

Dremmick, Allard, and Shye

Dremmick spun around fast, edge of his blade coming aiming to rest just where Nailah's neck should be...but she wasn't there. Dremmick gritted his teeth an mild annoyance. His eyes started to glow again as he used his soul vision to track her, but whatever ability she was using effected even his soul sight. She kept disappearing and reappearing in different spots, and every time he lost his line of sight on her, should would briefly disappear again. He released his soul vision.

"Hey, I am still your ally, you know? You wouldn't hurt your own ally now, would you?" Nailah said with a smirk

"That remains to be seen..." He replied coldly as she made her way off to track Shye.

"She's really not that bad. Inquisitive maybe, but she means no harm." Allard said after a bit of a chuckle. Dremmick simply raised an eyebrow at the man and continued to watch. Allard, not being really pleased by the dismissive gesture continued, "Let me put it ta ya this way, lad. Harm her, and I will make sure ya face will be acquainted with tha ground. Am I clear?" He said with a challenging grin.

That actually made Dremmick grin slightly with a short huff of air in amusement, "Duly noted." While Dremmick thought he could probably take him, he wasn't in any rush to try that theory.

As for Shye, she never heard or seen it coming. For most people, they would have fallen over on their rear when getting scared in the crouched position. When Shye was startled by Nailah's voice, despite her eyes widening a little comically in shock, she instead planted a hand behind her when she fell back and pivoted her weight onto her arm as she reset into a crouching position on her haunches, ready to jump up to strike or run. There was no sound of a gasp, but the little furred dragon Nix, was not happy about being surprised, hissing at Nailah as she appeared. Shye's left hand was in a fist, heat starting to radiate from it as she watched what the person would do. After a moment of waiting she jumped in the air, her claws dug into the tree as her legs propped against it. She kicked off of it and made a small explosion that pushed her farther away, splintering and knocking over the tree at the point of impact, before trying to make a run for it, running and weaving rapidly through the woods.

[13org]

---

^@Jollan

---

Nailah kept carefully analyzing the woman's reactions with a smirk and feline eyes. The most common reaction if someone found an intruder spying on their secret meeting was either attack them or try to capture/interrogate them, yet, Nailah was simply looking at her, with a mischievous smile on her face, not even moving.

"A dragonling~ How interesting..." Nailah thought to herself as she watched the woman's hand started to radiate heat and saw the small snout from the dragonling hissing at her.

Instead of attacking Nailah, which was what she was expecting, the strange woman jumped in the air, her claws digging into the tree as she used it as a platform to jump away from Nailah, creating a small explosion as she did so.

"Ooh~ You're surprisingly agile!" Nailah said, jumping back to avoid the splinters coming from the tree, but without any intention to follow her, even though the agility she displayed jumping away from the explosion meant that she could probably keep up with her.

"See you later~" Nailah said waving her hands playfully as the strange woman ran away.

A few minutes after, Nailah went back to where Dremmick and Allard were, with the same smirk she had when she met the strange girl.

"It was a young woman with a small dragonling companion. Claws and fire magic. After seeing her movements, it is pretty clear that she is trained." Nailah said, appearing from behind the trees.

"She fled instead of attacking us so I don't think she was a threat..." Nailah said, shrugging.

"So... Would you two gentlemen mind introducing me to the other members? I am quite curious about them!" Nailah said with a giggle.

[Jollan]

Siiga, Bonnie, Lynn, Metis

---

Just shortly after speaking with Metis, Lynn turned to see a familiar figure leave the inn. The medical center was just next to it, so it was easy enough to recognize the headstrong tyro girl leave. A thought just occurred to her from earlier. If she was going to get to know anybody from the group, she had to start talking. She sat up on her legs an rested her sleeved arm on her lap, partially covering her legs and the rest laying in the grass beside her. She started waving over to Siiga, the tip of her tail slightly swaying from side to side as it coiled around where she sat. "Hey!" she shouted out. "You are also traveling with Alliance right?" she asked, just double checking to make sure she didn't mistake her as someone who was just going the same direction.

The girl visibly wiped her eyes. Was she crying? Surely not. Lynn must have imagined it. Whatever could have made Siiga, the girl who told the king to his face, in front of the whole court... Well, best not dwell on the details. But she didn't seem like the sort who would get upset. Regardless, Siiga's head turned and she gave a little smile and a wave. You could practically hear the cogs in her head clicking, though what was on her mind was a mystery. Eventually she decided to come on over after all. "Hey. You're... Lynn, right?" She asked in a curious tone.

Lynn's countenance faltered a little as she saw the girl wipe her eyes, but brought it back up in time for the girl to turn towards her. Lynn was unaware of who she was, being just seeing the group this morning for a moment before heading out. She had a sweet smile as she replied. "Yup! Lynn Meditrina, pleasure to meet you, though I'm afraid I don't know your name. Or many of the others we are supposed to be teamed up with actually."

Siiga glanced at her boot for a second. "Siiga Kalayo. Just Siiga will do." She tried to return the smile, but it was still tainted with sadness

Lynn's head tilted a little and her ears drooped a bit when she looked into her eyes. Siiga's face, while she tried to smile, still held the remnants of tears from just a short while ago. Her staff came to her and she and lifted her from the ground, now sitting on the staff. "I-is everything alright?" she said gently, not sure how to approach the situation.

Siiga's smile only got sadder. "Why wouldn't it be, sweetie?"

Lynn honestly wasn't sure what to do. something was obviously bothering her, but she didn't know if it was better to get her mind off it or to have her talk it out. "Well....it's just..." She bit her lip in thought, "I don't mean to pry or anything...but you seem... sad..." after a bit of an awkward silence, "I'm sorry, i shouldn't have said anything," she apologized looking down.

There was something sweet about the fish girl's concern for her. "I'm just... Thinking about the past. That's all." Siiga didn't want to worry her too much. She seemed too innocent to have to deal with the harshness of the bandit.

"Talking about ones troubles usually helps...." she said looking back up, a little more reassured. "If we are going to be traveling together, we may as well know one another." She hovered back down and sat in the grass again, not missing the chance to feel the grass on her feet again. Once situated she patted the ground next to her, "You can talk to me about it if you want. If not though, I understand, however, I can't say I know much about the world out here. This is my first time ever leaving Tearia."

"Really?" Oh, that poor girl. These were savage, wild lands out here. They would tear apart a sweet young thing like her in the blink of an eye. "Lucky you got me here to look out for you, then." At last! A genuine smile! Siiga sat down on the grass, her coat keeping the dew off her backside.

Lynn laughed softly. "Really. In fact, today is the first day i got to feel what grass is like," she said looking at the grass as her tail brushed against the dew. "I never would have thought water would form on it later in the day either, its great!" it was something so simple to most people, but to her who has never seen or felt it, it was amazing, and the water kept her cool and moisturized at night to boot! "So where are you from?" she asked.

Ah. Right for the jugular, as it were. Siiga sighed. "You don't wanna hear about me, hon. It's kinda boring, trust me". If she was to take this girls innocence, it should be in a bedroom where they'd both have fun, not telling sad, dark stories...

"I find that hard to believe, but I'll take your word for it," she said with a giggle. "Not really much about my home life I'm afraid. My dad is a guard and my mother runs an infirmary that I would help in back home. We don't get much time away from it though, as you could probably imagine. We even live there, part of the third floor of the infirmary is our home. Its not that big but it is comfortable for the three of us. That's where I learned my healing magic, though some of my ability is borrowed from my grandfather's blood, who was a Sol." Her tail was slowly moving back and forth as she continued to talk about home, glad to talk about it as her homesickness had been bothering her. A look of surprise came over her face as she realized she was rambling. "OH! Sorry, I didn't mean to go on and on. I've always wanted to explore what else is out there though, so when I was asked to accompany the Alliance, I accepted."

Siiga couldn't help but smile. This girl was absolutely adorable! It was so relaxing to just and talk to someone about normal stuff for once and not have to worry about impressing them or outwitting them. "No need to apologise. It's cute!" She teased

Lynn blushed a little at the compliment, and partially still of embarrassment about herself rambling. "So, what is it that you like to do?"

"Me?" Oh, here we go. Siiga knew if she opened her mouth about what she actually did as a hobby, Lynn would up and out right there and then. She didn't want to spook her. "I, uh, I don't do much, to be honest..."

Lynn was hoping that she would say something that they could find to cheer her up, but that didn't really seem to help much. "Oh," she started as she brushed some hair away from her face, "One of the things I've enjoyed the most about being out of Tearia is the sky. Its always absolutely breathtaking. Tearia is on the sea floor, so to see the sky you have to travel all the way up to the top, and its not always safe to do so. But now that I'm up here, I can see the clouds and stars as much as I want, it's like an ever shifting painting." It was just then that a growling sound could be heard, and it was coming from Lynn's stomach. Her eyes widened a bit as her face turned red.

Suddenly, a smile bloomed on Siiga's face. She looked far happier than when they started, and even if Lynn was still in the dark about who she was exactly and why she had been so upset, at least she could happy with the fact that she managed to make her forget it for a while.

"You hungry? We could always..." She was gonna suggest going to the bar, but then she remember the other woman there. Didn't seem like such an appealing plan now. "... head to the supplies cart? There's bound to be something in there."

"Oh, okay! Let's check it out!" Lynn said as she turned to metis and hopped back on her staff. "C'mon, Metis, I'm sure you are probably hungry too." She said, even though she knew she would probably follow. She then let Siiga lead the way as she had no idea where they took the wagon. She was happy that Siiga's mood had improved, while she didn't know her that well, she was glad to have been able to help her, and hopefully have made a new friend.

Metis had been following Lynn silently as she talked with the Fire walker girl puzzled by her as she was sensing something but couldn’t place it. Metis had her hood up so her appearance didn’t draw undue attention on the two of them and she was happy Lynn was now trying to form alliances so when the healer asked her if she was hungry Metis bowed slightly in affirmation that she would follow

Lynn smiled as Metis followed along with them. Following Siiga's lead they arrived at the wagon that Allard's ox pulled shortly after. Lynn, floated over to the back end of the wagon and undid the latch that let the back gate down only to gasp in surprise when she noticed someone sleeping inside. She slowly leaned in to focus on it when she floated back out again. It was the boy from Vrondi's square! How and when did he get there? When the others came around Lynn held a finger up to her mouth to the others if they came around to investigate. "This boy, I met him in the square back in Vrondi," she whispered. "After the last time we met though, he probably wouldn't want to see me..." she thought as she remembered what happened last she saw him, slowly floating back away from the wagon, ears drooping. He got upset, misunderstanding a situation and ended up pulling a knife on her before she kinda sulked away.

A stowaway? How fascinating~! Who could it be? A spy, come to make sure they actually followed orders? A thief, here to rob them in their sleep? Perhaps it was a murderer, ready to claim their next victim! Whoever it was, Siiga was more than ready for them; if they wanted to hurt the alliance, they would have to go through her!

She grabbed her neck around to get a glimpse at whoever it was that had unnerved Lynn so much. And when she saw then...
"Lynn, are you blind? That's a girl." She hissed in hushed tones

Lynn shook her head. "I met him before. I promise its a boy. He looks young but he is only a year younger than me," she whispered. "He never gave me his name though." She looked at the boy for a moment. "Sh.....should we wake him?"

There was no way in hell that was a boy, Siiga thought, looking closer at the strangers snoozing face. Sure, she was a little lacking in the chest department, but her face was just too soft. There wasn't a hint of masculinity in the girl's whole body!
"You seriously think that's a boy!?"

"I... well... I'm fairly certain. Medically speaking while he has very feminine traits, his bone structure around his hips and shoulders are slightly off to be female. Though I guess he never really said either way, i just assumed." Siiga questioning it now made her question it. She could have sworn it was a young boy but then again, the person was nineteen with a small body and higher pitched voice. "I mean.... i could be wrong...." she said now uncertain.

"Look at the face. Her lips are too thick, and her cheekbones are way too round. That's a girl, I'm certain of it!"

"Maybe," she started, "though he, ...o-or she, didn't say anything when I refered to them as a he..." she watched as her stomach growled again, turning a bit red again as she gave an apologizing grin. "I, uh, guess we could....ask? Or something....," she said a bit nervously. "Either way, I guess we have to wake them up."

Metis stood nearby ready to act if the stowaway proved dangerous to Lynn her tentacle actively trying to reach out and taste the stowaway so she could confirm the sex status of the stowaway.

Siiga looked on as the girl-boy slept. On one hand, she wanted to stop Metis and just let them sleep. On the other, much bigger hand, she was curious to see where she was actually going with this, so in the end she looked on, waiting for a reaction from the stowaway.

Lynn waited, not sure what Metis was doing, but sure she had some sort of idea in her head. She wasn't going to shock him awake was she?

Metis sensed attention focused on her and her tentacles reacted to her curiosity with a few undulating in Lynn and the other's direction as one tentacle lightly touched the sleeper gathering sensory information as if it were touching a potential meal and not wanting to frighten it off before she made her decision. Metis turns to Lynn her thoughts gently placing the confirmation that the sleeping figure is indeed a boy.

Lynn smiled and turned to Sigga, "Metis says its a boy, too" she mentioned quietly. "So what should we do? I feel like we have to do something now that we found him."

"Well, I call dibs." Siiga shrugged. "Y'all can find your own stowaway"

"Wait, what!?" Lynn exclaimed, turning red, "I-I never, I mean, that's not what I meant by asking!" Then noticing she raised her voice quickly covered her mouth, hoping she didn't wake him.

There was a shuffle and a sneeze coming from inside the wagon. Siiga turned her head - to spy two bright blue eyes looking back at her."Fuck..."

"Uh, h-hello again," Lynn said to Bonnie with a slight wave and her sleeved hand covering her sheepish smile. Admittedly, she was a bit nervous after how their last encounter ended up, but she did feel better with Metis and Siiga there.

As for Siiga, she was starstruck. Seems like recently she'd been meeting a LOT of cute girls, but this was the icing on the cake. They were so small! She just wanted to cuddle her and take her home!

"It's okay, sweetie, we're friends!" Siiga offered to the Oro. But the little stranger didnt look at all appeased. It's hands darted to its belt, drawing a rusty-looking old dagger, ready to pounce.

"Woah, there, back off, little girl!" Siiga yelped. She hadn't been anticipating such a hostile response!

Lynn pulled water from her jar and formed a water barrier between them and the stowaway, though because she was low on magic she could feel a throbbing through her body as she did so, which wasn't a good sign, but she was unfamiliar with the feeling. Her eyes were locked onto Bonnie's with a worried expression, "Please stop," she pleaded, "We aren't here to hurt you, we were jus-hnnn," she faltered as she started to float back down to the ground, her water barrier spasmed a bit before completely falling to the ground as she lost control of her staff as well. There was a pain all over as she curled up into a ball. She had overused her magic today, which resulted in her falling asleep to regain her energy. However, waking up shortly after meant that she did't have much magic energy to use, the sun's light was dying out, and she hadn't eaten anything either, and now her body was tapped out, a peculiar pain that she had not experienced before.

At Lynn's fall Metis was covering her with both her cloak and her own body her tentacles crackling with energy except the two that touched her mistress which sought the reason for her illness. Then discovering that it was that she'd exhausted herself so Metis lifted her up as gently as if she were a caring mother with her sleeping child. She bowed slightly to Siiga then carried her Mistress to where they had parked the carriage.

[RumikoOhara]

---

---

Ami had been helping the injured healing their wounds but was overwhelmed by the horror of disease. This place was under a pestilence that stank in her nostrils and even seemed to try and stain her very soul; none of this could be allowed to stand.

So the shadow girl stood from her position near a wounded child she’d healed of the pestilence and walked outside her wings glowing like intangible illusions made of flames followed by one of the Taxi who it seemed had appointed herself Ami’s guardian protector.

The older Taxi watched as Ami drew on the earth a circle of fire that burned brightly but gave off no heat, consumed nothing it touched only making the ground within glow and flower all around the feet of its creator.

Vasa Coca Vin No, Vasa Coca Vin No Nos
(Hear me Mother, Hear me Mother Please)
Sino Vin Asara Coldare Chee
(Mother your child’s heart is breaking)
Esta Es Artura Keen Ar
(Fill my Heart with your Love)

Ami’s left hand touches the broach hat her breasts touching a hidden clasp that releases her scant clothing to tumble to the ground as she sings an ancient spell to the Mother Earth and assumes the guise of a Hierophant Seraphim. Her wings spread and the earth near her seems to tremble then burst into a riot of colors as every plant within 20 feet of her is filled with life energy.

Vasa Coca Vin No, Vasa Coca Vin No Nos
(Hear me Mother, Hear me Mother Please)
Sino Vin Asara Coldare Chee
(Mother your child’s heart is breaking)
Esta Es Artura Keen Ar
(Fill my Heart with your Love)

A globe of light surrounds Ami her hair taking on the blood aspect, the water of life.

Hisa Vin Aldi Ina Ma Chee
(Take all within my heart)
Jeffe Sos Es Aldi Mas Ze Es
(I offer my life to you, my very soul)
Proma Viate, Proma Viate
(I cry for them, I cry for them)

Suddenly Ami’s intangible wings become gleaming gold as the flames around her grow brighter



Her true aspect revealed

The Taxi woman stands in awe briefly then falls to her knees in supplication and begins praying as the effect of the spell and power in the Seraphim child surrounds everything in a glowing aura of gold.

Ami lifts off the ground on a column of golden flame and the healing effect starts spreading rapidly as she tries to heal the entire town of Pearl and banish all of the rot that afflicted it.

What she does is forbidden by the throne of any of her caste because it involves her using her life force and soul to power it but she doesn’t care. Ami is a healer and she is compelled by her gift to heal any in need her own life forfeit if needed.

The clouds overhead spread out in a rolling wide circle so that the Sun itself adds it’s light to her own making her into a smaller sun and as difficult to gaze on.

Ami unseen cries tears of joy which on striking the soil become tiny motes of light that spread out in every direction and any plant, person, or animal is healed by contact.

During the spectacle those blessed and of good hearts see lost loved ones redeemed rise up and flow into the small sun which is Ami. She stops at around 500 feet above the town her light covering everything exposed some of the locals even drawing out into the open those sick in their homes even their babes in hope that they will be blessed by what they see.

[Jollan]

Dremmick tried to move out of the way of the splinters, though there were a lot and he still got hit by a good bit, even thought they didn't do anything. But this woman, whoever she was, seemed to be just as incompetent as everyone in this 'alliance'. She just....let her go...Because she she didn't think the spy was a threat? If that wasn't the most naive thing Dremmick has ever heard. "No. She fled because she has something to hide. Just because she didn't strike now doesn't mean she won't later.....We'll be seeing her again, ...dammit all," He cursed as he turned as he walked off back towards the inn, visibly irritated. This was starting to look all too familiar, and it was leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

It was a little while after he settled in that he felt a huge surge of energy, reminiscent to that of the healing magic that Ami used earlier, but a lot more powerful, however, he could feel. He shook his head. Why would they go through all this trouble here and now. they aren't even close to their objective, they are using their powers everywhere to the point of burning out, Mason collapsed from God knows what, and now there is someone spying on them. If they weren't more careful,they would be dead before they even reached so much as looked at the hammer.



Allard was surprised by the explosion, but reacted quickly to the falling tree. When it tipped over, Allard caught it in his arms, and then carried it over to the side of the road, out of the way. "A dragonling and fire magic, huh?" Allard said as he walked back to Nailah, Dremmick was already walking away, irritated. Allard ignored him and continued talking, crossing his large arms in thought. "Don't see dragonlings too often, especially hanging around what is presumably a Tyro, given Fotia's past in dragon slaying. She must have found it and took it in. She may be an outcast of sorts, maybe? We don't know her motives or goals, so it may still be best to practice caution." He said with slight shrug. It was all speculation, nothing concrete of coarse. "Anyway, there are only a few other people to meet, they should be near the medical center I believe."

On the way there, Allard felt Ami's surge of healing energy envelope him, the air seemed thick with it's power. "What's this?" he said, confused. It felt like he had a new spring to his step. But more than that, he could feel a twitching at his back, that he hadn't felt in a long time. "I-impossible! My wings! I can feel them!" He had the face of utter amazement. He concentrated on the powerful muscles in his wing. While healing, they haven't been used in so long, it took a bit of convincing. Suddenly his huge wigs erupted into an enormous wingspan that he had to turn to face perpendicular to the street to keep from hitting the buildings on either side. The muscles in the wings were greater than than of his arms, the wings themselves unlike others were a trifold style, allowing him to be able to fold them in at his size. The intense wind pressure from them opening sent a huge gust of wind out from around him. The wingspan was nearly forty feet from the tip of his wing to the other. Allard was belting out in a joyful fit of laughter, moving them experimentally out and in, though he wasn't giving it enough to lift him off the ground, it still causes quite a still of wind around him. He looked down to Nailah with a huge smile. "How would you like to take a shortcut?" essentially asking if she wanted to fly there.

As Shye wove her way through the woods, she couldn't help but think about how that one woman was able to sneak up on her, even Nix for that matter. She finally came to a stop, feeling like she had put enough distance between them to slow down. Nix had his claws dug a little in her shoulder that time to hold on. While it smarted, it was nothing serious, and once the dragonling found out everything was ok again, it went back to its normal self, content to sit on her shoulder. She pet it while she walked. There was no way to stay in town tonight it would seem, not in the conventional way of staying at the inn anyways. While the woman didn't see her face, she saw Nix, and her power type, which means the only to be around them would be to leave behind her cloak and Nix, but she knew she couldn't leave the young dragon to fend for itself. If it wasn't for that Sophia, she would have never been noticed. That dragon was far more powerful than could deal with should they call her back. So first thing she had to do, was retrieve that scale, which was on her first main target. With a solemn face, she pet the young dragon on her shoulder. This was the first time in a long time that she wasn't sure if she could complete this mission, and to be honest, the consequences of failure terrified her more than death.

[Brithwyr]

AND

---

There was a stranger in his midst.

His fingers gripped the cold, rusted steel of the dagger. As he shifted position, the thrum of power burst through him, shielding him from potential assault. Not that he was expecting the woman to attack him, but it never hurt to be careful.

"Easy, girl, easy," the woman put her hands up in an attempt to placate him. She was frightened. Good. That meant she wouldn't try anything. Evidently he slipped aboard the wrong cart, and found himself in the hands of some kind of lesbian trio. Not a bad choice considering the other options.

"Wha are ye!? Whit d'ye want!?"

"I could ask you the same thing," the girl put her hands on her hips. "After all, you're the one who's asleep in our cart."

Bonnie's grip tightened hard enough to make the skin go white. If she reported him to the guard, that meant meant fines he couldn't pay, that meant prison, that meant being stuck in a tight spot surrounded by people twice his height and quadruple his mass. What choice did he have?

"I'm nae in trouble, am ah, Miss?" Bonnie fluttered his eyelashes, but never dropped out of his defensive stance. If she would only relax a little! Maybe he could get past her, just for a moment, he was sure he could outrun her. No way could she move as fast as him with that heavy jacket on her shoulders.

The ruse seemed to work, and the woman's expression softened. "It's okay, Sweetie, you've got nothing to worry about," she sighed. "Just put the knife down, and we can talk about this."

Bonnie had no intention of letting go of his weapon. Battered and old though it was, it was the only thing keeping him safe at this point. If he let go of that, he might as well scream "here I am, alone and vulnerable, at the whims of whoever may take me!". The woman saw the resolve in his eyes, and her face hardened.

"I can't let you out if you're going to stab me, sweetie. Put the knife down."

"Ah cannae dae that, Miss. Ye ken ah cannae."

The woman sighed. Very well, it seemed to say, we'll do this the hard way. Suddenly, there was a crack and a smell like burning cordite, like when you let off a firework in a small garden, and a flame blossomed in the girls hands. Quickly, Bonnie thrust his free hand out. But the woman wasn't throwing a fireball at him. Instead, the fire seemed to solidify and harden in her hands, changing and forming into a long, sharp beam. A few seconds later, and it had cooled into a deadly spear, black and glistening like glass at midnight.

"Will you come out now?" The girl smiled, sweet as honey, while pointing ten foot of obsidian at the poor boy's chest.

Bonnie was stubborn, but he wasn't thick. He knew when he was beat. A spear like could gut him before he got anywhere near her. Bitterly, he dropped the knife.

"Good girl. Come on, out you come."

His heart was in his throat as he took a tentative step towards her. Was this it? Had he done so far and fought so hard, just to end up enslaved by... Whoever this was? It was hardly bearable to even think about. His bare foot slipped out of the cart and onto the grass, under the watchful eye of his captor. Once he was bathed in sunlight, however, the woman gasped.

"Oh my god..." Bonnie looked utterly skeletal. His clothes had long since come away threadbare, and he'd covered the gaps with long strips of bandage-like cloth. His ribs poked through his chest hideously and his legs trembled under even his tiny weight; Siiga didn't doubt for a second that if he was to carry anything heavier they would snap like the twigs they resembled. What wasn't white as snow was a bruised purple, mostly up his arms and his chest. Even the blue of his wings and his horns looked dull. If it wasn't for the fire burning passionately in his eyes, Siiga would have sworn that she was looking at a corpse come back to life somehow. And yet, despite his starved, broken appearance, he retained some degree of cuteness. Maybe it was how fragile he looked, or the short white mess on his head that looked more like feathers than hair, or the full lips and big, bright eyes. Maybe it was the combination of it all together. Who knew?

"You got a name, sweetheart?" She asked. Even Bonnie was shocked by her sincerity.

"Bonnie... Ma... Ma name is Bonnie..."

Bonnie. What a sweet name. A sweet name, for a sweet little girl. "You got a home, Bonnie? A family?"

She suspected the answer before he said it. "No..."

Poor thing. All alone in the world, no one to look after him, no one to care about him. Siiga felt her heart clench just looking at the poor thing. "Well, for what it's worth, I'm Siiga. I'm going to be looking after you from now on, okay? Let's get you something proper to eat, and then you can tell me why you were hiding in the back of the cart."

Something to eat... Bonnie felt like he hadn't eaten in days. Desperate as he was to run away, he needed the food. And yet, as Siiga took his hand and brought him close to her side, he couldn't help but feel like he'd made a huge mistake not fleeing when he could...

[Rai]

A divine blessing washed over the town. Its wide and massive waves fluxuated over every living thing, whether it clutched to it by a thread or was young and healthy, it was given new life. The soul first, it always started from the divinity of the soul. Then it would move to the very atoms of the third dimension. Returning something to its most ample state was a hard thing to do physically. But as the people of Pearl began to witness, true divine ability knew how to return a broken piece to a whole. This was the will of the creator in the form of rejuvenation.

The plants began to grow. Their cells rapidly duplicating. Yet not resulting in unnatural growth. But a bright and brimming form fully intact, strong and elastic. The hidden flower seed dying after being blown into the crevices by the callous and cool winds from the mountain tops has now grown into a fully fledged flower, bright and healthy. This is only a small example of the extent of the spells effects. The Oro blood in most of this towns citizens made healing a hard to come by commodity. With great surprise they saw disfigured reformed and felt their illnesses vanish.

It was the largest grand gesture the people here have ever seen. Many immediately felt the assumption that the healing clinic was visited by Vrondi himself. But as the strength tournament came to an abrupt end and the people began moving back into town, they observed the vegetation in the clinic sprout wildly. It was not the Gaian way to have vegetation grow wild so it was met with some disdain...

But none could question that Ami was responsible for returning the towns wounded and sick back to full health. Once she had accomplished this goal many gifts were raised for her journey. Word of the groups mission to heal the lands and thr people was spread quickly. Children visited the clinic. Elderly did so too. Many wanting to see the grand healer. A genuine seraphim and a royal pure blood. A rare jewel most did not want to miss. The clinic soon found itself surrounded by people from the town. The Taxis guard informing them they could not enter if not injured, a healer, or a friend is inside.

It was nearly all too strong a spell of divine will to go unnoticed. Nomads outaise the town began to move in. Their hoods and animal furs were worn but camouflaged them in the forest perfectly. Moving from Vrondi and Gaia seemed to be their way. Mushrooms and vegeation on their attire. It was only seven of different ages. A family it seemed to be but a diverse group. However walking behind them was one who seemed to travel all the way to Nero. His dark attire and poisonous mushrooms and vegeation on his body were native to that land and his black and grey hue both in skinn and clothing made his form like a moving shadow. His hood covering his head as he walked with a bag as did the others. Traveling nomads.

They too came to the clinic. The woman holding a babe begged the guard. "My child is ill we have come from outside the village...!" Her child was covered in a wrapping. She entered the clinic and since a few of the other nomads knew her they went inside. Once inside the woman pleaded to have her baby cured of its illness. Sitting on her knees as she did so. The dark hooded nomad touched her shoulder to comfort her. "Do not fear for your child.. We are before a benevolent healer. One who hails from Vrondis own kin no doubt.." He spoke smoothly and with wisdom. Like a wise traveler.

He turned to observe Ami and all her glory. Awaiting her response.
@RumikoOhara