CronicCrystalis

The Elder Scrolls: Souls of Many Shades [Jake & Cronic]

Once Aria stepped into the room, a mouthwatering sight greeted her; An array of assorted meats and vegetables, all arranged into a feast for the eyes, and the rest of the senses. Piles of freshly sliced meats and fish of various kinds stacked up high, cooked with herbs and other seasonings for additional flavour, with different combinations used as required, carrots arranged to look like a sort of square wall with a "Roof" of cabbage leaves, a literal mountain of potatoes... The list goes on. What was certain however, was that Cronic had cooked enough food to completely fill the bellies of the four of them, and then some.

Cronic and Serena were sat diagonally opposite from one another, the former waving to Aria as she entered the building, as he picked an ample selection of what was available on the table, and taking the time to savour his handiwork. He had spent the last few hours whipping up this feast, afterall, and he would be severely dissapointed if it didn't work out as intended.

Serena, on the other hand, was initially skeptical as she loaded her plate, but once she'd taken that first bite, she threw her caution (And her manners) to the wind. To her, something like a homecooked meal was considered a luxury, but now that she was actually having one, she feels like she could never go back to tavern food.

The Elder Scrolls: Souls of Many Shades [Jake & Cronic]

Though she was sound asleep, Serena was tossing and turning restlessly, images of a wolf appearing within her mind. At first glance, you'd probably think she was having a nightmare, but she was snapped back to reality when she smelled something... Something delicious. Rubbing her eyes as she awoke, she slowly went downstairs.

"You put the herbs on the venison and eat 'em both up~" Cronic sang to himself, as he cooked various meats over a cookfire while he worked on various vegetables. Serena's mouth began to water slightly at the sight, having not eaten since she left Solitude with Yuki.

"Figured this'd get you up. It's not ready yet though." Cronic said, turning to look at Serena with one eye, before returning to the vegetables he was presently chopping up.

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

"I collected a fair share of books, journals and other things during my travels. Every day is a chance to learn something new, afterall, and I'm always looking to expand my horizons." Izaroth said to himself, thinking back to the "library" he had aboard his ship as he made his way to the shopping district.

"Of course, that's not to say I didn't get my practical studies in, either. Reading about a technique is one thing, but actually using it yourself is another." Izaroth said, looking at Blaze as they crossed through the gate. True to his word, the silver haired Saiyan began to explain in detail the Vanish technique he'd used during their introductory "battle" against Trunks.

"It may sound complicated at first, but once you've gotten the hang of it, it becomes second nature. The only problem with it is that it is incredibly taxing on your stamina with back-to-back use. Use it too frequently and you'll only tire yourself out." Izaroth said, spotting a brown haired human/saiyan male checking over what looked to be a manifest next to a few Capsule Corp crates, the majority of his hair spiked back in the style of a fireball, with two spikes protruding down over his ears, and bangs over his forehead. What made him curious was that he looked more like a supervisor than an actual fighter; He was clad in a dark blue suit jacket that had been extended to droop past his knees with matching trousers and shoes with brown soles, a black shirt and a grey tie. That didn't necessarily mean the guy wasn't capable of fighting, if the heavy looking rifle strapped to his back was any indication.

Looking up for a moment, the man spotted Izaroth and Blaze, and took a deep breath.

"Hey, Silver and Red, come here a moment!" He shouted at the two, though he didn't come across as threatening.

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

Crossing one arm across his chest while gripping his chin with the other, Izaroth went into contemplation for a moment, closing his eyes as he did so.

"Well, if Trunks wants us to be ready for something, going into a full blown training session might be counterproductive to that. I say we wander around a bit, get to know some of the locals. Hopefully there won't be as many Glacias out there who'd prefer to try to punch our lights out at the first meeting." Izaroth said, reopening his eyes and returning his arms to his sides.

"At the same time though, I still need to teach you the Vanish technique, just so you can quickly get out of harm's way. I'll explain it as we go. Probably can't hurt to take inventory of what supplies we can get to take into the field, either." Izaroth said, as he began to walk towards the watery gate.

"It's going to be an interesting experience, of that, I am certain. The opportunity to fight across time itself doesn't come every day, afterall."

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

Unbenownst to Rikyu, however, the pat on his back had unfortunate consequences. If she looked onto the ground, she'd see what appeared to be a contact lens... With a circular green tint to it in the centre. It wouldn't take the Saiyan long to figure out where it came from.

----------

When they arrived at back at the time patrol, Izaroth was searching his clothes for something, his hand over his left eye. Rikyu's impact had knocked out that eye's contact lens that made his eyes have green irises. Eventually he found what he was looking for, put it onto his index finger on his free hand, and applied it to his left eye.

"My eyes get irritated spontaneously at times. Sometimes in one eye, sometimes in both. I just applied some eye drops to soothe it." the Silver haired Saiyan said, normality having been restored, as what he'd actually put in was a replacement contact lens. Had he not done so, his real eye, just a black pupil, would've been visible.

"This also means Rikyu may have figured out my secret. Here's hoping she can keep a lid on it..." Izaroth thought to himself, hoping Blaze and Trunks bought his bluff.

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

"...Saiyans grow stronger whenever they recover from a near death experience? I'd say Glacia didn't manage to drive me that close to expiring, but I'll have to watch out for that one if I want to maintain my non-Saiyan disguise." Izaroth thought to himself as he simply waited to return to Toki Toki city.

"Just hope no-one decides to knock out my contacts, or I'm busted for sure." The silver haired Saiyan mused to himself, a little on edge at the moment, since that revelation about near death experiences had unnerved the Saiyan. Taking a slow, silent breath to reassert himself, he turned to look at Blaze for a moment as she stood next to Trunks and himself.

"Well, that pretty much confirmed my own suspicions about her. However, this works in both our favour; It means she's got great potential as a fighter. Which in turn means she should be able to quickly close the gap between the two of us, if that power boost hasn't done it already."

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

"I think someone's going to make sure that we're pushed to our limits every now and then, if our first encounter with him is anything to go by." Izaroth said, offering to shake Rikyu's hand before they departed. Regardless of whether or not he'd recieved a handshake in return, he then whispered to Trunks.

"Just make sure he's not so quick to try and cripple us, alright? Can't really grow stronger if we're spending 90% of our time in hospital." Izaroth said, presently oblivious to the fact that Saiyans grow stronger whenever they recover from a near death experience, due to never having been in such a situation before.

Once Rikyu had opened the door, Izaroth turned to look at Blaze's interaction with her family, remaining silent until it was time to leave.

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

"...Honestly, I have no idea what to expect, so I can't really give an exact estimate of the kind of danger we'll be in. It's my first day on the job too, afterall. However, I'll do my damnedest to keep her safe, even if it kills me to do it. On that, I swear." Izaroth said, locking his gaze with Rikyu as he spoke, taking a more contemplative stance for the first sentence, before letting one hand drop to his side, and slamming his fist with the other against his chest with the other.

"Though if something does take me down and out, she probably won't be far behind. Here's hoping she can keep herself out of trouble if that happens." The silver haired Saiyan thought to himself as he picked Trunks off the ground with one hand and dropped him onto his feet.

"If something does happen to her though, chances are I'll probably not be far behind joining her. So you'll have to take it up with this guy if that happens."

Dragonball Xenoverse - Side Story

"...Honestly, I'm not the one who made that call." Izaroth said, before letting out a sigh.

"In truth, I'm kind of in the same boat as Blaze. No doubt you're wondering why she'd just up and vanish without warning. Up until about a day or so ago, I was a simple traveller, going from point A to point B wherever those may be. One moment I'm just sat casually reading aboard my ship while it ran on autopilot, next thing I know, I'm suddenly in the middle of some kind of plaza, in a city I'd never heard of before, and being "asked" to join an organization known as the Time Patrol... If you call attacking us a means of asking a favour." Izaroth said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he finished speaking.

"The kicker though? I'm sure you've probably heard rumors of the Dragon Balls, right?" Izaroth said, before glancing at Trunks to provide Rikyu with an explanation of the Dragon Balls just in case she had no idea.

"Basically, this guy made a wish to a dragon that grants 3 wishes to summon a pair of warriors who would basically work as companions with an unbreakable bond. One wish summoned Blaze, the other, me. Naturally, I wanted to sock him one for it. I deduced, however, that Porunga, the dragon who called us, likely chose me and Blaze, combatants yet to hit their stride, over established warriors as we were basically big unknowns. We didn't have things like pride to get in the way of forming a solid degree of teamwork and camaraderie." Izaroth said, and without warning, kicked Trunks below the belt.

"That's for not warning us about Glacia."

The Elder Scrolls: Souls of Many Shades [Jake & Cronic]

"Can't help but admire her enthusiasm." Cronic said to himself, hauling the purchased meats, fruits and vegetables back to the odd jobs building.

"Now I just have to decide what to do with all of this, and whether or not it'll be to the newcomers' liking." The imperial said to himself as he stepped in the door, giving Aria a passing nod as he set down the ingredients and began to think.

"Could always whip up a stew. It's not like I'm shorthanded on that front. But perhaps I should make it a "Help yourself" job, where you can pull as much or as little as you want onto your plate. Hell, I've been itching to exercise my cooking skills." Cronic said to himself, taking out a knife and set about chopping up portions of meat, fruit and vegetables, and beginning to form what would be their dinner.