Fantasy Legacies: World at War - In Character

[Kumii]

!!! Junk Dragon !!!Status: Sleeping (Be Stealthy!)
The Dragon flew around the fortress a bit before turning and heading for the Iron Bridge. It landed on the bridge, facing away from the group. It looked like it looked around for a second before laying down and seemed to fall asleep, which was made apparent by the loud exhales coing from the beast's large snout. It was large enough to block their path forward.

It's tail was long enough to fall over the side of the bridge.
SharkBark AlphaBlueWolf

Junk Dragon (350,000/350,000 (100%) Vitality)

Mika the Flaming SpearLocation: "The Iron Bridge"
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Status: Recovered
Mika was walking along as he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Rai. He mention some stuff about Mateo looking up to Mika, Mika partially knew this to be true. Rai also used the moment to boost his ego a bit by complimenting his own Cyclone, but when all was said and done, Rai finished with the same line again. Mika glanced at Mateo and sighed then looked back to Rai, "I understand that. Really, I do..." he paused for a minute to carefully think of his next words, "...but think about this, Rai. I'm too worried about Skyla to be resting. We're here purely on a rumor. Hell, she could be here but she could be dead." It was a grim thought but was a possibility, "If she-" he stopped himself, "I... need her, Rai. I-" His voice began to break a bit.

He couldn't rest knowing his best friend was at risk or dead, "It's not that I don't care what Mateo thinks. My mind is racing with the thought of her being dead. It would... would destroy me. I can't lose another loved one..." Mika took Rai's finger and gently placed it back by his side, "I simply can't."

The moment was ruined by the bridge vibrating a bit, Mika instinctively placed his hand on Rai's chest to stop him, "Did you feel that?" He looked around and noticed the bloody great big Dragon from earlier, 'Fuck. Not again.' He thought. Mika pointed to the side to the nearby outcropping, "In there, quick." He said before ducking into the outcropping.

Nia of the Storming FistLocation: "The Iron Bridge"
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Misty
Nia looked a bit confused when Rai suddenly took Mika away. She slowed down to let Mateo catch up, "Hey, you okay?" She noticed Mateo looked a little frustrated, probably more at Mika then herself but it never hurt to ask regardless. She thought of Mateo as her friend despite not talking much to him outside of these little how-do-you-do's.

It wasn't long before Mika stopped Rai and noticed the bloody great big Dragon that was now blocking their path, "Hey isn't that-" She said before noticing Mika ducking into the outcropping then deciding to do the same, waving Mateo over to her.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Mateo was incredibly happy when Rai agreed to talk to Mika. A relieved smile and expression danced on his face. He said he didn't know why Mateo thought he would listen to him, but Mateo thought it was pretty obvious. They all respected Rai a lot more than they did Mateo because of his fighting prowess. Everyone thought Mateo was some kid who needed protecting. Little did they know what he was capable of under the right conditions. But Rai was the cool thundering samurai. They'd listen to him more than they would Mateo who wasn't even helpful at all in a fight.

Rai stated about how Mika was a dick- jerk. Yeah, they definitely thought of him as a kid. He noticed the shift in words and was confused by it. There was a slight tilt of his head at that, but nothing more came of it. Didn't they know he wasn't exactly a kid? He was in his awkward teen phase, not his cute cuddly kid phase.

But that hardly mattered because Rai was still helping him out. Even with his other thoughts, a feeling of relief washed over him. He was sure Mika would take it easy if Rai talked to him about it. With Rai giving him an endearing pat on the head, he went off to talk to Mika. Mateo walked at his same pace but kept his eyes fixed on the conversation between the two older guys. It's not like Mateo could read lips and they were turned away from him, but he could use their body language to see how it was going. Hopefully, at least.

He watched as Rai put a hand on his shoulder, said something, then wrapped an arm around his shoulder and sped off while essentially kidnapping Mika. When kept his eyes on the two the whole time. He had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. And if he did, he'd probably be embarrassed with Rai telling Mika he looked up to him.

He was too focused on the conversation of the two to realize Nia had slowed down to let him catch up, and that he had actually caught up. Her question completely startled him. "Oh, uh, hey. Yeah, I'm alright." He felt like an awkward teen again. "Just want everything to be at the top of their game, y'know?"

Mateo looked back over to the two ahead of them. Mika had taken Rai's arm off and placed it back to the samurai's side. A clear sign of refusal. His look of hope and relief deflated. All he wanted was Mika to be physically safe, so he really wasn't thinking about his mental worries. Thinking Mika could just collapse again worried him too much. Deep down inside, he was worried too. He was worried about everyone. But he also knew that the ones around him were a lot more capable than him. Mika and Skyla, those two were powerful. He knew Skyla was fine. She had to be. She fought so good in the tournament, plus she and Mika scared away anyone who was looking to cause trouble for him. So Skyla just had to be fine. He knew that, so he wanted to do what would help her more. Healing their friends, especially her lover Mika, would hopefully make her happy when she returned to them. If he could do that then maybe he'd be both helping in his own way and repaying Skyla for the kindness she'd shown to him.

The bridge vibrated and he almost lost balance, having to steady himself. He looked over to Cora, who had dug his claws into the stone with his fur bristling. He'd seen it first, with Mateo wondering if it was just from the shaking that was making the Bakeneko so scared. He could use that to tease Cora later if he started being a brat and making a fuss about something. But no, it wasn't the shaking. Mateo thought maybe because it was an old bridge or something. He was quick to dismiss it because of the Mika/Rai thing. But as he was turning back to the two, he saw it. The big metal dragon blocking their path forward. He could hear the rumble of its breath emanating from its snout. It was relaxed and laying down. Mateo figured the thing was sleeping. He looked towards its tail running down the side. Man that thing was long. But it could be useful to climb...

Ok, that was maybe one of his craziest ideas yet and he was usually pretty sensible. Using the dragon's tail as a ladder. And then what? Its not like he could do much. What was he gonna do, heal the thing to death? But unfortunately Mateo didn't think that far ahead. He got to the , 'Hey, that'd make me useful to the group!' part and completely stopped thinking afterwards.

In the span of time that he had been thinking about and not thinking through his plan, Nia had gone into the outcropping and started waving him over. He turned on the heel of his boots and took careful steps to outcropping, making it successfully while making as minimal sound possible. You know that saying, 'Let sleeping dogs lie.' Well, he guessed that applied to dragons as well. Cora wasn't as delicate. He padded to the outcropping, following Mateo's lead while not caring. Fortunately, he was in cat form, so his soft pads on the bridge made pretty much no sound.

"That thing's not making it easy for us, huh?" He whispered to them. He wondered how he could initiate his half of a plan, or if the group would even let him. "We have to go that way right? So it'd be best to take care of it. I really don't like hurting this thing, I'm a healer after all, but if its trying to kill us then I guess we have to. Look I've got a plan, but I need to get close to the tail." He pointed to the other outcroppings. "We can use these things to get to it. Make it to one, hide and make sure its not awake, then go to another one. All the way up until I can get to the tail. The ideal thing would be to keep it asleep, but if my plan disturbs it, then I'd like you guys to keep it distracted on the ground. Please." He looked absolutely serious. He was vague, mostly because he didn't really know what he was gonna do when he got to the top. Look for a weak point. But again, he wasn't strong like the others, so what could he do? He just hoped they'd help him out with this. And if they said no.. he was fully prepared to disobey them and do it on his own anyways.



"Ah, shit." Was Kuragiri's reaction to getting totally wrecked by Rori. "I should've listened to Heath." Then the guy fell unconscious.

Rori cracked a smile, letting the guy fall face first to the ground. But something had caught her ear. "Who the hell is Heath?" She kicked Kuragiri with her boot, but he wasn't waking up anytime soon.

She turned to Castro as he said thanks, but there was an uncertainty about it. Fortunately for him, Rori didn't spend a lot of time around people, so she was bad with social cues. Like really bad sometimes. "Sure." She simply said, though she really didn't do it for him. She liked to see the smug bastard on the ground, and it was also some self-preservation that motivated her.

Castro ran over to the body and Rori stepped back from kicking Kuragiri a few times. Light taps, nothing hard or torturous, but it felt good after the scratches he had given her. He began picking up Kuragiri and talking. The movement of him and the body confused her. She thought they hated each other. Maybe he was just bringing him to the guards? But that wasn't smart. Rori would rather tip them off with a note than risk getting caught.

But there was also his words to focus on, not just his actions. He offered to let her stay at his place and hide out for a while. But Rori didn't know how much she trusted this guy. Sure, they'd had the same ideal in that fight, but that didn't mean they were on the same side. Bandits were slippery, and people were just awful.

What was worse, he'd hit her right on the money, talking about how she was wondering why he was taking Black Cloaked Creep. Her face grew a little pink. She didn't like when people could read her. It was both embarrassing, and too vulnerable for her taste. He told her not to worry about it, but she was worrying about it. But it's not like she even had time to protest because he told her to follow him if she wanted to get to his place and then darted off to the alley on the left.

Rori gave a soft groan, thinking it over. Well, it's not like she had much else to do right now. Besides, she wanted to follow up on Kuragiri. That keep needed to be locked away where he couldn't harm people.

She spun her sword and let it go out of her hand and up into the air. It spun and rotated, and when it came back down it was a coin. Yeah, the sword had more tricks up its sleeve than just the whole fire thing. She grinned at the coin then slipped it into her pocket. Strapped to her leg was an empty dagger sheath. It was a strange thing to have for a person who wielded a gold, fire absorbing sword.

After that was done, she sped off after Castro. Lugging around a sword would've been a pain in the ass for her, so she simply decided to change its shape. She caught up with Castro pretty quick, using her inhuman reflexes and speed to her advantage. "So, you're gonna have to do some explaining if I'm coming to hide with you. There's a lot of random things that don't make sense. You and this creep's relation and that random kid too." She demanded as Castro led her to his hiding place.

 

[Kumii]

3 years ago...Location: Unknown
Interactions: None
Mentions: SharkBark AlphaBlueWolf (Story post)
Current Weather: Dark
A man in a plague doctor outfit could be seen praying to something. A few moments later, the scenery around him changed to a more death-like scene. An armored knight sitting upon a ledge, looking down on the Doctor, "Well... this is a surprise..." The knight leaned forward a bit, "You're lookin' pretty good, my lord. So... why have you come to see me?"

The Doctor paused for a moment, "I require your aid." The knight stared at the Doctor, "I see," The Knight chuckled, "...so you want to make a deal with me? Hah hah! Go on, go on!"

The Doc sighed, "Become my Spirit. Grant me the power to recover my kingdom and I will elevate you above ALL Spirits!" The Knight vanished in a smoke of darkness before appearing behind the Doc, "Yes, yes, so you get your kingdom back. All very nice." He said as he brushed the Doc's shoulders, picking up a feather that had fallen on them, "But soon you'll tire of little ol' me. You'll go back to the living Spirits, the one who bring the rain. Makes the crops grow..." The knight held the feather up and as it wilt said, "...Not wither and die..." The knight turned and looked back at the Doc, his red eyes staring directly at the Doc through his mask, "No, no. I need more... then just your word." He said in a grim voice.

The Doc thought for a moment and then sighed lightly, "If you do this for me... I will bind my bloodline to you." This absolutely caught the Knight's attention as his red glowing eyes, glowed that much more brightly, "All who succeed you will keep this bargain? To serve me in life... and in death?"

The Doc took another moment, then stated only one word that held more power then any word ever could to the Knight, "Forever."

The Knight looked down, pondering the most intriguing deal. A few moments later, the knight reached out his hand and took it in the Doc's, "We got a deal." Right then and there, a pact between the immortal and mortal was made. One that could not be so easily severed with terms that would end up shaking the Doc to his core when it came time to collect on the Knight's part.

 

[SharkBark]

Mood: Panic

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

It seemed like Mika understood what Rai was saying. Only for a bit though. Moments afterwards he spoke about how he needed to save Skyla and that he couldn't lose another loved one. Another. That word struck Rai a bit. So that means Mika's lost people he cared for before, which explains why he wanted to protect Skyla so badly.

"Damn. I-I didn't know it was like that, Mika." Rai offered his sympathy. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly afterwards, Mika placed a hand on Rai's chest, stopping him in his tracks. Then he asked him if he felt something. Rai shook his head no and Mika began to frantically look around, seeming to look for something. After a bit, Mika stopped and locked his eyes onto something. Rai followed his gaze and there it was, the large metallic dragon from earlier. How did it get there? And a better question, how are they now noticing it? Rai's thoughts were cut off when Mika pointed to a nearby outcropping and told him to get to there. He didn't have to tell Rai twice though.

Rai quickly ducked and crouched in the outcropping, getting out of the dragon's line of sight. Everyone else followed behind him.

"Alright. I, uh, didn't expect big guy out there to find us again." Rai quipped, trying to lighten up the mood.

We have to go that way right? So it'd be best to take care of it. I really don't like hurting this thing, I'm a healer after all, but if its trying to kill us then I guess we have to. Look I've got a plan, but I need to get close to the tail." Mateo suddenly said after whispering something Rai didn't pick up.

"The tail? Why do you need to get close to the tail?" Rai asked. Mateo didn't quite answer him, but he pointed to the other outcroppings and said,

"We can use these things to get to it. Make it to one, hide and make sure its not awake, then go to another one. All the way up until I can get to the tail. The ideal thing would be to keep it asleep, but if my plan disturbs it, then I'd like you guys to keep it distracted on the ground. Please."

Rai glanced and Nia and Mika who seemed to be contemplating their own answer and then returned his attention to Mateo.

"As much as I don't feel comfortable with this idea," Rai said with a sigh. "I don't think we can beat this thing with brute force and power alone, so if you've got any true smarts to this plan, I'll defend you through it all." Rai put his hand out for a handshake from Mateo. "I trust you, man. Don't ruin that, okay?"

Kumii AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Tired

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

"So, you're gonna have to do some explaining if I'm coming to hide with you. There's a lot of random things that don't make sense. You and this creep's relation and that random kid too." Rori said as she caught up to Castro, and surprisingly quickly too.

Castro sighed and looked her way.

"Listen, can all of this please wait till we get into my place?" Castro kindly asked. "You ask all the right questions at the wrong times, no offense."

Castro looked back straight ahead and saw the building attached to his hideout.

"C'mon, Rori, we're almost there."

Castro dashed through the streets and made his way into a narrow alley between two large buildings. He sidestepped between the walls and stopped at a small grate that was on the floor, somewhere in the middle of the alley. He kicked it in with his foot and without hesitation, dropped Kuragiri straight into it. A small thud could be heard once he made it to the bottom.

"Welcome to my humble estate, Ms. Lange." Castro said as he looked to her and made a gesture to the grate.

Code by Serobliss

 

[Kumii]

!!! Junk Dragon !!!Status: In Pain/Downed
The Dragon shifted as it slept, it's tail smacked against the bridge a a couple times, there was a brief second that revealed what looked like a malfunction on the Dragon's right breast.

The Dragon was suddenly awaken by a sudden and very sharp pain in its chest. It jerked up and caused the lance to be ripped from its chest. It let out pain, mechanical roar. It didn't look at what caused it and just immediately took flight, but it looked heavily injured and crash landed within the fortress courtyard, a short distance away.
SharkBark AlphaBlueWolf

Junk Dragon (262,500/350,000 (75%) Vitality)

Mika the Flaming SpearLocation: "The Iron Bridge"
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Mika looked at Rai as he apologized, amidst the semi-panic Mika responded, "Yeah, well... what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" Mika heard Mateo and his plan. Get close to the tail? Easier said then done, Rai stated that we couldn't beat it with brute force, "Yeah, I agree." Then the Dragon shifted its weight, causing its tail to move and smack the bridge. Mika retreated back into the outcropping then looked Mateo, "Easier said then done, eh?" Mika joked. Mika glanced and briefly saw some sparks, 'Huh, it's injured already?' But then, what could cause an injury like that to a dragon of this size?

Mika grabbed his lance from his back and looked Mateo, "Sorry, bud. I have an idea, bear with me, okay?" Mika saw an open path to the 'weak spot'. Mika hedged all his bets on this one gamble. Mika got up and sprinted at the Dragon's weak spot, his lance began to glow with fire and, as he arrived at the spot, jabbed his lance into the dragon's opening with all his might.

The Dragon jerked up and caused the lance to be ripped from its chest. Mika landed on his butt and looked at everyone, "Well... found its weak spot." Mika lightly chuckled, "Honestly, didn't expect that to work..." Mika fell on his back and exhaled deeply, "Fuck..."
(Sorry Mateo will get his time in the spotlight very soon)

Nia of the Storming FistLocation: "The Iron Bridge"
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Nia looked at Mateo as he explained his plan, "Sounds goo-" Then Mika said something and ran off. Nia looked in shocked then sighed, "Boy has a mind of his own." She said, but surprisingly, it brought down the dragon... you know again. Nia walked up to Mika, who was laying on the ground and leaned over him, "You know, you should learn the concept of 'teamwork', Mika."

Mika looked at Nia from the ground, "Shut up." He said. Nia just stuck her tongue out Mika, then looked at Mateo and Rai, "Well, what now. It's hurt, downed and probably confused. Now's as good a time as any to finish it off."

Skyla the Dark FlashLocation: Somewhere within the Iron Fortress
Interactions: None
Mentions: SharkBark (Rai) AlphaBlueWolf (Mateo)
Current Weather: Misty
Skyla felt the Fortress shake, she looked outside and saw a giant mechanical dragon downed in the courtyard, 'Huh? How the-' then she saw something that filled her with pure joy. Off in the distance, on the Iron Bridge, she saw a white haired man, Rai. The Miniature fist-fighter, Nia. Her timid best friend, Mateo and her one true love, Mika. Skyla got to the point of happiness that her eyes started to fill with tears, "Guys..." She said quietly, "I'll be there shortly..." She then turned back around and went to find a way to the courtyard, where the downed dragon was.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Mateo knew his plan was dangerous. Well, the malformed plan he had was dangerous. He felt guilty for not quite answering Rai's question about why he needed to get to the tail. But if he said, 'hey I wanna use it as a ladder and climb onto the thing's back to do who knows what' then no one would be taking him seriously. Usually, being very vague worked best for him, especially when he had a low reputation in the eyes of his companions.

Rai was the first one out of the group to reply, saying he wasn't really comfortable with the idea. Exactly the response Mateo was expecting but hoped against. He really thought this could work, but it would only work if everyone trusted him with this. But after a sigh, Rai gave a more favorable answer. He agreed with Mateo, thinking brute force and power alone wasn't going to stop such a massive dragon. The teen gave a relieved smile as a response. Despite looking up to Mika and seemingly favoring him and Skyla out of the rest of the group, Rai was definitely growing on him. They all were, but he felt like he was getting closer with Rai. He opted to help the awkward, anxious teen on multiple occasions and the noogies were a little much, but it was a good sign of affection.

He even reached out a hand for a handshake saying, "I trust you, man. Don't ruin that, okay?"

That sentiment was really sweet. It meant a lot to have people trust him, especially with his secret always nagging at him. He'd reached out a hand to shake it and then had a painful realization. His secret. His lies. How could anyone trust someone like him? If any of that came out, maybe even any of the lies about Cora, he'd be ruining the beginning of another great friendship.

He stared at his slightly outstretched hand with it shaking a little. He always kept his hands gloved, never once taking the gloves off in front of the group. Even when he had performed his healing practices on the group, with healing Nia, Mika and Rai, he'd kept the gloves on with the green aura emanating from his hand seeping through the material. And he liked to avoid touching with his hands if he could. Healing was a different beast because he knew that was his magic at work, and he whole heartedly trusted magic. But for stuff like this, he avoided it like it was the end of the world as we know it. Because of what lied underneath the protection of his gloves. Painful memories connecting to his past explorations. Despite what he tried to present, his travels hadn't been all fine and dandy all the time. And all of it originated from one key source...

Mateo looked sort of pale but steeled his nerves and brought up his hand so that it connected with Rai in a fun but business-like shake. He chuckled and gave a genuine smile despite all those negative thoughts that had welled up inside his brain. "Thanks. That means a lot. And I'll try not to." He made it sound like a lighthearted joke, but in his mind there were serious undertones to that. He wasn't sure if he could keep that promise, especially if everything would eventually come spilling out.

Well, he had one person on board. He looked back to the other two as he took his hand back from the handshake with Rai. He'd confirmed Rai's approval, now these two. Mika commented about how it was easier said then done. Yeah, maybe he was right. But all Mateo was thinking of was coming into his own place in the group. So that's why he was determined to be the one to help them get this stupid dragon out of the way. It was possibly a selfish thought, but he was still maturing and growing as a six teen year old. He was bound to have selfish thoughts here and there.

Mika apologized to him, calling him bud like he was a five-year-old. Well, he was wrong. He was just a really goofy six teen year old. The older guy had his own plan, which was probably ten times better than anything Mateo had come up with. Mateo didn't really put it together at first, busy turning over to Nia as she gave her all clear on his plan. Then when he turned back Mika was unleashing a flaming lance attack on the dragon.

"¡Ay Dios!" He exclaimed. "When did he get there?"

What Nia said next was right, Mika really did have a mind of his own. Mateo loved his group, but not being taken seriously was starting to get old fast. At least, he thought Mika's actions were because he didn't believe in Mateo. Really it was his own insecurities getting in the way and Mika had just figured out the dragon's weak point. But Mateo had been really confident in his plan and his expression kind of deflated when he realized Mika had taken up that spot for being cool in front of the group. Maybe Mateo just had to impress them some other way.

The dragon let out a mighty roar which Mateo covered his ears for, then sailed away with steam and sparks trailing the spot Mika had hit. It seemed to make a crash landing. Maybe it was an irrational way to think, but Mateo felt bad for the thing. If it even had an intelligent mind, or thoughts and emotions at all, it would probably be panicked and in a lot of pain. Even though it would try to kill them for sure, his instinct told him to help. Maybe because they had attacked while sleeping that he felt that guilt. Mateo couldn't see exactly where it had curled up, but he was a traveler with an instinctual sense of direction. By the curve of its flight and the mist disturbed by its wake, he could guess the trajectory of where it had headed. And man, it must've been really injured because it didn't seem to go far.

He vaguely heard Mika say something about a weak spot, but didn't really process that while being too focused on the dragon. He turned to Rai. "We should probably.." He pointed to Mika and Nia, noticing the monk had joined his idiot of a courageous friend. "Y'know. Yeah." Awkward yes, and that was the only thing Mateo said before jogging over to the two. Though, he gave a weak smile to Rai feeling better that someone had been confident in him. He took a deep breath as he walked, Cora following at his heels.

Upon reaching the two, his cat friend bristled up, arched his back, and gave a hiss at Mika. He knew the Bakeneko had a few choice words for Mika, much less nice than how Nia had framed the teamwork comment. He gave him a little nudge to the side with his foot, telling him to stop. He still glared at Mika with slitted ice-colored eyes. Mateo knew Cora was trying to help him be heard, but he didn't want the cat being nasty to his new friends. Even Cora, who was two years younger mind you, tried protecting him.

Nia turned to him and Rai, saying this was a better time than any to finish off the beast. She didn't specifically say 'beast' but hearing a sentence like that made his heart skip a beat. Ok, now he hated this even more. Because... he could sympathize with the mechanical dragon and understand how it felt. He knew the feeling of being hunted, he knew it well.

"I-I really don't like this, you guys." Maybe that would make him seem like a child who had no place on the battlefield, but he didn't care. The situation hit too close to home. "It's wounded. It's one thing if it was trying to actively kill us, but..." He shook his head. "I know where it is. If there's one thing I can do right, its tracking and travel. Follow me to 'slay the big bad beast'." He took off in the direction of the courtyard with Cora sticking close to him looking back a bit to make sure everyone was following.




"Listen, can all of this please wait till we get into my place?" Castro asked after a good sigh, "You ask all the right questions at the wrong times, no offense."

Well, she did take offense. She rubbed at her temples, frustrated with the fact that no one ever seemed to understand her motive behind certain actions or questions. "Well, no offense, but you seem like a shady guy..." She murmured which was barely audible due to her tone and their fast-paced movements.

It was true though. Castro was shady. I mean, the guy was a thief with high notoriety among both bandits and guards. Trusting was something hard for a grown-up street rat like Rori, and Castro just fit all the bars for someone she shouldn't trust. That's why she wanted to know all this now before she walked into his abode. She needed to gage whether or not he was someone she could trust. If not, she'd be walking into a potentially dangerous situation where she might even have to fight her way through. But its not like Castro scared her. The guy didn't have enough common sense to not use ice magic against a fire user. Like come on. That seemed obvious to her. She certainly wasn't impressed thus far with the great almighty Blue Eyed Bandit.

Rori ran with him, Castro saying they were almost there. Oh, yay. She gave a roll of her eyes and continued running, seeming to not even be tired. She skidded to a stop when they came to a street, with Castro just running straight across holding a body. Did the guy even know what stealth was? He ran between two buildings and Rori let her gleaming hazel eyes scan the surrounding area. She sprinted across once she figured no one was looking, and she was fast too. The alley was narrow but she could certainly manage it with how her body just seemed to twist and turn in unnatural ways. Castro stopped at a small grate, kicking it open and dropping Kuragiri straight in. A little giggle came from her when she heard the thud. Then, Castro turned towards her and gestured to the grate with a comment. She cringed at being called Ms. Lang. If you couldn't tell, Rori wasn't the most formal person. She called people by nicknames, or their first names without hesitation. And she was still pretty immature at times. Her mother qualified for being called Ms. Lang, not her.

Rori looked towards the grate, "You can't be serious." But Castro's face looked dead serious. She cursed under her breath and then got ready to jump down. "Listen if this is your, I don't know, murder hole or something, then you're going down Blue Eyes." She gave that one threat before dropping down into the hole.

She positioned herself to land on her feet and stood next to Kuragiri's unconscious body while looking around. She moved out of the way and looked around, instinctively moving her hand to touch the coin in her Jacket's pocket. To her surprise, it did look like a home rather than what she thought a 'murder hole' would look like. A cozy little hide away under the grate of an alley. She had to give Castro props on that one, she did like the looks of this place even if it was all too mechanical. That wasn't quite her style, but she did like the idea of where this was placed.

Rori turned to Castro when he had come in. "Alright, time to spill."

 

[Kumii]

Skyla the Dark FlashLocation: Iron Bridge
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Misty
Skyla made her way down to the courtyard to the hurt dragon, she stopped in her tracks and stared a bit, "Wow, you're huge." Then she continued quietly and it didn't seem to notice her. She eventually made it to the Iron Bridge and saw one Mateo running towards the courtyard. A big smile filled her face and she ran to give the 'little' guy a big hug, "Hey you." She continued hugging him, "I've missed you."

Skyla let him go after a few minutes, "How've you been? It's been.. what? Six months since we last saw each other?" She was filled with joy to see at least Mateo again and wanted to catch with him for a minute.

 

[SharkBark]

Mood: Panic

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

Mateo took Rai's hand lightly shook it. That means the two of them had just made a firm deal and have some trust in each other. Rai offered Mateo a light smile.

"Okay, Mika, Nia. Let's do-"

Rai stopped when he heard the Dragon let out a loud roar. Rai at first thought it had woken up but when he looked over, he saw that Mika had stabbed his lance into it, causing it great pain. Rai didn't even hear him mention something about a weak spot.

"Oh my fucking g-" Rai closed his eyes and sighed. "This guy is an idiot."

Rai dashed over to Mika but didn't come all the way over there to stay out of the dragon's range. He put his hand on the hilt of his blade and looked towards the injured dragon.

"Mika, what are you doing? You don't know what could've happened man. There could've been a chance that it didn't work! And we can't just keep covering up for you man."

Rai sighed again and ran up next to Mika, who was on the floor.

"I think it worked really well, it doesn't look like it can get back up." Rai got into a low stance and began to charge up some power, the remaining magic he had anyway. "Think I should go for the kill?" he asked Mika.

Kumii AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Tired

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

Castro found his little gesture with the "Ms. Lang" pretty funny. Ms. Lang- er- Rori however, didn't seem to have any sort of reaction to it. In fact, it made Castro feel a little cringey so he put his arms back to his side and waited for her to hop in.


"You can't be serious." Rori suggested. Castro kept a straight face to show that he was serious, and she picked that up pretty quickly. With some words under her breath that Castro couldn't quite perceive, Rori was finally about to go down the chute. All of this random awkwardness would be over. But now, she just had to say,

"Listen if this is your, I don't know, murder hole or something, then you're going down Blue Eyes."

Then, Rori hopped down the chute, with good enough form to land on both feet.

"Again, it's Castro. Not Blue Eyes." Castro muttered under his breath. Then he hopped into the chute and slid down the walls of it, making his descent slower and allowing him to land softer and properly on his feet. Once he was at the bottom, Castro picked up the cover to the grate and jumped up to cover back up the entrance.

"There. Okay, here's my place." Castro said. "I'll have to admit, everything here is stolen. The bed, the jewelry collection over there -- don't touch that by the way--, the weapons ---don't touch those either, and-"

"Alright, time to spill."

"Oh, yeah. I said it'll all wait till we get into here. Uhm, what did you ask again? Oh, Kuragiri and that little kid. The kid, I have no clue who that was. Kuragiri on the other hand, he's...an old friend you'd say. And the reason I didn't kill him or allow him to be arrested was because of Heath. He mentioned him, so Heath must still be alive. You don't know who that is, and I don't feel comfortable around you to explain. Is that good enough for you?" Castro quickly said. "Listen, Rori. I can already tell that you don't like me. You've rolled your eyes at me many times already, muttered under your breath, and just threatened me. And I don't blame you. You don't know me, I don't know you."

Castro walked over to his bed and sat down.

"So what I'm saying is, any questions you have, I'll answer for you. Except anything relating to Heath. I just want to break the ice, you understand right? Speaking of ice.." Castro fell back onto his bed and put his hands over his face. "You were so right to call me an idiot during the fight. I mean, I used an ice hammer against a dude who uses fire based abilities! You probably find me stupid, and I really don't blame you." Castro let out a muffled laugh from beneath his hands. "Trust me, I'm good on regular IQ, but when it comes to battle IQ, I'm a complete mess. My entire arsenal of magic moves is either closer ranged and melee or crowd control. That threat you said earlier, when you said you said I was going to go down, I completely agree with you. You'd probably take me down in a matter of seconds! I-"

Castro sat up from the bed and looked towards Rori.

"I'm ranting, huh? Sorry. I do that a lot when I'm embarrassed. Anyways, yeah. Those questions?"

➤ 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩 / 𝘿𝙤 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙏𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝
[/comment]

Code by Serobliss

 

[Kumii]

Mika the Flaming SpearLocation: "The Iron Bridge"
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Mika chuckled at Rai's comments, they were true but Mika was in such a shocked state that he couldn't help but laugh, "Hah hah hah. You love me, man." He sat up and looked at Rai as he asked, "Think I should go for the kill?" Mika looked past Rai at Mateo who was running towards the courtyard then back at Rai, missing a very special someone, "No, We- I've disappointed Mateo enough for now. Let him have the kill if he wants it." He groaned a bit as he got up, "It's the least I could do for my rather dickish behavior as of late."

Mika gently tapped Rai's shoulder, "Don't you think?" He asked in a knowing tone. "Besides, I've reached my limit. It's time I took that rest Mateo suggested." He propped himself up against the wall of the bridge and leaned his head on it, "That'll teach me to disregard advice, eh?" He chuckled a bit before sighing.

Nia of the Storming FistLocation: "The Iron Bridge"
Interactions: SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Nia looked at Rai as he walked up to Mika. Mika and Rai had a small back and forth before Mika finally rested against the wall of the Bridge. Nia sat down next him and looked up at Rai, "You catch up with Mateo, I'll stay here with Mika and protect him if he needs it." She wasn't the strongest in the group. That honor would go to two people, the one currently resting and the one who was the Thunderous Hunter, "I can hold my own against whatever may come. Except maybe a giant bear. Or a giant bee. Or a giant bee-bear hybrid." Nia giggled, "Point is, you wont have to worry, I'll protect the dimwit in your stead, Rai." She gave him a smile.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Mateo pushed forward ahead of his group, pure determination on his face. "Mateo, slow down." Cora said. They were far enough away where Cora talking wouldn't endanger their shared secret. But even Cora was finding it hard to keep up, and he was in cat form. He usually had to tell Cora to slow down, but now it was the other way around. "We should just ditch these guys. I don't like the broody one. He seems insensitive. Besides, this isn't our problem."

"Like hell it is Cora. Besides, you don't like any of them. You don't get to talk." Mateo seemed to be kind of in a mood. He was usually more patient when Cora was acting like a brat but now he wasn't at all. "We're here to save an innocent person who was kidnapped. And who happens to be my friend."

"Friend? You knew the one with the giant sword for like what, one day? How can she be a friend?"

"Please, Cora. I'm trying to do my thing. Can you just be quiet for five seconds?" His harsh words shut Cora up, and then he realized he was just taking out his frustration on him. Cora was his friend too, no matter how annoying and bratty he could be at times. "Listen, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated, and I shouldn't be taking it out on you. I promise I won't again, but can you promise to be a bit more understanding with my relationship with this group? Fair, right?"

Cora sighed, "Ok." They continued walking, but Cora wasn't just being defensive because he didn't like a bunch of humans around them. That was partially it, but he also thought back to the village they had been chased out of. They'd trusted people who had turned their backs on them when Mateo's huge secret had come out. They'd been scared, but Cora hated them still. He'd been a little scared when he'd first found out, but Mateo would never hurt anyone on purpose for no reason. Not if he had control over himself at least. He was a good kid, and he hated that people learned about that and forgot the real Mateo. His condition didn't define who he was. Cora knew that, but others failed to see it. In reality, Cora feared for his friend. He didn't want Mateo to be hurt again and he didn't know how accepting these guys would be of him when they found out. It was out of love for his friend, a need to protect him, that he was snippy about the group.


The others were contemplating going after the dragon, but he had more of a no thoughts approach. Just go forward to see what he could do. Cora ran with him after their little discussion, and he closed the distance from the half way point of the bridge to the other side. That's when he saw her and stopped in his tracks. She looked a little different, worse for wear, but just like when he had been able to tell it was Mika through all that new appearance, he could tell Skyla stood before him. He thought his brain was tricking him. But she gave him a big smile and ran to hug him. His body felt numb all over. He felt like he couldn't move. The only thing he could do was let the tears pour out. It was her. He was so shocked, but it was her. He knew it. He knew she was strong enough to break free. They didn't need to come find her, because she had found them.

Skyla ran to him, giving him a big hug. For a second, he stood there unmoving. He was still in shock. When he got over it, and realized it wasn't a dream, he gave a tight squeeze back and just sobbed in her arms.

"Hey you." She said as she hugged him, "I've missed you."

He felt tongue tied, but eventually managed in between sobs, "I... missed you.. too." He didn't even try to put himself together. He didn't try to hide under the facade of a mature teen. He let it all out, all the sad thoughts he had been holding in since she had been kidnapped just came out while he was crying. It felt good to just sob in her arms. It felt like the kind of vulnerability you'd share with a big sister.

Skyla let him go for a few minutes, and he wouldn't let go either. He would've stayed like that for a while longer too, but she eventually broke away from the hug and started talking with trails of tears still coming down Mateo's cheeks. She asked how he was and talked about the absence like there had been a normal reason for him. As if he'd been traveling and came back into town to see her. It was such a nonchalant question for such a horrible situation. "Why- why are you asking me? You're the one that got kidnapped! Are you hurt? What even happened? I got there and you were just... Mika wouldn't explain it to me. He just kind of left and went on a brooding solo mission. Very Mika style, y'know?" He gave a little chuckle despite the tears. "We all went our separate ways afterwards but kept in touch. We were always looking for you Skyla. That's what I've been doing for six months. You can thank Nia for this lead. I'm so, so glad she was right." He wiped his tears and tried to look positive again, even giving a smile.

Cora brushed up against him, reminding him of his presence. He picked up the cat, putting his arms around the cat so that he kind of dangled from his position in a way. "Oh, and this is Cora. Sorry I couldn't introduce you two. He was actually with me the whole time at the festival. And he really liked your duel. You should've seen him, his eyes were so wide watching it. He was sucked into the match." He giggled as Cora grumbled at that. The cat really didn't like to admit that he had acted like that at the tournament. Mateo had felt really guilty for not introducing Cora to Skyla. A part of him had thought he'd never get to. He'd never really had the chance to tell Skyla about his secrets. He'd lied to her, and he thought he'd never be able to come clean. She made him want to come clean, because she was such a good person. Thinking that he'd never get to right that wrong... he'd felt sick after that.

"Everyone's here too. Everyone came to help." He was practically bouncing now. "They're down the bridge a bit. Maybe you could even talk some sense into your boyfriend when you see him again. I told him to rest, but he just wouldn't. Even though I'm the healer he still wanted to be you're knight in shinning armor. Though I don't think you need one. But he was magic fatigued and... I wanted to help him since I know you would'nt want him to be half dead when you got back." He looked her up and down. "Speaking of injuries, you've gotta let me take a look at you. And if we have to fight anything to get out of here, then you're sticking back and letting us do the work. You're officially my patient now, alright?" He knew he'd talked her ear off, but six months of not seeing her just came rushing out of his mouth. "I wanna see all of you're injuries, all of them."



Rori respected the fact that everything in here was stolen, but she meant business. She wasn't just going to trust some random guy off the street, even if he had helped her take down some rando psychopath. Even if she did want to touch everything. She was more interested in the weapons than the jewelry. She'd always gone straight for the weapons when digging through someone's treasures, that's how her badass golden sword had become hers. Being a bandit herself, the fact that everything was stolen didn't faze her one bit.

She was glad Castro agreed and answered about Kuragiri and the random kid who had showed up. He said he didn't know who the kid was and come to think of it, he'd said something similar before. On the subject of Kuragiri though, he talked about how he was an old friend and Rori brought out the coin while narrowing her eyes. Then she realized he wasn't too fond of the guy and they weren't old friends as in pals. She was getting too paranoid.

He talked about the Heath guy Kuragiri mentioned before he'd gone down, and something inside Rori clicked. She was finally starting to understand Castro a little better. His motivation for bringing the guy here. He didn't feel comfortable to explain further, but Rori had a few guesses. She didn't know who Heath was, or Castro's whole background, but some things were clicking. Luckily, she was witty in both speech and thought.

He asked if that was good enough for her and she raised an eyebrow. Then he started leveling with her. He listed all the ways he knew she didn't like him. It wasn't really that she didn't like him. It was more that she just didn't trust people frequently. She came off as snippy and rude because of that. Actually, there were a few instances where Castro had made her laugh. She'd loved when he flipped off Kuragiri as a freaking puddle. That was hilarous, but she was super cautious around other people.

Its not like he'd given the strongest first impression either, what with his remarks about her getting in the way. She could full on beat his ass, and he'd told her she'd get in the way. She was glad she was the one to beat Kuragiri because she had proven herself and gotten the guy to shut up.

Castro walked over to his bed, and she followed but stood in front of him, not sitting down because of her distrust. He'd answer all her questions, except the ones about Heath which was what she really wanted to know. Damn. He wanted to break the ice, which she thought might've been a pun and then he derailed into talking about the fight and how he'd been stupid. She could say she agreed with him on one point.

He finished with ranting, saying he did that when he was embarrassed. Well, he should be. That was a fucking stupid move and you wouldn't change her mind on that. "Damn straight. Hey, at least you admit it. I would totally beat your ass if you used those kinds of moves." She then switched topics. "Ok, so I know you won't tell me about this Heath guy, but I'll place you a bet here. This Heath guy is alive, and you probably thought he was dead, so you took the creep so he'd tell you where he was. Or give you some kind of information about him. Or maybe you intended to follow him back to this Heath guy. Something like that. But you're a damn fool if that's how you fight. How do you intend to keep Kuri- Kurgi- whatever his damn name is. How are you gonna keep him here? You'd be dead if it wasn't for me. You better have a non flammable plan before he wakes up because I'm not dealing with that again. Figures when I try to do one good thing in my life I get roped into something like this. Should've never went into that house... couldn't even save..." She looked up at Castro and her face flushed from her mutterings.

"Anyways, what's the story between you and this guy? You two talked like you knew each other. And the kid.. I don't know. He's probably fine but I just left him in some shed a couple blocks away from the thing. I don't know what you want to do with him. Tried to tell him to stay put but who knows if he's still there. Kid looked at me like I was speaking a whole other language. Maybe he was in shock, I don't know." She shrugged at that.

 

[Kumii]

Skyla the Dark FlashLocation: Iron Bridge
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Misty

Spoiler: Mood Music

Skyla was about to get an earful from this little man and his cat. Mateo went on, saying things like how Mika left on his own shortly after her kidnapping, "Very Mika style, y'know?" Skyla smiled and giggled along with him, "Yeah, does sound like something he'd do." She joked.
He even mentioned they went their separate ways but were all looking for her, Skyla's cheeks turned pink, 'I have such great friends...' He said that she could thank Nia for the lead, "I'll be sure to do that the next time I see that girl." He then introduced her to his cat, "Cora, eh?" She was honestly glad just to see Mateo happy, "That's a cute name." Skyla giggled seeing Mateo bounce like a child.

Skyla couldn't help but get overwhelmed and she teared up herself. It really did warm her heart to hear that everyone cared about her even after being absent for 6 months. She wiped her eyes of her tears though. Then he mentioned everyone was here, Rai? Nia? Mika even? Then Mateo said 'boyfriend', "He's not-" Skyla blushed, "He's not my boyfriend, Mateo." She said timidly.

Mateo mentioned he wanted to see Skyla's injuries, she wasn't all that injured in all fairness, "I'm not.. injured to be honest." Skyla leaned over and whispered, "But if it'll make you feel better, we can do that later, 'kay?" She stood back up and smiled. She looked at Mateo, "Now there's a bloody great big dragon blocking our way forward. I have an idea on how to take it out but do you have any suggestions?"

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

They were joking. Mateo was joking with Skyla. It felt so natural, like Skyla hadn't been straight up kidnapped. She agreed about Mika and said she'd have to thank Nia next time for her help in securing the lead that brought them here.

Cora squirmed in Mateo's arms and gave an angry meow at the cute name comment. It wasn't cute, but he couldn't talk without revealing his secret of being a Bakeneko. That didn't stop him from thinking it in his mind, 'My name is Corazon! It's a regal name for a member of the Liu bloodline! It is not cute!' Wait until she saw his other form, the true form of the Liu family. His bloodline ability to shift into a sabertooth tiger. Then she wouldn't be calling him cute.

Mateo watched as Skyla reacted to all his news. He'd given her a lot to wrap her mind around in such a short span of time. One such thing that really got a reaction out of her was the boyfriend comment. He gave her a sly look when she blushed and said he wasn't her boyfriend. Seriously? It was so obvious he thought the whole group knew. They weren't just close friends; they were more than that. He wanted both of them to be happy, and if it was together that made them happy then so be it. Besides, they were a cute pair. He was rooting for the two.

She said she wasn't injured, but Mateo knew better than that. Gods she'd been kidnapped! Who knows what they did to her here! She leaned and whispered that they could do that later if it would make him feel better. It really would. And she didn't have to be embarrassed about anything. He'd seen plenty of injuries everywhere on the body. He didn't judge anyone. In fact, he told patients to be proud of themselves for seeking help even if it seemed embarrassing. And by how she wanted to do that later, it seemed to be like it might be embarrassing. But it was Mateo, the kid who didn't want to harm even a deadly metal dragon. He wouldn't do anything to make Skyla feel bad about herself and always asked patients for the ok to go deeper. The only time he didn't was when they were on the brink of death. He'd done mouth to mouth before and saw the most infected and gross wounds. Nothing fazed him when it came to healing. And when it came to one of his friends, he'd do everything he could to help even if it was disgusting or embarrassing.

Mateo gave a nod, wanting to make Skyla feel comfortable now that she was not kidnapped. She'd spent six months in a traumatic experience. He didn't know the half of it, but he did know that people who experienced those kinds of things needed to feel at ease afterwards. He wasn't as adept at mental healing as he was at physical wounds, but he knew some things. Knowledge that came from both patients and his own experiences. He still looked a bit nervous for his friend's health though.

"Now there's a bloody great big dragon blocking our way forward. I have an idea on how to take it out but do you have any suggestions?"

If Skyla wanted to focus more on the dragon and get the hell out of here, then he'd follow her lead. "I don't really like the idea of taking it out. But if there's no other way then I suppose we'll have to." He stopped to think for a second. Maybe Cora could freeze it. But that'd be giving him away. They needed a way to get rid of it fast. "I was going to climb up its tail when it was hanging out on the bridge, use it as a ladder y'know. But Mika ended up using his fire lance to blow a hole in it. Said something about a weak spot. I'm sure it's a weak spot now with the damage he put in it. If its like a machine then maybe we can go in and destroy it from the inside?" There was another thing he could do, a power he had because of his secret. But if he didn't have to use it, he wouldn't. Maybe Skyla would have a plan. But he could offer another plan. "One of us goes in, and the other stays out and distracts it maybe? I don't know if that's really a good plan, but I'd be up for going in."

 

[Kumii]

Skyla the Dark FlashLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Misty
Skyla heard Mateo's plan, "Honestly, it's not a bad plan." Skyla smacked her fist against the palm of her hand and raised a finger as if she had an idea. She looked around for a decent looking weapon and found one. She picked it up, "I bequeath thee with a sword, yada yada." She gave him the sword, "Take it. My idea hinges upon you landing the final blow, 'kay?" At the same time, she took the great sword from her back and rested it on hr shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll be right there if anything goes wrong." And to be honest, it could go wrong but for now, she wanted Mateo to have some sort of ease.

Skyla walked up to the neck of the dragon all quiet-like and ran her hand along the length of her blade, imbuing it with dark magic.

A few moments earlier...
Skyla begins to explain her idea to Mateo, "Okay, so here's the plan, I'm gonna get it to reveal its weak spot. I assume you'll know it when you see it. When it does, I'm gonna need you to ram that sword I just gave you into it's weak spot with all your might. With any luck, it'll kill it." Skyla looked at Mateo, "This plan hinges on your ability to kill it. So I'm gonna need you to be brave right now, I know you're a healer but if we don't take this thing down right now, it'll come back to bite us in the ass."

Present time...
When she finished she performed an upward diagonal slash, which caused the dragon's head to move up a bit and it to stir to get up. When it did, it revealed the spot Mika hit earlier, with the sparks flying out of it. Skyla looked to Mateo and nodded as if saying, 'You can do it.'
(Mateo's time to shine, be as cinematic as you, Alpha!)

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Skyla seemed to have an idea, aided by his ramblings about Mika and the weak spot. Mateo smiled at her and her movements. He'd missed the ray of sunshine that was Skyla. His problems seemed to melt away, especially when she included him in the plan. In fact, he had an active role in it.

She picked up a stray sword which Mateo wondered why there was some random sword. The only thing he could think of was the dragon crushed some poor knight under its weight and the sword was the only thing left over. He had to stop himself from laughing. The idea of something getting crushed under the butt of a metal dragon was too much.

He did giggle at the whole 'I bequeath thee with a sword' thing. Yup, he had definitely missed Skyla. All his tension was releasing. He bent over a little to let Cora jump out of his hold, then stood at his full height again to take the sword.

"Take it. My idea hinges upon you landing the final blow, 'kay?"

Mateo's face flushed at that notion. His eyes shone at that idea. He was going to be a part of this plan after all, and he was gonna give the dragon the final blow. He really did feel sorry for the thing, but a new determination burned in him. A new motivation. He wanted to do good by Skyla and prove himself as an asset to the team. If he pulled this off right, then the group would have to believe in him. He smiled and said, "Ok!"

He did still have his staff, which he was confused about using. He could easily use that instead of some random sword, but then again, the sword was an actual weapon. His staff was a piece of wood that had a really weird twirl at the top. It didn't really seem like much compared to say Skyla's great sword. But he settled on using the sword because of his idea.

Skyla would be there if things went wrong. But for some reason he didn't feel all that scared. In fact, he felt better now than he had been feeling for a while. He was at the top of his game as Skyla explained the plan to him.

She was going to get it to reveal the weak spot somehow, and he would be the one to finish it off since he knew where the weak point was located. He could do that. Hopefully. He'd never faced a huge dragon before. He didn't really fight either. He was a wanderer with a brat of a companion who traveled around learning magic. But the other side of him could help. Another stupid idea, but if he had this he should use it. Hopefully it didn't get out of control.

Skyla told him to be brave about this and take it down. He understood what she meant, but it still felt wrong to kill something wounded like that. It was against what he believed in. But it would help all of them get out of here, plus give him some status among his group. He couldn't be weakened by his emotions right now. "I.. I understand. You can count on me!" His voice cracked at the end into a squeak. He gave a nervous laugh at that. Cora just watched through slitted eyes. He really didn't like where this was going.



Mateo hung back when they made it up to the courtyard. He put his stuff down so that it wouldn't weigh him down when it was his time to shine. His traveler's backpack, plus his satchel and staff all piled up on the ground. Skyla had walked up to the dragon very quiet and he leaned down to Cora. "Stay here with my stuff. I don't want you getting caught in this whole thing."

"Mateo..." Cora whispered. The boy gave him one of his soft smiles and the cat complied, though his fur bristled with worry.

Mateo stood and watched as Skyla got ready for her attack. She imbued the sword with dark magic. Wait, dark magic? When could Skyla use dark magic? He'd only seen her use earth magic before. It was still awesome. Now he had to get her to teach him both the cool lava earth moves and dark magic. That diagonal slash was pretty cool.

But it also served a purpose. The dragon's body stirred from its position and revealed sparks. The spot Mika had hit. Skyla looked over to him, signaling him to go. But it also seemed like she was giving him some kind of silent encouragement.

Mateo nodded and ran with the sword, making his way to the weak spot. He was surprisingly pretty fast, but that was because he was used to running as a traveler. As he ran, he did something he hadn't done in a long while. He took a glove off. He used his mouth to get the glove off his right hand revealing something unexpected. The tips of his fingers with pitch black, the ends containing claws instead of nails. With hands like those, you could guess he was some sort of demon. But that wasn't the case. The boy had been human since his birth and yet, there was always something off about him.

With the speed of light, Mateo traced the sword with his clawed hand and spoke one word. "Decay..." Then he brought it up and plunged it into the metal dragon. The evil had already started working on the sword. It would blacken and dissolve the metal in a matter of seconds. But the dragon had been affected by it. Its metal too would weaken and blacken. The infection would spread and start dissolving the dragon like blight to a plant.

Mateo stepped back and got to the ground as the dragon writhed. When his uncovered hand touched the ground, the grass around withered and died. He looked at the spot in anguish. He needed to glove his hand again. He couldn't control it. He'd never been able to. Not when he was a baby and had made his milk bottle dissolve, not when he was five and had destroyed a support beam in the stables, and not now when he was trying to defeat a metal dragon.

Then he remembered something as he searched for his glove in panic. He yelled out, "Skyla! Don't touch it! It'll affect you too!" It would. It wouldn't spare his friend. If Skyla were to touch the dragon in a spot that had already become infected, then she too would wither away.

Spoiler: Mateo's Hands

 

[Kumii]

!!! Junk Dragon !!!The dragon's body stirred to get up and while reveling the weak spot, Mateo plunged the sword into the dragon's chest. The dragon let out a pained roar as it began to decay from within. It thrashed about a bit before falling in defeat and then shortly after, vanishing in that same cloud of ash that the Nameless Knight and Unholy One disappeared in, signifying its defeat.

The Mad Doctor would then have his book ripped from his possession and disappear in front of him ,"What? My Dragon was...?" The book would then appear in front of Mateo. A book with a Phoenix Crest on it.

If Mateo would take the book, he would feel a constant surge of fire energy pour into his arms as fiery tendrils surrounded his arms. A few moments after that, Phoenix would emerge from his back for a moment before disappearing. The book would then flip open and the effigy of the Phoenix crest would animate itself in front of Mateo. The book would then bound to Mateo and only Mateo. Opening the book would cause the same Phoenix wings to appear on each cover, one wing per cover.

AlphaBlueWolf

Spoiler: Obtained Item

New Item!
Mateo received the Phoenix Summoning Book.
+ Ability to Summon Phoenix
+ Possible new Fire Spells...? (Unknown to Mateo at this time unless he decides to study the book ad its contents)

An approaching Final Battle...?(about 5 minutes AFTER Mateo would receive the Book)

Upon the defeat of the Junk Dragon, a voice resonated within everyone,

"Ahh... the Dragon falls, a great enemy indeed,
But from thy battle shows thy graceless greed,
So prepare thy selves, the bells have tolled,
shelter thy weak, thy young and thy old,
each of you shall pay the final sum,
Cry for mercy! The Reckoning has come!"

The disembodied voice let out a terrible guffaw before disappearing from their minds completely but when this happened the skies above the fortress swirled and got very dark, at the center of the swirl was a green glowing light. Surely this was a bad omen...
AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark

Skyla the Dark FlashLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Misty
(This post is taking place BEFORE the disembodied voice, waiting for Mateo decide on taking the book)
Skyla watched in awe as Mateo did some sort of decay thingy, "Where have you been hiding that?" Then he yelled some stuff about not touching it and she Bloodhound Stepped backwards and next to Mateo, "Remind me not to get on your bad side." Skyla raised both hands and went to give Mateo a high five with both of them, "You did it!"

Then a book appeared in front of Mateo, "Take it, you deserve it." She said in a soft voice.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

"Where have you been hiding that?"

Well, that was a long and oh so complicated story that Mateo wasn't going to get into if he could help it. He couldn't tell if she was scared or in awe of him, what with the pounding in his ears. Battle was an... adjustment to say the least. The adrenaline was still kicking in his body as he watched the dragon get eaten by his ability. He needed the glove. Now.

He found his glove, picked it up with the gloved hand, and then gave a yelp as he heard Skyla next to him. "How...?" Did she just teleport or something? When was she able to teleport? He couldn't make sense of anything at the moment, but at least she looked happy. "Yeah, well, me neither. Trust me, better for the both of us if you stay on my good side." It was an incredibly vague comment as he slipped his glove back on. He felt way less on edge now that it was covered up. The gloves were specially made. His Decay ability wouldn't seep through the gloves when it acted up. He trusted it way less, because it wasn't really magic per say. Also, it liked to pick very inconvenient times to act up.

Skyla raised both hands and praised him. He blushed and smiled and without thinking connected with his gloved hands with her hands in a double high five. Then he realized the movement and looked down at his hands. He hadn't been afraid. She hadn't been afraid of him. You could tell his smile was genuine at the moment.

Cora ran over to him giving a hiss in complaint. 'What's wrong with you? Are you out of your mind? Why would you use that?' That's exactly what Cora was saying with that hiss. But Mateo wasn't thinking much about that. "Yeah, I guess I did do it huh?" He was ecstatic right now.

He stood up and something appeared in front of him. A book containing a phoenix crest. He looked up towards Skyla. "Uh, you can see that too, right? What's going on?" It looked to be magical and radiated a feeling of warmth and power. It was endearing to him, to say the least.

Skyla told him to take it. He did trust her, and she had more experience with this kind of stuff than he did. Battle rewards were something she would know more about than he would.

He shrugged and sighed. "Well, alright. Here I go." Then he reached out for the book with a little apprehension and grasped it between his two gloved hands. He knew his ability wouldn't destroy the book, but the book might end up destroying him.

Mateo could feel flame energy coursing through his body. It felt like he was standing in the middle of a bonfire, but he wasn't getting burnt. It was a weird feeling but he knew it was magical. It felt like when he had first used his healing magic but much, much different. Then he realized it was because fiery tendrils were wrapping themselves around his arms. He looked scared and unsure of what was happening. "Skyla!"

A phoenix emerged, curling its flaming wings before disappearing. He was understanding. The book was bonding to him. The phoenix...

The book shot open in his hands, displaying the phoenix crest in front of him. The wings displayed on each cover and then the book became bound to him. It was like his own lance, or like his own pendant. He got to join the club of having a magical relic! Wait until everyone saw his sweet knew magic book. Well, after they reunited with Skyla that is.

"This is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me..." He was in complete awe at the book. He turned it around his hand and looked at each cover. Cora inched closer to him and clawed his way up to Mateo's shoulder. Mateo lifted up the book to show Cora. "Sweet right? This thing's gotta be some kind of magic relic!" He was bouncing now. Cora sniffed at the book and pawed at it, then wrinkled his nose and decided he didn't like it. It was too hot for his liking.

"Skyla look!" He practically bounced over to Skyla and showed her the book, telling her things like how it felt like holding fire without it burning and saying it was definitely magic.



By the time the voice came, he'd gotten a few words in with Skyla about the book. Cora was the first one to react, hissing and arching his back on his perch of Mateo's shoulder. Mateo looked over to the cat and then realized about the book. Cora and him shared a glance, a silent agreement that they were hearing the same thing.

The voice made Mateo's skin crawl. Despite having a book that felt as warm as the sun, he felt ice cold as if Cora was encasing him with his frost. The voice started talking about the dragon. Mateo swirled around with his book ready in his hands. He didn't know the capabilities of the book yet, so right now what came to mind was using it as a "deadly" projectile to whoever was stalking them. If they knew about the dragon, then they must be watching them. That thought made his blood turn to ice.

Bells have tolled? What did that mean? Mercy? Reckoning? He didn't know what any of that meant. "Show yourself!" He forced his voice to solidify, but shouting from a teen probably wasn't scary enough to have any real force. The voice was so clear that it had to be close, but they were in a courtyard. There was no place near them to hide. So it seemed impossible for whoever was near to hide.

The voice laughed and he blushed. Was it laughing at him or laughing at the whole mercy/reckoning thing? He didn't know. But his attention was shifted when the clouds got darker. The mist surrounding them couldn't conceal that. There was a green glowing light in the center. Was it some kind of magic? Mateo couldn't tell from here. He just knew it was something bad. It wasn't like the green light from his Healing Touch. No, it was something worse.

"Skyla, you're seeing that too, right? You heard all that? About sheltering the weak and reckoning? What was that about? Does it have something to do with why they took you?" He really hoped Skyla had the answers, and that she wouldn't hide it from him in an attempt to protect their youngest group member. He could handle whatever was going on. It wasn't the worst thing that had ever happened to him, after all.

 

[Kumii]

Skyla the Dark FlashLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Misty
Skyla shielded her eyes when the book began bonding itself to Mateo, she recognized those wings on the covers, "Wait.. that can't be..." Skyla shook her head, "Well whatever..." Skyla smiled when Mateo bounced happily with his new book, "Treat it with care, Mateo!"

A few moments later, Skyla put a hand on her head as a voice resonated within her mind, it seemed to affect Mateo too, Cora as well. When it all over, Mateo had readied his new book as if ready to take on their invisible adversary. Mateo firmly yet shakily yelled for the disembodied voice to show itself, to no avail however. Skyla seemed to look around and that was when the clouds darkened an swirled around a central point with a green glowing epicenter. Mateo asked if she was seeing that too and began asking her what it was, "I... don't know, truly." Skyla instinctively grabbed Mateo by the shoulders in a protective manner, as if her motherly or sisterly instincts activated, "Come on, let's head back to the others, 'kay?" She said in a slightly worried but soft voice.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Skyla had told him to treat his book with care. Well, aiming it to throw at an invisible enemy was definitely not treating it with care. But all his stuff was on the other end of the courtyard, and it's not like he had any idea what he was doing with this thing, so throwing it had really been his only option. He felt stupid for thinking it and was glad he had never had to throw it because he knew he'd be feeling even stupider right now.

Skyla seemed speechless for a second. Then she answered with the fact that she didn't know. Well, that was great. An ominous green, obviously magic, light and both of them didn't know what it was. He entertained the thought that she might be lying to protect him for a second, then dropped it completely. He trusted Skyla. He was the liar, not her.

Mateo was a bit surprised when Skyla grabbed him by the shoulders, but it was a sweet protective gesture if anything. Though he'd rather act like he didn't need protecting with his cool new book. She told him they should head back to the others. "Yeah, sure." He could sense the slight worry in her soft tone, and he was obviously a little on edge. They both seemed to realize whatever that green thing was couldn't be good.

"Imagine how the others are gonna react when they see you again!" He offered to clear the air of all the worry as he ran to grab his stuff. "I wonder if you're not boyfriend will finally stop hiding his emotions. I think this'll get a strong reaction out of him so that he doesn't look eternally mad at everything in existence." He turned to Skyla and gave his best brooding Mika impression which was actually pretty good. His face relaxed into a smile and he giggled.

Mateo's satchel went on first, one of his most important possessions besides the staff and his classic blue ruana that hadn't changed since the tournament. Next, he hauled the hiker's backpack onto both of his shoulders, which warranted Cora to scramble off. He was used to packing light, but he had a lot of important things that he needed to keep with him at all times. Then he grabbed the staff and took it up in one hand while the book was clutched in the other. Cora propped back up onto his shoulder, tired of all the walking and running they were doing. He was too used to getting to sit in a satchel. He started licking at a cracked paw, making him appear even more like a normal cat. "Ok, ready to go!"

He went back over to Skyla and started walking with her. He wouldn't go ahead, wanting to keep Skyla in his line of sight. It was embarrassing, but he had this fear of her getting kidnapped again if his eyes weren't on her. "Hopefully they'll still be at the bridge, or around that area. I feel bad because I just kind of took off." He scratched his head. "I knew where the dragon was, so I thought I could help out, but then I saw you and, well, you know the rest." He shrugged and gave his head a scratch. "But I should've waited for them before I rushed off for the dragon."

 

[Kumii]

Skyla the Dark FlashLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf
Current Weather: Misty
Skyla and Mateo walked together for a bit before Mateo said something in an attempt to clear the air, "My return isn't really that anticipated is it?" Mateo made a comment about about Mika's pissed off expression, "Yeah, but that's part of his charm though!" She giggled then chuckled at Mateo's rather good Mika impression, "I'm gonna tell him you're making fun of him!" Skyla watched as Mateo grabbed his things then said he was ready to go.

Skyla looked at Mateo with light pink cheeks as they walked and he explained how he ran off without them, "Well, don't do that again, Mateo! What if something happened to you?" Skyla's face was stern this time, "You're the healer! If something happened to you then the group would be in trouble! What if I wasn't there? Hmm??" Skyla's voice was that of sisterly concern, "I know everything worked out but you're important to our little group, Mateo. You're our good friend. We may treat you like a child but it's only cause we love you." Skyla kept saying 'we' as if speaking on behalf of the group, "Please, be careful so that doesn't happen again!" She said in her normal tone of voice.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

"My return isn't really that anticipated is it?"

She'd been gone for six months, kidnapped by some random dude as far as Mateo knew, and she didn't think everyone really missed her? Maybe she was just being modest or something. Because everyone really was waiting to see her again. To get her back safe. Especially Mika. The guy had been difficult the whole day because of that. Now maybe he'd be a little less difficult to deal with. He would have two patients now. The love birds really were meant for each other, huh?

Before they had gotten going, and after he had made his comment about Mika, Skyla said she'd tell him he was making fun of him. "Please don't. I see that brooding face all the time. Imagine what he looks like when he's actually mad. I'd really rather not be on the receiving end of one of his flaming lance attacks."

When he'd talked about how he ran off, Skyla turned all stern and basically scolded him like he was a child. He wasn't expecting it, but it did seem usual with how the group saw him. Even the cat on his shoulder thought of him that way. But he guesses Skyla had the most experience with unexpected things happening to her.

His face blushed when she talked about him being the healer, like that was some big deal. It really wasn't. That was just his job. He traveled around healing people and making money off it. To him, it wasn't as impressive compared to Mika with his lance or Rai with his cool cyclone attack. But Skyla seemed to think it was pretty important. Cora nodded along to what she was saying, completely agreeing with her.

"Yeah, I mean I guess so." He nodded. "I'll be careful. See, this is why everyone's so excited for you to be back with us. I'm the healer, but you're the one with a giant sword who also happens to be good at pep talks." He chuckled. "Thanks for that though. It's good to hear that."

 

[SharkBark]

Mood: Panic

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

"No, We- I've disappointed Mateo enough for now. Let him have the kill if he wants it." Mika responded to Rai asking if he should finish off the dragon.

"Alright then. Hopefully he come through. And quickly too." Rai said. "I don't want to have to actually have to fight this thing."

From behind, Nia walked up to the pair and sat down next to Mika. She told Rai to go and search for Mateo and that she'd be strong enough to fend off anything that comes at them.

"Thanks, I owe you one, Nia. Make sure Mika gets the rest he said he'd get. If he refuses, let me know. I'll personally give him a stern talking to." Rai said with a light chuckle. Then, at a quick pace, looking at his surroundings at the same time. Mateo was nowhere to be found. Well, at least to Rai. Rai hoped that nothing bad had happened to him. In a place like this and on the journey they were embarking, there were bound to be other threats out here, and no one was certain on whether Mateo was able to protect himself. Rai actually felt a bit obliged to protect the teen, something he probably picked up from his parents. Before Rai had gotten his powers, his parents did everything they could to keep him alive and well. They sacrificed their own food and slept with grumbling stomachs, his father risked his life each day hunting for large beast that could kill him, and his mother spent hours per day begging the rich for some help or spare change, and barely ever got a single dime. All of this gave Rai a sense of urgency to help anyone younger than him, almost in the same ways as his parents did for him. It kind of grew onto him.

"Mateo? Mateo, buddy, where you at?" Rai called out. "This isn't funny," Rai sighed. This was useless. He'd have to be a lot louder if he wanted to get his attention. So, with a deep breath in, Rai yelled out, "MATEOOO WHERE ARE YOU?" Then he walked in silence for a bit, hoping to get an answer but of course, nothing.

"Alright, fuck it." Rai began to sprint across the bridge, gaining distance very fast while still looking around him quickly, doing his best not to miss anything. That satchel and that cloak or poncho looking thing. That's what he wanted to see the most right now.

Once Rai had made it all the way across the bridge, he found himself in the fortresses courtyard. It was just as ominous as the rest of the fortress, with just a bit more lighting to it.

"Okay...now I'm starting to get a bit desperate. Please don't be dead Ma-"

Rai suddenly found his chats to himself cut off by the sound of a loud roar, and the only thing is could've come from was the Junk Dragon. Rai frantically looked around, trying to find the source of the roar and became much more worried now. He began to sprint through the misty junkyard at full speed with a worried expression on his face.

"MATEO!" Rai yelled at the top of his lungs. "Mateo, man, WHERE ARE YOU!" Rai began to unsheathe his blade and charged up a bit of electricity. He felt that something had just happened. Something huge. And if he was even a bit late for it, he'd regret it. Beads of sweat came from Rai's brown skin and adrenaline raced through his veins. He was afraid. Genuinely afraid. Until he heard footsteps. Rai stopped in place and listened closely. The footsteps break between the steps sounded too close together. That means there were multiple steps. Three? No, the break would be much more frequent then. So, two people?

Rai approached the source of the steps slowly but surely. He kept his hand on the hilt of his katana and charged up just a little bit.

"Mateo...is that you?" Rai softly said. Then he heard some voices. One was light but a bit low at the same time, a man, and the other, high and squeaky, a woman. The man definitely had to be Mateo, but who was he with? All of this was making Rai even more stressed and scared. The suspense was killing him. The voices got louder and a lot clearer, and his grip on his katana became stronger and stronger, until he finally reached them. And he was at a loss for words. Why? Because Mateo stood before him with a jet-black haired girl. Not just any jet black haired girl.

Skyla Junia.

Kumii AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Tired

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

Castro laughed as Rori said that she agreed to being able to beat his ass. Then, she made her own theories on Heath.

"Listen I told you, Heath is none of your busine--"

"This Heath guy is alive, and you probably thought he was dead, so you took the creep so he'd tell you where he was. Or give you some kind of information about him. Or maybe you intended to follow him back to this Heath guy. Something like that." Rori guessed. "But you're a damn fool if that's how you fight. How do you intend to keep Kuri- Kurgi- whatever his damn name is. How are you gonna keep him here? You'd be dead if it wasn't for me. You better have a non flammable plan before he wakes up because I'm not dealing with that again. Figures when I try to do one good thing in my life I get roped into something like this. Should've never went into that house... couldn't even save..."

Castro sighed and stood up from the bed. Then he walked over to a stolen chest and rummaged through it's contents.

"Listen, first of all, sorry about what happened to that little girl." Castro started. "I tried to stop it and failed, if I had been a little faster I could've been able to save her. But we have Kuragiri, right? We can avenge her." Castro takes a pair of bolt handcuffs and then walks over to Kuragiri, crouching next to his body. "Next, you got the first part of your Heath theory right, but everything else was far from correct. I don't plan to go to Heath. I'd be walking right into my own grave. He's too strong for me beat, and I know you're strong and all, but you'd struggle to beat him and his goons too. It's basically a little empire, and he's on top of it all. But I have a strategy."

Castro wraps the handcuffs around Kuragiri's wrists and locks the bolts. Once he's done with that, he pushes a small pin on the bolt downwards, a click being heard as the mechanism activates.

"Heath is one of the cockiest motherfuckers I've ever meet. Besides you." He joked to Rori. "He believes he can beat anyone. So when Kuragiri, Maki, and I were able to defeat him, he was mad. His self esteem drastically decreased and he felt so ashamed of himself that, he met his own untimely end when he killed himself. Well, when we thought he killed himself. Basically what I'm saying is, if he's back, that bastard will want his rematch. Or ultimately, his revenge." After fully getting the handcuffs on, Castro propped Kuragiri onto a wall and then kicked him in the side. "So we'll give him what he wants, but not in the exact way he'd expect it, more info on that later."

Once Castro was finished speaking, he kicked Kuragiri a few more times and he finally woke up.

"Aw, geez." Kuragiri groggily said. "That girl was brutal, Castro, don't you think? I'm glad she's gone." Kuragiri looked removed his gaze from Castro and then saw Rori. "Well, damn. You haven't gotten rid of this bitch yet?"

 

[Kumii]

Skyla the Dark Flash and Mika the Flaming SpearLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Skyla nodded once, "Good." Mateo then thanked her, "Well, it's true. I'm sure Mika and Rai would agree." Then she heard footsteps coming towards them from the bridge. She gently put a hand on her sword as she waited to see who approached them, her mind was put at ease quickly when she saw who it was. Not Mika but the white-haired man-girl, "Speak of the Devil... Rai." She smiled with pink cheeks and gave a little wave, "Miss me?"

Mika heard Rai yelling, damn near screaming for Mateo. He groaned as he got up, "He hasn't found Mateo yet?" Mika looked ahead, he could just barely make out Rai's figure and shortly after what looked like two more. A Fight? No, one of them was slender, "Time to go investigate." Mika began jogging, then running then full on sprinting until he arrived where Rai was, "Hey Rai, what's going o-" He was cutoff by the sheer shock of what, rather, who stood before his eyes. Without saying a word, he quickly brushed by Rai and ran up to Skyla and gave her the biggest hug he could give without hurting her.

Before Rai could answer Skyla, she was bear hugged by the man of hour, Mika himself. At first she was surprised but eventually gave in and hugged him back, damn near crying in his arms, "Mika..." she said as her voice to began to break. Mika let her go for a moment, looked in her eyes and gave her a big kiss right on the lips. When he was done, "You have.. I've missed you so much, Skyla.." Skyla looked at him and nodded, "Never leave my side again, I can't... you can't disappear on me again. I won't let you." He said.

Skyla paused for a moment, cleared her eyes and uttered one phrase in response, "I won't."

Nia of the Storming FistLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Nia was stirred from her rest when Mika got up, "Uh, h-hey wait, Mika..." She got up as Mika ran away, "Mika!" She yelled after him, "It's always one thing, isn't it?" She said quietly before chasing off after him, "I'm suppose to make sure you get plenty of rest!" Nia shouted, "Damn it! Come back here, you dummy!"

Nia panted as they came to a stop, arriving where Rai was, "Mika, you idiot, you're suppose to-" She said until her eyes landed upon both Mateo and Skyla. Nia couldn't help but slightly smile, the long awaited reunion was finally here. She walked up closer to the group and stayed silent, letting the two have their moment.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Mateo really wasn't sure if the other two would really agree like Skyla said they would. From everything Mika had presented, it seemed like he didn't think he was too important. After all, he'd refused to rest when Mateo insisted which was incredibly important after magic fatigue. He didn't seem to trust his expertise on the thing everyone knew he was good at. And then he'd rushed in as an attempt to kill the dragon with no plan whatsoever. Even though Mateo had already started formulating one. Rai.. Rai was a little different. It was more believable that he'd think the same as Skyla, considering he'd agreed when Mateo had tried to get Mika to take a rest. He'd tried to help him too, which presented in a way that the guy trusted his medical expertise. He'd even said so too. But Rai still babied him as much as the rest of the group did, and Mateo was striving to be taken seriously. A lot of people doubted him being 'a real doctor' because he was so young. And that was true, he'd been self taught and helped by his magic, but he still had as much skill as say someone who had trained for five years at some elite doctor's school.

But as Skyla said, they babied him because they loved him. It wasn't about him not being good enough to be a true healer, they were just worrying about him because he was their friend. Skyla put it into some perspective for him. The idea would take some getting used to, but he would eventually. As long as Mika would finally take his advice at rest. The guy could give him a real headache from worry.

Once again, it was Cora that realized the new danger first, shifting uneasily on Mateo's shoulder. He was a spirit, so his senses were naturally heightened. Besides that, he was a Bakeneko, an animal spirit, so he had the natural reflexes of a cat. The sharp hearing to notice the footsteps before they got close. His ears twitched and he unsheathed his claws where they dig into Mateo's shoulder.

"Ow, Cora." Mateo winced as he felt the claws. Luckily Cora's reflex hadn't been dug in enough to penetrate his skin. He looked back over to Skyla who had gone silent. She seemed just as on edge. He went silent himself, trying to figure out what was going on. He heard footsteps and a voice. The voice sounded male and eerily familiar. Wait, the voice was calling out his name! That creeped him out enough to ready his book, still no idea what it was really capable of. He slowly started to realize who it was until he appeared. Rai. Mateo lowered his book, but Cora was still on edge for some reason. Maybe it was because he had his katana unsheathed with lightning charged around it. Yeah, that was probably it.

Mateo smiled as Rai just stared in shock. "Uh, hey Rai. Look who I found." Then his attention shifted to another man coming towards them. Mika. The boyfriend himself. Also the one who couldn't rest to save his life. Mateo stepped back and allowed Mika and Skyla to have their moment in peace. He'd needed a few minutes himself after finding Skyla, so he knew his group would need that as well.

He smiled as he watched Mika essentially bear hug Skyla. He could hear Skyla's voice break and he felt like crying himself. He was an empath after all. He could just feel the emotions surging in the both of them. Luckily for him, they weren't bad emotions. They were crying, but it was out of relief and joy of seeing each other. And then, there was the kiss. He felt the joy of seeing them happy, but also felt kind of awkward for watching.

He noticed Nia had come too and stood by Rai. He decided to join the two of them as Mika and Skyla talked. And man were they in love. It was so obvious but so cute. He smiled at the two next to him. "Look at that, the love birds are finally back together again." He said after Mika and Skyla seemed to finish. Then he gave a little chuckle. "Now the goal of this mission is finished. We just have to figure out how to get out of here now. And thanks to me and Skyla, there's no more dragon to worry about." He tried to do jazz hands, but it was a little hard when holding a staff in one hand and a book in the other.



Castro started sympathizing with Rori, clearly catching onto what her ramblings were all about. She hated being vulnerable but seeing that kid like that sucked. Despite acting like her usual asshole self, she was still pretty scarred by that. She'd been in that house the second she'd heard the bomb go off. She'd tried to ward off the flames and had found the kid's body. Her corpse was bloody and charred, you could barely recognize her because of what the bomb and flames had done to her body. She'd tried to get a response out of her, but in the end she couldn't. But she'd snatched up the body anyways, warding off the flames until she could get her outside. In the end, her rage had gotten the better of her and she had gone to attack Kuragiri with that flaming dragon attack. She'd left the kid there, and there was a part of her subconscious that had known she was already gone. Maybe that's why she had abandoned the body there, choosing to follow Castro instead of trying to resurrect the dead. But she hated Kuragiri for pulling that crap. She did want revenge for the situation.

She remembered when she was a kid, watching her whole world fall apart at the seams. The situation that had made her into a street rat, starting off her bandit lifestyle by stealing to survive then finding it an enjoyable pass time. Or, for her own purposes, an outlet for revenge. She'd suffered just like that poor little girl she couldn't save. She balled her fists, not wanting to think about that part of her life. She wasn't the vulnerable type, and she wasn't going to get that way in front of a stranger no matter how fast he had figured out the meaning behind her words.

Rori watched as Castro took out a pair of bolt handcuffs and instinctively moved away. She'd been put in a lot of handcuffs as a kid. They'd tried to get her off the streets, but she kept evading them. That was when she didn't have her official title yet, nor a bounty. She was just some possible run away or orphan girl who stole from the market and picked on the guards for entertainment. Naturally, that just meant that her ability to pick locks had grown from her experience. Though, those handcuffs looked slightly different than the ones she remembered. More mechanical, which didn't surprise her given the state of the room.

Luckily, those cuffs were for Kuragiri, unluckily she wasn't sure how well that would hold him. It looked to her like any other metal handcuffs, which her easily meltable by her flames. And Kuragiri had shown to have flames very similar to hers. Castro kept talking as he adjusted Kuragiri and the handcuffs, saying she'd gotten the first part of her theory right. "So much for not talking about Heath." She snidely remarked with a grin. Yup, she liked that better. Being an irresponsible dick, and not a mature adult trying to balance her own trauma.

Castro spoke about how strong Heath really was. How Castro couldn't beat him and Rori couldn't either. At least he'd balanced that out with saying she was strong. She just rolled her eyes. She beat up Kuragiri. Heath couldn't be any stronger. But it's not like she had any experience with this Heath guy.

Rori heard the click of the mechanism being put into place. She didn't think that was usual for handcuffs, but Castro kept on speaking, so she didn't have time to realize that these were specialty handcuffs. When Castro basically called her a cocky motherfucker, she grinned and let out a small chuckle. She didn't find it offensive, in fact she liked that better than when people were formal. Castro went on to explain about the situation with Heath, but Rori took interest in another thing. A new name. Maki. It sounded like a female name, which was a good guess. Castro, Heath, and Kuragiri just sounded male, which they were, while Maki sounded feminine. It could probably go both ways, but right now everything was a guessing game and she chose to guess female. She wondered if whoever this Maki girl was if she was as much of an insane prick as Kuragiri or someone more sensible like Castro. Again, it seemed like it could go either way. There wasn't much else about Maki, so she couldn't gather anything on her. She just hoped Maki didn't go around blowing up innocent kid's houses.

There was also the tidbit about how these three fought together, so they obviously used to be buddies. But Kuragiri had been so ready to kill Castro today. And Castro didn't seem so fond of Kuragiri either. She wondered what had happened to set these two on that path. And then her attention shifted to the supposed suicide of Heath. Anyone who'd kill themselves over something as meaningless as that was a coward. All she'd thought about when she'd lost everything was survival despite how hard her life had become. Losing a battle? That guy seemed beyond weak. It just made all the more sense that it was a fake out. But then why would Kuragiri be working for Heath now when he'd fought to beat him? The whole situation just made her head spin. What had she gotten herself into?

Castro said 'we' an uncomfortable number of times, basically locking in Rori as a participate. Now she was second guessing herself in her decision to come with Castro. He also wouldn't clue her in one the full plan, which was another huge red flag. Shady didn't begin to cover this situation. She could just pop out the grate, but Kuragiri being alive made her uncomfortable as well. Because she couldn't save that girl, it would make her feel guilty to just leave now. She wanted her revenge, but she also wanted to make sure no one else got hurt.

Castro kicked Kuragiri a couple times which seemed warranted given the creep was a murderer. That's when he woke up and Rori was officially on guard. He looked towards the guy with contempt as he woke up from an in prompt to little nap. And the guy was not exactly sleeping beauty. He moaned about how she was gone, meanwhile she was right there, and talked to Castro like he hadn't just tried to kill the guy in an all-out battle. Then he looked over to her and realized she was still very much in this situation.

"Well, damn. You haven't gotten rid of this bitch yet?"

Rori smirked and waved at him. The bitch comment didn't faze her, but she knew it wasn't being used in a pleasant way. "The bitch who just beat your ass, yeah. Guess he hasn't gotten rid of me yet. Not like he could if he tried. And for the record, I could've done a lot worse so count your stars, prick."

After that, she let Castro take the lead since he was the one who knew the plan. Also, this was his mess, not hers. All she was sticking around for was for her own goal of revenge.

 

[SharkBark]

Mood: Happiness

Rai Ikari

Thunderous Hunter

Bridge to Iron Fortress

Rai slapped his face to see if he was dreaming. He wasn't. Skyla was really in front of him, alive and well. Which means all this work was worth it. Rai teared up a bit but quickly dismissed his tears, deciding not to cry in front of Mateo.

"Speak of the Devil... Rai. Miss me?"

Before Rai could answer, rushing from behind, Mika suddenly appeared, who seemed to have been looking for Rai, and brushed past his shoulder. His reaction was immediate and so sentimental. Rai could've sworn that he had shed a tear. Mika dashed forward towards Skyla and gave her a monstrous hug that didn't seem to hurt her. Skyla hugged back and the tears began flowing. Rai's tears became a bit hard to contain but he barely managed. And then, FINALLY, Mika gave Skyla a big kiss on the lips, finally confirming his love to her through it. At that point, Rai was crying heavily. He didn't sob but his chest was heaving up and down as he buried his face in one hand, trying to hide his face.

Everything went well. They completed their quest to find Skyla with no casualties, they dealt with powerful enemies on the way and won, and they won. Now they just had to leave the fortress and have a huge celebration dinner. A green light illuminated the group which Rai ignored due to being too distracted by his overwhelming tears. A foreshadowing light? Get out of your feelings Rai, stay alert. You aren't out of the woods yet.

"Now the goal of this mission is finished. We just have to figure out how to get out of here now." Mateo said. ''And thanks to me and Skyla, there's no more dragon to worry about."

"You killed it?" Rai said, his face still in his hands and his voice breaking. "Attaboy..."

The gang was back together, all the threats were slain, and they could finally feel breathe easy again. The perfect ending to this chapter, eh? Unless Kumii decides to hit us with one more brick to the face.
Kumii AlphaBlueWolf

Code by Serobliss

Mood: Interrogative

Castro Smith

Blue-Eyed Bandit

Unknown, Ironshire

Castro chuckled at Rori's response to Kuragiri's comment on being a bitch. She spoke about how she was the "bitch" that had just beaten his ass. But then of course, she just had to say something about Castro not being able to get rid of her if he tried. Castro rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath,

"With prep time, I could probably beat you, but okay."

"Oh, count my stars, eh? How about I try a bit harder to kill you this time?" Kuragiri said angrily as he began to stand up and approach Rori. "Maybe I'll turn up the heat a bit-" Suddenly, before Kuragiri could finish his threat, a buzz can be heard from his handcuffs, and he falls face flat onto the floor.

"W-What the hell? I can't feel my legs...Castro, you sneaky son of a bitch what the hell did you do to me?" He aggressively asks.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that the handcuffs around your wrists have a sort of mechanism that ejects the poison curare into your body, which blocks neuromuscular transmission which is a process that allows the central nervous system to control the movement of muscles. Oh, Rori, sorry for telling you the wrong information earlier. I told you he didn't have nerves, but he does, their just defective. Still, he feels no pain."

"Telling her the truth? Aw, I'm gonna shed a tear. Don't tell me you like her more than me." Kuragiri teased. "Wait, is she your girlfriend?"

"No." Castro said, a bit embarrassed. "Stop changing the subject. Anyways, the handcuffs have 3 poisons in them. The first, curare, paralyzes your legs, then comes something I call a truth serum, sodium thiopental. You'll basically lose your ability to lie. The thought of lying is removed from you brain and you speak the truth. And the third is batrachoxin. A poison that'll attack your nerves by opening their sodium channels and causing even more paralysis, thus shutting off the body's communication with itself. So, you like that plan?"

Kuragiri gritted his teeth and looked to the floor. As much as he wanted to continue defying Castro, he didn't want to die either. He had too much more to do and an entire life ahead of him, he was only 24 after all. But he couldn't defy Heath. As much as he wanted to, he just couldn't. It's not that it wasn't physically possible or something, it's just that he was too scared to. Heath was, to Kuragiri at least, another breed. It was like he wasn't human when you actually got to know him. From a bystander's point of view, he's a wealthy, attractive, kind and positive man that donates to the needy, helps businesses thrive, and couldn't hurt a fly.

But if you actually got to know him, if you learned who he truly was, you'd never defy him. You wouldn't even think to. Kuragiri was lucky he couldn't feel pain, or else all of the torture he endured would've drove him crazy. Crazier than he is now. And when Kuragiri, Castro, and Maki defeated him, it was a miracle, almost pure luck, their plan barely worked. Castro used his intellect to think up that plan, Kuragiri used his pure power to help him act it out, and Maki healed them up whenever they were injured too badly. By the end of that, they finally defeated him. A few days later they learned that he had killed himself, at from there, their bounties shot up, Castro's reaching 18 million yen for some reason. They became infamous and often had to hide themselves away. Kuragiri thought they could all live in solitude for the rest of their lives together, until something happened that ruined everything.

Kuragiri closed his eyes and gritted his teeth once again. Heath came back and-

"Yo, Kuragiri? You gonna cry or something?" Castro said, intruding his thoughts. "Listen up, is Heath alive?"

"Why the hell would I tell you that?" Kuragiri shot back.

"Uh, were you not listening? Poisons in the handcuffs?

Kuragiri contemplated his next words. If he said no again, the truth serum would sink in, making him vulnerable to telling the truth. But if he told the truth flat out, he'd still be in the same predicament. So he lied,

"He's still dead."

"So why did you mention him before you went down?"

"Because...because.."

"So you're lying."

"Wait! I'm not-"

Before Kuragiri could keep up with his little lie, another buzz could be heard in his handcuffs as Castro pressed a button on a remote he had just picked up. Only a few moments later, he felt the poison enter his blood stream and he became light headed. He tried to think of a lie, but it was useless. Castro knew what he was doing. He was certain that the poison would work on his brain, the only reason he added the death one was in the rare case he broke free from his cuffs.

"Alright, before I go ahead, Rori, you got any questions for him?"

 

[Kumii]

Battle on the Iron Bridge - The Final Battle

Spoiler: Mood Music

The voice echo was back. Resonating within everyone's heads once more,

"A tearful reunion, fit and pure!
Now thy blackened souls I'll cure!"

With that, black clouds swirled behind the group and when they dispersed, an armored knight riding a hellfire horse emerged. The horse reared back and let out an echoed neigh before landing back down to all fours,

"One soul I shall reclaim, free of thy watchful gaze
To hell and back I shall take thee, a painful craze!
I will not relent, a fierce battle to be spoken!
Until you are beaten, battered and broken!"

The Horseman readied his sword and pointed it at Skyla,

"I shall reclaim thee, in my master's name!
But first, you shall all play my little game...
A battle! A spar! A duel!
My fire needs its fuel!"

With that, he awaited one of the group members to make the first move.
AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark

The Headless Horseman (32,250/32,250 (100%) Vitality)

Skyla the Dark Flash and Mika the Flaming SpearLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Omnious
A few minutes beofre the arrival of the Horseman...
Mika looked at Skyla, for the first time in forever, Mika had a genuine smile on his face. Then Mateo spoke and Mika looked at the boy, at first he looked at Mateo then began walking towards him. When Mika stood in front of Mteo, he did one thing... he gave Mateo a hug, "I'm sorry, Mateo." He whispered to Mateo, "I'm sorry for my behavior today. I shouldn't have disregarded you like that. I was just so worried about Skyla, I wasn't thinking straight." Mika let go of Mateo, looked at him and nodded once.

Skyla watched as Mika hugged Mateo, though she didn't quite hear what was said. After he was done, she walked up and looked between the two then finally looking at Mika, "Who are you and what have you done with the real Mika?" She teased.

The arrival of the Horseman...
Before Mika could retort, he heard a voice within his head and held it, groaning a bit. Skyla did the same thing. Then it stopped but a moment later, the source of the voice emerged behind them and spoke, both Mika and Skyla turned to face the knight on the horse. He spoke in rhymes and pointed his sword at Skyla, which Mika instinctively stepped between him and Skyla in a protective manner. When the knight finished speaking, he seemed to wait for someone to make the first move. It seemed like he wanted a duel.

Nia of the Storming FistLocation: Iron Fortress Courtyard
Interactions: AlphaBlueWolf SharkBark
Current Weather: Misty
Nia saw Rai get teared up and cry, Nia wasn't all too emotional but she did smile genuinely. Then Mika went and hugged Mateo, that was odd and out of character for Mika but was sweet nonetheless. Nia turned her attention to Rai and went to put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, "It's okay, let it out."

A few minutes later...
Nia held her head, same as Skyla and Mika, as she heard a voice speaking at first, then it stopped and she turned around just in time to see the clouds swirl and reveal a knight riding a horse, trouble. Then the voice spoke clearly, this was its source, she was sure of it. She instinictively pulled out her brass knuckles and took a defensive fighting stance.