The boy continued to keep his eye on the blue dog, making sure it didn't go anywhere or leave for the moment, and let Kaida and Aux walk off. He looked back to them from time to time, making sure that things were going on, and though he couldn't make out the full of their conversation he could tell things were going well. Once Ananta had come over he was, pleasantly, surprised to see things seemed to be going even better. Walking over to catch up with them, Stratos said, "well, glad to see everyone's made up. It'll do us all better to be on friendly terms with each other right now." Stratos gestured to Aux saying, "even with you big guy. So, how about after we figure out what to with this dog thing, we all go for another round of ice cream. Even with you too, Steel," he called out, not actually having any idea where his Lupine companion was.
As Kaida brought up her point about what they were to do to catch the blue dog, the boy soon saw Ananta run past, with a very dejected expression on her face. At the sight, Stratos could only, sigh wondering both what she and Kaida had actually managed to do to each other in the brief second that he left the two alone. While she seemed to be in need of consoling, she was headed in Steel's direction, and he seemed to have a much better time with her then most others did, so he decided he'd leave it up to him. Of course, he was a bit curious why she continued walking past him, until she realized that the wolf in local clothing that he had called out to earlier was actually just a regular wolf. In clothing. The boy blinked a few moments at the sight, watching as the canine seemed to be lost, before making its way away. The boy then briefly wondered where Steel actually was, but figured that Ananta was probably going towards him through some innate sixth sense of hers, and that things would probably work out. Probably. Regardless, the boy looked back to the two he was with saying, "I suppose so. I don't really think we can just go walk up to some random girl and expect that to work out. Especially not the two of us." He pointed between him and Aux. "But we can't exactly just stalk her without both looking and feeling kind of creepy. So, let's just make sure they're in our periferae and keep seeing this tourist trap."
Stratos gave the man a look of disbelief as he tossed the ice cream to ground, saying, "really?" The boy sighed, only for the old lady to speak up once more and tell them that there was indeed a dog shelter on the island. Well, it was good to know that she didn't just tell them to go to a made up place. "Th-thanks," the boy gave the old woman a wave, his expression clearly confused and unsure how to respond to her as she walked off. Looking back to the man, he shrugged saying, "I have no idea. The only person with a map here just walked off, so you'll probably need to get on speaking terms with her first." He looked at the ice cream on the ground, "or anyone for that matter." Soon enough, however, Kaida made her way back to the group and directed their attention to the "dog" with the girl. It was certainly different from any dog he had ever seen, and he had seen some very interesting canines in his journeys. As Aux spoke up Stratos waved the comment aside, saying, "we can't just go up and steal a girl's dog. We should at least figure out what's going on over here first." Stratos started to think about how best to approach the being they presumed to be Stitch, saying, "maybe we should go see what it is she's doing with all that stuff first?"
As Kaida made her comment towards Aux about the ice cream, a pin could be heard dropping into the sand below from the awkward momentary silence that followed. The boy didn't quite no what to say, and instead just took the ice cream in hand and watched as Kaida made her head start towards the shelter. While Stratos knew that she probably had a lot on her chest, he didn't particularly know what to say nor think that someone pestering her about it so quickly would do any good. So he elected to stay where he was for the time being. However, his eyes went wide as he looked over to say, "wait Ananta don't-" but before he could finish his statement she had already made her way over to Kaida. Sighing, Stratos looked over to Aux and said, "well, I guess it's just you, me and him," he gestured in Steel's direction, "for now." What followed was a brief moment of awkward silence, as Stratos had no idea what to say to the man, both in general and about the situation at hand. Instead, he merely looked over to the melting ice cream that Kaida placed in his hand. gesturing it towards Aux as he said, "ice cream?"
Stratos was pretty sure that the old lady had no idea what he was talking about, but with a smile, all the same said, "thank you for your time Miss." While Aux seemed to be in disbelief, Stratos shrugged and said, "yeah, most of the time." Stratos started to think about how the sequence of adventures they had had played out thus far, and, when Aux asked him what they were to do next he said, "well, this lady would be the person of convenience. Or, at least the first one. Generally around this time, we'd get going to the shelter and either some big thing would happen there or heartless would appear and we'd have to kill them. So it's probably our best bet to go there." While Stratos seemed ready to go, he looked around and said, "wait where's-" his attention was then drawn to the wolf man still standing near the shop where they had gotten all of their clothes. Stratos couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the very strange site that the wolf-man in tourist clothing was, before calling out. "Hey Steel, we're going to the shelter." Subtle. Stratos then turned to Aux and said, "also, we don't really need to know where the shelter is. If we pick a direction and say we're going there, chances are it'll be there."
Stratos had heard Kaida's warning far too late as when he had finished half of his ice cream, he felt a sharp pain running through his head. Clutching his head, the pain continued to cut through him, and throughout all of his journeys and battles there was barely anything that could've possibly prepared him for such an assault. It soon faded after a few moments, and Stratos shook his head trying to recollect himself. After a moment he turned to Ananta saying, "well, my world didn't really have any of this kind of stuff. Well, it had buildings and people and all that, but aside from that, from what I've seen in other places I guess you could call it pretty...bare." The boy seemed to be a bit uncomfortable as he thought back to the state of Rennshalt before looking over to Aux and Kaida, chuckling a bit. Gesturing to the green haired girl he said, "come on, I think they're making head way." Walking over, hearing that the woman had adjusted her hearing aid, he turned to Aux saying, "nah, normally we just kind of walk around aimlessly until someone points us in a direction. Then everything we need to find and fight just kind of falls in front of us." He looked to the lady, with a tone calmer than the others saying, "excuse me miss, have you seen a small, blue, furry creature. Maybe a dog of some kind."
As he was dragged over to get to get some ice cream, the boy watched as Kaida ordered some for him. As she called him "vanilla," he cocked his head to the side with an almost "really" kind of look to him. As she explained it was just a flavor, he slowly nodded, saying, "right," before taking the sweet .Looking at the white scoop on the cone, he paused a bit before deciding to bite into the ice cream. Recoiling back, the boy kept his mouth open a bit as the cold radiated through his teeth. Waiting a bit, looking at the scoop, he then decided to try and go in more slowly licking it before looking back to Kaida. "Alright, this was a good idea. Thanks Kaida." He nodded, very content with the flavor he was given. "Maybe we should try and go find more tourist traps around the worlds," the boy joked as he went back to his desert. In the midst of his eating, Ananta had come over, placing a flower in his hair which left the boy a bit confused. All the same, after Ananta finished what she was saying the boy said, "well, you should probably figure out a more permanent outfit in that case. Don't think that'd blend in in most places," he joked towards the green haired girl's current outfit. "Also, I don't think we should get too comfortable just yet. People here still might need some help, and I don't want to lose to this trap around here."
Stratos seemed interested, nodding that he now understood as Kaida went on to explain to him the customs of a honeymoon and then the specifics of a tourist trap. Looking around the island, both with how exotic it seemed and how the people seemed to be moving about he could see how this place fit the bill. Looking more at the outfit he was wearing, he shuddered a bit as he muttered, "this really is a tourist trap." Looking over to Kaida as she began to ask him about ice cream, the boy quickly averted his eyes from her, hoping the name was as intuitive as it sounded, as he said, "well I uh, no what Ice is. And cream. So it's like...a mix of the two? That you use to really uh, beat the heat. Yeah."
The Dottari seemed content to merely watch the dogs continue to bite at the verbose and insolent man, a smug smile across his face as he did. This smile, however, was soon cleaned up as an oddly furry fist blind-sided him, striking him in the face and causing him to stumble back a bit. The man nearly fell down, but managed to catch themselves before looking up at the cat folk before them. Purrah would be able to see the Dottari not holding up so well, barely managing to stand back upright as blood was gushing from their nose. The man looked at her, some confusion in his expression that was swiftly overwhelmed by raw fury as he said, "I am so going to kill you." With a whistle, the hounds looked up from their current prey, moving towards Purrah as the Dottari gestured towards her. The two nearest hounds moved to attack Purrah first, both with jaws at the ready moving to snap down on the brawler. She proved nimble enough to dodge one, with the other slamming harmlessly against her shield. The next two began to circle around her, trying to surround and bite down on them as well. The first of the circling hounds had focused more on its movement then it did not the opponent before them, and thus Purrah found an opening to exploit. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't fully recovered her footing yet from blocking the attacks and swung clumsily at the dog. While her fist hit nothing but air, the dog bit where Purrah had been, missing as well. The fourth hound had much more success than the rest of its pack, managing to bite down on her leg. The dog attempted to pull Purrah's leg out from under her, but didn't quite have the strength to do so. Spoiler: OOC Active Combat Log
As the boy continued to bite into his apple, he looked curiously over to the fruit in Kaida's hand as she walked over to him. As she asked about Ananta, he simply shrugged, saying, "I'm pretty sure that's what she does." Stratos's mood became a bit more somber as he said, "well, I think she's just worried about you - I am too. But I think she's just," Stratos waved his hand around as he tried to think of how to phrase it. "Well, just bad at talking and reading people. Or the mood for that matter." The boy continued to eat his fruit, as Kaida then went on to explain her thoughts on the area they were in. His expression seemed more neutral now, her words seeming to go right over him before she finally showed him the little bobble she had. "Oh, that is pretty neat." He went to poke the head of the doll, only to be mildly amused as it bobbled back and forth. He looked directly at Kaida, seemingly still curious, before asking, "also uh...what's a honeymoon? Is it a kind of food? Oh, and a tourist trap for that matter?"
6:46 AM, Aria park outskirts Whether by chance or by design, the five individuals who had attended the rally known as Andros, Arthur, Purrah, Reno, and Velvet ended up in close vicinity to one another once they'd branched away from the crowds. They ran aimlessly for the moment, until they heard a commotion in an alleyway. They would be alerted by the sound of barking and snarling hounds, all handled by a single member of the Dottari. The collection of hounds and guard had cornered a man in a rather dapper outfit; a suit that was both lavish and ornate, with a cravat tucked into his collar, a top hat and a single white glove adorning only one hand. The Dottari seemed to have a scowl on their face as they continued to speak at the man. "-and why I shouldn't throw your suspicious ass in jail." "Now now, Monsieur, we need not be so hasty. I am merely an artist possessed by his craft, and my possessor of a muse had guided me to such a scene." "And why would you paint something as repulsive as that?" "Repulsive? Oh non non, Senior, you are mistaken. Such a scene dedicating the passion and fire of the citizens is something that must be documented for all to see!" The man threw his arms out to the side with an enthusiastic smile on his face, causing the hounds to look back up a bit, before snarling more angrily at him. His expression became a bit more coy as he said, "though, I was not expecting my subject matter to be so literal." The Dottari sighed as he sighed, "whatever. You're coming with me." "What? Do we live in such times that a man can be arrested for mere suspicion?" "If it provides a threat to Thrune I see no reason why not. Besides, your outfit is in wild violation of Proclamation the Fourth. What say you to that, artist?" The man scoffed saying, "this is Kintargo! Just because we are governed by a savage who thinks himself king does not mean one should lessen themselves to be one as well." The Dottari's look of irritation formed into a full scowl before saying, "forget arresting you. Hounds," as he whistled, the man sat back and watched as the four dogs pounced at the man, beginning to bite at him and drag him to the ground. The man let out a surprised yelp and began to let out screams of pain as the dogs continued to attack him. The five would be able to move close enough to engage the both the guard and their hounds as the combat started. However, the Dottari seemed more focused on the man he was maiming and didn't seem to be paying any attention to them, so they would be able to keep running away if they so chose. Initiative Order Purrah: 22 Houndo: 21 Reno: 17 Velvet: 11 Arthur: 11 Andros: 10 Dottari: 10
Stratos followed alongside everyone else as they determined to go find the locals of the island they were on. Walking alongside everyone else, each one told something about the sun on their world and the different weather patterns they had on them. Despite the fact that they all had similar attributes to them and similar phenomena happening, the boy found it interesting to see how different they all ended up being. It was an obvious fact, but one that he hadn't put any real thought into until just now. While mulling over these thoughts, the group eventually found themselves in the middle of a town. Getting a good look at all the locals, Stratos figured that his outfit was indeed normal enough for this world and that he didn't need to go out and get something new. And while Ananta seemed to agree with this sentiment, he couldn't help but feel that he was still about out of place. As everyone else went in, the boy figured he might as well, and looked around seeing what kind of clothing was around. As his pants were long and his footwear sneakers, he figured changing those up would be helpful. So, buying a pair of swim trunks and sandals, the boy changed his outfit around and stepped out, having put his old clothes in his seemingly bottomless pockets. Thinking his look wasn't quite fully blended in yet, the boy also bought a pair of sunglasses, which he placed over his head, and took off his shirt placing that in his pocket as well. Once that was off, he instead put his jacket back on, which didn't look strange as it was a short sleeved jacket. With his sunglasses resting on his forehead, he was then surprised as a flower necklace was draped over him as well, the boy looked over to see it was from Kaida in a new outfit of her own. "Thanks," he said. With a smile, he extended his arms out, gesturing to himself saying, "really completes the look, don't you think?" With that, he looked over to the others saying, "well, I think we got the whole, local look thing down here. Though," he looked over to Aux saying, "I'm not sure if you standing out was just an outfit thing. Regardless, I'd rather keep looking around here myself, then go for a swim. I'm not in any real rush to go for one myself either." Stratos had a slightly nervous tone in his voice as he made note of that, wanting to avoid the topic of swimming himself. As he tried to figure out where next to go, he saw Kaida walking over to an assortment of stalls and tables that all seemed to have different kind of fruits and stuff across them. Thinking it had been awhile since he had anything to eat himself, the boy followed after her. Looking through the different stalls, he had figured most of these things were fruits but hadn't the faintest idea of what they were. Staring in slight wonder at all of the different colorful foods, the boy eventually looked over to a redish one referred to as an "apple," and picked it out. With curiosity at it, he gave the man in charge of the stall the munny for it, grabbing one and biting into it as he continued to walk around, looking for more weird things to eat.
As Stratos was getting ready to move out, he heard Ananta speak up and talk about needing to blend in. He looked to his own outfit, thinking it looked plain enough to fit just about anywhere he went. Then again, the clothes Ananta was wearing were what the natives of her world probably dressed like. Not to mention, he hadn't realized until she drew attention to it, but this island was pretty hot. Taking off his jacket and tying it around his waist, he turned to the girl saying, "well, my world was pretty dramatic in its temperature shifts too. Really just depended on how the sun was feeling that day." Shaking his head, the boy said, "anyway, I just got these clothes so I'm not really looking for replacements just yet. But, if it'll help us blend in, or if there's anything to help beat the sun here, can't hurt to look right?" Holding up a finger he said, "first, we should probably figure out how the locals dress though."
Stratos gave the two aliens a skeptical look, as they seemed to be having a very overtly shady conversation in front of them. Sighing as they left, he nodded at Steel's statement, saying, "yeah, we don't have much else we have to do here. Besides, if it turns out this weird blue dog is dangerous, then it's still our job to stop it anyway, right?" The boy was a bit on the eager side to have a mission to get to, likely having felt antsy from being cramped on the boat for the past few days. As he looked to everyone to gauge their response, his expression turned briefly concerned as Kaida hadn't really said anything but instead seemed to be staring at the others. Quickly turning his gaze back to a more general look of the group he said, "so first we should get our bearings as to where we are right? So who's ready to start exploring?"
The past few days had been anything other than pleasant. The ride was long, it was expansive and it didn't seem to have any real end in sight. They were merely on a small boat, that barely managed to fit the five of them, on the way to god knows where. There was nothing to see, nothing to mark their location and nothing to tell them where they were. They started on a broken beach, setting sail into an ever expanding ocean. And they continued to move across this ocean, slowly but steadily. There were no fish or birds to see, merely an endless expanse of water. The sounds of small waves and ripples as the bow was rowed and cut through the sea was one of the few sounds that the group was able to hear on their journey. The only other noise that continued to fill the air was that of the sound of knife scraping against wood. The sound coming from Kaida whittling away at a block of wood that she kept handy, in an almost obsessive manner, for the whole of the sea bound voyage. That was the only real noise that came from another person, as the rest was just a deafening silence. No one talked for the duration of the boat ride. Stratos himself was no different, merely keeping to himself and stewing in his own thoughts. Were this any other time he would try to make small talk, crack some kind of joke or make some kind of inane observation to break the ice and get everyone talking again. But he wasn't exactly up to talking himself, and as such couldn't really force himself to bring out of the doldrums of their own thoughts. They had all experienced the same things. The same futility in their struggle against No Heart and the same loss in their friend's sacrifice. Yet, it wasn't as if he could say they all felt the same way. Stratos was used to feeling weak, used to losing someone as a result of this and had always managed to muster up the will to use this to propel himself forward. While this time was no different, it was much harder to stomach and not so simple to get over. Hikaru had been a good friend and one of the longest standing members of the SOS brigade. He wasn't the strongest or the smartest, but he was probably the friendliest of them all. He was a force that always gave his all for others, only this time literally. And while Stratos had grown exponentially stronger than his old self, it was still nothing compared to No Heart. He was simply outclassed in every respect, an no matter how much effort he could put into something right now, it would simply be batted away by the mastermind. He did his best to try and not linger on these feelings of self loathing or loss, instead directing them to trying to figure out the others. Kaida was obviously the worst off of them all, as he could not begin to fathom the guilt or anger she probably felt in regards to the situation, only being second to Aux himself. Stratos had looked towards Kaida with glances of concern whenever he could, simply trying to figure out how to get the girl to do anything but row and whittle, but there was little he could come up with. Whenever he looked to Aux, however, he had constantly subconsciously glaring at the man. He knew that it wasn't his fault, or at least it wasn't willingly wasn't. Yet, even Stratos had a hard time accepting this. Just as he had reconciled that Aux was no longer truly their enemy, he betrayed them and killed one of their friends. He wanted to believe that Hikaru's sacrifice meant something, and that Aux wasn't going to turn on them anymore, yet no matter how much fact he had he still couldn't quell an instinctual anger towards the man. When it came to the others, he had no idea what to make of Ananta. He never really understood the way the girl thought, always being on an almost opposite wavelength from her. Yet, in all of her strangeness, he figured she still had her heart mostly set on friendship, and figured she was probably more crushed then most at the loss of Hikaru. Steel too was someone he never really understood, but he felt more worried for him then most probably would've. He had been the sole person to actually fight back against No Heart, he had been their ray of hope in that darkest situation. Yet, even that wasn't enough to save them. Stratos knew how it felt to be powerless, but he wasn't sure if Steel did as he always seemed to have a calm and collected head on his shoulders. Yet, in spite of all of his concern and evaluations, he still didn't speak up. The only thing he did to help was row. In fact, he did his best to row as much as he possibly could; to row until he physically couldn't. It was the only thing he could think of to lessen everyone's burden, and it certainly distracted his thoughts. And Stratos didn't want to think all that much right now. Eventually, the rowing was brought to an end as to after what felt like an century of travel came to an end. The group had hit land, the boat lurching forward as it came to a stop across the sandy beach. This one seemed different then the one they had just left, so it was good to know that they hadn't miraculously traveled in a circle. The biggest difference, of course, were the two strange looking beings that were on the shore. Getting out of the boat, he walked over with the others as they began to speak with the strange people. While he was with Ananta's statement at first, he noted that they weren't exactly the most normal looking group either as Steel started to speak. Wait. What if this was just what the people of the world looked like? Stratos began to think about that some more, before he eventually just shook his head and said, "yeah, we're pretty lost and getting our bearings would be helpful."
Aeira watched as Vallus soared in the air, waiting patiently as he began his descent. When the man had finally come down, he seemed less then pleased about her method of giving him flight, simply saying, "I cannot promise that. But,"she nodded as he pointed towards the building they had to go to. As the two of them made their way in that direction, Aeira said, "once we get there, I'll do the climbing. Just make sure nothing stops me." As the challenge was incredibly simple, she was positive there was something more to it then just climbing. Which was annoying. But climbing was simple. So, she decided she'd much rather deal with just the climbing part and leave the annoying part to Vallus.
As Vallus asked his question, Aeira turned to him and with an impassive expression, shrugged at him. "I figured we'd just walk around and look at the skyline until we figured out which was the tallest." As she said this, the girl then pondered on it for a moment before saying, "but I suppose that wouldn't do much good." The girl looked at the man, then looked to the buildings. "It'd probably go faster if we looked from on top of other buildings, though. Then you'd just need to find what's taller than you. But I can't get up one by means other than climbing. And you can't fly." Or at least she didn't think he could. "So, here is my solution." The girl then grabbed Vallus by the arm and taking a deep breath, spun around spinning the boy with her before using all of her might to toss him into the sky. Hopefully that'd get him high enough that he could figure out where to go from there.
As the game started, Aeira didn't pay much mind to the arrival of Vanitas nor the departure of Arctus. Instead, she merely looked at the partners that were formed and the tasks that were before them. Most of these tasks seemed simple enough, and the girl was already feeling antsy, having wanted to get these games over with since before they started them. Looking towards Vallus she said, "come on, let's get going. We're going to go climb a building." Without waiting for his response, the girl began to look up and try to find where the tallest building was.
The three duets I did with Cstar are added to my master playlist of all musical missions I've done. Rewards are as follows: I See The Light: 3 Crowns (+1 from Counter Point), 300 Munny Can You Feel The Love Tonight: 3 Crowns (+1 from Counter Point), 200 Munny What I've Been Looking For: 3 Crowns (+1 from Counter Point), 300 Munny Just to make things easier, new crown and munny totals, (including the musical missions posted above) Stratos: Crowns: 48 Munny: 3,230 Kaida: Crowns: 48 Munny: 2400
After patting the man on the back with her cure spell, Roshe's attention was immediately turned to a common thuggish looking man, brandishing a dagger towards her. Despite the cluster of the crowd, Roshe was still able to backstep away from the man as he swung at her, avoiding the dagger. Her attention was then taken by the sudden appearance of two giant, flaming hounds letting loose fire into the crowd and causing panic to be incited. Roshe was knocked around a bit by the fearful people as they started to scramble, and while she was inclined to follow suit she saw the person who was giving the Dottari a bit of a run for their money lying on the ground. The girl wasn't sure if he was actually dead or not, but figured she was better safe then sorry. Reaching her hand down, the same light as before poured onto the man as she said, "hey, you. Guy. It's time to get going." She wasn't inclined to wait around much longer for the stranger, and so after slapping his face once to get him awake, she would begin to move with the rest of the crowd. Spoiler: Mechanics Rohse used Cure Light Wounds on Vance. 1d8 (5) + 1 = 6 damage healed.
