Chrys followed Avra down the river in silence. Following the other wielder, focused on her mission as she was, Chrys privately was entertained by the contrast between them. Chrys herself was hardly ever as focused as she would like to be, or at least that was her opinion. She was a naturally curious person, so she found herself asking a great deal of questions, though only to herself. One such example right that moment would be her wondering at the exact intent of the keyblade master who had apparently enhanced the tree with magic. Had they known that one of the princesses would be born on that world at a later time? Or had there been some other reason? Perhaps, if things went well, she could as the tree itself. She sincerely hoped that things went well, for several reasons beyond satiating her own curiosity. A tree enhanced by the magic of a keyblade weilder would be no easy opponent after all. Still, she would do what she had to for her Master and her Brother. It was not long after this thought that they came within view of the Willow.
Steel was not as optimistic about Weaselton's odds of talking as Kel and Luna seemed to be. He supposed that was fine. He would just be the one to keep his guard up. It shouldn't be too hard to catch him if he made a break for it; Steel hadn't been honing his speed for nothing. However, as the other two spoke with the suspect, he faded back into reminiscence... Spoiler: Conqueror's Respite 3/? "In this timeline, I was born into the Garden of Rivers as a normal citizen." Leonidas made something of a face. "Well, a relatively normal citizen... As per usual, I was born with Artisian powers, and it was not long after my birth that my sister entity, Alice, manifested within my mind. We quickly learned of this new iteration; of it's government and history. It is... quite different from the world we knew, even as it looks almost exactly the same." "How so?" The question came unbidden from Steel's mouth before he could notice, but he didn't really have any reason to regret asking such. He was curious. "Well... the city behind you is known as 'Fort Cleanth' for one thing: St. Carnelian is still alive, and he lives in the city." That was certainly a difference Steel had to admit. It meant that the timeline for the garden was likely shifted around in several possible ways. "The country is also ruled by a monarchy: the 'Light' family, and the only trace I can find of our battle against the sorrows is a legend about a conflict known as the 'War of the Absolved.' The legend also involves the nobles; something about a crystal that went missing not too long ago. A few years into our childhood actually." ...Sorrows?... Did he mean the Disturbed? Had Steel been so out of it that he had even given them some false name? Or was it that Leo's memory had equally been corrupted by this... phenomenon? Well, either way things were clearly far more different than he had realized. The legends were definitely of some interest, but he would hold his questions for now. The Leo image still clearly had much more to tell, and it would be best if he let it say its piece before he quizzed it too much. "As we grew up and learned the ways of this place, our own memories of our friends and a unique variation of the garden caused us to grow... lonely." Steel was quickly shaken from his thoughts as the others took off after Weaselton. He ran after them, all the while scolding himself for letting his thoughts distract him. Thankfully, timely intervention from a citizen that Luna had taken the time to assist had prevented the suspect from escaping without giving the group information. They weren't really police, so he lost no pride over this. In any event, it seemed they were now to meet with a local mob boss who might just help them find the missing officers... if he didn't see them as a threat to his own operations and decide to have them killed. Ah. The duties of a wielder.
As Avra explained the situation, Chrys listened carefully. The details on the tree seemed uncomfortably scant, and she was equally as hopeful that no death would need come to it. Avra's confidence gave her faith though. She gave a small smile and a nod to her fellow apprentice. "Let's go, then!" Making ready to follow the other girl to their destination, Chrys once again steeled her resolve the the battle's ahead. For her fellow apprentices, those she might even call friends, as well as for her master and her brother, she would do her best for them. No, more than even that.
It seemed that the mysterious Noire had swooped in all primed and ready to save the day. What a fortunate turn of events for them... for once. She talked about not getting on her bad side, but her treatment of Qrow and Arian seemed to indicate that Braden was already on her bad side, on account of being male. Then again, he was being pretty quick to judge himself, so that wasn't really fair. Maybe she just had a reason to dislike the two of them. Though he couldn't see one given. Sure Qrow had assumed her gender before hand, but that meant that they hadn't told him, and it was fairly common to assume an unidentified individual was one's own gender. Therefore, Qrow had been left free to make the natural assumption. Surely this Noire wasn't an entirely unreasonable person, right? It would be pretty impractical to dislike and disregard orders from superiors just because they might be male. Then again, she didn't know what kind of organization the Diamond Crosses was, or why they had sent one of their agents to Qrow, so... he was thinking too much. He had too little to go on to assume her entire personality, so instead of provoking her further like some of the others, he stepped forward with his standard friendly smile. "Hello miss Noire! It's very nice to meet you! My name is Braden Cadell." He made a quick bow as a show of respect. "People call me Cadoc, though. Thank you for saving us!" Easy enough of a response to formulate. Now to analyze her reaction.
Chrys had just managed to notice Koa giving her some sort of look before he took off with the others. She had likely given him some cause for concern with her behavior, but she could reassure him of her well being at a later time. For the moment, she turned her attention back to her master... who had seemingly dropped all pretense of formality now that his other students were gone. She allowed herself the tiniest of smiles as the Light Chaser spoke; for of course he would know what had happened. He had a knack for such things, she would know that much if five years had taught her nothing else. "I suppose I am quite lucky to have you." She was grateful to him for everything he had done. It would be no exaggeration to say that she would be lost without him, what with the worlds beyond her own having been completely unknown variables at the time. She likely would have wandered for a short time before doing something reckless and getting herself killed. His admittance about Tinarah had helped to put her mind at ease as well. It seemed that she would be fine, and come back stronger than before. She couldn't say she was happy about being lied to, but at least he had done so without ill intent.
...And in today's news, Light still can't seem to be bothered to play more than once a week, leaving Tale to bear the weighty burdens of the party's score all by his lonesome.
Steel held back a chuckle at Kel's response. It was entertaining to be sure, but the possibility remained very real. Beyond just the parking tickets, the fact that the two were the "Zootopia's best" meant that more than a few entities in the criminal underbelly of the city were like to have it out for them. Weaselton was an under-grounder, so he would likely know a few good places to start. It was something they knew all to well really, getting that sort of help. What with having their profiles magically appear with Bogo, they were above any form of the usual suspicion of being foreign elements, and were completely free to operate as authorities. No doubt Megumi's doing. Hopps and Wilde themselves seemed... vaguely familiar to him. No doubt because of the foreknowledge of the his previous incarnation. Such knowledge was now considerably more limited to him, especially since he had split up from his brother and sister. They likely still retained their pieces, so he could try to call them... but that seemed like it might be forbidden within the rules of the game. While they were resources that he regularly had access to, it would be best to not even undergo the ordeal of bothering to argue the point to someone who may not even be convinced. To be honest, Megumi's position might have even granted him insight into that ability of Steel's and blocked it off. He hadn't bothered trying to contact the other two since the exam began, and they hadn't called for him either, so he didn't even know if he could reach them at the moment. Best to just leave things be and finish with the test as is. "Kel's words ring true, though we might wanna worry more about catching the guy once we find him." He shrugged. "Chief said he was slippery."
"Yes Master." Though she was disappointed in her failure, Chrys knew that the Master was right: Their goals were bigger than any individual. Bigger than her, Aria, Torrin, even her brother. This was something she had to do for all of them, whether or not they accepted it. She had no time to feel sorry for herself. Aria would be fine; she could handle herself, and Torrin would be true to his word in taking her to her friends. They would take care of her. Though she would be lying if she said she didn't have misgivings about the whole encounter, and would for awhile yet, she needed to push those feelings aside for the sake of her friends. She couldn't mess this up too. "Reveal to us our destination, and we shall leave at once." She punctuated her announcement with a bow as she awaited her masters instruction along with Koa.
Chrys... honestly hadn't realized Dentro was there, and there was no sugar coating that. However, she was a bit more preoccupied with her guilt at the moment to do much more than give him a surprised look. Said guilt had only been enhanced when Koa had commented about picking up their slack. "No. She's gone." She gave her answer to Koa bluntly as she looked away from the two. "I failed to stop them." There was no point in being anything other than straight about it. They would be able to tell something was wrong, and it wasn't as if Aria would just magically reappear. Even if she did come back, it would likely be because of the Master, and her failure would still be no secret. Nevertheless, to say she felt no shame about the whole thing would be a lie. Her face to the ground attested to the fact that she would rather look them in the eye, or see their likely disappointed faces. "So it's probably a good thing you weren't here." She chuckled weakly as she rubbed her arm in a show of discomfort.
Cadoc honestly didn't get a chance to do much more than observe as the team made quick work of their enemies. He hadn't lifted a finger since he destroyed the Beowulf earlier, yet now only one remained. Activating the dust chambers on his weapons, he went to making quick work of it. First snapping at it twice with his whip, now engulfed in fire, as he slowly approached. When he was close enough with a good opening, he plunged the now icy Telson into the beast torso. -0 Left.
"I'm alright." He couldn't really get mad at Daeni just for asking if he was alright. He hadn't exactly displayed the results of healthy thought processes. "Just looking into things too much I guess." Clearly since his only job was to poke the thingies with the pointy stick, he figured he would just wait around until VII and X decided what to do and moved forward already. Because they had all voted Alder the leader, and Cerdic was clearly the most brilliant mind in the known multiverse. Clearly the two of them didn't need the rest of LIGHT. Which was good for them, since half the group was dead. "I just need to clear my head I guess." Too bad being alone outside for even a moment could get them stabbed by a homicidal maniac.
Steel followed after the group as they all decided to go in search of information. Several of them seemed uncomfortable with their new forms. He personally was unaffected... like completely. Nothing about him had changed. Well, maybe his eye had, but he hadn't bothered leaving that exposed in such a way as to check with the nearest civilian. As for the tail, he didn't really find it uncomfortable. Then again, he'd had it his whole life... wait, actually his whole life so far he had been using Sors' human form? But he still had a lot of memories from his alternate self of being a wolf and having the tail. He also walked around with it regularly now. Gah. This was complicated. Whatever the situation between him and his tail, it mattered little at the moment. Especially seeing as they seemed to have been drafted into police work by a tubby, excitable, and all around rather adorable cheetah named Clawhauser. Graciously ignoring the comment about dogs, Steel took his badge from the sugar infestation of a desk before heading back to the changing rooms the cheetah had directed them towards. A quick check in the mirror told him that his eye was completely normal... so yeah, he better keep that covered, regardless of whether or not it looked professional. Though if he considered it thoroughly, none of them really did. Sure, some of them could pass for normal enough, in spite of the eccentric choices of clothing, but he and Kel had blue hair. BLUE HAIR. He didn't know of any other wolves with blue fur. Or hedgehogs with blue quills for that matter... well there was... No. Steel shook his head in exasperation. He was sure that there were creatures who used dye to get the same effect that the two of them were naturally born with, but that would indicate Clawhuaser likley assumed they were using dye. Wasn't that discouraged among police? Disallowed even? How exactly had he mistaken them for outsourced cops? Putting his confusion aside, Steel exited the police station in his new uniform to find Ignis and Stratos... putting tickets on everything. "Guys, no. Stop." He followed after them, removing tickets from the garbage cans and baby strollers and trying his best to relocate them to somewhere more fitting. All the while he found himself parroting 'Sorry' to any and all angry looking pedestrians. "Guys, guys, that's not quite how parking tickets work. You have to put them on the cars that are in parking violation." He looked down at the device in his hand preparing to show them an example, only to realize that while the concept of a parking ticket was not lost on him, the workings of the e-ticket machine in fact were. "Um... I'll be honest I don't know exactly how this works, but... You should be filling in the information, like... date, time and infraction, so..." He fiddled with the buttons for a few moments before printing out a serviceable ticket. Pulling it from the printer, he walked over the matching car and placed it. "Like that." Parking Tickets: 30/100
...He was on like, a hidden camera show or something, right? That was the only reasonable explanation left. Otherwise, why would they all act as if the fact that Ria could control their memories, totally wasn't something that could endanger their every waking moment. As if he couldn't pick and choose what stayed and pit them against each other. A method to deal with that was exactly what he thought was in order; how much more of a monster it made him didn't really matter. Then again, if he could do that, he probably would have by now. As much trouble as they were all being, Ria had expressed that he would rather just end them. So he either couldn't use it on them because of circumstance, or he just plain couldn't do it. Well then, he supposed if he had thought that through ahead of time, he wouldn't have completely wasted everyone's time just now. He basically abandoned them all for nothing, let Relli die because he was a coward, and he didn't even get any good information out of it. Well screw him. Why was he even here? It seemed he had made a terrible miscalculation and paid the price. So, whilst Cerdic made a show of suddenly deciding to listen to Alder, Chrys merely followed in silence. It seemed he had nothing but his blade to lend, and would merely have to content himself with being a pawn after all.
"Aria!" Chrys extended her own hand to meet her friends as she ran towards the portal, but she was too late. They were gone. She hadn't really done much to stop them, and she wasn't sure she could have. Harming either of them was the last thing she wanted to do, and it had become all to likely that fighting would be the only course of action. The world was still fine, so maybe Aria really wasn't needed, or perhaps having Kida had saved them from their doom. Regardless her first order of business should be to check on the others. Koa, most notably, since she actually knew his current state. As she turned to head back to the hotel though, she couldn't help but feel somewhat depressed: Aria would likely come to listen to Torrin, and likely despise them. She clenched her hands into fist as she entered the building. Why did the world's hate them? All they really wanted... all she really wanted... Koa was passed out on the ground. Assessing the damage, she was quick to cast a cure spell on the boy. She knelt down to him and tentatively nudged at his frame. "You okay?"
While many of the others had apparently gone on to spend quality time, Braden himself had not bothered to arise from bed once he had settled down, and therefore had sunk into a peaceful slumber for the rest of the night. It was quite fortunate that he did, since their latest mission briefing had been interrupted by a horde of rampaging grimm. Come to think of it, hadn't the other two teams been in a briefing with Professor Ozpin when the chaos at Beacon Academy had occurred? Strange that. Having been assigned to team BLAU, he leapt into action after them. The group had already made quick work of the Ursa, so he instead targeted a lone Beowolf. Metasoma, currently collapsed into whip form, was quickly snatched from a loop on his belt. With a quick snap across the short distance, his opponents attention was quickly drawn. "Here doggie!" The beast seemed to lack any common sense as it quickly came bounding toward him. It was not as if he made it easy though; he continued to whip at the creature, though it didn't seem to be doing much to deter it. It was so dedicated to it's hunt, that it didn't do much more than flinch. It's effort was for not, however, when it's final leap ended with it's throat being sliced open by Telson's edge. Smirking ever so slightly, Cadoc attached the dagger back onto the whip, creating a sort of flail. It's sharper edge was then put to use of drawing the attention of another target. HP: 15/15 Kills: 1 Beowolf Beowolf: 3/4 Beowolves remaining: 6/10
Spoiler: Conqueror's Respite 2/? In the black and rainy night, Steel approached the group of three on the beach. Gale and Winter were standing over someone in a lab coat, who on further inspection seemed to be Professor Griffon. He was kneeling down on the ground... crying? Maybe he was mistake- no that was definitely Griffon and he was definitely crying... or were they crying? Kneeling down to the wailing scientist, Steel cautiously drew attention to himself. "Hey, uh... Leo? Alice? You okay there guys?" Their head shot up with a jolt as a shocked look took form on their face. "Sors!" A higher sounding voice shouted with glee as the red head pulled him into a bone crushing hug and started sobbing even more fervently than before. "You're here! I thought we'd never see you again!" "Whoa! Alice!" So his suspicions had been correct. The Aquila 'siblings' were currently sharing the same body. Truth be told, it was their natural state. However, due to several variables that allowed for other options, it was something that they very rarely actually did. There was definitely something very strange going on here, but this was perfect. Griffon, or rather this illusory version of Griffon, would surely be able to tell him what was really going on back at his home world. If anyone would know, it would be them. However, he'd first need to calm down Alice, who was still sobbing quite hysterically into his hoodie, as well as shoving her tear ridden face into the decorative chains now fastened around him. That could not have been comfortable. Gale and Winter did nothing to placate her for their part, seemingly content to merely look on in concern for now. "Guys, guys, guys! Griffon, calm down, please!" His words fell on seemingly deaf ears. To be honest, Steel was more than a little curious as to why exactly they were so upset. Sure, Alice had mentioned the possibility of never seeing him again, but that wasn't enough to make her this upset. Leonidas wasn't even doing anything to exert dominance over the body either, which meant he was likely to be equally wracked with grief, though he was considerably less expressive of it. Grabbing the red headed body by the shoulders, Steel gently pried their face away from his torso to look into their eyes. "Griffon, I can tell something is wrong..." As if that wasn't the understatement of the year. "...but I need Alice to calm down a little, and let Leo explain the situation to me: I can't fix anything if I don't know what's happening." The look on Griffon's face slowly became subdued, though it was still tear stained, and the eyes still held an indescribable sadness. "Of course." The calmer, more centered voice of Leonidas Aquila began to come from the host mouth. "Though I'm not even sure where to start." "How about at the beginning?" Steel suggested, to which Leo responded with a small, somewhat forced chuckle. On the crowded street, the tall wolf stirred from his reminiscence and found himself standing beside a rabbit and a hedgehog. His partner's this round: His very first teammates. Base, who was originally going to be his partner, seemed to have disappeared again. So here he was, ironically with those who had been his partners in the beginning. Etrius was no longer with them, but he still liked to think the three of them could function fairly effectively as a team based on how they had done back then. Still, it had been quite awhile, and he and Luna had changed quite a lot... He honestly couldn't tell if Kel had changed or not, they hadn't seemed to talk at all since that mission together. At some point though, Steel had decided that he liked Kel, and heck if he was going to revoke that opinion any time soon. They had worked hard together, and met many new faces since. That first world alone had been a blur of new names, what with Ananta, Xero, and the subsequent entirety of what had at the time been the SoS. Looking back now reminded Steel of simpler times... and perhaps made him realize just how much that first mission still affected him in unseen ways. Surrounded by other animals on a busy day, with two of his oldest companions, Steel thought aloud as he stood beside them. "It's been awhile since we've been together on a mission, huh?"
There Torrin went again, forgoing all logic with reckless abandon. As if her words, be they truth or lie, didn't insinuate the possibility that her very life and the lives of countless others could depend on Aria staying in town for the time being... and she wasn't supposed to try and convince the princess to stay? Besides, it wasn't as if she needed to stay that much longer anyway. Soon, the problem would be fixed and everything would be fine... although... "The darkness... is it gone from the world yet?" "No." The words sprang from her lips without any hesitation, but she was actually surprised that Aria had spoken up, given that she had an opportunity to go back to her friends. Though the girl had tried to placate the two earlier. Perhaps this is what it meant to be a princess of heart? She was certainly right about it having been a misunderstanding though. A blind rage on Torrin's part that did more harm than good... but that actually brought her back to the point that the question had initially distracted her from. Who had the Master sent to fix the problem? It hadn't been any of the apprentices, since they were all here. The other Masters had all withheld their support from him as well. So who else was there? Also, if Kida was here now, did they really need Aria as well? Or had the Master been counting on her to expedite the process? She knew that they would need all the Princesses at some point of course, but Aria seemed to trust them now, and they had several more princesses to go. What was the deal exactly? Was Torrin really wrong to oppose the Light Chaser? She crushed those thoughts as soon as they came to be. Whether or not the Master had been completely honest with her, his cause was still just and it was likely that there was just some information he needed to keep close to the vest. She had to trust him. He was the only person she had found that she could. Well, besides the Light Chasers' other students and Aria. That was different though; her fellow apprentices each sided with the Master, and Aria was a princess of heart. The only other person she had ever been able to trust... Well, that had been her fault. Besides, Torrin was still being a jerk about it.
"Alright Chrys, what is it? Better we hear it now." "Please don't tell me Ria knows where we are because of some connection thing." Chyrs' response was a nervous chuckle. "Oh, I sure hope not..." The scenario was a horrifying one that he hadn't even considered. Nevertheless, it was pushed aside so that he may deal with the immediate situation. It was only all the more reason for them to know anyway. "From what I can tell, you all saw the same memory that I did... the one with Aevum. At the time though, I was in that house, having something of a pseudo confrontation with Ria, and... he caused that memory. He took his keyblade, and he pointed it at his chest, talking about showing me something. He did it on purpose. I can only assume he wanted you all to be mad at Chrono, based on what he said at the time; I was glad to see him still alive. We could very easily have played into his hands there..." He gave an extended pause before he finished. "He also removed his hood... and I saw... IV isn't the only one who looks like Aevum."
"Tinarah?" Chrys was admittedly confused, though not confused enough to be taken caught off guard by Torrin's swing. This was about Tinarah? Hadn't the master let her go? Given her a way back to her friends? Surely he must have, but then why was he here? Something must have happened to the other girl. Torrin, as always, was convinced that all that was wrong in the world was something to blame on the Chasers. She would love to outright deny his claims... but his reason for being here with Master Atmos is proof that things didn't seem to have gone as planned. "I can't tell you I know what happened to Tinarah." She responded to Aria. "As far as I know, it's just as the Master said. However, even though Torrin often gives out false information, it's because he truly believes it. Logic follows that if both he and Master Atmos are here looking for the girl, then she must not have been with your friends last time the two masters were... though that still doesn't really mean she isn't with them now." Chrys shrugged. "Regardless, the girl is not here, and you will find that none of us know her location." With this she turned her eyes glaringly to the one who was unfortunately her rival. "I'm afraid you've wasted your trip." Noticing him favoring his side, she blinked as she lowered her keyblade, though not her guard. She shouldn't talk. "I could always heal you a bit though, if you needed it." Idiot. He wouldn't even believe that she didn't know where Tinarah was, he certainly wouldn't take her up on her offer. Regardless of whether or not he believed her sincerity, She was the enemy in his eyes. He was just another authority figure who had let her down, and one who hated her besides. He had done her harm on numerous occasions, so why was she even bothering? Because he was still a person. "Either way..." Chrys hurriedly picked up where she left off, if only to distract her from her own traitorous thoughts. "...I'm going to have to ask you to put your kidnapping attempt, which I might add is rather hypocritical of you given your accusations, on hold until at least after this world has been restored." She brushed a few strands of blonde hair from her blue eyes with her free hand. "Whether or not you believe it's a lie, I rather don't want to find out if the world will crumble around us if she leaves." She almost chuckled before she remembered who she was talking to. "Though you would be happy to see the lot of us dead, wouldn't you?" Chrys inquired of Torrin as she glanced at him with a sad sort of stare.
Steel for Zootopia.
