As they were talking, Aux decided to butt into the conversation with his own remark. At first Karina's first reaction was to take offense to the comment, but then she just grabbed out the charm that Kaida gave her. "Yeah, kinda like a cat." She stated staring at the charm for a moment, wrapping her hand around it as she looked back at Kel. "Yeah I hope so. I don't know I might be mistaken, but I think... Actually never mind." Karina quickly chickened out of talking about her feelings as her other hand dropped from her necklace. "I think that he is someone I can trust in." She quickly tried to correct herself, looking away from Kel, trying to hide the embarassment on her face as Aux mentioned something about Castur. "Eh, he is a big boy, he will be fine. Probably checking on Jim or something." 14/20
Running her fingers through her hair, Karina seemed to be staring off into space for a moment as Kel finished speaking to her. She seemed to have found herself deep in thought. "I don't know." She finally admitted to him. "True I have no where to call home, but the idea of going back to your world, it doesn't sit right." Karina glanced back at Castur and then let out another sigh. She still didn't know what to make of her current situation. "I suppose I will see when this is all over. Maybe I will go with Beuce, if he will have me. I have been thinking about that a lot lately." She admitted looking away as she played with the necklace that Beuce gave her, thinking to the point she was about to walk away again and not look back. "Maybe I will just wander. Never plant my feet anywhere for too long. It has been working for me so far." Karina shrugged, but didn't want to imagine how lonely it would be. Maybe Castur would join her, but she wondered how long she could put up with it. She couldn't help but think but never did come up with an answer. Post 13/20
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Karina couldn't help but agree with Kel. "Well maybe it will piss Leo off enough that he will face us himself. He did say the chase was on." She stated with a chuckle. "Yeah I don't think he remembers who he is dealing with. He will come running, I am sure." She stated as she rocked back on her feet and watched out for their enemy come near. She was getting impatient waiting however and Karina started to pace a bit. She glanced back towards the others as she waited. She then stuck her hands in her pockets, seeming to fidget for something, but didn't end up grabbing anything. She never did end up getting anything for Kel like she had meant to. She didn't know what to get him. "Hey Kel? Thanks for a while ago.. you know when you offered me to go back to your world with you when this is over. I think I will have to decline though." She admitted to him trying to fill the silence that followed the battle. Post 12/20
Everyone had been fighting so nicely, but this was a pirate battle. It was bound to get messy at some point and Karina had no problem being the one to make it messy. After all who cared that much, it was just more proof to Leo that he wouldn't be able to get away with what he had wanted to, and she wasn't going to be running away from him. The fact she had left the first time was only so that they could get Jim somewhere safe, despite him not wanting to leave Silver. Now that it had been achieved, she could go as crazy as she wanted on these guys. Karina let two more crowd around her, thinking that they would have a better chance as they observed the slight limp in Karina's left leg. The first one feinted right while the other struck at her left side. Karina parried the blow to her right, and even with an injured leg, she kicked the pirate square in the chest as he got close enough to strike. "Oh you didn't expect this injury to really slow me down, did you? You underestimate me. I have been through far worse than this." She stated before striking out at the guy to her right who had thought it wise to try and interrupt her speaking. It was the last mistake that he would ever make, Karina made sure of that one. She then stabbed the other man through the chest, ramming him back until he hit another pirate, the tip of her keyblade grazing that man as well. Pirates Defeated: 2 Pirates injured: Pirate A; 6/50 Pirates remaining: 2/20 Words: 267 EXP: 53 Total EXP: 212 Post 11/20
"Good job buddy." Karina called out to Aux, rolling her eyes slightly at him. "You might need to lose some weight." There was advantages to being a female with rather slim body. She was well built but she was still thin enough that she could have hidden a bit better than Aux was managing. "Well at least you are doing your job, keep it up." It was a sarcastic remark as she turned around facing the pirates that had previously thought that she hadn't been paying attention. The grin on her face promised nothing but death as her keyblade was already splattered with blood. The pirate suddenly seemed to be rethinking his decision. Before he could run however Karina was on top of him, slicing her keyblade down his back before sending a short blast of fire at a nearby friend of his. "Oh you aren't getting away from me that easily. I am just starting to have fun." She stated before stepping away from the man who was bleeding out on the ground, striding towards the one holding his now scorched side. She brought her keyblade swinging around to his exposed side, crumbling him to the ground as well. She decided just for fun she would also throw her keyblade. It ricocheted off of one of the pirates before striking another one, this one hitting straight in the back, dropping the already injured pirate. Karina stood and waited for more to come her way while summoning her keyblade back to her, not bothering to move any further than she had to. "Who's next?" She asked. Pirates Defeated: 3 Pirates injured: Pirate A; 44/50 Pirates remaining: 6/20 Words: 267 EXP: 53 Total EXP: 159 Post 10/20
[/color ]As Kel was at her back helping her fight, she turned and finally dealt with the annoying pirate that had been parrying her attacks. With a strong strike, Karina prepared for the pirate to parry. When he did she put all her strength into her arms so that she could not only stop him from deflecting her attack, but she managed to also disarm him. The pirate screamed before Karina ran her weapon across his throat. Was she being violent in this fight? Probably. Did she care? Of course not. Karina felt more awesome than sh had in a while. "Damn it is so much nicer fighting with feet on the ground." She stated before turning to the next pirate that was making it's way towards her. She sighed as she turned to it. "You want to die too, huh?" She stated as she swung again. These guys were chumps and didn't take too much energy. They weren't as easy as small heartless, but at least this over all was not too bad. She defiantly could handle such tasks and she was. Karina actually found herself enjoying it too. Looking around she surveyed the scene as she fought, making sure that things were under control. Under control was a loose term. They hadn't gotten to Jim yet, which was good, but over all they were vastly out numbered. Either way Karina shrugged her shoulders and looked at her long time rival in terms of strength. "Better keep up." She taunted before flying into another flurry of blows, toppling another pirate near her. "That makes five." Pirates Defeated: 3 Pirates injured: Pirate A; 32/50 Pirates remaining: 13/20 Words: 265 EXP: 106 Post 9/20
[/color ]Huh, Karina didn't think that anyone would actually listen to her, but it seemed like they did. Jim was in hiding and the pirates were there. Surely Leo wouldn't be far behind, but she wanted to tear him down bit by bit. Right now she would deal with his lackies and then eventually him. He would have to watch and see how strong she was now. How much better she was with her keyblade. She was good before, and they did some damage. Now she had more power in her hands. She wasn't going to bow this time. Lurching forward Karina twisted her Keyblade taking one strong strike at the pirate. He didn't have time to react before his entrails came tumbling out onto the ground and she could turn to his friend. This one however was a little more prepared for her attacks. He parried two of her blows before she finally got a hit in, it was only a scrape but it was better than nothing. He would be on the ground soon enough and he hadn't managed to get a hit in on her yet, so in Karina's opinion, she was doing pretty well for herself. At least the last guy died with ease. It would be a trivial matter to take down these guys once she got into the rhythm of battle, which hopefully wouldn't take much longer. Well she knew it wouldn't since she was already feeling the rush of adrenaline in her blood, overtaking the slight ache in her legs from being shot at not long before. "You're dead." She growled. Pirates Defeated: 2 Pirates injured: 20/50 Pirates remaining: 18/20 Words: 267 EXP: 53 Post 8/20
Aux, though through less than ideal methods, got Jim out, that meant she could retreat. It hurt her pride however as she looked up at Leo and knew that they had to leave. "Be ready, because soon enough the hunter will become the hunted. I am not done yet." Karina called out to him. She knew he would take it as a win for him, and that was what bothered her the most. They retreated because they had other people to take care of, she wasn't afraid of Leo, and she hoped he knew that, as she turned and left. As Karina got out of Leo's line of sight, she slowed, a limp now forming. She had not gotten out of that unscathed, not the way she had handled it. She did her best to keep on her feet and stay strong. Looking to the others she just nodded as Farries readied and set off. As they flew Aux asked what next and Karina just found a spot to lean against as she watched where they were heading. "I say that we find a secure spot for Jim and Farries to lay low for a bit, keep out of the way, and then we will make a final stand against them. I won't let that idiot think he won."
As Karina tried to dodge and deflect blasts, it wasn't going as well as she would have hoped. She was forced to withstand a good brunt of damage as she held the line. She could hear Kel ushering Jim to leave, that was good, but it meant Karina had to keep a closer eye on those in front of her. She didn't trust Leo to think that the heartless would keep her occupied and then go after Jim. Still the others were there to protect him, so all she needed to do now was stand with her head tall, awaiting a response and distracting the enemy for as long as she could before joining on the retreat herself. 6/20
"Shut up Leo!" Karina called up to him. She shook his head. "You still aren't scary so don't even try." Karina continued on as she stood her ground just annoyed at their presence in general. "Perhaps you should have taken the destruction of your lab as a hint. After all I don't think you are actually good enough to be one of Nequa's minions... or actually Uniform was easy enough to beat so maybe you are." Karina mused trying to get under Leo's skin as she smiled at him. And though he kept trying to get the map, even summoning heartless, Karina stood her ground just smiling at him. "Ha you can't even fight for yourself still. Typical." She bought time for the others to get Jim out of there since she didn't trust him to be strong enough to get out without losing the map. "If you want it then you should come down and get it yourself." Karina summoned her keyblade once again as she smiled once more. "Because guess what. We were able to deal with what you threw at us without a keyblade but now I am a master, so bring it." She threatened.
As the fight raged on, Tinarah climbed up so she chad a bit of a better view looking down towards the chaos before her and Take. As she did, she found herself looking down on what seemed to be people firing on her friends mech's, but the bullets didn't do much to them. Tinarah was thankful in the manner it meant that her friends were safe, but if that was the tech a company like this was building, well they would all be in a lot of trouble. Soon a larger mech appeared and was preparing to fire on them. Well if they hadn't noticed her yet, they might just now. The new mech was able to take out of leg of one of her friends mech's, though Tinarah wasn't sure who was in that particular one. She decided to take a page out of the Light Chasers students book. Plunging herself deep into her well, Tinarah began to pull out mass amounts of her magic at once firing them into a wall that would separate the attacking mech, from the mech's that her team was currently piloting. The wall was thick, solid ice, but it was taking all her focus to keep it up. She might have been able to manage the occasional small spell here or there, but nothing of significant force. "Take, can you try and take out the guns while I keep the wall maintained." He was good with his magic now, she was sure he could handle it from this distance and had a feeling that Take would appreciate another change to show off his magical capabilities that he seemed quite proud of.
Tinarah laughed, she knew it was awkward but didn't think she had been that corny. "It wasn't that bad, was it?" She asked. It couldn't have been too bad since he was still talking to her, well he was trying until suddenly a hand covered both of their mouths. Illiana had appeared from behind them to join in on the action it seemed after being gone for so long. The idea bothered her in a way that Illiana just came back like nothing happened but she wasn't going to say anything about it. It seemed that Take was even less impressed with it however. "As much as I would like to say so, I can't let her die. Come on lets go save her butt. Lucky for us we don't have to get too close to do that." Tinarah stated as she rolled her eyes and started forward. The battle with the Mech's seemed to be in full throttle and Illiana had run in, so at this point there was no more waiting. Stepping up to the point she could have a better view, Tinarah started to cast her magic into the chaos below, trying to provide back up and keeping things away from her friends while they dealt with the bigger issues.
[/color ] As they were talking, mopping and not getting anywhere in particular with there conversation, something strange seemed to happen. The blob that was trying to be mopped up turned into a creature that flew away. They chased it run into the captains cabin, where things only got more weird. The captain bound and gagged was on the floor. Jim quickly ungagged her and started talking to her, while Karina kept an eye out for signs of whoever did that. The Captain went on to tell them of a mutiny and the one that was with the crew. Well she got the answer that she was asking before, and that was an answer that she didn't want to hear. Karina shook her head when she heard who the person in black was. "I hope that you are looking forward to seeing a familiar face Kel, because if we catch up with this guy you will." Karina stated. She didn't want to ruin the surprise for him just yet but she could at least warn Kel of what was to come. Karina then looked to the others. "We aren't leaving him to do something stupid are we? Come on lets just get this over with, besides I have an old friend to deal with by the sounds of things." 4/20
Karina huffed a sigh. "Thanks for making my point again but generalizing it so there was no buts. Great job Castur. How much do you know about those guys anyways, from where I stood it sounded like you were trying to get yourself into trouble." She inquired about his endeavor as mostly a way to fill conversation. They were stuck doing chores after all it was better to at least talk or do something, anything was better than the silence that filled the space. Not that, with Aux struggling to clean the floor there was much silence to be had. He was making a fool of himself, and it really was sad, but it made her feel a bit better about cleaning the dishes, so that was a positive.
Well none of this was helpful. "I wear a black coat. He wore a black coat." Karina indicated to Castur. "Lea wore a black coat, Koa wears a black coat, Melus wears a black coat, Luther wears a black coat, Vallus wears a black coat, and so does anyone that spends time in the realm of darkness. So I might know, I might not but a man in a black coat tells me nothing. So I can't tell you much and while not everyone who wears a black coat is bad, if they are here, they probably are." If she had a description maybe she would have an idea, she still doubted it, but there was no way of saying for sure if they knew or didn't know someone if the only information was a generic coat. 2/20
Karina sat back and listened to the conversation before looking at Jim. "I doubt money will make a difference unless the source of the issue changes. If you cause the issues you have to change instead of just bringing back whatever you think you need." Karina tried to state as she looked around taking up her spot once again back at the dishes. She didn't like doing the dishes but she had to keep herself busy somehow. "Though this man in the black coat. What can you tell me about them?" Certainly it couldn't mean anything good, she just had to know what it meant.
Laughing Tinarah kissed his forehead, then flicked it. "Now who is the one thinking too much. I understood what you meant, don't worry." She smiled at him, feeling a lot better about everything. "Just because you can use magic now, doesn't mean you get to stop protecting me." She joked. "You aren't a mech, you are a knight. A lot more noble in my opinion." She was attempting to joke but didn't know if it came out right. There was no time to backtrack now however on her words, she she simply pretended to be confident in them regardless of how it went over. "And in turn I will keep you healthy." They had always made a good team in battle and she was sure that his change in focus wouldn't change that at all.
Tinarah was a bit surprised when Take's mood seemed to lift slightly as he ran forward to meet her pace. She glanced over as he mentioned how rough it had been. "Tell me about it, I have been anxious this entire time." She mentioned trying to be calm about it now. She was still anxious but doing better than before. He then held out a small stone to her. Tinarah looked at it for a moment before grabbing it, running her thumb over the snowflake. "It's pretty. Thank you." She said softly trying to think what to say. "But you said you made it for me but wasn't going to make them for anyone else. Why? If it is because I trained you, it wasn't a big deal. I mean... I got a best friend out of it." She blushed slightly. She didn't mean to steal her brothers best friend but she didn't have many of her own. She had Mika, but in both realms she died. Her eyes watered a bit as she blinked them back. She then hugged Take tight. "Thank you." She slipped the stone into her pocket. "We will be okay here. You are strong Take, we don't need the mech's to hold our own." She continued to encourage. It was the only offering that she had for him at the moment.
"I guess it is settled then. We should probably get a head start Take, it will take us far longer to walk than in those mechs. Besides we don't want to be caught near them." She tried to be encouraging and take it light heartedly since Take seemed to be having a hard time with the idea. She didn't mind staying to the side, besides it meant they could hopefully come in from a range afterwards, and as mages that would be better than being in the thick of combat. "We will make good range support with our magic after all, so sneaking in after the battle starts could be better for our magic anyways." She continued to try and convince Take before turning to everyone else, giving them a short wave. "Good luck you guys. See you soon!"
