[i]‘Oh man where did she come from?’ ‘I don’t know she’s pretty cool though!’[/i] Rika played in her head as Ace, Shizuka, and Trisean all simultaneously found surprise with the unexpected arrival. There were several different options when it came to greeting her, some friendly, and the rest not so friendly. Of course Ace wasn’t going to be the most welcoming, and the ‘hunter’ guy wasn’t really thrilled by her presence either. This left the girl the only one to appeal to, but just as Ace had finished trying to make it a point to get a name out of her, the girl had done the sweetest thing ever. Completely forgoing any and all interrogation, she had instead handed her a badge that gave her the ability to communicate with her, Ace, and even the mysterious leader of theirs. While Ace was shocked and disgruntled by this, Rika herself slipped off of the crate and wrapped her arms around the girl’s torso, squeezing her with a warm embrace. “You are just the CUTEST! At least someone here knows a trustworthy face!” 

Pulling back, Rika glanced to Trisean in the middle of his small argument as to why Rika couldn’t be trusted, and that was because …he ‘knows’ a manipulative girl. Hm. [b]“Mhmmm.”[/b] The blonde tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him, obviously not amused by his put-downs and gradually feeling more unwelcome by the second. [b]“You know, I didn’t HAVE to come here and offer help, I could’ve just gone home and called it a night. Maybe if you stopped spending so much time having these stupid little suspicions and playing the tough guy, you’d have made a new friend like Shizuka just did!”[/b] Rika wasn’t sure how far these guys were willing to play the ‘I don’t know her, therefore she’s probably an enemy’ angle. You never knew anyone before you met them, and if this was the welcome she got it was a miracle the Unbound Hearts ever got any new members. Sticking out her tongue at Trisean, Rika looked to Ace.[b] “My name is Rika, and that’s all you had to ask me. If I wasn’t sympathetic towards the rebel cause I would’ve just walked out by now and taken what I know to the Empire, AND get paid for it too.”[/b]

The welcome was beyond rude, and no matter what suspicions they had she still had the upper hand here, and she’d continue to have it as long as she had that disc. In fact, the more she thought about these assumptions, the more it had begun to anger her. Who the hell were they to look down on her for simply existing? She had a set of talents and she used them to follow and offer her help. Condemning her for that alone? Hell no. 

[b]“Now if you or that guy right there say one more thing negative about me, I’m out of here for good, and I’m taking everything I know with me regardless of how nice Shizuka is. And back to you, again!”[/b] Rika looked back at Trisean, obviously growing pissed. [b]“You've got injured comrades all around you, and the only thing you can do right now is be suspicious of a nice girl who is offering her HELP to you. How in the hell is my offering aid manipulative? It’s a yes or no answer, you stupid asshole! So either you take my help, or I walk and make it a goal to undermine you bastards out of principle from this point on. What’s it going to be?”[/b] Her entry in here was with good intentions and good spirits, but to call her manipulative, to attempt to intimidate her, it was no longer an amusing gathering. Suspicion was fine, but unless you had some facts on hand it was better if people just stopped talking altogether. Rika was no longer laughing, and obviously the wrong set of words would make that promise of hers hold true. Shizuka had been more than receptive of her while still being curious enough to ask questions, to which Rika politely answered not for Ace, but because Shizuka did it kindly. Seemed tact was lost on those other two punks, and she'd punish them accordingly.