[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190924/544c85ab5c75bc61a4bb5ce40dc0caa6.png[/img]
[color=salmon]Word Count: 839 (+2 exp)[/color]
[color=salmon][u]Level[/u]: [b]6[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 13/60
[b]Location:[/b] Edge of the Blue[/color][/center]
Another jaunt through the painting and across Lumbridge saw Cadet and the rest of the Blue Team in Inkwell Isle again. The hunter restrained himself from making a detour to the forge, channeling his inner Ace Lancer to continue on with the party (at which point he joined in with Sakura's [color=lightblue]Blue Team cheer[/color]). Those sisters worked fast, but it hadn't been [i]that[/i] long. Besides, the Edge of the Blue was now just a hole in the floor away. If anyone needed anything, they could just take the lift back into town. 

Seeing the little town and the big ocean properly rather than through the grimy doors of the casino, Ace Cadet was impressed. It wasn't often that he got to see the ocean. The Ace Hunters being based in Dundorma, at the center of the continent, most of their missions took them inland. Mountains, valleys, swamps. Deserts as well, and though the Great Desert might as well have been a sand ocean - completely with sailing ships and leviathans moving beneath - it wasn't quite the same. Rarely they Ace Hunters would visit larger coastal cities like Port Tanzia, but for the most part they stayed in the area around the Hunting Guild's Headquarters. The Cadet didn't wonder if he'd be more suited to joining Team Yellow instead, because just breathing in the salty air only the sea could provide was worth it. Oceans were so cool. Plus it was a beautiful day in the Edge of the Blue. The sky was clear, the sun was shining, there was an evil looking moon hanging in the sky...

[color=salmon]"Is that always there?"[/color] The Cadet asked, blinking down at Cuphead.

Like most of the others, Ace Cadet chose to walk down to the coast as part of the group. As far as he could tell, the town was a charming enough place. It definitely seemed to fit Cuphead perfectly - or rather, it seemed Cuphead fit into it perfectly. He wanted to explore it a little, plus get a look at that weird misty forest a little further off, but for now the Cadet was content to walk along with everyone else. Once they were close to the water, the young man let out a low, drawn out whistle. 

[color=salmon]"Nice, it's all water for miles around. Guess that's in the name, heh, but still cool."[/color]

He stared out at the ocean for a little while, until a stranger in familiar clothing approached and struck up a conversation with the princess. Ace Cadet looked over his shoulder at the black clad stranger and frowned. That organization's whole deal was confusing. Some were helpful, some were bad guys masquerading as guild masters. The Cadet was much more used to straight forward threats, ruses were frustrating. He crossed his arms and turned back to the sea, thinking to himself as the conversation went on behind him.

[i]The Maw, huh? Sounds spooky. That lady is pretty much asking us to trick a bunch of people onto boarding a dangerous ship. Junior's got the right idea.[/i]

The Cadet found himself nodding along with Sakura as they offered alternate suggestions, all of which were shot down. Was it not enough to take a sturdy ship full of heroes and take their chances crossing the sea? Did they really need this "Maw?" Was this mysterious woman just trying to push them into some kind of deadly trap while acting like she was doing them a favor and giving them advice? [i]Man, at least monster hunting doesn't make me think in circles.[/i]

It was about the time that a deflating Sakura starting moving away from the group and Geralt started chastising her that the Cadet offered what little was on his mind to the group.

[color=salmon]"Hey, lay off her,"[/color] he started with, pointing his words towards the Witcher. Sakura was just trying to help after all. The redhead looked at the cloaked woman then and continued. [color=salmon]"So what makes 'The Maw' so special? If it's just sea monsters that make the waters dangerous, I'm pretty sure we can deal with them,"[/color] he said, pointing a finger between those that specialized in that kind of thing: Geralt and himself. That, or he was sure if they could come up with the materials, they could commission a dragonator from Lumbridge and lug it back here to attach to any other ship's hull. [color=salmon]"Or what if we got ten really strong people instead? People we think can handle it inside. Can whoever crews 'The Maw' really tell the difference? [i]And[/i] after all that if we still have to find ten guests like the ones you described, couldn't we just, I dunno, save them after we get on the ship?"[/color]

The Cadet folded his arms again, tilting his head from side to side. Perhaps the gesture helped him to think. He looked around at all of Team Blue gathered there. [color=salmon]"I mean, even if we look into everything else and this is the only way, we still have some options working with this plan, right?"[/color][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/4DgO1VH.png[/img]
[sup][h3][i](Ft. [color=Aquamarine]Midna[/color])[/i][/h3][/sup]
[color=FFC6C6]Word Count: 1442 (+3)
[u]Level[/u]: [b]1[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 6/10
[b]Location[/b]: Sandswept Sky[/color][/center]
Once teams started breaking away from the large group and leaving the Alcamoth for their individual missions, it was all to easy to see a few of "Team Yellow" were not part of the princess' chosen heroes. That included Primrose herself, of course. Before they got too far, the dancer introduced herself to put the rest of them at ease of being around a stranger.

[color=DB5D39]"My name is Primrose,"[/color] she said,

[color=Aquamarine]”And I would be Midna”[/color], added a floating imp that materialized out of her shadow before attempting to lean nonchalauntly on her shoulder.

Primrose jerked away from the sudden voice and touch, and in a flash her dagger was in her hand. She hadn't expected any tag alongs besides herself, let alone whatever kind of miniature demon "Midna" was. 

With one hand holding a blade defensively in front of her, and the other pressed to her chest to calm her panicked heart, Primrose glared at the imp.

[color=DB5D39]"Where did you...?"[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”Aw, what’s the matter, scared of your own shadow?”[/color] the demon replied mockingly, having lethargic floated away from her when she’d jerked away.

[color=Aquamarine]”Now put that thing away,”[/color] the imp said, waving a hand at the knife, [color=Aquamarine]”I’m here to help. Completely uninvited of course, just like yourself.”[/color] 

Primrose couldn't exactly argue with that. Slowly she tucked both of her arms back into her cloak, although she kept a tight hold on her dagger. One could never be too careful after all. Plus, Midna didn't exactly [i]look[/i] helpful. Although neither did the dark scaled draconic man who was already part of the princess' royal entourage.

[color=DB5D39]"I don't appreciate being used as a free ride,"[/color] she told the imp.

Midna shrugged her arms widely in indifference to this opinion [color=Aquamarine]”Not like I weigh anything, you didn’t even notice me after all. Don’t you want someone watching your back?”[/color]

[color=DB5D39]”...”[/color] The dancer would be lying if she claimed that having someone she could count on wasn't a comfort, after living so long without that privilege. After a moment of continued glaring Primrose relaxed, just a little. She moved to one side of the rocky trail and motioned for Midna to float ahead of her.

The imp cocked her head at her silence, and then shrugged her shoulders and drifted ahead of her. [color=Aquamarine]”Fine fine. I’ll get my own ride”[/color] she said, before snapping her fingers. The ground beneath her a circle of teal with angular veins flaring out of it formed, then a portal swirled within the ring, briefly blakening the ground beneath the teal rune. Out of this portal a wolf with unnaturally dark fur, a golden aura who was wearing a stone disk as a mask hopped before the portal vanished as quickly as it appeared. The imp dropped down onto the wolf’s back, riding it like it was a horse. The entire operation had taken only a few heartbeats, and now Midna had a new ride. 

She pett the sides of the wolfos’ back and told it [color=Aquamarine]”Hup-up, let’s go,”[/color] causing the creature to begin padding forwards ahead of Primrose, obediently carrying the imp up the trail with zero complainet. 

[i]She could do that this whole time?[/i] Primrose thought with a hint of annoyance. Although it was in the dancer’s nature to hold a grudge, she decided to try her best to let this one go. [i]Under that strange appearance, maybe she’s just shy.[/i] That thought humored Primrose.

As they moved up the hill, Primrose wrapped the cloak a little tighter around herself. The closer they got to the passage into the desert, the hotter the air was getting - and though the fabric wouldn't protect from heat, it would shield her skin. Just like the others, Primrose shimmied through the opening in the rocks and came through on the other to an endless sandy sea.

When Primrose first left the Sunlands, what felt like years ago now, at the time she thought she'd never want to go back. Was sick at the thought of ever returning. Now, under the burning sun of the "Sandswept Sky," she only felt vague nostalgia. This landscape of sand wasn't the same was the Sunlands, it lacked the large red rocks natives came to rely on as landmarks, but in the end a desert was a desert. It was familiar if nothing else. Well, save for the huge flying serpentine creature, it was familiar. 

Primrose was prepared to hoof it all the way to that distant, shimmering mountain when that bobble headed cat transformed. Normally that might have shocked the young woman, but there were a lot of crazy things in the Alcamoth. You got used to "weird" pretty quickly. As the rabbit-looking guy spoke with the cat vehicle, Primrose inspected it's tires. It was tough to drag a cart through the desert, but... she had to admit she was unfamiliar with this kind of wheel. It seemed wide enough. She followed Tora quietly onto the bus, sitting as far away from the rest of them as possible in the cramped space. A bit awkwardly she patted the interior walls of the bus in thanks.

The dancer leaned her head against the warm glass. It looked like this desert wasn't quite as featureless as she thought. The vehicle passed by stones of some kind, carved and decorated. [i]Memorials?[/i] Primrose thought, turning slightly to get a better view as they drove by. [i]Senseless. The sand will cover them all in time.[/i]

Coolness spread in her lap, and Primrose looked down to see a strange little bug getting cozy. Gingerly, Primrose lifted the antlion off of her and set it on the seat beside her instead. [color=DB5D39]"That is very refreshing,"[/color] she said softly to it, then went back to staring out of the window. Complaints and introductions were thrown around the inside of the "catty box with wheels," as Tora put it. Primrose couldn't keep a smirk off her face at the gripes about the heat. Although she wondered what made those clearly unsuited to the desert choose this area for exploration, she also took the time to repeat each name in her head. The three youngest of them, "Joker," "Skull," and "Panther" were clearly aliases, but keeping their true names concealed was their business. 

There was a lull in conversation and Primrose sighed through her nose and let her eyes slip closed. [i]My turn, is it?[/i] She took a few moments to think about what she wanted to tell these strangers, if anything.

[color=DB5D39]"I mentioned earlier that my name is Primrose."[/color]

She would have been content to leave it at that, before she ended up traveling in a group back in her own world. Primrose thought about Alfyn and Cyrus, the chattiest among them, patiently extracting personal information from each of the travelers. She recalled Sir Olberic using some of that information to the group's advantage, explaining battle strategies that used their individual abilities to the fullest. It made fighting against the nastiest creatures in Orsterra a lot easier. It might help here, too.

[color=DB5D39]"...I have... a particularly invigorating skill set,"[/color] she told the Yellow Team, choosing her words carefully. Personally, Primrose wasn't ashamed of the life she'd lived until now. Frustrated with it, maybe, but not ashamed. However, it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you let slip while making your first impression. [color=DB5D39]"And I'm familiar with traversing a desert."[/color]

It wasn't as friendly an introduction as Tora's, but it was at least more than just a name. It was all Primrose was really willing to give the ragtag team. Until she could find a way to unlock her magic, there as no use in including that either. There, official meetings over.

When the car came to a stop, Primrose elegantly stood and stepped out. Their destination, the mountain with the shimmering peak, was... still pretty far away. To be expected. Everything was farther away than it looked in the desert. It was part of the reason Primrose hadn't liked living there.

[i]Who's to say this mountain isn't a mirage?[/i] the dancer thought to herself. Her eyes swept over the sky, which was naught more than sand, and the sand, which was naught more than... also sand. The sides of Primrose's mouth twitched slightly. She'd felt nostalgic at first, but now she was wondering why she hadn't chosen the ocean for a new adventure. [i]The professor would say something like 'we are all but creatures of habit.' Maybe that's why.[/i] Creatures moving among the dunes caught her eyes and she watched them for a few moments. There was something else too, standing white against the dark stone totems. 

[i]And what do we have here...?[/i]