"Excellent work, pipsqueaks." Penny said as the peasants carried the girl down from the tree, leaving it vague whether she included Jessica in the compliment lest her head explode from how big it got since her sappy solution had worked. When they got close enough Penny put her sword under one arm and reached up, taking the girl around the armpits and lifting her the rest of the way down down as the peasants let themselves fall like hairy coconuts to the forest floor around them. She gave the kid a quick once over, seeing if she was hurt in any way besides the evident exhaustion of the ordeal. Up close their rescuee bared an unmistakable resemblance to the teacher from the beach, which meant that now all they had to do now was track her down. In the middle of the jungle. Great.

Everybody was turning to head back to the beach when Mark asked whether they would be carrying the bubble machine with them. "Of course." She said, snapping her finger. The peasants lifted up the bubble machine as it looked like Penny was going to be stuck carrying the kid. With an uncomfortable glance down and a terrible attempt at a reassuring smile she set out after the other two. Luckily for her they hadn't even started back yet when a girl emerged from the woods.

Jessica fielded her questions, thankfully. She made a questionably believable attempt to establish her evil cred, but trying to say that with a stammer and a blush was just eyerolling. To be fair, though, it felt like a compliment from her could make anybody blush. Penny wasn't good with compliments anyway, especially when they were this genuine. "Yeah, we're gonna prove her wrong by reuniting her with her loving daughter." She added, just in case either Erin or the kid got any weird ideas from how Jessica had described things. As she did she smacked her lips at the mention of the sweet taste that must have been hanging in the air.

@Octo@Rockin Strings

Mark smiled softly as the words of the newcomer. He didn't notice it at first but could definitely sense a sweet after-taste through his mouth once Jessica had said something. The girl was blushing while trying to proclaim she was a bad guy? He quickly used his Stride to get behind Erin.

"I suggest you turn your epithet off, Erin. It doesn't seem fit for combat. We can get you back to the beach if you stick with us."

He didn't truly know if Erin was using an epithet or not but the clues were there. With that, he began motioning the girls towards the beach, watching Jessica and Erin closely. He thought he could trust Penny, at least for now, and wasn't worried about her since he understood at least the basics of her epithet.