Between the multiple slaps on the back and the words of advice imparted to him, some more unusual than others, Thomas felt himself relax a bit more to his surroundings, or was distracted from them at the very least. Enough for him not to freak out or have his mind racing as he got to grips with the broken down area they found themselves in. Emphasis on ‘a bit’ though, he was still coming to grips with being thrust in a group entirely composed of the opposite sex. He’d get used to it though… probably.

That being said, as Clair passed him after giving him a few jolly claps to the back, he figured it would probably be better if they had a name to put to his face, other than them just calling him ‘boy’ the whole time, formalities aside. [color=violet]“Actually, my name’s-”[/color] Thomas began to speak up, if a bit tentatively, though it was clear he’d been a bit distracted from what Akiko had been saying, not at all ready for his introduction to be interrupted as they were confronted by a pack of… well, whatever they were supposed to be, the beasts were obviously not friendly.

Thomas simply stood in place, taken aback at the sight of the monsters, eyes wide and heart beginning to beat faster as a tinge of adrenaline indicated what seemed to be, at least on the surface, fear. He seemed to snap out of it slightly though when he felt a sudden light weight pressing onto his shoulder, moving most of his attention to that. His eyes almost got wide again when he saw what, or who, it was. It was…! Well he didn’t know her name yet, but in any case, she was hanging out on his shoulder as though it were a couch, at a size that was tiny in comparison to the seemingly normal person he’d seen before. Was this the result of one of those cards, he wondered, noticing a few people pulling some out themselves in his peripheral vision. 

However, in the meantime, he just gave Rose a slightly dumbfounded look as she told him what to do, giving him advice that most people would deem questionable, but there wasn’t really much else to it, once he thought about it. [color=violet]“Uh… sure thing.”[/color] He nodded, the pat on the cheek a slight boost of confidence, though one that became almost negligible when he looked back at his foes and allies, all of them seeming fairly dangerous in their own way, in battle-ready positions or indeed already battling. It was at this moment, though, that he realised he didn’t have a weapon. The memory of the sword in his dream still burned brightly and clearly in his mind, but it seemed that the sword, no matter how real it had seemed, hadn’t followed him here, at least that’s what it seemed like.

[color=violet]“But wait… What do I…?”[/color] Thomas thought out loud, his words a slight cry for help from his shoulder-riding companion as he looked down at his hands, and then back up to the pack of beasts not far ahead, hoping none of them had sniffed him out yet towards the back. He could feel his nerves returning to him now, his hands shaking as he looked at them. Or was it his head that was shaking? Both? He realised he probably looked a fool at the moment, but he couldn’t help it, his body overreacting and working against him, keeping him practically frozen in place as he tried to do something. His fingers began to feel cold as his mind envisioned a shadow of death looming over him, though whether it was genuine or not, he couldn’t know for sure. 

But then, however, it came to him again. The vision of his hand grasping the sword as clear as day, the same light blazing in his mind that he’d seen before, his thoughts becoming almost palpable. His body began to warm up again, calming itself down. But that wasn’t all. A shimmer of light in his hands gave way to a small but sudden flash, forcing him to blink. When he did, his eyes laid upon something very real. His hands grasped a long double-bladed weapon, a glaive, longer than Thomas himself, with a metal hilt coated in a layer of dark leather practically as long as the blades themselves, each one curving in a different direction at the end, made from steel which seemed to fade into a colour similar to the colour of his eyes towards the edge of the blade. He stared at it for a moment, already feeling it naturally relax into his hold, despite its weight.

[color=violet]“Woah…”[/color] That was all he could manage at the moment. Finally more at ease, and very pleased with what he saw, Thomas smirked slightly, something that seemed uncharacteristic of him from what the others had seem of him so far, and indeed of what he’d seen of himself. He was still nervous, he knew it, in fact he could begin to feel himself shake again as the rush of getting this new weapon, along with his smirk, faded, but at least now he could try to defend himself. Plus, if he got in trouble, which in all likelihood he probably would, he hoped that Rose in the passenger’s seated would offer him a helping hand, along with the others around him. And, just like that, he went to go catch up with the others, being careful to not accidentally drop the glaive on his foot along the way.