[center][abbr=Octopath Travelers][img]https://i.ibb.co/88KWNj5/OTbanner.png[/img][/abbr]
[sup]____________________________________________________[/sup]
[color=FFC6C6][u]Level[/u]: [b]10[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 197/100[/color] [color=2e2c2c]------[/color] [color=BC8DBF][u]Level[/u]: [b]7[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 246/70[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color] [color=2e2c2c]----------------------------[/color] [color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color]
[color=gray](both holding 1 level up)[/color]
[color=lightgray]Word Count: 1195 (+2 exp)
[b]Location[/b]: The Under ➜ Gerudo Town, Sandswept Sky[/color][/center]
The white robe scarf that Primrose wore let her avoid being plunged into the lake a second time. She glided through the air once out of the pipe and alighted on the lake shore, wet from the constant rain regardless. 

Right away she could see that red light still shone in the people that lived in the city. The Radiance’s death hadn’t set them free, confined to its own prison as it’d been. That was unfortunate. But their job here was done and all that was left now was to move on. She turned her gaze away from the citizens and to where her fellow Seekers had begun to congregate. She found her fellow Orsterran looking practically miserable, stuck clutching a large umbrella between the stoic and space-taking Osvald and the cheery pun-slinging Ms. Fortune. Since Therion wasn’t about to let his lifeline (the umbrella) go, he endured it as the group got underway.

Primrose was still disquieted by the meeting with Asgore. The whole walk from the lake to their current ride she was thinking about everything the old king had said. There were certain things that she had to recontextualize in her brain now as well. If the spirits that remained after someone died were the blueprints of their life, did using them as she saw fit mean that person was denied the ability to return? Or were everyone’s true selves out there, somewhere, and their bodies and spirits were merely copies? And did it really matter, one way or another? Before this she had been under the assumption that the dead stayed that way, so was using their spirit to prevent their resurrection really any different? She had killed before, and knew she would do so again if it was to achieve her goals. 

Primrose usually didn’t think so deeply about such things. Philosophical thought was the luxury of those that didn’t have to think about keeping themselves alive and fed, or avenging a loved one. She needed a distraction to put these thoughts into the back of her mind for good. That spa trip would really do well for that, so long as the Gerudo king claiming his throne didn’t put a damper on things. In the meantime, Ms. Fortune’s mention of wanting a new outfit caught the dancer’s ear, and she looked up at the other woman. 

[color=D34C25]"There’s a woman in Gerudo Town who claims to be able to make outfits perfectly tailored to her customers,"[/color] she told Ms. Fortune. [color=D34C25]"I’d been meaning to have one made myself, though things got busy."[/color]

She had definitely missed her appointment with that shop, though it had been a flimsy promise to return in the first place. Primrose recalled how suspicious she’d been then, of everyone, and though she was still wary of strangers she’d learned so much over the last few days that it seemed silly now. She’d visited with Panther, and thought about her as well. She hoped the girl was doing alright.

Next to her, Therion had his ridiculously sized umbrella closed up and slung across his back like it was a sword. He sat with one of Sectonia’s fire antillions in his lap with his arms wrapped around it, having unabashedly claimed it for himself to dry off. He’d also shed off his outer layer. He had no real interest in a new outfit, and definitely didn’t want to visit a bathhouse after being dunked into the lake in the Home of Tears. As soon as they got back to the desert he was probably going to dive into a sand bank and take a dirt bath like a chinchilla. 

[color=BC8DBF]"I just need some sun,"[/color] he mumbled, his forehead pressed to the antillion in his lap. It was his only contribution to the discussion while on the train.

Soon enough their cat-pulled car stopped at the Nyakuza Metro. Just like in the Home of Tears, the manhunt they’d endured here seemed to have ended. Hopefully things would stay peaceful, and they could go about their business - getting themselves on the Yellow Line. Obtaining pons or passes would be their first step, visiting Gerudo Town the next. Neither Primrose nor Therion objected to the suggestion of visiting Carnival Town, and neither did anyone else, so it seemed that would be the stop after next. 

Everyone split up to handle things as they saw fit, whether it was sending minions to do the work for them, gathering the currency themselves, or even standing around sulking about it. As everyone came back together again, they’d find that Therion was the first to arrive at the entrance to the Yellow Line. It came as no surprise that he had simply headed right for the platform and stolen a pass from a poor unsuspecting traveler. He produced it from under his pocket only to show off that he was all set. With no intent to return to The Under, he’d also gone ahead and converted his geo into zenny, a more accepted currency elsewhere - adding 4,705 zenny to go with his handful of random other currencies, including a few pons. As it turned out though, he’d hardly be needing the pons if Ms. Fortune remained generous the next time they passed through the Metro. Finally feeling a little better now, Therion let out an impressed whistle when his fellow thief showed off her haul. So she wasn’t just all talk after all!

Primrose appeared a little later, this time opting to gather her pons rather than coerce an employee into letting her pass. The hunt for pons helped to distract her mind, so she’d bought her pass the old fashioned way… though she’d certainly opt for her friend buying any additional ones for her in the future. With everything sorted in the Metro, the crew hurried onto the next train bound for Gerudo Town.

Once they arrived, Therion shuffled out of the station and did just as he thought he would: fell backward onto the sand and let the sunlight wash over him. With the warm sand at his back and the warmer rays on his front, he was on his way to leaving the hellish experience with the water underground behind him. 

[color=BC8DBF]"Finally,"[/color] he said, letting his eyes fall closed. He knew full well that no men were allowed inside the town, but he was okay with that. He also knew that eventually the heat would get to be too much, so after a minute or two he hopped back up and dusted some of the sand off of himself. 

[color=BC8DBF]"There’s an oasis with an inn not too far,"[/color] he mentioned to the group at large. [color=BC8DBF]"I’ll be hanging out there while you all do what you need to do."[/color]

After all, he had no idea if Ganondorf’s plan was going to work. Or if the man even had a real plan. Maybe he’d be able to get the guys into town, but Therion would rather wait for the news under the shade of a palm tree than stand around outside the city gates. He split off from the others, leading the way toward the oasis for any like minded men.