Jade113

Whistlehowl Star {always open!}

Nyte rubbed her helmet slowly with her left gauntlet, embarrassed at the accidental cat puns. She couldn't help it, she just looked at his ears and next thing she knew she had started saying puns! A catastrophe!

At the thought, Nyte quietly snickered as well, the tinny tone helping to echo the gentle noise through the silent wilderness. Nyte quieted down with Sunny, then went still upon the tired child's admission. "Oh my, no food...? We must get you filled up, child, so you can grow into a bright young woman."

She nodded, not realizing her mistake whatsoever, and turned once more to Sunny. She ignored the sight of the child getting pulled up onto the vagrant's back, looking to the side. "Thank you, wanderer. It has been some time since I've been asked to give other vagrants quests..."

She held her palm out to allow a small butterfly with brilliant purple designs on its wings to land gently on one of her fingers. "Not since my days of standing still in cities for weeks... They were always so happy, telling their friends how much experience they gained from my tasks..."

Before Nyte could follow the sunny vagrant, the whispering caught her attention, and the immediate acceleration of the rust in her armor caused the butterfly to quietly flutter away. She turned slowly, armor creaking and clanking loudly at the movement, and noticed the small, angry fairy.

"Oh my, are you alright?" She asked the fairy carefully, now resting against her sword. "I haven't upset you, have I? I'm fairy sure, er, fairly sure I haven't done anything to offend..."

Whistlehowl Star {always open!}

Nyte tilted her head in a way that could be perceived as a slow but thankful nod, her rusted armor grating loudly in the otherwise silent forest. As the fog slowly faded and the light of the dawn had risen, Nyte's features became more visible. Flowers and thin vines twirled around her chestplate, and a small, violet flower rested daintily on her left pauldron. She looked slowly to the smaller, pale vagrant and struggled to keep her ever-present gaze focused anywhere but his ears.

"Could you do that for me, child?" She asked in an almost motherly tone despite her somewhat dissonant voice, tilting her head gently to the side in an attempt to look slightly less intimidating in her towering suit of armor.

When the child sat, Nyte unconsciously took a single, slow step backwards, looking down in curiosity. The child went into a trance-like state, and Nyte stayed eerily quiet, suddenly still and silent like a statue.

"A fortune-reader of some kind?" She whispered once he had finished the reading. "You do not need to tire yourself out for an old pile of armor like me, child... If I'm not meowstaken - urk - apawlogies, er, it's..."

She cleared her throat and her helm swiveled to look away sheepishly. "Force of habit... Northwest is a good enough direction, child, I may head that way soon. Thank you for, um, completing my task."

Whistlehowl Star {always open!}

Nyte had been wearily approaching the voice when a response rang through the silent forest. Nyte tilted her head at the unfamiliar names, but if they were vagrants like herself, they shouldn't be hostile. Nodding to herself, Nyte stuck her sword in the ground, ready to approach.

She didn't manage to move an inch before one of the vagrants charged into view, prompting the rusted old knight to turn and face her.

One of her armored hands reached out to carefully pluck a fallen leaf from the air, and she tried in vain to hear what the two were whispering to one another. The short, pale one seemed awfully tired, and Nyte resisted her coddling instincts to attempt to decipher the vagrant's meaning.

"My... task?" She uttered, voice metallic but clear, "I don't have..."

Suddenly, Nyte cleared her throat awkwardly. "Why, yes, uh, vagrant wanderer, your task is simple! My armor, it is old and rusted! Perhaps... you can... uh... take me with you, and... find me a new set!"

She nodded and cleared her throat again, satisfied with her impression but immediately feeling bad.

"But, uh, vagrant wanderer, do not feel, uh, forced! I am perfectly happy exploring on my own."

Whistlehowl Star {always open!}

Deep in the fog, sat against a tree, a vagrant knight holds her armored palm out to catch a falling violet leaf. She stares at it beneath her helmet, completely still for what could have been hours, before a gentle breeze blows the leaf away. She looks around herself and notices beams of shimmering golden light shining down through the trees, clear in the dense fog.

Shaking her helm, the knight slowly stood, taking her time with her rusted armor and gently emptying out her boots of the water that had collected inside. With renewed vigor, the knight began to gently stride through the dense forest, taking in the sights and the rare sounds with interest and appreciation.

She had been in this same forest for days now, originally on a trek to the town of Occurro. The forest had calmed her greatly, but each day brought new light to the very same sights, and the utter silence had always been a soothing and reassuring-

Nyte straightened and went stiff at the sound of a voice piercing through the calm atmosphere, turning to face the source and tilting her head. “Lost, are they…?” She muttered to herself before carefully waltzing through the forest, only tripping twice on the way to the voice. She had drawn her sword, an ancient and barely used thing, using it as a walking stick to keep herself from falling apart.

After careful, hesitant deliberation on what exactly she should call out in response, Nyte nodded, steeling herself before finally calling out, “Who goes there?!”

Whistlehowl Star {always open!}

Welp, we could basically write a novel if things keep going like this o.o Very well done!

Star Wars: Hazard Squad

Stood tall and at attention, the Sergeant welcomed the two with a nod. "Troopers. Are there any more soldiers coming behind you two? With myself, that only makes four. A standard Stormtrooper squad is comprised of ten."

She sighed, looking between the three troopers in front of her. "To those that are here now, then, if you are not aware, our mission is to protect this station. Nothing more, nothing less. Orbiting this moon," she said, gesturing to moon outside the window, "is a small, ugly little station with a single, apparently undermanned squad of average meat-shields to protect it. Welcome to Hazard Squad."

Star Wars: Hazard Squad

She grunted and rolled her shoulder, stepping back to the center of the control room. "Retrieve him and bring him here."

Star Wars: Hazard Squad

The Sergeant nodded and waved her hand dismissively, sighing under her helmet. "At ease. I don't suppose you have the rest of my supposed squad with you?"

She tilted to the side a bit to try to look behind the soldier. "Or behind you, perhaps? It's kind of hard to see around you, Richards."

Star Wars: Hazard Squad

The Sergeant nodded her head to the recruit. "At ease. Did anyone else arrive with you?" She asked, moving to the window and looking out. "We should be getting a full squad, trooper."

Upon finishing her sentence, the Sergeant noticed the new, much larger soldier entering, and stood at attention once more. "I was unaware we were receiving a Heavy Weapons Trooper. Welcome to Hazard Squad."

Star Wars: Hazard Squad

Sergeant Nyte, having arrived to the station earlier, had long put away her belongings in a separate room from the bunks of the troopers and walked to the control room to await the arrival of her squad. In her armor, the Sergeant stood tall, the white pauldron over her right shoulder indicating her rank on an otherwise identical suit of stormtrooper armor to the rest of her squad. She looked to her left, out the window of the station and to the looming moon they were orbiting around. Sights like these were common in the Corps, but never ceased to intrigue her.

Finally, she heard the approach of one of her squad members. She stood at attention and welcomed the recruit with a nod, before looking behind him and raising an eyebrow beneath her helmet. Where were the others?