Yankee

Hello

Hello, welcome (back)! Hopefully you find what you're looking for, and hey - good luck with the novel!

World of Light

Word Count: 2650 (+3 exp)(+12 collabs)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 87/90
Location: Edge of the Blue - Kanzuki Estate

At some point during the day's activities, the Ace Cadet had disappeared from the beach. It was no mystery case or nefarious plot - the hunter had just decided to look around a little more. The first part of their day off spent playing, exploring, and flirting had been amazing, but the Cadet wasn't quite ready to cool down. So after separating from Nadia, the first stop had been right back to their gracious host's beachside buffet to douse the fluttery feeling in his stomach. Then he'd struck out in the opposite direction of the resort, seeing what the other side of the beach had to offer.

For a while there wasn't anything interesting. He wandered down the stretch of sand, poking through beach grass and surf. Any material he thought about gathering, like calcite or bits of bones, were much too small to be useful in anything. His solo exploration was beginning to look like just a long walk on the beach. It gave him time to think about things he hadn't really had much time to ponder before, like what would happen after. Way after, when everything was put back to normal in the worlds. Would he even remember everyone he fought together with? If he did, would they ever be able to see each other again? ...not really vacation topics, he thought to himself. The Ace Cadet decided that he didn't want to think about any of those things just then, so he focused on the feeling of the slight breeze and the sun overhead instead.

Slowly the shore began to curve, and the smooth sand gradually became coarse with bits of shells mixed in. Just when the Cadet considered turning back around, something a little further ahead caught his eye. It looked like a row of large shells, aligned like a fence where the beach curved. It was a poor barrier, so the hunter figured it was some kind of property marker considering that someone must have arranged them like that. Finally, there was something! Well I've come this far, might as well check it out!

As the Cadet got closer he saw that there were several more shells, extending the makeshift fence quite a ways. There was a gap in the partition more than big enough for a person to move through, and on the other side of the shells was a little patch of beach. A patch completely infested with crabs.

Little crabs, suspicious crabs, and hermits in the large, medium, and small varieties. It made sense given they were at the ocean and all, but the Cadet hadn't seen quite so many all in one place. He wondered if this was where Karin had sourced some of the buffet's seafood from. There was something else on the beach too, something big. Without hesitation he strode further in, watching the smaller crabs scuttle away from his steps. The larger ones didn't seem aggressive, but they also stood their ground and foamed at the mouth if he got too close. As he walked, it quickly became apparent just what the "something big" was.

There, on the far side of the area resting just out of reach of the tide, was a huge crustacean that rivaled the carapaceons of the Cadet's own world. It was an unappealing green color, with large eyes that seemed to notice the Cadet right away. It stretched out a massive claw towards him, and the hunter tensed in preparation for an escape. He'd left all of his equipment back at the Kanzuki Estate after all. However the big crab didn't move from it's spot. Maybe that shell was too heavy for it? Actually the Cadet didn't see any of the creature's legs, only it's forelimbs. It waved saids claw back and forth before giving up with a huff. Then it opened it's very un-crablike mouth and let out a few guttural words.

"Hey. This Nipper's beach."

The Cadet blinked, not expecting to hear speech from the giant crab. It talked! ...wait, why am I surprised about that? Lots of animals talk here. When the hunter didn't immediately answer 'Nipper' narrowed his eyes, but the Cadet held his palms up to dissuade the crab from trying anything.

"Private property I guess?" he asked. Was he about to let himself be kicked out of the area by this guy?

"Yeah. Nipper's sand, Nipper's trees, Nipper's mini-nippers. No one find nothing on Nipper's beach without Nipper's help."

Oh, that didn't sound like he was being shooed away. In fact it almost seemed the opposite. The Ace Cadet glanced around again, because as far as he could see the only thing that was actually here was a motherload of future shellfish dinners. "What do people even come looking for here, buried treasure or something?" he joked.

"Yep."

"Heheh... wait, really? I was just Kirin around, but there's actually treasure here..!?"

"Yep." Nipped looked smug as he answered, proudly drawing himself up as tall as he could while bound to the shell. "But no one know where it is. Only Nipper can help find."

It looked like things were taking a promising turn! Glad that the walk hadn't been a waste, a smile found it's way to the Cadet's face and he asked, "And you help anyone find it?" To which Nipper looked down at him and bluntly replied, "Not for free."

Right... of course not, the Cadet thought. He scratched the back of his head. "I'm kinda all out of zenny right now." And I'm definitely not asking Ms. Peach for money to give to a carapaceon. "But there's a pretty sea-weet spread of food a little ways back, I could bring some to you if you're hungry...?"

Nipper harrumphed. "Bring food. Also bring offering!" He waved the Cadet off with one claw, leaving the hunter at a loss. An offering of what? What the heck would a crab like? He turned back anyway, retracing his route.

When he got back, he noticed that the group was a bit different. He vaguely remembered Geralt and his... wife? arriving shortly before he'd left. He should really introduce himself, but they were relaxing so maybe later. At the buffet was a trio of girls he did not recognize at all, but though rowdy no one else seemed to mind them, so the Cadet let them be - and thought again about introductions. Lastly, he noticed that Ms. Fortune was not where he'd last seen her. She and a couple of other Seekers were nowhere to be found. Another outing perhaps. The Cadet swallowed his disappointment about missing another adventure and made his way over to where he'd left his belongings. This treasure better be worth it!

He slung his bag over his back, figuring he could hopefully find something in it to give to Nipper. He had no clue what the big creature would like, but he did know what he was unwilling to part with. That only left a few options. Once the buffet was free he visited it for the third time that day, wrapping some food to go and shoving it in his pack. He took another skewer for himself, munching on it as he waved to the other Seekers before heading right back to crab beach.

Somehow there were even more crabs loitering around than before. Nipper was right where the Ace Cadet had left him, and so he wasted no time jogging over and presenting the food. Nipper plucked everything out of the hunter's hands and shoveled it into his mouth and the smaller crustaceans rushed beneath him to pick up any dropped morsels. The whole affair took only moments, and then Nipper held out his claw again.

"Okay, what else you have."

"Well..." The Cadet shuffled through his bag. He always had a mental count of what he had on him, but that was back in his own world. Running around with so many unfamiliar items threw off his record. Currently he had his coatings and other vials of useful potions and such, the alchemy barrel in it's miniaturized state, a bunch of materials he wanted to try getting some use out of... There was only one thing that he was really willing to part with, and he pulled it out almost sheepishly.

Nipper stared at the hat, and then made a gurgling noise. It was an uncomfortable sound, but it seemed to be... laughter?

"Look like dumb Snacker," Nipper said in between gurgling giggles. "That funny. Me take."

The Cadet was surprised that had worked, but hey - never look a gift Kirin in the mouth. He handed the knit hat over and Nipper placed it on one of his eye stalks. He broke into another fit of strange laughter. At least he was in a good mood.

"Uh, glad you like it! So, how do we find the treasure?"

"That easy. Me point, you dig, we find."

That easy huh? The Cadet placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the beach. His new friend watched curiously as the hunter spotted something in the shallow water and went to retrieve it. He returned quickly with a decently sized shell in hand to use as a makeshift shovel. "Okay. Let's get started!"

Nipper raised his claw and extended it as far as it would go to his right, dropping the tip down into the sand and tapping a few times. Obediently the Cadet started to dig. And dig. The whole got a few feet deep with no treasure to be found. Small crustaceans jumped in to relish the cooler sand, digging themselves little hovels while the Cadet worked. After a little while the Cadet poked his head out of the hole. "There's nothing here."

"Hmph... Nipper remember that it actually over here." He pointed to another spot about two meters away, so the Cadet made another hole. Again, he found nothing.

"Uh, Nipper...?"

"Hold on, Nipper think." He snapped his claws open and closed a couple of times. "Okay, it actually here."

This scene continued for a long time, until the monster hunter had dug about dozen holes and still had nothing to show for it - besides providing a cozy spot for the various crabs in the area. The thought that this could all be some kind of trick did cross the Cadet's mind. Potential prey not willing to get too close to those claws, so they tire him out by having him dig for treasure, then when he's exhausted the little crabs move in for a feast... but he tried to be optimistic. Maybe Nipper was just forgetful. Hopefully he hadn't forgotten if there was actually anything buried in the area or not. The more he thought about it, the heavier his limbs became. Who knew how many holes he'd dug by now, and there was still no sign of anything! The Cadet crawled out of his current hole and fell back onto caboose, his arms resting over his knees and his head hanging between them. He was panting to catch his breath, the sun combined with the labor finally catching up to him. In fact he was starting to resemble a crab himself, with his skin sporting the tell tale signs of sunburn. Hopefully Blazermate could take care of that, as his own potions wouldn't be able to. Healing the burn wasn't at the forefront of the Cadet's mind though. He snapped his head up and looked at Nipper with suspicion.

"Have you been feeding me a load of Bulldrome this whole time? There's no treasure here, is there?"

"Nipper not liar!" The crustacean replied indignantly. "Just keep digging where Nipper say. Treasure... is... definitely there."

"You just hesitated! Plus I've been digging for like two hours!"

Clunk. The noise came from the hole the Cadet had just dug. The red head looked down to find that a few of the smaller crabs had jumped in and tried digging deeper into the cool sand, only to be blocked by something buried a bit deeper. He looked up a Nipper, only a little irritated to see that the giant crab looked completely shocked at this development. To Nipper's credit, he recovered pretty quickly. "See? Nipper told you! Hurry and pull it up!"

The Cadet obliged, pushing himself back into the hole and unearthing a bonafide treasure chest.

The unexpected success brought some of the Cadet's strength back, and with a celebratory whoop he hauled the chest out of the pit. Getting by lock that had been weathered by sand for who knew how long was as simple as just ripping the chest open. The interior wasn't filled to the brim with jewels and gold coins like the Cadet had hoped it would be - in fact there was plenty of room inside the chest, with only a few assorted items inside. No, that wasn't exactly right... though hard to spot at first glance, the spoils were sitting atop a shallow bed of pearls.

The largest item inside was a shell with black mesh covering it's opening. When the Cadet picked it up, music started to play. It was a charming find. The other items were smaller: including two pieces of shell jewelry (though one of them seemed too small to be a necklace and too big to be a bracelet, for humans anyway) and a decorated cowry.

"Nipper right all along. Show Nipper what inside, me take finder fee."

The Cadet rolled his eyes, barely stopping himself from telling Nipper that actually he'd barely helped at all. Still, it was the crustacean's beach and all. The hunter tipped the chest toward Nipper so that he could see into it better.

"Ooooh, this one." He dipped his claw into the chest gingerly. When he withdrew it, the last item inside - a silver crown - hung from the tip. It was human-sized and looked a little ridiculous perched on top of one of Nipper's eye stalks opposite the sharq hat, but the crab seemed quite pleased with it all the same.

"Good job human. You leave Nipper's beach now."

The Cadet balked. "Now you're kicking me out, after working me to the Radobone?"

"You got treasure, what else you want from Nipper?"

Can't argue with that. The Cadet returned all the items to their place in the chest, save the music player. He carried that under one arm and the chest under the other. "It only took forever, but we did find it - so, thanks!"

"...bring more stuff to Nipper next time and find more."

"You are such a liar!"

---

So it was that the Ace Cadet eventually made it back to the Kanzuki Estate's beach, sore and sunburned, but with a small amount of valuables. He had no clue if any of the items did anything besides look pretty, but even then they could be sold and help fund the Seekers. Besides ingredients for crafting, at the very least the Cadet could buy himself a couple of outfits and not have to rely on the charity of others to do it. He wasn't too prideful to accept that kind of generosity, but it'd get pretty embarrassing quickly.

The Cadet deposited the chest on the beach, intending to let anyone who wanted to have at it. He put the speaker nearby, from which a tune began to play. It drowned out the soft music of the nearby resort, unintentionally lending a soundtrack to the fight that had broken out. And Sakura was back! The Cadet all but abandoned his finds to get closer to the action.

"Whoa, what's going on?" he asked the onlookers. Obviously it wasn't something serious, or else he would have expected Geralt and Bowser to jump in and help. An exhibition match maybe? Sakura was a fighter back in her own world wasn't she? Though a little lost, there was only one thing to reasonably do in this situation. Cheer! "Go Sakura!"

Hello!

Hello, welcome! I'd say we have quite a few D&D fans here. I would take a look down at the Tabletop section and see if anything strikes your fancy. Happy writing!

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Welcome to the Guild!

Get ready because I am back

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test ☄ res 𒀱

A R S È N E
A R S È N E

^{"Frankly I think I wore it better."}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ (FC: Tahliah Barnett; Dialogue: Pink) S U M M A R Y S U M M A R Y _________________________________________________________ Ava J. Raffleson _________________________________________________________ 13 May | 27 _________________________________________________________ Female | Ace | Complicated S T A T S S T A T S _________________________________________________________ Height : 5'6 _________________________________________________________ Hair Color : Varies _________________________________________________________ Eye Color : Varies _________________________________________________________ Hometown : New York City, USA T H E M E T H E M E _________________________________________________________ I got nine lives that I'm running through ♪ -

H I S T O R Y H I S T O R Y ___________________________________________________________________________________ On Mondays she was an urchin made orphan, just scraping out a living in the big city. On Tuesdays she was the disgraced nepo baby, down to earth but with some juicy secrets to tell if you helped her out. On Wednesdays she was the survivor of spousal abuse on the run with her child, and no she can't go to the police because he has friends there. On Thursdays she's English. The reality is that the sob stories Ava comes up with about who she was before don't really matter. Now, she is a live agent complete with her own handler, scouted after years of working as a "corporate intelligence analyst." A B I L I T I E S A B I L I T I E S __________________________________________________________________________________ Ava has only one ability, but it's all she needs. With it, she can manipulate the elements, enhance her body to superhuman levels, harness psychic energy, create and destroy. Run faster than a speeding bullet, leap tall buildings in a single bound, and all that jazz. Her power is anything at any given time, provided she has resources available to her; because simply put, her ability is Talent Theft. She can copy the powers and abilities of others that she is exposed to. She only has to see the ability being used in order to replicate the action exactly, but touching another person allows for a much deeper, more complete copying. For example, after watching an artist paint a portrait Ava will be able to paint the exact same piece down to the stroke. If she touches the artist, she has all of their artistic ability and can create anything she likes with the same level of skill. If she watched someone conjure a flame in their hand, she can conjure one too - and if she touches the flame user, she can wield fire as though she was born with the ability. Technically she isn't stealing these powers as their original users still retain them even after she copies them, although it would be pretty interesting if she could somehow tweak her own power to mess with those she takes from. She also cannot keep these abilities indefinitely. Ava likens her power to a sponge: it can hold a surprising amount of water, but eventually it has to be rung out. Normally the copied abilities disappear after sleep (whether natural or knocked out), but she can choose to 'ring herself out' early. The more abilities she holds at once, the worse her recovery period is when she returns to her 'dry' state. P E R S O N A L I T Y P E R S O N A L I T Y __________________________________________________________________________________ What's your character like? Are they introverted? Extroverted? Are they more guarded, or are an open book? M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S __________________________________________________________________________________ Hider *in all seriousness I can PM the GMs with them "True art? When they see you coming and still can't do anything to stop you."

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Hider

C

Concept

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Name: Collei
Game Origin: Genshin Impact

Appearance: Original.

Appearance Changes

None.

Personality: A trainee ranger active in Avidya Forest. Behind her enthusiastic words and actions hides a slightly introverted personality.

Background:

Click!

Originally an Eleazar-afflicted victim of Fatui human experimentation, Collei wandered the world as a vagrant until she met Amber in Mondstadt. Since then, Collei has turned her life around, and currently serves as a trainee Forest Ranger in the Avidya Forest.

In the Now:

Click!

Job: Trainee Ranger
Specialty: Ranged applicator, tracking and survival.
Level: 5
Experience: 0/50 ^[x]

Abilities:

• Elemental Sight - N

Skills:

• Supplicant's Bowmanship - N

Weaknesses:

• Eleazar - N

Smelter Passives:

List!

• none lol

Spirits:

Rapport:

Click!

D Rank Supports

Currency: Zilch.
Key Items:

• Dendro Vision
  N
• Cuilein-Anbar
  N
• Sharpshooter's Oath
  N

Other Inventory:

A

Concept

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Name: Avinia
Game Origin: Monster Hunter Stories

Appearance: Original. (Frostfang)

Appearance Changes

None.

Personality:

Background:

Click!

In the Now:

Click!

Job: Monster Rider
Specialty:
Level: 1
Experience: 0/50 ^[x]

Abilities:

• Power - N

Skills:

• Skill - N

Weaknesses:

• Weakness - N

Smelter Passives:

List!

• none lol

Spirits:

Rapport:

Click!

D Rank Supports

Currency: Zilch.
Key Items:

• .
  N
• .
  N
• .
  N

Other Inventory:

M

Concept

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Name: Mash Kyrielight
Game Origin: Fate/Grand Order

Appearance: Original Casual / Armored

Appearance Changes

None.

Personality:

Background:

Click!

In the Now:

Click!

Job: Demi-Servant Shielder
Specialty:
Level: 1
Experience: 0/10 ^[x]

Abilities:

• Power - N

Skills:

• Skill - N

Weaknesses:

• Weakness - N

Smelter Passives:

List!

• none lol

Spirits:

Rapport:

Click!

D Rank Supports

Currency: Zilch.
Key Items:

• .
  N
• .
  N
• .
  N

Other Inventory:

D

Concept

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Name: Doris
Game Origin: Wild Guns Reloaded

Appearance: Original

Appearance Changes

None.

Personality:

Background:

Click!

In the Now:

Click!

Job: Heavy Grenadier
Specialty:
Level: 1
Experience: 0/10 ^[x]

Abilities:

• Power - N

Skills:

• Skill - N

Weaknesses:

• Weakness - N

Smelter Passives:

List!

• none lol

Spirits:

Rapport:

Click!

D Rank Supports

Currency: Zilch.
Key Items:

• .
  N
• .
  N
• .
  N

Other Inventory:

Lost Numbers Quartermaster

Name: Sagi
Origin: Tear (Recettear) + Oboro (Monster Hunter)
Appearance: A woman with a short, slight build, standing only an inch or two above five feet tall. She has long, silky silver hair which she keeps partially tied in a bun at the back of her head while the rest flows down to her shoulders. Her bangs are slightly longer, framing her smooth face. Her large hooded eyes are also silver though slightly darker in color. Her skin is pale beige, and despite her mostly human looking appearance there isn't a drop of human blood in her heritage. She has a few traits that set her apart, most notably her wings. Always floating behind her are a pair of transparent green wings, which glow slightly. They appear flat with little details besides their vaguely wing-like shape, and at only about half the size of Sagi's body one might assume that they are just for show. She also has pointed ears which jut away from her head and four fingers on each hand, tipped by nails painted purple. Her usual outfit consists of: a slightly flared gray skirt that goes down to her knees with a matching double breasted blazer, dark tights and loafers, a purple cravat that matches the ribbon used to tie her hair bun, a pair of gold rectangle earrings and a red braided rope she uses as a bracelet.

Personality: Sagi's parents were calm people, and her personality developed much the same way. She is straight forward and prefers to gather as much information as possible rather than pass snap judgements. She is friendly with most everyone, maybe even a little too friendly as she treats nearly everyone she meets as though they were a younger sibling, sort of looking down on them without meaning to. She generally keeps her negative feelings to herself, but if they show themselves it is through passive aggression or cold, quiet anger.

Sagi generally gets along with people, but she is also strict in her duties and won't compromise for even her friends. Even her younger half-sister doesn't get special treatment despite how much Sagi cares for her. Sagi is not easily swayed by appeals to emotion, though she enjoys people trying. Finally, Sagi's sense of humor can be rather dark.

In the Now: For the first years of her life Sagi grew up well-adjusted in the World of Light's Forbidden Kingdom. She lived on the second floor of the family's small shop with her parents, learning their trade in between schooling and playing with other local kids. Her father had been a traveling merchant, and her mother the supply middleman he frequently met with. Their romance was a simple, gradual thing, which eventually resulted in settling down and raising their daughter.

When her parents' time limit was up, Sagi was left alone with her parent's shop. She hadn't been surprised by it. She'd seen other people, neighbors and friends, dissolve into ash before. No one ever mentioned or commented on the spontaneous combustion, so Sagi didn't either - until now. Her parents had always told her that those of their race would live long lives, and yet they were gone before her tenth birthday. Why them? Why now? And would it happen to her, too?

Grief had kept Sagi in her family home, and there she remained twenty... thirty... forty years later. She still ran the shop, standing fast at the same location, and thus she noticed something: the ashing always happened. The longest she'd ever seen someone last was a single decade. In the name of getting answers about why it seemed she, alone, was unaffected, she used her ever changing mercantile contacts to retrieve information about it. That was how she eventually learned the "Lost Numbers," connecting with other people like herself that did not turn to dust.

Sagi did not immediately join the group. She had coped with the knowledge well enough and preferred to keep to her simple life, content with just learning the truth. Some years later there was an event that finally pushed her to join the Lost Numbers... and it started with meeting her father again. The last time she'd seen him was as a little girl, and now she looked as old as he did, if not older, since he appeared exactly the same. Though she knew he wouldn't have recognized her even if she hadn't aged. In befriending her father she learned that he had returned to being (or rather, he still was) a traveling merchant and that she had a half-sister out there. Under the guise of a business deal she ended up traveling across the area back to his semi-permanent residence with him to meet her.

What she didn't know was that the time she'd spent audaciously looking into the true nature of the world's inhabitants was about to catch up with her. After arriving at her father's home, her family was attacked with the intent to wipe out the two sisters. With just two civilian targets, whatever Consul ordered the hit did not deign to attend to it themselves. Sagi took her sister, Haruka, and ran while their father and Haruka's mother protected them. They fled until Sagi got into contact with the Lost Numbers again, joining their ranks for her little sister's safety.

Since then, Sagi has done her best to help the cause in her own way. She has served as the quartermaster on the Avenger since the vessel was obtained, which she does gladly.

Job: Stewardess
Specialty: Inventory management and item procurement.
Inventory: Melding Pot, and almost never without a clipboard in hand.

Lv: 5
Abilities:

• Wyverian Melding - An ability passed down through her father's culture, now practiced by Sagi. Although the actual way it works is supposedly secret, melding is basically an advanced form of recycling. By combining different items, Sagi can make entirely new ones. This is normally done with scraps and unwanted things combined to make randomized talismans that grant various boons. It takes quite a lot of items to meld even one talisman, but the more valuable the pieces used to meld, the less of them are needed.

Skills:

• Fairy Flight - Despite appearing to be a spell or magic construct, Sagi's wings are a part of her anatomy. They allow her limited flight, more akin to floating. It helps a lot with checking inventory stacked up high at least.
• Tear's Teachings - Her mother's fairy race is one that is innately talented at administration and management. Combined with Tear's astute attention while growing up, it Sagi made very talented with logistics. She runs a tight ship.
• Longevity - Due to her Wyverian blood, so long as she isn't killed Sagi will be able to live for hundreds of years. She is already older than she looks, having crossed the half-century threshold a while ago.
• Appraisal - Spending a large portion of her life sourcing, buying, and selling items has made Sagi an adept appraiser. Though she cannot intuit the uses of objects she's completely unfamiliar with, she has a lot of experience to draw from and can assess an item's usefulness (and thus monetary value) with a high degree of accuracy. Of course, she does have a Skewed Point of View which sometimes interferes.

Weaknesses:

• Dainty - Her body is physically slight and she isn't very strong, which puts her at a disadvantage against large or powerful creatures. She also has to enlist help moving heavy inventory around.
• Civilian - On top of her small fream, Sagi is not a fighter in general. She's taken a few self defense classes while living in the Forbidden Kingdom, but she is far from combat fit.
• Skewed Point of View - Being a blend of long lived races, yet also being 'mortal' in the World of Light, has had an effect on Sagi's psyche. She tends to be sort of cavalier about the passage of time, some times doing everything in a rush and some times acting like her charges have all the time in the world. She also falls into the trap of appraising and item's usefulness in relation to her experience, so an especially niche item she may evaluate as being useless even if it's a legendary object of some renown.

///hair/references

World of Light

^{____________________________________________________}
Level: 7 - Total EXP: 45/70 ------ Level: 2 - Total EXP: 48/20
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●.
Word Count: 1238 (+6 exp)
Location: Sandswept Sky

Red Eye could take some incredible damage. The pustules on it's sides were broken open and weeping, it's hide was cracked and ripped open exposing it's insides the dry air, and it's very spine was fractured and irritated. Yet, the monster kept coming. The high speed battle had been anything but easy so far, and now on it's last legs - or so the Seekers hoped - the beast intended to make things even harder. No longer able to rely just on it's bulk, Red Eye came up behind the train and trashed the armory car, shaking the rest of the vehicle and producing an explosion overhead so forceful that it laid most of the Seekers out. Primrose was among them, toss from the gun's platform and landing flat on her front with the wind knocked out of her. She fought off unconsciousness and struggled to breathe for a few long moments as above her, those unaffected by the blast ran around to cover the positions and put the cannon to work.

Primrose was just recovering when the monster got close enough to try and close it's jaws around them, and when Robin stepped up to stop it. The same energy he'd displayed back at the Resistance hideout began to swirl around him, calling to mind the memory of their conversation on this very train headed to Tostarena: What I saw led me to believe that the price of a Final Smash is the user's own life. After putting one's whole being into an attack... not even a spirit remained.

"Robin..." Primrose murmured, immediately understanding what he was about to do even as he began his speech. She barely knew the man, and he barely knew them, but here he was about to sacrifice himself for the lot of them. Primrose felt her heart start to ache. The grand spectacle of the fell dragon being summoned by their tactician did not captivate her as well as it did the others. Primrose glanced over at Tharja as Red Eye shrieked and burned, watching as the dark mage looked on with wide, heartbroken eyes. There was a look of understanding that passed over Tharja's face, but it did nothing to mask the anguish that rested there as well.

At the front of the train, Therion was beginning to have second thoughts about faithfully relaying the team's instructions to the conductor. Apparently when envisioning a giant pit, he hadn't even considered that the tracks would run over said pit. That was way more danger than he wanted to be in - on top of being actively chased by a giant monster. His thoughts were put to words by Raz, who had followed along behind the thief. Seriously, was that the plan - drop this metal thing and all of them in it on top of Red Eye? Because Therion did not want any part in that plan. An explosion from behind them stopped any arguments, and worryingly he could see ahead of them that they were indeed coming up on a great chasm. Begrudgingly Therion agreed with the conductor that someone should go see what the hell had just happened, so it might as well be him.

"Don't drive this train into a pit," he warned, glaring at the conductor as he turned to take his leave of the head train car. He glanced at Raz as if to give the boy a silent mission to make sure the conductor heeded the thief's words, and then he was gone - sprinting back into the danger zone.

He arrived at the tail end of Robin's Final Smash, watching the dragon emerge from the sky as he moved and not even bothering to question what had just happened. He could see that the rearmost parts of the train had been ripped away, and that the cannon was just about ready to fire it's (hopefully) final shot. Below them, the sand suddenly fell away into darkness - and damn if Therion's knees didn't try their hardest to buckle as he wrenched his eyes away from the dizzying drop below. "That bastard," he complained under his breath.

Even close to death, or so they all hoped, the monster was aware enough to see that it too was hurtling towards a pit. It tried it's hardest to stop it's momentum, and when it succeeded it made for a sitting suck. Jesse hit the button and the railway gun exploded once more, tearing into Red Eye again and sending it tumbling into the dark.

And it took the precarious train track with it.

Therion managed to stop himself from being sick as he felt the train begin to fall. He considered all of his best options for survival, from jumping with the glider and hoping he could make it far enough to throw his grappling hook onto a canyon wall, to hoping the psychonaut and his weird magic could stop another fall. He looked at the other Seekers all panicking and thought his odds weren't good. Briefly, he caught Primrose's eye. She was much calmer than he was, although all of his own panic was internal. Primrose turned away to make sure someone else was alright when the train fell away completely and the storm rushed up so forcefully that it knocked the senses out of most of the group.

Primrose came to quickly, taking in the view from the sky. It was amazing, and very, very concerning. If the wind died, what would become of them? She cast her gaze about, doing a quick headcount and finding that they hadn't lost anyone to the wind like they had on their first trip across. Everyone was recovering at their own pace, and some were already diving into the wind and making a beeline for the monster below them - which had managed to cling to life. Primrose might have felt bad for it if it hadn't been one of the guardians keeping the world locked into the amalgam of light on Galeem's behalf.

The finale had come at last. A trilid swarm swept up into the air right for the group, but many of the Seekers were already on the move. That included Primrose, and the recently awoken Therion. The thief fought off a wave of nausea as he opened his eyes and found himself airborne yet again. He was not keen on diving toward the ground, having had enough of that for one lifetime - maybe even enough for two. With that being the case he was more than content to take up the rear, make sure no one went flying away, and pick off any of the akrids that managed to reach him before they could turn around for a second pass. With sword in one hand and daggers in the other, he made sure that none got a second chance.

Primrose was one of those descending to assist in the end of the fight. Not as quick as the others that were able to fly or otherwise propel themselves faster, the dancer had to settle for defending those above her from the flying akrids. She summoned the pyromancy of Zoey, the flame fan, and swiped it in broad strokes across the sky in front of her to burn the trilid to ashes. She lashed out at any particularly large groups, including the pack that was after Midna. With a fwoosh the flame fan cut a wide arc in their numbers to alleviate the twilight princess of a chunk of her pursuers. She didn't have the power to let loose another fireball like the one she'd used on the train, so while her feet were unable to dance to provide support that way, this would have to enough - clearing the way as much as possible in order for the rest of the Seekers to finally put an end to Red Eye.

What kind of RP mood are you in?

Something superhero-y, with an anime flavor.

New Arriver

Welcome to the Guild!

World of Light

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Level: 7 - Total EXP: 39/70 ------ Level: 2 - Total EXP: 42/20
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●. ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●.
Word Count: 856 (+4 exp)
Location: Sandswept Sky

Primrose Level Up

Black Flame Mastery. Thanks to her proficiency with dark magic, Primrose gains the following pyromancy spells: Black Flame, creates a black flame explosion from the palm of the caster's hand. Leaves lingering flames after the initial combustion. Black Fire Orb, hurls a black fireball. Inflicts dark damage, striking targets with weighty force. Explodes on impact, dealing damage to the surrounding area.
***

After desperately straining against the press of Red Eye against the gun, the attack team succeeded and drove the beast away. It's sudden withdrawal threw everyone off balance, but it was a lot better than being flung from the train itself. The octopath travelers wasted no time getting back up after they were thrown against their consoles. The rough ride would most likely leave bruises on many of the Seekers, though the turbulence caused them more fatigue and wariness than pain.

The monster retreated again under the sand, giving everyone a moment to breath. Joker returned from the front of the train with news just as Red Eye began to burst out of the ground again.

A junction? Primrose chanced a look ahead of the train, refocusing her attention for a moment, but found that the only thing she could see at the moment was more sand. She could guess the options the rail junction might lead them to... back to the wide open desert headed to Parnasse, or swinging back around toward Al Mamoon? If it were between those two choices, then it was obvious which way they should go.

"The oasis," Primrose said, near breathless as she pulled her eyes back to where red eye resurfaced, launching another assault at them. She recalled Gnorbu mentioning that it was hardly ever visited, and true to his word when they'd pulled into it yesterday there wasn't a soul around other than the Seekers. "The water might slow it down."

She really hoped that would be true. It might have a harder time moving through mud, it might not be able to swim at all if they found a deep enough pool. They could make a last stand there, because the alternative was continuing on over the canyon. She had a vision of the beast destroying the track behind them, sending itself and the train with all of it's harried passengers into the windy depths.

Pushing the image from her mind Primrose stepped forward to prepare and defend the train. If only she could dance for the vehicle itself, make it faster or harder, but alas. She raised her arms into the air, channeling her magic. Now that the teamwork of Big Band, Sectonia and the latest metallic newcomer had taken care of the explosive pod all that remained was the trilid swarm. Her aim was to take out as many as possible in one shot. In one hand, her dark magic swelled. In the other, the flames of pyromancy licked at the air and grew larger. The magics began to swirl together, generating a great black fire orb. Primrose's body began to glow as well, swelling with power enough to boost her spell once, twice, three times. The orbs size was comically large at this point, and as soon as their comrades in the air were safely back on the train she launched it at where the trilid swarm was thickest. The size of the spell had no effect on it's speed, and once it touched a target the orb exploded in a shower of dark flames that burned every trilid they touched. With a large portion of the attackers reduced to ash, the rest could be picked off.

And with a lack of ranged options, Therion had busied himself with the Railway Gun once more by slamming the panel to turn it as fast as he could. He doubted that the device would be damaged by his pace, and even in his agitated state (his thoughts shuffling between why am I even here, I'm going to die, and fuck this thing, I refuse to die) he managed to make sure he wasn't damaging himself either, otherwise he wouldn't have been surprised if his palm came away bloody.

After what seemed like an agonizingly long amount of time, the cannon completed a 180 and finished turning on it's track. With the barrel pointed in the right direction, Therion called up to the woman in the gun's cockpit. "Shoot it!"

He left her with that bit of redundant advice, breaking away from the gun's control panels and hoping down onto the body of the train while the others were dealing with the aerial bombardment. Somebody had to go tell the driver where to take this thing, and with everyone else preoccupied and his own job completed, Therion figured that task now fell to him. He'd heard Midna's very unhelpful vote of anywhere that was uninhabited, and Primrose's mention of an oasis, and as he moved he heard other suggestions hurled around mostly pertaining to a huge pit in the desert - so that's where they'd be going.

Dagger in hand for protection in case any of the akrid swarm tried dive-bombing him or the conductor, Therion raced to the front of the train. He entered the lead car to find their bird-like driver looking anxious, but to be fair there were plenty of reasons to be. "Take this thing in whatever direction there's a big pit," Therion spoke. The words sounded a bit foolish to his ears, but his tone was coarse and commanding as if he actually had a clue of what he was talking about.