Yankee

{ ᴀ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ ᴏꜰ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ & ᴛᴇᴀʀꜱ }

Nika Surt-Kallin

---

Somewhere between repositioning and opening Goldtooth up for further punishment Nika heard Siegfried's shouting. The mercenary's voice was strong and sharp, but more importantly loud and clear so that everyone on the road could heed the words.

Keep one alive for questioning! Right, that was a good idea. It was the kind of thing Nika normally didn't think about, especially in the midst of battle. He hadn't considered it then either, focused on go, go, put them down before anyone gets hurt, make sure none will follow, until it was pointed out. It was clear that this particular group finding them had just been an unfortunate coincidence, but they had to know something. Who their orders had come from, where in Fenris they'd been holing up. What their plan was besides destabilizing the nation, strategies, sources of information– They're reanimating the dead!

Nika's thoughts went blank for a moment, mouth dry, as he turned to look back at where Siegfried held the armor plated enemy down. There was no reason to believe that the man was mistaken, and privately Nika was more glad he'd traded places with Siegfried as he wasn't sure he would have been able to keep his stomach from lurching if it had been him that had made the discovery.

Sometimes it was easy to forget, especially when one willingly pushed such thoughts away, but circumstances like this were a stark reminder: there was nothing sacred to true-blood mages, and no low they would not stoop to for their own ends.

In looking back Nika was able to see the barbarian woman rushing right towards Goldtooth after her roar, her eyes clouded with bloodlust. The pact knight actually startled and backpedaled out of her way lest he become an unwitting victim of her rage as well. He watched her pick the western imposter up by the skull and weather his flailing before sending him flying with a truly vicious punch. She'd beaten Brig to the man, with strength that rivaled even Lord Uncle Surt. When the snow that had been kicked up by Goldtooth's landing settled back on the land and the man did not rise, it seemed that was the end of things. His chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, but the other three breathed no longer.

One for a much different reason. Nika dropped his axe arm to his side, but his grip on the weapon did not loosen. He remained somewhat tense even as after-battle quiet spread through the area, turning his head to follow Brig with his eyes as she went to handle the draugr. His gaze lingered on the blue glass dagger she held, then the remains of whatever poor man had become this undead puppet until it stopped moving. Brig had left his helmet on, and Nika wondered who was under it. A Northman that the mages had snatched and murdered, or maybe one of their own who'd passed before completing his service...?

Nika did not go to unmask the corpse, because he'd trudged over to grab Goldtooth by the boot and drag him back to the center of the group. He did not concern himself with looting, because that was normally the added benefit of becoming a hired sword - their pickings of the belongings of those they'd been paid to kill. But speaking of the group...

There was no need of a head count to see that the band of five that had departed from Blackpebble had become seven. Nika eyed the two women that had appeared as though from the morning fog; the fiery haired barbarian, who'd thrown herself into the thick of battle without hesitation. The woman with a cool complexion, unseen until she'd suddenly appeared to slit one of the mage's tendons and bleed him. They both stood among the mercenary band with the knight of Fenris (the real one)'s pale red eyes studying them curiously. Nika was less suspicious of them than he had been of Eirún and Aslan at first for the simple reason that they'd fought together on the same side already. He still did not completely relax though.

"So..." Nika started slowly as Brig came back over to him. He let her do her thing, used to her fretting, and noted in turn that she'd probably bit her cheek or tongue again. It was a habit she was unlikely to break. "You trav'lers jus' happened t'be around and figured you'd jump in t'help when you saw the fight? Suppose there's some thanks t'be given, then."

He offered the two ladies a smile, the same one that he'd turn towards the mercenaries he and Brig had set out with once they began to regroup. For a first battle together it had gone pretty well. No causalities, as Brig pointed out before flopping down onto the ground. Injuries he wasn't sure about; blood just smelled like blood to him, and there was plenty of it from the slain mages alone. He'd have to check by sight.

Ah, but first. Not seven faces. Even more.

Soren, as the latest addition introduced himself, light haired and lightly whiskered, seemed friendly enough at first. He made mention of his contribution to the battle (but not how, though the crossbow he carried said that for him) and now that Nika thought about it, maybe there had been a few more bolts flying about than could just have been from Aslan. He also offered to help them out if anyone had been hurt. How kind of him! What were the chances of running into a doctor out here?

Then of course the man went on to request a very unusual reward which made Nika blanch at the thought. The man had to be less a doctor and more an undertaker. Nika's eyes flicked down to meet Brig's, wide and questioning. As the leader of this ragtag party, she'd have to deal with the self-proclaimed physician. Which meant Nika could inch away them, never too far from his charge but enough so that he could look into other things. The bodies that Soren wanted, for one, which had begun to exude floating motes of softly glowing aura. It was a phenomenon that Nika hadn't seen before.

"Gonna hafta see about that," he murmured to himself. Since the excess aura didn't return to the earth, at least not right away it looked like, it didn't seem right to just leave it alone. It could wait for a little bit though, as there was one injury that Nika ended up spotting.

Eirún had been raked along her side. In the middle of battle it was hard to see everything going on, because distraction made things a whole lot more dangerous, but he had noted the metal wielding mage, well, wield shards of metal before. She'd must have gotten it at that time, after using her own magic against him. Magic that Nika hadn't felt any aura from, which intrigued the mageblood quite a bit. Questions for later. For now he brought his eyes from her wound to her face, resting them there. "Y'alright, Eirún?"

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World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Exploring the Caverns

Ace Cadet - Level: 9 - Total EXP: 501/90
Roxas - Level: 11 - Total EXP: 63/110
Word Count: 5301 (+6 exp)
Location: The Frozen Highlands
_{@Double@Yankee}

The passages that crisscrossed the underground cavern, tunneled out through solid primordial ice, were large enough for most to walk through. Eroded by the passing of many chitin-covered legs scuttling through them, each tunnel wall was almost smooth to the touch, and reflected the light from various open areas so that the area was not as dark as one might expect. The soft green glow that followed Ace only added to these pockets of light, so it was easy enough to navigate - and to tell if anything was sneaking up on him, especially when the little echoes that bounced around the tunnel walls would make up for anything he couldn’t see.

It was due to these echoes of footsteps crunching through frost that the hunter could tell that he was being followed. They were not the sound of more glyphids though, instead they were much more familiar, and when the tunnel they were currently in came to a crossroads of sorts the Ace Cadet paused to turn around and throw a smile back the other Seekers’ way.

"I would have been fine on my own, but I do prefer the company," he said.

”Sorry, didn’t mean to offend.” Roxas said apologetically. He was flanked by two of his Pokemon: Scamp, who stayed huddled close for warmth; and Shocker, who was currently providing a little bit of extra lighting with its natural Electric- and Fire-type glow.

”But hey, it’s kind of like using the buddy system, right?” He offered with a shrug and sheepish, ”Well, that and Scamp’ll get restless and start looking for mischief if I leave him sitting still for too long.” That elicited a slightly offended-sounding bark from the Boltund, but the Pokemon made no real attempts to deny it either.

The dog's reaction drew a surprised laugh from Ace, who really wasn't quite sure how intelligent the various pokémon, pals, and everything in between on the team actually were.

"So he lives up to his name I see," the hunter said with a grin. "But I'm sure we'll find some mischief either way. And snow worries, no offense taken! C'mon."

Once Roxas and his companions caught up the small group picked a path and made their way down it. Though the two Seekers hadn't spent much time together at all, Roxas would soon find that the Cadet was the friendly sort, maybe even annoyingly so - it depended on how one felt about the puns the man tended to slip into his speech, some almost incomprehensible without context. At times their chatting brought wayward terminids their way, but never more than two or three which they could easily dispatch. Even those numbers shrunk until the two of them traveled unharried.

They went through pockets of small open caverns not far from the one they'd been fighting the glyphid swarm in. None looked like dead ends as there were always more tunnels connected, making the layout of the cave system less like a labyrinth and more like an interconnected bug highway - though the further one went, the less bio-luminescence plants grew, making for a darker path. Not that that deterred either of them thanks to the natural glow of their companions.

When they came upon an incline into another dim chamber that looked promising as a possible way out, Ace and Roxas headed right in. Unbeknownst to them, Heismay had already been this way yet had not gone in when he'd spied a strange figure within it. The same one that the pair of Seekers saw now: tall and misshapen, a being born mutated with vestigial animal parts reminiscent of the primordial crucible before the civilized Age of the Erdtree, marking this poor soul as an aberration to be mistreated and outcast. Perhaps that's why it was there in the first place.

The misbegotten crouched by a dead fire pit with a glowing greatsword clamped tightly in one of its hands. Heismay had wisely avoided the monstrous looking person, but the Ace Cadet was not so shrewd. Since meeting all kinds of people that could rightly be called monsters in other worlds, he didn't write this one off on sight alone. A better look meant getting closer, so he started walking over.

"If he found a way in here then he must know a way back out, right?" he said to Roxas. The broken cave floor can't have been the only way, everything that lived down here had to at one point have made their way below ground in the first place.

”I guess that tracks.” Roxas said with a shrug of reluctant agreement. He wasn’t quite so casual about the shape of the misshapen outcast as Ace seemed to be, but he knew better than to judge a book by its cover. And if all they were going to do was watch it for now, then he at least knew how to stay still and quiet. Roxas was not about to make the same mistake he made back in Spire 04 the last time he found himself in a situation that called for stealth and subtlety. He could still remember all those electric shock attacks that warframe used on him.

”So what’s the plan?” He whispered to the monster hunter, ”You gonna, like, talk to it or something? Or are we just watching?”

"I'll try and talk first, see if he'll warm up to us. You stay here for now in case he does something other than give me a cold shoulder," the Cadet replied with a reassuring smile. He knew Roxas was strong, or else he wouldn't be on the team, but he was still a kid so Ace didn't want him to get caught in a sucker punch attack or anything.

He gave Roxas a nod and then jogged the rest of the way over to the figure in the darker area of the cavern. The misbegotten turned its head when it heard his approach, laying baleful eyes on Ace. The hunter's footsteps faltered when his scoutflies changed their green glow into a warning red and retreated back into their cage, but he was already close to the mutant. He slowed and stopped a few feet away, and for a moment neither moved.

"Hey, don't suppose you know a way out of this place?" Ace tried when the misbegotten did not immediately move to threaten him. He wasn't sure if it even understood him as it merely stared before suddenly narrowing its eyes and standing up, yanking the tip of its great sword out of the ground as it did so.

Standing two heads taller than Ace, the misbegotten growled menacingly. Now that it wasn't crouched a long, scaly tail could be seen protruding from its back which twitched in agitation. Its mostly humanoid shape and the remains of a camp around it might have fooled some into thinking that it could be spoken to and reasoned with, but the crusader was more animal than man now, if it had ever been the opposite in the first place.

Guess not, Ace thought as the misbegotten raised its weapon over head and slammed it down toward the intruder in front of it. A blast of disturbed ice and snow shot up in the air from the impact site, though when it cleared there was only cracked ground beneath the blade. Ace had dove to one side out of harm's way, the dual blades in his hands for self defense.

”Wind!” Roxas called from his hiding spot. He cast the Aeroga spell on Ace, conjuring up a whirlwind shield around the hunter that would halve all incoming damage and deal minor touch damage to the misbegotten for the next 18 seconds. After that Roxas immediately went about casting Tailwind on both himself and the other Seeker so they’d benefit from a minor speed buff for the duration of this fight.

It was fortunate that the Wind -and thus the damage reduction- came before the other spell, because when Ace felt the magic wrap around him he also felt the unfortunately familiar sense of dread that accompanied it. His mouth went dry and his body tensed up. Right, Roxas was primarily a magic user! The couple of skirmishes they'd had with leftover glyphids hadn't warranted any spells, but now that there was a more powerful enemy to face the magic was coming out. That was fine though, he was just trying to help, and Ace had been getting used to it more and more. He could deal with a little–

The misbegotten twisted, slinging its whole body sword-first towards the hunter. The blade swung out in a heavy lateral slash too quick for Ace to cleanly dodge while distracted by the spell's effect on him. In the midst of shifting backward away from the blow the far edge of the greatsword caught him, with power enough to send the Cadet spiraling away with a thin spray of blood from the slice.

Meanwhile, Scamp’s legs coiled and the Pokemon growled momentarily before he took off in a sprint toward the sword-wielding creature. ”Use Nuzzle!” He heard his trainer call from behind, and the Boltund obeyed. Scamp lunged for the misbegotten, but rather than bite or slam into it, he instead nuzzled against the creature’s legs while electrifying himself. That would deal minor electric-type damage but also had a guaranteed chance to inflict paralysis if the move connected.

Unfortunately for all of the pokémon's speed Scamp was a beat too slow, his trainer's command alerting the mutant to the new danger. The misbegotten leapt straight up into the air, its tail just brushing by Scamp as the Boltund slowed to go for the nuzzling, and with a growl of its own the crusader gripped the edge of its sword with its free hand and pushed down, swiftly falling down to Scamp's location like a guillotine. This attack also missed, namely due to Roxas' so-far stationary position giving him the vantage to see it coming and react accordingly by quickly recalling the Boltund back into his Poke Ball as a means of dodging the hit.

”Shocker, use Fire Blast!” Roxas commanded, prompting his Rotom to spit out a fireball that rapidly expanded into a big shape that resembled the Japanese kanji for “fire” as it careened toward the misbegotten on what would be a collision course unless it was fast enough to dodge it.

Normally it might have been, but in recovering from its jump the crusader only had time to lift its sword back up to try and block the blast rather than get out of the way of it. The glowing weapon absorbed some of the damage from the attack, but it seemed that fire proved effective as the flames that reached past the block and scorched its body made the misbegotten flinch. Embers lingered on its skin, twisting its awful face into an even more pained expression.

And then it roared, launching itself at Shocker and Roxas with a wide, powerful circular slash.

”Double Team!” Roxas called, prompting his Rotom to instantly split up into several afterimages that would make it harder to successfully hit. As for Roxas, he could either vanish into a StepSword strike or he could stand his ground with a different tactic - and made the split decision to do the latter.

”Reflect!” The Nobody chanted, attempting to put up a Reflectga spell rather than try to dodge. If the timing was right, the Reflectga’s barrier would fully absorb the hit and then redirect the intended damage back at the attacker. If the timing was off, however, then Roxas would be taking the hit just like Ace had a moment ago.

The sword passed through a few copies of the Rotom before meeting Roxas' barrier, the reflect parry effective if only at momentarily preventing damage. What was reflected back at the misbegotten didn't seem to phase it much this time, but it paused before going right into another attack. It narrowed its burning red eyes at Roxas. It was learning.

The bestial-faced figure took one step back and then spun, using its thick tail as a bludgeon aimed at trainer and pokémon again. At the same time it arced its sword overhead, an offset attack meant to cleave the keyblade wielder in two. But it lurched suddenly, throwing its aim with its sword off course. Ace had recovered at this point and jumped right to his comrade's defense, his dual blades slicing along the misbegotten's flank. They tore into the mutant's flesh, pulling a roar from its throat. The hunter whirled out of the way as it raised a leg to stomp him.

A moment later and the misbegotten spread its arms, swinging its greatsword in one hand at its three enemies wildly. Its other hand, tipped with sharp nails, swiped out to try and gouge or grab anything it could get its claws on. And as for Roxas himself, this time he elected to conserve MP and not go for another Reflectga parry. Instead he used his own innate agility and Flow Motion to perform a quick series of dodge rolls to keep from being sliced and swiped. He did, however, look for an opening to toss out another of his Poke Balls - this one containing his Steel- and Poison-type Revavroom, Turbo. ”Use Screech!” He called out in between dodge rolls.

So rather than charge in for an attack, Turbo kept her distance and loudly revved her engines into a loud screeching sound that only echoed more in the enclosed space of the cave system. But that might have been to their advantage, as the sound-based attack was not one intended for dealing damage, but instead to sharply lower the defense of the misbegotten through its high-pitched noise.

With no way to avoid the move, the crusader defenses took the hit as it cringed from the sound assaulting its ears. It did not let up on its attack though, forcing the Seekers and Pokémon to keep up their evasion while looking for the chance to deal damage. Back in the groove, Ace's blades were even more effective thanks to the Screech making even shallow slices begin to add up. Of course the creature they were fighting tried giving as good as it got, but shifting its focus between its sped up enemies meant so far the blows it landed against them had been mostly glancing.

Surrounded and seemingly getting nowhere, the misbegotten pulled its greatsword back close to it after the latest slash. It grunted and stood up tall, thrusting the arm holding its weapon out to the side with the sword pointed straight up to the sky. With its other hand it drew an incantation in the air in front of its face. Suddenly the cretin looked less like a barbarous outcast and more like a sophisticated fighter thanks to its poise.

Whatever it was doing it was clear that it wouldn't be the same savage swings as before - which made Ace wary enough to call a warning out to Roxas and move to pull back. "Watch out!"

It was less than a second before an explosion of holy light erupted in a wide circle up and around the misbegotten, consuming the Rotom and all its doubles, Roxas, and Ace if they couldn't escape the blast radius in time.

The glittering particles of gold faded, revealing the misbegotten standing rigid and facing the Seekers. Maybe it was the fact that they were grouped together now and the mutant had an eerie look in its eye, or maybe it was the lingering unease from the detonated magic, but when the crusader reached up to grip its greatsword in two hands Ace's nerves lit up and his stomach twisted. The misbegotten swung from where it was, and light traced the path of its blade before being flung out in sharpened arc of holy energy right for them that ended up sailing over them as the hunter grabbed Roxas by the back of his collar and forced the both of them to hit the snow just before the flying scythe could lop off their heads.

The missile of magic had been so swift that if not for the early Tailwind they might not have avoided it, but now they knew that this misbegotten crusader was much more than a one-dimensional berserker. Ace hadn't expected to run into anything like this down here, figuring that the most they'd find if not a way out was bigger, stronger bugs or ice-aspect monsters. The hunter was pale in the face as he and Roxas pulled themselves out of the snow, but he forced a confident grin to form. No use worrying Roxas, he'd pull himself together and the two of them -plus the assists from the battle pets- would be able to handle this threat before reuniting with the others.

"Think you can get me one good opening?" the Cadet asked. "These blades build up sleep, a little more and I can put that guy under."

”I’ll see what I can do.” Roxas quickly said before needing to spring back into action again. Not leaving much room for strategizing, the misbegotten growled and swung the sword back the other way to unleash another arc of light at them before following up by leaping with its own body in a heavy falling slash. Roxas had to dive into another dodge roll to avoid the arc of light, but then there was the falling slash.

”Poltergeist!” Roxas, calling on one of his two strikers to come out and lend a hand. The ghost girl appeared and used The Sun Is Not Gentle to give Roxas a plethora of buffs to his Defense and Healing, but also granting him Taunt to keep the crusader’s attention on him and Stealth to allow him keep the misbegotten from locking onto him properly. That would make avoiding attacks significantly easier for the next 25 seconds that these buffs would last.

It also gave him a slim opening to call Turbo back out from her Poke Ball, ”Swagger!” Roxas ordered, instructing Turbo to once again keep her distance and attack with another status move. This one wasn’t as accurate as her other moves, but once it landed it could inflict confusion while simultaneously heightening the crusader’s attack so that any self-inflicted damage would be increased. And he intended to use whatever MP he had left to try and parry some damage back at the crusader with Reflectga, hoping confusion would give Ace the opening he was asking for.

The misbegotten attacked furiously. Its swings were not random, but the keyblade wielder proved a very elusive target even when it attempted to predict which way the boy would move. With its strength improved the misbegotten's blows could chip through even the sturdiest block, but with Roxas burning through his mana to make sure most of that ended up dealt back to the crusader itself whenever it broke through its confusion it seemed that the battle would end up in the Seekers' favor. Especially as all the while Ace made ample use of Roxas' distractions, pairing the Nobody's taunt with his shirking enmity to get in close and rip into the raging monster.

It was wearing down, the slashing damage that was one of its weaknesses taking its toll. When its confusion wore off the misbegotten shook its head and let out a mighty roar that was even louder than Turbo's screech from before, the sound enough to make its enemies flinch, if only for a moment. And during that moment it assumed its casting stance once more. Unlike Roxas, it seemed to have plenty of its own mana left. Another explosion seemed imminent.

But the Ace Cadet had a plethora of experience with similar staggering roars, and when he'd noticed the misbegotten drawing in breath he'd prepared. Free to move after a well timed roll through the snow to dampen the sound for himself, Ace lunged with a double stab that broke the misbegotten's stance. It swayed, stumbling forward before slamming face first into the snowy ground.

Its sword was still clenched tightly in its hand. It was not dead though - the sleep effect had finally taken hold. The mutant's chest rose and fell in fitful sleep.

Ace was confident it wouldn't wake up easily without some help, but even so he waited a beat before relaxing his own battle stance. He looked over at Roxas, checking to see whether the boy had been injured too badly. To save waiting for his MP to recover for a healing spell, the hunter had a few potions he could spare. "Nice work!"

”Thanks,”” Roxas said, his own shoulders sagging in a more relaxed stance before he quickly added, ”You too. So…” He gestured to the slumbering crusader, ”...what should we do about him? Back off and let him sleep?”

Ace looked down at the figure with a small frown. "I wish we could," he said honestly. "But once it wakes up it'll have to come after us, right? Knocking it out cold is one thing, but I dunno if just putting it to sleep will deactivate the whole... forced to fight thing."

He rubbed the back of his head while staring at the misbegotten. Something told him trying a friend heart wouldn't be wise. The Cadet felt a little bad for it since he'd intruded on its territory, but the thing wasn't mindless. It seemed smart, though if it understood their language than it just ignored it and chose violence first.

"It'll be safer if we, y'know, put it to sleep for real. Not a Ya-cool thing to do I know, but..."

Shocker's fire had seemed effective even through its block, so a powerful burning blast like that would really do the trick with the bonus wake-up damage, but Ace wasn't about to ask Roxas to command his pokémon friend to kill the misbegotten in cold blood. "I'll take care of it."

He took a moment to swap his equipment out, stowing the jagged dual blades and withdrawing the longsword Yato. There was ample time for Roxas to look away and investigate the camp the misbegotten had been squatting in or the rest of the cave in general before Ace placed the blade at the mutant's neck. He took a deep breath, raised the sword up, and put all of his strength into one decisive blow. It severed flesh and vertebrae, making the crusader jerk before eventually succumbing from its wounds.

Roxas wasn’t averse to what Ace was suggesting, but it was pretty sad to think about. But he didn’t argue back, and instead took Shocker to go look around at the camp the crusader had been at before the two Seekers showed up. There was no guarantee about what he’d find there but at least it was something to do while Ace finished up with the crusader.

It was mostly just busted up remains of tents with a fire pit long gone cold, but there were small holes in the wall nearby where the misbegotten was crouched that Roxas could hear some movement from. After a moment an insectoid head poked out and looked around as if to make sure the coast was clear. It noticed Roxas and Shocker, giving them a wary look. This bug was noticeably different from the glyhpids and terminids they'd found before, and it didn't appear to be like the blowhogs or anything else that had attacked them in the main hollow.

”Hey there, little guy.” Roxas said softly, tilting his head. ”You live here, I take it?”

At first it seemed that the bug would not react to Roxas' words, but after a few moments it tilted its head. It was hard to say if it knew what he'd actually said, but it did seem to understand his tone. It crawled the rest of the way out of the hole and unfurled four transparent wings, taking to the air. It buzzed around Roxas, more curious than aggressive, which was good because it had a massive stinger that would likely be very painful for whoever it stung.

Then it floated back towards the wall, making a little chittering sound. A few other bugs began to emerge as well - another of the bee-like one, but more that were small and squishy. Little cuties that were perfectly adapted to frozen caverns like this. Just how many different kinds of bugs actually lived and survived down here?? And had the misbegotten been subsisting on these weaker insects while fending off the stronger armored ones?

”Huh?” Roxas was surprised when his Rotom Phone floated out of his pocket on its own and scanned the white bug, which then fired up the Pokedex App to tell Roxas what the species was. ”So you’re a Pokemon? …Snom, huh?” Roxas reached out and gently stroked his finger against the Snom’s little head.

”Hey!” Roxas called back to Ace over his shoulder, ”I found some friendly little guys living here!”

The deed had been done, which was evidenced by the shimmery spirit of the misbegotten crusader in Ace's hand. There was another new development as well, one which had taken the hunter by surprise. When he'd dealt the final blow, his weapon had resonated with the creature's greatsword somehow. The blade it had wielded was beautiful, and though it had not given it up even after death that sword remained as a premium prize for the two Seekers. But the real reward was the Yato in Ace's hands, which had begun to glow at the same time as the crusader faded away. He was too surprised to even think about dropping it when he felt it morph in his grip, and when it settled into a new appearance he stared at it up until Roxas had called. It had not lost any of its length, but the shape of the blade had changed - it now clearly had a flat edge and a cutting one, curving towards the tip, and the pommel had curled into an elegant hand guard. The indents in the amber-colored metal remained, one of them still holding the Fervent Fang he'd slotted in previously. If the golden greatsword was beautiful, then this longsword was gorgeous.

For Ace Cadet

Blazing Yato
The legendary blade transformed into its blazing version. Grants Critical Evade when wielded, and bumps up Strength and Speed even while in inventory. Only deals 3/4 damage versus enemies with Dragonskin, and dragons and dragon-like enemies in general.

The Cadet had no idea why it changed, though it must have been something to do with the misbegotten's own weapon. He found himself grinning at the blade until he turned his attention Roxas' way, carefully sheathing the masterwork -and even more carefully lifting the greatsword that was left behind- before making his way over to the Nobody.

"Oh yeah? Friendly ones for once?" he said, coming over to crouch near Roxas and get a look too. "Groovios."

The snom Roxas was petting cooed, or made a noise close to it, happily nuzzling back. The other bugs crawled or flew around the Seekers, spread out, and then came back, happy to have their little corner of the caves back it seemed. Ace fished one of the fruits he'd picked up earlier out of his bag, splitting it open to offer a piece to one of the worms with the pinwheel looking thing on its head. It gingerly accepted it, and when the bees came over at the sweet smell he gave some to them too.

"Wonder what they normally eat..." he thought aloud to himself. Then a little more loudly, "I bet they're food for everything else around here. Are they like Scamp and your other buddies?"

”This white one is.” Roxas answered, ”It’s a Pokemon called Snom. I don’t know about the other two, though, my Rotom Phone can’t identify them. I'm guessing they’re not Pokemon.”

"Maybe they're Pals then, or... Chums. Cohorts." Ace smiled while amusing himself with the made up names for the creatures. Most likely they were just regular neopterons. Small monsters that weren't hostile unless directly threatened. Maybe not even then, given how docile they were being.

The whole encounter had been a roller coaster emotionally. They'd set out to find an exit from the caverns, run into a violent outcast when attempting to talk to it, then defeated it only to find a bevy of grateful bugs that had been hiding in fear of it. At that point Ace's own captive bugs slowly emerged from their cage, spreading out around the area with their usual soft green light. A portion of them began to make a trail back the way Ace and Roxas had come that would take them back to the other Seekers. Judging from the sound of a motor and a drill carving through ice back in the main cavern, the others had likely thought up some other plan to make their way back to the surface. It was probably time to regroup before they got left behind.

Ace stood up, breaking up the remainder of the fruit and leaving the pieces strewn on the ground for the little guys. Then he smiled at Roxas, ruffling the boy's hair. "Well we failed to find anything but trouble, but we ended up fine in the end. What do you say we bugger off and head back?"

”I’m good with that.” Roxas said with a grin, ”C’mon, Shocker, let’s go!” He gestured for the Heat-Rotom to follow and it did, once again providing some small light with its Electric and Fire type energy. ”Take care of yourselves, little guys!” Roxas called back to the grateful bugs with a wave goodbye.

If they were capable of waving back the bugs probably would have. The scoutflies buzzed around the creatures before flying towards Shocker instead, escorting the Seekers out. If one of the humbees trailed after them and landed on the back a thick fuzzy coat, drawn by the allure of more fruit, the prospect of new friends, or just curious about the humans in general, well, it wouldn't be discovered for a while.

What might have been a somber walk back was made more cheery thanks to Roxas' discovery, and the two Seekers chatted lightly as they retraced their steps. They caught up with the stagecoach easily enough, both because the noise of the drilldozer in operation made it impossible not to know where the group currently was just by the sound and because the heavy machinery wasn't all that fast in the first place, especially with the iron coach following behind it. Edward's golems recognized Ace and Roxas and let them through the rearguard so that they could once more be part of the caravan and regale their allies with the story of what they'd been up to when asked.

It was good to hear Sandalphon was doing a little better, though the sight of Edward with a lot more facial hair than just a little while ago definitely threw Ace for a loop. He sputtered a laugh at the sight, but quickly reigned it in when the man offered a very familiar looking weapon that had been obtained from the various spirits.

"Oh radalos, is this gonna turn out to be my lucky day...?" The start of it had been pretty rough, and the little side-quest he and Roxas had just gotten up to could have gone better, but not only had Yato transformed but they'd found a heavy bowgun! Which the hunter gladly accepted. The Breechshot he'd been using was more like a light bowgun, and he knew well that the two styles of weapons handled very differently. This one would eat up a lot more ammo, so he had to think about making sure to keep stocked up on bullet ingredients...

He also requested one of the chitin chestplates if no one else was going to use them. It never hurt to have more armor options after all, and even pieces weaker in defense could make up for it in utility with skills. And of course the spirit of the misbegotten was mentioned, should anyone want to make use of that before one of the two that faced it ended up using it for themselves. The Golden Order Greatsword was also unmissable where it sat hefted over one of Ace's shoulders. It gave off a faint holy aura which prickled at the Cadet's skin, but carrying it was good magic endurance practice - plus there was no way he was going to leave a beauty like that. There were few other Seekers in the group that could actually make use of a greatsword like that one, but if any showed interest in giving it a try then the hunter would part with it.

Only a little reluctantly.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

^{____________________________________________________}
Level: 11 - Total EXP: 323/110 ------ Level: 10 - Total EXP: 380/100
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
_{Thursday Night}
Word Count: 1020 (+2 exp)
Location: Esaka's Mid-Tier, the Forbidden Kingdom

With her opinions stated and her bill paid, Primrose had the rest of the night ahead of her. There were plenty of things to get up to in a city like this, though she did not plan for trouble to be one of them tonight. She could catch a show at one of the many entertainment halls around Esaka, hopefully a non-violent one assuming the citizenry had their fill with the start of the tournament series, but that was doubtful. She could also put on a show herself, put her dancing to use since she hadn't here yet; she already knew at least one place that would be receptive to it. And of course she could spend more time with her fellow Seekers as she'd spent most of the day on her own.

Primrose turned her head, catching her fellow Orsterran's eye. "So where are we headed?"

With his opinions mostly unstated and his bill non-existent thanks to just picking from everyone else's plates and pots, Therion narrowed said eye at her.

"I'm headed to settle my bets like I said - you are not coming with me."

"Why not?" Primrose asked, feigning hurt in her voice.

"Because you draw attention wherever you go," the thief replied flatly. He didn't blame her for it, it had been her job for so long and she was a beautiful woman on top of that. He just didn't want to deal with it at an unscrupulous semi-illegal gambling den. She'd been there once already, twice was just asking for trouble. She would be much better suited for heading to the legal version in the possible casino that had been brought up.

She seemed to pick up on his thoughts, dropping her little act and humming lightly. She had passed something that looked like what might be that while in the High Tier before, but she wasn't totally sure. It was much bigger, brighter, and more luxurious than what she normally imagined of such places, but of course that didn't rule it out in a world like this. It did sound like it might be a fun, though... maybe another time. Her day had been pretty stress-free and low key, and ending it with high stakes games of luck didn't seem right.

The twins seemed like they would be a handful for any volunteer guardians, and though she had to admit that she was also rather curious to see them in action Primrose decided not to accompany the casino group. Instead she just gave Band a light pat on his arm, followed by an amused smile and a, "good luck, detective."

As the group really began to split, some held back by the team captain and others making their way to try their hand at chance, a familiar face to some stopped them with a request. No, not even that - an errand.

If the experience fighting the Jack units in the bamboo forest together had endeared Anji to Therion a little, there was no trace of that to be found when the thief raised an eyebrow and stated, "seriously? Perfect for fetching food? You don't seem busy, why don't you just do it?"

Ah, it seemed that intentionally or not Anji's words had pricked at Therion's pride. They hadn't signed up to be personal assistants to the UN leader, plus the thief hadn't missed another particular word choice that the muscular glasseswearer had said: learned that they were eating here. So the organization really was keeping tabs on them.

The phrasing hadn't escaped Primrose's notice either. She gave Anji a dubious look, mostly for his choice in clothing given this was her first time meeting him. With a group as large as theirs it would certainly be easy to keep track of them whenever they met up together like this, and it was safe to assume that this 'United Nations' wasn't the only group with a vested interest in keeping an eye on them. In that case would it be wiser to split up, stay as far from notice as possible like they'd originally planned? Or... perhaps get in good with another large group if it would offer a little more protection?

Primrose's expression was unreadable, though she had slipped into serious thought. She really had planned for her night to be an easy one, and perhaps it still would be if Anji's request was as simple as he made it out to be, but now that she was thinking on it...

"Why don't we help him out?" she said, flashing the man a charming smile. She felt Therion bristle beside her, but at the same time a much more enthusiastic member of their group piped up with her intent to get the job done.

While Sakura drew some attention with her spirited eagerness to get paid, the Orsterrans looked at each other.

"Why bother? What are you thinking?" Therion hissed under his breath, and Primrose matched his volume when she replied.

"It'll give me the chance to meet with our new allies... and judge them for myself. You must still be curious about them too, so why not snoop around their headquarters? That, and we had already planned to look into the zoo more closely... It seems to me we can kill a few birds with this stone.

"And we can't just leave Sakura to go all by herself, can we~?" The dancer raised her voice at the end, putting a pleasant spin on her tone as she turned back to the group at large. She winked at the street fighter, declaring her intent to accompany Sakura on the errand.

After the girl ran off and came back, Primrose motioned for her to follow along instead of rushing ahead. She made it clear that she knew exactly where they'd be headed. Behind them, Therion could easily have declined and taken off in another direction. He was still thinking about doing just that until a few long moments passed and he let out a deep sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets and flicking his tail behind him as he trailed after the two women.

Hello!

Gaia mentioned, thus I appear.

Welcome @trip! There are some unique aspects of this forum but most of it should be familiar like any other.
If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Lunar Dome 10

I personally think about it this way: does having a separate, different area save them any money? Does it make them any money? If no, they probably wouldn't spring for a whole section to house prisoners separately. There might be a holding cell somewhere meant to detain lawbreakers until they could be shipped elsewhere though, intended for if the Dome was full staffed and lived in. (Unless I'm missing it) since none of the "troublemakers" in the cast were convicted of violent crimes* it likely doesn't matter much where they stay, and maybe wouldn't have even been brought on in the first place.

*This is with the assumption that Alyssa was acquitted after the two years incarceration, purely on the thought that even in a capitalistic hellscape a murder charge would not be so lenient - plus they can make money from convicts so there is more incentive for longer sentences if she actually was found guilty.

Anyway, since the characters sort of know each other (or at least know of each other), I may do something similar to Expendable and give some in character thoughts on the rest of the cast. And if anyone wants to pitch any ways they think Rhiannon might have harassed their character over the last 3 IC years, go ahead lol

Nice Systems

@Kuro @Moonberry @Yankee

Hey, I'm having some trouble. I've repeatedly browsed threads in Free RP and Casual RP, restricting myself to threads with less than 100 posts, less than ten characters, and used within the last month. Out of the threads that are open, most are difficult for me to get into. As I mentioned before, word count is part of the problem. I think 500 words per post is the most I'm comfortable with for now. I don't want to think I'm being picky about genre, but that might be the second half of the problem due to my lack of interest in magical RP. I think I'd be fine with a medieval story without magic, but I guess that barely exists.

Do you have any advice? Should I go for those threads with hundreds of posts, read the first and last page, and make a a character? Should I make a medieval character and go for those magical RP threads? Pardon me for pinging you just for motivation.

@Blademusica76

In addition to what Haha said, honestly I think 500 words in a post is already doing a lot. Were you looking at RPs that you felt the word count was too high or too low for you? Either way, I don't think it would be an issue if you worked with the GM of those RPs. Write more if you want to, less if you need to.

Talking to the GMs of RPs you are interested in is the best way to go, in my opinion. Many people here are friendly and willing to work with you, especially if you are interested in their idea or setting. If you see an RP you want to join or have a character you think will fit into a premise, go ahead and post in the OOC or DM the person running the RP directly. This is especially good for those RPs that have a lot of posts. If you were intimidated by joining a long running RP, I think you might find that it's easier than you think to get involved in those sort of stories! It can't hurt to ask the GM, or even the other players, to work together with you to get your character in smoothly. Actually, I joined an RP like that before - one that had been running for a couple of years and had hundreds of posts and I was intimidated by, but after shooting my shot I'm still in that RP to this day.

You could also try making your own interest check, or looking through the 1x1 checks, as there is a lot of variety of ideas in that section and I've definitely seen a few medieval-but-no-magic stories pitched there. If you're really wanting to join a group and aren't seeing anything though, you could also make a post on the status bar! Something like "seeking xyz, any RP like that recruiting?" and see if anyone approaches you!

I wish I could be more help, but that's all that comes to mind really!

Lunar Dome 10

like a fine skylark

Hey mom,

Didn't hear back from you yet. I'm choosing to believe that it was the crappy satellite loosing my message in the void of space and not you ignoring me. You were supposed to console me on the big 3-0! that's OK. Luna-Terra voice messages are expensive which is why I'm trying the script to data in the first place but if I don't get a reply by the end of this year after this one then fuck it I'm chucking a datapad at earth and hoping inertia gets it to the house.

It's 3 going on 4 years now and moon life isn't really what I thought it was gonna be. I wrote all about it last time and I'm trying to rmemeber remember the important (or funny) stuff I put in the lost letter. First theres only a handful of us so its like living in a ghost town but with a lot more cows. Remember I went to school to take care of dogs? yeah, no dogs up here. they got me looking after the cows. Cows and CHICKENS! 1 year left on the DVM BTW. Nice and not sketchy at all that they let me practice w/o it, but chunk of my salary is garnished for the digital tuition. A little F'D UP but not like theres anything to spend it on until I come back I guess. HA HA.

The animals my only friends up here because of the second thing: the other humans suck. Emotionally Constipated does not even begin to cover it. Half are loner geeks and half are literal rejects from Earth. (I read the files on everyone they uploaded to the Dome staff pads)

I try talking to them but most can't hold a conversation that isn't about work. Some barely manage that. You know that old "in space no one can hear you scream" saying? A few times I tried screaming in the middle of the night cycles to see if anyone did anything. Either no one was close enough to hear or they just didn't care. Also haven't been told off yet about the stickers. You think they are avoiding me?

Nothing to do but keep trying. The moon isn't all bad anyway, the Dome is really pretty and it's still cool to see the Earth from here. Also none of J's nagging! JK - tell her I miss her. I miss you too maybe we can figure out a extraterrestrial vacation for you one of these days. IDK how long I'm gonna be up here for. At least 'he' will never find me up here. Another good thing. HA HA.

Not much else that I can think of. I named all of the animals and have been talking with a guy in LD-7. Been enjoying 'nature' and sleeping outside when I feel like it. I guess that's it. I know you understand but sorry again for leaving so quick. I needed to.

Reply as soon as you get this!

Love,
your now 30 & HALF y.o. kid!

PS—I am going by Rhiannon now

HOLIDAY'S DOSSIER ________________________ Accessing employee file 011. . . Now viewing 011 in open information mode. Please contact your server admin for complete personnel files. ________________________ Name on file:Rhiannon Rossi D.O.B. on file:14 December Sex on file:<prefer not to specify selected> Race on file:<prefer not to specify selected> Blood type on file:O+ Height on file:171 cm Weight on file:59.9 kg Eye on file:Gold [Elective Modification] Felon Status:No LD-10 Residence on file:<none registered> Staff Roles:Applied Animal Behaviorist, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine [Pending] Employee Infractions:4

AI Special Requests:"You won't, like... report it if I bully you a little right? You're the closest thing to a human that willingly talks to me, so we're buddies. Buddies get riffed on. You'll get it. Oh, and can you do an Australian accent?"