ESE

[upscalerat]

After a soft song, Kimi put her instrument away and looked at Bantay. "I'm not helpless here," she assured him, and he nodded earnestly. He would have said something- no, of course she wasn't helpless- but then Kimi was up and moving, grabbing the bags that Bantay had dropped at some point, and even handing one to him.

"Thanks," he mumbled, and took it.

"Let's get going before we lose our catch, shall we?" she asked and everything seemed to be better. Kimi was smiling, and Bantay was relieved, so he smiled back.

"Yeah, let's," he agreed, and started walking again. They were almost to the trail that Kimi had fallen down before, which meant that they were close to the guild, and probably the others, too. Bantay couldn't imagine that that Nimfa and Koero were still out, and he would have guessed that Ako had returned as well. He'd left before the rest of them, and after all of the messages… Oh, right. Messages.

When they reached the trail, Bantay tugged the book from his neck, and flippe over the messages section. Just one, from Nimfa. "It seems we've also got fish and berries to go with our lunch," he relayed to Kimi.

He was about to close the journal, when an idea sparked and he flipped over the the inventory section. "Hey- think that the journals will take live things in it?" But rather than wait for a reply, the young man instead set the petticoats on top of the journal and tried to push them in. However, the little things squirmed and one tried to jump away, so the swordsman grabbed the top of the bag again and shut the journal. "Guess not. A shame, it'd make sneak around a lot easier if the seen of us could turn into one," he remarked, and gave Kimi a small grin.

If she laughed, he reasoned, then things truly were good between the two of them, which meant one fight resolved… And two not. Perhaps he ought to apologize. Certainly to Nimfa, even though he still wasn't sure what he did wrong; but he'd been mad, so he could have done a lot to annoy her, probably. And Tiwala… The idea to not start fights echoed in his mind from that morning. Too late for that, but if they were a team, then there should be some unity between them. Even if Bantay didn't approve of her actions.

As for Kimi- well, if she laughed, things were good. If she didn't, then he'd have to keep trying, he supposed.

 

[FiliaFlammae]

"We're all messed up, Chris. Or we wouldn't be here."

She called me Chris again...

Tiwala's words had a bitter edge to them. And yet her tone was still somehow low and soothing, and the words were a strange comfort. He hadn't thought of his other guild mates much yet, but maybe she was onto something. Bantay had a temper. Kimi had...something to do with her legs. Nimfa was bossy and irritable. Koero was a ditz with no social skills. Ako was an antisocial mystery. No one in the guild was a perfect human being. That didn't mean Kidlat was suddenly proud of himself, but it was at least a little comforting.

Huh. So Tiwala really could comfort people sometimes, when she tried.

A voice nearby caused him to look up. Speak of the devil, Nimfa and Koero were back. Tiwala piped up with an excuse before he could get a word in, saying something about him feeling guilty for supposedly scaring the birds off. He felt a little embarrassed by her picking an excuse for him that felt like it was out of character, but what was said was said, so he tried not to let it show. Rather, he pushed himself to his feet and donned a sunny smile, as if nothing had happened. He could return to brooding some other time. "Now now, no good worrying about that, now is it?" he chimed. "We've got lunch to prepare!" He slipped his dagger from its sheath when prompted, but before he stepped forward, he looked sidelong at Tiwala. "Personally, I'd imagine your 'hunting knife' is designed for this kind of thing. And two people will work faster than one, yes?" He stepped towards Nimfa and Koero with purpose, wiping the blade carefully on the (presumably clean) inside of his cloak, and when he was done with that, he couldn't resist the urge to show off a little by tossing the knife and catching it after a single flip, much as he had done a few times earlier that morning. "Arrightey. Tell me where the pointy thing goes."

 

[Enigs]

Chris walked through the woods for a little while until he noticed smoke coming up from the direction in which he was relatively certain would indicate the fire was at the guild house, or the fire was the guild house. Chris considered that possibility carefully. The smoke did no seem thick enough for that, however Chris had to admit he did not have enough experience in this matter to make a knowledgeable hypothesis. Was it not also a common saying to tell people not to set the house on fire when you left them alone. There was something along those lines what if that was a legitimate fear. He alternated between walking very quickly now, quite close to running, and traveling as slowly as possible depending on whether he felt prepared to handle what happened if the guild was on fire at that moment. He became visibly relieved once He began to get close enough that he could see the intact guild. If they were to destroy it it would at least, it seemed, last throughout today. He picked up his pace once more being careful now to avoid jostling the cage too much. The birds were fairly quiet and seemed to have settled down, considering the distance at which he tracked them down based on their call it would serve him poorly should they begin to get excited now. Entering the clearing around the guildhall he saw the fireplace, and more importantly, the people surrounding it. Quickly deciding on his course of action he determined that so long as he appeared to pay no attention to them they would most likely leave him in peace. Then Chris noticed Nimfa and Koero's catch and flinched. Setting his chin he marched forwards looking to circle the Guildhall until he found the door. Chris started going around opposite the fire repeating to himself as a mantra that is is easier to avoid temptation than to resist it.

 

[Lady Alainn]

In all the world, either world, there is nothing like the silly antics of a young man to turn a girl's frown upside down. Unless of course, she is hard of heart. Kyla, Kimi-- however you want to call her at this present moment-- was neither prone to hardness of heart, nor was she particularly frowning and so a genuine smile bloomed on her face. She hugged her own squirming bundle tighter against her chest and shook her head in amusement, her eyes sparkling.

"You are so silly, Bantay!"

She waited for him to scoop his bundle up again before skipping up ahead. It was remarkable how quickly her energy returned. She doubted she could perform any of her magical abilities, but at least her legs weren't hampered by fatigue anymore. It helped that the mountain wasn't quite so steep here. Kimi wasn't sure just how long the little critters would put up with being lugged around in petticoats. She presumed it wouldn't be for much longer with the way her rabbit was bucking inside and judging from the trees and the sun, the Guild Hall should be just up ahead. Her thoughts continued to dwell on the implications if live things could be stored in their journals. Did journals get heavier and lighter depending on what they put in them? If she could step inside Bantay's journal, what would it feel like? Would it freeze her or would she suffocate?

Assuming they could get back to Earth by falling asleep here, what would happen if someone hid inside the journal while everyone else went to sleep? Would they never have to wake up on Earth again? And if this truly wasn't a dream, because Kyla was very much under the impression now that it wasn't, would going to sleep actually put them back on Earth? Were they stuck here? Could they actually get stuck here? Worry etched her brow. She had to get back. Even though she could walk here, even though her music had magic within it here, she wasn't herself. This false reality, even with everything seeming to be so free, it was still just that. False. Never before had she truly felt the differentiation between Kyla and Kimi. Kimi had no reason to take offense. Kimi could walk. Kyla had something dark lurking deep within. It had more power here. And it frightened her.

Kimi picked up her pace. She had to get back.

 

[upscalerat]

Well, it wasn't exactly a laugh, but Bantay was satisfied all the same. He grinned, and gave a quick bow, as best he could. "'Tis my purpose," he replied, in as exaggerated of a stereotypical medieval voice as he could manage without laughing himself. He couldn't stay bowed for long, though, as a leg had poked through next to the knot in the petticoats. Straightening himself, the swordsman chuckled at the sight of it. With the relief that had embraced him at Kimi's remark, the young man was more mirthful, and he even took a moment to enjoy the absurdity of a bouncing leg next to the knot in the petticoats before he pushed it back through.

And- she was skipping? Amazing; hadn't it just been a few minutes ago that the song had brought her to the ground? 'Level 5 or not, she's strong. No wonder she got upset,' Bantay reflected, but shook the thought away. No; they were past that now. Moving on. No need to look back. Just don't make that mistake again, and everything will be just as cheery as it was in the moments beforehand. Either way, they were almost back, and the swordsman had to admit that he was hungry. He quickened his pace to catch up with his friend's skipping, then quickened again as she did. Evidently, Kimi was hungry as well, because even the energy that the spell must have drained couldn't slow her down.

If they got hungry and tired here... Bantay wondered. Did that reflect in their earth bodies at all? Would eating a large meal before bed change how hungry they were throughout the day? What happened if one of them went to bed particularly late? Would that even matter? It might, if they were all in the same timezone, as he and Kimi were. But, all seven of them? Surely, in the whole world of people, in all seven billion of them, the chances that seven people selected at random were from the same area was astronomical. But then again, wasn't that true of just two people of the seven, and even more so if they were one particular group? 'And who said you were selected at random? Didn't Aria choose all of you?' Bantay brought up a good point to himself, but the question remained. What were the chances that the seven qualified people were that close to each other?

This world was still mind boggling. Even if Neil had accepted that it was real (at least until he woke up), there were too many questions when it came to the parallels to earth. If only Aria would join them for lunch, he mused, so that they may ask her... Bantay walked faster, again; his pace had slowed in his thought. He considered saying something to Kimi- but she still had some distance on him, and anyways, they were almost back to the guild, where at least two of the other five members awaited them. Kidlat and Tiwala. Bantay gave a brief thought to how they were doing, but assumed that it was little more than being at each other's throats, or at least thinking about it; that had certainly been the state of things when he left, so why should they have changed?

 

[Lady Alainn]

By the last leg of their journey, Kimi found herself huffing and puffing to keep up a somewhat steady pace. She'd been able to drown out the nagging thoughts in the back of her mind with a few well-placed hums and happy thoughts and her spirits were now completely improved. Now she was ready to eat, drink, and be merry with her guildmates. Her stomach growled in anticipation as the wisps of smoke from a campfire curled into the air not far ahead of them. Clutching her rabbit-laden petticoat in the crook of one arm, she raised her other hand to shade her eyes and squinted into the distance. She almost supposed she could see the wooden structure of the Guild Hall! Lunch sounded so good right now. And maybe after a nice little meal, she'd have a good portion of her energy back. Another bout of mumbling in the tummy accompanied this thought, along with a Winnie the Pooh song. This alone proved that she was indeed all better from her mini meltdown earlier.

First it started innocently enough with a few words bouncing about in her head. Then, the song started to grow, and grow, and grow, but poor Kimi had not the energy to spend to sing and keep walking. Did she have to sing? Do birds have to fly? Could she not keep the song to herself when lyrics trickled in? Can one dam a swiftly moving river? And so, she compromised by saying the lyrics in a sing-song manner.

"Hum dum de dum, hum dum de dum, I'm so rumbly in my tumbly! Time to munch an early luncheon, time for something sweet!" She squeezed Uncle Clyde in a hug and peered into the bag at him. "And you are very sweet! Sweet-looking, that is. In a gruff, old uncle kind of way. You need a little brown coat and a pipe and you'd make a perfect Beatrix Potter character!" Kimi gave Bantay's arm a playful bump with her own. "I thought I said no cute ones as well as no babies," she teased. "Oh well, I guess he'll still be tasty anyway. No story for him!"

Up ahead, the Guild Hall materialized through the trees.

 

[Nay'ar]

"We've got lunch to prepare!" he said taking out his dagger, making Tiwala freeze "Personally, I'd imagine your 'hunting knife' is designed for this kind of thing. And two people will work faster than one, yes?" did he really just ask her to be next to him while he had a blade? Was everything been for nothing? Tiwala got up reluctantly and took out her Journal Welcome back, Ako. She wrote quickly, ignoring his reasons not to greet any of them and browsed it to the Item page. With a very dim light her knife got out 'If he doesn't care... neither will I' "Arrightey. Tell me where the pointy thing goes." after all it was just about cleaning fish and the other animals, his dagger would be under... "What the hell are you doing?" she asked in a cold commanding tone, jumping her thought. "You certainly are NOT cleaning that blade on your dirty clothes when you have a nice fire there... right?" ice. Sharp edged ice would cut less than her voice now. She was almost a clean freak when cooking, and that bad habit took her over... again.

She got the knife out from its sheath on her back, and took it on the fire. Looking at the flame hugging the blade in a warm embrance. How many times had people compared that red element to passion? 'Of course, too many' she thought with a sad smile. Once she was satisfied, she started 'playing' with the blade, making it flip in the air. She needed a cold one to clean the fish or it would have been sticky all over. Again, once satified she took a fish near Nimfa "Hope you don't mind" and, caring to keep his dagger in sight, prepared to show Kidlat how to cut open a fish: "Ok... you have to point it here... I think, and then... cut it up the belly... on... no, wait.... how did I do it again?" her eyes were terrified... why couldn't she remember perfectly how to clean a fish? she did it hundreds times at home, she was sure she could do it with her eyes shut but... why her memories were so foggy? 'Wait... the stew... how did I do the stew? I cut the meat.... yeah and then I put it in a... pot? Yes.. A pot... then there are vegetables... and when ready, we ate it...' why so... unsure, so... approximate? Was it due to her lack of a cooking skill? "Anyway... look here and do like me" she said failing to sound sure. And in fact... sure, she opened the fish... not really straight though. "Well... at least is... open...?"

 

[upscalerat]

As they drew closer to the Guild Hall, Kimi nudged Bantay in the arm. "I thought I said no cute ones as well as no babies. Oh well, I guess he'll still be tasty anyway. No story for him!" He laughed, and even rubbed his arm where she'd 'hit' him.

"Hey, I chose the gruffest, oldest, meanest looking rabbit... thing that I could find. No babies, and I can't be help it if you think that one's cute," he argued. "He may have hope, though. Depends on how much food Nimfa and Koero got, and how cute and cuddly these two are," he added, and raised the bag to indicate to the two animals he held. And then he laughed. "And look- we're here," he pointed out, unnecessarily. In front of them were four figures, and as they approached, Bantay made out the colors that defined Nimfa and Koero facing Tiwala, who was sitting, and Kidlat.

Speaking of fights that he had to resolve, Bantay nearly winced when he remembered his resolve to apologize. Logically, it was the bet course of action, but it didn't make him feel any less justified in the position he'd taken earlier. He exhaled hard, but there was no stopping now. They were walking, and the Guild Hall wasn't far off from the trees so now that they could see it clearly, they were close. Bantay could at least put off the apologies until they had cooked their catches, maybe, he reasoned... But that might just make it all the more awkward. Well, he certainly would wait until they weren't so much a large group anymore. They'd probably break off and talk amongst themselves, right? So he could catch Nimfa and Tiwala soon, right? Probably. Bantay went with that, and called out their arrival. "I think that we're only fashionably late to the party," he said, and glanced around. He still didn't see Ako. "But we're not the last ones and we've got three prime pieces of furballs for lunch, so hope that's okay?"

Bantay had to note that things looked much less stressful than when they had left. Tiwala was still sitting, but Kidlat didn't seem annoyed by her so things couldn't have gone too poorly. He couldn't tell what was going on with Nimfa and Koero, as their backs were to Kimi and him, but he would have guessed that after the excursion they were in a better mood, too- or at least, he was, so he assumed the others were, too.

 

[Lady Alainn]

"Hey, I chose the gruffest, oldest, meanest looking rabbit... thing that I could find. No babies, and I can't be help it if you think that one's cute," Bantay argued. "He may have hope, though. Depends on how much food Nimfa and Koero got, and how cute and cuddly these two are."

Kimi made a face, but didn't protest the point. It wouldn't do to encourage the argument-prone boy right before joining the rest of the party-- half of whom he'd already crossed swords with this morning. When she could distinguish her guildmates, she raised an arm and waved cheerfully. "Hello there! We're back! Did anyone miss us?" Her grin spread so widely across her face she wouldn't be surprised if they could see every single one of her pearly whites. A sudden thought crossed her mind and her hand dropped.

"Bantay? Neil. Please... please don't say anything about my accident or... my legs. Please," she whispered. "It's just between us, ok? Between Neil and Kyla."

 

[Ray C]

Oh, have mercy. She wanted to cook and Kidlat was wiping the knife on his cloak. That was one point on which Nimfa agreed with Tiwala--though she wasn't going to cut Kidlat over it. "I'll do it, Kidlat. Can you find us some sticks, about yea long, to cook these on?" Nimfa asked (almost kindly), demonstrating the length with her fingers before extending her hand for the knife. And please let him know to pass me the hilt, not the blade, Nimfa pleaded silently.

Nimfa mimicked Tiwala, holding the blade in the flames as close as she dared. She would feel safer with some water, too... Nimfa took a deep breath, running a brief self-diagnostic to be sure she could handle it, then stated "Wubber." Once again, the energetic ball of liquid appeared in her hand. Nimfa's breath was thrown back out from the exertion, but she kept herself steady over the fire. Withdrawing the knife, she slid the tip inside her summon, making it ripple indignantly. "Spin." He hesitated a moment, but Wubber began to twirl around the blade, his aqueous form gliding along its metal surface until it shone.

Tiwala was already a step ahead. Nimfa had high hopes for a brief minute; then the archer stuck her knife in a fish. From her unsure mumbling, Nimfa would guess this was her second time cleaning a fish. "Stop," she commanded Wubber, withdrawing the tool from him. Wubber ceased his cyclone, but his body continued to wobble back and forth--and almost topple from her arm as it moved toward the fish. "If you're not confident with the fish," Nimfa offered--or rather, asserted, "then leave them to me and try the birds. I've never plucked a pheasant before, so your guess is as good as mine." Nimfa slid Kidlat's knife neatly up the fish's belly, stuck two fingers in, and cleaned it out. She washed it out with Wubber, then threaded a stick through its mouth which she staked in the ground, the fish ready to cook once the flames had died down.

She grabbed a second and started to cut, but Bantay's call made her hand slip. Nimfa frowned, looking at the crooked line Bantay had caused. With a quiet "Hmph," Nimfa resolutely refused to look at Bantay, resuming her work on the fish instead.

 

[Adira]

Koero settled on Nimfa's answer and lifted the bucket up to the others. "I brought berries" She said with a cheesy smile as if to win them all over in her awkward charming ways. She watched madness ensure slowly after the two came back to camp. The guide house looked rather comforting among that chatter and Koero couldn't help but be distracted by exploring the guidhouse some more. She barley was listening to the conversation and was rather intrigued by seeing what modern day objects the guide house might have, such as a bathroom by chance.

Though as she set down the bucket and began to wander off in a direction she felt a knot in her stomach that told her she might want to lower her expectations, or ESE might let her down, almost always. This was just a dream but couldn't she just wish up a state of the art plumbing system or something. The Ivy side in her was screaming, how was any of this possible?! Still she wandered on, quite a bit aways from the group now. Should she go back? Probably, but Koero still felt awkward and what if she messed things up?

 

[FiliaFlammae]

"What the hell are you doing?" came a familiar but steely voice that made Kidlat flinch. "You certainly are NOT cleaning that blade on your dirty clothes when you have a nice fire there... right?"

He turned to look at her with a vaguely affronted expression. He had no reason not to think the inside surface of a presumably brand-new cloak that he hadn't even worn for half the morning was clean, but when Nimfa stepped forward and asked for the knife, he could tell his opinion on what counted as "clean" was not wanted here. "Fiiiine, fine," he said with a roll of his eyes as he carefully passed the dagger to Nimfa, hilt first. "Team Germophobe can do the fish, I'll just go back to stick-hunting. Don't mind me." He hooked his thumbs on his belt loops again, spun on his heel, and headed back towards the patch of the front yard in which he'd strewn the damper bits of wood. Most of the thin sticks he'd found in his search for firewood had been dry enough to work as kindling, so his hopes weren't high of having many left, but after a minute of scanning the remains, he did locate two sticks that seemed about right. He picked them up and walked back to the fire, where he dropped them next to Nimfa before stalking back off into the woods to find more. A hint of irritation was still visible in his features before he turned away from the group and disappeared amidst the trees. His attempt to put himself back in a good mood hadn't lasted very long.

First Tiwala. Then his own insecurities. And now the group was back and he would have to be social. He waited until he was no longer visible from the guild hall before he frowned strongly and kicked the trunk of the nearest tree. He promptly cringed and regretted the action, thinking that he wasn't really angry enough to deserve to kick trees in a rage. He forced himself to ignore the minor limp he'd just given to his gait and look around for more sticks as he'd said he would. This would probably take him several minutes.

 

[Nay'ar]

"Team Germophobe can do the fish, I'll just go back to stick-hunting. Don't mind me." Did she really sound so harsh? She would have to apologize to him soon... after all it wasn't on purpose, it was just a bad habit of hers and Kidlat shouldn't have paid for this. Tiwala got to the bird as kindly suggested by Nimfa and started plucking its feathers one by one "Sorry if I ask... how much do you think we'll need for 6 people to eat? You know I wouldn't want to clean too much... as it would go wasted" she asked with a shrug. Peeling birds was quite an easy task: she just had to pull and a feather came off... well maybe it was a long one but it was relaxing, in a way. This whole thing really seemed one of her previous school camps. They would divide themselves in groups that did various tasks and would cook together, go for wood, take water... she always loved camping and couldn't help but start humming happily.

When Kidlat returned with a couple of sticks, she decided to apologize. However, the guy quikly went back in the woods, stealing an occasion. He seemed in a pretty foul mood 'Why does everyone have to be offended so easily?' her mood though couldn't be spoiled just for something she could do later without side effects. And so, when Bantay and Kimi returned announcing their presence she tilted her head toward them and greeted them cheerfully before resuming her humming "Welcome back! What have you found? And... oh! We have berries too". Tiwala purposely ignored her fight with Bantay as she would with every person she had a fight with. She knew her reasons and her point of view wouldn't be understood (at the best) and she didn't want to fight a lost cause. She limited to finish the plucking and got up "Mind if I go get Kidlat? He's taking forever. Here's my knife, be good to it ok? See you later!" She left the plucked animal in Koero's hands and her knife on a near rock. Teachers always made sure to make groups and to call on the late ones for a reason: to build teamwork,but for Tiwala, that was a chance to be alone, finally alone. She massaged her cheeks 'How many months has it been since I last had to smile that much?' she asked herself once in the woods.

"Kidlat" she whispered wandering "Where are you?" she added in a low voice; she looked down in search of something that could tell her he had been there but... no footprints on the path. Tiwala decided to wander left hoping, deep down (or not) that he had taken a right turn. "My oh my... it seemes I can't find him" she said in a low and ironic voice while exploring the forest.

 

[upscalerat]

Kidlat went off to the woods as they approached. "Bantay? Neil. Please... please don't say anything about my accident or... my legs. Please. It's just between us, ok? Between Neil and Kyla," Kimi whispered then. Bantay turned to her and, with a serious face, nodded.

"I won't tell, promise," he agreed, but then turned back to the others with a grin. Kidlat had, in the moment he'd looked away, run off into the woods. Nimfa was cleaning a fish, Koero had berries but wandered off, Kidlat had returned with some sticks and gone back to the trees, and Tiwala followed. "No sign of Ako, still?" Bantay asked, a bit louder so that the others may hear. Well- other. It was just Kimi, Nimfa and himself.

Right- Nimfa. He had to apologize, and now was the perfect time to do it, wasn't it? He gave a sideways glance to Kimi. "Hey, uh," he started, again more quietly. Oh, he hadn't expected to have to explain it to Kimi. Oh well. "I'm gonna go talk to Nimfa for a minute. I, um, I want to apologize for what I did earlier," he explained, and walked to where the blue girl was gutting a fish.

Bantay cleared his throat as he approached. "Nimfa?" he started, but didn't wait for any recognition. "Er, about, um, screaming in your face, this morning, I'm sorry about that." What was it that she'd said? "Wash. Your. Mouth." So Bantay had said... Something that had made Nimfa mad. "And sorry about what I said." Whatever it was. Either way, he hoped the apology was earnest enough, much as he thought he shouldn't have needed to do that. Teamwork was better, though, at least until things in ESE were less confusing and he knew who he did and didn't need.

 

[Lady Alainn]

"Thank you."

Kimi parted ways from Bantay as he wandered over to apologize to Nimfa. She hoped for all their sakes that it didn't escalate into anything else. Fighting just wasn't nice and left such a gloomy cloud over everyone's heads. And speaking of fighting, Tiwala seemed in a much better mood to Kimi's relief. And she was worried enough about Kidlat to go off after him? 'There must have been serious making up time while we were gone.' The winged girl smiled to herself. Maybe they really would be able to work together as a team.

Well, now what to do with her rabbit? It was getting heavier by the minute and she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to keep it from squirming out of her arms. After all, she still hadn't entirely recovered her strength. Nimfa had a couple of fish by her and Kimi spotted a few birds where Tiwala had been earlier. It looked like plenty of food to her, but she didn't take into account that there were at least two-- potentially three-- hungry, growing boys to feed. If that catch was already dead and would spoil, there was no sense in wasting that meat, was there? So it wouldn't make sense to kill her rabbit now. But she also didn't want to just let it go. She started walking to the Guild Hall.

"If no one minds, I'll stash my catch in the Hall to save for supper later since we have so much other food. It's still live and kicking so it'll keep better than the birds. 'Cause we don't have any way to salt the meat to cure it, right?" She continued talking in a louder voice to no one and everyone in particular, not sure who would care and who wouldn't. There had to be some place inside she could stuff a rabbit. Kimi tugged open the Hall door with one hand and propped it with her shoulder to push it open farther so she could walk in. Someone was in here already. Their missing lone ranger.

Kimi smiled cheerily at Ako. "Oh! Hello there."

 

[Enigs]

The book around Chris's necklace buzzed once he spotted the door. The hand holding the staff went up to it worriedly for a second, but reading it would probably be more difficult than it was worth right now. Slipping inside the hall doors Chris slowed down for a second. He had made it, and it looked like no one had spotted him either. Chris frowned, or at least that had not called out but surely they would have had they noticed him right. Oh well it was time to inspect his catch Chris headed towards the door that led to the bunk beds, stumbling for a second when he heard someone call out. "Oh! Hello there." Chris turned around for a second, well she didn't look mad so that was a start. "Hello, I hope you don't consider me as being rude. However I have something I'm working on." Chris lifted the bird cage up a couple inches then dropped it back down to draw attention to it. "and I would like to-"

Chris stopped suddenly going still enough you could not be entirely sure he was breathing. Why did she have a wriggling bundle? Where the others also collecting specimens? Wait no that's not very probable, no one else would likely see the importance of such endeavors. If it was for food she could let him look it over first though, it would be a shame not to. She can't be mad enough to refuse me without consideration if she is smiling at me. Chris resumed motion after a seconds pause starting with a small, and he hoped charming, smile. "I'm sorry that is a horrible way to introduce oneself. Though we had a slight introduction earlier it is nice to meet you on my own terms." What was that name he had been given? It was Ako that was it. "My name is Ako. It is a pleasure to meet you." Now Ako let his eyes drop from Kimi's to the focus of his true attention, her bundle. "Would that happen to be a speci- an animal you are carrying? Would you mind if I took a look at it?"

 

[Ray C]

"Nimfa? Er, about, um, screaming in your face, this morning, I'm sorry about that. And sorry about what I said."

How infuriating. Nimfa wouldn't look at Bantay; she kept her back to him and her eyes on the fire. She staked her last fish stick into the ground alongside the others, then stared into the fire silently for five seconds. In part, she wanted him to suffer in an awkward silence, but more importantly she needed time to decide how she would answer. It seemed he was indeed penitent, as she couldn't find a lack of sincerity in his words, but that didn't excuse his crimes. Then again, if his crime was words then words should amend, and holding a grudge would be incorrect. Then again again, if Bantay was being insincere, he should not be forgiven. But back to the first again, not accepting his penitence would be improper.

"Just see that it doesn't happen again," Nimfa stated finally. So long as the boy understood he had been wrong, she decided. With that concluded, Nimfa held her hand out to the fire to check the heat. That was when the stillness surrounding her struck Nimfa. Everyone had gone, leaving her alone with the hothead. The fire still gave the occasional pop; leaves rustled in a small breeze; distant, unintelligible voices drifted out from the Hall; a bird sang somewhere in the canopy, soon answered by another. All of this that should have been background noise, and had been up until that moment, echoed loudly in Nimfa's ears. And Bantay was right behind her.

He was not very close, yet he was uncomfortably near. It wasn't at all like the peaceful walk alongside Koero; now Nimfa needed to hear something filling that void. She needed Bantay speaking--so she could track him. "You live on the coast, right? Do you fish much?" She still wasn't looking at him, so she wouldn't see any reaction, but her ears were straining for every detail they might pick up.

 

[Nay'ar]

Tiwala was wandering in the forest, no goal in mind, just a stroll to be alone... ehm... a little search for Kidlat. For how much should she have to pretend? When would be a good time to go back? Should she have to keep up the friendly act or should she just make it clear that she didn't want to be friends with anyone? No, that wasn't an option... they had to cooperate... they had to go on, to fight along side each other.

Bump.

That was her face against a tree. She lost herself in her thoughts and stumbled against one... and hell did it hurt! Tiwala fell on her butt, with her head in her hands "How could I miss a tree in a forest?". The girl looked up at the branches 'As long as I'll be useful to them, they'll treat me as if they need me. They'd even protect me... maybe' she thought with a sad and resigned laugh.

Tiwala got up and started her going back with short, slow steps, taking detours and going around some of the bigger trees. with a bit of luck she wouldn't have met the guy she was searching for, nor would she arrive before him... but in the end... did it really matter?

 

[FiliaFlammae]

Eventually, Kidlat realized he just felt neutral rather than nonspecifically bitter, and by that point, he'd tracked down several more sticks that he hoped were the proper length for Nimfa's fish-cooking project. With this light load in his arms, he turned back towards the hall, and after a minute, the woods gave way to the clearing. "I come bearing sticks!" he announced with a playful grin to the pair by the fire. After another second, he could make out that it was Nimfa and the one swordsman in their group. "Oh, hey, Bantay," he added. "Welcome back." As he came close and dumped his loot next to the fire, he reasoned that Kimi would most likely have returned with Bantay, but there was a distinct lack of people here. Koero had disappeared too, but he noticed Tiwala's absence most of all. His gut lurched slightly in panic at the notion of losing her again. Even though a part of him told himself it was foolish to worry now that the group had returned for lunch, another insisted that he was clearly terrible at his one appointed job, and that just wouldn't do. "Where'd everybody go?" he asked, more to Nimfa than Bantay, but since they were next to each other, the question was open to either of them.

 

[upscalerat]

Nimfa still wouldn't look at him. In fact, done with the fish, she looked into the fire instead, which made Bantay nervous. What were the chances that they had two crazy girls in their group? Or was she just really mad over whatever he'd done? But if she was mad, shouldn't she be yelling? She'd been yelling this morning. But maybe she was trying out that cold sort of anger, where you just got quiet and deadly-

"Just see that it doesn't happen again," she said, drawing Bantay out of his worries. Forgiveness. Nimfa held her hand out to the fire, and Bantay thought about leaving, or returning to Kimi. But when he glanced behind him, she had gone. The yard had just been full, hadn't it? But Kidlat and Kimi and Tiwala and Koero had all left, and Ako was still MIA. Well, that meant making conversation, now that he'd repented for one misstep. But Nimfa beat him to the punch. "You live on the coast, right? Do you fish much?" Bantay opened his mouth to answer, but then stopped. How did Nimfa know that he lived on a coast? Had Kimi told her? When? How did she know?

"No," he said, and blinked in consideration. "How'd you know?" he asked. They were a group; no more fights, he reminded himself. Which meant he wasn't going to grow suspicious about this. Just get right to it. "I don't remember telling anyone but Kimi that I live- coastaly," he said, cutting off before he said California. While it'd seemed fine to tell Kimi, the young man was reluctant to share with Nimfa until he knew how she knew that he was on any coast. But his answer was interrupted by Kidlat's return.

"I come bearing sticks!" he greeted from the woods, and dropped his bounty by the flames. "Oh, hey, Bantay. Welcome back," he greeted, and Bantay mumbed out something akin to a "thanks" or a "hello", and Kidlat asked, "Where'd everybody go?"

"I think Kimi went inside, and I haven't seen Ako yet," he said. "I thought Tiwala went back out with you, before- I think I saw her heading in your general direction." He had to confess that he hadn't been paying very close attention; he was preoccupied with apologies and waiting for singled oppertuities to present themselves. Since Nimfa's came first, he'd sort of forgotten about Tiwala. "And Koero.. Do you know?" he asked, directing the question to Nimfa.