ESE

Tiwala was about to rejoice from the success of her spell when "He said ENOUGH." shouted Kimi, or better 'said' her...well it wasn't really clear what she did, but it really was enough. A sort of blast of wind hit the energy-drained Tiwala who, in order to stand, had to weaken her spell. Her eyes started to throb from fatigue 'Well... it seems that this habit sticks here too...' "All right, Tiwala, you're defeated. Talk." and indeed she had been defeated, at last.

Tiwala sheathed her blade on her back scabbard and dropped herself, sitting on the ground. She was too tired to stand and Bantay's rapier had made her lose the last bit of balance she had. She gazed deeply into his eyes listening to Kidlat talking: "Y'know, if you thought it was a good idea for us to practice on each other, you could've just said so, could've warned us, instead of making yourself out to be a psychopath. Is forming a few words in English really that hard?" Tiwala didn't expect the last sentence... indeed, her japanese origin didn't make it easy to learn english... thinking about it she started to laugh sincerly, she closed her eyes and looked up on the while. "Ahahah... it could be true... who knows" she said winking at him. She then inspired deeply to regain her breath and prepared to talk.

"Down with your rapier, Blondy, I'm not here to kill you all." she smiled at Bantay, lowering his blade with her fingertip. "Four" she said nodding toward Nimfa "Five" added pointing at Koero behind her "And I guess you could call a Six... even if less flashy..." concluded gazing again in Bantay's eyes "We still miss a Seven... but we miss the Seventh as well... don't we?" her expression was now calm and mild putting back on her friendly mask.

"At least now you're able to use some of your Skills knowing how to and, no less important, what their effects are. You can at least defend yourselves now, so some recognition couldn't hurt too much" she rised a knee and put an arm on it, going on: "And to answer your question, Kidlat, would any of you have put in as much effort if you knew it wasn't real? I don't think so, you would have held back, trying not to hurt anyone for the sake of... politeness... I guess. No, you needed the villain, someone willing to make it clear that a pack of sheeps is powerless before a single wolf." she smiled tilting her head "I don't mind being the villain if it gets the job done quickly... well you were so slow though... You made me use almost all my energy up... and it is still this early... I hoped you all would make group against the bad one... but it seems my theory is right after all".

Tiwala sighed, it seemed they couldn't deny her beliefs, her heart tightened as, once again, she tried that strange feeling: half relief, half disappointment. However, she tried to ignore the gloominess, stood up (careful not to make her head spin) massaging her throbbing eyes, and started walking toward the hall. "So... as I am tired, I'll just explore the Guild and as I'm assuming it is a safe ground, I don't think there's reason to split up more than this. We can always contact each other through the inbox on the journal, can't we?" she said calmly as she kept walking, true as it may, she was really tired and somewhat couldn't help but stagger a bit, passing near Kidlat.
 
Kidlat was surprised to hear Tiwala chuckle weakly in response to his quip about speaking plain English. He fidgeted in place as he processed her reply, now nervous. It was entirely possible that English wasn't her first language, and he'd just committed a serious faux pas by implying it should have been second nature to her. He folded his arms behind his back and kept quiet as she spoke, processing every word and every piece of her body language. She did indeed seem genuinely done fighting and willing to reveal all. His expression softened slowly in realization as she made everything clear: she had deliberately been aggressive to scare the others into seriously fighting back and getting to know their skills. It explained a lot, particularly her persistence, her apparent immunity to Kimi's song, and her unwillingness to speak until she'd done what she set out to do. The longer she spoke and the longer Kidlat thought about it, the more brooding his face became. This girl had taken it upon herself to go out and do something this crazy, and it had worked. He'd been had. He'd been fooled and unable to see her true motivations. Not to mention her confident attitude and her accusation that the rest of them were "slow" and it was their fault that she was now burned out... The combination of all these things muddled his thoughts and caused an unpleasant sensation to nestle itself into the pit of his stomach. He was bitter. He was envious. He was a lot of things, but he also had to show Tiwala respect, however grudging that respect may be, for her clever plan. Her crazy plan that had put him into a very poor mood, yes, but her clever plan nonetheless. He dipped his head as she finished and stood up, simultaneously showing respectful understanding and trying to hide his sour expression. His thoughts were still stormy. She was smart all along. Completely nuts, but smart, and I wasn't smart enough to get her. How could this insane chick get the best of all of us? Get the best of me? And here I thought I was intelligent... Have I failed?

But a sudden movement very close by him snapped him from his dark thoughts. Tiwala had brushed past him after standing up, and right at that moment she teetered on her feet, nearly losing her balance. His eyes opened wide as his chivalrous instincts kicked in, and without a second thought, he caught her by the arm before she fell. "You all right?" he asked automatically. His brooding thoughts had been chased from his mind, at least for a precious few moments. Right now there was a girl in his arms that needed to rest.
 
Kimi clasped trembling hands together in front of her and stepped back a piece as Tiwala sat comfortably in the center of attention. The force of the shout had startled her as much as it had startled the others. It was a skill in need of serious practicing; in future she'd prefer it to only affect her target.

"At least now you're able to use some of your Skills knowing how to and, no less important, what their effects are. You can at least defend yourselves now, so some recognition couldn't hurt too much..." Tiwala was saying. "I don't mind being the villain if it gets the job done quickly... well you were so slow though... You made me use almost all my energy up... and it is still this early... I hoped you all would make group against the bad one... but it seems my theory is right after all."

While the girl made sense, something struck a dissonant chord within Kimi. The bold move the ranger had taken had been far more than a quick warm up exercise. It had been incredibly dangerous. Kimi couldn't stop trembling as negative consequences flooded through her mind. "That was a brave, albeit foolish thing to do. We're in a strange land with strange powers we don't fully understand. What if one of our special skills incinerated an enemy? Without knowing how to control our skills, you'd be a pile of ash right now!" Kimi took a deep breath and softened her stern words with a shaky smile. "And that wouldn't have helped us at all. We need you."

She watched Tiwala with concern as she staggered to her feet and mumbled something about exploring the hall. "Why don't you sit..." her words trailed off as the girl stumbled into Kidlat, who caught her easily. Kimi's eyes flashed with approval. Now that is a gentleman.

"So, anyone have another plan of action?" came a voice next to her. Koero. Kimi had quite forgotten the pink-haired female in this whole kerfuffle. "I don't know... maybe we should go exploring outside now?" her inquiring gaze fell naturally on Bantay. She nodded in Kidlat's direction, "I think he's got her handled now and we do have a lone ranger wandering out there somewhere already."
 
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Nimfa moved to join Kimi; she wanted nothing to do with Tiwala right now, though she kept watching the girl to be sure nothing more would happen. Ironic that one of Tiwala's first questions had been, "Is it really that easy to trust somebody"--Rebecca had always trusted people who didn't know her wouldn't attack her, but Tiwala had destroyed even that much for herself. Speaking in low tones that wouldn't reach Tiwala and Kidlat, Nimfa muttered her own opinion of the matter. "It wasn't brave, it was stupid. I don't even know we need me, let alone her. What I definitely don't need is an arrow in my back."

Nimfa slowly pulled in a deep breath, then released it along with what tension she could discard. She turned to face Kimi and Koero, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Normally she kept those thoughts to herself; saying them aloud was wrong. She looked a little bashful as she apologized to the two. "Sorry. I'm not sure what to think of any of this right now, and adding more chaos isn't helpful. I need to clear my head. Kidlat!" Nimfa called, raising her voice to reach through the door. "You suggested we break into teams, right? I can see a mountain peak rising east of here, so I'll take Kimi and Koero that way. We'll mark our trail to be sure we can find our way back. Is that alright with you two?" Nimfa asked politely--though it would have been more polite to ask before saying it.
 
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Koreo's head snapped back up in attention when someone actually answered her question. Kimi's soft spoken voice answered her question "I don't know... maybe we should go exploring outside now?" Koreo nodded. "I think that's a good idea actually, maybe the others should try and find our other guild mate?" She asked and pulled at her hair nervously. She didn't know how she felt about the others, especially Tiwala. She listened to Nimfa apologize and smiled softly. "Well Nimfa it's okay, we all seem a little out of it, you can't expect us to just all get along right away." She said with a small smile. When Nimfa suggested She, Koero, and Kimi go out and explore, Koero's heart almost jumped out of her chest at being included and actually getting to go explore. "It's quite alright with me, how about you Kimi?" She asked the other girl.

Koreo walked over to her spear that was still stuck in the ground and with a quick pulling motion it ripped out of the grass and back into her hands. She walked back over to Nimfa. "Lead the way Nimfa, I'll follow you." She said with a slight smile. Koero pulled her hair back and sighed. "Jeez I wish i had a ponytail or something.. this hair is crazy long." She said with a puff as the pink bangs flew up and fluttered back down into her face. She sighed and ran her fingers though her hair again as she waited to follow Kimi and Nimfa.
 
Stunned was the best word that Batnay could use to describe it. Tiwala's explanation for her attack had truly daxed him for a few moments, and possibly even more effectively than the sideblast from Kimi's shout had done. When Kimi asked him, "Maybe we should go exploring outside now?" the swordsman nodded. He half listened to Nimfa's muttered thoughts and silently agreed, and realized that Koero would be in the group exploring. He, however, was still looking at Kidlat and Tiwala. There was a rage boiling up in him and now that Kimi wasn't playing them a song to calm down, he could get angry this time.

"You're kidding, right?" he finally snapped in the stumbled girl's direction. (Part of him wondered if her timing there wasn't just to elicit sympathy, or if it was truly an accident that she stumbled at Kidlat, who had proven again to be the chivalrous member of their band. Anger made him doubt the legitimacy of the action.) "I mean- do you really think that you just played some big damn hero for us all, by forcing us to use our skills? You idiot. We were going to do that, anyways! My god- that's the only thing we have to do today! So- great for you! You got a big freaking head start on it! Congratulations, want a damn medal or something?" He spat. Bantay slammed his rapier into the ground, if only to prove that he wasn't going to attack his guildmate. "Great, you're impatient, wanted us to learn fast. And now you're exhausted, useless for the rest of the day, and blaming it on us for that? You didn't help us learn our skills. You made us all lose the ability to trust you." A scowl had worked its way onto the young man's face. "Don't you go thinkin' that just because you can think up some half-arsed reason for why you think it's okay to attack someone means that you're off the hook," Bantay added, completely glaring at the girl now. Who did she think she was, forcing them into that? They'd had a plan- explore, find out where to practice, and practice- and she ruined that- because she wanted a head start? She risked injury to all of them, he reminded himself, to make it a more real experience. He wasn't going to accept that. Not from someone that he would apparently be fighting with in the future. 'Or, hopefully, not,' he added, internally.

While he would have, in other circumstances, possibly turned to the rest of the girls behind him, and informed them that he would join them after this was taken care of if they didn't want to stay, now Bantay was too worried that exposing his back would mean another attack. If Tiwala was so low as to attack, unprovoked, for learning, then who was to say she wasn't so low as to feign fatigue to land in another hit?
 
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Kimi sighed and hugged her flute to her chest, staring down at the hemline of her Marie Antoinette-esque gown. Just like that, everyone was drifting apart again. Anger, confusion, and feelings of betrayal muddied the air, making it hard for the minstrel to breathe. She did have to admit she was a bit piqued at Tiwala as well, but she was also willing to transcend those feelings to build a bridge of understanding. Maybe not right now, but sometime soon they needed to learn teamwork if they were going to do anything about those darkness beasts.

"You suggested we break into teams, right? I can see a mountain peak rising east of here, so I'll take Kimi and Koero that way. We'll mark our trail to be sure we can find our way back. Is that alright with you two?"

The winged one glanced from Nimfa to Koero to Bantay. Nimfa had left him out, but after his outburst Kimi felt sure he needed a vigorous walk to clear his head also. Maybe my music can do something. She addressed the group, "If Koero is willing to go with Nimfa, maybe Bantay and I can explore another direction, and Kidlat can keep an eye on Tiwala." She gave Kidlat a meaningful look. And if she decides to go for round two, he can teleport to safety and send a warning message. But that was better left unsaid.
 
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Bantay should have been worried about the attack from the other direction. Nimfa stepped right in front of him, her hand already cutting through the air. The slap connected with his cheek hard--hard enough that the sound scared several birds from their perches. She was absolutely livid: her face was beet red and her shoulders were trembling. She didn't say anything until she was sure she wouldn't scream it in his face. "Wash. Your. Mouth," Nimfa ordered through clenched teeth. Even if it was Nimfa's soft face, it was Rebecca behind it; her glare didn't leave his face, nor would it before he apologized. Wubber climbed to her shoulder and began simmering, apparently as steaming mad as his mistress.
 
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It sounded like the three other girls--Oh, Koero's back, he noticed--were ready to return to their plan to split up and work on their map. Bantay, however, was not finished, and as he launched into a tirade, Kidlat's thoughts grew conflicted once again. Every word Bantay said was something a part of Kidlat had desperately wanted to say himself. Sure Tiwala had succeeded in getting everyone on the defensive and using their skills sooner, but she had not only wasted much of her own energy in doing so, which was stupid in his opinion, but made an enemy of most of the rest of the guild and cast herself as some bizarre sort of martyr besides. Kidlat hated false martyrdom. But despite these negative thoughts, another part of Kidlat's mind wanted to tell Bantay off for being so aggressive. Weirdo that Tiwala was, poor decisions that she had made, at the moment she was a tired girl in need of a bit of peace and quiet, not an overzealous warning lecture. These two opposing views were at war in his head, so he kept silent. He supported Tiwala's weight firmly, though. That much he felt obligated to do.

"If Koero is willing to go with Nimfa, maybe Bantay and I can explore another direction, and Kidlat can keep an eye on Tiwala," Kimi had just said, casting him a firm look. He met her gaze and gave a salute to show he understood. If that's to be my duty, I'll carry it out, he thought. Whatever's most beneficial to us as a group. Of course, that leaves me sitting around watching Crazy Lady and unable to practice my skills much... Meh... But he was shaken from that thought by a loud slap close by. He flinched from the noise and saw a peeved Nimfa giving Bantay what-for about his choice of language, as far as Kidlat could tell. "Remind me never to channel my inner sailor around you, sweet," he muttered, mostly to himself. In any case, he still had Tiwala by the arm. Yes, he was bitter that he would have to wait a while before learning to fight properly, but a duty was a duty. He moved Tiwala's arm so that it draped across his shoulders and then leaned his face towards hers, his voice hushed but his expression hard. He wanted her to know that he cared enough as her guildmate to be sure she rested up, but he wouldn't take any more nonsense. "Shall we sit you down at the table? Or would you rather we explore the hall and find our beds?"
 
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"You all right?" Had asked Kidlat helping her keep her balance while the blonde one started lecturing "I mean- do you really think that you just played some big damn hero for us all, by forcing us to use our skills? You idiot. We were going to do that, anyways! My god- that's the only thing we have to do today! So- great for you! You got a big freaking head start on it! Congratulations, want a damn medal or something?" she was a bit ticked off... he really didn't understood her point then...
"At best, I have 'played some big damn' villain, Blondy" she said paraphrasing his words "Secondly, I did get the job done... you still don't seem to understand the point... I'll clarify it once more for you all... but don't expect me to do it a second time" her gray eyes were cold now, she even forgot Kidlat was holding her up.

"First: that arrow would have NEVER hit Kimi" she stated gazing into Kimi's eyes to make sure she understood her point "Second: I kept my blade backward, the best I could do to Kidlat was a bruise and I knew he would evade it somehow, he did mention he went for a Rough build. Third: my magic is not an offensive one it wouldn't have hurt ANY of you." her eyes were burning now "Forth: what if searching for a practice place you met one or more of those Beasts? Would you have told them too 'Wait, we're searchin' for a practice place pal, would you wait 'till we can fight you?' because I'm not too sure it would have accepted the request." she had slistened to all his nagging "You made us all lose the ability to trust you." she smiled sadly at that remark 'I'm sorry, it's High time you learn that trust just betrays you, in the end' she thought to herself; as she was about to answer that as well a slap connected to Bantay's cheeck... surprisingly enough it was Nimfa who wasn't so happy about his word choice, so Tiwala shut up.

She ignored their decision to split up even more 'It's their choice, not mine' and focused again on Kidlat who was appointed her guardian (maybe better said jailer), for the time being. She massaged her eyes again as Kidlat's voice, too near for her standards, spoke softly "Shall we sit you down at the table? Or would you rather we explore the hall and find our beds?" she strived to control herself. Her Japanese self, would have blushed to death, her betrayed self would have shoven him away without too much delicacy, she opted for some sarcasm and a sweetened verion of the latter.
"What are you implying, Kidlat?" she answered so that just Kidlat could hear, blushing lightly and averting her gaze. She gave him the right reaction time, than gently pulled his arm and help away, with a soft laughter. "I can manage, thank you. I'm not in that much need of help, I'll just take a chair under the sun and watch you train... better said: I'll take a chair under the sun and place it in a spot you'll be able to oversee while you train." she smiled at him "Because everything about you is screaming it wants to train" concluded winking again.

She then finished freeing herself from his help, and went to fetch a chair, slow and carefully, squinting her still throbbing eyes and grazing absentmindedly the spot on her wrist in which should have been her scar. She already knew it wouldn't be there, but that habit hit her again... and she let it hit, without fighting back, as it reminded her of her cloudy past and all the rumors born in Arata from it as well as her principle: don't trust.
 
"Hey!" Bantay yelped, and stepped back from the livid Nimfa. "What's your problem? Tiwala's the one that attacked us, and I'm the one calling her out for her bull-" He caught himself; the slap was harder than Aria's had been, in comparison. Or maybe because it wasn't a mere memory, and because Nimfa clearly wouldn't have reduced the pain, even if she could have. "We've all been exposed to those naughty words before, Mom. Well, except for Tiwala, maybe," he added, and the swordsman's glare slipped back to the tired girl. "With her can't-trust-no-one spiel, she must be eleven, no one else is so melodramatic" he concluded. "And another thing- if you ain't noticed, Aria wants us to do- something- for her, she wouldn't have put us in the middle of a pack of monsters, and how far do you really think the training grounds are? And did you not notice the abundance of trees around that would have served just as well?" Much as Bantay was more careful now not to swear, at least not while Nimfa was near, he was still prepared to put off dealing with her until he was satisfied about the situation with Tiwala. The others may have been prepared to leave her- and really, he couldn't blame them all too much- but he had to see this through to something closer to an end.
 
Ah, jeez... Kidlat hadn't meant "find our beds" to come out quite like that. But he couldn't help but emit a sultry chuckle at that insinuation. "Not what you seemed to think I was, I assure you," he teased. "I'm waiting until I'm eighteen, but thanks for the interest." Fortunately she laughed at this, though he couldn't tell if it was more genuine amusement or more embarrassment, and pulled away from him. He was willing to give her space if she could stand and walk on her own, but when she she'd "take a chair under the sun" to watch him practice alone, his expression soured. "Oh, I'm not so sure you deserve to be treating yourself to some sunbathing," he said, keeping pace close behind her as she walked. "In case we haven't rammed it through your skull yet, we don't exactly agree with you on how valuable your antics were back there. Although I must admit you eventually had a point with Number Four, as long as you took to finally get there and spit it out. Getting us ready to fight before leaving the Guild Hall, just in case the worst should happen, was...arguably playing it as safe as possible. I respect that." He looked pointedly over his shoulder at Bantay, who still sounded irate. If pressed, Kidlat would have had to agree with him that he considered the chances of them getting ambushed and put in serious danger so quickly was quite low, but it was still a chance, and thus, Tiwala did still technically have a point. He looked back to her to see her struggling with one of the chairs from the main table. "Ah, let me get that for you..." He hurried to ease the chair from her grip. "Just know that I'm not a fan of you copping yourself out of more teamwork by wearing yourself out and then blaming us for being 'slow.' And be grateful that I'd rather be outside too than cooped up in the hall somewhere."
 
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Kimi's eyes grew wider and wider with each passing comment. Not from the heated arguments everyone rephrased over and over again, nor from Nimfa's uncharacteristic slap, but from the quips about age. Eleven? Not until he was eighteen? Just how old were her guild mates? It never occurred to her to think about it before. Kidlat, whom she had looked up to as mature and responsible, was not even eighteen? It was hard to believe. Blonde ringlets tumbled over her shoulders at the shake of her head. Age doesn't matter, she told herself firmly. Only abilities and attitude. And right now her ability to chime in as a voice of reason amidst the vocal storm was rapidly depleting.

The winged one took a few steps back and quietly excused herself from the group. Tip-toeing into the trees with nothing but the rustle of her skirts drawing attention to herself, she found a tree root to sit on and sunk wearily to her rump and leaned back against the tree trunk with a wing stretched out on either side of her. "To sit in the shade on a fine day is the most perfect refreshment," she murmured with a soft smile and a sigh. Indeed, the spot she had chosen was nearly perfect. Her guild mates were near enough to distinguish, but far enough away to tune out and soak in the tranquil energy of the surrounding forest.

Let them bicker if they wish. Perhaps they'll be willing to work after their anger has abated. She sincerely hoped so.
 
If the trees are so great, why aren't you practicing on them already? If the training grounds aren't far, shouldn't you be there already? If Tiwala's single melodramatic phrase makes her eleven, does your constant stream of whining make you six? Nimfa bit her tongue to keep the words back. She wasn't going to join Bantay in being a stupid hypocrite. Kimi had the right approach here.

"Koero, let's go," Nimfa commanded, turning away and now ignoring Bantay completely. "We should be able to reach the summit in two hours, so we'll be there before noon." They left before anything else could interrupt.

Nimfa stewed in angry silence for several long minutes. Wubber perched on her shoulder, similarly steaming. Except that Wubber's steaming was quite literal, and it was escalating quickly. When it was finally enough to draw Nimfa's attention, Wubber was nothing more than a tennis ball; in another few seconds, he was gone.

"I guess, since he was magical, he could only live so long," Nimfa lamented. She frowned a little frown at the empty space on her shoulder, then sighed. "I think I can bring him back, as long as I use the same spell. Koero, what Skills did you pick?" Nimfa asked suddenly. Saying it aloud, it sounded rather silly as a conversation starter. Still, it was probably the most relevant topic they could both talk about.
 
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Koero was chuckling to herself and her eyes glanced from Timfa to Kidlat back to Nimfa and then ending on Bantay. She wasn't sure why they had all started fighting, was it the clashing personalities that seemed to argue and fuel the fighting between the guild mates? Koero looked around the room again and noticed the doors that led to the bunks she guessed. She hadn't had much time to explore the guild hall like Aria had interacted them to do, though she had explored her skills, so she guessed she had spent her time wisely, and not fighting. At least none of the people here had a reason to hate her really.

"Koero, let's go," Nimfa commanded her quickly, and like a good soldier follows a general she followed Nimfa, out the guild door. They left quickly and they left she saw Kimi outside. She gave her guild mate a smile but remained silent as she followed the steaming Nimfa. As they made their way Koero noticed the little ball of Wubber disappearing into thin air. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out, and Nimfa noticed anyway. As the little ball disappeared entirely Koero actually did feel a little pang of sadness but it washed away as quickly as it came.

"I guess, since he was magical, he could only live so long," Nimfa finally spoke and spoke to her. "I'm sure he'll be back" She said quietly. "I think I can bring him back, as long as I use the same spell. Koero, what Skills did you pick?" Koero had to stop for a second, as she was taken back that someone was actually talking to her. "Uh my skills? Oh I picked Enchant Ice, Summon Ice, Evoke Ice, Hiding, and Acrobatics. And I guess my special skill is called Attraction," She said as calmly as she could, though her heart beat quickened with every word she spoke. "And you? Well besides your ball of animated water.." She added softly. The scenery around them seemed peaceful for once and the trees covered her view to the bright blue sky above.
 
Tiwala ignored Bantay's reprimand on her age and listened to his nagging until the end: "If you ain't noticed, Aria wants us to do- something- for her, she wouldn't have put us in the middle of a pack of monsters, and how far do you really think the training grounds are? And did you not notice the abundance of trees around that would have served just as well?" she answered with earnest voice:
"I heard what Aria said. And I remember her saying that Darkness Beasts were roaming freely in ESE, meaning she wouldn't know if this was a safe ground or not." She turned her back to the blonde one and went getting the said chair (founding it a little difficult to do as she was more tired than she thought and those chairs were really heavy as they were made of solid wood) listening to Kidlat's point not helping smiling unseen, from his admission of respect.

As she was fighting to get one, Kidlat came to her rescue: "Ah, let me get that for you..." she hadn't time to refuse that he already had it in his hands... he could be so pushy sometime "Just know that I'm not a fan of you copping yourself out of more teamwork by wearing yourself out and then blaming us for being 'slow.' And be grateful that I'd rather be outside too than cooped up in the hall somewhere." there he was again, trying to put up with her, fighting himself to be kind to her even if he was a pack-loving one; she never understood that way of dealing with people... 'liar, you knew what it meant too well, you just decided it wasn't worth the effort' she just thought. A sad smile painted on her face as she put a finger on his lips and said "Well then... what a coincidence you do... lucky me, Kidlat" she let her arm fall on her side, waiting for him to take the chair wherever he wanted to.
 
Something dark flickered through Tiwala's mind; Kidlat could read that much in her facial expression, though he couldn't tell any details. But what he didn't expect in the slightest was for this girl to give him a soft look like that and put her finger to his lips. A heat rose in his belly unbidden from the intimate touch and the way she called herself lucky (again). Sure, he knew she only meant to confirm that yes, she felt fortunate he was willing to let her sit outside, but something in his brain couldn't help but associate it with his presence as well...that she felt lucky to be around him. After a second he managed to shake himself from the trance and begin to walk outside, his grip on the chair strong and his face once again firm, but a dust of pink on his cheeks betrayed his inner tumult. Flirty though he knew he was, he hadn't ever met a girl whose response had seemed so blatant. He already missed the feeling of her delicate finger against his mouth, but he would never have admitted that. "You're a strange one," he said. "So sure of yourself. And yet so...unorthodox." He hesitated before continuing, his eyes on hers. "I'm not sure if I like that or not." He looked in front of himself once more as he walked, and after a few more seconds, he set the chair down near the edge of the clearing in front of the hall, somewhat near the trees but still in the sun. He shuffled it carefully in place to be sure it was secure on the uneven ground. "There. Sit your butt down and let's not have any more trouble." He strode forward a few paces and slipped his dagger from its sheath.

At last he felt as if he were truly on his own. He was in the shadows of the trees, a weapon in hand. He felt a cool, mysterious, dangerous thrill begin to course through him. He imagined a Darkness Beast in front of him as best he could, and trying his hardest not to think about looking ridiculous in front of Tiwala, he began to cut at the air in front of him. He tried a few different ways to grip the knife in his hand and noted the different attacks he could comfortably execute with each one. Unlike Tiwala's knife, which had looked more like a single-edged hunting knife than anything else, Kidlat's chosen weapon was a classic symmetrical dagger, sharp on both sides. Between the three holds that felt remotely comfortable, one was a sword-hold that just didn't feel right for such a small weapon, one was a loose hold that seemed better suited for throwing the knife than for granting any significant grip or stability, and one was a backhand fist hold that made him think of psycho killers. However, if he ignored that mental image, he determined that he could make both a fore and back horizontal cut with this hold as well as easily plunge it into an enemy if he stabilized the hilt with the palm of his free hand. Overall, this hold felt right. It was flexible. He kept at this for a while, making cuts from a variety of positions and sidestepping imaginary attacks.
 
"Trident, Swimming, and all three Water magics." Nimfa was going to stop there, but something was pushing her to say more. She felt a connection with Koero--maybe because of the similarity between their skills--so Nimfa wanted to explain herself. "When I picked Skills... No, even before I woke up here, I kept seeing the beach back home. My hair caught on to that, it seems, though it feels a little silly having blue hair." A small smile lit Nimfa's face. She looked down for just long enough to kick a pair of rocks against a tree trunk, then she faced ahead again.

"Earlier..." Nimfa began hesitantly. "What were you thinking, may I ask? When Tiwala started the fight, and when Bantay tried to goad her into another one." Nimfa had a hundred things she wanted to say about it, but she wasn't comfortable. Not unless Koero said something first. If Koero didn't want to talk about it, Nimfa wouldn't say anything either.
 
Koero smiled, for what seemed like the first time, since she had arrived here. "I feel you on the whole hair thing. Though I'm not sure why my hair is pink when most of my powers are ice and hiding." She said, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "I think it has something to do with my special skill, attraction, that makes people fall in love with me" She said as she thought over as she remembered reading over the skills while the others fought. "I choose my skills to play to my strong points. I'm sort of a wall flower back home." She said softly. "I feel a calming sensation in the cold, ice is harsh and protective. I guess that's why I feel sorta.. drawn to it."

"What was I thinking..?" She asked. Her silence surrounded her and she hesitated for a moment before she opened her mouth to reply. "Honestly? I think it was childish. Why are we wasting so much time fighting with each other when we should be focusing on the task ahead of us and what Aria asked of us. The fact is that now we're all on edge and the group is already choosing sides. We should all be working together, I mean we did just got thrown into a weird dream video game but we need to focus..." She said and then stopped, her opinion had never been asked before and her voice dropped. "I mean.. that's just what I think, but I don't know much about making friends" She said as she kept walking, using her spear as a walking stick.
 
"I heard what Aria said. And I remember her saying that Darkness Beasts were roaming freely in ESE, meaning she wouldn't know if this was a safe ground or not."

With a grumble, Bantay just shook his head. This arguing was clearly getting no where. The group had already split up- Koero and Nimfa went out, and Kimi had slipped off earlier as well; Ako had left, at some point, and who could have known where he was? And Tiwala and Kidlat were going to stay near by. Bantay considered these options: no hope of finding Ako left Tiwala and Kidlat, Koero and Nimfa, and Kimi as his options. Staying here would undoubtedly result in him starting more fights, and seeking out Nimfa and Koero would likely cause the same. That left finding Kimi, and hoping she wouldn't have minded too much that he'd blown his fuse. Not that Bantay felt ashamed- by no stretch did he feel anything other than justified. But this was a dead end, and maybe with Kimi he'd be able to pick up some humility.

Turning towards the trees, Bantay started looking- and also walking. He hadn't seen where exactly Kimi had gone, what with his back towards her, but the quicker Bantay started walking, the sooner he could calm down. And there was a patch of light that looked particularly bright over that away... Getting a bit closer let the swordsman see that it was, in fact, his guildmate. He walked closer, and spoke loud enough for her to hear, but not so loud as to be shouting.

"Hey, uh, mind if I join you? If I stick by them," he nodded back to Tiwala and Kidlat, "I'll get into another fight, and that won't get anywhere... If I seek out Nimfa and Koero, I also risk another fight. And between you and Ako, I think I like you, more."
 
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