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These are mostly still in development. They are based in Mexican fauna so far. Ocelot, Manatee, Pangolin, Xoloitzcuintle, Quetzal, Vulture.

She’d never seen a market so lively before! A few here and there along her travels, but something about the atmosphere here felt distinctly more “more-y” to Pyrrha. Her shopping had been pretty light overall, just some extra arrows to stock up with, a single apple to snack on as she explored, and she was on the search for a nice new bow as well. Out the corner of her eye though, something else caught her attention. Or, as she soon learned, someone else. It was Reinaan! And he was… incredibly shiny! Pyrrha could practically see her reflection on his scales! “Heeey!” Making her way over to her fellow Chosen, Pyrrha couldn’t help but give him a look over again. She’d already done this when they first met at the tower, but just the newfound shine of his scales was such a huge difference. “Your scales are super-shiny,” she commented, even if it was pretty obvious. With enthusiasm and clear interest, the Chosen of Wind asked, “What happened?” "Huh?" Reinaan started, not immediately recognizing the voice that had addressed him. Pyrrha's figure came into view soon after he shifted to face her. A brief irritation flashed across his face but all she wanted to know about was his scales. They were having the intended effect and even if it was the new Wind Chosen talking it still felt good. "There was some guy selling polish for it and figured I'd give it a try." he said, his chest puffing a bit. “It looks great!” It was tempting to touch them. If they were super-shiny, perhaps they were also super-smooth? But that would be a bit much for somebody she’d only just met earlier today. “It kind of makes me wish I had scales too. You definitely got your money’s worth.” I wonder if skin can be polished like that? ...probably not. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you’d be able to glow in the dark like that.” "If I had more white scales maybe…" the Draken trailed off in response. Her energy had him uncertain how to proceed. In part it reminded him of Gilly who was no longer with them which added a somber note to things. But more than that it made it difficult to keep his suspicions about her in the forefront of his mind. "...So, you're not gonna like ask about me or anything? Would have thought the Council would pay pretty nicely for a direct info source like you" he said, trying to be serious in hopes the girl would reveal her true colors if he pressed her enough. “Mmm? Why would I do that?” Glancing around to the other people going to and fro in the market, Pyrrha continued “I mean, I’m curious about all of you, but it’s the same as any of the regular old adventurer groups I used to travel with. What’s Keres’s favorite food? What does Lindow do on his downtime? Are you good at sports? I’m more curious about those kinds of questions than anything to do with Chosen business. Though I have to admit, I’m a bit more curious about you in particular, but that’s because I’ve never met a draken before today.” Pyrrha paused for a bit, to think about that last comment. “Okay, I’ve seen some, but those templars are all so stiff and antisocial. I’ve never really spoken with a draken before, I should say.” "I guess… I haven't ever really seen an elf before either." Reinaan said after some thought. As much as he wanted to keep up this insidious narrative about the council going, Pyrrha seemed to be playing no real part in it. He let out a sigh through his nostrils for a moment before speaking again. "I never did introduce myself. Reinaan Malyol, a fire Draken from Blagos." came the late introduction. He could only think of how he was going to regret trying to show any trust to this obvious council spy. But it seemed unfair to presume she couldn't be trusted just because of the circumstances. “Pyrrha Varan, a regular old elf from Bresa. N, Not literally old mind you. Pleased to meet you.” Pyrrha held out her hand. All in all, Reinaan seemed like a pretty okay guy. And shiny. She really couldn’t get her attention off just how well that polish guy did. Maybe now she’d get to find out if shiny meant smooth. The Fire Chosen still wasn't incredibly used to the idea of handshakes but saw the elf's extended hand and so awkwardly raised his own to grasp it. It still surprised him how soft skin was and he couldn't think how these creatures got by without scales. Even armor couldn't cover their whole body. "What's old for an elf anyway?" Reinaan questioned out of honest curiosity. “Uhhh… you might have to ask a different elf.” Rubbing the back of her head, Pyrrha answered with only a small twinge of regret, “I grew up mostly around humans; the only other elves I knew were my family, so I don’t actually know that much about elf stuff.” Adventure stuff? Sure. City guard stuff? Absolutely! But elf stuff? Not really Pyrrha’s field of expertise, ironically enough. “What about you? Was it mostly draken when you were growing up, or were there lots of humans too?” "Oh yeah, I lived in a village of just Draken. The Elders don't much trust humans though we do occasionally do some business with them. I'd never been to a human town before all this Chosen stuff." For having been so suspicious before he wasn't struggling to share information now. "I've seen so many people in the last few weeks it makes the last forty eight years seem kinda empty when I think about it." Reinaan pondered aloud. Forty-eight. He’s older than me. By quite a bit at that! “I see. The way I heard it as a little girl, elves have the same problem. Pretty sure that’s why mom & pop left home to go to Bresa. They were tired of the stuck-up attitudes or something.” As Pyrrha looked around at the nearby shops, she found it. The item she’d longed for! A better bow. “Did you buy anything else around town, or was it just the nice polish job?” she asked, heading for the spot where the precious weapon was being sold. "Yeah I got a weapon and this amulet thing from some guy selling magic stuff" he said pointing to the necklace which made up the only article of anything on his body. The girl seemed captivated by something and he started walking with her, dragging Kloqah along slowly behind them. "Sounds like you haven't made the rounds yet." “I picked up a snack while I was looking around, and also stocked up on some more arrows. But what I was really looking for was something like this.” Pyrrha picked up the bow. Not too heavy. String seemed sturdy. Flexible enough. And certainly higher quality than the old wooden bow she’d been carrying around for the last three years. It was perfect! Pyrrha talked prices with the owner for a bit, before paying the appropriate sum and holding the new bow at various angles, adjusting to the weight. It was certainly a bit heavier than her old one, but she could adjust. “I’ve been trying not to spend too much, see. I’d feel bad digging into the funds of people I only just met today and all.” "I'm sure you'll have a chance to earn some of it yourself before too long." Reinaan said wondering when the next misfortune might befall the group. This town didn't seem to be in immediate danger like the desert village but given the bees on their way here he could only imagine what might be coming for them the moment they left. “Here’s hoping. We should probably start looking for the others, come to think of it. I’ve got a sharp eye, so with my skill at finding people and your shiny scales being so nice-looking and good at getting attention, finding them will be easy! Let’s go.”

Atavistic Morph [Quick-Play Spell] Target 1 Effect Monster on the field; send it the GY, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Normal Monster from your Deck to the side of the field the monster was sent from, whose ATK is equal to or lower than the sent monster's ATK. You can activate 1 "Atavistic Morph" once per turn. Concept:

Chop, DICE, Mince! [Normal Spell] Destroy 1 monster you control then roll a six-sided die, Special Summon a number of "Mince Meat Tokens" (Zombie/ DARK / Level 1 / ATK ?/ DEF 0) (When Summoned, their ATK become equal to half the original ATK of the destroyed monster.) , equal to the result, anywhere on the field. These Tokens cannot be used as Link Material for a Link Summon. You can only activate 1 "Chop, DICE, Mince!" per turn. Concept

Perched on the chimney of the building, Link recalled that he very much enjoyed heights. Being this high in the air reminded him of the trees he would climb as a child. The wind on your face, the view (speaking of which, from here, he could look down on the group), it all brought a certain freedom with it he wasn’t able to find anywhere else. Ilia hated it; she was always scared he was going to fall, but he used to joke that his parents must have been monkeys, because he had never met anyone who could climb as well as he could. Which is what made it all the more strange when, as he slid into the chimney, he lost his grip. Without a perch to hold onto he plummeted the remaining eight feet and crashed into the ground, hard, unable to prevent the groan of pain that escaped. He was black from head-to-toe thanks to the soot. Strangely enough, he didn’t feel any pain. He wiggled his left leg; not broken. Right leg? Still good. Right arm? Functional but stiff. Left arm? There it was. Link silently cursed. His left arm was bent at an unnatural angle, to such a degree that he could have waved at someone standing behind him. Fantastic. In front of him, Catriona pivoted on her heel and grabbed for the hilt of her sword, but she froze as soon as she saw it was him. Great. Link pulled himself to a standing position with his good arm before the shock could wear off. His left arm dangled at his side awkwardly. “...” he coughed. A cloud of black erupted from his hand, apparently soot that had gotten into his mouth. “Present, your Majesty,” he said, bowing low and resting his right fist on top of his heart. He would have started his report after that… except for the fact that there was a boy in the room, asleep. Maybe there wasn’t a spy. Maybe it wasn’t all planned. Maybe the universe was just out to get him.

Aloha~

As Kelsey had seemed to cool off, Stella was then jolted to a more stiff and alert posture as she heard the voice of the vice principal. Seeing the woman up close now, the intimidating aura that she had shown earlier was certainly on much fuller display before her. While the woman didn't actually seem to be lecturing them, as thankfully Kelsey had backed off, it made Stella wary of what would happen if they did get into one. All the same, as the woman mentioned the situation with rooming, Stella simply nodded her head and said, "thank you ma'am. We won't." With that done, the girl looked to the others, as Vivian had mentioned getting to Stella's room the girl simply nodded. "Yeah, let's see if we can't find out where we're staying." Stella was currently in a mood to be anywhere but here. She was never a party kind of person and the longer that she had stayed here not partying the more awkward she began to feel. Couple that with her torn bag, and that while the new girl Vivian had seemed to be nice and meant no ill will, Stella still felt decidedly uncomfortable around her. Thankfully, this was only going to have to last until she had gotten to her room, and then she would be able to hide in there for the time being. "Oh..." Was all that came out of Stella's mouth at the realization upon leaving the party. Her tone was at once defeated and resigned to her fate, as she had found that the overly enthusiastic girl that was helping carry her stuff was indeed roommates. She had been informed that the selection process had been random, and thus she hadn't expected to actually be roomed with Kelsey. Though it was a bit of a bitter realization, it was one she could accept as there was only currently one person she knew of that she was uncomfortable with the idea of being roommates with. And as fate would have it, in all of its all too common practical jokes, that would be her roommate for the time being. "Well uh, what are the odds, right?" After saying that to her now roommate she said, "guess we should head over and check it out then, right?" Looking to Kelsey, she asked, "want to come with?" Stella, figured that Kelsey would rather go look for her own room and roommate at the moment, and that she also probably hadn't cooled off entirely from earlier with the girl, yet Stella herself didn't want to be left to her own devices just yet.

Just watched Far From Home and loved it. There's so many amazing Spider-Man things coming out these days and it makes me kinda emotional because I've loved Spider-Man since I was a kid. More than any other superhero.

Bonus point and rep for the biology reference. It looks like a nasty card, too. It may be a -1 in a vacuum when targeting an opponent's monster, but it's effectively an effect negation, and thus not too different to, let's say, Effect Veiler, and possibly ED disruption if the opponent needed the monster as material for an specific or semi-generic ED Summon. I like how this card can make use of extra Normals in Deck with Rescue Rabbit and I guess Brilliant Fusion as well. And of course it ought to be a decent card to run in decks that run Normals aside of Rabbit plays.

Reinaan simply nodded as Keres stated her relationship to Hannah. The woman had apparently been her teacher at the mage tower in the past and young Keres didn't appreciate her particular teaching style. He would keep it in mind for if they ever encountered her again. He didn't want the Water Chosen to have to talk to her anymore than she wanted to. He strongly doubted the council mages were more forgiving of behavior they deemed inappropriate than his fellow Draken had been with him. The boy's thoughts were interrupted by Hannah assaulting Lindow and holding him down to the ground. That she had this much force was astounding. But before Reinaan could process the information and ready to attack the woman she left with her guard. With many questions still in the air after the encounter, the Draken ultimately agreed with Lindow's urging them to get inside the town. The Fire Chosen was met with a scene he'd never really encountered before. There were so many humans all in one place, and so many different stores to go about and purchase things. Reinaan understood how purchasing things functioned but his experience was severely lacking. What deals his village had had with the nearest human settlement had been seen to by a select few of the stronger, older men and as such it was a duty that was never expected to fall to him given his stature. Still that wasn't going to stop him from getting some really cool equipment while he was here. He grabbed a hearty share of the party's gold, uncertain as to how much he would need. Lindow had moved off quickly to check over all the stores, a plan of action he intended to follow. Ryia had graciously offered to go food shopping for the group. With any luck the new Wind Chosen would accompany her. The boy didn't really want to leave her alone but also certainly didn't want to be the one left with her. He relocated some of what Kloqah had been hauling to the mule to prepare for his new purchases and began leading the mount through town. The young Draken had been initially uncertain how to act in this larger human settlement, but he soon found it to be quite like moving through the smaller ones. There were many more people and things to catch his eye true, but few people seemed to think anything of his or Kloqah's being there. Some looked twice briefly, no doubt used to any Draken in town being covered in Templar armor, but to them he was simply just another member of the crowd. It felt almost relieving. But then it got frustrating as he wanted to stand out. He wanted people to see him and be impressed. No doubt he'd need the extra foot to make it a reality. Reinaan's first thought was a new weapon. His trusty spear had held up thus far but memories of the undead creatures snapping through javelins in the underground made him think it necessary to get something a bit stronger. He was feeling stronger now too so the idea of a weapon with more heft and weight to it sounded appealing. His eyes took him to an impressive looking store lined with an arrangement of different bladed tools. With his experience being mostly in spears, he ignored the sword display and took a moment to chuckle to himself over guessing how many swords Lindow would return to the group with. An image of the Thunder Chosen unable to move due to the sheer number of blades falling off of him was amusing to say the least. But eventually his search brought him to pole arms. In particular the halberds caught his attention. The were something of a spear and an ax. They seemed longer and heavier than his spear which brought with it the feeling of being more sturdy as well. "I see you got yer eyes on my halberds." the store owner said from his seat. Reinaan nodded before the man pointed to some in particular. "Those on the end there will never break on ya. But they'll run ya a pretty penny." he commented. The Draken had never encountered the metal the supposed unbreakable weapons were before but he thought he'd heard the name once from the elders. Ada-something or other. He noticed a variety of less expensive steel halberds of varying quality. Though some of the staffs were made of wood which was curious to him. It was lighter than the fully metal weapons and the shop owner spoke of Feywood, a substance lighter than but also stronger than steel. After holding one in both hands and moving it about a bit, the boy settled on the feywood and was delighted to pack his new weapon onto Kloqah's back upon purchasing it. Reinaan continued moving about the market and soon came to an armor shop. Something had caught his eye. Something incredible. Something that made the boy consider actually wearing armor forever. It was a decadent silver armor set, with rubies laid into the metal work. The shine of the metal, the brilliance of the gems, this was everything the boy could have asked for in his life. But alas, his heart was crushed as the shop owner came to meet his obvious enthusiasm. Ten thousand gold it was for the whole of it. The Draken wasn't incredible with math but he knew very well that the group's entire gold fund couldn't have afforded it. He swore one day he would return, but while he was there he began thinking about something else. The mage that had healed him mentioned armor could have helped him take the burn better. The idea of gauntlets came to mind. However, none of the available sets really worked with the size and shape of his hand. They were meant for humans obviously. He could make something work but he'd be covering his claws which seemed foolish for one so used to fighting tooth and nail. The awkwardness didn't seem worth it and the boy decided in frustration that his scales would be enough for him. He did however also purchase a sharpening tool to keep the weapon in good condition. No doubt Lindow's army of swords would find it useful too. As the boy continued moving about town a man called out to him. Well, at least it seemed like him. There was prolonged eye contact and the Draken had to wonder if he was perhaps looking at someone behind him. After pointing to himself the man only nodded energetically and so Reinaan knew it was in fact him he'd been trying to get the attention of. "Hello dear Draken!" the man greeted him enthusiastically. "I couldn't help but notice the striking color of your scales. And I thought to myself, why that black would look amazing if only it shone a little more." he continued. Reinaan was still unsure of what was happening. "Please you must try my product, it will make you shine like the sun itself! Your white will be blinding! Your red fierce! And your black mysterious!" the man said with his excitement building as he tried ushering the boy to a stool. Something about the energy captivated him. "Let's do it." Reinaan agreed initially. "But uh... maybe can I see a test first?" he said after realizing he still had no idea what was about to happen. The man heartily agreed as he opened a jar and scooped a substance out of it that appeared to reflect light rather well. He applied a bit of it to the back of one of Reinaan's hands before using a wrag to spread it evenly across the surface. So far it only seemed like his hand was wet and the boy was uncertain if he was buying into all of this. But the man continued and produced a much finer looking cloth which he began rubbing the affected hand with in repeated circular motions. Then another cloth was produced that he held in both hands and began rubbing across the hand back and forth very vigorously. Before the boy's eyes his black scales caught the sunlight like they never had before, giving him a near mirror finish. He could see very subtle traces of color amidst the sea of black. Red and white pigment that had been snuffed out. It was incredible. "Wooooaaaahhhh" Reinaan said in awe of the difference in the two sides of his hand. "Can... can you do me all over?" he said, wanting very much to look like this entirely and all the time. The man's smile spread from ear to ear at the request and so the Draken sat at the provided stool, standing up when the occasion called for it, letting this man polish every square inch of his body. The two spoke some about their pasts. The man mentioned he used to know of a small Draken village somewhere and with the Templar presence here and there across the world he often wondered what their scales might like look if thoroughly polished. He had started trying to sell this service here but very few Templar were interested in such a purely cosmetic thing. How delightful then to see a Draken so shamelessly displaying each and every scale. With Reinaan's patronage his faith in the business decision had been restored, perhaps a bit more than it ought to have. Upon completion, the Draken reflected brilliantly from top to bottom. Reinaan joyfully paid the man for the service and a hearty amount of the polish and supplies needed so that he could keep it up in the future. "I can't wait til the others see me!" he said gleefully as he practically skipped off to the rest of the market. Ziiyol appeared at his side, only visible to the Chosen, and could only squeal with delight at the sight of her partner sparkling so radiantly. "Reiny..." she managed to say while practically in a trance. "You're so..." and the spirit couldn't complete her thought and simply continued to stare, trying to take it all in. She confirmed that every part of his body shone the same way, wanting him to move his legs arms and tail about to let her see. After the two shared a laugh Reinaan focused enough to notice a stand full of things that somewhat resembled the bandit's amulet. "Ah, welcome. I can't say I've seen one so shine so bright before." the shop owner spoke, taking note of the polished scales. Reinaan was proud to be standing out now and inquired what was being sold. He was told these were all magical items with a variety of spells cast on them. Though he pointed to one in particular. One the man referred to as an Amulet of Protection that would strengthen natural armors such as his fine scales. The idea of keeping his scales intact appealed now more than ever and Reinaan inquired into the price. It sounded like a lot but not nearly so much as they had on them in total. Surely it would be okay given they didn't need the gold to eat. And this way he could be protected without buying dumb looking armor. It seemed like the perfect solution. And so he bought it, figuring it for the good of the party that he be able to take more hits. He put it on and was taken aback at how little it seemed to shine compared to his own body. He'd have to go into battle to see just how strong the enchantment was but he was happy with his purchases and began leading Kloqah away from the market in hopes of meeting up with the others somewhere when they were done shopping. With how shiny he was he was confident the others would find him before he noticed them.

Willow and Flurry What