Kay Faraday

"W-w-w-what? Really? Y-you think so?" "Huh? Of course! We needed information, no matter how unlikely it was that he might have it... It would have been dumb to not at least try!" He wasn't so sure why Yue seemed to think her idea was so poor honestly. Maybe it didn't work out, but that doesn't change that the idea was one that could have saved them a lot of time and energy all things considered. "Are y-you all right? You're not h-hurt, are you? If you get hurt, th-then, well, that's bad..." He chuckled lightly as he rubbed at his neck gently, shaking his head as he watched her grip onto the bow in her hands as he sighed, "Not hurt, no. Just a little... Frustrated? We don't really know why they're looking for Jourans, we don't know how many potential ambushes there's going to be ahead of us... And I can't help but feel a little bit guilty for putting us on this path, even though there's nothing I can... Really do about it now." That scowl on his face had started to come back as he thought back to how he had pushed for Edda to accept their help... But he had to catch himself quickly. He put that grin right back on his face as he shrugged his shoulders a tiny bit, his voice regaining that usual cheer as he spoke, "I appreciate the concern though! You have any injuries that need to be patched up?" Layne gave Ada a quick nod as she approached, waiting to make sure that the archer didn't have any pressing injuries, but... "I absolutely love to see companions who are so close they care so much about each other's status. You seem like such a noble guy. I would've thought, with your face, you'd be one of those smooth operators but it seems you're the kindly type." Oh no, that voice sounded like the one who had been zipping around the battlefield and spreading weird, weird ideas. He blinked for a moment at Alexis as he raised an eyebrow at her, just barely registering what she was saying, before she had moved on to Yue, who was surely going to shrink from the praise coming from the strange woman... But all Layne could do was raise an eyebrow in confusion, "...Smooth operator?" "She's, uh... She's something, isn't she? She came over to me during the battle to try and 'save' me from my magic. Travelling with you guys, I almost forget that people feel that way about dark magic, at times..." Layne let out a brief sigh as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose, a small mumble escaping him as he did, "...She's one of those types, huh? She was scolded by Susanoo, you remember the pirate guy right, for trying to get me to heal him when he got injured. I just kinda stayed far away from that." He lowered his voice a bit once she had wandered off, not really paying attention to Alexis when she had returned to her pegasus, "She seems to, ah... Not know what personal space is, judging by that little spiel, so be careful what you say around her."

"M-maybe he could tell us, w-where the other bandits are. The ones that are after Jourans." The archer shrank in on herself immediately afterward. "N-never mind, that was a dumb idea." Layne let out a little sigh as he rubbed at his neck gently, all this bickering over what to do with the scum of a bandit was really starting to get on his nerves. Not because it was necessarily a bad discussion to have, but because every moment standing still was another chance of being jumped without warning. It was a little anxiety-creating to just be standing here and waiting for the others to come to a decision on what to do with this bandit. Yue wasn't wrong at least, it was a good idea to at least try and figure out what the guy knew. But with the way the conversation had turned, it was quickly becoming apparent that he just didn't have an answers for their group. It was slightly disappointing... "Alright, Rona, Raynor. Do what you will with him." The kill command. He quickly turned his head away as Raynor began the windup to throw that javelin, a small groan escaping him as he turned his head quickly. He didn't want to see the execution actually happen, it would be a bit too much for him right now. The killing was fine in the heat of the moment, but during downtime like this... He just kept his gaze averted from the others as he mumbled, "Let's get ready to get going again then! We don't wanna take too long with our journey, yeah? Especially with what he said." Layne brushed his hands together before just taking a few steps away from everyone else, over towards Yue to give her a small smile, "It wasn't a bad idea though."

Layne let out a small sigh, with Rona patched up, things were looking... Solid? Leon could probably use patching up, he's been in the heat of the combat since the start without any healing, but the usual fires aren't lit this time. Raynor was looking good, Rona was breezing her way through the combat fine after being healed, even if she initially protested... "Excuse me, healer? It seems that man has taken quite the blow there. Perhaps you could help him?" Huh? It was their new... Arrival, but only briefly. Before even waiting for an answer, she had flown off and made her way towards the last of the few remaining bandits... And right towards Susanoo. Ah. He understood why, the pirate was looking a bit worse for the wear and could use the help, but... "It seems you have some history with the people here. Why don't you get yourself fixed up before taking your revenge on that scoundrel of a bandit?" Well, seems like he would know what to do here in a second. He took a few steps forward, not committing himself towards the pirate's direction. Not everyone was that fond the healing arts, he knew that more than well enough to know that Susan might not be alright with it. And a few shared sea shanties wouldn't be enough to keep the pirate from killing him if he did something that offended him, he was sure. “Don’t forget it. And don’t ever send that healer over to me, because I don’t want his magic.” He gave a nod in the pirate's direction, just barely hearing that. It might've not been... Hateful? Maybe just violent was the best word, but he felt like it was important to acknowledge it. He wasn't even sure if Susanoo would've seen it, especially since he went straight back into his berserking afterwords, but he wasn't going to push it on him. Unlike Rona, this guy could actually hurt him if he kept healing him. Unless it was vital to their success... He would have to avoid doing that here. Hopefully Susanoo always kept Vulneraries on his person.

Oh no. Rona took a hard blow there, much harder than anything else that's happened on the battlefield so far. It might not have been a single blow, but the onslaught of attacks from the bandits ganging up on her was enough to nearly take her down... They were lucky that they had managed to cull the numbers so that the onset of bandits ended where it did. Layne glanced around the plains to make sure there weren't any potential sneak attacks about to happen, before grabbing his healing staff once again and charging forward to rush up to Rona, flashing a quick thumbs up and a smile to Leon. "Got it, boss!" Maybe the smile was overkill. But it was his job. Something as simple as a smile could sometimes give someone relief, after all, if the healer wasn't worried, they shouldn't be, right? That was the goal at least. But he didn't have enough time to dwell on if it was appropriate it or not, coming up to Rona's side, he lifted that staff up into the air, light collecting around the tip once again as he pointed it towards Rona, the major wounds around her body started to patch up, and even Cormag was getting some of his wounds healed up. It wasn't a full job, there were still some cuts and scrapes that passed through the process, but... She was feeling more invigorated at least. And was much less likely to die too, which was always a bonus. He glanced around for a moment... He could try to sidestep a bit, but this was probably the safest spot to be, honestly. He let out a little sigh, relieved that Rona had been close enough for him to actually get to her this time. "We're almost done, I think. It looks like it's just those two and their boss over there left. I should be within reach if anything major happens again."

Thud. The body that Susan had thrown landed in a crumpled heap near him and Yue, a little wince crossing his face as he glanced away from the mangled corpse. He mumbled gently, almost as if he was stunned into silence, but Yue's reaction to the sight had snapped him out of it briefly. He quickly shook his head as he gripped onto the staff he was holding a tiny bit tighter, a little cough escaping him, "...Not on our side, just not against us. The others aren't too fond of him I don't think. I know Ada isn't. Just, uh, stay out of body chucking range of him, otherwise he might make some less than... Pleasant comments." Layne gave Yue a quick nod, before turning off and making his way towards Rona and Edda once again. With the battle starting to converge onto the main path, Leon and his group were beginning to come back down, which would make his job a little easier... He rushed up and moved behind Edda, taking what little cover her could since she seemed to be relatively well patched up for the moment... But he wasn't done, he quickly poked his head out towards Leon, "Commander, get over here! You need healing!" During his callout, he took the moment to swap the staff in his hand out for the Mend staff, a little grin on his face as he did. The tip of the staff started to glow a soft white as he prepared a counter, just to be safe...

Layne flashed a quick grin to Edda before she glanced away, tossing a thumbs up in her direction, before taking a quick look around the battlefield once again. Rona had just swiftly dispatched the attacking Lancer with no trouble, at least he hoped it wasn't any trouble. If she was injured, he could tell and Edda seemed to be fine... So he turned his attention back over the field, making sure that the others were holding up... Well? At the very least, Rona and Edda were. The others were a bit too far away for him to get a good read. And then there was another new arrival. Well, not a new one exactly... It was a 'friend'... Maybe? Maybe they'd get to sing some more shanties if all of this went well. But for the time being, there was a more urgent matter, a hobbling Yue was making her way over towards him, clearly injured, but that wasn't the surprising part. "I..." she slumped, "...might need help." That wasn't what he was expecting to hear. Yue wasn't the kind to ask for help, even when she needed it. His grip tightened on the staff in his hand as he shifted towards Yue, taking a few steps towards her quickly as he started to assess her wounds. He swapped out the Mend staff for the Heal one he had been using up till now, the tip of it starting to shine with that bright light once again as he gave her a little smile, "Let's get you patched up." The light surrounded her as it began to patch up the worst of her wounds, reinvigorating her slowly and steadily as he look a little glance over the grounds once again. "Make sure the others know to fall back down here if things start going badly for them, I can't leave Rona and Edda, they're both still just charging forward. If you get hurt again, don't hesitate to retreat to me again." He gave Yue a nod, before running off again, making his way to a better vantage point to help Rona and Edda if things got rough for them. They just couldn't have a smooth trip for once.

There was just too much going on. At first, Layne thought that there were enemies flying in from the north, that seemed reasonable enough to assume considering that they were in the middle of a fight, who was going to fly in to help them in the middle of nowhere? At least, that's what he assumed until the flying lady suddenly screamed out Leon's name... "Oh thank the Spirits... We aren't being flanked." He let out a relieved sigh, before glancing around at the combat at hand. Rona was holding up decently as expected, she might be a bit of a daredevil, but at least she could back it up with taking a hit. Raynor was also weathering the storm of bandits without too many scratches so far, he wasn't right as rain, but... Even if Layne wanted to get to him to heal, it would take a bit longer than he would like to get there. On the other hand... There was a fight going down that could use a bit of a helping hand. Twirling a Heal Staff in his hand, he rushed down towards Edda and the Mercenary that she had blindsided, a grin on his face as he held the staff up. The tip of it began to shine with a bright light as he pointed it towards the defending bandit, "Showtime." The light surrounded the bandit as he let out a little mumble, glancing around the battlefield. He didn't have much time to scan, a figure was approaching from the south now too?! He winced a little bit, "Alright, we got company coming from the south now, watch out Edda. Hopefully the light show will keep this guy a bit dazed." He really just wanted to run down and try to get a better look at who was approaching, but he couldn't afford to separate from the group. Another wave of bandits were rapidly approaching, and he needed to stay at least a bit closer to the group.

This was a slightly surprising... Something. The fact that they were being attacked by bandits? Not really surprising, so that couldn't have been it. It probably didn't have to do with the fact that the bandits were just stupid, they had seen their share of dumbass bandits in the past after all. Maybe it was cause they were confused about the animals, but not many people really would've expected the collection of what they had... "Wait...why is there a wyver- why is there a salam- is that three Jourans?" "Isn't that great boss. The posters only talked about one. This is like, triple the pay, right?" No, there it was. They were just surprised about the people in their group... Why the mention about posters and pay though? Edda and Rona had been acting weird, sure, but Layne hadn't thought it would have something to do with their people... But it was definitely looking more like the case. As much as he wanted to ask why these bandits were so worked up other the Jourans being in the group, Leon gave the order for them to prepare for combat. He grabbed the Heal Staff from his back and twirled it around as he took a quick glance around the battlefield. There were definitely more bandits than he would be comfortable dealing with than normal, but after their last mission... They could handle it. "Alright, let's move out Falcons." Layne watched as Rona charged forwards with her new ax, he wasn't surprised. He had started to make a move forward, but before he could... Yue of all people dashed out too. He hadn't expected her to take an aggressive charge forward like that, it was... Strange. He shook his head a tiny bit, only to flinch for a moment as he felt the tap on his shoulder. He glanced over it, a little sigh being given when he realized it was just Ada... "Here, take this. I'm gonna hang back for now, but maybe it'll give you some good luck!" Layne smiled, pocketing the charm himself as he mumbled, "I would rather take this slow myself, but with Rona charging in, I don't feel safe leaving her out there alone. Keep an eye on the others." He gripped the staff in his hand as he charged forward, stopping a little bit nearby Yue as he glanced over around the field. There were a few bandits not far from where Rona was... They would probably come after her. If Yue got into trouble, he was close enough to get to her too... This was a good place to start, "Alright bandits... Let's do this!"

"Our task is simple. We are to escort Edda to the Port Town of Enta. It'll be a long trip, so get ready for more walking than normal." Simple, to the point, effective. That was really all that Layne could have asked for, honestly. With how long this had taken to get properly set up, between Edda's stubbornness and the fact that Rona was oddly suspicious of the woman, it was nice for them to just be on the move again. Layne hadn't taken much time to properly set up his supplies before hand, his first aid pouch had needed a little bit of restocking for the road, but other than that, it was a relatively quick preparation on his end. Layne also appreciated the fact that the sun wasn't blaring down in full force this afternoon. While it was certainly warm, he didn't feel like he was getting beaten down by the heat for once and was able to quietly whistle to himself, trailing behind the others just a bit as he kept his eyes out. While he had to no reason to feel slightly... Concerned, to say the least, there was always the risk of an ambush. And if he was caught in an ambush, it was a pain in the ass to get out unscathed. The others talked among themselves, Edda and Raynor seemed to be kicking it off. And with Ada and Yue talking to each other, he felt it was best to keep to himself in the back for the time being, a light tune that carried from him just a tad, the cleric idly twirling his healing staff in his hands, tossing it from one to the other. "It's really quiet out on the roads today..." He clicked his tongue for a moment, before speaking up louder, "...Anyone know if there's been any reports of bandit activity lately? I'm... A slight bit twitchy right now."

"Trouble like...I'm Jouran. She's Jouran. Last I checked, your kind would gladly kill us on sight." "...Well, my kind wouldn't be too happy about me using Staff magic, but here I am using it. You tend to stop looking at things the traditional way when you start to go against it." He coughed for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders slightly as he did. "is there anything that you've done to the Aeoran people that would make you more wary of them." "I worship a dragon. That's about it." Layne nodded his head, crossing his arms for a moment as he mumbled, "...That's reasonable, I think? I mean, I don't know much about the whole... Dragon worship, even the spirits which I should know a decent bit about... I kinda slacked off on those studies." He coughed as he rubbed at his neck again, taking a brief glance up at the ceiling as he did. The sight of that gem made him blink for a moment, raising an eyebrow gently as he glanced back over at Leon as he heard him speak up again. "Do either of you have objections or more questions for her?" He shook his head lightly, "No, I don't think I do. If you're up for taking the job, I think we've got a good plan." "You have nothing to fear with me looking out for you." "right. I uh..." "We always get the job done, isn't that right?" Layne rubbed at his cheek gently as he hummed, nodding his head as he beamed, "Now that it's official, absolutely! There might be a brief snag here and there, but we'll absolutely get you to your destination safely, we're very good at doing pulling through."

"well, I can't do much about this when I don't know enough about our client. I'll go and speak with her myself, you're all welcome to come along with me and speak with her if you like." Layne gave a nod of his head gently, a small smile on his face as he did. He didn't speak right away, instead he seemed to focus as he closed his eyes. A little sigh escaped him, a hand rubbing at the back of his neck, "I'll come along, I should probably do a check and make sure that her body is holding up alright here soon. I'll let you talk to her before I do the check up." He waited as Leon started to make his way back towards the main building, taking a deep breath as Rona followed after him. The fact she was coming was definitely going to make this a little more touch and go, but he had hope that this could be resolved in a way that was beneficial for everyone! With heavy steps, he followed after the other two, taking another deep breath before they actually reentered the main building. With the fact that Rona clearly wasn't happy about the girl staying with them, it was going to be a little worrying having to organize an escort... "I'm Leon. Commander of this company. Layne told me that you were in need of an escort, but if I'm going to find you one, I need to know more about you. So?" "Fine. If you won't let this go, what do you want to know?" That's a good start! No outright rejection meant she had to be at least a little bit okay with the idea of the escort, even if she wanted to act like she wasn't. All that had to go from here was a good reaction from Rona... And then the duo started to talk. Questions about what kind of trouble Edda was expecting to see... And then a response that Rona knew what kind of trouble to expect? Layne just gave a confused look as he looked between the two of them, a small mumble escaping him as he did, "...Alright, you're both being... Really vague, so like, is there something dangerous on this trip or not? If there is, I don't like the idea of letting her go on her own at all..."

"I don't know how many escorts we could find for her. there's not many people here who would be willing to help a Jouran out normally anyway, but with their being a bounty on their head currently I'd be hard pressed to find anyone I could think of who wouldn't just turn them in. We're the only mercenary company in Aeora that has Jourans in it, that I'm aware of, after all." Layne coughed gently as he nodded his head a tiny bit, "That's about what I expected. I don't know what exactly has been... Going on with all that relationship stuff, but I knew that things have been a bit shaky in that regard. Either way though, I would rather not leave her alone for too long, you know? In case her injuries get worse, or she stumbles and gets hurt once again. I would feel rather guilty if that happened after my treatments." "but if that's the case and we can't just leave her alone...hm...How would you two feel about us taking on her escort request as a job then?" He smiled a little bit as he heard that, a relieved sigh escaping him as he nodded his head. He didn't speak right away, before taking a little glance over at Rona to wait and see if she was going to respond, but he quickly spoke up again, "I would rather us take the escort rather than let her go alone, personally. In the end, it's your call, and I don't even know if we can be paid for it, considering she was very hesitant to even mention it... But that's something you can talk to her about, it's more fitting for the leader to do it!" He was stretching the truth a tiny bit, but the way her eyes had lit up when he mentioned the possibility definitely meant that Edda wanted some sort of help with that, right? Yeah, that was definitely how things worked, you don't get that sort of look in your eyes for no reason... "But... We should talk to the others as well. We just got back from a job not long ago after all."

"I guess...art works...do you have any paints?" Paints, huh? Layne tapped at his cheek for a moment as he hummed, before shaking his head a tiny bit, "I think I've got some laying around from my brief attempt at painting before I realized I had pretty much... Well, zero talent at it. I'll be riiight back!" He gave a little bow of his head as he slipped away from the woman, humming lightly as he made his way down one of the halls, towards the room he was set up inside. After some rummaging around and searching the room, he pulled together a variety of paints, along with an unused canvas, it must've been his lucky day! He collected them before bring them back to Edda with a little smile, before speaking up again. "...Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I should speak with the commander. Odds are, he'll want to talk to you about a potential escort. As much as I would like to say I could, I'm not the one to authorize this sort of thing, I'm just the cleric." He waved his hand in the air, before turning to Edda again, "So don't run off while I'm gone." ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Layne had made his way out towards the outside, taking a quick glance around as he mumbled lightly. That girl was... Being way more of a pain in the ass than he had expected. It took longer to convince her to recover than he had expected, whatever she was hiding must've been serious if she didn't want to wait even a little bit. Layne sighed gently, he needed a break from all that. So with that, he casually began to take a walk around the base, trying to find Leon as he did. The cleric eventually caught sight of the commander... But with Rona right next to him, there was a tiny bit of hesitation from Layne to approach, he had overheard a tiny bit of her conversation with their guest... But in the end, he knew he couldn't wait. He headed towards the pair, raising a hand up into the air as he did, "Ah, commander, Rona! If I can have a moment... I would like to talk to you about our... Guest. The idea of finding an escort to wherever she might be heading appears to have caught her attention, and while I haven't been able to get anymore information out of her... It's possible that we might be able to open up her lips if we can get some sort of deal going. I made no promises, in the end, it's up to you. But... I think it's for the best if we do that. She won't stay here long either way, and I would hate for her to leave on her own."

"...I can't...." Layne nodded his head lightly as he let out a little sigh. "...Good. I know it sucks to be stuck in one place for too long, and I know you probably have things going on, but you have to recover before you can start running around." He smiled sheepishly as he rubbed at the back of his neck gently, "I know it sucks, but it's necessary, if you've gotta recover, you've gotta recover." "no."  "No? I mean, if you really don't want that, I can't force it, but..." He shrugged his shoulders lightly, waving his hand in the air as he did. He noticed that perking up, the idea clearly had caught her attention... Which means he was going to force it! "I think it would be better for you! Think about it, mull it over. I'll talk to our leader about it." The way he said that, he talked as though he was in total control, not giving her the littlest bit of time to protest as he immediately moved onto the next topic. "As for boredom, well, what do you like to do? We don't have too much in the way of entertainment, there might be some board games laying around. If you prefer artistic things, I'm sure we can scrape together some supplies for it. There's plenty to do outside, and I would offer to lead you to the training grounds, buuuut... You hardly seem to be the shape to do that..." It might not have been subtle, but Layne was hoping that she wouldn't notice the fishing for information that he was trying to go through with. It was... Unlikely to succeed, but maybe if he could get her talking about the things she liked, it would be possible to figure out more about her. But... She wasn't a big talker, either way.

"Well, we should probably get a feel for the campus. I'll be checking out the main entrance if you want to tag along. If not, see ya." Brain took a deep breath as he stood up, rubbing at the back of his neck for a moment as he did, "I guess I've got nowhere else to be right now, and..." There was an unspoken tension there, which made it clear why he was going to go with Aya. It wasn't unreasonable though, very few people would've wanted to be alone after hearing something like what that bear had said. With Aya leading the way out of the gym, the pair walked off towards the entrance of the school building, where a pair of students had already set up shop. One of them was knelt down in front of the door, examining the lock as the other two approached. The other boy... Was the loud one from the gym earlier, the one who had 'started' the whole search in the first place. "Hm? Did you two need something in particular?" He turned towards them as they approached, Brain dragging himself behind the girl as he rubbed at his neck. The other boy turned back to the door before Brian could say anything, "And have you made any progress with that lock?" The boy on the ground mumbled a tiny bit as he shook his head, the approaching pair getting a better look as he turned his head towards the others, "Not yet. The lock is finicky, the moment I move it around, it seems to snap back into place almost instantly. It's not like any lock I've worked with before." "Is it really that bad?" Brain scooted around to walk over towards the door, a small frown on his face, "I don't know much about lockpick, unfortunately, but I might be able to find some information online, once I get connected to the internet. I know a lot of people..." "Nah. If I can't do it, it's pretty unlikely anyone else would know." He grinned as he stood up, directing his attention towards Aya and Brian as he held a hand into the air, "I'm Tempest Moore, the Ultimate Thief! Breaking and entering is child's play to me... Which is probably the reason this lock is so crazy. That bear must've been ready for me." "Right, it's definitely the bear..." The other one who had been there originally turned his head to them, "I'm Declan Barnham, the Ultimate Lawyer. Are you are?" ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ “Alright, now for phase two: Breakfast. You want anything cooked? I bet there’s a griddle in here somewhere and I’m craving some french toast.” "Breakfast, huh? I'll pass. Cup of coffee and a smoke is all I normally do for breakfast. Don't have too much of an appetite." He smiled for a moment as he chuckled, before blinking as he glanced over towards the door. There was a bit of a noise coming from the other side of it, "...But I might make some eggs, I'll whip up some extra in case you want some." He yawned as he stood up, walking over towards the fridge to pull out... A massive carton of eggs. "It looks like they've provided warming stations to keep the food warm... I wonder what other stuff they've got around here." He glanced towards the door as it opened up, a small mumble escaping him as he rubbed at his neck as he heard Devin speak up. "Hey, let the others know to gather here in, mm... 2 hours? Yeah, I should have everything ready by then~" "...Everything ready? You wanna tell us what you're planning? Or are you gonna keep it a secret?" He raised an eyebrow as he set the carton of eggs he had grabbed down onto the counter, turning to face Devon as she fished out a cutting board. He kept going on his own task, getting a pan from a cabinet and getting ready to start preparing various different methods of cooking as he glanced over at Devin once again, keeping an eye on her as she worked. The new arrival seemed to have put him a little bit on edge, but that was only going to be tested more as a new arrival entered the kitchen not long after Cherie had left the dining hall... "A party? Did I hear that right?" The sound of the door opening was met with a soft, though still firm voice speaking up as another girl entered the room, a small frown on her face as she brushed her hair out of her face, "...I should introduce myself, I'm Talia Sky, the Ultimate Archer. Now... Why are we having a party, exactly? It really doesn't seem like an appropriate time to have a party, you know?" ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ "Hey, make sure to come to the kitchen in 2 hours! We're going to have a party~!" As Cherie said that and hopped out of the Dining Hall, she was met with the sound of groaning from down the Dorm Hallway from a girl in a blue dress, who quickly dipped into one of the rooms and disappeared from sight. Meanwhile, Cherie could crashing from a nearby room. It wasn't too hard to figure out the source had come from the main building and had to be close by... And if she made her way towards the sound, it would quickly be apparent where it came from. In the main hall, there was a relatively plain door wide open and inside of it... Was a massive pile of everything. A cart had toppled over onto the ground just barely visible from the hallway, and scattered across the ground were all sorts of serving trays and containers for holding food. On the ground next to it was a boy who seemed to have tripped, a small scowl on his face as he mumbled, "Shit... I better get this cleaned up..." It was quiet, but that didn't last long as he stood up, glancing towards the hallway. His face went a bit pale as he saw Cherie standing there, a small cough escaping him, "U-Uh, hey. Are you the Ultimate Host...Ess? Uh. That bear popped up in here and told me that this room was made for them, so... If you are, here you go."

"ow ow ow," "Really?" The cleric gave a... Slightly annoyed look as he walked out into the main hall of the building, crossing his arms as he glanced at the barely able to shamble woman. The fact that she had managed to get herself this far was impressive sure... But it was also really freaking annoying, since she could honestly collapse at any moment. He let out an exaggerated sigh as he shrugged his shoulders lightly, "Look, if you wanna leave, we won't hold you hostage, but... With you being in a condition like that, I don't think you'll make it far. How will you feed yourself for example?" He gave her a stern look, his gaze hardening for a moment as he did, "You won't. You can't hunt in a condition like that. There was no one with you, so it's not like you've got people watching out for you. If you want to go back out there and die, I can't stop you, I'm just a cleric. But if you stay here and heal, you'll at least have a fighting chance." He let out a small sigh as he brought a hand up to his head and looked down at her, "...But what do I know? Maybe you're totally able to defend yourself, huh?" With that, he shrugged his shoulders a tiny bit as he yawned, "Or maybe you'd rather speak with our leader? Worst case, maybe he can arrange an escort to wherever you're going... And you won't die as a result."

"I'm fine," her tone was blunt and dismissive. "I don't need any food right now." Layne narrowed his eyes at her as she dismissed the offer of food, surely that can't be the case. She hadn't eaten in at least a day, and probably longer considering that it seemed like she had been running from something from the little information that Austin had been able to give the- And then her stomach had started to rumble. Layne let out a little sigh, okay, she was probably just suspicious of the group and everything. That was normal, considering she didn't even really have an idea of where they were at he supposed... "It is fine if you are not willing to tell us anything yet. Just rest and recover yourself for the time being. Should you need anything, just tell me about it." Was that really okay though? To let her go without having any food at all... Layne rubbed at the back of his neck briefly, "I'll be available too, if you need anything. You can ask either of us for anything you might need and if we can get it, we'll help." ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ He was going to just leave it at that, but honestly, he couldn't help but feel a little bit... Bad about it. So once he got a chance, he moved towards the kitchen and began to collect a few of their fruits, putting them into a small bowl that he could easily carry towards the room that she was left in. With no words, he set it down on a bedside table, giving her the option to eat it if she wished. He gave her a small nod before turning and walking out of the room, a small yawn escaping him as he stepped out of the room. Even if they couldn't get any information from the cold woman just yet, they could at least be hospitable enough to try and make her more comfortable...

The day was young as the students of Hope's Peak Academy's newest class had begun to arrive on campus for the first time, the towering school in front of them practically blocking out the morning sun. Their arrival was very... Strictly planned out, arrive at 8AM at the very latest, enter the gym, and wait for the Welcome Assembly to start. It was straight forward enough, so as the sun rose, students had began to enter the prestigious school and head towards the gym, which according to their orientation guide was straight ahead once they had entered the room. The gym had bleachers lined on either side of the room, unfolded to provide the students a place to sit and wait for the event to actually start. Along one wall, parallel to the court, was a stage with a podium on it, no doubt where the speaker would be once things got started. Along the ground, aside from the usual basketball court, the students were greeted by the insignia of Hope's Peak Academy embedded in the floor, the massive symbol surrounded by a giant circle that separated it from the rest of the room. Once all sixteen of the students had arrived, there was a moment of... Awkwardness. No one was really talking as the ceremony was supposed to begin, but nothing seemed to be happening. Until finally, there was a voice. "Is that everyone? Can we finally start?!" After that voice stopped talking, a chill washed over everyone in the room, as if telling them to look towards the podium. A few seconds passed in silence as the students glanced between each other and the stage... Something had jumped from behind the podium and sat down on it... A teddy bear? The static face on it looking both adorable and malevolent at the same time. Students just stared at it for a moment in confusion, before Brian finally spoke up, "It's... A teddy bear?" "A teddy bear? Please... I am your headmaster, Monokuma! Welcome students to Hope's Peak Academy!" Students murmured among themselves in confusion over this, before one of them near the door held his hand up into the air before speaking lethargically, "...You can't be serious, can you? I know this is a special school, but a stuffed animal? Come on, bring out the headmaster already..." The bear put its arms behind its back as it looked out over the students, "I'm always serious! As I was saying..." The way the bear spoke was... Odd. There wasn't a hint of worry in its voice, it sounded delighted to even be here, but... All the same, there was something else to it, as if it was just waiting to spring a trap on someone, a cruel undertone. "You're all the hope of the world, everyone expects great things from you, blah blah blah, but I'm here for something more fun!" "More... Fun?" Cassidy mumbled under her breath as she heard that, a concerned look crossing her face for a moment as she did. She spoke again, her voice remaining rather flat, but her hand had gripped onto a book that she was holding a little tighter, "...Usually that's accompanied by terrible news in the stories." The concerned looks among the students kept going as the bear slowly stood up, pointing a stubby arm towards the student body, "Now, as I was saying, you're all here for the school year, but I have something much more fun in mind... We're gonna play a game! From now on, you sixteen students are going to live the rest of your lives here at the school, you will no longer be able to leave this place!" There was moment of pure quiet once the bear finished speaking, students just staring at him as he finished. One larger male stood up, his hand pointing up towards the bear as he spoke, "What are you even talking about? You can't hold us here, we're students, not prisoners! What is the meaning of this?" "Well it has to be come kinda dumb joke, right? You can't actually keep us locked in the school. We'll just... Go out the door." Raegan rubbed at the back of her head as she glanced back to the door, as if she was considering making a break for it before anything else weird could happen. "Wrong!" The bear's singsong voice picked up once again teasing the students as the bear held its arms out, and from the ceiling a small table descended, landing on the ground in front of them. "Now if I can continue... You will all be staying here for good! You will build a communal life together, and grow as people... And there will be no more contact with the outside world! But don't worry, all your basic needs will be take care of. And even your more expensive ones too. Now, the only way this gets undone... If you reaaaally wanna leave... You gotta kill someone! That's the game!" Monokuma moved from one topic to the next faster than the students probably would've liked, motioning towards the table in front of the stage now. On top of the table were little tablet computers, "These are the backbone of your lives here at Hope's Peak, the Student Handbook! It acts as your ID, your student registration, everything. Each handbook comes with a copy of the rules, along with a basic map of the academy that will be filled out as you explore the rooms. We have to stimulate those brains of your's after all! Any questions so far?" There was silence in the gym as that question was asked, just waiting to be broken by anyone at this point. Students glanced between each other, no one seeming to want to be the first to approach the table that had the handbooks.

Layne had been in and out of the room that they had kept their ward in for a while now, each time it was a little more concerning, he wasn't sure if her condition was something that was going to be getting worse or better. The injuries didn't seem to be too deep to heal, but the woman didn't seem to be waking up either. Maybe he was just rushing things, it was unreasonable to expect injuries like that to be overcome so soon, right? All the same, he kept tending to them. He couldn't help but notice that Rona was watching the room whenever he came and went, tending to wounds and monitoring the girl, it was slightly concerning to him. Someone who had been injured like that... Certainly didn't need to be interrogated right away, and he was sure that's what Rona was waiting for. He couldn't blame her, it wasn't like she wasn't at least a slight bit suspicious, but... Recovery was more important at the moment. He waited for Rona to leave the room where the freshly awoken girl was, listening in on the conversation from afar, not quite going closer to avoid letting Rona know he was even there. He wasn't going to scold her. Once she had left the room, he gave it a bit before entering himself, a smile on his face as he bowed his head slightly to the girl in the room, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm the one who's been treating your wounds. I know this is all a bit... Well, confusing likely, but if you'd like, I can explain how you got here." He barely even waited to explain that the town that she had stumbled on didn't have the... Resources to treat her, and he was asked to take care of her by a concerned citizen. Whether it was something she cared about or not, he was going to make that clear, "You're welcome to stay as long as you need to recover, I'll make sure you get back to full health. If you need anything, ask anyone nearby for Layne, and I'll come and hear you out. If you need anything now, I'd be happy to get it, food or water?" He paused for a moment, considering apologizing for Rona, but... It wasn't really his place to do that, and Rona wasn't even really in the wrong. No, he would just leave it at that, for the time being.

I gotta say, I'm REALLY digging the map for this gen. A lot of people have sorta compared it to Sinnoh, and while I see where they're coming from, it's pretty unique in that it's not divided in half like Sinnoh was. It doesn't seem as circular as Unova or Kalos, and it's nice to be back on a continent after Gen 7. I'm really excited to explore this region honestly. Some people are worried that it might end up being super linear, go in a straight line from one place to the next, and while it could be, I dunno, I think it's got potential so I wanna see how this pans out. I'm also really curious to see the Legendary Pokemon for this gen, I wanna know if it's gonna be two wolves like people are speculating based on the logos, which I hope isn't the case, or if that's just a symbolization thing to represent coats of arms and stuff.\ Also it's a total crime if Honedge doesn't appear in this region. Also forgot to mention! In the logo for the games, we have this little symbol appear. Worth thinking about, cause in the logo for X and Y, we had Mega Evolution as a symbol. And for Sun and Moon, we had the Z-Crystal.

"Clearly, it's not safe for someone like her. I don't know why someone with her faith would put trust in another faith's temple. Or any temple, for that matter. Maybe we should haul her back with us, if she's not waking up? I can carry her." Layne nodded to Ada quickly, not even thinking about it as he rubbed at the back of his head. "Yeah, we're taking her with us. It's pretty likely that, well, she won't get the help she needs around here, and even if it's not the best for her... I can at least tend to her back at the base. If you can carry her, I want to make a stop and pick up a few extra things now that I know we're gonna be housing an injured party." He was definitely more serious than he had been before and during lunch, a concentrated look on his face as he mumbled, "We need to find Leon though. I technically shouldn't be making the decision without consulting him, but even if he said no... I'd do it anyway." He waved his hand in the air as he turned back to listen to Austin again. He sighed gently as he nodded his head slowly, starting to apply bandages to some of the wounds, wrapping them up as he did, "...Alright, we definitely can't leave her here then. If you all found her outside of town, chances are she was running from someone or something. Maybe once she's back up, we can help her with whatever the problem might be." His focus drifted for a moment as he started to put away his supplies, nodding his head towards Ada and then back to the mystery girl as he nodded. "I'm going to find Leon and explain what's going on. If you can carry her, I'll explain to him about this... And Austin, thanks for getting us. I'll make sure she's taken care of." Layne looked over his shoulder to the boy, giving him a small grin and a thumbs up as he turned towards the exit of the small church, stepping out into the streets for waiting for Ada to follow behind him. ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Making their way through the streets before had been awkward, sure, but now that they were carrying an incapacitated woman, it definitely felt like there were more eyes on them than ever before. Layne tried his best to direct them down streets that were less occupied, while still keeping them in a good line of sight to spot the others and hit up the stores they were most likely to have visited, it wasn't the easiest task really. The strange looks were a little bit disheartening to him... The search was starting to feel hopeless, until finally... Gojira. Layne had never been quite to happy to see the massive lizard... And hopefully the others would be there too. Layne turned behind him to wave to Ada, "Over here! I found 'em!" He quickly made his way towards the other Falcons, his face serious as he waved to them, "Ay, uh, so... Bad news? I'm bringing someone new with us when we head back. There was an injured woman..." Layne went off into a quick explanation of their encounter with Austin and the brief time spent at the church, before motioning to Ada, "...And I think it's for the best if I take care of her. I know I should've asked first, but... She won't get care here, and we've been getting a lot of weird stares today. I'm kinda freaked out and feel like we should get out of here." He took a deep breath as he finished explaining, finally noticing the looks on the other's faces as he rubbed at his neck. "...Seems like we weren't the only ones with problems, huh?"

Yeah, Lyn is basically just Speed Tactics / Waifu votes. Myrrh is a Seasonal Armor Dragon that's very strong. Legendary Azura is the BEST dancer. Duma is the most recent Mythic Hero when we only have 2, and he seems to be a damn strong unit. Not surprised at any of these outside of Lyn, and even then Speed Tactic is rare enough to not surprise me. I said this on Discord, but Duma and Myrrh are the ones I want, I already have Azura and I have Ylgr for Speed Tactics fodder.

Layne rubbed at his neck lightly as he followed behind Austin, whistling a little bit as he held his bag over his shoulder against his back. The cleric just listened to Austin's explanation as they went along the path towards the local church, a little whistle escaping him as he nodded his head, made sense. People were too busy to go and get help for her at the moment, that wasn't too bad. Since he was in town anyway, it was the least he could do to go and help out... With the church coming up ahead of them, it was time for him to get ready to work, depending on the injuries, a combination of magic and physical medicines seemed the best way to go, but he would need a moment to check... The mostly empty church was very standard and very... Familiar to him, whether that was a good thing he wasn't sure. A little bit of 'home sickness' was starting to creep up on him, remembering the monastery that he had stayed in for a while before coming to the Falcons. He didn't have long to linger on that train of thought though, as he looked over the rows of pews, the sight of a woman laying down on one of them finally caught his attention, that was probably the one he was here for. He whistled to himself as he made his way over to the seat, giving Austin a small smile as he nodded his head, "I understand. I'll do what I can to help... I don't know if you would get in trouble, but if anyone asks, I won't tell them you told me. Just to be safe." As he knelt down at the side of the pew and got a better look at her face, well... That explained why it was hard for Austin to find help. The distinctly Jouran facial features would make it hard for him to convince someone to help her out around here. He set his bag down as he began to pull out a waterskin and a rag, starting to clean off dirt from her boy to uncover the bruises and any major injuries that might be hidden away underneath it with one hand. The other held up his Heal Staff into the air, a small light building up along the tip of it, before showering down onto the injured woman, "Alright, this might take a bit to get her back to being conscious. I don't know how severe the injuries are. The staff alone might not be enough, but... Hopefully it is. If I could wake her up and get some information on what happened, it might make it easier to figure out how bad the wounds actually are... Outside of the obvious ones, of course."

Man, this is gonna be... Interesting, compared to the last one. We've got a cast of hotheads already, and with Rep's character in development, things are gonna get weirder I'm sure. @Yui @radio414 @Black Once Rep's character gets posted, he'll get his own review too, for now though that's the basic thoughts of looking through them! I really do like each of them, there's no worries about that, and I think it'll help me put together the final cast of NPC's fairly well. If there's anyone else interested in throwing themselves in, please post and let me know!

So, we're doing this again! For those of you who aren't involved but want to be, this is a Danganronpa based RP that will, in fact, be revamped. The old RP died with the transition to Neo New, but the players have expressed interest in trying again with potentially new characters. In that vein, I'm opening it back up to people who are interested in throwing themselves into it as well.