Grimm Nights [IC | PG-16 | Started | NA]

[Chaos Sonic 442]

“I can take care of myself, thanks! But you said I don’t know something. You going to keep us in suspense, then, or what?”

Alexandre glared in the direction Elsie after she said that, seeing her now in a higher position to assess the situation. "Tch...you honestly think I WANT to use what I'm talking about?" he said, with a low growl hinting within his voice. The witch obviously didn't understand...not one iota. He watched how pretty much the one Jaeger, Lachlan, apparently took the full force of that "Dragon Cannon". ...maybe next time stay out of the line of fire. he thought, glancing back over towards where Sieg now was standing after his bit of landing from that leap.

He felt his muscles tensing up further: this was something he definitely wasn't expecting. Back in Farway he was always able to train and practice within the castle, after all, that was something Maurice wanted him to do further...just to get a mastery over his Jaeger abilities. But that one part...he always had trouble with. And right now, this little practice bout was something he wasn't expecting. And this was from the one who reeked of both a Jaeger and a human? Alexandre could feel himself trembling slightly.

The hell am I supposed to do? he thought, before he felt something like a fist striking at him. He recoiled a bit and glanced around, not seeing much of anything at first. Then another strike hit him and yet again he recoiled. However he began to scan the room as quickly as he could, trying to find what the hell was going. That's when he saw it: a frog, a large one by most species sizes, but it was literally shooting it's tongue out and striking him with the force of a punch. He glared daggers at the frog, his claws getting a bit sharper as he even began to bare his fangs. "Seriously? Can...you...stop?!" Alexandre shouted, roaring slightly. This was annoying him to no avail...and he was getting mad.

Before he knew it, Alexandre saw out of the corner of his eye movement. Sieg was now rushing towards him at a fast pace too. Alexandre began to growl, his teeth and claws bared as he shook his head some. "Fine...if you all want to see the beast..." he muttered, standing his ground as now he and Sieg collided with one another, making quite the smoke cloud from the impact.

---

"Professor Jekyll!"

Eric drug his eyes away from the scrying orb for a moment, still watching the proceedings of the battle in the gym and training area, to see one of his attendants with quite the worried look on their face. "Yes? What ever is the problem?"

"I-It's your team of Jaegers, sir! Sieg is currently going toe-to-toe with them...a-and one of them happens to be-..."

"The Beast?" Eric replied, dumbfounding the attendant. "Rest assured, I am fully aware of this. What a good portion of you people don't seem to comprehend is that I am allowing all this to occur. After all, these poor individuals haven't had a chance to spread out their wings, so to speak, and cut loose. And some in this group, need to be shown if they need protection, which is exactly what our dear Dragon Slayer is determined to find out."

Silence filled the room again as Eric's eyes returned to the orb, seeing nothing but the smoke in view...but began to see the silhouettes of Sieg and one that was much larger and more imposing. "Ahhh, and now we've come to the fun part. Looks like our dear Frog Prince's annoying actions were just what were needed. Have fun with this, Sieg, my boy." he said, a grin appearing on his face.

---

The smoke began to clear some, but from Robin and Elsie's points of view, they could see silhouettes...and one was pretty large. A deep, menacing growl was heard from the inside of the smoke...and in one fell movement...the smoke was dispersed.

BGM

Locked in a grappling power struggle with Sieg, where Alexandre stood, was now a hulking beast of a creature. Horns being much larger than Alexandre's, it having a pitch black fur and even quite a number of scales around some areas of the body and then the tail which dispersed the smoke in an instant.

It began to growl in a feral manner, before letting loose a loud, deafening roar it did what it could to try and push Sieg back as much as it could. Now for this little sparring training match...the Beast...was released.

[Saikazo 241]

Instead of the small, timid Alexander was a hulking beast that almost seemed unreal. Even as a well traveled slayer of monsters, this was the first time Sieg had seen such a creature before. It certainly was strong, as it began to push harder against the dragon slayer. "Are you... Kidding me?" Sieg gritted his teeth as he began to be pushed back slightly through the power struggle. "Damn you old man!" He inwardly cursed more at Jekyll as he stared the Beast in the eyes. "Hey, can you hear me, or are you just some rage beast?"

The Beast snarled a bit at the Dragon Slayer, doing its best to continue to push back against Sieg's struggling. All that came out of the creature's snout was growls and snarls, and it seemed that was all that Sieg was getting out of him at this moment.

"Rage Beast it is," he muttered as he took a deep breath, the beast's advance slowing down. He let go of the beast's claws and rushed forward, wrapping his arms around the monster's waist. "Heel boy! Heel!" He shouted as he jumped up, trying to smash the Beast's head against the ceiling. The beast began to roar loudly, feeling himself being lifted up as he had his back slam against the ceiling, to which he immediately held his head in pain. He let out another snarl and then lifted up his arms, hands held together as slammed them down right onto Sieg the best he could.

The strike hit its target straight and true, and as Sieg didn't have the ground to anchor him, he was shot towards the said ground, landing chest first into the ground. "That's not... Heeling," he muttered as he stood up, looking to the ceiling. The beast had used its claws to attach itself to the ceiling, looking down at the rest. He gave a toothy grin, almost chuckling at his handiwork.

The Dragon Soars

"Oh, so you aren't just a rage beast... In that case," Sieg closed his eyes, taking in a large breath. This time, however, the air could be visibly seen being sucked in, and small sparks of gold flames came out the side of his mouth as he exhaled. The green tattoo on his cheek began to glow as his opened his eyes. "Soaring...," The Dragon Slayer took a slow and heavy step forward, the ground shaking when his foot rested. He then slowly crouched down, watching as the Beast unattached itself from the ceiling, falling towards him. Sieg took a leap, shooting upwards, taking off like a rocket. "Dragon Fist!" He buried his fist into the Beast's gut, the momentum of the jump rocketing them back to the ceiling, slamming the Beast against the ceiling. As the Beast was pinned, Sieg then reached out, wrapping his arms around his opponent's waist again, positioning him so the Jeager's head would crash headfirst into the ground when they fell.

From the resulting and eventual headfirst crash, there would indeed be a large crater where the two would be. At the same time, the beast slowly stirred, currently on the ground. He let out a groaning growl, as he tried his best to get up. "...D-Di...on..." he muttered, groaning more.

Sieg wasn't looking his best either, panting hard, the visible part of his green tattoo now glowing a warm gold. "I-I swear, if you get up, I'm going... To throw you... At the raven girl...," he muttered before gritting his teeth, and falling to a knee. His body felt as if it was on fire, some of the crackling energy coming off of him and striking the ground. "Really.... Wish I had my sword about now...," he thought to himself.

The beast still tried to get up, really not paying any mind to Sieg's threat. He kept groaning and growling, still feeling quite enraged about everything...but he slowly began to calm down. It must've been plenty of damage being done to him, namely the massive headfirst crash into the ground, but he was calming down.

[radio414 903]

This was what Elsie had been looking for. When she’d offered to spar with anyone and everyone, her primary focus was a need and/or want (depending on how honest she was being) to prove her worth to the group. It was a focus she’d succeeded pretty well at doing when fighting Tricky, thank you very much. The other need, though, was to see what she who exactly she was going to be working with. She needed to make sure they were her equal. And while “equal” was a pretty strong adjective in relation to the young witch, she still couldn’t help but feel satisfaction and awe at the beast and the dragon slayer locked in combat down below.

The other half of the room had its own action going on as well. A whole new batch of combatants had arrived: Wada, Lucine, Lach, and… well, she couldn’t actually remember the last person’s name (she hadn’t said it, right? Didn’t cats have, like, three different names?) but her presence certainly did not go unnoticed. In fact, it seemed like she was trying to be noticed; she was posing like she was trying to distract everyone around her. She wasn’t fighting, though, and now that Elsie was looking, neither was Lach.

Had he been, though? He certainly looked pretty worse for wear, and Elsie had spent a pretty long time just ogling the image of that beast and the dragonslayer locked in combat. She hadn’t even seen them come in, after all. She flew a bit closer to get a better look, and that only confirmed her suspicions. He had to have been hit by something, and -

“Elsie!”

Elsie flinched as a massive BOOM erupted not too far from where she’d just positioned herself. The Dragon Slayer and The Thing-That-Had-Been-Alexandre were both now pressed against the ceiling close -- too close -- to where she’d just been, and though they remained there for what seemed like an eternity, The Dragon Slayer did eventually bring his opponent back down to earth.

She took a few breaths and looked over at her shoulder. Corbin looked pretty shaken, from the way his feathers were ruffled to the way he looked this way and that or how he simply radiated stress and worry.

“I’m alright,” Elsie said. “Thanks.”

That seemed to calm Corbin down a little, but now that she was paying attention to him, his excess fear was starting to rub off on her. Even if she did stay, where even was she supposed to be looking? She told Alexandre she could handle herself, and she had meant it, but with so much going on and how spent she’d been, it only would have taken one errant projectile or flying combatant to knock her off.

Elsie guided her broom down closer to Lach and called out to him. “Hey, you okay?” she said, “I fought Tricky earlier and I think I saw what I wanted, so I was gonna head out. You looked pretty spent so I figured-”

She heard The Dragon Slayer saying something in the distance and cut herself off. “I’m going to throw you at the raven girl,” was what she managed to hear.

“Yeah, I’m not really into getting huge monsters thrown at me, so now seems like a good time. Can you walk or do you need me to fly you out of here?”

[|0P| 24]

    Robin was unsurprised to find Alexandre didn't taste particularly good but none the less continued to lash out at the Jeager with his tongue, one, two, three more times until the royal literally growled at him.

    "What an unexpected response." he thought, only somewhat sarcastically, as he began hopping away to what he considered a safe distance.

    In his rage Alexandre muttered something unintelligible to the fairy-frog before colliding with his opponent. Robin could practically feel the force of the two pushing against each other before things became a strange kind of silence. Out of the dust came to figures, the mighty but battered dragon slayer and, in place of Alexandre, a dark beast of fur and teeth and claws. Robin watched in awe at what had been transformed from the kind of chaos that feels like meaningless, deafening, noise became the kind of beauty that, when examined closely, could be heard as a song. The two Jeagers clashed again and again, once coming nearly to close for Robins taste, in a glorious battle of strength and will. When the beast seemed defeated Robin's attention was turned to the witch girl Elsie and the young man in glasses she spoke with.

    "I fought Tricky earlier and I think I saw what I wanted"

    "What she wanted, now what could that have been?" The frog hopped towards the pair and, hoping to avoid rousing suspicion, leaped onto the back of Elsie's broom where he could both avoid the collateral of the beast and dragon slayer should they continue and better listen in on the pair he was suddenly more invested in; perhaps if he was lucky the other Jeager would mistake him for a pet of the witch much like her bird.

"I’m going to throw you at the raven girl" the dragon slayer unintentionally interrupted Elsie with a threat, although who he was threatening was somewhat unclear.

"We should move." Robin thought at the mentioned 'raven girl', unintentionally letting out a small croak in fear of being crushed beneath not only the beast but the witch who's ride he'd sneaked aboard. He'd seen quite enough action for the day it seemed.

[Sethera 290]

Lachlan glanced around the room. It looked like the Dragon Slayer was locked in place fighting against some hulking, slavering beast. Definitely not his idea of a good time. That kind of fight looked way too physical. Too much potential for skin contact. Aye, fighting at a distance with his spear was what he preferred.

But he really needed to find somebody, warn them about what was happening, that there was a traitor, possibly two, amongst them. While he didn't like the idea of making the cat lady mad, he liked the idea of lying and keeping things mum even less, especially for something that involved others' lives.

Almost as if she had read his thoughts--and maybe she could--Ellie and Cory arrived on a broom like a messenger sent from heaven, bearing with her salvation from his current plight. “Hey, you okay?” she said, “I fought Tricky earlier and I think I saw what I wanted, so I was gonna head out. You looked pretty spent so I figured-” she cut herself off, seeming to have heard something. Lachlan thought he heard something too. Something about a cave-in and a pearl? Maybe? His ears were still ringing from that earlier explosion of light. "I'm okay, sure as sure aye," he nodded, then stopped as that made the ringing worse. "I think...well, I don't know for sure, maybe. But, well, I certainly hope so?"

“Yeah, I’m not really into getting huge monsters thrown at me, so now seems like a good time. Can you walk or do you need me to fly you out of here?”

"Me neither," Lachlan nodded eagerly, stars shining in his eyes. This was his chance! His chance to tell somebody about what was going on. He felt like he could trust Ellie and Cory--mainly Cory. That raven was a truly magnificent and forgiving bird. But if he was traveling around with Ellie, it meant that Ellie was trustworthy too. And she had seemed nice enough earlier. "I'm so glad you two are here, really I am. Thank you so much! There's just too much excitement going on in here right now. Err...not that I have anything against excitement. I just...you know. Well, there are some things that aren't for everybody, and this is one of them. For me, anyway."

It was then he registered Ellie's second question. "I can walk..." he took one wobbly step, and almost fell over. "Um...give me a second. Sorry, I don't mean to bog us down or anything, I just...need to regain my bearings, is all." He winced as he took one hirplin step, and then another. "Thank you kindly though Ellie. Again, sorry if I'm trailing behind, I just--" he stopped his ramble at seeing...was that a frog on the broom? So Ellie had a frog too? "Oh...um...h-hi there." While he hadn't met any talking frogs before, he hadn't met any talking ravens before either. And if this frog was with Ellie, then it could probably talk too. "It's a, uhh, pleasure to meet you." There, that was a good human thing to say right? He still hadn't totally grasped all the humanisms out there. Though ah'm nae dealin' wiv a human aither.

Edited February 29, 2020 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[reparoni 161]

It didn't take long for them to find Lachlan, who was currently with the other beast lady - the cat lady. He looked pretty beat up, considering that he collapsed on the ground and all. While Lucine did her stretches, Wada simply leaned on his mallet, waiting for their sparring match to start. He hoped that Lachlan was ok - he wasn't even sure if the boy was in any condition to fight. Maybe he had some sort of regeneration, though. Who knew.

Wada frowned when Lachlan decided not to join them, although he now knew what the cat lady's name was. It was a strange name, but he wasn't one to judge. "Well that's a shame... have fun with Mommy!" He said, before turning towards Lucine. Wada wondered if the cat lady was going to join in, or when. Was this going to be some sort of free for all? It was all rather exciting. He held his giant mallet with both of his hands. "Whenever yer..." Before he even had time to respond to her, however, she was already lunging. "Woah!" He exclaimed, swinging the red mallet right towards the girl as she soared through the air towards him.

[Doggo 218]

It was almost admirable how Lachlan attempted to get out of his part in the sparring to be, simply because he'd been tossed around a bit on entry. If Catriona didn't know any better she'd say he was almost trying to go back on their deal. And that just wouldn't do now would it? As for Lucine and Wada, the cat jaeger intended to keep them guessing as long as possible. Whatever her part was to be in all of this she wanted it to be a surprised to all involved. But that aside, she did need to keep the forced lover boy on his toes lest he simply slink away and think himself safe. With a tap of her staff the shadow of a cat would appear on the ground and make its way swiftly toward Lachlan. It would do nothing immediately. Catriona had yet to decide what she wanted it to do to him and so kept it there manly to have the option on the table. As if the universe itself were intending to change her plans, a strong impact sounded with a menacing growl. The woman's attention was now fixed squarely on the Dragon Slayer as he was engaged with what until quite recently had been the deposed prince.

"Ever the lively bunch." she commented to herself though not in her usual cheerful way. Not that there wasn't some pleasure to be derived in watching the former human go to work to fight the monster before him. But to have her plans shifting so often was growing irritating. But despite the frustration, for a moment she considered stepping in to assist the Dragon Slayer, only to see him employ a powerful technique to put the monster down. Alexandre seemed to be calming, however slightly. Whether that meant he'd turn back or not was anyone's guess. But with the situation calming some, Catriona made her way ever so gracefully to Sieg's side. With a couple more firm taps of her staff to the ground, a group of six more cat shadows popped up in a circle around the beast. These she had a purpose in mind for already but was going to give the boy the benefit of the doubt to calm down on his own. Still, she couldn't have her primary target's face getting disfigured this early into things.

"My, you really can handle yourself around colossal beasts." she teased Sieg while ever keeping her gaze on Alexandre. "I still want to see how you handle dragons of course but even this much... well the effect isn't lost on me." Catriona continued, ever flirting to attempt to throw the man the off his composure.

[radio414 903]

Lachlan spent a lot of words on just saying he could walk and even then when he was finished he still hobbled along beside her pretending that the “yes” part of his answer was in any way honest. The “maybe, I think so,” part, sure, whatever, but a not-insignificant part of Elsie just wanted to scoop him up right then and there and just cart him out. Well, what she wanted was to escort him to wherever he said to go -- a thought that surprised even her -- but in the meantime, she just said, “Alright, well, listen, it’s not every day that one gets to ride on a witch’s broomstick, like, I know the stereotype is that we’ll sweep kids off their feet and take them to castles in the clouds or whatever but that’s not about to happen here. We’re already on one of those.” She laughed at her own joke, regardless of how funny it really was. Corbin didn’t.

But Lachlan wasn’t paying attention. He was busy staring behind her, at something on her broom’s head. Wait, was something back there? Now that she was paying a bit more attention, the weight balance of her broom had shifted a little bit. Plus, Lachlan was saying things like “Hi there,” and “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” which would be weird (or rather, weirder than Lachlan already was) if there weren’t. But it’d have to be something smaller, like a cat or a-

Or a frog, which was what it was. A rather large one had attached itself to her broom like it was planning to hitch a ride. Elsie’s first instinct was to shake it off -- she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to but it was the first thing that popped into her head. But after a few shakes that were more obligatory than anything else, she paused, thought a moment, and looked around.

The battlefield was largely the same as it’d been when she’d last looked. Lucine and Wada’s fight was progress and the cat lady had gone over to bother the Dragon Slayer but besides that, well, there was only one other big difference that she could see: Tricky had disappeared.

Elsie sighed. “King of Frogs, huh? Okay, you can come too, I guess.” She looked at Lachlan, who was still half-staring at her excess passenger, half-limping along at an irregular speed that Elsie had difficulty matching. Every time she thought she was matching it, it changed just a little bit. She did want to match it, though -- if he was staring at her newest passenger frog, she was staring at him just as much in case he tripped or something more unfortunate happened.

Corbin, though, interrupted her thoughts. “You know, if that cat woman keeps bothering him,” he said, “he might just throw her instead of that beast.”

It was something that hadn’t even occurred to Elsie. Maybe she took it too seriously because of that, but it sufficiently increased her desire to leave from “at Lachlan’s pace” to “at Elsie’s pace,” and Elsie’s pace was significantly quicker. She seized Lachlan by the collar and lurched forward on her broom, making a final lunge towards the exit door, making before any throwing of anyone else could ensue.

The impact of what she’d just done didn’t quite hit Elsie until they were safely outside the arena. “Sorry! Sorry, Lach!” she said, hopping off her broom to check on him. “Oh, Hecate, that- yeah, sorry.” She turned to the frog. “You too. I mean, you probably, I don’t know, you probably weren’t expecting a bumpy ride like that.“

To Lachlan, she said “If you’re really hurt, um, the medical ward’s this way, I think, and we can go there. If you’re not, um, wow, but I was going to go see Jekyll, ‘cause he’ll probably be watching this all with a scrying orb or something and it minimizes the crossfire. Unless,” -- she looked back at the frog, -- “you had some other idea? Or were you just hitching a ride out of there like we were?”

[Blake 312]

"Well, this is chaotic," Lopt sighed, placing a palm against his cheek and leaning into it as he muttered, "These kids certainly have the power to back them up, but I'm not sure if they have the restraint..."

Lopt cast a glance up to the sky, figuring Jekyll was watching, giving a disapproving look. Then turned back to the group and clapped his hands together as the brawl came to a close, nodding his head with a smile.

"Well, that was certainly an exciting match! Maybe my concerns about how the group were misplaced, if Alex and Sieg are anything to go by. Though, maybe a bit of work on restraint is needed... After all, it seems a few of our companions have fled the room. I can hardly blame them, I wanted to up and fly away myself," The shifter gave a small laugh as he shook his head, "And looks like we have another brawl brewing, as well, so why don't we give them some space?"

Behind his smile, Lopt sunk his teeth into his tongue. Playing nice was no issue, but this group was certainly full of lunatics. And he would know.

[|0P| 24]

    While Lachlan rambled on Robin was content to watch the Jeager struggle to keep up with the broom. It was almost endearing the way he limped along and nervously spoke seemingly anything and everything he was thinking. Soon enough he caught the boys attention and, as he'd thought, was mistaken for yet another familiar of the witch.

    "It's a, uhh, pleasure to meet you."

    Robin appreciated the good manners and croaked in response, not wanting to discourage any politeness. "Perhaps a proper introduction is in order? Next I get the chance it'll be my top priority." he decided.

    He continued to sit and listen, as a prince of sorts patience during a conversation was one of the few things he'd been taught, while he thought about his supposed teammates he'd had a real encounter with so far. The witch was certainly strong and that bird made it harder for him to pull one over on her but her strength did seem to come at a reasonably equivalent cost in stamina so he figured wearing her out was the best plan of action. the royal and dragon slayer on the other hand were something else. Robin hadn't encountered many Jeagers aside from his own kind, certainly none that had at one point been human, but that pair still seemed particularly gifted in terms of physical strength. Should they figure out his circle he doubted either one would think of him kindly, he'd have to catch them off guard. The rest were a bit of a mystery but the cat woman seemed rather sly and he appreciated the mental challenge she could bring.

    "King of Frogs, huh? Okay, you can come too, I guess." it seemed the witch Elsie had discovered him. Robin supposed he could take it two ways, either she figured him out and at least accepted his company or she believed Robin could summon frogs, either way his course of action would have to be the same.

    At the birds mention of the cat Jeager and something about being thrown Elsie sped up a not insignificant amount, Lachlan in hand in a way that couldn't have been comfortable which resulted in an apology to the lad and, surprisingly, the faerie frog himself. He let out a dissatisfied ribbit to inform her of his position on the matter.

    Eventually the witch suggested they all find Jekyll or head to the infirmary, wherever that was, for the glasses boy. While Robin didn't much care meeting up with Jekyll did seem like a more entertaining idea than watching the more injured Jeager get patched up so he leaped off the flying broom to hop towards the directors office, with a quick pit-stop for a new outfit along the way of course, planning his next move.

[yui 574]

As Lucine closed the distance between herself and Wada, she was rather unsurprised to see a mallet being swung at her. And as it turned out, that mallet had a bit more punch to it than Lucine was expecting. The attack - catching Lucine right in her midsection and pushing the air right out of her lungs - stopped her dead in her tracks, and almost succeeded at knocking her down entirely. Almost. While it did bring the wolf girl down to her knees, it would take more than the wind being knocked out of her to stop Lucine completely! Sucking in a new lungful of air, Lucine sprung up from her hands and knees, bringing one of the latter up with her. It would be a pretty close cut on if her knee even connected with Wada at all, though.

But that was fine. Lucine knew what she was doing.

[Sethera 290]

As Ellie started saying something and laughing, either to herself or Cory maybe, Lachlan was focusing on the frog. And was disappointed when it just croaked. "Oh...hehe, I'd thought you'd be able to talk, not that not talking is bad. You know, I've heard that humans don't like a lot of blabber. True gentlemen avoid it when they can, and all." He wasn't really sure what he was talking about anymore. "Oh, but I guess that means I'm not a gentleman either. Well, I'm a Jaeger, but you know, uhh, well, the point is, it's not bad to not be talking...yeah."

Beside him, Ellie sighed. “King of Frogs, huh? Okay, you can come too, I guess.”

Wait, the frog wasn't hers? And was actually a king? Oh shite, he'd really messed up, hadn't he? "Ah, sorry uhh, Your Majesty? I had no clue you were a king, umm, forgive me, I just, couldn't tell. Not that you don't radiate an aura of uhh kingliness. Now that I look more closely, I think you do, but, well, forgive me. I didn't mean any uhh disrespect? Is that the word? Yes. I didn't mean anything like that."

Corbin interrupted then. “You know, if that cat woman keeps bothering him,” he said, “he might just throw her instead of that beast.”

"E-eh? Cat woman? You mean h-h-her?" Lachlan glanced over at where the woman was currently...was she flirting? With the Dragon Slayer? He felt both impressed at the woman's audacity and sorry for the man's situation. After all, he had been in a similar one not too long ago, and it had ended very badly. Thankfully, he hadn't received the worst sort of ending, but it came close. That was one Jaeger he would steer clear of in the future. These others were strong but she was scary in a different, more ruthless way.

At that moment Lachlan felt himself being seized by the collar and dragged through the door. He let out an "Ach!" but wasn't able to say anything more as the pressure of fabric pulling up against his throat blocked out further words. Choking slightly, the boy attempted to breathe anyway, but found it impossible. As his vision began to darken, the constriction around his throat lessened. Gasping for air, the boy coughed a couple times before recovering slightly from what had been an unintentional strangulation.

“Sorry! Sorry, Lach!” Ellie said, hopping off her broom to check on him. “Oh, Hecate, that- yeah, sorry.” She turned to the frog. “You too. I mean, you probably, I don’t know, you probably weren’t expecting a bumpy ride like that.“

The frog gave a dissatisfied ribbit in response.

"It's all good, all good," Lachlan felt his head spinning slightly. "Just give me...a minute."

“If you’re really hurt, um, the medical ward’s this way, I think, and we can go there. If you’re not, um, wow, but I was going to go see Jekyll, ‘cause he’ll probably be watching this all with a scrying orb or something and it minimizes the crossfire. Unless,” -- she looked back at the frog, -- “you had some other idea? Or were you just hitching a ride out of there like we were?”

It looked like the frog did have an idea what to do, hopping off the broom toward somewhere. Where that was, he wasn't sure. Lachlan shook his head, ignoring the residual spinning. "I'm fine, or at least, I think I'm fine?" That impromptu drag away from everything had not helped, but he still felt better than he did a minute ago, so that was something. "And I want to go see Professor Jekyll too. Er, if that's okay with you, that is. Well, from what you said, you want to go see him too? So, in that case, we both want the same thing, which means that, unless you think otherwise, maybe we should go find him? Or maybe look for the frog? I'm not sure where it--er, he, went, unless he also went to find the professor."

[radio414 903]

It was good to see everyone on the same page. Or rather, it was good to see both she and Lach were on the same page. Tricky, well, she wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing but between the actually-maybe-injured Lachlan and the only-thing-hurt-was-maybe-his-pride frog, Elsie spent quite a bit more time considering the input of the former.

Also, the frog wasn’t in exactly a verbal mood outside of the occasional croak, it seemed. That was a factor too. Elsie couldn’t speak frog.

Lachlan was as talkative as ever, though, and he said he was fine. Again, what a miracle! Elsie almost repeated “Wow” in a “did I hear you right?” sort of way. She did say, “Alright, well, I walk slower than I fly, so maybe you’ll be able to keep up this time,” and “If you do need anything, I think my room is on the way and I have some apothecary stuff? That could help too,” instead, though, containing her amazement into one final polite offer to help. If he didn't need it, though, she was ready to get moving.

Corbin, meanwhile, caught on to a different part of Elsie's offer. He said, “I can think of a lot of things I’d trust before I trusted your your po-” and almost got the critical word out before Elsie shushed him.

“It’ll be fine,” Elsie said. “Besides, it’s just in case, you know? Anyway, I actually got lost trying to find this place, but I’m pretty sure Jekyll’s office is this way. Shall we?”

They didn’t walk in silence. In fact, much of it was peppered with questions from Elsie, but mostly the boring kind-of-time-wasting icebreaker questions. “Where are you from?” “If you had to pick one, would you rather not have to eat or not have to sleep?” And sure, Elsie responded to these questions as well, or as well as she could (pointing out a specific area of a forest was hard but she could still say “The forest near…” and expect that to be good enough. And the correct answer was not having to sleep) but it still didn’t make the best sort of conversation. The closest thing to an actual question Elsie asked was “How did you end up here anyway?”

But even then, she didn’t even let Lachlan answer right away. “Actually,” she said, “I’ve been asking a lot of the questions. Is there anything you wanted to ask me?”

[Sethera 290]

“Alright, well, I walk slower than I fly, so maybe you’ll be able to keep up this time. If you do need anything, I think my room is on the way and I have some apothecary stuff? That could help too.”

Honestly, Lachlan wasn't feeling the greatest, especially after recent events, but it wasn't like he could afford to stop and get looked at. He needed to see Professor Jekyll and inform him of possible enemies in the tower if the man didn't already know. Which, speaking of, he should probably bring that up with Ellie too. She might have seen them herself from her broom.

Lost in thought, he missed the exchange between Ellie and Cory, but he came back to himself when the girl brought up Jekyll's office. “I’m pretty sure Jekyll’s office is this way. Shall we?”

Lachlan nodded. "Yeah, that looks good." He doublechecked the path after hearing that she had gotten herself lost, but she ended up being correct this time.

As they walked down the hallway, Ellie made sure to keep the conversation going with multiple questions of various subjects. Lachlan tried his best to answer them, though he was sure he missed one or two. "I'm from a lake near a small town. Not sure where it is from here, but it's not in any kingdom, anyway. Sorry if that's more boring than you expected." "Uhh...probably not have to eat. Because...well...uh...it'd be a lot easier to get along with humans if I didn't have to eat and all." With the bombardment of questions, he didn't have time to ask his own, but he also didn't have time to be frustrated over that either.

Finally, the girl gave him room to breathe, asking if he wanted to ask her anything. But he still had to answer her previous question. It was only polite. "I met Professor Jekyll and he asked me if I wanted to join this group he had made called A.R.C.H., so I did." He shrugged. "Again, sorry if that's not a super interesting tale or anything. I didn't get kidnapped, fight a dragon, or fend off a roving band of marauders and rescue the professor in the process. Just met him on the road one day, is all."

He paused and then asked. "What about you? And..." This was the important thing. "Did you notice anything suspicious from where you were before? I mean, in the sparring room. I overheard somebody talking about blowing something up, and then I got hit by a blast of light too, so..." he winced. "And it really hurt. So I was wondering if maybe there was a reason for that since it happened right after hearing what I did. So that's why I wanted to get out of the room. Because I wasn't sure who was an enemy and who wasn't. And maybe it's something we need to be worried about? That's why I want to see Professor Jekyll." He paused. "Wait, why do you want to see him? Did you say something earlier about crossfire? Were you worried about being attacked too?" He paused to take a breath. "Sorry, I tend to ramble on, but I uhh, well that's why, and see, I wanted to know if you saw anything, is all. But, uhh, don't worry if you didn't," he stammered. "Could be I'm just being too uhh, what's the word? Paranoid? But I just want to be sure, is all."

[radio414 903]

Elsie was pretty sure she was going the right way. Like, Lachlan said her choice “looked good” whatever that meant (all the hallways looked the same, didn’t they?) so although the hallway stretched on there was no hesitation to how she pressed onward. And again, the conversation, no matter how banal the questions and answers involved, helped with that. 

Lachlan, when given the opportunity, actually asked a lot more than the one question Elsie proffered. And sure, one of them was a gimme -- she’d asked “How’d you end up here?” she definitely expected to get it thrown back at her -- but the rest seemed to come from a stream of consciousness where the water was worry with an undercurrent of fear.

She didn’t really see a good place to start besides the beginning, so that was where she did. “I’m about the same, I guess. There’s this witch tradition called Rumsprig- uh, Rumspr-”

“Rumspringa,” Corbin said.

“Yeah, that. Basically, I was already wandering around when Jekyll showed up so it was a pretty easy decision to just travel along on a flying castle rather than a broom. Plus I thought he could’ve used the help.

“Second question, or I guess a bunch of those questions? Uh, I mean, it is an arena; there was a whole bunch of fighting before you got there and there’s probably a bunch still coming but nothing besides the fighting. That’s where all that light came from, by the way. The dragon slayer and Alexandre were having a spat. I guess it wasn’t super powerful if you’re just walking away from it though.

“And then why I left? I mean, I wasn’t like, worried or anything,”

“She was worried.”

Elsie shushed Corbin before sheepishly continuing on. “Maybe, but I wasn’t worried worried. I don’t think anyone wants to get hit with anything, really. I got shoved earlier before anyone else showed up and I’d still rather not repeat the experience. Plus I’d watched enough of everyone else fighting to sate my curiosity and you seemed like you needed a hand so…” She shrugged.

“Jekyll seemed to be the obvious next place to go anyway if you didn’t actually need the med ward. Speaking of which…” Elsie stopped walking in front of a rather ornate door, a much more stand-out design than all the other ones down the hall. “Pretty sure this is it,” Elsie said.

She gave a little flourish, said “Alright” under her breath, and threw the door open.

“Hey! Jekyll! Jee-kyll! Jeekster!” She paused to give everyone in the room sufficient time to react, whether that was Corbin’s shock and immediate facepalm (or face-wing or… whatever) or just stunned silence (who wouldn’t be in awe after a surprise visit from her?), but it was a short enough pause that her follow-up still felt like, well, it still felt like a follow-up. “Are we there yet?”

[Saikazo 241]

At first, Sieg wasn't focusing. He was desperate to get his energy back down, to keep himself from overloading like he had done many times in the past. He took slow breaths, the golden glow his tattoo slowly dying, returning to the green it normally was. He wasn't sure if he should call that natural, but hey, it was back to normal. He stood up slowly, rubbing his neck before realizing, Alex was surrounded by a bunch of shadowy cats. He really wanted to pet one... but something told him it wasn't a good idea.

"My, you really can handle yourself around colossal beasts." Oh no. He heard a voice he wasn't sure he wanted to hear right now. "I still want to see how you handle dragons of course but even this much... well the effect isn't lost on me." Catriona continued, causing Sieg to rub his neck even harder. The glow had stopped dissipating, instead slowly flashing between gold and green.

"Well... it wasn't as easy as it probably looked... I didn't want to hurt him too badly," He tried not to look at her, instead focusing on Alex's slowly shrinking body. It seemed he was going back to normal. "Um... A-are those your cats? They're... they're cute...," He said, trying to make conversation. Was that a bad thing to say? Maybe he shouldn't have brought it up. He just hoped he would calm down, there was no way that him acting like this was healthy to... well, anyone really.

 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

“Hey! Jekyll! Jee-kyll! Jeekster! Are we there yet?”

The doors seemed to open for Elsie, Corbin, Robin and Lachlan, to which they would immediately see Eric sitting behind his desk, his attention currently turned to his scrying orb, watching Sieg practically keeping Alexandre down. “Welcome to my office, I apologize if I seem quite preoccupied.” he said with a smile on his face, standing up from his desk as he adjusted his glasses and made his way towards the group.

“As you can clearly see, my dear...” Eric began, addressing Elsie. “...everything is under control and was being monitored the entire time during the little training session you had orchestrated, which immediately flew out of your grasps. In the end, no one would’ve been hurt. Well, aside from Lachlan here who took a direct hit by Sieg’s attack. Next time, however, the smart move would be to dodge.” He then began to clasp his hands together. “Now, come along. It’s about time we had them wrap up. After all...I wish for the Tower of Babel to remain in one piece.”

With that, the professor walked past the group, immediately leading them back towards the gym area.

---

Walking into the gym area again, Eric found Lopt just sitting this one out, so to speak, while Lucine and Wada were just fighting...while on the other hand, Sieg was just speaking with Catorina while standing on the side where the large crater he made was...and within it...a now human again Alexandre with a sheet covering him.

Excellent. Seems this will go swimmingly. Eric thought, adjusting his glasses before proceeding to clap his hands in the manner of applause. “Impressive work, all of you. Of course, this mainly is geared towards those who displayed quite the bit of work in the training session.” he said, turning to look at Lopt, who didn’t participate in it. Then he immediately turned his head towards Sieg, clearing his throat. “And I presume those here didn’t disappoint during the training, Sieg?”

He only saw Sieg nod slightly, giving him a small thumbs up. That was good enough for the professor.

“Excellent. That shall be it for the day.” Eric said, proceeding to turn on his heel and away from the group. “Return to your rooms to recuperate and prepare for your mission. We will arrive within the Kingdom of Setsu soon.” He began to move, before pausing slightly. “Oh, and by the way...Sieg, you’ll be spearheading this mission.”

With that final sentence out the way, Eric Jekyll left and retired to his office yet again.

I believe this team just might be what Grimm needs...after all, who better to save the world from monsters...than a group of monsters?

Ending

Chapter 1 - Assembled

---

Chapter 2 - Mission One

Opening

Exactly two days later, the Tower of Babel made its way into the kingdom of Setsu. Passing through the quite beautiful landscape through the late afternoon, it was almost surreal to see such a beautiful sight...especially from a literal flying fortress. That said, the Tower of Babel flew a bit farther before finally resting atop of a small mountain that overlooked a small town.

The ragtag group of Jaegers met near the exit of the tower, where Eric stood facing them. He simply cleared his throat and began to pace in front of them. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your first mission under A.R.C.H.’s guidance. A reminder of the situation of this mission: this Setsu town has sightings of strange creatures appearing only at night, most likely a Fahlyn occurance. Ask around the town and gather as much information as you can about this. And IF it comes to it, engage the monsters if you come into contact with it.”

With a quick adjustment of his glasses, Eric looked to Sieg. “Sieg my boy, lead this team well. You are in charge...” he glanced at the others. “...follow orders of your leader to the letter. Now...dismissed.”

The doors to the Tower of Babel opened, allowing the group an exit from the flying fortress, now to go to the Setsu town just to uncover this mystery. Once they arrived in the town, it was obvious that it seemed disheveled, obviously repairing from an attack the night before. They would be able to see, aside from the Jaegers and humans trying to get some of their buildings fixed and even boarding up a few of the shops, they’d find some points of interest.

One was a tavern by the name of The Naughty Crow… the next, the local general store with a blacksmith shop attached with it… the next, a local church of the patron saint of Setsu… and finally, a small fortune teller shop by the name of The Divining Incubus…

---

Alexandre joined the others as they headed down to the town, however he currently was still in quite the disarray after what occurred two days prior. After all, with the constant coaxing from the others in the manner of annoying him and even trying to go all out against him, he was forced to undergo that transformation yet again. It had been such a long time since he had done that last...and he preferred not to have to deal with it again.

Nevertheless, he did his best to remain calm, as he did what he could to keep up with Sieg. He had apologized the day after the training session regarding this, but it didn't seem the most sincere.

This time, however, Alexandre approached the Dragon Slayer's side and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Sieg...I wanted to apologize again for letting myself go during that training." he stated, bowing slightly. "Like I mentioned, I...have yet to properly control that side of myself. Although, I'm unsure I even can."

---

OOC:

Spoiler

Alrighty! We've finally gotten the show on the road now!

The first mission Jekyll has directed the team to has arrived. As mentioned, the mission is simple: gather information from the town about the recent monster attacks, try and verify if they are indeed Jaeger related, and if absolutely necessary...engage the monsters. I have also given a few locations for the group to seek out and see if any information could be given. Spoiler alert: a lot of information will be given from the locations, so yeah.

I encourage you to make groups and attempt to split up to tackle this. There are 9 characters in this team, therefore three teams of three can happen. Or, however you want to split up for it. Regardless on how you do it, prepare yourselves and get ready to uncover the mystery this town.

 

[Sethera 290]

"Rumspriwhatsit?" Lachlan muttered. He wasn't good with human names, but it seemed that Jaeger names weren't much better, or at least witch names--wait. "Whaaat?! You're a witch?!" he shouted, starting to flail around, and then winced, falling over. "Owowowow..." Guess he wasn't as fine as he thought he was. Still, there was something more important than that. "Does that mean...you're going to cast a curse on me or summat? Or kidnap children and roast them in an oven?" he paused at that, and then scratched his head. Ah cannae say ought aboot tha' last bit. He had eaten children before, after all. Though that was more to his mother's taste. He generally preferred adults since they had more meat--anyway, that was beside the point. He was a changed Jaeger now! Human beings were off the menu. He was on a strictly seafood diet now, with some other meats like pork, poultry, and beef mixed in every so often.

Hearing what she said next though distracted him from his fear of witches. "So...then I was wrong? There isn't some nefarious plot to blow up this place? It was all a misunderstanding?" he breathed a sigh of relief. "Ach, I feel like a right bampot now, but I suppose we should still try to find Professor Jekyll. And..." he paused, "No, I'd say it was pretty strong." Only reason he was walking away was because he was ignoring everything his body was telling him, which was to lie down and rest. Or pass out. One of the two. He'd have said more, but the other was also speaking, and it'd be rude to interrupt her. 

Hearing that she was worried about him made him feel a little happy, though, and also a little guilty for what he had said earlier. He began to speak then, though his voice came out quieter than usual. "Er...thanks Ellie. And I'm, uhh, sorry about before. You know, with the witch thing. I've just heard a lot about witches, you know, in stories, and...well, they're a little scary. Not that I'm saying you're scary, because you're not, but I've just heard you're scary, but since you don't seem scary, maybe the fairytales are...wrong?" He had a hard time saying that. The existence of Jaegers was proof enough there was some sort of truth to them. But he also couldn't really see Ellie as a witch, raven aside.

Before Ellie would be able to reply to much of that, they had arrived. The woman seemed excited to see the professor, who was currently sitting behind a desk watching the Dragon Slayer fight Alex-and-ur--he still wasn't used to human names.

"As you can clearly see, my dear..." Professor Jekyll began, addressing Elsie. "...everything is under control and was being monitored the entire time during the little training session you had orchestrated, which immediately flew out of your grasps. In the end, no one would’ve been hurt. Well, aside from Lachlan here who took a direct hit by Sieg’s attack. Next time, however, the smart move would be to dodge." He then began to clasp his hands together. "Now, come along. It’s about time we had them wrap up. After all...I wish for the Tower of Babel to remain in one piece."

"Er...I'm sorry for not...you know, dodging. I just didn't see it is all. I was distracted. Not that that's any excuse, I guess," Lachlan mumbled as he followed along behind.

After the professor wrapped up the training session, much to Lachlan's relief, the youth returned to his room to sleep.

Two days later, rather than, as Lachlan had wrongly assumed, walking to Setsu, the Tower of Babel flew there. "Ah daursay ah shuid 'ave kend whit wis whit, boot ah'm nae the type tae ride aboot a'where," he muttered from his room, staring out the window at the landscape below. "S'pose ah shuid gie on wiv it the noo." Picking up his spear, or harpoon, he walked down to the exit of the tower, where he found out...he was the first one there apart from Professor Jekyll. A little intimidated by being alone with the other man, who had quite the unnerving stare, Lachlan briefly considered leaving and arriving later, but eventually decided against it. It wouldn't do to look the coward either. Instead, he spent an awkward few minutes waiting for the first person to arrive that wasn't him.

Once the others had arrived, the professor cleared his throat and began to pace in front of them. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your first mission under A.R.C.H.’s guidance. A reminder of the situation of this mission: this Setsu town has sightings of strange creatures appearing only at night, most likely a Fahlyn occurrence. Ask around the town and gather as much information as you can about this. And IF it comes to it, engage the monsters if you come into contact with it."

So an investigation, then? That was just fine. Lachlan started to get excited at the prospect of fighting off evil foes like the Fahlyn, but it sounded like that would be a last resort. Still, how could he prove himself a hero otherwise? The professor also appointed the Dragon Slayer who he now found out was named Sieg to lead them, which was also fine. He seemed to know what he was doing.

After arriving in town, Lachlan looked around. He was used to towns to an extent, though he had never seen a town quite like this one. The architecture was different from what he was used to, though he could still tell that they were buildings, at least. A few of them stood out from the others. One of them looked to be a tavern, the other a store with a blacksmith, another a church, and lastly a fortune teller shop. The tavern and the church were out. Both meant a lot of people in closed spaces, and he wasn't sure what he thought about churches anyway.

His parents were never the churchgoing type, being water-dwelling Jaegers who ate people, and the local church in the village near the lake called his kind "monsters," but he also agreed with some of what they said. Or actually, she had been a good, religious type, and so at the time, he had wanted to be a good, religious type too. And heroes in fairytales were usually those types too. But would the church accept somebody like him?

Actually, maybe he wanted to check out the church after all. With any luck, there wouldn't be many people around, and he could not only look for clues, but also satisfy his curiosity at the same time.

He began to walk toward it, and then stopped, turning back to the others. Oh yeah. He was in a group. Which meant it would probably be polite to tell them where he was going. "Uhh, excuse me but I'm going to head for the church. Yeah. Sorry if anybody was thinking of going there, but uhh, yeah. Well, if any of you wanted to go there, you can...go too?" he cringed. Oh yeah, that didn't come out awkward at all. "Anyway, uhh, I'm going to go. Yeah. Stay well. Uhh, I'll uhh, tell you all if I find anything? Unless, you know, you don't want to know if I do, in which case, I'm sorry, but that's just what I was thinking, is all." He needed to leave before he put his foot in it even more. "Um...yeah, take care." With that, he fled the scene, heading toward the church.

He could only hope that he wouldn't be driven out with pitchforks by the priest or pastor or monk or whatever he was called. Or she. He didn't judge.

Edited April 2, 2020 by Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

[radio414 903]

There was a lot to process in those final interesting minutes of that day, enough that, even after spending the entire intervening day going through it all in her head again, there were still some things Elsie didn’t entirely understand. For example, Jekyll’s response went completely over her head. She’d asked a very simple question (“Are we there yet?”) and sure, maybe it was a little annoying, especially when it turned out she was asking on day one of a three-day trip, but still, to dismiss it completely out of hand like he did? Worse still, though, was how Jekyll implied things weren’t under control. Because of course things had been under control! She could have solved everything if she’d thought they weren’t.

But whatever. Jekyll had been observing everything through a scrying orb so maybe he’d somehow seen something she hadn’t. So overall, Elsie’s problems with Jekyll were ones she could dismiss pretty quickly and easily once she’d finally gotten over how angry she’d felt in the moment. Which was good, because it created room for thinking about that final odd Lachlan-shaped puzzle.

How did Lachlan not know that she was a witch? She didn’t know what Lachlan “was”, sure, but Lachlan didn’t wander around with a hat and a broom and a familiar and the ability to conjure magical signs that said “Look at me in all my witchy glory!” or whatever.

“Does that mean you’re going to cast a curse on me?” Lachlan had said. She’d been tempted to. She was pretty creative with her curses, too. It probably would have been a fun one. But no, Lach complimented her scariness and that was enough to ward her off (even if he felt the need to apologize for it later).

For the record, she had never put any children in any oven. At least, not without a good reason.

Besides brooding, Elsie spent the travel time flying around the tower, watching the world pass by underneath. What was especially fun was seeing someone look up at her then do a double-take when they realized just what was going on. Oh, how mundane their life must have been when a simple witch and a tower moving through the sky was the peak of their excitement -- the highlight of their day. Whatever was waiting for them in Setsu had to be more exciting than that.

---

The day started out unassuming enough. They didn’t even land in the village proper; they plopped down on a nearby hill. Elsie was the second one out after Lachlan (okay, counting Jekyll, she was third), with Corbin dutifully riding along on her shoulder. She remembered being told about all this in the initial briefing. She was ready.

That wasn’t to say there wasn’t any new information in Jekyll’s little reminder speech. The Dragon Slayer’s name was Sieg! Exciting! The name sure fit, at least. Not that she could do much with it other than file it away to remember later. But also, why did he get to be in charge? Just ‘cause he hit Lachlan really hard way back when? Or maybe he hit Alexandre really hard and that was it. The point was, she should at least have been given some sort of consideration, and she didn’t think Jekyll really had.

Not that she complained out loud. Like Jekyll said, this was their first mission together. Maybe it rotated? Or maybe she just needed to prove herself a little bit more.

Lachlan wandered in the direction of the church, and Elsie was tempted to follow him, but the bar -- The Naughty Crow -- caught her eye, and not just because of the name. It was still early enough that it wouldn’t be too crowded yet, but bartenders were natural fonts of information, right? And besides, she was somewhere new. The least she could do was sample the wares.

“I just hope they don’t think I’m their crow,” Corbin said. “You’re not going to break their door doing one of your grand introductions, are you?”

“I was thinking of something a bit more mysterious this time.”

Elsie stood just in front of the door and took a deep breath. She was already backlit a little bit from the sun, but a little hint of magic light placed just behind her and some adjustments to her glamour helped to exaggerate her shadow so that when she opened the door in a single fluid motion and remained still to observe the interior, her shadow stretched far into the main room.

Yes, this was certainly a good place to start. Satisfied with her impression, Elsie strolled over to the bar, sat down at one of the seats, and started by ordering another lunch, confident that the information she was looking for would come swiftly after.

[Doggo 218]

So the Dragon Slayer was partial to cats it seemed. Or at least he was captivated by the shadows, awaiting Catriona's orders to perform the magic if need be to help restrain the calming beast. As yet there seemed to be no need but the woman did casually call one of the cats to her hand to hold closer to the man turned jaeger. If he thought they were cute she would take it as a compliment to herself, as they were nothing if not a manifestation of her own magic and soul.

"I'm afraid you wouldn't much like to play with these ones." she said with a coy smile. All at once she patted the head of the shadow in her hand and the shape disappeared, a black chain made of her magic  taking its place and falling to her hands. This she draped affectionately over the Dragon Slayer's shoulders as if gifting him her shawl. "They tend to do things like this. Though the chains are the only fun ones." Catriona laughed as she turned her attention back to the beast. In the end she never did need to further restrain him. Sieg had done all that was necessary to subdue the thing. Jekyll eventually appeared, dismissing the group that had gathered to the training room which Catriona did relatively swiftly, but not without eyeing the Dragon Slayer all the way out the door.

Some days would pass before the group was called together again, and admittedly, Catriona had become rather bored once more with Jekyll's dull establishment. So few of the other Jaegers immediately interested her and the Dragon Slayer always seemed busy with something. While he was the most appealing of the bunch, he ultimately stunk of jaeger and so there was only so much interest she could hold in him. She needed to be out and among humans again, among the boisterous men who were easily captivated and duped. What she wouldn't give to rob someone blind after drinking them under a table and spending the night with them.

Not in any of the short briefing details did Catriona find Jekyll the least bit interesting. The only human within her grasp and yet as she had no means of exacting revenge there was nothing she wanted to do with him. But for now her chance to get out of the fortress was upon her and that was more than worth the several minutes spent listening to the man. Sieg was to be in charge, which brought a smile to the woman's face. The thought of him giving her orders was almost laughable given how easily she could upset him. The town itself was nothing special, but for one Catriona was around actual humans and this much was almost overwhelming for her. They seemed to be having it rough of late but that could come later. For now there were places to explore.

"It's much too early for the tavern." Catriona pouted, thinking aloud as the group gradually made their way in and spread out. "It's easier at night, I'll save it for later... A church.... think I'm overdressed for that." she continued her musings. Eventually the one location that caught her eye was the Divining Incubus. From what she could gather a fortune teller did business there. And with such a charming name, well what else was there to be done but have her fortune told? She sauntered toward the small shop, examining the people passing her by. More than a few would double take at her outfit before her prominent jaeger features like her ears and tail were observed. It was always humorous but also a form of investigation. Which men looked at her longer, they were the ones to look for later in the tavern.

"Ohhhh! What's a girl to do?" Catriona began dramatically as she came into the Divining Incubus. "If only there were someone to tell a fair maiden the future of her love life." she postured as if suffering from prolonged heart ache. May as well make a show of things given what she was likely to get from some no name fortune teller in a town like this.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Doggo

[Blake 312]

This time, however, Alexandre approached the Dragon Slayer's side and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Sieg...I wanted to apologize again for letting myself go during that training." he stated, bowing slightly. "Like I mentioned, I...have yet to properly control that side of myself. Although, I'm unsure I even can."

"Now, now, cut that out.," Lopt hummed softly as he approached the two as they left, tapping his cane on the ground, "After all, it's not like you did it out of nowhere. The goading of others, or even our own thoughts, can cause us to do wild things. I'm sure Sieg here knows that as well, right? So don't be too hard on yourself. No one was hurt. So long as you work on it, all's well that ends well."

He stuck with the two as the group entered the town, murmurs from the townsfolk hit his bunny ears, causing them to twitch around. Confusion, sorrow, dread. Seems the recent attack did a number on the town. A bit further in, some of the others began to break off, each their own way.  Tapping a finger to his lips Lopt glanced at the general store further down the road.

"Well, gentlemen, it seems that the store down there is the only one no one has gone to yet, so I believe I'll head that way. Why don't you tag along, Alex? Perhaps you'll find something interesting in there. Or perhaps a simple distraction. Life's not worth living if you spend it wallowing in regret~" As Lopt turned away and heard towards the store, Alex and Sieg may have noticed a strange spike in his voice at the end, Lopt maintaining his composure externally. However, inside was another story.

"Don't get too invested, damn it. You slip when you start caring. They don't need to know what you can do... yet."

[|0P| 24]

    Robin was the last to meet up with the team, having spent a not insignificant time deciding between the simple bluish-greyish cloak he eventually chose for it's discreetness and a more elegant ensemble that would have been far more flashy and garnered a bit to much of the townsfolk's attention. it seemed by the time he caught up with the rest they'd broken up into to groups to begin the mission and Robin couldn't help but feel left out of the sure to come mischief.

    Just as he was about to head off for his own fun, perhaps there was an attractive face he could find to bide his time with until something happened, He remembered the boy with the hammer. "Wada, I believe he called himself that at some point?" He grinned and floated over to the young man.

    "Since it seems we're all pairing up it would be my pleasure to accompany you." He gave a deep bow before displaying his hand in his trademark vague manner of either an offer to shake or a request to be handed something. "Prince Tricky Oberon if you cannot recall, and today it will be my personal mission to get to know you a bit more, my dear teammate." he continued before giving the young man a chance to respond.

    If Robin was being honest Wada wasn't his first choice either as a target or teammate, sure he was a generally appealing individual and a Jeager but Robin had no idea what his abilities were and he simply lacked that spark some of the others had that made them so desirable. The royal he was certainly the most eager to get his hands on, mostly out of habit, but after the display in the training room he wasn't sure he was prepared quite yet, the witch was interesting with her unique appearance and potential two for one deal with the bird but she'd already dealt with most of his usual tricks after his poorly contrived first plan had failed so it would be up his wit to ensnare her. The rest he hadn't had much time to think about, Wada included, so his feelings towards them were limited but he knew one way or another he just had to get the lot of them all for himself, and this Jeager in particular would be where he'd start.

[yui 574]

Her first mission! In a nice little Setsu town, there had been reports of strange creatures running around at night. Probably Fahlyn, said Dr. Jekyll, though Lucine had her doubts. The town wasn't in the best of states, and it seemed there were repairs going on from a recent attack. But that was exactly where her doubts came from. There was still something left.

When the group had landed and stepped into town, Lucine stopped to take in the scenery. Setsu was always such a pretty place, even if the town wasn't looking so great right now. But, if she was being quite honest, she was always more fond of the snowy peaks back home, or the towering and shiny cities in Epoch. Not to say Setsu was unenjoyable to visit! As the team meandered about, a few places of interest came up. Lucine was interested in one place in particular. Exactly the kind of place she'd been to plenty of times before.

The local tavern. Elsie the witch also had an interest in this place, it seemed. Lucine followed her and her crow into the bar, sitting down beside her partner in arms, and looking around at the place. Nice little establishment the owners had going here, bar some probably-recent damages that had to get fixed up. Unlike Elsie, however, Lucine wasn't hungry. She'd eaten quite her fill back at the base, and in fact had to be removed from the kitchen by the staff once she'd found where they were keeping all the fish. In unrelated news, those new locks on the doors leading to the food storage were quite pretty!

"I'll take whatever alcohol you've still got in stock," Lucine said once she had the barkeep's attention. "I'm not picky. But if you don't mind my asking... what happened around here?"

[reparoni 161]

It was time for their first mission. Wada was a bit nervous, but moreso than that he was excited. It was time to prove himself out in the field! The group entered the town, who seemed to be on edge. Probably because of the monsters they were suppose to hunt here. "Alright gang, we should grou-" He said, turning around towards his teammates. "Oh." Everyone had already broken off into groups while he was taking in the scenery. "Alright, guess I'm doing things solo!" He said, before noticing someone floating towards him.

It was Prince, who seemed to have an interest with grouping up with Wada. "Glad t'have ya on my side!" He lifted his mallet a bit, giving the prince a smile. "Well, let's not dilly-dally! Onward!" He pointed his mallet towards the church, swinging it about effortlessly. He was pretty sure he had heard something about Lach going there, and he didn't remember if anyone else said they were going there. Plus, it was the building that captured his attention the most at the given time. He marched towards the church, resting his mallet on his shoulder.

[Chaos Sonic 442]

The Naughty Crow Tavern

BGM

When Elsie, Corbin and Lucine walked into the tavern, they would see while it was busy and with life, it was obvious that not many patrons were involved with having a pint of anything today. And why would they? They were still currently outside trying to fix a few things here and there. Nevertheless, both of the young ladies would soon hear a voice from behind the bar.

“Oi! Tomas...I keep tellin’ ya, either pay your tab or no more drinks!” a blond woman, presumably the barkeep, groaned towards a sleeping...or drunk man laying over at the counter. “Men, I swear!” Finally, she would notice the two newcomers before flashing a smile. “Welcome to the Naughty Crow! In for a few pints? C’mon in!” Both the ladies sat down, as she moved over towards them. “Fancy seein’ new faces here ‘round these parts. And Jaegers even, color me surprised! I’m Lauryn Smythe, owner, proprietor and barkeep of this here establishment.”

"I'll take whatever alcohol you've still got in stock. I'm not picky. But if you don't mind my asking... what happened around here?"

“Aye! I’ll have that out.” Lauryn nodded, fixing two drinks as well as placing an order for the one’s meal. “As fer what’s happenin’...I suppose ye mean the monster attacks? Then I take it this ain’t a pleasure visit to our quaint little town?” she moved slightly to put two drinks in front of Elsie and Lucine. "Setsu ale...well...they actually call this some sort of other name...sake I believe? Eh, who the hell cares. Anyway, before I give ye any information about this...why you lot want to know?"

---

The Church of the Morning

BGM

Lachlan, Wada and Robin would enter the church building and the ambience of it was strong enough to just shake them to the core. Whether they were religious or not, it was obvious that there was a strong spiritual presence here...maybe that was still dwelling here.

“Ah, guests. Greetings young ones.” the three would be spoken to by a strapping young man, adorned in quite spotless white robes. “Ah, Jaegers as well...peace to you and your kind, as so the lord willth.” he bowed his head slightly, before raising it and smiling.

“Welcome to the Church of the Morning, where we lift the saint of Setsu, Tzu, high with our praises and devote followings. I am Risf, the chief priest here. How may I be of service to you and our Setsuian saint?”

---

The Divining Incubus

BGM

Catriona walked into the shop, a small bell ringing just as she walked in. It was quite a cozy...gothic little fortune teller shop, adorned with quite a variation of different magical paraphilia from tomes to skulls and even jarred toads.

“A customer? Oh joyous day! I’ll be right out~” a voice called from the back of the store. It was a few moments before the owner of said voice came forth from behind the curtains. A young lady, holding a crystal ball within her hand as she gave a sultry smile.

“Ahhhh a customer and a newcomer all at the same time? The gods truly bless me today, hehehe~” she said, giving a small courtesy. “Welcome to the Divining Incubus, my dear. I am Madame Wadjet, the owner of this little shop as well as this town’s link into the supernatural realm beyond.”

Madame Wadjet moved over towards her table, putting her crystal ball down on it’s pedestal before sitting down. “And who, may I have the pleasure of meeting this day?” she asked, motioning for Catriona to take a seat.

---

"Now, now, cut that out. After all, it's not like you did it out of nowhere. The goading of others, or even our own thoughts, can cause us to do wild things. I'm sure Sieg here knows that as well, right? So don't be too hard on yourself. No one was hurt. So long as you work on it, all's well that ends well."

"I...suppose your right." Alexandre nodded, still feeling pretty bad about the whole situation. But Lopt here did have a point. No one was hurt and it was the goading of others that did that whole thing...

"Well, gentlemen, it seems that the store down there is the only one no one has gone to yet, so I believe I'll head that way. Why don't you tag along, Alex? Perhaps you'll find something interesting in there. Or perhaps a simple distraction. Life's not worth living if you spend it wallowing in regret~"

Alexandre caught that last part, but he figured he was hearing something else so he couldn't make heads or tails on whether put emphasis on 'regret' with a spike. Nevertheless, the Jaeger boy nodded, following after Lopt as best he could...neither one realizing that Sieg wasn't following.

General Store

BGM

Both Lopt and Alexandre entered the general store, though for a general store...it was armed to the teeth with countless weapons and armors. It would make sense on why there was a blacksmith shop attached to it. As the two Jaegers browsed the wares of this little shop, a voice would soon be heard.

"Ah, customers. Welcome to my shop." an older man walked out from the back, whilst another man worked tirelessly in the back...possibly using a grindstone on a blade. "Looking to protect yerself, I reckon? Well, these weapons and armor are handcrafted by my son back there...so there the best of the best. So, what can I do fer you Jaege-...er...gentlemen? I apologize, force of habit."

---

OOC

Spoiler

With Sai's blessing to go forward (along with quite a bit of pestering from Yui), I present a long overdo host post.

Also, Sai is the only one presently who is not needing to post. Due to his workload as well as how things are going for him during this little pandemic, we're allowing him to post when he can (most likely when all this shit is over with). So this is why Sieg will not be following the General Store crew.

Each location has been given an appearance to help you lot better visual what's going on, as well as NPCs to give you information to have. You'll notice that there wasn't too much to give out yet this go round, but rest assured, you question the NPCs, they'll give you the answers you seek. If you need anything, ping and/or PM me regarding what you need assistance with.

Let's keep this moving (and hopefully it won't be another long month's wait for the next host post)!!

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Chaos Sonic