Halure

[Daisuke]

Heath stared curiously at the pendant as he revealed his own.

"Yep, that's our family crest alright. And Arceia is a name I'd rather not discuss, if you don't mind."

One thing made him rather curious though. It seemed as though the pendant had a stronger resonance than his own. He felt the aura strength of a Sister within it. something he feared was dangerous. His nervousness was sensed by his horse, who nudged him to comfort him. He took out a sugar cube from his bag, and slowly allowed it to melt in his mouth before continuing to converse.

"So you say she died in battle with Skade. And yet here she is, alive and kicking."

His pendant hidden once more, he smirked, regaining his composure.

"Whatever Skade did to her, it wasn't enough to kill her. She's inside the pendant, girls. And with a fighting spirit like that, I don't doubt for a second that she's a relative of mine."

His gaze became sharp, confident, and almost... Cute, because with those ears and tail it was impossible to take him too seriously.

"And if you two happen to know of any place we can get a new body for her, we can get her out."

This part, even he wasn't entirely sure of. What he DID know was that Torrent would be needed for such a task.

"If you girls are right, and Torrent is in the hands of someone other than Skade, we need to go get it. If we cut the pendant with it, she'll be absorbed by Torrent. Which, I dunno if she told you, is the way us Kohma gain our power. Then we just put Torrent in the hands of some new body, and bam, she'll do the rest. Instant June, just add water." he snapped his fingers and leaned back against his horse.

Which was still something they couldn't take seriously, because of his ears.

[Katzenstreu]

They had been expecting something like shock, or perhaps the sight of his face twisting in horror. Why, even utter disbelief at what they had said would've been appropriate. But the smirk on Heath's face was the last they had in mind in terms of reactions. (Though, the effect was undoubtedly ruined because of his ears.) Not to mention...

"June's... inside here?!" Droite parroted, staring down at the pendent in her hand. Briefly, she wondered if the girl was staring back at her. She found it almost sad, having to be stuck in such a small place, but maybe June didn't mind. Or maybe she was over thinking the concept of being stuck in a piece of jewelry. Either way, there was a chance... she wasn't fully dead yet and they had failed her.

Gauche seemed to be feeling something similar, as she tapped her chin in thought of what was being said. "A new body..." Gauche mused, "I'm not sure where we could be expected to find one lying around." Unless, of course, they took the life of someone else. But whether or not that would work was a question she didn't feel like voicing. "And it likely is," she went onto to the next part of this strange plan to bring back June, which concerned Torrent. "If it wasn't buried with her, someone may have took it with them."

"Which is just plain rude," Droite added. Though, she supposed that made sense. There were a couple of sword fighters among the group... and if they had known the same about June and Skade as they had, then maybe they were going to finish what she was trying to do. "But anyway, if we're gonna do this, we need to hurry, don't we? It's been a more than a few hours since we left, so who knows where they are now-" In that instant, her own want to haste was stopped by a loud noise from her stomach. Clearly, it knew better than her.

"Hehe... oops?

Gauche sighed and turned back to Heath. "While my sister is right about the urgency, we've been on our feet all day. And it's been a long day, at that." And that wasn't even counting the monsters that came out night. Leaving now would be suicidal. "I suggest we leave in the morning, personally," she paused for a moment, noting her own imprudence. "That is, of course, if you are planning on joining us."

[Daisuke]

"Let me break it down for ya."

Heath shot his arm forward, and from his sleeve came a naginata, at least twice the length of his arm. Clearly, it was a concealed weapon that could collapse.

"Let's say this is a new body. it's made of metal and wood and springs. All those things work together to make it what it is. A body's no different; just get ahold of the things that make a body and put them together, then add the spirit."

His attitude was a bit beyond his norm. Heath was always the shy, quiet one. But this topic fascinated him too much for that.

"Basically, we'd need to cook her up a new one."

He took note of their exhaustion and nodded.

"Alright then, let's get you two some rest."

[Katzenstreu]

"You make it sound like this is cake we're baking," was Gauche's first response to Heath's explanation. Yes, in theory, it sounded easy, but what was done in practice was often more hard than the applied theory. Still, there wasn't reason to argue this point, as they were left with little choice. They'd have to take this one step at a time.

Droite attempted to dug her elbow into Gauche's rib for that last statement (she could be so tactless, sometimes), but her sister had no trouble in stopping her. "Anyway, rest. Couldn't agree with you more," she said, with a tired nod.

_________________________________________________________________

The next morning, there was the sound of footsteps tap taping as Droite came down the stairs, evidently the first of the twins to rise. Of course, one would think that with her usual cheerful demeanor, such an occurrence of early rising was usual for her. Though, in fact, it wasn't; Droite actually found the early hours of the morning were better spent dozing in half-dreams then... whatever her sister chose to do in the morning. Train or get an early start on breakfast... It was one of the few, if insignificant, things Droite didn't know very well about her twin. And it would take more than five minutes before the redhead finally made her way down the stairs.

"Morning," she greeted, "Sleep well?" Though, in hindsight, this was a questioned that needed no answers. Gauche was dressed and combed, yes, but there were minor details to her appearance that her off. Her collar was uneven (by just a centimeter), and she had clearly forgotten to place her sunflower clip in her hair.

Both her greeting and query earned Droite a glare, albeit one subdued still by tiredness, which partially explained things. "Did you?"

Not fair, Droite thought. She hated questions answered with questions. "Well," she debated for a half-second, "no, I guess not. I'm sorta anxious."

The glare was gone from Gauche's features, but it probably wasn't because of her sister's answer. "Then, that answers your question." Crisp, neat and-

"I think you should go back to bed, Grouchy," Droite informed her, with a pout. And the ancient nickname earned an unceremonious eye roll.

"Anyway," Gauche said, quick to pull the subject away from her sisters teasing. "Why are you so anxious?" Droite's eyes fell to the floor, where she began to study the toe of her boot.

"I 'unno, I mean..." She went through the process of shrugging, sighing and then finally pressing the metaphorical restart button. "A part of me is really glad we're doing this, but... another part of me is worried about us doing this."

After that, she glanced up at Gauche's level gaze, hoping to find something in it. It silent bade her to go on. "We're already neglecting our duties as it is, by failing to meet up with in Zaphias." Ah, yes. Their original purpose for heading to the capital, and the catalyst for all of this, it seems. "Not to mention, failing to report that on top of things." In short, if this kind of behavior kept up, she wondered how the Duplicitous Deities would feel about it.

Or what they would do about it.

Of course, she said none of this out loud, thus leaving her sister in the dark as to where she was going with this. "...However?" she prompted, sensing that inevitable word.

"Er, nothing," she bailed, figuring it was best to sort this out later. And in trying to draw away from this conversation, she glanced up the stairs expectedly. "I wonder if that Heath guy is up yet?" She hadn't seen him get up, but that might be because she missed him while getting ready. Or something.

[Cao]

Either the cut had been deeper than he'd expected or Kratos had been affected a lot more than he had anticipated. It was easy enough, landing in a discreet location so he could hide his wings, pressing a little tighter on his shoulder. He doubted he had the energy to cast another spell. Judgment had taken out a lot out of him.

And what about Yuan? He'd deliberately tried to shield him, despite the number of enemies. They were angels, sure, but they sure as hell could bleed to death. Yuan...

Not long after he found his elven friend, relaxing his stance slightly, his body exhausted as he focused on staying standing. Almost immediately he could see something was wrong with Yuan, dark eyes narrowing the slightest bit. "Are you alright? he dared ask. It was a start.

[Venetian]

' Are you alright? ', Kratos's voice seemed to echo multiple times in his head, making the words almost not understandable. Yuan focused on staying awake. He knew where the town was... The entrance was on walking...But each step felt like he was lifting tons and tons of weight.

" I'm fine.. " he said breathlessly, " We need to .. find a doctor... " Always being the voice of logic. His vision was getting dull... His pupils must be getting larger. Damn. How much longer could he lie? Unconsciously, he put his hand tightly over his chest where the wound was, but it was still hidden from Kratos' s sight by the extra cloth over him. Exertion... If he kept at this, he would only get worse. He made it to the entrance of the town.

He coughed a few times, and found blood on his hand when he removed it from his mouth. He laughed ruefully, surprised he was still standing, before he simply fell onto the floor.. He couldn't stand, but he forced himself to remain awake. He didn't have the strength and stamina that Kratos did.

[Cao]

Kratos nodded. A doctor... for his shoulder. And maybe he'd see if anything else was wrong. Aside from the Aionis flowing through his blood, of course, which was an anomaly in and of itself. Perhaps he wouldn't check after all...

His brows furrowed in concern when he noticed how - for lack of a better word - weak Yuan was currently acting. He was a man who had lived for over four thousand years: it was only natural that he'd recognize something was wrong. And the notion was further proved when Yuan had a hand over his chest. And the way he was walking, the coughing, the—

"Yuan!" He acted before thinking, supporting his half-elven friend before he hurt himself. Rare confusion was plastered all over Kratos' face as he inspected his friend, concluding that yes, Yuan was hurt. And by the looks of things, he was hurt badly. He caught a brief glimpse of red, and it wasn't hard to put two and two together.

[Venetian]

His entire figure tensed when Kratos caught him, elves tended to be ultra sensitive when they were injured and even that slight impact had bothered him. His wound on his chest was bleeding so immensely that it already soaked through the cloth that he'd tried to stop the bleeding with. His breathing was getting strange, " Kratos... .. " he began, barely able to speak at this point; he looked quite intense and demanding, " ...Doc..tor.. ! " He was basically saying, GET A DOCTOR NOW! His entire body was beginning to tremble as he went into shock. He was still glad he protected his friend... Kratos had a son here still, whereas Yuan didn't have anyone here at this point. It made sense when he thought of it that way.

[Katzenstreu]

Gauche had stared at her sister a long while, obvious to the quick change of subject, before she finally followed her gaze. Unsurprisingly to one of them, no one emerged. "Who knows. Perhaps he's a late riser."

"Or early," Droite added a possibility. Gauche shrugged in a way that suggested it didn't matter either way, before starting to look for something like a dining room in the Inn. Tourists spots usually provided breakfast, even out of season, or so she hoped.

Gauche hesitated, though, as she passed by a window, which gave a view of Halure's street in their quiet morning shuffle. It was nice, even contenting. Save for the two men entering the town, one of whom appeared to have collapsed. This, of course, made her pause in her search. And Droite noticed it by the sound of her sister's footsteps halting, and came over to see what the deal was. After a moment, she figured out what Gauche was staring at. ""Who're they?"

"Like I'd know."

Someone had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Droite did the most mature thing: sticking out her tongue. "Well, anyway, they're acting pretty weird," she commented, as her own inherent curiosity grew. "Think we should see what's up?"

Gauche knew she would never hear the end of it if she said 'no'. "You won't be satisfied until we do," she told as much, and was out the door after Droite. Hopefully, the innkeeper wouldn't think they were skipping the bill.

Undoubtedly, Droite was the more energetic of the two, and reached the men first. " 'Scuse me, but-" she started to say, but then noted the wounds on them. Oh, man, this was bad. "Those..." she turned to Gauche with a silent message. The redhead sighed; this had turned out just like she'd figured.

Identical glyphs of white formed around the two, and they concentrated for a moment. Then, the cry of "First Aid!" came in unison. It would stop the bleeding, yes, but it was only a quick fix. A real doctor would be better.

[Cao]

Kratos was, admittedly, trying very hard not to panic. Instinct had him automatically attempting to heal Yuan, the incantation upon his lips—

Then, all of a sudden, the mana vanished. Kratos was stunned by this, unsure of what had happened, though the thought was pushed aside as a healing arte of some kind washed over himself and Yuan. While he was glad that they weren't bleeding anymore, he naturally searched for the cause of the spell, eyes narrowing in caution as he spotted the two girls - one with green hair, the other magenta.

[Daisuke]

Heath came back into town with a soaked towel over his shoulders, what looked like a tactical vest on over a black tank top, revealing very little muscle and also that he had a tattoo on his shoulder, of a half eclipse with four black wings coming off of it. He was coming back from grooming his horse.

"Man, you guys are up late." he began, until he saw the two new men they were healing and what seemed to be said two men in pain.

"Friends of yours?" he asked, noting that his horse had followed him into town and patting it along the muzzle. "They look beat up. Let's get them to the rooms."

[Katzenstreu]

There was a moment of silence after they used their healing artes, but that was soon broken as Heath appeared on the scene. "Late? It's not even noon yet," she argued lightly. Really, what was this guy's definition of late? Or early, for that matter.

"Not really," Gauche went on to answer, "this would be the first time we've seen them."

"Can you guys stand?" Droite asked, ready to lend a hand if they needed it. Still, though. What had happened to these guys? Monsters in the plains, or what?

[Daisuke]

And also joining the scene was a young girl. Her white hair was distinct, and her eyes a deep, yet innocent, brown. She truly had not a sin to her name, and she carried herself with a large metal disk on her back. She had apparently followed the signal it gave off to this location in search of her sister.

The first thing she saw was that the twon was very pretty. Full of drifting blossoms from the giant tree within it. The next thing she saw was a man, with her same features. The ears and tail were a dead giveaway, and he seemed not at all afraid to hide it. She approached slowly, and the signals went off eve stronger. There was more than one Kohma here besides her.

She gave a look around, and seeing no signs of another, she had the disk create a magic static that magnetized all of the pendants of the Kohma, making them stick out. What she discovered is that one of them belonged to her sister when she did so. But, just as the happiest expression she had had in a long time came to her, she saw it was with a green haired teenager, closer to her sister's age but not of Kohma blood.

She came closer, and with a very innocent, childish look as well as a sweet, childish voice, she tugged on the woman's skirt to get her attention.

"Why do you have my sister's necklace?" she asked.

[Cao]

Kratos nodded, easily standing while supporting Yuan now that he was healed. "Who are you? And where are we?" he asked, curious. Of course, that question was kind of thrown out the window as he caught sight of the young girl who had approached the male accompanying their twin saviours.

{{ ooc ;; bleh. Crap post is crap. But it is what it is. }}

[Venetian]

After urging Kratos to get a doctor he had passed out from loss of blood, that was when a white light had been cast around him and closed his wound. Though that didn't fix the fact that there was extreme blood loss and slight internal bleeding that caused a purple bruise-looking impression along his chest; that could not be seen by them though, since clothes were covering it.

He woke up attempting to scan his surroundings but soon realizing that the site around him was a complete blur, as if he were extremely dehydrated... Or underwater. For that reason his eyes were half-shut and his expression was that of mildly confused; Kratos had helped him up however because he realized he was standing, and leaning against something, which he recognized through his very messed up vision was Kratos.

He couldn't stand worth a damn, he realized blearily; there was no muscle in his body that seemed to be working. It felt pathetic. But he did just barely skim by death didn't he? Ah whatever.

Their voices sounded like they were yelling to him, they were muffled and loud; due to his blood loss his ears were probably more sensitive than they usually were and he now wore and irritated expression and demanded, " Stop yelling..! " Even though they were not.