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Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars


Mercenary on the Winds
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"What? I can't be exited to go shopping with my mom every now and then?" Gean blatantly said to the other woman as she stopped searching through the selection they had on hand. She then turned towards Nyx. "Plus the crows managed out some nasty tears in my usual stuff, so I wanted something else to wear while I patch this up ok?" She breifly showed the rips in her jacket, and then the one on the back of her thigh.  Going back through the pants, her eyes landed on a pair of black pants and brown belt combo. Along the left leg were 3 straps, mainly for decoration. They whole thing looked low rise, especially due to Gean's height, but it spoke to her. "I'm gonna try these on, be right back!" And Gean darted into an open changing room."

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Oh, shit.

Nyx was just minding her own business, trying to find something cute for Gean, when she got hit with a three-letter punch to the gut. That… might have been the first time Gean had called her that so casually! At least, that she could remember. Maybe it was a common thing, and she just didn’t notice because she was drunk off her ass most of the time?

”Well, ye, I s’pose those’d do it… y’sure ye don’ want another jacket, though?” Nyx inquired, but then Gean found a nice pair of pants of her own and rushed to the changing room, leaving Nyx to peruse the store’s inventory herself. She was hoping to find some nice shorts, something to help accentuate her legs, but nothing was jumping out at her. Damn. Maybe the young’uns would have a better eye for this stuff.

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"Honestly, I'm thinking of something different although. We wont be in Glacies for a bit, and it is getting warmer." Gean had finished getting into the pants, they were a little snug but fit her well. Gean exited the changing room and faced Nyx turning from side to side. "What do you think? they fit well and they should probably turn heads like you said." It looked like she was looking for something herself. "Something caught your eye?"

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“Well, ye’ll certainly turn a few ‘eads with that, that’s fer sure.” Nyx had to admit, they looked good on Gean. “Ye, s’pretty hot in this neck o’ th’woods at this time o’ year. Always did kinda suck when it got way too hot.” The smile quickly faded into a frown, though, as she realized that she had found nothing for herself, which was annoying as sin. 

“Nah, n’that’s th’ problem. Can’t find the kinda thing I’m lookin’ fer. Honestly, think I might be wantin’ t’find me some shorts, show off these legs o’mine. Whaddya think?” Nyx inquired, lifting her leg as high up as she could muster, bringing it about roughly level to her chest.

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On her way to the arena, a tall feline passed Elisa by, having a rather striking resemblance to Natalya, just not quite as, large. I wonder if it's just because the Crows are gone that there seem to be more Clouded... She looks similar enough to the Iron Tiger herself that they could be siblings. Their tails do look pretty different, though.

Setting aside the curious similarity, the younger Evoker would quickly be where she was going, where it seemed like she was going to cross Ingverd's path somehow, even when they'd only just separated not too long ago. Besides him having what seemed like an important discussion with an avian, likely one of the arena's people, there was also... the temptation to just refer to her as "ice bitch" was strong, but her name was Syndra, and she looked a bit blown off. Ingverd's mood probably isn't helping. Though she would've preferred to avoid the woman, the bag she held made Elisa figure she'd fought in the arena just recently, and that was why she herself was here: to see what the arena had to offer. "I'd suggest you bother Ingverd some other day, if that's what you were looking to do. How were the fights, or, am I misunderstanding the bag?" An attempt at cordiality would, hopefully, not be met with more harsh words from Syndra.


After distributing Ingverd's payment to the Tigers, Natalya had retreated to her room for a short rest, writing a report of their battle in her notebook afterward. While most people's battle reports would likely have focused on troop movements and such, she was a logistics-minded person, and so the major points in her book were changes to inventory, maintenance notes, finances, and such. Not to forget the actual outcome of the battle and the forces that were fighting, of course, but there would be far fewer pages left in her notebook if she tried to put everything down.

Just about done, the tiger's thoughts turned to Alvira, and just how happy she seemed to be today. Was it really going to be that easy? No, obviously not. Promises were easy to make but difficult to commit to, and she likely knew that better than any of her subordinates did. Not that she knew for certain. Visions of unknown danger... and of unknown power. Maybe I should see what that fortune teller has in store for me, it'd give something to talk about with her during the ride out. She languidly tapped the desk with her pen, tail swaying as she mulled it over a little longer, before getting things stored up again and leaving the inn.

She wouldn't quite get to her destination without running into someone familiar, though, who seemingly was coming from the same direction. "Hey, Aly. Are you by yourself? If you want some company, I was going to the fortune teller," Natalya asked, stopping beside the diminutive girl with a leisurely clack of her boots.

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I guess karma is conspiring against me today. First the elf and now her. Although this timing is convenient enough. "I'm not sure giving you a description of how they went down would be accurate considering the difference in our strength, but I did win out on all of them, including against the cat-girl that just left." Syndra took the gold pouch from Ricardo and put it into her bag, then turned toward Elisa. "I know you've every right to not indulge me given how this morning went, but do you mind if I asked to speak with you in private?"

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Well, that went better than expected. But if the cat Elisa had seen on the way in was one of the arena fighters, her having left for a moment would mean there likely wouldn't be any new challengers for that time, which made following up on the request reasonable enough. "Hey, even if I am stronger, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a good fight story. I'm here just to watch and all." A little shrug before proceeding to the other matter, "Is it something that concerns our safety, or something more personal? I'd imagine if it was the former, you'd want to have everyone present, or at least the three of us and Natalya," she reasoned, not exactly knowing what personal matters there could be for Syndra to discuss with her. She was an elemental mage too, so maybe that?

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"Hmmm." Gean put her hands on her hips, thinking of how to best to tackle her older companions request. "We could probably find some shorts that'll work, maybe some boots to work with them too." Gean the walked over to another rack and started to search through some things. "What do you want to do for your top then?" Helping find new outfits for each other was turning out to be a lot more soothing than she first thought. Maybe she'd help find something for Nyx to charm Syndra with as well. She didn't have the best idea of what the ice mage liked, but anything to boost the archer's confidence would do. Well, outside of liquid courage, but that would be more up to Nyx.

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"I suppose it'd be a bit of both of those things, plus, I wager you'd probably like an explanation as to why I was... unprofessional this morning while we were fighting." Syndra was trying to be as cordial as possible, despite how she had acted towards the Evoker and her wife earlier in the day, they were still trying to be civil with her, so the only right thing was to respond in kind.

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As usual, Gean barely even flinched at Nyx’s antics, subdued as they were today. It was honestly a blessing, what with Nyx trying to keep things tame for a change. Having someone more sensible that doesn’t get annoyed by these things easily was always helpful, especially when Nyx was… well, Nyx.

”Dunno, m’kinda likin’ the top I got. Maybe come back t’that one when we figure out th’rest.” Admittedly, Nyx hadn’t considered new boots, too, but it certainly made sense to grab some. Alas, she was really not sure about anything related to fashion. Syn would probably know better, but that kind of killed the point of the surprise new threads.

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Alriana slowed her pace as Tasha approached, stopping and staring up at the tiger. "Mhhm. Am alone... Came from there; probably shouldn't go back." Being feared was the norm for the lizard, she was sure even some of the Tigers were still afraid of her, but this was first time she felt so bothered by the fact that she was a source of fear. It was definitely that image's fault she felt this way, the sight of her own crazed eyes and the mangled corpses still stuck in her head. Normally she'd deal with this by going cloud watching and forcing herself to stop thinking, but somehow she knew that wouldn't work today. "Can come along, but stand at distance probably best."

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"Same top, different bottoms. Alright let's go looking." Gean began lifting and searching through, trying to find something eye catching, but wouldn't get Nyx in trouble for public indecency. Every now and then she would take a pair and hold it up in Nyx's direction to get an image of what it would look like on her. The shop did have a great selection on hand, she needed to remember and give her compliments to the old man up front later. After looking through the entire catalog on hand, she picked up 3 shorts in total. "Here, try these out and see which one you like, or which one you think will work on Syn." Gean had a small smirk on her face. Nyx probably didn't expect her to catch on to why she wanted new clothes.

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God dammit.

”Oi, y’can’t just… mrgr… awright, fine, s’mostly fer Syn. Hell, she’s th’only one here who’s anywhere near me age.” Nyx grumbled out, clearly much more defeated than before. Dammit, her daughter wasn’t supposed to just suss her out like that! Especially not in public, not knowing who might be lurking nearby!

”N’what, ye ain’t got anyone special in mind fer yerself? A gal like ye’s gotta catch more than a few eyes wit the Tigers.” Way to deflect like a champ, Nyx! Great job! She slid into the changing room to try on the shorts Gean had helped find, while still trying to banter a bit with her daughter.

Huh. She really did just see Gean as a daughter, didn’t she? Nyx wondered if maybe Gean didn’t deserve a better mom, but that was getting too down for one day.

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"Nyx I've known you for almost 4 years at this point. You? Want some new clothes out of nowhere? Give me some credit here." Gean chuckled, clearly amused with the game going on. It's almost as if the Gean of last night, the girl stressed out of her mind was just a dream.

"Well I don't think I've caught any eyes yet, tigers or not. At least, not in the way you're thinking. Rene seems to be warming up to me, Miria sees me as a big sister. Cin might be interested... but I think he's more scared of me than anything right now. Or of people coming onto him. We'll have to see about that." Gean hadn't put much thought into the idea that any of the others might have feelings for her. Sure there were definitely people in the group that appealed to her, two of which she just mentioned. Cin was surely a sight to look at, and very cute when nervous. On the other hand, Rene reminded her of her past in ways both good and bad. Those former feelings were definitely something she needed to think on, and she also had her own charms.  However neither of them had stirred anything in her strong enough to pursue something deeper.

"We'll just have to see. But for now,. let's see if I made the right choice in giving you those shorts. I grabbed some boots for you too."

 

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Huh. Honestly it kinda took the fun out of things if Nyx couldn’t tease Gean for liking someone in turn, but she decided to just let it be. This wasn’t the right line of thinking for this day; they were just getting some clothes, there wasn’t much point in picking at it now. Just focus on the clothes - and, evidently, matching boots.

”Ah, m’sure one o’them’ll see yer womanly charms soon enough.” Nyx waved her hands nonchalantly, opening up the change room door with a flourish to show off her soon-to-be new shorts and boots. “Huh. Y’know, m’thinkin’ maybe I should get a new top t’match. Somethin’ wit no sleeves, to show off me arms.” She added, flexing and preening like the silliest mom in the world.

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Renais had her eyes locked on the dresses before her and Miria. She had a task to fulfill to Elisa, so she did her best to strike a balanced between her tastes and what Tio may like too. Problem was she knew very little about Elisa personally. "Mm..." She thought for a moment before she turned to Miria. "Elisa's grading me on my choice for Tio, but I want to make sure Tio likes it too...what do you think will work, Miria?"

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Miria was almost lost staring at all the dresses. She's used to others picking things out for her. Staring in awe, her focus was broken by Renais. "A-ah! Hmm...?!"

Moving closer, she started pacing while observing. She fell in awe again.

"Renais? How about this one?" She pointed at the dress, a black and blue, decked out with some kind of white stone everywhere, "It... it kinda looks like the night sky." Her eyes glew.

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"R-really? I can?" The boy smiled wide, with a twinkle in his eye as Cinead took to his curiosity remarkably well, "Tonio! My name is Tonio!" The boy looked closely at Cinead's arm, and then his face taking note of all the pretty flecks of gold. After a little bit, he backed up with a gentle shake of his head, "Ri told me about dragons but I've never seen one! You're so tall, and shiny, and friendly!" He paused for moment as if thinking, "A wind tome, right? This way, they're this way! I can't wait to tell Ri--" 

"Tonio! What is all of that racket out there? Are you bothering a customer?"

Tonio straightened at the voice, "Uh, no, Nana! I, um." He looked at Cinead, "They're this way. Uh, that's Nana, back there. This is her shop."

The curtain to the back of the shop was brushed aside as an elderly woman in a wheelchair moved through. Her olive skin was rather heavily wrinkled, and her long gray-white hair gave the impression of someone well into the autumn of their years. But the sharp look in her emerald eyes revealed her still sharp mind. She looked over Cinead, closing her eyes with a huff. "I can see why Tonio was so raucous now. Another Clouded." She sighed, "Fool about on your own time, Tonio. Help him find what he's looking for." 

"Uh, yes, Nana. Sorry."


Ricardo's was a bit surprised by the sudden shift into cordial conversation. He'd not expected Ingverd to drag him in close, but Ingverd's actual request was on the list of things that he'd expected to happen. 50/50 wasn't bad, at least. Ingverd's change in tone made it clear he didn't want others to hear. Ricardo closed his eyes for a moment, "I had a feeling. So did Curtis; he was a Crow a long time ago. He's entirely moved on from that, so you don't need to bother him. But he keeps tabs, and gave me this." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a paper with a couple scribbled names, poorly scribbled names. "Don't mind the handwriting, he's got steady hands when it comes to slugging, but he's not the best when it comes to writing. Only name that you really need to worry about is a guy named Malkuith. Used to work with at the smithy, got his ass thrown out when he was giving the crows weapons for free. He probably has something for you. Frequents the pub on the edge of town. Only thing I ask, is if you do what I think you're gonna do, make sure that none of us are connected." 

He broke the embrace and took a step back. He looked at Ingverd curiously, before shaking his head a little. "I don't know what's bugging you to be abrasive with your members, but you might want to figure it out sooner rather than later. You're too good of a guy for that." He sighed, "Anything else you need from me?" 


The man expected the young girl to put up more of a fight than she actually did. Prices had gone quite a bit up thanks to everything that was going on, but something didn't quite sit right with him on this one. She placed the gold on the counter without much of an issue. He stroked his beard for a moment, before only taking half of what Alvira placed on the counter, and pushing the rest back to her. "These are all friends of yours, yeah? I think I can do with 100, and the pride of seeing so many people around at once, as well as an outfit I designed being worn so well." The man reached under the counter, and handed Alvira a bag, "There you are."

He'd ignored the conversation between Tio and Alvira, knowing that it wasn't any of his business. But it was strange to see so many people, all seemingly from different walks of life, in his own store. Then the door opened, and an elderly woman stepped out. He looked over with a smile, and pointed over to the changing room where Lani had gone "The young girl here was wondering if we had two inch heels to go along with a dress. You'd know better than me, and well." He gestured to the filled store. 

"Damn... It's been years since I've seen so many people at once in our store." She smiled, and clapped her hands together, "I'll get right on that." She quickly rounded the counter, and made her way to the shoes. 


So far, so good. Tio admittedly was a little surprised that Alvira seemed stunned that Tio was prepared to say sorry. "Well... then, may I speak if you outside?" Tio led Alvira outside, bag and all, and steeled herself. Even if Alvira was amiable now, there was no guarantee that things were going to stay that way. But it didn't matter, Alvira didn't have to accept the apology, nor think better of her. But she had to do it. 

"Okay, this should do." Tio turned to Alvira, and lowered her head, "I'm sorry. For everything last night. You said that you wanted me to keep away, and I ignored what you wanted. Admittedly, I wasn't in a very good mood, but that's no excuse for treating you the way I did." She kept her head lowered, half because she felt it best, and half because she didn't want to see Alvira's face. Guess I was more worried about this than I thought. She took a deep breath, and continued, "I just, hmm, how do I explain this? I know Glacies isn't much better than the rest of the world. But many of us are willing to try. I want, more than anything, for Glacies to become the place that Iseria has been trying to make it." She paused and just shook her head, "Ugh... that just sounded like a bunch of meaningless drivel, I'd bet. Really, I noticed that you have an affinity for light magic, and that was really the crux of the matter in trying to speak with you. Because of that I tried to force something on to you, when you explicitly told me to back off, and for that, and whatever Glacies did you, I'm sorry." 


The teller watched as the lizard wandered away. Even with her gone, she couldn't quite relax herself. What was all of that? Violent visions of the future were as common as any other, but the unknown element of what she was made it so much more unnerving. She sighed, and leaned back into her chair. The fear slowly gave way to relief, though, not because Alriana was gone. She looked around, and he wasn't there. He wasn't present. 

"I pray that isn't your future child... but I hope you don't find one that's worse." 

For now, she could spend time calming herself down, and peeling her hand off the hilt of the knife. 

Edited by Mercenary on the Winds
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"Malkuith. Okay. Don't worry, Ricardo... He won't see me coming~" ingverd smiled the coldest smile he'd given to anyone yet, letting the bird man make his distance. The other names could wait until later, this one took precedence. "You'll have to ask Syndra what's bugging her first, Ricardo," Ingverd replied, back at their normal volume. "She's been shooting daggers st me since we started this little journey. Honestly, I'm out here doing the best I can for all of us, and I get so much hate for it... Tsk tsk. I suppose I'll never know why~" His mood improved with a target in mind, Ingverd played things up and gave Ricardo a bow, leaving for this pub on the edge of town. He hadn't been given a description, but sitting down to drink and listen would suffice.


Alvira was half present as the old man charged her even less, nodding along and taking her bag of clothes. She'd grown a little worried when Tio led her outside, but the Evoker went into words of ideals and then apologies, leaving Alvira once again without words or an idea of what to say. "I..." Where was she meant to start?

"... None of the professors at the school said I could use light magic. Why should I believe you?" She was trying to be less hostile, at least, tail wagging slowly. She didn't know what else to pick on, things had sounded like... Like a real apology. "If it'll get you away from me, just, give me a light tome. I'll fail to cast it and you'll see that you're mistaken..." And if she's right... I guess I cry a little. Or a lot... She can't be right. She can't... "As... As, for the rest... I, forgive you. I guess... S... Sorry for getting so mean... An', calling you a bimbo. Mm..." This was evidently quite difficult for the dragon...

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Tanya wasn’t finding a whole lot for dresses that she liked. Part of it was not wanting something too long, but then again, she was also a six-foot tall Clouded, so maybe she was just thinking too hard about the lengths of the dresses she was looking at? Probably.

Evidently, she also wasn’t alone in the dress section either. Turning her head to see where the two voices were coming from, she ended up double-taking so hard she nearly tripped over her own tail in her haste to keep balanced. They were really frickin’ cute, the both of them, enough to disarm the taller Tanya. It sounded like they were working together to find a dress for someone named Tio… maybe she could help with that? Totally! She definitely wasn’t just looking for an excuse to mingle.

”Betcha this Tio would want something a bit brighter, y’know? Really help ‘em stand out.” Tanya chimed in, leaning in towards the pair, almost looming over them. That was kind of unavoidable, given their height differences, but still. “Besides, I think that dress would better fit one of you two. Might just be me thinking that one, though.”

Edited by MRDRHAWK
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Cin couldn't help but relax, frustration and anger flowing away at the sight of this young child being so delighted by his scales. A smile crept onto his face as Tonio began to lead him where he needed to go. "Tonio, that's a great name. Well, I'm glad I could be the first dragon you ever met. Even if I'm only half. We're not all this tall, but I certainly am big. Maybe if you eat all your vegetables you'll be this tall some day." 

Their light conversation was interrupted before he could ask about this Ri who had taught Tonio about dragons, as an elderly woman joined them in the main area. It seemed like this Nana was the owner of the shop, and he couldn't help but flinch slightly at the less than welcoming tone when she noted he was a Clouded. He had expected that, but after Tonio... He straightened, giving her a formal bow. "Good afternoon, ma'am. Tonio has been very helpful so far. I'm just here for a beginner's wind tome and then I will be on my way. You have a very nice shop here, though, and I appreciate the variety of items that you offer." He followed after Tonio, mindful of the sharp emerald gaze he could still feel on his back.

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A slight tinge of annoyance crossed Tio's face, but she quickly stifled it as she righted herself. She instead starting to mess with her hair. "Yes, well, my specialty is Light Magic." Tio stopped herself from explaining. "I suppose you don't need to believe me. It would just be simpler for you to see and feel it for yourself. And, yes, I will leave you be after this." She pulled a light tome from the bag at her side, gently glowing in her hand. "You don't need to apologize for the comments either, I deserved them with how I acted. You reap what you sow." 

She handed the tome to Alvira, "Don't worry about where you cast. I'll be able to keep anything from happening." It took a little effort to not just become curt with Alvira. She never liked being doubted, but that was just how it was going to be until she proved herself in Alvira's eyes. Not just Alvira... Syndra, Ingverd... You won't be coasting on your title here, Tio. No matter how hard you worked for that. 


The older woman kept close watch over Cinead as he spoke. Before letting out a tired sigh, "I know he's helpful. He's a bright boy. Even in his excitement, he knows who to speak to and trust. When you find what you're looking for. Bring it to the counter. No need to rush yourself, or to force cordial speech with me." She wheeled over to the counter, her expression remaining neutral. 

Tonio was already holding a small green tome in his hands when Cinead caught up. The young boy bobbed his head for a moment, "Um, sorry about Nana. She's still... kind of rude to clouded and monster customers." He waved his hands as he thought about what it had sounded like, "She's better though! Ri and I are really trying, but... she's just kind of set. She's nice, honest!" Tonio moved over and handed the tome to Cinead, "Can you use Wind magic? Is the tome for you?" His curiosity came back in full force. 

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"A-aah?!" Miria was spooked and almost tunbled over trying to move away from the voice that scared her. However, she kept it together. It was... a tall... cat? And she suggested something brighter?

"Hmm... w-well, I... guess. What do you think Renais? You know Miss Tio better than me."

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Cin sighed as she wheeled away, hesitating for a second before calling out, "I'm sorry. I should not have gone defensive like that immediately. I'm just a little on edge after this morning. But I'm not forcing myself to be polite. You deserve politeness just as much as anyone else." After all, she hadn't actually said anything to him that deserves rudeness. She hadn't welcomed him with open arms like Tonio had but that didn't mean he had a right to be rude. There would be no understanding in the world if someone didn't take the first step...

His musings were interrupted by the boy returning with a small book and an apology. He chuckled, reaching out and ruffling the boy's hair for a second before taking the tome. "No need to apologize, I've handled a lot worse. Sometimas... Well. Sometimes people don't handle differences very well, but she didn't try and kick me out or anything. She's probably just worried about you. Though it sounds like you and this Ri are pretty smart. Is she your sister? I didn't notice anyone else in here unless she's also in the back." He looked down at the tome after the final question and shook his head. "No, I can use magic but I'm a bit of an oddball there. This is for a friend of mine who wants to learn how to defend herself. I can only use magic without tomes, they just never quite clicked for me. And I'm a fire dragon, so I've got my flames,  but never managed to make any other types of spells work for me." He hesitated for a second and then held out his free hand, calling a small flame into existence. "See? Fire magic here."

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Renais took a look at the dress Miria pointed out, and it was indeed flashy. "Night sky...you seem impressed with the idea." She teased a little. But before she could continue down the line of dresses a new cat girl approached the two, and spooked Miria out of her mind. 'She's so bold in that armor, and a random cat girl gets her to jump?' Renais wasn't a fan of interacting with new people, it took her this long to get used to the Tigers after all. But considering her best friend was a little skittish right now it fell to her to take the lead.

So, just for a moment, she dropped her usual polite attitude and adopted her more open self. But only a little bit. "Hm, is that so? Well I'm sure you'd pull off a nice dress yourself, miss blondie." She gave off a confident smile, one that might surprise Miria. "As for bright colors...well she is a rather bright person herself. A ray of sunshine you might say." She turned back to the dresses. "So it only makes sense there be a contrast to compliment her beauty, something like...this." She pulled out a dark purple dress that seemed to be set to show off some leg. "This seems a little foreign, but I think it should work."

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