Ursali

Though she had struggled to fall asleep due to the insufferable heat and her skin's tendency to dry out from said heat, Alriana was quick to wake at the various sounds echoing throughout the compound they had been put up in. It was a first for her, waking with a start to the sound of glass breaking. A quick glance at their window revealed it wasn't theirs's, but it did little to ease the rush of emotions as she quickly reached for the set of daggers that Versaris had told her to keep on the night stand. "Versaris, wake up!" She yelled in as much of a whisper as she could, her tail slamming into the waking notelf's stomach with a thwap. "Something's happening. Very bad!" She wasn't sure how she knew that, but the feeling permeated through her being; she was absolutely certain something terrible was happening. She moved to jump off the bed, claw reaching for the door in a blatant attempt to throw it open. The sound of glass breaking stirred Versaris, keeping his motions slow until he could get an eye on-- "Ghahn!?" Aly's tail slammed into him, making him wake up proper, sitting up in bed and gasping for air in the shock of it all! "Aly, stop!" He kept his voice quiet but rushed, jumping off the bed and grabbing her, holding her back from the door. If she tried to stab him or break free, so be it. "If we rush out there, whatever's happening gets us caught up in it too... Patience. Slowly. The lights in here are still off. Our window isn't broken, the door is closed... We have the element of surprise, so we should use it. Now..." He let go of her and took a breath, nodding. "Quietly... Check around the door and see if our rooms are being watched." He fetched his sword and a shirt, throwing it over himself. "I'll be right behind you." "Rgghh!" Alriana let out a quiet, low growl as she was suddenly grabbed in a bear hug in her attempt to rush out of their room, struggling by instinct but not enough to break Versaris' grip. As he spoke and explained his reasoning she calmed down and stopped struggling. The sudden rush of adrenaline and the base urge to attack whatever was beyond her door subsided, if only slightly. "Right..." She answered in a whisper, dropping down to the floor and peaking under the door. There weren't people outside their door, or at least not that she could see. Slowly, quietly, she opened their door enough to peak through the slight crack, using her tail to maneuver herself get vantage points impossible for anyone else. Truly no one seemed to be outside their door. She looked to Versaris, waiting for his guidance.

The simulated battle was quickly coming to a close, Daeran watched as Leon moved to deliver the finishing touch to the Diver only for it to duck behind some convenient colony debris. It wasn't the first shot the Leon had missed as things were winding down, though rather than see it as a slight on the man's skill he chose find relief that even professional pilots like Leon don't hit every shot. Daeran to 9, 14, Autorifle Diver #1.

Whoever had decided that her skin should be hydrophobic, but also capable of drying out, deserved worse than she could describe with her limited knowledge. She started another groan in complaint; however, Iris's sudden squeak gave her all the warning she needed that a blast a refreshingly cool water was headed her way. "Mhhhnn... Thanks." She let out a contented noise as the water hit her, used to the feeling at this point. She didn't even mind being soaked, it would help prevent her skin from drying out and continue to cool her. "Yeah... You should do that." Iris was the first to respond, Alriana echoing her sister's sentim-- Alriana's eyes suddenly widened, a bluish undertone taking to her cheeks. How Iris knew about it was beyond her, Versaris had assured her no one should've even been awake... "Y, Yeah... Ask Ullr, to do that, if you want someone to bathe you..." She wasn't going to make the mistake of saying Iris could join them and the only other person in the Tigers that fit the bill, at least for the 'fun' Iris was talking about, was Ullr. Her sister and the wolf clouded were close like her and Versaris, though she didn't know if they'd taken that extra step... Thankfully before Iris had a chance to respond to their pair of redirections the unfamiliar voice from outside the wagons signaled that Marigold was back with whoever she was meeting with. Though she was loath to move, her curiosity at seeing the people they were going to work with was greater. And her now soaking clothes would be enough to keep her moderately cooled, at least for a while. Poking her head out of the wagon she glimpsed two unfamiliar humans and a new type of clouded. The sharp teeth were reminiscent of her own and she felt the urge to flash them back. She restrained herself, knowing that she herself had only ever done it as a hostile action.

Even with his urging her to stay back Kazue continued to rush into danger. He understood that it was a simulation, she likely did as well, but if this was going to be how she acted on the battlefield then she was only going to get herself hurt. Granted he'd been too preoccupied with trying to reign her in, for her safety, that he failed to see the opportunity to work together and eliminate Lightning #1, but that wasn't much of a revelation when she immediately rushed off to engage the final Lightning number. He sighed, shaking his head as he maneuvered his HEX into a position where he could strike at the enemy. Daeran to 13,14, blast Lightning #2 with Submachine gun.

Alriana had thought the journey to Cerezia was bad enough, but this journey into Islexia was bordering on hell on earth. In Hecatia Alvira had made buckets of ice for everyone at all hours of the day, or at least for her and her sister, and the temperature was more mild. Now, after the incident with the sword, Alvira's ice was no longer 'free'. Though she was glad that her friend had found her fire after having it stripped away, it did mean less ice to mitigate the insufferable heat. The dry heat only made it that much more terrible, Alriana's skin taking to it much worse than the heat that was present in Hecatia. As human volunteers were called to enter the town, Alriana didn't even bat an eye. Like before, she was spread out on the wagon floor, trying to keep as much of her sweat on her as possible. She wouldn't be moving from this spot until there was promise of some sort of means of cooling down, showers, baths... Anything as long as she could get some liquid, that wasn't her own, on her skin. She hadn't been much in the mood for conversation during their trip, the reason obvious, though she'd managed to make time to spend some with Miria. Versaris, of course, and Iris, were who she spent the majority of her time with, and Ullr whenever he was with Iris. Speaking of, her usually hyperactive sister hadn't even said a peep as they rolled into town. The heat was affecting her as well, but it was still a bit worrying. "Irissss... Are you, okay?"

Daeran was quite taken aback, by a multitude of things all at once. First and foremost was the state of the Dawn, as well as the overall flow of the battlefield. Nearly none of their machines were without damage, simulated or no, and the enemy still had their 'aces' up their sleeve; at least those that needed repairs were docking with the ship to receive them. Kazue's mood whiplash was almost disorienting as she reverted back to out of battle shyness, only for him to catch the determination in her eyes over the video comm she had initiated. "Ah, well, there's no shame in being eager, but restraint is an important part of teamwork. If you only ever rush in you'll find yourself quickly overwhelmed and your team too far behind to save you." There was another thought tied to the unexpected reveal, though it had no place on the battlefield and was quickly shuffled away for later as Leon, Iskra, and the Lieutenant Commander lit up the closest Javelin. "Well, I had been going to suggest we tag-team the nearest Javelin, but it seems like that is no longer an option. We could do the same to a different plane, but with the state your machine is in I strongly recommend you retreat, hold position, or reposition; if we push ahead we're likely going to be shot down by the enemy HEXes." He didn't his best to match her burning gaze, hoping she would listen. "Follow me if you want, but don't engage until the enemy's closer." 13,9 Autorifle Lightning #1.

Unlike the majority of his comrades that were disgruntled, to put it nicely, by Kazue's performance, those that had time to pay attention to it anyway, he was rather impressed by her performance. Sure, her tactics were completely nonexistant, but she could, theoretically, perform just as well with live ammunition. More so than that though, he appreciated the fact that there was another lunatic like himself that preferred close quarters combat in the era of missiles, beams, and bullets, even if he was still guilty of the lattermost. "Finally caught up to you, karate girl. I like the way you fight, but this is a teambuilding exercise, not a solo mission, yeah?" It wouldn't do to say more than that; he didn't want to over step his bounds, one way or the other. It was the Captain's, or the Lieutenant Commander's, job to admonish her reckless tactics and he wasn't about to dare approach encouraging her battlefield behavior. Daeran to 15,11 wait.

Alriana wasn't sure what signal she was waiting for, truly she was out of her element here, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to help when the Tigers needed her, as barbaric as her one idea was. There seemed to be a shift in the morale of everyone involved in this struggle to release the blade, whatever force that was binding Alvira and Laniva to the blade seemed to be waning. Versaris noticed it first, but if this wasn't the opportunity she was waiting for than she didn't know what was. In about a second she went from crouched to flying through the air at Alvira and Laniva, hoping that her tackle would have enough force to finally remove them from the blade.

Alriana did her best to ignore Iris' comments as she devoured the breakfast that had been delivered by Ullr. It wasn't like her sister actually knew what they'd done, even if her method of ascertaining the truth was rather shame inducing. She watched as the group gathered around the knights from yesterday as they arrived at the inn, stolen sword in hand. A few of their group apparently had felt a pull from the sword yesterday; she barely recalled than Laniva had uncharacteristically reached for the sword, and even laid hands on it. It seemed now that those who had heard the call, and Alvira, were cueing up to take turns touching the sword. For the most part, things seemed to be going well? There some weird phenomena, like an indoor gust after Gean touched the blade, and some weird non-phenomena, like Miria mumbling things that she couldn't hear from over here, but everything seemed fine. Until it wasn't. Shortly after Alvira laid her hands on the blade a magical energy began to fill the room, strong enough that even she could feel it. It was, entirely foreign to her, hard to even describe as anything other than wrong, sinister, cold. Suddenly there a great commotion, people trying to pry Alvira and Laniva away from the blade despite the fact they weren't really holding on to it? Although she could lift Versaris like he was paper, the majority of her strength was in her legs and her tail. This line of people tugging and pulling didn't seem to be accomplishing anything, so she came up with a new idea. It wasn't easy to get an angle on the duo holding the blade, especially with the ever-growing line of people trying to remove the pair from the blade, but she managed to find a spot that would suffice and crouched down, readying herself to throw herself at Alvira and Laniva.

"Heh. It's all about the give and take." And this Satyr had taken far more than it had given. Iskra had left the machine barely operational and no one else had turned it into simulated space dust so he was all to glad to finish was the AI had started. 15, 7 Finish Satyr 5 with the shotgun.

Kazue was still rushing ahead of everyone, not even the Lieutenant Commander could keep up with her speed. It was truly impressive how hard she was able to push her machine, despite technically being a civilian and this being a simulation. Though with those hits she was taking it was very possible she had overextended herself. Bonner made quick work of the damaged fighter that Louise and Iskra had tag-teamed so all that was left was to advance to try and cover Kazue. 17, 5 Autorifle ready.

Alriana froze up as Iris' curiosity inevitably veered towards 'night activities'; she'd been so tired from how she'd spent the night that she hadn't even thought of any sort of deflection. So she sat there, awkwardly silent and staring straight ahead, until Ullr offered to get the both of them food. She gave the wolf boy a quick appreciative nod and watched as he moved to get there food, squirming some in place. Even just remembering the night was enough to make her squirm in place, a light tint of azure betraying her embarrassment. Ullr was quick to return with a mound of meat on both plates. She hadn't realized it until the food was in front of her, but she hadn't even eaten after the battle. Combined with all the after battle 'exercise' and she felt near starving; no matter how exaggerated that feeling was, her stomach still growled. "M, Maybe, I did!" She managed to get out with a huff, her stripes pulsing some with her embarrassment. "M, Maybe did, more..." Before she could say anything more, and before Iris could ask another question, she began to stuff her face with the breakfast Ullr had delivered.

"Why do you need to stalk Ullr, Iris?" Whatever her sister had actually been doing, describing it as such wasn't likely to build trust. She'd done it to all of the Tigers as they'd joined the company, silently following them and watching them to sate her curiosity. The reactions to doing so were generally not so friendly. Though Ullr and Miria didn't seem to mind as much. She pulled up her own chair as Iris gave them the rundown on how she'd acquired her new name, chest puffing out with a little pride with how pleased Iris was with her name. "I did not eat, at least." Though not addressed by Ullr she answered all the same, on the off chance that he was going to suggest that he bring Iris food. The events of yesterday had left her feeling quite sore. "Probably shouldn't have sat down."

Well, well, well... It seemed as though the senior office shared in his sentiment. "Aye, sir. Hopefully this mission is another building block on the cornerstone of peace." He didn't have the Lieutenant Commander's experience to further comment on what the future held in store for the crew and the ship, but that scowl did get him thinking. It doesn't make sense, sending such a green crew to act as diplomats. The newtypes, Leon, and Bonner I could see, but everyone else, myself included, don't have the experience for what we might run into... Even if it was just a simulation everyone, for the most part, was really getting into it. Louise fancied herself a junior commander, with good advice to boot, Kazue was a completely different person, Scylla as well, and everyone else... Well, they were about what he expected from how they'd behaved at the meeting. "Going 10 o'clock sharp, sir." Things to take note of for sure, but what he really wanted to know was how they all fought. Daeran to 22, 5.

Alriana slowly blinked into consciousness, the sun hitting her face finally enough to rouse her from her slumber. She could already tell from her internal clock that she had greatly overslept. The first thing that was readily apparent was that Versaris was gone, the incubus nowhere to be found; though he'd had the courtesy to put the blanket back over her when he left. It didn't hit her until she tried to move, but she was sore all over. "Stupid notelf..." She grumbled to herself, blaming Versaris for everything even if he wasn't responsible for everything. Slowly, groggily, she rolled herself out from under the covers, standing and stretching so hard her legs almost gave out. Her tail still slammed into the floor to stabilize herself, even if it wasn't necessary. She went about her morning in a haze, not bothering to fix her hair as she pulled on a fresh pair of clothes, barely remembering to check if her necklace was still on. It was, and thankfully undamaged even though it hadn't been taken off at all last night. She made her way downstairs, seeing that she somehow wasn't the last of the Tigers to arrive. Versaris was over by Tio, Marigold, and that one clouded beastgirl they'd picked up awhile ago, and it seemed like it was an at least somewhat important discussion. Glancing around the room she spotted Ullr and Miria, surprised that Iris wasn't with them until she saw her sister's eyes and tail poking out from the other side of the table. She walked over to her sister without a hint of subtlety, staring down at her. "What are you doing?"

Unlike the rest of his peers, Daeran was not in any particular hurry to reach the hangar. He kept his pace measured, eventually falling in line with the Lieutenant Commander. "Greetings, Sir." He addressed the senior officer with a salute even as he walked along side him, a respectful distance away. "If you don't mind my prodding, and a bit of a presumptuous question, what do you make of our measure? I don't mean to imply that anyone here is underqualified, just... Curious as to what someone as experienced as you makes of our situation." He wasn't expecting an answer, truth be told. Or at least none other than to mind his business.

It seemed like today would just not end! In the midst of her scolding of Versaris, Lani reached for the sword they'd gone through all the effort to retrieve and it started glowing. It lasted only a moment, but she was acting as though she'd moreso been compelled to touch the sword than wanted to. She spoke of something called 'Gaia", but this whole situation was already way over her head. But the day was still young. Whether Iris decided to take advantage of the extra bit of chaos Lani's blade touching had provided, or she just really wanted to kiss Ullr, the fact of the matter was that she did so very publicly. Alriana's tail slammed into the dirt, feeling her face heat up from a secondhand blush. Were she not restrai-- Holding Versaris, she probably would've elevated herself up to her sister to shake her shoulders. "Wh-What are you doing, Iris!? That stuff's supposed to be done in private!" She huffed, far more secondhand embarrassed than angry. It seemed there was talk of resting in the village for a while and that was all she needed at this point, carrying Versaris off ahead of everyone else.

Though Daeran kept his expression professionally neutral, it was somewhat amusing at how quickly Kazue had so quickly fled the meeting room after they were dismissed. Everyone else began to file out afterwards. Daeran stood, pushed in his chair, and gave his captain a salute. "Ma'am." He followed suite after everyone else, though he noticed an unfamiliar woman waiting to enter. If her labcoat was anything to base his impression off of, she must have been some sort of medical staff. He gave her a polite nod of his head but kept walking, having no business meddling in hers. He was fine with bringing up the rear of their little march to the hanger, more time to observe how everyone carried themselves. Proper introductions to his fellow pilots could wait until after the simulation, once they all had a feel for each other's capabilities.

So this was Lady Celine? It wasn't fair to the woman to say that Alriana was unimpressed, it was moreso that she just didn't really care. She only over here in the first place because Versaris clearly didn't know how to take care of himself... "Hey! Stop that!" She growled as his struggling to be free continued, wholly unconcerned about the fact that they were properly in the presence of the knights now. People quickly started to file over, first the green knight traveling with them, then Tio, then Mikoto, then Ullr, Iris, another knight, Laniva, and eventually a final knight emerged from the forest. It was quite the crowd gathered and Alriana felt the ever increasing urge to just walk away with Versaris. Especially so as she had caught him staring at Celine, who a lot of people were likening to their thief for some reason, but she knew he was important enough that he should probably be here. That didn't stop her from feeling the fires of jealousy flaring up after the observation, nor the urge to act on those feelings; however, she didn't want to smack Versaris in the middle of such a serious seeming situation. Then, Iris gave her the perfect outlet for those feelings, Versaris even giving her an unsure glance. "If he can try to escape then the notelf is fine," she echoed her sister in reassuring Ullr. "If he put half the effort that he puts into not taking care of himself into saving you he could've saved himself too."

Daeran sat straight up in his seat in practiced rigidness, his hands folded on the table while his elbows were carefully positioned off it, his uniform and posture as immaculate as his long, nearly golden, locks. The woman across from him, Louise Park, as well as their Lieutenant Commander, seemed to share in his sentiment that a first impression was everything; though a fair few others of this colorful cast were far looser, both in appearance and in attitude. Not that he was one to judge, of course. People aught to be allowed to present however they wanted to as long as they could perform their duties competently. This really is quite the colorful cast, though. We're comprised almost entirely of high performing graduates or similarly inexperienced test pilots. The only people with real experience are the Lieutenant Commander, Leon, and the Captain... He had done his research before the meeting. As everyone began to take their turns at introducing themselves Daeran sat and watched, until all that were left were the martial artist civilian and himself. With practiced grace he rose from his seat, though he did not bow. "Daeran Vhane, Olympus Mons MTS graduate and similarly Lieutenant Junior Grade. I specialize in close quarters ranged combat, changing in and creating openings." He took his seat, sitting down and resuming his pristine position in one fluid motion. "No questions from me either, ma'am."

"What, hey!" Alriana let out a growl as Versaris pushed off her, his gaze now on the second group that had appeared after the battle ended. She tilted her head at his thanks, not understanding why she herself was being thanked for being okay, if anything Ren and Renais-- How close their names are is annoying. If anything it was Ren and Renais who deserved the thanks for healing her after she lost control. That was why she okay. His troubled look concerned her; though she didn't understand why that was the case either, red eyes staring into his troubled expression before he finally turned away towards Tio. She glowered at him as he took it upon himself to return the sword to the newcomers, starting off after him as she saw him stagger. "What are you doing!?" She let her emotions get the better of her for only a moment, her tail immediately slamming into his back as she caught up with him. Some would have called it predictable given what the not-elf had suffered today, but she was still surprised as he immediately met the dirt. "See! Can't even handle that!" Though entirely her fault the lizard masked her concern by blaming him as she rolled him onto his back. "You need to be resting, not doing whatever this is..." She grumbled as she slid her arms under his knees and back, picking him up into a princess carry and continuing towards the knights. "Hghn...!" He hadn't expected it in the moment, but Sari fell flat after getting bashed with Aly's tail, groaning as he tried to pick himself up. It hadn't been a harsh hit, so he was just as surprised as she was that he'd fallen over. What came next was almost embarrassing, unable to hide a blush as the much shorter woman carried him towards the knights. "You, you know, I, uh... I was, managing to walk, uhm..." "Just because you can doesn't mean you should be," she answered with a grumble. "Said you need to be resting. Meant it." Though aware of his blush she chose to ignore it completely, even if it made her feel smug to have him blushing and embarrassed. He could explain later when they weren't actively approaching a pair of important seeming knights.

"To know." She quickly answered between his response, glare not lessening in the slightest. She blinked unexpectedly as he so accurately described the voice, refusing to flinch in his presence. Who was this man that he knew so much about it? He was apparently familiar enough to have seen it reflected in her eyes, even if all she'd done was glare at him. His strange eye caught her off guard, part of her wondering if it was his intention that she saw it, but she had no idea as to the significance of it. She growled as he said his parting piece and, though she doubted the man would care, still responded to his, in her opinion, obvious attempt to rile her up. "You don't get to decide that." When he turned around to further taunt Mikoto she thought he might answer her dismissal of his claim; however, something much more surprising happened. The air around them, even out to Tanvir, somehow changed into pure magic. Probably light, if she had to guess based on the coloration. Her rare proximity to Tio made it clear that the Evoker was the source of the phenomena. Just standing in it made her feel safer, though she had no idea why. More important than that, however was the hug she felt Versaris give her as the hulking man beat a suddenly hastier retreat. Is he worried about his words bothering me? He shouldn't. She felt him slump even more against her, even as Renais' magic began to heal him. "Can tell. Not like you to be so untalkative." Though her words and tone were as neutral as ever when regarding the half-elf, the tail supporting him betrayed her worry. "Should you even stand? Hit like that mess up most of other Tigers."

Whoever this Tanvir was, he was one of the few people that actually knew what she was; she'd have to ask Iris if she remembered a man like him as, so far anyway, her sister was the only person, sans Grelbiria, that she'd encountered who knew the truth. "Rrrghh..." She answered Versaris with a growl, meeting Tanvir's head tilt with the same murderous glare. "You hurt Versaris. Only reason I need." She knew she couldn't do anything to threaten the man given how easily he'd dealt with Versaris. Trying to attack him was just as pointless, it would almost certainly get her killed, or end up fulfilling the vision which might have been the same thing. Instead her glare lessened from murderous to hateful yet inquisitive. "What do you know about me?"

"If they attack they Tigers again I will kill them." It was less so a response to Versaris' warning and moreso a statement of fact. While Alriana doubted her ability to do much to the monster of a man, she was confident she could handle his lackeys; especially so if she let her instincts guide her attacks. But just a warning wasn’t enough for Versaris, even as injured as he was. The monster of a man approached them and gave his demands, Mikoto snarled back, and Versaris rose to play peacemaker. A quiet growl left her lips as she rose with him, using her tail to support his back as she got infront of him. Daggers still drawn as she took a protective stance, keeping her attention entirely on Tanvir as Versaris called him, still giving him that hate filled glare.

As soon as the pair came into view Alriana was immediately on alert; there was no mistaking the hulking man that had entered her view, nor the axe on his back. He was, without a doubt, the man from the fortune she'd received in Eibar. Immediately and without hesitation one of her daggers was drawn from its sheath, clutched tight in her hands. Enemy. He must be an enemy... Her whole body tensed, prepared to break into a charge and attack the second she had any sort of confirmation that she was right. Then he stopped, pointed, and for a split second even she saw the dark magic emanating from him. That was enough for her, the entirety of her stored momentum unleased the moment his spell landed in the group of Tigers. He hurt the Tigers. He's an enemy. Kill... She didn't even try to brush off the 'voice', in full agreement with it. Until out of the corner of her eye she saw the target of the blast, or in the very least the one who had taken the hit. Time seemed to slow as Versaris fell to the ground, the lizard suddenly frozen in her tracks. Bloodthirst and concern battled for control of her actions and, with a glare filled with fury and hate at the hulking man, concern for the not-elf won out. With the same force that she’d propelled herself towards the enemy she dashed to Versaris' side, arms reaching around his torso and pulling him onto her lap.