Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Ether]

"Well, I don't know if I would say that... all of the dances were interesting. Besides, Shadrak and Steinn are judging too, aren't they?" Faatina replied... all in all she didn't really care too much about winning, it had been a lot of fun.

***

"Hehe, looks like we pulled it off, my sweet prince~" Angelica gleefully noted, as she proceeded to re-cling herself to Athrun just after they left the stage.

[Snike]

"That was certainly a performance," Blake said, as the dances concluded. "I am unsure which performance I prefer the most: the Sanctis jigging, or that last dance with the sword."

The former by the Princess and her friend was definitely incredible, but that swordplay by Athrun was out of this world. Was that the power of being touched by Wrath?

***

"I suppose 'interesting', would be understating those dances," Ethan said to Terrel. They were at the table the Princess and the Lord were using, to watch the show. "The Princess and Professor Wyght, in particular. I did not realize that they could jig so well."

***

Evelyn couldn't help but frown when she saw Athrun's sword performance, especially since she didn't recognize his partner. Even though it went off without a hitch, that was still really risky.

"That boy, sometimes...," the Royal Guard grumbled, mostly to herself.

[Mercakete]

"I don't realla care who wins," Gytha quietly yet happily replied to the darker-skinned women. She had performed two energetic dances in a row and so after the performance with the other four, she was satisfied with resting for a bit. The other dances had all been interesting, though she was a little sorry that she couldn't try some of them out herself. The jigging duet had been particularly entertaining and she found herself trying to tap along. The solo act of the man trying to impress one of the judges was also an interesting dance and she made a mental note to try that one out on her own at some point, too.

[Phoenix]

Ballroom Lineup

[spoiler=-Reactions to the third dance-]It wasn't the type of dance that was aimed at impressing but rather encouragement, and because of this, many of the guests at the party were caught off guard by it. Of course Athena enjoyed it, and once Gytha began encouraging others to dance along, Athena joined in, if only partially. She didn't leave from her spot but began bouncing slightly and clapping along with the music. Everyone around her felt pressured by this and so it began to spread until most of the room was at the very least clapping along. That was the 'Royalty Effect'

Among the judges, Shadrak and Steinn hadn't joined in, the former due to feeling out of place enough without clapping like a merry sailor even though many others were doing it. The latter was simply observing. Simon of course was clapping along, though in a perhaps overly dignified fashion. There was no way his clapping could even be heard by anyone given how light they were. Charis enjoyed the dance even though she knew where that type of jigging generally took place. It wouldn't influence her decision since the dance itself was just fine and fun to watch.

"Oh, you never know ..." Haythem positively chimed in. "I'm sure they'll at least try to be fair about it. The royals probably won't take too kindly to being picked for who they are alone," he mused, forgetting that both the prince and princess were within earshot.

Athena was listening, but Athrun wasn't, as he was currently engaged in another conversation. "'Sweet prince', hm? You certainly like cuter terms," the prince replied to Angelica with a half confused, half amused expression. "But true, despite how little time there was, we managed. I can't imagine what we might have achieved with advance notice."

"Something scandalous I'm sure," Athena lightly jabbed. Yes she was keeping up with both conversations easily enough. The prince was not amused by that jab, however harmless.

Meanwhile, at the table Raquel and Blake were using, the two discussed the dances. "Both of those last ones remind me of stuff Reign and Nadine would do to train. It wasn't like dancing, but it was just as intense and there was a lot of fire casting. My favorite dance was Gytha's, though. It seemed like she was just out there having fun, but I'm pretty sure that was the whole point, of the dance and of the contest. My second favorite is probably the princess' dance, though. The prince's sword prop scared me half to death, though. I kept expecting one of them to get skewered whenever that sword came out."

Me too~

Over at the engaged couples' own table, Terrel and Ethan were also reviewing the dances. "They certainly were interesting, though I'm glad Athena was able to enjoy herself out there. We never see dances like those in parties such as this. If there is to be a winner aside from her and Morgana, though, I'd go with those bachelors and bachelorettes. For men to perform moves like those with any sort of confidence is quite impressive."

At the judge's table, the dialogues were only just getting started. "Well, here are the scores I gave," Simon revealed his numbers to the other judges. His scores by themselves favored Athrun and Angelica, followed by Joshua and then the Buzzed Bachelors and Bachelorettes."

Charis' scores favored the Athena and Morgana, followed by the five woman group, and Gytha's solo.

Steinn's scores by themselves would have placed Athena and Morgana in the lead, followed by the buzzed folk, and Gytha's solo. He'd enjoyed most of the dances, but his scores were partial to those who had clearly enjoyed being out there on the dance floor and had difficult moves to perform. If it was just the former, he'd have chosen Gytha, and if it was just the latter, Athrun and Angelica, but for him, Athena and Morgan had the right amount of each to be his pick.

Shadrak couldn't deny that Gytha had somehow gotten practically the whole room involved in her dance, and that definitely deserved a high score, but in the end, he was more impressed with her efforts as a part of Haythem's group, because that dance was just ... surprising. The third highest scorers for him were Athrun and Angelica.

Dining Hall

Anna didn't head straight to the dining hall. First, she got some help from one of the maids, and then sent Suzume off ahead with guidance from another. Once she arrived in the dining hall, she'd planned on sitting down and waiting for Anna and Bert to catch up, but she hadn't been expecting there to be others in there already. It was certainly a mixed bunch. She turned to the maid and thanked her before slowly moving into the room. It may have been a little awkward to say nothing, not even a simple 'hello', but she didn't know if these were more of Weyland's employees or not. She thought she recognized one of them, and that was no surprise given Raquel's entire band was apparently staying here for the moment, but that was just more reason for her not to be too social. She was only on good terms with a handful of Raquel's people.

[Ether]

"Well they say a cute mouth makes for a cute girl, is it working?" Angelica replied with a light smile, before Athena made a light jab at her brother.

"My, my... is this the famous sibling rivalry at work? As an only child I've always wondered... how interesting it might be to pick myself up a pretty older sister to squabble about with..." Angelica replied, nonchalantly pressing herself into Athrun with an embrace.

[Snike]

"... Somehow, I doubt the Royal Guard would have let him perform had there been a risk of that," Blake noted, as the discussion moved to the sword dance. "Either way that one was unreal. And you said that Reign and Nadine's training was just as intense? That strikes me as.. beyond regular military training, though I digress."

***

"I preferred the five woman company for the winners, if not the princess and the Professor, myself," Ethan said, glancing to the group in question, "It was executed quite well, I believe."

[Eail]

"That.... was probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever done in my life." Zach commented to his group after their performance was over, "I'd forgotten just how.... daunting it is being in front of so many people...."

_______

Batting away Jamilla's "blade" with his own yet again, hopping away from the dancer before she could retaliate. "You're doing well Jam, I'm proud of how much you've improved ever since we started."

[-Cynthia-]

"Really? From the way ya were workin' it out there I figured ya thrusted your hips at complete strangers all the time," Nadya responded to Zach's comment, giving Haythem a little wink out of the corner of her eye.

[Phoenix]

Ballroom

"Nooo, it is most certainly not working," Athena noted with a forced grin. Her angry brows betrayed an otherwise sociable smile. Though it was anyone's guess whether or not Athena was trying very hard at all.

Trying to avoid whatever confrontation that response could lead into, Athrun focused on the second thing Angelica said. "I was only an only child myself for a couple of years, so I can't imagine what it's really like, but I doubt it's strictly better or worse than having a sibling. My sister and I don't always see eye to eye, but I know that she is my ally when it counts, not a rival."

"Speaking of having your back when it counts, Athrun, mind yourself with her."

"Hahah, you did well, Zachary," Haythem reassured him while occasionally smiling at the others ... mostly Nadya, though.

At the star table (Athena and Terrel's), the reviews continued. "Yes, I suppose they did do rather well. Even the avian judge's date couldn't get win back his attention, hmhm," Terrel noted in amusement as he nudged his head toward the judge's table.

Meanwhile at another table ... "Horizon is a lot like a university, we can do whatever we want with our free time as long as we don't try to leave. Nadine wanted to be stronger than anyone she didn't like ... pretty good idea now that I think about it ... and so she did a lot of extra training on the side. Once Reign got involved it just got even more intense."

[Ether]

"I don't think your sister likes me very much, Athrun." Angelica noted with a smirk as Athena made her quips.

"Though I suppose it's for the best that I was an only child..." Angelica concluded.

***

"Oh c'mon now Zach, it's all in good fun. You did really well, especially with how little time you had to pick it up." Faatina chipped in with a smile.

[Toogee]

Batting away Jamilla's "blade" with his own yet again, hopping away from the dancer before she could retaliate. "You're doing well Jam, I'm proud of how much you've improved ever since we started."

"Well, with all that practice, I'd hope I got at least a little better," Jam commented. "Now come on and strike back!"

Jam approached Alphonse from the side and stabbed her stick towards him, as if holding a rapier.

[Snike]

"From what it sounds like, the two of them were rivals," Blake said, with an emotionless expression. "Unless the motivation for training changed, then. Anyways, Horizon sounds like an interesting place, I suppose. Must have had quite a few things, if one couldn't leave the academy."

***

"Ah, yes. That was amusing," Ethan agreed, after a second. "He may be in a spot of trouble, for that one."

[Snowy_One]

Still as glum as ever, Robin finally decided she was bored sitting down and decided to stand up and start shambling through the hallways. Slowly, with a cumbersome shuffle, clearly disinterested in the world about her. Who would care about a monster like her anyways? She had fought with almost everyone she had spoken with and, she felt certain, no one liked her anymore.

[ReformBlade]

Mushirah wasn't comfortable with commenting too much on the dancing, though there was an unmistakable look of joy on her face watching one after the other. She was glad she wasn't a judge of anything serious (nor here anyway) or else she'd have been a nervous fit due to the fact that she'd vote everyone to be a winner, except maybe the last one for being so dang dangerous looking among other things. The last two were the best in my opinion, but still...

Aneda was out sulking before she eventually decided to not try and play a pity game and just go take a quick breather, maybe clean herself up. It had been quite a while since she last had some sort of foreign mixture in here hair, as such it might be time to fully purge it from said hairs on her head. It was certainly a better prospect than sitting there and crying about her own mistakes and failings.

Jericho was playing a sweet, soothing, and somber tune that just felt like more than it actually was. When he had finished, red hair smiled to himself, a bit calmer than he was before he started, hopefully letting others calm down too from the silly dispute.

Edited November 24, 2013 by ReformBlade

[-Cynthia-]

The Sleeper Awakens

Veronika rubbed her eyes and briefly wondered where in the world she was. Well I'm not on the ground...am I back home in Neviskotia? No...I haven't been back home in over a year now, she thought as the grogginess began to leave her. She shook her head, got out of bed, and performed personal hygiene in the conveniently located adjacent room. Eventually making her way out the door, she encountered the group's archer awkwardly shuffling about.

"Hello there Robin- feeling all right?" she asked, mildly concerned by the odd behavior.

[Snowy_One]

"No." came Robin's response, short and simple. "I tried to talk to some people, tried to make a new friend, to open up... and it backfired horribly. I think I am more outcast than ever now. Some new girl, Lumi I think her name was, tried to get too close and, when I tried to get her to back off, outright shunned me."

Robin took a visible slump, catching herself on the wall before pulling herself upright again. "I am exhausted Veronika. I do not know what more I can do. Am I cursed or something? It seems like everything I try to do, every friend I try to make, blows up in my face."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika sighed a little. Same old problems it seems like. "Remember that not everyone has to be your friend Robin. I'm not friends with everyone I meet either, but I work with them for Raquel's sake and for mine. We have too many enemies to be making enemies out of each other- just ignore this Lumi if she's a problem," she advised.

[Mercakete]

After having gotten Rizen settled back into the stables, Norbert walked back over to Weyland's estate and made his way towards the dining hall. As he got closer, his face twisted in confusion. Is that...music? Indeed it was. For a moment, he thought that maybe he didn't know the way from the stables to the dining hall as well as he thought and he'd taken a wrong turn, but soon enough there were the doors to the dining hall and inside were an assorted variety of people. There were three of the Rexians, Axel, someone playing a harmonica, Lumi (who was next to Axel) and Suzume. He didn't see Anna anywhere so he figured something came up or she wanted to get something or someone while they were waiting for him.

As he walked over to Suzume's table, he noted that Lumi looked down and Axel was impossible to read as ever with that helmet on. In addition, Malik seemed to be feeling better -- or worse, now that he had the energy to be grumpier -- and he didn't recognize the one playing the harmonica. Either he was one of Weyland's people or yet another one Raquel recklessly hired while he wasn't looking. Once he got to the table, Norbert sat down next to Suzume and propped his head up on his hand with his elbow on the table while his other hand likewise rested on the table. Keeping as alert as he cared to given his mood, he mumbled to Suzume, "So, have you seen Gar yet?"

[Balcerzak]

Theodore found himself very impressed by the level of aptitude the first pair of contestants had displayed for their craft, wholly unable to spot even a single misstep. Still, he couldn't help feeling that their choice could have gone a little better. Perhaps a minuet would have allowed them to showcase a little more showmanship while still being firmly rooted in the realm of the classic and orthodox dance choices? He made a note to recommend as such to them after the scoring.

There was no denying the strong resemblance of the second dance to the gavotte, and it was a choice of performance that Theodore was very much in approval of, possessing the right level of lively energy for a competition while maintaining a respect for the more traditional forms. He didn't know the exact steps himself, so it was hard to determine with any certainty whether it was as properly executed, technically, as the preceding dance, but any gaffes he saw were exceedingly minor and not any significant detractor. He did find himself rather put off by the method of ending the ladies had chosen though, and he incorporated that into his final score.

The third dance was certainly... wild, and not exactly to his tastes, and the whole group participation aspect with the clapping and encouraging interaction with the audience seemed to him to run contrary to the spirit of the competition. At any rate, it was certainly an immense contrast from the former two dances, and the stark difference in transition only worsened his opinion. Still, the woman had guts, gusto, and more than a passing familiarity with her pick of choice, so there wasn't anything to be overly harsh about, not objectively anyway.

Bartholomeo's verbal slip on the introduction to the middle number in the competition brougt a smile to the the Hammer employee's face. When it got truly underway, however, he put himself back into judge mode, taking in the sensuous affair with a bit of amused detachment. He really had to hand it to the band for doing their best to get a handle on the unfamiliar instruments; in combination with the hip gyrations of the dancers the whole thing really conjured up a vision of being under the hot sun, in the sand... while wearing clothing that covered a whole lot less. Still, the amateur nature of some of the members really showed, and sadly ruled out any chances of it being a true contender. Regardless though, it was certainly a worthwhile entry if nothing for the novelty alone.

When he'd caught his fellow judge's stifled cry, almost completely buried beneath the ambient noise surrounding the switching of the acts, Theodore initially raised a bemused brow. The situation almost immediately became clear once the dance began, as Joseph was basically pulling off an elaborate one-man serenading dance, almost similar to the... what was that one called again? The name had slipped from the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't help but get the feeling it was usually accompanied by overly hammed up theatrics, like clutching a rose between one's teeth. In that respect, the man's current performance was only missing the flower, as its drama bordered on over-the-top, but never really crossed the threshold into annoyance. Instead, it was artful, he felt, and perhaps the fact that it was directed at the woman nearby simply helped add to the effect. It took some serious balls of steel, and the man's technical prowess wasn't lacking either, boasting an incredibly fleetness of foot and self-control. The whole thing rocketed to the top, as far as Theodore's impressions of the dances thus far went, and unless there was something even more compelling later, it would be a difficult act to dethrone.

...Or so he had thought. The princess's dance routine with Morgana Wyght neatly ruined that however. The tap element to the dance took the level of difficulty up a notch, as one needed even more precision with footwork, to not only be in position at the right time, but to provide the proper level of impact to create the right pitches in the right rhythms. The pair managed to provide an appropriate amount of syncopation to keep things interesting, but not only that they would transition seamlessly from one meter to the next with practiced ease. The tempo never really let up, or fell into any sort of lull, and the whole affair led stunningly to the climax with a double aerial. Despite how amazing the performance had been, Theodore couldn't help but feel a little perturbed. Why had the princess had to have actually been so good? Voting for her now, at her own party, would just seem to be spineless pandering, and that thought made him frown, as he tried to go back over the routine in his mind and look for flaws. The role reversals? No, there was nothing wrong there, and it was two women to begin with, so there wouldn't be any objections based on decorum or anything. The dance itself? Well, despite the fact that it was a jig much like the disappointing third entry, this one had stayed entirely professional. He didn't have much more time to continue this train of thought, and found himself hoping whatever the last entry was would be better and he could in good conscience vote for that.

...A hope that was immediately dashed when it was revealed that the prince was taking part in that one. That didn't improve the situation a bit, whether it went better or worse, it would still be royalty. He didn't have long to dwell on it though, as even further upheaval was deserved when it became apparent that it was to be a sword dance. Now, don't get the wrong idea, Theodore enjoyed a proper four man Bouffons affair as much as the next man, but this was shattering all convention. Solo sword dances, mock fight sword dances, any of the sword dances he'd heard of had always followed the rule: one sword per person. This... this was different, and something about the prince's handling was disturbing, a not-quite unnatural grace that bordered on charmed, as it seemed like he would deftly predict any of the few mishandlings, thankfully preventing any tragedies causing panic at the disco. It didn't sit quite right with him. Still, it wasn't an outright bad performance either, and he honestly wasn't bothered by its more scandalous aspects. That's just part of dancing, after all.

"By Truth, this whole thing has been something of amazing display for what started life as an impromptu idea," Theodore began, as the judges had gathered to confer about the performances and share their scores. His finally arrived-at order was―somewhat reluctantly, as he never managed to come up with a valid excuse to discredit their performance―Athena and Morgana's number in first; followed by Joseph, the serenading single; and in a more distant third, the waltz pair of Neil and Laura, from the opening act (though the all-women ensemble had put up a decent fight for this consolation prize as well). The initial impressions from the rest of the arrayed judges were interesting to listen to, and it seemed like every dance had at least found someone who had enjoyed it enough to put it in their best three, which was quite an accomplishment to say the least. Nobody's picks really overlapped all that closely either, indicating that whoever'd been responsible for assembling them all must have had an uncanny knack for selecting diversity.

OOC: I had wanted to put in some more direct dialogue, rather than simply all thoughts, reflections, and reactions, but that was rather hard, and I understand we're under a bit of pressure to keep things moving. Just pretend there was more back and forth with all involved parties, perhaps, or maybe we wing something going forward from here? Your call, man.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Snowy_One]

"I am worried that this, Lumi, is not the problem. Rather, that I am. She tried to, I believe the common word is 'hit on me' and when I acted repulsed, she acted as if I was a demon. Am I a demon for not responding well to her 'hits'? So much so that, even upon offering to 'dance', if the crude motions I make can be classified as such, with her she refused? In my attempt to make a friend, I made yet another enemy, and I am not even sure what I did wrong beyond not wanting to fall in love with a woman."

[Phoenix]

OoC: We wing it! *flap flap*

Judging People

"So true. I'm quite glad the princess decided to do this," Charis chimed in.

Shadrak was a little nervous to share his opinions on the dances, but given everyone else's scores, he was beginning to wonder if just picking favorites at random would have been any worse than picking based on the dances he actually liked. Aside from a significant leaning toward Athena and Morgana's duet, the favored dances were quite diverse.

"Hmm, it seems the majority favors the princess and Lady Wyght," Simon noted. He wasn't surprised, really, but his tone hinted at that, though. "They gave an amazing performance, of course, but it was very similar to the first dance: well known, perfectly performed, and with just the addition of some acrobatics. Very good, very impressive, but I'm not sure it's worth the win, to be honest."

"Your pick was the prince and his lady friend, correct?" Steinn chimed in as well. "Well that too was a very good dance, but it merely included a prop and some acrobatics. The royal siblings definitely have similar ways of doing things. I'm inclined toward the princess however, since she's kept to the spirit of competition, had fun doing it, and pulled no surprises the audience was not ready for. That level of 'balance' must have been difficult to manage."

"I liked it a lot too, but I've seen sanctis jigging before, so I'm not sure what to make of it. Admittedly I'm not the best person to be up here judging dances," Shadrak said, nervously.

Not far away in the lineup of competition participants, the small conversations continued, even the slightly tense one between the royals and Angelica. "Oh not at all, you're just handling the 'prince', my brother, with an alarming amount of familiarity," Athena clarified, quietly, and with some poorly hidden agitation. "And as far as I can tell, you've only known each other for a little over half an hour ..."

Time to tune that part of the conversation out. "Why is that?" Athrun asked, curious as to what would make her say being an only child was for the best.

At the star table, Terrel chuckled and said, "Indeed, but hopefully she forgives him; it was a very captivating dance, and there aren't too many avian men branching out these days."

Meanwhile, Raquel decided to expound on Nadine and Horizon since the topic didn't seem to bother Blake and she herself didn't have much if any interest in dancing. "Well yeah; they trained mages there who were going straight into the military after graduation, so they wanted to keep us all in one place, away from any real danger or propaganda. They also didn't want us to have any excuses whatsoever for missing classes since Ursentius is a really big city. As for Reign and Nadine, it didn't really seem like a rivalry to me. I wasn't sure what to think of it until I saw them at the show, but she said they were training to master a technique she came up with. I'm pretty sure they mastered it ... that spell broke some records, and just plain smashed a few others."

Waiting On Everyone

Bert arrived before Anna, which was a little surprising. She knew it took time to get a mount properly settled in, but how long did it take to set down some things and come to the dining hall from the main entrance? Either way, idle thoughts were no reason to tune everything else out. She would show up soon enough, right? "No, I haven't seen Gar around here. There's plenty of time, I think, so I won't worry about it for now." Maybe Anna got held up by something important, Suzume thought to herself. If she was, they would be sitting around for awhile. "... should we order something to eat? Can we do that here?"

Phoenix Nursing

"Okay start from the beginning ..." Anna told Siv as she stood there gawking at the newborn fallen in the girl's arms.

"I made a bed for her and then rested with her. There was a bright light when I woke up and when it finally went away, she had hatched. I need Norn's help; I'm not mature enough to ... keep this child healthy."

"Don't fallen eat like ... anything that isn't rotting, or something?" Anna asked. "Or is this about nursing ... because Norn doesn't look old enough to do that sort of thing, either. Isn't she only one year older than you? I know Steinn mentioned that at some point. Yeah, she's thirteen."

"I'm still not old enough ..."

Sheesh, puberty is precise with you people ... "Well we don't have any kestrelii breast milk right now-" Or at least I have no idea how anyone would get some on such short notice- "so it'd probably be best to find a substitute."

"Okay ..."

"Come on, we need to go to the dining hall one way or another so I'm going to try and knock out two birds with one stone here." Siv flinched at that, causing Anna to force a frown so she wouldn't laugh. "That was a figure of speech. Let's go."

The Thing About Dark Alleys ...

Reign had left his parents on a good note, and was now hoping to get Sandrock back to the estate where she could get a good night's rest. He planned on visiting them again tomorrow if time permitted, but for now, he was tired, and planned to turn in for the night once he found himself a room. Navigating the streets at night was proving more difficult heading back for some reason, and time and again he'd been tempted to cut through an alley or two. He thought better of it given how dangerous that was, even for a mage, but after a time, it became a bit more difficult to discern streets from alleyways anyway. The telltale signs of empty cards, barrels, and other objects that typically lined some alleys weren't always there, and he'd frequently seen long paths through them that were abandoned as far as he could tell. Still, he stuck to the main roads, which was easier when there were at least some people around.

Eventually, as he reached the halfway point between his parent's new home and the first city gate, he heard ... something. He rode up to the alleyway it was coming from but made sure not to give Sandrock any room to wander into it. He was curious, but not that curious. It sounded violent. It was violent. He'd heard grunts and a few things that sounded like blades striking flesh and bone, but the first thing he saw was a man and a sword getting flung into view like a ragdoll and a stick. When the man hit the wall, his bones broke, and he collapsed into a motionless heap. Reign hated to make decisions like this, but he was by himself, and with someone else's horse. Time to go ...

Before he could get Sandrock moving again, the culprit stepped out into view. What Reign saw was so foreign, so unreal, so unbelievably freakish in appearance, that there was no frame of reference for it. For him it was the stuff of nightmares. The monster that stepped out into view to investigate its victim was about twelve feet tall, a lumbering giant with a fair complexion, but rough and bumpy skin. It's forearms were so massive that that it had to walk on them like forelegs to keep its balance, and the looked like giant clubs. It's feet were short and stubby, but clearly strong enough to help the creature move. It had no neck, and the top of its head merely looked like a large but shallow bump with a disgusting number of eyes from what Reign could see. Its face was the most disturbing feature of all. It sported a total of five eyes, two mouths, one just above the other, and the top one much smaller than the bottom one, and numerous forearms, dangling like tree vines from the sides of the mouths with no signs of life in them.

I'm not sure what kind of nightmare this is, but I SERIOUSLY need to wake the hell up before this escalates any further, he angrily mused.

The creature raised up its club like forelimbs and once they were high above its head, brought them down like a pair of meteors, crushing the already broken man that had fought back against it. That was when Reign realized just how strong this creature was. That impact somehow managed to shake the ground, not much, but he felt that impact from twenty yards away, atop Sandrock. There was no way that poor bastard survived. Reign quickly whipped down Sandrock's reins and got her galloping off. His destination was Weyland's estate still, but he intended to let anyone he came across know that something was really wrong here. He wasn't sure if he would bother with the details due to how likely that was to just slow him and everyone else down, but he would come up with something to at least get the message across ... 'danger'.

[-Cynthia-]

"This Lumi sounds like she may be a bit oversensitive, but the reason for you two not getting along isn't terribly important I think. Just focus on the positive- people you are friendly with. We've had a lot of setbacks lately- nothing that happened at that fortress went our way really, except that we made it out alive. But we can't focus on the negative or else we would have no hope, and without hope we've already lost. The same goes for you and your relations with people," Veronika suggested.

[Snowy_One]

"I am already lost." said Robin, starting to walk past Veronika. Then, as she started to do so, she stopped and looked to her before, carefully, reaching out as if to hug her. "Please, help me find my way."

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika raised an eyebrow quizzically at Robin. "Well, I suppose we could go to the dining hall. I haven't eaten supper and a drink doesn't sound too bad either. You can come along if you want, better than wandering around the hallways I think," she offered.

[Snowy_One]

"I... I think I will come along." said Robin, lowering her arms a bit. "Being with someone sounds... very pleasant. Especially if they are able to... tolerate me. Not in the same way Tia does though. But... she is not so bad. Just not what I need right now. I need someone who understands people, and I think Tia is the only one here to understand people less than me."