Seaside 4: Where Every Week Is Shark Week

[Shadowcaller]

Operation Sea Slug

"Umm..." Tammy's attention snaps to Will only to look back at the stalagmite once again. "Bit beyond me, but I'm pretty sure that's taureh." A beat as she gestures at scriptures on the crystals. "A magic language." As she leans closer, she peers. "Looks like its shifting... gotta get closer, or get more light. Everything is so *big* now..."

[Tropical Island]

Anika is hit square in the chest by the harpoon, that would hurt but right now she's too caught up in the fight to even notice. Ilpholin dodges to the side and Anika pounces on sand. Trying to stop and turn, her paws instead find no hold and with the momentum she's build up she goes sliding past Ilpholin instead.

Once she has managed to turn, the nymph is already up and is blindly charging towards her. The bear didn't really expect her opponent to come back so fast however and only manage to avoid getting hit in the throat by blocking it with its skull. Ow.
Feeling fairly dazed the bear simply attempts to punch Ilpholin back, going straight for the crotch. Of course, as it's seeing double at the moment its accuracy won't be that great.

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

”Well then get closer! The only other light I have is an actual flare.” Will says testily. He tries to advance, pulling Tammy along if he has to. He doesn’t want to get any closer to that thing but this is for Titania! They have to try something!

[Purple Eagle]

[Raptor Isle - Portal Room]

They all step out into the other side of a portal, this time held stable by a white ring connected to some machinery, which Zither'll be standing beside. The room's small and sparse, save for the redhead, assorted machinery and futuristic afrojapanese decor.

Dami walks up to his girlfriend and wraps his arms around her. "Got any more machinery-concerned bossing around of me to do, baby girl?" He asks teasingly, pecking her on the lips.

Natalie and Lami follow suit, holding hands, and Lami squeezes her girlfriend's hand and smiles. "I'm glad we can use our real names here, because it's home. Can't wait to explore, do we get a tour, brother? And hi, Zither!" She says happily in that her reserved manner, waving to the tiefling.

There's an apparently-wooden circular door that's currently open, revealing a long hallway.

@Earl of Purple

[Earl of Purple]

Raptor Isle

Zither is a tiefling, with vivid red hair, pale skin and yellow eyes. Her teeth are sharp like a shark's, and she's lithe and muscular. She's wearing a red summer dress and chunky boots, with a hefty black mace at her waist. She'll hug Dami back. "Only if you're planning on touching... Literally anything in this room. I only understand half of it, and couldn't fix any of it." Which is a pretty good reason not to touch anything, she thinks.

Natalie looks around with interest as she comes through the portal. She's a black-haired and green-eyed fifteen year old, wearing a pair of thick black tights under a green skirt, with a red jumper as well. Her battered red rucksack is on her back, and she's wearing a pair of dirty white trainers.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Anika is hit square in the chest by the harpoon, that would hurt but right now she's too caught up in the fight to even notice. Ilpholin dodges to the side and Anika pounces on sand. Trying to stop and turn, her paws instead find no hold and with the momentum she's build up she goes sliding past Ilpholin instead.

Once she has managed to turn, the nymph is already up and is blindly charging towards her. The bear didn't really expect her opponent to come back so fast however and only manage to avoid getting hit in the throat by blocking it with its skull. Ow.
Feeling fairly dazed the bear simply attempts to punch Ilpholin back, going straight for the crotch. Of course, as it's seeing double at the moment its accuracy won't be that great.

[Tropical Island]

Anika will find her opponent no longer underestimate's the bear's speed. It looks like a big brute, but behind those bear eyes lies intelligence. Ilpholin's already spinning to one side of the bear to avoid a counterattack, though a claw manages to cut into the side of her hips before she gets away entirely. Still, Ilpholin continues along the route, moving alongside the bear. Each time she ends up facing towards Anika, Ilpholin throws three short successive jabs at the bear's side before continuing on. It resembles a frenzied dance and is over as quickly as it began once Ilpholin's reached the end of Anika's flank. She concludes the blitz with a kick towards the back of the leg on the side she just went along. Normally she'd go for both, but she can't properly judge where the other leg is. Even now she's just guessing on the first one based on touch and could miss if the bear moves too much during the assault.

[Purple Eagle]

[Raptor Isle - Himura House]

Dami (Nexus Name Unagi, formerly Hotaru/Mirai) and Lami (Nexus Name Karasu, formerly Raven/Nisha) are two ninja spy siblings with dark skin, black sclera, amber eyes with epicanthic folds and black hair, dressed in their ninja spy suits. The male is 20 and the female younger sister is 15, with dyed purple afro curls at the crown of her head. When they tap their chests, their nanosuits recede into an implanted container on their chests. After doing that he's wearing green shirt and black trousers, and she puts on a purple top and grey skirt.

"I'll show you around later, babe. I know my way around, you'll pick it up since you're more specialized in this." Dami replies, kissing her nose and taking her hand so they walk alongside the young lesbian couple. "Let's show you guys around."

Lami squeezes Natalie's hand and smiles, looking like she'd start skipping about at any minute as they walk down the corridor into an elevator that takes them up to the living area, where they get to see more of their house. Waiting for them in the living room is a black-and-blue-haired woman who looks quite young for her late forties, her short hair tied into a topknot. She's dressed in a ninja spy suit as well and it's clear that this is the siblings' mother. Not just by her appearance, but because of how Lami pulls Natalie close and hugs her mother, then shows her Natalie.

"Hmm, you're the reason why my daughter was broody all year. If you make her happy then I can respect that. Hello Natalie, you can call me Mum too." Kemi Himura seems gruff and stern in a nice manner, and despite her seeming seriousness she gets along with her kids well. She offers Natalie a hug. "It's good to finally put a face to the name."

[Earl of Purple]

Raptor Isle

"Hi Lami's mum. Um, do you mind if I don't? I don't want to disrespect my own." Of whom she's only ever really had are memories. "It's nice to see you, too." She'll hug back, though. Natalie's eagerly looking around at everything, trying to spot the most advanced technology, stuff she doesn't see often in Inside or GLoG. Mind you, Natalie's own homeworld is a little behind on technology, without much in the way of wireless technology, so she's not likely to spot it all. Just the flashiest and most obvious stuff.

Zither smiles and kisses back, wrapping her tail around Dami's waist. She does frown a little, though. "My sense of direction isn't that bad. I've been here a year. I don't need another tour." Unless that's code for finding somewhere private.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

At this point I should note that the bears claws are not extended. Looks like she doesn't want to cut into Ilpholin too deeply.
She does seem to have a hard time catching up with this rapid series of moments however, especially considering the daze. None the less, she does make another sweeping strike at Ilpholin as she turns face the nymph to keep her from moving behind her back. This strike is more intended to keep Ilpholin at bay rather than actually hitting her. Every of Ilpholin's hits will connect however unless she decides to back away as the bear sweeps its paws at her.

[Operation Sea Slug]

Tammy stammers something before going uncharacteristically quiet once again as Will pulls her towards the stalactite. The imp following not far behind, its eyes burning like embers in the darkness.
As he lights up the flare the light of it is reflected off the crystal-like surface, actually making the images and text more difficult to see until their eyes get used to the bright light.
The young warlock narrows her eyes and uses her hand to provide shade as she silently attempts to study the relic.
Then she suddenly breaks the silence. "Um! S-s-or... S-soroth... Sog'oroth!" She exclaims, the final word seemingly having some kind of effect as the crystals suddenly go completely blank for a moment.

Then a enormous face can be seen reflected within the crystals as the whispers joins up into one singular voice which now clearly echoes through the chamber. "So you made this far." The voice sneers, Will despite the increased volume likely being able to tell its from the female demon Titania smashed to pieces inside when she tried to argue against the idea of entering the tomb. "But where is the golem and the others? Don't tell me that they died? Since that would be so sad." Her voice is mocking and filled with spite even as her projected face looks like the picture of innocence.

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will flips the demon the bird.
"A Bolo never dies. They only go missing in action.
The rest of them were much farther back. Now do you have anything useful to say? " Will spits curtly. He doesn't have any patience for this self-important outsider stroking its own ego.

[Purple Eagle]

Raptor Isle

"Hi Lami's mum. Um, do you mind if I don't? I don't want to disrespect my own." Of whom she's only ever really had are memories. "It's nice to see you, too." She'll hug back, though. Natalie's eagerly looking around at everything, trying to spot the most advanced technology, stuff she doesn't see often in Inside or GLoG. Mind you, Natalie's own homeworld is a little behind on technology, without much in the way of wireless technology, so she's not likely to spot it all. Just the flashiest and most obvious stuff.

Zither smiles and kisses back, wrapping her tail around Dami's waist. She does frown a little, though. "My sense of direction isn't that bad. I've been here a year. I don't need another tour." Unless that's code for finding somewhere private.

[Raptor Isle - Himura's]

"Right, I understand. How about Mami then? Rhymes with my children's names. They've told me your story, and I can relate. For ages they thought they were orphans, for ages I thought I'd lost my children. That you're with my daughter makes you mine as well, of a sort." Mami replies, hugging the pale girl warmly.

There's lots of technology for Natalie's eyes to feast on! From the beads Lami and Dami and now Zither wear on their wrists that seems to be much more than 'jewelery', to the floating holographic screens of the 'floating colored nanite lightcloud' variety, to screens surrounded by colored beads, to LEDs made of seemingly colored beads, to the African-looking Japanese characters that make up their writing system. This house in particular has a lot of blue hues, wide open spaces and big glass windows. There was a table of nanomachine sand that displayed a rendition of the area in front of the portal in the portal room, however. Right now they're in the living room, and the TV is one of such nanite light clouds, the light fixtures are of glass and crystals, the non-wooden furniture carved from strange materials and made comfortable with floofy cushions.

Adjoining the living room is a metallic dining table surrounded by 5 chairs and decorated by wooden carvings. There's an area blocked by a door that leads to the kitchen, game room and guest room, and stairs lead upstairs. There's also the front door, with a door next to it that leads to the garage, which adjoins the portal room.

"I won't be here for very long. Dami'll deal with taking care of this place, I'll have a connection to this place from home, so I'll know if and when my presence is needed. This admin area and the houses in it are exactly like what we have back home, so explore and feel free to treat this as your second home. Not many will have that chance. We'll see in the evening and get to know each other further, Natalie." She says. After Natalie replies to that, she'll hug each of her kids for quite a long while, then hug Zither and make her way towards the portal room.

Immediately, Lami takes Natalie's hand and grins. According to her mum, that means she should have no trouble finding her way around this sector, so she can give the tour. "Lemme show you around, babe. I can explain all the tech you're looking at to you?" She suggests, pecking her chastely on the cheek.

As for Dami and Zither, well, they're off to look at the readings and admin stuff that they can access from their tech and gadget shop's offices in the adjoining building. As it happens, right now that area is private, so they leave this scene for the time being... but not after handing Natalie beads already made for her. They connect her to this place and to her girlfriend, making them able to communicate regardless of distance. One contains all her info (with her having the chance to correct the basic stuff as needed), one basically gives her the functionality of a smartphone (or a RWBY type scroll, if you will). One provides the audiovisual functionality, one's a GPS.

[Earl of Purple]

Raptor Isle

It's all absolutely baffling to Natalie, the technology. She can't even comprehend a machine too small to see, and here she is surrounded by thousands of millions of them. Zither has difficulty with it, too. She doesn't really understand any technology she can't fix, and a fault in electronics is harder to see than a fault in mechanics. A fault in a nanobot, a device which is not only electronic but too small to see? She doesn't really trust any technology she can't fix with a collection of wrenches and a decent spanner.

"Mami works, I guess." She nods in understanding and sympathy to Mami's words, though she's well aware her parents aren't just 'missing, presumed deceased', so she's a little jealous as well. "That sounds good Lami, but... Don't bother explaining how anything works. I don't even understand how telephones work, and I think that's practically a sharpened rock compared to some of this stuff." She's well out of her depth, but she's got her magic to rely on, even if she doesn't understand or trust the machinery around her. She'll put the beads on, frowning a little as they're explained. "What's with the info on this thing? How's it know what it knows, and how do I stop it from telling anyone I don't want to know?" That really discomforts her, and she fiddles with the one containing her personal data.

[Shadowcaller]

[Operation Sea Slug]

The demons grins. "No, I quite enjoy wasting your time like this. After dying I take whatever payback I can from the misery of my murderers. Especially when they walk into the very thing I was trying to warn them about."

Tammy clears her voice and gestures dramatically at the demon. "AHEM, HOLD! You are bond to awaken your master when visitors arrive!"

The yellow eyes shift further down to Tammy. "You must have misread, I am to awaken her when the empire has returned or someone worthy enters and as it turns out, throwing around a lot of sass and command words doesn't make you worthy. How about that, huh? The old hag should have really lowered her standards before getting into the freezer. Not that awakening her will help you, neither of you are gnolls or look all that impressive. Just a human boy with a metal arm and a tiny little goblin who think she can master 'their' art. To her, you're nothing."

Tammy interrupts however. "How do we prove ourselves?"

"...what?"

"How do we prove ourselves to miss super-warlock-whatever?"

"Be gnolls, be *******s, point is, my master don't care for you and you should not care for her. Let her rot."

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will is not amused.
"Who gives a **** about your master? I meant getting us out that door without being torn to pieces, preferably with TTN. Sargrera isn't here, and also might be dead, which means I'm not being paid to wake gnolls up. Unless she's impressed by movie knowledge, magitech weapons, or homemade omelettes I know full well I don't have anything Ms. Staff-maker wants. I'd like to continue living." he grumbles. The demon can complain all she wants, but she didn't warn them about anything. If she thought being coy with the killer robot would have turned out better for her, that's her fault.

[UncleWolf]

[Raider's Cove]

"Never apologising is not my way, Brokenfang." Ithuriel sighs, shifting position slightly to better capture the sunlight. She might as well at least try to enjoy herself, even if this entire situation is a bit uncomfortable for her. "Basically, because of your reputation, there's no way I could reason them into letting you act in any sort of aggressive manner to support Inside, because it could be viewed as supporting your acts of raiding. Adding in any clauses to try and get around that doesn't really change the reality of what they'd be allowing." Ithuriel shrugs. She doesn't like it, it felt like there had to be some sort of more favourable solution in there, but she's no diplomat. "However, there's no point in threatening you or trying to buy you off by offering to "spare" you either. So, it's not much, and I don't have it on me-" She shrugs. She doesn't have anything on her right now. "But they are willing to offer payment for you to act in a strictly defensive capacity on the basis that in any such case anyone you send falls under Intersection's command, can be dismissed and expected to leave at a moment's notice, won't commit any crimes within Inside, and...there's a very long list of conditions to it."

Raider's Cove

Brokenfang lays back, eyes closed, as she enjoys the sunlight and mulls over the offer. "Essentially they're willing to ignore what I did because I didn't kill anyone, but only if I promise from here on only to defend Inside if necessary and otherwise leave the territory and people alone. Not just that, but I would be placed under Intersection's command rather than being allowed to operate in any independent capacity with this relationship able to be terminated by Intersection at a moment's notice likely under punishment of immediate arrest if I do not comply. Do I have that correct?" She asks, finally cracking open an eye again to take a look at Ithuriel.

"And they expect me to actually accept and like this offer?"

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Raider's Cove]

That was about the reaction Ithuriel had been expecting. She lets out a quiet sigh of resignment, frustrated but not surprised. Some little part of her had been hoping it might have been enough, but who was she kidding? This isn't her field of expertise anyway.

"Only if you personally attended? You could provide support indirectly without putting yourself at risk. And I-" Ithuriel pauses. Technically there's nothing preventing them doing something like that to catch Brokenfang, but it'd be very poor form of them! "there's no way any honest officer would do something like that to entrap you." She finishes rather half-heartedly. "Is there anything I can do to make the offer more appealing to you?" She asks, her eyes fixed on Brokenfang's looking for any sign that she might be willing to accept some sort of compromise to make this more agreeable.

[UncleWolf]

Raider's Cove

"Plenty of things, but nothing Intersection would accept." Brokenfang points out as she sits up completely. "At the very least, I would need to retain command of my people as well as the ability to act independently. Plus reimbursement for resources spent. And that's before anything else that would sweeten the deal enough for me to find this acceptable." She says before her tone turns extremely serious.

"But if you think this offer was made in good faith, then swear by it and yourself to me about it. Do that and we'll head to Intersection right now to finalize it. I'll walk in right through that front door of the headquarters."

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

At this point I should note that the bears claws are not extended. Looks like she doesn't want to cut into Ilpholin too deeply.
She does seem to have a hard time catching up with this rapid series of moments however, especially considering the daze. None the less, she does make another sweeping strike at Ilpholin as she turns face the nymph to keep her from moving behind her back. This strike is more intended to keep Ilpholin at bay rather than actually hitting her. Every of Ilpholin's hits will connect however unless she decides to back away as the bear sweeps its paws at her.

[Tropical Island]

Ilpholin would rather break off her attack in the middle with only partial success and jump back away from the swipe. She's not exactly certain, but she imagines she's less sturdy than a bear when it comes to taking hits. Which is the problem isn't it? Ilpholin could dance around Anika all day, but that hide is thick and the bear is more agile than one would expect. She'd lose trying to wear it down like that.

There's a moment respite for Anika as Ilpholin reconsiders her strategy and considers an alternative, swaying there in the sand and the sun, keeping light on her feet but also catching her own breath.

[Purple Eagle]

Raptor Isle

It's all absolutely baffling to Natalie, the technology. She can't even comprehend a machine too small to see, and here she is surrounded by thousands of millions of them. Zither has difficulty with it, too. She doesn't really understand any technology she can't fix, and a fault in electronics is harder to see than a fault in mechanics. A fault in a nanobot, a device which is not only electronic but too small to see? She doesn't really trust any technology she can't fix with a collection of wrenches and a decent spanner.

"Mami works, I guess." She nods in understanding and sympathy to Mami's words, though she's well aware her parents aren't just 'missing, presumed deceased', so she's a little jealous as well. "That sounds good Lami, but... Don't bother explaining how anything works. I don't even understand how telephones work, and I think that's practically a sharpened rock compared to some of this stuff." She's well out of her depth, but she's got her magic to rely on, even if she doesn't understand or trust the machinery around her. She'll put the beads on, frowning a little as they're explained. "What's with the info on this thing? How's it know what it knows, and how do I stop it from telling anyone I don't want to know?" That really discomforts her, and she fiddles with the one containing her personal data.

[Raptor Isle]

Fortunately there are ways and tools to fix faults, though, and Zither would have gotten a nanomachine repair kit from her boyfriend and taught basic maintenance.

"You don't need to understand how it works yet, Talie, just know that it does and how to use it. The info's there because of our intel, and stored in the Raptor Isle database. As an honorary citizen, we need to know these things. If you ever fall ill, we'll know how to fix it. If you lost your memories the info'd help. It's only freely accessible to you and anyone you let. Ooh, let me take you to my... our... room, and show you how to use the beads. The tour can wait." Lami replies. No doubt Natalie still has some questions and things to say, but Lami can't wait to show her girlfriend her room, which she'll find is similarly furnished to her cabin's bedroom, but higher-tech and with a predominantly purple decor.

It's located up the stairs, down the landing and into the first room on the right. Yes, she wants to show Natalie around, but right now she remembers she hasn't seen her girlfriend in a while and wouldn't mind laying in bed and holding hands while they talk about their lives.

[Earl of Purple]

Raptor Isle

Zither's still not comfortable with it, and didn't take too well to the training- it's too far from her comfort zone, and she isn't good at fixing anything that isn't mechanical. She can just see, somehow, what fits where with mechanical objects, regardless of if it's clockwork, hydraulics, or an engine powered by steam or internal combustion.

"I didn't tell you that much, did I?" Is the first question she asks. She's still not entirely comfortable with the idea, however. But that's the only question that immediately springs to mind.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Raider's Cove]

Ithuriel rubs her forehead and stares quietly at the ground. What happened to taking it easy, enjoying the sun, and pretending this casual nudity wasn't raising questions in her mind?

No, she had to go and insist on getting down to business. What did she expect? Of course Brokenfang wasn't going to be impressed.

It did sting a little. She'd really tried to find something that would work.

"I don't know." Ithuriel sighs, lying back down. "I'd like to say I trust my fellow officers enough to believe it's a genuine offer, but you're doing an excellent job of making me doubt that right now. And you never know if some bureaucrat has been pulling strings and moving money behind the scenes to undermine Intersection on this anyway."

[UncleWolf]

Raider's Cove

Brokenfang gives a nod before clambering to her feet, drinking the rest of her bottle of wine in one go as she rises. "Alright then, darling angel, that settles it. I'm going to get my clothes back on and then you can take me to Intersection HQ. We can settle this one way or the other then. And before you object, I'll point out that I'll just take longer to get there if you don't take me yourself." She says, sounding fairly cheerful as she grabs her pants and pulls them back on.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

As Ilpholin's attack connects, the bear does seem to be slowing down, it's movements becoming more stiff as the pain cause its muscles to constrict.
However, so far Anika has managed to avoid Ilpholin hitting any actual weak points, such as the throat, not for the lack of effort on Ilpholins part. As long as the bear can keep that up, it might wear Ilpholin down through sheer exhaustion.

Trying to keep Ilpholin in front of her, the bear clumsily moves around and then keeps following the nymph. Not wanting to give her any respite. Ilpholin will be able to keep her distance for now that as the bear is aching all over after the nymphs assault. She did have a plan though, roaring loudly as if she was about to charge.

[Operation Sea Slug]

"Insults, screams and cries, the language of the impotent." The demon mocks with a cruel laugh. "Perhaps you are expecting someone else to fix your problems if you cry loudly enough? I've lived for hundreds of years and you're the most useless human I ever laid my eyes on. No magic, no talents, no resolve, no brain." The last comes out as a drawn out hiss. "As you just said, you have nothing that could impress my master or anyone else. The greatest thing a person like you can do is to lie down and die to keep others to die for you."

"Stop it!" Tammy shouts. "We're not listening to you!" The goblin gestures at the demon. "And Will, we can't argue with this thing. I think our best bet will be to wake up the crone or maybe..." She suddenly glances at the stalactite. "What if we destroy that?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will raises an eyebrow.
"That the best you got? Calling insults childish and then throwing some kid-level insults at me? I spent my life on the streets of Skyside. If you think a weak thing like that can hurt me, you don't know what pain is." he growls.
Will shakes his head.
"She wants us to destroy that. That's why she put her voice on it and is trying to sling insults at me. She didn't give me the time of day before, but now she's bragging? I ain't falling for it. Let's go, Tammy. It's way better this way. The demon says waking up her master will get people killed. No problem, let's just go shoot her. I think I have a grenade in here somewhere; toss that at the demon's little cradle on the way out. I'd hate to leave Titania's business unfinished." Will says casually, waving his light around, staunchly ignoring the demon as he looks for anything else back there.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

As Ilpholin's attack connects, the bear does seem to be slowing down, it's movements becoming more stiff as the pain cause its muscles to constrict.
However, so far Anika has managed to avoid Ilpholin hitting any actual weak points, such as the throat, not for the lack of effort on Ilpholins part. As long as the bear can keep that up, it might wear Ilpholin down through sheer exhaustion.

Trying to keep Ilpholin in front of her, the bear clumsily moves around and then keeps following the nymph. Not wanting to give her any respite. Ilpholin will be able to keep her distance for now that as the bear is aching all over after the nymphs assault. She did have a plan though, roaring loudly as if she was about to charge.

[Tropical Island]

Another charge? Maybe another pounce too. The novelty of fighting a bear was wearing off quickly. Bears were kinda predictable! That's ok. A change is exactly what Ilpholin wants right now. She crouches a little, preparing to receive the supposed 'charge' with the intent to leap above Anika and land upon the bear's back.

Though perhaps maybe Anika was just being loud because she figured out that sound is the primary sense Ilpholin is using to fight right now and if the raucous is loud enough she won't be able to hear Anika's paws scraping through the sand.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Raider's Cove]

That's not fair! Ithuriel doesn't even have clothes to put back on! She has a wet towel and that's about it.

It's really unpleasant wrapping a cold, damp towel around yourself.

"Alright, let's say you're right and this is just a trap, and I'm just being a dumb, optimistic, naive angel right now-" Ithuriel pauses before she's even really started and sighs, "And I can't really deny I am being very optimistic with all this. If you're right and this is just a trap, you're walking straight into it. I can't take your side, and I can't oppose Intersection. All I can do is stand aside because my opinion on this whole thing is clearly very biased at this point. You realise that, right?"

And then her tone softens as she looks down at her towel, "And at the very least, you're waiting here long enough for me to go and put some damn clothes on, you ass."

[UncleWolf]

Raider's Cove

"What? You normally don't go to every important meeting without a stitch to your name?" Brokenfang teases with a grin. Of course, that grin meant she looked almost like she was snarling with all her fangs bared. "I don't think you're being naive or overly-optimistic or dumb though. You're an angel. Isn't it your job to believe in the best in everyone?" She asks before waving a hand dismissively. "Go, get dressed. I'll wait a half hour tops before I strike it out on my own. I won't bring any guns or weapons with me, but I will warn that I am not unarmed. Nor will I go quietly if your organization is stupid about this."

[Earl of Purple]

Floating at Sea

There's an iceberg here. Nothing unusual about icebergs, most of the time. This one, though? There's several odd things about it. For one, the statue. Somebody has placed an eight-metre tall statue of a woman on it, a statue made of black basalt and sticking out against the white background of ice. The woman has a shaved head and wears a toga, with a pair of glass spheres set into her eyes, white and red mixing and swirling.

The second odd thing about this iceberg are the cars frozen into it, sticking out here and there. There's three immediately apparent, an early 1920s-looking convertible with boxy bodywork and wire wheels, encased in ice up to halfway up its doors, a red bus with its front end sticking vertically out of the ice and a red Triumph Herald with its wheels stuck. There might be others, deeper in the ice, not visible from wherever an observer may be looking from.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Raider's Cove]

It takes Ithuriel about ten minutes to go and come back, the sunning having done a wonderful job of drying her off. She's in her Intersection uniform once more, her hair dye touched up, her weapons conspicuously absent. She can at least make a bit of a statement by leaving all her equipment behind. If this does go wrong, she's not going to be the one to throw the first punch.

"No guns, no weapons. If you immediately make a scene of this, you're probably going to get me turfed out on the spot, you know. I am sort of trusting you here. But I respect that you'll defend yourself if they are stupid. C'mon, let's get this over with. Hopefully I haven't misread the situation too badly."

Ithuriel offers her hand, ready to lead the wolf straight into the lion's den.

[UncleWolf]

Raider's Cove

"Just to be clear, I'm not turning myself in." Brokenfang says, holding up a finger to make a point of the situation. "I am settling this one way or the other, not surrendering. If you expect me to willingly turn in my freedom, then you should not be present at all." Once she clarifies things, she'll take the angel's hand and allow herself to be transported.

[Recaiden]

There's an iceberg here. Nothing unusual about icebergs, most of the time. This one, though? There's several odd things about it. For one, the statue. Somebody has placed an eight-metre tall statue of a woman on it, a statue made of black basalt and sticking out against the white background of ice. The woman has a shaved head and wears a toga, with a pair of glass spheres set into her eyes, white and red mixing and swirling.

The second odd thing about this iceberg are the cars frozen into it, sticking out here and there. There's three immediately apparent, an early 1920s-looking convertible with boxy bodywork and wire wheels, encased in ice up to halfway up its doors, a red bus with its front end sticking vertically out of the ice and a red Triumph Herald with its wheels stuck. There might be others, deeper in the ice, not visible from wherever an observer may be looking from.

A chariot pulls up beside the iceberg and comes to a stop.
"What do we have here?" I comment (mostly to myself) as I hop out onto the ice. Did they build the statue on the iceberg, or did the ice come and carry it away?

Now, as an observer you might be thinking 'chariots are not watercraft', but this one has actually remained on the road the entire time. A thin road, suspended over nothing, appearing before the chariot and dissolving away behind it, but a road all the same. You may also be thinking 'chariots are usually pulled by horses, not ostriches', but this is the Nexus. You have to accept such things.

As Yone gets out, the chariot and its ostriches vanish, returned to the Other Page, their part in the scene done.

The ice is slipperier than I recall and it takes a moment to get my paws under me, but soon enough I'm making my way towards the Triumph, which seems least frozen. I reach out a tentacle to open the passenger door...