Sylvia began working on a rough sketch. She smiled a bit. Finally her skill set would be appreciated a bit.
"In absence of a photograph this will be useful I think. Tell me if I stray too far from the actual machine."
The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing.Night at the Campfire.
"I 'spose that's why that name sounded familiar...~ Still, it's nice meetin' ya all the same, Oralie...~ Name's Falken Gale. ...Course, I'm just some country guy with a family always on the move, so I can't say I'm noteworthy." The air-head smiled, shaking his comrade's hand.
Although with the mention of looking good and making a display all the time, he hesitated a tiny bit. "Might be one or two exceptions to that. I mean, unless you're dealin' with a crowd or showin' off stompin' Grimm into nothin'...not always practical to fight in some outfits. Still, I suppose it's an easier way for us...'newbies' to get noticed."
Perking up slightly at the talk of robots, Falken...decided to keep his trap shut. Well, aside from one comment. "If we run into 'em, I'm sure we can switch 'em off for good or smash 'em into big enough parts for you guys to look at. Maybe."
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.Cooking Fires
Close to the campfire, Geki was busying himself once again with his cooking utensils. A little thing like robots or whatever else might be lurking in the shadows would not stop SIGL's heavy weapons expert from taking his turn on the dinner rota.
While a wok steamed fragrantly beside him, he was currently folding little star-shaped bread bites upon a tray. There were more than enough to go around, and Geki was ensuring that at the very least, his dorm mates would not go to bed, or wake up, hungry.
edited 21st Feb '17 6:40:20 PM by KR_Vandal
Wasteland
"Ieria Jade. And I apologize for being suspicious, but it is simply how I am." She apologized with a small bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Forrester. I apologize if I have offended you."
"I am nature's weapon. You are unfit to carry on your species, and I shall ensure that you do not do so!" - Charles Darwin, XCOM SniperCampfire
All this talk about Alexandros had the sniper wondered what is he truly capable of. Yet, he should not dwell on such things. He looked to Alfred and asked, "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, MythraCampfire
Alfred was pinching he temple of his nose and looking at the ground, it took him about 10 seconds to realize that his teammate talked to him and what he said. He took another brief moment to think.
Well, what are you gonna do Al? Stay in camp and guard the princess wherever she goes again?
Finally he spoke, his calm demeanor could be heard slightly cracking in his voice. A tiny hint of anger showing up slightly in a few words.
"We're going to investigate the mountains, that bastard doesn't do things for nothing and I don't like it when his plans go smoothly. We need to stop him if we can."
Wait what? That can't be the reason you're going after him instead of protecting the princess, why are you doing this?
I... I don't know.
edited 6th Feb '17 11:41:56 PM by LiorVal
Wasteland
"It's good to meet you kids. It's a powerful reminder...seeing the new generation." Jane said, smiling warmly.
At that moment, they saw a hoverbike coming right at them, trailing a cloud of dust.
Jane grinned as the bike parked itself in front of them, the rider revealing himself to be a rather large man (read: eight feet tall and built like Beringel). The bike itself was just as huge.
"There you are, Freddy! Took you long enough!"
SHOWDOWN!
Amazingly, Alfred was able to flip the hugeass crab with his bare hands, the thing causing a very loud thud as it landed on the ground...and just as amazingly, the crab rolled with surprising agility.
"It's going to try to crush you." Erin commented.
And she was right. The crab rolled...and kept on rolling, attempting to catch Alfred beneath its huge body.
Campfire
"Ah!" Erin's eyes widened and she flinched back at Glen's outburst. Alexia immediately tightened her hold on her sister's hand.
Erin breathed out slightly and smiled thankfully at her sister.
"....Forgive me, G-glen."
And when Ayers called for Mia, the ghost girl briefly took over Ayers's speech, her presence manifested by a few sticks and stones floating a few inches.
"Do not let Max escape again. He will do anything for his ambitions. You can stop him now. Bring. Him. Down. At all cost! He's walked free for far too long!"
With her message delivered, Mia let Ayers regain control, but she remained near, a contsnt swirl of anger.
Erin sighed again. "It is settled. We investigate. I suggest not doing it tomorrow. You students have a full schedule...it will make the teachers suspicious. The third day is free. We can do it then. I also suggest you take a rest now. We need to be at our best."
With that, the middle princess nodded at everyone, let go of her sister's hand...and wheeled herself away.
Immediately afterwards, Alexia stood up, walked away and didn't look back.
She felt...heavy. Anxious. It was happening. Again.
Every time that her friends were given time to relax, something happened.
It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair. They were given far more than they could bear.
They were first years, they weren't supposed to be dealing with any of this! Terrorists and conspiracies...it was all too much.
She watched her friends crumble from the strain. Poor Lucas on a downward spiral. Hope, who was getting more and more jaded. They didn't deserve that...they shouldn't be involved in any of this...
But her...for Alexia, it was different. Her duty.
It was her responsibility. She was the princess of Vale. She needed to do something, to keep everyone safe.
But she was a target. A liability. She was weak.
And if anyone got hurt.
Her fault.
She tried to hide it these past few days...tried to act normal.
But now. She was worried. Who else was going to get hurt? Who else was going to be traumatized?
It hurt. She knew she was being selfish. She knew that no one else was moping, but she didn't want anyone else to be hurt...
She knew she should go to Erin. Her sister needed her now....
She stopped next to a tree, shaking.
Erin...
Sorry for being weak.
Campfire
"The robots were big," Umber told Imuka. She paused. She clearly wasn't familiar with robots, and struggled to find the right words. "Like Grimm. Steel Grimm, with wings and guns. I killed one, somehow, but..."
Umber stared down at ripples in her own cup of tea. She tugged her hood down a little. That was one of the longest sentences she'd ever said to the group so far. She needed a second to recharge. She then turned to Glen.
"I'll come with you to find something. If—if this, um, Alexandros man is so dangerous, but so—"
Umber paused.
"Untouchable, then we have to put a stop to him."
A Tree
A breeze blew past the total silence between Alexia and her newfound tree companion. Then, a female voice came from behind the tree.
"Psst. Hey, you," the voice said.
The girl paused.
"Yeah, you on the other side of the tree. What are you moping about this time?"
CAMPFIRE
Well, shit got weird. Ayers started sounding like a pissed off teenage girl and the campfire was floating. Jack put his hand over the campfire, holding it down slightly before he stood up and walked after Alexia.
He recognized the look on her face. That feeling of uselessness. Finally, he found her shivering at a tree. "It's a terrible feeling, isn't it?" He asked. His hand at his side. "That feeling that you're just dragging everyone you love down."
And then someone spoke behind the tree. Jack raised an eyebrow. "Is this one of the ghosts?" He asked Alexia under his breath.
edited 8th Feb '17 11:16:18 AM by TroyandHawk
Good to be backCampfire
As he began gathering up his stakes, Glen responded to Umber "Oh, we're goin' tae stop him alright. The schemin' son o' a bitch is goin' down nae matter wha' happens." Rising to his feet, the Highlander added "Now if you'll excuse me, I hae an apology tae make."
Following after Erin, Glen called out, "Erm, might I hae a word?"
Campfire.
Humming innocently and keeping himself warm by the fire, the air-head with emerald colored hair glanced over at Alexia walking over, looking rather moody. ...It was kinda weird, aside from a slight pummeling and having to get someone to fix the tatters in his outfit, it seemed like everyone had been doing well.
"...Soooooo...how often does 'Lexia look like she's in need of a hug and bein' all sorta...sulky?" He casually whispered...inquired those who HADN'T or weren't walking off to comfort the fancy looking girl.
...Sure, he would've gone off and tried to do a bit of sweet-talking and shake the gal out of her funk, but people had already beat him to the punch.
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.Russian Showdown
Alfred again stood staunchly, seemingly nothing could make him move, the knight attempted to grab the Crab's stomach as it rolled towards him, trying to keep a strong grip on him and lifts him upwards, should he succeed, Al fell backwards with the crab and tried to slam him headfirst into the ground with all of his strength.
Around the Campfire
Al was sitting close to the campfire, it didn't even seem like he noticed Lexi running off. The knight's back leaned slightly forward with his fingers pinching the temple of his nose, his orange eyes stared in the direction of the fire, though they seemed as if they were staring into a void, Alfred's gaze seemed very out of focus, tired and deep in thought, the man's body looked immovable, as if he was a statue until he finds some important world-changing answer.
edited 10th Feb '17 6:04:54 AM by LiorVal
Hope, Wasteland
"Alright. Hi. Name's Hope. May we go now?" It was clear that Hope's patience was running thin. There were bad guys to stop and Grimm to slaughter.
Hope, Campfire
Normally, she would be right behind Alexia, trying to cheer her up, but honestly... Hope felt tired and weary herself. She needed some time for herself too. Besides, it seemed Jack was there to fill in for her. "Too often for her own good..." She mumbled back to Falken.
But alas, it seemed someone else needed help. She turned her attention to Alfred. "Alfy, you look like shit." A good start. "What happened?" He would normally go after his girlfriend, but something was weighing on him and Hope couldn't quite put what exactly was that.
edited 9th Feb '17 2:45:52 PM by FergardStratoavis
Campfire
Al continued to stare into the flames, one of the fingers on his nose suddenly scratching his forehead, his head turned to the side and the suddenly to Hope, having now noticed her it seems. He waved his finger in dismissal to her claims, he didn't understand why suddenly Hope wanted to help him, but he preferred not relying on others for things he didn't need to do so, the man spoke responded to her in his usual calm voice.
"Who me? I'm fine, this is how I look like most of the time Hope, nothing to really worry about." To most strangers Alfred's words would sound believable but anyone who knew how he acts whenever Lexi's struck with melodrama would second-guess what he said.
Campfire:Al Not Want Help
Alfred turned his gaze towards Hope, his left eyebrow rose at her last comment, this was just about the first time anyone here called him a friend, and wanting to help was not something he was used to here.
"My friend huh? Sure you wanna help." Al said dismissively, he was not about to believe her claim of friendship or desire to help was real, but she was not one to take up on his hints to well from what he remembered. Thinking to himself he might as well converse with her, he spoke.
"Might as well I guess, I'm just thinking a little, that's all"
Well, that's very vague of you to say
Hey just because I gave up on staying quiet doesn't mean I'm just gonna spill everything so quickly
Wasteland
"Indeed, we should hurry." Ieria agreed with Hope with a small nod. "The more time we waste, the worse it could become." She looked up at the eight foot tall man and gave him a polite bow. "And hello to you, sir."
"I am nature's weapon. You are unfit to carry on your species, and I shall ensure that you do not do so!" - Charles Darwin, XCOM SniperCampfire: Hope and Alfred
Alfred stared at hope and blinked rapidly, he answered her with a confused voice, not knowing she was not caught up on what happened by now. He was also not used to being the one to report the current events to others, being withdrawn from contact with them from everyone else, waiting until he'll feel he learned enough from Lexi to communicate with them again.
"The others found machines belonging to Alexandros in the mountains and we said we'll investigate it, I was fishing at the lake and fought a giant crab, but to me in particular nothing happened before I got here"
edited 11th Feb '17 11:21:40 AM by LiorVal
"Robots but like winged Grimm" Sylvia asked." Can you be more specific? Like bird wings or bat like? Sorry."
As she spoke her own wings twitched and ruffled. It wasn't too much to ask to get more details, right?
The Crystal Caverns A bird's gotta sing."...She's beatin' herself up all the time, huh? That's kinda a bummer, she's kinda cute when she actually smiles." The air-head casually remarked in respond to Hope...before noticing the silver-haired gal was talking with Al.
And that new friend he'd made earlier was a bit distracted, so the cheerful air-head glanced around the campfire, noticing the slightly sulky Lucas and waved a hand in front of him before realizing his error and sat down nearby, grinning.
"So, what's got you all down to the point you're doin' your best 'Lexia impression, Luke? If you're gonna go all the way, you're gonna need the outfit to match, y'know." He cheerfully pointed out.
edited 12th Feb '17 10:30:06 PM by TheRealWren
Hope you weren't expecting anything witty here. Maybe some day.

Campfire
Imuka glared at Ayers intently when he brought up Ale Iexia's speeches, something she actualy agreed with herself, but quickly diverted her attention to Jack and Sylvia when the robots were brought up themselfs.
"T-They had wings and turbines?" She queried perking up slightly as she did so "were they humanoid in size too?"