darkSpyro

As the four engaged in their introductions, Latnok approached, being wary of any possible unpleasantness. "Hello," he said to the old man. "What seems to be the issue here?" Latnok wasn't going to do anything without making sure that the situation actually required it.

Angora had been hoping to do the introductions without any of the Guardians involved, but she knew any of them butting in was unavoidable. She was about to answer for him, but knowing how insanely sensitive their pride and extreme their views of politeness was given how Sere got angry at Shade for answering a question for her, she decided not to say anything for now.

Back at the ship, Maverick released Dahlia, letting her run for a while.
"Ok Dahlia, enjoyed the freedom while the ship is still. Just don't go to that island. Who knows what's out there." Maverick warned, though Dahlia didn't need to be told twice. The other island looked pleasant and it had monsters, so she didn't want to imagine what this creepy looking one hold. Despite listening to Maverick and running around the main deck, she would ocasionally come to his side for comfort. The island looked creepy, but the water wasn't any better. The beast that attacked them earlier was still out there, even if she couldn't sense it's presence anymore.

While Maverick patted the nervous dirt buffalo, he wondered where Ilasi had run off to. She was there on the side just a minute ago, and had disappeared all of the sudden. Did she go to the island? Or was she just avoiding him? It made Maverick so miserable to think she hated him for loving Angora.

Back in her room, Ilasi struggled with how exactly she was going to go about her plan - in the end, she was somewhat nervous about starting the conversation, unsure of how exactly Maverick would respond. While he had generally been nice, he didn't really take kindly to their earlier conversation.
In the end, she decided that she would leave a note - which would give Maverick the option of choosing to follow through, or pretending not to see the note if he really wanted to. Looking through some drawers, she found some writing materials, which she used to construct her note.

"Dear Maverick,
I would like to speak to you. Please meet me in my room when you can.

Sincerely,
Ilasi"

It was simple and to the point - Ilasi deliberately left the subject matter vague in order to elicit some curiosity. Satisfied with her note, she roamed around the deck before finding the room Maverick shared, sliding the note under his door.
Ilasi then thought of the possibility of Angor intercepting and destroying the note; there was little that could be done about that, however. She left to relax in her room, there being nothing for her to do at the moment.

At the moment, Maverick was busy comforting and playing with Dahlia, looking from his spot the giant Shade at the distance. He had stopped, and he looked like he was speaking to someone. Someone was indeed there in front of him, or maybe more than one, but they were too far away to make up a shape. Someone he recognized though, was Latnok. He was hard to miss with his height and shiny armor. He didn't know what was going on, but doubted it was a big deal. Probably someone looking to sell them something, which he was unable to do due to the crew's cold shoulders towards him and his friends. As he watched Shade, he remembered that he and Dahlia hadn't been properly introduced. He knew it would be hard considering animals like Dahlia were dragon's usual prey, but perhaps Shade would be able to charm her with time.

As Dahlia tackled him playfully, her demeanor suddenly changed. She wanted to go back downstairs.
"What is it girl? Want to return to your enclosure? Well, alright, but you won't have much space to run." Maverick said, thinking she had enough of the main deck, or was simply too afraid of everyone to continue playing. But as they headed below, the buffalo took a detour... right to Maverick's cabin, which was surprising since he never brought her there.
"Woah girl, where are you going? There isn't room for you in that tiny cabin... oh I get it. You want oats. That's a very strong sense of smell you got there." Maverick commented, thinking she was after the food. Maverick once kept oats inside the hyperspace bag, but it would always fall inside and cover his items, so he kept them in an ordinary bag inside one of the room's drawers.

When he stepped inside, the wrinkly sound of the letter is what alerted him to it.
"A paper... oh wai, a letter. Probably Angora to meet her on the island." he said as he opened it... losing color to his skin when he saw who the sender was. Ilasi? What did she want? Why did she want to meet with him? At first, Maverick didn't want to go after the bad experience he had in the last conversation, but he knew that if he didn't try it, the curiosity was simply going to linger. So making up his mind, he went to Ilasi's room, with Dahlia accompanying him for moral support. He knocked on the door, unaware on what to expect...

The sudden knock on the door startled Ilasi, causing her to immediately sit up. Though she was expecting Maverick, she wasn't counting on him coming this soon. And there wasn't anyone else who would be visiting her - just him.
Taking a deep breath, she headed to the door, opening it gently. It was, indeed, Maverick - and his mount was with him. "Oh, uh, hello Maverick..." Ilasi greeted sheepishly, not quite feeling comfortable enough to look Maverick in the eye. "I take it you saw my note, then?" It was a given, but Ilasi was still a bit too nervous to immediately jump to the heart of the matter. "Oh, hello, Dahlia..." she said, trying to distract herself.

"Well, more like Dahlia herself. She practically took me to my room when I saw the note." Maverick replied, looking like a sad puppy. He still felt lousy about the last conversation, and was afraid Ilasi would somewhat hurt his feelings again. Still, he remained polite and courteous, not letting a past experience get in the way of his gentle nature, even if it still hurted him.

Dahlia looked at Ilasi and greeted her with a snort, feeling comfortable around her. Ilasi didn't look threatening at all, so she had no reason to be wary or afraid of her. She did feel a little uneasy about the atmosphere though, letting the animal wonder just what the heck was going on. Despite the tension, it didn't looked dangerous, so she remained tame around the two individuals.

Ilasi gave a small wave and a smile at Dahlia before returning her attention to Maverick. "Well, about that..." Ilasi hesitated for a few moments as she tried to figure out how to word her thoughts.
"I think I may have misspoken. I... I can't dislike you just for choosing to support someone else. But when that person hates me, and... she's your number one priority... I'm just not sure how things would turn out. That's just it - I'm not sure. I've always been in the shadow of others - I don't want to keep living like that... the whole situation just..." Ilasi trailed off. What she couldn't say is that she didn't want to make herself vulnerable, only to be tossed aside again on the whim of an emotionally volatile troll. Whether it be at home, or in various tasks by Lydia, or on the job, she wanted a chance to distinguish herself - to make something of herself.

Angora shook her head at the man's constant antagonism. She looked at Latnok and grinned.
"See? I'm not the only one." she said to him in regards of the man's attitude, pointing out how Latnok constantly scolded and belittle her for supposedly being rude all the time, when others, this one a human no less, was the same or much worse than her.

Quote: A Guy

Ilasi gave a small wave and a smile at Dahlia before returning her attention to Maverick. "Well, about that..." Ilasi hesitated for a few moments as she tried to figure out how to word her thoughts.
"I think I may have misspoken. I... I can't dislike you just for choosing to support someone else. But when that person hates me, and... she's your number one priority... I'm just not sure how things would turn out. That's just it - I'm not sure. I've always been in the shadow of others - I don't want to keep living like that... the whole situation just..." Ilasi trailed off. What she couldn't say is that she didn't want to make herself vulnerable, only to be tossed aside again on the whim of an emotionally volatile troll. Whether it be at home, or in various tasks by Lydia, or on the job, she wanted a chance to distinguish herself - to make something of herself.

Maverick let out a smile and a short chuckle before apologizing.
"Perdóname. Sorry for laughing like that, but it's just that you're so far off Ilasi. Angorita doesn't hate you. No way! She's... mad at you I'll admit it, but that doesn't mean she hates you. She even told me once you gave her an apple in the Redwater prison when the guards wanted to starve her. She doesn't forget kind actions like that easily you know." Maverick assured, wanting Ilasi to know just how much she was misjudging Angora. But before she could say something about it, Maverick wanted to let another thing clear.

"I get it sweetie. I get why you don't want to live in anyone's shadow. I really do. I lived under my father's shadow for far too long, and I probably still would be if it wasn't for Lydia and that storm. She, one of your people, gave me a second chance in life. That's something I will never forget. And what's better, life was kind enough to let me find Angorita again. I know you think I can only care about her and nobody else, but that's just not true Ilasi. I can be there for others as well, not just her. Look, you don't see me with Angora right now, do you? Even if she has the hexphage, I could still hang out with her, but as you can see, that's not the case. I chose to spend this time with Dahlia alone." Maverick specified, believing now Ilasi wasn't only misjudging Angora, she was doing the same to him as well.

Raclaw watched from the deck-- having been somewhat concerned that the man had been giving Angora trouble, but also hoping that his beloved Guardian wouldn't cause trouble ether. Nearby, Risar stood by keeping an eye on both the sailors on deck and the ship's surroundings. "Risar curious...," the large minotaur said approaching the fur dragon the little Chester aside him. "You and the Guardian-- you two have formed a very powerful bond, a friendship. Risar has watched, listened... heard of your tale. It is obvious that you have been together for some time, but Risar curious-- has just one question. Just how long have you two been together?," he then asked getting to what he wanted to know. "You know--," Raclaw can thinking about the question and calculating the many months that had passed. "Believe it or not-- we've been traveling together for almost a year now, between the initial journey to save the world and now..," Raclaw replied barely realizing that so much time had passed since he had first met Latnok. He would be almost 19 now with his observed birthday not that far away. 'August 31st-- the day my guardians found me.,' he thought to himself referring to his caretakers/adoptive parents.

Latnok stuck a hand out, indicating to the old man that he shouldn't push them any further. "Okay, old man - I'm making this my business. From what I've seen, you approached us. Now, what exactly are we in the way of? If you want, maybe I can help you out - but we're not going anywhere. Not until we've done what we need to do. I have the dragon under control - you don't need to worry about him." Latnok would try a non-aggressive - or, at least, a less aggressive - initial approach, but he wasn't going to let this man order them around.

Ilasi gave a slight smile - she still had doubts, however, especially about Angora supposedly not hating her. "I just don't want there to be any conflict, you know?" she said. "For now, I'm a bit concerned... it's just that until I can see things being better between us, anything that puts me between you and her, that drives tension... that would make me really uncomfortable. I guess what I'm saying is that I just need some assurance that I won't be a problem."

Angora stayed out of this one and decided to let Latnok do all the talking. Even if she didn't agree with his methods, in this case he was right. The man was the one who approached them, and even if his daughter was right and he had a bad experience with dragons, it had certainly be foolish of his part to approach one, and even extend his hostility to Latnok himself.

Elsewhere on the island, Sere and Veris continued exploring. Despite the island looking smaller from the ship, it was actually much bigger than the last one they were in. Most of it were swamp and marshes, but there were towns and villages in such a gloomy state, that if it wasn't for the activity below, one could've sworn they were ghost towns. The mist was dense almost everywhere they look, and no sign of some major fauna below except for a herd of small, caribou like creatures that were in the thousands, possibly a million. The island had more bats than birds, that even during the daytime, they were active. They avoided Veris when they could, but a few did crashed into him when they were flying too fast. Asides from the rather unique flora and fauna and gloomy towns, nothing looked particularly interesting about this island, or at least nothing out of the ordinary.

Quote: A Guy

Ilasi gave a slight smile - she still had doubts, however, especially about Angora supposedly not hating her. "I just don't want there to be any conflict, you know?" she said. "For now, I'm a bit concerned... it's just that until I can see things being better between us, anything that puts me between you and her, that drives tension... that would make me really uncomfortable. I guess what I'm saying is that I just need some assurance that I won't be a problem."

Maverick shook his head, understanding Ilasi's concern and even finding it cute.
"I can talk to her if you like. You're no problem Ilasi. I won't deny Angorita is angry at you, but it'll pass. She was angry at me too at some point and look how we are now. She just needed time to cool off. Or..." Maverick then said, finding a better solution.
"... you can talk to her yourself. You can only resolve all this tension if you just talk to her. All I'm asking is for you to be patient with her, like I had. I know it's hard, but Angorita... she's had such a miserable life. She wants to be better, but it hasn't been easy for her, especially if people won't give her a chance. But if you just talk to her, understand her, know why she's so angry, and realize that she doesn't hate you and how much she has suffered, perhaps finally, you can both have some peace of mind." Maverick suggested, knowing Ilasi wouldn't like the idea, but even he was getting tired of the insane amount of tension and misunderstanding that always happened between the two girls. Angora was still upset with Ilasi, but Maverick had hoped that at least some of it had passed by now.

Angora believed the young girl. As much as she despised how this old man received them, he did looked like the kind that was all bark and no bite.
"Well still, he can't just go around insulting everyone he meets like that. He's lucky that my friend here is a kind and polite dragon, but if it had been another one and he would be a pile of ashes right now. Or a consumed piece of meat." Angora said with some of her sarcastic dark humor, which she usually didn't use when Maverick was around. If Shade had been a wild dragon, or else a creature trained to attack intruders, he would be dead right now, so it really wasn't a smart move of his part to approach with such hostility.

As the old man shoved Latnok's hand out of the way, Latnok - as gently as he could - pushed him back into position. "Okay, listen here," he said sternly. "I don't think you understand. You're in no position to be telling us where we go. We have business here, and I don't care what petty grudge you have. Now, just leave. We have no quarrel with you unless you make one." Latnok, while making his limited tolerance of the old man's hostility more apparent, still wanted to keep things on peaceful terms - but wouldn't just have Shade barred from the island for no reason other than one man's opinion.

"Oh, I would rather not speak to her," Ilasi said - she absolutely abhorred the idea, though she tried to hide it in her voice. "I don't think she'd want that. You would probably have a better job with it than I would. Besides, if she doesn't react too pleasantly to me, and the two Guardians are around..." The experience she had with Angora - including the apparent sudden shift in her mood, - still weighed on Ilasi's thoughts, and the ordeal wasn't something she waned to repeat. Maverick understood her better - that'd be a job for him, and the Guardians would probably care less about Angora's negativity towards him than they would about it being directed at anyone else.

Angora stayed out of the conversation, but at the ship, Maverick was struggling to solve the tension between Ilasi and Angora.
"Angorita does offend somethings, but she never truly means it unless someone genuinely tries to hurt her. She never intends to hurt anybody Ilasi. She just... doesn't have the best of ways when it comes to words." Maverick expressed before continuing. He was fully aware that Angora was quite volatile when expressing herself, which is why her words were taken in a much more offensive matter than originally intended.
"I will talk to her if you want. I can be present if you decide to talk to her. But if not... then don't worry, I understand. I guess you're right though. If the Guardians catch her being a little bit rude to you, or at least looking like it, it could mean trouble. At least you care enough not to lead her in that situation. One thing I can tell you Ilasi, she has more heart than she lets out." Maverick concluded, as kind as ever to the mermaid and respecting her decision of not talking to the troll, even if deep inside, he would've wanted it that way so she could see how wrong she was about Angora.

Dahlia remained quiet and serene through the whole conversation, to the point it was easy to forget she was still there. Sensing her bipedal friend's sadness, she went to him silently for comfort. She still had no idea what was going on, but wanted to be there to support him. As helpless and dumb she thinks Maverick is, she still cared about him.

OOC: But they're still an interesting duo.

"White Shadow?" Angora repeated, now wondering if the thing that attacked their ship earlier could be related. She was about to answer the woman about the beast that had attacked them, but figured Latnok would want to take that question instead. She had been wondering for a while what could move a ship that size, and it looked they could probably get their answer...

"I don't care who you are," Latnok asserted. "We have a job to do that's more important than whatever your problem is. For starters, we're going to be here until we have our ship repaired, at a minimum - we're not going anywhere before that happens. I just want an easy time - as do the rest of us. And you don't have to worry about the dragon - the collar around his neck allows me to paralyze him if need be. Now, why don't you start by telling us about this White Shadow? Sounds like a good bit of hunting." Latnok wondered if that was the creature that had attacked them - given the girl's claim of difficulty getting supplies, it would be possible that something was holding up the supply line.

Sere was on the return flight, having seen nothing but a sparsely populated island. Veris began to lower his altitude as he got closer to the ship - seeing Latnok in discussion with some of the inhabitants, however, Sere decided to land there to see what the deal was about. Giving Veris a command to land, the wyvern circled around a bit before using his wings to slow his descent, landing a few meters away from Latnok. Veris lowered himself, allowing Sere to dismount.
"Hello. My name is Sere. I am the captain of this ship. What seems to be the issue?" he asked politely.

Ilasi lowered her head. "Thank you," she said. "Please, tell me how it goes when you have a chance. I really do hope for the best." Ilasi doubted Angora would be much pleased with the idea of reconciliation, seeing as how the troll still seemed to bear a grudge against her - however, she would trust Maverick to work some magic with his friend.

OOC: Interesting characters indeed.

Meanwhile-- Raclaw and Risar briefly continued their discussion; the former also looking at what initially appeared to be some kind of argument. As Sere and Veris soon made an appearance, he scanned the surface thoughts of the group to get some idea of what was going on. From what he could tell-- the strange old man clearly wasn't happy about the phosphet of having dragons on 'his' island, Angora was quite upset at the interruptions (understandable), and the now two Guardians mostly just wanted to get to business. Using Chester as an excuse, he decided to see what was going on and get closer to the action. "They appear to be arguing about something, not about us I hope.," the little Beagle barked looking up at him. "Come on Chester-- let's get some fresh air and you can get a better view up top.," he responded in kind motioning for the little Beagle to get on. "We're going to get some fresh air. You're welcome to join us if you wish.," he then said in common to Risar. "Risar will stay here-- make sure no-one uninvited gets on.," the large minotaur said with a huff and putting himself in a position to guard the boarding plank.

Waiting for Chester to get comfortable on top of his head, Raclaw gave a nod before taking off into the air and landing on the island-- a move that was technically unnecessary, but more natural for a dragon such as himself. He proceeded to land near to, but not in the immediate area of the now growing group-- placing himself and Chester just within listening range. He would only directly involve himself if he felt it was appropriate, depending on the group's words and actions. He had a decent idea of what had been said, but didn't want to immediately make things worse.

"I will. Don't worry..." Maverick said, not knowing what else he could he say to assure Ilasi and make her see how much she misjudged them.
"I will talk to her. Since señor Latnok and the capitán will be busy, maybe you two can talk then. Come on Dahlia. Say goodbye to Ilasi." Maverick said after believing that was all, with the dirt buffalo glomping her. Regardless of her rider's lingering and confusing feelings, she did find the mermaid very likable. Maverick was quite surprised at Dahlia's intelligence, acting out always as if she understood words perfectly.

Quote: A Guy

Sere was on the return flight, having seen nothing but a sparsely populated island. Veris began to lower his altitude as he got closer to the ship - seeing Latnok in discussion with some of the inhabitants, however, Sere decided to land there to see what the deal was about. Giving Veris a command to land, the wyvern circled around a bit before using his wings to slow his descent, landing a few meters away from Latnok. Veris lowered himself, allowing Sere to dismount.
"Hello. My name is Sere. I am the captain of this ship. What seems to be the issue?" he asked politely.

Angora was about to reply to Sere, but fearing a backlash like last time, she decided to leave all the talking to Latnok.

Latnok and Sere didn't concern themselves with the old man any longer - he very clearly had no intent to cooperate. At least his daughter was somewhat helpful.
"Well, that would explain what attacked us," Sere said. "We've already come up with some ideas on how to engage it. One is a giant bolt of lightning - the water being briny, it would conduct very well. There is risk of collateral damage to the ship, however."
"The creature's obviously magical," Latnok added. "Some anti-magic bolts would certainly give us something of an edge - though it wouldn't stop the creature from just throwing its weight around. Unless... maybe we could somehow slow it down with the water..."
"Force magic?" Sere caught on to what Latnok was thinking of - something similar to the spell he practiced in the morning, except on a much larger scale. "It could work to a degree - but we would need a lot of magical power, most likely. Maybe just enough to keep it in place until the orb can 'research' it." Sere pulled the glowing life orb out of his pocket as he said this. "We don't know just how much this can do - but it wouldn't hurt to try. At the very worst, it doesn't work and we do something else."

Angora was also grateful that at least the woman was kind enough to them, especially her who was this little, ugly thing. She wasn't surprised at Sere and Latnok's recklessness in wanting to pursue the monster, but was still worried nonetheless. The beast did attacked them, but released them soon after, so she didn't find it necessary to hunt it down. This wasn't mere research anymore. It was pure pleasure, and these hypocrites were willing to endanger the whole island by going after it. They mistreated Shade for causing destruction in Redwater, when they were about to head for the same road. Why go after something humongous that you don't even know what it is and risk the beast's retialation?

Angora opened her mouth to say something to them, but after the sour experience with Sere earlier, she decided not to talk to any of them. Instead, she focused on the young woman who had been nothing but kind to them.
"Is the beast the reason why you aren't leaving the island? Or are you here by choice? I mean... the beast did attacked the ship, but it let us go afterwards." Angora pointed out, also to make Latnok and Sere listen to her as well. Since she wasn't addressing or questioning them as Sere would claim, they had no reason to rebuff her words. Who knows how big this monster was, probably behemoth size or more. There was no way Angora wanted to encounter something like that and needlessly provoke it.

Angora nodded, engaging into the conversation. She was certain Sere and Latnok would be interested in what the woman would have to say, so she continued asking questions. She almost asked if she had any idea how big it was, but then remembered what she mentioned about the fog.
"Do you at least know if it wants something? What's it doing here in the first place? That thing rocked that big ship as if it was a paper boat, and it could've easily sunk us, yet it didn't." Angora asked, once again, wanting the Guardian duo to be attentive to her reasoning. It was true that it did damage to the ship, but the attack from earlier was clearly to intimidate. She doubted the creature wouldn've released them if it had been hungry or genuinely malicious.

Angora wasn't pleased with the woman's brief response. A theory, a hypothesis, anything would've been good enough. Despite having avoided the next question, Angora still wanted to know, or at least have an idea what they were dealing with.
"Well, do you at least know how big it isn't? An approximate or something?" she asked, although not really wanting to hear the answer. She had enough of giant creatures when she faced a behemoth. It made her cringe to think they had to return to those waters eventually.

"If we don't kill that thing, there's no telling how many others it will kill," Sere said. "How many people has it killed already? We cannot let such a thing continue to exist. We will find the creature, and we will exterminate it, for the good of the many." Sere was completely unmoved by Angora's attempts to reason with him, expecting such a thing. "Do you think it is wise to continue to allow this thing to kills gods know how many people for decades to come? We cannot allow such a thing to happen."

Angora found it so typical and predictable that Sere's solution to everything was to kill those deemed too dangerous, just like he was considering with Shade. She thought he was only an exception cause he was sapient enough to talk, and due to the Guardian's supposed respect for dragons. Angora knew she should've known better than to try to reason with him, given he was Latnok's mentor, another unreasonable human, so she tried to tackle his reasoning with another question.
"Well, why didn't it kill us?" she asked, knowing that if she tried to explain her own reasoning or say how outrageous it was to provoke such a creature, she would only receive backlash and belittling from him, just like a few hours ago. Perhaps with the question, it would make him think for once. She saw the other ships at the distance, and even though many of them were damaged, they had at least managed to come home. If the beast really had been malicious, it would've sunk them all.

"That, I do not know," Sere answered. "Regardless, it poses a threat to the many, and we would be remiss in our duties if we were to allow such a thing to go unaddressed. Whatever it is, it has already killed many, and we cannot allow such a thing to keep happening just because it decided not to do so to us." Sere would not - could not - stand for letting a threat like the creature go unanswered, regardless of what the islanders felt. Their lives at risk, versus the lives of many, many more - that was what was at stake.

Angora thought very hard about how to address her next question. She was convinced by this point that Sere was insistent in finding supposed flaws in her speeches in order to have an excuse for to insult her. That's just the image she had of him already.
"What if... this creature had killed people that had provoked it in the first place? We didn't provoke it earlier... and that's... probably why it didn't kill us?" Angora commented in a rather meek tone, trying very hard not to sound challenging. Despite the damages to the ship, the beast let them go, and if Sere and Latnok went after it, it would just give the red eyed monster an excuse to hunt them down. The young woman already warned them herself. This wasn't a creature to be trifled with, yet there Sere was, once again killing being his only solution, willing to put himself and his own crew at mortal risk. It eluded Angora how in the world a man with such mentality had managed to live so many years...

"Pray tell, how exactly would a ship and its crew knowingly provoke a creature that hides itself in fog as it approaches?" Sere asked. "Even then, it still did significant damage to our ship - lighter vessels may not survive, and our ship easily could have fallen apart on the way here. No - the risks are too great. Too many people have died. The creature made no attempt to warn us before ambushing us. We will find it, and we will destroy it - the cost of not doing so will be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lives over the course of years, and the islands here will continue to suffer without trade with the outside world."

As predictable as ever. Angora knew Sere would stick to his own reasoning. In the past, she wouldn't have cared if any beast was slayed, as long as she stayed out of it. But spending time with Shade and Maverick, not to mention facing a behemoth, made her feel both more sympathy and fear for such creatures. Since her own reasoning wasn!t enough, Angora believed that maybe someone else's would help.
"Maybe it was cranky? I don't know either, but Latnok told me when we were talking about behemoths that it was better to avoid them if possible. Shouldn't it be the same case here? Behemoths have killed people also. And if that creature appeared just a few months ago, it's clearly looking for something." Angora theorized, finding it too unecessary to risk their lives to find a beast that could block telepathy and hide in fogs. What would be the chances of survival? The beast did enough damage without provocation. She dreaded to wonder just how much it could do if it knew it was being persecuted.

By this point, Sere had no doubts about Angora's intentions. "Very well. You will be staying here - along with Maverick, if you wish. The rest of us will be making preparations. I do not care what this creature does, or why - but it is a clear danger, and we will deal with it, like we do with a behemoth that encroaches on the territory of innocent people." Sere's mind had been made a while ago - and he knew that Angora was trying to change him, doubting his decision.

Angora didn't want to be seen like a coward, but she also didn't want to be seen as someone who recklessly approaches danger without a plan or a reason. She was considering staying on the island, but then recalled Sere left somebody out.
"Wait, what about Shady? You can leave Latnok or Raclaw to stay with us." Angora suggested, knowing Sere didn't trust her or Maverick to be alone with him, and that only his subordinate and the fur dragon could control him if things got too out of hand even for her.

"Shade will be coming with us, naturally," Sere asserted. "You, however, are nothing but a liability at this point. Now - I'll tell Maverick about my decision. He will almost certainly choose to stay with you. Once we have this beast taken care of, I'll think long and hard about whether you are worth bringing along any longer." Resolved on the matter, Sere began mounting Veris.

Even though Angora wanted to cry again about Sere's heartless abuse of power towards her once more, she resisted, not wanting to create a lousy impression on the woman, who had been nothing but kind to them. How could Sere say something so cruel after she destroyed Darkmatter? Has she become nothing but a useless piece of trash after that one objective was fulfilled? Was she nothing but a load to him now? How heartless can a person be? Was he really such an ungrateful bully?
Despite the depressing thoughts, she resisted the tears, but with a dry throat, she comforted Shade.

"Don't worry Shady. If we must, we will come with you. We have gone through worse than this. Somehow, we will get over this, as we always have." Angora said, trying to assure herself more though. She didn't like the idea of facing a creature that spared them and they knew nothing about, but even if there was a slight chance of slaying it, she preferred that over being selarated from both Shade or Maverick.

Sometime had passed and things where looking Okey for the guild. Dex and Sapphire had left the town of Cross North with few other guild members. Their plan was to find more about Blue whereabouts and to make sure most of the towns knew him and the brotherhood, and knew that he should be captured or killed if seen.

Dex also wanted to make sure that the guardians knew what has happend and they where on their way to the base Dex had lived in with them.

Veris took off, flying a short distance onto the deck, where he then allowed Sere to dismount. Sere had nothing but disappointment for Angora at this point; she really did intend to oppose him as much as she could get away with, or as much as she thought she could get away with, and he had no trust in her anymore. She had said nothing when the group was killing humans; it was only problem when they were after something else. Sere debated sending Veris off to his enclosure - he decided to leave him out, though, lest the old man get any idea with forcing the group away.
Latnok looked at Angora and shook his head condescendingly. "Noe why'd you have to do that?" he asked, only half rhetorically. "You really do intend to do as much to interfere and be rude as you can get away with, don't you? And here I was hoping the past few days had been a legitimate improvement."

By this point, Angora couldn't take it anymore. It made her sick the idea of venting with Latnok, but her emotion were too overwhelming. She didn't even cared anymore if she gave a ridiculous impression of herself to the woman. She just couldn't handle her emotions anymore.
"I never said we shouldn't kill it! I only said we should avoid it! He wants to face that thing without even knowing what it is, what it's weaknesses are first! I was only trying to help! But no, everything is rude to him! Everything that comes from my mouth is nothing but a rude challenge to his authority and reasoning! Why does he... and you too think everything that comes from me it's bad?" Angora asked, sliding off Shade's neck to face Latnok... or at least "face" him as best as she could.

It was at this very moment that Angora reached a critical breaking point.
"Why? WHY? Why do you guys HATE me so much? Why do you think I'm so bad? What's worse, you made everyone else on the ship see me as this horrible little creature! Why do you always dwell on the negative? What about what I did to Darkmatter? Did I become a useless piece of trash as soon as that objective was fulfilled? Did you ever told anyone else what I did? I have been trying to control my temper, be a better creature, and you won't let me! What's worse, you even gave a bad image to Maverick! MAVERICK! There is most likely not a gentler soul in creation! You talked bad about him too, didn't you? You shattered his chances to befriend the sailors! And you shattered mine too! That's why everyone is giving us such a cold shoulders and giving us insulting nicknames like that Leoquin mermen! When will be the day you and Sere will finally stop? When will it be the day where you're finally pleased? WHEN WILL YOU FINALLY BE HAPPY AND REALIZE THAT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?" Angora yelled, falling to her knees in complete and absolute despair. If the Guardians had been looking to break her, they had finally succeeded.

Latnok was rather surprised by Angora's rather sudden display of frustration, expecting her to not bother to give him any sort of answer. He listened intently, then stopped for a few moments as he composed his answer.
"Here," he said, "I think part of the problem is that you do not understand our perspective. So I'll explain it to you. So you have a troll, who you know is moody, hostile, and opposes everything you stand for. You are forced to work with said troll due to the circumstances, becoming victorious despite her generally uncooperative nature. Now this troll, the first time she meets members of our crew, tells then about her plans to interfere with our mission, then shows extremely hostile behavior towards two mermen she barely knew - or in Leoquin's case, didn't know at all. Then this troll wants to come with us. And now, this troll, who has been uncooperative and hostile, has shown disdain for humans, has openly stood against what we stand for, has called us murderers, has verbalized her intent to sabotage the mission, has been hostile to our crew, and now - not once, but twice today - verbally challenges the captain's intent.
"What are we supposed to think? That somehow, despite showing the same sort of behavior, albeit subdued, that you're somehow on our side? Despite being against what we stand for? Despite intending to oppose us? Why would we, in our right mind, continue to keep someone like that, despite no one else in the crew having that issue?
"As for Maverick - he called Godfather Sere a traitor to his face becausw he wouldn't completely ruin the Guardians' reputation - and thus, our ability to operate, and our ability to save lives - to save you. Are we supposed to believe that he won't follow you through whatever mutinous actions you intend?
"What do you think we're trying to do, anyway? Do you think we recruit and train others to kill just because we like having an organization full of senseless murder? What if I told you that killing is nothing but a means to an end for us? Just a way to accomplish a goal?
"Sere has no doubt considered the situation. He knows he's putting us in danger - he's not stupid. He also knows, however, that letting such a creature continue to exist will mean many, many more lives are at risk. Letting people be endangered like that, when he's in a position to stop it - do you think that's something that he should be fine doing?
"You know, I'm pretty sure I've explained this to you before - so I doubt I'll give you some sort of epiphany. We just want to protect people. You can choose to accept that - or you can continue to believe that we just want to kill things for no reason at all, like you hqve claimed before.
"We have made no direct effort to 'sabotage' your potential friendships. The crew does not treat you that way on our orders. We only told them of our past experience - or, in Ilasi and Leoquin's case, a more recent experience. What the crew does with that information is their decision - we have told the truth. And I'll be frank - we really don't care that you happened to be wielding the weapon to kill Darkmatter. Anyone could have done it - but Neo chose you for some reason that was never substantiated. You acted only out of the desire to preserve yourself. You get no free pass from us because of a course of action you didn't choose, tried to get away from, and tried to abandon, knowing the potential consequences."

Angora listened carefully, realizing right now why the Guardians only believed their views were the only correct ones, even if it was outrageous and cruel. She looked at Shade to make him quiet as she thought long and hard about her reply.

"So... that's all you think of me? I'm just a rude, hostile, angry sabotager who only wants to make other's lives miserable? I was sincere when I said I don't approve much of your methods, but if I said I wanted to sabotage you, I only said it cause I wanted you to feel angry and paranoid, cause that's how you made me feel. I wanted you to feel the same pain I was feeling. I said I was going to sabotage you. But I didn't, did I? And do you honestly think I destroyed Darkmatter to save myself? I was at risk of dying facing that thing, yet I still faced it. How is that me trying to preserve only myself? How wrong you are about me! Once again, I had that horrible thought cause YOU made me angry with so much abuse. I needed time to clear my head, but of course, you have to come after me and don't even let me have a moment of peace. I decided to face that thing because in that quiet little place, I was reminded of the few beautiful things that still existed in the world. And when Maverick came along and reminded me they're equally good people out there, it just reinforced my decision. But of course, why would you ever think I had a good intention? I'm only a troll, aren't I? That's all I'll ever be to you, isn't it?" Angora lectured, wanting Latnok to understand her, know her real self and learn how miserable he and Sere made her feel for far too long.

Latnok once again shook his head - he wasn't at all surprised by Angora's reply. "Oh, this again. It's never your fault, is it? You're never wrong, are you? You cannot see your own flaws, instead blaming others for them. You make excuses - bad ones, at that - then blame others for using logic and reasoning instead of playing whatever idiotic game you want them to play to see the 'real' you. That's rather manipulative. That's a game we do not care to play." This was a conversation the two had had multiple times already - Latnok began walking away, not wishing to waste any more time on a hopeless cause.

This time, Angora didn't take long to reply. This was a discussion they have done before, and even after all these months, Latnok still viewed her the same way.

"See? See what I mean? You ALWAYS see me as someone so horrible! Here I am trying to change, control my temper, be kinder and polite and leave the past behind us, and yet all you see is this horrible little monster trying to be manipulative! Why do you think of me like that? Why do you insist on seeing me as this lousy being who thinks is playing some sort of twisted game? WHY? What does it takes for you and Sere to stop mistreating me and belittling me at every turn? What does it takes to stop threatening me to separate me and Maverick from Shade and stop seeing me in such a nasty way? You have bullied me so many times, yet I haven't lifted a finger in revenge. Other trolls would've killed for far less than this. Just tell me what? What do I need to do to stop all this mistreatment? Grovel and beg like a street dog? Please! Just tell me! I can't take this anymore!" Angora said, still shattered, unable to take the abuse anymore. She didn't even cared that Shade and the woman were witnessing this. She left pride and dignity behind. She had reached the limit any troll or human could take. She wanted the abuse, the insults, the belittlement to stop. Why were this way? Was it because they were unable to accept that Neo had chosen her back then? What it because they couldn't stand her being a troll? What was it? Angora was still technically a child, so she really couldn't understand the reason why Sere and Latnok keep treating her this way even with her attempts to be good and helpful.

Raclaw listened as the 'conversation' once again went to whole new low-- with Angora and the Guardians seemingly unable to coaside without eventually falling back to the same repetitive arguments. One couldn't comprehend why their words were being treated as such, while the other couldn't let go of the past. "Latnok--," Raclaw started to say stepping forward despite his own past making him somewhat reluctant to do so. "Can't you see that she really is trying? Perhaps.. perhaps we should give her a chance.," he then said having hoped that the conversation would've remained a civil one.

Angora glanced at Raclaw, shocked that he finally grew a spine and decided to confront his best friend. Did the abuse has gone so far that he finally decided to interfere? He only once stood up for her in the past, only to Latnok coldly rebuff him and even threatening his very freedom for supposedly taking sides. Things were different between them now, and Latnok's behavior was apparently due to the corruption, but he wa still the same, monstrous jerk he has always been, so she believed that had been a lame excuse. Although she was still a little upset with Raclaw for letting the abuse go on before, this time, she really appreciated him trying. But his attempts weren't enough to make her smile. The Guardians had a lousy image of her, as did she now. Since when venting and expressing feelings an attempt at manipulation? Since when suggestions have been a challenge of authority? What was she doing so wrong to make them treat her this way? She genuinely didn't know...

Latnok gave Raclaw a glance of incredulity, before looking back at Angora. "Me? Give her another chance? That would defy all logic at this point, after everything we've seen, heard, and dealt with involving her. You may be moved by her excuses, her crocodile tears, but I'm not. We've been in almost this exact situation too many times for me to expect anything else. After her trying to convince you that I was out to murder her... do you think I ever wanted her back? It's not my decision, though.Besides, the man you have to convince - you would need to speak to Godfather Sere, and you would have to convince him to disregard my thoughts - as well as his own thoughts - on the matter." Deep down, Latnok felt that same sense of betrayal as before - he wouldn't act on it, though. At least not now.