darkSpyro

"You hypocrite. As if we all haven't gone through a lot... Don't have the courage to watch one man die because of your decisions, yet willing to kill everyone by inaction." Gathering what energy he could, Latnok focused power into his off-hand and punched himself in the chest, racking his body. "This... is what you will do to every. Single. Person." In a last act of spite, he launched a force bolt towards the dragon tooth, shattering it. "If this is what it takes... if you insist on her... she won't do the mission while I still exist. Me for everyone... easy trade. Dying to appease your 'chosen one', who takes glee in watching my futile efforts... I hope you realize how cruel you are. Don't worry, I will prepare a room in hell for you... we'll be next-door neighbors..." With that, Latnok force punched himself again, completely collapsing to the ground. "What a joke... Godfather Sere's first experiment at human cooperation with trolls, and she has shown how much good that will do anyone... He will not forget this... We won't..." Latnok said, wheezing.
"My wounds are fatal. Now... what will she do? Will she finish me? Will she watch me die? Or will she leave me to my fate, like you will the rest of the world? Witness your 'compassion.' I hope you choke on it." Latnok barely managed these last words as his consciousness began to fade.

Angora didn't know whether to feel pity or amusement. Now who was being childish?
"You're more crazy that I expect you would. Neo is right. No matter what I say, or what I'll do, you'll never change. Even if the world starts anew, there will always be people like you." Angora said calmly, never imagining Latnok could be this pathetic.
"You think this was about murdering you? All I wanted from you was to leave me alone, but noooo, you always had to target me and treat me like garbage. You wanted to make my life miserable, as if being this size and being rejected by my own kind wasn't enough." Angora commented sourly, felling more disgust for Latnok than hatred. Before he could recover his strength to speak or do something, Angora took a vital decision.

"One thing I agree on though, the whole world doesn't have to pay for the horrible mistakes of a few. No need to cut down the whole tree because it has a few rotten fruits now, is there?" Angora said, giving Latnok an accusing glare and using the same philosophy she came up with earlier.
"Oh Neo, I finally accept my mission. With your power and guidance, I shall do my best to save the world from it's current threat." Angora said serenely, finally showing the noblest part of herself.

Latnok was already unconscious by the time Angora had begun speaking to him, his vital signs dissipating, slowly bleeding out. Through his unconscious mind raced visions of battle, of his own disappointments. As he did, the collar previously attached to Shade glowed brightly, vibrating with growing intensity, then exploded violently.

Angora shook his head, believing he was faking. He was injured for sure, but she doubted it would last for long.
"Oh stop whining. You'll probably use some that disgusting magic to heal yourself. Honestly, what can you accomplish with this little charade? You don't even deserve pity." Angora said coldly, passing by Latnok to join the group, to leave him alone so he could continue his pity party theater all by himself. Just what happened to this dastard human to make him so mad? Angora had no doubt there must be something wrong with his brain. There was no sanity, no reasoning there. How the tables had turned. It was now him the immature one throwing the temper tantrums. How pathetic it was for somebody to hurt themselves just because they didn't get their way? If he was trying to gain pity, he failed miserably. Angora wasn't going to waste any time or tears on him, not now, not ever. She'll just go along with her mission, and hopefully, never see him again afterwards.

Over Latnok, an image of Sere, in his full armor, appeared. Kneeling down, as if he were in person, his helmet hid his panic. "Latnok... No... was I wrong to trust Orion?"

As Angora walked, she was glad to see Latnok wasn't following her. Could she finally have some peace? Despite finally free of Latnok's presence, at least for the time being, she still had some lingering frustrations.
"I'm still angry Neo. Everyone in that group saw the way Latnok treated me, and did nothing, not even Orion. That's as worse as if they had insulted me along with him." Angora expressed, very upset on how nobody did anything to defend her. What's worse, it almost looked as if some encouraged him. They were all witnessed how Neo chose her for this dangerous mission, and yet not even that was enough for them to respect or even appreciate her. Was she doomed to never be liked by anybody?

Sere had already rushed out to the wyvern pen. The group would not have traveled far - he would find Latnok in mere minutes. Guided by what he could faintly make out via Latnok's last memories, he forced every bit of speed he could out of the wyvern, to th point where contact with even a small, solid object would do serious damage to either. The wyvern cried out in pain at this pace, but persisted nonetheless.

It wasn't long before Sere found the sight of the confrontation. The wyvern moved its wings to slow down its flight as it neared the destination. Before it was even close to the ground, Sere jumped off, absorbing the brunt of the fall with the typical force distribution technique. He ran over to Latnok on yhr ground...

...only to witness as the last of his vitals disappeared.

Many things were going through Sere's head. Sadness. Anger. Disappointment. Anger. Guilt. Anger. Anger. ANGER. All he could think about were Latnok's final moments.

"Latnok... how foolish I was. To think that a troll would every be willing to work with a human for mutual benefit. Pah. You threw your life away, all because a troll wouldn't think of anyone but herself...The others were right. I have gone mad. Even the best troll they could come up with is no more than a child... and this is who the gods would have the fate of the universe in. No matter. Know that you paid the price for me to learn a valuable lesson. I was foolish to trust non-humans to protect humans. Trolls, in particular... I now see that there is to be no compromise between us, and we will act in kind."

OOC: I think he'll simply use another character. I think we'll need a new character sheet. Also SC, didn't you mean killed either way in that last sentence?

"So, in other words, I have to tolerate him all the way? Come on! Orion can take Shade, can't he?" Angora said with a frustrated grunt, not wanting to go back and return to the same sea of insults of insults she tolerated during the journey. Latnok made a lousy reputation of himself, and trying to commit suicide just to make her feel bad was the worst offense.

OOC: Depends. This might be the best way for the story to progress. Or not. I'll leave things open.

"Yeah. I figured. I had to save him from Shade, and he's supposed to be a deity." Angora said with some resentment, believing the Galaxy Dragon was overrated if his powers were limited to the point of being rescued. As much as she hated the idea, she turned around to get back for Latnok, knowing to well that if Shade went out of control, it would be bad news for all of them.

Sere was kneeling, deep in thought. In his struggle to restrain himself the light in his environment became brighter, and the dark darker. His thoughts were interrupted with the screeching of his wyvern. He turned around to see what the cause was.

A troll. Not just any troll, though. His wyvern instinctively charged as per its training.
"Halt." His wyvern stopped in place.
"I would have you answer," Sere said, in a tone which, though calm, betrayed his outrage, not even facing Angora. "I know what happened. Tell me... why did this man feel that it was necessary to sacrifice himself, because of your callous attitude toward the world? Why would you betray my trust so? Why must you confirm all of our fears about trolls?"

Angora didn't took the time to immediately answer. She already had a lousy day, and now she had this other human who did no effort to hide his frustration, and some darn wyvern that was about to attack her out of nowhere.
"No no no, and who the heck are you!?!? I already had a really nasty day to deal with anybody! And will you tell this beast to stop breathing all over me?" Angora demanded bitterly, having expected to find Latnok all alone, not this... scene. If Sere was among the humans present in the temple, Angora didn't notice, or simply didn't bother memorizing his face.

"Who am I? Do you not recognize my sword?" Sere said, as he drew Grimbane - the sword rapidly pulsaying between blinding light and utter darkness im his anger. He made no effort to withdraw the wyvern. "I am Godfather Sere. The man who sent Latnok on this mission, against his will and better judgment, in the naive hope that we would be able to pave the way for peace. I am the man who has blood on my hands, for trusting you, or the gods. They would put the fate of all of us in the hands of a fickle troll.
"The man you considered merely an annoyance and wished dead? The man you would kill every living person to kill? He was a man who did his best to serve his fellow man despite their rejection. A man who others could count on when hellhounds or wraiths came attacking. A man who left us for a while because he didn't believe we were doing enough to protect people - and possibly because he couldn't live with his own guilt. A man who came back, not because he qanted to, but because we needed him. A man who accepted this mission without question despite his loathing of your kind. A man who, mind you, was willing to give his LIFE to save people who hated him when you wouldn't even give a bit of your goddamned time without complaining. This is the man that your callous disregard for life has cost me. And the gods would leave the world in your hands? Who's to say we won't have to sacrifice another man because he looked at you funny?" Sere could no longer hide his frustration. As he spoke, he tried in vain to revive Latnok, manually making his blood flow with water magic, pumping his diaphragm with his own shadow, and changing lighting levels to keep at the right temperature.

Angora couldn't believe what she was dealing with. It's Latnok part two.
"In a minute Neo. This guy needs a wake up call." Angora said, before furiously answering Sere.
"You think I wanted this!? It was him the one who did the killing blow, not me! He was the one who wanted to use violence against me! He didn't only looked at me funny, he insulted, bullied and tried to kill me several times, even while I was on the mission. All because of his biased, racist opinions about my kind. He had such a stereotype about trolls that he never wanted to give me a chance. And the few times I tried to make peace with him, he only made things worse! Get your facts straight mister before you point fingers!" Angora lectured with anger, the vein in her temple appearing again. The wyvern breathing all over her didn't help much either.

As much as Sere wanted to strike out at Angora and choke her with her own shadow, he had the futile rescuscitation attempt to focus on. "I saw his memories. His last moments. Tell me, why would you go so far as staying up during his watch changeover to harass him? Why would you demand a tooth that he was attempting to study to find a way to control Shade? And... do you really think he was trying to kill you? If so, why would he confront you with no armor? Why would he engage in close combat when he could attack you with impunity from afar? Why would he telegraph his attacks, and move slowly? And why would he swing the blunt part of the axe at you?" Sere simply sighed after saying all of this. "But it is no matter. I am the foolish one. I was wrong to trust you, or the gods. And, unless by aome miracle I am given reason to trust them, I will stand against those who would impose a world where people like you decide who lives and who dies."

Angora sighed longly, now thinking it was impossible to reason with another human. It didn't stop her from trying though.
"Sure, he removed his armor, but the real fact remains. He couldn't try to reason through words like any other civilized creature. Everything was a duel to him! And think having no armor makes it a fair fight? He attacked me unarmed and as if that wasn't enough, he showed me these terrible visions while he lunged, so I would be too distracted to defend myself! Where's the fair in that!?" Angora rebuffed severely, but she didn't give Sere a chance to reply, and instead, continued talking.
"But why am I bothering explaining any of this to you? He was impossible to reason with, and something tells me you are too! I already had a change of heart about saving the world, yet that didn't stop him from making my life miserable! So listen, just remove this beast away from my person so I can try to revive him and you two can just ride away and let me complete my mission in peace!" Angora demanded, glaring at the wyvern who still won't leave her alone. She was going to revive Latnok only because Neo said so. If it was up to her, she would've let this horrible human rot for all his sins.

"Child... there is still much you have to learn," Sere said. "To begin, you probably should have taken a personal silence as a clue to stop bothering him. And you and I both know you are not unarmed as long as Neo is with you. Latnok knew that too. Is it not as plain as day? He was attempting to get you to strike him doen to show Neo your hatred, but not even that has swayed his opinion of you. His sacrifice was for naught.
"But... you will leave now, if you know what is good for you. You have shown me that there is no good in you, you will never work with those you disagree with, you are petty, spiteful, and have no empathy. You only care about how others treat you, while failing to consider the problems you instigate. The human you hate so much has shown more nobility than you ever have - or ever will.
"Besides... it is too late. Latnok has no vitals. At the end of the day... despite every effort we take to become stronger, we are only human. And no mere human will ever recover from that."

As suspected, there was no reasoning with this human either. Angora had no reaction on Sere's insults, being insulted worse than that by Latnok and life itself.
"I should've known you were just as ignorant as your protégée. You see me, and all you see is a troll. You don't want to look beyond that. I intended to leave Latnok alone, but he wouldn't leave me alone. Was I suppose to tolerate all his insults and bullying and be quiet about it? Should I have left myself to be mistreated just to feed his ego? Is that what you're saying? You humans have a nasty superiority complex. Look further into his mind. You'll see that I tried to make peace with him, but he wouldn't let me. Even if my hatred for him lasts, I'm still intending to revive him, but just like him, you're surrounded with blind racism. You won't give me a chance, just like he didn't." Angora expressed with a calm voice, her anger disappearing but her frustration remaining. First Latnok, now Sere. Neither of them wanted to give her a chance or see the good in her, and if that's the way it was going to be, then so be it. Their opinion didn't matter to her. She saw herself as a good, yet admittedly moody creature, and that was enough for her.

"So you value your hurt feelings over the lives of the many..." Sere said, his voice full of scorn. "Tell me, can you give me a GOOD justification for letting every living thing in the world die because of your hatred for one man? You think Latnok was bad when he was working with you? I can promise you, we can be a lot worse when working against you. So you will give me a good, straight answer as to why I should trust you when every single thing you have done has shown that you do not deserve that trust and are completely incapable of empathy. No subversion, just a good, upfront answer. Fail to give me one, and you will wish that Latnok was the worst you had to deal with." As if on cue, Sere's wyvern let out a harsh screech right in her face.
As Sere was tending to Latnok, his head was turned to face Angora. On his face was, oddly enough, a wicked smile - almost as if he were having one last laugh at the predicament he left Angora in.

Once again, Angora remained with her composure, not even flinching when the wyvern roared at her. She already dealt with Shade. Nothing scared her as easily as before.
"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time, but I intend to complete my mission and save the world as best as I can. I resigned from that duty briefly out of anger, nothing else. I won't deny I did wanted to leave the word to it's luck, but I did reconsider. I just needed some time for myself to collect my thoughts. I was having a peaceful moment, enjoying what makes the world worth living in. It made me change my mind, but and as always, Latnok had to come and ruin the moment, just when I had change my mind! But of course, you didn't see that part, did you? You only saw the part of his mind you wanted to see! You don't want to look beyond that, cause you refuse to see a troll as something capable of doing good! Well you know what? I don't care how you view me! I'm not asking you to trust me! I don't even care for respect anymore. All I ask is a little comprehension. If you still want to be a blind ignorant like he was, be my guest! But I will save the world, but not for the sake of you or humanity, but because the whole world doesn't deserve to be punished for the sins of a few! You say I still have much to learn? How about a few words of wisdom instead of a sea of racist insults?" Angora replied sternly and without twitching, ignoring the wyvern completely. Everybody wanted to educate her and give her a lesson in kindness, but how could she listen if they won't even let her show her noblest side?

A moment passed. Then another. Then another. Then finally...
"Return."
Sere's wyvern did as it was commanded, darting back to his side before returning to face Angora.
"Very well. I see where you are coming from. No one is perfect. But understand this... from his perspective - and from what I could see - we were leaving the lives of everyone in the hands of someone who didn't care. Something he sought to correct. Yes, his biases, his bad experience with more bloodthirsty trolls, may have influenced his decision. But he, as is quite evident, was not acting in self-interest. And perhaps his guilt about the past influenced the means he sought to rectify the problem... so I may be wrong to hold you fully accountable. I will give you another chance. Pray show me that this is all just a tragic misunderstanding.
"Of note, though, is that Latnok removed the collar from Shade before his mission - the dead man's switch has likely activated, and the collar will be no more. Latnok is, or was, the only living Guardian to have come into contact with corruption such as Shade has possessed without being immediately taken over. As much as I dislike others having ownership of my life, my position will not allow me to throw my life away hoping I'm lucky, and I cannot in good faith throw Guardians at him hoping something sticks. What means do you have of stopping the dragolet from going mad?", Shade asked. Still manually keeping all of Latnok's organs from failing, he was hoping - praying - that something would work, still having doubts about Angora's ability to help Latnok recover.

Angora was slightly relieved that Sere finally was showing a glimmer of reason, but her frustration still lingered and it wasn't going to leave so easily.
"Orion and I stopped Shade once. We could do it again, though we welcome the help. As for Latnok, it was clear to me that he had a hard life, but why did he had to take it out on me? You can't blame an entire species for what was done to you. How abut blaming the individuals instead of the whole kind for a change? There were many creatures within the group, and yet Latnok only targeted me. He didn't cared if I was the one chosen for this mission. For the first time in my life, I felt... special. But of course, he didn't want me to live that moment. We've wasted enough time and I'm not sure if I can still help you revive him, but if I do, you will order him to leave me alone! I had enough of his biased insults!" Angora commented, that being her only condition. They wasted too much time and breath in this pointless arguing, and Angora blamed Sere for that.

"You are welcome to try," Sere said, resigned. "But he is only alive in the most technical sense of the word right now. Even with the most powerful healing magic I have seen, if he comes back from this, he will be the toughest SOB I know. We will have to see how strong his will to live is... I have my doubts."

A white space. A pure white space. Was this heaven? Or was this purely a product of a mind too weak to think of anything else? Latnok could only peer into the nothingness, not knowing where in the universe he stood. But two figures started to materialize. First indistinguishable, but then...
"Harux? Arulin?"
"It is we, Latnok," the older figure said. Harux "What brings you here?"
"Am I really dead?"
"Do you want to be?", the younger figure said. Arulin. "A world ruled by a child? Isn't this what you gave your life to stop?"
"Bah... perhaps I could stay here. Born nothing, worked hard, dedicated myself to doing what I knew best - hunting - and honed it until I was a man who could save people. But those people I save? They don't care about me. The other Guardians are the only ones that care... you two I cared about the most. My mentor. My friend. But I killed you."
Harux simply laughed. "Is that what you're worried about? Death happens in our line of work. You were inexperienced - but in the end, it's a risk we take. You learned to be much more careful afterwards, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have."
"And you sure did that imp pretty good!", Arulin said. "Using animal fat and a scroll like that... how devious! Only thing better would have been to kill him under a rockfall trap, too, but you did pretty good."
"You are forgiven," Harux said.
"Wait, wait, wait. Are you guys even real? Is this even real?", Latnok asked.
The figures stood silently, as if they were contemplating an answer.

Angora did as she was told, groaning at the fact that she had to do this, or worse, that she had to touch him. If this indeed worked, she was probably going to have to deal with a human in a really bad mood. But as long as Sere made him leave her alone, nothing else would matter. If Latnok was useful for something, it was keeping Shade under control. She didn't like the fact of a creature being restricted like that, but this was Shade. He was a special case.

"So... are you real?"
"We are as real as you want us to be," Harux responded.
"I'm so glad that I can finally see you guys again," Latnok said. "What else is here? Let's have a good time, for old time's sake."
"Don't think you're off the hook that easy," Harux said.
"Bah... I knew it..." Latnok said, dejectedly. "Forgiveness is never that simple."
A smile slowly creeped across Harux's face. "No, that is not what I mean. Your fight is not yet finished."
"My fight? They were obviously not willing to work with me. Maybe Neo reconsidered. Or maybe not. Either way, I have no reason to fight..."
"Seriously?" Arulin said. "Do you really think you changed that guy's mind when he's obviously dead-set in his ways? And do you really think some lousy troll is going to last two minutes without someone to stop her from running into a wall?"
"Well..."
"Go now, Latnok. For us. For all of mankind. No - for everyone. Everyone. And the next time you come here, you better be dragging the Grim Reaper kicking and screaming behind you."
"Wait, don't go..." Latnok said, but the figures slowly started to fade. The white environment slowly started to fade away..

"...as I suspected. Still nothing," Sere said. "...I should have known better than to..."
At that moment, Sere felt something. No, not typical vital signs. Something better. Magic flow.
"His rest regeneration! It's kicking in!" Sere exclaimed. The Guardians could, in a restful state, such as sleep or meditation, recover from injuries that would kill normal men - this all but assured Latnok's survival. The sound of breathing then began - first faint, then growing to be distinct. A pulse was becoming evident.
Finally, Latnok opened his eyes.

OOC: Wow, all your character always have something bad to say about mine

Angora was kinda hoping it wouldn't work, but now that it did, she didn't look very pleased. She believed Latnok would disobey Sere and continue annoying her. Nevertheless, she did what she was told, and if that was all, she was ready to join the group.
"Well, my work here is done. Follow us... or not. Whatever, I don't care. Just tell that poor enslaved beast to stop staring at me!" Angora said as she pointed at the wyvern, feeling a little sorry for the pet. Just what was done to this poor soul to be so obedient? It didn't even talked, or perhaps wyvern just weren't as intelligent as dragons? Whatever the case, the little troll was turning around, ready to join the group and get over this infernal task.

OOC: It's Latnok's vision. Or not. Left it ambiguous. But Guardians are naturally biased against trolls, much like they are against many non-dragon creatures they face on a regular basis. That is very much a deliberate flaw of theirs, and perhaps something to be improved during the story.

"Leave her," Sere ordered the wyvern, and its gaze shifted away from Angora in response. "Wyverns - this breed, at least - are about as related to dragons as humans are to apes," Sere said. "It is about as enslaved as any dog."
With a lot of effort, Latnok barely managed to bring himself to his sleep. "Like any troll... would ever best me..." He took a solid step forward towards Angora.
"...sure beats your cute little faked poison trick, doesn't it?" Latnok said, in a deliberate subversion. Despite his injuries, he felt a renewed sense of determination, and a much improved mood. "Might want to step it up a bit." He still needed some rest - he would meditate at the camp while everyone was preparing, though, and catch rest wherever else he could. He wouldn't even ask about why Godfather Sere was here - he already knew.
"Latnok..." Sere called. "Never, ever do something like that again. Our faith lies in... Angora now," finally referring to her by name, instead of just as "the troll". "You take care of her, and yourself. I want you all to come back to me and tell me how it went."
"I'll do whatever I have to," Latnok said. "Don't worry, though, I'm learning. Got in a fight with some bozo... just barely missed the kill, and he almost took me out. I took notes, though, and I'm sure I'll get him next time." Gallows humor was pretty popular among the Guardians - all Sere needed to hear to know that Latnok was in good spirits.

Angora looked very unamused, listening to their conversation with half closed eyes. She wasn't surprised with Sere acknowledging he enslaved the poor wyvern, even comparing it to a pitiful dog. But he was a human, so what could anyone expect from them? She listened to the rest of the ir talking without understanding a single word, but it didn't matter.
"Well now, I don't have time for this. He's revived, hurray hurray. Now if you excuse me, I'll be returning to Orion and the others." Angora said sarcastically as she followed her previous tracks so she could arrive to where she left the companions, all the wile having somewhat returned to her smug, bitter behavior. It was as if Latnok always brought that part of her to light. The armor was a bit more uncomfortable than she remembered, but it was probably because on how she felt at the moment.

"Yeah, I'd be pissed off too if someone pulled off my own joke better than I could ever dream of," Latnok said jokingly as he continued to limp forward. "Live a little. Seriously. I tried not living. It was... oh, wait, it was actually pretty fun, nevermind. Got to meet some old friends." Remembering his axe on the ground, Latnok strained hard to pull it to himself telekinetically - he finally got it after almost collapsing again.

Angora found it annoying how the two men continued to tell jokes when there were more important things to be done. She didn't say anything though, not in the mood for arguing. She didn't care if they were left behind. If they wanted to find her, they could just follow her tracks, cause she certainly wasn't going to sit around waiting.

She instead decided to talk to Neo.
"Well then, into the unknown. I must say I am nervous, but I kinda did this before, right? But even if I manage to pull this off, I will return to my same, boring life, and even if humanity finds out that a troll was the one that save them, I really doubt it will make a difference." Angora said, expressing what little faith she had in humanity. She knew it shouldn't matter what other people thought or said about her, but if trolls were kept being slaughtered and be treated as monsters, then it would be as if she had done nothing.

Darkheart glared at Angora and Sere from the shadows before speaking. "Wyverns are far less intelligent than dragons, and I know MANY dragons who would be insulted by any comparison between the two. We may be cousins, but Sere is, technically, right. It's not exactly enslavement. The Wyvern follows the leader, much like a dog follows its master, albeit on a slightly more intelligent scale." Her disdain for the less intelligent creatures was apparent.
Meanwhile, Star was grumbling. "Let's see, I need stainless steel, glass, perhaps some plastic, and trace amounts of all eight skymetals. I told myself I wouldn't rebuild this thing after it shorted out, but, frankly, it's the only contingency we've got if Neo was wrong..."

"Never did learn how to ride a wyvern myself," Latnok said, as he removed his bloodied shirt and burned it in his hand. "I would imagine it's a bit more complicated than riding a horse. Much bigger attitude problem to deal with too. Would be nice to have a horse right now, but dragons scare them senseless."
"You make it back from this, and I'll teach you wyvern riding myself," Sere offered. "This one - Veris - is easy enough to get along with - once he gets to know you, of course. Tends to be a little more hostile to strangers." That was quite the understatement, as his recent encounter with Angora showed.
Almost back to my bag... Latnok thought. Then I can get some water, and meditate for a bit... Though meditation didn't provide as much recovery as sleep, it would do the job until he had more time to rest.

Finally arriving at the group, Angora didn't listened what Darkheart just said. She still believed it was enslavement, or rather, manipulation, although she couldn't deny it would be awesome to have a creature like that under your command, especially if it could fly. One could save days of journey.

After those little thoughts, she looked at Orion, waiting for his command.
"Where to?" she finally asked, wanting this mission over. The group just grew and it made her very uncomfortable.

Latnok, finally managing to hobble towards his bag, dropped down to sit. Sticking an arm into one of the pockets, he fished around until he felt a canteen, pulled it out, and immediately chugged the water - he needed to replace the blood he lost. "Godfather," Latnok said in between chugs, "shouldn't you be headed back now?"
"I will be here for a little while until you meditate and recover your strength," Sere said. "No ascensions are scheduled for today."
Latnok turned around to address the general group, figuring he might as well educate them. "The Godfather is typically very busy. Not only does he have his own training to attend to like everyone else, he also performs the Ascension ritual - the adjudicators can do it, but he is always present unless it is impossible for him to be. He also, through his bond with us, learns when any Ascended are dead or dying, finds out what happened, recovers their body, and oversees their cremation. This is on top of him ordering or reviewing any significant Guardian movement."

In acknowledgement, Latnok and Sere looked and nodded at each other in mutual understanding. Latnok reached into his bag once again - after some fishing, he grabbed another collar from his pack. He always carried one himself, as yet another tool - the one Shade had on earlier was provided by Vellune due to the circumstances.
Sere summoned Shade's own shadow to suppress him, just like he had preciously. At the same time, Latnok tossed the collar at Shade again, which would bind around his neck. "This is for your own good," Latnok called out to him.

Angora stepped back to let Sere and Latnok do their thing. It wasn't her territory anyway, so she made sure she didn't get in the way, seeing what they were doing with a neutral face. She was in such a bored, bitter state that she wasn't even interested in trying to get another one of Shade's teeth, believing the greedy Lanok would simply take that one away too. As she watched Shade being subdued, she wondered if they used those very same methods with the wyvern. If they could be domesticated, it was no wonder she's has never seen one in the wild. Some people believed they were extinct, but it turns out they were just used as humiliating mounts and guard dogs by humans with magic, and possibly military too.

Her deep thoughts were soon shattered by Shade's sudden rebelling.
"Easy Blackie! Easy! We're trying to prevent damage!" Angora explained as she got in his way with her arms up. She didn't want to interfere, but was about to if he left her no choice.

"This may not be pleasant forcing it so fast-- I'm sorry.," Raclaw said focusing his energy on Shade and quickly attempting to establish an connection.

OCC: More in a few or on another post. Just woke up and on mobile.

"Such power..." Sere muttered under his breath. Veris instinctually charged at the threat, fangs bared. "Back off," Sere said, and Veris obeyed. Sere instead tried to subdue Shade with a focused beam of dazzling light, channeled from his fingertips, aimed at Shade's eyes.
Latnok was in no condition to fight - not yet, anyway. Despite the chaos in the environment, he focused - drowning out all distractions - and began to meditate. He needed just enough time to be able to move acceptably again.

OOC: I think you should look at that first sentence carefully redwes

Angora didn't think that would work, but she could see Shade was still struggling, and words alone may not do the trick at all. Although knowing it would be risky, the tiny troll took a chance and jumped towards Shade, grabbing his neck and holding it gently but firmly. She was trying to prevent him from breathing fire, and she trusted her heat resisting skin as well as the power Neo provided.
"What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?" Angora said in her mind repeatedly, knowing the danger of this. She was trying to distract Shade so that Latnok could place the collar and Raclaw could communicate with him. She looked at both so they could make their move...