darkSpyro

OOC: This is a tesser post for a bigger edit-- or a new post should you guys respond first. Couldn't wait.

As Raclaw spoke, he realized he hadn't quite meant what he said-- and that his emotions were only getting stronger the further they went up the summit. "No you have it wrong, I don't hate you... I...... I honestly don't know why I said that.," He then said first speaking in a deeper angitated tone but soon transitioning to his usual gentler voice. As he spoke-- his eyes briefly went black and a strong surge of... Something could be felt throughout the mental web. Something was wrong and he didn't feel like his usual self.

"There now, you see how they believe their own lies? They think they're this noble race with a great cause. But look what they did to you! Look what they're doing to me!" Angora said to Raclaw after hearing Latnok, afterwards ignoring his presence. Why should she said something to the human if he wasn't going to hear anyway? He has never said anything good about her ever. She was accostumed to this sick, biased pattern. Whatever trolls did to him, she was certain he had it coming, but how foolish it was to hate an entire species just because a few individuals did you harm. Angora was now more determined to make the mission successful, for if she defeated whatever evil they're approaching, Latnok will have to live with the fact that it was a troll the one who was chosen and the one who saved them. Not him, or Sere, or any of his precious Guardians. Chances are they were going to lie about the events that will take place. Maybe even stand as low as saying they were the ones who did the saving, but the fact will remain that they will both know the truth no matter how hard they try to mask it.

The troll's train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted when she noticed Shade still growling.
"It's alright Blackie. I heard his story, and I'm pretty sure most of it is made up for them to feed their air of grandeur. Don't get discouraged. Lame Latnok used the same dirty trick on me, during a figh no less." Angora assured, knowing what that felt like and wanting to make Shade feel better.

"I'll be a sport. Here, take this. You need it more than I do. I worked very hard for this, but I'm not hungry." Angora said kindly, offering Shade a large piece of boar meat she had been saving in her improvised bag. She ate well before entering that mysterious realm, and Shade needed all the distraction and kindness he could get. It's not like the humans were going to provide that.

Latnok didn't even have to hear what Angora said - her body language said enough. Speaking in a rather blank voice, he said "Case in point. Nothing but racist rants, hate, and paranoia when she's not silenced. No point in dealing with her BS. Easier to just shut her up and get on with our lives, dragging this baby kicking and screaming to do the mission if we have to. The only reason she's even doing this is so that hopefully someone will see past the perpetually angry, hostile troll with something to compensate for and maybe lick her boots for being our savior - a job which anyone could do if Neo wasn't so infatuated with her. We don't care if she hates us for it, though - our job is to finish the mission, not to root out deep-seated racism and make friends." As he spoke, he sensed something... odd about Eaclaw, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Are you all right?"

"Racist me!? I think he has his ideals mixed up. Who has shown more racism? Who kills species because they consider them inferior beasts? Who enslaves poor creatures to be in eternal servitude?" Angora said, looking at Raclaw with that last sentence. Even though Latnok couldn't hear her, she still looked at him so he could read her lips. How dare he called her racist when he was the one show how that with flying color? She has never enslaved any creature, and has never killed for the sake of it, or because she found the creature inferior. She killed for mere survival.

"I tried to be polite with you about some point! I even joked with you to try make you laugh. But you always had to be this biased, stoic warrior that has no reason! I have witnesses! Let them be the judge on who is the real racist AND paranoid!" Angora commented, having taken great offense in being called racism when she felt nothing of the sort against anybody, except maybe dragons in the near past. Everybody in the group has seen the two of them. They have seen how badly Latnok has treated Angora. They were all her witnesses. They knew the truth. Troll or not, they had to know who really was to blame for this hate ball.

Latnok couldn't help but be curious as to what Angora had to say this time. He released the silence spell and heard... the same old drivel. "Listen here, Princess. You have a history of selfishness, hypocrisy, and hostility. Rather keep a tooth from Shade as a trophy - mind you, the same exact thing you criticize me for - instead of allowing me to use it to try to find a way to keep Shade under control. Call us racist for judging all trolls for a few - mind you, I've met hundreds and Godfather Sere's probably met thousands - yet berate humanity because you can't tolerate two humans who call you out on your BS. Rather stay up during the watch changeover and butt into an important conversation I was having with Orion rather than get sleep like you should have been. Have a problem with me making you angry by showing pictures of my battles with trolls, yet try to taunt me by blaming me as you held the world hostage over a dragon tooth. And even now, when I try not to talk to you, you still bad-mouth me nonetheless, even as we are coming closer and closer to the climax of a very important mission. Not enough to keep the hate to yourself, you have to make sure everyone else feels the hate you do in order to feel gratified. And you think I'm the worst one here?
"I don't claim to be perfect. Never have, never will. Unlike you, though, I can see my flaws and gradually work to fix them, rather than pretend I don't have them and project them onto everyone else. So are you going to try to justify yourself and completely ignore your flaws, like you have before, and continue to raise dissent among us, even as I am one of the two links keeping Shade from going rampant, or are you going to try to move on and finish this so we can all get on with our lives and you can crawl back into your hole, where you'll never have to see us again?"

Angora recognized that she indeed almost sacrificed the whole world in a moment of pure rage, but Latnok couldn't possibly comprehend that the tooth wasn't the only reason. He still claimed that he stole it to help with the Shade problem, but she still didn't believed that. She watched as Latnok lifted the spell. One would think she would take advatage of the moment, but to the surprise of even herself, she simply grinned at Latnok, and turned her back to him. He wanted silence? Then he was going to get it! And how naive Latnok was believing he was the one keeping Shade under control, when in that realm, where his special collar didn't work, it was her the only one daring enough to be this close to Shade, and the only one who was showing him any kindness, even going as far as to give him food she struggled so much to get.

Latnok could not be happier at Angora's reaction. "Not even going to try to defend your actions? Very well. Let's move on." He couldn't care less about what she thought, as long as the mission was in motion. He reached for one of his side pockets - and pulled out exactly what he was looking for, an apple from the Tree of Vitality. Taking a bite, his stamina and mood drastically improved, and a wave of pure bliss would be sent through his mental connections with Shade and Raclaw.

Angora wanted to continue ignoring Latnok, but she spared this time to answer him. He could hear her now, so she wanted to seize the moment before it was too late.
"Why should I? You'll just use that same, cowardly spell to be deaf to the truth, cause you think your opinions and ideals are the only ones that count. I ain't proud of what I almost did to the world, but of course, it's because you so easily brought the worse in me. Thankfully, I came to my senses, and it wasn't because of you or your silly guilt trip." Angora expressed, turning her back to him once more and going silent again. If there was one think Latnok has been good at at all was excercising her patience. She has learned to tolerate him far more than before. Even though she expressed herself, she knew Latnok was going to continue being the same, biased jerk he's always been, so now that she got that little comment off her chest, she was determined not to waste any more breath on him.

"Your paranoid delusions are far from any sort of truth," Latnok retorted. "Shutting you up was the best course of action for the mission since listening to you hasn't at all been productive. Every other party member here has managed to say something useful, but you are just afraid we have some intention to murder everyone. Tell me this - if we are liars, why do you believe all of the negative things while anything else we say is twisted to be negative? You think we'll kill you? We kill threats to humans. You think anyone's scared of some child? You couldn't threaten a blind five-year-old with polio if you tried. The truth is, you are every bit as 'racist' as you claim us to be, and you're too blind to even see it.
"History won't remember you as some hero - history will only remember you as someone who had to be forced to save the world, a job anyone could do and one that would be significantly easier if Neo didn't latch onto you like a leech. But you can go ahead and hope that maybe anyone will actually care about you, as hostile as you are, except Neo due to his infatuation." That last one was meant to sting - Angora wasn't going to listen to reason, so she might as well be hit with the hard truth.

OOC: Hey SC, I think you missed post #1806

Angora remained silent, even before Orion scolded them both. Latnok clearly lived in a little fantasy where he and his kind were the only ones whose opinions mattered. Everyone has seen Latnok's treatment and lack of remorse, and in Raclaw and Shade's case, they have seen with their own eyes his bloody history. It didn't matter what Latnok said anymore. Angora was convinced that he was a lost cause, and that no matter how much sense she made or how hard she tried to explain herself, he would refuse to see the truth.

OOC: Bigger post coming, but watch the live diagram for a teaser. A visual guide will help explain what I'm going for here.

Raclaw remained eerily silent-- and seemingly ether wasn't registering or was ignoring the concern of the others. His eyes briefly went into and out of a deep shade of black.

Was Orion out of his mind? Latnok would have none of it. "Oh, no. Let me get this straight, Orion. This troll has been spewing pure hatred from the time we begun to now, has gone out of her way to harass me by throwing things at me and telling blatant lies and exaggerations when I tried to ignore her, even now does nothing but bad-mouth me and try to turn everyone against me when I didn't say a word to her - and now that I'm finally calling her out on her hypocrisy and BS and callous disregard for life, you're lumping me in with her? You've seen this stuff for yourself. Where was your reason when she has done nothing but go out of her way to voice and act on her hatred for humans, and me in particular? Now you want to silence us when I finally speak? Are you afraid to tell your 'chosen one' the truth? Or do you know that Neo just has some sort of thing for her and will never listen to reason, instead providing 'answers' which have yet to be meaningfully substantiated? Because the truth is, your 'chosen one' won't be satisfied until we're dead and gone, and would rather risk letting Shade loose when I'm sharing a mind with him and have to manage part of his anger and feed him my focus and resolve, which is becoming harder to maintain, by turning him and everyone else against me, then finish the mission. Even you have to see that." "If this is the world I have to live in... count me out."

'GUYS-- STOP FIGHTING. WE DON'T NEED THIS. WAIT... WHY AM I? SOMETHING... SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG.,' Raclaw sent out as strong telepathic/emotional burst that ANYONE with the capability of receiving telepathic messages could hear. At first, he meant to respond but found himself unable to. His eyes flickered in-and-out from black and one look through the mental connections would indeed point out that SOMETHING was indeed seriously wrong. Whereas before there were two or three incoming connections to Raclaw (Latnok, Shade, and the Collar)-- there were FOUR connections. The first and second remained consistent-- being Latnok's Guardian-based connection, and Shade's Corruption-based connection. The third and fourth, however, could be seen as... unusual. Shade's corruption-based connection would have appeared to ether split and/or multiply leading to another corruption-based connection leading right into Raclaw. And just beyond that, there appeared to lie yet another connection which almost seemed like an merger of the previous corruption-based connection-- and Raclaw's own connection bouncing back to him. The new connections almost appeared to take place of the previous collar-based connections (with outside magic being blocked) and seemed to only be building with time. And Raclaw obviously wasn't the better for it.

OOC: Now my turn for the image. Here it is guys. I did a sketch of Angora, plus a little bonus images to make things more interesting. It's simple, but it'll give you an idea. I posted it on on the first page too in case you need to see it again
http://photobucket.com/gallery...2LmpwZw==/?ref=

Angora face palmed at how much stupidity Latnok was saying, yet remained quiet, seeing no point in arguing with Latnok. Once more, he was proving what an ignoramus he was. He was really determined to make her see like the biased bad guy. Even with the jerk Latnok was, Angora didn't hated humans because of him, just found them, or more importantly, him to be incredibly annoying. If she had hated him, she would've killed him, or would've made that her objective after the mission was over. Won't he ever learn that this "hatred" she had for him was because he has been targeting her from the very beginning? Trying to reason with Latnok was like trying to teach a whale to walk on dry land.

Latnok's attention immediately snapped from Angora onto the struggling Raclaw. The message was loud and clear - and he needed help immediately.
"Quicken!" A moment passed. Nothing happened. "Damn. Forgot our stuff doesn't work here." They needed to get him out of here. "Godfather! If we get him out, we might be able to break him free with the collar!" Adrenaline racing through him with fear, Latnok ran to Raclaw, kneeling down to him. "We'll get you out of here!"
He had carried young dragons before - just not live ones. Regardless, he put his arms under Raclaw and, pushing up with his legs, tossed him onto his back before he began sprinting in the direction they came from.

OOC: Remember that old "highway rating system" I had? This is where that comes into play.

'I-- I don't understand. I was doing fine. I mean.. my emotions were getting stronger, but I figured it was because of Shade. If I had known that it was something much worse, I would've...... I could've...... I'm sorry.......,' Raclaw telepathically spoke to Latnok realizing that he should've seen the signs. Unknowingly to him, his telepathic balance so-to-speak had become dependent on the collar over time-- and blocking the outside magic within it only presented a weakness that the corruption was perfectly happy to take advantage of. That was why his emotions were getting stronger once they passed through the gate and why he was slowly losing control over the flow of his own thoughts and memories. He had never learned how to properly secure a connection without the aide of the collar, never having taken it off for any long period of time, and that weakness was now biting back.

"Now he's gonna blame he for what's happening to Raclaw." Angora muttered mockingly, referring to Latnok. She then noticed she still had the boar meat she had offered Shade, having been too focused on speaking with Latnok to actually give it to him. If Raclaw was struggling with something, Shade probably will be too.
"Hey hey, easy there. Come on. Eat." Angora said, believing that food will help calm Shade.

"It's okay. Don't worry. We'll get you out of here. You'll be fine. We will get through this, and you will meet your parents again. I promise you." A young dragon was a dragon regardless, and sprinting with one would be impossible for normal humans - Latnok was straining both physically and mentally, trying to maintain his focus as the pure stress emanating from Raclaw's mind came crashing down on his own. I must remember. I am a warrior. My allies count on me. My enemies fear me. And when faced with dire circumstances, I will have the strength to overcome anything that they may throw at me, and be stronger for it. I will see the fear in my enemies, and break them. I will be the one left standing. For that is what the warrior does. It was a quote from a book Latnok had read as a child. One that, to this day, he kept with him. Reciting it to himself always gave him the will to persevere. They would make it.

As Latnok sprinted and carried Raclaw down the summit, various memories at various points in Raclaw's life came flooding into the mental web. First-- there was a flashback of Raclaw's human family trying to remove the collar for the first time, but failing. And then there was another flashback-- Raclaw was at some sort of magic lab. His human family was there and some sort of magic specialist named Julian was explaining something. And then several more flashbacks came and left just as suddenly as the previous two-- one flashback showed Julian showing the family some ancient book that depicted an ancient diagram of what appeared to be an early concept of the Guardian collar, another flashback showed the magic specialist detailing what sounded like ancient commands of some sort, another one showed those same commands being used and two gems falling out of a slightly younger Raclaw's collar, and yet another flashback showed Raclaw overriding the collar through the use of some ancient Drow language. The flashbacks went on and on...

Almost at the gate. Almost. Though Latnok was receiving the flashbacks as well, his mind wasn't registering them. He only had one goal - get out. Almost, almost...
...there. Just past the gates. He could just collapse now... no. He had to set Raclaw down gently first. He slowly squatted. His legs felt like they were going to break at any moment. Slowly kneeling... Raclaw was now set on the ground. Now he could collapse.
Wait. There was one more thing. "...quicken." The words barely came out, with his face flat on the ground. If it worked, Raclaw's collar would activate a spell which would break effects controlling his mind, and work to restore his faculties. Latnok didn't bother to check. Too exhausted - physically, but more importantly, mentally. His frustrations with Orion and Neo turned into anger. That anger went away, but apathy took its place. With his mind no longer able to maintain his focus, he gave up and let the apathy sink in.

Sere was just monitoring the developments - not wanting to interfere in anything, lest he disturb the mental balance. Reaching into his bag, he tossed Veris some venison, which immediately disappeared. It was then that he received a telepathic connection. Weak. Long-range.
"Godfather? We found something that may be of interest to you..."

As Latnok made it past the gate and Raclaw was gently set down-- his body remained motionless and eyes continued to exhibit the same black flicker behavior as before. That was until the Quicken command was spoken and it all suddenly stopped. Suddenly, Raclaw awoke from whatever state he was in and the flashbacks soon came to a stop. "Lat.. Latnok?," he said as his eyes returned to normal and he found himself back outside the gate. He could feel the connection of the collar come back into place and felt some degree of comfort, like a dog and its security blanket. He then spotted the collapsed Latnok and gently nudged him with a paw, although not quite ready to get up. One look at his CONNECTIONS would reveal that his faculties were indeed coming back and that the new connections were at least being held back by the now active collar.

Latnok was completely spaced out. The prodding by Raclaw barely registered to him. "Just... leave me alone... I'm done. I don't care anymore. Dealing with that thing eating my mind... not worth it." Again, sprang that same sense of disappointment that he had earlier. "Go ahead. Leave. We Guardians never did anything for you anyway. Just genocidal slavers, the whole lot of us... Leave us and never bother us again." Latnok didn't budge from his position as he uttered these words.

OOC: If you're curious as to why the command is called "Quicken", it's from one of its definitions, meaning to grant or restore life.

"No... I didn't mean it. I was merely still trying to comprehend the why and how of it all-- and I never called you a slaver. You weren't responsible and you had no doing in what happened to me. The collaring was the ones who came before you and everything after that-- was merely fate. If my parents didn't want me or had misplaced me, then I was only destined towards another family. And I had a loving family. And it was the Guardians that saved me from whatever fate I would've faced had you not found me. Please... get up. I need you. We need you. What I said-- that wasn't me. So please... get up.," Raclaw said out-loud actually almost tearing up. He had never realized how much of a connection he felt towards Latnok 'till now. He was one of the first ones out of the Guardians who actually tried to help him and one of the first ones to show true compassion towards him. As he spoke, he sounded genuine and without any emotional influence from anyone else. For a brief period, he was truly himself and he was expressing it.

OOC: Huh... makes sense.

Latnok, rather than stay with his face to the ground, rolled over. The combination of fighting against Shade's anger and corruption and trying to sustain Raclaw as he tried to resist proved to be a grueling ordeal that had worn away at his resolve. Sounding completely defeated, he said "I... I just really can't care anymore. The world gave me nothing - and I've given all I could... but for what? What do I have to prove? I can't even remember why I ever cared in the first place. This... waste of my time."
A brief pause. "You know... you had a loving family. I never had love. Never needed it. The thing that's kept me going instead? Seeing the fear in the eyes of my foes before I cut them down. Murderers who just realized they are about to get a better understanding of the permanence of the death they've caused. As long as I had that... I knew I was making a difference. I might not have gotten anything more than a pat on the back from my fellow Guardians, but I knew that at least someone cared. Suddenly they cared about reforming. Suddenly they wish they never bothered innocent people. But now... I just don't care. I'm not even angry... I just don't care anymore."

With Latnok and Raclaw gone, Angora could finally focus on calming Shade. Putting the meat away, Angkra grasped Shade's neck in the form of a hug, helping him with the pain and struggle all the way. It was better now with those two away. Maybe now, the mental connection could be shattered so Shade could have his own problems, not somebody else's.

Raclaw looked at the rolled over Latnok, now face to face as they both laid there exhausted. "Look at me. You may not be the same person you once were nor the Guardians-- but you are still you and you are still serving a purpose. You are helping people-- and rather or not they appreciate you or even understand... you know that deep inside they know what you've done and that some part of them knows that they wouldn't be in the same place without you. You may not be cutting down murderers on a daily basis, but you are still making a difference in the world just as you had decided to do before you joined. You made the hard decision and you keep making the hard decisions-- and the world is a better place because of it. I'm in a better place and if it wasn't for you or the Guardians, I wouldn't be where I am today. I owe you and the world owes you-- and we need you.," Raclaw then said-- pausing and taking a breath before continuing.

"I once saw the Guardians as this mysterious force who took away my life before I knew what your organization was even called and now-- now I see it as a force of good. I look at you and I don't see a slaver or a nobody, but rather someone who is doing something good and someone who deserves an chance. Please... give yourself that chance and prove to yourself that you have what it takes. We are counting on you. I'm counting on you. So please... let's do this. And I'll be right by your side along the way.," Raclaw then finished knowing that Latnok had lost all faith in the both the world and himself. He had never had to console someone like that before and he wasn't even sure it would work, but he was willing to try. He also knew that the process of carrying him down the summit and resisting the corruption at the same time had drained Latnok. And he wished there was something to do to help. However, he was still exhausted himself and so they laid there...

OOC: This is the best cooperation I've ever experienced in an RPG.

Latnok did not know how to react. Never had anyone spoken to him so personally, not even his own mother. What... what was he feeling? Touched. That was the word for it. Touched. Not something he was used to at all. The closest he's ever felt to that was being commended by Sere for his completion of the Ascension ritual, completing the transformation that made him one of the deadliest humans. And yet, here was Raclaw, showing Latnok that he actually cared. Who didn't just see him as a reject, a weapon, a monster, a murderer, but as a person. "You know..." Latnok wanted to say something, but couldn't quite think of how to proceed. "If you would have me help you..."
Latnok took his bag off, reaching for the side pocket. The apple he didn't have a chance to finish. He took a bite. Then another. Then reached into his pack. Grabbed the reddish-brown vial and took a swig. The worst of his fatigue faded away with the combination of the apple and the dragon blood concoction. "I know I haven't always done the right thing. I'm not perfect. But if you would have me help you, then I'll be happy to oblige." Latnok grabbed his bag, putting it on.
"Let's finish this."

OOC: This all came to me while I was at work. And it's making for great world and character development.

Raclaw slowly got up and gave a somewhat confidant nod. "Let's... Let's finish this.," he said in response looking ahead towards the gate. He wasn't sure what would happen once they stepped beyond the gate again, but he was willing to risk himself to try and he knew he wasn't alone. The corruption still lied just beyond his existing connections slowly dissipating, but waiting for another opening...

"Latnok and Raclaw have left... and I assume so has their connection." Angora deduced, imagining that as soon as the two of them left the realm, Shade's thoughts were finally his alone. She didn't know if they were going to return, but Angora couldn to take any more of this. She was incredibly stressed, standing this bizzare weather and walking nonstop to an unknown destination.

"You, Galaxy Dragon, how much further? Please, do you know how unbearable this is? Here we are, about to face something that'll probably try to kill me as soon as I set my eyes on it." Angora expressed, fear finally taking over the more they walked. It has been hard enough to live with the uneasiness of Shade's random bursts of energy and Latnok's constant criticism, and they haven't even reached their goal yet. Why did she had tone chosen? She saved Orion and the world from an evil Shade once, why did she had to do it again?

"Heh, you don't have to tell me twice." Angora said begrudgingly, starting to wonder if the mind connection and Latnok's ill behavior has all been a test for her. Even though Shade was calmer, she felt bad riding him, and believed she should continue alone.
"Well thanks or the ride Blackie, but I think I'll continue from here." she Sid to him casually, trying to disguise her own fear.

OOC: Shade said that?

Angora heard something, but she dismissed it as her own nerves. She got in front of Shade so that whenever he felt like losing control, his breathing would alert her. She climbed that merciless mountain without haste, letting Orion lead the way.
"We're near, aren't we? I still don't know why you chose me Neo, but I might as well give it a try." she whispered to the spirit, now wishing he would've chosen someone else for this mission...

Darkheart had watched. What on earth had come over Raclaw? She had felt it too, but was so used to such dark voices in her head that she brushed it off. She realized that her powers may indeed have a use. She stepped out of the shadows near Angora and Shade, likely scaring them half to death. "Whatever happened inside you heads, I felt it too... I'm just used to these voices. And Angora, for your information, Latnok had a nice little bit of anti-ego for you I'm certain you would've loved to hear." She projected what Latnok had said into Angora's mind before continuing. "I've only ever seen humans look like that in the deepest pits of despair. Whatever happened almost destroyed Latnok's will to live entirely and Raclaw kept him from going overt the deep end. I just figured you'd be interested in seeing another side of the humans about half of us hate. I never saw this side in ANY human before, and I figured you were the same." She waited in case Angora had questions.
Star poked his head out of Latnok's bag and yawned. "Oh Arceus... I keep falling asleep. What happened Latnok? You fell over. You need a pillow or something?" He noticed Raclaw laying there. "Uh, hey FLUFFY! You okay?"

"Honestly, I don't care anymore what Latnok has to say. I don't care about him OR his life! Whatever he wants to do afterwards is his business. He has made his points clear. He refuses to change or even listen to reason, so I won't bother anymore." Angora said to Darkheart, imagining she has heard everything LAtnok has said, and how mean he was to her. She was looking forward to not having him for the rest of the journey... until she heard what Orion said.

"The others? You mean Latnok and Raclaw? Must we really wait for them? Come on! You saw how much trouble they were." Angora complained with a groan, now wondering what Orion was thinking of letting them join. They needed help, not somebody getting in the way.

Darkheart glanced at Orion. "Well, you're the boss, and we have to listen." She noted that the troll seemed so... Uncaring? Was that it? No, a better word was 'frustrated beyond reason'. No actually that was three.

Angora scoffed, but didn't say anything else. She just continued onwards at a slower pace to let the duo catch up, knowing too well that her opinion wouldn't matter and that Orion would have his way as always. If the unshaped monster they were about to face attacked them in a moment of distraction, she wasn't going to pretend that she cared. She was going to focus on destroying it, nothing more. If it targeted someone other than her, not much she could do on the matter.

Feeling stronger and more determined with every step, being reinforced by Raclaw's connection to him, Latnok pressed on. Once past the gates, he could feel the corruption from Shade slowly trying to nibble away at him again. He didn't care. He would block it like he always had.
Sere noted their approach. When Latnok came, he felt somewhat different - Sere couldn't put his finger on it. "Latnok... It almost seems like you had some sort of revelation."
"I guess you could say that. This whole business is ripping up my mind. But the story you just told us, about Shiavara... Seeing the terror of everything going wrong and coming undone, but still managing to survive, and using that determination to change things for the better. That is what I must do." He then telepathed to the rest of the group "I will be meditating for a few minutes."
Sere gave Latnok a nod of his head in acknowledgement, then turned to Raclaw. "I have some news you might want to hear."

Ignoring the conversation, Angora continued walking in front of everybody, feeling more nervous the further they went. This was an odd place with some very bizzare geography, but it wasn't too surprising considering they were technically in another realm. She hoped Latnok and Raclaw finally resolved their issues, cause she feared that if their minds were still weak, they would be easily susceptible to corruption. Not only the,. She was keeping a close watch on Dex as well. He already tried to betray them once. Who could be certain he won't try it again? Angora was trying to be ready for any eventuality. Her mind has a,ready suffered with the life she lead and the horrible visions Latnok gave her just to torture her, so she was certain she could face whatever mind task this mountain had...

Latnok nodded at Orion. "You sure as hell weren't wrong. This would be so much easier if all I needed to do was kill stuff. I thought psychic attacks from hive minds were bad - but I could always block those out. I haven't had that kind of luxury here. So much I have to put up with. But I have to - two others are counting on me to." With that in mind, he had to check on Shade. "Hey, Shade. How are you holding up? Feeling good? Need food or water?"

Angora wanted to respond, but she knew that would cause more retaliation from Larnok's part. Instead, she went for another approach.
"Just tell me Galaxy Dragon, just what exactly will we face? Neo couldn't tell me, and if Shade was already part of that corruption, won't he try to retain him as well... as will with the... other connections?" Angora said, looking slyly behind her to give a look to Latnok and Raclaw. She feared that if one of them were corrupted, or worse, killed, it could affect the others as well.

"Change of heart? I have no change of heart. Never did. I do what is practical," Latnok responded. "Before, it was practical to keep you restrained so you wouldn't hurt us - however, hurting or killing you was never my main intention, which is why I took off the collar before my 'death' would've triggered it.. Now that that's no longer feasible, but you seem to be able to manage yourself with our assistance it's practical to make sure you are doing well. You want the same thing we do." He was, at the end of the day, a pragmatist - moreso than Sere. Nothing would change that. "We struggled for a bit - have to make sure you're still fine."