darkSpyro

OOC: Sorry darknessdawn. Missed that last post

Angora had been too distracted talking to Sere and thinking of the new task at hand. She felt quite offended when when Sere said to return to her life as if it didn't matter at all. Not even Darkheart's cheer was enough to motivate her. She was about to reply to the human when Digi's high pitched buzzing reached her eardrum.
"What in the world was... hey! It's that thing? You finally fixed it?" she asked Star as she rubbed her ear, coming to inspect Digi and hoping the little black fox didn't felt too offended with her leaving his side.
"Does it work?" she asked again, wanting to know more about each species present, and unaware that Digi already did a useless scan on Shade.

As Sere and the others talked with each conversation interrupting the other-- Raclaw soon felt the relief and hope introduced by the new revelations revealed to Shade. Indeed, his own personal struggle with the corruption was now much easier to contain with the levels of corruption being much closer to that when he had first re-entered the threshold. The open connection was still there and he was still facing the corruption on two fronts, but it had been greatly pushed back helping him converse more of his energy for the threats that lied ahead of them. He also took the time to absorb his own personal revelations and what Sere had revealed to him.

'Huh... Falcon's Beak. I've-- I've seen this before. Julian, a human who specialized in the study of certain kinds of magic, had such a map. It was his research into the subject of Drow artifacts that led to me being able to overcome and override the collar. I never asked him about it, but he briefly mentioned something about wanting to eventually go to a hard to reach archipelago to further his studies. And he never did explain exactly where he had obtained the ancient knowledge that led to me eventually becoming free of the collar's restrictions.,' he telecommunicated to Sere while also revealing some of his thoughts. He recalled memories of a small but cozy lab, with various resources and some minor artifacts skewed about. He recalled looking an collection of various maps while his human family and Julian discussed something. One stood out in particular and it looked almost identical to what Sere had shown him.

OOC: So, should the users with the characters be the one with the info? SC for being the owner, darknessdawn for being his device? Or redwes for creating the image?

Angora became as exited as a child getting a new toy, and couldn't wait to use the now fixed technology.
"May I?" Angora asked politely, but she didn't even wait for Star to give Digi to her. She was so anxious to try it that she didn't give the Zorua a chance to reply. The troll had been curious about Shade and Raclaw the most, but since she was stuck with the wyvern for a while, she started with him.

"Alright thingamajig. Or Didi... can you please tell me about that?" Angora asked kindly, pointing Digi's sensor to Veris. In order to take care of him, she had to know as much as she could from his species.

OOC: Good question. I have the info should anyone else want to do the description, so I'll hold off.

"Ah... Adjudicator Julian..." Sere paused in thought, recalling everything that had happened with him up until now. "One of our top researchers. His knowledge has been quite pivotal in the creation and improvement of much of our magical equipment. He has been missing, presumed dead, for a while, though I never explicitly felt his life force burn out like I do with other Guardians. The then-newly-promoted Adjudicator Vellune, who had been under his tutelage, took over his role after that." With those comments, images of Julian researching and experimenting on various tools and artifacts, and Vellune acting in kind, floated through Sere's head and into the message.
"Though that is something to consider. He never really did know when to play it safe... Going to the Falcon's Beak, at a time when we were not willing to risk any man? He must've been after something really important. His ship likely either never made it there, or was destroyed on the way back. Far be it from his usual nature to not have a backup plan, though - crew mutiny? Seems unlikely. There may be something else keeping him on the island, perhaps."

OOC: I believe we should leave that decision between Sc and darknessdawn. I'll do it if you guys want me to though.

'Julian... an Adjudicator? I suppose I should've known, but if he was considered missing to the Guardians...,' Raclaw responded pausing before continuing and absorbing the revelation. He had never known or at least had never been told that Julian was a Guardian. 'If Julian was a Guardian and considered MIA, then what was he doing in my village? And why did he resort to using to using Drow magic to help me override my own collar? If he was indeed responsible for much of your magical equipment, then why didn't he just unlock it as Vellune did? And why didn't he say anything-- he never once mentioned the Guardians even after the collar came into my control and I bagan to search for my true past.,' he then said asking way too many questions at once.

'He did disappear shortly after he had helped me successfully override the collar, only mentioning something about research before leaving.,' he then said remembering that important detail. That revelation only brought him more questions, such as why Julian hadn't tried to contact the Guardians and make them aware of his presence. If it was true, then Julian had been playing the innocent bystander the whole time while being partly connected or formally connected to the Guardiuans themselves. And based off the images Sere had sent him, he knew it was true. For some reason, Julian had chosen to help him. And for another reason, he had chosen to keep both him and the Guardians a secret from each other.

Dex seeing that so many of the group where awake thought it was best to get some sleep. He did not want take any more part to the conversations going on.

"Granted, he wasn't considered MIA forever," Sere said. "He went missing around 10 years ago - he would have been working on research for us during his interactions with you, presumably. I do not handle program specifics - I leave that to the Adjudicators.
"As for what he was doing? If I recall correctly, he was attempting to find new ways to integrate many other different kinds of magic with our equipment... granted, having the collar in a more 'neutral' state is very unusual, and it's typically only done by completely disabling it. Typically, the collar is either restricting power or granting it - the latter being done for those we have placed a certain degree of trust in. Why would he... It is... generally considered a breach of protocol to activate the collar in dragon children." Sere emphasized the last point with images of a barn being burned down by a dragon child who had lost control of her powers.
"Did he pity you? No... that doesn't sound right. More likely, he saw an opportunity to further his research with you as a prototype. I wouldn't quite know the details, though - he was always rather ambitious in the matter. Sometimes too ambitious, if you ask me, but he produced results, so he had my confidence. If I were to be completely honest, I would most likely have recommended against doing such a thing with the collar of a young dragon, except in a completely controlled environment. He probably knew that.
"I only wish I wasn't quite as lenient - I always knew that his curiosity could end up being very dangerous to him. He did his job well, however, so I granted him a lot of leeway. And we see what it's cost us in the end..."

'I see.,' Raclaw said taking a moment to gather his thoughts. 'If that's true, then he indeed took a very unusual approach with my collar. From what I understand now about what he did and about how the collars were intended to work-- he introduced a new element into the mix. Using the magic described in an ancient Drow manual depicting what I would assume to be an ancient prototype of the collar or something similar-- he was able to ether awaken or introduce an entity within the collar. This... this entity is what allows me to control it and the bond I share with it--,' he stopped himself briefly peering into his CONNECTIONS. He then imagined what they would look like and sent that image alongside what he said next. 'For better or worse, this entity... the collar has become a part of my mental aurora. I never realized it until we crossed the threshold and its magic became blocked, but I have grown to depend on it as a result. I can't close off its connections and I've been forced to continually redirect some of my energy into forming a mental barrier between myself and the corruption. So long as the collar's magic was functioning, it had no negative effect on me-- until now.,' he then explained secretly hoping that there was something the Guardians could do to hopefully prevent such an scenario from happening in the future.

He sent the image of a grassy field representing his own aurora along two roads leading to the south and to the west. The road leading to the south was gold in color; with a solid foundation and leading to what he reimagined as an emerald-colored palace. It was evident that this road represented Latnok and the solid Guardian/ritual made connection. The road to the west was black in color; made of a mixture of dirt/gravel and was filled with many partial roadblocks along the way. This road was evident to representative of Shade or more specifically, the corruption within Shade. And finally to the north lied something much more troubling. What appeared to have used to have been a solid made road was now only a dead end. A strong wall of wind could be seen blocking access and strange shadow-like creatures, likely representative of the corruption or perhaps something worse, could be seen being pushed back again and again. This had to be the connection to the collar and what was now an open connection-- with the corruption trying to get closer and closer.

OOC: Got it.

Sere took a moment to gather his thoughts, somewhat perplexed. "Well, from my understanding so far, your collar would still, of course, still be similar enough to the other designs for those of us Guardians unfamiliar with it to perform modifications to it, though I do not know to what extent we would be able to adjust the more unique effects. As for any entity - sentient, sapient, or otherwise - that would indeed be something new to me. All of our other collars have no such thing in them, functioning purely based off of the principles of magic.
"Unfortunately, Drow magic is not something I am too familiar with. I believe Julian would have been the pioneer on that subject matter, at least as far as its integration into our own devices goes. Vellune may have learned something from him, or may have some of his notes, though Julian may have brought those notes with him. Although I do wonder what being he would use as a base for whatever manifests in your collar..." Sere became lost in thought once again, thinking of anything he could which might be somewhat similar.
"My sword, Grimbane. It is a sentient weapon. The only sentient tools I know of that have been in our possession at one point or another have all been legendary artifacts. Perhaps Julian was trying to recreate something of the sort."

OOC: Now everyone can describe their own species

As Angora listened to the static, waiting for a reply, she looked at how different Digi was now. Star did quite a good job for someone with no thumbs, but then again, he was a shapeshifter. It would be easy for him. Afterwards, she was thinking that after scanning everyone, she would scan herself... but... what if she didn't like what she hears? What if it would simply confirm the reason why Latnok and Sere hate her so much? She knew that trolls had a lousy reputation, but maybe it was worse than she expected. Despite being so rude and proud, and even violent when she needed to, she never thought of herself as an evil monster, but the humans really seemed to think so. It was too much of her to think about that, so she simp,y tried to concentrate on learning more about Veris so that maybe, just maybe, she can have a little bit of respect and appreciation.

OOC: I love how everyone starts posting whenever I begin making a long post or editing a post.

"Mountain Wyvern. The most prevalent wyvern species, related to dragons. Highly antagonistic of outsiders, especially other mountain species; they typically operate alone in the wild. Their excellent vision, high speed, and strength make them excellent at hunting down many different kinds of prey, on land, in the sky, and on the surface of the water. Their large demands for food limit the number which can share a territory. Their intelligence makes it possible to train them to follow complex orders, which, combined with their strength and ability to fly, makes them a common mount in the hands of organizations who can afford to feed, train, and maintain them."

OOC: Cause everyone's free at the same time

Angora listened with her mouth half open, really surprised on the details and this little machine's knowledge and ability to talk. It wasn't much information, but it was still enough. It was sad though, how Digi knew about the wyvern's status as a mount. It meant that they've had a long history of enslavement and limitations. But for now, knowing a bit about them, she was ready for the task.
"Well big guy. Looks like we're going to hang around for a while." Angora said as she approached the large creature, feeling rather proud to have befriended an animal that would usually be hostile to her kind. She still remembered their first meeting, where Veris tackled her and was only stopped by Sere. They've come a long way since then.
"So then... anything in particular you want to eat tomorrow?" she asked the wyvern, knowing that he couldn't understand her, but it was still rather fun to talk to him. She knew it wouldn't matter, since the wyvern has shown he would devour practically anything with meat. Now knowing a little more than before, Angora was determined to bond with him even more to have somebody that appreciate her, but most of all, to surprise Latnok and stop him from being such a jerk to her all the time.

OOC: I've updated the resource links in Raclaw's ref to lead to one shared FOLDER. It may also have something new for those who haven't seen it.

'Perhaps you're right, although I'm not sure he knew exactly what he manifested. This entity-- I don't know where it comes from, but it wants to be used. It respects my will and the restrictions set upon it by the collar, but it would happily be used for much much worse if it were allowed to. I don't think it ever wanted to be removed and it would happily serve as one of your prisoner collars. Or at least, that was the sense I got the last time I directly talked to it.,' Raclaw said briefly touching his own collar but then remembering that it didn't function where they were. 'If.. if he was trying to create another good artifact, than I believe he failed.,' he said looking at Sere. He briefly recalled the first time had spoken to it-- and override it. He didn't like the voices inside it then and he didn't like them now.

'You're also not the first to compare it to an artifact. Before we met Latnok, I had been briefly taken over by something and it actually recognized whatever now resides within this collar. It knew how to use it and it too spoke.,' he then added wondering what exactly went through the mind of Julian when he had decided to place such an entity within his own collar. It served him in a sense, but it had also made him dependent on it. And it probably knew that.

OOC: So busy today... apparently everyone else is, too.

"Well, we would certainly need more information on the particular methods used in order to have some sort of an idea on how to manage it," Sere said. "But tell me, what sort of presence, if any, can you feel from it now? Is it completely gone in this place, or simply inert? You know... I would like to learn more about the effects of this place on magic - what causes it to disrupt certain forms of magic.
"Either way, I would be very interested to learn what exactly he used as the base for whatever sentient entity is housed within your collar. Very likely that considering the conflicts at the time, it is some sort of ghost or something similar, though there is no guarantee of that. I really do hope we can recover Julian, but I'm not getting my hopes up." And indeed, Sere's experiences have taught him to know when to cut his losses. As much as he wanted every man to make it back home, he knew that it was an impossibility, and had to make decisions based on the reality.

OOC: So detailed redwes. Why so many edits? Also, I'm so curious how you managed to do that complex Pokedex with images and all

Angora sat besides the wyvern, actually waiting for some sort of response. Everybody else was either asleep, distracted, or deep in thought. The wide awake wyvern was the only one she had to talk to. But even with the me sided conversation, she was deep in thought herself. She still felt so sorry for the wyvern, limited and enslaved like that, but that had her thinking that Raclaw was once in the same position as well. He managed to escape, and there he was, fully able to talk and reason like the rest of them. Was it possible that Veris could do the same if he got loose from his boundaries?

OOC: The edits are because of me initially typing out a much longer post featuring the voices within the collar. I then remembered that it was blocked on the snow peak, later edited out some typos, and then added the link to the shared folder. As for the Pokedex; that is almost 100% Google Drawings using basic shapes, simple gradient tools, text boxes, image color options, and of course the original images. Google actually packs a lot of tools into Google Drive once you look into it. Posting soon.

OOC: Veris actually went to sleep when Sere commanded him to, Felines.

OOC: I know. Angora doesn't

After getting closer and hearing the wyvern's thunderous snoring, the little troll realized that Veris was deeply asleep and wasn"'t even flinching to her comments, not even the mention of eating. When Sere commanded him earlier to stand still so he could look for parasites, she didn't imagine that meant sleeping so soundly. Just what was done to this poor creature that made him so deliberately obedient? Angora left his side to let him sleep in peace and went to her usual corner in the cave, returning Digi to Star. She wasn't interested in scanning anybody else... for now. As she watched from her spot, she began staring at Raclaw. It was no ordinary stare either. It was a deep one, one that looked like she was trying to look deeply into the soul. It was hard to imagine this fluffy, talking creature once in the same, humiliating position as Veris. Just what did he do to escape? And why was he so interested in the humans when it was people like them who put him in that miserable position in the first place?

'I.. I can feel it trying and I can feel my own aurora desperately trying to connect to it. However, without the facilities of the collar, neither of us are able to properly secure the connection. It would seem as if it has grown just as dependent on the collar as I have. The only difference is that I still have the energy reserves to function while it simply remains inert, leaving me vulnerable in the process.,' Raclaw responded then thinking about Julian. 'I too would like to know what came of Julian. He was a good friend, even if he resorted to using me as some sort of guinea pig. Unfortunately, any research he had on him disappeared when he did. So the only viable copies remain at the home base, if he left anything.,' he then said obviously somewhat conflicted about how he now felt about Julian. He was too lost in thought to notice anything Angora was currently doing.

OOC: Started a write-up about information about the Guardians, which can be found here. I will expand on it as I have time.

"At the very least, heading to Falcon's Beak is something we would have to do in order to follow the lead on your parents. As much as I would dislike following flimsy leads, it's the very least we can do for you, as a result of what you have gone through as a result of our actions, Sere said, with a tinge of regret. "The main concerns would be chartering a ship there - we would need to gather an experienced crew and a highly durable vessel, as we do not train professional sailors. The cost, while it would be significant, is something we can handle. But this is all something we would have to do after resolving the current matter at hand."

OOC: I've added it to the resource folder for convenience.

'Thank-you. I appreciate that, as well as everything else you've already done. If it wasn't for you and Latnok, I wouldn't know nearly as much as I do now.,' Raclaw said sounding very grateful. He was surprised to actually detect a hint of regret in the Godfather's voice. 'And you're right. The current matter must take precedence and the sooner we can get off this mountain-- the better.,' he then added knowing that there was a ticking time bomb sitting between him and the corruption. It was only a matter of time, however slowly, until the corruption eventually overwhelmed his ability to block it.

OOC: That looks interesting. Can't wait for the rest

After staring for a while, Angora was glad that Raclaw took no notice, for she knew that staring was rude, and it angered her when someone did it to her. She lied down, trying to sleep so that she could be well rested for the hunt tomorrow, thinking it will probably be the last one for a while. For how much longer will they remain in that cave? When will she face this dark entity? She was beginning to think that Orion's plan was to remain there until the Darkmatter came to them specifically.

Unable to sleep, Angora became bored, and wondered if she should either examine the sleeping Veris and study his external anatomy or train with Orion. Not wanting to disturb the sleeping pseudo dragon, she decided for the latter.
"Well then, might as well train again, don't I?" Angora said to the Galaxy dragon, not caring if he was busy. She was doing this more out of boredom, but at the same time to ask him many questions...

Angora activated her armor and took out her sword, already knowing how to command her new magic. Before Orion could attack her, she quickly went to the point and asked about what she was about to face.
"So then... this Darkmatter thing... why are we stuck in this cave? Are we waiting for it to come here?" she asked, the group not having moved from there since yesterday, and it looked like they were going to be a second day there. As she waited for a reply, she was paying attention to Orion's body; tail, claws and jaws, just in case he wanted to surprise her again before replying...

Angora did a backflip, evidently startled by the trick. She didn't like when somebody cheated in battle, but she knew Orion was doing whatever it took for her to prepare for whatever despicable attack this evil entity did. Whatever it was, it was guaranteed it wasn't going to play fair.
"Duplicating yourself? That's low." she still commented, even after knowing it was a necessary step. During her backflip, she kicked sand to his snout in order to distract him, the same tactic she used against predators that tried to surprise her this way.

Angora did some mock attacks with her sword, first to his tail so she could dodge it and jump straight to his head, trying to hit him with the other end of her sword. She didn't know what kind of weakness the evil being had, but the most common ones were usually the head, mouth and chest, or in case of some flying creatures, the wings... that is, if Darkmatter had anything that resembled normal animal extremities...

Angora had materialized her armor and sword, but she distractedly forgot about the very important shield. Since there was no time to give the order, Angora used the sword as a shield, with the pointy end getting caught between Orion's claws. She turned around his paw in order to face it's front and prevent the dragon from pinning her down, and in that little lapse of time, she took off her cape (which were actually her clothed rags) and threw it towards Orion's eyes, so that in the time it took him to take it off she could materialize the shield and have a much better defense, all while pulling her sword from Orion's grasp and ready to strike him when he lunged at her once more...

As Angora trained, Raclaw briefly turned his attention towards the cave entrance and towards Shade. He wondered if this 'Falcon's Beak' might possibly hold an answer for Shade as well. He could feel the dragolet hurting and knew that the closer he got to finding what he was after-- made Shade's desires only seem that much further away.

OOC: I suspect we'll hear more about this when this eventually turns into a sequel.

The whole time, Sere was observing the training session, noting Angora's capabilities. Quite a bit of finesse for a troll - he wasn't expecting that much.
"Not bad, perhaps better than most of our Apprentices," he telepathed to Angora. "But you'll need more than some cheap parlor tricks to overcome more dangerous foes. How about I make your training a little more interesting?" Rather curious as to how Angora would perform, Sere prepared to cast a shadow spell.

"Well, if you know your foe will play dirty, you use tricks too." Angora replied, concentrating all her senses to her surroundings. Orion could attack her from any angle, maybe even from under the ground, so she had even her feet ready. She didn't noticed she had an audience until Sere spoke telepathically to her, and what he said was enough for her to realize Orion wasn't going to be her only sparring partner.

"Hey hey, what do you think you're doing? Who said you could be part of this training session?" Angora said furiously, seeing Sere was preparing to do something. Perhaps attack her as well? Nevertheless, she didn't let his mind talk distract her and eliminate Orion from her line of sight, knowing that he would probably use this potential distraction to attack her again...

"Battles aren't always nice and even, predictable duels," Sere said. "Let's see what you're really capable of." It was polite to ask - but Angora needed to be tested. With a pulling motion, Sere drew out Angora's shadow, and it stood as its own entity, battle-ready.

Angora sensed her own shadow's eerie presence, and remembered immediately this was the very same tactic Sere used on Latnok just the other day. This was so unfair. Not only did she had to battle Orion, she also had to practically battle herself. But, she knew her own tactics, so she believed she could defeat herself in battle, but with Orion in the way as well, it was going to be near impossible to defeat the both of them if they were attacking at the same time...

Seemingly heedless of Orion's presence, the shadow began with a thrust at Angora, as if to probe her defenses. Sere remained observant of the training session. "As a shadow, it can do a few things you cannot. Fight hard, and think quickly. You may want to think of the nature of shadows..."

OOC: Looking forward to a sequel. I'll probably do a write-up on equipment when I get home.

Angora was furious that Sere got in the way of her training, treating her as one of his stupid apprentices. Wasn't it clear to anybody that her training was with Orion alone? Still, she shook off the anger, knowing it would distract her. An angry person couldn't think clearly, something she has learned the hard way in the past. Plus, Orion didn't seem to stop Sere, probably not minding his sudden interference.

As Angora swiftly dodged both her shadow and Orion's sudden attacks, she was first examining their patterns. For a shadow, despite having advantages, they had their disadvantage as well. The cave was disproportioned, so a shadow was too. As Angora dodged and jumped away from the relentless attacks, she used the dirt from the ground to blind Orion, but at the same time to unshape the ground and make it easier for her to identify the shadow and eliminate it's element of surprise. Unlike most of her kind, Angora was a quick thinker. Her harsh life has taught and forced her to think under pressure to survive, cause if she had used a troll's usual way of attacking first, ask questions later, she would've been long dead.

Digi had whirred briefly before intoning "Wyvern. Said to be a lesser relative of dragons, most dragons immediately deny any relation to them and are often offended by the comparison. Much like humans are with apes. Many have poisonous stingers. While semi-intelligent, they're often willing to act as pets so long as they're tended to. Prone to overeating and hoarding treasure and shiny baubles."
Star forced himself to not show his frustration with how things were going for him.
Darkheart grabbed Angora's shadow through her own. "Now, now. Two against one is not a fair fight." She grinned at Angora.

Angora had been busy with the fight that she didn't hear Digi's extra info. Her concentration was finally broken when she saw what Star was doing.
"Hold it! Time out! Wait! That... you. I don't think that's allowed! Two against one might be unfair, but I bet this Darkmatter thing won't play fair..." Angora said, appreciating the help but rather frustrated for the interference. Could the group actually help her in the real fight? What if they couldn't touch whatever entity that was? What would happen? Orion said nothing about the group lending a hand, so Angora feared that she was going to be all alone in the actual battle.

Darkheart grinned. "I'm immensely familiar with dark magic. I can wield my shadow as much as my own claws and teeth."
Digi whirred and registered that Angora hadn't heard him, so he repeated the description of Wyverns.

With things calmed at the moment, and making sure Orion wasn't going to attack her again, Angora could finally hear what Digi was saying.
"The thingamajig is talking... wyverns? Wasn't it done with it's description?" she asked, having ignored what Darkheart said.
"Please you two, let's just put the challenge on hold. I need... to do this." Angora said as she picked up her rags and eliminated the armor, sword and shield to be more comfortable. She casually picked up Digi and listened to what he said, and once he was done with the explanation, she whispered.
"Hey, know a wyvern's favorite meals?" she asked secretly, wanting to surprise Veris with something he really liked so that she could bond with him even more and surprise Latnok.

OOC: Um, Felines? Star wasn't even mentioned in the last post. That was Darkheart. Star's been silent.
Digi whirred extra quietly and checked the database, then whispered back "Wyverns are mostly carnivorous, so meat is generally best. Exotic meats will likely win their heart. Be careful if feeding by hand, they might take the hand with the meat by mistake. Aside from meat? They likely enjoy sweet flavors like fruits. Many carnivores and omnivores adore sweets."

OOC: My apologies. Got the names mixed up. I read too fast.

"Exotic meats... hmm... got it. Thank you." Angora said, not feeling the slightly least embarrassed about talking to a machine. She was so exited with the device that she even stopped asking Star for permission. But now, she had the info she needed. That terrain was weird, full of many oddball creatures, so there was no doubt everything there was exotic. Now satisfied with the information, Angora concentrated on Darkheart.
"Well now, I do appreciate your... interference back then... but I don't think it will be that easy in the real fight." Angora said, somewhat scolding the dark dragon. She would've appreciated some help when the time comes, but Orion seemed quite adamant in letting it all to her and nobody else.

Darkheart shook her head. "It won't be easy. But you don't have to go alone. We'll be there for support. Right Star?" She gave him a look.
He looked up then suddenly grinned, though it looked even faker than usual. "Indeed. Have the support many of us never got." There was a subtle venomous undertone, as Star envied the support Angora was getting.

Sere, fervently taking notes before then, sighed in frustration. "Well, I take it the training session is over then? We'll never be able to test Angora's limits in a perfectly fair fight. You get from training what you put into it." He then stopped to take a look at his notes, before returning to speaking. "Let's see... Significantly more agile than an average troll. Faster than an average troll. And unlike almost every other troll, seems to know that there's more to winning a fight than pure strength. I have no indication of superior physical strength, but that's... to be expected."

Angora was about to reply to Darkheart when she heard what Sere said. As glad as she was to have some support, she still didn't feel appreciated enough. After letting Sere read his notes, she spoke herself.
"Can you tell that to Latnok once he wakes up? Let him know I'm not just a stupid, violent troll. You saw how I moved. I had to practice like that all my life to avoid hunters and crazy predators." Angora expressed, knowing she should feel proud for her abilities, but felt nothing of the sort. Being so small in size had it's advantages. She was more agile and attacks were more likely to miss, but at the same time, it was a curse. It caused her to be rejected by her own kind. And she was still targeted by certain creature hunters, regardless if they knew she was a troll or something else. And predators always confused her for an easy meal precisely for her size, so even if she still had the same brute strength trolls were known for, she still had to struggle more than others just to be alive.

Star suddenly snarled. "I don't see how! I have been fighting completely and utterly alone for thirty-plus years, and I've survived just fine! Relying on others just makes you vulnerable to pain when you inevitably lose them! The one who can survive alone lasts longer than those who need others' help!" He turned away, trying to hide tears. Digi... Father... All of you... I'm sorry I failed to protect you... All the emotions that boiled within just overflowed all at once. He started to leave the cave.
Darkheart called after him. "Star! where are you going?"