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Post by Aurora Arctos on Nov 19, 2019 13:57:05 GMT -6
Aurora growled to herself as she sat upon the ground, a fist being brought down upon the wall behind her. The ice of the Mountain's Heart rippled at her touch, which could hurt it no more than an earthling could hurt her. They were one, and that was why Aurora was feeling such frustration. Here within the Mountain's Heart, as she had taken to calling it, she had expected to be able to find the peace needed in order to try this 'meditation' thing, but despite her best attempts she had yet to succeed. A sigh leaves her as she looks out upon the small cavern she was in. Its ice walls glistened in the soft blue light that pervaded the entirety of the room, refracting off and on to the other walls and ground before it. The snow carpeted flooring was cool to her touch as she rested upon it, embracing the one bonded with the Mountain's Heart like one would usually that a loved one. Wisps of dancing blue light floated through the air around her seemingly drawn to the Arcosian yet too afraid to go near her while she struggled with her emotions. The octagonal pillar of perfectly carved ice that made up the centre of the room and was the namesake of the area continued to hum and pulse with power, to which... to which something inside of her as resonating with, to a small degree.
She had come to this area in order to try a practice the Earthlings referred to as 'Meditation'. Various different recordings of monastic traditions had all had this singular practice in common, and she suspected that they were also coded records of acts of magic used by those that had attained something known as 'Enlightenment' through this act of meditation. Aurora wasn't entirely sure what that was, and for now she didn't care to find out. Instead, she had read an interesting tid bit within a journal of an old monk relating to how meditation allowed one to centre themselves and recognise certain parts of their Chakra, or as she knew it, Ki. That had been all well and good, but as she kept reading this old monk had gone on to try and explain a correlation between the fantastical abilities of some historical monks and the act of meditation itself. That had been enough to spur Aurora onward, and after a few days of mild researching she had come to the conclusion that meditation was something she needed to try, if she wished to master her magical powers somewhat more.
Yet as she sat there, in the Heart, the Arcosian had come across a problem she did not consider and was potentially too afraid too afraid to face. A sigh laves her as she tilts her head back to look up towards the localised blizzard that acted as the Heart's ceiling, her horns melding into the ice wall she leans upon and being soothed by the magical ice. She had spent so long on the move, dealing with one problem to the next problem because that was how she had been handling it. She knew this. Her mind had gotten used to having at least three ideas, plans and thoughts running at a time. The sheer chaos of her escape from Arcose and everything on Earth, not to mention her mission, they had been the perfect excuse. Exactly what she had needed in order to escape her own mind, by clogging it up with everything she possibly could. But now that her entire goal was to empty her mind of all thought, and then focus upon a single thing? She couldn't hold them off anymore. The screams.
A shuddering sigh leaves her body as she returns to the lotus position she had memorised, as there was no way she could bring any device or paper in here without it freezing over almost instantly. The magical cold was something even she felt, although far less than compared to when she had first stumbled across this place. Her tail swished within the snow beneath her but soon began to still as she placed her hands upon her legs and began the breathing techniques that were needed. Meditation, much like anything that could possibly be referred to as 'Training', did not come naturally to her like power did so she needed to follow what she remembered to the letter. In and out. In... and out. In... and... and... it was there! The small wisp of her magic, it was- the screaming filled her head. The chaos. Arcosians flitting through the sky or running through the streets. Her brother's fearful look towards her, her mother demanding he stay by her side, her father's orders to help him get them home. The flight to their house. The small hug she had been given before her brother ran back into the house with them to grab what would be needed. The lights flashing as the gods above fought. The boom as her entire world was brought crumbling to the ground. Blood on her lips, in her mouth, on her, touching hers, NOT HERS-
Aurora darts forward, eyes widen open as her chests heaves and her body shakes. She couldn't- this wasn't- every time she tried it happened. The memories, loose and rampaging through her head. She had pushed them back. This wasn't worth it. But she had to. Her body shook violently, not from the cold but fear and terror and all she had felt that fateful day. Slowly, she began to curl up, admitting defeat for just a little while as she hides her face within her knees. It wasn't... how was she supposed to do this? The mountain she needed to climb to reach them... it only kept increasing. She needed to push herself. To keep moving forward. But this was a step that she just... she couldn't... a small sob wracks her body. Then more as the sadness and shamed overwhelmed her, all alone within the mountain. She didn't cry. She couldn't. Not a single tear left her even as she shook. She had to do this. She had to keep moving, to help her people. But the gap was too much, and she couldn't do this, and... and... it hurt. So, so much.
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Post by Kalaboo on Nov 20, 2019 8:38:21 GMT -6
Kalabas owed it to himself to return to the place where he first met Chill, on the polar heights of Mount Frappe, where the air could freeze in one's lungs and strong winds launch children down ice-spiked ravines. Mount Frappe certainly had an undeserved reputation, to the saiyan ghost it was just a mountain that towered over the horizon for miles upon miles without end, untouched by civilization and thus quite a pleasant trek to take. Sure, he was a peerless warrior hailing from a planet where nature itself had conspired against him, and Vegeta sometimes had a quite unpleasant radioactive drizzle too, and he was dead and thus impervious to natural cold, but... well, with so much going for him, he would be a fool not to take the chance to enjoy the sights. He was bound to find something interesting too, like the frozen remains of a long-forgotten beast, or a previously thought dead tribe of people, or even a warrior of similar power to his! All of them unlikely, so he just leisurely scaled to the peak instead of flying or running against the wall. The air was thin at this height but he had no use for it, he kept hunched close to the ground as his fingers clawed at the rock deep under the snow, slowly tearing an upward line through the thick white blanket of the crest. His ki was low like that of a maggot, his transparent body almost invisible, so well-blended that the owls he spied kept feasting on carrion as he walked between them. At some distance of the shriveled goat was a pod, old to be sure, but certainly not of Saiyan or even Fleet making. Dented as it was, its red hull and cyan portholes reminded him of Roma's ship, only on a far less impressive scale... He decided to keep it. He patted his chestpiece in search of a capsule, and then his pants and headband. There was nothing in the usual hidden pockets, or in his more hidden ones, and even the most well-hidden recesses carved into the padding and fabric were empty. For once, Kalabas had no capsule, not even an active one. The saiyan cursed, his shout scaring away the owls, leaving him alone with a ship he wanted to be his and a very dead goat. He had to do it the old-fashioned way, didn't he? He grabbed the pod between his hands, raised it well above his head, and kept on with his slow ascension. The pod was not slowing him down in the least and he could not die of hipotermia, so why would he turn back and give up? Who knows what treasures awaited him? He found, or rather, ungracefully slipped on some ice into a cave burrowed into the side of the mountain. As he fell flat on his face the ship slipped from his grip, rolling down the cave as the saiyan again found his footing. He lurched after it, annoyance clear in his growls, until he found the most unexpected of rotten surprises. An arcosian. Now, he didn't hate them as much as he once did, perhaps not as much as he should, but the recent war and the old shared history did make him more than a bit suspicious of this unwelcomed... host? Well, arcosians did hail from a cold planet, so perhaps this really was her house. Kalabas stopped the pod with a backhanded swat, then noticing the strange trembling of the stranger. Like a... sob? "Are you unwell?" what a stupid question for a saiyan ghost to ask to an arcosian loner! He should have left her alone!
Kalabas uses [ UT1 | UT2 ] Cloak and Dagger to lower his PL to 1!
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Post by Aurora Arctos on Nov 20, 2019 19:07:19 GMT -6
Aurora jerks up at the sound of another person's voice, who had managed to make it into the Heart without the magic detecting them at all. Within almost an instant she moved into a combat stance, although she was still rather uncomfortable entering it when compared to the likes of the Saiyans. It simply wasn't as practised a motion compared to that race, and felt stiff on her body. Although there was the potential that that was simply because of the the fact that this 'Karate' was an earthling martial art. After all, it was not like she could go home to pick up some tips. Her mind raced as she quickly shored up the dam within it once more and pushed her emotions back, looking around for where the voice had come from before her eyes settled upon a figure she had almost somehow missed. She peers at it, the blue glow of the Mountain's Heart somehow making it harder to focus upon the figure. It was just... something about it, as if it almost wasn't there. Eventually however, although it took a few seconds, she was able to focus upon the figure and whatever fugue was there cleared up.
The arcosian's eyes widen at the sight of a saiyan, in full battle armour, seemingly just standing there in the heart without a care in the world. As if reacting to the instant wave of anger, the moment the Arcosian taps into her magic the entire cave warped and shifted into a variety of spikes and sharp points aimed directly towards the Saiyan. Aurora felt that familiar hate begin to wash up over her, but then... it began to ebb away. Once again replaced with that familiar feeling of sadness and emptiness that she had thought she had just locked away but evidently had been let loose when she saw the species responsible for all her misery in the first place. The cave slowly began to melt back into its original beauty as the wisps of light returned from where they had vanished the moment there was a stranger within the cavern. Aurora drops her stance, arms hanging loose by her side as she lets out a sigh. It didn't seem he was much of a threat, certainly nothing like Yanwang had been. She could feel that ogre's power, even without her scouter, and this was nothing even approaching that. Quite the opposite, actually. She peers towards the Saiyan silently. It was almost as if he was a ghost, he was that untraceable. Hard to even notice.
"I..." She begins, opening and closing her mouth a few times as she tries to figure out what to say. Or if she should even say anything. It was a saiyan, for Kami's sake. The enemy. No. Not the enemy, no matter how much she might have wished they were. She needed to remember that. Remember Kuma and Ash and the others. "I... I'm not sure. I don't think so." She finally manages to get out, trying to choose her words carefully so as to hold back the potential tide they could become. "I lost... something precious to me. My-My family." It stil hurt to say, the pain tearing through her chest as she tries to keep speaking past a lump growing in her throat. "They were killed when Arcose was taken over. A-A stray shot. I fled the planet, and made it to earth." Why was she saying this? He was a stranger! But with every word, the pain lessened, just a little. It spurred her to keep going. "I swore I'd grow stronger. To-to try and help them. My people. My home. But... I miss them. So, so mu-" Her voice breaks, and her body begins to tremble as she looks down towards the ground. "So much. And the gap between me a-and those that killed them only seems to grow bigger every day. I've been pushing myself. I've been trying, but it doesn't seem to be enough."
Aurora pauses, before a small smile comes to her face and she looks up towards the Saiyan stranger. Literally the worst two possible combinations for someone she could be sharing this with. She straightens up and wipes at her nose, before shaking her head and crossing her arms towards the Saiyan, only a small shake in her arms."Sorry, I shouldn't be saying this to you. A moment of weakness, I hope you understand. Not like I could tell this to any of my allies on this planet. They all see me as... I don't know. Competent, I suppose. I hope. This is the one place I can come to be alone, or at least I thought so, and I let down my guard."
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Post by Kalaboo on Nov 20, 2019 21:47:21 GMT -6
Kalabas watched with some surprise as the arcosian slipped into some silly earthling stance, her speed and spirited look certainly clashing with the noticeable awkwardness of her footwork. For someone who did not show not a whole lot of fighting ability, her power level was certainly quite high. The ghost decided to stay on his guard, and with good reason, as suddenly more ice spikes than what he could care to count were pointed at him. Was this some sort of telekinesis or magic? He hated magic. Held at spikepoint, he merely crossed his arms. If this space skink wanted to battle then a battle would be what she was getting! He waited for the first blow to be dealt, whether to prove that he was beyond her reach or in an attempt to avoid hostilities he wasn't sure, but now that he thought about it he really was waiting for it for quite a while now. The ice that threatened to impale him began changing back to its original form, a frozen beauty that Kalabas could appreciate somewhat more that it did not threaten to skewer him. The arcosian wasn't that grotesque-looking either, certainly not as propaganda would have led him to believe. He watched, with clear confusion, as she struggled to even begin to make a sound. Was this fear, was she with the Fleet then? Had she recognize him? Peace between both sides was won with inordinate struggle, it made sense that the moribund stragglers of the Fleet took to places as far and desolate as some cave in some mountain in some planet. As Kalabas suspected, she was unwell. What surprised him was that she was talking to him at all, admitting that she cried for her... family. Caught by a stray blast hurled by a fighter leagues of power ahead of them, a death as senseless as it was avoidable. Kalabas fought on Arcose twice, first alongside Ramen and then by Cress, Nashua and Kayen's side, it was very likely that he was the one that had... killed them. He sought vindication, solace, during his first time there he even vouched to do away with the planet, along with every man, woman and child in it. Had the Fleet not done the same to Vegeta? Would they not keep on massacring planet after planet if not stopped there and then? Even now he feared what would happen if Arcose was left to its own devices, the rebellion and slaughter that would be bred from such anger, such resentment left unrestrained. He had fought on the capital world with more care the second time, his thirst for blood restrained to individuals and not people, but his ghostly form... it was more conceptual than corporeal, a puppet with a tangle of strings, none of them allowing for fine motion. It was very likely that the blast that had destroyed this woman's family was of his own making... A chilling thought. He... knew a meeting of this sort was likely, most warriors of his caliber sooner or later crossed paths with their victims, but like this? So suddenly? He felt guilt, whether from his past anger or current incompetence, he resented them both. "Weakness?" he took a step forward, leaving the ship behind, very slowly laying his hand on her shoulder to give a reassuring squeeze, from which he would retreat should he even get a hint of hostility "I... understand, really. I really, really do. I was there when the Fleet took over Vegeta, I saw as my compatriots laid dying and wailing by the hundred on the streets, heard the relays of my comrades being slaughtered to a man, all the while your people were... laughing. They made jokes, bets, kept tallies, blew away anyone and anything they thought would make a noise. I fled to Earth, promised to become stronger than any of them, I went back to Arcose and you know what I saw?" he no longer held back his power, revealing himself in full "Targets, all over. People I could not see as people, a history I wanted to see forgotten, a planet whose ash I wished to scatter to the void between the stars... Don't you see? I became them. The warriors that would kill families, children and all, that saw no difference in neither civilian or combatant. I was stopped by my commander, and to this day I thank her for it. I know that sooner or later I would come to my senses, I would look and realize that... this is a cycle. There is no vindication, no end to this, just an age of wary peace that follows one of wars, massacres, death, one that quiets down again when both sides become too fragile to carry on... Power that is not matched by an as-powerful wisdom is a dangerous thing, one begins to in what ways they can shape the world around them, the many wrongs that need righting... But I... I understand, you see? This anger, this loss. Your family, country, but... they can be restored, like mine were. Your family can be wished back, your country can be made anew, into something better, something that does not depend on war or slavery or... anything that the Saiyan Solar Empire of old relied upon. Our people are flawed, our history soaked with blood, and yet... Yet I find myself comforting an enemy. I don't see you as a target, I see you as I was, I see that I can help you in ways nobody did to me." he hesitated "I- I think I owe you as much, at least."
Kalabas drops [ UT1 | UT2 ] Cloak and Dagger!
Current PL: 152,000
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Post by Aurora Arctos on Nov 21, 2019 8:10:37 GMT -6
Aurora flinched back as the Saiyan grabbed her by the shoulder and stared firmly towards the ground. She didn't want to be touched, she didn't want... she didn't want any of this. Her mission, her life on earth. No matter how good it was, all she wanted was her home back and her family alive. But neither were possible, all because she wasn't strong enough. It was because of that that she was hiding in a cave on a nobody planet, bawling her eyes out (or as well as she could with the sudden inability to cry) and being comforted not just by a Saiyan but one that, as she listened, had every right to despise her race as much as she had despised theirs only a short while ago. If not more. It wasn't... it didn't make sense. "The fleet..." She begins, fingers flexing as if literally trying to grab at the words she was looking for. What could she say to this Saiyan? She looks up towards him, her eyes hardening but the weakness still evident there. "The fleet was not Arcose. It hadn't been for a long time until its destruction." She responds, voice firm and unyielding there. "Sure, there were those of us who supported it. Just like there are Saiyans that support the- the takeover of Arcose, but that doesn't mean we, my people as a whole, were behind it. I was in my third year of high school when the massacre occurred. My entire class watched with horror." She didn't like remembering that day, a small shiver running through her at the thought and decidedly not the magical cold of the Heart. They hadn't been her people, but such an attack had been beyond unwarranted, and even at 16 she had known it was a mistake. Looks like, years late, she was confirmed to be right.
"Those soldiers? The ones who laughed and made bets? The ones who attacked your home and killed your people, before conquering your planet?" She continues, hands balling into fists as she stares towards the Saiyan with conviction in her eyes. "They are dead. And I'm glad they are. They deserved it and if I could have? I would have killed them myself." It was the truth, she knew. Her teeth ground, before she forced herself to continue. "As for you, Saiyan... I'm sure you understand me. You've lost much, I can... well, i'm not sure if I can tell, but I'd like to believe you're not so cold as to lie to someone when they're feeling like... this. But it's not up to me to understand you. It's not up to me to forgive you. That's up to those you've hurt, and yourself." Just saying it was enough to cause her physical pain, but with each word the pain in her soul, something so much worse, it... lessened. Grew less severe, more an aching throb than a knife in her heart. So, in light of that, she continued.
"You're right." She admits, looking for the words to properly articulate herself. They came... surprisingly easy. It was something she had thought about for a long time while on this planet, between training and research. "It is a cycle. We're nothing but scared, spiteful children, playing at a semblance of reason and subsisting off of hatred. A rocket propellant as- as potent as it is volatile, and frighteningly self sufficient. It's all just... hate, war and aggression followed by a brief moment of respite that's more like- like reloading a weapon than tending to our wounds. Ages, millennia of just... senseless combat and violence, spurred by a hatred NO ONE CAN REALLY REMEMBER! " Her voiced raises until she is shouting, the anger within her and those words causing the cave to ripple before calming once more along with herself as she reigns in her emotions. "But you're wrong. We can break the cycle. I don't know how, not yet, but I know it starts with... with things like this." She gestures between the two of them, indicating the scene around them in which a Saiyan was listening to an Arcosian and even comforting her. "Our people are not natural enemies, no matter what others say. We're just... misguided, or-or lied to, or something like that. That's why I'm here. I'm not looking... I'm not looking to prolong it. I don't want to rip my home back and hurt those beneath like I was hurt. I don't even want to kill anyone. I just want to be strong enough to help. My people don't have a champion to represent them. Not like you Saiyans. The only one of us that could even rival you? He tried to kill us all."
"As for the dragon balls... I don't want them. This isn't a problem that can be just wished away, and I refuse to shackle my people with some sort of magical mind control, forcing them to act and behave in any sort of way. Even if they wouldn't realise it. Because that isn't a solution. That's only prolonging the issue. An issue so deeply ingrained it requires conscious thought and effort to change. It just needs a push." She continues to stare directly into the Saiyan's eyes, not a hint of fear in her even as she realises just how powerful this being was. He could squash her like a fly if he so wished, she knew that. But it had to be said. Everything she had bottled up, or thought since she came to earth. "And as much as I do want my family back... My people come first. The quest for the dragon balls requires tools I don't have, time I don''t have, and power that I certainly don't have. A... friend of mine. A little girl by the name of Belle. She's looking for them too. Yet she came across another person searching for the balls and they broke her. A child. She was in crutches when I met her." Just the thought of what had been done to the crown princess was enough to make her aura flare and body shake from rage. "So. After all that, are you still willing to... to help me? Whoever you are?"
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Post by Kalaboo on Nov 21, 2019 12:26:10 GMT -6
Aurora answered with firm, resolute words, but all the same Kalabas could see in them and in her eyes a pain, a weakness he would have exploited if only they had met under less auspicious stars. Even now, despite everything he had said, despite how hard he willed it not to be so, his mind raced with ploys and stratagems to do away with this arcosian, tear her limb for limb, torture her for every scrap of intel she knew. She spoke of comrades, did she not? How well organized were they, how powerful? Were they hidden away like her, or did they take to the streets, in an attempt to blend in with the common folk? He wasn't afraid, simply outraged at these thoughts of his, even if their utility was undeniable. Still, he hadn't made an enemy yet, she was talking, and he could help. He wanted to help. It was true, what she said, however. The Fleet was not Arcose, the soldiers that razed his homeland were not Arcose, rather, they were made that way by a system that had established itself for generations on Arcose, and grown alongside it so thoroughly that to even suggest the two could be told apart was either facetiousness or naivety...
No, Arcose was the heart and mind of the Fleet, and warped in such a way that it cultivated a culture that had fomented the invasion that now had brought occupation by the Saiyan Kingdom. He could only hope that his own people would know better than try to incorporate Fleet Space into the broader Kingdom instead of, say, puppeteer with great care the rabble of arcosian society so it would tame its more disagreeable traits. He saw no other way to break the cycle, simple dialogue would not suffice now, or even instigate change that could last more than the immediate... Yet, as he peered into her crimson eyes... Were they really beyond salvation? Here she was, not only talking to him but opening up, laying bare the truth, her fears, everything... While he plotted when to take her prisoner, and how. It was not the brutal execution he would have dealt but a year ago, and if he had - well not changed, necessarily - but refined his stance so thoroughly perhaps others could too. No, they were not natural enemies, warring people for certain, but that was a product of history and not a necessity brought forth by nature. If so, arcosians would have been long extinguished, as the saiyans time and time again proved to be superior in virtually all facets imaginiable. When was the last time that a saiyan tried to destroy his own homeplanet? Probably never. Yet, Aurora showed a desire for change, for stability, where many others would have doubled down on the vices that had brought them low. Others like... Kalabas. He wonder how much he had contributed to the current state of affairs, if the good he did was too insipid and the bad too powerful. Wracked by guilt he found himself throwing Aurora into his arms, into a hug that never came. Instead, he had her seized by the shoulders, with a solemn look of madness that froze beyond the walls around them.
"Who hurt her?" he murmured with a transcendent chorus, a manifestation of his heightening anger "Who hurt my Belle?" pain shot to his head, he let go of Aurora, before he gave in to more foul impulses. He rubbed his temple, hissing. "I... call me Masque." he said, taking up the name of a demon who had once possessed him, it was only fitting "I... saw her, I thought it was an accident but... She didn't want me to worry, I don't know." Kalabas regained his composure, his glare, albeit a more controlled one.
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Post by Aurora Arctos on Nov 24, 2019 21:05:57 GMT -6
Aurora found herself in a grip she couldn't escape, not that she bothered to try. The sheer difference in power was something rather... palpable, she supposed was the word. Of course, the Heart didn't agree with her on that as Kalabas would find the entirety of the cave pointed at him and the thrum of the central pillar beginning to increase in volume and power, rattling the ground around them and shaking the mountain itself it seemed. A warning, Aurora was sure, but with a few thoughts she was able to... well, not calm it. It wasn't awake enough for that sort of thing, but she managed to dull and lessen the sheer amount of magic pouring out by applying some weight to their connection. She looked up towards the powerful Saiyan, this... Masque, brow furrowed as concern flashed through her. He knew Belle? That was... less surprising than Aurora would like. Her queen seemed to get around far too much for the Arcosian to feel happy about, but at least she had had a positive effect upon this Saiyan. There was certainly potential use in having someone as powerful as this around, and with an emotional connection to Belle... Wait. No. She shakes her head as he releases her, chastising herself. It was exactly that sort of thinking that could ruin... whatever was happening here, and it was far too big a step to give up on.
"I-I don't know what they look like." Aurora admits, sighing to herself as she looks down at her fist. Clenching and unclenching, she does her best to ignore that feeling of purple helplessness that had erupted within her the moment he had grabbed her. "Their name was Garon. That's about as much as she told me, and no matter who I asked or questioned, I couldn't find out any more." It had... certainly frustrated Aurora, after hours of calls and research on all different levels. Absolutely nothing. The thought was enough to make her lip curl, but she quickly stamped down on those emo- no. This was her chance, possibly her only chance for the foreseeable future, to say exactly what she was feeling. She was smart enough to recognise that she really couldn't afford to let it go, otherwise it would become... unhealthy, she supposed the word for it was. Another sigh leaves her. "Then again, I suppose it's fortunate that I couldn't find this Garon. Odds are I wouldn't have been able to actually do anything." If they were searching for the dragon balls, and were capable of doing that to Belle, there was almost certainly no way Aurora could have managed to come out on top.
Then her eyes narrowed as she looked towards Masque, crimson studying every aspect of him. "Actually... how do you know Belle, again? While she's certainly not quiet, and has more friends than I do by a wide margin... I've never heard her mention a Masque before." Plenty about her 'uncle' Kalabas and Lord Chill, along with Chromo and Tarch and about a million others from what Aurora could remember, but she had never heard of a 'Masque'. Such a discrepancy... well, it was a little suspicious. She probably couldn't actually do anything if their relationship turns out to be negative, but the Arcosian figured it was part of her duty to know if her soon to be queen had a stalker. Especially one as powerful as Masque was. "As much as I would... appreciate your aid, Masque, I feel I should know your relationship with her." What was she doing? He had offered her help. Someone as powerful as him! HE could be the key to her finding her way to being able to compete with the Saiyan Kingdom and their allies! Yet she found herself doing it anyway. Perhaps here, in the Mountain's Heart, she might have a chance if things go wrong?
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Post by Kalaboo on Dec 1, 2019 22:32:22 GMT -6
Of course Kalabas had noticed how the ice had shifted, how the mountain had trembled, when he set his hands in Aurora. And yet, even with magic, what could ice do against one such as him? He was less than enthused at the warning, how it still retained shape after he let go and spoke his half truths. He was soon learning more and more about Belle's 'friends', how they had no pattern at all. Saiyans and arcosians, robots and magicians, and yet no kids her age. The close to hers was who? Tarch? And even he was entering his teens. At least the ghost's half handful of friends were good sorts, or rather... well, not good, but he could see to them eye to eye. Was his worry natural? He thought so. An eight-year-old saiyan really had no business hanging with space skinks, expatriates or warlocks, or any space skink expatriate warlock at all!... But this one, this girl - woman?, it was hard to tell them apart - revealed what appeared to be genuine care for his child. At the very least, he admitted, Belle had a knack to make very useful friends.
Something he thought Garon was.
Well, not necessarily. They were never friends, merely sharing a distaste for the Stargoons and their blatant fixation with purposeless evil, from which came an agreement to fight together once those spandexed maniacs appeared again on their radars. An agreement that Kalabas would assume also implied that neither would go out of their way to harm the other's family - it was perplexing! He never thought that Garon would be capable of such a thing, or at all, he hadn't even thought of that bastard in months! In a burst of anger the saiyan punched the ship he had brought, denting the hull through. He could see it clear as day, Belle and her little broken leg, holding to her crutches, waddling as she hummed down the street... She didn't want him to know, she knew what he was capable of, what he would now do to Garon. She really was too good for this world, too trusting, too loving. So, he wouldn't kill him, as Belle would not want that. Rather, for breaking Belle's legs the doragon would lose both. It was set, promised, a bloodthirst for justice that Kalabas would see realized. Away from the child's notice, of course. Aurora needn't know either. Even her name remained a mystery to him.
"I am a ghost." he hissed, taking his hand from the dead circuitry, intent of saying no lie "Like her, I am a Strongbone, although from a distant yet recent time. When things were not as..." complex? convoluted? A lot had changed in this fleeting year. "when the different between our peoples was more clear cut." a ki blade flickered to life on his hand, with which he sawed the top of a particular sturdy-looking spike. He sat, dispelling the energy. "I just... it is all so baffling... Say, what is your name? Why is it that you care for my descendant?"
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Post by Aurora Arctos on Dec 6, 2019 9:20:48 GMT -6
Aurora did her best to calm the mountain, her will meeting with whatever passed for its own as she soothed it. Small motes of blue light began to appear around her hands as it slowly returned to normal. While she was in her element... she knew that Masque was a very dangerous foe, and even here in the mountains the chances of her winning were slim at best. However, it seemed that while the mountain calmed down, Masque's own anger only intensified with the news she had given him. His fist lashed out, impacting the ship he had brought with him with enough force to crumple alloyed steel and metal designed to withstand speeds faster than light, and also cementing Aurora's opinion that there was no way she would be able to live if he lost control of his emotions and decided to take them out on her. Although perhaps, if she transformed in time, she'd be able to survive long enough to escape? She wasn't sure, though, and the Arcosian felt a decidedly small compulsion to test that theory out. It was best to simply continue their conversation and trust that Masque was mature enough to reign himself in. Although... she supposed it was promising that he was so worked up over Belle being injured.
His admittance to being a ghost... didn't exactly surprise Aurora, despite having never met one before. After meeting with Yanwang, a denizen of the after life, she had already guessed that perhaps there were spirits that had managed to escape from that land and burst through the boundaries of life and death. In fact, she felt almost... smug with herself, at being able to predict that. Although it seems as if that in order to escape, a high power level was required. Or perhaps Masque was simply a strong mortal during his life, and that had translated over into death. She wasn't entirely sure, having never died before and not planning on it. She doubted she would be strong enough to escape the clutches of whatever wardened the afterlife. He then continued, claiming that both he and Belle were a... strongbone. Aurora knew admittedly little about how Saiyans worked, but from context she was guessing that it was like Arcosian clans which... was a somewhat startling level of similarity, the more she considered it. She knew that Saiyans and Arcosians were more similar than they would like to admit, but she had to wonder just how much of their culture was seen as different through only the lens placed over their eyes by their respective societies.
If he was from a time relatively close to this one, judging by his age... he must have been from a generation or two prior to Belle's own. Yet as he was a ghost, that meant he most likely hadn't been revived by the dragon balls when the damage done to Vegeta was reversed. So that meant he had either died before that, or been somewhere else during that time. There... wasn't much Aurora could use in that, if she was honest, but it was simply good practice for her to extrapolate from such data. She watched as what seemed to be a... small blade? Appeared around his finger and sliced off a lingering icicle. How curious, to the point she would need to research it later. Aurora was so enamoured with the prospects of such an ability that she almost misse dhis next words, looking up from where she had been staring at the icicle. "I..." She begins, debating giving him her name, before realising that honesty was key in such a scenario as this. "I am Aurora. Of the clan Arctos. Uh... That's a commoner clan on Arcose." She tells him, clarifying as she knew only really the Cold clan was known outside of Arcosian society.
"As for why I care for Belle... Well, you know I came here to grow strong. To take back my home and lead my people into something of a... a new age. One where the cycle doesn't exist. But I... I'm not a noble. The most leadership experience I have is in group projects in high school. Belle however... She was established as Lord Chill's heir, and although his tenure was short she still has the most legitimate claim to the throne, coupled with the blood of rulers, Saiyan as they were." Aurora gestures towards Masque, not entirely sure if telling an obviously protective and powerful ghost her plan for Belle was a good idea, but she continued anyway. "My goal right now is to put her on the throne as it is her rightful seat, and help guide her to lead my, our people to a better future."
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