Private/Closed FairyTail- The Newest Mages

[Hisseki]

Cerise turned to look at the voice that had addressed her and Verity. It had asked if they wanted to go to Mt. Hakobe, and she wanted to know who was speaking.

Big. Mistake.

She was greeted with some demonic looking wolf of fire, grinning a sinister grin. Her skin went pale, almost matching Verity's, as she toppled over onto the ground completely from her knees. She wheezed in fear, beginning to hyperventilate. In an attempt to calm herself, she aggresively grabbed her guild mark on her shoulder, her other hand clutching Verity's leg.

It never actually occured that the demon could've been Jasper...

 

[EspeonTheBest]

"Verity, are you okay!?"

Well now she was. The pins and needles subsided and she felt her body temperature begin to rise to normal, slowly. Verity stayed laying there, but a smile manifested in her face. She hadn't enjoyed herself like that since she could remember! Cerise came over, after stumbling once so it seemed. Verity felt another presence enter the area, but she was too drained to care.

"Woah, Verity, you are... really cold... I know that's... normal... for you, but sheesh! Anyways, are... you alright? That was so... much... fun!"

"Cold?... Really?... What a surprise." Verity joked as she propped herself up with her elbows and pulled herself into a sitting position. "I'm just... Really tired. I'm... fine I promise." Verity noticed that Cerise was coughing and still catching her breath from the fight. The Dragon slayer seemed to search for something, but then gave up after a moment. The discarded water bottle was only a few feet away from the Snow Mage, having been swept up with the Deluge. With a bit of effort, Verity pulled the bottle to her and wiped off the edges with her sleeve. She then, using a tiny bit of her returning power, packed the water bottle with snow, then set it down next to Cerise. "That'll melt... in a minute or two." Verity noted, half to herself.

"You really are... strong... ya know that Verity? Those attacks... really could've... hurt, hehe! Glad to have... you on... our side, because... I don't know... what I would've done if we... had to fight each other on... opposite sides!"

"Ditto!... Your magic power is way beyond belief.... How do you manage to control such power? You're really strong... Plus by accident.... or not..... you found out that the Frosted Garden.... was actually pretty sharp.....way sooner than many other do. Smart!" Verity said, her ability to speak in full sentences returning to her a bit. She plastered an enormous smile on her face and looked up at the sky.

"Should we get the others? I want to take you guys on a training mission to Mt. Hakobe."

Verity noticed that Cerise moved to see who had spoken, and naturally she wanted to know as well, so she looked over just as Cerise fell keeled over and clutched her own guild mark and then supported herself Verity's leg. However, Verity could see why she reacting that way. An enormous fire wolf bared down on them with a horribly malicious look on it's face. Her heart skipped a beat.

Fire. Fire was a threat. Demons were a threat. This thing was terrifying.

The creature said something else but the ringing fear in Verity's ears prohibited her from hearing anything else. "Snow Magic! Winter's Shield...." She said, breathing heavily with the effort. Even more of her dwindling magic was spent as a pitiful amount of snow formed in front of her and Cerise, but it melted almost instantly in the presence of the creature. Verity gave up and simply sat there in fear, shaking as her mind tormented her with thoughts of being brutally burned.

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

"Ahem." Said Vall. "I may not be Escor, but I'd recommend you don't use magic until you get some energy back." He glanced at the wolf. "Don't worry. He's Jasper in wolf form. Dunno how he did it though." He said. "Now, do want Kingsfoil? I cam grow Kingsfoil. It'll help
Probably.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Escor came over in a rush, he was fascinated by Jasper's wolf transformation, "say Jasper, you mind if later you tell me all you know about demons? If you haven't noticed I'm interested in Demons" he asked

"Interested? More like Obsessed" Armatyle said as he walked over, he was tossing a coin of red flame and had a smug smile on his face, he looked at Jasper and said "training mission? Count me in!"

 

[Hisseki]

"It's... Jasper?... *cough* I-I... oh boy..."

Cerise blushed at the fact that she practically lost her mind and cowered in fear at one of her own teammates. She normally had a calm and cold attitude, but around these people, it faded ever so slightly. Whether or not that was good varied depending on the situation. Here, it didn't exactly look good. She let go of Verity, and tried to quickly stand up straight. Instead, she got onto her knees, then fell backwards again. That last spell exhausted her, and from the looks of things, Verity was tired as well. Couldn't blame her though, she did get launched by the same previously mentioned spell. She noticed that Verity added some snow to her water bottle, but it hadn't melted fully yet. Rather than grabbing it, she looked at the ground, still blushing.

 

[EspeonTheBest]

Hold up. Vall... Escor... Armatyle... They were all here. None of them were shaking in their boots, and it even looked like Vall said something to her. Verity's vision widened from its tunneled fear and noticed that, the wolf wasn't attacking or launching any magical spells. Escor was talking to it, evidently wanting to know more about demons. The Snow Mage could hear again and she narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, things fell into place. Her heart burned with rage much hotter than the flames around that dog- or Jasper.

'I just finished off a battle with a Dragon Slayer and was just trying to regain power. Who thought that It'd be a good idea to scare a tired, sore Mage with little to no magic power left and expect them not to use any magic power in their defense?' Verity tried to keep her face unchanging and neutral to the situation, but her eyes were blazing. 'Not to mention that I'm a Snow Mage with body temperatures way lower than the average human. Being scared like that by a fire Mage...' The snow Mage shook her head and looked down, feeling ashamed for the rage she felt but also slightly embarrassed by her reaction to Jasper.

"Hmm. A training mission. Maybe when Cerise and I are able to stand and walk like sensible human beings then we can go." Verity noted, forcing her face back to a normal, more relaxed expression. "Ah, sorry. I get sarcastic when I'm scared out of my skin." She said, but it wasn't all a lie. She was scared, but the sarcasm was left behind from her anger. It seemed as if her magic power was returning faster than Cerise's, but to be fair, she had a lot more magic to restore than she did. Slowly the Snow Mage got to her feet and moved to pick up the water bottle. She did, and then held it up near Jasper- which melted the snow all the way. Quickly she withdrew her hand from the heat and knelt down to the Dragon Slayer who was on the ground. "Hey, we both have time to be embarrassed later, so here." Verity said, offering the water to her friend.

 

[Hisseki]

Cerise looked up at Verity with surprise. Wow... I knew Fairy Tail was a great guild, but this isn't what I expected. I... I love it... Ceride thought as she inhaled the water. Feeling a little bit better, she hugged Verity, then brushed herself off and turned to her team, the blush completely gone. She put a hand on her shoulder and addressed Jasper. There wasn't a single neuron in her brain that wasn't angry at the moment, but she tried to restrain herself... she failed.

"Sea King Dragon Roar!"

A pressurized stream of water flew directly at Jasper. Whether or not it would do anything wasn't important. She just wanted to get across how mad she was that she got scared and embarrassed in front of her friends. After launching the attack, she stood behind Verity and looked over her shoulder. "Don't do that again." She whispered, aiming her words at Jasper, but still keeping them as quiet as possible.

 

[OmegaCarvineplays]

Jasper cursed at the water." Fire Devil Kaimetsu tsunami." He waved his pour and the water began to heat. The end product was a harmless flying blob of lava." Well at least I got dinner." Jasper sighed as the wolfish snout of his ate the blob in a quick gulp." Mt Hakobe training mission. The s class mission is to seduce and preferably obliterate a Blizzardvern causing trouble for farmers." He looked around at them and frowned." Oh yeah."

He waved a paw and muttered." Fire devil arc of ruin." He let the flames close round him and stepped from them human again, still without the shirt." Damn it." He sighed and looked at the group." We aren't atrong enough as a team to take on the other mission yet." He explained, referring to the devil s class mission.

He grinned at them and counted his fingers." Fire devil guardian sentries." He cast the spell multiple times and firey forms began to take shape from the flames on his finger tips." These guys can get us there in no time. Don't worry I can make their heat change." He looked at verity and grinned." Well then, best that we should get going. Don't you think so?" He looked at the fir minions and spoke." Gamdee no shietduno dentin koyobinge." He was fluent in the forgotten tounge of demons and it sounded like he'd been born with that language in his brain." I
asked them to take us to Mt Hakobe. They agreed." He nodded towards the minions who replied in a sharp flurry of words." Rentopee trenfer gamdee uine shietduno dentin koyobinge, yungern yo Kaimetsu." He looked at them and smiled." They said 'we will take you to Mt Hakobe, student of Kaimetsu."

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

"Just let me get my winter hunter gear. I can't live in low temperature. And two" He gestured at Nut and Talon "Aren't good there either." He said. He was crouched over a small wood bowl, and he was throwing herbs into it. "Verity, Cerise. Drink this. It'll probably refill your magic. Or give you a headache. The choice is yours." He said, handing them the bowl.

 

[EspeonTheBest]

Verity watched as Cerise practically inhaled the water, which the Snow Mage supposed she better get used to seeing. She was slightly surprised by the hug that followed, but she took it with gratitude and returned the embrace before Cerise stood up- and Verity followed soon after. The Snow Mage could tell that Cerise wasn't happy with the Fire Devil Slayer, in all fairness, Verity wasn't all sunshine and rainbows with him at the moment either, but she seemed to be controlling her anger. Until she made the attack.

The Dragon Slayer had launched a Sea King Dragon's Roar, which somehow formed into a molten blob of lava as it grew closer to Jasper. 'How is that even able to happen?' Verity wondered, noting that Cerise had stepped behind her and said something to Jasper that the Snow Mage didn't catch in her confusion. Well, if it wasn't Adressed to her, she wouldn't ask for it to be repeated.

Jasper mentioned the details of the mission- to destroy a Blizzardvern. "A Blizzardvern?" Verity gasped. "But those little devils are protective as heck! When I was training for the Grand Magic games last year, I ran into one, and it got mad at me for covering his favorite rock with my snow spells. Not to mention I didn't even get nominated for a team in the Games." She said, mumbling the last part, but bit her tongue to not say more. The Fire Devil Mage transformed back into a human, but without his shirt. Verity inwardly joked about how he could easily become the next Gray, but swallowed the joke as she realized that she once had a crush on the ice Mage, and her feelings for this Devil Slayer were far from love at this point in time.

A few moments passed and Jasper summoned a few... Weird little fire creatures. Naturally Verity regarded them with caution, even after Jasper mentioned that he can control their temperature. "Now, now. Hold on for one moment." Verity said, turning her head to her right and extending her right arm out, wordlessly casting a spell. About a dozen snowflakes emerged from her hand, but then instantly melted. "Do you expect for Cerise and I to cover for you when I can't produce much more than a snow cone? I may have my strength back, but my magic power is at dangerous levels." She pointed out, but to her relief, Vall had her solution.

"Verity, Cerise. Drink this. It'll probably refill your magic. Or give you a headache. The choice is yours."

The Mage offered both her and Cerise a bowl of a mixture of many different herbs. "Nevermind." Verity noted, tentatively taking a sip of he concoction. As expected, it was fairly bitter and sour. She wasn't even sure how it was supposed to taste, but it sure wasn't a pleasant one to her. Despite that, she drained the bowl, and with a smile she felt her magic power retuning. "Thank you so much Vall." She said, keeping the bowl and reminding herself to wash and return it later.

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

"Herbal tea. The person that gave me the recipe said it was sweet. I've tasted it after my more powerful spells. It was awful. Anyway. While I'm at my place , I'll get my extra herbs. Tea is good for the soul, and is good when we're climbing Hakobe." Vall said. He grinned. "Never trust a tea brewer. They'll say anything to sell you a cup."

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Armatyle was amazed by the little fire creatures that Jasper has created, 'this guy has many secrets up his sleeve, I think he'd make a good pranking partner' he thought to himself as he remembered the time he switched out a guide member's chocolate bar with a possessed chili bar soaked in brown food coloring and got away with it, the possibilities with someone like jasper to help him was off the charts.
Right now wasn't the time for those thoughts though, he had to get ready for a hiking trip, with that he headed off to prepare

 

[Hisseki]

As Verity drank the herbal nonsense, Cerise just backed up a bit. "Uh, sorry. I don't really need to do that... I'm a Dragon Slayer, just get me some water and I'll be fine." She told her Vall. She really didn't need magic-regenerating concoctions when she could quickly recharge herself by consuming her element, being water.

Jasper mentioned a Blizzardvern previously, whatever that was, and something about obliteration and... seduction? She shivered at the last part, but was decently excited about the rest. Just not visibly excited. Her calm composure from before returned to her, and she walked back to Verity's side with it now in full effect. "Do you have the full details of the mission, Jasper? I'm pretty sure we can handle this mission... if certain people don't go scaring the ever-living daylights out of us by becoming a flaming beast of death..." She said aloud to her group, but muttering the last part in Verity's ear.

She shot a quick glare in Jasper's direction before realizing her actions and correcting her expression, changing it to one of a calm happiness, with a hint of interest in the mission previously mentioned by the Devil Slayer.

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

"I'll send Talon to get the things I need. Now Jasper, details. And don't go shoving the sheet into my face! I can't read." Vall said. He motioned to Talon, who flew in the vague direction of the forest oround the city. Vall was already emptying his pockets, which were filled with bags of dirt, branches of wood and a lock. "I think I might as well point out before I forget, I weild Lock magic along with Druidic. I can also throw my voice, along with pulling a coin out of your ear." He said.

 

[Hisseki]

Cerise sat down cross-legged next to Verity, and gestured for her to do the same. Yes, she felt recharged, but she was still a little bit out of breath. The fire things that Jasper created spooked her slightly, but her appearance and calm aura were unwavering as of now. "Yeah, Jasper," she addressed the mission-giving Devil Slayer directly, "you say we have to... uh... seduce, was it? Do something to this Blizzardvern. As I previously mentioned, you should give us the full details before we aimlessly go about and do the job. Whaddya say, guys? Agreed?" She asked, gaze locked with Jasper's all the while.

Cerise wasn't one to hold grudges... for long. She would probably get over the incident within the day, but as of the moment, she wasn't very happy with him, even after all of the kindness Verity showed her. Whether or not Verity was still angry was unknown, but if it wasn't obvious enough, Cerise still waited for an apology to fall onto her ears before forgiveness could even be thought of. Her eyes held anger within, but the rest of her seemed calm, creating a sort of mismatch in visual expression of emotion. She crossed her arms, tapping on her elbow as if she had somewhere important to be, which started to erase said mismatch of emotional expression just a little bit.

 

[OmegaCarvineplays]

Jasper grabbed the job request from the the floor." Well it's simple. A Blizzardvern in Mt Hakobe is eating the farmers crops, the flora believed to grant stronger magical power. We have to gain its trust and just like Kaimetsu, destroy it with our own hands while it is unexpecting our attack. Lure it into our trap and game over." He cracked his fingers one by one, sparks flying from the kinetic force exerted.

He gave sulky pout towards Cerise." You wound me deeply. I'm suprise you have a grudge against me already. I've only been here for like 5 hours. Reminds me of when I met Natsu." He trailed of in his fantasy when he mopped the floor with Natsu's pink head." Anyone ready?" He queiried and looked towards the minion." Pyrosii Daemo seyrance's flointizay rentagorn." The minions nodded.' Fire devil servant's horse form is a handy spell the minions know.' He thought. He jumped atop the largest of the fire horses." All aboard. Choo Choo!"

 

[EspeonTheBest]

After being gestured to sit down, Verity did and pulled her knees to her chest as she watched everyone prepare for this long journey to Mt. Hakobe. She for one didn't need to prepare much, after all, the snow was her element. She could practically live up in the snowy mountains for weeks given she's ok with eating extremely cold plants and she didn't have to worry about her home being broken into back at Fairy Hills. Verity trusted the other girls there, but every once and a while someones magic blows up or something. The Snow Mage sighed and agreed with Cerise as she asked for the details. Verity noticed that the Dragon slayer seemed fairly mad, which she could relate to, but at the same time the Snow Mage willed herself to get over her rage that burned unnaturally hot in her heart. Jasper was part of the team, and he deserved the same treatment as the other did. The Fire Devil Slayer began to say the details once more, so she switched off her thoughts to listen.

"Well it's simple. A Blizzardvern in Mt Hakobe is eating the farmers crops, the flora believed to grant stronger magical power. We have to gain its trust and just like Kaimetsu, destroy it with our own hands while it is unexpecting our attack. Lure it into our trap and game over."

Jasper turned to his little fire minions, which took the form of a horse. Verity loved horses. She wasn't sure about fire horses though. The snow Mage shook her head, besides, that wasn't what she was concerned about...yet. "Jasper." Verity Adressed the fire Mage. "Why do we have to gain its trust? Wouldn't it be... nicer to just take it out? I love making friends, but making a friend and then having them turn on you really isn't good for your mental and emotional health. I'm concerned for the wellbeing of this Blizzardvern after we chase it from the farms." Verity said, casting her eyes down as she relived a dark thought from her childhood. Closing her eyes and shaking her head gently, she pushed those thoughts away and sighed as she felt her magic power reach above half of its capacity.

 

[OmegaCarvineplays]

Jasper tilted his head in confusion." Why would we need to destroy straight away? It would run off without us getting a single shot. Plus this way is more fun." He grinned maliciously and clapped his hands, soot and ash rosing from his palms." Anyway pretending to be its friend gives a false sense of security. With that it won't be able to react quick enough to when we do attack. Besides, we are going to end it. It's wellbeing won't matter once it's bones." He set his hand ablaze and glared at it with delight." I'll even show you how I destroyed Kaimetsu."

At the word Kaimetsu he shook his head." Sorry about that. I sometimes go overboard. Usually happens after Demon Craze or Arc of Ruin." He scratched his head and winked at the group. The devil slayer flexed his fingers." Oh yeah. These horses travel at the speed fire takes to spread in a forest fire. And that's fast." He glanced at verity." How hot or cold do you want your horse? I know your not keen on hot stuff." He stuck his tounge out playfully, mocking her like what friends would call 'banter'." That goes for the others. Tell what to adjust the heat to and I'll do it, though Armantyle I expect won't wuss out on my challenge. Who can sit in the hottest flame?"

 

[Hisseki]

Cerise realized what she was doing in terms of her anger, and shook her head vigorously. Okay, I'm calm now. Calm, completely calm. She thought to herself as she prepared to speak to Jasper. "Temperature... uh... not hot? I don't exactly want to burn." She said, her face reflecting her confusion at the fact the temperature of a flaming horse was something that could be modified.

Jasper teased Verity, and she felt something inside of her heart start to burn. She restrained her anger by reassuring herself that it was simply playful teasing and not anything malicious, despite his previous malicious 'outburst'. Then she remembered exactly where they were going. She paled ever so slightly as she remembered that they were going to Mt. Hakobe. She slowly reached up to her guild mark and turned to Verity with a slightly worried expression on her face. My magic is water, and we are going to Mt. Hakobe... a really cold place. Cold isn't something I'm exactly accustomed to... but I have to manage. This is for the team, and so far, all I've done for the team is get them into trouble. Gotta do this! She thought as she lowered her hand, and turned back to her group, her skin still slightly pale, but her face glowing with excitement for the mission.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Armatyle just came back in time to hear about the mission and Jasper's teasing, he also saw the horses which he really liked, he scanned his team once more to confirm those on it and could feel excitement burning within his body, he walked over to where the others where but as he reached to where Jasper was standing he tripped on his untied shoelace and fell in front of Verity, he didnt really enjoy the fall and was now sizzling with annoyance before he got up, right there in front of Verity was a necklace, it had a Ruby, a Smoky Quartz, an Amber and an Obsidian shard in it, each engraved with old runes, it obviously belonged to Armatyle but he didnt notice it missing from around his neck, "say Jasper, can you make mine as hot as possible?" he asked as he enjoyed challenges

 

[EspeonTheBest]

Verity at first didn't catch Jaspers joke, invoking a strong feeling of resentment, but after a moment she caught on and laughed somewhat nervously and somewhat apologetically. "Well, snow melts above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, I melt above 70." She joked, trying to be funny because it was obviously above 70 degrees at the very spot they were standing. "So, room temperature would be great." Verity finished, making sure that Jasper knew she was serious this time. For a moment, the Snow Mage felt Cerises's eyes on her, so she turned and noticed that her friend had paled in the slightest. Verity frowned slightly at the worried expression on the Dragon Slayers's face, wondering what could have made her worried. Despite not having a clue, the Snow Mage smiled, hopefully encouraging her friend a bit.

An involuntary squeak of surprise leaked from Verity's throat as Armatyle came crashing down in front of her. Evidently, he had tripped. "Are you ok?" She asked quickly; her face of surprise overwritten with worry. Though she didn't get an immediate response, the Purgetory Dragon Slayer stood and challenged Jasper- something about heat. In front of her was some sort of necklace made up of an assortment of rare rocks and gems; each had an engraving on their surface. "Hey Armatyle, you dropped this when you fell." Verity said, picking the necklace up by it's cord and studied it with curiosity as she offered it back to the Dragon Slayer from her sitting position.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Armatyle looked in Verity's direction and was shocked to see that he dropped the necklace, he even placed a hand around his neck to make sure, but soon shock was washed over with Relief at the fact that he didnt completely loose it, "thanks Verity!" he said with a warm smile on his face as he took the necklace and wore it again, "note to self, tie your shoelace" he said jokingly as he looked at his shoes before looking back at Verity, it looked like he was about to say something else but decided against it

 

[Hisseki]

Verity's smile created a feeling within Cerise, something she liked. It was safety. She knew she would be okay, and that smile was the cause. She didn't even take note of the fact that Armatyle fell and dropped something, or that Verity assisted him in retrieving it. Suddenly, reality snapped back into place as she remembered once again that they were going to...

"Mt. Hakobe..." she accidentally said aloud, her face still expressing worry.

Verity's attacks were cold, but they weren't permanent. She could recover her temperature from Verity's attacks after they were done. On Mt. Hakobe, the cold is ever-lasting. Her attacks, her speed, her health... all of those would be affected. She didn't want Jasper or Armatyle worrying about her, so she sheepishly tugged on Verity's sleeve to garner her attention. "V-Verity... it's..." she struggled to whisper to her, but eventually pulled through. "It's gonna be cold, and I dunno if I can handle that completely. I don't want the fire wizards to worry, but I am..."

Cerise was annoyed at the fact that her mind didn't want to tell the others about her problem. This was her team, she had to trust them, but her mind refused. It wanted to be reclusive, like she was before. It did, however, trust Verity. Cerise fiddled with her thumbs as she looked at Verity. "What do I do?" She asked her, "I mean, I know I'm not supposed to be embarrassed right know, but... still, I don't want them to worry."

 

[EspeonTheBest]

Armatyle seemed to have noticed his necklace missing as soon as Verity mentioned it, as he put his hand to his neck to check for it, only to confirm that it was missing. He seemed relieved, so Verity smiled a bit at the thought of being useful in some ways.

"Thanks Verity! Note to self, tie your shoelaces."

The Purgetory Dragon slayer replaced the necklace to where it was supposed to lay and he seemed like he was going to say something else, so Verity sat patiently, but it seemed as if Armatyle decided not to say what he was going to. The Snow Mage frowned in confusion, but then shook off the feeling. If he didn't want to say it, it's not important. However, she did miss something that Cerise said aloud.

After a moment, she felt a tug on her sleeve, making Verity look over at Cerise, who still manifested in a worried look on her face. Sympathy spread across Verity's face, even though she wasn't sure what the Sea King Dragon Slayer was unsettled about.

"V-Verity... it's..." Cerise seemed to struggle with whispering, but managed. "It's gonna be cold, and I dunno if I can handle that completely. I don't want the fire wizards to worry, but I am... What do I do? I mean, I know I'm not supposed to be embarrassed right know, but... still, I don't want them to worry."

"Cold?" The Snow Mage paused. For a minute she realized that she never considered how others felt about specific missions. Verity always complained about how hot it was, and joked about how she was going to melt. But what about the other mages? Were the fire mages scared of water? The plant mages scared of bugs? The water mages scared of the cold? Or even celestial spirit mages- were they scared of darkness? Of course every Mage has different fears that may or may not relate to their magic in the slightest, but it was still a weird thought.

"Well....I uh... Here. I took a training mission to Mt. Haokbe last year, as I think I said before, but besides that, I know exactly how to survive up there. Given, I am a snow Mage, so my feeling of comfort and wellbeing might be a little different than yours in that form of environment, but don't worry. If you're scared of getting sick or being too cold, then maybe you could ask Vall if he has a herb to nullify cold, or you could go to your house right now and grab a jacket. We're only going to be up there for a little while- and I think that the farmers requesting our help would give us a warm place to stay overnight if we have to be up there for that amount of time."

With a small smile, Verity stood up and counted that everyone was there. "Has everyone gotten ready?" She asked, looking at the group while she offered a hand to Cerise to help her up if she wanted.

 

[Hisseki]

Cerise smiled as Verity gave her a sympathetic glance.

"Well....I uh... Here. I took a training mission to Mt. Hakobe last year, as I think I said before, but besides that, I know exactly how to survive up there. Given, I am a snow Mage, so my feeling of comfort and well being might be a little different than yours in that form of environment, but don't worry. If you're scared of getting sick or being too cold, then maybe you could ask Vall if he has a herb to nullify cold, or you could go to your house right now and grab a jacket. We're only going to be up there for a little while- and I think that the farmers requesting our help would give us a warm place to stay overnight if we have to be up there for that amount of time."

Cerise didn't have a jacket to wear, but she felt at ease knowing that if something happened, Verity would know how to deal with it. All of her worry replaced itself with excitement as she pumped her fist in the air, not up high, but just up to her head. "Thanks a lot, Verity. You're awesome." She said before facing the rest of the group.

"I don't think I'll need to grab anything... besides the fact that I don't have a jacket to grab... I'm ready!" She said, muttering the middle part to herself.

Cerise stretched her arms and legs, moved her shirt aside to check her shoulder to see the guild mark, and giggled a bit when she saw it still there. The guild mark gave her hope, and now so did her team. She had to learn to trust them a bit more. Who knows? She'll probably need their help over this mission, let alone others, so the perfect time to learn how to properly communicate with the rest of the team would be during the Mt. Hakobe trip and mission. She nodded to herself in conformation of the plan she made, and walked to the horses, albeit hesitantly due to the fact that they were still made of fire.

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

Talon had returned, so Vall got to work with preparing, which was mostly putting everything into his pockets. And putting a cloak. Talon got a scarf, Nut got a coat, and then he dug around in his other pockets. He had heard Cerise's exchange with Verity, and he had a herb for that. He was pretty sure. He tossed a small bag at Cerise, than turned to Jasper. "I'll walk. I'm not riding the horses. It's... unnatural. It's like asking Verity to stand in a fire. It's against my nature, so to speak." He said. "I'll walk." He repeated.

 

[Hisseki]

A small bag flew in Cerise's direction, thrown by Vall. She caught in and peeked inside. Oh, herbs. I guess he was listening? She thought with a small smile on her face. She stuffed the bag into her pocket, alongside her water bottle.

She caught wind of what Vall was saying about riding a horse - and then she remembered something else important. Dragon Slayers get motion sickness. As she was walking to the horse to get on it, she froze, turned around, and walked next to Vall. "I-I think I'll walk, too! Yeah. Walking, fun." She said awkwardly.

Gah, come on. These people are your TEAM. You have to learn how to talk to them without being super awkward like you just were, ya big dummy! She thought to herself as she looked at Vall with the same small smile from before.

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

"Luckily for us, I have spell that will allow us to stay alongside the others. I just need to think of an animal that could move as fast as these horse things. I'd think another horse, but if Jasper is to be believed, these things can move fast. No matter. We shouldn't lag to far behind." He cleared his throat. "Animal Feature :Horse!" He yelled, his hand miming a horse, than pointing at himself and Cerise. He immediately felt stronger , and felt as if he could stay awake for hours.

 

[Hisseki]

"Woah... what the..." Cerise muttered as she felt a new found energy flow through her system, slowly examining her body.

The energy wasn't magic energy, but that didn't matter; she could simply consume water to fix that. No, this energy was something... invigorating. Strengthening, even. She felt a need to run, so she ran a good distance away in no time flat, then ran right back, not tired at the slightest. "Vall. This is an amazing ability." She told him simply, her shy attitude fading for him.

It seemed like slowly she was learning to trust the rest of her team. She didn't stutter, didn't grab her shoulder, didn't hide behind someone, and didn't look away. In fact, she talked to him, not the other way around. She mentally high-fived herself, smiling visibly. "So, let's see... Vall and I are walking. Armatyle, I dunno what you're gonna do, but you choose whatever ya want. Jasper and Verity are going by demon horse, and... Escor? I assume you'll go by horse as well, but I could be wrong. Again, whatever you choose." She addressed the team, assuming a stance of dominance despite her will not to be the team leader... speaking of...

She walked - or rather, ran - to Verity's side and whispered to her from the ground. "Hey, who exactly is the team leader? Did we establish that yet? I feel like that would be a good thing to know before we all set out." Cerise asked Verity, whispering quite loudly so she could be heard from on the ground. She was aware of the not-so-large height difference, but she still wanted to be absolutely sure that she was heard.

 

[EspeonTheBest]

Verity looked ahead at the flaming horse thing in front of her. She vaugely heard the conversation between Cerise and Vall about walking- probably due to the fact that she was cringing over the fact that she was scared of her favorite animal at this point in time. Swallowing her fear of getting close to the animal, Verity stepped forward to the point where she could reach out and touch it. Another swallow and a step forward. Another, even closer. "Ugh! This is pathetic!" Verity mumbled in disapproval of her own actions. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and got up right next to the creature. Surprisingly, she didnt feel too much heat emanating off it, in fact, she didn't feel any heat. With a twinge of curiosity, Verity placed her two hands between the horse's withers and backbone and nearly gasped in shock as she figured out how solid and how normal it was.

Verity's family used to live on a farm. They were good times for the Snow Mage; she could wander over acres of land that her family had fathered throughout the years. Her favorite past time was to spend time with Acuity and Valor, two horses, mother and son. Both were a deep grey color, an Appaloosa technically. Acuity was an old horse that her grandfather had bought off of an abusive owner, and so even after he died, Acuity remained in the hands of the Hale family. Valor was the colt- born only a month after Verity was born. The two instantly and an attraction to one another, and Verity would run around the endless fields with this horse. When Verity decided to become a Mage, she left Valor in her family's hands to work as a farm horse and to help people in need of a horse.

Using her half forgotten strength, Verity jumped and pushed herself onto the fire horses' back, and she was only further shocked to feel that it was barely warmer than the temperature outside. "Wow..." She mumbled, looking down slightly as she hear Cerise begin to talk to her.

"Hey, who exactly is the team leader? Did we establish that yet? I feel like that would be a good thing to know before we all set out."

"We haven't chosen a leader?" Verity asked the group, looking confused as she pondered the question. "I guess we haven't. How do you guys want to decide?" Verity asked, hoping no one suggested a battle to be leader. In that case she'd just opt out- she knew who would probably win if it came to that.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Armatyle really wanted to be the leader but he had to be honest, he was the worst option ever for a team leader, he was short tempered and hot headed, and becoming a leader was a disaster waiting to happen
He remembered that day when the Porgatory dragon Akrolith told him about how 3 of his ancestors have been taught Porgatory dragon magic from him

I taught 3 of your ancestors Armatyle, they also met the same fate, a terrible fate, death as leaders

Armatyle shivered at those words, another reason not to be the leader, those words kept repeating in his mind as he looked at his necklace, a gem for each purgatory dragon slayer in the HellScreem family.
"Well whoever it is it better not be me, I don't like positions with great responsibilities..." he said still looking at his necklace

Escor was willing to be the leader but knew it is up to the rest of the team to decide, "we should vote, the one with most voted win the title of the leader" he suggested as he tried his best to keep his eagerness of being the leader, 'come on Escor! You know it's the team decision not yours!' He thought to himself

 

[Hisseki]

A vote sounded nice to Cerise initially. Then she thought about it, realizing that it meant choosing one group member over the other. At the time, it really seemed like Verity and Armatyle didn't want to be the leader, considering both of them have stated that at one point in time or another. That left Vall, Jasper, Escor, and herself. "U-uh, if we're voting, I'll step down. I'm not a fan of taking charge." She stated matter-of-factly despite the stuttering in the beginning. "That would leave Vall, Jasper, and you, Escor, still in the running... unless you guys have any objections to being the leader."

Cerise walked back to Vall's side, wanting not to stray too far from him. After all, he had the magic that allowed her to keep up with these demon horses, and she didn't want to risk it deactivating because she was too far away. She turned to look at Armatyle, who was wistfully looking at his necklace, something Cerise didn't even know he had until this moment. She would've asked him if something was wrong, but her mind wouldn't allow her body to follow through with the action. Instead, she looked at her group as a whole, waiting for a vote to be taken. Her strategy was to wait until everyone else voted, then go with what the majority said at the last second. She hoped that it would work again this time, but with an unpredictable group like the one before her, she couldn't be 100% positive that everything would go as she had scripted in her mind.

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

Vall knew he wasn't too much of leader material. He was timid, soft spoken. But he knew what his uncle would say. "You were raised a chieftain. You can lead a group of mages. The strength of your ancestors is behind you." He trusted his uncle, but he knew he had to step up. "I think we should treat this as a... what do you call it... democracy? No. We should all lead. Laying all our trust on one man is what lead to my people's downfall. That is what I think." Vall said.

 

[OmegaCarvineplays]

Jasper shrugged." No way in Hades am I ever going to be good leader material. You saw how badly screwed you guys nearly were when I went demon craze." He grabbed a half frozen stuck and pointed at Escor." Either he is leader or we have that democracy thing. Damn Kaimetsu never taught me how to be a leader. It was more like being a conquerer." He yawned and flicked his hand and the fire from his fingers created mini ballot papers." Put an X by the thing you prefer: democracy or Escor." He flicked the fiery paper at each person." They are pretty much identical to the horses, none cold and rock solid. Put your finger on the box and an X will appear."

He wondered why democracy existed. You would be opposed at every turn. That's just a nuisance and nuisances need to be removed from the picture. He grinned at the thought and the image of Kaimetsu popped into his head. Jasper vowed to kill him and he had, but why did he still feel like he hadn't done enough to avenge his family?" Curse it all." He spat and put the X next to Escor.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Armatyle didn't like the idea of being bossed around, he enjoyed going by his instinct, he didn't hesitate to put an X next to Democracy, after doing so he started to look around, absent mindedly gripping the Ruby in the necklace.
'dodged the bullet there.....' he thought to himself as he looked at Escor to see if he chose yet

Escor didn't hesitate to vote for himself, after all he was quite smart, not that he thinks the others are stupid or anything, in fact Vall's tribal herbal medical knowledge easily rival his modern based medical knowledge, but he believes his psychology knowledge and demon related past is a good enough boost to make him worthy of being a leader in his opinion

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

Vall insantly placed his finger on Democracy. His tribe died putting all of their faith in one leader. He grimaced. Thinking about that tended to bring waves of sadness. With nothing left to do, Vall began to think. He had read of Druidic spells that allowed one to summon fallen brethren. He deemed that something he should keep in mind for later. He turned around, and began making herbal poltuices, as to be prepared. "Rashvine, Dragon Scale." He threw each ingredient as named them, than started anew. "Grave dirt, barnacle, chicken egg, baslisk scale..." He soon amassed a quantity of miscellaneous potions, placed carefully in a pouch that should keep them from spilling.

 

[Hisseki]

Cerise heard Vall say something about dragons, which struck a nerve for whatever reason. She twitched her eye, but shook it off. Then she realized that it was all tied up when it came down to votes. Vall and Armatyle both selected Democracy, while Jasper and Escor - no surprise there - both selected for Escor to be the leader. This left Cerise in an awkward situation where she was torn between the two sides. No matter what she picked, it would end up leaning the scale in their favor. Democracy sounded okay to her, letting everyone have a say. Then again, Escor seemed quite confident in his abilities, and looked like he knew what he was doing. Cerise was torn, so she closed her eyes and waved her hand above the both of them. Once she felt like she was settled, she gradually let her hand fall onto a choice. When she opened her eyes, she noticed she picked Democracy. She glanced at Escor and mouthed a quick "I'm sorry" to him before walking over to Verity's location - and then facepalming immediately.

Gah! I could've let Verity decide before me! I wouldn't have had to do that! Now I look like an idiot... Cerise thought, looking at the ground. She kicked up a cloud of dirt before looking back at Verity, awaiting her decision.

 

[EspeonTheBest]

(It's just about time for a revival, isn't it? )

"A vote?" Verity said aloud from her seated position on the fire horse, and she moved to sit side-saddled for a moment in order to face the group more properly. There were a few options that appeared in front of her the idea of having a set leader or a democracy. She wasn't quite sure what the smart decision would be, and so for a moment she glanced at Cerise, who was standing by Vall. Verity's absentmindedness absorbed her and she completely disregarded what the others were saying for a fair deal of time. With the exception of the notice that Cerise had moved back to stand next to her, and was presently kicking up clouds of dirt in an evident session of regret, Verity had compeltly zoned out. She scanned her eyes over Escor and the others from her perched position on the patient, fiery horse, and narrowed them as she tired to decide.

"Oh!" She said suddenly. "Sorry, I didn't realize that I was the last person to vote." Seeing that the majority had already chosen Democracy, Verity glanced at Escor with an apologetic look. 'Sorry.' She mouthed, and she allowed her hand to fall on to the box marked 'Democracy'. "Is that it?" She inquired after a moment; fiddling with her braid and tucking in stray bits of hair.

Verity looked down at Cerise. "Hey, how are you feeling? Hydrated? I mean, it hasn't been long since we finished our spar- do you think you could make the journey on foot? Valls giving you a bit of help to keep up with the horses, but that doesn't mean that you won't be moving." Verity noted, feeling slightly concerned for her friend. After all, they just became a team. Surely nothing could go wrong on their first mission.

The breeze ruffled through Verity's hair gently, pulling at the ends and dislodging the aforementioned tucked away bits of hair. The wind was cool and slightly crisp and had the scent of winter- no surprise as it was coming from the direction of Mt. Hakobe. "So, I know we've totally got to get this whole leader thing sorted out, but there's a blizzard heading towards Hakobe. It's not normal to smell the Flora from down here unless there's a major storm." She announced, confirming her statement with a less-than-dignified sniff. There it was, the slight undertone of Flora among the various scents of activity within Magnolia. "And shouldn't Vall's spell be ebbing off sometime in the future? Should we contemplate leaving now, given all of our members are ready?" Verity added, and quickly inserted the last part, glancing again down at Cerise.

 

[Lord Of Pain]

Armatyle was glad that Democracy won the vote, he surely didn't want Escor or anyone else as a leader as much as he doesn't want to be the leader, he created some crimson flames at the tip of his fingers which he played around with, putting them together to form 2 flame balls and juggled them with one hand, "since we are all ready I agree with Verity we should get going... what about you Doc?" He asked Escor who was standing there silently with an analytic look on his face

Escor recieved both Verity and Cerise's mouthed apologies and nodded to them confirming his acceptance of their apologies, he was thinking of all the possible pair combinations this team could make and how well it would work out but soon his attention was caught by the Purgatory dragon slayer's question, "huh? Oh yes I agree, also the longer we stay the sooner the effects of Vall's spell will end, and I know mister short temper isn't the most patient person here" he answered with the remark at the end pointed at the now Sizzling Armatyle

 

[SismicFlareCharmander]

"I say we leave. If we wait, the storm could get worse." Vall said. "On the subject of the spell, I've yet to reach it's limit using a horse. Highly magical creatures, yes, but never the horse." Vall frowned. The whole blizzard thing could end up as a problem, being used to warmer climates as he was. "I'd also like to voice my objection to 'seducing' the Blizzardvern. No matter how dumb they might be, it is a part of nature, and I'm a druid. Seducing and killing it is a bit cruel. Could we just destroy it?" Vall asked.