Tales of Symphonia: A New Tomorrow (FULL)

[Lord Lee Major]

Sol listened smirked at Rin again as he made the comment. He then proceeded to sit down and listen to the foretold prophecy told to them, he then leaned back on the ground and started laughing while staring up at the sky, "Werefolk starting war, what a hilarious thought."

"Why do find it so funny?" Ilene glared at wingfolk, she was taking the conversation seriously.

"Tell ya what I'll explain when all this talks done... also kinda funny with the whole wingfolk evolution thing here too. It makes me wonder if my ancestors were originally like Azriel's." Sol glanced a look over to Ilene and smirked at the sight of her puzzled look she was giving, he could almost see her trying to fit the pieces together in her head. He then moved back into his original sitting position, and looked at Lloyd straight in the eye, "If it really is who I think it is, which at this point I'm almost positive it is. I'm in... past history an all."

Ilene snapped back again to the conversation at hand, "Why did you steal from them or something?"

Sol turned towards her, "The opposite, one of them stole a lot from me...A mistake I plan on not repeating anytime soon." He placed his hand on his left shoulder, "I'll pay them back a hundred fold, and then some." He looked into the fire ending his his input to the conversation and began waiting for 'Q & A' session that would happen eventually.

~~~

Camulos found himself quite a ways away from Sybak the trees seemed to be becoming thick and taller he must have entered the nearby woods he believed the name to be, Gaoracchia Forest, if he wasn't mistaken. Sol had always been the one to keep better track of the geography of this world. As he slowly made his way through the forest. He was then surrounded by a large group of monsters all growling at him. "Mr. Tenebrae. Come out now if you would not mind."

"I don't take orders from you, but if I must." Tenebrae appeared behind the monsters and they moved to the side to let the centurion pass through to the center, "Though I must admit, you hardly left a dent in their defense in that battle."

"Your master asked me to do two things, one see that Ilene is well protected and to inform the others of the threat of my kind. He did not ask me to fight nor harm in anyway."

"A little bird told me you weren't so forgiving for your subordinate." By this time the monsters had all slinked away back into the wooded areas leaving them to talk

"He has lived life in the special-ops division while in the Midgard Military, and he has survived death on more then one occasion. He has been through hell, giving up his former life for the good of his family and then continued to work in the shadows of our resistance forces. He would not be killed so easily."

"My, my, such confidence for a single soldier, I must say I never suspected of you to watch over him so."

"I have an knack for picking up the homeless or dying and rebuilding them... some cases better than others."

"I see... well now that your first task is done what will you do now."

"Wait and watch, simple as that... the battle will start soon, I can feel it."

"In that case I should inform Lord Ratatosk before returning to my post. Good day Camulos, I'll come find you if we have a job for you again." Tenebrae turned on the spot and disappeared into a puff of shadows leaving Camulos to his own accord.  

[Evilweirdo 0]

"Heat? I can take a little heat. It's better than being cold." Eduardo had seemed to miss the point, but after a moment his head jerked in Lloyd's direction with sudden realization. "Oh, dang! That kind of heat!"
He offered some bacon to Rin and anyone else who cared for some with one hand, his other hand being used for his own consumption of the food. Between bites, he spoke again.
"I've been around longer... Than a lot of people'd think... And I haven't really seen many people like... Me and Rin either. Just... Wingfolk evolving." He speared some of his trademark food with one his clawlike fingernails and held it near the flames (the heat of which didn't seem to bother him). He stared into the fire (or maybe at the bacon) with a rare look of concern and continued.
"So, yeah. We oughta make sure that this isn't a half-elf discrimination thing all over again." He spoke like one who had experienced discrimination and didn't care to do so again, which was true of him.


((Eduardo is much older than he acts, after all.))  

[Krazy-Chibi]

"So this threat is its enough to have gotten the World Tree's spirit upset? it must be something powerful then"

"and she didn't give you the important details? typical." Lilith said sarcastically.  

[Princess Seven]

((Colette should answer Rhone.))

Lloyd furrowed his brow thoughtfully at Lilith's remark. "I don't think it was like she had the details anyway. She showed to me visions she received of the fu---well, what I guess would be considered the near future now... Well, anyway, it felt like she showed us everything she saw, but there were no clues as to how exactly the 'threat from another world' got here." Then, he was particularly grabbed by Sol's insinuation. Staring intently back at the male wingfolk, he asked, "Well who do you think it is?" He figured the answer might give him a starting point, if he might've heard of the people Sol was talking about.

Azriel was merely silent and bearing a look of wide-eyed intrigue as she focused on Lloyd while he told his story. Then when Sol spoke up, she looked to him with slight confusion. "Huh? Why do you say that like... So you're not from Exire after all?"

The spirit that had been lingering around Azriel much earlier was right behind her. Still, he was invisible to all except perhaps Rhone. He was listening in on the conversation, but at the same time, his sights were fixed on the Necromancer. He wanted to communicate with her, but thought it wasn't a good opportunity yet. Perhaps when everyone decides to turn in for the night...  

[Sirea Angelie]

Colette frowned a bit as she listened to Rhone. "No one should be judged by their race. It's who they are that matters the most." She said then she heard him mention he would help on one condition. She then gave a small smile. "We would appreciate the help, Rhone. What would that condition be?"

"Maybe he wants to poke your wings." Rin said with a grin to Colette. Hearing Sol, his feline ears twitch a bit. "If your ancestors were like Azriel's, then...." He took a moment to look at Azriel then back at Sol, looking back and forth for a good moment. "Wouldn't that mean that they would have mix-matched wings like hers?" He asked, pointing to Azriel with his thumb, then looked back to the female wingfolk. "Hey, can I poke yours?" He would take a slice of bacon from Eduardo and eat it.

Sirea bit her lower lip as she stared at the fire when Eduardo spoke. "Humans do indeed fear things they don't understand. There were times I question if it's really fear or just ignorance that they have difficulty accepting those like us..." She said before looking to Eduardo and Ilene. "Ed, Ilene, remember when I told you about I knew someone who was a werefolk?" She would slowly remove her cloak, revealing her fox ears and tail. "Well, you're looking at her. I'm sorry for lying like that." She made a sheepish smile.

"Hey! You're a fluffy-tailed kitty!" emotion_kirakira

"I'm not a cat."  

[Evilweirdo 0]

Eduardo listened to the others speak, eventually seeing Sirea's nature revealed. "Hey, that's cool stuff! Don't worry about it, I could have been a racist person in disguise for all you knew, you know?" He just casually smiled and took the revelation in stride.
He raised one bacon-holding hand and waved it slightly in the air toward his fellow werefolk, showing that he was about to suggest something. "You know the Sages? Raine and Genis, you know? Maybe we should get somebody to go out and represent us like that. Heck, I'd do it." He probably wasn't the best candidate, or at least not in his current state, but he had the motivation to do it.
Finally, something not entirely relevant seemed to be troubling him. "Oh, hey... Are dragons really not that cute? I mean, everybody loves a cat or fox, but nobody really says 'that's an adorable, fluffy dragon right there!' It kind of bothers me."  

[Fedora Warrior]

Rhone sighs and looks over at Colette and Lloyd.
"Alright, I make it a point to learn as much about the world I live in as possible. After all, I'm gonna be stuck on it for....well, ever. And around a hundred years ago, suddenly there's a purple comet thing hovering in the sky, and then the world doubles in size because it was apparently two worlds...or...something. I also happen to know that you two were a very large part of what happened...I could go around investigating all this and trying to piece together what happened, but I've got the source of that information right next to me. At some point...I want you two to tell me everything that happened."

Hunter scratches his head at Sirea's reveal.
"Is that why your hood's been twitching by itself so much? What a relief! I thought it was posessed or something..."

"Hey-oooooo!!"
Max sprints back into camp, stopping barely short of the fire, carrying a large bag on her shoulder.
"I managed to find a pretty big buck out there. Caught him right above the eye, didn't feel a thing. AND...I think we've got enough meat for everyone here. Just gotta cook it up. "
"Finally! I was worried something happened..."
"...You know how long it takes for one person to clean a fresh kill and gather all the meat from it? Pretty frickin' long, so shut it."
"Yes, ma'am..."  

[Lord Lee Major]

Ilene stared at Sirea for a moment taking in her new features, "Don't worry Sirea, I was already a little curious seeing the hood move on its own every now and then. This just explains why it moved for me, it doesn't matter what you are."

Sol was listening to Lloyd and the others, "Well you remember that guy that flung me around like a sack of potatoes? His kind, that's who I think you... well, now it's we, should be worried about. They are called Yokai, a sub-class of demon that come from the world of Vanaheim... it's also the home of the original werefolk who also brought over their condition, to the unexpected masses of Aselia. The Yokai make up the majority of population in that world, wingfolk, elves, half-elves, humans and dwarves are all a minority."

"What? Are you saying all we have to deal, is a few of those guys that doesn’t sound that bad."

"So says the girl who turned into one of his puppets, along with me. But try an entire army, who actually is trying to kill you as fast as they can. And not all of their powers are the same, he could puppeteer his surroundings, others could control water, while others can turn invisible... nasty little buggers on the battle field the invisible ones are." Sol shivered at the thought, "Don't get me wrong though, not all yokai are that bad, most of them just wanna live like any other person."

Sol then looked towards the dual winged female in the group, “To answer your question Azriel yes, you’re right. I came from Vanaheim as well. I’ve been living in this world now for about four and a half years, maybe five tops. I came here to investigate, and if I ever ran into any Midgard scum, kill ‘em.” He had an angry look in his eyes as he said the last sentence.  

[Krazy-Chibi]

"There is a whole different world besides ours?" Kai said very surprised

"interesting...that does explain some things..heh".  

[Princess Seven]

((Aaaand I did that with the wrong account. Note to self: delete that post when back on main.))

While waiting for Sol's response, Lloyd listened in on Rhone's request. He took a few moments of silence to think about it rather deeply. He considered that, if their exact experiences were made known to a wider audience, it would likely put an even worse stigma on Half-Elves, and that's why he and his friends didn't make the story public. The false religion, the very nature of the world that was changed over four thousand years ago...those all came from the machinations of a Half-Elf who lost his mind in despair.

Looking to Rhone, he spoke his final answer. "...As long as you keep it to yourself, I don't see why not. What do you think, Colette? Although, for a complete story, I think you'd need my father...my other father here. And I'm not sure if he could come back at all." He began to look to the sky, staring out at the stars, wondering what became of Derris-Kharlan by now. He could've told Rhone there was also Yuan, but the thought hadn't crossed his mind because his feelings about how much he missed his blood-related father were welling up in his subconscious.

Azriel chuckled a bit at Rin's question. "I guess it's only fair, given how much I might smother you. Just don't pluck my feathers, please. I got tired of that after getting it often from scientists I happen to cross. >.<;; Oh, and I think he meant how the people of Exire were just...plain Half-Elves before Wingfolk. My mother and father were alive through the whole evolution period. They'd tell me sometimes, in my childhood, about the old times when they didn't have wings."

At Sol's response, Lloyd shook his head, snapping out of it. His eyes widened in surprise. "Demons?! Vanaheim?! Whoa, I never woulda thought of that! I only ever heard of demons coming from Niflheim, and the link connecting that world to this was sealed a century ago!" He then nodded in understanding, at the comment about how not all of them were bad. "I see. The Yokai sound more like...people just like us, rather than the monsters that were trying to consume this world. Who exactly do you think we have to watch out for, and do you have any idea what they'll try to pull and why they wanna do it? For that matter, how'd they even get here?" What he was hoping to get out of Sol was at least the name of an organization or something.

Azriel simply blinked in astonishment at Sirea's reveal. "Awww, you are kind of cute too! And it's alright...I could understand where you're coming from, like Eduardo says. But...I think you're pretty safe here." emotion_c8 Feeling that the weredragon should be promptly answered, she turned her glance to him and replied, "I think...that might be something more rooted in instinct. I mean, for ages, most people have seen dragons as towering...spiky...with sharp claws and teeth...capable of seriously hurt---well, generally threatening! So...I think it's kind of hard to sway something that's been ingrained into human nature." After a pause, she realized how that might have sounded. "...Oh wow. I'm sorry if I've said anything more upsetting." D:

Then, Azriel flinched a bit at Sol's response toward her; it was rare she saw such deep anger rooted in what seemed to be vengeance. "It sounds like you have a bone to pick with them. But I'm confused now...how did the people of Exire evolve if it has nothing to do with yo---no, wait. When I was little, my father sometimes told me of the occasional visits the Sages took to our village. He said that Genis, whose senses were really keen to mana, would mention a strange, invisible energy that started leaking into the air here about over half the century ago...yeah, how did anyone from Vanaheim get here?" O.o

When Max returned to the camp with her catch, she commented with "Wow...nice catch." surprised  

[Sirea Angelie]

Colette had also took a moment to think about Rhone's request until she heard Lloyd's answer. Glancing to him, she gave a nod in agreement then looked to Rhone. " I guess it would be fair, as long as it stays in this group. " She then frowned a bit when Lloyd looked up at the sky after mentioning about his father. She knew that he missed his blood-related father very much. "Lloyd, what about Yuan? He could give the full story as well."

Rin's feline ears twitch a bit when he heard Lloyd. "Other father? As in your real dad?" o.O He tilted his head slightly. "What's he like? Was he as great as you are?" He asked with a curious tone. He then glanced over to Azriel. "Don't worry, I'm not the type to pluck feathers." wink "You can give me a feather if your wing is molting." He would get up and walk over to Azriel and poked at her right wing.

Colette turned her attention over to Sol as he explained what he knew about Vanaheim. She also wondered how did anyone from Vanaheim get here in Aselia. "What is Vanaheim like?"

Sirea smiled a bit after hearing Eduardo. "Thanks, Ed. It felt a bit too good to be true from seeing how well everyone was getting along with you and Rin." She glanced over to Ilene and Hunter when they mentioned about her hood. "There are times I feel that my ears just have a mind of their own. If it's not my ears, then my tail would." She brushed her tail with her fingers as she spoke. "Though I admit that it does get uncomfortable to try to keep them hidden." Her fox ears twitch when she heard Azriel mention that she was kinda cute, which had her blush a bit. "Y-You think so?" redface

Rin glanced over to Eduardo. "Dragons could be awesome in their own way, though I don't know about being cute. If they're baby dragons, then maybe they might be cute." He said. "Though no matter what form, it's always the girls that look cuter." It was then he saw Max return with her catch. "That's a big load you got there." eek  

[Evilweirdo 0]

Eduardo certainly wasn't offended or upset by Azriel's explanation. "Nah, that's fine. It's kind of true. I don't see why, 'cause I've met some pretty friendly ones. Dang instincts. And I'm stuck being an adult guy dragon too! Man! Ah well, at least it's still awesome."
He didn't seem particularly frightened by the idea of a demon army. "Demons, huh? And werefolk! They made things a heck of a lot less boring, at least. And some of them are cute." He studied one of his claws. "I mean, I could have been a plain old half-elf, because I'm not from Exire. What fun would that be?" He still seemed to be missing the point of the conversation.
"Hey, if there's a demon army, I can punch stuff in the face and stuff." He raised his free hand slightly as if to volunteer. He didn't seem to acknowledge the arrival of Max with more food, probably because he had plenty of his own.  

[Princess Seven]

Lloyd blinked at Colette's suggestion, giving that sort of "now why didn't I think of that before" look. "Oh yeah, there's him too! I think he won't mind telling his side either. He seems to have mellowed out over time." Turning his glance to Rin, he went on, "Pfffffttt---as great as me? HA! I---aw, who am I kidding. xp Even though I beat him one-on-one---and that was just once---I'd still say he's the better. You could say he's a very seasoned warrior and...he helped me perfect my swordplay along the Journey of Regeneration. He's really stoic and serious...it's hard to tell what he's thinking and feeling, but sometimes you can just feel that he cares without him saying it, y'know?" He smiled kind of sadly, reflecting about him and remembering how much he missed him again, but accepted that he needed to go his own way.

Azriel giggled a bit at Rin playing with her wing, and also at Sirea's blushing. "Yeah, no kidding! Ahaha! It all did seem too good to be true..." All of a sudden, she looked as if she came to a startling realization. "...didn't it?"

"Yeah, niiiiice double-standard you're trying to back yourself into," Oscuro taunted, "They're definitely not gonna let us off the hook this far!" She was actually a little excited at the prospect of having to reveal herself. Depending on how the others would react, she predicted the experience would be either thrilling or anti-climactic.

Chiaro pinched her brow and sighed. "...I knew this was going to happen all too quickly..."

((In other words, in that moment, Azriel went from poker face to bad poker face. xd ))  

[Sirea Angelie]

"Your father also traveled with you during the Regeneration Journey? Man, that must've been one interesting adventure there." Rin said with a smile then tilted his head slightly.

"He had helped us out many times during our journey." Colette said to Rin. She gently placed her hand on Lloyd's shoulder, giving him a look as a way to say that she was certain that Kratos missed Lloyd just as much as Lloyd missed him.

Sirea glanced over to Lloyd for a moment when she noticed the sadden smile he was making. "Did something happen to him? Sounds to me that you and your father were really close." Her fox ears twitch a bit when she heard Azriel giggle. "Seems we picked the right crowd to stick with, didn't we? Though I admit I didn't expect to be called 'cute', but it's a nice change." She smiled a bit.

"Definitely a nice change. I wouldn't mind getting hugs like that more often." Rin grinned then decided to poke at Azriel's other wing. "Was flying difficult for you with having mix-matched wings?"