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Azriel blinked curiously as she watch Rhone leave. She wasn't sure what to make of the possible opportunity of meeting his family. Or rather, it was a strong mix of feelings; a mild excitement of getting to meet them, then a twinge of embarrassment for feeling that way after seeing how somber the mood was between him and Rhone at the mention of his family. Then concern. Lastly, her thoughts shifted back to her own parents up in Exire since Maxwell was among the Spirits to be claimed. She used to make visits until Chiaro and Oscuro became part of her, after which she just frequently wrote letters. Truth is, she wasn't sure about approaching Exire again after her change.

Sheena nodded each time a claim was made as she silently took tabs in her mind. Once a few had made their decisions, she repeated the information as a reminder. "So that's Origin for Rhone, Volt for Max, Luna for Sirea, Gnome for Eduardo, and the Sylph for Sol. That leaves Efreet, Undine, Celsius, Shadow, and Maxwell." She folded her arms and made a contemplative expression. "If I may suggest...Lilith, as a necromancer, Shadow could prove most useful for you. This is just a guess, but his powers of darkness could extend to Kai as well."

"Ooh..." Azriel spoke up, "Shadow's one of my initial picks, but I have to agree there. So among the remaining choices, Undine and Celsius are left..." She held her chin and stared at the floor with her brow furrowed, still undecided.

"...Drat." Oscuro snapped her fingers at losing the chance to connect with Shadow. Chiaro, on the other hand, was indifferent to passing up on Luna and Aska. She felt she didn't need a pact anyway.

"Hmm...while you mull over that, Azriel..." Eloysio paused, smirking. "If I may be so bold...if all goes according to plan and I am able to get a new vessel before it's time to go to Exire...I would like to claim Maxwell."

The asymmetrically-winged Wingfolk smiled, amused at his proposal. "Okay. Oh, I didn't mean I was deciding. Eloysio says he'll take Maxwell if things play out right."

Sheena looked at her with slight intrigue. "Those were some pretty interesting choices you made in the beginning, Azriel..." She initially assumed light and darkness were the elements of her forte because of her wings, then was surprised when her further behavior made it look like that might not be the case. "But if I may suggest again, you seem most suited for Undine. True, I don't know you that well, but I perceive a gentle nature within you that makes you a better match with the Spirit of Water than the Spirit of Ice."

Azriel slightly blushed, feeling honored about receiving advice directly from the Chief herself. "I-I will take your word for it then, Ch-chief Sheena. Er, Fujibayashi! S-sorry."

Sheena chuckled a bit. "Just 'Sheena' is fine. Any friend of Lloyd and Colette's can address me just as they do. Don't worry about it. Now, that just leaves Efreet and Celsius."

After everything had been decided, Max shrugs her shoulders and looks Sheena in the eye.

"Okay, so that leaves Efreet. Fire's a pretty simple and easy to understand concept. Bet Hunter would enjoy his company...Sheena, he's over by the weapon store, likely talking the store-owner's ear off. You should go tell him he's got a spirit to bond with, since you haven't met him yet. I'm gonna try to find out where Rhone sulked off to."

She then leaves the room and ventures outside. Meanwhile, Hunter is chatting with the weapons merchant about various items they sell.

"Are you sure it won't work?"
"You cannot just attach a chain to weapons to make them more efficient."
"What about that one over there?"
"The...nun-chucks? Are you going to attach two swords together like that? You can't...that's...that won't work!"
"No, I mean the chain scythe thing. Could I do that with my greatsword? I could use that for a wider swing if need be..."
"You would have to be insane to try that!"
"I know what I'm doing."
"...Fine. I'll sell you the chain, but I don't know how you plan on swinging that thing."

"All right, we're going to do stuff!" Ed, as usual, seemed excited at the prospect of "doing stuff." "...But Rin's taking Celsius? He seems warm and/or fuzzy, so that's kind of... Why aren't there more elements? I can think of a few... 'Salt,' 'delicious pork products,' 'surprise,' 'treachery,' 'part of this nutritious breakfast...' Heck, I'd cover the first two if there isn't a spirit for them already."

Ignoring the fact that ordinary folk could not "cover" the domains of Summon Spirits, he tilted his head. "Wait, did you say dining hall any time?" He seemed about to barge out of the door, but managed to hold himself back for a moment, for politeness' sake. "Uh, thank you for your generous offer of delicious flesh, Chief Sheena! I'll just make like a spirit of salt and delicious pork products and chill while you guys plan. First, though, I think that we should totally stay here overnight. I mean, there are ninjas with pork products! How awesome is that?"

"I vote for staying the night,"Sol gave a small smile as he raised his hand, "I've been running on empty since yesterday, sure coffee is good but it doesn't beat sleep by a long shot." He gave a yawn, "Besides it'll give you guys some time to think up some questions about Yokai, Vanaheim, or anything else dealing with the two. My info might be a bit out of date by a few years, but I'll try to fill in the gaps as best as I can. You can tell what you decide later, but for now," He walked up behind Eduardo, and slapped him on the back, "Come on Eddy, Let's go find us a salty pig. Later Y'all, talk to ya later Miss Fiji... Fujubi... Let's go with Ninja Queen, shall we?"

"Sheena Fujibayashi." Ilene couldn't help but roll her eye's.

"Gesundheit, to ya Missy" With that Sol waltzed out of the room off to the dining hall.

Ilene rolled her eyes again arguing didn't seem worth the effort at the moment, "I'm fine with whatever the group decides for, however" She looked towards Sheena, "I was hoping to ask for a favor. Could it be possible for you to send a letter to someone... my mother actually." she bit her lip, she suddenly a bit apprehensive asking Sheena to send this, even if Sheena said that her village was allied with the Vanguard, mixing business and personal matters seemed rather unprofessional.

"Alright, staying the night it is, then," Lloyd declared, "Now that I think of it, I guess it's for the better. Sol's got a point—it'd be wiser to make sure we're all in the best of shape before we move on."

Sheena couldn't help but smile and laugh quietly to herself. These new acquaintances sure brought a pleasant mood to the air. "You're welcome, Rin. I'll see to it that everyone's stay is relaxing. And yes, Sirea, it is as Colette says. The Spirits will ask you ro pick three people to fight alongside you." She looked to Lilith. "As for the Taurus Brigade, I'll have my units stall and mislead them as much as possible. I am aware of your reputation, but...you've allied yourself with Lloyd. You can't be all that bad."

Then she looked at Ilene. She indeed recognized her as Marta's daughter, but at her request, played along like she didn't. "That won't be a problem at all, Ilene. It sounds urgent, if you need it sent by me." She then gave a glance and a discreet nod over at Lloyd and Colette, a signal to leave Ilene alone with her, to keep up the impression that they weren't familiar with Ilene either.

Lloyd nodded back at Sheena, then as if on cue, his stomach growled. He blushed a bit in embarrassment and laughed. "Aheheh...I guess I could do with grabbing a bite to eat myself! Come to think of it, we hadn't started the day with any breakfast...yeah, that must be it." He made his way to the office door, but stopped there to face his wife. "You wanna get something down at the dining hall too, Colette?"

((Sirea, you can go ahead and say she left with Lloyd in your post if you need to. :3

Hm...I was gonna insert was Azriel was up to, but I think it's still premature. I think I'm going to wait for a couple of responses, if you guys got anything more to fill in, and then go on with it.))

Sirea tilted her head slightly. So we get to pick three people to fight alongside us...Man, choosing which three would be difficult. Her fox ears twitched when she heard Ilene ask Sheena to send a letter to her mother. I haven't wrote a letter to my parents since the day I left home. I wonder how they're doing.

Colette also nodded back at Sheena, then laughed softly when Lloyd's stomach growled. "Grabbing a bite to eat does sound good." She smiled and followed Lloyd.

"I'm going to take a look around the village. I'll grab me a bite to eat later. Later, guys." She smiled a bit then made her way out of the room, leaving the building altogether.

Rin looked over his shoulder to see that others were heading in the same direction. "Glad to see I'm not the only one who's hungry." He said with a grin then glanced over to Eduardo. "What's a sea pig?"

Lloyd, having been one of the first to reach the dining hall, could be seen with practically a mini-feast surrounding himself and Colette. He was also noisily and quickly scarfing down food, a habit he never really lost growing up.

Eventually he ended up swallowing something he didn't chew very well, and thus ended up beginning to choke on it. His first instinct was to try to cough it out, pounding a fist on his chest in the process.

~~~

Sheena nodded as she saw Ilene off. With her office emptied out, she set out to see Hunter at the weapons shop. Upon arriving, she found him just as Max had said—lively engaging in one-sided chatter with the exasperated shopkeeper, who stiffened up in posture when he saw Sheena enter his establishment.

"Ch-Chief! Wh-what brings you here?"

"I was told that one of Lloyd's party was here during our meeting in my office." She looked to the tall redhead. "You're Hunter, right? I'm just here to fill you in on what we've discussed. To the point, I've decided to lend your group the aid of my Summon Spirits, who have agreed to form temporary pacts with you. Hunter, you've ended up with Efreet, the Spirit of Fire."

((Yeeeeeeaahh just posting Azriel's bit after Hunter's response. I think. ))

Rin laughed from hearing Eduardo's response. "Stealthy pigs? Wouldn't that make them ninja pigs?" He rubbed his chin in thought. "Maybe if we have to some fishing, we can keep a look out for a 'sea' pig....well, make that a 'river' pig if we do it in a river." As soon as they entered the dining hall, he didn't hesitate to chow down. He then noticed Lloyd scarfing his food down quickly. "Wow, Lloyd. I didn't think you would have quite an appetite." He grinned then noticed Sol eating fishcakes like a hamster. It was a strange sight, yet it was a bit funny. "Hey, save me some of those fishcakes, will ya?"

Colette found Sol's hamster impression amusing. As she ate her food, she noticed Lloyd choking. "Lloyd, are you okay?" o.o

"Don't worry, Colette. We'll save your man!" He went over to smack Lloyd's back at the same time Eduardo was delivering his punch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirea was enjoying the sights of the village as she wandered about. It had a different atmosphere to it in comparison to other places she had visited. For a village full of ninjas, it's a nice place. She thought to herself.