Welcome to Gaia! ::

Molly patted Deryk once more, before releasing him to turn her attention to the group of Mists gathering.

Oh yay! Molly was oddly excited for this. She had seen the Moons get a pep talk, and then the Suns get a pep talk, and she really wanted a pep talk too! She knew as a Mist, she was expected to fill any roll that was needed…but how was she suppose to know what they needed? They’d tell her, right? Hopefully? Was a large part of it left to their discretion, she wondered.

She’d wait for Candace to speak first though. She might end up answering a lot of her questions.

Harrison had more confidence than Marcus in this and it showed. "Alternatively." Marcus began, voice hesitant, "You pull the injured off to the side and heal them. Act as barrier so they might do it to themselves. Moons act defensively, so when some one needs healing? We're supposed to be able to do that. If someone is in danger, assist. Know your skill set. You can't heal? You defend. We're often paired off with suns for a reason. If any of you have clearance for runic bandages or daggers, get them."

Looking at Ami he shook his head, frowning. "Your guess sadly, is as good as mine. But from the number of hunters, the fact it didn't come from a lead or a senior hunter...and the events leading up to this? I'd say it's a safe bet this isn't training anymore." He cast a look towards the more senior hunters present, who looked just if not more anxious. "I can't say what we might face but if it's any consolation, I think everyone is a bit afraid."

His entire posture tensed up as the other sun either intentionally or unintentionally hit him right on the rawest of nerves. He was stressed out enough that the jibe about his sexuality was enough to make him fly way off the handle.

"Right. That's it. No. I don't need this s**t. Not today of all days."

He had to walk away right now or he would try to hit the other guy and start a ruckus. Not on a mission. He pointed. "******** you."

Then to Jerry. "And ******** being cheery about this."

And then turned to walk away to stand at the edge of the gathered hunters.

"H-Hey Leon," Deryk grinned to the boxer before looking towards Molly. He waved to her briefly, then began to fidget back in place once again. Most likely, their debriefing will begin soon.

Madison listened to the speech with more than usual intensity - she wanted, so badly, to be fearless. To fulfill, to really understand what it meant to be a Hunter. For everything to be worth it-

-but mostly to be fearless, because she was so afraid right now. After Caelius had finished speaking, Madison quickly took the last few steps to Ennea's side and reached out to squeeze the girl's shoulder, lightly. "Hey - Death together, that's good. You're with me. I'll stick with you," she said, quietly.

She used her free hand to retrieve her phone and started typing out a single text, sending it to one particular group in her phone's address book.

"I know," said Gale, his voice low and quiet, only for Candace to hear. His eyes flickered upwards, a slight frown on his face - the only sign of his disconcert, other than his unexpected affection. But he did not want her to worry about him, even though he knew she would.

He caught her sleeve just before she walked away.

"Candace," he said seriously. "You too. Call me if you need anything."

Then he stepped up on his tiptoes, kissed her cheek, and disappeared before she could say anything, stepping back towards Davey and the others.

Davey, who was apparently having some sort of disagreement with his weapon - bitchblade, as he called it. Gale's eyes flickered over towards the older hunter as he folded his arms across his chest, wearily rubbing one hand over his face.

He felt tired. It wasn't even that early, but he had not slept well.

Caelius' voice - as imperious and aloof sounding as always - snapped out through the dismal, foggy air as he strode through with the other division leaders. Gale watched him with an inscrutable expression, his lips pressing together as he listened to the lecture given. He was used to this - too used to Caelius' disregard for anything other than what he was there for, too used to everything by now.

"...Sun and Moon Hunter teams two and three will go as backup to the Sahara post with Allan..."

Everything seemed to collide inside of his head, Gale's body jerking soundlessly. He heard the rest of Caelius' words as if through a filter, stuck on that one word, that one location.

Sahara.

It slammed into him like a lightning bolt. A voice rang in his head, echoing from long months past.

"Oh hey! There's a Death Hunter and he's not busy!"

No, thought Gale. His mind was already working to put up his mental shields, throwing them into place desperately, keeping himself from going down that path again, from drowning in those black memories. His thoughts were in chaos, but he remained outwardly calm, feeling his heart thud erratically against his ribcage.

<< Gale. >> Jinhai sounded quiet, slightly tense. << Breathe. Relax. Don't think about it. >>

There it was, his mantra again. Gale closed his eyes briefly, inhaling slowly.

Don't think about it.

A hand briefly touched Gale's back, and then was gone. As she walked past the younger hunter, Clarice gave him a small smile of encouragement before turning back to Dr. H, quietly discussing several proposed changes in warding arrays.

A hand landed on his back, very gently, startling Gale out of his inner turmoil. He glanced up, slightly taken aback to find that it had been Clarice; her smile was quiet as she stepped past him, already moving back to Doctor H.

His throat constricted, just a little.

But her support touched him. Gale offered her a small smile in return, giving her a tiny nod in thanks before turned back to Allan and the others.