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Sun did stop when Ichigo shouted, but he didn't speak up for himself. The siren passed him on the stairs and he sighed, as if wishing he could follow. He listened and against the doorframe as everyone spoke, then turned and went to Sakura and Omikron.

He spoke low and quickly at the other two, as if convincing himself along with them.

"Listen. There's really only one way we're all gonna get through this, and for now we need to wait."

Rain fainted with a large clatter of metal limbs, causing a bit of chaos as people moved to get the large man up the stairs. But he had the other two now, and needed them to listen.

"And hell we'd better hope there's something worth saving at the end." A lower tone still. "Omi, he's coming, you know how the balance works, and what to do next."

"?"

The guy making the speech from earlier. In a way, Sakura was surprised that someone was asking her name... seemed like everyone had an idea of who she was, particularly after all the publicity in Heaven or Hell. But, it wasn't like she was famous world-wide or anything.

"Sakura."

Her answer was rather plain, but it was an answer nonetheless.

Sakura, having finished her drink, got to her feet and listened in on what Sun had to say. Saying she was still pissed was something of an understatement, but if someone had a plan that made sense beyond heading up a direct attack and hoping they didn't get killed too much, well....

"I'm all ears, red-head."

She kept her voice just as low. Hell if she knew what was going on; once again she was just along for the ride, but so be it.

"I'm going with you. If you get yourself killed there's really no point in doing whatever you're doing in the first place, right?"

Her gaze twisted over to the... whatever it was in black. He looked familiar. Very, very familiar.

"You... I... hmm."

Sitting on the bar a ways down and pretending like she was in her own little bubble of silence Hono couldn't help but to smile at Ichigo's last comment. "Oh you are sorely mistaken my dear, if you think this crowd would be able to work together without comment." xp

With a sardonic smile she hopped down off the bar again and handed Kon over to the tall young man. "You guys have fun..." she shifted her eyes to Sun for a moment with her next comment "...Try not to end up dead..." Orange eyes attempted to catch the attention of Sakura and Omikron for a moment to make sure that comment was mean for all of them before she returned her gaze to Ichigo "...because even if you manage to save the world...what fun would it be without all of you?"

Raven shrugged a bit and stepped away again, looking around to see if she could find someplace safe to take a cat nap, letting them go back to their illusion of a secretive meeting after having said the only thing that she could think of that was of any use to any of the conversations thus far.

You'd think Sun would have been asking for a good sock in the face, considering Kael's mood at that point. It wasn't so simple for him as all that though, anyway. He knew that he was right, that Rage was right. He knew that if he went up onto that island the best he'd manage was to take a few shades with him. Sunstrike, apparently turning yellow on them, certainly wasn't going to be convinced- at least not by some guy he hardly knew who had nothing alike a way with words- to smuggle him in with that "free pass" of his, so his only way of getting on the island without alerting every walking shadow up there was a no-go. If a party stormed, he didn't have the kind of firepower or much of anything else that'd really be of use to them anyway. All there really was, was pissing him off; selfish emotional breakdowns and self justification every which-way, the all-is-well saving-the-day-because-they-can chummy heroic crew pulling together, the secrets and lying, the uncooperative allies, everything.

"Heh."

No, instead of throwing that punch, Kael just threw up a chain of low-but-sharp, bitter laughter right in Sun's face, and slowly turned away as all the shouting and speeches rose right up, quite happily fading into the background. The laughter was serving it's purpose just fine- he had his wall. He could hear them all but it didn't matter. None of it had to do with him. The swordsman wasn't convinced the world was in any danger of ending, and now there were plenty of people to do what he could and more and they seemed like they'd actually enjoy doing it. Well, more power to them. This place was more a madhouse than usual, and he was flying the coop.

He liked Teira, though he hardly knew her. Kael definitely hoped they'd all get the job they wanted done, but he wasn't needed at all.

Mentally, he was trying to put a face to Guardian so he could conjure up the juicy image of just throwing them, Sunstrike, and the rest the finger. He was about done wasting his time and effort for people who couldn't be bothered to do the same, and just didn't care.

The speeches and discussion floated right on over him, half listening as he started gathering up the bits of armor that he'd slung around the room, and even strolled right on up the stairs to figure out where the things he'd slung in a room had been moved (and what of them had survived) when the place had burned down. It wasn't much he'd owned, so it wasn't like he'd be missing a great deal. Around the time the odd stranger was coming in and Rage was coming back down to the bar again, Kael was trudging up the steps and digging around the rooms.

Wasn't much to find after the fire. Best he could recover of it all was a scorched bag with some ruined clothing in it. The pieces of his previous weapons seemed to be the only things surviving relatively unharmed. A small condolence, even though he made enough of them to bother keeping the pieces of his old swords.

Still half armored, now with a duffel thrown over one shoulder to haul the little bit he had, there was an interesting sight- Rain, hauled into a room. He stopped to watch, though he didn't say a word, and when the people carrying him in came back out, the swordsman would be gone. He hadn't left the bar yet though. A few minutes later he'd slip back, and deposit a torn out sheet of paper, folded to quarters on the bed stand beside the man, one corner tucked under the lamp.



The next part he wasn't thrilled about. Without delaying, Kael took a casual walk right down the stairs and turned into the kitchen, not moving fast enough to make a spectacle but getting right out of people's sight quickly and heading out the backdoor of the Firebrand.

If he was gonna leave, there was no point lolligagging around.

Seeing as how he and Asherah had abruptly and ever so suddenly stopped speaking with each other, Kuroha believed that it was a good time to stand up and walk from teh table. He had listened to most of the conversation before, and he was intrigued with this whole situation. He had no idea who Teira was, nor this Victor. He had heard of Vahn though, and with the combined attitude of his towards preserving the life of everyone around him as much, he formed a motivation.

If he were allowed to somehow intertwine himself into this arc of events, he would try his best to be a guardian of some sorts, one meant to risk his life for others and if need be, give it in times of total uncertainty. He'd been to the Underworld once afterall, and its not like he would welcome a reunion with the world of the dead.

Something still bothered him though. Who or what was this "Lady Ra'kar", and why was this the subject of such a large scale of fear? How could one woman strike down the courage and fortitude of so many warriors? He could only fear the worst as well, that whatever she may have done had to of involved the death of many. He moved on from such thoughts however, and instead focused on how he would jump into this whole situation.

"What could I possibly do? I'm sure that there are plenty of things to do. Tasks issued from the Hierarchy? Quests of some sorts? I've only just arrived here..."

The samurai took a flask of an unknown substance from his Elegant White Yukata, and swigged some back. He was feeling a little awkward at the moment for some odd reason. He glanced off over at the group who'd been arguing and yelling at one another over the whole event, while almost unknowingly inching his way towards them.

"...Maybe I should ask one of them? No, that wouldn't be the best of ideas right now either. What good would that do me anyways? They'd probably just shoo me off. They seem busy anyways. I wouldn't want to inter-"

He put his hands on top of the bartop, virtually within earshot of what looked to be a green-haired woman, and a red headed man.



"What?!"

Kuroha cocked his head to his left slightly. Did he just hear the someone had a ticket inside the floating island? And not only that, but as the samurai would continue eavesdropping on them both, he'd hear the plan of wanting to go in there, as well as a group that was supposed to get together. He'd turn off, and raise his hand a bit.

"Tender, just a warm sake please..."

This was quite an unravelling here. Kuroha had just found out a few key things to move on with his next steps. "Eden" was his goal now. Whatever group that red-haired man had told Ichigo of was one that he had to become part of now, and how he would do that was up in the air. The tender brought the warm flask of rice wine over, and placed it in front of Kuroha, who'd reach into his yukata once more, and pull out a gold piece. It was his last one, and he was sure the tender would enjoy a tip for the day.

"Thank you much sir. I'll be needing this in a few..."

And so, Kuroha would take up the flask of rice wine into his hand, and place it into his yukata. The warmth was a great feeling in his clothing, something he had really needed. With time, hopefully, this Samurai would become a much bigger part of the situation at hand. But for now, he would simply walk out, unnoticed by anybody it had seemed. Just like it had been when he entered...

Ssssshhhhhh~

The sound of the nearby waves lapping against the shore might've been calming for some. Of course, the sound just heard wasn't that - it was Deitric's 'cycle spinning its tire uselessly in a rut. The tires had been made for some off-road riding, but the sand had gotten far too soft for him to ride over. Luckily, he was pretty close to the Firebrand when he got stuck.

"Stupid machine," he muttered, swearing in his native tongue as he killed the engine, forcing the bike forward out of the rut. A few yards and swears later, he kicked out the stand and let it fall to the lilted, sidways position of rest. The kick-stand sank, threatening to topple the bike, but the sand held it for now. The warrior pulled his helmet off as he stood near the front wall of the building, tossing it aside to the vehicle. His clothing was the typical biker outfit he wore, and his customary weapons were at his side.

He had been summoned by a missive to come to the bar and fight someone. So, here he stood - but where was his opponent?

Deitric remained at his place between the door and one of the windows, his back leaned against the wall. The man who'd come out of the car was dressed as the polar opposite of Deitric - a suit, most likely tailored to fit him. Deitric's own clothing was nothing like that - a pair of torn blue-jeans and scuffed leather boots, with a sleeveless shirt covered up beneath the leather biker jacket he wore. Black, fingerless gloves covered his hands and bracelets adorned both wrists, made from beads and bone.

Suffice to say, they both looked horribly out of place.

"You stick out like a sore-thumb-- you must be the man I'm supposed to fight," Deitric offered bluntly, holding up a small, folded piece of paper - a missive of sorts, the summons to come to the Firebrand. He slid it back into the chest pocket of his zipped up jacket and pushed off the wall, taking a neutral stance with no apparent intent as to attacking or defending. He looked to be about the same weight as his opponent, maybe a little more - but it was hard to know with his choice of clothing. He was a few inches taller, though, but not by much.

"So, time to get started?"

[Anyone who reads just ignore any powers portion of Depth's last post. So no.. DQ, or anything.]

Deitric didn't bother wasting any time - it seemed as though his opponent wasn't going to attack, so he'd just take it upon himself to make the first move. Both hands raised up in a typical guard position - allowing him to guard his head and upper body if he needed, the warrior moved forward across the sand quickly - the space between them was hardly anything of an issue, and it quickly deteriorated beneath the red-skinned fighter's advance.

In fact, he seemed to be more than just closing the distance - he was charging full-steam for his opponent. Or, it at least appeared that way. The sand didn't seem to slow him down much, his booted feet leaving small depressions in the sand where his firm steps had carried him forward. At the rate he was moving, it looked as if he was just going to shoulder-check Jiro with his left shoulder, but what tricks the warrior had up his sleeves was as of yet unknown, especially with the inability to use his static powers.