Welcome to Gaia! ::

Colin had responded eagerly to the text message sent out by Castor - he had wholeheartedly intended to be present, to have some of the gaping holes in what he knew about this whole "sushi" business (as Bjorn would have said it)...but at the last minute he had to ping the other senshi an apology and a cancellation. His mother had been in a small fender-bender and so he had rushed to be at his sister's side while their mother was in the hospital getting a cast put on her left arm. She was going to be just fine, but he needed to be there for Miriam...and while learning about what it meant to be Sailor Aegir was important, Colin prioritized his family this time.

Of course, he did try contacting the 'helpful' senshi again - and was thankfully able to arrange a 'private session' a day or so later. And so Sailor Aegir found himself jogging into the warehouse district of Destiny City in the low light of stars one evening, with a large thermos of coffee and a few of those tasty trail-mix bar things to share while they talked. Hell, call it was it was: a peace offering. An apology for missing the 'group-session' and for asking that Castor go to more trouble for just one "ill informed, scattered senshi".

Once he made it atop the building they'd singled out for this little meeting, the senshi settled in to wait - he didn't think Castor would keep him waiting a long time, the guy just didn't seem the sort, but he was grateful that it wasn't too cold out. Let's not lie, his costume wasn't exactly the warmest thing around!

Aegir had a really good feeling about tonight and about meeting this other senshi. Castor's arrival heralded his very first encounter with another one from "His Team" (well, at least another one of the 'Good Guys' - team player or not) -- and to be perfectly honest he was Impressed. Capital I. Castor was very obviously a powerful senshi - was that a bow on his butt? - and far, far more advanced than he was. Excellent! Here were the answers he wanted to know, here was the guidance he wanted (and needed)...and here was a guy that gave him hope that his costume would not remain crazy skimpy/girly for the rest of his "career". Maybe he could trade up or something?

"Hi, yep. I'm Aegir." He cleared his throat a little at Castor's comment about his uniform and shook his head a little, "It beats being naked, but just barely."

The option had been given: talk or go investigate that crash. In the dark Aegir's teeth gleamed bright white as he grinned, "As long as you can tell me something about this senshi business, I don't care what comes first." He nodded his head off in the direction of the crashing sound they'd heard. "So, should we check that out...or is it something you brought to kick around?" Obviously, he was ready for Castor's crash-course: the Senshi of Hail wouldn't have a more eager or willing-to-go pupil than this curly-haired blond before him.

Perhaps the expression on the elder menshi's face should have been a clue, or the way that Castor's eyes were glittering with an almost unholy light, but Colin had always been fairly trusting with people that seemed to be "on the same team" and so Aegir could be no less so with this seemingly helpful "broski". 'Menshi? Hey, that's a lot cooler sounding! I wonder what Bjorn will think about that one!' He thought to himself as Castor sauntered over to the location of the crash.

"Wait...are you...you're kidding, right?" But no, it didn't look like he was. Aegir's new broski was going to let whatever was beating the hell out of that door - ohgoditwasdentingitlikecrazy!?!?! - out and he - in his decidedly skimpy uniform - was going to have a five second head start before having to face whatever the hell that was.

"Oh s**t!" Colin narrowed his green eyes and put as much space between himself and the bulging, rattling door as he could in the heartbeats that Castor had 'gifted' to him before whirling around and taking up a fighting stance. So he looked kind of like a girl when 'suited up', he was no fainting filly! Here was a fair-looking fellow that knew how to fight dirty and how to use his slighter, faster and hopefully more agile build to win a fight....usually.

"Bring it!" Sailor Aegir was ready to dance - butterflies (apparently made from rock and spikes) carooming about his gut, adrenaline already pumping through his system and a healthy dose of respect/fear for whatever godawful thing was about to be unleashed upon him - but that didn't mean he was looking forward to it.

How the hell did Castor manage to get something like that!? It was a hulking beast and obviously quite strong; not as big as a gorilla but immediately that's what came into Aegir's mind. He was supposed to fight this!? Once more he wondered if Sailor Castor were trying to kill him, but then his entire focus shifted and he was intent on the youma coming after him.

"You got it! one ugly monkey's a** kicked, coming up!"

Green eyes narrowed as he watched the lumpy-looking monster stalking him; Aegir's fists were up as he too attempted to size up his opponent visually. It seemed like it should lumber along, but looks could be deceiving: this thing probably wanted him to think it was slow...when it was really quite fast and would lunge at him like one of those godawful running zombies from recent movies.

"Come on you ugly sonofabitch!" Instead of waiting, Aegir dug his heels into the gravel atop the roof and pushed himself forward; he would be the one that lunged at the youma, that went at it with the intent to cause harm. That monster was going to get a full-force punch in it's ugly mug, if Sailor Aegir had anything to say about it - and that was just the start of the brutal beating he planned on giving the youma!

The magical attack would only happen if he needed a "rope" to help hold the b*****d; a silencing "attack" wasn't really any help unless the youma was able to spell-cast or something like that (removing a voice only helped in that sort of case, so it really was a good thing that Aegir could fight with his fists and feet a la street brawls).

Well now, that was interesting indeed! The Youma seemed to be a great deal weaker than he'd originally thought because his first attack had chunks of it's flesh falling away in a quite disgusting manner (if he said so himself...which he did, but only in his head lest his new, knowledgeable bromaximus Castor think him a p***y).

Aegir was about to whirl around and deliver another blow to the beast when it let out the most disturbing keening cry - a sound in and of itself that didn't do much, but the blast of air that accompanied it sent the blond-haired senshi flying because he'd already been moving in that direction. The Law of Inertia stated that an object in motion wants to stay in motion...and he was no exception!

Colin staggered, his shoes skidding and giving him very little purchase, but he shifted tactics and tried using his slide to his advantage; since the b*****d wanted to use an attack that seemed to have - in at least some small part - a tie-in to the vocalizations made, he would remove that little ability (if possible)!

He steadied himself and sprinted briefly to put a bit more distance between himself and the youma before turning and doing one of those (ridiculous and sometimes acrobatic) attacks that all senshi came equipped with. "Aegir Golden Hush!" A band of golden energy wound out from his outstretched hands to wind around the creature's throat, silencing it's vocalizations and tightening so that he could strangle the s**t out of it.

Once the magic-assisted display of energy, shininess and other desu-desu spangle vomit subsided, Sailor Aegir was left holding a still-gleaming rope in his hands; he smirked and started yanking on it, drawing the monster closer while sawing at it's throat and choking the life out of it. Perhaps it might not have had such a sharp effect, but with how delicate this particular youma's flesh was...well, the attack was quite effective; especially now that Aegir was basically working hard to decapitate it with the energy-fueled remainder of his magical attack.

And the worst (or best) part? The poor thing (yarite) couldn't make a single goddamned sound about it's plight: not whine nor whimper nor scream of pain.

Had the youma gotten closer to him, Aegir might have gotten to throw more punches - maybe a few dozen kicks too, but the way that it worked out, he'd just needed to strangle the monster with his magical attack (Aegir was pretty sure that was not how most of his interactions with the Negaverse and its agents would work out). Having the creature explode into dust was awesome and validating and he totally gave Castor a victory air-pump of his fist.

"Thanks man, I appreciate it." Colin wiped his hair back from his head and half-jogged back to Castor. "In a fight? I need better techniques for attack...as you probably saw, my uh...'magic' attack isn't exactly good for offense. I know how to beat the crap out of someone, but I get the feeling that's not gonna cut it with the Negaverse." Also, he wanted to hear what Castor thought about him, about how he fought - albeit it had been a little on the quick side...

He stretched his arms over his head, then sighed a little bit. "That, and I really want to know why I'm fighting these things. I mean...I have no problems kicking the asses of bad guys, but I'd rather know why."

Castor's voice carried from their location atop the roof so that the blond Senshi could hear him clearly, but not so much so that anyone passing below (who in the hell would be passing by this godforsaken place at this time of night anyway) would catch their meaning. He had some pretty good hints and notes about possibly improving Aegir's effectiveness in battle as well as some pointers for teaming up with other Senshi; nothing really mind-blowing, mostly just common sense. When you were fighting an enemy that was stronger than yourself, it made sense to work with others...and to play off each other's skills, strengths and weaknesses to the over-all good of the group. Not a hard thing for Colin/Aegir to comprehend and work with - he'd never really been a "show-boater" (at least, not unless dance was involved...and even then he generally was fine with working in groups) -- it didn't work well when you were trying to make a name for yourself as an imminently hire-able professional dancer.

The one thing that really bothered him was the thought of strangling another person to the point where said person might die. If it came down to his life or the life of another person - an innocent person, then that was one thing...but just doing it? Aegir was just not sure he could manage it. Not even for someone that was supposedly a "bad guy" like those from the Negaverse were. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

When Castor motioned for Aegir to follow him, the curly-haired blond did so quickly; long legs catching up so that they were walking nearly side-by-side in short order. They left the rooftop behind them while the other Senshi spoke of what he knew; filling in the nearly-new Senshi of Silence on the history of the Lunar Empire (as much as he knew of it), of his own part as an ambassador of Mercury and about how the Earthians rebelled and became the force known as the Negaverse. Now, Aegir listened to all that Castor had to tell him, but also knew that there must be a lot more to it than Castor knew - indeed, the brunette said as much: he didn't know everything, not nearly so, but this was what he did know and he was happy to share it with a fellow Senshi.

Beryl. Serenity and Endymion. Reincarnation. It reminded him of nothing so much as Romeo and Juliette, only with magical powers and sailor skirts. It seemed pretty ridiculous to him that an entire war had started - and was in fact continuing still - over what sounded like a very one-sided love triangle. He kept that part to himself and instead spent his limited time with Sailor Castor probing the other's mind and trying to get as much information as possible; Colin could mull certain things over later...perhaps try to navigate the depths of his memories? Would he remember anything of the Lunar Empire, or would he too have only the vaguest of thoughts towards Serenity's kith and kin? Things to ponder later, but as long as he had the Senshi near, he would stick with the more important questions so that hopefully he'd get the best answers for the time spent.

One thing stood out stark and clear to Aegir; resonating deeply within his heart, his mind...his very bones. 'We can't go back because we have nothing to go back to.' Nothing. Worlds broken and burnt, entire peoples gone...forever. No magical reincarnation for the souls under the Senshi, under the Rulers of those worlds.

Colin fought to keep from falling to his knees. Castor's bitter words echoing over and over again; battering at his very being. It hurt and he was thankful that his companion didn't reach out to touch him at that point; the elder youth simply waited for Aegir to get control of himself again before resuming their stroll. There wasn't a lot more for Castor to tell him...something about corrupted Senshi and cats that had been awoken into the Negaverse instead of their proper order. Ah yes, and Beryl, Charonite...the fact that star-seeds could be ripped from one's chest and that was a really bad thing (duh). Basically, they talked for hours and then said their short good-byes; Castor and Aegir were not 'pals' or "buddies" - they just worked for the same side. Castor did offer to help Aegir, should he need it and the Senshi of Silence reciprocated the sentiment before parting.

It wasn't easy, powering down and walking home. He didn't...want to bump into anyone or talk to anyone except maybe for his burly roommate. There was so much to think about. So much of what he'd been told spoke of pain that rested just under the surface of being a Senshi in these times; deaths of self and home world(s). Long dead empires, Lunar princesses, Earthian princess and other-worldly caste-related personages. So many things that he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to come to terms with. At the very least, having talked with Castor made some of Colin's near-nightly nightmares make a lot more sense. Colin tried to keep things out of his mind until he made it back to the safety and quiet of his shared dorm-room.

*Fin*

OOC Note: Finished RP w/Permission of Vamps & Nessu