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Jude was a mighty hider of motives as he kind-of-sort-of shanghaied Gale and made him switch directions, "I just felt like being outside," he said idly as his eyes flicked over to the water. Wonderful water. Beautiful water. Water filled with life and things of all sorts of wonder and--...

..He shook his head. No. Stop it. He looked over toward Gale with a small shrug, "Yes, summon Kids so we can...Figure out something to do while we tell them that Mommy and Daddy aren't here for the evening." Jude said as he rubbed at the side of his face.

Just don't look at the ocean.

{It'll be okay, Jude.} Yom said helpfully, {I'll talk sssenssse into you!}

Thanks, Yom, thanks.

Madison trailed after the others kind of awkwardly - after all, she'd just been assigned to the Death Division, and she didn't even know the other three advanced trainees that well! She felt a bit like an intruder. "Hey," she said, nodding at Gale, Jude, and Ariane while trying not to show how randomly, stupidly nervous she felt. "They, uh, just transferred me in, so..."

Ugh she had no idea how to finish that sentence. Instead she settled for lifting her chin in a show of how totally not freaked out she was, honest.

His head hurt, he didn't feel well. It was the worst hang over he'd ever had, and it had nothing to do with alcohol. He wouldn't have minded if it had been. But this? Joy withdrawals? Otto wanted to murder the one who'd made him act like a fool. He hated that he remembered it all, and he still couldn't understand why he'd slept next to a giant candy cane. Somehow though, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it, and simply tossed it a corner to collect lint and dust.

As Otto nursed a headache and nausea while lying in bed, his phone sounded off. No... no not a mission. He just couldn't handle doing anything right now.

Alas, despite his persona, he was dedicated. With a groan, the trainee left the comfort of his bedroom and left for the beach.

~~~

Upon arrival, a small gathering of Death Hunters had already gathered, including Eva. He said nothing, his eyes squinting uncomfortably and his hands rubbing his temples.

As a greeting, he glared at Gale. His coat was fancier than theirs. He obviously deserved a glare.

After running around to almost all the other divisions, Deryk finally found his way to the group he was supposed to be with. Quite frankly, he was glad to be at the right place for once. It was getting tiring running about the island. Arriving to the beach, he saw a number of other Death trainees around.

"Uh. Hey guys! What are we here for again? Beach party? Something else?"

"Oh! Um, yes. Kinda. Caelius did... what Caelius does." Madison shrugged at Wilson, looking vaguely embarrassed. She didn't really want to share the tale of her somewhat foolhardy and unintended division swap just yet. "So now I'm here. Oh, um, I'm Madison, and this-" She touched the bracelet around her wrist. "-Is Kouki. And I haven't really done anything particularly... death-ish yet? I guess? What with the holidays and stuff."

Oh, the holidays. She was grateful for Gale's words for multiple reasons, at least partially because then she didn't have to think about the holidays any longer. "Thanks," she said with relief. "I'll, uh, I'm not sure about taking the reins on Death stuff yet, so... I'll follow you guys' lead for now, yeah?"

"No worries," said Gale, giving Maddie a reassuring half smile that was really just a quirk of his lips in what might have been an upwards direction. He patted her arm awkwardly, and then added, in a low murmur for only her and the other Intermediate trainees to hear, "It's not like we're all that clear on - "

Except his sentence wasn't quite finished, since, at that moment, something shifted to his left. Gale's eyes flickered in that direction, the sky doused with the thick fog that always encompassed the island, his brows furrowing together.

A whisper, a thought, a passing whim? tugged at his mind, but it was so fragile and precarious that Gale could not distinguish just what exactly it was.

The fog swirled again, shifting. And then -

"Oh."

That was...not fog. And it certainly did not look as though it belonged there, even if it was wandering around a bit morosely, as though confused as to its whereabouts.

There was a flash of white light that emanated from the ring on Gale's left index finger before the little piece of metal disappeared, a long, white rifle appearing in his hands instead.

He glanced at Jude, Ariane, and Maddie, clearly confused, his eyes asking their opinions as to what they should do.

"Well this is, er...not quite what we were planning on," he said, and pulled the sniper rifle up against his inner shoulder, extending the weapon along the length of his arm so that he could squint one eye through the telescopic lens.

"Well, we were going to discuss what we were doing, but I guess we have to take a little detour first..."

There was a loud bang as the first bullet went careening towards the tree, Gale lifting his head just in time to see it collide into the thick, grey branches. One swung out towards him, very nearly clocking him in the face, but he managed to sidestep the full brunt of it just in time, receiving a rather nasty whack to his neck instead.

"Ow."

Rubbing his reddened throat, Gale glanced around at the rest of the trainees, a vague, almost amused smile on his face.

"I think this is a good time to get a little target practice in, wouldn't you agree?"


[ HP: 40/50
Damage: 5
Charge: 1/2

BOSS HP: 55/60 ]

HP: 30/40
DMG: 1
Charge: 1/3
Boss: 51

The eerie sense of the faintest of noises tickled the back of Otto's mind, his hands loosening from his head and looked around him. Fog, as usual. Yet...

Emerging from the fog was a sentient tree. Otto furrowed his brows and sighed heavily. So much for a beach party. This fight would not help his headache. The boy summoned his boomerang and sprang forward.
However, he only managed to nick it before the tree swatted Otto away like a fly, sending his body skipping across the sand like a pebble over a pond.