Welcome to Gaia! ::

Stryke had tensed up when he saw Byakko with her weapon pointed and her aggressive stance, along with Zeffer’s tension in his body. His own body tensed, the bandages on his burns around his shoulder hurt with the motion of his body locking up. The hole in his stomach Vremea had done her best to close, but even still the newly mended wound gave the occasional pang. He was grateful for what had been done it made traveling this labyrinth like maze of a swamp manageable. For a brief moment he worried he’d be taken down before he had a chance to speak. Luckily he was recognized by both of the trolls before being welcomed along.“yesss, it's me. also, hello byakko sorry to alarm you i know its dangerous out here.” Not including the local fauna, they were also being pursued for all he knew they still wanted them dead on site. “i am in agreement, ssso thank you.” He added gratefully tension visibly relaxing in his frame as he closed the distance between him and the group as introductions proceeded.

Listening to her, his gaze first peered at the troll she’d introduced first. From the looks of it, he was a tiny child and may have been the very one he’d seen back before the army had come storming into their halls. Pulling his hood back enough so they could actually properly be introduced. “maneki, it’sss nice to meet you officially. both of you for that matter.” He added gesturing to Zeffer, and offering a genuine smile when the younger troll Maneki yawned and peered at him sleepily from his makeshift hiding spot..

His eyes traveled to the next the pinkblooded troll had referred to having included his greeting to include him. The yellowblood had indeed never met Zeffer formally, only seen him around and a thunderously fearsome force on the battle field with his batons. The bluebloods antics and his coating his horns in mud made him raise a brow. “ha! no thank you, luckily my horns haven’t grown exponentially in sssize recently so this hood works.” Stryke looked amused as he shook his head. “and open wounds and mud sounds like a bad combination.” He replied sarcastically, despite his toothy grin.

For a moment his eyes rested on that hand-print she'd left behind. It was like a screamingly bright target and exactly what they needed to attract attention in the depths of the swamp lands that was for certain. His gaze flickered between her and the print for a moment. If he had a problem with her blood hue, it didn't show nor did he say anything effectively treating Byakko the same as before the reveal.

"...If you really want to, but you're taking a bath before bed. No arguments." It was an optimistic comment, almost uncharacteristic of the infamously sour mutantblood, but some of Maneki's good spiritedness had rubbed off on Akko. More than anything, though, she wanted to keep a brave face on for her charge. If she faltered, what would he think? She knew how he idolized her, and while admittedly to some extent it made her uneasy, it was a valuable asset in terms of how she trained him. Stopping to untangle the orangeblood from the sling across her back, she helped him descend before straightening back up to to smooth down her cloak. Akko didn't think Zeffer's plan was entirely idiotic, although she still held some reservations. Stryke seemed to share her sentiments, at least.

"Mmm, well, with any luck we aren't dealing with anyone competent. Still, it's best not to underestimate them." She really wasn't sure what kind of army the military would have granted Kursha. Akko's stomach flipped for the umpteenth time that night- Regina must have had something to do with it. Back at Bloodest, she had seen the two of them talking... she'd even questioned Kursha about it directly. Why hadn't she taken the warning signs more seriously? More misplaced faith, just like with the traitor whom he had been so eager to replace. Because Kursha had worked with her to sniff out Errade, helped her, she trusted him to some extent- and been burned yet again. Trust was in short supply. Byakko side eyed the yellowblood, keeping her attention primarily locked on Maneki.

Geta squelching in the mud that threatened to suck them right off her feet, Akko silently cursed Zeffer, his boots, and his likely dry toes. The team neared a fork in the tunnel of trees. Byakko slowed to a stop, scooping down to tug her adopted child back gently by the teal ties around his waist. "Hold up," she paused, squinting down each of the narrow pathways. The TPS showed signs of other trolls alarmingly close. Byakko stared down at the blips, determined not to let her expression waver in front of the others- especially Maneki. Wiping away the beads of sweat forming on her forehead with the back of her hand, Akko frowned. "Maybe we should split up... try and divert their attention further."

Stryke found himself smiling, the antics of the younger troll was impossible not to find amusing. In that moment it confirmed to him that the other troll looked to Byakko as a lusus like figure. Nor did he seem to have a white beast of his own, how curious. That had him wondering what exactly it meant, given the pink color of the rebel leaders blood. Still, the yellowblood didn't make any assumptions about the younger boy. If he was outside the normal spectrum, then so be it. Stryke wasn't about to make any sort of judgment, not when the other boy was clearly having the time of his life in that moment.

"i sssuppose it's a natural insect repellent at the very least haha! and uh, no. a head ssshot sounds like a ssshi….stupid way to go. i'll give you that." Stryke replied quickly changing his choice of word with a sheepishly apologetic expression. Still he found reason to smirk toothily, although he made no attempt to join in the mud bathing. Even when he'd been smaller now than he was currently, he still wouldn't have to be fair.

Stryke listened to Zeffer as he spoke, a curious gleam in the starts of those aureate and mostly grey tinted eyes. "i only know so much about tracking, but i asssume if we are quick about it we can try and lead them on a wild goossse chase and then some with any luck." When the taller adult nudged between them the yellowblood unconsciously put space between them. Not that he believed the blueblood would hurt him, it was just habit and so he could look up to talk. While Zeffer might have been Errade's executioner, he was more than that clearly. Even if Stryke didn't know him in full it was obvious while a big kid himself, the blueblood surely meant well.

When Byakko next spoke his attention shifted onto the pinkblooded troll again. His gaze quickly flickered back to the expansion of trees and the two paths presented. "if we split up, we'll have to move quickly. safety might be in numbers, but we can potentially confuse them if we do thisss hm." He rubbed the back of his neck as sweat beads formed there for the umpteenth wishing for the first time in his life his hair wasn't so long. "regardlesss of what we pick, i'lll go." Stryke retorted as he loosely crossed his arms over his chest regarding the three trolls he'd joined with a great deal of consideration. "it's not like there was another set of passage ways. the other portions of the swamp are completely impassible from the looks of it." He added with a hardline frown as he shuffled a rock with the toe of his boot idly. He shifted it to the side as if he was nervous, but if Ryk was he wouldn't speak to the fact.

"Stryke's right. The terrain limits us- the best we can do is split their attention further." Nodding in approval at the yellowblood, Byakko kept a watchful eye on Maneki as the three older trolls huddled together to discuss their path of action. "A signal..." Akko twisted to look at Zeffer over her shoulder. Similar thoughts about the likelihood of their calls making it through the thick brush unmuffled filled her mind, and she slowly shook her head. "Like what, a wingbeast call? I'm not confident that'll work. But who knows, the trees might clear sooner than we think." She doubted it. "It could come in handy. I suggest we rendezvous back here in a few hours." It was their best shot of making it out of the swamp as a group.

Byakko paused to consider Zeffer's related second suggestion, although there was hardly a question in her mind how the four should be split up. "Mmm..." She was a walking target- every royalist at the ambush had seen her scar ladened face. She had been leaving a trail of her pink blood, and if the royalists were going to try and track any of them, Akko could only assume they'd take chase to her over either of the other trolls. Maneki's secret was still safe, from the military, anyway. But if he went with her...

"I'm sorry, Maneki." Byakko suddenly awoke from her darkening thoughts, falling to her knees to address him at his level. Leaning foreward, she sunk in the mud and firmly gripped each of his shoulders, locking onto his pleading eyes with an assertive stare of her own. "I don't want to leave you either, but you have to go with Zeffer right now." A squeeze. She trusted Stryke, but not nearly enough to leave her charge in his hands. "It'll only be for a little awhile." Byakko reached up to run one hand through the orangeblood's matted hair, slathering the mud he had generously rolled in over the remaining orange peeping through his hair.

"It's just... I need you to protect Zeffer in my place." For the briefest of moments her expression brightened at the half hearted attempt to lighten the situation, (she was joking now? Dear gog), before hardening back into her usual stoic frown. Giving his shoulders one last affectioate squeeze, Byakko straightened up and turned back to the others. The two paths laid out before them looked nearly identical, melting into the unknown dark uncertainty ahead.

"Stryke," Turning to the fidgeting yellowblood, Akko jerked her thumb in the direction of one of the tunnels of scrawling branches. "We'll split up together, then. Work for you?"

"Maneki-"

Byakko knew what that jut of jaw meant, the watery look of plea in his eyes. A small, unfamiliar part of her bloodpusher throbbed with a stabbing ache. "I-" She started, then stopped. There was absolutely nothing she could say to quell his fears, to promise her return or make good on the fact she had to leave him once more. There was no logic to be utilized against a child's (extremely legitimate) fears. She knew that all too well. The terror, the anger and betrayed hurt, the overwhelming uncertainty- it was still fresh in the mutantblood's mind, even after all this time. Suddenly, she was thrust back to her hive with Trolldad, only a handful of sweeps old, teary eyed and begging Zhuque not to go with the rest of the Initiative with their mission into space. Not to leave her alone.

But what had to be done, had to be done. "I'm... sorry. We have to do this, there's no other option." Almost the exact same useless words left her chapped lips, cracked and pained. The dawning realization made her feel nauseous. Even more so did the inkling that Trolldad had never known what he was doing, either. Byakko glanced back up to Zeffer, begging with her eyes for him to speak up, to help ease Maneki into the idea of breaking off with the blueblood. She didn't know how to do this.

Her attention snapped back to Maneki when he began wailing like the freshly-pupated troll he was. Akko swallowed back a knot of emotion of her own, barely maintaining her stoic expression. She'd seen him cry, sure- but never like this. There'd never been any reason to, aside from early bedtimes and a lack of dessert. Words never fully encapsulated what it meant to be a mutantblood, or to rebel against the crown. Now he knew the harsh realities.

She knew her words now wouldn't reach him, even if they could hold any real meaning. All Byakko could do was unevenly step towards Maneki, duck down, and crumple around her fellow mutantblood. Wrapping herself tightly around the sobbing troll, she softly whispered shhh against his matted hair, stroking his back in an attempt to soothe his tears. After a moment she plucked him from the puddle and turned back to the others, careful to keep her embrace on Maneki. Her opposition to being slathered in mud seemed moot now.

"We're really running out of time," her voice had gained an anxious edge. She gave Maneki another squeeze, gazing down at him remorsefully as she moved to hand him off to Zeffer.