Bypassing the Audience Room, and making his way straight to Azura's living quarters, Ryden walked right into her room, finding her asleep, as he expected. the night before, when his mother had send word requesting him to stop by and speak with her the following morning, this was more or less what he expected to happen. Fourteen years, and she hadn't changed one bit.

"Mother?" He called out to her, softly at first, but then progressively louder once she failed to respond. When that didn't work, we walked around the ridiculously well furnished room, tripping over empty sake bottles as her went, opening all the curtains and letting the early morning sunlight fill the dark room. She simply responded by grabbing a nearby pillow and putting it over her head.

Finally, he tried the only thing he knew would work for sure after one of her famous benders: He walked over to the foot of the the bed, grabbed one of her feet, and held his index finger out in front of her toes. A few seconds later, she squealed like the young girl she pretended to be, and jumped, falling unceremoniously onto the floor in the process. But not before kicking him squarely in the nose, of course.

"Again?!" She screeched, picking herself up off of the floor and walking to him furiously. "How many times have I told you not to do that? You are the meanest son in the history of all... sonship!"

Though Azura could be very intimidating when she wanted to be, Ryden's grey eyes met her crimson glare calmly. "And I love you too, mom." He said, his deep voice showing no hint of concern. "Maybe one of these years you'll actually stop drinking all night and sleeping half the day, and I won't need to do it anymore. You're the one who asked me to come and see you this morning, remember? And in case you've forgotten, morning for me is around 6 am."

"Oh..." She replied, scratching her head thoughtfully, all of her irritation draining from her face. "I... guess I did, didn't I?"

Ryden walked over to her closet, grabbing the first kimono he could find and tossing it in her general direction without turning to face her. "Yes, you did. Now would you please put that on? Seeing you in your underwear is just... weird."

A few minutes later, Azura was properly dressed (for her), and she and Ryden were sitting outside at the white table on her balcony.

"Soooo..." He began. "You wanted to see me?"

""Well, of course." She replied, looking at him through the sunglasses she had thrown on. "I don't get to see you much lately. I just thought it would be a good time for us to catch up. What has my handsome young son been up to the past few weeks?"

He looked mildly confused as he replied. "Um.... the usual, I guess. Training, mostly. I've done a few C and B ranked missions. I'm about to try my first A Rank mission later on today. Other than that, there's not really much to say. Also, these are all things that you know, being the guild Master."

She moved her chair closer to him, reached out and touched his right shoulder. He didn't need to see the blue glow of her hand to know that she was healing the injury he had recieved during his last haardcore training session. How she always seemed to know when he was injured was pretty creepy.

"So.. are you still single?" She went on, as if nothing had happened. "You're not getting any younger, you know."

Ryden sighed. "First of all, I'm only 23. And you telling me that I'm getting old is like an elephant telling a walrus it's getting fat. Secondly, yes, I'm still single, and no, I'm not looking to change that. Is that why you really called me here?!"

"Well... " She said, looking like a child who had just been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. "Is that so bad? You should be glad to know that you have someone who cares so much about your happiness. You're so ungrateful sometimes."

"Right..." Ryden said sarcastically, standing up from the table. "Well I do appreciate that you care, but don't worry about my love life. You have a guild to run. I'm sure you have more important things to do."

As he started to leave, so called out to him. "Fine, fine. But before you go, do you remember that little comment you made a few minutes ago about me being old?"

He sighed once again. "Yes, and I apologi-"

His apology was cut off by Azura's Azure Guardian shield bashing him off of the balcony, and him subsequently crash landing on his face in the training area.

"Thanks for stopping byyyyy!" She yelled, waving at him from the third story balcony. "Don't wait so long to pay me a visit next time!"

And then she was gone. He picked himself up from the ground, dusting himself off and wondering, not for the first time, whether she would have accidentally killed him by now if he wasn't a Dragon Slayer.

Wincing in sympathy as Veronica observed Ryden get thrown out, quite literally of the Azura's quarters. With curiosity bubbling to the surface of her mind she walked over to the battered Ryden before inquiring quietly " So, what did you do this time? Comment on her age again?". The buckles of her boots clicked together as she came to a halt, about a foot away from him, mainly just for her own protection if this was the day the calm man would loose it.

Her eyes blinked slowly as if trying to read the emotions running through Ryden's head. It was purely out of her habit of observing people, she had not accomplished reading this face in particular. Her outfit of choice today was a dark violet style dress with a red sash around the waist as a type of accessory. Or was there more than it seemed as faint blue markings lined the sash indicating that memory spheres were currently being stored there. As with most of her outfits a good majority of her skin was showing around her arms and legs..quietly shifting along trying to find a safer spot to evade the grey eyes of her target. With a slight smirk on her face she winked at him and said with confidence "Am I right in guessing your offense to our dear guild master? Really now Ryden, one as handsome as yourself should know by now complimenting the lifespan of lady is not a good way to make amends..". Her jab was good-natured and slightly flirtatious, sweet words tended to work wonders when it came to cracking open secrets.

In truth, to was to satisfy her own curiosity about the meeting as well as an attempt to fluster Ryden..the man needed to lighten up every once in awhile. The ink along her throat settled in around her guild marking making an attempt of choker necklace with a bright flat ruby in the center. It seemed that the ink was feeling particularly vain today..or just reflecting the moods of its manipulator.

"Cao!" Jien swore in Chinese as his latest attempt at Sword Dance ended in failure. It was one of the those times where it exploded in his face, causing a razor sharp blast of Chi to put a decent cut on his arm. He, the one who was famous in the guild for being able to sit still longer than a rock, was beginning to lose his patience.

This was how all his mornings started off, early and training. He had already finished his warm up, a set of forms designed to get the blood flowing, but not be too tiring. With a frustrated sigh, Jien gave up for the moment and went back inside his small, but nice, home. After bandaging his latest injury he did a few more forms. These ones more complicated and tiring that the ones before, they included many leaps, flying kicks, and moves that required near perfect balance.

This was just a light training session of Jien, he was planning on doing a job today so he didn't want to wear himself out too badly.

Morning routine finished, Jien tied his sword amulet around his neck, and grabbed his shoes and pack. He headed out on his way to the guild.

A little while later he made it to the guild, just in time to see Ryden face plant. No doubt Azura had been the cause. Jien had been in the guild for two years, he was no stranger to her wrath. Another guild member, Veronica was also there and was now talking to Ryden. Jien decided he would join them. He briefly thought about hiding his latest injury, only a few people knew about the Sword Dance technique so they just assumed that he trained as hard Ryden did. Which wasn't a lie. But he dimissed the thought, they'd find out sooner or later anyway. "Good morning you two." he said as he aproached them.

It never got old. Popping in one people when they least expected it, her high speed. Lily cackled deviously, tapping her fingers together like a classic villain as she thought of how to screw with Briar today. The night before, she interrupted him while he was changing into clothes to sleep in- God, his reaction was priceless! But how would she do it this time? It was a pretty tough question, since she had already done so much that she worried he'd get used to just expecting her to appear. She absently kicked a pebble as she paced around outside. It was morning, and well, everyone was probably meeting each other now to eat, right? At least, that's what she figured. Lily didn't really want to do that yet though.

She tossed her dagger into the air, tapping the hilt with her index finger as it went back down. She focused on an area high above her as she tapped it, and the dagger was sent at blinding speeds to it. Immediately afterwards, with her tongue primed on her lip, she tapped her shoulder and sent herself up to meet with the dagger, and caught it handily midair. A wave of satisfaction hit her as she sent herself just above the ground again, and landed feet first with elegant yet childish flair.

Man, it always feels so awesome to do that.

Lily figured it looked impressive, at least, and put the small dagger back into it's sheath at her waist, and wondered exactly how Briar was doing. But more than that, she was pretty damn hungry and wanted to eat something before her stomach started to growl and mewl for food. She bulleted herself into the air to get a better vantage point, before sending herself back into her room through the window, landing almost silently on the bed, where she absently changed into a skirt, threw shorts on underneath, and put on a sailor top, dumping her raggy nightgown onto Briar's head, covering his face.

Wait 'til he wakes up and sees it on him.

She hopped down the stairs a few at a time, smiling widely at everyone already there- the powerful slayer Ryden, the too serious sword guy Jien, and of course, ink girl Veronica. And why, why did Jien only say good morning to the other two? Lily was there too, even though she had only just arrived, of course.

"Jieeeen!" Lily whined lightly as she sent herself above a chair, landing neatly on it in a sitting position. "You didn't say good morning to me!" She puffed up the air in her cheeks, pushing out her bottom lip in a bit of a pout, and stuck her tongue out at the sword user. "C'mon, c'mon, say good morning to me!"

"Jien hates me, Ryden." She mumbled to the dragon slayer, overly exaggerating a shrug. "I'm all sad now."

Akio would be walking back to the guild with a disappointed look his face, as he begins to talk to himself. "Its so not cool that such a cute girl has a boyfriend." He looks up at the sky, " i wasted the whole morning chasing after her to."

Akio would continue to complain, until he remember he was almost out of money and there was a job he wanted on the mission board. he began to run ,Even tho Akio had only been in the guild for about a month and a half he already has a reputation of being a flirt and most of the female member couldn't stand him. Despite him being very "flirtations" he was a pretty good Mage and even tho he doesn't talk about his past or his parents. It seem most of the guild members trust him.

As sharp pain would begin to arise in Akio chest he would begin to slow down to catch his breath. He slows down he HE says to himself ,"this is why i prefer to fly every where." He would props his arms behind his head and begins to think to himself. "I wounder what the girls are wearing to day. I didn't get a chance to see before i left the guild earlier." he would let out a huge sigh . "now that i think about it that job is going to be a pain. why are the good paying job always so hard"

he would look around most of the people in the near by town knew who he was also he magic was easily recognizable, his father was a great Mage that most Mages look up to him. but Akio felt no real need to live up to his father, he wanted to be his own man.

as Akio soon would be able to see the huge guild hall of "The Azure Knights" the best guild in Ebel as akio walked he would stop and think to him self "why am i walk? i can fly." a large magical circle would appear on his back, as huge bird like wings would jettison from his back ". can't wait to get back to the guild maybe i can even talking someone into coming with me on a job". Akio would pause for a moment and daydream how the mission would go, and a huge smile would form on his face "LETS GO!!"

with a powerful flap of his wings he would shoot off into the air. it would only take him a few minutes to get to the guild doors ,as he lands his wings would disappear. he would walk in to the guild he would make a bee line for the guild hall.

he walks into the main hall the first person his eyes fell upon was Veronica. she always look so nice, so she was good as anyone to go on a mission. with although she always asked about weird stuff. Akio would smile " Veronica!!!!" Akio would call out from the other side of the guild hall, he always like to see her reaction to this.

Veronica's comment had caught Ryden completely off guard. He started to mumble something that he was sure would probably make him sound like and idiot, but luckily, the arrival of the others saved him the embarrassment. He wasn't really sure why he thought that would be more embarrassing than the fact that he had just faceplanted from three stories up.

"Good morning everyone." He finally said, smiling at the group as he calmly finished wiping the dust from his face. "As you can see, our beloved Guild Master is in rare form today. I'd advise avoiding her until after noon. "


Noticing that Jien was injured, he placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "I suppose It would be hypocritical of me to tell you to take it easy during your training sessions, but you should probably have Saphira take a look at that. I was hoping you'd like to join me on an A Rank job today. But I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing you were hurt. In any case, I'm going to see if I can find Briar. Meet me in the tavern in a couple of hours if you're interested."

With that, he nodded his head at each of his guild mates and started back towards the guild hall he had just gotten knocked off of.

A faint cheshire grin appeared on Veronica's face as she watched Ryden attempt to figure out a decent reply without offending the aging female population with an unwise comment. ~For one so powerful a mage, he is not exactly the smoothest speaker..especially with women~ she thought with amusement as Ryden changed the subject to Jien's injury. Those two were always getting hurt from pushing their bodies too far. A faint sigh escaped her as she heard the antics of the over-dramatic Lily began her morning pouting session, well at least there was some consistency. Nodding her head towards Lilianna as her form of greeting, before visibly cringing as her name was shouted across the hall

"Veronica!"


Nearly joining the facepalming session with Ryden as she glanced out of the corner of her eye seeing a familiar blonde bounce through the door. Already feeling her blood pressure rise as the angelic boy began nearing her area. With a low hiss in her voice she snapped "You should know it would be wise to keep that mouth of yours shut. Unless you are being well-mannered and polite today, then keep your distance." Her ink fluxed around her arms before resembling that of a large venomous snake on both sides of her forearms..ready to strike at any given moment.

With a look of desperation on her face she mumbled quietly "Please save me from the blonde menace...". Her cold red eyes stared directly at Ryden as if she hoped that he would cause a distraction long enough for her to find a suitable hiding place.

A look of confusion was on Jien's face as Lilly came over and complained about him not saying hi. He did the only thing he knew how to do. He dipped his head and replied, "My apologies Lilina, I was unaware that you were here. Good morning."

He was overwhelmed by the sudden amount of people around him, but adjusted quickly. He silently listened to the others tease and greet each other, until he felt Ryden's hand on his shoulder. Whom he gave a nod to after the dragon slayer was finished speaking. Of course he was interested in an A rank job, he was always looking to further himself and that was the perfect way to see how far he had come in the past two years. He had never attempted one before, but believed that he was ready.

Though he was reluctant to ask Saphira about healing his injury. Because of the position the dragon held in Chinese culture, Jien didn't think it was right to ask one of them for help. He had high amounts of respect for them, even for than the guild master, almost seeing them as the gods they were in his culture. He constantly had to remind himself that they were not in fact dragons, but people just like himself. People who had the honor of being trained by a dragon, but people all the same.

With a small sigh, he toyed with the amulet around his neck, rubbing his finger along the still sharp edges of the sword. Something he always did when he was thinking. He decided that he would ask Saphira, but later, he thought it would best to say where he was. And spare the women who were with him having to be with Akio alone. Or more like, save Akio from the women.

Another sigh. As much as loved his guild, sometimes the more energetic members were exhausting.

As akio walk over to Veronica he seen her mood instantly change he always though it funny how quickly she became angry its was cute to him "You should know it would be wise to keep that mouth of yours shut. Unless you are being well-mannered and polite today, then keep your distance."

Akio would look at the ink snake with little concern "Awwww Veronica why are you always so mean to Me. i am nothing but a gentleman to everyone." Akio would begin to reach out and touch the ink snake but thought against it at the last second touching it might give her a reason to hurt him, then run right hand through his blonde hair trying to slick it back

Akio would place then his left hand behind his back and bow he would rise his head to look up at her and in his most suave voice would say " i was thinking you and i never spend any time together so why don't we go on a job, just the two of us?" He would reach over and take hold of her right hand and and lightly kiss it. Akio knew full well this might end in a beating but on the off chance it didn't far out weighed the consequences. Akio only hope is that the ink snake really couldn't poison him.

The twitch had developed her right eye every time that Akio was near had made a debut now. Every word dripping off the man's lips made her want to beat the man within an inch of his life. Scoffing at the term gentleman, she was mildly surprised he had not made the attempt to touch her yet. It may of been due to the snakes' ready to strike within range of those wandering hands and twinkling eyes. A scowl appeared on her face as he requested her assistance with a mission. If it were worded properly and not making it seem that she was just going on a date, she may of said yes.

With a cheshire smile on her face, she giggled quietly pulled back her hand..barely resisting the urge to wipe it on her dress. With a faint blush on her face she said sweetly "I was worried you would of never given me the chance to get to know you better." Her blush deepened as she gently kissed his cheek before whispering "Ink Make Snake" against the plush cheek of her gentleman caller. The ink from her arms came from her crimson lips, coiling itself around its' target's neck in the form of obsidian colored hooded cobra..ever so slightly coiling itself tighter around the man's thin neck.

With an almost casual air about her she withdrew her pistol from her dress and placed the cold barrel of the opening against the center of his forehead before snapping "I suppose I should correct myself in my statement that I would never be given the chance to get to know you better before you died a tragic and sudden death. Any last words?". Her finger was placed on the trigger ready to be pulled at any moment. ~This man must be a secret masochist, he should know by now I hate being treated like some toy...~ she thought, while glaring daggers at the grinning blonde man. It was another typical occurrence in the guild Akio would overstep his boundaries and end up getting a beat down. Now this was one of the times he had gone too far.

The sword user looked baffled, almost a little afraid when responding to her complaint. Lily thought it was awesome; he was so frickin' easy to predict, it's ridiculous! "My apologies, Lilina." He said, dipping his head respectfully, letting Lily bask in the warm feeling she got from being respected by someone that much older than her, and she smirked cheekily at him. "I was unaware that you were here. Good morning."

"Heh." Lily patted him handily on the back. "Thank you for noticing me!" She said in a sweet-as-sugar voice, before feeling her hand grasped by none other than the other Lily, the freaking Princess. She was fun too, and the Vanruth loved screwing around with her, and using her to screw with others. Anyways, the Princess Lily gave an enthusiastic wave of the hand, and smiled brighter than she did for the others present, making Lilina feel the need to do something drastic. So she flipped her skirt in Princess Lily's face and hugged her tight, squealing "You're so cuddly, Lily! I wanna snuggle you all day long!"

Wonder how she'll react to that?"

After the spontaneous embrace, Lily laughed. "Fooled ya! I got shorts underneath!"

Where the heck was Briar? He still hadn't come down, and it irked her. More than anything, Lily wanted to know how he reacted to waking up with her gown draped neatly over his face. Embarrassed? Shocked? These sort of things are amazing to watch, especially in person. He was her favorite here, after all, having known each other a bit before he asked her to join. And hell yeah, she'd join. Free food, lots of exciting people to have fun with, and all she has to do is show off her magical skill to rack in the cash. An easy and ultimately enjoyable life, she figured. It made for a great deal.

"Veronica, why are you always so mean to me?" Lily overheard a separate conversation between the inky freak Veronica, and the annoying playboy, Akio. Once again, he was up to his old tricks, and Lily's ears perked as she thought of how to get in the womanizer's way. She hated men that preyed on woman like that, it was annoying and baseless. And in the end, the girls mena nothing to him, so why trust anything they say? A rare scowl crossed her face as she regarded the bow user. "I am nothing but a gentleman to everyone." The blonde man slicked his hair back, as if it made him look cooler.

Things escalated pretty quickly though, as the ink girl counterattacked Akio's flirting, and started with her rage mode again. Lily had to act fast now; a death in the guild, even if it was Akio, isn't fun at all.

An idea popped into Lily's head. Veronica obviously wasn't enjoying the attention, right? And Lily wanted to try and make the inky freak open up. So maybe one way to do that would be to get her away from the blonde pervert! Lily, a little smile on her face, rushed at Veronica in something between a tackle and a hug.

"Ronnie!" Lily exclaimed, happily. "Let's go somewhere else!"

She quickly sent herself, alongside Veronica, to the other side of the training field, away from the preying eyes of Akio, and regarded the older girl with a giggle, stretching her arms casually. "Saved ya." She made a peace sign and flashed a grin. "God, that Akio doesn't know when to quit!"

---

The early mornings in Hisbiscus seemed to be Armin's favorite part of the day. It was calm, relaxing, with the townspeople just beginning to bustle around going about with their everyday routines. The blond boy let out a yawn from where he sat on the stairs in front of the large building where he'd rented an apartment six months ago. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that he'd been a member of the Azure Knights guild for that long. Most of the mages there had been there for much longer, but for Armin it was a great accomplishment for himself. He's even finished a bundle of C rank missions! Of course he had to pay rent some how, but that wasn't the point. To be able to go and see so many different places and to be helpful to people was more than enough reward for him.

"Right!" He said aloud to himself with a smile as he stood up. It was about time for him to get going. Chances were by now the other members of the guild were meeting up already.

He stretched his arms above his head as he began to walk, the sleeves of his long-sleeved blue shirt falling to his elbows for a brief moment before he brought his arms back to his sides. He'd have to pay rent again this month, better find a mission today.


It took the blond a little while before he neared the guild entrance. On the way there he found himself a little side-tracked when he came across a stand selling freshly baked sweet potatoes and he just couldn't resist buying a batch of them to share. With the brown bag gently held against his chest with his arms around the sack, he stopped when he noticed some of the members out front. Let's see...Veronica, Akio, Jien, and then Lilina and Lilly. Surprisingly enough it didn't look like there were any arguments going on, or at least not at the moment. That was a bit of a relief. "Good morning everyone!" He said with a cheery smile before holding the sack of warm potatoes out in front of him. "Is anybody hungry?"

---

---

"Hm?" Briar's eyes slowly opened and his eyebrows began to rise as he realized he still couldn't see anything. At first, he thought it was still night, but knew that wasn't the case when a tendril of light broke through as whatever was on his face shifted. Plucking the cloth off in a tired motion, he stared at it as it drifted slowly to the floor. "A nightgown?"

'Lili...'

There was no doubt in his mind who the article of clothing belonged to. The young girl was no doubt hiding in one of the many shadows still draping the room, waiting for him to freak out. 'Sorry Lili, not today...' It had been a long night, and any sort of extravagant reaction was beyond Briar's physical capabilities this particular morning. Instead, he grumbled a curse at the light streaming in through the window before swinging his feet down to the cold floor. "Yaaarrrgghh!" The yawn seemed to echo around the room as he stretched before rising to his feet. If he could stay in bed all day, he would. But there were things to punch, and food to eat out there. And right now, the later of the two was his primary concern as his stomach so admirably reminded him.

Throwing on his boots and tucking his pants into them, he tossed on his black, coat-like shroud over his bare shoulders and headed out the door, casting one last glance behind him in an attempt to locate the thirteen year old trouble maker. When he failed to do so, he descended the stairs of the guild and headed toward the main hall. The sounds reached him before the actual sight of the other members in the guild, and for a moment, his hunger was put on hold.

"Who turned on the sun?" Briar said walking up and leaning against the door frame to the guildhall as he shaded his eyes in the bright morning sun.

As the snake wrapped around Akio neck he thought to him self " uh oh this isn't good". as he felt the air being squeezed out of him as she place the gun to his head Akio would do his best to smile "a...aawwww V..Ver..Veronica i thought we where mak....making some head way in.... our relationship".

He would laugh a little, he was sure this was only making it worst. He would never try and attack her to free him self so his only option was dumb luck and it couldn't come soon enough. as Lilina she would tackle Veronica Akio could feel the snake grip loosen as he fell to the ground gasping and nervous laughing knowing he very well could have died.

Akio would make it back to his feet he was tempted to ask if that was a no to Veronica ,but he had pushed his luck enough today. he would look around the main hall and see a few of the other he knew but they where either to young for him to hit on, or a guy. Akio let out a depressed sigh "o well i guess the other guild beauties are not here". He would look around and see Ryden and Jien he over heard them talk about a job he would shrug his shoulders "i wanted to team with one of the guild beauties, but i'm almost out of money so i can't really be picky in teammates."

he would walk over throw his arm over Ryden shoulder "yo guys!!! i couldn't help but over hear that you two are thinking about going on a job. so was i!!!! and i thought it would be even better if i joined up with you guys" akio would thrust his fist into the air "just think about it, we would make an awesome team.

Ryden you are the strong angry looking mysterious type" Akio would point to him as he says this and he would quick move over to Jien "and you are the level headed clam respectful one" and Akio would then point to him self "and i am the fun loving charismatic one" he would thrust out his fist yet again. "with out magical combination no enemy will be able to beat us. well this happens on one condition course" Akio would point to himself with his thumb " i get all the pretty girls" Akio would then laugh

Within a span of ten seconds away from getting rid of the blonde menace with single shot to the head. Her chance was taken away as the room suddenly changed and she felt her body suddenly be clung onto.. by Liliana.Her eyes glanced down wearily only to have her eardrums ruptured by a shrill voice. Slowly detaching the clingy girl from her body with her hands before muttering "Yes, he can be a handful. Umm thank you for rescuing me?". Her voice was unsure as she stood to her feet, eager to not become the kid's personal slingshot again. With a snap of her fingers the waiting snake around Aniko's laughing body faded. Shaking her head in annoyance she scowled "You were lucky this time you ass."


Carefully making her way over to the quieter guild door were a sleepily looking Briar and eager Armin with food in his arms. Her foul mood brightened slightly at the sight of the boy's ever present smile before she said "Trying to fatten us up again Armin? I swear you always are concerned for the welfare of others. That's a rare sight these days." Her warm tone went several degrees colder as she jabbed her finger at Briar before pointing in the direction of the ever hyper Liliana "Oh by the way you must of accidentally let your puppy out...try to make sure it doesn't happen again.". What she should of said was while you were off your hangover..your little roommate used me for her amusement, why don't you have any type of control over her!

That would be rude though..a faint smirk appeared on her face as she asked "So who drank you under the table last night, or were you up trying keep your charge out trouble. You look exhausted still". Her ink seemed to be concentrating around her Guild stamp forming almost a net like material over her chest. It was a easy way to make the dark violet dress seem to be a bit fancier, who would of thought that such a simple change would make something better.

"Oh wonderful," Saphira grumbled out loud as she peered under her bed.
This was the second time this week she had lost her favorite, and admittedly only, pair of boots. She had barley been at the Azure Guild for more than six months, and she had already misplaced her boots more times than she could count. Admittedly, it might help, if she didn't take them off so often. But Saphira couldn't help it. She hated the way that the boots constricted her feet, in the mountains, it was safer to walk without shoes than with. The rocky terrain around Vyaweck, her loving foster mother, had been rocky and steep, walking bare foot allowed you to get a better hold on the numerous rocks and boulders that jutted out from the earth, unless you liked plummeting fifty feet to your death on either side.
"Maybe I can ask the others!" she thought as a feeling of excitement and nerves bundled up in her stomach.
Normally, she would not do this, being alone in the mountains with her only company as a dragon, made Saphira uncomfortable in group situations, especially if it involved numerous people, and seeing as the guild members tended to appear in clusters, it was almost unavoidable. But she was getting desperate, she was hoping to take on a mission soon, instead of just healing duty.
A sudden burst of energy over took Saphira at the thought of spending more of her time healing others who had gotten back on missions of their own injured. As much as she loved helping others, she yearned for the knowledge and experience that went along with such tasks, after all, isn't that why she left her peaceful cave and came to this foreign society.
Taking a deep breath, she opened her window, and swung her legs over, looking down at the at least four story drop from her position. Without a moments hesitation, she pushed off from the ledge, and, with the help of a small tornado she had created beneath her, gently floated down to the ground below.
The second she felt her feet touch the ground, she took off into a full sprint. Her hair streamed behind her like a pale, auburn blaze. It didn't take her long before she had group in her sights. Slowing to a walk, she approached them, calming slightly at the sight of Ryden. She wasn't quite sure why, but the she felt a certain kind of kinsman-ship with the fellow dragon slayer, as if they had been friends since childhood, when in reality, she had only met him a few months ago.
"Hey guys, have you seen my bo..." Saphira stopped mid sentence as the smell of semi-fresh blood hit her nose.
Almost immediately, her eyes whipped towards Ryden, one who had always been known for practicing harder than he should have, and then not coming for treatment. But, she saw no blood nor his usual attempts in fixing his wounds.
"Then that means..." her eyes focused on the dark red stain he sported on his elbow.
At that moment, any type of shyness she had left her immediately as she marched directly up to Jien.
"Why didn't you tell me you were injured Jien?" her brow furrowed into one of concern and worry for her fellow guild member.

Tatsou stretched as he woke. He looked around his one room house making sure everything was where he'd left it. Yawning he stood slowly and started getting ready for the day. 'Gah I need to get a job today I'm running out of money and rent's gonna be due soon plus I'm really hungry. He mentally berated himself for putting off work for so long. Once he got himself dressed he swung his sword over his back. It wasn't a normal sword. It had been given to him by Adalinda. The blade was made out of a rare steel that she'd heated and forged herself. The sword was without a doubt his most treasured possession.

He moaned and groaned as he walked his way out of his house quickly picking up the pace as he went. "I need to get there before all the interesting jobs are taken." He continued running until he was able to see the guild hall. He slowed his pace as he noticed the crowd of people gathered in the main yard. "Their all there... Should this be when I go and try to fit in..." He took a deep breath and started walking towards the group eventually ending up just on the outside of the group. He didn't speak up having already done better than he'd expected. 'I'm here if they don't notice me they don't notice me I'm at least here with the group.'

After a while the group disbursed and started looking for jobs. 'Hmm I guess everyone's running short on money. I hope there's still a good job by the time I get up there.' While he waited for the board to clear he want over to the kitchen and grabbed a rather large plate of food and headed over to an empty table.. "At least I'll be able to eat before I leave for my mission." He took a small bite enjoying the taste before it got to be to much. After just a moment he started shoveling the food into his mouth as quickly as he could without choking himself. As he hate his thoughts continued running back to his guild mates. He sighed softly pausing his feeding frenzy. "I wonder why I have such a hard time with people. It'd be so much easier if someone came to sit with me."

'Puppy...?' Briar thought at the remark from Veronica as she approached and pointed an accusing finger at him and over to Lilina in turn. 'That girl is anything but a puppy, 'demon' would be more accurate.' He chuckled as the thought forced its way into his mind and he involuntarily scratched his head, ruffling the fiery crop of hair.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he focused his eyes once more as he found himself staring at the odd swirls of ink on her dress than at her face. It was far too early in the morning for these kind of illusions and he was having a bit of trouble actually hearing what she was saying, mostly due to the distraction of her dress. "Hey," he said, spreading his arms in a defensive gesture, "Lily's old enough to do stuff without me holding her hand at every turn. Besides..." His tone changed suddenly to a slightly playful one, "if I'm really going to be the babysitter and upstanding individual in this guild, I think we're all screwed!"

The burst of laughter that followed at his own joke was a combination of early morning giddiness and a slight influence of his hangover. Truth be told, he really didn't remember what he had done last night that was making him so tired this morning. And that usually equated to a large sum of alcohol in almost every case. "In any case," he started as his eyes locked on the bag of potatoes Armin was carrying, "who cares what I did last night? I'm more concerned for what I'm going to eat today!"

Without warning, Briar was wide awake and launched himself at the young, golden-haired boy. In one smooth motion, he scooped up the youth and hefted Armin over his should with incredible ease. "C'mon, I'm starving!" He said in a rush of words as he snatched Veronica's hand and drug her along with them as he sped off. Armin slung over his shoulder, and Veronica being drug behind, Briar bounded through the guild passing the others huddled around the mission boards as he did so.

Subtlety wasn't always his strong suit...

---

Ah...there goes Lilliana. Armin watched her run off rather quickly without saying much and he blinked in confusion. With his arrival were there just too many people around for her? Maybe she just didn't like sweet potatoes.

"Trying to fatten us up again Armin? I swear you always are concerned for the welfare of others. That's a rare sight these days." Veronica had said to him and he let himself focus on that rather than the reason why Lilly disappeared.

"I couldn't pass up sweet potatoes!" He said with his usual little smile, bringing the brown bag back against his chest. Veronica had begun to lecture Briar, who'd come down not long after Armin showed up, now about something that must've happened while Armin wasn't around since he couldn't really figure out what she was talking about, but he stood there quietly listening anyway, giggling a little when Veronica called Lilina a 'puppy'. Now that he thought about it the small girl did sort of act like one, especially with Briar. A pair of ears and a tail would probably fit her, to be honest.

As Veronica and Briar talked Armin let his eyes move across the guild hall. It didn't look like everyone was here, but quite a few of them had already showed up, including Saphira who, before even finishing whatever she was going to ask them, went off to stand by Jien and the other two guys. As he was about to turn back to Veronica he stopped when he spotted Tatou. That's right, he'd passed them by not too long ago and was now eating...rather vigorously by himself.

"In any case, who cares what I did last night? I'm more concerned for what I'm going to eat today!"

Armin moved his eyes back in Briar's direction, tensing up a little once he noticed how intently the man was staring at the sack of potatoes in his arms. "O-oh, well I-" He began with a sheepish smile, only to have his sentence cut off when he found himself being picked up without warning. He let out a small yelp in surprise, quickly holding the bag up so the potatoes wouldn't get mushed as he was slung over Briar's shoulder.

"C'mon, I'm starving!"

"B-Briar-san! I'd rather you not carry me like a child!" He said in a sort of helpless tone. It wouldn't be much longer until Armin turned 17, yet he could still be picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder so easily. Something about that made the blond boy feel kind of small... Of course he was small, but still...

Armin let his arms relax as he held tight to the bag in his fingers and let out a sigh.

A faint blush appeared on Veronica's face as Briar's eyes none too smoothly eyed her chest. ~Is he really...doing..that right now..or is it the illusion that distracting him~ she thought, while trying to ease her blush away. Slightly grinning at the mention of his occupation as a temporary baby-sitter for the spunky girl with the speed magic before muttering "Yes, if you were in charge of all the little brats in the guild, I swear our repair bills would skyrocket. I doubt Azura would like that idea." A true giggle escaped her lips as the man began complaining of the lack of food in his stomach. A typical male comment, he was proving her idea that men had one track minds.


Her eyes widened in surprise at the agility as her hand was pulled along tightly by the warm hand of Briar's. Thankfully she was no being subjected to same treatment as Armin was, who appeared to be resigned to his fate. As her face flushed crimson once more as she hoped no one was observing them to closely. As they came to halt, she quickly took her hand from his before muttering "You really need to work on your tactics Briar. I just hope Aniko doesn't try that on me..my response would not be as willing..". Her face seemed to turn even redder as she realized that she would of preferred to have her handheld by the crimson maned man..rather than the blonde angel.


~Why is it always around attractive men I trip over my tongue..~ she thought with irritation. Glancing at Armin she whispered to him "Are you okay? I don't think people mind when you bring in those delicious potatoes, but I doubt you like being carried around like a sack of one.~ Still, the bag that was being clutched in the boy's hand in a death grip, did smell tempting right now. Although she doubted that he would willing part with them while in such a embarrassing predicament.

Sometimes the chaos at the guild overwhelmed Jien, this was one of those times. Many things were happening at one time. Both Lilly's were being... Well themselves. Veronica was trying to kill Akio. Granted it was all normal, he just didn't like it when it all happened at once. He was relieved when Saphira walked up to him. "Why didn't you tell me you were injured Jien?"

"You weren't here." Was Jien's blunt and honest reply, then after a moment of thought added, "Would you mind healing it? I'll be going on a job with Ryden in a few hours."

He didn't think that it would slow himself down, he had fought through much worse. Even as a child. He wondered what the other guild members would think if they knew that the injuries he showed up with were, technically, self inflicted. Not just normal training injuries, but ones that he had given himself, with his own magic.

So far the only ones who knew about the legendary skill of his family was Saphira, as she was the one who always patched him up, Ryden and Veronica, since they were his partners, and Azura. But he planned on tell the others at some point. Once he mastered the technique that is.

Unless they asked where he was getting his injuries from, Jien was a terrible liar.

Does she like her, that stunningly beautiful inky freak? Lilina guessed a probably no, but then again, the inky freak didn't really get along with anyone. What was she expecting though, a sudden life story flashback, explaining why ink freak was so antisocial and 'Holier than Thou' to everyone? Probably not, in hindsight, and all she really received was a simple thanks. Considering Tatsou, Princess Lilly, Rayne, Ink Freak... this guild is filled to the brim with the shy types that preferred not to talk to anyone else, putting the onus of 'space filling' to the more extroverted members. And Akio's version of filling the silence was almost universally viewed at with annoyance, at the very least, and blatant hatred, if you're an Ink Freak. In any case, the hyper Lily wasn't surprised at the lack of response, and the Inky Freak went to a quiet, calmer area. Briar was there, awake, and none the worse for wear, considering what he had on his face, and when Inky Freak pointed towards her, seemingly in exasperation, Lily waved at him and lifted her skirt, before winking, setting it down, and zooming away to a different place.

Why can't everyone be more like Princess Lilly? Her face when I shoved my shorts in her face... hilarious!

A guild full of Princes Lillies? Wouldn't that just be awesome? Full of people to play with, and to confuse others with. Especially with name switch game- that'd be a frickin' awesome blast then. Since everyone would be Lily or Lilly, and it would just be incredibly convoluted. Just how Lilina liked it, and she let out a little sigh before zooming up into the air; into a window; down a hall; to the Job Board, and looked at some of the missions.

What'd be good for the team? Maybe a Rank A job?

She shook her head, thoughtfully. Princess Lilly needed more training, and there's a chance that she'd get overwhelmed by the Rank A job, being too much for both Briar and Lily to cover her safely. Sure, the speedster loved taking on difficult jobs, and the glory of completing them. But, well, getting a teammate severely injured or killed really isn't on the menu. Especially not someone like Princess Lilly, who was more of a mascot than anything... there's no way she'd let her get hurt. Don't get her wrong, Lily still prioritized herself, it's just that, she'd protect the princess until she felt it was too dangerous for even herself, in which case she'd easily make an escape with everyone in hand. Simple, right?

Guess I gotta ask Her Majesty what she thinks she can handle.

Lily did a chain of bullets until reaching the training/courtyard once again, where most members were still conglomerated. Briar, Armin, and that ink freak were gone now, though. Probably to eat? Not like it really mattered, really, but once both Lillies had chosen a few potential jobs, it'd be good to ask Briar which one he thought was best. Because, why not? Lilina felt the itching she usually did when she really needed to go and beat the crap out of some enemies, so along with helping pay rend, a job really seemed awesome right then.

She spotted the Princess- alone near the back, for some strange reason. Lilina shrugged as she zoomed herself right next to Lilliana- it just made things a little more convenient, that's all.

"Hey, hey." She said, grinning, and grabbing the Princess by the shoulder. "Help me pick out some jobs to show Briar, ne?"

And, well, just in case the Princess was put off by the last joke, she crossed her fingers in front of her and winked, saying, "And I'm sorry for the hug! I'll never hug you again, you cuddly thing!"

"I- uh..." Liliana tried to say, but the hyperactive Lily put her finger on her lips, almost shushing her with a sneaky glint of the eye.

With that, the two Lillies were almost instantly transported to the job board, where hopefully the Princess wasn't too disoriented by the sudden speed and stops. Lilina herself eyed the requests, seriously trying to think of something that'd work for the three of them. Hard enough for Briar and Lilina, without being too much for the Princess, here. One Rank B job particularly caught Lily's eye, and she looked at it.

"Daughter kidnapped by bandits..." Lily murmured. "Interesting. Whaddya think?"