BZPRPG: Le-Wahi

IC: Kythera

"There's a joke there, right?" Kythera asked, tilting her head to the side to regard the shorter woman. "That doesn't sound very... evil, I suppose."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"Sure there's a joke in there, there always is, but I'm not kidding about the beetles. They ate trees, and there were tons of 'em, in just a huge, massive swarm. Le-Koro is built in the treetops so... yeah, we didn't want 'em getting too close."

Trava smiled just a tad, enjoying the Vortixx's apparent obliviousness.

IC: Kythera

"Oh my," Kythera almost stopped mid-stride as she grasped the implications of what Trava had described. She wasn't overly fond of insects, which made living in a jungle an interesting experience to say the least, but something like that would be horrifying to any being.

"I take it that they were dealt with?" She asked, her gait resuming its more natural, feline grace. Worriedly, Kythera realized that they had heard nothing about it. And even if they did, it would have been much too late to actually do anything about it.

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"Yeah, the Gukko Force and a bunch of us volunteers took care of 'em, it was an interesting fight"

Trava took a moment to note the easy grace with which the Vortixx moved, could almost rival the huntress' own. Either way, real impressive.

"Not a big fan of bugs, I take it"

IC: Kythera

"Not particularly, no," Kythera admitted. The again when one almost died at the hands of giant, sea-raiding bugs, they didn't tend to become their favorite thing in the world. She still had the scars to show for it, too.

"But that's not important now, the real problem is that we had no idea. Granted we were dealing with our own problems, which most certainly could have been related, but still. Part of the point of this Koro here was to serve as a sort of rallying point for the island's do-gooders, you know?"

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"Yeah, I heard something like that. I like the idea" Trava responded.

"I've been looking for a less uptight place to hang between hunts anyway, y'know"

IC: Kythera

The vortixx smirked at the mention of "less uptight", yes, that was definitely them. Pushing open what served as a gate to their little village, Kythera started, "It'll be nice to have someone else around and present, just having the guys here can be a bit... frustrating at times."

IC Izzun

Izzun motioned for the others, deciding to let the Turaga come at his own pace. They walked for a short while, all the time Izzun was trying to unfold a map of the Koro.

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"Well, the idea was to do my part to get this place up and running for my own benefit, so I'll do what I can, that much I'm willing to promise you!"

Trava did not make that statement lightly.

IC: Lathon

He noticed the strangers smile, Lathon's emerald eyes seemed to bear past the others, straight into his very soul. Lathon thought he sensed some darkness within this one. It seemed he didn't fully approve of Lathon's outlook, or found it comical.

 

"And what is your name, If I may." Lathon said on guard, "Are you too part of the Gukko Force?"

IC:

"I'm a free agent," I replied coolly, smirking. "Call me Vy."

-Void

IC: Kythera

Kythera's smirk turned into a full-blown smile at Trava's enthusiasm for their cause. The Bo-lesterin seemed quite up for it, and it would be good to have someone with her drive here.

"So you hunt?" Kythera asked, "Anything in particular or just whatever?"

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"You can sorta say both. It's what I do for a living, so naturally I kinda have to go after animals that you can actually eat without worrying too much about preparations and having to fight an enraged beast to get a decent meal. On the other hand, it's also what I live for, and sometimes you have to take what you can get"

"Believe me, I've got the scars to prove it"

IC: Kythera

"I know what that's like," Kythera admitted, "Can say, am glad I invested in armor that's a bit more... all-encompassing. You wouldn't even know, now."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"Wish I had that kind of widgets" Trava muttered. Her own armor had survived many a scratch, bite, claw swipe and tail waggle. So much so that periodic repairs had been the only investment she'd been able to afford.

"What do you do, anyway?"

IC: Kythera

"I suppose you could call me a huntress too," Kythera gave a sound of amusement, "It certainly sounds more charming than just straight 'assassin'."

"And darling, your armor looks fine , matches your skin wonderfully. Tell you what, we've got a handy smith here, I'll have him fix your's up."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

Trava half-smiled. On the one hand she had no business getting upset over a compliment (quite the opposite, thank you), on the other, she had to think for a moment about how she wanted to feel about someone who hunted sapient beings (as implied by Kythera herself, not Trava).

"So what kind of, erm, people do you 'hunt'?"

IC Erwin

"So, this is Pala-Koro?" Erwin gestured to the buildings around the lake while speaking to Tarex. "It was founded during the dark days, wasn't it?"

IC: Kythera

"I worked for the guard for a bit, and I suppose I'm technically still part of the Po-Koro Guard," Kythera explained, giving Trava a look.

"If you're asking if I 'hunted', as you put it, anyone on this side of the line, no, I do have morals."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"No problem, sister. Just wanted to get that straight"

Trava was willing to take the Vortixx on her word. She hadn't hid the fact that she was an assassin in the first place, after all.

"A trip to a blacksmith would be very welcome, too, yes. I'm all for a good break after all that leaf-running I had to do while fighting the beetles"

IC: Kythera

"At least you weren't stuck with Happy and Talkative fighting forrest fires."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"Oh is this one of those trio-things?" Trava asked with a bit of amusement in her voice.

"Happy, talkative and good-looking? Do you all make out different parts of one great person, maybe?"

IC: Kythera

"One of us does, the other two I'm not entirely sure of yet," Kythera replied, her smirk once agsin returning. "No prizes for guessing the who, though."

No, there was no color on her face, Kythera prided herself on being ice cold.

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"I was never really fond of playing games I didn't know if I could win anyway" Trava replied.

"Looks like the only way I can win this game is to get to know you lot better" she said with another smirk.

Trava had now taken to using her staff as a walking support. The huntress started scouting around for a good place to sit down and take a breather and something to drink...

IC: Kythera

The vortixx, noting the fact that Trava looked exhausted, lead the way to the Sanctum Only building, which served as their temporary headquarters as the main building was being reclaimed from the forest. She pushed open the door to one of the few buildings that didn't have a "get this done later" sign, and directed Trava to one of the assorted seats they had up at the converted bar.

"Want anything in particular?" Kythera asked, "We get supplies from Le regularly."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro, Sanctum Only)

Trava partly lay flat on the bar counter as she took a moment to gather her thoughts for a proper rest. Bless that Vortixx right now.

"Just a glass of water?" Trava requested. Trava had very clear rules on when and where she consumed alcohol, never on an empty stomach, and never when she was looking to get herself back in proper shape.

IC: Kythera

"Good choice, I personally wouldn't touch the other beverages with a stick, the last one nearly crawled out of the bottle," Kythera deadpanned, stepping behind the counter to get the requested drink. Thankfully, fresh water was easy enough to come by, and it really did help to have a few Ta-toa around for fires when needed.

Finding a glass that was suitably clean, Kythera filled it up before passing it to the lesterin. With a single, fluid motion, the vortixx pulled up a stool across from Trava and sat down with her arms folded across the counter.

"We'll go see Ackune, the smith, once you're ready."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro, Sanctum Only)

Trava shook her head a few times, and fixed her eyes on the glass as her hand moved to her mask. The Mask of Sensory Aptitude slid off, revealing the Lesterin's own decidedly feline facial features as she put the mask away in her satchel.

She grabbed the glass and quickly downed it, blinking a few times as she swallowed. The world slid back into proper focus, with the lithe Vortixx staring right back at her taking up most of her view.

She smiled, her natural mouth quirking upwards towards her eyes.

"Another one, on the rocks, then I'll be good"

IC: Kythera

"Coming up," Kythera replied, simply swiveling on her seat to reach the next glass. Thank goodness for them, the Sanctum Guard had built this place. That meant that the building itself was relatively cool compared to the humid jungle, and they had ice. She turned back around, a now full glass in her long, taloned fingers, and placed it infront of Trava.

Resting her chin on her hand and her elbow on the counter, Kythera regarded the Bo-lesterin's feline features with a questioning gaze.

"When's the last time you relaxed?" She asked after a moment.

IC: "So I'm told." came the big Cry-Toa's reply. "To tell the truth, I only just first got here a couple of hours ago. Got dragged into stopping a forest fire. Looks like that's all it takes to be one of the gang."

IC: Ryzen

"Where should we go next, now that you got a map?"

IC Izzun

After puncturing it with a few holes in an attempt to get it open,  he muttered to himself "Downsides to claws number one." and then answered Ryzen's question.

"Well, we could head to Pala-Koro. They probably have subs or some other type of food there." So saying, he partially crinkled and foded the map at the same time, then shoved it in his pocket. "Which is that way." He pointed to a vine-encompassed series of bridges.

IC Erwin

The le-matoran sat and chewed on his reply for several moments he didnt find the silence awkward

"Ah I had thought Pala-Koro was a more" he paused "lively place" he wore a vaguely disappointed look it was unlikely he would be able to learn about his sister here though the inhabitants seemed friendly enough

IC: Kythera

 

"When's the last time you relaxed?" She asked after a moment.

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro, Sanctum Only)

"Yeah it's probably been a while. Hard to find time between fighting to save Le-Koro and doing my job"

Trava gulped down the second glass of water in a second go, and sighed.

"This is a lifesaver at this point, lemme tell you that much"

IC: Kythera

The vortixx smiled, and gave a small nod in response.

"While it's not by any means one big easy streak getting this place back in shape, I can personally vouch for taking a load ofc every once in awhile."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro, Sanctum Only)

"Sounds good to me" Trava replied, finally standing upright again when she moved from her stool.

"A'ight, to your smith next, then?"

IC: Kythera

"Yup," Kythera confirmed, pushing her upperbody up from the counter as she rose from her seat. The vortixx stepped around the bar and lead the way out of the Sanctum Only. Once outside and back in the humid heat of the jungle clearing, Kythera turned right, leading the way to one of the few buildings constructed mostly of metal.

"Ackune's a bit strange, but you get used to it. He's a great smith, repaired my stuff back when crazy Makuta Followers attacked this place. Oh yeah, he's blind, so don't try to slip anything past him."

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro)

"A blind smith, eh?" Trava remarked. Reminded of how sometimes she'd used her mask to improve some of her senses at the expense of others, if she could get by not boosting all her senses, she had to imagine someone who was permanently blind could manage just as well with the rest of their senses.

"Sounds like a real charmer"

IC: Kythera

"Don't give him any ideas, I already had to convince him to stop once before," Kythera muttered as they approached the building. A reddish glow was visibly seeping out of the forge, though it had an unnayural steadiness to it.

IC: Trava (Pala-Koro, Ackune's Forge)

"Alright, I got you, girl" Trava replied as they walked inside. Trava was thankful for having removed her mask, because the rush of heat, gloomy lighting and raw smell might've knocked her out otherwise. As it was, she only need to take a short moment to steady herself with the help of Kythera's shoulder before she was back to her senses again.

IC: "It seems like they've been hit with a lot of misfortune lately. Used to be a lot more populated, but it seems like most people either died or scattered. Now Esao's trying to build things back up again."