[Monster World] Dragonsong, OOC and Character Development

[SakuraHanaryuu]

[Notice]: Theres been a little hiccup in the RP atm, so I'm going to allow a free posting scene, this means theres a period in which you don't have to wait your turn to post, this will not be permanent. Its just to encourage RP activity.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Come Tuesday morning, the soldiers were just waking up from their nights rest, a brisk morning hike met their sleepy eyes and forced them to wake up in the cool morning air, among them was a member of the Kirin clan, a young buck named Uler, he was rather curvy for a male and was lamentably often confused for a woman as Kirin males and females both had horns and strangely beards which tended to throw people off. Uler however was from the southern clans, whom possessed stagg esq antlers as well as the uni-horn famous for his species, though his antlers curved particularely high and had a smooth flow to them(He was inspired by the Stagg-lord mount from Kingdom: new lands, I'll leave a link at the bottom of this post) as well as a spiky white mane a bit longer and more well kept than most males, further confuddling his gender identity, On his hips rested a matching pair of rapiers, he wore a simple shirt and wide baggy pants reinforced with a hardened leather vest and sturdy gloves and boots, little bits of steel also enforced his gear, with an underlayer of chainmail which while still heavy was lighter than plate mail but still provided protection, The legs and arms were internally reinforced with a quilted gambeson, and the whole outfit fit well together. He also carried a quiver and satchel fixed to his lower back, as per Archas instructions, Ten arrows were kept in the Quiver at all times, his particular quiver had gripping mechanisms made of carved wood that stopped the arrows from falling out even if the quiver was tilted upside down...though strangely, the Kirin had no bow to fire his arrows.*

*After the morning hike, Uler was enjoying a meal of Udon noodles in sweet onion and sesame broth while reading over a book on the evolution of troop placement over the last five hundred years written by someone named Isis Rainbird, it also contained detailed mechanical illustrations that fascinated the oddly feminine mans imagination, it was rather annoying having to refuse date offers from passers by, and then having the occasional babe take interest only to find out his gender and lose interest...that bit hurt Ulers pride more than a little*

*He overheard one of the soldiers in back begin to make fun of him, saying how he should be in the kitchen with the rest of the girls, and nearly choked on his noodles from wanting to laugh...but then he brought up how his mother mustve been poor as a pauper, and he imediately stood up and turned on the man, showing no patience period for that subject*, "Sir...I don't know your name but you don't know my mother...retract your words"

*The other soldier, a Silver Rathalos named Maxon just sat there smugly drinking his coffee before replying, "Go home pup this is a place for real men", before slamming his mug on the table.

"Get off your butt and meet me outside...we'll settle this like 'real men' then."

*Maxon simply sat there and ignored Uler but the Kirin was in possession of a short fuse and an excess of pride, he picked up the rest of his Udon noddles and slung the whole bowl at Maxon...unfortunately, his anger clouded his judgement and he wound up soaking half the table in hot soup...at which point his eye started twitching and he mumbled a "whups, my bad" before bolting, stopping just long enough to pick up his book as he ham-scrayed out of the mess hall jumping from table top to table top and really making a big damn mess of things as a group of ten pissed off jar headed Arcadian soldiers chased after his fluffy white tail.*

-=-=-=-
Kingdom New Lands: Stag-Lord mount (Uler's antler refference): https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DIf2yOhtah4/maxresdefault.jpg

Refference 2: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.c ... 1856CA0C6/

Refference 3(Looking towards the camera: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uBpxXxIafyw/maxresdefault.jpg

[Noctinogi]

A lagiacrus, currently gracing the messhall with an anthropomorphic body sat on a bench near the mess hall's entrance. He wore an outfit that could purely be described as plain, a hooded shirt worn underneath leather armor and leather pants below. Both bits of leather attire had typical protective iron studs in them. His head in the vaguest senses obscured underneath the hood that fit so poorly that his ocean blue snout was quite glaringly visible. Suffice to say the hood was really only good for keeping sun out of one's eyes. Quite reasonable for morning activities, and probably comfortable enough to be worn indoors. He watched the display and snickered lightly at the remark to the Kirin looking like a lass, perhaps the soldiers forgot who was leading them. A rather fiery lass to say the least, someone who one he figures, should best be kept on the good side of.

The lagi stood up a few moments after Uler did, but only after finishing his breakfast and drinking down his tea like a man who had gone days without drink, and walked out of the mess hall in a manner worth thoroughly ignoring. Of a final note, he seemed to be thoroughly devoid of weaponry unlike everyone else. Perhaps he was a combat caster, they where rumored to be scattered about the ranks of the army where they not?

He followed behind the small mob of soldiers that chased the Kirin and sighed lightly "Maybe I should do something about the lad. Though he sorta warranted this fine little mess." he mused to himself while keeping only a small distance between himself and the eleven. The expression on his face read, purely, amused.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Uler continued to run, not because he was afraid, but because his beef was just with Maxon*, "Woah woah woah guys come on."

"I'm a chick you piss-ant" <[That one Tomboy that runs around with the guys doing bro stuff]

"Oh I'm sorry good lady"

"I'm not a Lady I'M A GIRL"

"...whats the difference?"

"SHUT UP N GET YER LICKINS!"

"Ooh well if thats on offer..."

"SHUT YER MOUTH!"

"How about you shut his mouth then?", *the lot of them went dead quiet, they'd chased him out in front of the library, where Archa was reading over maps of the Dracovian coastline and she took notice and stepped out of her tent*, "Kick their cans like I know you can, you rumbled with Grandus the other day, fight em fist to fist all at once...go on now".

*Uler really didn't want to, he still felt new to the Arcadian legion, but the boss said do it, so he didn't have a choice anymore...and his visage changed, he finally shut his mouth and his eyes froze up like a kelbi in shock, then he took a stance and bolted forward going straight for Maxus, delivering a right cross of epic speed and power to the Silver Rathalos, knocking out two of his fangs in the process. The arogant wyvern went down and out in one hit and Uler turned on the rest of the group like a machine utilizing punches and kicks of great agility and dexterity...but that expression...he was moving on instinct alone, all muscle memory and primal reaction, his body was light and lith but he hit so damn hard reguarless, far above his weight class that's for sure*

*With a unique fighting style utilizing every muscle in his body for each strike, Uler whupped each soldier with an enviable speed and efficiency...it was intense...then Archa stepped into the fight and personally took him on, in one move she took his momentum based fighting style and used it to flip him head over heels*, "Think boy! Your fast but if your opponent specializes in dealing with speed you'll charge to your death", *Uler stood and again tried to strike the goddess, only to find his feet swept out from under him*, "Yeah I thought so...Uler here is a trance warrior, a Berzerker." *Archa folded her arms and looked down at Uler before smacking him on the forehead with her tail claw, popping him out of the trance and making him flip out a little bit, even spasming him for a moment before he shot up with a loud "AO-WHAAP".

"Uler, I've seen and fought with Berzerkers before, your a rather unique one though aren't you...lets get a good look at that face", *Archa took his head in her gilded red stone gauntlet and took a close look at his facial features*, "Your rather fair for Kirin, let alone a male...Are you one of Oberons relatives?"

"Ah yes my lord, Oberon is my father"

*Archas burning eyes widened with wonder*, "The fairy kings son...well well...then that makes you Uleron of the Silent Isle...I've never met you in person...no wonder you made the cut", *a big smile swept over the wargods lips*, "go, train with grandus again, he'll be giddy as a fool to have such raw energy on the sparring grounds, but work on mastering the transition from your trance, you need to be able to shut it off if you face an opponent that knows how to deal with that rage." *Archa lifted the boy up and slapped his back hard with a harsh*, "get going, let me rally the boys busted pride."

*Uler blushed an electric blue, and just went with his orders heading out still rather hungry from a lack of food in his belly, then the War Goddess turned and gave the other troops a rather hungry glance*, "Comeon boys, you should join me fer breakfast", *Archa got them to their feet and wrapped her wings around the lot of them*, "I havent eaten yet and your already nice and tenderized."

*Archa was holding them all together in a bundle practically carying them as she pulled the lot of them into her tent, and slung her maw around all eleven of them, in anthro form she swallowed the whole group but not a single bulge formed on her body, once eaten she simply belched a bubble of flame and patted her slender middle, "Not bad in there eh? I don't need your meat, just your passion, bond with me a little, share some stories while your in there, thats what makes me fatten up...well, that and a steady diet of ores from the mines but, thats just for my physical form", *she licked her lips as she began recounting some of her past campeigns, this one being in a time where beast taming was the most efficient form of combat.*

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*From the West, the trees would begin to shiver as the Love goddess Sakura at long last made her reapearance after an absence for the past day, not far behind her was the lovely Arcen...but she had changed so much in one day that most people mistook her for a Hanaryuu...as a matter of fact, she appeared much like a Hanaryuu. Her hips and rump had grown to match sakuras in size ratio, and her arms were thick and bulky with heavier wooden armor as greaves and gauntlets, additional, reinforced with deflective nargacuga scales on the exterior of the armor. Additionally Arcen had vines growing from her head, like hair, which were covered in white flowers and white plumb fruits. As they passed those who recognized Arcen had to do a double take for how much she'd changed.*

*Sakura had also taken on the features of a Nargacuga, making her more similar to arcen in assorted features, though her snout was still elogant and slender, her pink scales had become longer along her tail, and she developed wooden scales to mimik the nargacugas along her gauntlets, unlike Arcens which were true Nargacuga scales. The two plumply padded women would make their way to Archas tent and introduce themselves, the twelve foot tall Sakura poised low behind the smaller Arcen slowly crawling over her until she essentially surrounded the Nargacuga lass*

"I see another one has fallen for that wild charm of yours Sakura, congradulations on hooking what...your ten billionth chew toy?", *The War Goddess chortled*.

"Actually...I'm the one who fell for her...so I Married her", *Sakura cooed nuzzling Arcens cheek. The war goddess had just took a sip of her morning lava when she spat it out, the molten lump flying into the fireproof tents mesh and sliding to the floor*, "YOU MARRIED HER? IN ONE DAY? ....She ate you didn't she..."

*Sakura chuckled lifting herself off of Arcen and taking an earth shaking seat around the Narg, forming both a comfy chair for her to lean back on, and a protective shelter with her mighty claws, just in case the war goddess felt like challenging her descision*, "Indeed she did, and we have a fresh floral goddess because of my actions, she should be able to spar on our level now...not to mention eat on our level", *Sakura promptly grabbed a clawfull of Arcens rump as she said this, giggling deeply to the point it almost became a chuckle*.

(OOC: To make this clear for those viewing, Sakura who is larger, has taken Arcen who is smaller as her wife in mutual predation. Meaning they can eat each other, Sakura views Arcen as the dominant pred in this relationship even though she knows she's physically larger and stronger.)

[Noctinogi]

"Hey, nice display back there Uler." A voice came from behind the Kirin. Oh, it was that lagicrus that had been stalking behind from earlier, now shifted into his larger and more natural to scale feral size. His body was adorned with curious symbols, a little headache inducing due to complexities but nothing too particularly weird. That aside from his aura which felt tainted. "I haven't seen someone make such effective work out of a group seriously out numbering them... in." he stopped, his gaze turning to watch the two returning from the forest "... I'm sorry, that thoughts going to have go on hold for about an aeon or two." just as quickly as he started that conversation he turned about and scampered off towards Archa's tent.

Arcen grinned at the attention she was earning from those that did recognize her, and even those that didn't still. It was an odd feeling for her, gathering up such attention and yet at the same time it felt nice for once to be garnering attention from others. She would give a taunting wave to those about that recognized her and those else who had not as they made their way up to and into Archas tent.

A chuckle escaped her lips as she stood there and listened. Grinning a wide grin "Chew toy? I'd have to say it's the other way around really." she laughed, turning her head to nuzzle Sakura's back as to confirm that notion that Archa might be having. She'd blink though at being sheltered from Archa by Sakura but only laughed "And I'm quite interested in doing that. Especially sparing on your level."

Just about then, the Lagi's head poked into the tent "Uhm, excuse me. Goddesses? What's this?" he asked, entering all the way now and sitting up on his haunches "And why is it when I do something like this it's usually 'Kuuja, put that thing back where it came from or so help me. Or Kuuja, I don't know how you managed to do that but untangle that person's DNA and fix their mind'. Or, I'm referred to by one of my more accurate titles." he spoke in a rather joking manner.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"Oh, why thank you, though it feels strange fighting with my comrads so casualy, I'd feel better if we were in a sparring ring...but what the boss says is what the boss says, am-I-right?", *Uler saw the Lagiacrus staring and looked himself*, "Er hey is there trouble?" ,when the leviathan took off, he decided to follow after him, thinking he should be where the trouble is, in case his speed might come in handy.*

-=-=-=-
[Archas tent]:

*Archa leaned forwards and narrowed her eyes at Arcen after she spoke, "that's astounding...the other day you were a clam hiding in its shell...and now look at you...one day with Sakura and your suddenly a sunny little chipmonk...well...that's the love goddess for you...I forgot how potent she could be in the right scenarios...exelent work Sakura"

*Kuja then entered the tent and gave his speech, garnering the attention of the companions, though in order to sit down he had to navigate around Sakuras massive backside which took up most of the tents space*, "The difference odd one is I've only created a spouce for myself five times since I've been here, my delicious little Arcen is only the sixth true mate I've had since the birth of this world", *Sakura diligently explained unmoving from her position, and forcing him to rub up against her heavy hips*

*Then Archa suddenly spotted Uler behind Sakura and roared*, "ULERON I TOLD YOU TO GET TO THE SPARRING GROUNDS, GET THAT FLUFFY TAIL OVER THEIR DOUBLE TIME!"

"AH YES MA'AM, ON MY WAY NOW MA'AM!", *Sadly Ulers voice cracked and his accent broke through so Ma'am came out as Mom and the war goddes seemed erked over that*,

"Are you makin a joke!"
"NO MOM!"
"QUIT CALLIN ME MOM"
"YES MYAOM"
"GET--OUTA HERE!"
"YES MYOWM"

*Uler was blushing like a blueberry as he bolted at full sprint out of the tent. That skinny little Kirin ran like Forrest Gump all the way to the Sparring grounds as he thought the goddess might chase him down to make sure he got there or even some other purpose*

"Hes in love with you you know", *Sakura chuckled*, "Your macho attitude reminds him of his mother, and he adores you for it."

"I only met him just yesterday...and theres all sorts falling over themselves for a place at my side", *Archa spoke, unfazed by the fact*

"Yes but your starting to like him too", *Sakura giggled wiggling in place with Arcen still cloaked in her arms*

"Hmm, he is a pretty one I'll give him that...but I'll need to see what hes got before I start handing out invitations", *Archa rolled the lava about in her stone cup before taking another mouthful down her throat*, "Who knows, perhapse he'll be my type...perhapse I'll just want to eat him cause hes pretty..."

[Noctinogi]

Arcen looked down some as Archa leaned forwards and spoke before rolling her shoulders lightly "Maybe my mind is still a little addled from Sakura's venom?" she offered with a light chuckle and a shrug. She did notice Kuuja enter, and only shrugged lightly at his form. Suppressing a chuckle some at the scolding Uler received though.

Kuuja didn't really take for navigating around Sakura's massive backside and instead simply took for climbing over it. Kneading some as he moved along. "Heheheh, still doesn't answer the reactions I get when I do certain things." he remarked with a light grin. His eyes would look over to Uler, he'd shake his head as Archa scolded him "I told him to hold that thought while I was talking to him. Not follow me." He'd shake his head some before turning about to climb back over Sakura's rump "Well, I've said what I wanted to say for now. I'm going to observe the sparring grounds." he remarked and left.

Arcen found the brief exchange between Sakura and Archa though to be quite amusing. Nuzzling some against her mate lightly "You never know, surprised that I found myself being Sakura's type you know. Though, that all said. What was up with the Lagicrus? He didn't seem to be a divine being."

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"As a newborn goddess you should know...though you must keep his identity a secret, as a matter of fact, you wont be able to speak his secret to any mortal in any tongue, verbally or telepathically, a passive of his unique properties", *Archa began*, "Kuuja you see, is a type of outer god called an Aldrich Horror, one H.P. Lovecraft, a rather nutty Gore Magala, wrote some interesting stories on how mortals perceive them...as in they cant understand them."

*Sakura was next to speak up*, "Its a bit confusing, but in simple terms, hes a type of celestial being between a God and a Devil which only other celestial beings can understand, or defeat for that matter, simply put, when an Aldrich Horror's body dies, its 'influence' which is its true form, just jumps to the nearest mortal body, snuffs the current soul out of existence and claims it for its own, their true form usually has some terrible effect on a mortal mind, hence the name, Aldrich Horror, a God of Chaos if you will."

*Next Archa stood and stretched out before placing a claw on her belly*, "Don't fret boys I'm not going to digest you for knowing about it...", *she drummed her clawed gauntlet over her thin slender middle*, "Its a simple matter of removing the memories of the conversation from your minds...now then its about time I let you out to get back to your training regime", *The war goddess walked out, hopping clear over Sakuras head and bounding off her rump with a playful chuckle and looking over to the training field marked by her mighty greatsword oblivion, still sticking out of the soil. Next she took a knee and with a big breath, belched eleven soldiers up from her belly. Their bodies glowed with heat, but they were not hurt from her terrible magma filled stomach, in fact the flames had a cleansing effect on their bodies, much like a hot spring but kicked up to 11. With a wave of her claw and a snap of her claw, golden sparks snapped and crackled before the soldiers eyes, indicating the memory wipe.* "Now, I suggest you boys first take a warm shower to disperse my aura over you, stay like that for too long and your muscles can tear themselves apart like a roast turkey." *After seeing the soldiers off, Archa began to walk out to the training grounds, shifting into her colossal Red Miralis form and swiftly trotting to the far side of the training grounds to watch over the camp. Her great height making her a mobile watch tower, the flaming volcanic cannons on her wings would allow her to shower heaps of flaming magma bombs on anyone within one thousand yards, making her a natural siege engine, and that was without the use of her divine powers.*

*Sakura also stood after Archa bounced off her backside, and deemed it right to follow her, She wasn't part of the royal guard herself but Arcen was, and Sakura now had an investment in their training.*


-=-=-=-
*At Oblivions shadow, the name the soldiers had given to the grounds due to the swords presence, Grandus and Uleron were already deep in their sparring match. The Kirin lad had drawn both of his fine Rapiers, each one made from pure Mythril, making them both light weight, and nearly indestructable, his fighting stances proved to be a real challenge for the battle seasoned Grandus, but the old Lao-Fatalis hybrid was on point with his longsword, a blade of simple steel with no special properties. The mythril rapiers bit into his blade with their lightning swift strikes, but Grandus was full of surprises, In his off hand he materialized a grappling hook out of flame, with fiery rope that wrapped around his left gauntlet while he sheathed his sword leaving his main hand free. Then with Ulerons next whip like strike, he danced backwards and flung his grappling hook at the Kirins feet. Quickly snared, Grandus pulled the rope tight and yanked Ulers legs out from under him, next slinging additional loops of rope over his opponent, until he'd wrangled the Kirin into a fetal position with simple hard-flame constructed tools.*

"Did anyone tell you my specialty? I have an extremely low fatality ratio on the battlefield, pay attention and I can show you ways to capture opponents most soldiers never even think of, the grappling hook method is a mainstay of my troops, they all carry these." *With a snap of his claws, the hook and rope vanished, and Grandus redrew his sword*, "You're footwork is a bit sluggish today, the break soften you up Uler?"

"No-capn Grandus-",

"Please its just Grandus, or Grandpa if you like, thats a favorite of the men, though some like to call me Santa fer the beard n Red armor"

"Er Grandus, I got into a scuffle with Maxon earlier, and I threw my breakfast at him...now I'm fighting on an empty stomach"

"I see, well we can't have that, I want you at top form, theres no fun in scrapping with someone with a belly ache", *Grandus kept his sword out and walked over to the side of the arena where his big red leather satchel(or man bag if you like) sat, sliding the straps loose, he searched the bag until he found a parcel and tossed it to Uler*, "their sweets, little waffles soaked in caramelized honey and covered in oats, the density of the bread and the nutrition in the oats should keep you going. Its a traditional road snack of my house, Sakura nearly pulled my beard out for the recipe, now their available to the whole army in heaps, you can grab some for the road at the Caffe in those nice little packages", *The wafers were quite thin, and about the size of ones palm, but the dense chewy texture, and the savory sweet flavor made them quite an addictive treat. Ulerons ears were twitching after his first bite and he swiftly chomped the rest of them down.*

"Those are positively addictive...are you sure they werent drugged?", *Uleron said licking his gloves, but grandus had already begun to charge him down, this time around utilizing two short fiery man-catchers, which were U shaped polearms with outward curving tips that could be swung to puncture armor, or thrust to snare an opponents limbs inside their fork. This time Uleron while putting up a viscious counter, was almost instantly dissarmed as Grandus twisted the U-Hooks and pulled the Rapiers right out of his grip almost instantly, leaving the Kirin stunned.*

"You never know whats going to be out there on the battlefield, most soldiers have standard training, but some are specialized, think outside the box. Your berzerk trance is fast and hard to counter, but you need to add some extra gear to your tool belt...for instance."

*Grandus flung out his right arm and out slung a hidden dagger with a thin white rope tied to it*, "Hidden weapons are the ideal way to catch an opponent off guard, their lightweight and don't slow you down as much as a sidearm, but they can break easy. This rope dart is one such weapon. Talk to the hanaryuu, the little grass ones in particular specialize in this kind of lightweight weaponry", *of coarse the next thing Uler knew grandus had flung that dart at him, not waiting for him to retrieve his swords, Uler had to dodge and weave to get at his blades but grandus harrassed him as he did, cutting at his arms and nearly striking him in the ear with the sharp bladed weapon. Grandus even snatched Ulers off hand Rapier away and wielded the weapon himself, and in moments, they were fencing at high speeds, but grandus having the rope dart, gave him a distinct advantage. Still it was a fine duel that ended with Ulers blade on Grandus's belly*, "I'll have my sword back now Santa."

*With a chuckle, Grandus returned the sword and wrapped his hidden rope dart back into his right claw gauntlet, fixed inside a leather pocket that kept it safe and out of view.*

[Noctinogi]

Arcen chewed her lip a little bit and nodded some "Ah, I've read some of his works. Maybe he's met one or two in person? He's often written them as things even the gods fear, is that true? Or is this a case of we greatly out number him?" the questions seemed more pointed towards curiosity then anything else. She would nod lightly to Sakura, seeming to grasp the concept of body hopping pretty well "Wonder how many bodies he's had before the lagicrus then." she said, though mostly to herself.

Arcen chuckled lightly at the fact that everyone had to climb over Sakura in order to get out of the tent it seemed. She'd move to follow Sakura out, and take pace to walking beside her. Having a rather good idea that despite her new found divinity, she was probably not excluded from at least watching and observing training. Chewing her lip a little bit more though, things where going to be certainly a lot more interesting now in several regards. And it certainly explains why Kuuja had showed up one day and never actually had to go through any recruitment training. Though he still certainly took part in the training otherwise, for better or for worse.

***

Speaking of Kuuja, he was watching the sparing match between Grandus and Uleron, for some reason the damnable thing had taken an interest in Uleron but with motives rather unknown. Maybe he just wanted a pet? He would do a light mock flinch as Uler was snared, and soon wrangled up like a feral kelbi by a group of melynx's looking for a new beast of burden. He let out a light chuckle at the mental image but mostly kept to himself on the observations. Shifting about some to view from a different angle, and more so because the sun was starting to shift into his eyes. Such a nuisance that was.

"His throwing arm needs work." he remarked, tossing in his two zenny over the throwing comment. He'd lean in just a bit, eyeing what Uler was digging out before pulling his head back and shaking a bit. It was those sickly sweet treats, suffice to say far too much sweet in them for his taste. And pulled back a little more and mock flinching a bit again as Uler was taken off guard again. "Eye on your surroundings helps as much as gear does." he added in, taking advantage of the gaps between Grandus' talking to do so. And his spot on the background to warrant no reply outside of possibly being glanced at every now and then.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

(Sorry for the long wait, needed a break from my commitments)

*Sakura had her Hanaryuu Daughters bring out a massive stone bowl for her, as large as she was, filled with thick udon noodles, and delicious soup, as well as a large platter of dumplings and a red bean bun the size of a man. She placed her lips on the side of the bowl as if to sip the soup, but her throat engorged to a tremendous degree, nearly to the ground, and somehow she almost instantly drank the entire bowl in a single slurp, then gulped it all down into her belly which now bulged over the ground like a giant water baloon. The dumplings and sweet buns were eaten much more casually, and shared with those around her*, "Eating can be distracting so I prefer to handle the main course first, finger food is less tedious", *shed say, patting her inflated middle, while scooping several of her daughters up into her arms and swiftly feeding them down her long gullet*, "I'd say you've earned a rest my little ones, melt back into your momma, keep warm and safe in my strength, I will recall you tomorrow." *Sakura nuzzled her big belly as indeed she began to digest her own daughters, knowing as a goddess she would reform them later. But for now she kept their souls deep inside her body, freed from the stress of life and living, a true slumber, and she purred with such magnitude that it shook the very earth and trees.*


-=-=-=-
*As Arcen aproached Archas attention in her colossal dragon form turned over to the young goddess*, "little one, it is time you were able to gague what will be expected of you in your time as a divine being. We of the original house of gods were created with a purpose but you must seek out your own identity. War, Love, Longing, Hope, Curiosity, these are the focuses of gods. Let us find out where your passions lie...come and face me", *Archa made no attempt to reduce her size, she fully expected Arcen to stand a chance against her massive form...but if she waited too long, the War goddess would bathe the land around her in fire, even burning the camp and soldiers, the plump white Nargacuga would be able to tell just by looking at the War Goddess, there were true stakes even in their training. Grandus saw this, and caught Uleron in a death grip, before flinging him out of the way and promptly unfurling his wings, as flaming jets formed along the inner leathery hide and he shot off out of the way. He'd known to never get in Archas path, she had a habbit of overdoing fights and he knew things were about to get messy.*

[Noctinogi]

[Sorry for delay and post shortness. Been a long week. e.e]

Arcen frowned at the extremes presented to her by Archa. It's barely been a day as far as she could tell and already she was being forced into such positions that she held uncertainty towards. She wet her lips lightly and moved about slowly, biding her time for a moment as her eyes scanned about Archas' form "And what is it you will learn by having me fight you?" she asked while seeming to be hesitant just enough before moving forwards at a brisk walking pace. "Or are you finding yourself that bored you're making a reason to fight someone?" Odd shift in personality and tone from earlier today, was she prodding and poking at Archa? Looking for which buttons to press to cause more erratic behavior. Her arms slowly drifted behind her back, blatantly moved in a way to conceal something as her tail tensed up.

Kuuja raised a brow at Grandus' sudden movements in getting out of the way, his gaze slowly trailing over to Archa "..." he sighed and shifted to be sitting on his haunches while looking between the two with an obvious fight about to go down "Wonder if I should intervene." he said, mostly to himself while rubbing his chin a little bit. Anyone hearing him might think him crazy to even suggest such an idea. Of course anyone hearing him might most certainly not know otherwise.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Grandus had halted the fight with Uleron, a good slap to the face got him out of that trance of his. Archa took center stage now, and she grew ever more dazzling, the flames of her form grew to a roiling bellow, the heat, amazing, a whirlwind of fire and passion*, "I do not lie when I say your about to die little goddess...I will come down upon you with great fury, so you will know what it feels like to be smitten. It's one of those things where you have to get hit by it to utilize it yourself. Now, you shall understand the consept of Godspeed." *few in the surroundings would be able to see what happened next, those that did, would remember never to cross the war goddess. Archa and Arcen just seemed to vanish...far into the distance, Mt Millium one of the smaller yet older mountains in the Northern mountain range, Shattered, its stones suspended in a fiery grip, its blazing blood gushed into the wind, as lightning crackled along a path previously invisible. It wasn't just fast, it was instantaneous, faster than light itself, as if physics simply didn't apply to this duel.*

*Arcens body was tough enough to withstand this, however, her left arm was burned down to the blackened bone. From her eyes, Archa had whipped her claw out and sucker slashed her arm, her senses kicked up so high she could remember every detail of the scene, though she couldn't move away fast enough to avoid the blow even with the substantial efficiency and speed of her form, Archa was simply on a higher level. After the initial impact, she saw...no rather she felt, Archa chase her through the air, not in straight paths but great spiraling curves, like a river but without gravity, she moved through the air like the mystic Lung dragons of eastern yor, her entire body shrouded in focused fire, essentially becoming a jet engine but weightless with no need for metal, pure thrust. She cut through the air so efficiently there was no backdraft, just an intense smokeless heat trail.*

*Arcen would clap over the side of the mountain, and feel the rocks break from the sheer force of her impact, her body would harden and shift automatically, Sakuras powers of transformation what passed on to her, connecting with her instincts and with her hightened senses, moved automatically to protect her, with no active thought she resisted the blows force, but the mountain took it all, boulders as large as houses would crack from the cliffs, fresh lava bled from the cracks and shot through the air but as Archa in her massive bulk landed above Arcen, it all stopped, suspended in a great air current from her intense heat, the very stones lifted skyward*

"Huff-Huff, that is all for today, allow the blow to sink in, you can now prepare countermeasures for the next time it happens", *Archa was ghasping, filling her lungs as fast as she could, though as a goddess this could be for any number of reasons*, "I am not suited for teaching, my strikes are devastating and usually end a fight in one blow...but...I have a tendancy to over heat", *it was true, the war goddess was ignighted, fames not merely from the broken mountain were blazing skyward, swallowing Arcen and the entire mountainside in a painted world of red fire, beautiful and deadly. The heat would wash over the land for miles, bathing the forest in light and warmth.* "I...must recooperate...Huff...", *Archa relaxed and let herself fall into the mountains lava, where she drank from and bathed in the heat, Arcen would still be imbedded in one of the house sized floating boulders, though with the strength she posessed it would be relatively easy to crack herself loose.*

-=-=-=-=-=-
*Back at the training grounds, Grandus and Uleron moved back into the sparring grounds, the Kirin partially stunned at the display*, "If they can do things like that...why even have us here? Couldnt the gods just handle this whole war?"

*Grandus chuckled*, "A fight between gods is like a storm, its tremendous and terrifying, but you dont see the really big ones very often, little gods and demigods can fight more often because they recooperate faster. But they don't have the sky breaking kick like Gods on Archas level...the one you should watch out for, is the curvy pink one over there..." *He pointed his blade at Sakura for emphasis*, "Shes not as strong in terms of divine heft, but her physical prowess is far beyond Archa, on top of that she can fight continuously without ever stopping...you'll never outlast her and shes tough as nails, Theres not a Man or monster alive that I'd rather have guarding my home...but even with all that said, her specialty isn't combat like Archa's is, shes got a gift for charming people, you really have to watch yourself around her or you can get wrapped around her claw...even I get pulled into that charm at times.*

*Uleron caught Grandus in thought, and when he struck him, his rapiers went straight through his gambeson and the Lao dropped like a lead baloon*, "OH! Damn...good hit...I'm out, I yeald...I think you punctured my spleen...", *Ulerons blades were soaked in blood, and grandus went down for the count. A bush hanaryuu darted in when she saw what happened, a green scaled Lavender Hana named Lucia, moderately voluptuous, much less than Sakuras plump figure. Lucia used her tongue to worm her saliva deep into the cut, and pumped a green light down through her tongue. Into the wounded soldiers body, in just about two minuets, Grandus was back on his feet, but eager as he was to get back to the sparring, Lucia dragged him off to the mess hall to replenish his energy with food and rest.*

"Sorry antlers, I'll be back after lunch then, find yourself another sparring partner while I'm gone!", *The Lao would say as he was being hauled off, lifted over the smaller hanaryuus shoulders like a parcel as she toted him off. Even normal Hanaryuu it seemed posessed tremendous physical strength.*

(I hope I didn't take too many liberties with this, the point was just to introduce Godspells, huge spells that could terraform a battlefield, each god can inflict one godspell per day, like a passive. Archas was supposed to knock Arcen into one of the planets moons but she missed and the Narg got whammed into a nearby mountain XD, Sakura may have pulled a little Chloromancy as well to muffle to muffle the blow)

[Noctinogi]

As the blow struck everything in Arcen demanded to scream, howl, cry out. Though the mortal notions she still clung to, and they might even be accurate in this realm, declared she had no air in her lungs to scream with. Silence and fluid from her open jaws was the only thing to come forth, wait was that a tooth? The speed it happened in, the damage inflicted, all occurred too fast for Arcen to yet be capable of fully processing or remotely comprehending. It was no doubt for the best that physics didn't apply here, would be quite awkward to plasmafy half the planet to teach a concept of speed not once understood.

Silence still flowed from Arcen's jaws as another at the next blow which left her left arm on a serious deficit on everything but charred carbon. Charred godly carbon, but charred carbon none the less. Was that another tooth from her jaws? Hopefully a good dental plan is provided after this. And finally a faint wheeze escaped her as she crashed into the mountain, rendering it significantly less mountain like by the blow of her form blasting through it and eventually ceasing in moment thanks to the stone's over all resistance.

Her eyes slowly trailed up to Archa's form as her expression remained frozen in shock for a prolonged period of time. It was a few minutes, give or take, before she had regained enough of her own self to pry her way free from the boulder and drop to the ground below with a thud. Slowly pulling herself to her feet and making for the long trek back to the camp. There was a need to think this all over and let it soak in as she moved, her mind going over it again and again. She wasn't going to be taken off guard like that again that was without a doubt. But the question furthered, what was she as well capable of? In all this thought she failed to notice something dash by at a similar speed, perhaps because it's focus was not on her at all.

***

Kuuja watched for a moment, his gaze briefly glancing over towards Uler and Grandus then looked back at the fight for a moment's being. He silently chuckled at the blade pointing over at Sakura and the noting of her prowess. Oh how badly he wanted to be in that comparison, oh if only they knew. He shook his head some, knowing well they couldn't handle knowing. Not without sufficient training and working on them, something he probably wouldn't be able to slip by the other gods for very long.

He rolled his shoulders a bit before scurrying away, missing the surprise attack that Uleron managed to pull off on Grandus. Certainly something he would have approved of, but now he wasn't focused on that. Once he was out of the way, he took off at his own speed. Barreling through the trail of destruction, seeming more as a bolt of an unearthly green then the typical blue of a lagiacrus. He glanced briefly at Arcen, though figured she'd probably want to just be left alone right now just by expression alone before he continued his trip and went bounding up the shattered mountain to gaze of the edge and down at Archa's form.

"Archa my friend, and I tentatively use that word, I must ask," he said, his voice like a whisper that sounded out as clear as sunlight "Was that really necessary? I had began to grow a fondness for this mountain range, only for you to blast Sakura's mate into it." his tone was joking, his concern though was more towards if what she did to Arcen was actually necessary. He sat there on the lip of the volcanic cauldron, looking down at her and quite patiently waiting for when she was ready to answer.

[Maybe a little bit, I dunno all things considered. o-o Least she wasn't knocked into orbit, lunar damage like that could cause a whole host of problems.]

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*As Arcen returned to camp, Sakura would becon her over to her side, not worried in the least about the Nargacugas skeletal left arm, but she was prompt to address the lack of muscle as she oppened her maw and crunched her shoulder clean off, there was living meat in that, and the Love goddess promptly swallowed that up as well*, "gululp...mmmh, confused beloved? Do you remember what I told you when you were reborn?", *Sakura patted her belly*, "You can no longer die as a mortal, not truely, when you fall, your bond to me through marriage will drag you back to my womb, this bond will snap and swallow any force that tries to with hold you from me...you should have kept going my dear, you could have experienced more that way...but, you "are" fresh out of the Soul Cradle...Either way, another lesson for you arrives as we speak, check your arm again, it should be good as new."

*Indeed, without realizing it, Arcens arm would have regrown after Sakura bit it off*, "All Hanaryuu can regenerate but divine Hanaryuu like ourselves, can do so quite rappidly, but flame will halt this, so remember to remove burned flesh, whether caused by fire, lightning or light, we are still physical beings unlike Archa and Torarie. Thus we are tied to physical themes such as burning and poisons. I will oversee your training from here on out...if Archa hits you like that again I might rip her in half...and then this whole campaign will sink like a coin in the Gold River." *The pink goddess showed no facial sign of anger, but her voice quivered in an unsettling way when she mentioned slaying Archa, there could be no mistaking it, Sakura was keeping a mask on her emotions, a trick of those practiced in charismatic games and politics, on the inside she was probably exploding with anger, but she kept it bottled up for now.*

"If you wish to play with the soldiers, go ahead, I can heal any damage you might inflict, mental or physical, just dont rip out their souls, that's a different story. You'll be tempted to gobble down a few souls I'm sure, the hunger of a fresh god, to fill their inner haven, its a hard thing to suppress. On that note, ones inner heaven usually takes the form of your idea of paradise, it changes as you change, we can explore it later if you like. Maybe we can even find you some occupants"


-=-=-=-=-=-
*Archa in a word, responded to Kuuja's questions in a 'grumpy' fashion. That burst of energy was indeed suppressed by Sakura, the love goddess without moving had muffled her impact and tethered Arcen to herself through Chlorokenisis, or plant manipulation, as Arcen was plantlike in form now, she could influence the Nargacuga directly. In simple terms, sakura had pumped a huge quantity of energy into Arcen just before the impact, and when Archa struck the Nargacuga, the energy was released to slow her down...she wasn't happy about it either*, "I'll fix the mountain when I'm through with it Kuuja...", *she snapped at the Eldrich one*, "As for Arcen, we have not the time to tease her capabilities out, we must shock the newborn into maturity...can you imagine how the other deity's will react when they learn of her ascention? Assassinations, Rebellions, Havoc among the Heavens", *a grizzly monsterous grin drew up the curtain of Archas lips showing her thick white teeth and the golden glow behind them*, "its going to be a delicious age, a war banquet so to speak, and you will benefit greatly from the chaos to come." *Archa knew Kuuja was essentially a vulcher on her battlefield. He was here to benefit from the war, but she also suspected alternative agendas. He would eventually burn through his host, as such he would always be on the lookout, but there were many things an Eldrich god could be interested in. The corruption and manipulation of other gods, the opening of portals, and opertunities to indoctrinate mortals into their cults, all of these were plausible motives, but Archa was unsure of which or any he was really up to*

[Noctinogi]

"I was joking about the mountain." Kuuja remarked "I think this world could use more bizarre landscaping as it goes, or what you might call bizarre." he stayed on his perch, just barely peaking over from the ledge before shaking his head some at the remarks made "I think they will have significant worse reactions if and when they realize I am here. Arcen's abilities will bloom like the belladonna flower they are in due time. Though trying to shock them out certainly won't do any good. She isn't one of yours, if you would ever mar yourself to do such." That first sentence though would be very concerning, how well was he masking his own presence and influence that only the gods directly here knew he was here. "I will drink deep from that well when it is uncapped Archa, believe me on that." he chuckled lightly, pulling back away from the lip of the crater and turned around "I'll be back at camp for now. I really must get to know Uleron better."

***

Arcen blinked at the prompt removal of her arm past the shoulder some, this failed to shock her any further then she already was. "At this point... gya, no. Angry would be better well placed, I'll be ready for Archa to try and do something like that again." she hissed before nodding some and slumping against Sakura some tired "Yes, I remember that. I cannot die, as I will regain my form come back through you." she said with a soft purr, some level comfort in the sheets of shock and anger coating her mind.

Arcen looked down at her arm, newly regrown, and tested it out. Checking the motions of the limb, looking for stiffness, and with a clench a set of hidden claws dripping with poison flicked out from beneath scales before withdrawing when relaxed "Interesting. So despite what we are, we're a little more physically comprised then Archa and... wait who else?" she asked with a blink before shaking her head some then nodding "I would much prefer that. Does she despise me in some way, or was she trying to prove something in the least effective way possible?" she asked with a sigh while shaking her head some. She picked up on the anger, and the emotional mask. She said nothing of it though, best not to provoke things further.

She'd blink lightly at that, listening some to that and nodding a bit "Ah... I see. I think for now, I'd rather something to eat and a moment's rest before I do anything physical." she said, slowly pulling herself off of Sakura and wandering her way towards the messtent.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa watched as the Lagiacrus scampered away, and coiled around herself, bathing in the mountains opened belly*, 'So it is the fairy prince then...hmhmhmm, I wonder what will emerge from this curiosity' *the wargod thought to herself, simply wondering what the future will yeald*

-=-=-=-=-
*Uleron had found himself without a sparring partner, and rather awkwardly trudged the field watching the other soldiers in their training. The obstical course would be childsplay for him, hed spent his days running with his father Oberon, who's speed was unmatched in any kingdom, his accuracy was on point, his precision, like a razor, he needn't over invest in training at the sparring dummies and shooting range. He simply required a partner to duel and dance with, the spark of creativity was what he sought for, he hungered for a complex battle, that would test his mind, so far the tricky Grandus had been quite entertaining...but the Kirin needed an even more exhilirating battle. In the end he simply sat down and began to meditate on what he'd learned*


-=-=-=-=-
*Arcen would enter the messtent and see many eyes ogling her, though not all were admiring her new body, many were bewildered at her resilience, Archa was a high god, what she'd just done was like having Odin strike themself with Gungnir's full terrible might, or a bolt of celestial judgement from the Jahova, no mortal could withstand such a blow, and the fragile willed soldiers just continued looking onward in astonishment. Not a word was spoken, the din that had previously echoed about the tent dropped into silence...all but Grandus who was guzzling down a whole pot of boiling hot ginger tea like that scene from Ghost Rider, suddenly slammed the iron pot down on the table and stood up making an angry face and belching as loud as a man could, imediately grabing everyones attention away from Arcen*, "I KNOW I WAS RAISED IN A BARN BUT QUIT OGGLING THE WOMAN YOU DOGS! GET BACK TA YER PUPPY CHOW!" *burp*

*He promptly dropped back down to his seat holding the spot where his wound was with a hiss while addressing Arcen*, "yer a shocking sight Arcen, its hard for soldiers to ignore your kind of beauty when they normally bear the stink and pain of their training, but we've fought before, I know your no damsel unlike them, they respect skill and grit, so far you've shown them grit, give em a show of skill later on, and you'll be accepted into the soldiers pact....just remember to guard that butt, I feel everyone and their mother'll want to get their slap in."

[Noctinogi]

Arcen glanced about as she entered the messtent, though she didn't do anything to really flaunt herself. She merely walked in and set about getting herself what might be considered more then her fair share of food and tea to go with. A silent laugh working working its way from her at Grandus' outburst on everyone else, probably better he say something right away then she do something later. Someone probably would have gotten hurt. They might still though. She would take a seat at the same table as Grandus, looking down at him, her attention earned well enough as he spoke to her. "It's a little off putting, going from out of sight in a group of two to a beacon in the dark." she said with a roll of her shoulders before nodding some and looking about at her surroundings again "Oh, I've no doubt I'll be showing off a good display of both sooner or later." a grin would play on her face "They can try, but my tail will be more then happy to slap back." she chuckled.

***

Kuuja would slowly amble his way back into camp. His body shifting back from feral to anthro in a quick movement. Summoning his leathers back about his form as he walked along the field, watching the soldiers train among one another or lash out on the training dummies. Though there seemed to be a few cases of clumsiness that caused the opposite to seemingly occur. His walk would, with actual unintention, lead him to walking up behind Uleron. He'd cough lightly, to garner some attention, before speaking up "You look bored, Uleron." he said, sitting beside him "No one try to challenge you yet, or are you just afraid of breaking someone a bit too badly for the healers to put back together?"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Grandus sat there nursing his side but eagerly settling into a bowl of meat stuffed dumplings with extra sesame sauce, the stout red wyrm packed down enough meat to make his belly round out, but he had nothing on even the cat sized grass hanaryuu, whom could swallow twice their size in a single gulp, and hold twelve times their size in their belly*, "Yeah your tail might rush to your defence...but ask yourself this, have you tested yourself yet? Your a fresh goddess Arcen, thats no small deal, do you know what Sakura did when she hatched?...on second thought, thats not my story to tell, you should ask her yourself sometime." *Grandus took another dumpling in his maw but continued speaking once he'd worked it down his neck.* "My point is, treat these soldiers like their made of glass, its one thing to break some bones...but you could probably throw someone into another providence if you hit them the wrong way...I reccomend using a grappling aproach, just catch em and give them a little squeeze back, mkay?"

*There was something different about Grandus, he treated Arcen no differently than he did when she first arived, while everyone else sort of recoiled around her, full of fear and respect for her strength, and admiration for her form...but Grandus was completely neutral to her charms and powers. Perhapse due to bonding through battle, perhapse he was just used to being around gods, or perhapse he was hiding something. The red dragon sat back and placed a claw over his belly*, "Hooo...you Hanaryuu can really cook, never left a hanas table hungry thats for sure", *after a moments pause his body seeming to shrink back in relaxation, Grandus looked up at Arcen with a big satisfied smile*, "Shes eventually gonna teach you how to cook hana style you know...I hear the training is absolutely grueling"


-=-=-=-=-
*Uleron was gazing over the tree line, examining the shadows just beyond the mighty wooden pillars when Kuja spoke up, making his left ear twitch as he whipped his head around, deer in headlights style and answering his questions with a deep sigh*, "I have full confidance in our healers, after all we have madam Sakura, one of the best healers in all the world, but you hit the nail on the head with the first one, everyone other than Grandus is afraid of getting impaled...its a waste of oppertunity if you ask me", *Uleron loosed another sigh before turning to Kuja*, "so, are you here to cure my boredom? Or would you rather simply talk?"

[Noctinogi]

Arcen nodded lightly as Grandus spoke, picking up a bowl of noodles and eagerly digging in as he continued on. She would look back at her tail for a moment, flexing the claw on the end some, before looking back at him. She'd gulp down the mouthful she had before nodding some "Hrmmm... Given any other situation, I'd think nothing of the force but... Yes, you do have a point. I shouldn't build that sort of reputation with anyone anywhere." her tail would relax some, lazily dragging itself left to right and back again "I'll keep that in mind, grappling techniques and a very light squeeze. I could probably crush someone like a berry on accident as well if I used too much force." she remarked before going back to eating. And rather greedily, at least she wasn't letting her food go cold.

Arcen had certainly noticed Grandus had been treating her differently. She assumed he was either excellent at hiding any true show of emotion, or, he had spent enough time about being like herself that he was deadened to any mental effects they might have or at the very least resistant too them. A bowl, thankfully only containing a small puddle of broth, dropped from her claws as he mentioned that. This was followed by her head dropping to the table and a groan "Ohhhh... No no no... Sakura wouldn't want me in a kitchen... I could make a glass of water dry." oh my.

***

Kuuja laughed lightly at the reaction he had earned from Uleron. He rolled his shoulders a bit then nodded lightly "Good to have confidence in our healers, and one can only have confidence in Sakura. Ah, those people don't know what they're missing. Fight with someone more skilled then you, and you can only become more skilled if you can learn from your mistakes." he chuckled lightly then nodded, a smirk edging its way across the lagiacrus' muzzle "You ever dueled with a combat caster before?" he asked Uleron, holding up his right hand as lightning danced between the claw tips. Something about the lightning seemed a little... off though. It didn't generate a smell of ozone like lightning should.