RP (18+) Yoi-no-Myōjō/Evenstar Mission E01 - Maridor

Camp - Yuki and Zabuza

A howling laughter echoed through the camp when Yuki heard Eidan's message. They had just about finished work on digging the firepit as the first tree fell. "Finally," Yuki mused in a joking tone. Her ears twitched as she heard Eidan, "You are an excellent judge of log handling abilities Eidan, seeing as you are an expert in handling your own." she quipped right back. Speaking of wood handling, there was some she'd love to have some alone time with right now. She cast a glance toward Zabuza with a little smirk as they wrapped up digging the firepit.

Yuki's ears picked up some conversation between the others as they picked up their tools. After picking up their tools Yuki and Zabuza returned them to where they had been found. Yuki looked around at the others, trying to figure out what to do next.

Leon broke out of his semi-trance as he tried to understand the land like a battlefield when he caught Marika glancing towards him. The slightest of grins came across his lips as he pondered her womanly figure for a moment. It then disappeared as there was a time and place for such activities, plus he remembered what he had read about the Lily Types. Who ever made their females so conducive for starting families was a mad man. Almost to the same level of madness of Dr. X perhaps.

At the distant hammer-sounding thuds Kazumi twitched ever so slightly as her peaceful and relaxing time by the streams labeling was broken as her charcoals pencil drifted as her grip tightened and turned Kurokos cute nose into a much too sharp peak where it pulled un into a witches sharpened spike causing her to gasp and hold up her journal with both hands as she studiously examined the damage.

No tears in the page, but...

She tutted as she turned the journal this way and that, wondering if she could salvage her sketch of a generously proportioned member of the team with bursting cleavage covered in cookie crumbs and now a jagged-pointed nose like some kind of characature so out of place one might think it some inside joke.

"Barbarian." Kazumi whispered at the unmistakable sight of Beldagor, her cheeks puffed out slightly as she looked at the distant clearing and the manly-men contest of hitting a thing with another thing in the most crude way possible guys seemed to enjoy while the more civilized sex humored their little ritual from the side. If they burned something with a poisonous sap and all choked to death or swelled up like balloons she would make sure to hold it over them when their backups got revived an-

"Oh gods they're helpless." She sighed, head bobbing down to rest on her knees as she watched from a distance as she trailed her finger tips in eccentric circles on one of her thighs as she tracked Zabuza and Yuki, here eyes narrowing and lips pulling into the start of a mischievous grin as she burned what she muttered out loud to herself,

"A fiery gaze of longing so intense that a wildfire around them could not have broken that moment or matched the heat in their gazes," Before perking up and looking to her KAIMON still hovering annoyingly near her. "Write that down! Save it to my notes in the sub-folder marked 'Wisteria' in the 'Soil PH reporting-1_3' folder group."

Kazumi made a rather embarrassing noise at that, grateful everyone else was too far away to hear as her assistant made a chime of acknowledgement as she lightly slapped both her cheeks to come back to focus and let out a refreshing sigh as she went back to staring at and through the deadly stream through several lockes of hair that fell over her face as she rested her chin on her knees and went back to her own vibrant little world of sapphics and a concerning amount of applied oil on everyone's skin while to the outside world her demeanor sharpened into its usual stoney mask as though she were trying to subvert the very flow of the stream by nature of her imperious gaze and regal birth alone.

Beldagor looked up at the pair, and snorted before he grabbed some of the branches and began dragging it back. "Aye, learned to cut timber a while ago," He acquiesced, looking back once again, "And I'm good at splitting things like em' too." His tone was cheerful, and likely to be misinterpreted as some kind of innuendo, but in his mind's eye he was imagining burying his axe into someone's skull.

Dragging it back to camp, he deposited right behind Kazumi. "We needed a few samples, figured we could get em' from this." He explained, as he checked the blade of the hatched-still sharp, and set about finishing clearing the branches.

Eidan chuckled at Yuki’s quip about his “log-handling” skills. The innuendos seemed endless, and he was all too happy to play along. “Something tells me that won’t be a skill making it into my permanent record,” he replied with a grin. “And if it does, Yuki, you’ll get to brag that you were part of my earliest-ever log-handling competitions.”

As the laughter settled, Eidan found himself drifting into his usual daydreams, his thoughts wandering far from the practicalities of the moment. Bel and Kuroko were in their element, their strength on full display as they hauled the fallen tree back toward the camp. To Eidan, though, strength meant something different. Those long, meandering conversations with his grandmother often echoed in his mind, shaping the way he viewed the world. He wasn’t here to prove his strength ~ he was here for the wonder of it all.

And what a world it was. Maridor seemed almost unreal in its beauty, a thriving ecosystem teeming with strange, glowing life. The air itself shimmered with bioluminescent particles, their delicate hues shifting like fireflies caught in an eternal dance. Around the camp, tiny creatures with translucent wings flitted through the air, their bodies trailing faint, sparkling streaks of light. Near the grove, a newly arrived small herd of Glowstalkers grazed peacefully, their luminous antlers swaying gently as they tore at the crystalline grasses. In the distance, the faint hum of nocturnal insects created an ambient symphony, punctuated now and then by the haunting call of a bird-like creature.

Above them, the twin moons of Maridor cast a pale glow across the landscape, their light mingling with the ethereal glow of the Starfire trees to create an otherworldly radiance. Even the camp’s perimeter was alive with subtle movements ~ small, glowing fungi growing in uneven patches pulsed softly, as if in rhythm with the planet’s heartbeat. Trailing behind the others, Eidan paused to glance at the stars. He felt small, humbled by the sheer vastness of the universe and the strangeness of this new world. There was so much here to explore, so much that couldn’t be cataloged in a single trip ~ or even a lifetime.

The rustle of leaves drew his attention briefly, and though the Valon’rai were hidden well within the forest’s edge, Eidan still felt the weight of their unseen gaze. He wasn’t sure what they wanted or even if they posed a threat, but for now, he pushed the thought aside. “Okay, I’m starving,” Eidan declared as they reached the camp. His stomach growled in agreement, and he gestured toward the pile of wood Bel had brought back. “Time to eat! Someone get the fire going, and we can finally sit down and enjoy dinner.” The excitement of a proper campfire gleamed in his eyes as he grabbed the hatchet to help prepare the kindling. Around him, Maridor pulsed with its unique vitality, a living, breathing testament to the mysteries waiting to be uncovered. For now, though, his focus was on the fire, the food, and the camaraderie of his team ~ those fleeting moments of connection that made even the strangest places feel like home.

Tomoko didn’t know what she had seen, but her curiosity—like that of a kitten spotting something fluttering in the breeze—was impossible to ignore. For the blue-skinned girl, curiosity wasn’t just a personality trait; it was almost instinctual. Her bioluminescent markings, delicate patterns that traced her arms, cheeks, and the tips of her ears and tail, shimmered softly in their usual green glow, the color of calm and contentment. However, as Eidan, the leader of their group, dismissed her sighting, claiming he hadn’t seen anything unusual, her markings flickered and shifted to a bright yellow hue. The shift betrayed her embarrassment, a response she wished she could hide.

Tomoko’s tail flicked anxiously behind her as she lowered her KAIMON-Aperture Binoculars and glanced around at the others. Her ears drooped slightly, giving her a sheepish appearance, though she kept her gaze fixed on the ground, hoping to avoid further scrutiny. But the yellow glow of her markings betrayed her true feelings. She was embarrassed—not necessarily because she was wrong, but because she hated being doubted, especially when she couldn’t prove what she had seen.

Before she could answer, a burst of laughter erupted around the group, snapping her out of her spiraling thoughts. Tomoko blinked, looking up in confusion, her markings dimming slightly as her embarrassment gave way to puzzlement. Were they laughing at her? Or had the conversation already moved on without her noticing?

She gave a small, uncertain smile, her tail curling slightly as she tried to read the area. But before she could figure it out, the topic shifted, like the wind changing direction. Someone, probably Linza, brought up the matter of food—a universal distraction that seemed to erase any tension. The suggestion of needing to get a fire started rippled through the group, and suddenly everyone was bustling with activity, gathering materials or rummaging through their packs.

Tomoko, grateful for the change in focus, knelt by her own bag and pretended to check her supplies, though her mind was still on what she thought she’d seen. Was it a shadow, some kind of animal, or perhaps something even stranger? She felt a quiet determination bubbling beneath her embarrassment. Maybe the others didn’t believe her, but her curiosity hadn’t waned in the slightest. If anything, it burned brighter now, as if daring her to uncover whatever mystery Maridor held.

Yuki burst into another fit laughter, "Oh if that makes it on to my record, you'll be listed as trainer." When the laughter settled she looked to Zabuza, "I can't sit by the fire, so I will probably get some painting done. Though you should sit by the fire and have some fun with others." Zabuza raised an eyebrow, though he agreed with Yuki. It would be a good idea for him to at least get familiar with the faces of those he had not met before.

Zabuza set off towards where the campfire had been set up, he heard something about getting a fire started. He knew Yuki could not be involved in that venture, but he went back to their tent anyways. "Hey, you know where a firestarter is?" Yuki stopped in the middle of looking for her art supplies and looked at him like he had just asked her if gravity existed. "Yeah, there's a Plasma Igniter in your back pack," she quipped. Zabuza nervously scratched the back of his head pretending to stretch, "I uh, I knew that. Yeah."

After a few slow blinks she looked at him mildly amused. "Of course you did, at least with the igniter you won't stub your toes on beds in the dark," she responded with a smirk. Yuki walked over to his pack, got it out and handed it to him. "Don't burn yourself " she said in playful jest. Zabuza accepted the igniter from Yuki and turned to head out of their tent. "Oh if they ask where I am, tell them I'm not hungry so Ill just get some extra painting time in. Eidan and Kuro should know I can't be near a fire." she called out as Zabuza left the tent and headed back to the group. When he approached the gathered group, he held the Plasma Igniter up.

"Not sure how to arrange the logs appropriately, but I have a fire starter," he said with the igniter still held up. "Yuki can't be close to the fire, so she'll be doing some painting," he finished speaking and lowered the igniter. He looked around, hoping someone knew how to get the logs arranged right, worse came to worse, he'd do it himself.

Yuki gathered the last bit of her supplies, making sure to grab her Starshield Nanoflare Barrier. It wasn't to protect her from the fire, she was going to lay it on the ground to sit on while she set up her paints. "Oooo!" she exclaimed as she had finished setting up her things about twenty five feet from the fire. Yuki dashed over to crate four, grabbed a set of OrchidGear Planetary Ranger Folding/Telescoping Clothes Drying Poles that came with accessories. Then she also grabbed a canvas from the Yuki Inihara approved entertainment kit. It didn't seem like there would be anyone that would be up for getting their butts immortalized in paint on her canvas, so she grabbed one of the few she had packed in it.

After having grabbed those last two items she quickly walked back over to her art spot. Deftly she set up the poles just off the barrier, then she set her canvas on the barrier. After setting the canvas down she dropped down into wariza sitting position. She took a deep breath while looking at the nature environment, trying to gather some inspiration from a plethora of gorgeous night scenery.