Private - Taking The Purple: Witch Ops Initiation Trial 2 | Page 4

The smoke came and the smoke went, and Kepler found that she was still in familiar surroundings.

Oyo~? I guess I passed then~ Or at least that part, I suppose~

Finishing her juice, Kepler found that the drink stand was getting busy as the others began to approach. Smiling, she waved at everyone as out of the small crowd, a familiar Faerin approached her. @Hanno Futaba

"Hmmm~I guess so~but, like, I can't help but feel a little restless, ya know~?"

Kepler laughed.

"Well, whatever's coming, I have a feeling like it might not be a bad idea to take this opportunity to rest up~ so with that in mind, I'm gonna go take a seat right over there---the last one was making me a little antsy~ ya know~? Ahaha~ Either way, even if we luck out and the next challenge is easy, I don't think I'll ever regret having a free lunch~I'd take advantage if I were you~"

Waving, Kepler grabbed a plate as she left the concession stand and found herself a seat before the stage. She was in the front row.

Mmm~ This is nice... ehhh~? Something starting~? ...Was there supposed to be some kinda show~?

Tilting her head, Kepler continued to watch the stage as the first performer came out.

'Bound Prince' ? Is that a reference to the musician's feud with online distribution or... maybe some kind of M thing maybe~?

Kepler nodded along as the man spoke.

Ahahaha~ either way he's totally awkward~! Super awkward~! Ahaha~ That's fine though~! I like his honesty~!

Perhaps the mysterious mask noticed Kepler's attentiveness gaze, because he called her out from the crowd. @Iván Carl

"Hm~?"

Having just placed a whole triangle of sandwich in her mouth, Kepler slowly chewed. Her cheeks were puffed out just like a squirrel's. Realizing she was being spoken to however, the girl looked down at her plate----and saw that she still had the other half. Staring at it, Kepler swallowed, and looked up at the stranger once more.

"I dunno~? Maybe~?"

Holding out the plate with both hands, Kepler tilted her head to the left this time.

"Why~? Do you want it~?"

***
With that strange episode behind her, Kepler continued to observe the show. Brad seemed like a straightforward sort of person, something that Kepler figured she'd appreciate in the future.

...As for Janet, Kepler decided that she liked her quite a bit! Her speech was extremely informative and probably contained the most information that the young artifacter had heard about Witch Ops so far.

...Ahahaha~But I'm getting the feeling like maybe I should avoid her... Maybe for both our sakes...

Kepler laughed quietly to herself. She could easily picture the pretty young woman chasing her around and yelling at her about one thing or another.

...Ahhhh I really don't wanna get scolded~ and I feel like she'd scold me a lot~ yup~ no doubt about it~

And so, by the end of Janet's performance, Kepler had sunk ever-so-slightly in her chair.

 

"Yes. Give it," Iván's desire to eat whatever was left in @Kepler's plate was seconded by Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian's guttural noises, giving the new Witch Ops member no choice but to give it to the more senior member of Witch Ops. While it seemed that Bound Prince was salivating for some munchies, he actually ended up giving the entire plate to Snowy who just ate the whole thing, plate included, without remorse. "Good girl! Who's a good girl? You are! Snowy's a good girl! Gucci gucci goo!"

After more guttural noises from Snowy, Iván forgot Kepler's existence and focused on the other vets make their entrances. He was disappointed that @Haru was nowhere to be found, one-upping his being late during his own initiation with being absent because of mountains and stuff during the second generation of Witch Ops. It was ridiculous, though to be fair, Iván would've gone with him if he was invited. At least @Bradwynne and @Janet Reilly were there. He clapped during their respective entrances, showcases, and departures from the stage. He thought they had done a good job, though secretly he knew neither of them did a better job than him. No one does a better job than Gas---Iván. A job's a job.

As Iván found his eyes wandering over the second generation of Witch Ops, intentionally not looking @Madison Freebird in the eyes because all that black seemed sketchy, his attention was drawn to a Faerin with blue hair. His first reaction was to "lol," as all "smol doods" often make him "lol," but eventually, he noticed the tiny creature's plate, "Hey, pleb. You over there with the kewl hair color. Do you have food? Give me your plate. Give it."

 

Rias watched the members of Witch Ops get on the stage as they performed a few of their masteries and skills after introducing themselves and explaining a little bit about their own experience and choices. They all looked rather familiar with each other...which made sense, after all they were in the same team. The archer was happy to see members she met before like @Iván Carl and @Janet Reilly but they probably didn't really know she was there since she kept a little bit of a hidden spot plus she didn't bother to call out for them not wanting to be annoying or too friendly.
"I didn't know Ivan had a face...my brother would be surprised to know that after the scary stories he came up with for Ivan." she leaned closer to whisper to her pet as she watched his demonstration and how he took off his mask in front of the rest of the newcomers. Immediately after that she remembered this one girl in the Curry House who was touching his face and saying that under the mask there was a handsome man, if she wasn't here already then she would probably have drop her jaw, Rias imagined that would be the case at least.

"I have a question. How many members are already in the Witch Ops? And how did you all join...? Were there the same trials as now?" trying to get the attention of everyone since she figured than even the participants would wonder about something like this, she made her presence obvious to everyone walking a little bit more in the front. She heard @Iván Carl mention a few names but maybe there were more so...asking wasn't going to hurt.

@Janet Reilly @Bradwynne

 

Hidden: The day before

"Ugh, come on Will. I was fighting Titanius, you're lucky that armor are not in pieces right now." She reasoned to her blacksmith, William Leatherman. "Not repairable? Fine. Can I get an identical replacement? Eh, not possible? You can make a better set?" Corvella's mouth gaped in excitement. "Really? God, that's why you're my favorite blacksmith, Will!"

The knight soon noticed the sticker on her destroyed armor was glowing. She then took the piece, using her magic to remove the sticker and sticking it back to her coat before listening to the message Majolica sent. Second Witch Ops recruitment? Does this mean that Witch Ops is finally growing? "Uh, I gotta go. I'll make sure the payment comes in before a week! Or sometime later!" She ran.

A day later, she was here in the Majolica's log cabin, waiting to meet the second generation of Witch Ops recruits. They all go one by one to the designated illusory stage. Then her turn came as she stepped on the stage, speaking with the not-actually-a-microphone. "Hello, welcome new recruits. My name is Corvella, codename Titan. It's hard to see the relevance of the codename without my usual battle gear, but you all will get it later." That's right, most of her equipment were utterly destroyed in the last battle against Titanius. "Mainly I act as a front-liner, physical tank with my shield, but I sometimes go rip opponents to pieces with my bare hands. I also sing to heal, and I'm adept at stealth missions thanks to Illusion magic. Not only that, but I get to torture every the of the Witch Ops with it."

There is a pause after that last statement. "Of course that was a joke! Heroes don't torture..." She whispered to the mic afterwards "...Or maybe dark heroes do. Anyway, I joined Witch Ops when Majolica first expressed the will to protect the people of Astorea, no matter the cost and no matter what it takes! I am a believer to this cause too, so I dedicated myself to the Witch Ops." She continued casually like a pre-school teacher telling a story to the kids. "Being in Witch Ops has its perks! First, you can ask the frogs to help you. Be sure to befriend them! Second, you get discount at Iván's Curry House. Three, you have friends that will come to your aid anytime everywhere! Think of it as a free air support."

Corvella looked around to the audience, as she looked at the fresh faces. Many faces that she didn't recognize, or maybe it was because she's bad at remembering people? "Oh, it's time for demonstration. Unfortunately, I did not bring my shield and armor. Tanking requires high maintenance of equipment, and as a result, more money spent. That's a risk for us to take." She smiled at @Hanno Futaba, the faerin with extra large shield.

"So I'll just do a simple trick instead! Witness." And with that, she snapped her left hand fingers. The surroundings slowly dissolves into ice and fire, like it was a 3d slideshow. There's five seconds before the scenes switch into another one. Each scene was of a different theme. First scene was of a fiery armageddon, then it switched into a bloody war, before transitioning into a soothing underwater view. One massive shark can be seen swimming right into the group, opening its mouth before the scene finally fade back with another snap of Corvella's fingers.

"For the record, that's not why I was called Titan."

 

Hanno waved back to the Kepler as she left. He looked at a table full of food... Normally he would be extremely excited and would be there eating like the huge glutton that he is, but the last test made him have a twist in his stomach that didn't feel right.

The Faerin went to the table, and out of habit he grabbed a plate, filling it with a mountain of food. That was sure a lot, but that was what he was used to. After that, a guy appeared on the stage calling everyone's attention. He introduced himself and gave his demonstration... Hanno chuckled a bit, but something about him felt familiar.

He looked at the man, pondering a bit. 'Ivan Carl... Ivan Curl... Ivan Curr... AH! IVAN CURRY!' The Faerin snapped his fingers, remembering something about a guy called Ivan that owned a Curry House. Hanno tried to find the Curry House, but he failed horribly for some reason. So having the owner in person there was a huge opportunity!

And before he could even decide to go there, the man called Hanno, making him frown slightly. 'Uh, pleb? He sure like to call people pleb, huh? Hm... But I don't think he's the type that underestimate people like that, after all someone that can make curry can't be someone of bad personality!'

With a chill smile he walked to @Iván Carl, and since he wasn't in the mood to eat, the Faerin just handed him the plate that had a mountain of food. "Sure!.. By the way, are you that Ivan? The one that makes curry?" Hanno asked looking at the man, while his Shield looked at the Monster.

Hanno looked at @Bradwynne suddenly appearing on the stage, making him blink in surprise. 'Woah, Brad is a Witch Ops member?' He kept looking at him for a few seconds as his mind kept showing the small and cute boy that he was in real life, making Hanno turn away his eyes from him, giving a chuckle.

"Man... Some people look completely different from what they really are." The Faerin whispered to himself, giving a small hit on his own head. 'Well! That's kind of the same to me, I'm not this small!'

The next one was a woman called @Janet Reilly, that after a brief introduction she made a disgusted comment about the tentacles. Hanno just chuckled, but the Shield looked very offended. "Hey, no hard feelings, Shield!" The Faerin patted his Gargantuan Companion. "Come on, hide the tentacles a little. Alright?" Hanno smiled at the Shield, that frowned as it suppressed it's tentacles.

After this, the Faerin waited patiently for the next members. And his Shield, still holding some kind of grudge, kept staring intently with some sort of angry look in their eyes, with it's pupil carefully following Janet wherever she was.

Hanno looked at @Corvella. 'I think this is one of the persons that Majolica talked about.' He nodded, after all she looked extremely tough and she was talking about being a TANK. Which was pretty much what the heroic heart of the Faerin wanted.

Seeing the woman smiling at him, Hanno smiled back. And after the whole demonstration, he waited for an opportunity to talk to her. 'I think I should get to known my future front line comrade.'

Reaching to the woman, the Faerin gave a chill smile. "Hello! I'm Futaba, Hanno Futaba... And this is my Shield." He looked at the Shield that was staring intently at someone. "Well, he's a little distracted right now. Sorry about that."

 

While waiting for the pleb with the kewl hair color (@Hanno Futaba) to reply, a familiar archer caught Iván’s attention. Didn’t he fight beside her not a long time ago? Was that @Rias? Oh, it was Rias! The still-masked illusionist, who hadn’t show his true face to anyone in this room…yet, was glad to find an old friend become a new Witch Ops comrade. She was also the sister to another old friend. What was his name again? Something European? It has been a long time.

But all that thinking had to take a pause when at long last kewl hair color pleb came to him with his plate of food. “Finally! Give it.” He ate half of it while giving the other half along with the plate to Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian. As Iván finished his meal, he stared at Hanno’s shield with a disgusted look on his face from behind his mask. “It depends… Are you going to bring that gross thing to my curry house?”

When @Corvella came on stage, Iván was smiling at the sight of her, even applauding her demonstration, especially her endorsement of his curry house. Oh, wait, does she get free curry for life now? He faintly remembered having that kind of conversation with her, though he wasn’t sure his brain was working at the moment to verify anything. Maybe he was still hungry.

 

Corvella walked down from the stage after the presentation and joined the rest of the Witch Ops members. She noticed that Guillontine Priest's twin brother, Guide isn't here. He might be busy since they all got the invitation only a day before, though. "Hey, I noticed Haru did not come. Was he busy?" She asked @Grand Witch Majolica.

The faerin shielder she smiled at the presentation approached Corvella and introduced himself, to which she offered her hand for a shake. "It's a pleasure to be your acquaintance, Hanno." He actually looks pretty tall for a faerin, and it's quite a sight to see someone that small carrying a ultra great shield. She read Majolica's dossier that Hanno uses Heroic Might to this advantage.

The shield, not only it has moving eyes and tentacle, it's also actually alive and conscious, interesting. "Your shield looks sturdy and strong, you should take care of him." The unarmored knight in her coat looked at the other candidates, before pointing out "It will be the final trial after this, right? The trial won't be easy, but I believe you all will prevail. If you work together till the end, that is!"

She gave @Hanno Futaba a final tip before the final trial is announced by Majolica "Those over there are your comrades. Look out for them, alright? They will need your protection. You protect them, and they will cover for you. The archer, the swordsman, the naturamancer, and the others." She tapped on his back before giving him a good luck. "I'll be waiting to work with you and call you by your codename, Hanno."

 

Hanno stared at @Iván Carl as he simply ate half of the mountain of food that was on his plate and gave the other half for the creature. The Faerin stared at the Guardian intently, giving a warm smile at it, even though the creature would probably ignore him.

After hearing answer, Hanno tilted his head and the Shield frowned at Ivan with a certain tone of anger. The Faerin smiled at the Shield and patted it. "Hehe, well. Of course I will do! And it isn't gross-" He smiled, and the Shield stared at the Faerin with a happy expression. "-It's just very disgusting." He chuckled as the now very frustrated Shield began slamming his tentacle on the Faerin's head.

"Hahaha- Stop stop!" Hanno playfully tried to stop the tentacles, while peeking one eye for Ivan. "W-Well, as you can see he have fragile emotions! Anyway, I really hope to have a chance to eat your legendary curry that everyone talks about!" The Faerin smiled brightly at the man, finally being able to control the angry Shield.

The Faerin shook @Corvella hand, staring at her with a focused expression "It's also a pleasure to meet you!" He smiled. 'She looks very tough... No wonder Majolica said she could train me. I am in good hands.' He thought while hearing carefully what she had to say. The Shield looked a little flattered by hearing the woman saying he was sturdy and strong, making Hanno chuckle lightly. "I will, he's my loyal buddy."

He looked at his comrades, everyone looked either excited or happy for passing until now. Seeing their smiles, made the Faerin have a warm smile on his lips, before he stared at the woman again. "I will protect them with all my strength. They are my dear companions, and I will be by their sides whenever they need my help. And I promise that I will become strong enough, so we can protect everyone together, Corvella!" Hanno bowed his head a bit, as a signal of respect before the trial started.

 

Witch Ops Trial Part 5: How We Fight

Hidden: Interview Thread Rules and Notes

• Current Witch Ops members can do one final "good luck"/"farewell" post then will not be able to post again until after the final trial (part 6).
• We are now in the final portion of the trial proper.
• Posts should remain between 100-600 words.
• Please do not post directly after yourself.
• Two posts in maximum in this section.
• After everyone enters the forest there will be another update.
• Updates will come more quickly now so please attempt to respond ASAP.
• Initiates that take too long will be skipped which may or may not come with consequences.

Hidden: Corvella

Majolica was busy preparing things as @Corvella approached to ask about Haru.

"Hehehe, Haru? He said he's mountain climbing or something? I don't know, hehehe, he's kind of weird sometimes, but it's okay. Hehe, he'll meet the recruits sooner or later. It wasn't required that everyone be here, hehehe, I just thought it would be fun for everyone to meet. But there will be another opportunity, hehehe, a big one! But it's a secret so I can't tell you yet."

Majolica squinted at Corvella momentarily.

"Hehehe, by the way, are you and Ivan... hehehe... nevermind, I won't pry. He looks at you like a puppy though. Hehehe, cheeky. We can talk about it later though! Hehehe, I'm super busy. Also, get your armor fixed, hehehe, you're going to need it soon. Or are you doing the light armor dodgey fighting style now? Hehehehe, either way it's fine. After Titanius, I decided that I should be leading from the front! Hehehehe, especially when it comes to magic attacks, so I'll be using heavy armor now! Hehe, I'll have to make sure I still look witchy enough though! Hehehehe!"

Majolica looked upwards towards the sun.

"Okay, hehe, it's time to get going. We can talk later! Hehe, bye bye!"

Majolica waved, and floated over to some Witch Frogs that looked like they were busy.

Hidden: Rias

When @Rias asked her question it seemed that the sneaky sniper was too sneaky for anyone to even hear or notice her question. They were good questions, so Majolica decided to answer them for her.

Floating over next to Rias, Majolica spoke up.

"Hehehe, good questions! Since everyone's busy and for some reason, hehe, you have the same presence as a shadow inside of a box, hehehe, I'll answer them for you personally! Hehe, right now there are five Witch Ops members. They joined because I scouted them and sent invitations. Hehehe, they all passed so they all got in! And finally, no. Some parts of the trial are the same this time, hehehe, but about fifty percent of it is completely different! Hehehe, okay well I guess it's time we get things rolling! Hehehe!"

Majolica floated away towards what appeared to be a Witch Frog planning committee.

As everyone chatted, munched on their snacks, and rested Majolica continued to go over plans with her Witch Frogs.

"Hehe, so you're sure it's there? Just yesterday! Okay, good! Hehehe, it's time that thing meets dark justice! Hehehe! I guess I should get everyone moving then, hehe, we don't want this thing moving before we get there!"

Nodding to herself, Majolica made her way to the front of the group. And began clapping and calling out to get everyone's attention.

"Hehehehe, okay! We should start winding down our conversations now! Hehe, it's about time we move on to the final challenge! I hope you all are rested up and had something to eat, hehehe, because the next one is going to be a doozy! Keeping with traditions, the next and final test will be combat based. Hehehe, but not like show and tell! The final test will test not only each individual's abilities, hehehe, but also how well you work together!"

Majolica crossed her arms as she looked out on the new group.

"The Witch Ops Battalion, hehe, before anything is a team! We stand together, protect each other, play with each other, and help each other! Because of that, hehehe, we have to learn to rely on each other! You have to be able to trust that the person next to you has your back! Or your side! Hehehe, or whatever you know what I mean, hehe. We have to know that when things get hairy, we can rely on each other to all do our best to keep together and take out whatever enemy stands before us! Hehehehe, that's the real power of The Witch Ops Battalion! It's not being able to take down a demon army by yourself, hehehe, it's knowing that as a team we could crush a whole world filled with demons! Hehehe, so if you're someone that's bad at trusting others, or kind of a loner hehehe, now is the time to break that habit because without trust and teamwork, hehehe, I don't know if any of you will be coming back from this one. Hehehe..."

As she spoke, Witch Frogs began gathering some supplies. Rope, torches and flint, small knives, and some basic camping gear.

"So now for the details! Hehe, in the final test you will be required to take down a dangerous enemy. Hehehe, the enemy as been raiding my cottage's food stores and causing the Witch Frogs a lot of grief! Hehehe. As for what the enemy is, hehehe, we won't be telling.!You will have to hunt down the enemy yourself! Hehehehe, but I don't want you searching in the forest for weeks either, so the Witch Frogs have already pinpointed the beasts den. Hehe, your job then is to travel to the den and eliminate the enemy! All I can say about the beast's description is that you'll know it when you see it! Hehehehe!"

With that, the Witch Frogs set up a table in front of Majolica and began placing some items on it including a map, a compass, the rope, some lanterns, and canteens of water.

"Hehehe, we've gone ahead and set up some supplies for you. The map has the location where you will need to go on it. The compass will help you navigate. Everyone gets a canteen of water. Hehehe, night is starting to fall so some people will need to handle the lanterns, and we've also provided some rope just in case! Hehehe, you may or may not need to use any of these things, hehehe, so don't look to much into it! Now, everyone decided who's carrying what. Once you get your things, you'll be entering the forest through the path.... that way!"

Majolica pointed to a path leading out of the clearing and deeper into the woods.

"From that path, hehehe, you'll be able to navigate to the place on the map! Hehehe, as long as someone in the group is good at maps and directions! Hehehehe, okay everyone! Gather your things and let's get going!"



@Rias @Kepler @Hanno Futaba @Sean Poteitoku @Madison Freebird @Iván Carl @Corvella @Janet Reilly @Luna Avalbane @Bradwynne

 

Ah jeez~ Looks like I'm gonna be bashing something with a stick after all~

Kepler sighed while looking a little forlorn. Leaving her minor protests at that, Kepler looked over her fellow recruits with an appraising eye. Contrary to what information she had gleaned about the former unit, this time around, the squadron seemed pretty well rounded. Since Kepler was the first to get ready, she waited by the departure road for the rest, and when they had gathered, she addressed them:

"Hay~ Hay~ everyone~~~ Happy we're all here and accounted for~! So anyway~ in case everyone forgot~ My name's Kepler and uhm~~~ Like, I don't really mean to take charge or anything~~~~"

Blushing a little, Kepler laughed off her embarrassment.

"Ahaha~Looks like I'm tripping over my own words, aren't I~? Right~! So what I was meaning to say is that we should probably discuss our column formation before we engage the enemy, right~? We wouldn't want to be tripping over each other in a pinch~"

Kepler nodded at each of them in turn, the girl continued just a little apologetically.

"So at the risk of overstepping my bounds, I'd like to make some recommendations so we can at the very least begin the discussion, okay~? Please speak up if anything sounds off~ I'll be the first to admit that field missions reaaaaaaaly aren't my thing~"

Kepler smiled and revealed a chart she'd drafted during the latter half of the Witch Ops demonstrations. It showed the following:

@Rias ------- Point Scouting, Flank guard.

@Hanno Futaba -----Vanguard. The Main Line.

@Luna Avalbane -----Rear Guard----> Forward Assault (Flying Column) on what breaks the line.

@Kepler -------------Center Column Support.

@Madison Freebird ------Rear Column. Disruption and Long-Range Bombardment.


In two diagrams. One a Line March and the other an Arrow-Wedge Combat Formation.

"So~~~Uhm~Yeah~What do you guys think~? We'll also need someone to hold the map.... anyone a mapey sort of person~? Frankly, I prefer towns and cities, you know~? Ahahaha~"

I feel like the kid who just got casually asked about a hobby they're a little too obsessed with... ah well...

Either there was a considerable pause, or a self-continuous Kepler somehow imagined one. To break the silence she spoke again.

"But yeah~! Leave the medical support to me, okay~?"

 

Sean idly listened to Majolica's explanation of the final part of the trial. Yeah, teamwork, that's what I like. He looked around, trying to find anything to do while he waited. He resorted to shifting his feet on the ground and trying to draw pictures in the dirt with them.

One of the recruits, Kepler, stepped forward to devise a formation. Sean broke off from his half-finished drawing of a sword to look at the formation. Odd... I'm nowhere in the formation. He slightly chuckled. "Hey guys, how long until she finds out?" He put his finger to his lips, motioning to the others not to tell her what she'd missed. "Yeah, I can use maps well. I can also use my fire magic to make a light source. It's helpful in a pinch." He made a small ball of fire in his hand, tossing it for a bit. "So, anything else?"

 

Hanno was just idly eating a pile of random food as his appetite raised along with his spirits. Watching and talking to the other veteran members of Witch Ops really cheered him up. 'They are amazing... I hope we can all fight together on future.' He shook his head. 'No, we will. I will do my best!' He looked up determined, until suddenly the Witch came up and began giving a speech.

The Faerin nodded hearing everything, so now it was time for teamwork huh. Hanno smiled with a determined tone, reminding himself of what Corvella has just told to him.

After finishing preparing himself he went to the path for their destiny. Getting there he found Kepler already making her plans and began explaining her strategy. The Faerin nodded hearing everything, of course he was supposed to be the vanguard, because he was going to do his best to not let a single attack go past him. He clenched his fists while grinning, making the Shield stare him with a frown.

"Well, I'm not surprised that you had some sort of plan already." The Faerin smiled at @Kepler . "Very well, I will be the meat shield then. So make sure to cover me as much as you can partner! Everyone need to depend on each other here!"

He looked at @Sean Poteitoku. "I hope you get to strike as powerful blows on the beast as you did against that hellish dissonant aberration we fought! As well as everyone here that got a chance to kick that monster's butt." Hanno poked the red-haired Felis before looking at everyone.

"If we were able to slam that thing down, we can defeat a beast inside a cave anytime." The Faerin gave a thumb up. "Also, everyone here is very powerful after all, if we do our best this challenge will be a piece of cake!"

"I won't let a single attack get past me and my shield. So let's go do our best, because this won't be our last mission together!" Hanno looked at everyone with a determined look.

@Madison Freebird @Rias @Luna Avalbane

 

As Kepler painstakingly went over her plan, Madison could only shoot a helpless glance @Luna Avalbane's way.

They're hopeless, she said with her eyes. Whether or not the Animorpher agreed was irrelevant.

The witch sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and took a step forward. "Okay, okay, hang on, kids. Look--"

Whether or not the did made no difference to her. She was going to take command regardless.

"You've overthinking this," Madison said to @Kepler. "Front guard? Center column? We know that as soon as things start to go sideways, the plan'll be forgotten. That's just who we are as people." Her brow furrowed as her eyes swept across the group. "And you cannot tell me otherwise--we were all suckered here by Darkest Timeline Rainbow Brite, so you know that our base intelligence as a group isn't high in the first place. I mean, shit; this one ran into a freakin' tree half an hour ago to demonstrate the most useful thing he could do!"

Never one to pass up an opportunity to take a shot at @Sean Poteitoku, Madison jabbed her thumb in his direction. Her middle finger was ready to go in case he objected to being singled out.

"So here's what I'm proposing. I'm pretty sure Luna and I are the two most skilled fighters we have, even though I'm a support. So everybody gather around Tiger Lady and Big Sis--or Mama Bear, I haven't decided yet--and let us do the heavy lifting. If you can't swing a weapon without knocking off a chunk of your own HP bar, hold the torches and gear. If you have some support skills, keep everyone alive."

The witch shrugged. "I don't think that Majolica's going to pit us against anything that's too dangerous. If any of us die in the trial, it'll look bad on her. That's bad publicity; and a vigilante group like the Witch Ops is already walking on thin ice."

Madison's eyes fell upon @Hanno Futaba. "You be ready to jump in front of anything that comes directly at us." She went to turn on her heels, but paused for a moment. "And if I hear you say 'let's do your best!' one more time, we're hauling what's left of you back here on that shield of yours."

 

Her eyes caught Madison's eyes and she sighed, knowing pretty much exactly what was going on behind the woman's skull. She didn't necessarily agree, but the plan was...awfully complicated and well structured for a group of people that had never worked together before, at least with each other.

And then Madison stepped forward to actually share her results with the class, causing Luna to sigh again. Why couldn't the woman be just a little bit nicer with how she worded her opinions? The woman was quite literally tearing into everybody with her words, it was almost upsetting to watch if she were honest with herself. It was like being in class, watching students get scolded when they had genuinely tried their best to do whatever it was that they were doing.

And then Madison proposed that it be her and Luna, with the rest simply supporting them as they made their way, before referring to her as a tiger lady. Crap! She was still merged with Natiri! With a flash of light, she now appeared, sat on the white tigress' back for a moment, before she stood up. "Madison, don't you um, think you're being just a little too hard on them?" Also, she was fairly sure that Madison had a little too much faith in her skills. She was only one woman, after all.

"D-don't forget, t-this is a learning experience too, right? We can't just....coddle them." She smiled, stepping forward herself as she shuffled awkwardly, her tiger companion keeping pace with her, loyally at her side. "Everybody, I um, I want to let you know that you're all welcome to stay behind Madison and I, b-but you should also fight with all of your might. T-the idea of t-teamwork...is to be a unified force, n-not a pair of w-women, a shieldbearer and some roadies. I-I'll um, I'll be counting on you all to watch over each other and fight together..."

@Rias @Hanno Futaba @Madison Freebird @Kepler @Sean Poteitoku

 

Hanno frowned at the woman suddenly snapping at @Kepler plan, he sure didn't like the tone she was using against everyone and that made his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. He almost stepped in instantly, but @Luna Avalbane suddenly began talking at the woman, which made the Faerin step back while crossing his arms.

'Really, organizing all that was probably very hard...' He wasn't even bothered by what Madison said directly to him, but he was extremely annoyed for her looking down at everyone else, including Majolica and the Witch Ops organization.

He nodded at the tiger lady, finally calming down, luckily his anger never lasted too long. "Even if this plan won't be followed completely until the end, or even if it's too complex to be followed with one hundred percent of efficiency, it's still much more organized and reliable than just putting all responsibility in you two. I mean... What if something happend to you two? I may go and throw myself on the blows that are going to hit you two, but if I go down and you guys get hit? The whole plan will derail."

The Faerin stared at the witch eyes. "If it's something that Majolica made to be done with teamwork, just going all 'leave it to me' won't work out. We actually need to work together." He nodded. "If we at least hold the positioning and the roles of each other from Kepler's plan, we will have a good base to work on. And well, if something goes wrong, go ahead and take the lead you want so much. It's fine, we are supposed to help each other anyway."

Hanno grinned. "But I will take your idea of jump in front of anything that comes at you guys, after all I don't want anyone to get hurt here, including YOU" He pointed a finger at @Madison Freebird direction. "I will only be happy with everyone in our celebration party for passing on the test later on. This said, I will protect everyone with everything I have."

"So let's do our very best, because I bet you can do a great job." The Faerin said with a defiant voice.

'Well, I can't say much about Sean though, he indeed did something very dummy.' He gave an internal silly smile, but of course didn't say it outloud to not give Madison any points.