He had seen that stiffening but someone here had to be realistic. Teamwork needed every member to be even a little bit useful and the way he saw it, they were running into their death. He didn't even blink when Jin disappeared, annoyance barely visible on his features. Well, that was that. Somehow, he wasn't even sure they were expected to survive any of this.

Soon, the conversation started between their mismatched group, Gabriel keeping track only of what information he found pertinent. Sailor Aegle, Sailor Alshain, Sailor Aldrin, Sailor Nyx, Sailor Valdis (personal names were not necessary, they were even dangerous in his mind), Sailor (captain???) Chalybs, Sailor Celestal, Sailor Cosima (again, the personal name flew right above his head). They all had something to say about their quest and Amarachius looked upon the path that was pointed to them, agreeing that the sooner they left this place, the better.

His sword came into existence, fingers curling tightly around its handle, as his wings suddenly unfurled behind him, Gabriel readying himself for departure.

"Amarachius Sworn." He stated, bowing his head slightly in their direction, his features open but at the same time distant enough to keep any relationship professionally based. He wasn't exactly keen to making friends in such a place, even if he was intrigued.

So many strange people.
And none of them from his home world. It was so strange and yet exciting and yet he didn't feel like he could share the excitation considering most of them weren't content with their presence here.

"There's no use in backtracking. We're all here, so let's make it out of there together. We have a promising diversity in each of your gifts. But if one of you give up because your feelings were hurt, you won't be the only one paying the price."

His voice wasn't mean, or abrupt. It flowed from his mouth as would any normal conversation topic.

"Before we go, if you'd allow me" He said without waiting for more permission to keep going. "Sailor Jin didn't lie. The situation is dire enough that inexperienced soldiers" they seemed inexperienced for the most part anyway and even Gabriel never battled Chaos properly, but it wasn't his first rodeo. "were asked to fight in this war. They had no other choice, because if the Queen falls, this entire region and your planets, I imagine, our planets" okay this was still weird. "will fall with it. And I'm not ready to wallow in my misfortune while my people face their destruction." Even if he really wanted to get the stress out. He. Wasn't. Ready. For. Otherworldly. Beings.

Breathe.

Those insects, real insects, not his companions, were starting to get on his nerves too.

"So shall we?"

Sailor Alshain had spoken before she could look at the compass, and Hemera’s heart thudded loudly as the senshi spoke about letting people who didn’t want to be here to leave. What if Nyx changed her mind at some point and decided to leave?

She was quickly distracted by the metal… person thing that spoke in an odd way to introduce herself. Himself? Itself? At any rate, it seemed to be fighting with itself as another voice emerged from that direction, and Hemera stepped juuust slightly away in alarm, though she was very curious what this creature was. A few among them were definitely… well… alien-looking. But she’d never left her planet before, so how was she supposed to know what normal people looked out there?

SAM-BRR3-NE005.

Yeah, no way she was remembering that. Her eyes had glazed over and the metallic being had lost her after ‘Sam’. What in sunbeams’ name are plasma and lasers? She turned to Nyx as if to ask for help, completely confused.

Then the senshi beside her finally introduced herself, and asked if anyone knew how to read a compass.

These people don’t know how to read a compass either?!

She grew even more alarmed and confused as the red one—Cosima—suddenly snatched the object and began shaking it. That’s not how compasses work!

She was having trouble keeping up with all the conversation; some of them still seemed intent on talking about the queen and the mission, though it seemed none wanted to leave, there were insinuations that violence was involved in the conscription, but Hemera simply could not believe the benevolent queen had allowed something like that to happen. She was a good queen, wasn’t she?

She tried returning her attention to solve the compass problem as the others began to fight over it—this was worse than babysitting back on her planet, honestly—but then the Sam person… thingy… told them all to just follow the arrow.

Yes, thank you, finally someone sensible.

She sidled up the the metallic creature, knocked on that hulking metal experimentally, and whispered in a low voice, “Hello. What are you exactly, if I may ask?”

Probably a rude question, but it had never stopped her before.

Then the only male in the group introduced himself, but she was having trouble paying attention to his name while he was showing so much muscle as he wielded his blade and unfurled his wings like that. She glanced at Nyx again, eyes widening, conveying one word, a native curse word from their planet.

Since Queen Zhi was pretty much known as the strongest protector in their system, Hemera wasn’t surprised to hear the information that should she fall, the rest of them would fall with her. She hoped this made the others realize just how important this mission was, though.

“Question,” she raised her hand as if in a classroom, then asked in a low voice so as not to disrupt the others’ discussion. “Do you have a preferred nickname?”

She’d already forgotten his full name.

The unstable-looking one, so very much unlike the rocks of her world, now crouched on the ground. Xtal-Diamante observed the blue one's form, noting how it seemed to quiver. She was no longer making the jagged vibration, and that was good. This "Sailor Aldrin" reminded her of oil, if the oil was capable of gathering itself up into a shape. There was so much variety here, so much she had never seen before. Like the broader one with the deep voice. The others looked more like her (metal one excepted), but that one was different.

They were talking about the compass that Sailor Jin had left—that much she had been able to understand. Of course, even in her non-transformed state, Xtal had never interacted with an instrument of that nature. She wasn't much help in that regard. Sailor Xtal-Diamante still believed that she had followed along with the introductions, unaware that she had not spoken any information about herself aloud. The compass was best suited to the other hands, but after a lifetime of work on her home world it felt odd and disconnected to have no active task assigned to her. When Amarachius Sworn suggested the group continue on, Xtal-Diamante took a small step forward, ready to follow.

Nyx felt at peace as Hemera placed her hand on her shoulder, and she placed her own hand on top of hers. It was weird; even though Nyx could not stand heat and Hemera was practically a miniature sun, she never felt discomfort around her. Quite the opposite. Was that due to magic? Their relation by blood? Who knows.

One by one, the rest of the group continued to introduce themselves. Yeah, she had already forgotten half of the names. Why couldn't senshi from other planets have normal names, like Nyx and Hemera?

The senshi with the short hair echoed her concerns about the group's dynamic. But apparently, no one was quite inclined to leave. She was still not certain if that would be for the best in the long run, but well, the more they were, the higher their chances. After all, it was only her and her sister when they defeated their first chaotic agent. And it was possibly because she was alone that the senshi of this planet lost her life. But with twelve of them? Perhaps this was what this 'Sailor War' needed all along; teamwork. But that could be hard to achieve.

She caught Hemera's puzzled look as SamAD4294F was explaining her powers, and simply shrugged and shook her head. She had read a little about technology on other planets, but she still did not really understand much of it as of yet. Oh well, she figured they could see it in action.

As-- Celestial, was it? -- was trying to figure out how the compass works, the metal senshi suggested they try following the arrow. Sure, that sounded sensible, she thought, but she would rather they actually knew what they were doing instead of trying following a random arrow and just get themselves lost for a couple months or so in this foreign planet. Was it really that hard for Jin to explain at least that much? She hoped Hemera might be able to confirm that thought, what with her constant desire to travel herself.

She noticed Hemera moved a bit closer to the metal senshi and instinctively, Nyx followed. She preferred to be close to her sister at all times, just in case. Anyway, the group seemed to be in consensus that they should depart soon and --oh gods she did not just say that.

What are you? WHAT are you? Nyx's face flushed red as she shot an awkward smile towards SamBD14A. She hoped her sister was not about to cause an intergalactic diplomatic episode.

In any case, it was not the metal senshi that Nyx most wondered about. Instead, that girl with the rocky appearance who had stayed quiet so far caught her attention. Perhaps the poor girl was disabled, possibly mute and/or deaf. She was not really familiar with the universal sign language, but she would try if need be.

Distracted by her thoughts, she half caught the male senshi's name. Amaranthus? That would be easy to remember, but she had a feeling that was not exactly it. She noticed the way Hemera was looking at him and returned her glance with a glare of disapproval. She would probably have a hard time keeping up with her on this mission.

Ari stood the entire time frozen still; through the introductions, the discussion on the compass, Sailor Jin's departure, everything.  She could not find the strength to speak because right now, it was everything she could do to keep herself from curling into a ball and crying her eyes out. If she spoke, that would be it. Her voice would make that one quiver and she would embarass herself as the first worthless Sailor Guardian to cry on this insane quest.

It didn't help that only a few hours ago she didn't even know that other beings existed outside her world! And in so many different shapes and sizes and colors! If she weren't in such a shock she would have had time to admire everyone's beauty...even this planets beauty.  The environment and bugs did not bother her. She had been in swamps on her planet before. She would just need to cover her arms and legs with mud later to prevent the bites from getting worse. She could already sense the essence from the plantlife of this planet. She wasn't sure but it seemed Sailor Jin was right as something felt off to her in a direction she hadn't quite pin pointed.

Her only consolation was that Bas had been allowed to come with her, thanks to his compact form, he could just hide out of sight if needed and not be a burden. She could feel him get upset with the blue jiggly one, Sailor Adrin it was? Spoke out harshly against Sailor Jin. It seems Bas at least knew who this Queen Zhi was even though she did not, and it others had heard of her too. So...at least she hadn't been lied too. She hoped...

Bas floated next to her face and nudged her cheek, whispering to her.

"Speak up, Ari. Don't embarrass me like this. The Guardian of Bastet is not a crybaby."  He sounded slightly annoyed but Ari managed a small smile, that was his way of comforting her. He knew that she was a big crybaby and knew she was terrified, but he knew she wasn't alone in this feeling, "You have to make companions with these people or you will die."

Ari squeezed her eyes shut and nodded her head. She swallowed the lump in her throat fighting hard to keep it from coming back again and looked at the group.

"E-e-excuse me..." she said softly. She looked hoping she'd gather her attention but Bas rolled his eyes at her.

"Louder, Ari."

She cleared her throat a bit louder this time, hoping to gain their attention enough so she can at least give them her name.

"E-excuse me!  I-I'm sorry for not having introduced myself...I-I didn't mean to be rude," She bowed her head apologetically, "I am Sailor Bastet, Guardian of Bastet and 1st Level of the Bastien Druids."  

Others explained their powers so she figured she should, "I have some...abilities...I can understand animals and plant life...and..."

She trailed off. Compared to how the others powers sound. Plasma lasers (that sounded cool, even though she didn't know what that was), the one male had a sword, the blue one had a strange musical instrument weapon all so much stronger than her. She finally finished in a whisper, "and...some...other stuff...I guess..."

Good going, Ari.  They'll really think you're useful now.

This Amarachius male was correct about their sitiation. SAM knew she was simply being childish earlier, but if the truth was told to them, they had no real choice but to move forward. She tried her best not to stare at his uncovered arms, unused to seeing any male creature without layers of armor over him. Did he not fear injury to his physique?

Sailor Hemera's banging on her own armor startled SAM, who had only been half paying attention to her approach. Even with an exosuit on, she still wasn't quite comfortable with being touched. On instinct, she took a step back from the other senshi even as she faced her, though her helmet showed none of her thought process.

"What am I...?" SAM wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed or insulted by the question. Did they all think she was a talking suit of armor with nothing inside? "I am a Tech-Spliced. That is my people's name. I am technologically and biologically augmented for combat and survival in any environment." She couldn't help but start to sulk.

"I'm not a robot..." she grumbled, more to herself.

As the others continued to analyze the compass and inspect SAM's very odd exterior, Sailor Aldrin continued to stay to herself. She didn't seem to be even listening to the talking and chattering of the others at first. Amarachius Sworn's words at first even didn't seem to resonate with the solemn soldier, but eventually a small sound could be heard.

The sound remained small, only a brief melody as soft metal cords were gently strummed on the previously introduced Buzz Axe. Sitting with her back to the group, Sailor Aldrin sang to herself, still lost in her daze. If one listened closely, they would notice a sort of static sound. It almost sounded as though Aldrin's voice and guitar playing was coming from some kind of recording.


Sailor Aldrin continued to strum the melody and hummed along to it. It seemed she needed a bit of a nudge to get her going. Syrupy blue tears streamed down her face from behind fogged glasses. The girl didn't seem have the confidence to trust anyone, not even the cute, shy girl who had just introduced herself.

Chally worked to help with the compass, but Crysdal missed what she had said when the guy suddenly had a sword in his hand unfurled wings like a bird's. Her heart beat faster and she caught Elysande's gaze, not even sure what to think. Eagles and Pheonixes were ancient symbols of power on their planet, and to find one with wings of a bird - coincidence or not - made her feel as though the gods were on their side in this. Not that she believed in the gods, or anything, of course, but respecting the past was always important, and she had a hard time not thinking this to be some sort of sign that they were where they were supposed to be.

His voice was deep and even, almost passionless to her ears, but she agreed with what he said, overall, and, despite not knowing where he got his information from, she trusted what he said about the Queen and their own planets, and used it to further bolster her belief that they were not fools for coming here, that they really were needed here, and weren't being tricked by some malevolent force. This made her reflexively glance down to Aldrin, wondering again what had happened that she had had such a bad experience with Jin...

'Hello. What are you exactly, if I may ask?'

Crysdal's attention shot immediately towards the voice, hope that someone was asking the metal person or the rock person a question rising, and then bursting in a fountain of joy as she found Hemera questioning Chaldysbus. She prepared to immediately hone in on that conversation - maybe she wouldn't have to ask for the name again!! - but then the tiny girl with cat ears and tail squeaked out an introduction, bowing her head apologetically and explaining herself and Crysdal's heart cried out for the tiny shy thing in very nearly the same way it had reacted to Hadley. She had no idea what 'druid' meant, but the way the girl just trailed off with 'other stuff' just made her want to comfort her; she smiled for her -- but then metal person was talking again and she paused, hoping to catch a name, and instead received 'Tech-Spliced' and had no idea what that meant. She'd just add that to 'plasma' and 'cosmic radiation' and the other growing list of unknown vocabulary words. She did understand the survival bit, and appreciated it, as this could be a place where that came in handy; and while she didn't understand 'robot', she did pick up on the tone beneath. 

However, being more in the middle of everything, trying to listen in on all the conversations and keeping things straight, she completely missed the soft, sad song of Aldrin's.

Being closer to Chaldybus, she tried to help there, first. "Of course you're not a robot!" she replied adamantly, figuring it to be some slur, "We'd never suggest you were! Good job with the compass, by the way; is it working right, now?" Sometimes the best way to draw someone out of a negative place is with a question about something they knew and could be willing to share.

Too much was going on, and Hadley retreated within herself, focusing instead upon the plant life and vegetation around her. Everything was so interesting to look at. How could they be similar - yet so unlike - the plants she was used to back home?

It comforted her to know that she could still feel their presence. A part of her had worried that perhaps only the plants from Valdis would 'speak' to her.

She vaguely registered people talking, and she heard a little about the compass and information about Sailor Jin and the Queen. But she didn't give any input to the conversations. It was much easier to look to the plants instead.

However it was when another soft voice spoke up, one that spoke of understanding plant life, that Hadley looked up.

The other girl was the same size as her! And they had similar powers? Never had Hadley thought that someone could be so similar to herself. Having grown up thinking her powers were weak and unnecessary within her militaristic planet, she had never thought that perhaps her powers were more useful for other planets. That other planets might want such things.

Hadley stood up. "Plant life?" she repeated, and a smile came to her lips. "I can understand them too!"

Excitement and curiosity took her then and she approached the other small girl, looking at her and fully taking in the pretty hair and the animalistic features. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch them, and instead focused on all of her questions. She had to know everything - maybe this girl could help her understand how to tap into all of the powers her mother and her people wanted her to have!

"What are they like, the plants on your home planet? How do they sound? What is a druid? Am I a druid since I can hear them too? Do they speak to you or is it more of a feeling? Have you been able to communicate with them your whole life? I always feel a warm kind of feeling from them - is it the same for you?"

She realized then that she was talking far too much, and she blushed. "I'm sorry," Hadley added quickly. "I've just... never met someone with a similar connection before."

She did not miss Nyx’s look, but her sister looked disapproving a lot, even for little things, so Hemera just grinned and shrugged. Another senshi with cat ears and a tail spoke and introduced herself, and Hemera had the urge to come over there to hug her. Everyone loved warm hugs, right? That was what she was best for. But another girl had already come over to her and started asking questions, which made Hemera sigh happily. What a cute tiny pair.

Sam-something-or-other had jerked away from her, and stated that she was a… Tea Splash? Oookay then. She heard useful and encouraging words like ‘combat’ and ‘survival’ and nodded her head as if she understand all of it. “Cool.”

As the mysterious creature stated that it wasn’t a robot, and Aegle jumped in to say ‘of course not’, Hemera nodded even more vigorously.

“Yeah! Of course you aren’t a robot!”

She paused, then leaned in to Aegle and whispered, “What’s a robot?”

That Hemera quickly jumped in seconding the not-a-robot assertion made Crysdal feel like she had made the right move in negating it, cementing in her head that it really was some horrible slur - but then in a quiet aside the redhead asked her what it was, and that concrete confidence chipped. With a smile up at Chally, she made a covert move as though to scratch her nose, blocking much of her mouth from view, and answered quietly, "I think it's some sort of derogatory term." She then took her hand down and continued smiling, waiting politely for an answer from Chaldy or Celestal about the compass.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hadley approach Bastet and imagined they were pouring their hearts out about plants and loved it.

After Alshain had posed her main concern, the conversation pulled all over the place.  Her statement was answered intermittently, punctuated by others introducing themselves or issues with the compass.  While she did notice that no one actually truthfully answered her, they instead gave vague answers that did nothing to ease her suspicions, she decided not to pursue the topic for the moment.  Instead she resolved to keep an eye on those who had strongly spoken out against being here.  Better to be cautious and careful than to experience a preventable mistake, especially a grave one.  Her eyes glanced over to Aegle who was deep in the conversations with the others, while they weren't exactly close, they did share a planet as their home, that meant she needed to make sure they both made it back in one piece.

She glanced around again to each of the members of the group, committing their names and vague power descriptions to memory.  As the male introduced himself, she felt Aegle's stare and her eyes followed the other's to his wings, and understood what she implied.  The edges of her mouth twitched up slightly for a second before returning to their neutral state.  Her brows furrowed again, they needed to move now, they needed to go find this chaos and defeat it, every moment they sat here wasting endured that chaos would grow stronger, something she had learned from the visiting senshi months ago.

Ari's ears perked up as she heard a sad melody playing, accompanied by a soft singing. It was the blue skinned jelly one. It was so sad...what could have happened to her before she got here? The emotion struck a chord in her heart and she felt the tears building up, but before she had the chance to let them spill over when one of the others approached her. She had pretty red hair and seemed to be about her height and age. Ari had been so zoned out she had forgotten what her name was.

The girl had mentioned she could understand plant life as well. This made Ari perk up even more and unknowingly felt herself relax a little. So many questions! And where to start with her...Ari stared a bit after she had finished talking. She could feel a similar power from her to hers. So strange that there could be people like her own outside her world. She would have never believed it if she hadn't been standing here right now about to converse with one of them.  

Ari smiled a little, attempting to look comforting at the apology.

"It's okay...I'm glad to know that we might have a connection as well. As for my planet...the plants are...well I get a similar feeliing here as with home except our entire planet is not a swamp like this one seems to be. We have forests that are much less humid with tall towering trees. Some of the trees are ancient. We consider them close to the Gods due to their age. I've never really thought about how they sound I guess...I've just always been able to feel and understand them. It can be warm, like you said. Most of the ones I've talked with have given me that feeling. I can have conversations with and learn about the area and its history--as long as its not boring. I'm just not very advanced in it so it is not always easy to do... Druids are magic users who derive their powers from nature. We borrow and use it to our needs, but never forcefully taking either.  If I were advanced enough I could use plants to help defend me from an attacker or shapeshift into a power animal!"  Ari paused when she realized how excited she was getting and soon found herself blushing as well.

"Oh my..I'm so sorry I'm just going on and on..." She bowed her head apologetically again, a habit that will never die, when she felt a nudge on her arm.  It was Bas giving her a disproving look.

"Are you ever going to introduce me?"

"I'm sorry Bas. This is my guardian, Bas." She gestured towards him, "Bas this is....um...er..."

Oh. Oh no! She forgot that she had forgotten the girls name. She panicked for a moment when Bas chimed in.

"Sailor Valdis, correct?"

She sighed and smiled appreciatively. Oh she would be so lost without him.

"So...should we be doing something with the others right now? I'm a little lost here."  Ari admitted this with a half hearted laugh. Lost wasn't even the tip of the ice burg.

He was really trying. Really trying not to find them endearing. They all seemed very young indeed and Gabriel cared more easily than he let on. They seemed inoffensive for the most part, though he didn't exactly doubt they could defend themselves, but would they be able to go through this mission? He wasn't exactly sure.

Aldrin seemed to be panicking on her own and he didn't quite know what to do.

He didn't want to yell at them either.

He just worried their current position would become dangerous if they didn't start moving.

When they started nerding about plants (why in every planes of existence did Jin think it was a good idea, no matter how desperate she was), his eyes went from the group to their surroundings, hand firmly grasping his weapon. He hesitated about taking off to try and map where they were because there was a risk he would give away their position if he did and none of them was ready for a fight.

He glanced at Alshain, who stood as silent and wondered if he was the only one in a hurry to move.

He just had to take this as any other mission he ever was a part of. With girls that acted both as civilians to protect and teammates to work with.

"The compass should be fine," SAM said. She had the distinct feeling that what she was trying to explain had gone over Sailor Hemera's head, but she was accepting her and Sailor Aegle's consoling anyway. It didn't seem like any of this group were familiar with the level of technology she was, to her frustration.

Two of the smaller senshi (Why were some of these warriors so short and...fragile looking?)were in conversation about plants, and she could pick up snippets of druid magic and...warmth? Since when could plants communicate? Didn't they just... exist? That was like speaking to dirt or bacteria. Well, it was none of SAM's business.

And now the gelatin one Sailor Aldrin was...playing what she could identify as music. And what was it called again? Singing? And crying. Was this some form of ritual? Crying and singing did not usually go together by what she had gathered from her data bases. Singing was not a habit on her planet, but crying meant a strong emotional release, and she was familiar with that concept. 

"Erm..." She stepped away from the compass discussion and tried to be as non threatening as someone in full armor could be as she moved towards Sailor Aldrin. "We are planning to move soon. Are you fit for travel?" SAM asked. She had about zero idea how to comfort anyone, and she certainly wasn't about to touch the other senshi, so she was at a loss for what to do.

Sailor Celestal looked at the senshi who called herself SAM and wanted to groan in disbelief. Honestly, how had she not thought of that? Looking at the arrow again, she found that it wasn't doing much of anything. Please work, point us where we need to go. 

"It's umm...." she looked down at the compass. Suddenly, the arrow went wild, spinning around for a moment before stopping in one direction. "It's pointing that way." Sailor Celestal pointed towards the swamp, finally answering Aegel's question. 

Maybe it did work on intent. She still didn't understand the compass completely, but it seemed to be working for now. 

But the next question was, what was in the swamp? It didn't look very friendly or inviting, even though a small part of her was excited to see the plants in there and couldn't help but wonder if any would be good for healing.

While Alshain had noticed that for some reason Aldrin had sat down and begun crying/singing, she wasn't sure why and she definitely would not attempt any type emotionally comforting response.  She felt no need to and she wondered if now the senshi would stay here instead of going with the group?  Just how unstable was the girl, was that why there was such an extreme reaction with Jin?  If so, why had she been allowed to come, what if she turned on them to get a chance to escape?  Either way it appeared that now the armored senshi, Chalybs, was attempting to check the girl's ability to travel.  

A silent sigh escaped from her lips as finally the way was pointed out to them.  Deeper into the swamp it appeared they had to go.  She adjusted the metal cuffs around her wrists before taking a deep breath and setting her eyes on the greenery laid out before them.  Her feet made squish sounds as she walked through the group in the pointed direction before stopping just outside of their circle.  She looked back at the others, "The longer we wait here, the higher the chance of the enemy finding us before we find them." She was ready, they were wasting time, they may yet have some element of surprise working for them. "And we need all the advantages we can get," she muttered under her breath.

That the compass should be fine was great news! But Chaldybus apparently wasn't going to wait around for the results, as they turned and moved towards Aldrin, whom Crysdal saw had her flat-instrument in her lap. She was relieved that the metal senshi was speaking with her; Crysdal didn't know what to do about her, or what to say, if anything, if Sailor Jin was brought up again, and she felt like that last time wouldn't really be the last time that would happen. It made her uncomfortable, and with so many things to pay attention to, she was selfishly glad that it was something that she didn't have to step up with.

Celestal's thinking sounds drew her attention, and she followed the point of her finger into the swamp, directly between two large, old, crooked, knarly, bent, drippy-with-vines trees. She couldn't keep the grimace from her face, but she did manage to force it away quickly enough. That they had had to go into the swamp was obvious from the get go - they were surrounded by the swamp - but did it really have to be through the drippy trees? And the ground looked just - just squelchy. This wasn't going to be pleasant at all. 

Moving On wrote:

Moving On:
The assumption will be made that the group travels by foot into the swamp, as that is the motion that Alshain has made; if another character wishes to make a different suggestion they may do so. If a character wishes to point something out before they head in, they may do so. If a character wanted to bring something up before they enter, they may do so. However, as not to hold up the roleplay for longer than necessary in holding them in one place to allow for people to type up actions that would make them pause, if a post that would stop them from entering the swamp at this time is to be made, let everyone know asap in the skype thread so we're not having to backtrack on posts or hang out at the entrance waiting for longer than necessary. If nothing comes up within the next 36 hours, we will officially move in.

  To say she was disgusted would have been an understatement. Her own ignorance over how the compass worked had made her grow silent as her pride had been slightly wounded in return. To avoid further any embarrassment, she turned her attention to watching the others in quiet disdain. The two little ones were currently giggling over their powers with one another instead of attempting to actually do something useful with them. The was another with a pair of faint grey eyes that still hadn't managed to utter a single word, opting to simply watch which unnerved her. Meanwhile, Aldrin seemed to be mentally drifting away from them with each passing moment and Cosima couldn't help but wonder if she was on another planet entirely. There was also the possibility of her singing attracting unwanted attention...

 Before anything could potentially get any worse, Celestal seemed to have discovered which direction to go in causing Cosima to peer over the girl's shoulder to get a better view of the direction of the arrow for herself. She was skeptical that such a small thing could accurately tell them where to go but since the others believed in it so would she too for now. Despite her own conflicting feelings, she did appreciate that Celestal at least tried to act competent and resourceful unlike some of the other deadweight on their team. The fact that they were finally beginning to see what else this bug-infested swamp had to offer filled Cosima's heart with glee. She hoped that this would lead to her finally being able to do what she did best: fighting and killing.

"We must make sure to be aware of our surroundings at all times. The could be a chance that the Chaos forces here are not the only ones who are dangerous." Cosima advised before she proceeded to follow behind the one named Sailor Alshain, noticing the markings on her face similar to that other talkative one. Cosima debated about asking what they meant and if it was some sort of sign of being a part of the same clan. However, she decided against letting her curiosity get the best of her and focused on preparing herself for what laid beyond.

What was it with people and looking over her shoulder? Normally, none of the people on her planet would get within touching distance of her, too scared or in awe of her. The only one that she was use to touching her was her mentor, who always made sure to hug her or to give her a friendly pat on the shoulder. 

The fact that others were standing so close to her made her feel...well, she wasn't too certain to be honest. It was a cross between uncomfortable and craving more. It left her feeling terribly confused, which in turn made her feel worse about it. 

Forcing her thoughts to other tasks, she examined the entrance to the swamp. The way the compass had pointed were between two old trees that vines had tangled themselves in. She wondered how strong the vines were and if the could be used for anything to help them in their quest. If they were too dry they would break and if they were too wet, they would be useless. 

Cosima's words brought her back to the task at hand. Closing her eyes, she attempted to sense any negative energies that were near them. She found nothing, beyond the general evilness she felt from the Chaos that was on this planet, but that could just mean that there was nothing close by that could harm her or it was masked by the general evil. Would her abilities even work on this planet? Celestal decided to keep the information to herself for now, not wanting to appear to be a fool if her powers weren't working as they normally had before.

Compasses. Waiting. Enemies. Danger.

It was so rare for her time to be unoccupied. On her own planet, she would have awoken with a purpose, began the needed tasks immediately, and rested when the sun set. The sensation of standing here, conversations around her the only point of focus, only added to the surreal bizarre impression of the current situation. Sailor Xtal-Diamante felt no particular way about the swamps that awaited the group—for her, it was just one more completely foreign thing in this whirlwind of new experiences.

She heard the caution from Sailor Cosima, but it meant very little to the stony young woman. Risks existed on her own world, but they had minimum impact on her life and activities. Xtal-Diamante was about to find out just how different this new planet would be.

Even though Ari was in conversation with Sailor Valdis, with certainly no giggling involved (save her embarrassed half laugh she managed out of her dry, cracked throat), her ears were trying to pay attention to all the conversations around her.  The one in the metallic suit had gone over to Aldrin, trying to see if she was alright. That relieved Ari a little, at least someone had decided to check on her. Maybe the suit lady was nicer than she looked. Then she noticed the others had decided to move on due to the compass seeming to have started working.

Guess that was their cue. She gave Bas a knowing looking and he disappeared into her hair.

"Looks like we are moving on, Sailor Valdis. I guess we have no choice but to follow..."  Ari stepped towards the swamp entrance that the others had began heading towards, when she remembered something.

"Oh, right..." She felt around with her feet for a particularly squishy area. The mosquitoes needed to be dealt with and seeing they had no bug repellent (and it especially seemed some had never dealt with mosquitoes to begin with), this would have to do.

"Um...e-excuse me everyone," She did her best to speak up, "I have a small suggestion." Ari bent down and scooped up a handful of mud.

"If the biting bugs are bothersome to you then you just need to smear mud all over your skin. It will protect you from their bites."  

Ari then smeared the mud all over and bent down for more when she needed it. Soon she was covered. She flashed a bright smile at everyone, feeling proud that maybe she was a bit helpful.

"It also is a quite refreshing as well. I used to take mud baths all the time back on Bastet..."  She stopped herself, flustered and her voice quieted to a bare whisper, "Oh..I'm so sorry...we should move on."

Ari avoided eye contact with everyone and continued towards the ones she heard was called Cosmia and Alsain, who were entering the swamp.

As the armored soldier approached her and began to talk, Sailor Aldrin's guitar playing immediately came to a halt. She remained silent, still facing away from Sailor Chalbys. She slowly came to a stand and faced toward her counterpart. The lens on her glasses still remained fogged over as she looked up at her counterpart. If necessary, she would start to walk with the group.

"Are... are you forcing me to go with you?" she asked the armored soldier in a small, timid voice.

The compass started working and Sailor Celestial pointed towards the direction they should follow. Which, from the looks of it, could very well be the most dangerous part of the swamp. Oookay then. Maybe they don't need the compass after all. All they have to do is follow the most unfriendly, difficult, dangerous route. That ought to do the trick. It's chaos they're dealing with after all.

As Sam (she hoped she would be okay with being called Sam, otherwise she would have to avoid calling her anything at all) was checking up on the blue one, Nyx made her way to them. The poor girl seemed confused and intimidated.

"No one's going to force anyone to do anything. I do think it might be more dangerous for you to stay behind alone, but it is your decision," she said calmly.

As the feline-looking one suggested they put mud on themselves, Nyx shivered, but smiled nervously towards the girl. "Um, thank you. I'll keep it in mind if it gets bad."

Not.

She'd rather die of itching first. 

With that, she began making her way towards their direction.

"W...what?" Did this senshi think she was planning to drag her around against her will? SAM shook her head quickly. Before she could fumble for a response, Sailor Nyx handled it for her. She agreed with her logic. Staying with the majority of people made more sense than sitting alone in the swamp to be picked off. She had a feeling this attempt to comfort wasn't going too well anyway, and decided to back out before she dug a deeper metaphorical hole for herself. 

"Um, we'll be going this way..." Abruptly, SAM turned away from Sailor Aldrin and tried not to sink too deeply into the bog as she made her way towards Sailor Alshain and Sailor Cosima. She couldn't feel the mud at all, but just imagining it touching her was enough to cause a shiver to go up her spine. Her suit was going to be a mess...

One of the smaller senshi from earlier, the one with ears that looked like a beast's, spoke up, and SAM momentarily stopped to see what she had to say. A moment later, she regretted it. 

Was that female...touching the mud on purpose?! Ari's suggestion was even more horrifying than watching her scoop the muck up in her bare hands. Did she really expect them to cover themselves in mud? Liquid dirt on a foreign world with who knew how many other more terrible bugs crawling in it? That was like...like setting something on fire to prevent potential disease! 

SAM's eyes widened as she watched the girl smear it all over her skin, and only her thick helmet stopped her tiny discomforted squeal from being audible. She was torn between moving to stop Ari from continuing her slathering and backing away. With great difficulty, she forced herself to look away before she started having a panic attack. 

Were they all equally this insane? She didn't think she could handle anything else like that...

Robot = derogatory term. Got it. Should never mention it again.

Sailor Celestal pointed the way the compass directed, which was into the swamp, of course. She followed the group, wanting to be somewhere ahead, but decided to stick close to Nyx in case the heat or the sun was getting to her.

The cat senshi suggested putting mud on themselves to ward off insects, and she blinked in surprise as the girl proceeded to actually do just that. Willingly… putting… dirt… on… you. That did not compute.

She decided not to comment, because perhaps then she could be considered as having completely missed the suggestion as she trudged along happily and ignorantly.

She eyed the sludge she would have to slog through and lamented the fact that she wore sandals. Why couldn’t she wear boots? She eyed Sam-Tea-Splash, wondering if there was room in that metal thing or maybe she could get a piggyback or something, but Sam seemed to be going through something herself, so finally she decided to suck it and just go.

Cover yourself with the ground? Sailor Xtal-Diamante considered the words from the one with things on her head, but failed to connect several of the key dots. She knelt down for a moment, dragging a finger through the mud, vaguely interested in the strange softness of it, but did not rub it on her own self. The biting bugs were not biting her. They had the good sense to know a bloodless creature from one who provided a veritable buffet. This made Bastet's suggestion of little use for Xtal-Diamante, but she had nothing else to occupy herself with at the moment.

The slight reaction from Sailor Captain Chalybs escaped her notice, so well-confined within the metal suit. Xtal-Diamante couldn't quite interpret the hesitant reactions from a few others. She didn't have the context for something like "avoid getting dirty", and her dark skin was usually red with rock dust on her own planet.

Listening to Sailor Bastet speak only made Hadley's smile grow - it was so comforting to hear someone speak of the same things she had grown up with. After years of being told that her powers were something to be ashamed of, that they were stupid and weak, having another person who had gone through the same thing was a kind of relief.

She couldn't stop the smiling.

"Don't worry, I loved listening to it all," Hadley told Sailor Bastet in response to her apology. A part of her wanted to go into a whole new barrage of questions, to learn the intricate details. But it felt like the conversation needed to be put on hold for now - excitement about nature would have to wait. But the excitement left a fluttering kind of racing feeling in her chest - one she hadn't felt for a long time. Not since her grandmother gave her the nickname 'Hadley'.

She turned her attention towards the others, curious now as to what they were doing, what kinds of conversations they were having. She still felt a little unsure around so many new faces - but her successful conversation with Bastet had helped assuage that a little.

As Bastet mentioned the others were moving, Hadley nodded and moved with her, following the rest of the group.

It's time to get to business, I suppose. It wasn't a comforting thought - standing here and introducing herself and meeting the others had made this feel like a friendly gathering spot. But the overbearing heat and the little bugs biting at them, as well as the heavy knowledge that, somewhere on this planet, they had a fight waiting for them, made that amiable feeling disappear a bit.

They weren't here to simply chat, after all. It wouldn't do to forget that.

Before they made it too far, Bastet suggested that they use the mud to keep the bugs away from their skin. Hadley blinked, uncertain how such a thing would work - but then, she never had to deal with these tiny bitey bugs before, and now she was curious just how it would work to keep them from biting her. And what was a mud bath? She had to try it.

And she didn't want Bastet to feel as though her suggestion had been a bad one.

So she knelt down to scoop up some of the mud as well, and smeared it over the exposed parts of her skin. It didn't feel too bad - she loved soil after all, and this was just a wetter and kind of goopy version.

Now fully armored against the little bugs, Hadley flashed a small smile to Bastet. "Thanks, those little biting bugs were becoming a little much." She was pleased to find that the bugs did not seem able to get through the mud bath after all. "This mud bath seems to be helping!"

Unsure what else to do or say, she followed back in line with the rest of the group.

Sailor Aldrin shirked slightly when she was answered by Sailor Nyx instead of Sailor Chalbys like she had expected. She thought that she would bark and tell her that she should be worrying less about herself and more about the glorious cause they were working for. But that didn't happen. She instead allowed her to make her own decision, while carefully warning of the dangers they had both been placed into.

Sailor Nyx. A girl with a calm composure and a level head.

Aldrin actually smiled for a brief moment, finding comfort in the soldier of darkness. She quickly frowned again as her anxiety took hold and sank toward the back of the group as soon as they would make their way forward, trying her best to not let herself get involved in any mud shenanigans.

Smiling at Valdis, she replied, "I'm glad you're enjoying it. Maybe when we are all done I could treat you to a mud bath".

Ari continued walking along when she noticed that the one who had not spoken (well she didn't think she had spoken yet...) was playing thoughtfully with the mud. Curious at the behavior of this red skinned Sailor Guardian, she approached her.

"It won't hurt you. See? I'm fine and so is Sailor Valdis." Ari paused for a moment. Maybe she didn't understand their language? she thought. That would explain the blank stares and silence.

"Um..." She blinked at her, curiosity taking over her shy nature briefly, "What's your name? Can you understand me?"

The curiosity dimmed back to her shyness and her voice lowered, "I really like your...hair?"