Nothing sharp, she thought, disappointment weighing her, but Sam's question gave her hope. She turned back around quickly to see what she was indicating and her eyes grew wide - "Uh, good find, but too big." She turned to show Sam her right shoulder, looking back at her around her long hair to indicate the arrow protruding from her back; intermittently it throbbed painfully, but with the amount of adrenaline she'd been going through it hadn't been too bad, and now it needed to go. "I need to get this arrow out of my back so I can fly again, but it's going to need to be cut out," she explained hurriedly, "The skin and muscle healed around it - do you think you could do it with something else? Can any of your weapons or tools cut with that kind of precision?"

It was going to hurt. Like hell. But with what had happened and what might happen soon, she might not get a potentially free moment to do so again.

They were successful - as far as Hemera knew anyway - and the bird creatures were soon surrounded by the shield with Bastet in it. She flew close enough so that she could hear what they were saying but remained outside the shield. Understandably, they were pissed about being chased and burned. Hemera didn't blame them. But now they knew these creatures could talk!

She wished she had a way to extinguish her flames.

"The blindness is only temporary! We'll stop the flames, too, if you just tell us what we need to know! You were the ones who attacked us first when we have done nothing, so you must understand our caution. Tell us what you know about the worm and we'll leave you be!"

Probably not quite true, since she still had no idea what to do about the fire. She glanced at her sister. Maybe if she shot some ice or cold beams she could put it out?

Nyx noticed her sister glancing at her, realizing her unspoken question. She was pretty sure that Hemera had no means of putting the fire out - she has the ability to start it, but once started it's similar to a regular fire, basically beyond her control.

But what can she do? She shrugged in response - she didn't really think her own ice would have any effect in putting the fire out. If anything, they did try a fire and ice combination before, and its effects were rather devastating instead. But that winged creature was already gravely injured, Nyx could tell. And she honestly wasn't so sure the other one would feel more inclined to help them if it died. At least they can communicate, so, maybe...?

"Bastet, can you land them? If he rolls in the sand - or maybe, if you pour sand on top of him, it would put the fire out. You need to hurry - I don't think he can take it much longer."

She wondered if she would regret this, but honestly, it did not look much of a threat at this point. It seemed evidently weakened.

The stabbing pain of the creatures talons immediately brought a cry from Ari but she clenched her teeth, holding it back. Tears filled her eyes both from pain from her injury and sorrow at what the creature of Cawth told her. It was true, what they did was wrong but what choice did they have? However, they could speak, which meant they were more humanoid than she thought. Her powers to calm them as animals would not work as she hoped. The plus side to this was that it seemed they had a sense of self which, to Ari, meant that were not controlled by Chaos, at least not yet. Hemera attempted reasoning with it even more and Nyx instructed her to land them. Ari nodded and immediately obeyed, keeping an eye on what the creature was doing next. She descended as quick as she could.

"I don't want to kill you!" Ari cried out to the creature as she attempted to stall his further attack with words.

"Why did your group attack us first? Because of you, my friends are hurt and..." she struggled with the words before yelling, getting angrier as the words flew out, "and...Sailor Alshain...no, Elysande is dead! If you hadn't shown up, she'd still be alive! You talk about mind game but you drove us to the ground to be trapped by that monster! We're just trying to save your home!"

Tears streaked her face as pain seared from her injury but that was nothing compared to the memory of what happened to Elysande not very long ago.

Nyx also descended downwards as Bastet lowered the shield with the creatures and her inside. She was listening to the conversation, and it was not good. She was not surprised either, really. They seemed to be the warrior-type - torturing and killing them would do no good to extract information.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Aegle!" she called out to the healer senshi as she got close enough to be heard. "This is going to sound weird but... do you think you can try going through the barrier and healing him once they land?" she asked, pointing towards the burning archer. Could she even do that, though, or would the flames get in the way? She'd need to be careful.

"We need a sign of goodwill, show them that we are not their enemies. They're not gonna tell us anything, the way this is going."

As she followed the others on the descent towards the sand, Hadley kept her eye on Ari. When the creature had struck out, its attack striking true, she wanted to breach the barrier's outer shell and join her friend inside. But she still hesitated - and that in itself made Hadley feel uncomfortable. She wanted to help, to do something, but she felt that her presence would only make the situation worse.

As much as she wanted to help Ari, to keep her safe, joining her now while she had finally started communicating with the creatures seemed like it would dash away all of the effort it had taken to get to this point. At least the creatures were talking now. That had to be a good thing. Hadley clung to this thought. They all needed some good things to happen for them right now.

Hadley trailed behind a little, as her flying was still uneven at best, but she kept as close to the descending barrier as best she could. Listening to the creatures justify their actions, she couldn't help but to add in something her grandmother use to tell her. "Lives bought by death and destruction are no lives at all."

She didn't really know what she meant by saying it out loud - she didn't think the creatures would feel remorse for their actions, not when they believed in those actions so strongly and, ultimately, her comment changed nothing. All it had achieved was to make her sad for missing her grandmother's comforting presence.

And to wonder if her grandmother would ever forgive her for the amount of death and destruction she had caused since leaving Valdis.

Chalybs visibly tensed when Crysdal's shoulder wound was shown to her. She'd seen the arrow hit her earlier, but witnessing it up close, even in the half healed state it was in, made her uncomfortable.

"Cut...out?" Her stomach turned as she thought about what was being described. Surgeries were for sterile hospital environments, not a desert. Chalybs was not trained for medical procedures. If she weren't artificially calming herself, she would not even be able to hold this conversation.

"...I can fire a close range plasma round, as long as you are capable of healing yourself quickly afterward. The wound should not bleed profusely." If anything, it would cauterize and clean her shoulder, destroying most of the arrow in the process. "Is that satisfactory?"

Round 6 Battle Order:

Nyx called her attention back to the fight and her brows furrowed with worry to see Bastet and her shield streaking down towards the desert sand; the request, too, worried her - as Sam questioned her request aloud she thought back to when she had missed Gabriel and healed his attacker and how it had cost them and hurt her, but she agreed with Nyx's explanation of need: goodwill could go a long way. Her eyes wide, she nodded to the other, agreeing to try, and turned back to Sam, realizing that the moment she thought she had to handle the arrow was over. 

She didn't understand what the other meant by 'plasma round', but the notion of having to heal herself quickly and the 'fire' imagery - bringing to mind the great blasting light canon on Sam's arm - had her quickly shaking her head. "I'm not sure that would work, but thank you - " as she turned to run to meet Bastet's catch, meaning to look Sam in the eye to show that she truly meant to thank her, her eyes twitched down to the unconscious body in her arms and caught Gabriel's expression, his emotionless countenance recalling for her the night spent in the frog-people's city on Cipriere just two days ago; how they - all of them - had been able to sleep peacefully in the large meeting structure, how sleeping arrangements ended up with him on one side of her, and Elysande on the other and when she would wake up in the middle of the night they would all just be there, safe and sound and - and -

Elysande would sometimes snore softly while she slept. 

She'd never hear that again. 

Crysdal's eyes filled with tears and she blinked them away quickly, finally meeting Sam's eyes again, forgetting what she was going to say originally; all she could think of was Elysande and then the falling enemies and Ari and Nyx and - and she was grateful that she didn't have to worry about Gabriel staying safe; she knew Sam would take care of him. "Thank you," she repeated, finally completing her turn to run towards where Bastet would land, her form faltering with the movement restriction of her right arm.

It wouldn't work? Then it would have to be removed manually with her hands. Sailor Chalybs began calculating the angle she'd need to pull the arrow to minimize injury to Sailor Aegle's back, but then she... thanked her? What was this thanks for? She hadn't done anything as of yet. And now the injured senshi was running off to meet Sailor Bastet, arrow still stuck in her. Did she not want it removed now?

She had thought staying focused at all costs would make things more straightforward, but now she was lost again. Was she meant to stay with Amarachius now? Was Aegle still upset? Chalybs adjusted her grip on the limp body in her care, and lifted a few feet off the sand, as a precaution.

The more she tried to decipher people, the more muddled everything became.

The motion of Sailor Aegle's movement caught Xtal-Diamante's attention. The blonde in the pink uniform was still injured, with the arrow still protruding from her shoulder. Despite these ailments she moved towards Sailor Bastet, who remained trapped in her shield sphere with two of the bird creatures. Xtal-Diamante could not hear them, but she could feel the distant dissonance of their vibrations. It did not indicate that they were less than hostile, regardless of Nyx and Hemera's work.

The glass-like eyes flickered from Bastet to Aegle, from darker skin to fair, from blonde hair to midnight violet. Which one?

Perhaps... perhaps she did not need to select a single target. Sailor Xtal-Diamante adjusted her hold on the jellied sailor soldier once again and took a deep breath, centering the echoes within her crystal core. She would need focus for this.

Attack:

Despite the swirling emotions, Ari managed to slow their descent once they were close to the ground and landed the Cawthians and her safely. With a death grip on her staff, she eyed the creatures cautiously, ready to defend. She was on high alert and if the creature made any move to attack, Ari had decided she would transform and end this. Adrenaline rushed through her as her heart was racing in the heat of all this, it was difficult to try to keep herself calm.

What if they attacked once they were healed? While the creatures were outnumbered, they had proven before that they were formidable enemies. Would she have to kill them? If they hurt her friends, yes. This side of Ari frightened her. Would she ever be get used to these fights? Was this all what being a Sailor Soldier was about? Kill or be killed?

Her grip on her staff tightened, knuckles turning white. For now, it seemed that was the case.

Archer 6 wrote:

The creatures spoke but were ignored as it prepared for the end... but the end never happened. The support accelerating it forward reduced, and finally stopped; it fell to the ground, but with no more force than would be there if it had fallen from but half a mark. Blinded and now confused, it struggled to its feet in the loose sand beneath and attempted to arrange its wings behind in a defensive stance, then waited for what would happen next.

They hit the sand, Ari's barrier looking more like a small dome than a full circle, and Crysdal grimaced squeamishly as the pair of enemies - future allies, she forcefully corrected - hit the sand solidly. Without giving it entirely too much thought, she rushed forward through the barrier, the smell of burning clothing and feathers choking her senses, and knelt a short distance from the creature on fire, picking it to be the worse off in the situation. It was obvious it was in pain and obvious it had very little time left - the burns were too great; if they could extinguish the flames and she could heal the burns, maybe it would have a chance, but what if her powers wouldn't work on it? What if it backfired? ... even if it backfired it still healed that other one that had attacked Gabriel, and they needed it for information - there was no time!

She kissed the fingers of her right hand and blew it towards the creature, crying out "Aegle Kiss!" for emphasis just as a tingling sensation went through her.

Hex.

Hex should've been the one doing this - there was no liability with Hex, no potential backfire, no second guessing -

Quote :

6 Aegle uses Aegle Kiss (1MP) on Archer 5
Auto-hit
How much healed?
--5
--CTRL 11
--Affection Hate: -7 HP to Aegle!
----Total of 16 HP Restored!
----Aegle loses 7 HP!

6 Archer 5 On Fire!
--2 points of damage

3 Xtal-Diamante uses Recovery (6MP) to heal  Bastet and  Aegle
How much restored?
--3
--CTRL 5
--MP 3
----Total of 11 points to be distributed.
 Bastet gains 6 HP!
 Aegle gains 5 HP!

Battle Order:

Her fingers dug into the sand as every muscle in her body tensed in pain; she closed her eyes against it, unable to stop it or even breathe through it. It's not so bad, she forced herself to think as the wave ebbed, Besides; Hex could have tried it, but what if her powers didn't work? We knew Aegle Kiss could heal an enemy, this was the only sure-fire method for success in this; the recoil wasn't failure. She forced her eyes open. And no one even had to know it backfired - Fake it til you make it. 

The moment her diaphragm stopped seizing, she took a deep breath and projected, "We need to put out the flames!" and slung both handfuls of sand forward onto fire that continued to burn on the bird-person's back.

Nyx also made her way down to the ground as Bastet and the creatures landed. It seemed that Aegle successfully healed the one on fire and began to attempt to put the fire out - Nyx followed, getting through the dome-looking barrier and tossing handfuls of sand on the archer's burning clothing. Once the fire was out, she stepped back out. It was getting crowded enough as it was in there.

And now Bastet was in the barrier together with a relatively healthy and otherwise unimpaired dangerous enemy. What could possibly go wrong? Surely this had to be her most brilliant plan as of yet. She mentally sighed; again, in desperate times...

Either way, she stood close, ready to assist if things spiraled out of control. Hopefully Bastet could handle this.

Hadley landed not too long after the rest. To be on the ground once more was a blessing, but there was no time to feel that relief - nor the discomfort at how dry and course the sand was beneath her. Crysdal worked on healing the burning creature, and it felt strange to watch her ally heal an enemy, a part of the reason why their group was down several numbers right now.

But, at the same time, she was glad that, for now, another life seemed to have been spared for a while longer. She just hoped that it would not turn to be a fatal decision for them all. She wanted to believe that the creatures were amendable to converse with them, that this could all end as peacefully as possible at this point. It would turn out okay, wouldn't it?

But these creatures had been so strong, it was hard to believe they would stay down for long.

As Crysdal called out that the flames needed to be put out, Hadley jumped at the opportunity to finally help with something. She finally breached Ari's barrier and entered inside, kneeling down near Crysdal to grab fistfuls of the gritty sand - such a terrible texture - and poured the sand onto the burning creature.

The fire was out - now she just needed to heal the burns. 

Revulsion flipped her stomach at the thought; at least with the Kiss she figured out she could blow it at people, but butterfly kisses? there was no alternative. She'd have to lean in to the creature and brush its bare skin with her eyelashes. Its skin, already blistered and cracked and very burned, already oozing with she didn't even want to know what in the featherless sections that she could see, already so far within the creature's personal bubble that if it wanted to, it could tear her to pieces. She had healed it, which meant it was stronger, which meant it could do exactly what it's ally had done to Gabriel to her, or worse. Afraid and disgusted, she held back on performing the ability that would have healed its burns, reasoning with herself that it might be more cooperative and less likely to kill them if it were still in pain. Which, her brows furrowed, it undoubtedly was, and evermoreso than before, with all the sand piled into the raw areas now. She bit the inside of her lip, wishing one of them had control over water so they could clean the burns out at least, but beggars and choosers...

And now what? She glanced back over her shoulder at Ari, and beyond her to the bird-person with its wings spread and body in a crouch, looking ready to kill but not moving forward yet; Nyx's effect must have still been in place. Trusting Hadley to watch the creature in front of her, without moving and with calm projection practiced many times back home, she addressed the other from her position on the ground, "Your friend is no longer in critical danger, though they are still badly burned; do you need medical attention?"

Archer 6 wrote:

It had listened carefully to the noises of before, waiting to hear the whisper of material close by to know when to duck or when to strike; the noise of disturbed sand made it tense, knowing it to be difficult to hear of any close sound so long as it was going on, and yet, when the noise stopped, it was still alive. There had been no dagger, spear, or arrow during the noisy interlude. It tensed, preparing for what would come next. 

It did not expect the explanation. It did not believe the explanation. A soft call to its broodmate, and a resulting whistle in response, confirmed the claim. It considered. 

"What are your intentions?" it asked, ignoring what it considered to be a probe into its state of fitness; it would rather they believe it were whole and ready to put up a fight.

Battle Order:

They landed and put out the fire the old-fashioned way. Hemera breathed a sigh of relief as finally, landing on the ground, they weren't fighting anymore. However, remembering what one of these creatures had done to Gabriel made her want to keep her distance regardless. Still, they knew they were outnumbered and outpowered now, and they had also received proof of goodwill from not being murdered... though then again, the group couldn't exactly kill them, what with needing information and all. She hoped these creatures would be more willing to share if they knew what the true purpose of the senshi being here was.

As one of the bird creatures asked their intentions, she said carefully, "We want to save this planet. We only attacked you because you attacked first. Actually, we wanted to talk and ask if you knew anything about that worm creature underground. It..." she looked at the others, but avoiding Aegle, "it... killed our friend, too."

The bird creatures had flown away from it before - or seemed like they were, anyway - which led her to believe they were, in fact, not on the same side.

Crysdal and Hadley's actions broke Ari out of her instinct like haze, making her feel ashamed of her inactions at helping the creatures and feeling the way she did to begin with. Her heart squeezed as she immediately felt guilt. Guilt for momentarily forgetting her teachings, guilt for their actions, guilt for not being strong enough.

She wondered what Bas thought. Since they had arrived on this planet he had stayed to himself, not offering the usual advice and guidance he usually did. He was still there but...

The Cawthian asked them a question. It...wasn't going to attack them? Then the plan worked! So far, at least. Ari sighed in relief and relaxed her stance, dropping her staff to her side, but not dismissing it just yet. It wasn't over but this was a small glimmer of hope. She just wished that it would last.

Ari nodded along with Hemera's words. She was reminded of how the Druid Elders on Bastet had taught that not only did they need to respect each other as a people, but the other beings that inhabited their planet as well. If they needed to take from the land, they made sure to make an offering to the wild life of the area. She wondered if it worked similar on other planets and on other races. They were welcomed by the inhabitants on Cipiere, there must be a way to get these beings to accept them as well.

Then it responded to Hemera. Adapt and endure? How long had they been plagued by this creature?  Ari stepped forward slightly to address him.

"First, we are sincerely sorry for what we've done to you. I am sorry," Ari bowed in respect. Despite knowing they were more humanoid than creature, she sent feelings of calm and peace. She meant it as a kind gesture with hope the creature would open up to them more.

"I believe we were sent here to destroy the Great Worm. It must be a creation of Chaos. We were able to save Cipiere by destroying the chaos there. Destore can be saved. Is there anything else you can tell us to help us? Don't you want to save your people?"

Ari's face flushed slightly when she stopped. She hoped the teachings of the druids could help her here. She hoped they could save Destore.

Battle Order:

Archer 6, Archer 5 wrote:

"Beliefs mean little without action," the birdman replied caustically, the last of Ari's words seeming to bother it further. "You fled the Great Worm, just as we have; if you have saved this 'Cipiere' then return there and pray it does not move from this place, even as we pray it will do just that." It adjusted its stance and grumbled beneath its breath, "and we shall see how belief can change the world." Its gaze cast about blindly, "If you are truly repentant, release us that we may go our separate ways. We will not pursue you if you swear similarly; do not attack the worms or the Boars and we will not have to seek you out again."

"Have faith, Ebony Cascade," the other birdman croaked and coughed, sand scattering from its beak as it spoke. It seemed unable to move, or unwilling to try. "If they have saved this Cipiere, they may yet help Cawth."

"Help how?" the first scoffed, "They were barely able to hold their own against us, what chance have they against it and its allies?" It waited less than a beat before answering its own question, "None, that's their chances. That we do not kill them to garner favor with the Red Eyes is our mercy."

"It is not mercy," the other coughed, long and hard; while the healing had mended several of the complications within its inner systems, the smoke damage to its lungs must not have been fully wiped clean. "Mercy would be to aide them before sending them on their way. They say they have lost one; they carry two others and are yet burdened by our last battle. Mercy would be to give them what help we can."

"That is stupidity, not mercy." the being known as Ebony Cascade scoffed again, "They have killed many of ours, by luck and by trickery - what owe we of them?"

"My life," the other replied, with a halfhearted chuckle, "And yours; that you have not left means you are bound, that you speak you are not dead. If they meant to harm us further they would have not healed me; I would trust them."

"You would be stupid for it," Ebony Cascade replied. "We are alive for their reasons, not their mercy."

"And yet we are alive all the same." The other replied with cautious optimism, "What have we to lose in aiding them?"

"Our lives, the lives of our families, the lives of our squadrons," Ebony Cascade ticked off the reasons on his fingers before being interrupted by the other's soft voice, quieting even though he could have spoken over. 

"That's only if we're caught," it continued as though brushing off the concerns, "If they believe they can defeat the Worm, we have our freedom to gain - the freedom of Cawth could be had yet again." It paused, seemingly to let the thought sink in. Its eyes, soft brown, never left Ebony Cascade's form as it spoke, the senshi standing around it of apparently little consequence at this moment. "Is that not worth the risk? To chance the lives of the few for the freedom of all? Would it not be good to see our streets freed from the Red Eyed presence, our scouts no longer beholden to the Boars, our kin no longer threatened? Cawth could return to the way it had been; we could expand, rebuild the empire without fear of its dark powers. Is that not worth the risk?"

Ebony Cascade remained silent. 

Crysdal could barely believe what she was hearing. She held her breath as the birdpeople conversed; where she had been convinced that it had all been for naught, the one they had saved was working with them to convince the other, and as it reasoned through its arguments, its gaze steadier than its breath, she silently thanked everything responsible for the act - from her friends putting out the flames, her powers actually working to heal it, Nyx's idea to help it, Hemera's attack in the first place; if anything had been different, who knew where they might have been at this moment? 

She picked up on a few details from their conversation, thinking carefully through what background information she could - worms and Boars were allies of some sort? Red Eyes were bad? or in charge, at least; the gruff one was named Ebony Cascade, the one she healed seemed to have some sort of background with him, which was great because if they had nothing between them this might not have worked out so easily. Ebony Cascade seemed jaded, while the other seemed more open to relying on faith and trust; either something unfortunate happened to Ebony Cascade or the other could be stubborn in their beliefs. As the conversation quieted, she waited, considering what to say if Ebony Cascade did not make up his mind soon.

Chalybs watched as Sailor Bastet lowered the two captive bird creatures to the ground, no longer struggling, and assumed that the plan must have worked. The fire was doused, and their information sources were healed of their injuries before the questioning began. Deciding it was best to keep the group as together as possible, she moved herself and Amarachius closer to the rest of their group as the bird creatures spoke. Maybe it would be possible to remove the arrow from Aegle now if they meant to attack the Great Worm soon...

Well. Whatever was happening now, it wasn't causing immediate danger for Bastet or Aegle. Still, it seemed like Sailor Aegle was less-than-well, despite what Sailor Xtal-Diamante had attempted prior to the young woman's rush towards their previous attackers. The blonde winced and looked visible uncomfortable, the same facial expressions that the rocky one had seen on some of the other flesh-types in earlier situations. Should she attempt to assist again?

Her core did not resonate in that same way as before. This was the sensation of approaching exhaustion, although she did not fully understand it at this point. And yet... almost at the same time that she explored this new edge of her limitations, Xtal-Diamante noticed something else, as well: an unfamiliar heaviness on one side of her velvet skirt. The hand not necessary to steady Sailor Aldrin's weight crept in that direction, and her fingers touched the opening of a pocket. Had that been there before? Within it lay a chain of some kind, delicate to the touch, threaded through a small charm.

More interesting, it seemed to hum below her fingertips. In a way, it reminded her of home. ...And of her own crystal core. Without wondering how it had come to exist there, she continued to feel its soothing song as Sailor Xtal-Diamante observed the continuing discussion from her current distance.

"Do you really believe you will be safe if you do not aide us?" Nyx finally questioned.

"Do you not know how this works? You will be safe only for as long as you are useful. Once they have no longer use for you, it will be over. For you, for your families, for everyone. Is this what you want? To just prolong the inevitable?"

She paused momentarily, as if to allow them to consider her words, then continued. "The fighting spirit you displayed in our battle cannot be mistaken. If you have any pride as a warrior of Cawth, then do the right thing. For us, it is the easiest thing to just leave and never return to this place. Is this really your better option here?"

"We just want to help, because we've seen what this kind of evil can do. If you truly want what's best for your people... Then help us help you."

Nyx's reasoning was sound; she recognized the tactic, appealing to pride, but as Ebony Cascade replied, she realized just how much they didn't know about the planet or the situation, and how that alone undermined what Nyx had attempted, and may further undermine anything they tried. Extrapolating from what Ebony Cascade had revealed, she started to form a rudimentary picture of what was going on, but there were still so many holes in their understanding, appealing to logic may just end up in another hole. When again she looked up at Ebony Cascade from her kneeling position by the other - Feather Storm, she believed - she noticed something different in the movement of its eyes: they were focused. Ebony Cascade could see, and that probably meant their time to make their case was coming to an end. She considered lying for more than a brief moment - all it took was confidence and a good explanation - but she held on to the notion, letting it form better in the back of her mind, and continued with the truth, stating it simply and openly. 

"We cannot leave this place until the Great Worm is defeated."

Archer 6 - Ebony Cascade wrote:

"You have wings, you have no connection to this place," Ebony Cascade waved off, "Fly back to this Cipiere, or from wherever you came. We shall not stop you."

"I apologize for the miscommunication," Crysdal replied sweetly but firmly, using conversational tactics of her mother's tutelage, "but that was not what I had meant. With or without your assistance or your blessing, we are bound to this planet until the Great Worm is defeated;" that part wasn't exactly a lie, just a small twist of the truth - if they abandoned the planet they would be hunted down as deserters anyway, so it might as well be that they are physically unable to leave, "we request you share what information you have with us, that our mission may be successful and without further casualties."

Further casualties. She pushed her emotions down and away, stuffing them into an internal compartment in her head and heart and shutting them away, but left the conversation for another to pick up with inquiries about the specifics; still the lie swirled about her consciousness, growing and simplifying even as she wondered if it were useful at all anymore considering what she had said; she didn't know if she could work it in, and more than halfway hoped she wouldn't need to, but with Ebony Cascade's obvious feelings on the matter, weighed against Gabriel and Aldrin's status, she continued to tweak it.

Hemera listened to the conversation going around her, normally leaving the wiser ones to try and handle diplomacy like this because she wasn't very good at it. Yet the back and forth was making her impatient, and she did not understand these creatures' reluctance to accept help. Perhaps she was overlooking something in her haste or her rushed thinking, but it seemed silly to turn away people who had come from far away to save your planet.

"What have you got to lose if we just try? You don't know us or what we're capable of - not completely. What you saw was but a small glimpse of what we can do in combat, and some of us were holding back because we did not know if you were friend or foe." Maybe a bit of a lie, but she had no idea if that wasn't true. Gabriel did try to talk to them - he could have been holding back.

"Your enemies need not know that you cooperated with us. You don't have to help us, either. Just tell us what we need to know and let us try, and if we failed, then it would make no difference to you anyway. But at least let us make this attempt before you doom us to failure. Like she said, we can't leave either way, so I'd rather go down fighting than just wait around to be eaten. Wouldn't you?"

These vibrations that the winged ones native to this planet exchanged with the other sailor soldiers held little interest for Xtal-Diamante. The discussions of "families" and others made little sense to the one with tough skin and hair like clouds. She couldn't yet read in interactions the subtleties of emotion and relationships, even between the ones like Aegle and Alshain or Nyx and Hemera. She recognized that they felt a particular bond towards each other only because they demonstrated it. She couldn't imagine what that might be like.

All she knew was that she had to fight evil on this world because they had been directed to. Sailor Xtal-Diamante scanned the horizon, wishing that they were moving on.

What else was there to add? He even used her own words - if he truly chose to prolong the inevitable over giving his people a chance... Maybe they'd just have to make do on their own. Perhaps this was a waste of time.

Aegle continued her attempt, but chose a different path. Bound to this planet? She wasn't so sure how the archer would react to this, considering Nyx had basically claimed they could simply leave if they so preferred. She supposed it was partly true, what with their conscription and all, though honestly, if she did not believe in their mission, she would have left. No matter the consequences. After all, fighting only to avoid the punishment... That's exactly what those two are doing. Exactly what she openly questioned.

No matter, she still wasn't so sure Aegle's revelation would make them change their minds. Her sister continued, her reasoning solid - in the end, "having nothing to lose" seemed to be the only piece that might actually work.

"We did come from Cipriere as you said," she decided to add. "And we defeated an evil monster similar to yours, that was plaguing the planet. Whether we succeeded by luck and trickery or not, we still did it. And we can do it again."

"We will not go before we avenge our ally. Just tell us what you know, and you will not hear from us ever again. One way or the other."

Ebony Cascade wrote:

The archer seemed like he was ready to jump on Hemera's question, but as she continued he stilled, listening critically. Nyx's continuation seemed to make him cautious; eventually his arms crossed and he asked, "You simply want information?"

Crysdal sighed quietly through her nose in disappointment; on the one hand, they looked like they'd get their information, but... she turned, straightening herself out to stare at the mess of black feathers in front of her, her brows furrowed as she considered her options and weighed the potential conflicts that could arise from it. In the short term, at the very least, she'd wait until Ebony Cascade answered their questions before trying anything else on them.

Hadley remained quiet throughout the conversations - speaking had never been her strong point, and the others were ready with their own questions and comments that made her admire the way all of them were so on point with this. She hoped that maybe one day she'd be just as capable.

She felt sorrow for these creatures, and felt conflicted for it. She wasn't certain she liked them, and yet, she was glad that they still lived, regardless of the information they may or may not give the group. But on the other hand, they had caused so much damage, attacking without even seeing if the beings they attacked were friendly or not.

But there must be reasons to lead them to such actions.

Hadley perked up at the end of the conversation. She had to say something, to help in some way. She pushed aside the fact that her previous attempts to help had all gone so very wrong, and began to speak. "We will attack the Worm with or without your help - that's what we are here to do. But... we'd stand a better chance if we knew everything possible about this creature. What harm can it cause to tell us what you know?" She paused, and glanced over to their fallen comrades - and decidedly ignored the memory of the one missing - and continued. "A-And could you tell us of a place to rest as well? We have to tend to our friends."

She paused once more. She didn't know if words of politeness would be received well by these creatures, but it felt wrong not to add them. "Please, you're the only ones who might have the information that could help turn the tide of battle."

Now that she had spoken so much, Hadley felt her cheeks warming - but she forced herself to keep her head high and her shoulders back.