As Bellatrix's spear landed with a soft squelch into what must have been the creature, Enyalius lowered her shield cautiously, and Mossen flitted up nervously at first, and then with speed as he shot to the air to Achelois's level and took a look around.

"Mossen, what was that?" Enyalius called; she glanced north to see what had happened with Leviathan, then back to the flitting fairy.

"Poisonous ones," he replied, his movements a-jitter. "They eat fairies."

"What about their poison?" Enyalius called, "What's its staying power? What does it do?"

"The Lizard secrets a mucus that paralyzes on contact," Mossen explained, his voice carrying just to the group, barely beyond. "If it's wet, it gets absorbed into skin. If it's dry and then gets wet, it gets absorbed."

Enyalius nodded, then turned her attention to Andromeda's trident; was it now tipped in poison? ... they'd have to be careful, but that could be an advantage...

DM wrote:

The Andromeda Trident is now dipped in poison. So long as it has physical form, the poison will remain active and will paralyze a target upon impact; this includes allies should they accidentally swipe the blade.

After one successful target-sticking attack, the poison will leave the blade.

"It's a good plan. If not for our urgency, I would have asked Mossen if it was possible to posthumuously extract venom from the fallen mistress." Shadow voiced his support for Venus's planning, feeling that familiar warmth on his cheeks. To him, it seemed rather surprising how those two had a penchant for such resourceful thinking.

The dark soldier's gaze turned towards the northern path as he conversed with the goddess of love, watching for threats. Their frightful faerie escort had forsaken the route in favor of a southeast turn, but why? What was lurking out there? It wasn't until his love interest dashed ahead to the front when Shadow noticed the commotion coming from the front of the group.

He squinted and looked for the source of the threat, but to no avail. Venus was more fortunate in discovering the poisonous lizard's hiding spot, wasting no time in revealing its location to her allies at the front. Shadow would have thought of running ahead to assist them, but he held his ground - concerned for what could attack them while the amphibian absorbed their immediate attentions.

Another pair of foosteps fell upon the twisted forest floor, approaching him rapidly. A quick glance over the shoulder revealed that Leviathan was attempting to run away. Shadow grimaced inwardly; he had hoped to give the girl some distance after his own joke, but she was in need of an immediate consultation. With unusually quick movements relative to his size, Shadow caught the fleeing senshi of illusions with open arms.

"That was an impressive display of cowardice, but we need to talk."

Leviathan let out a gasp of air as she was caught by Shadow of all people. Not again! Of all the team, it had to be Shadow to catch her. He was the one person here she was sure could beat her in physical strength.

She squeaked and squirmed to get out of his grasp. There was no way she could stay here.

"Shadow, you pretentious idiot! Let me go! I know what you're going to tell me. That I need to have more pride or whatever. Well I'm not proud of who I am! I'm not strong like the rest of you! This was no mission for me. I need to get out of here! Leviathan Chomp!"

The sailor senshi actually attempted to bite Shadow's arm!

Ganymede relaxed as the lizard was killed and speared for good measure.

"Great now there's invisible monsters to worry about, just what we needed." If he couldn't see the lizards without help, it'd be difficult to fight another in the future. He then saw Shadow talking with Leviathan who was just...running from battle? It didn't really surprise him that she had ran for it, but he was still enraged from the implications.

"I thought you were a chicken, but I didn't think you were a deserter." He said with disgust after approaching the two, glaring at the senshi. "Were you just gonna let us all die out here in the woods or something?" His eyes widened when she tried to bite her way free of Shadow's grip. "Stop messing around, this isn't a joke! You could get killed out there alone!"

She actually hit the target, though she had no way of knowing whether Pluto’s attack or her own had killed the creature. She was just glad she managed to aim well enough after only possessing the weapon for several months. Walking toward the lizard carefully to make sure it was dead, she paused when she heard the conversation about poison. Right. There was that. She decided to retrieve the weapon carefully in order not to get poisoned herself. Peering at the weapon and the way it was stuck into the carcass, she judged that it must’ve gotten slathered with it at least on its tips. Andromeda went as close as she dared to the lizard, made sure the handle was clean, then carefully pulled out the trident, making sure to keep its ends away from her.

She returned to the group to find a commotion. She looked up in time to see Leviathan biting Shadow and gasped. Ganymede was already yelling at her, but Andromeda stomped toward the group, wielding the poisoned trident. “Do not tell me I saved your life and sacrificed my precious weapon for nothing,” she said with a quiet, suppressed rage. “Now I have poison on this other weapon and I heard it could paralyze someone. Are you going to promise to stick around or do I have to make sure you will?” she asked, swinging the poisoned tips a little, though not near enough to actually make contact.

Still, knowing how easily scared Leviathan was, that should be enough.

Sailor Bellatrix

The creature was killed fairly quickly. Bellatrix grinned over at the others who had attacked. Especially that trident-throwing. It was especially impressive. "Good aim," she said to Andromeda.

It seemed most of everyone's attention was drawn towards Leviathan. But she couldn't help but to feel sorry for the girl. Perhaps this was her first excursion as a senshi, and did not know how to deal with all of the frightening things that they would have to deal with.

She stepped forward with everyone else. "Ah, give her a break. I know she seems a little dramatic, perhaps, but I can understand being afraid." She remembered trying to ignore her senshi inheritance for as long as she could. She looked to Leviathan then. "You know, it will be okay. As long as we all work together. But if you go off on your own, you'll be in even more danger than if we stay as a group."

Bellatrix paused for a second, before adding, "I could teach you some meditation methods. That's how I deal with things."

Hearing a commotion, Soul looked over to see Shadow blocking Leviathan, who, from what she could gather, tried to bolt for it and Ganymede yelling at the girl. She jogged over quickly, trying to diffuse the situation.

"You need to calm down," she said softly to Ganymede, placing a hand on his chest. "Anger will get us no where."

OOC:

Pretentious? He wouldn't deny it.
Idiot? The girl was speaking out of anger.

Suggesting he was going to lecture her on pride? Oh, that's a paddlin'. That implication was more painful than the bite on his arm. Refusing to let the panicked senshi go, Shadow took a deep breath and allowed Andromeda and Ganymede to accost his charge.

Once they were finished, Shadow began to speak through clenched teeth - a visible effort to restrain his anger. It would have been too easy to strike Leviathan, and in his personal context, it would have constituted a gross act of hypocrisy. Serenity had seen the true colors of his embattled heart, choosing to spare him. And like Serenity, Shadow wanted to reach out to this frightened young woman rather than push her further away. It would be a difficult undertaking, due in part to his previous taunts and his general demeanor.

"Do you think I'm proud of who I am, Sailor Leviathan? Do you have any substantiated information on me, or is it only imaginative fabrications? Pride is the last thing I'd ask you to have when I clearly see that you're in need of guidance."

Enyalius looked farther down the path, letting the others handle Sailor Leviathan. She kept her eyes peeled for enemies, then cautiously continued moving forward.

Ganymede gritted his teeth together in rage and looked like he was going to continue to vent his frustration on Sailor Leviathan, but then he stopped when Soul touched him. He was stunned at first, blushing slightly under the helmet he had put back on earlier. But then he looked away from her and seemed to have calmed down somewhat, the anger in his eyes fading to a degree. 

"I can't stand cowards..." he muttered. Shadow's words were strange to him. Wasn't he just a member of the Dark Kingdom that switched sides? What did he know about guidance and pride?

Once Achelois saw that Leviathan had come to stop she turned her attention back to Mossen and the area.  As their Fairy guide flitted about nervously she moved closer to Enya who was looking farther down the path.   She motioned for Mossen to stick close and followed her fiercely geared friend down the path.    Achelois giggled as she walked side by side with Enya; if they didn’t hurry the others would get left behind.
 

As she gently swung her staff back and forth like walking stick Achelois couldn’t hide the smirk that grew across her face.  Her green eyes flashed as she turned to her traveling companion, “This reminds me of when we got lost the first time and found ourselves on the orange planet.”  She turned back towards the direction they were going, “It seems some behaviors span all types of life forms.”

Mossen debated his options, flitting back and forth between the two slowly separating senshi and the rest of the group, torn between the decision to follow or to stay. Only after he hesitated for long moments - partially listening as one group tried to console a frightened team mate, partially watching as the other two slowly got farther and farther away - did he realize that he was leaving himself exposed.

Who should he go with?! His heart pounded and his head frantically turned - stay with the numbers, or go with the shield? The numbers could call monsters with their volume, the pair could easily walk into an ambush. Neither situation was ideal! 

He'd have to choose!

He'd have to choose!!

Who should he choose?!

The blonde with the green outfit who hadn't done anything in a fight motioned him forward. 

This is stupid this is stupid this is stupid! the fairy repeated over and over to himself as he followed her suggestion. 

---

A smile crept across Enyalius's face and her brows knitted in recalled frustration. The memory of their first endeavor as wandering senshi was definitely funnier now than it had been back then. She glanced back over her shoulder, then to her friend, her smile only growing with agreement. They continued along slowly, not so fast as to get too far ahead or out of sight of the rest of the group, and, her mind on that first orange planet, Enyalius hung her head, turned her sword in her hand and touched its pommel to her forehead in exasperation. "That first mission though... could things have been any worse?" She half-heartedly chuckled, dropping her sword arm back to her side, "We were barely on the planet for ten minutes before you were engaged! Who says 'Yes!' to a blind marriage proposal, anyway?" She rolled her eyes at the memory, "And being charged to lead the party to destroy the city's menace in retribution for calling it off - I still can't believe we pulled off my "Star Maidens" excuse - only to have you befriend the thing? You went from bride to hero to demon-princess in the span of six hours. I was so done with you."


Overhearing their conversation, Mossen wondered if he had made the right choice.

Sailor Leviathan glared right back at Ganymede Knight. He was getting on her nerves. What right did he have to belittle her? It wasn't like he was a senshi of his own right or anything. And Sailor Andromeda... she didn't expect this outburst from her. For a moment, she felt fear from her actions, but mostly despair.

"You didn't have to save me, you know," she said out of bitterness. "Go on and kill me then, but if you do that, you're no better than I am.

She tried not to look at Sailors Achelois, Bellatrix and Soul. She was far too embarrassed. Tugging away to try to get out of Shadow's grip, she nearly spat.

"Guidance? What could you possibly teach me?"

Her tone was harsh, but Shadow might have detected a hint of hope. She was an outcast in the group, truly a senshi of mystery. The others could infer from her behavior that she didn't have any guidance from a senshi before this point, but it wasn't concrete information.

Achelois’s cheeks turned bright red upon the mentioning of her “engagement” and she couldn’t contain the laughter that escaped from her.  “It was the first time I had ever been in a civilized place!” She exclaimed in an attempt to defend herself.  She held her arms out and gracefully turned in a tight circle with a smile that took her whole face.  “I knew you wouldn’t leave me though!”  She turned to face the nervous Fairy guide, “Don’t worry, we won that battle.”  She hoped to calm him down just a bit…  She looked over her shoulder to check the group behind them, “Oh I do hope they sort this out quickly.”

Mossen nodded to her assertions, but he honestly wasn't feeling much better about any part of this.



Enyalius followed Achelois's gaze, her eyes alighting on the tight-knit group surrounding Shadow and Leviathan and commented thoughtfully, "I don't think this matter will be so quick to sort out." She met Achelois's bright green gaze and continued, recalling specific training sessions from long ago, from time spent in the bright beating sun, her body coated in sweat and dirt, panting heavily with a smile on her face as she learned to wield her blade. Her instructor had them take a break, and spoke openly of fear on the battlefield... "What Leviathan lacks is confidence and experience: two traits that weave together to build strength and character; in situations like these, with high stress and very little time to process, nerves can overwhelm emotions. A good, strong team can help, but without any trust-building activities to fall back on, too much attention could very easily push her too far in the other direction."

She shrugged, "She needs to put some trust in someone, and that," she glanced back again, "can take a while."

"We don't have a while," Mossen commented, buzzing around by her shoulder, "It'll start getting dark soon..."

"You won't always have the option to run from your problems," Shadow explained while he adjusted his grip on Leviathan. Barring external influence, she was stuck.

"I can show you my perspective on fighting. It's not all about rolling with the punches, but also being willing to use the environment to your advantage."

Shadow inhaled, then looked at she senshi squirming in his arms. "Walk with me for a bit. Let's talk - no jokes, no speeches. I'd like to know your perspective on this journey." He made no explicit promise of release, but Shadow's expression and softening voice suggested he would let her walk under her own free will.

"Maybe you've got questions of your own. How about it?"

"I... uh..."

Sailor Leviathan didn't know what to say. She expected Shadow to berate her and punish her more. Was he actually showing mercy? She sighed and complied.

"Sure. Just let me go, please?"

If she was let go, she would begin to walk steadily with her head low. She was far too ashamed to look at the other senshi and one knight.

"I... I'm not a totally sure how to be a senshi. To be honest, I don't know how I got to be one. I was only reborn as one. A lot of people rely on me back on my planet to protect it from outside forces. I thought that going on a mission like this would ease their fears a bit, but now I see that even that's impossible. If you don't mind, I'll just try to stay out of the way."

The senshi was totally defeated emotionally.

While she was mostly focused on Leviathan, she was quite taken aback and intrigued by what Shadow said. Obviously she didn’t know much about him, but she hadn’t quite expected him to feel that way about himself. Now was not the time to think about him though… everybody had their issues and secrets. She was also surprised by Bellatrix’s gentleness, since she always struck Andromeda as one of those really strong senshi. Clearly they all still had a lot to learn about each other.

To Leviathan’s words, she shook her head. “Yeah, of course I had to save you. You were going to die. I wasn’t going to just sit around and watch that happen.” She stated it matter-of-factly, not understanding how it could be different for anyone else. “And this isn’t going to kill you,” she rolled her eyes and moved her trident away. “It’ll just paralyze you, that’s all.”

Why was she even here? That was the question that was knocking around Andromeda’s head. If Leviathan didn’t want to fight, she shouldn’t have come. This way she was becoming a liability and putting them all in danger. She’d be better off returning with all the senshi who’d declined. There was no shame in that.

Her question was soon answered by Leviathan’s next words, and she tried to understand. So the power had been thrust onto her shoulders and she didn’t know how to handle the responsibility? Deciding to leave this to the others for now, having spoken her piece, she moved away and sighed. Maybe she wouldn’t be the right person for this because she couldn’t understand it. When she was given her power, it had been a blessing. She’d wanted it. She wanted the power to choose her own destiny, and she had embraced it. She liked protecting her little star because it had saved her life first.

But maybe that wasn’t the case for everyone.

Venus stood back and watched the action unfold, from the death of the lizard to the exit of Sailors Achelois and Enyalius. Who did they think they were, walking away from an ally in need? The senshi of love was slightly annoyed by their pretentious behavior, but brushed it aside as she approached the embarrassed Leviathan. Seeing the girl's fearful face hit Venus with a wave of familiarity. She had witnessed that look before, but on her own face. Venus distinctly remembered her thirteen-year-old self, terrified and confused as to why she had to fight such awful creatures. She wanted to run from every single battle she faced, but Artemis kept her from it. He pushed her to be brave and guided her to become the hardened senshi she was today. That, Venus thought, was exactly what Leviathan needed.

She placed both hands on Leviathan's shoulder, going eye-level with her. "Look," Venus said, her voice gentle, "we all know what you're going through. You're young, and you're scared, and you have a lot riding on your shoulders. You don't know how to deal with what's happening, so you want to run. But I promise you, if you run, you will never accomplish your goals. Neo Queen Serenity chose you. Do you truly think she would choose a senshi who she deemed incapable of fulfilling this mission? What you did earlier with the illusion was amazing. If that's only the beginning of your powers, think of how much room you have to grow! You are capable of so much, and I know that's a lot to take in. But you aren't alone, Leviathan. You have all of us, who have been through and are going through the exact same process. Stop pushing us away and let us help. I promise your life will be so much easier."

Smiling, Venus glanced at Shadow and Bellatrix and winked. She hoped they would comply, and assist her in guiding Leviathan.

"I know, but reacting in anger right now it's going to aid the situation. We can't afford to be separated from the group so we need deal with this quickly," she urged, stepping closer to him so she wouldn't be over heard and potentially upset Leviathan further.

Ganymede struggled, his kneejerk hate for being disloyal clashing with both Shadow's and Leviathan's words.  He could understand her insecurities, but his own senshi role felt like it fit him form the start. It gave him a purpose and prevented him from being utterly alone. He never really struggled with what he was supposed to do. And then he still remembered Leviathan's comments to him from earlier. He growled and lashed out at a tree with his fist, causing it to quiver from the force behind the blow.

"I just...I can't deal with this right now!" he said loudly. He turned away from Sailor Soul and stomped off in the direction of the other half of the group.

"Of course."

Shadow was quick to let go of Leviathan, setting her down so that she could walk under her own volition. He had planned on releasing his grasp regardless of her choice; if the despondent senshi was truly determined to save herself, then there was precious little that he would be capable of doing to change her mind. Out of respect, Shadow placed himself a couple of feet away from Leviathan - allowing the beleagured senshi to establish her own personal space.

Shadow kept mostly quiet as Sailor Venus addressed Leviathan in her own gentle and uplifting voice, doing his part to mind their surroundings. When Venus turned towards him to give a smile and a wink, Shadow returned a subtle grin while gesturing with one thumb raised upward. If not for the fact that they had both showed a clear interest in establishing rapport with the young and frightened representative of Planet Leviathan, his knees might have just melted into butter. Instead, he settled for a briefly quivering heart and a rising warmth within his cheeks. Taking a cue from the senshi of love, Shadow began to speak. "That's.."

The sudden impact noise of an armored fist against wood caused him to halt. A quick glance revealed Ganymede to be the source; once the knight hollered his frustration and left to follow in the footsteps of Enyalius and Achelois, Shadow made a mental note before resuming his vocalized train of thought.

"That's got to be nerve wracking if you don't have any personal support. That was the case with me; I had no sailor senshi, savior, or other guardian to look up to when I was reincarnated after suffering an ignoble fate in the Silver Millenium."

The metallic crunch, resounding pwoom, and leaf-shaking swishesesses that fell in quick succession had Enyalius twirling, flipping her sword over in her hand to land in a ready position facing the rest of the group, her eyes flashing with adrenaline. A loud muffled voice floated back to them, and her mind quickly worked to identify its tone. When she realized what had happened, she straightened slowly, letting the battle rush fade even as her hair was still swinging with the momentum of her quick turn. 

"What was that?" squeaked Mossen from somewhere close behind her.

"It seems Ganymede will be joining us shortly," Enyalius commented, continuing to face backwards down the path to wait for him and any others to join them, trusting Achelois to watch their front. "We might get to check out that wonderful smell soon," she added sarcastically, her nose burning and twitching every time the minimal breeze hit them from the south.

Pluto sighed softly in relief as she saw her attack hit, and a trident sinking into the flesh. She didn't know which did it, but was relieved to see the lizard not moving. She wrinkled her nose slightly at it and shook her head, then turned, hearing a commotion behind her. She could see a glimpse of Leviathan, then the other senshi crowding around. Seeing the familiar blonde in orange had gone over, she nodded. The leader of the inner senshi could certainly handle whatever it was. She sighed softly and turned, licking her lips. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bottle of juice. It was warm, but better than nothing.

She unscrewed the cap and gulped down the contents, which were blueberry juice. She sighed to have to fluids and put the cap back on, tucking the empty bottle back into her pocket. No need to litter after all. She saw Enyalius and Achelois approaching and moved to join them. She could hear Enyalius' comment about Ganymede coming. “I hope the others come along soon. It strikes me as not a very good idea to lollygag about...”

Sailor Leviathan felt like she was wandering alone for a moment.

In her mind's eye, she imagined her first conversation with Guardian Leviathan back on their home planet years ago. The tiny fairy groomed her seahorse companion. Her face was grim with disappointment.

"I should have foreseen this," she said solemnly. "It only makes sense you would choose to forget your old life in the Galaxy Cauldron, given how it ended. But with it, your powers, your dreams, your personality are all gone. Princess Leviathan, our safety is no better now that you're here again. If you do not come into your own, I fear terrible things for this planet."

Her thoughts were interrupted when Venus took her shoulders in her hands. Her idol and hero was staring her right in the face! And what's more, she said that Neo Queen Serenity couldn't have been wrong to choose her for the mission.

Sailor Venus wasn't the pompous hero she had imagined her to be. No, she was a scared and lonely soldier with hardly any direction, just like her. She should have known not to completely trust her comics about her character, especially considering she embellished stories herself. In the end, there were many senshi who started out the same as she did. Even Shadow, whose horrible history in the Silver Millennium barred himself from any companionship, made it out OK. She was lost and confused, but she wasn't alone.

Don't cry. Don't cry! she begged in her thoughts.

But the tears started coming anyway. She tried desperately to wipe them away, but it wasn't enough.

"I had no idea that guys were alone too. The only person I've got is Guardian Leviathan... but she's an asshole! Oh, Sailor V! Uh... I mean, Venus!"

Leviathan's face nearly exploded with red color. Not only was she crying, but now it was evident she was a fan of the Sailor V comics. She nearly fainted out of embarrassment.

"Fwah..."

Sailor Venus's smile grew even larger as she erupted in a fit of laughter. Sailor V...it had been a long time since she was called by that name. Seeing the tears streaming down Leviathan's face, the blonde wrapped her arms around Leviathan and hugged her tightly, wishing it didn't have to be so hard for her. She hated that becoming a senshi meant going through so many trials and tribulations. But she hopes Leviathan would learn that it was all worth it in the end.

Ganymede joined Sailor Enyalius, Achelois, and Pluto a minute later, glaring down at the ground as he walked. His fist kind of hurt from the punch, but he ignored it and kept it clenched. 

"Sorry about the tree," he said to them, still sounding tense. Hitting inanimate objects was better than hitting people, so he had taken to doing that to relieve his temper instead.

Not wanting to accidentally poke someone with the poison, Andromeda sent her trident back into the dimensional pocket. She watched it vanish and jumped once more when she heard the thud a few feet away. She thought she needed to recall the weapon after all when she realized it was just Ganymede attacking a tree. She tilted her head. Was that the friend of the tree he’d accidentally crashed into before? What did he have against trees anyway?

Then she realized he was talking about Leviathan. Andromeda didn’t know what had gotten him so worked up especially now that everyone seemed to have come around, but she followed him carefully back to the group who’d moved on ahead. She didn’t know what to say as he apologized to the group, so she just gave him a smile and said, “Hey, it’s the tree you need to apologize to.” She hoped she could help lighten his mood.