Together Again {Dante & Pure}

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXXKrystina gave a smile, pulling her hand away as she began fidgeting with the silver ring on her middle finger. "I certainly hope I can be of some help. I used to have quite the garden at my father's house. Is it mostly vegetables and fruits, then?" she asked, having to clear her throat before she took another sip from that cup in her hands. Glancing up when Trevor began talking about battle, she glanced briefly to where all four of their heavy fighters sat settled on the floor, Rissa's grin making her grimace. "Sounds like another person I should have a spar with. Might be interesting to see whose butts I can kick from your group of friends, Trevor." Rissa chuckled, waving a hand at the vampire from across the room with a very cocky grin on her face. At getting elbowed and scolded by Lianna, the blonde stuck her tongue out at the fae. "What? You can tell a lot about a person from the way they fight," she shrugged, that grin back on her face. "Plan one spar at a time, Blondie. You've still gotta fight Mari" Bander commented, knocking Rissa's head to the side with a light smirk on his face.

"You shouldn't doubt yourself so much." Truth sighed, sitting forwards and pulling her legs under her. As he spoke of Koail just showing up whenever her uncle was in trouble, she grinned lightly. Somehow, that made it seem like he showed up often enough. "Well, I can't wait to meet him, even if it's only for a little bit." she hummed, that grin going flat when Shadowheart reared his cranky head. "My gods, you're worse than Lianna if we put her in direct sunlight!" she grumbled, pointing a finger at the boy only to grin when the water he'd splashed around picked itself up and went right at his face. Lucky shot.

"What's so wrong with people?" Sky asked, scratching under his shirt at a black mark on his chest. "surely you've met a few decent ones among the rest?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Waving lightly, Niji tilted her head to the side as she watched Jake fidgeting with his screwdriver. Biting her lip as she looked from her brothers, to Rayne and back to Jake, the girl gave a sigh and shook her head. "So, you're helping my brother with his projects? Good luck fixing the pinkie, he fried Kuro's nerves to the point nothing works. It's not the wiring, because I helped him test that. It's his actual hand. It'd take a bit more arm being cut off for that thing to move again." She sighed, opting to start somewhere he'd be more comfortable. Good thing she actually listened when her brother spoke to her of machine babble. It was as she noted the stunned face of Kuro as he passed his hand back to Jake, causing her to grin. Waving at Shadowheart with one hand, the girl hoped to herself they'd get a chance to talk about their little plan later on.

"I will. Although, most of us would probably need something a bit more heavy duty than just leather armor and a body suit." Kana shrugged, sliding out of the laundry room with a grin. "I'll have to talk to Rissa about opening the forge to more than just producing sheet metal." she hummed, spinning on her toes to look at him. "Well, shall we return?" she purred, gesturing to the sounds of everyone else.

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

I wanna hide the truth,xxx
I wanna shelter you,
But with the beast inside,xxx
There’s nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,xxx
We still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.xxx

The Assassins
Ephraim, Shayde,
Sheik, Trevor, Watari

&

The Allies
Deception, Kristoff,
Rayne, Cloud, Lurtz,
Cirdan, Fox, Jacoby

XXXXX"Mostly. I do have a bunch of flowers and bushes that're near the house that I tend to also though if you'd like something besides foods to work with. They were Karma's originally, but... Well, we all know how that ended," Trevor responded to Krystina's words before turning an amused smile towards Rissa. So she was interested in fighting Lurtz too, hm? Listening to her and the others discuss planning one spar at a time, he gave a light chuckle. "Oh dear. Looks like I've peaked her interest in how you fight, Lurtz. What are your thoughts?" "Just let me know when you're prepared for said spar. I'll do my utmost to not disappoint you."

XXXXX"Not the first time I've had someone tell me that," Cloud sighed while lightly rubbing the back of his neck. Giving yet another slight shrug, he glanced at Rissa and smiled faintly. "Good luck with any spar you have with Lurtz, girlie. I've yet to beat him in a spar myself. He's not an easy opponent and it's hard to tell if he's restraining himself or not." "Don't try scaring the girl. " "I'm not trying to scare her. I'm just wishing her luck in a spar against him. But she does have a point. There's much you can tell about a person in a fight. The body expresses much that we ourselves have yet to comprehend."

XXXXXSnapping his hand out, the water turning to ice before his hand even touched it, Shayde pointed it at Truth with a dark glare. "Watch it, girlie. I've locked Watari within the shadows for a hell of a lot less than this. Trust me when I say I'll do the same thing to you and you won't get out without my say so," he stated icily, the shadows in the room flickering like a flame for several long seconds. Having them settle down a bit and tossing the chunk of ice into his own shadow, his fiery red-violet gaze shifted towards Skylar in a far less than amused manner. "What isn't wrong with them? Decent people? Do you live in a world of delusions or are you so high you can't see straight?" "Oh God... Bud, I don't believe he's a hippie junkie." "Allow me to explain, Sky." "Don't you dare." "Hush up, you. His first family was the Silent Shadow Clan from within the brotherhood. They took him in, raised him as their own, then died. Besides this grouch, one of the original members by the name of Hagen survived the odd attack on their clan. They're pretty close in age and, according to what records the brotherhood has on said clan, Hagen's his elder stepbrother. Now they're trying to kill each other for reasons unknown to anyone besides them. In short, whatever happened the night their clan mysteriously died has made him untrusting of people so he states he dislikes them." "Tch. That wasn't any of their business."

XXXXX."If he'll have me. I've beaten all of my videogames and my Beta-game tester days are on hold right now so I'd like some new projects besides updating the An- several updates for some old projects. I'm even updating the headset I'm wearing right now," Jake responded to the female while starting to fidget with the internal make-up of the hand again. Muttering something unintelligible, he paused with the hand so he could look at Kuro's arm for a few moments. He then picked back up on shifting things around and adding a few small bits to it. Sealing it shut once again, he held it back up for Kuro to reattach. "We may need to involve Cloud in his arm project if my redirection of signals for his pinkie doesn't work. He had a buddy with a prosthetic arm that he helped maintain so he might have some luck with fixing that. He could probably attach a better base for it too." Shifting his gaze back over to Niji, he pointed his screwdriver at her. "And would you mind not stealing gears and such? You can steal them from enemies using machinery, but not from allies who need it to keep functioning properly. So... Do y'all like these kinds of things?" "Not really. What just binged at you?" "Pity... And it's an instant messenge... From a friendly gamer I frequently play my games with. Don't worry about it. She's just freaking 'cause I'm not online and she thinks Fox has taken my game away since it's the sequel to the sequel of the game I spent a little over a year trapped in. Long story."

XXXXX"We shall indeed. And we don't just have bodysuits and leather on. You just don't see everything," Sheik chuckled lightly while padding past the female and into the living room. Taking a moment to slap Shayde upside the head and punch Cloud on the shoulder, he smiled at the kids. "Jake, it's been a little while. It makes sense as to why Cloud and Lurtz are here though. Well, we're pretty crowded today. Either way, to the baths we go while we have everyone together." Snapping his fingers, Trevor pointed at Sheik as the room around them changed into something of a front lobby. "We were waiting on you two. Ein, zwei, drei. Ladies and gents, welcome to Sierra's bathhouse. Lurtz will show you ladies where the door to your bath is located alongside the little locker room where you'll find towels and bathrobes. If the gents would follow me, I'll show you to our side. Ephie's asleep in one of the closets around here so don't worry about him." After slowly standing up, Trevor started off towards a door on one side of the room with Watari remaining near in case he started to black out enroute. Cloud seemed to wait for Jacoby before he moved. Lurtz on the other hand had made a slight bow to the women and murmured a soft apology before picking Krystina up and moving towards the opposite door in the room then pausing to be sure the ladies followed him.

Don't wanna let you down,
xxxBut I am Hell bound.
Though this is all for you,
xxxDon't wanna hide the truth.
No matter what we breed,
xxxWe still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.
xxxThis is my kingdom come.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXXAs they were transported to the hot spring, the group's banter stilled, curious eyes wandering. "Sure is a fancy place..." Kuro mumbled, lighting a cigarette as he started after Trevor, still one handed. "Really makes me feel like I would get kicked out if we came here without you." he mumbled, tail swaying calmly behind him.

XXXXX"That, or they'd push us into the water, insisting we clean up." Shiro chuckled, giving a sigh as Bander heaved him over his shoulder. "Jake, we'll have to put our little project on hold for now. Electronics and water don't mix to well. I hope they have gloves or something we can tie around Kuro's arm so he doesn't ruin it. Again."

XXXXX"Hey, Trev, you think since he keeps walking everywhere we could get Snow some crutches? I'm getting sick of carrying his a** everywhere." Bander mumbled, ears twitching towards the sound of snoring only to focus back on the group of guys.

XXXXXNear the back of the group of males, Skylar was fidgeting with his necklace as he watched Shayde curiously. He hadn't ever lacked trust in others, and was trying to grasp how someone could shut everyone out. Blinking when he felt something rub against his wing, the blonde's shoulders shuddered for a moment before they disappeared, returning to that tattoo-like form on his shoulder blades.

XXXXXBlinking as she was scooped into Lurtz's arms, the blonde gave a small sigh and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Lurtz." she mumbled, glancing the direction they were headed. When he stopped at the door, Rissa stepped over and held out her arms for the sick little vampire. "I'll take her in so you can go over to the boys' area. Thank you for showing us the way." She smiled, blonde-to-red curls bouncing slightly as she thanked the man, Lianna standing patiently behind her.

XXXXXPushing past the door Lurtz had lead them to, Kansei smiled at the others and sat on a bench to pull her old sneakers off her feet, pressing some of the black duct tape back down so they didn't come apart. Glancing at the others, she waved towards the wall of lockers and shrugged. "Pick one and see if it works." she mumbled, watching as Kana sat next to her and pulled the bandages from her feet.

XXXXXGrabbing her twin's hand, Truth practically pulled Deception into the locker room, the excitement of being in a new place making her hyper active. "c'mon, Dee." she sighed, pulling open a locker so she could put things in it. "We can share a locker like we used to~" she hummed over her shoulder, pulling her shirt over her head.

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

I wanna hide the truth,xxx
I wanna shelter you,
But with the beast inside,xxx
There’s nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,xxx
We still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.xxx

The Assassins
Ephraim, Shayde,
Sheik, Trevor, Watari

&

The Allies
Deception, Kristoff,
Rayne, Cloud, Lurtz,
Cirdan, Fox, Jacoby

XXXXXChuckling at the talk of what the people who were supposed to be here would do to the group, Trevor turned to walk backwards. "If you ever came in here without me or Cloud, you wouldn't be getting back out alive or changed. This, good sirs, is a minor example of what the high members of vampire nobility can do. It isn't uncommon for non-vampires to enter here, but they always leave in a body bag. They'd most definitely make you feel welcome, let you bathe in the waters with them, and just when you think it's a normal hot spring, you're dead. Vampires never seem to suspect anyone of being assassins or informants which has ended up with two or three vampires pinned to a wall with multiple knives. Sierra asked me to stop doing that as it was troublesome fixing things up just so there wouldn't be blood all over the place," he hummed ever so cheerfully before stopping by the lockers and starting to strip off his shirt. Sheik followed suit in removing his shirt, neither seeming bothered in the slightest by the scars marring their bodies. Watari seemed to be making sure his cousin didn't topple over before he started stripping. "That is why Trevor made sure it was cleared out for the day. Lurtz cleared it out personally under the instructions of Sierra." "He's so very thorough... I swear to God. If that boy's getting sick yet keeping quiet about it, I'mma slap the color off of him." "You do realize water tends to make your nose run, right? He spends plenty of time getting his head dunked in water during interrogations. I don't know why people think that'll get someone to talk, but whatever floats their boat. It's probably just his sinuses being clogged from the after effects... And that's not actually something possible to do." "I'mma slap the black out of your hair if you back-sass me again, Watari." "Again, that's impossible. Ow! Ha! See? The black remains. Ow!" It took only a second for Trevor to smack his cousin on the arm, two red handprints already showing up on his skin.

XXXXX"Alrighty then. His hand'll be placed safely in my bag then," Jake hummed while setting Kuro's hand in his bag along with his many tools. From there, he'd followed the older men to the little locker room and carefully placed his bag inside one of the little lockers on the lower shelves. "Let me see your arm, Kuro. I'll put a little seal over it to keep you from damaging the original base set into place for a while. Given enough time, Jake and I can help with making these a bit more... Waterproof." "If Shiro will have us, Cloud. No pressure." "Right. Absolutely no pressure. Trevor, you can stop smacking him already. You knew he was going to point it out. As for you, Sky, I wouldn't take anything the shadow brat says personal."

XXXXXHaving found himself a dark little corner of the locker room, Shayde was about to start undressing when he felt the gaze on him. Shifting his gaze to where he saw Skylar, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Stop staring, airhead," he muttered before stepping into one of the long, thin lockers. After a second, he stepped back out with a towel around his waist and his legs carrying him around the group and into the baths. "Hippie..." Slapping Shayde upside the head as he left, Trevor nodded slightly. "Sure. I mean, we could always carry him if you want a break. Cloud, you still have the ones from when you broke your leg?" "Yeah. I kept them as an insurance policy. By the time we get out of the baths, Sierra should've had enough time to slip in and out with 'em."

XXXXX"Are you alright, Skylar? You seem a little lost in thought," Sheik asked, his shirt already halfway off and settled down on his shoulders. Glancing briefly at where the dark haired, fiery eyed male had vanished, he smiled lightly and returned to removing his shirt. "He's difficult to understand. I don't quite understand his way of thinking myself, but I do know he's not as mean as he sounds. My best interactions with him were in the beginning, turning him from the feral behaviors he exhibited to this slightly more human demeanor. I'd prefer his cold shoulder to him biting me any day. Then again, I can understand his distance from people. Doing what we do, attachments aren't always the best decision and will end up badly on every occasion. The least damage it can do is what happened to Trevor..." Glancing at his elder brother, he scratched the back of his neck while contemplating asking the question repeating itself in his head. Even without looking over his shoulder as he folded up his pants, the redheaded Sheikah gave a soft sigh. "I don't like that look, Sheik." "Sorry. I just... Mm..." "Got it. We can talk about it later. Just push it to the back of your mind so you can relax a bit while we're here. You stress yourself out more than you should. It isn't healthy."

XXXXXGiving the faintest flickers of a smile at Krystina's thanks, the vampire soldier nodded slightly as if to say it wasn't an issue. When spoken to by Rissa while she reached out for the blonde female, Lurtz nodded for a second time. Gently passing her over to the other female, he made sure she had a good hold on her before stepping away and giving a majestic bow. "There's no need to thank me, madonnas. This is one of two things I was raised to do. Your robes and towels are located within the lockers and all else can be found on the shelves near the door leading into the bath. Should you need anything else, do not hesitate to call upon me," he stated rather smoothly considering the lack of feeling behind how he spoke. Standing upright once more, his body shifted in a very gracefully robotic motion and started for the door. His motion stalled briefly though when he stepped up beside Niji. "I apologize for scaring you and your friend with my presence. It was not intentional, but it is something I cannot change for it is the kinder version of who I am. I hope you'll forgive me for it alongside my brashness for speaking out of turn." Leaving it at that, his legs then continued from where they'd left off and carried him swiftly towards the men's side. After reaching the locker room meant for the boys, he took no time in stripping free of his clothes and exposing the scarring that marred up most of his skin and even old scars.

XXXXXGiving a slight groan, Deception reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged into the locker room. At seeing Lurtz leave, she gave a soft humph before pulling off her shirt and tossing it onto the bottom of the locker. "What are you? Six? You're way too hyper about a bathhouse," she huffed before starting to remove her jeans. "So what's your thoughts on the new people? New as in those outside of our original group of strays and urchins of course."

Don't wanna let you down,
xxxBut I am Hell bound.
Though this is all for you,
xxxDon't wanna hide the truth.
No matter what we breed,
xxxWe still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.
xxxThis is my kingdom come.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXX"Sounds like we'd have quite the party here," Bander chuckled, ears twitching slightly as he set Shiro down on a bench. "To be honest, at least crutches have more dignity to them than being carried around like a hopeless sack of bones." Shiro mumbled, already pulling off his top and tossing it to Kuro, who shoved it in their shared locker along with his own. The dark haired feline gave a smile to Cloud, nodding his thanks as he tossed a towel to Shiro just in time for the boy to take off his pants. "The song bird's not really upset by his thought process, he just doesn't grasp it. Even with his own mother out to kill him, he tries to see the good in everything." Kuro explained, wrapping a towel around his waist before his pants dropped.

XXXXX"It's alright, I'm just wishing I could make him see the good sides in people. I'm just not going to force it on him like some." Skylar sighed as he pulled off his coat and hung it up in a locker. Pulling off his shirt revealed a seal on his chest with ruins that swirled around and continued to change their incantation as if constantly battling something inside him. "There's only so much we can do for a person, after all." he smiled, grabbing a towel that Bander had thrown at his head. Copying Kuro by wrapping the towel around his waist before he dropped his drawers, the blonde didn't even seem phased as the two nekos stopped to stare at the mark on his chest. After all, this was the first time they'd seen it since he'd sealed the demon inside himself.

XXXXXLooking up at Lurtz when he spoke to her, the neko smiled softly and shook her head. "No need to apologize. We're just kids, after all. We get scared by our own shadows." she hummed, rocking on her bare feet as she watched him head off to the boys' side. Bounding into the lockers, the youngest girl pulled her clothes off with little care before skipping into the actual baths without even grabbing a towel to cover herself.

XXXXX"Uh-oh, naked kitten on the loose. I'll take care of it..." Kansei sighed, having already stripped down and wrapped herself in a towel. Grabbing a second one for Niji, she followed the girl to the baths, Kana right behind her. Rissa, just smirked at the three of them as she and Lianna helped Krystina get undressed.

XXXXX "Sorry if i'm excited to actually get clean for the first time in a long time. I think the last time we actually got clean was when we raided that summer home for a week." Truth sighed, sticking out her tongue at her sister after having pulled off her top and scarf-made-belt. Pausing in the process, she tilted her head to the side and smiled. "I like a few of them. Dad's cousin is pretty interesting. I'm a little miffed he never told us about his side of the family before now, but still it's nice to finally meet them. Your friends are pretty cool, too. I hope Mari opens up to us more. And then there's that Shadowheart kid. I wish we could make him as afraid of girls as Ephie is, but that'd be pretty damn hard now. It's easier to do to kids." she sighed, shoulders slumping as she slowly piled her clothes in with her sister's talking the whole while. "What about you? What do you think of them?"

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

I wanna hide the truth,xxx
I wanna shelter you,
But with the beast inside,xxx
There’s nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,xxx
We still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.xxx

The Assassins
Ephraim, Shayde,
Sheik, Trevor, Watari

&

The Allies
Deception, Kristoff,
Rayne, Cloud, Lurtz,
Cirdan, Fox, Jacoby

XXXXXAfter making a quick scribble with his fingers in the air, Cloud smiled back at Kuro as a quick flash went off around his presently handless arm. "There ya go. I'll let Sierra know to bring those crutches here. Here's your- towel, Jake... Really? He's already disappeared? I swear. Get back over here, ya dingbat. I hate when you go invisible on me," he started off rather calmly only to quickly become irritated by the boy's clothes sitting on the floor, his headset obviously having been placed within the bag, and yet he was nowhere to be seen. After a quick walk around the locker room, the blonde had become visibly agitated. It quickly settled back down when the boy popped back up with a towel around his waist beside the vampire soldier. "You're a little too sensitive, Cloud. He was just messing with you. Unfortunately, you still lack the ability to sense his presence though. Sad but true nonetheless." "Not funny. Jake, your brother said no funny business. That includes turning invisible like that on us." "That's precisely why Fox told me to accompany you two. Come along, Master Jacoby."

XXXXX"I see someone's finally got rid of the habit of running away from responsibility. Lurtz wouldn't let him get far even if he had to snatch him from the spirit world to do so. Just chillax. Seriously," Trevor sighed while slightly leaning against the lockers. After watching Lurtz take the little spirit fox to the bath hand-in-hand, he smiled lightly before rotating a hand in front of him. "Quit procrastinating and just get ready for a bath... Well so would a walker or a wheelchair, Shiro, if you were to compare it to being carried around like a sack of potatoes. It should make you feel very loved that they'd carry you. Many in this world would've abandoned you long ago... Or killed you. Depends really. Just remember that." As if realizing Watari had flinched at his words, the redhead peeled himself off of the lockers and ruffled his hair like he was a child. "You're moving like a snail, cuz. The scars on your back don't look too shabby by the way, unlike the first few weeks you spent at my house."

XXXXXSighing heavily after his back tensed up from Trevor hovering a finger over the scars between his shoulderblades, the half Sheikah finished with the towel around his waist and shut his locker. "It's really annoying when you hover your finger above it, Tyvinda. They might not be there anymore, but I can still feel it. Besides, you should be grateful I'm not the kind of guy who kicks someone when they're down," Watari retorted while poking his elder cousin between the eyes. "Of course I'm grateful. My mother's brother was unable to taint your pure and gentle heart. Once it sets in, it cannot be purified. If anything, I'd be far more grateful if you could help keep Truth and Deception from our poisoned waters." "I'll do what I can to keep them from getting anything but their feet wet. Good morning, Ephraim. Are you going to join us?"

XXXXXSeeing the obviously yawning metallic haired teen shuffle into the room, Watari smiled and waved though it was completely ignored while the other started removing the bandages from his arms and legs with several shadow hands aiding him. "Eh... I need the heat to break up this crap in my sinuses. It's already a pain enough to breath through a mask all the time. Besides, I got my little catnap. I'll be fine." Ignoring the fact that he flashed scars on the bottoms of his feet when he finished unwrapping the bindings, he slid on a pair of fingerless gloves with the same seal marks as the one on his mask alongside a pair of anklets bearing several charms holding the same seal. Afterwards, he removed his shirt and pants, the shadow hands wrapping a towel around his waist before his pants hit the floor. Kicking his clothes into a bottom locker then removing several knife holsters that'd been under his clothes, he gave a slight sniff then started towards the bath, his hand catching Trevor by the arm and dragging him along behind him. "Move like ya got a purpose, gents. Y'all aren't gonna be here all day unless ya intend to inconvenience others. Do you want an open line of communication with the girls without the visual?" "As much as I'd love that, they might think you or Shadowheart's peeping on them so no. Besides, I wouldn't want Deception doing anything rash that may jeopardize the safety of everyone if she gets that impression. Lurtz will pick up on any signs of danger first and will alert us if the girls need us. For now, let them have their girl talk even if it drives me cuckoo not having anyone to give me an idea of how well my daughters are going to handle all the things I've told them thus far."

XXXXX"And that's why you're such a vulnerable fellow, Skylar. While you seek all that is good in others, there are bad people who will play with you just like a toy. Shadowheart is the complete opposite... Sometimes, and this is mostly just how several of us were raised and personal speculation, it is best to be suspicious of everyone. It doesn't mean you have to be like him, but at least try to conceal your suspicions. As I said before, Trevor was fortunate at how he turned up. Cloud too. I've never experienced the pain they have but," Sheik responded perhaps a little too coldly considering his cousin's stern expression. Pausing, he shook his head. It wasn't his place to try explaining the rationality of things even he was in the middle about. "But it's the worst feeling you could ever experience in any lifetime. When you've laid your trust in another, you expect them to hold it as if it were fragile and protect it with their very lives. It's like an oven when you're little. You're always told not to touch the stove and when your curiosity gets the best of you, you touch it while it's hot. After figuring out that the stove is hot and hurts, you won't touch it again. You're always told to be wary of people and when you lay your trust in someone, they betray that trust you put in their hands. Once betrayed by someone you care deeply for, you aren't going to want to place that trust in the hands of another so easily. Unfortunately for all of us, there are times when they've managed to pick up a piece of that trust you laid in them and they can keep playing with your emotions like you're their own personal puppet... That, my winged friend, is an even worse feeling than just being betrayed. It's possible he's been subjected to such a circle of trust and betrayal with this Hagen guy they mentioned. Unless you can gather all of those pieces, trust is much harder to hand out and quite possibly an impossibility for some. What I find curious is how one places trust in others when they don't trust themselves. Perhaps he just doesn't trust his own judgement of those around him so he refuses to let anyone near after he's already been betrayed once before." Giving a slight shrug as the remaining Sheikah started for the bath, Cloud stripped off his shirt and tossed it into a locker. "That's just my personal thoughts on the matter through personal experience though. Everyone sees the world differently so if you wish to seek the proper answer to his rationality, ask him. Don't give him the chance to retreat from the question. He's still partially a child behind the appearance of a teenager; easily angered and to pull information out of when pressed for answers. He wasn't trained to keep his mouth shut like Ephraim was. No one's holding a gun to your head to do anything so no pressure."

XXXXXWrapping a towel around herself, the dark haired female rolled her eyes. "I'm happy to be getting a real bath too, but you take happy to a whole other level," Deception chuckled lightly. After finally taking the effort to remove her undergarments and listening to her sister's opinion, she seemed to think over her response. "Waterboy seems really delicate, easy to bully. Blondie, uh Sheik or whatever his name is, seems far too serious. You'd think the weight of the world is on his shoulders. Shadowheart is a jackass in the simplest of terms. He is a a childish and rebellious teen stuck in a pity party and I really want to kick him right on out. It'd be a pleasure to make him scared of us, but it's not that he's too old to traumatize him. It's more like he has too few fears to even pick up on and creating a new fear in him is nigh near impossible. That Lurtz guy gives me the creeps. He's like one of those little marionette demons from the Devil May Cry game dad used to play with us. Cloud is one of those guys that wants to help everyone, but he's failed on so many occasions with so many things that he believes he's not able to protect anyone. Jake is a super nerd. Calling him a NEET was only touching the surface. He has a brain that runs at a million miles per millisecond and I'll leave him to Shiro. They can live in Nerdville together for all I care. Then there's Fox... I didn't get much from him besides that he's a bitter, overprotective older brother with a strong sense of justice. I sensed a lot of sadness from the time he was at the house to the time he left and it was different from what everyone else holds within them. It was... Pretty lonely for lack of a better explanation. We have our own kinds of sadness, but we've all had someone there to help deal with that sadness. The thing about him was that his sadness reaches down deeper than ours ever did. It's like his very foundation and the only happiness he knows is from that which he protects. Everything else just seems to exist and pass him by like a river around a rock. That is my thoughts thus far." Taking her hair down, she gave a soft sigh and ran her fingers through it a few times. "Yay. Hair down. And you can't rush Mari. Like I said before, it took some time for me to get him to tell me how he knew all of the tips he was giving me as a starter. The fact that he gave everyone what he did as his introduction is probably as good as it's gonna get for a while unless something new gets dragged out of his past that he'll have to admit to. I'm still getting over all the piercings he has -the eyebrow, lip and ears were obvious as he almost always has them showing, but not the others. And how easily he drew blood from dad too. Dad always seemed like a mountain when we were younger and yet he was knocked out of his chair by -regretfully using this description by the by- a street thug. For a well-trained assassin, that's gotta sting."

Don't wanna let you down,
xxxBut I am Hell bound.
Though this is all for you,
xxxDon't wanna hide the truth.
No matter what we breed,
xxxWe still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.
xxxThis is my kingdom come.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXX"Just because I prefer to look at the good side of life doesn't mean I don't acknowledge the bad side too. Believe me, I've seen my share." The blonde muttered as he glanced at the others for a moment. "I just can't let the bad rule my life. And if I can bring even a small amount of that happiness back to those who've been ruled by the bad for so long, then I've done my job." He mumbled, walking over to Kuro and Shiro as he tossed a towel at Bander who grabbed it and dropped his pants without caring who saw what. It was their fault for looking.
Bander gave a small chuckle as he followed after the others, Kuro right behind him and Sky carrying Shiro. "We're right here, no need to get impatient. As for communicating with the girls, Kansei and I already had a thought about that." the wolf drawled, glancing behind him to Skylar and Shiro. "The kitten and Sticks can set it up for us. She usually does anyways. Shiro, you mind?" he drawled, settling into the water.
XXXXX"Whoo, telephone." Shiro chuckled, the whites of his eyes going black as Skylar set him in the water. "We should be able to hear them now. Dee might pitch a fit but the other girls won't mind it so much. Niji, how's your end holding up?" "Same as usual. You really ought to be asking Kansei since she hears better." "Why do you always say that? The connection is working just fine like it always does." "You don't hear him, then. That's what I thought."
XXXXX"This is a voices only thing that these dorks have been able to do since before we met them, not sure how, but it's something to do with when they were experimented on." Skylar explained, dipping his feet into the water as he sat on the edge. At the first touch of water to his skin, the seal on his chest pulsed a deep red before returning to that calming blue. "It's come in handy for finding them a few times, but it only works between Kuro, Shiro, and Niji. Kana and Kansei can't do it, and neither can Bander." "It probably has to do with how much of Abby's DNA was used on us. Niji holds this connection better than the rest of us, although she often seems to make comments to things no one has said."

XXXXXOn the girls side, Niji was settled in the water with her head the only thing poking out, the whites of her eyes gone. Off on the other side of the pool, Kana gave a low sigh and glanced over when Rissa came out with Krystina and Lianna only to resettle herself with her head up to the sky.
XXXXX"Looks like we can hear everyone. Does anyone want to continue the music we had going back at the house? I know a few people missed Lee playing, and Kana hasn't had a chance to sing yet either." Rissa chimed as she carried Krystina into the water and sat with the vampiress on her lap.
XXXXXSitting on the edge, Lianna gave the girls a smile as she set her Violin out of the reach of the water, still holding it near to her. Perhaps she could play them a song later. She honestly wanted to hear Kana sing for them since it was such a rare treat.

XXXXX"Yeah... even I'll admit that was surprising. He used to seem like a fracking mountain to me, too," The ginger hummed, brushing her hair from her face. "C'mon, we're gonna be left behind if we don't get out there soon." She chuckled, grabbing a towel as she pulled off her skivvies and bra. Turning, she stuck her tongue out at her twin and started off without her, smiling at the others as she plopped into the water, Laughing softly as she ducked under and got completely soaked for good measure.

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

I wanna hide the truth,xxx
I wanna shelter you,
But with the beast inside,xxx
There’s nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,xxx
We still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.xxx

The Assassins
Ephraim, Shayde,
Sheik, Trevor, Watari

&

The Allies
Deception, Kristoff,
Rayne, Cloud, Lurtz,
Cirdan, Fox, Jacoby

XXXXX"Oh I'm sorry. You're right. You do see the bad things. What I meant to say is-," Sheik started up only to pause while settling down on the side of the bath. "And that's why you're such a vulnerable fellow." Glancing at Lurtz and Shadowheart, the Sheikah nodded before having to catch himself with his arms when Trevor pushed him forwards with his foot. "The hell?!" "Don't be mean." "Ugh. You're such a jerk at times. Sit down. I'mma work my magic on your head injury." "It's fine." "You've been unsteady since it happened so don't pull the I'm-fine card with me."

XXXXXSighing heavily, Trevor seated himself in the water beside his younger brother who began removing the bandages from his injury whilst tapping a finger on the surface of the water. Within a few seconds, the bandages were gone and Sheik had caught a lyre that hopped out of the water. "Thank you," he mumbled before running his fingers across the gold base and seeming to relax a little. Smiling lightly, his fingers began plucking the strings in a rather simplistic tune. Though it seemed like he was just playing a simple song, a faint red glow came from the side of Trevor's head making it apparent that it was the music laced with magic. As quickly as it started, it came to an end and he tossed the lyre back into the water where it turned to water just before it hit the surface. "It was a simple task. Anyways, I should be thanking you. You finished healing my head wound-" "Sorry..." "It's fine, it's fine. I just didn't expect you to have as much speed and oomph behind such a simple motion, Mari. Now I know so it won't take me by surprise next time. Where was I? Oh right. But yeah, it's finished healing and there's no faint buzzing feeling in my head anymore." "Good. I wasn't entirely positive it'd fix the lightheadedness since I've never used it on that before... It's Cheshire's genetics, not Absolem's." "What?"

XXXXXInstead of focusing on the conversations at hand, Lurtz seemed to focus on scrubbing the Jake's arms and back down instead of the conversation. At one point he seemed to want to say something yet never so much as uttered a sound even when the spirit fox tuned into the unspoken words, his ears twitching. "What's wrong, Lurtz? We've told you to speak your mind freely around us so speak up already." "Yes, sir. Would you mind not moving so much when I get started on your hair and ears? I do not want to get soap in your eyes." Blinking at the formality in the vampire's words, he gave a soft sigh but nodded nonetheless. They'd been trying forever to break him of that and yet even slurring words avoided his grammar altogether. "Sure. Thank you for speaking up. I can only pick up faint signals from you if any at all."

XXXXX"Sheik, let them believe what they want. It's not like they know much of Underland, the role holders and the rules," Ephraim yawned after sliding into the bath beside Shayde who appeared to sink lower into the water so only the upper half of his face could be seen. Leaning his jaw against his fist, he shut his eyes and returned to a somewhat restful position whilst the other shadow user remained very much on alert. "Ephie, what'd I say about the nastiness?" "Use it freely 'cause it's the greatest skill this one has in the normal world?" "I said to knock it off. Jesus, you're such a rude brat." "Thank you." "Not a compliment." Cloud had managed to sneak into the bath himself during the talk though he managed to shoo Lurtz away from the spirit fox boy and take over, the vampire simply sinking into the water like Shayde had.

XXXXX"Watari, you feel like giving our new friends a little taste of your ability?" the blonde male asked the black and white haired ninja who quickly shook his head and sunk into the water himself. "It's funny how shy he is compared to y'all." Having started up a faint hum, Trevor turned it into a chuckle. "He's always been extremely intimidated by any skill he may have to expose. I got to meet him once before, when he was really itty bitty, and he was already automatically dissing his own abilities. It doesn't mean he won't try his damnedest, he just has to be pushed into exposing it. He's also far more cheerful than Cloud about his negativity." "Thank you for calling me the very essence of depression." "You're welcome even if you were being sarcastic." "Kana, you're up."

XXXXX"Too hyper," Deception repeated before quickly following behind her sister. Unlike Truth and the other girls, she jumped in causing the water to splash over several of them. Resurfacing, she chuckled only to hear the males talking. "Oh hell no. I don't want a connection with the boys. Why are you even telephoning them? Cut it off. Shut it down now. You're ruining a nice bath by not ignoring them." "Harsh." "Don't get involved in the interaction then... Uh... Bander, there's a blonde kid behind you with a huge a** grin." "Cheshire!" "Maybe." Dropping into a seated position beside Skylar, the neko set a finger on the seal on his chest. "I can't wait. He~y! And incorrect on both sides. It's the Jabbababy's genes. Abby's genes. Ha! You wouldn't be here if they'd gotten their paws on Abby. Even my genes wouldn't be able to keep you alive if you'd gotten even a speck in your system... Jake-wake-y! I've missed you!" "Cheshie! You've changed your appearance again. Now you're all blonde and got all these red stitchings in your skin. What happened?" "This is the guy the crusinik baby's looking for, or at least one of his many forms. He's out of meds so his abilities are running rampant while the thunderstorm's near him. Abby told me specifically that it's not worth it to try pulling him out of where he is until the weather's settled down. I was gonna bring him to ya along with the crutches, but it wasn't to be. You're playing Telephone! I love playing Telephone. She's hearing the Uninvited so she responds to them. It's normal. Anyhoo, so you were talking about chickadee performing. Perform for us not-Alice!" "He's as hyper as you and Niji, Truth... Uninvited? What the frickity-frack does that even mean?" "They're voices that were not invited to be heard? Psst. Trevor. Hey. Trevor. You need to get her a dictionary."

Don't wanna let you down,
xxxBut I am Hell bound.
Though this is all for you,
xxxDon't wanna hide the truth.
No matter what we breed,
xxxWe still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.
xxxThis is my kingdom come.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

so, I checked out Earlyrise and they're more appropriate for Kana than the song I had picked out earlier. xD;;

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXXGlancing at the boys as they spoke, Sky gave a small chuckle and nodded. "You'll see." he hummed, leaning back on his hands. Glancing to the side as Cheshire appeared and poked at his seal he blinked, and for a brief moment his eyes were a flaming orange. "nice to see you, fuzzball" Shaking his head, the teen gave a sigh and slid all the way into the water, resting on the bottom as if he were meditating.
XXXXX"Hey, Cheshire, long time no see." Kuro hummed, waving at the new cat with his nubbed arm. Swimming over, he pulled himself out of the water to sit beside the feline. "What've you been up to since the last time we saw your stripey a**?" he chuckled, lighting a cigarette before putting his half-empty pack further back from the water. "Probably more than he wants to tell us. Kuro, quit bugging him and quit smoking that s**t stinks."
"I'm just telling you what the files we found said on us. They might've been wrong. or those experiments died. Who knows." Kansei drawled, sliding into the water with a sigh. "If anyone has questions about more of that crap I can go digging through my stuff back at Trevor's place to find the USB I stole. It has all the info on us and others." she mumbled, closing her eyes as she relaxed into the water.
"These Uninvited are annoying. Can I get rid of them? They keep making things up. Hello, Cheshire. We haven't met yet. I'm supposed to be the perfect copy of you or something. I'm Niji," Niji chimed, swinging her foot out to splash at Deception before she dove in after her. "And I'm a clone of the Snatch. Apparently I took on his moniker without realizing it." "Call him Bendiks if you need to keep them separate." This caused Bander to frown, his shoulders slumping. "Yeah... sure... call me that..." he mumbled, scratching at his ears as he glanced to a wall.

Opening an eye now that the second hand introductions were out of the way, Kana gave a sigh and sat up more. "I guess I can sing something." She shrugged, raising a hand above her as the wind started to change and shift into the tune she wanted. Closing her eyes, she took a breath and began. "Funny how in just one moment, things can turn upside down. Wish I could turn back time to when you were still around. And all I got left is memories, of your face smiling at me. Used to say that we should all just handle this differently. Took us all by surprise. No, we never saw this coming. always were, always will be our hero. With no warning sign, one day, they came and they took you away. Remember everything that you said? How we can never fully trust them. Wish I could say I disagree, but I know they're the ones to blame. Destroyed every hope we once had, Nothing we can do now that you're gone. No way to bring you back." As the song ended, the winds she'd been using to create the tune faded away and she dunked under the water to hide from the look Truth was giving her.

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

xD Oh my God. I had a feeling you were gonna go with it. Premonition correct.

I wanna hide the truth,xxx
I wanna shelter you,
But with the beast inside,xxx
There’s nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,xxx
We still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.xxx

The Assassins
Ephraim, Shayde,
Sheik, Trevor, Watari

&

The Allies
Deception, Kristoff,
Rayne, Cloud, Lurtz,
Cirdan, Fox, Jacoby

XXXXX"We'll be waiting to welcome you to the side of expecting the worst yet hoping for the best then, princess," Shayde muttered while continuing to watch everyone ever so cautiously. At catching the change in Skylar, several shadows around the walls outside of the bath began flickering only for Ephraim to swat him upside the head. "What'd you do to him, Cheshire?" Allowing his tail to flick behind him, the feline let a mischievous gleam appear in his eyes. "Just said hello to them of course."

XXXXXSheik just gave a soft sigh and shook his head. Humans trying so hard to do things they shouldn't even attempt to understand. This was precisely why he was always told humans were childish and naive to the world they lived in. "So much stress isn't good for you, Sheik. Try to relax," the feline purred before shifting his gaze to each that addressed him. Giving a lighthearted laugh, Cheshire shook his head. "It's fine, guys. The Jabbababy has bright wings that appear to be jagged butterfly wings so they most likely believed that the Jabbababy was Absolem. Unfortunately for them, they can't visit Underland like we can visit y'all and Abby only sets foot outside of Underland within the three Underlandian days he has left as a butterfly. He's still a caterpillar and hasn't been replaced as of yet. As for Bander, you can keep using the name. We usually call this one the Snatch even though his name is technically Bander anyways. It happens." Smiling at Kuro, his hand unraveled then reappeared where Kuro's hand should've been. "It's fine, Shiro. I've been searching for Alice and causing panic everywhere I go of course. Nothing too big since I took the Snatch back home. I think Abby's gone into his cocoon though. No one's seen him in the past week and the Mushroom Forest has been clear of smoke throughout this time too. Even I can't say for certain when and how long he'll spend in the cocoon. And we have met, Niji-chan. You probably don't remember it though. Such sadness we feel... There are no perfect copies of an Underlandian. That's an impossibility due to the danger we pose to all worlds, the exception being Wonderland and Neverland for reasons you don't need to know. There are only replacements, rejects and the incomplete. You're as close as one can get to a Cheshire Cat, but you can never be completed in becoming a Cheshire. Sadly, y'all are the incomplete. The children us Underlandians have with those from the outside worlds are the replacements. As for the rejects, well they all reside in Wonderland oblivious to the truth. Underland rejected them from becoming one of us as they are complete yet are incapable of replacing us. That's just how it is. I can shut the Uninvited out for you too. A~nd they're off. Less stressful on you, yes?"

XXXXXAs the song started up, all of the males shut up quickly to hear it. The further into the song it got, Trevor and Cheshire's gaze had shifted to Sheik who actually seemed to be taken off-guard. When it ended, the strawberry blonde Sheikah set his forehead in his hands making Trevor try peeking around to see his expression. What was he supposed to say? It hadn't even been twenty-four hours and his younger brother's previously more relaxed behavior had dropped into severe levels of stress. Was it the girl he'd been observing so very carefully or had something clicked a hidden puzzle piece into place with one of the other girls? Barely catching Sheik muttering to himself in the Sheikah tongue, Trevor's cheer seemed to melt away and he dragged the younger male into the water by his arm. Once side-by-side, the duo started speaking softly back and forth in their original tongue making Watari go into an automatic feint of not paying attention to them. "That was really pretty. Very expressive, very true..." "You're kidding." "Hush. Why that song in particular? That's what I want to know." "It's like an indirect slap to the face."

Don't wanna let you down,
xxxBut I am Hell bound.
Though this is all for you,
xxxDon't wanna hide the truth.
No matter what we breed,
xxxWe still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.
xxxThis is my kingdom come.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

Originally I was gonna have her sing Battleborn. This just fits better.

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXX"Wish we could go there. if only to better understand those parts of us." Chuckling at the hand on his nub, Kuro glanced at Shiro only to smirk and blow a cloud of smoke in his face. "ugh, what the hell, Nubbins?!?" "Quit trying to suck up, ya dork." "am not." "you're both dorks, shut up will you?" Bander sighed shoving both of them under the water and holding them down for a moment as they flailed about.

XXXXX"Thanks, Cheshie! They're all gone now~!" Niji hummed, floating around in the water with a smile. Swimming over to Deception, the youngest feline gave her a grin before her tail came up and caused a wave. "You need to stop being so negative, Lady." she hummed, sticking her tongue out.

XXXXXPopping back out of the water, Kana gave a sigh and glanced at the water for a moment. "That song just sort of covers the range of thoughts that go through my head whenever I think about what happened. Guess I still can't get over it." she mumbled, resting her head on her knees. "I already made my opinion clear on what happened, the person from before is dead. All that's left of her are memories. Lianna? Why don't you play a song?"

Nodding softly, Lianna gave a low whistle and picked up her violin again as her wings spread out behind her. Smiling at her friends she rose an eyebrow at Rissa and whistled. "She's asking if anyone has requests." Rissa chuckled, smiling to her friend.

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

Yeah. It fits better.

I wanna hide the truth,xxx
I wanna shelter you,
But with the beast inside,xxx
There’s nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,xxx
We still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.xxx

The Assassins
Ephraim, Shayde,
Sheik, Trevor, Watari

&

The Allies
Deception, Kristoff,
Rayne, Cloud, Lurtz,
Cirdan, Fox, Jacoby

XXXXX"I could take y'all there, but your attempts at learning about us will be observational only. We don't exactly hand out our secrets so very openly. Example; I shut out the Uninvited for Niji-chan but never told her how to turn them off and on. I also put my hand on Kurotan's arm. Leave 'em be, Bander, 'fore I put a pounding on you like I did the real Snatch when I was but a kitten and him a puppen," Cheshire smiled while starting to pick at the red stitchings on his neck. Settling his eyes on Rayne and Mari watching him, he smiled his best Cheshire Cat grin ever. "No problem, Niji-chan. I'm not gonna bite. Hard. It didn't surprise me you just called me a blonde kid instead of calling me Prince the Ripper or Aod. He doesn't really smile much after all and he's not a people-person. You've seen him in this form though and how he starts to get without the meds they pumped into him. It's so fun!"

XXXXXFrowning slightly, Rayne glared down into the water. "I've only seen it once and we've avoided the topic altogether since then. It's not exactly something either of us sees as fun," the crusinik muttered before dunking himself underwater. The feline male simply chuckled lightly before letting his presently blonde hair turn brown and cover up the upper half of his face. "The grin you have on your face just weirds me out. I always thought it'd be kind of weird to see a cat grinning at me that wide since I learned the story of Alice in Wonderland and this has only confirmed it... Not to mention that creepily dark presence behind such an eerie grin." "Oh? So you're very perceptive of it? You might not want to mention it to others much less focus too intently on it. People have accidents, disappear or, on occasion, die when they've done as such. It wasn't us though. No. It was Underland." "Which raises a major question: why do you keep talking about Underland as if it's a conscious being? It's a place, isn't it? And what's a puppen?" "Good questions. My answer is yes. And a puppen is part puppy, part kitten. Duh. The Snatch is now a kiggy though... Er... Part doggy, part kitty." Remaining quiet as if waiting for the rest of the answer, Mari blinked and glanced briefly at those who seemed to know Cheshire better. "That's only answering the last two questions... And I got the whole kiggy thing after you explained a puppen to me. You just like combining words, don't you?" "Yep. Can you play My Immortal from Evanescence on your violin? Better yet, a violin duet! Trevor plays a mean violin."

XXXXX"I'll pass on playing my violin right now. Classical music like Mozart, Bach and Beethoven is always enjoyable too. Your decision on what to play, Miss Lianna. The secret to playing music is what you're feeling after all. You don't start soon though, I'm gonna see about dragging the assassins over here into going all K-Pop boyband on y'all," the elder Sheikah snickered as Watari sunk under the water himself and the shadow users both directed their gazes elsewhere in the room. They were so easy to pick on. "I'm kidding. So serious. No, I'd just make Ephie, Sheik, Shadowheart or Watari sing or play something for ya. Maybe even get them to do a mash-up of several of them doing a cover." Glancing at Trevor, the feline snickered again. "I think we should get Sheik to do a song besides his normal little harp-y ditties after her. Y'know, to distract him and all?"

XXXXXShaking his head, Ephraim glanced at Lurtz who had returned to being extremely quiet while Cloud was fighting with Jacoby and his tails. It was then Watari resurfaced. "Completely missed it though I can't blame her." "Ephraim, hush. I didn't realize it was still weighing so heavily on your mind, Kana. Gomenasai." "Watch it, skunk," the coppery haired teen muttered, his eyes narrowing at the half-Sheikah. His gaze then returned to Sheik leaning against the wall of the bath. Ironic how this group was offered protection by the eldest Sheikah here and yet they were probably the least safe group to be around. Even more so was the strawberry blonde male's overly stressful predicament. The way Trevor had a faint hint of a less-than-thrilled air behind the cheer, Cheshire even bringing up the idea of distracting Sheik and how visibly exhausted he looked, there was only one thing they could've been discussing.

XXXXXSplashing Niji back, Deception stuck her tongue out. "I mostly just wanted girl time without all of the hyperactivity. Seriously, y'all need to chill," she retorted before slightly tuning into the other chats. Yep. There it was. The juvenile behavior of boys everywhere showed up as she'd expected. This was precisely why she'd been unhappy about the connection between the girls and boys. "Ugh. First nice, hot bath in what feels like forever is now officially ruined by boys."

Don't wanna let you down,
xxxBut I am Hell bound.
Though this is all for you,
xxxDon't wanna hide the truth.
No matter what we breed,
xxxWe still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.
xxxThis is my kingdom come.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXXLetting the duo go, Bander just grinned as they surfaced at the same time and tried to drown him. "I just thought they might want to cool down a bit before they said something really stupid to each other." the wolf chuckled, scratching at his ears again. Holding Kuro in a headlock and pushing Shiro off with his hand, he looked at Cheshire for a moment and chuckled slightly. "so, what fantastical word would you use on a bandersnatch-wolf hybrid?" he asked, letting his brothers go as they resettled themselves next to each other. "We get the thing about secrets, Cheshie. We wouldn't give yours away since we don't want our own given away either. They might not be as serious as some of yours, but they're still secrets." "'sides, I think it might be funny to introduce Niji to your friends and see how they react after you've told them 'there can only be one Cheshie'" Kuro grinned at his impersonation of the other's voice, having to light a new cigarette now that his other one was floating somewhere in the bath.

XXXXX"Why don't we hear the kitten with Lianna?" Kansei hummed, watching as Niji splashed water at Deception's open mouth. Anything to keep them from having a water fight right now. Smiling more as the child bounced up and pulled herself onto the ledge, she looked over to Lianna who nodded and smiled at the little kitten. Niji had always had the sweetest voice, it would be nice to hear her sing again. It seemed as if none of them had actually had the chance to play together in a while. Perhaps they could even play one of their other songs together, later. Once Skylar stopped being so quiet. "come to think of it, what happened to Sky?" "he's just meditating again, he'll resurface soon." "he's been down there for at least ten minutes, shouldn't he come up?" "he's fine."

XXXXXClearing her throat, the neko smiled at her fairy friend as she began playing once more, fluttering above the water as this time her violin caused a piano to sound in the background. "I'm so tired of being here, Suppressed by all my childish fears. And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave. 'Cause your presence still lingers here And it won't leave me alone. These wounds won't seem to heal, This pain is just too real, There's just too much that time cannot erase. "

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

 

[Dantes_river]

Pure T0rture

I wanna hide the truth,xxx
I wanna shelter you,
But with the beast inside,xxx
There’s nowhere we can hide.
No matter what we breed,xxx
We still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.xxx

The Assassins
Ephraim, Shayde,
Sheik, Trevor, Watari

&

The Allies
Deception, Kristoff,
Rayne, Cloud, Lurtz,
Cirdan, Fox, Jacoby

XXXXXLetting his eyes become a solid amethyst behind his hair, the cat tipped his head slightly. "Funny. I see what ya did there," Cheshire finally snickered after a moment or two of silence. Oh what fun this weird world of normalcy could be. It could also be a b***h at times though. Stretching his legs out in front of him, his grin just seemed to grow wider as the heels of his feet hovered over the surface of the water. "Easy-peas-y, DeCarde squeezy. You're a kiggolf to non-Underlandians. To Underlandians, you'd be a wondersnalf." Plunking his feet back into the water, he shook his head slightly and let his eyes return to their more neko version of a yellow-green interior of the iris and yet a fiery orange on the exterior of the iris. "Not entirely. It's not just a secret to us, not even a secret to us and the replacements. To be honest, it's to protect all of you non-Underlandians. If outsiders knew, Underland would kill you. It's that simple. And I think the Snatch would probably attempt hiding from her after a certain accident. He still feels horrible about it. Kurotan, try moving my fingers like your own. Heh. Shayde's getting agitated with him."

XXXXXAs the feline spoke, the younger shadow user smiled mischievously when several shadow hands pushed Skylar above the surface of the water. "Welcome back to the surface, princess. How about you join the conversation instead of avoiding it?" he suggested before partly sinking beneath the surface again, his gaze shifting between those around him. It was pretty obvious after a few minutes that he was still untrusting of even those he'd spent more than a day with. At noticing Lurtz moving and slightly pushing Kuro, Shiro and Bander a little ways to the side, he raised a brow. It was at the end of the song three males dropped down, the one obviously in the lead having been spinning upon impact to the ground only to wind up stumbling a few steps forward and splashing into the water where the trio had been.

XXXXX"Your guests are early, Sheik." Having straightened up at hearing the splash and watching a male of perhaps his late teens with short dark hair pop up, Sheik quickly moved into action, his hand waving in front of the other's face earning him a fist to the forehead and a muttered whoops. "Ow... I see that. Hayden. Hayden. Over here, bud. You alright?" "Lost my knife... Oh. Yeah. Slick spot." "On what? How'd y'all even get here?" "Vampire chic watching from above of course. As for how... One word; Hayden." "My elder sister Pantasilea to be specific. She posed no threat. And they appeared up there, attacking my sister in their descent to our level." "So you knew she was there? And that they appeared up there? That's also really weird, Lu-lu." "He looked up at us if only for a moment. It is pretty weird though, especially how he figured it out in your den. No idea how, but that's one of his many talents apparently." "Lurtz, that's not any kind of signal." "Apologies. I didn't think you'd care since she posed no threat and her focus was on nothing involving the rest of you. There is also the factor that I moved people in case they did slip so no one would get hurt. Pretty big signal someone's there." "Tch. I got water in my ear... "

Don't wanna let you down,
xxxBut I am Hell bound.
Though this is all for you,
xxxDon't wanna hide the truth.
No matter what we breed,
xxxWe still are made of greed.
This is my kingdom come.
xxxThis is my kingdom come.

 

[Pure T0rture]

Dantes_river

The Strays
Bander, Shiro, Kuro, Niji, Kana, Kansei

&

The Urchins
Krystina, Skylar, Rissa, Lianna, Truth

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.

Whoa!
My head is on fire but my legs are fine.
After all they are mine.
Lay your clothes down on the floor,
Close the door, hold the phone,
Show me how no one’s ever gonna stop us now.

XXXXXAs he was pulled from the water, Sky's eyes opened to one of deep sapphire and the other flaming orange, the symbols on his chest seaming to freeze as his eyes narrowed on Shadowheart "you really shouldn't have done that, princess." he drawled, that deeper voice echoing behind his soft one as he pulled himself from the water and sat against a wall. Gazing at the newcomers, he seemed to freeze on the one apparently called Hayden, a small grin pulling onto his features as both eyes became that flaming orange once more.

"okay, who broke my brother?" Krystina asked, a frown settling on her face at hearing that second voice. He shouldn't be able to talk freely without Skylar's permission like this. Pulling herself up, the newborn vampire gave a frown and closed her eyes, a blue aura surrounding her and Skylar both as she tried to repair his seal, the symbols beginning to rotate again as their language shifted once more. As the blonde blinked, the colors of his eyes returned to normal and he looked around with a sigh before glancing to Shadowheart again. "Please don't interrupt me when I'm meditating, it could end poorly..."

Blinking at the newcomers, Bander gave a small chuckle and pulled a hand through his hair. "Greetings, gents." he mumbled, elbowing his brothers until they both greeted the newcomers as well. "Hi..." "Hello...." This was followed by both boys smacking Bander upside the head at the same time.
"oh hey, more people!" Truth chimed, clapping lightly. "you're just in time for music. And maybe some really bad knock knock jokes if we get bored of songs." she hummed, pulling herself out of the water and smiling as bander's guitar formed in her arms, strumming out a few notes before she began singing. "I stand surrounded by the walls that once confined me, Knowing I'll be underneath them When they crumble when they fall. With clarity my scars remind me. Ash still simmers just under my skin. Indifference smiles again, So much I hide. How is stepping back a move forward? Now I'm forced to look behind, I'm forced to look at you; You wear a thousand faces. Tell me, tell which is you. Broken mirrors paint the floor. Why can't you see the truth. You wear a thousand faces. Tell me, tell me which is you. Tell me which is you. Eerily time made no change; Pointing fingers, laying blame, Lying over and over and over and over, Deceiving your mind. Dug my grave...Trash my name; Yet here I stand so you won't fade away."

'Cause here we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we’re miles away
Sun will come
We will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.