Miranda listens to Paula and then Raichel. She nods and says, "Nobody ever has to kill. There is always a choice." she goes to put an arm around Paula. "Don't you worry. I have equipment at my disposal that allows for me to stop people without even hurting them." She is referring to her stasis weapon, but doesn't mention such.

Shelly is annoyed enough by Frank that she wants to see daddy spank him. But she's also worried for her dad, having never really seen him in a real fight. Spar? Sure. With people who serve him. But against some fire nation guy out to prove something? Different story.

Frank faces Maximus. "The gate said whenever we're ready. So yes. You and I have time for a spar, your ex-majesty."

The cherubs all sit down with intent to watch the fight between Frank and Maximus. Having not been addressed this round, they have nobody to answer. Nor an interest in forcing their way into any conversations at the moment.

Murla, Queen of Darkness, says, "The thunder king and I agreed on a question of mutual benefit. He and I will be going together."

The King of Thunder says, "However, we will be considered separate from the rest of you."

The Gateway answers Mittens. "You are asking for the line. The letter of the law. The spirit of the law is there. You are smart enough to understand. The Heart will know intentions. If you help someone who didn't want your help, you will not be counted as part of their team. But even Murla, no matter how much she may insist she didn't want someone's help, will have wanted the help. If Murla helped you, she would officially become part of your team, so to ask if she would lose her question even though she isn't officially part of your team is a question with an assumption. A false assumption. The spirit of the law is simple to grasp. Do not test the line or you will find you crossed it long ago."

Maximus has been putting a great deal of effort into keeping his cool, and he's been succeeding.  He hands Shelly a video camera, asking her to record the duel, then turns to face Frank with a blank expression, not allowing him the pleasure of knowing his words did in fact annoy and offend.

"It's on then," he says calmly.

He then begins to casually stroll toward Frank who's a little taken aback.  What's with the casual posture!?  The king doesn't seem to be taking the match seriously!

"What?  You think this is some kind of game?  Well you're sorely mistaken!"

He performs a swift firebending kata ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C0RvNVfT1Y ) that sends a rather large burning sphere hurling toward Maximus.  The king was expecting such an attack, but is still forced to jump aside to avoid being consumed by the flames.  As he dodges, he takes hold of the trident strapped to his back and in one swift motion he unsheathes and throws it right toward Frank's center of gravity.

Frank gets a wicked grin, glad that he's forced the King of he Water Nation to treat this like a real fight.  He dives to the side to avoid the trident while shooting a swift bolt of flames at the royal seabear.

Maximus decides that Frank's attack is probably weak enough to risk charging right toward his attacker.  He ducks down some, shielding his face with his left arm while unsheathing his sword with his right.  The bolt scores a glancing blow on the King, but Maximus has closed the distance and holds the sword to Frank's throat.

Frank pauses for a moment and considers his still calm looking opponent.

"You're bluffing!" he surmises, forming a blazing sword of his own hidden behind his back, "You don't have the stomach for a death match!"

"Don't bet your life on it," Maximus warns.

Frank's body language feigns surrender.  Then suddenly he moves to swing his burning sword at King Max!

Max wasn't bluffing.  With just a slight twitch, the tip of his blade cuts through Frank's throat.  Max follows up by slicing off the hand that was holding the burning sword.

Frank staggers back, coughing and grasping at his throat with the one hand he has left, his life ebbing fast.

Max calmly stoops down to pick up his opponent's hand off the ground.

"Frank may not want to be healed, King Timothius," Maximus points out, "He may rather die than live with the fact that he was humiliated by someone half his size.  And who didn't bother using any fancy powers to defeat him."

He faces Frank.

"Do you want to live?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:24, Thu 05 Aug 2010.

Mittens giggles at Cham's cute antics, very happy he came along.  She ahs at Darkthorne's answer and gives him a thumbs-up.

"Well you sure picked the right tactic!" she answers Alexis with a grin, reaching to side-hug and fist-grind the Nature Queen's shoulder, "I have no defense against genuine tears and pleading.  You totally wrapped me around your finger!"

To Timothius she goes for another side hug.

"Glad to hear it!" Mittens chimes cheerfully, "Interestingly the same reason I find you attractive, hot stuff!"

She leans over to whisper in his ear.

"So... be my secret boyfriend for the time being, then.  Out here we're not under a microscope, so no need for stupid politics to get in the way of two people liking each other, right?"

"I can go with spirit law," she answers the gateway, "Just used to hair-splitting nit-pickers spoiling my fun."

Speaking of fun... Mittens enjoys the fight between King Max and Frank immensely, instinctively copying their moves as she watches.  When Frank gets stabbed and disarmed, she winces and ouches in sympathy.  She doesn't wait for Frank to nod or headshake and casts a high level magical cure on him to save the guy's life.  Frank sputters and gasps now that the bleeding has stopped.  He's far from being back to full health, but at least he's not dying.

"How very generous of his highness to offer Frank the choice," Mittens surmises, "But dead men give no apologies, and I'd say Frank owes the Water Kingdom and their royals at least that much.  Prism was right about speaking the language of fire.  I have a great deal more respect for the Water Kingdom now than I did a moment ago, and would like to show my respect in their language.  Still... have yet to hear from them about how they feel about being used as a threat against my people.

"But back to the matter at hand.  Team building.  We have ourselves Team ThunderDark consisting of Murla and Thunder King who presumably prefer no assistance.  Team Peanut Gallery consisting of Prism and J'Renn who presumably will only indirectly aid with supplying equipment and advice.  Team Helpful consisting of the cherubs and Darkthorne who presumably will directly assist those who ask for it.  Team Cham, the only one among us with an actual team logo, consisting of Cham, Cham, and all the other Chams.  And lastly team...FireNatureLifeZap...  We need a better name.  Consisting of myself, Queen Alexis, King Timothius, and Raichel.  Who have but one question between them: to find the truth behind the Nature Kingdom's woes.

"Which leaves the unpicked members Queen Shelly, Maximus, Miranda, and Paula.  I've no objection to anyone joining me and Alexis' team if the others don't object.  Also, team leadership should probably be decided upon within your teams.  I vote Alexis for my team for obvious reasons."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Thu 05 Aug 2010.

Prism is relieved that Frank didn't die.  They expect that in spite of Mittens apparent lack of concern for the political ramifications of her top adviser being killed in a death match with the former king of the Water Kingdom, the news of the event wouldn't make anyone more inclined toward peace.  They're also relieved that being an observer will not be dangerous according to the one who's done this before and hope that being on J'Renn's team won't be hindered by the fact that they can't directly communicate with each other.  They're also happy that the journey will only be a day.

  Darkthorne considers Raichel's question, "Entities capable of creating, altering, or destroying all of reality within a timespan faster than standard biological comprehension.  At times encompassing or being a reality unto themselves.  They can be difficult to stop, but our continued existence tends to be worth a little more effort than usual keeping it that way when they deem us not worthy of existing.  I'd admittedly prefer if Miranda and Paula's outlook applied."

  Darkthorne is somewhat surprised the expected timeframe is a day, but considers that the end result is a question given an attempted answer and not direct results to be a factor.  As the fight between Frank and Maximus takes place, he wonders if there is a trend of leadership around here backing up their magical ability with actual freakin skill for all of the local leader positions.  "Well, for the moment at least it seems I do not win the worst life game.  Why do people play that game by the way?"  Yes, Darkthorne is taking Mr. Nametags comment literally.

  Team Helpful. It remains to be seen if Darkthorne will actually live up to that name.

OOC Style: Well, how fortunate then that the mentioned remains of a random cosmic horror that ate a Yahweh stand-in is doable then >:D
  Though the Orz are still my favorite cosmic horror aspects.

J'Renn watches the combat curiously, looking mildly disturbed as Frank is brought so close to death, as well as is maimed.  She realises that challenges here are taken quite seriously.  Better to just dispatch an offending person immediately, rather than issuing a forward challenge.

She requests provisions, and supplies for 3 days just in case she ends up needing to share.  Along with the provisions she requests a portable trauma kit.  She dosen't plan on interfering, but better prepared than not.  Juust in case the gate isn't telling the whole truth, she has a hard time believing an entity she can't read directly.

When the fighter between King Urser and Frank starts up, Cham immediately becomes interested. He zaps himself behind King Urser's 'corner', losing his headband get up and donning a gray sweatsuit and a knit cap.

"C'mon there, Maxy! You gotta pulverize this guy! Give 'im a left and then a right and then another left!" The little blue raccoon punches the air in front of him to illustrate his tactics.

As that goes on, Cham also appears behind Frank's 'corner', in the same get-up.

"This guy's a killer, Franky-boy! Whatever ya do, don't let 'im hug ya! There ain't nothin' more devestatin' than a SeaBear Hug, though I hear that SeaBear claws taste pretty good... But DON'T you eat 'em! You gotta eat water and clap... uh... fire!"

When things go ultimately south for Frank, both Chams cover their eyes and give an "Ouch... that's gotta hurt!"

The two Chams circle around and run headlong into each other, forming a single Cham again as he sees Mittens helping Frank out. He floats himself near to Timothius as she does that, balancing himself on his tail, "Oooh, if she keeps that up, she might put you out of a job..."

He brightens up again as Mittens starts breaking down the teams, puffing out his chest proudly, "Yep! We got a team logo and we've even got a plan! We're totally gonna reach the core before you guys. In fact, I know shortcut!" He gives the others a quick raspberry as he reaches into his non-existent pockets and thwips out a large black circle.

"Now... this'll either take me to the Starway Interstate, Wonderland, or the Heart of the Universe. Only one way to find out... Cannonball!"

Without waiting for anything else, the little blue raccoon plugs his nose and bounces into the blackhole, zipping it up behind him and disappearing.

At the violent combat between King Urser and Frank, particularly when Frank has his throat sliced, Paula screams and huddles against Miranda, hiding her face from the bloodshed.  Even when Mittens heals him up, the skunk seems shaken at the seemingly random slaying that had taken place.

At the question of which team to join, Paula quickly shakes her head, "No... No thank you... I... I can't do this. I'm not the right furson for this kind of journey... And I don't have any kind of abilities that would be helpful for this. Nothing that the king of Life wouldn't already be able to do tenfold." She lets herself smile lightly at Timothius as she says that.

"I think I'll stay here and wait... I just don't think I can make the same kind of journey as you all."

Before the Frank/Max fight, Timothius is hugged by Mittens, who just hugged Alexis. Timothius blushes. Hugging Alexis was SO the right thing for Mittens to do and Timothius nods in response to her whisper, his posture almost identical to Alexis (See Alexis' post). However, the fight begins and Timothius' expression loses most of its enthusiasm. By the end of the fight, the expression is annoyed with a hint of sad.

Timothius is divided in so many ways over Mittens healing Frank. He should be relieved that Mittens saved Frank's life. He is, but he's also upset Max nearly killed the guy. Maybe because Max knew Timothius was nearby. He wouldn't have waited to heal Frank either, but Max distracted him with the speech about Frank possibly not wanting to be healed. Mittens was so quick to heal Frank that the second's hesitation was all she needed to beat Timothius to the punch.

".........................."

He's also thinking about how now Mittens is going to be rumored as better at healing than the King of Life and that maybe the girl is, in fact, more powerful with water than the Water royalty. All because she healed this rather annoying individual. But seeing Frank is still quite far from being at full health, Timothius seizes the opportunity to stop such rumors from ever happening. He picks up Frank's hand from the ground and attaches it to the wrist it was severed from while he puts his left hand on Frank's throat, almost in a strangle-hold. Even as he's holding Frank's throat, Timothius suggests a name for the team he and Mittens are on. "Team Mourning." he says with a deathly serious expression, pulling away as Frank is seemingly back to perfect health. "We are on a mission to learn about why such sorrow befell the Nature people, so we mourn the losses and in our mourning, put ourselves to use in service to those who still yet live."

Timothius makes a mental note Mittens can heal from a distance too, while he can not. This will be very handy on the way to the heart.

He looks at Paula and nods. "Take care of yourself." he says to the sweet skunkette.

Nametag guy answers Darkthorne, "It's just another form of pissing contest. People play that game to try out-doing each other at something. It also doubles as a means of saying "Well I'm more bad-ass than you" just like showing off scars on your body. Or "I have more of a right to complain, so shut up and stop wining while I wine." is another reason people play that."

Frank is rather annoyed with himself. He was so sure the Seabears were wimps... but King Max just embarrassed him in front of everyone. He stands up straight and proud anyway. "My queen apologized to the Nature Kingdom for things she had nothing to do with before her crowning. I, therefor, am far from worthy to refuse apologizing to someone when I was downright wrong about them and thus, proven a liar. King Urser, you and your family have my apologies. Not only for underestimating you. Not only for marring your name on television. But also for putting you in this position where you were forced to nearly kill me right in front of your little girl just to make a point."

Shelly cringed, covered her mouth and widened her eyes when she saw Frank's throat slit. She looked away, teary-eyed. Timothius is nearby, yes. He can bring people back to life, yes. But Shelly's still just a girl. A teenage girl at that. She is too distracted by this to notice Mittens pointing out about the fact Shelly hasn't given an opinion on being used as a threat against Mittens. Looks like Max will have to answer Mittens. Either that, or draw Shelly's attention to it.

When Timothius mentions mourning the people of Nature, Shelly loses it and just cries into her hands, glowing a bit. The battle between Frank and Max just made the entire Fire/Nature war take a front seat in Shelly's mind.

When hugged by Mittens, Alexis blushes like Timothius did and her shoulders shrug as she looks over at the kitty. She watches as Mittens hugs Timothius also and their image is taken by a reporter who has been recording this event. Alexis smiles hopefully at Mittens all cute-like.

During the fight, Alexis stays next to Mittens and watches with interest. At first, she is worried for Max. She suppresses a smile when Frank gets his throat cut. The guy deserved it and Alexis knows Timothius won't let that last.... orrrr Mittens won't. Mittens has earned another brownie point this post.

Upon seeing Frank apologize and in such a... genuine manner... Alexis suddenly finds herself amazed at the level of respect Frank just yanked from her.

When Mittens puts Alexis in charge, she earns yet ANOTHER brownie point from the elf. That's 3 brownie points in one post (4 if you count that Mittens suggested Frank apologize in the first place).

Seeing Shelly cry takes Alexis right back to the war, but she just assumes Shelly is crying for Frank.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:53, Sat 28 Aug 2010.

Seeing Mittens hug Alexis and Timothius made Raichel smile. It was a cute sight and more importantly, a sign of hope. And Darkthorne's definition of a god, while certainly impressive and satisfactory to Raichel, makes her wonder if Darkthorne is from a whole race of beings that are easily as powerful as or more powerful than herself. She also decides not to think overly much on the topic.

Raichel manages to keep a neutral expression throughout the entire fight between Frank and Max.

Raichel has no healing powers. Shocker of shockers (pardon the punn). So she does not heal Frank.

Raichel is a bit more insightful than Alexis. Seeing Shelly cry touches Raichel's heart as the seabear shows deep, passionate concern for the people of Nature. Raichel hurries over to the girl to hold her, kneeling down on the ground to be closer to Shelly's height.

During the fight, the cherubs have varying reactions. Gabriel has a serious expression and watches the whole thing, only lightly wincing at the sight of Frank's throat being slit. Stephen watches calmly and pulls a calculator from subspace. Well it LOOKS like a calculator anyway. Carla headshakes with a worried look and her hands to her mouth. Sparky gets that cocky smile a guy who enjoys a battle tends to get. Rainbow also winces, though she grabs Daniel protectively, hiding his face in her chest. Daniel's face was hidden in time for him to not see the throat slitting, so when he looks again, all he sees is Timothius healing Frank the rest of the way.

The cherubs do not comment on the fact they have been defaulted to Darkthorne's team. Nor do they comment on Darkthorne more or less claiming his race can potentially take on their god. None of them are convinced, of course, but without them commenting, nobody is any wiser to this.

Miranda hugs Paula and says, "I hope to see you again some time. But I need to go. My friend really wants me to observe..."

"I accept on my own behalf," Maximus answers with a slight nod to Frank, still somewhat suspecting treachery, but trying hard to not let it show he has his guard up.  It's also taking a good deal of effort to refrain from his old habits of speaking on behalf of others.  He turns to face his daughter and gives her a bow.

"It would be my Queen's choice to speak for herself and our people," he continues, "Or to remain silent.  And it shall be her choice whether we join a team or not."

That's his gentle way of telling her that it's time for her to start acting like a queen and be more decisive.  There's a lot of other stuff on his mind, like how very two-faced he considers the fire kingdom and her leadership.  Advice and warnings he wants to give his daughter, but he figures it more important for her to learn first hand in this case.  He doesn't expect her to do or say anything that will spark off a war or even threaten to, so he figures it totally worth it to keep his thoughts to himself for the time being.

And then Shelly starts crying.  His train of thought derails and crashes into a canyon!  He rushes over to her to hug and comfort her and himself winds up shedding a few tears.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

Mittens has more than two faces.  She has a happy face for when she's happy.  :)  A sad face for when she's sad.  :(  An angry face for when she's angry.  >:(  And so on.  Remember that Mittens enjoyed the fight?  Well she enjoyed it a bazillion times more than the player thought, thanks to Cham's hilarious coaching!  ROFL face!  XD  If she were better versed in OOC chat, she'd know she'd probably not be seeing Cham again and might have to wear a sad face.  :(

Paula, Mittens isn't quite that attached to, though she finds the gentle girl to be sweet.  She gives a nod and a thumbs-up to indicate her approval of the girl's decision to stay.  She puts on a big grin when Darkthorne and Name Tag Guy have their serious discussion about the "My life sucks more" game and when Timothius nodded to her suggestion, but decided now was not the time for more flirts given his super-serious face when giving the new name for the team.  :|  (( http://www.seriouscat.com/ ))

"Awesome!" Mittens approves, "I approve of the team title, and of Frank's living up to his end of the challenge!"

Frank bows, slightly offended that she implied there was any doubt he would...  Still...  "Thank you for restoring the use of my hand," he says to Timothius, "And for healing me, both of you."

He feels guilty when Shelly cries, thinking he was at fault.  Mittens awws for the poor crying Seabear.  Not only that, but being locked in one of those deadly Seabear hugs!  Kidding.  She figures it was Timothius' speech that made the tender girl cry...

"I'd offer a hug but..." Mittens says, wondering if she'll get a dirty look from Shelly's daddy, "Aw heck with it."

She too walks over to Shelly and will give a Barney style hug unless prevented.  What?!  It's about the only kind you can offer someone half your height!  Unless you're like Raichel and kneel down first.  Duh.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

Prism is conflicted.  On the one hand, they were promised safety from the hazards of the Heart if they went on the journey to observe.  On the other, things have already gotten violent between people without the journey even starting.  They don't much trust the fire kingdom or her leadership either, but... hugs!  And apologies!  Staying behind is more viable now that Paula has elected to do so, but then they'll miss out on what they could have learned from this rare opportunity.  And what's at stake is very worth it.  Prism decides by a narrow majority to stand by their earlier decision to go with J'Renn as an observer.

  Darkthorne's back and forth swing through Sarcasm qualifications and figure of speech ignorance is on the backswing so they get the intended meaning with Nametag Guy's 'pissing contest' comment...  Which reminds Darkthorne that among the details such as no lighting, and no prepared food, there are no toilets on Kasketon.

  Even if the place was perfectly safe, Kasketon is a lousy tourist spot.

  "Schadenfreude is an unexpected element of our travels." As well as one of the few job benefits back home besides the whole survival thing.  "Although not so much in this case, even if seeing ones not yet hardened to life out of necessity brings a certain optimism for existence at large."  Little girls crying is sad.  The fact a little girl has enough innocence left in them TO cry over the situation is less so.

OOC Style: If Paula is still around OOCly, I can dust off Blake later to give her someone to talk to ICly later...  Okay so maybe that's not the best plan but hey, it's A plan?

Seems somewhat relieved that at least a few people are upset that they've seen the egregeous injuries Frank had endured.  She's been in war before and she's still not completely unaffected by the death of another.  For one to be so jaded that watching a person die before thier eyes is simply passe would be rather frightning to be around.  She double checks her supplies, and walks over with the group who is observing.  (I will have my vessel keep a lock on all of us in case we need an emergency evacuation.  I can also control my ship from afar if needed.  I feel it's reasonably safe to observe.) she reassures the group.

Shelly is simultaneously hugged by her dad, Raichel and Mittens. She remains glowing, clinging to her dad for a few seconds that seem like minutes. Shelly wipes her tears away and takes a deep breath before slowly dimming back to normal. "Apology accepted on behalf of the Water Kingdom." she says firmly as her expression seems serious.

"How do I feel about being used as a threat against the fire nation?" Shelly looks at Mittens. "Right now? Awkward. Since you are not the previous ruler of fire and you are being kind, the Water Kingdom's stance with you is currently on hold. But you must understand the sheer devastation caused to the people of Nature. You personally have yet to understand the loyalty me and my people have to the people of Nature. If Alexis said jump, I would ask her how high. Not because I am under her command, but because I love her and her people. But to be clear... I don't believe anyone used anyone as a threat. Perhaps we can clarify this some more when you return from your trip to the center. I and my father will not be going with you to the center. We came to meet you all because we were dared to and would look like cowards if we didn't show up thanks to Frank's challenge. I am personally here to wish you all well, and especially to give you my sincerest hope that you will turn out to be a hero. The Water Kingdom is going to watch with much interest, but we are not taking action to the heart this day. That will be another time. This is mostly for you and Alexis anyhow..." she sighs, slowly getting that smile of hers back. "Good luck..."

Raichel stands slowly and turns to Darkthorne. "Don't let your heart be hardened. For whatever evil befell you or your people, if you harden your hearts, that very evil has killed you and thus, wins. Kindness, love, empathy... these virtues remind you that you live." She doubts she is telling Darkthorne anything new. But reminders are always a good thing.

Raichel then looks at Shelly. "The Fire Queen may be a stranger, but she is a quick study. I think after the trip to the heart, we will know what the Fire Queen is made of."