World Tree MUSH

    It's not quite the frozen north. Not yet. But it's still north of Dorn and pretty cold. A light snow had just showered the land the night before, leaving the ground fluffy and white around the region of the village of Sheffield. It's not a large village by any means but it IS a region that has been absolutely plagued by monster attacks, and the hardy people of the village have repelled them for as long as they can remember.
    It wasn't until recently that they discovered the REASON for such rampant monster activity.
    Located in a small, shallow cave that had been hidden by the yearly snow, someone *found* something...
    And word of what was found spread for miles around.
    "That's my sword." Mau says very pointedly as she... Is forced to wait. At the back of the goddamn line.
    Adventurers from countless miles away have come to try their hand at pulling this mystical blade from the rock pedestal it's stuck inside, some people have even come from OFFWORLD to try and pull a legendary blade.
    At least the now VERY HIGH adventurer presence has the monsters at bay. But geeze everyone from the lowliest Clay ranked adventurer up to high and mighty Gold ranks have shown up. Mau fingers irritably at the silver insignia at her collar as the line moves way too slow for her taste.

     Of course Mao Mao is there. Of course he is. Right behind Mau in fact. "Pulling swords from stones is a time honored tradition, dating back to antiquity. It's a test of a hero's resolve! And also something to do with kings, I think." he rambles a bit, fingers tapping at the handle of his own legendary blade. "Not that I need a new sword of course. Geraldine's plenty special enough. It's just... the prestiiiiiige." His voice dips a full octave on that last word as his eyes narrow on that blade.

Itana had time on her hands and felt restive, and Mau was in the area. She was content to come along. Then they went north of Dorn and she wasn't so content anymore.

A thoroughly miserable Itana wraps herself not only in her cloak, but in an additional layer - a second, thigh-length cloak made of mottled rabbit fur, with a deep hood that overlaps her regular one. Hunkering deep into the cloak heap, she grumbles and hugs the garments around herself. "Next time I will look at a map," she mutters bitterly to herself, glancing back and forth as if she could somehow spot a hot spring or a bonfire.

She is not so lucky. There's only the sword in the stone, and a line of adventurers waiting to take their turn at yanking the haft.

A moment of waiting later, she scuffs a heel violently and scowls. She stomps out of line and out to one side of the adventurer horde.

"CAAAAAAVE DRAAAAAGOOOON," she shouts, waving her arms and pointing off in a direction where there is not *actually* a cave dragon. But there might be. Behind the rocks. Somewhere.

    Under the pretense of 'fostering good relations with another country', Matsu Shuzenji has come back to Mau's world to offer her services as a healer. She has been pitching in with all the rampant monster activity - and probably giving some cutting remarks for some of the more idiotic injuries that she's seen come by. Today, however, there aren't really any major injuries to tend, so she's taking an 'off day' to stand in line with Mau purely for curiosity's sake. One of her attendants is also present, a taller middle-aged woman named Sayo, who stands behind her in quiet, respectful silence for most things.

    "Every person in this line is convinced it's their sword as well. If you tried to convince them, they'd probably start making up their own reasons to counter your 'made up' reasons," she says to Mau, before giving a little huff and shaking her head. "Just let them get it out of their system. It's time you can spend relaxi-"

    Itana yells. Matsu whips around in alarm, uttering a startled "Hwah-?!" and looking between the taller woman and the place she's pointing at. Once she realizes there is not, in fact, a cave dragon, she turns back towards Itana and scowls. "I will set your feet on fire." Grump.

    "I bet if I started shooting I could handle 'bout five of 'em." Ghost suggests Mau dryly. He's in civvies, complete with hoodie that somehow hides the top half of his face. The rest has a handy scarf.

    "Don't bet on it, shorty!" A burly, turtle-like alien with three fingers on each hand says with a laugh. "I'll get that sword, and once it's mine the world'll know the name Korwun Soruk!" The burly alien laughs mockingly, his kraant, sworn comrades, cheering him on. "You tell 'im, Soruk!" "Yeah, bet he's scared now!"

    Ghost sighs. "Fuckin' hell."


THe watches Itana's display, and raises an eyebrow while the krogan begin to look around alertly.

    "Dragon? I'll RIP that scaly bastard's guts right outta its throat! Dragons are pansies next to a thresher maw!" Yeah, that alien's gonna be at this for a while.

    "Bit much for the King Arthur routine innit?" muses Ghost, unphased by the commotion.

    Illumiel is here. The angel using her very amazing disguise as LUMINA NETHERLAND... it's literally just her in a prestine white dress, sandals, a sword in its scabbard on her right hip, and not much else. She's certainly not dressed for the cold, but unlike Itana, doesn't really show it.

    She does deadpan at the nomad archer when she tries to skip the line. "There is clearly no cave dragon over there... patience is one of the holy virtues, perhaps I could behoove you to learn it." she suggests, remaining in line with her hands clasped behind her.

 
     It's around that time that the crowd of adventurers in a line happens to look like a buffet table. Meat wrapped in cold armor. Meat wrapped in soft cloth. Meat with fur on it, and odd strange meat that looks like seafood out of water and in this freshly powered white land. 
     It isn't hard to mistake the sound of a large grizzly bear panting out loud as it starts getting closer to the group from the side, letting out these hungry sounding grunts and pants as it approaches. It definitely looks restless as it pauses to eye up the group from afar, turning to walk parallel to the long line. 
     ... Is that a smaller bear on its back? 
     "Dulguun. Tut-tut!" The bear rears on its hind legs, and the 'smaller' bear climbs up onto its shoulders, tugging back its head to reveal a woman's face, looking over the crowd. Eyes scan before they lock onto an odd crowd. The woman hops off, seemingly the tamer of this bear, adjusting a bow on her back as she makes her way straight to Mau, with this agitated and stomach-growling grizzly following close behind like an obedient dog. 
     "This is what you get for being late, dumb cat."

    "Yeah well you're not getting any prestige here, Mao Mao. That's my sword." Mau says testily. This has to be the umpteenth time she's asserted this, making the squad of adventurers ahead of her roll their eyes HARD.
    Itana shouts that there's a dragon.
    This not only turns heads, but makes several of the lesser ranked adventurers and scoundrel types scurrying, but when no dragon appears... Well there's a peal of laughter from the adventurers that remain.
    Mau IMMEDIATELY takes advantage and moves up in the line while people sulk about losing their place from Itana's stunt.
    "Naisu~." Mau says flashing the desert nomad a thumbs up and a huge, kitty-fanged, grin.
    But then Mau huffs.
    "Yeah. I know. I know they *think* that. But that's literally my sword." She proclaims to Matsu, setting hands on her own hips testily. "And my reasons aren't made up. They're very *good* reasons. That I can't explain without sounding like a lunatic."
    That said, a few more people try their hand at the sword. No luck for them.
    "Let's not start shooting." Mau does say to Ghost. "I mean I'm more than reasonably certain I could kick the ass of just about every one here, including those turtle guys," she motions at the whole squad of krogans, "-but I'm not in the mood to start a brawl over my property."
    She's really convinced that is her sword huh.
    And then. Bears.
    One bear atop the other- which makes several of the people on line turn and draw their weapons!!! ... At least until it is revealed that one bear is actually an archer in a bear-hooded cloak, who chides Mau on her punctuality and the other is her tamed pet.
    "I mean." Mau replies. "I would have gotten up early but you know how bad of a morning person I am, Suvdaa."
    Mau is not a morning person at all.

Itana does not want to wait. She is cold and miserable and wants to go home.

"Sometimes making things up is a virtue," she huffs to Illumiel, scooting back into place and ushering the angel forward in the line. Matsu gets a quick sidelong wink, though she doesn't smile and her expression is otherwise unchanged.

She is less sanguine about a bear just showing up. Itana narrows her eyes slightly and moves a hand beneath her cloak, trying to not make it /too/ obvious she's reaching for her knife.

It turns out to be unnecessary. Mau seems like she knows this person. Itana lets her hand go slack, then brings it back up to once more tighten the fold of her cloak-layers around her body.

"Friend of yours?" she mutters to Mau with a slight dip of her lashes.

    Lumina just shakes her head at Itana, remaining quiet as she's ushered forward. Then there's a bear, and an actual bear. This might become a problem if the grizzly gets too close, her aura is making the other adventurers in line a bit testy, what it might do to a lower animal might cause I S S U E S.

    The undercover angel doesn't make any note of this however, merely shifting her stance to rest her hand atop her sword hilt.

    In all the excitement, Ghost decides to grab lunch. Since this place is basically an enormous Rennfaire, Ghost figures there'd be a lotta pork, mutton, turkey, and all the ales and stouts you can drink. He returns with a mug of dark ale and an enormous turkey leg, it's comedically huge in fact. Ghost isn't quite sure if he wants to meet the birds they breed here.

    "We already know Mau's gonna get the bloody sword, might as well see how this plays out, eh 'tana?" He suggests to Itana casually.

    He eyes the bear with a smaller bear with barely a reaction, sipping his ale after tugging his scarf down to drink. "Mmm." It ain't bad ale, he can't deny. It's very earthy.

    He gazes at the turkey leg in his hand, then at the bear.

    Big geezer. If he attacks, everyone's gonna be in trouble. Ghost isn't sure if most of the folks here have the will saves to take on a grizzly bear, or the person who managed to tame the fuzzy menace.

    So Simon just hangs back, watching with beer and turkey. This is gonna be hilarious.

     "Ha! Like your tiny little noodle arms could pull that thing out. You need proper hero arms, like these." Mao Mao retorts, flexing his biceps. The visible difference is... negligible. Itana shouting about a cave dragon gets his ears to perk up, but he refuses to budget from his spot. "Hmph. Like I'm falling for that old trick again. I'm not a kitten anymore, you know."

And then the bear shows up. "Hey! I'm not dumb, YOU'RE dumb! You're even later than- oh wait you meant her." the feline warrior barks at Suvdaa, then gives Mau a cheeky, and very shark-like, grin. "Haha, she's right. You should've showed up sooner, dumb-dumb."

    "You know your reasons aren't made up. I... am reasonably certain your reasons aren't made up. But none of them have any reason to believe you," Matsu replies.

    Then there is bear. And for a few moments, Matsu is just wide-eyed and utterly baffled. But it turns out Mau knows the bear, so Matsu is content to just relax and let it slide. Sayo looks a tad nervous, but she's at least trying to hide it! But the bear girl does raise a good point. "Some things are worth forcing yourself to be up early, if only to save yourself the hassle."

     "I can't even leave you for a day. You'd sleep straight through an orc attack if I wasn't there to wake you up." Suvdaa remarks to Mau with this agitated tone, which the bear almost seems to follow up on and let out this angry little noise of its own, before licking at its chops and eyeing the line of adventurers. 
     Then it sees the turkey leg. It sniffs. Dulguun pads his way over to Ghost. 
     Almost instantly, there's a sharp whistle. "No." Suvdaa puts out, not even looking at the bear. Her eyes were locked on Mau. 
     The bear throws this little growling hissy-fit in response, but seems to obey and lean back, circling around behind Suvdaa and pushing its head up against her hand, which promptly gets some nails scratching and petting into its head, right between the ears. 
 
     Suvdaa takes a moment to look at Mau's new crowd, and their reactions. You can bet she's noted the reach for some weapons, and oh boy is MAo now the target of her stare. Mao Mao catches Suvdaa's undivided attention, while her voice is still directed at Mau. "Been picking up more companions? And in your case," Her voice directs to Mao Mao, "Similar ones."

    "More than just a friend." Is Mau's reply to Itana. "That bear is Dulguun." She says brightly. "Oh you mean the rider."
    She's just being cheeky now.
    "More seriously though, Suvdaa's been my travel companion for like twelve years now. Her clan took me in for a while."
    The place... Yeah it prettymuch is a big fair right now, with all the adventurers in line for the sword there ARE people selling food so Ghost comes back with booze and a turkey leg, as one does. And his assessment is right, Dulguun has most of the lower ranked adventurers shaking in their boots. While the more experienced adventurers sheathe their weapons, the rookies decide to retreat, thinning the line even more.
    "Naisu naisu~~~." Mau chirrups, moving up in the world.
    But then she scoffs at Mao Mao.
    "Bro. Dude. My good sir. your arms are just as noodly as mine."
    "Iiiiii don't do early." Mau replies to Matsu, though, rubbing the back of her head. "... In fact." She yawns. "I could go for a nap." She mutters. "Wanna hold my place in line for me~?"
    But then the catgirl holds up her hands, "I mean. Maybe a small orc attack I'd sleep through, sure." She concedes. "But I'd wake up in time to kill the big one."
    Sure. Sure Mau.
    "Oh yeah, we've picked up a few offworld people willing to help with the Demon Lord, I'll let them introduce themselves."
    Another hour on line.
    "Oh my god can we get this OVER WITH." Mau sighs.
    Another hour later.
    "This is KILLING MEEEEEE." She yowls like an agitated cat.
    Another hour though and the sword is in sight--.
    "I can feel it. It's *right there*." Mau says making grabbyhands at the air in the direction of the sword.
    She is not a patient person at all.

With a sigh, Itana snakes a hand out from under her cloak and rubs Illumiel's shoulder a little.

"I hope it plays out quickly," she mutters with a glance Ghostward. "It is cold and I do not like it." As the bear singles the sharpshooter out, though, Itana flashes a muted and slightly dry smile. "You have a friend."

Whistle.

"You have no friend," Itana amends.

At least the catgirl is on hand to explain. Giving Illumiel's shoulder another squeeze, Itana nods back to Mau and takes in the greeting before acknowledging Suvdaa with a slow nod. "Respectable. I don't pretend to understand everything about this world, but family and clan ties are clear enough to me. I'm called Itana. Hello."

They then proceed to kill time.

An hour passes.

Itana sniffles miserably.

Another hour passes.

Itana sniffles miserably.

Another hour passes.

Itana has stepped out of line and erected a large bonfire with the help of a bunch of deadwood and a red potion that ignited the second she put a match to it. She is sitting very close to it and rubbing her hands together vigorously as she soaks up warmth.

    "If you leave your place in line, I'm not covering for you," Matsu replies without an ounce of hesitation. There's even a soft little 'hmp' from Sayo.

    "More seriously," she adds, "I'm pretty sure I'm younger than you in every possible way. And even I've realized that some things are worth waking up early for, even if you don't like it. Would waking up early have sucked more than this sucks?" At such uncouth language, Sayo makes a scandalized noise. Matsu immediately turns to look at her and says sharply, "I was putting it in terms she'd understand."

    For the rest of it, the tiny Phoenix Maiden is quite content to spend her time preparing ofuda of various types and purposes. It never hurts to have more ammo ready in advance.

    Amusingly enough, she seems unbothered by the cold. She does, at least, glance over to Itana and the bonfire, though. "...are you alright?"

    Illumiel gives Itana a soft smile, patting the hand on her shoulder fondly. She's not nearly as /warm/ as her sister, but she does have a soft side.

    When Mau mentions about self introductions, she looks to Suvdaa. "Lumina Netherland. Just a traveller in a strange world." she says... likely drawing a giant 'BS' from Mau, as the catgirl's seen her fight, and seen here fight with the shackles off.

    Ghost cocks an eyebrow. "Interestin' girlfriend ya got there, Mau." He says dryly as he takes a swig of his ale before looking to Suvdaa and Dulguun. He gives them a curt nod. "Name's Ghost. Guess I'm in the adventurin' party for DPS." He says.

    As the bear pads over, he produces wet wipes, lest the bear mistake his turkey grease stained fingers for a snack. "Sorry Yogi, gonna have to get more for that." He says to the bear. That would just be a bad first-impression to make. Terrorists and monsters Ghost can kill easily, a grizzly bear? Hell no, he's not that crazy.

    Actually after a while Ghost heads off to get a smoke in. At this point if the boredom doesn't kill these people, Mau's bitching will.

     "Hrmph! Nonsense, the fur just hides my highly developed musculature. A lifetime of adventure has carved my body into a marble statue!" Mao Mao huffs at Mau, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his nose up at her. Wait, does he even have a nose? It's so hard to tell with how dark his fur is, so black it's almost like it absorbs light.

In any case, he turns his attention to Suvdaa for the time being, rolling his shiny green eyes at her remark. "Ha, similar she says. Similar! My name is Mao Mao, I come from a long line of legendary heroes, dozens upon dozens of generations. I've been slaying monsters since I was in diapers, raiding ancient tombs from the moment I could walk! I bet when I grab that sword it'll come right out of the stone smooth as silk." He taps his chin for a moment. "I don't really know about the whole 'king' part though..."

He's also managed to snag one of those turkey legs somehow while monologuing, tearing off chunks of it with his concerningly large fangs while time, and the line, slowly marches on.

    It's to Suvdaa that Sayo finally speaks at any given length at all, her speech decidedly stilted and archaic. "Thou standest before the most august Phoenix Maiden, Shuzenji-no-Matsu, heir to the Flames of Rebirth gifted to the mortal world by the goddess Suzaku, divine head of the Clan Shuzenji of Arashi-no-Moto, Lady of the Healing Hand, she who has walked the flames and arisen again, advisor and friend to the Emperor, and liaison to the eight million worlds beyond our borders."

    Matsu manages to actually look slightly awkward. "...Matsu is fine."

 
     While Suvdaa does listen around, Mao Mao's sentences sort of just leave her after the first few sentences. Even Dulguun seems to remark this little thing as a possible snack, leaning its head down and sniffing in its direction. "You and I must have a different view on legendary heroes..." She mumbles as she decides to hear most other greetings. 
 
     "Itana." 
     "My clan is my family. Mau's been accepted into that. If not for me, she wouldn't be standing here today." There's a bit of annoyance in there, like she doesn't seem to enjoy Mau's presence much. Maybe. 
 
     "Lumina." 
     "... More than a traveler, maybe. Anyone with a sword can be fake or real." 
 
     "... -Matsu-, then." 
     "... Od Tegri would have words for you. I'll make note of this." Who? 
 
     And then she hears it. The word 'girlfriend'. 
 
     Her head about snaps in Ghost's direction, and she stares, like a hawk just watching and waiting for the right moment to pounce. There's this tension that seems to put Dulguun off as well, as he rumbles and moves away from Suvdaa to start examining the others. Sniff sniff. 
 
     An hour passes. She's still looking at him. 
     Another hour in line. 
     Still watching. 
     The sword is in sight. And Mau makes grabby hands. 
     And that's when Suvdaa finally manages to get over it. If anything, a 2-3 hour long deathglare from a hunter may be enough to get the message across that she is, indeed, not Mau's girlfriend. 
     "All of these adventurers just wasting daylight... Standing around in line, for what. To try and take a sword that isn't theirs to take." She asides to Mau. "I don't get how city people can be like this."

    Mau raises a finger right at Illumiel.
    "BS. I'm calling BS." Though she does not elaborate on her reasons for calling BS.
    But make no mistake, BS has been called.
    Because Mau is too busy pouting when Matsu refuses to hold her place in line.
    "I mean... Yeah this does suck." The catgirl agrees in a sullen tone with a small and impatient huff.
    "Diapers, huh? I didn't know cats wore diapers." She muses to Mao Mao. "I've been at this since I was pretty young too, too."
    Then. THEN. Ghost says the GF word.
    "Mau makes a cutting motion across her neck and shakes her head rapidly. "Ix-nay on the irlfriend-gay! Ix-nay!"
    Thank the heavens Suvdaa resorts to glaring and doesn't actually lunge.
    Mau isn't sure she'd be able to hold Suvdaa off entirely if she were to haul off on the man. But damn the girl can make a place tense enough that even her bear decides it's time to go hide somewhere.
    "People covet what they can't have." Mau says to Suvdaa as she finally reaches the sword. It's her turn.
    "And so they will have..." She says putting her hand on the hilt... "To live with the disappointment."
    It's a simple looking longsword with a hand-and-a-half grip, but the metal shines iridescent in the light of the sun, scintillating with gentle light shining from the blade as Mau takes it in hand and...
    She grunts. The sword doesn't budge.
    She puts both hands on it and strains, struggling and snarling. There's a pause. Everyone thus far has heard her say 'this is my sword' so many times and... And... 
    And it's just as people are about to start laughing that Mau smirks.
    "Nah, I'm just kidding." She says, taking the hilt in one hand and utterly *smoothly* drawing the blade from the stone pedestal without so much as an ounce of effort.
    "Like I said. My sword. All y'all can hold your applause and take your Ls." She says, looking *pointedly* at the krogan squad before she twirls the blade, making it absolutely sing in the air.
    Everyone from the lowest of the low Clay ranked adventurers to the highly ranked Gold ranks are just absolutely staring in disbelief.

Time passes. Itana enjoys the company of the fire. She makes a mental note to find Mau's table and shove everything off it as just reward for dragging her out into the cold like this.

She is, if nothing else, not unkind to Dulguun. Itana is used to hanging around wildlife. A bear isn't exactly a chocobo, but she's nevertheless pretty relaxed and allows the bear to snuffle and sniff as much as desired.

Eventually, she wanders back to the line, just in time to give Suvdaa a sidelong look and a slow nod. "Their priorities get skewed living behind walls. So much gets given to them easily that they start thinking they deserve it all."

By this point, Mau gets up to the sword. Itana looks on as she tugs and strains.

"Stop fooling around!" the archer calls up at her. "My /ass/ is cold, Mau!"

And there it goes. Itana sighs and buries her face in the folds of her cloaks, a hand drawn up to her forehead. "This fucking cat," she mutters to herself.

    Simon can't really judge. He got into the army at seventeen. But he gets the feeling Mau started even younger than that. One must wonder the morals of sending children out into the wilderness to go fulfill prophecies. What happens if they never come home?

    Ghost watches as Mau goes to grab the sword, and as Mau fools around Ghost pushes his face into his palm. "Fuckin' hell." She's worse about this than Soap.

    "For fuck's sake, Mau, get it on with!"

    And then Mau actually does it. Ghost blinks at how easily it comes out, and he gives an over dramatic sigh. "Well, there goes my plans of world domination with the sword."

     "What, you think we'd just do our business all over ourselves? That's disgusting! That's not how you were raised, is it?" Mao Mao responds with a grossed out look. As time wears on though, he just keeps following right behind her, eyes on the prize, unaware of the tension between Suvdaa and Ghost. And finally, finally Mau gets to take her turn, which means it'll be his next. She struggles, she fails, the laughter starts up, Mao Mao shoots some glares at people. "She's just a kid, don't be mean-"

But then the sword comes out /effortlessly/, and she was just messing with them to boot!? Flailing his arms in frustration, Mao Mao shouts with the force of a lifetime of daddy issues, "OH COME ON!!"

    Lumina doesn't seem to care too much about the hubaloo around the sword. She does wander off to hover around Itana, eying the bear cautiously. Even giving Mau 'the look' when she's called out for the obvious cover story... she's not going to reveal herself as an Angel in front of all these random adventurers.

    And then Mau starts fooling around with the sword. She stops fooling around just in time to avoid getting lambasted by the angel, though Itana makes her discomfiture known without ambiguity.

    Lumina takes one of Itana's hands, and nestles up to provide some of her own divine warmth.

 
     Dulguun rumbles about and ends up sitting down next to Suvdaa once Mau reaches the sword. The radier isn't even surprised with the faking or the show of pulling it out with this smug intention. With all the travel time she's done with Mau, she kind of saw this thing happening. But the one thing that always confuses her... 
     "There you go with that strange language again. You can have people take an L, it's a letter..." 
     Suvdaa just remarks with this shake of her head. "Dumb cat..."

    "As I've been telling Mau," Matsu replies to Suvdaa, "From their perspective, they don't know it's not theirs to take. From their perspective, she has neither more nor less claim than any of them do. They will only believe the evidence of their eyes."

    An evidence which, it turns out, Mau is finally able to provide. There is definitely a short little while where Matsu's eyes are arched good and high, when it looks like Mau will not in fact be going home with the prize. But then the psych is called, so to speak, and the white-haired young Phoenix maiden just quietly huffs. "Was there really a need to waste our time?" But there's not much bite in her grousing, for once. Shortly thereafter, the tiny healer claps her hands together, attempting to draw attention from the gathered aventurers.

    "And so, as you all can see, the sword has made its choice and shown its intention. The glory in this place has been claimed. Unless you seek to congratulate Lady Mao for laying claim to the blade, there is naught left here to do."

    Did... did she just tell the crowd to sod off in very polite terms?

    The sword has indeed made its choice, and for a moment Mau continues to twirl the shimmering blade in the air. Before she pulls her mundane longsword from its sheathe and replaces it with her now shiny new legendary sword.
    "Ahah hah hah~. Sorry sorry~." Mau says to Itana and the others, rubbing the back of her neck as she grins to her new party mates. "I guess I got a little ~too~ dramatic." She chuckles, flashing a sharp-toothed little grin before lightly nudging Ghost with her elbow.
    "And what were *you* planning to do with the sword, huh? Become a skull faced warlord and pillage your weaselly black guts out?" She teases mildly.
    Meanwhile there's some outrage from the crowd now, a few dwarves, and a few humans start snarling about a mangy demi-human taking the sword, but thankfully, Matsu's POLITE telling people to go sod it keeps them from taking any rash actions.
    But this leaves her with a mundane sword in hand...
    It is, upon spotting a younger adventurer in the crowd- a young man with barely any good equipment, a clay set of dogtags around his neck, and a cruddy shortsword that she pauses.
    "Here." She says, handing over her old sword to the kid.
    "It's a good blade. Take good care of it and it'll take care of you."
    With that accomplished she returns to her party, beaming wide.
    "Other than that kid? They can all take some Ls." She says to Suvdaa.
    Whatever that means.

Itana decides right then and there that Illumiel is a wonderful angel. She leans into the little avenging spirit and absorbs some of the warmth, even drawing a few cloak folds around Lumina to try and share what warmth she gathered from the bonfire.

"Cats like attention," she grouses with a look towards Matsu, squeezing Illumiel a little.

As she watches Mau a moment longer, the nomad lets her shoulders sag just slightly. Then she clears her throat quite emphatically.

"They can take whatever they want. /I/ am about to take a walk to somewhere warmer than this. Next time you ask us to wait in line for hours in the cold, I will throw a yarn ball in a random direction."

    Both Sayo and Matsu observe Mau with silent, placid looks, a pair of poker faces waiting patiently to see what Mau actually does next. And the answer, as it turns out, is 'bequeath her blade to someone less fortunate'. Matsu merely arches an eyebrow, but her attendant actually makes a soft, approving noise. "To nurture the next generation is to secure the future of your profession, and all who benefit from it. Commendable," Sayo declares. The shorter girl turns to eye her briefly, but seemingly decides to accept it at that.

    She does, however, level a stare at Mau. "Are you going to tell us what the 'L' stands for? Or is it something not for polite company?" Even if she hasn't caught on to the core meaning, she at least seems to have grasped how it's phrased.

     Mao Mao draws his own golden-bladed katana, hugging it close to him as he heaves a deep sigh. "It's okay Geraldine, you're the only legendary sword I need anyway. I bet that one doesn't even glow. It's always just been you and me, and it's gonna keep being that way until daddy gets my name right and my sisters stop using me as a stepstool and..."

Wow he's really just going off on all that childhood trauma, huh? Eeyup, he's fallen to his knees now and the waterworks are flowing. It's kind of pathetic really.

After a minute though he realizes he's still in public and quickly jumps back up to his feet, sheathing his blade. "Ahem! That's what all of YOU will be doing when you go home tonight. Yeah, that's right, I got your number. I'm a MASTER of psychology, I know exactly what's going through all your puny little minds! Hahaha!"

He also shoots Itana a glare and mutters, "That was directed at /her/, right?"

    Mau has Ghost in a box here. "Yeah." He says bluntly, his face utterly plain with no change in expression. Not even a twitch in his lip.

    There's a nod in approval as Mau hands the kid her previous sword. It'll take care of him, so long as he does the same in return.

    Then Ghost refuses to elaborate what 'taking some Ls' means. If only because it's funny.

 
     "..." 
     Suvdaa just shakes her head some. "We're burning daylight. DUL-GUNN!" Suvdaa pierces the air with her yell as the bear comes running right to her side, and bumps its head right up against her chest. Both hands go to give the big thing some pats. "You're hungry." Two quick pats. "Food?" 
     The bear rumbles. 
     "Good. I'll get you something." 
 
     Suvdaa looks to Mau. "Let's hurry up. Before I make you take an L. On the inn floor." Suvdaa doesn't quite catch the grasp of what an L is, she's just being snarky.

    Poor Mao Mao and his childhood trauma. For a moment Mau is lightly patting the smaller cat on the back. Until he's back on his feet declaring it was all a psych out. Ahem.
    Right.
    "You got me. I like attention." Mau admits flat out, grinning broadly before she makes a face. "H-hey. It'll take more than a ball of yarn to distract me!"
    That's a fucking lie and Suvdaa would know it.
    Nevertheless she sets her hands on her hips.
    "Taking an L means--" She's about to explain it to Matsu, really she is but then.
    "H-hey not the inn floor again!"