Re: ~Crossover Chronicles (Thread 5)~

[Jewelsky]

"Uh, all right," Piko responded, still hardly understanding the situation at all. "It's fine if you can't find a portal; nothing is waiting for me back home, anyway." That phrase really hit him—he realized that there really was nothing at home, if he had indeed been erased from the Vocaloid program. To them, he was completely dead. He couldn't ever return, no matter how he wanted to. Great! I'm dead and alive at the same time! his mind complained, but he pretended the thoughts weren't there and went on. "I think I'll join your group. I'd really hate to be out here all alone, and I'm always willing to help those who battle evil."

[Tornadostorm]

Flint finally moved away from the others surrounding him with an exhausted sigh.

Hearing what Piko was saying, Flint nodded a bit. "That's what we're all here for." Mintpaw trotted up to him, and sat down beside him Flint glanced at her wearily, but made no move to get away. "I uh.. I'm just here to help you guys out after you fight." Mintpaw added to the conversation with a swish of her tail. And a slight lower of her head.

[Mistystar]

"Heh, awesome! Welcome to the group, Piko...!" Pit cheered, happy to have gained yet another new ally in such a short period of time. Then, something he heard Torsolus say seemed to have caught his attention. "Your paper..." he thought aloud, appearing to remember something all of a sudden. "That's gotta be the one Cookie found...!" he remarked, turning to look at Cookie as he said this. "Do you still have it with you?" he asked her with a tilt of his head.

[Swallowfeather]

"Eh? Oh, yeah!" Cookie held up the paper when Pit asked about it. "I've got it right here!" She held it out to Torsolus. "Actually, it's kinda cool; we were able to run into you because we found this paper!" she told him, grinning. "And now you're being reunited with it! ... Buuuut I think I'm getting off-topic."

[Stealthy]

Torsolus took the paper and examined it. His eyes lit up. "You kind people had my paper the whole time? And you used it to find me...?" Looking like he could barely contain his sheer joy, he bent down and have Cookie a big hug. "You could've all just left me be...thought the paper a mystery and never given it a second thought...but you followed it and SAVED me!! You'll never know how immensely I owe you for that!!"

He did a little happy dance. Then he turned and looked at Flint, curious and with his bright smile gone.

"...Why did you say you were there by chance?"

[Tornadostorm]

"I meant we were at Chaos Peak by chance." Flint murmured, crossing his arms. "We almost grabbed you there. It closed on you, and you dropped the paper before then...." Flint suddenly seemed distressed, and his voice grew more and more tense as he talked. He blinked and closed his eyes.

Mintpaw looked up at him, her own curiosity obviously not quelled

[Stealthy]

Torsolus looked down a little sadly. "...Okay, well..." He smiled at Flint. "Maybe it was fate. Thanks again. A ton. A very large, infinite ton."

He added, "Actually, why were you folks there? I don't know much, but I hear it's an unpleasant place with general misery and discombobulation hangin' around over it. What would you have been up to there?"

[Swallowfeather]

"That's where we confronted the Chaos Kin in battle," Robin told Torsolus. "That description you gave just now actually describes the scene at that peak perfectly."

"Yep; it was really ominous," Cookie joined in. "It looked pretty normal at first, but then, all this dark fog happened... I think the Chaos Kin had something to do with it, but still."

Athena, of course, clearly heard the distress in Flint's voice. She knew what she was about to do probably wasn't a good idea, but she couldn't stop herself. "Flint? What's wrong...?" she suddenly asked him, trying not to sound like she was making too much of a fuss.

[Tornadostorm]

Flint stammered, "I uh... I..." He glanced at her then glanced away. He took several breaths to calm himself. He could feel his heart pounding and his face getting hot. "P...Pe..People died there..." His voice was just above a whisper. There was absolutely no anger in his voice. Not a trace. His voice pertrayed panic, and overwhelming... Guilt?

[Swallowfeather]

Athena let out a gasp, her eyes growing wide. She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing-and NOT hearing-within Flint's voice. ... I think I'm beginning to understand what may be going on here... Vaguely. She took a moment to go over the information she was gathering. A terrible tragedy obviously occurred during that battle. He seems to feel responsible for something; presumably a loss of life... But how? Could he have tried to protect somebody, but failed? ... But if that were the case, I can't help feeling like I'd be picking up some anger, directed at either the enemy, for killing his companion, or himself, for failing to protect them. Especially considering how anger is an emotion that plagues him constantly... The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she felt. ... I have a horrible feeling about this...
"... Flint. Whenever you're ready to talk... please, come to me." Athena's tone was serious, but in a deeply concerned way. "I want to help you get through this. I'll be here for you."

[Tornadostorm]

Flint pinned his ears, looking uncertain if this is something he really wanted to do, and forced out "whatever." in a soft voice. Mintpaw's furr was fluffed and she was as still as a statue as she stared blindly at the ground infront of her paws. "F..Flint I-" He cut her off "-lets not, ok?" and he shifted his weight on his feet anxiously.

Mintpaw shut her mouth, and closed her eyes. She thought "of course he's not sleeping... That makes sense."

[Stealthy]

"My.....it sounds like something royally went down up there...." Torsolus mused. He sounded desperately curious. He opened his mouth to say something, then stopped himself. "W....corr--?.........Y-you don't have to tell me. You can tell me all about it whenever your mind is all made up. Take all the time you need!~"

His voice became slightly more serious. He became somber, but his genuinity remained scarily intact. "Of course, sir, depending on the severity of the crisis, and what all important things were lost...you maaaaaaay never feel like talking away to me about it. Ever." He smiled earnestly. "....Which is also just fine. I promise."

[Mistystar]

As Lucina observed the discussion between Flint and Athena, her gaze softened a little with sympathy. She could only begin to imagine what sort of pain the Kattaca must be going through after the tragedy at the peak, and though she truly did wish to offer her support, she assumed now likely wouldn't be the best time to speak up.

[Tornadostorm]

Flint heaved a sigh, and glanced at Torsolus with a hint of appreciation. Inwardly he wanted to be seperate from the group for a while... To calm himself down without having to be at all... Social... So he finally looked around, then said to no one in particular "I'm gonna go for a bit. I won't go far though, so... You know..." With a sigh he walked off, His wings kind of spread a little from his sides.

Mintpaw watched distressed. She leaned forwar to follow, but only moaned a hint, and sat back down.

[Stealthy]

Torsolus watched while Flint left. He turned to the new party member.

"I guess it'll be awhile til we set out, Mr. Piko. You understand, everybody here's got a soul, which means everybody has their own big bag of nasty hanging off of it. You understand. Yours got a little heavier when you got stuck here, I bet? Heheh..."

[Tornadostorm]

Mintpaw sighed. She glanced up at Lucina "Do you think he'll be ok? he sounds so hurt about whatever happened up there." Her voice was soft and scared. "I hope... I hope he can recover... I.. I know how hard it can be to loose someone." She blinked a few times, seeming more concerened for Flint then worried about herself

[Swallowfeather]

As much as she wanted to help him, Athena knew that Flint needed at least a little time to himself. I'll give him a moment first. Then, after he's had a little alone time, I'll go and see if he's willing to talk, she decided, nodding her head slightly.

Cookie stared concernedly as Flint left. Yes, he had changed a lot since they were first friends, but that didn't stop her from caring about his well-being. Still, even though, in a situation like this, she'd normally run after a friend in need and give them a hug to comfort them, she stood where she was.

[Tornadostorm]

Flint walked a distance from the group. Until he was out of earshot of them. He could feel their concerned gazes, on his back. He sat down on a rock, and just let himself think. Not really about what happened, or anything. But just random nothings, like he'd examine his scenery in great detail. All to calm down his emotions.... And bring him back from the brink of tears. 

He let his face fall into his hands which he held to support his head. He rubbed his eyes "What have I done? Not have I only lost my father... But I'm starting to loose my friends too..." He let out an exasperated sigh. "But I can't let them get too close... I.. I just can't." 

After a few minutes of this, he started to feel better, and was almost ready to go back to the group.

[Swallowfeather]

It was at this moment that Athena decided to approach Flint. Carefully, she stepped across the forest floor, but not so carefully that she wouldn't make a sound. After all, she didn't want to sneak up on him; that could get things off to a bad start, for sure. "Hey there," she greeted somewhat quietly. "How are you feeling now? ... Need a little more time?"

[Mistystar]

Hearing the soft sound of Mintpaw's voice, Lucina looked down to see the young medicine cat speaking to her. "... I'm... not sure," she admitted with a slight sigh, concernedly glancing over in the direction of Flint for just a moment. "I mean, with time, he might start to get better... but..." she trailed off, beginning to look deep in thought. She felt a chill run through her body as she attempted to imagine being in Flint's situation- she knew the feelings of guilt would be overwhelming, and she doubted that she would ever be able to forgive herself.
All of a sudden, Lucina realized that she had gotten somewhat absorbed in her thoughts, and quickly returned her gaze to Mintpaw. "I suppose all we can do for now is try to support him through this rough time..." she murmured.

[Tornadostorm]

Flint had his head in his hands when Athena approached him "I'm fine." He grumbled between his fingers. Then he looked up at her. He had a tired expression, with a vauge hint of annoyance. He had his angry attitude back. If that was a good or bad thing wasn't certain.

He let his eyes lock with hers, a gaze of expectancy on his face. This was the only sign he was at all open to her talking with him. Though 98% of it said he didn't want to talk.

----

Mintpaw nodded "Ok..." She sighed and lay down, curling her tail around her paws. She decided to wait hi out. When she saw Athena leave, she hoped the plucky girl could help him out.

[Jewelsky]

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it," was Piko's reply to Torsolus. As he didn't understand any of his situation, he tried to ignore the conversations about it that would probably confuse him even further. Still, he liked Torsolus—a warm, empathetic being who seemed to have much kindness in his heart. Piko couldn't find answers, but he'd take friendliness any day.
He was quite a bit concerned for Flint, though. "He'll be okay, won't he? Athena looks like she can help; I mean…" He trailed off, entirely unsure of what else to say. Though his caring was genuine, he had too much on his mind to think about much else. How insufficient he was, that they would completely obliterate him from existence… No, this was unfair! It wasn't his fault; they were the ones blind to his real talent! How could this have possibly happened to him? This state-of-being seemed so unreal… so… false, somehow. Something was off in his mind, his heart, his surroundings—he wanted to go home, but he had no home to return to in the first place.

[Stealthy]

"I imagine he'll be just fine," Torsolus spoke genuinely. "Whatever happened is still recent to him. It must've been on Chaos Peak and I was there just the other day. Maybe he'll be changed forever, which is fine, but since it's still so close, he needs some time to be a pouty little grogosaurus peet. My older brother Ireil said, 'When a guy's been through a bad scene, don't expect them to be totally up to social par for a good while.' Yup, that's what he always said!"

His voice became a little more somber.

"Heh....I know how accurate those words can actually be..."

[Tornadostorm]

Mintpaw blinked. "I lost my mom when I was a kit. I know I was grumpy for some time after that. Scard too. But I'm better now. I don't really remember her." She smiled "Flint seems to be taking whatever happened up on Chaos Peak way harder then I took my mom's death though... I know he'll probably get better, but I just hope he's ok." She swiped some seeds that she had caught on her furr and looked at them thoughtfully.

[Swallowfeather]

Athena returned Flint's gaze, looking generally calm. She didn't want to look as if she were at all confrontational, as she knew this would likely lead to her ally putting up a wall and shutting her out completely. I have to go about this carefully... "Would it be alright if I joined you here for a bit?" she asked, slowly moving to and sitting on a fallen log, opposite to the rock he was perched on, so that she was facing him.

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