"They will be here soon." Xindao kneels before the Gate to the Snarbolax who has been terrorizing the Isorans.

Two people, visible to all around him, sit cross-legged in front of him. One of the few things left he can see in his blindness. To him, it only looks like etched versions of him, one is gold and the other is fuchsia. They wear blindfolds as well. They all look alike, except for their hair, horns, and hammers. One has black hair, and a blaring white horn-crown, the gavel he carries matches his crown. The other, white hair, with a radiant black horn-crown, the gavel to match. The presumed real Xindao, as he kneels, has all of the previous subjects bathed in grey.

"Does the Snarbolax deserve it? Did he do anything wrong?" the one with the white crown, or Benevolence, speaks in a kind, hushed tone. "He was only giving judgement to them for barging in on his home..."

"He deserves it. He could have handled the situation better. He attacked them first. He's under the influence of the Swarm, he mended his fur with them as their Treaty." the grey one, or Incontrovertibly, says in a straightforward voice.

"Unfortunately, I agree with stick-in-the-mud here. He did attack them, he reasoned with the Swarm for the power to do so. He only feeds. This means that he had a choice. He didn't pick the one that would leave others unharmed, though. He could have preyed on other creatures. Creatures that prey on his kind for their materials. But he didn't. Then again, he might have wanted to attack the Knights and Morai for hunting his kind. They are, after all, unable to be sentient..." the black-crowned one speaks, or Malevolence, in a matter that demands to be heard.

"Then it's settled. He was doing good deeds, but gave way to his own desires and left, breaking many links. Those links could have supported a society, he could have moved things forward toward the Ultimate Goal of everyone. To maintain a peace and a happiness that all can enjoy with no one being hurt. He ended his contribution, a deed that was made when he first acted selflessly, broken. He has blood on his hands, unjustified slaughter in his shadow. We will not kill him though." Incontrovertibly speaks. He clasps his fist.

"What are you planning?" Malevolence sneers and the possibility of some fun.

"Where do you plan to take him?" Benevolence whispers, speaking up from his silence, but knowing his other part well enough to know this is what it comes to.

"I'm taking him away with some help from someone who knows me and knows they must be Judged soon..." Incontrovertibly looks down, and the blaring white down below squirms. It is big, its many white tentacles protecting itself from his penetrating sight. He may be blind to material things, but he knows the Good, the Bad, and the Indistinct.

"If they refuse to help, I will resort to the other." He zooms out his sight, to the black tentacles that radiate around the Core, encompassing it. "They are my Judgments. They are my Scale. They may have a choice now, but when we get down there, my court will be built and they will be my Justice." he talks to himself. The other two give each other strange glances.

They whisper among themselves, their voices carrying into the Clockwork above. Wolvers creep out from the shadows, not in malicious intent, but in curiosity. Creatures close in around them, entranced by the auras of blue, gold, and fuchsia encompassing them as they speak.

A bell resounds. The Xindaos are blinded....again.

Traversing towards the next lift (with Jax likely following to kill Cicero(I'm assuming that is the case)), a scream is heard in the distance, followed by yelps and footsteps coming towards them. Sono unsheaths his Gokai, preparing for whatever it was that screamed.

Possible hostiles coming towards our position. Who- or what- are they?

Can you not see the skeletons?
They hang from the trees here, by nooses.
Can't you see the pools of blood?
They run from the jaws of the Snarbolax.

Xindao curls up in the darkening forest. Was this how it has to be? Flesh, cut or bound, moving constantly. The decision to cut flesh or keep it. Breaking or rebuilding reservoirs of blood. The light plays on his shoes, streaming from the leaves above. A soft wind blows, pressing against his skin. The chirping sound of Snipes floats far away, yet muted by the cawing of Ravensnipes. Everything was blended in a green, yet dark, mist. It all mixes together as Xindao focuses on himself. Hugging his knees to his chest, he listens for the Elevator, listening for any sound of an Isoran, Morai or Spiral.

Growls sound from all around him, getting in closer. The other hims were gone, leaving only Xindao with his black hair, white horn-crown, and gavel. His hair brushes his scalp in the wind. And the breeze turns into a gale, and the light shows grey through the leaves of the trees above. Shadows flicker in and out of existence. The presence gets worse, and the grass begins to noticeably die and wither. Ropes snap, a grinning Gremlin in the trees looking down at the Highestblood. The corpses clatter to the ground from their ripped nooses.

"Careful, Your Highness," it snickers, "wouldn't want you to get lost in the maw of a Beast so quickly after you arrived..."

"Go cram yourself full of your own scrap metal, vermin!" Xindao calls out.

The Gremlin frowns, and jumps down behind the tree, vanishing.

The corpses eyes shine green toward Xindao. But he sits, not noticing in the tranquil darkness of the Wildwood.

[ Whoever you are .. Tell me why and who activates the bell ? You DO know that beast can't handle that much sound right ? and you DO know , some aggresive ones seeks the ringer of the bell ! ]
'TROS!! Stop Inviting People Into My Head!'
*Oh for the love of-* Tros pulled up a mental block, preventing anymore telepathic communication unless Sono directs it toward someone.

Sono raises his blade towards the bushes. Hearing someone bark in the trees, Sono turns toward the source. Whipping his Doragon out, he launches it at the trees, destroying several of them in the process.

Looking around the map Blesse saw the Count down on the next use of the Bell program slowly tick away. Well at least it worked so thats nice. Better check in on the ones who are alive down their.

With a quick hand Blesse sent off a message to Sono.

Checking in with forward team, whats going on down there?

Right, you can have a mental break down on your down time. For right now we have the working Bell Program operating fully. As it stands I can activate it in the next minute or so. Outside of that I am relying on you all for information, that and waiting for my turn to make the dive. But before I even think about coming down their I need to find a replacement intel officer to take over for me.

With that sent Blesse turned on Sono's camera feed watching him stand in a battle ready stance. Um, maybe it was a bad time to send him a message.

Luke's eyes darted from tree to tree, trying to spot the next couple of Voltails. He decided to cover Sono's back. There were rustlings throughout the bushes. To his right, a Voltail burst out of the bushes and bounded towards Sono's back. Luke stepped to engage the bounding Wolver, it collided into his shield. Jumping back, the beast snarled a challenge and crouched to leap again.

It faltered as the Swift Flourish entered its hide. It fell sideways as its last breath came out as a whimper. Luke pulled out the rapier and turned to block an Electrolisk's tongue attack. Without thinking, he raised his shield. The tongue slammed into it, and yanked it out of his grasp.

"Hey! Give that back!"

Luke ran forward and stabbed out at the lizard. It danced out of his reach and gurgled at him. Ugh, I hate those things. He stepped forward slowly, trying to take the Chroma by surprise. It crouched slightly as Luke came on, ready to spring back when he got closer. Luke suddenly lunged forward, taking the Chromalisk in its midsection. It fell sideways and he retrieved his shield. Luke looked up to see another Voltail creeping towards Sono. Seeing as he was too far away, Luke called out a warning.

"Sono behind you!"

lake shot a charged polaris and supernova shot , followed by 3 normal bullets of them. He then jumped to the next tree and repeat the proccess. then he let out a howl , big enough that every beast in a block radius could hear. Then little footsteps start to came , out of nowhere stealthed kleptolisk start coming and start stealing the knights Equipment. " Everyone that can hear this ! SOMETHING IS COMING ... AND IT IS STRONG I TELL YOU ! " lake said based on spark ... " For vog damn sake ! people here can't understand the situation ! " he muttered..

Sono was dancing around the group now, slashing tongues left and right, preventing any from getting too close to Cicero. *Ah, that hole looks disgusting.*
'Is that mental wall still up?'
*Yep. Not going down anytime soon.*
'Good. Tell Blesse we need backup. I think another Knight is attacking us.'
*Didn't we attack first?*
'Just do it.'

Blesse? Uh, I think another Knight is attacking us. He's sending the Wildwood beasts to attack us. Is there anyone on record who can communicate with Wolvers?

Give me a few minutes to check the database.

With that send Blesse went to a side computer and started hunting down a knight fitting that description. Of course this was going to take time because of the rather odd request, not many knights can speak other languages because of how hard the dialect is on this planet. Lets see, wolver, wolver....Got ya.

Rank:

Location:

Birth Place:

Yes this is perfect...but why would he want this for a request? Going back to the main console Blesse started to plug the information into the Console to sent off to Sono as per his request.

As you can tell we do have a person like that. But I can't tell you where he is unless I get an uplink to his Gear's on board computer.

"Alright, Smarta**! Why Don't You Talk To Them?!" Sono shoved his Gokai into a leaping Alpha's head, clearly annoyed.

The great serpent came up behind the group of knights, staying in the shadow of the treeline. The ground making little sound and movement, masked by the constant fighting from the group. Anguis came up behind a particularly distraught knight, looking like one of the Valkyries of old. A long and subtle hiss came from behind her, as an improvised introduction from the ghost of the ground.

Anguis spoke in a hushed tone, emphasizing on the "s"es per usual, and in its usual cryptic form.

"Your ally lies dead, beasts still swarm, they ignore the corpse and fight blindly, feelings still warm. So what do you do now, Valkyrie born, forgive these savage killers, or retribution with scorn?"...

The head sank back into the treeline, the faint glow of eyes being the last thing any would see before the ghost of the ground lived up to its name and vanished from the naked eye into dense foliage.

It looks like your all in for quiet a treat. Should I join you and give support fire?

A mute laugh escaped Blesse as she made the joke, but the message carried a all to real report and offer. After all, it was best for her in the dark since she was a walking flashlight anyway. Since she knew more about the electonical workings of the Clockworks and how best to support them on the field it might have been time for the Firebug to join the battle.

Right, I guess I am your Reinforcements. Everyone uphere is still getting over the attack by the Morai...

Getting up from her chair Blesse places her faceplate back onto her face as she pulled upher hood. The sound of her suit sealing up was heard as she turned on her flame unit. Here we go. With that done Blesse headed to the Arcade, into the dark she was heading, into the unsafe world of darkness. On her back a Tank of fire, attached to her body a suit full of information which would burn with her body. Even of someone where to try and intaragate the woman, she would not speak for she had no voice to speak with.

Down into the darkness, where I belong.

Luke slashed another Wolver and was prepared to take another hit when the roar pierced the air. It was almost as loud as the bell test a few minutes ago. That's not what I think it is is it? He turned around, Oh it is! When Gwen/Freya/whoever joined Snarble, Luke got worried. He searched around for a possible bell and spotted one behind them and to the left a little. He used the message system to send each of the others a message.

Bell a little ways behind us, check your four but not obviously.

A thought occurred,

Blesse, Gwen's... er... Avatar has now sided with Sir Snarble. Just a precaution...

What could be taking them so long? This was all Xindao could ask himself outside the lair of the Beast. He stands up, tightening his blindfold. His hair white, his horn-crown black, and his gavel black along with it, he walks to where he came in from, the Elevator. "Maybe this will give me some insight..." he mutters, jumping up.

Ten minutes later, finally reaching the top after a long series of wall jumps. Walking out, he drags his gavel along the ground, walking with a swanky step springing from his legs. The grass blows softly in the air of uncertainty. Blood runs down the side of trees, unseen. He sniffs the air, his hair moving across his face. A new change of clothes would be in order, he thought. These were now all tattered and ruined. Maybe, for the sake of ceremony, I could modify them and still keep them. Maybe even some jewelry. Hell, I deserve it for dealing with this kind of scrap.

Maybe I wanted to come here. It didn't mean I wanted this. I wanted my throne, and I'm going to get it. Maybe some modifications to my gavel as well. Yes, I don't want people forgetting about me when I never forget about them. I am the Highestblood after all. Ah, but the King and Queen...oh well. They can have what they want. But this will be my world. And soon enough, the Knights and this world will be mine.

He swaggers into the situation, sniffing out Anguis and another large Beastie. "Oi, can I get some assistance here? Or maybe we can have a little picnic, eh?" he calls out. He grins, and holds his gavel across his back bashfully.

"Get a grip! It's just a fur ball like the others...just as mindless. It didn't give a damn about those lives it took!" Xindao huffs at Sono. He slowly walks forward, kicking Sono away. "If you're gonna cry, make sure your tears get in it's eyes then!" he scolds. He continues walking forward, dragging his hammer on the ground, holding his chin up. Approaching, ever-so surely.

Don't let me become this!
Yet...being this makes me so happy...
A carousel of agony, as I tear myself in three
And a unity that is unimaginable beyond any mortal standard
I'm tired of all this pain and misery though....
There is nothing inside nowadays....
If I take another step, it's gone
But...
Who needs to be torn?
When did anyone need to die?
Why did we become this hungry Beast?
Isn't that what the Snarbolax really is, after all?
It just hungers as much as we really do for blood to eat.
We never stop drinking and eating each other in desperation.
Why was I locked away for such a long time when I didn't choose this?
I didn't choose to come into the world and be told to create life every which way.
Let the white fire roar through the woods as a wall of unending desire to envelop all within itself.
Let the black water sit in wait, dissolving all around it and claiming the lives of all who dare to drown in it.
Little did they ever know of the one who brought them forth, and raised them up from dirt, water, and burning stars.

Memories....

Who am I? Really? I stumble in here from who knows where. I walked this plane and I found none. Look at all this black grass, moving all around me in whimsicality. Look at the tiny white lightning bugs that flicker among the large pasture. I pick up a tiny winged salamander, and strange enough, it also has the pattern of the grass and fireflies on it's skin. I giggle, and gesture outwards. It flutters away. I walk for a long time among the never-ending field, seeing so much and knowing so little. Ah, the bliss of ignorance. "Mother, what is this?" I ask softly. Though, there isn't a mother to be near me. I only know the word and what it means. That's how it is here. Nothing really makes sense...

I smell, but the air only smells of the landscape all around me. Not another smelling like me, nor one seen. I run, across the hills, not stopping. I giggle giddily. "Oh, my friends! How dear you are to me!" I scream to break the peace. I spring and dance about in the field to a song only I seem to hear. Music of being amid a calm that can only spread.

I trip, landing on my hands. I sit up, and look at them. From what I can see, red drips from small wounds around the effected area. I wipe it on my clothes and sit up. But bugs buzz around the wound, tiny white mosquitoes. A few drops of it fall to the wet ground below. Oh well, it probably means nothing...I begin playing again to keep the mosquitoes off of me, watching my step for slippery mud.

On the ground, Xindao's kick snaps Sono back to reality. The shadowy beast he had encountered was merely Sir Snarble. He got up. 'Thanks for the kick.'

"Sir Snarble, eh? Well, I think it's time to Sir-ve you up some punishment." Sono quietly chuckled to himself.
__________

MechTeka's head perked up.
"What's wrong?" Drace questioned him.
"... I think my idiot radar just pinged."

"Everyone. Set your positions to the largest things you can. I assume everyone is equipped o cut through almost anything we might face down here, not including the Snarbolax, of course. Luke, take the bell off the ground. Anguis, lean down here," Xindao rips out some grass, and moves his hands along the serpent's head, plugging it's ears with the plant. "That should keep you safe from the bell. Right, set this one out.

"You, the blushing one. No, not you, Gwen, the man right next to you! Yes, you. Be on offense. Gwen, you with him." Xindao lifts his head and shouts. "You! The one who is trying to hide! We could really use your help! We need some trees that need cutting to stall! That would be awfully helpful of you!"

He grins. "Sono, you're with the guy who like to play hide-and-seek. Trust me, it's the best way to help right now. Gwen, blushing boy, attack the Snarbolax only when it's defense is down. Otherwise, prepare to hurtle yourselves into it's jaw bite."

Clapping to get everyone's attention, though the Snarbolax only lay meters away, he hollers. "Listen to my plans or die without them! This isn't just an ordinary Snarbolax. This is one of the last sentient Snarbolaxes. With that in mind, it can make strategies. We can do better." He spins around, bending his knees at and angle and leaning to face the Snarbolax. "You should prepare yourself."

Xindao smiles insanely. "I'm going to tie you up and turn you into a very special gift. This is your final chapter. Make it interesting." He cackles, and twirls around as something flickers behind his blindfold. He slowly calms, and takes a more defensive stance with his gavel.

OOC: Definition of capricious and ambivalent: Xindao.

Sono gets both his weapons ready. "Xindao. Gwen left her avatar. That's Freya, and she decided to side with Snarble."

The serpent felt reluctant to the grass in his ears at first, and was more-so suprised that this being was the only able to locate him in the dense tree-cover. Anguis could not hear as acutely as before once his ears were plugged, however the obnoxious ringing of bells had ceased, which calmed him down a great deal, allowing him to focus at the task at hand.

The snarble had revealed itself to the group, and realising the movements of this battle would each be critical and fast, decided to rely on a tactic he thoroughly enjoyed the exercise of; Ambush. Anguis slid beneath the ground, the ripple of the soft earth disappearing as he descended farther below the level's surface. Feeling the vibrations above him, he locked onto the heaviest weight and designated it to be the target. As soon as the sounds became eratic and clumsy in the great beast's state of injury, he would strike and proclaim his new idea of orders amongst the beasts...