LS Event! Discovery on Sphere Island![Private]

Posting order is Myself, Shohei, Linxwire,

Each person needs to post 20 times, 500 words per post

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Kihia had been spending the last few hours in his dorm room trying to make sure everything is together for an expedition he had been preparing for a while now. During one of his routine flight tests he had discovered an abnormality on Sphere island, it had seemed to be a trick of the eye at first, but when he had taken a second pass over the same area he saw it again. It appeared to be a large cove, which had been revealed recently from a cliff wall collapse, after the confirmation he had returned to the Guild Hall and started to make arrangements for a small expedition to explore the cave. There was something about it that peaked his interests, however Kihia wasn’t sure as to why.

Kihia looked at the tools and supplies he had on his desk and doubled checked each one to make certain he wasn’t missing anything. Journal… Writing utensils… food rations… water supplies… a few light Lacrima… compass… and a large parchment for a map…. Kihia then preceded to put all of the supplies into a pouch, and then nodded. Kihia then walked over to his bed and picked up his armored trench coat, he put it on and made sure it was on comfortably. After that he nodded and then walked over to his weapon case and opened it up, seeing Icarus in its stand reflecting off the light gently, Kihia gently smiled and bowed his head towards the weapon, “Hopefully this expedition won’t require conflict…” Kihia then placed Icarus into the sheathe on his back and reached into the cabinet and put them in their own respective sheathes.

Almost done Kihia nodded, and looked down at his communication bracelet around his left wrist, he channeled a small portion of his magic power to it, the bracelet lit up and let out a small beep, “Icer, do you copy?...” After a moment a voice responded from the bracelet, “Yes Sir Kihia, how may I assist you?” Kihia responded after a short moment, “Prep the Ikarones for Takeoff, we will be headed to Sphere Island…” After a moment Icer responded with a  small confirmation beep, Kihia then looked out his window, seeing that the sun was slowly rising above the horizon he nodded, “It is time…” Kihia then turned towards his door, opened it up and walked out, closing and locking the door behind him, Hopefully the two I asked to come help me are awake and will be on time… He had asked two members of Lamia Scale to assist him in this expedition, one was Xavier Deregrande, a new mage he had been on a  few missions, and Shohei Kirisagi, a new member Kihia had yet to fully meet, however he heard from Master Zuo that he uses a unique summoning magic that is bound to help in the expedition. He had arranged to meet them both near the middle of the lower staircase, the secret door of the hanger of the Ikarones, he only hoped that they would be on time.

First time. This was Shohei's first time meeting another guildmate and rather then walking into the guildhall, he would be walking into a unsafe cavern, or cove. Some impression, yes. He was not particularly sure on how long he'd be there so he took his MP3, his usual red and white jacket, along with a bottle of water and a few bag's worth of junk food. He didn't really own much valuable things really. Shohei sighed before stuffing his MP3 and ear buds into his loose pockets before going down to the second the last bottom level of his mansion, leaving his butler to deal with this manor.

Shohei walked down a cobblestone-fashioned road when a cranky frown on his face, "If this expedition does involve conflict, maybe Kleng and Skye won't take it so half-assed this time. Apparently this is really important according to what I heard." He rolled his eyes in disappointment. "It's always something with those goddamned titans.. like "I want to eat some humans!" or "At least challenge me!" or maybe even "I'm so hungry I could eat a group of humans as cranky as Shohei!"." Shohei loathed those words from his titans.. no.. not titans, from Kleng individually. He was always bad-mouthed. But Shohei was so used to it, that it was normal and expected from that titan who hid it's face with a permanent mask. Shohei sighed, it was an early morning when the sun was just rising. Shohei was gloomier and crankier then ever when it came to mornings. He was often sleep deprived and hungry. Apparently he was supposed to be going on this expedition with a guy named Kihia Avoa and  Xavier Deregrande. Kihia in particular being skilled in Ice magic. Wasn't per say the best combination with his magic but an outcome is an outcome and hopefully they are bound for good results in battle.

He had directions implanted into his head so he knew where to go. He was told to meet by a staircase. He wasn't sure why Zuo didn't come with them but he was sure there was reasoning behind it. And Shohei really didn't want to think about it. With ear buds tightly plugged into his ears, he was listening to the many melodies of his device. He was looking forward to meeting his guildmates... but not so early in the morning. He'd probably just ignore them for the time being until this thing is over. Maybe he could find an opportunity to doze off during the expedition. Maybe? Shohei didn't know, but he was certainly not very woken up yet. His room looked like a junkyard for radiated items. He sighed again, his attitude still pretty cranky. "Damn titans.. working me until I'm covered with sweat or the blood of their kills.. life's hard for a summoner...." He said as he continued to walk with a rhythmic pace. He closed on eye and kept another one open as the sun's rays glared into his glistening, reddish-brown eyes with no mercy. "The sun.. is too powerful.."

Woken by the incessant, agonizing squawking of birds at the harbor, the young blonde kid woke from his slumber wearing nothing but underwear on his thrown together piss poor “home” in a tower near the sea, overlooking all the important trade that keep Hargeon alive. He sat on the side of his makeshift bed comprised of boxes and a tearing mattress, rubbed his eyes until he could see clearly, and swore to himself as he kick over something glass and hallow sounding. He probably had yet another one of those kind of nights. He was surprised that his head was still together, because of the clutter around he could piece together exactly what happened before he passed out. The previous night was rather traumatic for him, and he did the best he could to shove the returning thoughts out of his head before he found himself in tears once more, but it kept rearing its ugly head. “It’s going to take weeks to forget that…”

Ripping open a crate he used for storage he collected what few luxuries he had left; his clothing that he had thoroughly washed the night before. Pants, shirt, and his signature jacket. From the bottom he wrenched out a comb and fixed his hair using a cracked mirror to see what he was doing properly. He got everything back to what it normally was, about his appearance anyway. There was so much to figure out, the questions that kept rising bothered him. He wasn’t special, he knew this in his heart, yet for some reason some years ago a divine voice complimented him… claiming he took a bold path, and subsequently asked him to continue to follow it. It wasn’t his intent to do so, but it seemed following his heart brought him this far. But why him? Of all people, why the lowly, hated child of a broken family whom is far from the heroic type. It just didn’t add up. And then there was his new staff. The thing looks so ancient, it’s probably some sort of relic. When he held it in his hand he could feel the power surging through it. But he didn’t find it, but rather woke to find it next to him on a bright morning not long ago. Who in their right mind would arm a child with such manner?

Whatever. What use is there to ask questions? The equation is incomplete, and has too many variables. Besides, today there was something else to handle. He made yet another promise to his friend Kihia. And although he found himself troubled by trials his ventures with him had put him through, he continued to fight his gut and stand beside him. There was just something about him that felt… right, for lack of better word. Perhaps he ought to continue persuing whatever it maybe, and maybe, he’d finally have an answer, instead of a ton of god-forsaken questions. Now that he had no bindings, it was high time he made use of his carte blanche. Xavier grabbed his staff, and two hanbo, descending from his roost of a hangout, and headed towards the hanger, ready to ride Ikarones once more. He clutched the ancient bamboo wood staff in his hands and the power surged once more. “Static Jump!” and with that single spell, Xavier soared through the air crackling with lightning like a comet streaking through the night sky.

Kihia stood there at the spot of the hidden doorway to the hanger where the Ikarones was being held, “They're late…” He thought he had clearly stated how it was important to show up on time. Kihia knew the earlier they got there and searched, the less trouble they might face. He looked at the hidden doorway and close his eyes. He pictured the Ikarones inside the hanger, it was still relatively new, had not been involved in a combat situation yet once. She was a state of the art ship, outfitted with high powered weaponry, and incredible array of defensive capabilities as well, a ship fitting to be flown by one who favors defensives. The Ship also functioned as a battle transport, needless to say Kihia was satisfied in the construction of the ship, as well as how well the AI and the ship performed.

Kihia then turned and looked up at the staircase leading up to the dormitories, and further on the Main Hall itself. The Early birds of the guild would be waking up about this time, knowing Master Zuo, he was probably already awake, if he even slept. Kihia then decided rather than just sit there and wait, he would meditate and hone his magic. Kihia sat down on the marble floor and closed his eyes, he sat in the cross legged position and held his hands out stretched in front of him. He started to breath slowly in and out as the air around him got steadily colder. It is important to hone ones physical ability… but it is equally important to hones one magic power… He sat there for a long moment, the air around him dropping below freezing. He had been training to use his ice make magic for fifteen whole years, and he had definitely developed his own way of using the magic.

Kihia’s teacher, Iarok, had specialized in Dynamic Ice make, and had a wide assortment of moving constructs of ice, that usually took the form of legendary animals and creatures. Ice Make Yeti, and Ice Make Frost Dragon, are two spells he had constantly trained against, and with to hone his own magic. At first Kihia only knew four spells, Ice Make Spear, Ring, Shield, and his own spell Ice Make Knight. However, ever since he came to Lamia scale, he has quickly grown as a mage, and held a wide variety of spells. His most recent achievement, Ice Make Ring Dome, an advanced technique that allowed him a variety of crowd control and area of effect spells. He knew though, he could not stop progressing if he was to be able to protect Lamia Scale.

Kihia put his hands together and slowly formed a unique Glaive Blade, it looked normal for the most part, however the blunt side of it seemed malformed as if he tried to make something specific there. This blade is not ready… I am not yet strong enough to use the Glaive of the Frozen Wastes… Icerio…

Shohei tossed his small pouch of junk food  over his shoulder,  the string straps wrapped around his fingers with his hand and wrist bent back so the pouch could hang. As he gnawedand sucked on a sucker, he pushed the wrapperin his thin, loose pockets. A hanger. That was Shohei's destination and what he was approaching.  Shohei wasn't really paying attention on how they were going to get to the appointed destination.  He could only imagine it'd be some sort of ship. It made the moee logical and realistic sense to him. But this town never ceased to amaze him,  because for all he knew, it could be some flyimg robot horse. Not that he wouldn't mind that..

Shohei could closely see the destination,  the guild hall? Shohei had never entered Lamia Scale's guild hall and that didn't bother him. However,  what did bother him was right after he gets inside he'd have t0o leave for an important mission. Shohei sighed with a crooked smile and a twitching brow, "Zuo-sempai did say that there was work and a bunch of other things this town had. Let alone his guild. Not to mention that I'll be working with my surperior who I'll just ignore and some guy I hadn't learned about. This'll be a expedition to remember."

Shohei was starting to wake up, but he was still cranky.  What bothered him the most is the impression they'll have on his titans.  Unless they liked you, teamwork was hard. All of them are arrogant amd overconfident in their own way. He groaned at the thoght. Their yelling, arrogant voices echoed in his head and caused him to get a headache.

Arriving at the Guild hall, he sighed and walked in with a straight face. His right hand stuffed in his pocket, his other arm hanging downmto his sides while he stopped sucking his lollipop. "Lamia Scale, eh? They weren't lying about these big-ass guild halls." He mumbled as he gazed around at the desin and scenery of the guild. He really had no place to say that though, he had never been inside or part of a guild. Taking his sweet time to observe the decor, he aimlessly strolled through the guild looking for the ice mage and the other kid. After feeling a sudden chill up his spine, he stopped his rhythmic walking and looked around. "Hey! Anyone there?" he shouted calmly.  He paused and strode off again after getting no response.  The chill up his spine still remained, or maybe it was just him. Maybe it was someone else doing this, of course he had no idea who exactly was doing this if anyone was in the first placw. Maybe this place was just really cold. He groaned at the rampaging thoughts in his mind. Never before had he thought about the temperature in suh depth. Maybe he should have some fire titan to warm him up. That'd be nice. He still wondered if anyoneheard him. Surely the guild building itself wouldn't be empty.

OOC: Typed on tablet, typos and mistakes may be seen. Will edit if needed.

Halfway through Xavier’s terrific flight he came to realize that if he didn’t have a landing strategy he would seriously hurt himself. Considering he was almost there anyway, there wasn’t a lot he could do about the whole dire lack of landing gear. However the guild hall wasn’t far away, and at this angle he might be able to land well on the roof, which was his initial thought, however it proved to be much more difficult in practice than in theory.

Crashing into the guild hall left a human shaped impression on the exterior walls, and shook the building to its core which would surely grab the attention of anyone who was inside. Sounds followed loud thumps as something hit the lower areas and the cracking of roofing tiles being snapped under the weight of something, on a repeating cycle due to the massive scale of the building before finally, a kid fell to the final layer, laying in a heap just in front of the guild doors, which swung open slightly with the force of his impact. Surprised to be alive, Xavier rolled over onto his back, the best he could manage momentarily in his very dazed state. He pulled himself to his feet, staggered almost falling on his face before recovering, then limped his way down to the hanger, not too content on going inside to consult anyone on his massive fumble. He had to take the stairs slowly, because his leg was a bit sore from that “landing” so to speak, but he wasn’t going to allow himself to be any later than he already was. He hated, making Kihia upset. He just simply couldn’t deal with all the condescending. Xavier tripped slightly trying to avoid any pain in his leg, but found himself tumbling down the long staircase, and falling face first on the floor below. Speak of the bloody devil, Xavier looked up meet Kihia who seemed to be meditating in preparation of their expedition. He pulled himself to his feet to recover what little dignity he still had left today. He opened his mouth to say something but could just not find any words, besides a hello, audibly lacking confidence. Suddenly his staff slid down the staircase. He didn’t remember letting it go, and then he figured he could have been using that as a cane this whole time. Awkwardly he bent over to pick it up, and leaned against it for a moment while he fixed his hair witch retained it’s rather spiky golden nature, dusted off his jacket and attempted to give a warmer smile.

Looking at the hangar door reminded him what he was in for in the moments to come. The ice mage’s flying ship the Ikarones. If only he could leave the word flying out of its description, the last time he was aboard the ship, the terrified side of himself reared its ugly head, like it does once every blue moon. Xavier knew he was destined for great things, but he could never seem to overcome his fear – of heights. He had conquered it once before, that fateful night, but ever since his courage seemed to elude him, and now he wore a mask over his face every day full of fake bravado. “You’ve chosen a bold path… please have the courage to stay on it…” He noted himself repeating the voice he heard, usually that inspired him but something was just missing today. “Just let it end.”

Kihia’s eyes shot open when he heard a voice echo down the hallway. He didn’t recognize the voice, but he understood very well what was being said, “Hey! Anyone There?” Kihia slowly stood up and turned towards the stairs leading up to the main hall. “Take the hallway right of the Bar, keep following the hall past the doors and down the stairs, there you will find me.” Kihia started to wait till the person who had called out, if it was indeed Shohei, Kihia was ready to tell him that he is late. He turned towards the wall that was actually the hidden doorway to the hanger of the Ikarones. Kihia stood there for a long moment, he then looked down and saw the blade of the Icerio Glaive. It was an distorted version of what he had in mind, he sighed, I still cannot pull off forging this blade constantly… let alone using it for what it is designed to do... He had been training ever since he had came back from his mission , he had been trying to hone his magical power into a unique blade, that would aid in a fight in multiple ways, Icerio, Blade of the Great Glacier… However, he did not know what Zuo thought of the blade.

Kihia dispelled the blade and put his hand back down to his side. Kihia then heard someone falling down the stairs and sighed when he saw who it was. Xavier crashed down and landed right next to Kihia, followed shortly by his staff. Kihia stood there for a moment and stared at the young lightning mage, waiting for him to recover. “Good morning Xavier… You are rather late… and I hope you are ok… it seems you have been through a lot today… and it is only the morning…” Kihia sighed and looked back at the door, “I will wait until the third member of our expedition arrives, then I will open the door…” He waited for a bit. The only way the door itself could open was if Kihia’s right arm was placed upon it and he himself sent a bit of his magical power into it. Kihia then looked at Xavier, “So I have heard… that you have been granted the status of a C class mage… Congratulations on that prospect…” Kihia would wait for a possible response from Xavier, unsure how the young mage had been doing himself. He had done a number of missions with Xavier, but this expedition would prove possibly a far more troublesome possibly… Kihia sighed, “Xavier… did you by chance to see another Lamia Scale mage up at the hall… We are waiting on Shohei… a recent member… but I have never seen him before… nor heard what kind of mage he is… All the Master had told me about Shohei was that he used a unique kind of a summoning magic on a very large scale..." Kihia shook his head… “perhaps this wasn't a good thing to arrange to do in the morning….”

Before Shohei could take a different path, he was stopped in his tracks when he heardna rather late response to his anonymous question. He tilted his head in the direction of which the unfamiliar voice came from,  consisting of specific and supposedly accurate directions. Shohei grumbled.  Why couldn't this be a afternoon thing? The sun would be shining, people would be out and about, and not to mention the utter noisenof the guild would ring through their ears. It seemed to be much more sufficient then to do this in the morning when everything was crowded and not so.. utterly annoying and peaceful.  The only peace and silence found in life was in his mansion. Shohei sighed at the thoughts creeping into his head.

But he soon began his search for his companions.. or "necessary figures". And his first direction was the bar, which he found almost immediately after looking around. And as said, a hallway to the right there was and a hallway to the right he'd take. As his footsteps echoed throughout the halls, it became rather eerie on how silent it was. Was everyone a heavy sleeper? If that was the case, then Shohei would fit right into this guild. But it was only a matter if time before Shohei stepped upon a staircase which supposedly lead to this Kihia person. But with that in mind, he walked down the stairs with a clearly irrited, crooked,  frown expressed on his face. The melting sucker still finely placed inside his mouth stayed put as Shohei held loosely onto the small bag of treats hung over his shoulder.

Staring at Kihia and Xavier.. or that's what he thought their names were, he visually inspected them. But with those final observations,  he chuckled sarcastically as he walked over to a corner and leaned against the walls. He then kept his irritated face locked onto the two, "I am going to say this wants, you got that? If this journey may end in conflict,  don't get in my way.  You'd only be a pain in the ass." He grouched. Shohdi decided that by the looks of it,  that he was the last one here. Buy he could really care less. As the sucker in his mouth dissolved,  he looked in his little pouch and took out another sucker, unwrapped it, and plopped it into his mouth with absolute ease. He wasn't in the "Let's go exploring" mood, per say. He was more in the "totally ready to go back to sleep" mood. Groaning, Shohei thumped the back of his foot against the wall, "Damn morning expeditions.. I should have called in sick or something. That would have worked out fine." He sighed. Shohei wasn't exactly social.. but more fierce in some ways.

“Please call me X. I don’t like all of the formality, I don’t deserve it. And forgive me for being late there were some-things beyond my control recently that have come into play. And trust me when I tell you that I’m fine, I went through a lot yesterday, this morning’s events only left a scratch.” He said disregarding his pain and suffering like usual trying to look tough to his friend. Or at least, he considered him a friend he wasn’t sure if the feeling was mutual. Thoughts of what happened the night before kept flashing through his mind, the images he could never manage to forget. A ghost from his past, someone he loved more than life itself. And when he went to receive a warm embrace the world woke him back up with a cold, cruel slap to the face. “No, shut them out. What would they think of you, even if your heat is weak, pretend it’s not. It shall live up to the façade.” This echoed through his mind, regardless of how truthful it actually was, which it certainly wasn’t. He rubbed his neck and his face burned a light pink as he was kind of embarrassed at his current state and what he knew was to come. He was sure Kihia remembered the events that followed his minute episode upon take off and he wasn’t looking forward to a repetition of it. From the moment they flew to the instant that they landed, Xavier had clung to Quincy, another member of the guild throughout the entire flight. Xavier swallowed the lump in his throat and just tried not to think of it.

“Thanks by the way. C rank is great and all, but I’m not even halfway there yet…” He said this under his breath imagining the scope he had set out for himself earlier on before joining Lamia Scale. The promise he made, he was going to become a Wizard Saint one day no matter who had a say in it, even considering how pathetic and over-rated it seemed. Though he was still far from reaching his goal, and for many it too a mass amount of years to complete. When Kihia mentioned the other mage Xavier nodded, “I think so. I saw someone there I didn’t recognize. I just didn’t want to walk up to him after that idiotic thing I’ve done. I think I’ll be covering some repairs out of my pocket for a few weeks.”

Hearing the footsteps echoing from the stair Xavier turned about to see who was coming, and when he saw who this person was and what they had looked like he didn’t see the resemblance to what he imagine from Kihia’s description to the real thing. Alongside that, his attitude proved to be something of a marvel too. He slouched and grouched and could be described by other connotations of laziness, and then resolved to complaining about the trip and having to wake up so early in the morning, and prior to that even acted like he was some sort of hardass, laughing an probably underestimating the two. HE could understand being looked down upon, simply for his age, arrogance, and ridiculous hair, but why Kihia? Xavier scoffed at him, “Good morning to you too.” He said. He doesn’t expect anyone to be have respect for him, but this was just rude.

Kihia gently put his hand on Xavier’s shoulders, “Everyone deserves to be shown respect Xavier, I say your name in full because I have Respect for who you are…” Kihia then listened intently on what Xavier had to say, gently nodding at times, When he had gotten to the part about Kihia’s inquiry if he had passed anyone, Kihia shook his head, “You won’t need to pay out of pocket… Master Zuo can repair the damage like it is nothing… that doesn’t mean however you won’t receive a scolding from him…” Kihia’s attention then turned to the third member who just walked down the stairs, whom was very obviously in a sour mood.

Judging from his comments, this was indeed Shohei, “Good Morning Shohei, and if you want to rest, you can try to on the trip there… trusting you can find yourself to sleep on the Ikarones…” Kihia then placed his right hand on the hidden doorway and sent a portion of his magical power into it. The door then started to have runes start to form a glow on it. The rune lines eventually formed a door outline, the door then started to disappear revealing a large hanger where the Ikarones was sitting. Kihia then walked in and lifted his left hand up to his mouth and spoke to the bracelet, “Icer, drop down the entry platform.” Kihia heard the confirmation beep and then the entry platform started to lower from the bottom of the Ikarones. It then rested one end on the ground creating a ramp into the ship.

Kihia then turned to his companions, “Make sure you have everything then step aboard, ask Icer any questions that you might have, Icer can answer them… I need to tend to something before I get on…” Kihia then walked over to the northern wall of the hanger and placed his hand on it, By the order of Master Zuo, unlock your marble gates that we can launch into the blue yonder of the skies above… Kihia waited for a moment, when he started to hear a giant rumbling sound, as if something very large was moving on the other side of the wall.

Kihia watched as the entire north wall light up in ice blue light, then the hanger itself started to shake, “It is time to go… The catapult… shall soon be ready…” Kihia then turned around, and started to walk towards the Ikarones. He then walked aboard and walked up to the pilots seat, trusting his companions were on board he would go on to say,(if not he would wait) “Icer Go on a close the hatch… the start up the engines…” Kihia would wait a moment for Icer to respond, “Understood Sir Kihia,” Kihia would then unsheathe the Icarus and place it in a special spot for it, he would then turn to his allies, “Get situated… and make sure you strap in… Safety first…” He would then sit down onto his own seat and strap himself in, “Icer, how long until the catapult is ready?” “In just a moment Sir Kihia,”

Shohei had is eyes closed. Tight. His arms folded as he leaned against the nearest wall with a calm expression on his face. But his vibe was so unapproachable that he was basically a walking, sleep-deprived, irritated, zombie who'd bite you if you'd got too close. But then again, at this point, in the sense that he was the sleep-deprived-zombie-summoner, he was only irritated enough to grumble and ignore everyone. Shohei groaned dramatically. "Ahh! It's no use. I can't go back to sleep now that I've tried.. I guess I will have to put up with these guys." Yep. That Unapproachable vibe remained, stiffened, and passively grew. Shohei was grumpy. But man! He was grumpy in the morning. Especially when he had work. But that was expected when you join a guild. Shohei just wasn't prepared, was all. But as he completely ignored the greetings of Kihia and Xavier, he decided to inspect them. Xavier, a small boy, probably younger then him, with messy hair and didn't look like a fundamentally strong person. Something about him made Shohei tick for no reason. He tsked as he quickly averted his gaze elsewhere, an annoyed grumble following close behind. "Tsk! "Necessary Company" my ass.." Even though Shohei is the one who grouped the two as Necessary Company, he was debating whether they.. or maybe Xavier individually was stooping to a lower tier. Because if Shohei couldn't seem to rank someone's value or meaning to him, they were useless or not his "problem".

As Kihia walked off, Shohei did his inspections and observations from the glances he had made. He was bigger then both Xavier and Shohei, had white, rather unique hair, and looked more mature then Shohei or Xavier and probably was older then the two. And he was sure as hell stronger then the two. Maybe Shohei wouldn't have to do any work. Maybe Kihia and that Xavier kid could just rid the filthy room of all the dust that intrudes it. Shohei should've brought a magazine or something. Something more worthy of his attention. He groaned again. If all he was going to do is eat, sleep, and observe then he might as well just of stayed home like he usually does. Or maybe hang out with Reiner or something. It's always nice to irritate his titans. Even those tough guys know how to amuse someone. Or maybe Shohei had a really twisted, dark sense of humor when it came to giant naked cannibals.. which, technically, titans were. He rolled his eyes at the silly thought.

As he fixed his gaze back over toward Xavier, he glared. Arms still folded neatly, and a scowl whipped onto his face. "Hey, shitface," Shitface apparently being the new name for Xavier despite Shohei knowing his name and all, "are you perhaps skilled in this kind of thing? If so, it'd be amusing if you could do the hard work." His glare and scowl remained, but his tone was sarcastic and a bit intense.

But, before Shohei could forget about Kihia (Which was relatively quickly), he told them to board the ship before he got on himself. Shohei really wasn't paying attention and his ears only registered things he only wanted to hear. Setting his question aside, he followed Kihia into the rather unusual ship in awe. He looked around, seemed satisfying. Instead of getting settled in, he decided to stand until it was absolutely time to go. Or.. that's what he thought he'd do. Taking the nearest seat, he threw himself onto it and strapped himself in. His bag of junk and goodies still clenched in his right hand's grasp.

Xavier proudly marveled at the unveiling of the Ikarones as the hanger made itself visible, and Kihia prepped the flight conditions alongside his on-ship artificial intelligence. It was nice to get out Hargeon every once in a while, Fiore’s huge and he’s only explored a small charted area. He smiled, although his legs were as weak as jelly, and he felt like not moving to show his fear to the new guy, staying leaned up against the wall. That was until of course the guy made it apparent that today wouldn’t go by quite as easily as either one could have hoped. He could see Shohei was sizing the two up before fully boarding the ship, and then he had the gall to look to Xavier, declare him to be a ‘shitface’, and tell him to do all the work for him.

Xavier is not or noble birth or some other courteous cause that directly supported or advocated nobility, but he held himself to the fact that he should never have a reason to abuse vulgar language or talk down to someone without just cause, and few times did he ever break these moral standings. He fought himself on the inside to maintain his smile, and leave on a direct and polite comment that left neither questioning the other, but to consider this an easy task were to be foolish. He wanted to insult him with vocabulary he was almost certain he wouldn’t be capable of understanding. He wanted to show him just exactly what skills he did have by restraining him with his own foot up his ass, threatening to break his neck. He wanted to simply explain to him why would leave him with a piece of his mind and a proper explanation for why he would end the discussion getting his point across and still come out the better person. But instead, he left him silence to fathom the stupidity of his circumstances. Maybe he ruled over the things he summoned with such a mouth and dirty tongue, but Xavier was nobodies to command and he would be damned before he let himself stoop to such a level. He was not a person to try and intimidate or manipulate despite his appearance.

After these thoughts took hold of him, the fear had no room to dominate him, and he walked forward to face his fear with a searing inferno of anger burning unquenchably behind the serene eyes that marked his countenance and made him look to be the innocent child he left behind years ago. He didn’t regret a single moment of that. He tried to keep a level head as he made his way to the bridge to strap in and prepare for the Mach 2 takeoff. When he finally felt the cushion of the seat he could feel his fear creeping back up on him, and he clutched the arm of the chair just so he had something to hold onto and not worry (as much) about being high up.

Kihia was rapidly addressing numerous things on the ships primary control panel in front of the pilots seat. Engines Online… Weapon Systems… ready… Shielding Online… Catapult… ready… He spun around his chair and looked at his two companions, he gave a hard glare towards Shohei’s direction, “Shohei… I understand the foul temperament for having to be up this early… but that is no excuse for disrespecting anyone… especially a fellow Guild Member… On my Ship, you will at least call each other by our own respective names… if not I will be sure to help you on your next training session in a way you will not like it….” Kihia then nodded and turned back around, he was not going to tolerate that kind of disrespect, Kihia then saw Icer put something up on the forward monitor that caused Kihia to gently smile, Use the Catapult in full eh?... I don’t see why not… it would certainly be a wake up call…

Kihia then took hold of the controls, and maneuvered the pedals carefully, a hum reverberated throughout the ship as the lower magic engines revved up and caused the Ikarones to start to hover in place. He then turned the ship to face the catapult tunnel. Looking through the pilots window he saw the structural supports of the catapult start glowing. “Catapult energized to 100% capacity, Commencing Connection in 10……9….” Kihia then started to press a series of buttons, then a secondary source of the humming started up from the back of the ship, “Brace yourself…” Icer then got to the final part of the countdown, “3….2….1…. Launch!” Kihia then pushed one of the thrust controls ALL the way forward, as magic arms reached out and grabbed the ship.

The Ship then lurched forward as Kihia was pressed up against his seat, he grunted as he endured it and made sure to properly steer the ship. The ship had been accelerated to speeds of mach 5 in a blink of an eye, causing the entire Guildhall to shake. As the ship accelerated through the tunnel slowly angling itself upward, “Just Hang in there! We are almost out into the open!” Kihia gritted his teeth as he was pulling back on the control stick, when suddenly exit came into view. It was a opening under the water, enchanted so that water would not fall into the catapult. The Ship pierced through the water and created a giant splash as it exited the Ikarones flew up a few thousand feet until Kihia initiated the reverse magic engines to slow down and level out the ship. He re-initiated the bottom magic engines and had let the ship hover there for a moment. He then took a breath and looked behind him, “Incase you need it… puke bags can be found to your right...” He then turned back around and looked on the right moniter, We are currently facing South west… Kihia then turned the ship so that it was facing north. “Take a moment to breath before we get moving again…”

Shohei's hands were tightly clenched to his seat. His eyes were widened and his brown pupils were small. He delayed his breathing from mere shock before taking a deep breath with a straight face and silent tone, "..Are you.. INSANE? You idiot! I could've died! Idiot, idiot, ID-I-OT! Are you sane??" He asked Kihia, clearly in more of a.. uneasy shock from the speed. He shot a glare at him before coughing, "No.. never mind, I'm fine. Don't answer that question." He sighed as he pressed back into his seat, his eyelids lowered. It was practically impossible to not stay awake after that surprise. Who could? Shohei was mentally woken and worked up but his body sure wasn't. He grumbled and averted his gaze elsewhere, "I probably should've used Nephilim instead of this.. ship that certainly knows how to give someone a heart attack.." He chuckled, but he was serious. If he died, he'd blame the ship! No! The driver! Or both!

Shohei looked around, he wasn't sure how the Lamia Scale guild in general was able to fit this thing in their guild, kind of interesting if you asked Shohei. He sighed and closed his eyes, he really wanted to hear Kleng's annoying voice right now, it was always nice to scold him. But Shohei figured the only time he would get a chance to talk to him, let alone Reiner and Nephilim, and maybe even Bertholdt, possibly Skye.. Really, any titan would do. He shifted his body around, trying to get his body to stop trembling from the speed of the lift off.. he groaned, "Phew.." he said with a irritated expression, it was almost funny how much in shock he was in. He grumbled. He was stuck with two dumbos. Two dumbos who know how to irritate him and cause him to have a heart attack.. two dumbos who've made an awesome impression of themselves. Shohei grumbled. Where exactly were they going? A island, he gets that, but for what? He couldn't really recall a moment when he was told what he was doing, how he was doing it, and why. He didn't know what he was looking for.. or fighting exactly, but it was an opportunity to meet some guild mates and apparently he got the best bunch of apples Zuo-sempai had picked.. but sadly, these apples tasted funny.

The silence filling the room was getting about just as awkward and unsettling as the shivers lurking up his spine, caused by the lift off. Shohei looked at Xavier, then Kihia, then back at Xavier and smirked. "As much as I'd like to call you shithead, dumbo number two over there stated, I won't call you shithead.. but rather a proper, fitting name. Like.. Dumbo." He shrugged sarcastically. Was he going to call Kihia and Xavier Dumbo and Dumbo number two? Yes. Shohei would fine it quite entertaining if they responded to those names. Shohei leaned over toward Xavier, grinning, "Isn't that such a fitting name for you and dumbo number two over there?" Normally Shohei wouldn't act so grumpy but.. he was still ticked from the lift off earlier.. errgh..

Buckled up tightly, Xavier clung to his seat as the ship throttled forward with incredible speed. He cringed, eyes shut. He couldn’t bear to watch as they soared, the skyline approaching quickly, as the view of the ground below rushed out of view like a fading memory, he tried in vain to hold on to it in his thoughts but, the sensation of it all proved overpowering. He counted down to himself the time until their speed returned to something a bit more steady going. 4… 3… 2… 1… And jerk forward slightly, the straps holding him steadfast to his seat. Xavier was wishing the worst of it was over, but he knew it had only began. He knew he ought to take advantage of the brief moment of peace to try and calm down a little and do his best not to look out at the world around them.

Taking a deep breath, was the first and the easiest step to remaining calm. He opened his eyes slowly to not risk looking at the undesirable, whatever was out there. He glanced over at Shohei who appeared to be sobering down from… something. Whatever it was he was too distraught in his own moment to take notice. This guy, never had anything good to say, did he? He didn’t like having to deal with “Debby Downers”. He could gripe all day about how terrible things are, but he does his best to repress those emotions, and letting somebody tear his ear off with the same crap he puts down just isn’t fair, because now he has to swallow it a second time because some lousy punk couldn’t take their share of crap. Then Shohei started up again, with the demeaning nickname bull-crap and couldn’t help but to laugh at what he thought was passable for such. “He couldn’t have been more inaccurate with his shtick, calling him ‘Dumbo’. “Look who’s talking.” Xavier chuckled to himself. It felt good, to just push him aside for once.

Content with his comeback he forgot himself momentarily and looked outside, gazing out to the expanse of sky that stretched out in every direction. His mind wandered to what was below, the towns, people, the bloody ground he wished to be standing upon. And before he knew it his mind questioned how far up they were, and in an instant his brain visualized a view of him staring down at the ground below from the clouds, and he could feel himself become sick. The thought of being so high up frightened him to his core. He chastised himself through thoughts, for being so, well for not being careful at the least. He had planned to be precautious but there wasn’t really explanation for that failure of work. He felt queasy, and held a hand over his mouth as if he were blocking something much uglier than his pitiful fear of heights from surfacing. He denied himself that right, and even if he did he knew he’d be cleaning up that mess personally whether or not they had time or priority to make a pit stop.

Kihia turned around in his seat and look hard at Shohei, who had spoken clearly about his displeasure of what just happened, however the main thing that brought up as a concern was the fact he had deliberately ignored his warning about name calling and continued on, however he had shifted the name to a politer tone. Kihia sat there looking at Shohei for a long moment, his eyes showing a level of sterness that was on par with the cold Gaze his eyes seemed to always give off. What is your story… that makes you so irritable and grumpy towards those around you, even if they are your allies… your very companions that will fight alongside you to the end…? Kihia then sighed and looked out the pilots window, seeing the Blue sky before them, “Shohei, while you are on my ship, please do respect your fellow Guild Mates… We are all Equals, we all deserve the same amount of respect…” Kihia then started to rapidly press a series of buttons and commands on the ship dash board, “Now though, we head to our destination, Sphere Island, that’s where our objective lies…”

Kihia then started to increase the amount of buttons he was pressing at a rapid succession, Calculations almost complete… Almost ready to start moving again… having to do this to be able to go into the ships naval mode once we reach Fiore’s northern coast… He then finished hitting the last sequence of buttons, and when he did the console let out a loud beep as humming once again started to pick up throughout the ship. “This movement won’t be as violent as our take off but be warned… once we reach the ships normal top speed… I will be initiating the Magic Boosting System… lean your seats back in preparation… the short time we are using that system will be the biggest endurance challenge of your life…” Kihia then slowly pushed forward on the throttle kicking the engines into full gear.

Kihia felt himself slowly sink to the back of his seat as the Ikarones getting closely reaching is normal top speed, as they flew through the air and over Fiore, “Sir Kihia, Reaching Mach Five in, Five….. Four” Kihia pressed a button on his arm rest that caused his seat to lean back, “Everyone, get ready!” Kihia flipped a casing open on the throttle showing a clear lacrima button, “Two… One… Mach Five Reached!” Kihia nodded and withstood the strain easier with his seat leaned back, “Magic Boosting system… Activate!” As soon as he said that he pressed the button making it light up. The next thing they could hear over the roar of the engines were mechanical parts moving near the rear of the ship, “Magic Booster Engines, online, activating in 3… 2… 1… Fire.” Suddenly the roar at the back of the ship intensified as the ship rapidly accelerated to Mach ten, Hold in their guys… we will arrive at the northern coast before you know it…

Shohei groaned. He shot a cold glare at Xavier, who seemed to be amused at Shohei. He scowled and looked back over at Kihia, who was in a stance as if he were about to drive the ship again... Shohei stared at him in utter awe, he leaned out of his seat, "What are you doing? Don't tell me we're going that fast again! Or maybe faster.. I don't care! Just don't you dare make this ship go faster than I can blink!" He shouted. He was obviously not very satisfied with how fast they were going. He honestly preferred to sit in this ship all day until they arrive there. Not.. go ridiculously fast to someplace he has never been before. Have they ever heard the phrase "You should stop and smell the roses."? Of course not! Or else they would. Shohei could honestly build up the guts to walk up to Kihia and tell him a thing or two, but obviously, those guts had faded into just sitting back and "enjoying" the ride. Which was of course, nearly impossible. Shohei leaned forward opened his mouth. But before the words could cross, his body was jerked back into the seat until it was pressing into it. How fast were they going?!

This was just a fine, fine, fine and dandy way to start a day! He couldn't wait to get his hands on Kihia once they were touching the dirt and ground! Not this metallic surface! But, he couldn't help the thought of Sphere Island. He had never been there before. He only hoped it was wide and full of space... he titans never seemed to love the human luxury of living in a mansion where everything was tight and compact. Shohei never complained. The titans however said otherwise. It seemed the only one who never had a problem with it was Nephilim. But he was the smallest titan so did he count? Probably. It was weird that he was more worried about his titans' reactions rather then his own reaction. ...I hate it! Hate it all! I came into this guild looking for work! Not for a god damned heart attack!... Shohei thought.

Shohei clenched his fist. Why were they going so fast?! It's one thing to give him a heart attack. But it's another thing to do it twice! A really cranky glare and frown expressed on Shohei's face. It's basically the only expression his face could display. A glare, smirk, and frown. Or perhaps a straight face. It was the only things he knew. Or at least the only things he could do. ...Watch out Kihia! Once we land, you'll be good for nothing titan chow! They'll chop you into so many bits that I could start a restaurant with your pieces!... Shohei thought, again. He ended up giggling. Which was awkward enough. He smirked, giggling a little louder. Surely he wasn't actually going to do this.. right? He pressed his body against his seat and decided to keep quiet until the ship slowed down. Not that he could speak at this speed in the first place.

As Kihia was preparing the ship to flight at top speed, he held onto his stomach in anticipation of something horrible. “Please don’t tell me you doing THAT again! You said you wouldn’t do that anymore!” He said somewhat pouting. He already felt out of sorts, but he knew he wouldn’t make it through a second turbulent force like that. He shook his head in disbelief. “You said you wouldn’t use that speed anymore.” He mumbled to himself seeming somewhat hysterical. He would have curled into a fetal position if he didn’t feel like he would be crushed by the force of his legs being moved to his chest, and also because he’s strapped down to his seat fairly secure. He squirmed in the chair uncomfortably anticipating the worst of events to occur once they land or if they are even more unlucky a bit earlier than prescribed.

The roar of the engines was blatantly clear over any of the shouting that Shohei was probably doing over the next few moment as the ship once again darted throughout the sky, silencing all else as a flock of birds scattered to clear the way. Looking out the window the sky and clouds, scattered as they were scrolled by with such speed they lost their own shape in the mix of it all. To anyone who could see them they were just a colorful blur tearing through the sky that arrived earlier than the sound of it passing. The air beneath the ship whipped the water into a torrent as it brought with it immense forceful winds that could rival a tsunami. The booming sound of them reaching Mach 10 echoed throughout.

Fists clenched hard onto the seat, it was rather hard for Xavier to do anything else except look forward as he was once again pressed into the cushion of the seat from the force of speed. The fabric of the chair seemed surround him as he was embedded in the stitching, as it rose into view from every corner. He couldn’t bring himself to make any noise, if he could even manage to think of something to say. The moment was oddly tense, although nothing was directly happening to him, and he had faith that Kihia held the reigns to this horse tightly, there was a hanging feeling of suspense as they travelled. His heart pounded, and he feel the very pulse in his veins, and the slightest motion in his stomach which even the thought of made him sick. He bother to question himself why he even cradled any chance of making off this thing without incident, because surely regardless how safe he was arriving, he would have to endure the trip back at the very least. Assuredly he wouldn’t even have enough resolve by then to face the Ikarones, let alone step foot on it for the fourth time count entry and exit. It was ironic wasn’t it? You get up in the morning, assure yourself life will be great, and that you’ll escape yesterday but you find each day has its own host of problems to dump on your overflowing plate.

Kihia maintained his composure as the ship barreled through the skies at neck breaking speeds. Kihia gritted his teeth as he turned his gaze to a monitor that held a map of Fiore with a white arrow that represented their present location. Twenty… Fifteen… The ship continued to rock Violently as it rocketed through the atmosphere, Ten…five…zero… Kihia then rapidly started pressing a series of buttons as the noise from the back of the ship lessened and the ship started to slow down, as the speed monitor read they were back at mach five Kihia sat up and started to pull back on the throttle and push the nose of the ship downward, “Icer… prepare for Naval shift” A beep emanated from the dashboard as various mechanical noises started sounding throughout the ship.

Out the cockpit windows they could see the brilliant blue of the ocean as the steadily approached, Kihia however increased the rate of how fast he was pressing buttons as numerous screens started to show numerous points of data, “Sorry for that… but the worst of our travels are behind us… once we hit water feel free to get up and walk around a bit…” As they reached 20 meters from the water surface he pressed four more buttons in rapid sequence which caused the reverse magic thrusters to engage to help dramatically slow down the ship, he then pressed five more buttons that caused the engines on the under side of the ship to engage which caused them to slow down to a hover.

He then placed his hand on a glowing lacrima, and slowly started to tilt his hand to help balance the ship out, in the mean time, his other hand was on a smaller throttle slowly bringing it back. At this point the Ikarones was barely going one miles per hour over the water and was descending even slower. “Air to Naval preperations are complete Sir Kihia” Kihia simply nodded at this and pressed on both foot pedals to make them land safely on the waters surface. He then used his left hand and pressed the same buttons to turn on the hovering engines to shut them off.

The Ikarones then dropped only slightly from the shift of what was carrying it afloat, however for the first time since they took of, no engines were running. Kihia let out a brief sigh and flipped a switch that caused the controls at the pilots seat to change their form suddenly. “We have landed on the water… it will only take us ten minutes to reach sphere island by this point…” Kihia then pressed one blue button that caused the a small humming sound, “Icer can you direct us on auto pilot for a bit while I catch a breather with these two?” “Of course Sir Kihia,” Kihia nodded and turned around and got out of the pilots seat, “Would you two like a breath of fresh air?...” Kihia then went past the seats before anyone could respond and pressed a small white button on the ceiling that cause a white circle to appear on the ceiling and opened up like hatch like manner, he then waited there and smell the salty air of the sea as it wafted in.

Shohei was pressed back into his seat. It was only a matter of moments before the ship slowed down again. Shohei glared with a look that could kill. And he was aiming it at Kihia too. But a lingering shiver went up his spine and he was not fond of it. He hesitated to move even after the ship stopped. He honestly didn't want to move after going that fast. He felt that he'd puke something up. He was just nauseous, but he blamed Kihia for it. His glare remained, but simply closed his eyes with furrowed brows. He tsked quietly before crossing his arms and looking away from the two. He couldn't help but say something! "Humph! Sorry dumbo, but right now fresh air is the last thing I want!" He grouched. He was short of breath, but the reason he was being stubborn is because he was already making a list of all the things he would do to make Kihia suffer for this horrific ride.

Shohei sighed and smacked his lips with a hint of sass, Ten minutes? Being stuck in here with you guys? That's like 10 years. Maybe I should kill myself now before my sanity drains.." He grumbled. It was always "UGH" and "I hate everybody. I hate people." with Shohei. Never has he thought positively of people. They were selfish, and never truly put others before themselves. Willpower isn't enough to do anything. Yet people believe if you have faith in something, god forbids their defeat. Shohei never thought like that. He'd rather loiter around then participate in just about anything. Or labor. Why would he do things for someone else? It proves that their minds are feeble and go with their gut, incapable of doing things themselves. Like this mission. Anyone could go to some dumb island to do whatever they were doing. He had bet it didn't require three people either! Why would one fight in the midst of a deadly battle? If it meant his life, a man in his right mind would whisk around and flee. That's one less dead body to take care of! Shohei doesn't understand people, and people don't understand Shohei. He felt as if he head to point out every flaw in someone's doing. He was a man of logic, and not afraid to express his thoughts. He was brutally honest.

Shohei, despite what he had said before, stood up anyway. He smacked his lips with his brows furrowed and his eyes closed. His hands would deep into his pockets as they groped around. He really just wanted to do some stationary stretching without being acknowledged. If anyone, he wanted to see Zan. That one person he wouldn't mind being hugged by. Shohei thought critically of the situation and simply pushed it away with a "I'm not gonna pressure it" sigh. He sat back down and crossed his right leg over his other and following with those actions, did his arms, crossing. He stared at his eyelids, a small rest as they drifted to the island wouldn't be so bad. He tried to be neutral on the situation but wasn't exactly leaning toward the bright side. Shohei dozed off. He went from uncontrollably irritated to a calm, drowsy state. Moody, wasn't he?

It was an endearing trip all the way through, but to some miraculous extent Xavier made it all the way through and with such little to have problems with otherwise unlike other journeys which will remain nameless and ignored for the sake of the poor kid’s sanity. Speaking of Xavier, it would be a hell to find him at the moment as he quite literally vanished once the Ikarones had come to a halt. The only remaining proof of his existence in the room was the impression he left in the cushion of his seat as he was compressed by the G-forces that they had all but lived with for that insane period of time. Taking off with incredible speed, Xavier managed to worm himself away from the group and found his way to the back of the Ikarones, doing things that ought to not be described, but the retching could be heard a decent distance away from his location but he made sure to put a decent amount of distance between him and anyone who was still onboard, except for Icer of course whom for all intents and purposes was the ship essentially. He seemed to be silent from the time being so Xavier just liked to imagine that he was giving him the privacy he deserved in which in return he politely thanked him within the confines of his own mind.

After that whole ordeal was over and out the window, he gathered the courage to get away from there and rejoin the others, feeling much better and ashamed of himself and his resolve at the same time. It was rather pitiful all in all, that he couldn’t prevent that little mishap, but it was in the past now. Putting it behind himself. He noticed that Shohei was doing some stretches on the deck of the ship alone, and it seemed that his immediate action to separate himself from the others wasn’t so out of the ordinary. He didn’t particularly want to be near Shohei so he allowed him the moment to be by himself. He thought he could make out a mass of land in the distance, but it’s shape was so rugged that he wasn’t sure he knew what he was looking at. He reached down to his side and unhooked a pair of binoculars from his pants, and adjusted them to the proper focus. In the distance he could see somewhat clearly a spherically shaped hill in the middle of the ocean, and not much else. “Oi, I think I see it! Due East of our current location.” He put down the binoculars and rubbed his eyes. The strain was irregular and odd to him. He stared off in that direction for a moment and wondered what exactly it was they were looking for on that one specific island, because investigating a small cove seemed like a rather large hassle with how things were turning out about now, especially if it were not to yield any useful results or, anything for that matter. “Just what lies in the future?” He stopped himself before long. “I need to stop brooding so much."