♢ Go hard or go home ♢

As the boat pulled into central dock, a pair of long sleek bare legs hung over it's edge. Dangling towards the water in a rather reckless manner. Sat there with one leg crossed over the other was a woman with long light blue hair and icy eyes. She glared across the water, her eyes taking in the vision that was Divide Island. She could hear someone warning her that she could fall into the water, but she ignored them. She wasn't about to take the advice of some buffoon who made the ridiculous assumption that she was unable to take care of herself. She racked her eyes across the area, it was an interesting sight, a very busy location, undoubtfully in the process of preparing and shipping it's trade. Amalie licked her lips, enjoying the  thought of the money they were likely making, it was a thriving guild after all. If she was going to reach her dream, undoubtedly this was the place to be.

"Miss we've arrived now, would you care to get down and we'll escort you into the dock. Perhaps I could show you around."

Her eyes rolled at the man's words, this idiot had been ogling her for the entirety of her journey here, making several petty attempts at conversing with her. She spun her body around on the ledge, lifting her legs back over and dropping down. Her black heels hitting the wood hard, she pushed herself forward from the ledging. Walking forward, hip swaying as she walked, she strutted straight past the goofily grinning imbecile. Without looking at him she spoke, "No thanks, I have better things to do than hang out with salivating dogs," She made her way off of the boat, placing a hand on her hip she glanced around. She could have got him to show her around, had he been less insufferable she might have permitted it. But the man looked at her the way most men looked at her, as a means to an end, and to endure that much longer likely would've resulted in her punishing him. That part might have been fun, but she really did have more pressing matters. Like figuring out how it was that one joined the West Fiore Trading Company.

She made her way along the track, walking slowly amongst the crowd, her eyes scanned the area around her. She noticed the guards along the port, smirking with curiousity. For just a trading guild, they took their security detail very seriously. She wondered how much money they were working with, or if their was something else warranting the need for such protection. Or perhaps, those in charge were just absurdly paranoid, whatever the reason, she was sure to find out soon enough. After a bit of a walk, she noticed the guild hall in the distance, her eager eyes took it in, an elegant building with a giant lacrima floating a top of it. She climbed the steps to the building, wondering what would be required for her join. She was confident in her ability to control her magic, and her motives undoubtedly suited the guilds favour. She wanted money, and they made it, such a partnership was bound the flourish. She was well aware of her one weakness, her lack of charisma could be an issue. She couldn't help the natural guard that appeared when she spoke to others, at this point it was instinctual.

As she reached the mahogany doors she followed the crowd in front of her. Her face blank as she absorbed it's interior. It was even busier in here, Amalie clicked her neck uncomfortably, moving away from the crowd. She had started to feel a little cramped and that was not ideal, she needed to remain composed. Her gaze fell on a reception desk, turning on her heel she made her way over to it swiftly. She stepped up to it, approaching the woman in the middle.  The woman introduced herself as Alisha, welcoming her and asking how she could offer her assistance. Amalie straightened up, placing a hand on her hip.

"My name is Amalie West, and I'm here to join the West Fiore Trading Company." Amalie replied confidently, offering the woman a polite smile, it wasn't a real smile, just convincing enough to show her that she wasn't hostile. This had better work, She thought irritably, having made the journey here only to be rejected would be a bitter result.

Before Alisha could answer the mage, a body fell from the ceiling, landing on the reception desk with a hard thud. Amalie glanced up at them, her smile gone, her expression now blank as she took in the man crouching before her. He was a little younger than her, but not by a great deal, he had red hair and cat ears. His clothes weren't done up properly and she could smell the alcohol from him. Amalie immediately felt herself grow irritated further, here she was trying to hard to be serious and polite. Only to have the first individual approach her be drunk, at this hour, her face remained stoic as he hopped off the desk. Her eyes glanced down to the hand he offered to her, under normal circumstances she would've ignored it. But as her gaze fell upon the blazing red guild mark of the West Fiore Trading Company, her face split into her smirk. Reaching over, she took his hand and shook it firmly.

He announced himself to be a Mr Kyran Dyer, she nodded, not sure if she would actually remember it. That would depend on the impression he left, so far, it was the greatest start. She followed him as they walked, her grin widening at his security comment. "I noticed."She replied glancing around once more. From what she could discern, this Kyran guy had to be a regular guild member, and that this Cirven, or one of the 'VP's as he put it were the ones she needed to speak to. Hopefully it wouldn't take long, Amalie didn't like to be kept waiting. She watched silently as he babbled on about wanting a drink, from the smell of him, she would say he'd had enough. Amalie felt the strain on herself as she resisted the urge to comment, You are here to join, don't piss off the first member you meet. She ordered herself. She glanced over at him, "I'm quite alright,"  She said declining his offer of alcohol, she did enjoy a nice sweet cherry brandy, but now was not the time. She wanted her mind clear for this, drinks would come later, once she knew she was officially in. Until then, she wasn't going to risk loosening her tongue any further, it was hard enough to keep her thoughts to herself when sober.

Before Amalie could answer his question, they were greeted by a child. Amalie's eyes widened in mild surprise at the sight of him, an eight year old belonging to a guild. Her mind assessing him as he approached, there was only three reasons she could come up with a child belonging to a guild. The first being that they were related to an existing member, the second was that they were an orphan with no where else to go. The third option, and as the child approached what appeared to be the most likely reasoning, was that they were extremely powerful. As the eight year old introduced him as Sol Terumi, and a Vice President of the guild, her face lit up. This is it, what she was hoping for, her eyes wandered to the glass of alcohol in his hand, biting the inside of her cheek. Is everyone here a drunk? She thought briefly, and since when is it acceptable for a child to drink. But still, it was too soon to question his behaviour, she needed to handle her own agenda first. She offered her own presentation of what she construed to be a charming smile before beginning another introduction. "The pleasure is mine Mr Terumi, I am Amalie West, I am actually here in hopes of joining your guild." She listened as the boy scolded Kyran for his state of dress. "Oh was your shirt open? I didn't notice." She remarked with amused sarcasm offering the redhead a teasing wink.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

The words spoken by the small boy had the be the best thing she had heard all day, she was in, just one little test and that would be it. She grinned in delight, so far everything seemed to be going her way, and it was about time too. Amalie tilted her head curiously at his age remark, "Fascinating," She replied looking him over, that explained the immense power and his mannerisms. He certainly behaved like a much older man. But still for all of it to be contained in such a small form. "Is this a personal preference?" She asked, finding the thought bizarre, to choose to exist in the body of a child. Was this some form of escapism perhaps?

She heard the approach of a third individual, glancing over as he addressed them. Her eye- brow raised at the sight of the silver-haired man that joined them. Referred to as Johann, for a start he was neither an underdressed drunk or a boozing child. He was also rather handsome, but then again they all were. There was also the power he oozed, she smirked. They were all very strong, this much she could tell, she felt herself grow a little excited. To have so many stronger mages around, she certainly had made the right choice. A great choice he had told her, she glanced up at him, "Oh, most definitely." She replied. Her attention was drawn back to the red-head, she watched as he burned away his clothes. Revealing the rest of his upper body, he then proceeded to inform them they he would be leaving and promptly exited, but not before offering her some advice. She looked after him for a moment, Well that was awfully personal... She thought, she didn't know the man long enough to really care for his departure, her only wondering being that it was a shame she would not get to see what he was made of magically. Oh well, She thought glancing back at young boy, she watched as his entire being seemed to radiate in rage. Her right hand raised to her mouth, she bit gently down on the nail of her pinkie as she observed him. Feeling the intense magic coming off of him, the room felt like it was dragging her down suddenly. Her body shook slightly from it, and within a moment he calmed, returning to normal.

Amalie quickly straightened, looking unfazed, rather she carried a brilliant smile. This guy... is something else. She thought, she shook her head at his apology. "No, no, quite the opposite actually," She admitted, she was actually thrilled by his use of power, it only cemented the fact that she had made the right choice. If she wanted to grow in power, this was the place to be. A woman with pretty long dark hair joined them, looking rather irritated despite her smile. She introduced herself as Adalinda Ortinbras, It seemed she was pissed off at the redhead, who had inherently stolen alcohol belonging to her. She offered the girl a nod in greeting, before Sol directed her to follow him. She grinned at Johann, "Guess we don't get to play, shame, perhaps another time." She said in a playful tone, before stepping over to Sol to walk alongside him.

MADE BY VEL OF GS

Apart from the small interchanges of conversation amongst the group, the sound of the groups footsteps clapping against the floor as they walked together, were all that Amalie could hear. She listened as Sol answered her question, whilst also glancing out of the corner of her eye for some kind of indication of where he may be leading her. Alas, she could not detect any noises or signs to indicate the route they were taking. It was still heavily guarded, but nothing else distinguished the path. "You have a curious body," She replied, wondering whether it was a good thing of not. To be able to consume alcohol and not get drunk, not have it toxify you and corrupt you wholly. How would you forget those things that ought to be forgotten? The lack of hangover would be pleasant but Amalie saw few other perks.

Johann's comments left her greatly pleased, it seemed she was already being accepted as a welcome candidate, now it was just a matter of proving herself. As he remarked about Sol being a difficult examiner, she chuckled. "Getting what you want is never easy, that's what make it's so exciting." She replied, feeling as ready as ever. She was going to get what she wanted, one way or another, she was sure of it. The Exceed that had arrived with the woman named Adalinda flew over, introducing herself as Tamaria, before wishing her luck on the test. Amalie's tilted her head at it, unsure how to respond. She had never interacted with such a creature before, or anything that wasn't human rather. Plenty of monsters however... The cat was yanked back by Adalinda and was given a telling off.

As they arrived at what appeared to be training grounds, Amalie felt her excitement peek. She flexed her fingers, itching to find out what her test was. She turned to look at Sol directly as he addressed her, straightening up as he announced he was about to assess her deduction skills. In a poof of black smoke he vanished, then reappeared in multiple forms. Several of him completely identical, she quickly did a count, eight in total. Pick the correct Sol, or face a nasty consequence. It was simple enough. Her ice-cold eyes watched as they began to circle her slowly, baring a set of razor sharp fangs and hungry looking eyes. As far as clones went, they were immaculate, to be able to tell the difference from sight alone was impossible. They moved in complete synchronisation, Amalie thought for a moment, her mind racing through a selection of options to try. Suddenly took a slow breathe, allowing her aura senses expand outwards to feel for the magic around. She slowly began to laugh, "Interesting," She began, "You see, no matter how perfect you make these clones, you only use a specific amount of mana to cast them, and when your own magical pressure is as strong as yours. Well," She turned to the Sol whom she felt was giving off a magical aura much more distinguished level magical pressure than the others. She leaned in close so that her face was only a inch from his, whispering the next part softly."The difference is palpable."

Needless to say, Amalie was pretty smug right now, she couldn't help it, why wouldn't she be. She had passed the test with flying colours, and of course she would. Amalie didn't fail, it wasn't in her nature. She had spent much of her childhood reading books about magic, her only source of entertainment was the books her grandmother occasional sent her. Despite never actually visiting the girl, it seemed her Grandmother wanted to do her best to steer her away from following her Mother's footsteps. In a sense perhaps it had worked, she hadn't become a substance-craving whore after all, although the alternate lifestyle she had chosen wasn't a great deal better. But that was in the past, her Grandmother was dead, and her Mother well... Amalie could care less in regards to her. As far as Amalie was concerned, her real life started now. She had come to join to West Fiore Trading Company, and that was what she would do. The first ticked box on her list of goals, her ascent to success and power was undoubtedly in the bag. She leaned back from the Vice President , straightening up, she brought her hand up to her hip. Tilting her head as she listening to Sol's response. A demonstration huh? She thought, catching her curiosity, as her lips curled into a smirk. Her blue eyes followed him carefully, well aware she was about to witness something thrilling to say the least. Staying where she was as he backed away a few paces.

The burst of magical energy that erupted from Sol was thick, and powerful. It was almost intoxicating to her, the girl loved power after all. Shadows formed around him, engulfing him completely. They twisted and moved around the child, growing in size with each passing second until he towered above her at a gigantic size, equivalent to Titanic proportions. The shadows settled revealing above her a marvellous sight. The thrill that ran through her body at what she was looking at was near enough exhilarating, she did a little intake of breath, before sighing deeply. A jet black dragon roared above her, before lowering it's massive head to her level. Her expression held no fear however, rather she grinned at him excitedly. Eying his lethal fangs and powerful form with fascination. She inched a little closer, craning her head side to side to admire him. "I think I prefer you this way, Dragon King." She said with a chuckle, meeting the gaze of his wild red eyes. She had definitely acknowledged one thing, joining the West Fiore Trading Company was most certainly the best choice for her. Her first day her and she was face to face with a Dragon. It couldn't get much better than this, could it?