Howl With The Wolves

Paragon of Virtue

Silver Wolf tradition marks that new members must travel out to the Phoenix Mountains at night in order to be considered fully fledged within the guild. Jin, while not particularly new, was now to embark on this journey alongside his Guild Mistress and the new girl. He was far from happy about the matter, as the Paragon's fear of his second persona killing others was certainly present, but nonetheless he thought it would be for the best to work with another. Perhaps it would be some form of impulse control, but the Bringer of Death reluctantly agreed.

It's a means to an end. the Bringer of Death grumbled.

Jin rolled his eyes, doing his best to make sure Leona did not see. He was not worried about the new girl, but a pang in his mind told him to ensure that she was not lost or anything bad happened, both for the sake of her and the guild as a whole.

He smiled, putting on his best attitude for the group. "Is all going well?" he asked through faintly-hidden shivers.

---

WC: 180

Iris was busy getting dressed and ready, slipping that huntsman cap on to her head and pulling the flaps down, tying them off under her chin while she had on a big long brown parka. Ready to head out in to the snow with long black boots, and thick brown mittens. Making sure that everything was on right, she, well, she couldn't SEE if what she was wearing matched up. Part of the downside of being blind, she never knew if her clothes actually looked right, but, here she was, trying her hardest. For the sake of the people that had welcomed her in to the place. Happy to do her absolute best on the matter.

When approached by Jin, she would turn to him, her hat actually on backwards, leaving the back of her neck exposed to the cold if she went out in to that now. SHe didn't have the means to notice it beyond touch, but, it didn't feel out of place for her. "Oh hello Jin, I'm well. I am excited to head out there and see what sort of feeling I get from making the noise myself!" SHe certainly was a chipper girl, refusing to let anything get to her on the matter of her blindness, always the optimist, she did her best!

WC: 225

Having left her room after gathering all the supplies she needed for the trip, Leona wore her green-and-gold outfit and her Argent Gloves plus a backpack of supplies like a flint and steel for fire starting, blankets, and enough food and water for all three Silver Wolf mages. Leona also carried her Silver Longsword on her left hip, but only as a precaution. She did not expect to encounter any serious opposition in the Phoenix Mountains. In between the mountainous location, the cold climate, the spirit wolves, Leila Vergious, and Leona herself if all else failed, Silver Wolf's territory was remarkably safe for its members. The only real danger was new members getting lost and possibly falling off of a precipice during a snowstorm.

Leona's natural night vision allowed her to see the other guild members with as much clarity as she could during the daytime. That was a beneficial ability to have because it did not seem like her guildmates enjoyed the same benefit. After checking to make sure that her sword and backpack were securely attached to her body, Leona greeted Iris and Jin in the foyer of the guild hall, which was almost as cold as the weather outside.

"Hey Iris! Hey Jin! Do you have everything you need for the trip to the bonfire site?" Leona asked Iris and Jin. Both of them looked to be about as ready for the trip as they would get, but it was still a good idea to ask before the three of them went tromping off into the snow. Leona should have enough blankets, food, and water for the trio if things got really bad, but she did not foresee any trouble coming up during the Howl With The Wolves ceremony tonight.

[Post Word Count: 300]
[Leona's Word Count: 300/500]

The guild mistress's arrival marked the arrival of the three that would be embarking on the journey. Of course, Miss Jarnefeldt! I got everything we need for the bonfire with me!"

With Iris's blindness and Leona's status, Jin was left to be the one to haul all the wood needed for the fire. Leona was kind enough to provide the means to lighting the fire, but it was a blessing that she was joining the journey anyways. He adjusted Iris's hat, covering up her neck before they wandered out into the cold snow, before he grabbed his own pack of supplies alongside the wood sled.

Are you absolutely certain you'll be able to get both? The sled and your own pack, I mean.

Well, I mean...they're both girls, and-

Leona's stronger than you by miles, and Iris could probably beat you if I didn't intervene.

B-but the right thing to do is-

You and your damn chivalry. Let me-

No. I was careless enough to let you slip out when meeting Leona and Leila, I'm not going to let you have any control outside of battle.

You have some oddly specific wording there, I must say.

As you said, you're the better fighter, so-

-that means I'm stronger. So let me take charge and we can-

You don't get the point! The point is that I don't want you to try to kill Iris or something.

The Bringer of Death's disappointment and contempt was thinly veiled, its transparency assisted by their shared body. The Paragon had made his decision that he would take care of the wood sled himself, regardless of any offers Leona or, heaven forbid, Iris would make.

Speaking of Iris, what's your thoughts on her?

She seems fine enough. Odd that you, of all people, are asking an opinion on someone.

We both see a benefit to working with her. Her magic is adaptable like ours, and you seem to mesh well with her. Something about "two cursed souls," if I remember right?

Instinctively, Jin dropped his personal bag onto the ground as he balled his hand into a fist. Quickly realizing his exterior action, he turned to his two other guildmates. "Sorry about that! Must've had a weird grip on it." He laughed, trying to convince himself of his lie.

You aren't supposed to dig into all my thoughts.

Hard not to when you're sharing the same thoughts and memories. Plus, you do
too. Plus, you already have your own thoughts on her.

True, I suppose. Would be a shame if something were to happen to her because of her blindness.

The Bringer of Death's smug sense of satisfaction bubbled over, pouring into the Paragon's own emotions. Realizing his falling into his other's trap, he shook off the embarrassment and focused in on his exterior actions, as foolishly being foiled by his other persona's tricks could lead to hazard in the snowy mountains.

---

WC: 487
Jin's Total WC: [677/500]

"Yes Ma'am! I have everything that I need! I'm ready to head out!" SHe would declare gleefully, ready to move out in to the snow and off in to the distance where they would be sitting down around a bonfire. With her she brought a few snacks to roast over the fire, so that it wasn't going to be sitting in the cold, getting cold. They had magic, sure, but sitting in the frigid air was an annoyance in and of itself! Regardless of how powerful you were at that.

With Jin offering to carry everything, Iris would puff her cheeks out, folding her arms in a pout while making her way to the door. Ready to go outside, and form something with her magic. WIth that cane folded up in to the size of a baton, she would write with it in the air. C A R R I A G E. The letters were strewn about in thick bold text. A little divot in the letters for anyone to sit on. Four circles of the word WHEEL around the sides of it. SHe would point to it with her cane, "IF your grip is going to be that slippery, we could simply utilize this. That said, I am going to ride on it to make getting to the camp site easier." She scoffed while folding her arms, finding it annoying that she was thought of as so disabled she couldn't carry something, she was still a person.

At the camp site, she was already feeling the hunger get to her, the smell of this place putting the thought in her head of cooling mint leaves and mint flavored sweets. SHe sighed, wishing her synesthesia wasn't a problem like this at times.

WC: 304
TWC: 529

Leona received confirmation that everyone was ready to go to the campfire, so she did not harp on the question any longer. She took them at their word and headed out with them ready for both an unexpected fight and more mundane survival challenges like staying warm and starting a fire. She hoped that they would not need the supplies in her backpack. Living in a desert for fourteen years had taught her to carry supplies even if she did not think that she would need them because it only took a moment for disaster to strike. Plenty of people had tried to trek through the desert with the bare minimum of supplies and got lost in a sandstorm or wandered off the beaten path for just a moment; they often ended up as desiccated corpses for their trouble.

With that she checked her gear one last time and headed out into the snow with her guildmates.

-Outside the guild hall-

Shutting the door behind them, Leona waited until her night vision took effect, then joined Jin and Iris, who were discussing if Jin should carry everything or not. The Wizard Saint witnessed them discussing the matter until Iris settled it in decisive fashion by using her special Solid Script magic to make the words visible, where they then summoned the objects that they spelled out. Leona was impressed by both Iris' magic and the mage's determination not to let visual impairment hold her back.

"If I need to carry something, then I will. I'm not too good to carry supplies just because of a title. Besides, these gauntlets aren't just for show." Leona told Jin and Iris as she walked along, keeping an eye out for rogue wildlife or for human threats. With the help of the Argent Gloves she could comfortably lift and move weights of up to twenty tons without issue. She did not want Jin to have to carry everything nor did she want to give the impression that anything was beneath her because of her titles. Long before she was Guild Mistress and Wizard Saint, Leona had once shoveled horse manure in Hosenka to save Farmer Jed's farm from a ruinous 10,000-Jewel fine, so she could handle any menial task.

[Post Word Count: 384]
[Leona's Word Count: 684/500]

Iris's magic to at least give a carriage to haul the wood on, as well as Leona's own offering to assist were simply something of note, but Jin had already resolved himself to carry the supplies himself, even with the addition of Iris tagging on the carriage.

"Thank you for the offer, really! But I can handle this. Think of it as something of a proving ground for me. Plus, at this point I haven't really done much to help." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Iris, you've summoned up this carriage and its wheels, and Miss Jarnefeldt, you've got all the firestarting equipment and you gathered the firewood and everything, so it's only right for me to at least drag along the wood, right?"

Honestly, your sense of chivalry is disgusting.

Better to be chivalrous than murderous.

Is it, though?

Jin sighed aloud, tired of the back-and-forth he would always have to deal with considering his "two-halves-of-a-whole" dynamic his curse brought upon him. Nonetheless, it was something he needed to simply deal with. Just as with carrying the wood, he merely saw it as a facet of life that needed to be dealt with. After all, now he had his guild to support him. Leona, Iris, Leila, the whole lot of them were now there for him, both in terms of physical assistance and allowing the Paragon to spread his wings more, so to speak. Even now, with what he believed to be a budding friendship with the blind mage, it gave him more power outside of just battle or convenience. Of course, the convenience was undeniable. The carriage Iris had created was much more easy to transport than the makeshift sled he had thrown together, and not having to carry the firestarting supplies or even acquire them was another boon.

Jin looked up, staring into the sky. The Phoenix Mountains were certainly beautiful, he thought. A flake of snow dropped onto his cheek, fading to water as soon as it made contact with him. He smiled, excited for his full acceptance into the guild.

---

WC: 348
Jin's TWC: 1025

Off they would go, the trio through the snow, Leona off to another howling with the wolves, two of them off to do it for the first time, to be accepted. As they made their way out, Iris continued to ride on the little cart of letters, figuring Jin just wanted to keep the wood to himself.

At the camp site, iris was the first to get settled in, fumbling around with the packaged marshmallows she brought along. if they were going to be out in the cold, they might as well enjoy it.

"I can't thank you enough for this opportunity Guild Mistress. The last thirteen jobs I had all fired me for messing something up within two weeks. I hope I do well. I can't see, but, I will do my best. Ultimately, I want to cure my blindness, but, it's a complicated curse. If I do though, I can be of much greater help to the guild as my sign of thanks."

She said her peace, she was happy to be here, she was happy to have the opportunity. They couldn't see it in her eyes, because they were glossed over, milky white, devoid of showing any sort of glimmer of hope. Or, maybe it was there, it was just impossible to make it out within the milky whiteness.

While sitting in the snow, she pulled her jacket in closer. And waved her hand around in the air. HANDS. Two words she wrote. HAND HAND. They of course, morphed in to the shape of hands, and would grab a hold of her jacket and hug her, to keep the compression on her and keep her warm. "So, how do we do this? Do we just start howling? Is there a ritual? Do I have to spot a constellation. We're gonna be out here for a while if I have to see something."

WC: 326
TWC: 855

Watching over the clearly overburdened but proud Jin and the determined Iris to make sure that no harm befell them on the way to the site, Leona arrived at the same time Jin and Iris did. She walked around and performed a quick visual inspection of the bonfire site to check for lurking threats, be they wild animals or some outlaws looking to make some quick loot at the expense of travelers through the Phoenix Mountains. While walking around she also reached out with her ability to sense magic to sweep the area for dark mages wanting to harm her guildmates or make a name for themselves by killing the Wizard Saint of Courage. After two slow loops around the site, Leona was satisfied that the area was safe for Jin and Iris.

"It's no problem, Iris. You won't be fired within two weeks here. And I'll be glad to help you with your quest... if you want my help, that is. I won't force you to let me help." Leona assured the purple-haired mage that her tenure with Silver Wolf would be a lot longer than two weeks. The blonde also offered to aid Iris' quest to regain her sight, but the Wizard Saint would not force Iris to accept her help. Maybe Iris wanted to try to succeed on her own before asking for help. Leona could respect that kind of determination.

"There's a ritual of sorts for the ceremony, Iris. First we pile the wood for the bonfire up. Then we light it and howl at the moon when it's high in the sky. Once we see the moon, we start howling. Don't worry if your howling's not spot on... I know mine isn't." Leona informed Iris of what was involved in Howl With The Wolves. Leona remembered her first time doing Howl With The Wolves with Ero Erebus and another mage and cringed at how awful her strangled howling sounded. She was glad that Leila was not there to hear it or the former might have been offended enough to throw the blonde off a cliff. Maybe this time Leona could pull off a halfway decent wolf howl.

"Are you sure you don't need help carrying and stacking the firewood, Jin?" Leona asked the young man. She would be glad to assist with the task if he wanted or needed it, but like with Iris, she would not make him accept her help.

[Post Word Count: 427]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,111/500]

Jin smiled at Leona's offer. "Once we get to camp, I'll gladly take whatever help in building the bonfire itself. I've got experience with hauling wood, not so much with building fires, so I'll take assistance with that for certain."

He was slowly becoming accustomed to the guild, even though he had little interaction with many of them. A part of it was fear that his other self would barge in and kill yet another ally, as had happened numerous times before.

You seem to have some attachment. Plus, not killing anyone would be to our benefit in staying in the guild. It's a research guild at the core, right? Maybe someone can teach me more efficient ways of murder.

Or we could find some way to get free from each other.

Doubt it. We need each other to survive. It's been thirteen years, that symbiosis doesn't just dissipate easily. Suddenly, the Bringer of Death laughed. And on the note of that symbiosis, I'm gonna let you do that whole "howling at the moon" thing. I've got a reputation to uphold.

We both have the same reputation! We're the same person!

Not when that mask comes on. Then it's my job to slaughter whoever dares to come into my path. You say that I'm a curse? That's a lie, and you know it. I'm the greatest thing to ever happen to you. If you didn't become my vessel, then you'd be dead.

Jin ignored his other half's complaints as he finally reached the camp, doing his best to hide the sweat that was forming, despite the cold. If he had to actually howl at the moon, then he needed to preserve whatever pride he could, and if it meant back-breaking work, so be it. Once they had reached the campsite, he made sure that the carriage would not roll off before rolling onto the snowy ground, staring at the dark sky.

---

WC: 321
TWC: 1356

Iris would, at the Guild Mistress' words, wave her hand in front of her face, quickly illustrating one problem with the ritual, "I can't really tell when the moon is at its highest you know. Maybe, you could just tell me?" Se asked while poking her fingers together, puffing her cheeks out in to a pout. For Iris, there was nothing worse than feeling like she had to rely on people, the girl tried to remain brave most of the time. The girl struggled when people put her to the task of observation with her eyes. For her, it was like a wall to run in to.

With the fire wood stacked up eventually and the fire started, Iris would lean back, looking up at the starry sky, well, not, REALLY looking up at it. "I wonder what it looks like," she would say, "the sky I mean. I hear the stars make beautiful pictures for us to see, and, as far my curse goes, I--won't get to see that for a good long while, or ever. I hope to some day though. I want to see the sights I have been to, and the ones I haven't been to yet."

"Do you think I'd lose my synesthesia along with regaining my sight if I did?" She turned her head to ask Jin and Leona, the clouds still blocking the moon, it wasn't time to howl just yet.

WC: 253
TWC: 1108

Leona's face turned beet-red, and the cause was not the cold weather. She had said something incredibly stupid to Iris about it being time to howl when the moon was high in the sky. While the advice itself was sound, there was one not-so-small problem with it... Iris was blind and therefore could not see the moon! How could Leona be so dumb? The Guild Mistress got a momentary reprieve from the sheer embarrassment of her mistake when Jin announced a compromise with her.

He would haul the wood for the bonfire into place and he would accept her help when it came time to light the fire for the ceremony.

Leona could live with that. Jin got to help with the ceremony and Leona did not embarrass a guildmate by butting in where she was not wanted. It was a win-win situation.

"OK, Jin. I can help you when it comes time to light the fire!" Leona announced her acceptance of the compromise put forth by the young man. Once that was accomplished, she turned back to Iris, who made a simple request of the Guild Mistress. Iris wanted a verbal notice of when the moon came up so that she could Howl With The Wolves along with Jin and Leona.

Leona could do that.

"I'll be glad to let you know when the moon's up, Iris." Leona said to the purple-haired mage with confidence. Surely the blonde could do something that simple without messing it up. She listened to Iris question whether regaining her sight would cost her her synesthesia ability or not and tried to come up with an answer that was not patronizing or insulting. Leona did not want to mess up twice in one night.

"You know, Iris, that's a good question. I haven't done any medical research before, so I'm not qualified to give medical advice. I could try to find a medical professional to ask if you'd like." Leona offered to give Iris a small helping hand with her situation. She was sure that doctors would be willing to answer a question from the Wizard Saint of Courage. That could be a chance to use her fame to help someone in a concrete fashion.

[Post Word Count: 394]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,505/500]

The Paragon fought hard to ignore the laughter coming from the voice of his other self. He was amused by Iris's reply to Leona's innocent question, but Jin could not physically react lest he feel the wrath of his guild mistress. Instead, doing his best to ignore the echoing laughter coming from inside his head, he began slowly unloading the wood from the carriage for the bonfire. It still would be some time until the ceremony would come under way, but an early start would be far from a bad thing to work towards. Rather, he thought this time would be best spent in order to further acquaint himself with his fellow guild-mates.  

"This is a bit out of nowhere, but I thought it might make sense for us to get to know each other a bit better, if you don't mind. I'm gonna start with a question to you, Miss Jarnefeldt. Obviously, Iris came here to find out if she can remove her curse and I-" He paused himself mid-sentence. He did not think it would yet be the best time to reveal the existence of his dual personas. "...have my somewhat similar reason for joining Silver Wolf, but I'm curious why you joined, Miss Jarnefeldt? Of course, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, I'm in no position to insist."

Still scared of the repercussions if they found out that I exist?

They could easily relate your existence back to some of the many slaughters you've done in the past few years.

The Bringer of Death made a slight sound, and the Paragon figured he would have shrugged if he were in control. And? They're fine with a little bit of murder every now and again.

If it's for a just cause, sure, but not necessarily for whatever your goal is.

That's neither here nor there.

You have - or at least, had - a bounty on your head for a while for...which one was that?

The Bringer of Death laughed. This was amusing to him. It was a joke. I believe that was for Rivermill. That was a fun one. Especially that one kid who thought he was a shadow Dragon Slayer! Obviously he wasn't, he got stabbed in the face with some shadows trying to eat them. Ah, kids these days.

Jin externally shook his head at the revelry of the Bringer of Death. "And I suppose it's only right for me to ask you a question, Iris. Apologies if this sounds a tad morbid, but...what exactly are the details of your curse? Obviously the blindness is a huge thing, but presumably there's some gain to it, right? Some...extra magic power, or something of the sort.

You ask these questions without any intention of answering if they were asked to you. Bit of a hypocritical thing, if you ask me.

You're one to talk about being a hypocrite.

The Bringer of Death laughed. I am well aware of my own hypocrisy, that's the difference.

---

WC: 501
TWC: 1857

Iris would wait to be told it was time, readying herself as she took in clean, crisp, cold breaths of air. To her, it felt sharp, like the tingling sensation of mint. All the while, her allies would be discussing with her the concept of healing magic and the proclivities of her curse. SHe seemed a bit detached from it while turning her gaze to Jin. Addressing their leader first, she would speak to Leona while her blank eyes stared at Jin, "Thank you Guild Mistress... It's my hope to one day find what caused it so I can cure it."

"And to answer you, the curse is to keep me from seeing what could corrupt my view of the world, for as long as I remember, ever since I was little, I've had it. There's no magic power that comes with it. There is no unique power to it. I simply have synesthesia with it as well." She would say tersely before folding her hands in to her lap, turning away from Jin while looking up at the sky, waiting to be told it was time to start howling.

Iris didn't like to be questioned on it, she didn't know much about it, what she did know made her angry, she just wanted to get this over with now, a look of frustration upon her face about all of this. What a smooth talker that guy.

WC: 245
1353

Leona heard Jin ask about her reason for joining Silver Wolf way back when. He insisted that she could refuse to answer if she wanted with the explicit admission that he could not compel her to respond by virtue of superior rank or superior strength. Leona decided to answer anyway because it was no big secret.

"I joined Silver Wolf after a job that nearly cost me my life." Leona answered truthfully. She was more than a little ashamed of her reason for joining the guild she now managed because it stood at odds with her title as the Wizard Saint of Courage. She did not join for a higher purpose like bringing the light of knowledge to the world or working to save and preserve humanity with knowledge gleaned from research into new subjects.

Leona joined Silver Wolf to stay alive.

" Almost two years ago, I had tracked down a serial killer in Hargeon Town named Jacob Goodnight. We fought on the lower docks and after awhile he got the upper hand and wrapped a chain around my legs. Before I knew it he had me hanging by my feet from the underside of the upper docks and was about to gut me with a butcher knife when I used a magic sword to surprise him and get free. To make a long story short, I won the fight and killed him, but I was hospitalized for a few days. That job made me reconsider being a Guildless mage... after I got out of the hospital I met Leila Vergious, she talked to me about Silver Wolf, and the rest is history." Leona told a condensed version of her story to Jin. There was little doubt that the story would lower the esteem in which some of the guild members held her, but it was the truth. There was no heroic backstory, no vow to help humanity with the limitless potential of science. It was all down to self-preservation.

Leona was a pretender to her title.

She was no Wizard Saint of Courage.

She was just a parvenu from the desert who happened to be in the right place at the right time to attain her current status.

Leona shook off the negative thoughts and looked at the night sky. The clouds were beginning to clear up and the moon was almost visible.

"It looks like the moon will appear shortly." Leona informed Jin and Iris.

[Post Word Count: 425]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,930/500]

Looks like the moment of truth for you, the Bringer of Death laughed.

Jin did his best to ignore the callous words of his other self. He thought such a ritual was embarrassing. Having to howl at a full moon, like an actual wolf? What, did Fairy Tail have to capture a fairy and pin a tail on it? Did Onyx Moon have to become the moon?

Maybe you could've howled at a member of Onyx Moon.

Nonetheless, Jin knew he could not simply let his doubts and embarrassment at the situation be known. Leona was Guildmistress. She was a Wizard Saint. If Jin said something wrong, she could've crushed him in a moment and kicked him out for insubordination. At least it was a possibility, however unlikely it would be. Jin thought it best to not even run the risk, so he stayed silent.

"It's weird to think of a Wizard Saint being nearly killed, I have to say," Jin admitted. "But I suppose it makes sense that you've had to grow from somewhere, right? Not everyone is strong from the beginning."

Not really sure what to say to Iris about her situation.

Then say nothing.

"I'm no expert on curses or how to get rid of them, but I've had my curse for thirteen years now, and I've tried so hard to get rid of it. Even if it costs me my ability to use magic, I want to rid myself of this curse. Curses are a-"

Suddenly, the Paragon of Virtue was ripped from control. The Bringer of Death had finally decided to intervene. "Apologies for that. I suppose I should be honest with you. While Iris here is cursed with blindness, the Paragon sees my very existence as a curse. In a sense, his curse is that there are two people inhabiting the same body. Him, the 'hero' and me, the 'villain.' Usually I'd be okay with his preference to keep my existence shrouded in myth from those that aren't enemies, but I personally don't want to be banished into nothingness again. Plus, Jin's vessel has a decent bit of magic potential to him. So I'd much rather prefer that you don't remove me from him. Either he dies from the separation, he loses his magic, or we become two separate people and I kill him. His call, really. Anyways, ciao."

The Bringer of Death forcibly shoved the Paragon back into control. "Dammit! Well, now you know. I'm sorry about him. Please, keep it a secret. Anyways, Iris. I want to do what I can to help you cure yourself from your curse. I suppose he shoved me back in because he doesn't want to be associated with the guild or something like that. Anyways, I'll follow your lead, Miss Jarnefeldt."

She listened to them as they explained why they came to this guild, why they were here. Leona was here as a way of repaying a debt, or, a way to feel grateful for the successful mission where she should have died all that time ago?

And jin, he was, he was two people in one body? She just pulled her knees up to her face again and thought about it all. Her blind eyes looking to him as he offered to cure her of it, a furrowed brow as she showed her slight disdain for that thought. Did she not want to be cured?

"I appreciate it, I really do, but, I can't accept that kind of help. All I know about this, is that it will not allow me to see again until something is done, and what that something is I do not know. Maybe it's a permanent thing. I just, I don't want to talk about my eyes anymore please." She said, looking away before Leona announced that it was time to howl.

Looking up at the sky, wherever they directed her to, because she wouldn't be looking at the moon herself, she would arch her head back and let out a long howl, it sounded like an awoooo.

"OK Iris, we'll move on to another subject then." Leona assured Iris that they would stop talking about her eyes and talk about something else. With the discussion of that topic winding down, Leona turned her attention elsewhere and looked to the sky for the moon to appear over the clouds so that the trio could start the ceremony that had brought them here. Leona rarely had time to appreciate the scenery of the Phoenix Mountains because she was either in her office doing paperwork or on the road doing a job for the guild she led, but tonight it was beautiful. The wind was blowing softly and the moon was shining in the night sky at roughly twelve o'clock from their present position.

Wait a minute.

The moon was now visible to the waiting mages.

This was the time to begin the ceremony!

Leona had to think of a way to get Iris to face the moon since the purple-haired mage could not see it. The only way she could think of to make it happen was to physically move Iris' head to face the moon. For the sake of safety, Leona removed her Argent Gloves so she did not accidentally break the new mage's neck while trying to help her face the moon. Leona then gently touched the side of Iris' head.

"Sorry about this, Iris. The moon's out and this is the quickest way to point you to it." Leona apologized for touching Iris' face before turning the mage's face a little to the right and then tilting her head back until her eyes were aligned with the moon. The blonde then took a few steps back and put her Argent Gloves back on, feeling the cold metal plates chill the backs of her hands. Now it was time to howl at the moon.

"AWOOOOOO!" Leona gave off an awful rendition of a wolf's howl a good distance away from Iris so that she did not murder the girl's ears. It also gave her enough distance to get a running start in case Jin, Iris, or the spirit wolves took umbrage to the howl and wanted to give her some first-hand feedback on it.

[Post Word Count: 367]
[Leona's Word Count: 2,297/500]

Iris blinked as her head was grabbed, "Sorry for what? Your hands are warm so -WHA!" Her head was turned, and she was made to face the moon. After she heard the snow crunching behind her, which felt to her like rolling over a bed of different sized pebbles made of candy rice, she had her face turned to the moon, and leaned back as Leona howled at it.

"AWOOOOOOOO!" She bellowed out before smiling widely, as soon as it was done,s he would look to Jin and Leona, "Oh wow! That was super helpful boss I, Thank you! That's actually really really useful! Jin did you see that? We found a way to get me to look at stars! Almost like I can see them! Isn't that awesome?" Was she being scathing and sarcastic? Or was she genuinely happy about it? Hard to tell.