Area Forum
Battle area => Grade System Event => Grade System Event Version 2 => Topic started by: Hope on September 23, 2015, 02:32:58 AM
-
So basically the Cardfight Club and a bunch of others who take part for the next two days will be on a camping trip. Yay! The objective is to experience Vanguard and apply said experience to real life situations. Also there is a part here the builds teamwork and emphasizes bonding within the Cardfight Club as a whole.
So what is activity?
Well it works similar to fetching things. You get screenshots of fights that you win to fulfill the condition. (Just like GS1 basically). All you have to do is to role play your character scavenging or doing the following activities, even in groups, in order to accomplish the goal. You may contribute only up to twice per day, and after that your character would basically be "tired out."
Let's Kouken~!
- Limit 2 characters per objective.
- This may be with anyone, even a friend, just as long as its a legit fight and you use your rp deck.
- You don't have to be in character for the fight, you just RP your character doing your action. You are fighting against literal forces of nature.
Go get water from the nearby river: Win a game against Aqua Force
Spray insect repellent all over the campsite: Win a game against Megacolony
Start a campfire: Win a game against Kagero
Build a charm to be same from thunderstorms: Win a game against Narukami
Scare off the dangerous wildlife and protect the campsite: Win a game against Great Nature
Patch up injured classmates: Win a game against Angel Feather
Gather berries from plants: Win a game against Neo Nectar
Calm down the panicking football team: Win a game against Spike Brothers
Debunk rumors of the forest having roaming undead: Win a game against Granblue
Wrestle a bear: Win a game against Nova Grappler
-
After a long walk through the woods, the finally reached their destination.
The clubs all set their tents as instructed by the teachers and supervisors. The Cardfight Club was set along with multiple tents due to its growing number of members.
Isabella jotted down the necessary materials and possible precautions needed to be taken and posted them along the Cardfight Club tent to open it up to the members to contribute should they so wish to. Reaching 10 contributions in a day would make Cardfight Club one of the most successful, so that's a goal to work together for.
Now what to do...
-
The night before was pleasant. Haruka had stayed at the Espoir Manor with Yukino for the night, accompanying her for the evening as well as relaxing. His memory was a bit fuzzy towards the end of the night, like usual whenever he stayed with Hana. Weird. He seemed to never be able to remember the most interesting parts of the night.
Regardless, he was glad to have gotten some time alone with her. It was a rare occasion these days that Haruka got any alone time at all. By himself that is. He was always with at least one other person. In this case, it's the entire club. After getting dressed this morning, and giving a long good-bye to Yukino who seemed unable to let go of him at some point... he was almost late for the bus. But he caught up and was ready for the trip, no sweat. He brought his normal deck, the one with Overlord in it, and one he had been testing for a bit. What if he tried restanding rear guards instead of just the Vanguard? A crazy thought, he might add. It was Butler-san's deck. He offered it to Haruka before he left, as something to try out. Learn new game mechanics should he want to try it.
At the site...
"Ehh, I'm hungrryyyyyy." Haruka was already complaining about food. Due to the long good-bye this morning, he couldn't make it down the stairs in time for breakfast. Kissing was a lot more effort then just mashing lips it seems.
"Okay, so what's first on the list, captain?" He was addressing Hana of course, considering she was the one who started the club and got them here for this event. It all just depended on what she wanted to do right now though, and he was a bit unsure of her plans. She didn't really say too much on the bus for the pre-meet-up.
-
After addressing a few other students, she decided that it would be time for herself to head off and do some work. Haruka-kun came at the perfect time since going off and doing these things would kind of be dangerous and lonely if alone.
He looked awfully tired and starving. The rest of the club was still getting their things ready and getting familiarized with the area, but it wouldn't hurt to have a head start. Though, before that. She got up close to him and inspected him very very closely, giving a smile all the while knowing what he was up to the night before.
"Sooo? How'd it go? My... my, what a busy man." She laughed as she took out a map from her bag, locating the nearest river to get water from. Apparently rivers have drinkable water? Isabella never actually bought into that, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Actually, it might, but as Drake says. YOLO.
The direction would be a little to the north, simple enough. She pointed over there as she gestured Haruka-kun to come with her, they'll get to the conversation as they walked to the destination.
-
"Ehh... It went splendid. Just as I thoug..." Haruka was dozing a bit. He didn't sleep much last night apparently. Or really too much at all for that matter. He simply trekked behind the bustling Hana.
"I uh... I have no idea what you're talking about." Haruka turned his head to avoid further interrogation and/or embarrassment about the topic. He wasn't even that kind of guy. These things just sort of fell into his lap.
No pun intended.
"So, where are we off to... the river? What, you wanna go swimming in the middle of fall? A bit chilly for that, no?" Haruka pocketed his hands, following Hana's lead. The club all exchanged phone numbers on the bus in case anyone got lost or something so it was no big deal if you wandered around for a bit.
-
She continued to walk through the forest, keeping a close eye on the map. Eventually there was a trail to follow, making it easy enough so that she an now focus more on the conversation. Haruka-kun was seemingly avoiding the topic, but she found that to be quite hilarious, though, would he perhaps be embarrassed about it? Isabella saw nothing wrong with the topic itself. She turned over to him to inquire him more, "Really now? You know what I'm talking about Haruka-kun, just tell me. Also, we're going to get water, for everyone. Mhm."
-
"Just cause I know what you're talking about, doesn't mean I want to talk about what I did with your sister. Doesn't that strike you as like, weird? Why would you want to know what we did anyways? What if we just talked all night. About feeeeeelings. Those things, huh?" Haruka playfully stuck his tongue out at Hana like a kid. He wasn't really mad or anything, but the atmosphere was light and the trip was meant to be fun, so wouldn't it make sense to take advantage of that?
"I thought there was water back at the site? Oh right, you don't like bottled water." Haruka nodded, planting a fist in his hand as he came to a realization. Not that it was a particularly accurate one, but still.
"I mean, I brought a few bottles myself... That might not last me all weekend though. I get really....
......
.........
I need to quench my uh. Thirst." Haruka spit out the word he tried to avoid using so badly. There was no way around it. He was thirsty. For water anyways. Which is why he promptly uncapped the bottle he brought with him and drank half of it in about two seconds.
-
"Always my sister's thirsty footstool huh?" she teased.
Isabella herself needed water as well. She spent all night by Mi-hime's bedside, waiting for her to wake up. She did anything to stay awake, coffee, ran around, even watched a few movies, but she didn't wake up. All the while the feeling of jealousy over Haruka-kun was really tugging at hear heart. It was actually quite bad, but she took it assuming that it was her punishment. Has her Guardian Angel finally arrived to reap her soul? That would be better than suffering through the heartache, but her Guardian Angel is Nociel, and Nociel can't even hurt a fly. She wanted to press the issue more, just because she was curious after thinking about it for so long, but that was their deal, she had no business in it and like she said, she would be easily able to let Haruka-kun go
Or would she?..
Either way, she still let the feelings get to her, causing a bit of silence as they walked on. The drowsiness was catching up which wasn't really good.
"Talked about feelings all night? I guess that makes sense with Yukino... but isn't what we do more fun?"
-
Camping!!!!!!!!! Wooooo" Neo yelled as he got off the bus.
The camping trip was finally here and Neo was excited and ready for the adventures that awaited him. However he was carrying 2 big bags worth of supplies. He might have overpacked a bit. He then caught up with Hana and Haruka.
"Hey guys!" Neo said
-
Haruka instantly felt bad. Not from the teasing, but the second that silence ensued, he realized something was wrong. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, because between him and Hana, they had a world's worth of problems. He reached out for her, just for a second. However the moment he heard that resonating voice. That voice.
It was Neo. He had caught up with them already? They had been walking for a good bit now. He must have ran all the way here to catch up!
"Hey man, are you okay? How far did you run to get over here?" Haruka handed Neo an unopened water bottle from his pack, patting him in the shoulder.
"Come help us with this river business. We're collecting water for the camp apparently." Haruka nodded, instructing Neo of the new goal. They were in for a long haul, literally. But the thought came back to him. It always came back to him.
He walked back up to Hana's side, getting a bit closer.
"Fun...? Hmm, yeah, I guess you might be right." Haruka teased back. He honestly enjoyed Hana's company a great deal, just like Yukino's. The difference wasn't about how fun either one was though. Yukino brought more passion to the way she acted with Haruka. She really wanted to be with him and that bond effectively became stronger after the year had passed. But Hana was something else. She was sickeningly sweet. Everything she did with Haruka felt almost so genuine it was like there was no other relationship the two even had, just themselves. It was like a world inside another world that only they could proceed to exist in. It made Haruka uncomfortable when he thought about it, but that was the reality of the emotions he felt around the two girls.
Love. A true one and a twisted one, but they were love all the same.
He shook is head, letting the thoughts dissipate back into his imagination.
"How much farther, Hana?" He was still standing right next to her. He contemplated taking her hand, but he wasn't sure if she was still upset. That might make things worse. Decisions, decisions.
-
"Of course I ran to catch up with you guys!" Neo said opening the water and drinking some of it
"Alrighty, lets go get this water then" Neo said
"So Haruka how are ya?" Neo asked
-
"Neo..." Alone time ruined. "Hi..." Her voice was dark, both welcoming yet full of malice and frustration, as if someone just stepped onto a landmine, or something like it. Things like this were one of her biggest pet peeves.
The fact that his timing didn't mix well with her current conflicted feelings just left a bitter taste in her mouth. If things were to go like this then it may be better to break things off with Haruka-kun right here and now before she proceeds to get hurt even more, but at the same time... she had no desire to do such a thing. The pain was worth it to be with him. His caring attitude and frail, but often funny demeanor always got her heart beating fast. The only problem was that she couldn't stand the thought of him being with Yukino, as much as she said she approved of it. She can't let him know that because he would be forced to choose. Hana had wished that Mi-hime would have woken up before this trip, giving her a single moment to remember as to why she fell for her. It now seemed so distant, and Haruka-kun is the one standing here now. Isabella at first only liked him for his touch, he made her feel more mature and less alone, but now it feels completely different. She walked over closer to him as well, grabbing his hand which at the thought of which have held Yukino made her irk a little.
It really was unfair.
Crying over Mi-hime while Yukino is back for him. Is she really cheating on Mi-hime's feelings? She doesn't even have a single chance to talk to Mi-hime about this situation, much less their relationship in general. If Hana had been able to talk to Mi-hime a long time ago maybe she would have ended the relationship for Haruka-kun, who knows?
She wouldn't have, but she still needs to talk to Mi-hime at the very least.
"We're almost there..."
-
The grip in his hand made him a bit uncomfortable. Hana had become suddenly really dark and sullen. Haruka's attitude somewhat fell short as well. All he wanted to do now was finish the task at hand. It's not that he didn't like being with Hana, but the way he felt was conflicting more often than not, and this wasn't helping. Haruka desperately wanted to mend the breaks in his psyche and the bonds he had. If he could tell Yukino the truth when he got home, he might. He was that eager to fix everything. But he also didn't want to hurt Hana and just disappear from her life. Going back to Yukino would definitely hurt her... She already seemed upset by just by the interruption of Neo.
Gripping her hand back, Haruka looks over to Hana. He honestly wanted to leave at that point. It wasn't Neo's fault that she was upset about that this happened. But there was no easy way to just tell him to leave, and he couldn't just ask Hana to feel better. Caught in a slight crossfire, Haruka fell altogether silent. There was nothing he had to say.
-
With a small yawn, Darren walked through the woods towards the campsite. Normally, he would get lost in a place like this, but he didn't know where he was going to begin with. Somehow that led to him finding people, three people by the looks of it. He looked ahead as he realized that two of them were Hana and Haruka from the club. His first instinct was to leave them alone, but he saw that Neo guy with them as well.
Darren has his backpack as well as another, larger back that seemed to have an attachment for his backpack so they were together. That means everything he carried was currently on his back. He walked up to them as best as he could as he called out, "Hey you guys!"
-
The silence meant that she was being too selfish, too much in her mind and to herself. There has to be a way to turn this around. For some strange reason, that's what she wanted now. Despite giving him the decision to go back Yukino, a thought in her mind popped that maybe out of irrational choice, she would be able to let Miyuki go for Haruka-kun.
There she goes being selfish again.
Then she would be able to win Haruka-kun over and have him choose her over Yukino. This wasn't going to accomplished by thinking too much on the past, they were holding her back now. Her coping mechanism which originally dealt which stage fright by clearing her mind of all its worries was now being used for all the wrong reasons. For this camping trip Miyuki would escape her mind and so would Yukino. They don't exist. She will focus on Haruka-kun and their relationship only, nothing else. With this decision, she decided to make sure that Haruka-kun would choose her over Yukino. This was digging a deeper hole, but it doesn't matter. Mi-hime has been gone long enough for her to nearly forget the feelings that were for her and almost everything that she had saved up for Mi-hime had been given to Haruka-kun as well.
"I'll win him over..." she thought as a slow smile from the optimism formed on her face.
She leaned over closer once more, her chest touching his arm, and her hands hugging on it now as she did yesterday during the club meeting, but now she was doing so with more force and passion. This was her chance, she had the next two days to win him over, there was no messing this up.
Dogebuster and Darobo were with them, so she turned to them, "Can you guys go get berries and stuff from the plants over there?" Isabella pointed to a nearby clearing. A simple enough task.
Next up, she increased the length of her steps as well as her stride, hopefully getting Haruka-kun away from the two as well.
"S-sorry about that," she apologized as they walked on, "I really just... I don't know, would you feel anything if I were with someone else for the night while you were alone? I think that's how I felt."
-
It didn't take much for Darren to realize what it was they wanted. He immediately grabbed Neo by the arm with a small smile to Hana. "Sure we can," he said to them as he started to pull Neo away and to the clearing. "And we'll gather some water to so that we take a long LONG time with it. Don't mind us, you two just have all the time you want."
Even though he'd said that to try and help his friend, he had also never done this sort of thing before. It was a simple enough task to start and its not like he was doing it alone but it was still a new experience.
-
Neo got pulled away by Darren.
"Oh sure, we can get the water" Neo said
Neo walked with Darren to go get the water. Neo could tell that Hana and Haruka wanted some private time so Neo let his friends have there time
-
Hana was even a bit more pushy about it this time. She made the guys go away for a little bit more alone time with Haruka. While alone time was fine and all, that actually made him snap a bit.
"You didn't have to make them go, you know." Haruka was hesitant at first, but he really did like the company. Plus being alone with Hana for copious amounts of time just made him feel worse for Yukino, since she was the only one who didn't know about what was going on.
Maybe I should just text her about this...
The thought crossed his mind a couple of times. Hana had a tight grip on his, pressing her chest against him even as they moved forward and out of their earshot further. Haruka was starting to feel just plain awful. An emotional meltdown maybe? Spending a whole night with the girl he had missed for a year left a mark on him. He was obviously affected by Yukino more than he thought he'd be. Last night kept running through his head. He already missed the feeling...
"It's fine. Let's just get the water and go. And to answer that, well..." Haruka would probably be a little upset. But he had the same idea in mind as Hana. If she wanted Miyuki, or in her case, anybody, he would be accepting of that, just as she should be about Yukino.
"I'd be upset at first. But I'd accept and move on, like anybody else." His face stayed mostly blank, maybe discontented is a better way of explaining it.
-
When they were far enough away, Darren gave a small sigh and said, "Best to leave them to themselves. Alright, you go and get the water. I'll handle the berries." He figured this was the easiest way since gathering berries was simple. Before Neo had time to object, Darren went off to get berries.
It wasn't hard to find some in the area. Mostly red with some blueberries as well. He gathered up as many as he could carry with the basket he had found near the campsite. This place was well prepared. "That takes care of that," he said aloud.
(http://i57.tinypic.com/ofyrup.jpg)
-
Seems like he didn't want to be here anymore, which just got her annoyed at the fact. She would wait things out and be patient most of the time, she would usually never be like this.
Honestly, seeing as how Yukino is more of the pushy type but gets what she wants makes this even more worse. Hana's chances just slip away at her now like always, and really it felt as if it was better to cope with it than chase it this time. The whole idea of being pushy with the guys that kind of got in the way of what she had in mind came off of Yukino's forceful nature, but its wrong when she does it. Fine. This was all tiring. The effort to keep this going was tiring. It was worth it, but right now it was tiring. "So confusing, so frustrating. If only Mi-hime would just wake up and feel better!"
Cognitive Dissonance.
Yukino was on his mind no matter what she really did, that was a given. She was willing to toss away Mi-hime for him, but would run back to her the second he does something. And she isn't even awake. How to win him over? Maybe just not even try, it'll just happen.
Hana sighed. If only she were born first, that would be nice. Really, really nice. She walked over to the river, roundhouse kicking a bear on the way and too out bottles of water from her bag and began filling them one by one. It was best to just forget about everything, it really just was a temporary happiness. Every force of fate and destiny is against her after all, because according to the Espoir prophecies- "wait what Espoir prophecies? I wasn't even written into that at all." The mood started light then the two came at the wrong moment, the night before happened at the wrong moment. Mi-hime never woke up at the right time.
"I should just stop complaining and suck it up, should I... Being sulky over this sucks." she slowly got up from the river, placing the bottles back into her bag. It was enough to last the club a day. For once, Hana had given up in fulfilling her desires and dreams with Yukino, Haruka-kun, and Mi-hime altogether.
"Alright, let's go then. I just wanted to speak to you alone, but whatever if you don't want to be with me then go ahead." She walked off by herself, pulling out Reit and looking at her.
'Good afternoon Hana~' That was her line of the day.
"You're worse than one of those cheap toys at the store.."
-
Seifer sighed walking around and scratching the back of his head. He actually seemed like a mess at the moment, his hair slightly messy, and he looked really tired. What was with him lately? Actually now that he thought about it, where was Rosalia? Sighing again he continued to wander around, seeing as other people had something to do already. Flopping down he yawned scratching the back of his head and glanced around. It was nice being here, but what was the point really?
-
http://imgur.com/z5wq5Av
While Darren went to get the berries, Neo went and got as much water as he could and brought it back with him. Neo then caught up with Darren.
"Alright I got the water" Neo said to him
-
Rosalia, like all other students, had followed the group to their campsite, wondering if all of this was a good idea. Earlier in the morning, the package had finally arrived from her parents with all of her violin stuff she left at her parents' house. She got it inside, despite it being packed with papers, a music stand, and much more. She actually wanted to go through it to see what all was there, but it would have to wait until after the trip. She looked around as others in the club started to fan out, gathering supplies and doing who knows what. As the area started to clear of a few people, it was easier to pick out the familiar brunette sitting off to the side. "You alright?" Rosalia asked out of the blue, making her way over to Seifer's side and sitting next to him. "You look like you didn't get a bit of sleep last night... Are you having nightmares or something?..."
-
Glancing up at the red head who came to his side he rubbed his eyes a bit. "I think I'm just stressing a bit. I'll be fine. Promise... Did you sleep okay? Get all of your stuff together? And that package this morning's safe inside right?" he questioned the female, leaning lightly against her, and putting his head on her shoulder shutting his eyes to try and relax a bit. Maybe nap.
-
"Hm?.. Yeah, everything is here. And the box is in the living room against the wall, so it'll be fine until we get back," Rosalia answered, smiling as they were close again. She leaned her head lightly against his, her eyes only half shut as she stared out at the trees around them. It was peaceful, she could give the trip that much, but it only started. She wondered if there was something she should do, but there was not a chance in the world that Rosalia would go out by herself, or without Seifer. "Well, you can take it easy for now. Maybe later we can go out and help the others with stuff for the campsite, but we won't be of any help right now if you're falling asleep on your feet."
-
Darren sat on the grass with a basket filled with berries. He saw that Neo was done as well as he said, "Let's give those two a little more time. I'm gonna go and drop these off, then see who else is around." He didn't want to bother the lovebirds, but it also would take away the purpose of him getting the berries if he didn't deliver them to the campsite.
He walked back and set the basket down silently. His feet tiptoed away and went to search for anyone else he could find. He saw Seifer as well as Rosalina as he wondered what they were up to. It appeared that they just arrived. He decided to walk up to them, not saying anything so as not to disturb their conversation.
-
Seifer had actually already fallen into a light sleep as Rosalia spoke, as apparent through the way his breathing slowed down. He didn't topple over or increase the amount of pressure that was leaning against the slender red head though. Rather he remained the same pretty much, almost upright with his head on her shoulder. He seemed rather peaceful and comfortable just like that.
-
Neo put down the water and saw Rosalia and Seifer there but like Darren, didnt try to disturb.
"Seems like everyone wants there quiet time on this trip" Neo said to himself
Neo then decided to take out his deck and start editing.
-
Passive aggressiveness was what he just got a face full of. He scrunched his eyebrows, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was obviously annoyed, and so was Hana. It took just one interruption to send both of their moods south for the evening. He wanted to just yell now. But that wasn't going to help anyone or anything. Instead, he just took a few deep breaths.
"I.. I'm sorry, okay. Just thinking a lot is all." He wasn't here to start any fights, because Haruka knows how easy it is to start those these days. He just wanted to sit down and rest, sleep, maybe call Yukino. Hanging out with some of the guys wasn't a bad idea either.
Yeah... Maybe I can catch Neo or Darren or something.
He put his hands in his pockets and started walking back to the site. Maybe somebody, anybody would be there to talk to. He was upset, but letting himself drown in all that emotion right now wasn't going to be satisfying. Must. Enjoy. Day. Haruka repeated that in his head several time, pumping his fists a few times to fire himself up. Hana had just left, somewhat annoyed as well. Obviously she didn't want to be bothered with at the moment, so it was time to be elsewhere.
Back to camp it is.
-
Satoshi tugged at his old overalls. It had been a while since he had worn these, but they still fit quite nicely. Suitable for an outdoor excursion like this camping trip.
While he wasn't exactly a student or staff, the previous day, he had talked to Hana very briefly about the Cardfight Club. In their conversation, she mentioned the school camping trip, and as it turned out, the site in question was not far up the road from where he used to live, Kurosaki Farms. Since he was familiar with the area, he suggested to the idol that he be their guide, at least if they went hiking together or something.
So, for the duration of the trip, Satoshi Kurosaki was assigned the position of "Wilderness Expert" and was given the task of helping the clubs with anything that turned out to be too difficult for them to do in terms of physical labor. Luckily, most of the students seemed pretty capable of handling themselves, so that left him to manage the camp while they were out foraging.
He had showed up a little later, because he had packed his own tent and some general survival supplies, in case any of the clubs failed in their tasks. It wouldn't be okay for them to starve, but they at least had to try to succeed. He set his supplies down as he prepped his tent near the rest.
-
Darren gave a small yawn as he saw that Seifer had fallen asleep and Rosalia was tending to his comatose body. He stretched himself a bit before he stood up and looked around. Some more people were coming by now but not many. It made sense if people were choosing to come later since they could come here instead of school. It made him wish he had thought to do something like go to the Card Shop first just for fun, but its not like there was anything wrong with being out here with everyone. He walked closer to the campsite, now seeing that no one was really there. If nothing else, he could greet anyone that came by.
-
Noel managed to arrive to the camping trip on time without any issue or possible signs of fainting. After what happened yesterday, people would probably question her coming to the camping trip even though she feels like if nothing ever happened. She arrives at the camp site and takes a deep breath of the fresh air there. "Ahhhh~ what a great day to go camping, the air feels nice and fresh!"
Noel then gets near the Cardfight Club's designated section, "Hey everyone! I hope I'm not late!"
-
After returning to the camping ground, Isabella placed the bottles of water down. Mission success.
She also seemingly managed to win against a bear in a wrestling match so that should be also off on the checklist. Other than that, she reached her quota for the day so she decided to go inside the tents and take a break.
-
Darren smiled when he saw Noel, seeing that she must be feeling better compared to before. "Hey Noel!" he called out to her. He was sitting in front of the tents so he saw Isabella go inside. He decided not to bother her since she seemed to be busy herself. "Glad to see you could make it. Not many people are here just yet."
-
"Oh... well that sucks, guess I got here a lot more earlier than expected then. Since we have time to kill and the sun is still shining, do you wanna have a cardfight? I'm curious to how your deck is now~"
Noel then pulled out her deck box with her newly edited deck and pointed to a picnic table where they can have a quick cardfight. "So? How about it?"
-
Rosalia glanced over when others started to approach, even if they didn't necessarily speak to them. That was a good thing. She smiled and relaxed with the sleeping Seifer, hoping her presence would scare away any bad dreams or restlessness. She was worried about him. The redhead looked up to see that even Noel had joined the group; at least one of the siblings was feeling better. I would say hi, but I don't want to disturb Seifer... Rosalia opted to simply wave to those who joined her and her sleeping housemate/boyfriend, smiling at those she could safely call friends. And it wasn't just "a friend of a friend" situation. She had her own connections with them. It made her feel that much better about moving to Rijuku, and the camping trip.
-
Darren grinned lightly as he went to his bag which was nearby. He dug around in it for a few seconds before he pulled out his deck. "Sounds good to me," he said to her. "You were getting things yesterday so I wanna see what your deck can do now too." After the battle she had with Haruka before, he wanted to know how he was by comparison since he battled Haruka's opponent and they both lost close matches in the end.
He went to the table with a paper mat as he placed it down, followed by his deck.
-
Noel brought her own rubber playmat with the standard Vanguard field, nothing flashy like the sneak preview mats that cardshops tend to give out when they are doing sneak peeks of upcoming sets. She then placed her starting Vanguard and deck on the mat and got her opening hand ready.
"Ready for Round 3? Stand up the Vanguard!"
-
Haruka made it back to the campsite a little bit later than he had intended. He was tired, but he was also just downright unable to sleep right now. He pulled out one of his water bottles and sat down with the somewhat growing group. Noel and Darren just started a fight. Well at least he'd have something to watch in the meantime.
Rosalia was with Seifer as normal but it seemed that Seifer was... out of it. No, he was actually asleep. Haruka waved over to the group with a smile, taking seat at the picnic table, watching the fight unfold.
-
Darren grinned as he placed his starting Vanguard down. He took a breath, letting out the nerves since he had only used this deck one time before now. He readied his beginning hand as he nodded to her declaration.
"I'm ready to go! Stand up, Vanguard!"
-
Rosalia tilted her head as she watched Darren and Noel start their fight, and Haruka joining the crowd as well. She waved in return before feeling her phone vibrate. Well, there wasn't much reason to keep it on her for the camping trip unless there was an emergency... She didn't move from her position of being Seifer's pillow as she answered the call, her voice extra quiet as to not disturb him or anyone else around. Not that she had to speak much. Mostly, it was her not knowing what to say at all, the female hanging up only after a short "O-okay, I'll be there soon.." She looked like she had just seen a ghost, trying her best to keep it all together as she nudged the sleeping brunette awake. "S-seifer.. Seifer, wake up.."
-
Seifer shifted awake rubbing his eyes, though he still looked drunk or something. "What's wrong?" he mumbled, turning his head to look at the red head.
-
Seems like he was upset, very upset. Well, she was too, but that would ruin the mood of this whole trip. Best thing to do was to just make amends and return the rest of the gang. There was a deeper meaning to this trip than just the two of them, better just get it over and done with.
She was able to locate Haruka-kun using her star powers which really brought up the question of why she needed a map in the first place. This enabled her to navigate through the forest and find shortcuts to instantly get to where he was. The campsite, seems easy enough. She would have to sacrifice some of her dignity and pride for this, but whatever, screw what she wants.
A familiar scene all in all, she found him and just said while catching her breath, "Okay, I'm sorry."
-
Sky got off the bus and took a deep breath of the fresh air. Sky was told that as the faculty adviser for the cardfight club he too had to come on the camping trip. Sky didn't mid camping since he was well acquainted to living outdoors, plus it gave him the chance to go against strong fighters. After walking around the area for a while Sky returned to the camp grounds. He saw that Seifer was now asleep and Noel, and someone else he'd seen in the club were cardfighting. Sky walked up to the table to further observe the match.
-
"I-i have to go.. I'm sorry.. My mom called.. Dad is in the hospital, and I'm not sure if I'll be back before the trip is over..." Rosalia whispered in return, wiping her eyes. She took another deep breath to hold it is, giving Seifer a light kiss before gathering her stuff. "I-i love you.. Just be careful, okay?..." With that, she tracked down the closest adult supervisor in the area (that wasn't Sky), as a school wasn't about to send a large group of kids into the woods by themselves. She explained the situation, but kept her back to the rest of the club. She couldn't face them right now, and headed with the supervisor out of the campground, and back along the trek to get out of the forest completely. Whenever the supervisor would return, he would be by himself, the redhead making a trip back home outside of Rijuku.
-
"Oh... I'm sorry... Be safe okay? I'll be waiting for you.." Seifer returned the kiss, at least walking the red head out before returning faster than the supervisor. He seemed down but decided to watch the fight that was going on between Noel and Darren.
-
He heard the sound of an out-of-breath Hana. He sat there, kind of distant. His head was drooping for a second. In order to not bring any of the people around them into it, he stood up and motioned for Hana to kind of walk a little bit away.
"Hey... It's-no, no I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that way back there. It was sort of pathetic of me." He wasn't sure how to proceed with the conversation considering it was somewhat tense between the two. He was really unsure of himself after what happened back at the river. Things just weren't fair right now. Haruka was essentially getting back everything he had lost. Overlord came back to him at his call, and Yukino was back from her trip, with open loving arms...
Yet Hana was losing everything. Miyuki was sick and unresponsive as of recently. That was taking a toll on everyone a little, but mostly Hana. Especially Hana. In the end, she was essentially without her other half and that was rough as it is. Haruka was the one brought in to fill that role, to be in that position. He even asked for it at first... when he decided he didn't want it anymore, he couldn't back out then. He had already accepted Hana's feelings and turning her away when the person he had been waiting for was finally back... well that's hypocritical.
Not that he isn't a hypocrite, but the point stands.
He was at a crossroads as of recently. He couldn't just give up on Hana, because that'd be dishing out what he got from the world and he knows the feeling.
"Hana... I don't know what to do anymore. I'm sorry. I'm just... I'm really sorry. I don't think any amount of sorry's is going to help, and in any event, I don't want to be telling you sorry for the rest of my life." He looked at her this time a bit more normally. He tried to not stand there like a sad sap. That just wasn't fitting.
"What do you want Hana? Tell me what you want so we can work this out like normal people. Please." His voice softened at the end. He was having trouble speaking up because he felt his courage drain from his body rather quickly.
-
"There! Done!" Satoshi had assembled his tent. It looked rather cozy, just like he remembered from when he was a kid going on trips in this very wilderness with his dad. A very pleasant experience, when given the opportunity.
He noticed Hana and Haruka were off to the side, having a bit of a private, serious conversation. Maybe this had something to do with how things went with Yukino the other night for his friendly rival, the Blazing Sun. Well, considering how he should've been a bit upset with how he was playing his other best friend for a fool...this was something that was bound to happen, but it wasn't his place to rub it in, or really take any sort of part in it. What it was was what it was.
Coincidentally, most of the rest of the site seemed relatively inactive, with some kids having a friendly cardfight. He noticed Rosalia had to leave early with one of the other supervisors---bummer, he wanted to get to know her a bit more. Then again, considering how protective Seifer seemed, it was likely that it was never going to happen in the first place. Ah, well. They were cute together, anyway.
He scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out what to do next. What would this trip hold for the group as a whole? He examined his phone, seeing if there was any spot with a signal. There was a text he needed to send if he could, but unfortunately, there was most certainly zero service in the mountains. Well, Yukino was going to have to cope with the fact that her beloved was on a trip with her sister, and that anything could happen and she would likely be out of the know.
At least all of them were likely to stay together, so it wasn't going to be any sort of trouble. He stared at Fortuna and the rest of his Genesis deck. Part of him was hoping that over the course of this trip, not only would he finally get to shake off some rust, but maybe...just maybe, he'd get some answers. Come to think of it, he saw Neu earlier with Tsubasa, who was apparently the coach for the Cardfight Club. Maybe he, the true Hero of Liberation, would have some insight.
-
Knights vs Robots. It was an intense fight that if it was put into holograms, it would look like it is coming straight from a fantasy movie that would then become a great hit if there was some good music behind it. Darren and his upgraded Dimension Police deck focused on Dimensional Robos brought Noel to a corner. An amazing gap of three damage to six. As intense as the fight was, it was the first one where Noel didn't start feeling hazy or dizzy which would then cause her to faint.
Noel only had three cards in hand until she drew it, Leading Jewel Knight Salome. She was waiting for a miracle since she purposely kept Darren at three for one turn to avoid a fight ending break ride from him and she knew her next turn would of been the last.
(http://38.media.tumblr.com/2e1cacea1786c4a15c1f20109ac306fb/tumblr_n5ub0vFMpw1sank6mo2_r1_500.gif)
The Deputy Leader of the Jewel Knights aka the second in command of the group. With only one damage away from defeat, Noel break rode into Salome.
(http://38.media.tumblr.com/39be7d9d4da39d0c73fc2639b0fa4fea/tumblr_n5ub0vFMpw1sank6mo1_500.gif)
Using all her available counterblasts and units to activate as many skills as possible, Noel unleashed a powerful 30,000 and three critical Limit Break attack that Darren couldn't guard and went instant from three to six. The fight ended in Noel's victory.
"That was a really good fight to start the camping trip, you almost had me there!" Noel said happy that both sides did their absolute best
-
Given the choice, it was difficult. Keeping things on further would be great, but it seems that in this life, it just wasn't meant to be. A painful decision to cut off all the rest of the pain that the other would cause. A pain that would take a stab at her heart the most. She was strong now, no doubt about it. Mi-hime was truly her other half, no doubt about that. Patience is a virtue, and to wait on would be suffering, but would it be all worth it in the end? Hana was able to live her life like a broken mess for a long enough time. If she expects Yukino to give something up for her, then she should do the same if she really wants Yukino back. Plus, a relationship with Haruka-kun wasn't hers to begin with.
"Thanks for the apology, but what I want is for you and Yukino to be happy." She gave off a weak smile, this as the best she could do. "Good luck."
Even though she said she wouldn't, she once again sacrificed her happiness for Yukinos sake, even Haruka's, just like their date a year ago. Seems like she just couldn't stop herself.
It was then that her deck began to glow white, as if it were acting like a compass through the forest terrain, with a voice that led her where to go. With a peek using her power, it looks like the destination would basically lead her to be sitting alone. How fitting. The voices that called her sounded like Bermuda Triangle, so that was great altogether. She decided that it was best to follow it after hearing what Haruka would say. A year ago she decided that the only support that she needed was herself, and somehow that had gone away. Its time to return that now, at least, until Mi-hime comes back. To lean on yourself for support? Sounds unstable, but it works.
"Really, just... yeah. Thanks for it. I'll stand by both you and Yukino the best I can!" Her eyes welled up a bit, but it was fine. This was fine.
-
At the end of the fight, Seifer clapped a little bit, still reeling a bit from the news he'd gotten from Rosalia and the abruptness at which she had to leave. But what's done is done. In any case, he decided to walk over to his sister's side, his hand on his hip, just forward of his deck cases. "Everytime I see you, it seems you get better with the knights." he complimented Noel, leaning over the board enough to see how it looked. Really impressive plays and control.
-
Darren fought with all he had. He combined his Grade 2 unit with a Grade 1 to Superior Ride his avatar early. A critical Trigger in the same turn put Noel to 4 damage that turn, and a risky no guard brought her to 5. One critical there could have ended it but he was sure he could use his Break Ride in the next turn. Just as he thought he had her, she rode Leading Jewel Knight Salome. His 3 card hand and single intercept weren't enough to stop her attack and he took 3 damage at once.
Despite the lose, Darren wasn't sad or disappointed. He was happy. It was closer than it was the last time and he could tell he was better than before. It was just that Noel was getting stronger as well. "That was a blast!" he said enthusiastically. "I guess the gap between us is still there, but at least that was closer than last time we fought."
-
While everyone was doing there camping activities or hanging out with there friends, Neo was just sitting in a tree looking over his deck while thinking about several things. He then noticed Rosalia leaving and overhearing that situation. Neo wished her nothing but the best. As for now, Neo just continued looking through his deck in the tree's overwatching everything and everyone..
"I wish you both were here to see this" Neo said looking at his locket.
-
He stood there, a little speechless. The air was cold but Haruka was standing there, gripping his fists. He had so many other things to say one day to her, because he knew that she was letting go of a lot. So much about this discussion was wrong and unfair and Haruka's spoiled behavior was striking again. He had gotten what he wanted again. This was getting kind of old... But he wouldn't fight Hana on it. He was, strangely enough, really glad. Hana had decided to support him in his decisions, as well as Yukino. He felt that was an icy decision, considering they still weren't the best of sisters right now. That was something Haruka wanted to see get fixed also.
He took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair just putting his head on as straight as possible.
"I-Uhm... Thank you, Hana. Thank you... really." He opened his mouth, but nothing escaped but air. He put his hands in his pocket, and shook his head, putting everything altogether at last in his head.
"I don't think what I did was fair. Not to Yukino, of course. But also not to you. I hope that if you intend to stand by me, by us, you'll let me do the same for you when you need it? I don't want to pretend everything is okay if it really isn't." He nodded to her, hoping she'd accept this promise. Maybe not now. But when she really needed it. Something told him that she wanted to be off somewhere, alone it looked like. But he wasn't sure about leaving her alone, was the thing.
"If you're going somewhere, I can-er, come along. If you want me to, that is."
-
Satoshi noticed Hana looked upset. His desire to intervene rose considerably, but she and Haruka were young adults who could handle their own problems. And if it got the boy to stop being a cheating idiot...well, more power to them.
He turned his attention to the group convened around the cardfight table, which included someone he recognized, one Seifer Leo.
"'Hoy there, Seifer!" He walked over with a wink and a grin. "Enjoying the outdoors so far?"
-
A voice he recognized called out his name and he turned his head in the direction it came from, still looking tired but he was more or less wide awake right now. "Mostly, yeah. To much nature sometimes honestly, but what can you do. Sides I like the quiet anyway." he rambled on for a moment standing up fully and sliding his hands into his pockets. He actually didn't expect to see Satoshi here but it wasn't a negative thing that he was here.
-
"I'm going alone." She said confidently, instantly stopping the tears that were about to fall from her eyes and swallowing her feelings at the moment. If her clan wanted to speak to her somewhere, then that's a request for an audience with the Princess. They will get what they want, and with all she's done, they'll get it with a silver platter.
'Hana...'
"Yeah Reit, I know."
She stood tall and closed her eyes once more, envisioning the origin of the voice. A glimmering area in the forest, a tree where many leaves have fallen and continue to fall, maybe she'll find someone there. A fated meeting perhaps? It really looked like quite the place, a strange anomaly from the rest of the forest, as if it was something that didn't belong in this world.
The past few days and weeks have been shameful on her end. How much would she have to do to make up for it? Carrying herself in this manner of having to be dragged around by others as she laid in sadness wouldn't do much in terms of having to repent. She planned to speak to Yukino about it as soon as she got home. The Cray Council had been so fearful of many things as well, and she's been too busy enjoying her life to serve and do her duty. Better make the sure that by the time the council session is over, they're more scared of her than they are of the threat. There was more to be done beyond this, especially as the Cardfight Club President. To bond with them, right, and everything in between. She'll support then and hopefully they'll do the same for her in return, as long as they're in this strange and foreign camping ground, they'll need it. As the President she'll make sure that they can fight the world with their individual power, and destroy the universe with their united strengths. "Now then, can't keep Bermuda Triangle waiting."
Back to Haruka the lover boy. "Well, I gave you a good amount of experience, better make good use of it." She gave him a thumbs up and wink as well as a pat on the back as she ran off yelling in the distance, "... but don't come crying to me if Yukino isn't even as half as good as I was!" That would be the last jab she would ever throw like that.
Then she followed it, the voice in her mind to the tree that seemingly repeated the cycle of life and death.
Black and White.
Its time for a legend to be born.
-
Darren turned to Seifer as well as the new person that just arrived. The male seemed to know Seifer so he figured he would be friendly and introduce himself as he was putting his Vanguard deck away into its deckbox once again. "Hey there," he called out to him. "I guess you're a friend of Sleifer. I'm Darren. Nice to meet ya."
-
"Yeah. Luckily, you guys picked a pretty good spot. Not far from where I used to pitch tents with my dad." He gestured a bit more in the direction of the lake. "We tended to want to be a liiiittle bit closer to water, but y'know...not a big deal. S'nice little walk from here."
He eyed the table. Two fighters had just gotten finished, and he was itching to go at it. "Room for another? I'm a bit out of practice, but I'm raring to go." He wondered if any of the kids he didn't know would take up his offer, or if Seifer would finally give him a shot. One of them introduced himself as Darren. Seemed like a nice kid.
"Nice to meet you, Darren. I'm a friend of Haruka, Hana, and Seifer's, actually. As well as your coach, Tsubasa." He gave a casual shrug. He'd've rambled off the whole "being a Hero of Liberation" thing, but he knew that wasn't something Seifer wanted to hear anything of. "My name's Satoshi Kurosaki."
-
"Seifer. No L." he finally corrected Darren, glancing first at the table then Satoshi. "Why not. I haven't really fought in a while." he accepted the fight, pulling the deck he had in the red deck case out.
-
It was like a flash before she was gone. Haruka had stood up straight as she ran past him, giving one last jab at him. The kind they had shared in the past weeks. She had sucked all of it up for him in those last few moments, and Haruka felt his shell fall apart, revealing an inner true self. Shackles came undone, only a few, but some did. He had a few things to fix back at home... But it could wait. Haruka stood there, a couple of tears fell. He was smiling all the way back to the camp, despite the dampness on his face. He wiped it off with his sleeve before anyone saw him though.
She was something Haruka had needed for a long time. A new experience to force Haruka into new situations and learn something. Hana had been one of the biggest saving grace's Haruka ever had. He had no complaints about her. Not one. All he could do was try to help her now when she needed it. But it was Hana after all, she was kind of the strongest person Haruka knew. No arguments there, not from Sera nor Overlord.
"H-Hey guys, what did I miss?" He ran over joining Seifer, Darren and company. Even Satoshi made an appearance at the camp. Right. He was the Wildlife expert here working with them. Haruka buttoned up his flannel, starting to finally get chilly out. He was going to hoodie-up, but it wasn't that bad out yet.
-
"I guess you know a lot of the people here then," Darren said as he moved his deckbox into his pocket now. "Hana told me some things about that War of Liberation thing. Sounded pretty fun for the time."
He then realized that Satoshi asked for a cardfight. After the one he just had, he did want to have another. Taking out his deck again, he said, "I don't mind taking you on if you wanna Cardfight. Learning as much as I can about my deck will always be helpful. I'll go after Seifer if you have time."
-
Two fights? Sounded good to him.
Satoshi smiled, flipping his gold box onto the table as he took a seat. "I'm all set up camping-wise, so I'm up for however many fights you guys want to do. Let's have at it, right?"
-
"No Guard!" The sixth damage fell after.
Isabella lost.
Somehow she found herself fighting someone, who it was, she wasn't sure. This person even opted that they fight despite being on opposite sides of the tree and turned away from each other. Isabella was able to use her star gazing power to see the person's field, but she didn't know how this other person saw hers, yet this stranger was able to plan ahead even beyond her and defeat her. How?
The stranger had a soft voice, definitely meant for singing, but unlike Isabella's, it was much more rigid and filled with determination. This was the person who had just won against her. This girl, this woman- who was not to be taken so lightly.
She introduced herself as Catherine.
"Naisu faito." Isabella commented as a usual endgame suffix.
"Not bad!" Catherine retorted.
Upon reaching the tree, Isabella sat along it, waiting for her clan to speak to her, but instead, Catherine was the one who spoke up from behind her, on the other side of trunk. "You made the right choice!" The voice was congratulating and full of confidence.
"Haha, I really don't know how you fell for someone else other than Mi-hime, you must be really stupid.. I kind of want to punch you for that." Catherine teased.
"Oh you know Mi-hime?" Isabella found it strange that the nickname was being used, but perhaps this person was one of her classmates and Mi-hime's best friends.
"Yep, what a cutie! Just the best. Honestly, she's a gem isn't she. So tell me, what would you give up for her? After your stupid little affair, let me hear it." The voice was having a blast, probably finding Isabella's struggle to be really cute.
"Well I.. want to wait for her... I wish I could do something." Isabella struggled to respond.
"What was your vow to her?"
"That we would explore the ends of the Earth together."
"Why not change it... You'll give her everything, anything that exists from here til the very ends of the Earth and beyond it... All for her sake."
It wasn't a bad idea, but Isabella could've sworn that in that statement of a new promise, Cathrine's voice was more filled with bloodlust than determination. It was probably just in her head... It was a very bold statement.
"Right... For what I've done... Mi-hime deserves nothing but the best!" Isabella said with a newfound determination.
"Good. Mi-hime deserves nothing, but happiness."
It was strange how this person talked about Mi-hime. They were correct in every sense, but it seemed like they had a crush on her too. Isabella took note of her name, hoping to not forget so that she could search her up once she returns back to the camp site.
-
Isabella texted a staff member to put a notice on the tents saying the following.
SOMEONE START A CAMPFIRE FOR THE NIGHT ONEGAI XOXOX 420 BLAZE IT - HANA BANANA
-
Kagero. Seifer's clan. A clan he had played numerous times in the past, alongside his Neo Nectar friends initially. This time, however, Satoshi was at the helm of Genesis, a rather rare clan to most other players. A spin of the Wheel of Destiny put a double critical trigger in his hands against Dragonic Overlord, sending Seifer's damage from two to five in an instant. The other champion retaliated rather strongly with a crossbreak ride, something the farmboy hadn't been expecting, but somehow, he managed to pull through and hit once again, winning the game. A severe trigger drought appeared to happen on Seifer's side, unfortunately, but nevertheless, the game was still quite interesting, even with the indifference towards Satoshi's moves.
"Well, maybe I'm less rusty than I remember!" He laughed. "Nice fight, though, Seifer." He turned to Darren. "I think you said you wanted to go next?"
-
Seeing the battle between Seifer and Satoshi pumped Darren up for fighting even more. Seifer was as strong as Haruka with Kagero and Genesis was a new clan to Darren. Seeing them both in action made him want to see what he was able to do.
When the match finally ended, Darren put his deck down and said, "Yeah, I'm ready to go!" He took a breath as he could tell Satoshi wasn't someone to laugh at. Still, he wanted to do his best with his clan and deck, even if he still hadn't discovered all of its hidden powers just yet.
-
At the end of the fight, with Seifer checking next to nothing, he shrugged, gathering his cards up again. He was mostly indifferent to a lot right now, given Rose had to go for an emergency. But it didn't matter much in the long run. A fight's a fight. Waving he nodded in return to the nice fight while standing up, gathering his cards.
-
Well that was odd. Haruka had never seen the clan that Satoshi brought to the table... Genesis? A new beginning? That was all too fitting for the circumstances going on right now, but he was still interested in what it came to offer. His ace was named Fortuna it seemed, a card that by paying a soul blast cost, allowed him to drive check again if a trigger didn't show up. Handy.
Seifer got crushed due to a lack of triggers. Seriously. He got three all game and that was sort of depressing to watch all on its own. Haruka looked at the sky for a moment, seemingly praying everything was alright considering Rosalia's sudden departure. Haruka was also still somewhat worried about Hana simply disappearing into the woods a bit ago.
"I hope she's alright..." Haruka approached Seifer, giving him a light pat on the back.
"Overlord, huh? Glad to see you have Kagero back after all. But that fight was rough man. Wanna chat or something?" Haruka had a water heater in his tent, and he was about to make tea for the evening. He hated cold drinks, so water was not his favorite thing. Tea was pleasant.
"I'm making tea, if you're interested."
-
Seifer almost flipped out at the pat on the back but noticed it was Haruka, calming down a bit. "Ah you saw huh? Yeah, I'll be alright but... I wouldn't mind some tea honestly." Seifer's nerves were admittedly shot and it was getting a bit dark so a fire should be made soon. He'd probably try to do that in a bit. "Lead the way." he responded to Haruka, stretching a bit.
-
"Cool man, cool. Let's go!" Haruka hopped backwards in a very shota like manner. He was in fact a shota. He declared himself one today. Whether people or not liked it.
Haruka waved him over to his tent. It was the closest one to the campfire, considering Haruka's innate affinity for the heat. He was so used to it by now, he just loved it. He opened the entrance, allowing Seifer inside first. Manners, of course.
Once inside, Haruka left the zipper open, so he could just stare at the fire. Plus letting the natural heat in was very nice. He went ahead and took out two mugs from his backpack, allowing hot water to pour into each then promptly handing a tea bag to Seifer, and one for himself.
"If you need any sugar or anything, I brought a baggy of sugar packs with me. It's in the backpack." Haruka let his mug sit for a moment, so the tea flavoring could set it. He stirred it occasionally with a metal stirrer from work.
"So, what's up man? You seem... off?"
-
Seifer sat down, accepting the tea bag to place in his mug of hot water, letting it permeate. "Ah... I uh..." he chewed on his lip a bit before sighing softly. He knew he shouldn't act down but he couldn't help it. "Rose had to go early, and won't be back for at least a week I think." after the tea had brewed and sat for a minute he looked at Haruka scratching the back of his head. "I think I'd like a bit of sugar for the tea."
-
"Hmm? A-Ah, right. Right." Haruka reached into his back pack, handing a sugar pack over to Seifer. Haruka's 'customer is always right' attitude was showing through. Working in the serving industry made him work rather quickly which was a bit of a perk on his side of the whole thing.
"So, Rose. She had to leave early? Well that's a bummer, huh?" Haruka was pulled out the stirrer, lightly shaking off the liquid in the distance. He but it down, and took one long gulp of his tea. It was still pretty hot, but he's had worse from just Cardfighting. The first time he used DOTE, he was at the same level of being on fire so this was nothing compared.
"Know why? I mean, why she had to leave anyways." First step to comforting your friend is knowing the details. That's a lie. The first step is just accepting what is bothering them is bothering them and try to help them either way. But it was obvious Haruka was going to help, no reason to further question if he didn't intend to make some semblance of a difference in the situation.
-
Satoshi's fight against Darren was equally nuts. This time, he soulcharged his soul to a massive number, mostly to use as fuel for Himiko's Break Ride and Fortuna's repeatable Limit Break and base skill, as he intended. While he didn't make it to four damage, there was a very good reason to not do so.
Four criticals.
Darren's Dimension Police were the archetype "Dimensional Robo," a group of robotic alien superheroes that were intending to save the world or something. At least, that's what he remembered someone quoting in the shop. But not only did he have a Break Ride of his own in Daikaiser...thanks to Goyusha, he had the ability to superior ride Goeagle, a Dimensional Robo that gave itself two additional criticals as part of its limit break when its power reached a certain number. Coincidentally, that number was met by break riding over Daikaiser, who added yet another critical and threatened to remove Satoshi's guards in an effort to break through, if Darren happened to check a grade 3. Luckily, he overguarded to prevent such a circumstance, but considering the checks themselves, if Darren had in fact checked a grade 3...he would've taken a massive five damage. Which likely would've killed him had he not checked at least two heal triggers during those five checks, but only on five damage.
The Wheel of Destiny kept him going, and using Fortuna's massive soul, he built up a strong Vanguard column without a Limit Break, and checked two triggers for yet another victory. Both games were quite scary in what was coming at his face, but pulling through meant a lot, especially for adjusting to this new clan, Genesis.
Wiping the sweat off his brow, Satoshi extended his free hand. "Nice fight, Darren. You really had me worried, there." Fights this intense from people that weren't even technically on the level of Neu Edelweiss, who was the last person to throw him against the ropes...was this what the new generation had to offer? Criminy.
-
Darren was actually panting after the battle. It was his second intense match and, like the first, it was draining. He saw on the field as he was gathering his units, he had the ability to end the fight that turn had he done things differently. If his boost unit was behind the Vanguard and not Daidragon, he could have attacked an intercept first. With all the hand Satoshi would have after that, it would have been a 1 pass, which would have been broken through by the critical trigger. To come so close only to lose in the end. It was becoming a recurring theme for Darren, but not a bad one as he was learning more and more about what his deck was capable of.
Darren accepted Satoshi's hand, shaking it with his own hand as he said, "Yeah, it was a great match. I thought I could survive if I didn't give you limit break, but I guess it didn't matter." All in all, Darren had fun with the battle and he could feel he was learning and growing even more with each fight.
-
Watching Satoshi's and Darrens cardfight from up high, Neo couldnt believe what he saw.
"Man, what power from the Dimension Police" Neo said
That cardfight got Neo fired up. But he didnt feel like cardfighting because of earlier.
"Oh yeah.. Kinda ruined Hana and Haruka's alone time" Neo said.
Neo then stayed in his tree and continued watching what everyone was doing.
-
Seifer stirred the sugar into the tea, letting it dissolve before taking a drink himself. He always enjoyed hot sweet tea, but cold coffee. Weirdo. In any case as he pulled the mug from his lips he scratched the back of his head before looking out the tent. "Family problems. Like stuff that not even I could follow her for. ...Even though I really wanted to." he confided in Haruka. He considered him a close friend even if they didn't really know each other that well. There was probably just this kinship they shared.
-
After cardfighting Darren, Noel had been wandering around the woods to explore nature. Something about nature always fascinated her, except the bugs. The bugs can die in an Eternal Flame. But still loved nature nonetheless for the amazing picture perfect scenery and different kinds of animal that isn't an insect.
So calm and relaxing.... "This is what I call living, so relaxing!! Noel said finishing her thoughts out loud. She sat by a tree and looked at the pond and how the setting sun was shining on it and making it sparkle.
"So... pretty...." Noel closed her eyes and took a little nap.
___________________________________________________________________
I'll do my best to keep you out of harms way... milady grandmaster...so rest easy...
-
Haruka nodded, listening in. Seems family problems arose, or so Seifer mentioned. He nodded a bit, sipping his tea once in awhile. Haruka wondered what it took to make Rose straight up leave and not even let Seifer follow up on. They were as thick and thieves it looked like, nearly inseparable. It struck Haruka as odd that family problems arose these days when these two were always together in the same house. Haruka had to wonder if family lived nearby or something.
"I would've, if I were you. I mean, if she said no, then she said no. But if that was Yukino, I probably would've stopped her before she could even go ahead. No way would I be letting her do that on her own."
That must have been awkward to talk about since everyone in Cardfight Club thinks he's been dating Hana this entire time. Ouch.
-
After pating with Catherine and letting her return to her own camp site, Isabella decided to return to hers. She had been pretty out of it for the whole day, so she was wondering how everyone else was doing. The tents area looked like a good place to rest. Catherine said a lot of weird things, as if she knew everything about Hana. Might be a big fan.
-
Written on a piece of paper distributed to the Cardfight Club:
Late Night Practice
If anyone is up for a good round of Vanguard games, let's meet up right outside of the northern most tents, towards the direction of the river. - Sankyu, Isabella
After that, Isabella set up a folding chair near a few set tables in order to get herself comfortable while waiting. The Bermuda units started talking to her again at some point during her time alone today. It made her feel overjoyed, as it just wasn't them, but Vanguard units in general as well.
-
Darren saw the sign and thought it was a good chance to make up for his recent defeats as of late by learning and growing more as a fighter. He looked around, trying to think of where it was the paper was talking about. He then remembered he and Neo were near the River before when he was gathering berries.
It took some time in the right direction before he reached beyond the tents, looking around as he had his deck in his hand. This time, I have to listen to the deck more... he thought. I can almost see it, the heroes within this deck. I can reach that point.
-
The camping trip had begun and most people had already setup their tents and prepared for their adventures and events that they will partake in for the next few days. For Tsubasa, the bus took longer than usual, because he had to stop by Yukino's place to get her contact info then pickup Neu so he can spend more time with her, Now the two arrive at the campsite with Tsubasa carrying Neu off of the bus.
"..Welcome to the campsite." he said, smiling as he began setting up the tent. He helped Neu setup inside the tent for her comfort as the doctors instructed him, he finished and kissed her on the head, before leaving the tent to stretch for a bit and see how everyone else is doing.
"...-yawn-...I wonder how everyone else is settling in." he thought, as he pulled out the box containing Neu's necklace,"When the time comes..." he thought.
-
Neo was half asleep in the trees still. He decided to jump down and head to his tent when he saw a sign about late training.
"Oh this should be interesting" Neo said.
Neo headed to his tent and layed down to think about if he wanted to train or not.
-
Sky was amazed, the fights thaat he observed were all high quality, he felt like he too needed to fight now. It was then he stumbled upon Hana's note. "I guess its time for me too to shine!" Sky thought to himself and headed to the location of the late night practice.
-
Seifer seemed to have passed out in the midst of quiet break the two had drinking tea. No big deal. Haruka actually needed to stretch his legs for a bit, so he decided to head out of the tent, leaving a text for Seifer when he woke up.
"out for a bit, if im not back b4 you wake up, dont panic lol -haru"
Upon finally getting out of the tent for some air, Haruka noticed Tsubasa by the other side of the tent set-up. He's probably staying with Neu, as expected. Wonder where he was all day though.
"Tsuu-baaa-saa!" Haruka whispered emphatically, grabbing his attention. He ran over to him really quick, with a question.
"Hey hey, wanna go do some late night Cardfights? Apparently Hana is setting it up..."
Haruka still felt a bit cruddy about earlier. Despite everything seeming cool between the two, that still felt kind of awkward. Maybe it was just that he couldn't really think it just ended without a second thought. He would try for the sake of psychological safety, but still.
-
Hana's role call went like:
"Reit!"
"Hana.."
We get it Reit.
"Egg!"
"Egg!"
Minette, arigatou!~
"Garmore!"
"Woof?.."
Dandy.
"Nociel!"
"BELLA-chan!"
You're not even in the deck..
Everything seem to be in order when it came to her own personal army of decks. Reit, Minette, Garmore, ... Nociel wasn't really in the deck, but she tried. It was the effort that count. The point was to be able to uses these well enough to become a one man army with Bermuda Triangle being her front line charge.
"Mini-Cray Council is in order."
"You mean our own personal training session?" Nociel asked.
*EGGs* Minette . did the egg thing.
"Correct." Hana spoke.
Mi-hime's disease was still unknown, but maybe that's because it was something beyond this world, and even beyond comprehension. She feels better when she plays Vanguard.... Isabella has something to protect her from.
"To become a knight in shining armo-" Isabella's line was cut off.
"I think my armor looks pretty nice." Garmore commented.
"Shut up Garmore! Baka!" She laughed.
It was nice to have them back. They've been avoiding her due to her actions, not that they wanted to, but they felt that it was well. Still, for some reason Reit was always around, looking at her. Reit probably wasn't the best to keep as a companion, but she sort of did her job which is kind of nice. Now that people were gathering up and taking her invitation, she placed a deck down and waited for someone to arrive, maybe even setting up a bit of conversation for her first challenger.
-
He didn't participate much in today's camping trip. All he did was look around the place while getting used to the environment. Most of the time he just sat down and stared at a river with a longing expression. Walking back to the tents he noticed Tsubasa and Haruka.
"Tsubasa what are you doing here?" Questioning the older man.
-
Darren walked up to her, moving his deck upwards in his hand to show he was here for the challenge. He grinned lightly as he said, "I wanna ask you something, Hana. The last time you agreed to fight was because of something you wanted to test and get used to. Is that the same thing here?" Something about this felt strange so he wanted to be sure if she was trying to test something out or to test anyone who took the challenge. It didn't mean much to him but he still thought the knowledge was worth having.
-
"As the Princess of Cray I have to test both the units and champions just to make sure they're in tip-top shape."
Darobo probably doesn't know what the whole "Princess of Cray" thing means, but he should soon enough should he take the call for action. He said he would, and Isabella had no qualms in taking him up on his offer. If he wanted to a hero then so be it. For now he would be a sparring partner, to test the power of her own personal militia on Earth and Cray.
"Tonight is a time to relax though, even improve. The most important thing is to build solidarity as a club!" She placed her starter down on the table.
-
Darren set his deck down as well and said, "All I needed to hear. Nothing is more relaxing than a good cardfight, and if I get to test my skill in the process then its just a bonus."
Darren didn't, in fact, understand the "Princess of Cray" title, thinking it was something that came from her being a National Champion. It didn't matter to him though. In the end she was an opponent and titles wouldn't cause him to do any worse or view her differently.
"Ready when you are."
-
Tsubasa was still stretching and trying to get out of the long bus-ride mode that he fell into, thankfully he was greeted by a familiar face, Haruka. He seemed to have just finished his day and is now eager to spend some time cardfighting or just hanging out.
"..Oh..Haruka, it's good to see you're here man." he said, smiling as he began to relax. "oh..sure some cardfights right now would be great... best way to make up for the long busride haha." he said.
Just then he was approached by the underground king as well, Hikaru, but he was more confused about Tsubasa's presence at the campsite considering his age and him being a university student.
"Hey Hikaru, well apart from wanting to spend time with my friends, i'm here cuz i'm the coach of the cardfight club, Hana was generous enough to give me that title." he said, smiling. "Also between you guys and me I wanted to get my lady to spend sometime with me and others outside the hospital." he said.
-
"Well, since you're both here, let's get going, shall we?" Haruka points them off to the river. He remembers the area a bit now that he's been around for a whole day. He actually planned to test out Butler-san's Nova Grappler deck tonight, so this was a good opportunity.
"Alright, Tsubasa, me and you are fighting first, okay? I want to show you something I've been working on." Haruka was feeling a bit better with some friends around and everyone feeling pretty good tonight. Well, save for the incident earlier today.
"Onwards!" Haruka started his march that way, motioning for Hikaru and Tsubasa to tag along.
-
The fierce battle raged, one unit after another with Darren having the advantage in hand whereas Hana didn't let herself take much damage. Darren was able to breakride two times in the fight, even attacking with four critical. More than once it came down to a single unit, but even a 6th heal trigger couldn't give him the game in the end. Darren lost the battle and even though the match was 6 to 3, he was intentionally keeping Hana from Limit Break. It was a closer match than it seemed.
Darren smiled at the result. He wanted to show he had improved since their last fight a day ago and he had done that. He looked at the situation and realized the deck was still missing something, a final piece of power that could make it complete. As it was it was good but it was as if it was yearning for something more. He shook his head at the thought and said, "Great match, Hana. I'll have to keep trying." Darren almost felt like passing out. It was his third intense fight of the day, but he was still on his feet all the same.
-
Sky stepped from the shadows smiling. "That was a good fight, think you can do one more?" SKy said smiling at Hana holding his blue deck case.
-
It was an intense fight Sky managed to get Hana to 5 damage but using duo skills Hana was able to get an insurmountable defense in hand size. So much that the multiple attacks Mond Blaukluger made possible simply weren't enough. Hana ended the game by switching from defense to offense with Duo Temptation reit. Knowing he did not have enough guard for a restand Sky took the first attack resulting in his defeat. "No wonder she was a champion. Her skills aren't to be played with." Sky thought reaching out for a good game handshake.
-
"Good job Eggu!"
"Good performance Reit!"
Isabella was able to win the two matches thus far with both Bermuda Triangle and Great Nature. It all just felt like a good improvement, a step closer in the right direction, and a step in the kind of power needed to cure Mi-hime of whatever she has. Strangely enough, Hana hadn't really been considering strength as a part of Vanguard, but it was apparent that it was especially after the incident involving Neu. Strength is as much a part of the game as anything, and right now, its what she needed to save the one whom shes been neglecting to love.
Catherine's words spoke through of a love that was patient and all powerful. This is what she hopes to achieve.
"You'll keep trying and so will I." She gave him a thumbs up, "can't stop, won't stop. I'll reach the Vanguard Star!"
Or something like that...
Mr. Carter was scary. He used Nova Grappler and was just plain scary. His Vanguard hitting got stuff to restand, got things added to his hand. His Vanguard line itself was far beyond dangerous, but his rearguards restood to boot. It seemed very familiar, as if she's met someone like this before, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The meeting must have been abrupt or a long time ago.
"Naisu Faito!" Either way, that's what it was.
She sat back down on her folding chair, it looks like other members were having fights themselves. The night of bonding seemed to be going pretty well. With a quick few taps on her phone, she added Mr. Carter to her list.
-
Darren smiled as he saw the match, amazed at the battle. Mr. Carter was strong enough to defeat Noel, someone he couldn't defeat. Seeing him fight so well against a deck he battled and almost defeated, Hana's main clan, it told him that Hana really was strong to be able to survive his onslaught and still fight. A part of him wondered if he could reach that level. Maybe he could if his deck was completed... but what was it missing?
"I'm guessing you are tired after two fights like that," Darren said to her. "You had more than one intense battle and you came out smiling. I guess that's what you meant by the Princess of Cray thing."
-
"Well I mean you're on the dot when you said that I was perhaps connected to my cards." She gave a soft smile thinking about them, except for Nociel.
She took a deep breath, looking around at the set of ongoing fights when a figure came walking upright. The goddess with a moonlit pink hair arrived, her eyes glowing like emeralds. She wore a white dress, further giving off her divine aura. Neu Edelweiss was stood next to Isabella, leaning on her chair a little.
"N-Neu!?" She was in surprise seeing the American National Champion and main threat of the War of Liberation.
"Hey Princess, you seen my Tsubakas anywhere?"
So they are together?..
We are so together.
"Um..." She paused, something was wrong with the question. Oh right. "Don't you ha-"
"I have omnipresence, but I needed an excuse to talk to you ok." Neu laughed.
"Fist bump?" Isabella offered her fist.
"The heck is that?!" Neu hopped up in surprise thinking that it was an attack attempt. "Oh wait... Er yeah. Peace out bro."
She's so weird...
She's so weird...
"By the way how are you walking? I thought you had a long way to recover from the War of Liberation?" Isabella wondered.
"Oh??? You're surprised at how I can walk now?" Neu twirled around with her hair and dress nearly glittering with the rest of her body. "Well it's because I told my body to recover faster or else I wouldn't be able to $@#$ Tsubasa or #@!$!@ him in $@!$@ the (!@!%*@3 or !@$@@. Or maybe #@$#@@. That sounds like it's good or #@##@%#."
"R-Right..." A bead of sweat dropped down Isabella's forehead.
"Anyways, we should fight some time princess. Nice talk, I'll be heading off for now. See ya round!" Neu walked off.
That was certainly interesting. Hana leaned back on her chair and this time was able to take a whole deep breath, uninterrupted now. She looked at her cards, "Let's see, how do we get as strong as her... Where did her power come from anyways. At least we don't have to worry about rain as long as she's around?"
-
The trio headed towards the river, as they'd hoped to settle the day with some fun cardfights especially since they don't get to hang out as much. Tsubasa was also personally curious about what Haruka wanted to show him during the fights, he could have asked Neu to use omnipresence but surprises in Vanguard were always welcome.
"..I wonder what he has in store for me...always fun to deal with new things in this game.." he thought, as he smiled.
They finally arrive at the fight area, as Tsubasa and Haruka took out their deck, the wind blowing gently yet fiercely around him as the two stared each other down then began to smile as they realized how much fun they are in for, "Let's get things started." he said.
-
Darren blinked with confusion as he was in the direct hearing distance of the conversation. It was a strange one at that, so many things he didn't understand. Parts of it sounded like something out of his comic books. Then again, he wasn't one to disbelieve such things. When that person, Neu, left, Darren could only say, "Some mouth she had..."
He was trying to make light of it but he was quite confused, wondering exactly what it was that happened. "So Hana, what was that about?" he finally asked. Since he wasn't around at the time of the War of Liberation, he didn't recognize the face, but her manner of speaking was more than enough to say the intent and none of it was good at all.
-
Having followed both Tsubasa and Haruka to the river to spectate their fight. He sat on the patch of grass as the other two got ready for their fight. He then took out three deck boxes. Nova Grappler, Dimension Police and...Aqua Force. The aqua force deck isn't his so to speak. Rather its a foster sibling that wanted to say good luck on his trip before he headed to his parent's graves.
-
"Oh her?"
So many words for her. So... many.
"Well to answer your question, she was the one who sealed up the clans during the War of Liberation. She was a strong fighter who was able to take on all five heroes on her own, though by some miracle, the fifth hero was able to defeat her. Her main clan... is weird. Link Joker?" Isabella hasn't seen a single sighting of it since the war. Even more so the Messiah units which she used.
"Her deck disappeared after the war though, except for a card known as Neon Messiah which apparently is an evolving unit?" That itself is also hard to comprehend on its own. So many things about Neu just boggles her mind, like her entire existence. Maybe even her mom.
-
Darren crossed his arms at what she said. "So she's the one that did all that..." he said lightly before he let out a sigh. "Makes sense, she kind of looked like she could with the way she came in. It makes sense if you were afraid at the time." Darren thought about the clan name for a moment, another clan he had never heard before. He then turned to Hana again and said, "So what do you think would have happened if I was one of those heroes? Not that I think I could have, I guess I am just curious what you would say to it. Well, even though I say that, I haven't even seen one of them yet."
-
It had been awhile and Seifer had taken a nap in the tent he'd set up for him and Rosalia. Well, now just him it seemed. Stretching as he got out and shut the tent, he glanced around scratching the side of his head. It seemed several people had shown up including Neu and Tsubasa. He didn't expect to see either there but it wasn't a bad thing. At least to him. He had to apologize to Haruka though for leaving suddenly. He just didn't have it in him to stay up much longer. He should probably start bringing along coffee reserves or something.
-
"I think you'd do well!" Come to think of it, break rides didn't exist much around that time so his deck may have even been completely different. Nonetheless, he looks powerful, probably one of the strongest Dimension Police players whom she has met aside from Your Mom-kun.
She scratched her head, come to think of it, three of them were on the list... double checking... right.
"Yeah there's three on this trip. Satoshi, the nature expert or something.. guide-guy was the one for Neo Nectar. Seifer when he used Great Nature was the champion for that and Tsubasa, the one who she was looking for and our coach is the one who defeated her with the power Gold Paladin." She nodded.
-
The fight between Haruka and Tsubasa was fight paced as they continued to trade blows as they laughed and joked over the course of the fight. That fight had brewed a fire inside of Hikaru as the fight reached its final turns. To be frank he though that Haruka should of gotten rid of the Bruno to decrease Tsubasa's hand and having less reinforcements. But it was amazing when the King came forward and led the pitiful force to victory. He stood up, fired up from watching the fight. He grabbed a random deck from his bag and Pointed at Haruka.
"Haruka, fight me!"
-
That fight was definitely a lot more fun than he expected. Haruka had never had so much fun in a battle against somebody since the first time he had gotten to use Dragonic Overlord against Hana in that ramen shop a long time ago. This was like that, in fun levels.
Haruka was using Nova Grapplers, Beast Deities specifically. Haruka managed to get a rush down on Tsubasa, at five damage before getting to Grade 3. However due to Haruka's drought of units that could restand and effectively hit Tsubasa, he managed to perfect guard and intercept his way out of every attack, even the five attack combo that Ethics Buster enabled Haruka to pull off.
Had Tsubasa not gotten a solid critical off on his breakride turn, Haruka would've healed and top decked an Illuminal Dragon, allowing a second breakride to win. That wasn't written in the stars however, it seemed. Tsubasa came to a great victory after defending every attack Beast Deities offered. It was intense, for sure.
"Man, that was awesome. I'm so fired up, ahh!! Ahhh..... and sleepy." Haruka yawned a pretty loud yawn.
Hikaru had challenged him too. Seemed he wasn't getting any rest tonight, no sirree.
"Alright man, you're on!"
-
It was around the river where she saw him, "Hey Tsubaka!"
Neu flew from a tree (jumped off of a tree, but she did fly on the way here kind of) and ended up by his side. "Nice fight man. By the way, I fell asleep on the bus? Da heck?" She flipped her hair while looking at the other two. "tch." Then she looked back at Tsubaka who left her over at the tent which was really scrubby as well. "tch." The she took a razor blade out of her purse and showed it to him. "This is me right now, I am feeling so edgy since you left me man."
-
That news shocked Darren completely. Not only did he know three of the five heroes that saved those clans, but he fought one and was praised by him. It made him proud as well as told him that he wasn't as weak as he thought he was. He smiled lightly as he said, "I guess if I was, I would be using my first deck, Enigman. It wasn't bad for the time but I tried it with Daikaiser and it didn't work."
He looked down at his deck after that, sighing lightly as he said, "Even now, something feels missing..."
-
One of her eyes formed a reflection of the starlit skies of Cray, signaling the activation of her Star Traveling ability. Sending that one to Yukino. "They didn't work well?... I mean I guess it's because of Enigman's name. He isn't a Dimensional Robo." She shrugged.
"If something feels missing then it's either that there's something out there that's better for you or the deck just has to improve is all. Cards evolve, so that could be it as well." Isabella contemplated on how it was the same for her on many occasions, and many found the same problem as well. A good deal of the Heroes during the War of Liberation found themselves awakening the futures of their ace units in order to reach a higher level of power.
-
The fight had concluded with Tsubasa winning nevertheless the outcome was irrelevant, they were both just glad that they got to enjoy themselves and spend sometime joking and having fun. The intensity of the match definitely got to him, he remembered the intensity of such impressive fights and the fun behind them, "..This is what Vanguard is about.." he thought, as he smiled to Haruka.
"You would have made butler-san proud my friend, you handled that deck well though...restanding rear-guards versus restanding vanguard us interesting..." he said, as he chuckled slightly.
At that moment Hikaru rose from his seat and challenged Haruka to a fight so for now Tsubasa began to observe until he was surprised by an unexpected but pleasant visit from Neu.
He did not question the tree thing as much as he questioned her energy yet it was good to see that she woke up well, "Neu! I'm glad you're awake...yea I had to carry you and setup the tent for you to get some rest inside babe." Though before he could continue Neu took out a razor blade from her purse and began to say she felt edgy though, normally Tsubasa would just put away the razor and pull her in for a kiss but this time...he grinned and took her hand, pulling the razor close to the side of his neck, " Would you do it though?" he asked.
-
"Evolve, huh?" Darren said at the thought of it, his units becoming even stronger. After seeing Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha in action once before, he wondered if that would work for him. Probably not. It had a strange feeling to it the one time he used it before coming to this place. Who knows what that could have been.
"I guess that's just what I have to do," he said after a moment's thought. "I'll evolve so my deck can do the same. With how you have been talking at times, it almost feels like I'll need to." He remembered something that Noel said the other day. It was like Cardfighters were attracted to this place. It didn't feel like a coincidence all of a sudden the more he heard about the War of Liberation and that 3 of the 5 that fought to free the clans were in this very camping area.
-
The second fight was equally as incredible. It was less of a fight of attrition, but who killed who first. Aqua Force, Ripple Ride Chain, versus Nova Grapplers, Beast Deities. Both infamous for restanding and rushing down the opponent for rushing their opponents' damage zone to oblivion before the words "break raido!" can even leave their mouths.
This fight started somewhat well on both sides, getting criticals fairly early, making both stand on break ride damage all game. Haruka even had to drop his hand on the Trans-core break ride attack to survive. Barely able to break ride himself, he got the front row restand off! That wasn't really neccessary since he checked a critical and a draw trigger on Hikaru when he was already at four damage. If he had healed though....
Two Genovious' were in the wake, and Haruka wasn't about that life.
"Ahh, thanks for the fight Hikaru... That was awesome!! I love Nova Grapplers man. Kinda wish I played them more back then, showed 'em a little love." Haruka admits, Ethics Buster had grown on him in the short time they'd fought together.
"Well, I guess I'm out of power for the night. Two fights was good, but I need rest. You two are too good man, I get tired out just from a single fight with Tsubasa. Two was pushing it. Let's fight again in the future, yeah?" Haruka skipped backwards, all shota-like.
"Til tomorrow!" Haruka skipped back to his tent, pretty satisfied with the night. More fights to come, more bonds to forge. That was the goal anyways.
Haruka did watch that bit between Tsubasa and Neu though. He couldn't tell if she was crazy or if he was crazy or if both of them were crazy. Probably both.
"N-Night guys..."
-
Hana
"Yep, the cards just come to you when you master them. It all comes to your synchronization with your deck since the units are connected to Cray." She explained.
She gave a yawn, she had to focus on her communicating with her sister for now. "Sorry Darobo, but I have to go make a call." In a sense, that's basically the closest thing to what she's doing. "Thanks for another great day and fight!"
Overall, the night of fights were success. Other club members are still fighting right now as is.
Neu
"If you asked this a year ago, probably. Now. Obviously not, stop being stupid!" She was really casual about this, not even close to panicking.
"Ugh, do you even shave? No. You're hairless as heck!" The razor blade was placed back into the purse. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and took his hand. She waved goodbye to the familiar Haruka fro the coffee shop. "Night man."
-
Darren smiled and gave a nod, standing up as he said, "Alright, I guess I'll go to my tent then." He'd done a lot today, more fighting in one day than usual. Somehow his body felt heavy now that it was moving around. He couldn't help but think about what she had said. Synchronize with my deck... connect... to Cray? He thought about it as he walked back, wondering if he might have felt that within the Daiyusha unit he had. He did bring it with him, to maybe it was worth trying to use it, if only to see what would happen if he did.
-
Tsubasa was rather glad that she was being a bit funny with this whole situation, generally he shaved but not as much cuz of the way his body works with hair. Nevertheless, he was glad that she cared like this as she pulled him all the way to their tent., as he also waved goodbye to Hikaru as well as Haruka who was almost out of sight.
Before entering the tent he twirled her using his hand as she landed face to face with him, with his other hand on her lower hip,"..I was only teasing, I'm glad your looking out for me Neu...though it's not like I would be against it if you were the one to do it.." he said, smiling as he gave her a kiss under the moonlight with her shining in her arms. "Shall we?" he asked gesturing to the tent entrance.
-
"I wouldn't be ok with it?? Man you Cray." She walked into the tent.
"I can do anything except for create and bring back life... That's basically it. There's other stuff, but that's the biggest thing. So I can't do that. Getting hurt is a nono ok?" Her sleeping bag was already set and a lantern illuminated the tent. She went ahead and laid down. "Really though, so edgy."
-
"Hehe just teasing babe..." he said, jokingly, as he stroked her head gently." What would u like me to do to soften that edge?" he asked, smiling.
At this point all he wanted to do was help her relax so she can get some rest for tomorrow, he wanted her to live the normal camping life as he thought about what he could do with her and others tomorrow.
At that moment he realized that in his pocket was something he had left for a special occasion,"..Oh yea.." he thought.
-
The ground smelled kind of gross. The great outdoors were weird. The bugs were disgusting. Neu felt like releasing her ethereal judgment upon each and every single insect that dare crawl on their skins, but then that would spend so much useless power.
His hands calmed her down and saved an insect population as well as many generations of them that come after. "You're all safe for today, but I swear this isn't over..." She cursed them silently.
"O-oh! Yes Tsubakas what is it?" Neu asked pretending that she didn't just pass judgment on a group of insects. She was starting to become sleepy though... maybe it was time to call it a night.
-
Bright and early it was. Haruka had gotten up, making his first cup of tea for the evening. Two sugar packets and a hot cup of tea later, Haruka was out of his tent and getting an early morning jog off. He didn't really mind changing out there since nobody was watching, and all he had to do was change shirts and pants anyways.
After switching from a flannel to a class-colored T-Shirt and sweatpants, Haruka grabbed a bottle of water from his backpack and started stretching for his jog.
Haruka felt his spine crawl on the way down, trying to reach his toes. Morning chill most likely. He started his jog around the camp; one mile and he was done for the morning.
He paced well, having to walk for half a minute at one point. Afterwards, he proceeded to lay down by the campfire area. It was morning so the fire was already out, but it was close to his tent so that was nice too.
-
There was a certain something that Isabella had never though of til now. This could be part of power abuse somewhat, but at the same time it is part of an idol's forest survival tactics. Not a standard one, but it works for Isabella. She realized that she wasn't really able to pack up mirror, and usually to coordinate her whole outfit along with her hair, she would need a full body mirror. Today she decided tie her hair into a ponytail while wearing a black crop top with blue jean shorts. She then used her power to make an image of herself to act as a makeshift mirror. Looks good and great.
Time to start the day.
She sat back next to the tree and tested multiple decks next to each other. Her current problem at the moment lies with Angel Feather being behind the others. Bermuda Triangle was in the lead as always, but it is her main clan after all. Cardfighting herself for these tests were strange, but truth be told, she does need more variety. Testing against a retiring deck or something would work.
"Put me in the deck that's why!" Nociel groaned.
"Nice joke!" Hana laughed.
After the early morning Vanguard practice, she took a few members of the Cardfight Club to do her idoru circuit training with her. Many thought it was easy and went along with it, only to stop after the first circuit while Isabella kept going for nine more rounds. After the rigorous exercise, she had to carry a few members back to their tents due to them almost passing out. Oh, the great outdoors.
By the end of it, she sat among the center along with the dead campfire. Folding chair came in handy.
-
"Seems like you work them out to much." The underground king jumped off the tree branch he was on and landed on the ground on his feet.
-
Is there something that she missed. How high was that tree branch even? Yes, she definitely missed something. There was a strange feeling coming from the deck that she just build. For now, it may be crazy enough to work. Australia-kun talking about working "them out too much" was kind of ironic since he was king of the punch town an unnecessary comical violence. The weirdest thing is that he's a high school student. Japanese high school students can do anything nowadays it seems.
Isabella laughed at the thought, "Well physical fitness is important, not so much Cardfight-wise, but in general... Well maybe in Vanguard in some cases... Anyways, how have you been? Liking he trip so far?"
-
"Too... Loud..." Haruka sat up, seemingly from the depths of the deepest darkest sleep. Assuming Haruka was actually sleeping at some point. He was skygazing, but also sort of dozing off anyways.
"What's this about working out? Oh, finally checked out my biceps huh?" Haruka chuckled a bit, sitting up. Haruka was also fully aware he wasn't built up or really even muscely. But he wanted to make the joke. He had to.
It was his destiny.
-
Hikaru then sat down on the ground in front of Hana has he grabbed his decks from the different pockets of his coat. Hikaru seemed to have a flair for multiple pockets, not that he minded. "The trip has been good so far, got to test some of my decks while on the trip." He opened a dark blue deck case as he skimmed through it.
He saw Haruka came to the nearly empty camp site as he commented on his non-existent Biceps.
-
Isabella waved one of her decks from her bag as well. "I was able to test out two of them yesterday, now I got two more to go. This one is slacking, so I am kind of iffy on it... haha!" Isabella let out a laugh.
"You don't believe in us!?" Nociel commented.
"You're the reason why I don't!" Hana jabbed.
Speaking of jabs, Haruka looked like he sniffed too much great nature. Getting up in the clouds over the Neo Nectar should be a cause of concern, but seeing how he was talking about his biceps and was showing self-confidence and positive self-esteem for once, maybe the dank forest leaves weren't that bad after all.
She turned back to Australia-kun to continue the conversation, "Hmmm... so are you up for a fight?"
-
Unamused was the best way to describe Hikaru.
Hana was also pretty much unfazed by his comment.
"Sheesh, at least laugh a little bit. So what's this about deck testing and the like-, oh, Hana, I forgot to mention. Butler-san let me borrow his Nova Grappler deck. Not gonna lie, its pretty nice." Haruka chimed in giving a silent, 'hoo-rah.'
Seems Hana and Hikaru were going to be duking it out. With cards anyways, its sort of important that be made clear considering both of these people are just as capable brawlers as they are Cardfighters.
"Ooh, this'll be good."
Assuming Hikaru accepts the challenge.
-
"Yeah I up for a fight Hana." He grabbed the dark blue deck case and got the deck out. Placing the starter down on the ground.
-
Somewhere in the forest, Noel slowly started waking up. She didn't realize that she passed out again, probably mistaking it for sleeping. How long was she out? It's clear as day when it was night time when she was "sleeping." Did anyone even notice she never came back to the camp site? Unanswered questions that she probably won't know until she finds the answers. Noel's vision was a bit blurry for she was still waking up but she saw a figure in front of her as if on the lookout. The figure looked very familiar, a woman with silver armor and light brown hair holding some staff with a sword on her hip.
"Sa....Salo...me??" Noel said still half conscious and when the figure turned around to see her, it vanished before Noel could see her face. Was that... that can't be possible... She thought trying to figure out what just happened and as she got up, Noel accidentally hit an oddly low tree branch on her head. "ARGHHHH!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! HOW DID THIS STUPID THING EVE--No.....no..... EEEEEEEEK!!!" Noel stopped dead in her thoughts and went from angry to scared and back to anger because a lizard fell on her shoulder. "Ba....ba....BAKA!!!!!! DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!" Noel then grabbed the poor lizard and chucked it far into the forest.
Noel gasping for air from her anger/fright started making her way back to the camp site. Yes, Noel LOVES nature
-
Sky sighed, after his fight with Hana he felt exhausted and went straight to sleep after telling her good game. Since he couldn't afford a tent Sky slept on the grass which he should be used to. But after finally getting a mattress and becoming so accustomed to it Sky's back was killing him. His back pain however wasn't what was bothering him. What was currently bothering Sky was his deck. Somehow even though it was much stronger than before it felt...incomplete, or like it was time for it to change. These feelings rose to surface during his fight with Hana. She seemed to have such a connection with her units and while Sky felt close to Blaukluger he did not think it was the same as Hana's connection. Sky was staring at his Blaukluger thinking of possible reasons why he felt this way when all of a sudden something strange happened. A Huge shadow was cast above him and as he looked up to see what was causing this he saw
(http://cdn29.us2.fansshare.com/pictures/cardfightvanguard/cardfight-vanguard-banimefullfightscom-cardfight-vanguard-wallpaper-607781342.jpg). "Blau.....Blaukluger?!"
Sky couldn't believe it why was his avatar real?! Why was it here?! Is anyone else seeing this?! Sky bllinked and as quickly as Blaukluger came it was gone. Sky's mind quickly had to rationalize what he saw. "I must've not gotten enough sleep." Sky said brushing his experience off as a hallucination, or daydream as he began to walk around the campgrounds to ensure everyone was present and accounted for, after all he is one of the chaperons.
-
The Underground King fought with a combo that used Miracle Beauty's standing abilities along with Original Saver, Zero's break ride skill. A dangerous combination should the opponent be unfortunate enough to see it pulled off while they're at 5 damage. The match came into Isabella's favor as the Celestials worked perfectly, getting off every combo and even getting advantage through Danielle's skill. In the end, Zerachiel's dangerous full field power up and a double critical as this was a twelve critical deck won the game.
"Naisu Faito!" Usual standard fighting suffix.
Isabella sat back down and congratulated her deck, but also acknowledged that the Underground King wasn't just a regular fighter as well. She remembers him using Nova Grappler the time prior, but he was known for Dimension Police, the Zeal build specifically. She thought to herself, sitting back for a moment.
"Hmm... don't you guys feel like we're missing someone?" This was directed at Australia-kun as well as Haruka who was seemingly as high as the clouds still.
She used Star Gazing to scan over the forest. Looks like Noel was making her way back to the campsite. She seems to need help yet not really. Waiting is fine. This is fine.
-
Last Night, Tsubasa had noticed how tired Neu was, more to the point how late it had gotten. The messiah needed sleep as well, but more than that he cared for her, so instead of keeping her more awake, he pat or on the head, "Not right now, you need sleep, so that tomorrow we can fully enjoy this trip." he said, smiling as she slowly fell asleep.
__________________________________________________________________
The next morning, Tsubasa had woken up feeling a lot more refreshed, he immediately pulled out his phone and sent a message to Yukino,"Seifer wants to talk to you, so let me know when you're free to chat."
With that he put away his phone as he waved to the familiar face of Sky was passing by checking up on everyone..."I should probably do that...", he thought.
He walked over to the area that had a campfire lady and saw that Hikaru and Hana were cardfight in also Haruka was watching, "Hey guys, good morning, you guys sure don't waste time." he said smiling, as he sat down next to Haruka and watched the fight.
Upon iit's conclusion he congratulated Hana and inquired about her last statement,"There's someone missing?.." he asked.
-
"I don't think were missing anyone. What makes you say that Hana." He unconsciously clutches on the pendant he is wearing.
-
"Mooorning!" Haruka waved over to Tsubasa, offering him a bottle of water.
"Missing? Noel didn't come to the late night fights... Neither did Seifer I don't think. That's all I can think of." Haruka took a gulp of water and giving out a satisfied breath of air.
Haruka decided to check up on Yukino really quick however. He wanted to make sure she was doing well without him there. She seemed awfully disappointed about him leaving.
"hey yukinoms, when u get this, let me know whats up? just checking up~ tell me how your day yesterday wuz mayb? -haru"
He hit send and went back to Tsubasa.
"So how'd you like my fight against Hikaru last night? Pretty epic right?" Haruka nudged him, trying to get his attention. He wanted at least someone to not think he was high as the sky right now.
-
Tsubasa gladly took the bottle of water and drank most of it on the spot, "Ahhh refreshing." he said.
"Yea I saw it, man you two were incredible, we really need to do something like that again before the trip ends." he said, giving Haruka thumbs up.
He continued listening to the conversation, along with congratulating Hikari and Hana for the well-fought game.
"Seifer and Noel...oh no the last time I met Noel she had collapsed near the forest if this happened again..." he said, a look of worry building on his face.
-
Neo was up for most of the morning so far but decided to just stay in his tent. He wasnt really in the mood to do anything as of yet. Neo picked the wrong time to have so many thoughts flowing through his mind. He wanted to camping trip to be fun and it has been anything but for Neo so far so he just decided to stay in his tent until something happens.
-
"Well I'm adapting to a few other clans outside of my own so I know how to deal with them in the future." Hikaru stated while being praised by Tsubasa.
-
Haruka sort of frowned for a moment. He remembered Tsubasa bringing the poor gal into the cafe only a week or so ago. If she got all messed up like that from passing out then...
"Well, what, should we go look for her? She should have our numbers or something. They could also just be sleeping in their tents or something. Best to just relax for now." Haruka leans back on his elbows for support, laying down but still sitting up.
"If you insist on checking for them, or at least her, well..." Haruka scrunched his mouth, making an internal debate become an external response.
"Well. If need be, we can go and check for her, mmkay Tsu?", Haruka has gotten really lazy with nicknames. Shortening names wasn't really the best way to go about it, but it probably beats calling him Tsubaka.
-
Tsubasa was certainly concerned about her well-being since she did not seem to do well with getting lost in the wild. Nevertheless he accepted the nickname that Haruka gave him, it was at least more decent than the childish names Hazama would give him.
He stood up and said, "We probably should go looking for her, though if you guys don't feel like it that's fine, I should be able to handle it."
With that he began walking away, "I hope she's ok..hopefully she'll be able to join us later for late night cardfight. " he thought, a smile slightly forming on his face.
-
"Right, alright, ok. So that formation works." She commanded Angel Feather.
"Uh.... What do I do?" Nociel asked.
"Nothing because you're not even in the deck! Huahahuaa!"
"Uguu."
Hana is mean to Nociel out of love.
After a bit of sitting around in the chair, Isabella let the trio off to do their own thing, adding Australia-kun to her list of fighters as well. A couple of fights from other members of the club were nice. Though, a few of the guys were distracted by her shorts and exposed midriff, but rest assured, it wasn't that big of a deal, at least to her. A good deal of them were wondering how teachers allowed this, but also didn't mind that the teachers did. She stretched a few more of her fights and decided that some relaxation time was well justified now, stepping back with Tsubaka and the others.
"Ohayou, what are you guys up to?" Isabella gave and enthusiastic wave.
-
Before Tsubasa could step away from everyone to go looking for Noel he was stopped by Hana, who came to greet them. Tsubasa did not want to leave Noel by herself out there but he also knew that she was a capable person so for now he calmed down a bit.
"Hey Hana, how is your day going?" he asked, trying to hide his worry.
-
With a rather deep yawn, Darren emerged from his tent. He had changed into new clothes for today, a simple T-Shirt with shorts, as he stretched from the fact that he was finally up after so long. He had slept longer than intended as he had spent the night looking over his deck and trying to find out what it was missing. The words that Hana said to him before still rang with him, the idea that his units might still need to evolve. If that was the case, he might have to just do the best with what he had.
Upon looking around, he saw in the distance there was already some early morning activity. He started to walk towards it, still a bit unsure of what was even happening as of yet. I can't tell if they were up early or if I woke up late. It was the ladder most likely.
-
She had overheard Tsubaka and Haruka talking about Noel as she was doing a few fights. The sign of worry on Tsubaka's face must be from that. Though, Isabella thought of trying to get the right words to say for a moment in order to calm him down.
"Well, if you're worried about Noel, I can assure you she's fine, and believing in your comrade's individual abilities is also a big part of teamwork." That seemed good enough, a standard deep quote from the book of deep quotes, but it was true and hopefully Tsubaka would agree.
Isabella then had thought about possibly finding Catherine somewhere today. She had been asking around, but no one has heard of her which she found strange. Maybe she was a forest fairy? Probably.
-
Hana had helped Tsubasa calm down, maybe this whole coaching has been making him become a bit overprotective, is what he thought, as he took a seat next to Haruka again.
"..I guess you're right.." he said, as he began to relax.
He noticed Hana was looking around the area, if it were an object she would have found if in no time so he assumed that she was looking for someone, "You looking for someone Hana?" he asked.
-
Darren saw Hana, Tsubasa, and Haruka talking together. He couldn't hear what they were talking about as they were too far away. He walked towards them with his hand out in a wave. He was still waking up mentally so there wasn't more than that he was able to do now.
As his mind was coming back to him, he wondered if Noel was alright. The last intense cardfight she had, she passed out. She didn't after their match but she also disappeared after it. He would have to look for her later if she didn't turn up, but he trusted she wouldn't have come if there was any kind of problem.
-
Sky finished making sure everyone was at the campsite when he saw Hana and the Cardfight club's new coach. Sky thought it'd be best to introduce himself to the new coach and maybe ask Hana about his "hallucination" since she seemed close to her units Sky figured she'd know whether it was actually possible, or not. "Good morning Hana-Chan and you must be the coach of the Cardfight club, Sky Carter faculty advisor." Sky said reaching out his hand to Tsubabsa.
-
"Yeah, see, Noel should be fine. No problem, right?" Haruka netted his fingers together and laid back on his new hand-pillow. Tsubasa wasn't off the mark, Haruka thought. Hana seemed to be searching out for somebody and if she really wanted to find them, she would've used that star-stalking power or something. The fact she hadn't found it yet, whatever she was looking for.
He simply shrugged a bit, returning his gaze to the sky. It was a strange feeling, staring directly up at the clouds when he wasn't in the city. The sky looked strangely clearer than it had before. The light pollution was quite a bit away from them, but it didn't change Haruka's mind on how fascinating it was to gaze into a clear sky, just like how people are crazy about the clear ocean water near the Caribbean.
"Ahh... It's nice out today. Not too hot or anything, I could totally just lay out here forever." Haruka checked his phone, with no response it seems. Probably no reception out here, just hasn't gotten to her yet...
Sky was suddenly here. Holy crap that man comes out of no where at the most opportune moments it seemed. Haruka had to learn from this man one day.
"Hey Skyyy. Sup?" Haruka crossed his legs, still laying down. Getting comfortable was key, considering it didn't seem like he'd be searching for Noel or Seifer anyways.
-
"Hi hey hello," Isabella waved at Mr. Carter.
I was getting too apparent that she was looking for someone, she should probably be more discreet when it comes to these things, but that person quite the strong fighter and big bag of wisdom.
"Mmm.. The person doesn't seem to be here." Isabella shrugged while an idea entered her mind. More like she actually had this planned, more Vanguard being applied in real life applications. Really.
"Who wants to get on top of that mountain with a Cardfight? Nice view." She can probably transport herself to the top of the mountain with her power, but doing is more fun in itself. "Right, we won't need any gear, just bring your deck." Placing her hands on her hips, she started to march towards the eastern direction. "Anyone want to tag along?"
-
It seemed like Hana had another training idea for the camping trip. Darren smiled at the thought as he had been having fun up to this point anyway. He looked around for a moment, wondering if Noel or anyone else would see where they are going if they chose to follow. Shrugging it off, he walked behind her and said, "I'll go with you!" He had added a new friend to his deck and needed to see if it would work with him or not, so this could be the best way to answer that question.
-
"NATURE SUCKS!!!! GO AWAY!!!!" Noel gasping for air in an angry rage kicking or even force palming animals or insects that fall on her, sneak on her, or even look at her funny at almost football field lengths. Noel may not look like it but part of her private learning at home was martial arts training. But she still loves nature. Noel then noticed she passed by the same tree, the sign was the kick mark left on it. This made her more mad. But nature is wonderful.
"How the... I could of sworn I didn't go this far off the campsite.. aaaaand no signal on my phone... this is so amazing!" Nature is life.
Noel is safe to conclude that she is lost but is pretty sure someone will find her trail of destruction as little that she knows, she is actually slowly but surely returning to the camp site
-
Tsubasa returned the handshake to Sky Carter, as he stood up from his place and began stretching, "It's good to see you again man." he said.
At that moment Hana suggested that the group heads to the top of the mountain, due to it's view and other reasons, involving cardfights. At that point another person entered the group, someone Tsubasa had not met before, but he decided he would get to know him through this trip, "I'll tag along, sounds like fun...you coming Haru? Sky? Hikaru?"
-
Walking in the mountains... Ehh.
"So much for getting comfy." Haruka promptly hopped up from his lying down position and dusted off the back off of his shirt and sweatpants. Cracking his neck and stretching for a second definitely helped loosen him up a bit for a hike if that's what Hana had planned. He sort of wanted to go around on the forest path for a bit for a jog actually, so he'd probably be departing halfway. Depends how long the hike was.
"Okay, I'm in." Haruka ran into his tent to grab his backpack, which contained a hoodie, water, and his decks. Just the necessities when it came to Vanguard related trips and such. Except he'd rather have a cup of coffee right now. He was actually insanely tired and would probably have passed out by now had he been inside his tent and not outside with everybody else.
"Alright, I'll just dial up Noel and Seifer, let them know we're going out." Haruka started with Seifer's cell which rang a few times and went to voicemail... Probably asleep or something.
Next was Noel's cell.
Straight to voicemail. Three times in a row. Maybe her phone was dead...?
Haruka sighed, shrugging. Guess it can't be helped. Chances are her phone died or it was off. Haruka trusted in Hana's sense that she was actually okay right now and NOT lost in the woods crushing and cursing insects or forest-creatures of the like. Haruka believed. The only charger port nearby was at the main campsite where the mess hall was anyways, but the Cardfight Club somewhat strayed from the main area of the camp. Isabella was an idol after all, it would cause too much of a fuss.
-
Neo heard all the talking that was going on outside and left his tent to see what was going on.
"Whats going on?" Neo asked
-
"Uh, hey Neo, we're going to go mountain climbing. Wanna come?"
Noel shouldn't miss out on this, so maybe helping her should be a thing. Isabella covered her right eye and sent her image over to her. It looks like she was slowly making her way back. The easiest way to hide this weird power would be to make the light ray clone thing run off and disappear once it led her back to the campsite. Welp.
A flash of light appeared a tree and Isabella stepped out, waving at Noel.
"Noel-chan!!! Over here!" She stepped out a little.
The campsite wasn't that far from here. How did Noel end up all the way here again? This is just weird.
Back at the campsite, Isabella started to wonder where individuals like Sathirsty are with his nature expertise, or was it just farm expertise? He ded use the plant dank deck or something so he should know a thing or two. He should be guiding them, but it looks like he overslept.
"Hmmm... I guess we can start walking a little just to start making our way there if that's fine."
-
"Sure why not." Sky responded as he followed the group towards the mountain.
-
"Awesome, ill tag along" Neo said as he put on some boots.
"Lead the way!"
-
Satoshi mumbled. He had slept a little late today, later than he had been expecting. The environment was too soothing and pleasant to experience to not take part in. He rose and stuck his head out of his tent, noticing people were getting ready to leave to do something.
"Where're y'all headin' off to?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with one hand.
Then his eyes focused and as it turned out, nobody was there.
"...Oh. Uh..." Several swears went off in his head as he threw clothes on and ran off in a direction he assumed the group went.
"HEY! WAIT UP!"
-
Darren was looking back to the others as he was walking ahead. He was excited to see why they were going to a mountain to train. It was like a special strengthening exercise. It sounded like a lot of fun. He stopped and turned so that he could see when they caught up. When they did he would continue along with the others.
-
The climb was long so Sky decided to talk with Tsubasa and get to know him better "So Tsubasa you go to school?"
-
Noel was blinded a bit by the flash of light and when she looks up, Hana was jumping down a tree.
"Noel-chan!!! Over here!"
Noel was just frozen in confusion and mindblown. How the... how... what?! her thoughts broken up like an elementary school kid, she just sighed and followed Hana. Noel's hair was dirty and twigs sticking out, her outfit also dirty with some tears because of going through bushes and the like. Unlike her previous time when she passed out in the forest, her deck was tightly gripped into her hand and covered.
"I could of gotten to the campsite on my own you know..." Noel pouted and suddenly her stomach started growling loudly. She hasn't eaten all day because she's been lost in the woods for a good while. Nature.
-
Before the mountain climbing started, Hana used her 'power' to contact Noel to come and join them, the group was gradually growing bigger.
"II'm glad was able to join this mountain limb promises to be a good event.." he thought.
On the way Tsubasa was approached by Sky, it seemed like he wanted to start a conversation with him,"Oh..Hey man, no I don't go to a school, I I'm enrolled in a university, I just took some time off to help with the club it helps fill in some of my extracurricular stuff, plus I get to spend time with everyone here, how about you?" he replied.
-
Haruka pinched the bridge of his nose, only slightly annoyed. It wasn't Noel's fault that she was just lost again, but it did bother him that he wasn't really much help.
Well, she's safe and sound. Mostly. She still needs to get cleaned up and get some food. That'd be a good start. But the trek to the mountains had yet to really even begin, meaning it would either be postponed for a bit so Noel could clean up, or Noel would be going in all those dirty clothes.
"Well at least your safe, that's what matters here. You should probably also... Erm... Eat."
Haruka sighed, pocketing his hands and facing her for a moment, then to Hana.
"What's the plan chief?"
-
Isabella led Noel through a series of trees that ended up a shortcut to the mountain climbing group. The light image clone thing hopped behind a tree as the original body passed by, merging back with the main body, keeping the not-so-secret clone thing a secret at least to some.
"Well, I have some snacks." Isabella said, "since you seem hungry." She offered a few granola bars from her purse with a couple of trail mix.
Hana scratched her head as she gestured them to walk towards the direction of a small upwards hill. Just a bit of legwork, but there would a good burn in the calf muscles after nonetheless."After this hill would be an actual mountain climb which in every camping trip has always been deemed an impossible task to complete. If a photo is taken from the peak of the mountain by any members of a club, then club as whole is deemed the most successful in the camping trip. In every camping trip, a certain club is given the title as "the best" in teamwork or "the winner." We gotta take the competition by storm!"
Since the climb itself really was impossible, Isabella asked that the PSY Shop workers simply transport them up the mountain on the condition that a few Cardfight Club members would win fights against them. After a winding path, two of the workers waited semi-patiently, leaning on a tree and resting in the shade. Isabella pointed at the weirdos. "That's the mountain climb."
"Took you idiots long enough!" The green-haired, small broccoli exclaimed. This was F CHOPPER KOGA.
"Alright so... a win from both of us and you all get a two way trip up and down that mountain. Easy enough?" The red head winked, with her hands on her hips. This strange and awkward chili pepper was TOMO-ZO.
"I guess I can take the first challenger" KOGA yawned. It was obviously past her nap time.
-
Darren was going to offer Noel a candybar of his own but it seemed she wouldn't need it if Hana had some. With that done, he walked with the others up the hill. As they walked he looked around, trying to distract his mind from the trip. What he saw when he looked ahead shocked him for a moment. He couldn't help but blink as he saw what he hoped were two people in costumes.
"What... am I looking at?" he said as it seemed random enough that two people would be in front of them in a place like this, let alone... whatever these two were. They seemed very eccentric for where they were. He shrugged it off and said, "A free trip up the mountain is good enough for me."
-
"I graduated from college a few months before I came to Japan. Since I was poor I couldn't afford to go to a school near home, but luckily I got a full scholarship to a school in America. Maybe you've heard of it Harvard University? Anyways after I graduaated I decided that rather than tring to get a job in my degrees' field of computer engineering I'd rather play vanguard and I just sort of ended up in Japan haha." Sky responded rubbing the back of his head smiling.
-
Food, finally some food that can at least keep her going. She had stamina but it was useless without any food to work with. Noel mindlessly-like a savage took the granola bars and trail mix and devoured it all, almost choked but managed to swallow the food without dying. Full of energy once more!
"That sure hit the spot!"
She walked with the group that was led by Hana and the goal was to apparently reach the top of the mountain so that the Cardfight Club can be deemed as the best club of the trip. That was when Noel noticed they had to climb the mountain that seemed unrealistic from ever happening at all. That was when Hana pointed the alternate route, the club's "mountain climb" was a pair of odd-hair looking people. The goal to get to the top of the mountain was to beat these two in a cardfight. Full of energy and in the mood of cardfighting, the "battle damaged" girl stepped in front of the group and was the first to volunteer herself to cardfight one of them.
"I've been through a lot today so a cardfight will sure do the trick right now to make me feel better! Whichever of the two who wanna fight first, let's go! I'm ready!" Noel took out her deck box and was pumped up unknown to what their skill level actually was
-
Seifer, who had slept in for a few reasons, stumbled out of the tent with his hair a bit of a mess and his jacket a bit lopsided at first but soon got righted. Where was everyone? He couldn't see anyone at the start, cause, well he was just waking up. Stretching the male wandered around a little bit really just trying to get himself to wake up. If only he had some coffee.
-
"E-Eh... Oh boy." Haruka reached over his head, scratching the back of his neck and somewhat pulling around the collar of his shirt to let out a bit of heat. It'd been quite a bit since TOMO-ZO and Haruka had met at PSY Shop. That was a weird encounter. But it also gave birth to Dragonic Overlord the End after a series of grueling fights, so he had that to thank her for in the long run. He simply waved to her, and stepped back, allowing Noel to take on the first fight. No use stealing any spotlight, besides, watching Noel fight was cool. Jewel Knights' ability to superior call often made it a difficult matchup for Kagero, considering they would just keep rebuilding their field.
Haruka looked at Hana for a split moment, sort of wondering what was going on. Why were they going to get a trip up the mountain and why were TOMO-ZO and F CHOPPER KOGA here? What did they have to do with the Cardfight Club, in fact?
"Good luck, Noel." Haruka slid to the back of the pack, flicking through his own Overlord deck, then the Beast Deity deck. Which one would be taking the lead for now...? This was something he would have to figure out later.
-
Listening to Sky talk gave Tsubasa an idea of how this man thought and considered his lifestyle, it was rather inspiring to see someone so passionate and so fulfilled to do what he loves for his life..though the situation was interesting the moral was there and that earned him Tsubasa's respect.
"..I see..quite the tough choice but as long as you're living your life to the fullest then I can't say much other than congratulating you man." he said, as they continued walking.
Noel soon joined the group all thanks to Hana's power, much to Tsubasa's relief she was safe and now fed somewhat. Nevertheless the main surprise here were the people that the group met right before the near impossible mountain climb, the shop owners of PSY. Though Tsubasa did not know much about them he did remember Hazama talking about a strange group of people who gave him the Stil Vampir card a year ago. To him the climb would not be too difficult all things considered but at least this way it was more interesting.
"Good Luck Noel!" he said, as Noel stepped up to take the first fight.
-
"I guess I can do a fight in the meantime." TOMO-ZO flipped her hair, releasing a fiery aura that could've burned the forest down in a single flare.
She stepped forward to take a challenger for herself if anyone dared to take her offer.
-
Darren grinned and stepped forward. "I was gonna let Noel take on the green girl. I'll be your opponent in the meantime though." He held out his deck as he said, "My name is Darren. Let's have a fun fight."
-
Satoshi panted, completely out of breath. Why the heck did they have to choose this mountain of all mountains to climb?...And to leave without waking him? Sheesh. Some friends these people were.
He noticed that there were cardfights going on with...Tomo and Koga? What were two of the PSY Shop Divas here for? Were they testing for something yet again? Was there something that was going to happen that the champions, or at least someone they knew was significant on Cray, needed to know about?
...Did one of them maybe know something about what it meant to be "marked"?
He sat to catch his breath and watched the fights, in the meantime.
-
Darren was shocked to see his Goyusha retired by the ability of a Sealed Dragon. Even if it gave him a Grade 2 unit, it didn't help when he had to ride Daiyusha as his Grade 3 of choice. With only 10000 power, it was difficult for Darren to hit with numbers that could harm the dragons, even with extra criticals on his units. In the end, he wasn't able to defend and a critical trigger sealed his fate. Even his foe said "If only you could have gotten break ride."
The more Darren tried to improve, the more stronger people seemed to appear. It was like there was a gap he couldn't cross. Normally he wouldn't mind, but she said "we" just the same way that Hana does. Did she have a connection to her units as well. Is that what it took to evolve with them? He hoped that Noel's battle would go better than his and hopefully answer that question.
-
KOGA took the 6th damage despite putting up the best she can. Elvira couldn't keep up with the Jewel Knights.
"Welp." She motioned them good luck, seeing as how the first challenger that her sister took was defeated.
"Nice work though." TOMO-ZO winked a Darren.
Isabella was just watching and carefully looking at the fights as they happened. The members of the Cardfight Club were doing great thus far. Now the only one left was TOMO-ZO. Maybe the next challenger could get the game and bring them up the mountain.
"Nice job Noel-chan, Darobo!" Isabella congratulated the boy hero as well as the dirty mess that she found in the woods.
-
The fight left Noel wobbly. It was a really intense fight in which she had to use both of her trump cards to win it. Not even a full powered break ridden Salome with four criticals got her the game because of a nicely timed heal that saved KOGA from losing that turn. That caused the fight to last longer and even though KOGA was losing resources, Noel had to hit hard still due to two perfect guards making the fight go on for a few more turns until KOGA simply couldn't guard all of her attacks anymore. Noel stepped back and sat on the ground, taking deep breaths, closing her eyes and trying to stay focused because this is the part where she usually faints.
The best thing to do was to calm down and think of other things like how badly she needs to get in a bath or even a hot spring so she can clean up. Wandering around the forest left her dirty and clothes torn a little which made her look like a complete and utter mess. Hana congratulated her win against KOGA but Noel felt like if KOGA was holding back which bugged her a little. Noel wanted to be with her friends, have fun playing Vanguard and other things, but deep down she wanted strength. Lots of it. She feels that having all of that strength could allow her to protect all the precious things she has obtained thus far as well as prevent her life going back to the nightmare she once had before.
"I hope we win this next one. I really don't want what Darren and I did go to waste. I entrust our future or at least the mountain top to the next one. Let's win this you guys!"
-
There seemed to be a bit of excitement going on as Seifer walked up to the group, standing off to one side. "What's going on?" he asked, glancing between the people he found gathered there. It was curious, it seemed there were fights going on at the moment, or well, were just ending. That and there seemed to be some rather... interesting... Characters among the group. People the brunette hadn't seen before.
-
He watched the fights with amazement. It was kind of crazy to see how powerful some of these players were. Jewel Knights, Dimensional Robos, Seal Dragons and Musketeers. A lot of them were back and forth, but the most interesting for Haruka to watch was the Seal Dragon fight, considering it was a fight between the two clans he both played at some point. Dimension Police was his uncle's clan, and Kagero was his own.
He enjoyed watching the fight, but uh, Darren didn't win it. His rear guards were retired over and over and over and that pretty much made him fall short, along with the big problem of only having 10,000 Power base on his Vanguard; a really abuse heavy number for the opponent.
Haruka shuffled through his decks. Two choices, he could go with Nova Grapplers, and attempt to rush down the Seal Dragon onslaught from the get-go and hope that'd work... But that was a slim chance.
Overlord was more consistent and took Hellfire on hit for hit, and with Crossride defenses, the chances of holding out were significantly higher. That was his decision then. Overlord would be standing from his throne after a bit, taking on a challenge himself.
"Hey TOMO-ZO, I'll take you on. Let's see if that gift you gave me did any work for me?" Haruka placed down his starter, waiting for TOMO-ZO to do the same.
-
Darren smiled as he saw that Noel was able to win. He saw the battle and was amazed at it. They were both able to get what they needed and when they needed it, and in the end it came down to Noel's skill being better. Maybe that was the key. No matter how much skill you have, a connection to the deck is what bridged the gap. He had to take that to heart for the future.
He smiled as Noel came back and said, "Good job. Sorry I couldn't win too. I'm sure another club member can do it." He saw Seifer, thinking that he would be able to win against the person that beat him without a doubt, and if not him someone could. "If we win against these two then we can get up the mountain. Noel won but... I couldn't."
-
"I believe in them. I know that we can win. The Seal Dragon user is strong but I know that with out strength combined, we can win. Using Royal Paladin has taught me that. I guess it's believing in your friends? Noel said unsure if that's what it is. Regardless of the matter, the Cardfight Club needs one win to get the free climb up the mountain but there is one problem. The remaining fighter, a Seal Dragon user, is in the way and that strength is not to be taken lightly. Noel would love to try to fight her but even she knows her Jewel Knights won't stand a good chance against a retire deck like that. Unlike the typical Kagero deck, their retire costs are cheap and getting grade twos to "replace" what was retired isn't always in the top four of the deck.
"We just have to believe..."
-
Haruka got stuck playing the vanilla game again. He only was able to bring out a couple of rear-guards to begin with, and was stuck on his break ride unit once that grade 3 surge came around. He nearly had the means to push if he had just managed to get onto his cross break or just, anything but sitting on a skill-less 11,000 Power base. He ended up taking a beating from the complete field of TOMO-ZO's Seal Dragons.
It just wasn't happening, even if he wanted to show off what his new break ride could do, he just didn't get what he needed. His belief in Overlord was somewhat misplaced. He was too busy taking a breather in the Dragon Empire.
"Shoulda gone with Illuminal... He always shows when I need him." Tahr would have whimpered at that comment.
"Thanks for the fight TOMO-ZO, I had fun. Later, though." Haruka checked back at his phone, finally receiving a response! He was happy Yukino had actually gotten back to him.
But something felt off. The lovey-dovey bit she usually shows wasn't there. It felt too formal... something Hikaru or a champion of Cray would have received. Normally she's at least a little affectionate. 'Are you alright?' versus 'How are you?' goes a long way in Haruka's head. Maybe it was just his imagination, but-
"sounds like everything is going well. im doing pretty good i gess. started playing nova grapplers recently. luv dem restanding rear guards. hey erm, maybe im just crazy but, are u okay? seem a bit off. -haru"
-
"The sixth damage..." Ah, the red-haired woman declared with a grin.
It took the club a good amount of tries, but they finally got her. "Alright well, KOGA, let's get them up there." She called out to her little green-haired sister. It was almost like a magic spell, but in a flash, the entire group was suddenly on the mountain's peak, overlooking the entire camping ground. Right on time for the sunset.
"Congrats Sliffer!" Isabella pat him on the back. The big red dragon nickname always pays off.
"Well, just talk to us when you're done having a look around and we'll take you back to the campsite." TOMO-ZO said as she sat down along the edge, looking off into the sun.
Isabella took out her phone and took multiple pictures from the peak of the mountain as well as those present at the current moment. "Getto!~" The excited club president was smirking. The Cardfight Club did it, they climbed the impossible mountain with the use of magic.
They never said we can't.
That doesn't justify anything unless you're Hana.
"Good job everyone!" She let clapped and cheered, the day went by very well. "Since we're going home tomorrow, so let's enjoy this view! This moment. We earned it."
Sorta.
A picnic was already set on top of this mountain. Dinner, courtesy of the shop PSY hosts. KOGA already invited herself to begin eating some. TOMO-ZO was ashamed of her poor manners.
-
Somehow, Seifer had gotten dragged into the thick of what was happening, though he didn't complain. He needed something to take his mind off of some things. In any case during the entire fight, Seifer slipped between indifference and actual joy. He'd never seen the Seal Dragons of Kagero, and to be honest, he actually liked how they looked. To him, they weren't the same as Overlord though. The restanding Vanguard plowing his way through the forces of Seal Dragons, Seifer took advantage, even with his rear guards being retired and his field shoddy. Even without the break ride though, Seifer's luck trumped the other's, getting everything he needed and ending it with a well timed critical trigger. He'd won. He was glad as he put his deck away in the blood red case he held with him. "It was fun. I should pick up Seal Dragons sometime to see how they respond for me." he commented after the fight, though almost as soon as he'd said that they were on top of the mountain, and he had a familiar voice congratulate him with his moniker given by non other than Hana. Feeling the pat on his back he just grinned a little before looking at everyone else. They were on top of a mountain now weren't they. And a picnic? Though... He noticed someone already chowing down into the food, though he found it funny rather than rude.
-
Darren watched the two dragon battles, one after the other. Seeing her beat Haruka, who had defeated Noel before, told him that this girl was even stronger than she seemed. The fact that he did so well against her until a bit of a handicap amazed him. When Seifer was battling though, he seemed in control, like he could control the flow of the fight. It was inspiring to Darren and made him want to learn how to do that with his deck.
Before he could say anything they were all gone, all transported away including Darren himself. He looked around and saw they were on the top of the mountain. He thought they would take a car or a lift or something, but instant teleportation... if he hadn't been a part of it he never would have believed it. "This is so cool!" he called out, then turned to see the picnic. All of the fighting did make him hungry so he went straight to the meal, digging in without restraint.
-
It would be a lie if Haruka said he wasn't at all jealous of how well Seifer handled his own version of Overlord against TOMO-ZO, taking her down with decent speed. Not that it wasn't a close fight at first, but the battle immediately went Seifer's way the second he got DOTE to hit and its skill to activate. Getting those extra drive checks didn't mean anything power-wise, but more hand meant more guards and more pressure should his own rear guards be retired. Haruka was very happy with how the battles ended.
Upon arriving at the mountaintop, Haruka stared at the munchkin who was jacking all of the picnic food.
"Ugh.. seriously?" He scratched his head, only a bit bummed out. Well, can't win every one. Haruka sat down on the blanket as well, taking the full view of the sky in from up there. Being so close to the sky might as well have been a dream come true. All he had to do now was try and fly, except that's a bad idea because he is well aware that he cannot fly.
So instead, he just stares, watching the clouds. He had things he wanted to do and places to be, but he can spare the time for the evening to enjoy the sunset. Eat some food. Maybe chat with people. Sounds like a plan at least.
First the sandwiches...
-
Next thing she knew, Noel found herself on top of the mountain.
"What?! H-how?! Did we just... teleport?!" Noel couldn't believe it but actual teleportation existed somehow. She couldn't help but look at those two fighters and at Hana, not knowing where they got that power made her a little jealous. Unaware, roots of darkness began to slowly grow on Noel's pure heart. If only... Noel tried not to think about it and started eating instead. The energy given from the granola bars started wearing off and made her hungry since she never ate anything else.
Noel then looked at Seifer who beat the person who defeated Haruka, the one who defeated her. She started feeling the gap between them all which didn't please her but managed to hide her frustration from everyone. I'll just put my mind on other things and enjoy the rest of my day here, I won a fight against one of those mystery people afterall...
-
Seeing the 2 fights really fired Sky up. "Yo Tsubasa lets fight!" Sky said whipping out his blue deck box, he did want to know more about the man, but Sky also figured he'd learn alot more fighting him than just talking.
-
Seifer sat down next to his sister, looking up at the sky as Haruka did. He wasn't very hungry but he was going to spend time with everyone. He needed to. He didn't want to be alone, even though he felt like it. But oh well. In any case, he forced himself to slowly eat a sandwhich, taking small bites as he thought about everything. He was surrounded by friends, and family. He had Kagero back. He had Rosalia, even though she had to go cause of family emergency. What was bothering him so much? He decided to try and shrug it off. Actually Noel brought up a good point to. How did they teleport? Then again, that didn't bother him as much as it should. He was used to weird stuff by now.
-
To Haruka: "Retiring rearguard or restanding them. Haha, you're a bit of a bully to them. I'm fine, just tired. I'm glad you're alright."
-
Three ham and cheese sandwiches later...
"Maaan, I'm full. I just wanna lay here and sleep or something. I feel like a balloon, ughhuuhuuhuuuu." Haruka started slightly whining about eating too much, rolling around on the blanket like a dork. He was eventually stopped and just stared up. To his direct left was Seifer and Noel, but just kind of staring off. It seemed they weren't much for words at the moment.
Seifer has barely even eaten yet, and that kind of bothered him. He sighed, using his hands as a pillow and cross his legs. This was the comfortable position he managed back down the mountain. He laid down, closed his eyes.... and really wanted to fight again.
"Hey, Noel, Seifer, either of you up for a fight maybe or something. I mean if you don't want to, that's cool too but I mean. I'm bored. Like I'm really bored." Haruka puppy dog-eyes Noel and Seifer. Either one would do. He just wanted to play around more with Beast Deities.
His phone buzzed before either of them responded. With a quick flick of the phone, he checked the text. Yukino responded and it was a pretty standard message.
"at least illuminal shows up more often than overlord... hm? oh, well make sure you rest up ok? ill be home tomorrow. we can talk then. i had something i wanted to tell u anyways. dont kno hao you'll take it tho :/ -haru"
Haruka hit send and instantly regretted it. Shrugging, he continued pleading to the brother-sister duo.
-
The fights went by like simultaneous eruptions, each fighter giving the opposing diva a hard time with their potential, Noel was the first to grab a victory then came Haruka and Darren, unfortunately they were not able to beat the red chilli...she took them out but lost to Seifer, now Tsubasa was beginning to see it..
"..Maybe we do have a chance, these people are amazing.." he thought, as he began to remember what Yukino told him. He clapped for the fighters due to the impressive games and congratulated them all.
After the fights were over the group was teleported to the top of the mountain, where they took pictures and started a picnic for all to enjoy, Tsubasa personally took pictures of the group as they sat and interacted, along with the scenery. With a press of a button, he sent the pics to Neu with some text at the bottom,"Wishing you were here."
At that moment Tsubasa was challenged by Sky to a cardfight, with the wind blowing and everyone relaxing it felt like the perfect time to get a cardfight in and understand Sky better through it, "Bring it on Sky." he said, taking out his deck.
-
It was a great match Sky had never faced someone with such mastery over Gold Paladins. Sky did his best but fell short against Tsubasa losing 6 to 4. As Tsubasa told Sky that he sensed his bond with his clan Sky payed Tsubasa the same compliment. While Tsubasa's words made Sky happy he wasn;t so sure. Sky had recently felt like he wasn't strong enough to use his deck. Like he was holding it back. Sky pushed these thoughts away and said to Tsubasa "Good game my frien........" At this moment Sky saw something in the distance the shape was so distinct he recognized it immediately. It was the same figure from this morning. The same card he had constantly rode and called for the past 5 years. It was Blaukluger. Sky stared at his avatar speechless. He stared at the unit for what felt like ages and entered a trance like state. It was then the following thoughts entered Sky's mind "Three times. Three times we shall meet. We have already met 1 out of the three. The first time you acknowledged my strength and doubted yourself. In this second meeting you shall learn to wield me, by having me leave you. And the third time........." The voice faded out and Sky snapped out of it. He saw Tsubasa staring at him but Sky was too panicked to explain what happened. He grabbed his deck and spread out his cards. He was relieved to see that his copies of Blaukluger were all still intact. As Sky wondered what Blaukluger could've meant the answer revealed itself "Stern?!" Sky's Stern Blaukluger had left him. In its place was a new unit "Merkur Blaukluger?" Sky didn't understand. Why did Stern leave him? Is this what Blaukluger meant? Did blaukluger think Sky wasn't strong enough to wield Stern anymore? How could Sky learn to wield Stern with Stern being gone. For the first time ever in his time in Japan tears flowed from Sky's eyes. He cried over the loss of his card. To him if Blaukluger was his heart then Stern was his soul.
-
After eating his fill, Darren fell over slightly as he held his stomach. It was a good meal. He then blinked as he turned to the mysterious girls. They were both very strong. Seifer and Noel were able to beat them, the brother and sister were nothing to sneeze at. They also seemed connected to their units. He looked down at his deck, wondering how he could get a connection like that.
"Synchroniz and connect to the units on Cray, huh?" he whispered to himself. After being teleported here by magic, he was more than willing to believe there was some sort of way to connect further to his deck, even if it was something he couldn't understand.
-
Seifer continued to eat quietly until Haruka started asking for a fight. It'd probably be fun, since why not? "Sure, I wouldn't mind one." he replied, finishing the rest of the sandwich he was currently eating, and taking a drink of water. Which deck to use... Sure, let's go with Shadow Paladin again.
-
"It's alright Mr. Carter. Units leave you and other come in their place so that you could make new bonds. You just have to work to get what you lost back with what you have now in the meantime." She gave him a comforting pat on the back, understanding his current state, seeing as how she was in his shoes just a year ago.
The stars were glowing now, the night had taken over. The stars in the sky shone brightly from the view on the mountain top, and for some reason, Isabella felt stronger than ever. The thin coats of light that illuminated them on this mountain top were just something to be taken in with awe and excitement. She synchronized her eyes and power to these stars, and began to let them take her. All of the sudden, she recieved an strange image.
Someone falling down the mountain?...
Snapping out of it, she frantically looked around, taking every single person's face into her mind. Even TOMO-ZO who sat alongside the edges was fine. Everyone was in one piece. She checked over the edges. For something morbid? Basically for a dead body, as strange as it was. Nothing came up. She took a deep breath, it's unusual for her powers to show her something that innacurate. An innaccuracy, was that what it really was though?
-
Hana's words offered Sky little comfort. While he did appreciate what she said it didn't change the fact that the card he started his vanguard journey with was gone. Sky did wipe away his tears realizing he was supposed to be an adult who was in charge of these kids for at least the remainder of this trip. Sky put his deck away and decided not to look at it for at least until the trip was over.
-
Haruka went into rush mode from the second he could set up his field. Sadly, due to things like Blaster Dark Revenger, Haruka's rear guard got messed up quick. Normally that's not a big deal, reforming the rear guard circle only takes a bit of time and patience, letting up pressure not an option. However Haruka learned that patience comes in different forms. Sometimes blowing your hand on the G2 turn is not the answer, as it wasn't here. Despite getting a good three damage head start, he was easily whittled down by damage by Peredur and the consistent superior calls of Revengers.
Haruka barely broke a sweat until his final attack turn. He had the Limit Break of Illuminal Dragon at his disposal and counter blast galore. His only issue was, due to no triggers, he couldn't end the fight right there. One. Anything would have pushed the battle to him, but alas Hatred Chaos, who he needed earlier, and Solar Falcon, who he really didn't need at all, showed up to his aid.
"T-Thanks guys, but I needed to finish this here..." Haruka started talking to his cards again. Overlord was the only thing that would respond to him because, well, he's the one who answered Haruka's call for strength. Maybe if Haruka made another call to arms, other units would come to him too? Food for thought, definitely. Haruka wasn't really interested in Illuminal Dragon anyways... Ethics Buster however. He had his attention.
"Thanks again for the fight Seifer. Definitely a lot more interesting than our first. Just one trigger aagghhh. Next time! I'll have my revenge next time. See what I did there? Revenge? Hahahaha...." Haruka started laughing, lying down to stare at the stars. He was actually pretty happy, despite taking the L for that one. Fights just happened that way, nothing to be upset about.
"One day I'll evolve beyond my limits too, just like Overlord did once. I believe it's possible to do again..." Haruka was whispering to himself about weird things again.
He noticed Hana standing by the mountain cliff, looking down. What was she up too?
"H-Hana... What's up? You okay over there?" Haruka nearly got up and ran over to her out of instinct.
-
Noel finally full and satisfied, she got up and looked at the beautiful night sky. Seifer ended up taking the challenge from Haruka so she was able to rest. After that kind of fight, she was mentally tired to do another.
"Wow... the stars are so beautiful tonight... if there was life somewhere out there... I wonder if they are staring back to the same view as I am..." Noel said to herself implying if the Vanguard units are real and actually do live on another planet somewhere in the universe. She grabs her deck and looks at her two favorite units, her avatar Ashlei and her trusty and loyal companion, Salome. After receiving Ashlei from Seifer, Salome was the first unit Noel earned on her own and eventually the rest of her deck. Even after losing her in the forest, somehow she came back to her via Khudus. The loyal second in command staying by her leader's side no matter what. That's true loyalty and Noel appreciated how much Salome helped her deck and how well she works with her avatar.
Noel then looks up and says quietly to the stars, "If you are real, Salome... thank you for being by my side to lead my Jewel Knights... I always knew I can count on you.". Suddenly without Noel knowing, a faint image of Salome appears behind her kneeling down.
"Milady, it is an honor to direct me with those kind words. I promise to be by your side."
Noel felt like she heard a voice, she turned around and there was no one there but the other members of the Cardfight Club
-
Despite the overwhelming success Seifer had earlier using Kagero, he decided to use Shadow Paladin for this fight, relying on getting damage early for the Peredur he had in his hand from the start, and saving his guards for specific moments. Deck thinning and Peredur's push turn really helped, bring the tide of the fight to Seifer's side, though it almost ended in tragedy as had Haruka gotten one trigger on his last turn, Seifer wouldn't of been able to win it. Smiling though, not because he won, but because he had fun, he nodded at Haruka. "It was a fun match. Really fast paced. I almost couldn't keep up, especially with Illuminal. That's a scary dragon." he complimented Haruka's work, even laughing at the Revenge pun. Though when Haruka went over to Hana, he followed, since something seemed to be the matter. She was looking over the edge for something? Someone? Why?
-
Darren noticed that Hana was looking around the mountain. He did his own headcount to see everyone was there. Maybe she was curious as to how it looked. That was probably all it was. He turned to Noel and saw that she seemed spooked by something. The idea that we were teleported here must have sunk in by now so was it something else?
"Noel, are you alright?" he asked her just to be certain.
His gaze then turned to the red mystery woman. He wanted to fight her again another time, feeling like he really did improve with each match. He wondered how much more he would need before he could win a big and important match. Well, it wasn't as if that mattered anyway. Still, he knew there were things still to be learnt and that those two knew something about synchronizing with units.
-
That weird scene seems to have gotten the attention of Haruka and Sliffer. She appreciated it, but she couldn't tell them otherwise would most likely look like a lunatic. Using Star Gazing right now probably isn't a good idea. "No, Im alright. Thanks!" She assured both of them. Her phone somehow ended up vibrating from the top of a mountain. How was that possible? Well.
Two words:
She's awake.
Hana's eyes widened and her heart pounded with excitement.
"TOMO, KOGA! This is an order!" She called out to both of them with an unshakable voice of authority.
"W-What is it Princess?" KOGA dropped her rice ball and quickly shoved the bread sticks into her purse.
"Yes?" TOMO was much more relaxed.
She quickly in between both of them. "I need you to send me back to my penthouse, just for the night, then I kind of have to get back for the nighttime attendance and stuff to check in with the staff that I'm not dead."
"Ok?.." KOGA tilted her head.
"This is an order." Isabella repeated herself in a more serious tone.
"Alright then, fine." TOMO stood up, saying that statement in a nearly protesting tone. She really doesn't get paid enough.
"I'll be right back guys, just... important matters to attend to!"
With that she immediately zapped away.
-
Dumbfounded. Hana literally just poofed off the top of the mountain. Seeing it is actually weirder than it actually happening to you so that's fair.
"I... Uhm." Haruka just shook his head, shrugging nonchalantly.
"Time to sleep I guess. Uh, I don't know about you guys, but I'll see you at the bottom of the mountain. Don't wanna be up here too late, y'know?"
With that, Haruka snatched up his bag and set back down the mountain trail. Luckily going down was a much less resistant path than going up, so it didn't take very long at all for him to get back to the campsite. Maybe fifteen or so minutes tops, considering the brisk pace he set.
"hey, I'll see u soon, yeah? Sweet dreams, Yukino. -haru"
Leaving something for his beloved, Haruka passed out the second his head hit the pillow at his tent. Haruka had dreams of restanding everything. Vanguards and rear guards. Sounds fantastic.
-
Darren was confused, actually that was an understatement. He had no idea what was going on. Why would Hana order the two like that, why did they listen, and most of all... why would she leave them like that?
Darren gave a small sigh as he figured it had to be something he was going to ask her later. He was growing concerned with each moment. "I hope nothing happened," he muttered lightly before he stood up. He grabbed his things as he started to walk down the mountain. Whatever this was, he couldn't do anything for it now. Besides, he had things of his own to deal with.
-
At the end of the fight Tsubasa sensed the same presence of Stern Blaukluger behind him, it was obvious from Sky's daze what was happening and even more emphasized when his deck was examined. This situation felt extremely familiar to Tsubasa..he had been through the same thing, but before Yukino informed him about the situation he had no idea, this time Sky was there when Stern disappeared. After putting back his cards in his deck box he went to talk to Sky as he was sitting on the edge of the hill from one side.
"..I know it's not my place to talk to you about this...but I need to tell you a story, do you remember Blaster Blade Liberator, my avatar, the one I used against you moments ago?...approximately a year and 3 months ago, I used to play with the Royal Paladin clan, with Blaster Blade, his courage gave me strength to change who I am...to make amends for my mistakes in the past...but two months later...he was sealed away.." he said, looking out in the horizon as he remembered those incidents.
"..Later after that my deck was replaced with the Gold Paladins..and looking back...I don't regret it this clan truly is the right one for me..but I had lost my avatar and I had to fight to get him back..you see -takes out his deck from the deckbox and begins to shuffle it over and over again- through my experience with this game, it's not just the players who choose their units, sometimes the units will choose you because each is bound by their desires and hopes...and Blaster Blade has chosen me as one of his Vanguards -stops shuffling and draws the top card, it's back facing Sky- he has never let me down, and through hardships and struggles he returned to me -reveals the card, Blaster Blade Liberator- stronger than ever before, as a Gold Paladin and together we will continue fighting..-puts back the card- give it time i'm sure you'll find the strength to bring Stern back and when that happens...I look forward to our next fight." he said, as he rose and began to walk back to the group.
"..Good luck my friend..you're not alone that's for sure." he said.
"...I can't believe that worked though...Thank you my Avatar." he thought, as he stared at Blaster Blade Liberator.
Returning back he was not surprised by the events that took place with Hana, considering her 'power' he was aware that such a thing might happen so he followed the others down the mountain, "Good Night Everyone, i'll be heading back to my tent." he said, as trailed his way down the mountain with ease.
-
Seeing Hana disappear from sight with the red headed girl had confused Hikaru for a bit. Deciding he had enough for the night he quietly went back to his tent.
-
It was semi late in the night when Seifer just sat up in his tent sighing. He couldn't sleep, and for good reason. There was something bothering him a bit so he decided to pull out his phone and open his contacts looking through it. On the way to the bottom of the list, he hesitated on Rosalia's number for a moment before scrolling all the way down to the bottom. He stopped on the name he had in his phone, "Yugure", the number he'd gotten from Tsubasa earlier. He felt like he needed to know, like he needed some answers for himself but... Would it be okay to call at this time? ...Worth a shot. He checked the cell service and it surprisingly had enough to call, so he hit the call button and held it up to his ear, listening to the dial tone.
-
"Yugure", the soldier responded to Seifer's call.
-
Ah he wasn't expecting an answer but... "It's Seifer. I have a couple of questions if you'd be willing to answer them." his reply would probably be shrouded in a small amount of static, but nothing to serious. She'd be able to hear him just fine.
-
"Fire away", Yugure gave the okay. The little bits of static weren't anything that'd greatly interfere with the conversation, but annoyed her nonetheless.
-
Where to start. "It's about what we talked about a little while ago. My sister and I have both had nightmares, her more so than I have. I didn't think about it at the time of our meeting but." he hesitated for a moment debating what to say next. "When I first showed back up in Rijuku, I had a nightmare for a few nights in a row. Darkness, loneliness. Fear... And a pair of colors, black and red. ...My sister mentioned something to me a bit after our meeting that I promised I'd ask around about as well. She'd been having nightmares where she couldn't see anything, and yet she heard voices saying something along the lines of 'don't give into temptation' or 'come with us'. That's really all she told me." he waited just a moment letting himself breathe after that long winded bit of dialogue before he spoke again. "Does any of that mean anything to you at all?"
-
Yugure was at a loss for a few moments. Two more instances of these specifically colored nightmares, and it was clear enough they were similar to Satoshi's. This is starting to go beyond running out of time. "I..." Words didn't really form at first. "Your sister?" She asked, knowing that it was likely even worse with his kin involved. He already had another to protect from this mess as it was. Holding head in hand for an oncoming headache, the woman responded: "I can't confirm anything, but I think the invaders are trying to get at you both. They might be isolating you... 'don't give into temptation', however, is likely something else entirely."
If these two had become targets, giving into temptation is what their nightmares should be asking for. So why tell the sister to reject?
"Have you heard these voices yourself?"
-
"Nothing myself. The nightmares went away after I got Kagero back a day before we met I believe. Actually now that I think about that to, I'm not sure where the deck itself came from, or how I got it in the first place. It was just on my dresser one morning." He didn't understand why he said he got Kagero back, or why he explained about it, but maybe it was something important? He also hoped he wasn't interrupting anything really important. "Not sure what that would mean if anything at all. The only person I know who could have any answers though would be you, so I'm sorry if I'm bothering you with these questions."
-
"You'd only be bothering me if you hadn't told me this, honestly", Yugure responded. Soldier's duty - civilian peace of mind took priority. Hearing about the Kagero deck, she initially believed it was bait. Was the enemy even capable of that? Then again, what says they wouldn't be? Though, the nightmares ceased when the deck came back... "Hmm..." musing over it didn't pop up any real explanations. "I've no idea about Kagero. I don't even know much of what goes on in the depths of Dragon Empire as it is. I'll look into the nightmares though."
-
"Fair enough. I appreciate it." his reply was one of relief, though he still had questions on how the deck came to be, it didn't matter much. There was one more thing. "...I'm not entirely sure how to bring this part up either... I'm not entirely sure I should but..." there was a rather long pause on his end, it would of seemed almost like a drop in the call, but he spoke up once more, clear as day. "I know you said you don't know about the goings on in Dragon Empire, but lately..." he paused again, much shorter this time. "Lately I've been around Haruka some, and something's been bothering me. I couldn't place my finger on it, but when he'd fight using Overlord, the back of my head would feel like it heated up. ...He defeated me once while we were in the Cardfight Club as well, and the burning grew worse... And now that I think back on it, when I got the Kagero deck back, the deck itself as well felt like it was on fire. ...I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't of said anything about it. It's probably just my imagination." he sort of regretted bringing it up, but he felt like he had to know.
-
Isabella returned to camp and checked in with a staff member before heading back to the campfire area outside. She was contemplating her next course of action. Of course, there was the problem of the invaders. As she currently is, much more improvement had to be made in order to reach a higher level.
"Hana..." Reit would say.
Now, Hana just couldn't help but to tear up a little. She really was Mi-hime's avatar. Always watching over her and caring about her. That's what it all meant...
Meer on the other hand was definitely hers. Bratty like Pacifica, has an attitude like Pacifica, a baka like Pacifica, and exactly like her champion like Pacifica.
"You know how offended I was when you thought Reit was your avatar?" Meer spoke, obviously annoyed. "Gahh!! I wanted to speak up, but everyone else was like nooooo let Hana figure it out on her own. See I wanted Reit to tell you,but then Reit was obviously unable to speak. So ehhh!"
"I'm sorry, oh gosh!" Hana laughed.
"You better be..." Mer returned to eating her chocolate bar.
The campfire was warm and Hana was relaxed. She looked at the flames as they moved, entranced in their beautiful light.
-
"Hello?" Yugure spoke up at the long pause, thinking the call dropped. Thankfully, Seifer responded, and began speaking more about Kagero. She noted back when they first met Haruka had a tendency to look... hot. Not in just an attractive way, but more of sweating when it felt perfectly cool. This heat up was most noticeable back when he first gained Dragonic Overlord the End. There was never any explanation for this, but to her boyfriend's defense, she never really asked.
"Try asking Haruka about it?" The woman was unsure, but thought he'd have an answer to the possible connection between this heat and Kagero in general. This could've also come up back when he used Spectral Duke Dragon, but she, again, never asked. "Imagination is a powerful thing in Vanguard, and this heat arises from it. I wouldn't advise ignoring it if you can get to the bottom of it."
-
Darren rubbed his eyes as he walked out of his tent. He looked around as he had been trying to sleep but he was awoken early. He saw Seifer, wondering what he was doing. A step closer showed him that he was currently on the phone. He didn't know they had reception here. It was better not to disturb his call. For all he knew, it was Rosalia.
He then looked again and saw Hana near the fire. She looked as if she was by herself. He decided to walk towards her and sit down. No point in her being by herself if he couldn't sleep anyway. "Hey there..." he said as he was looking at the flames. In truth, he was wondering what it was he was missing in his deck and his fighting. Hana said his units could want to evolve or that he could need just want a new deck all together.
-
The answer was what he expected but he didn't really mind. He just felt fine sharing that with someone else. "Alright, thank you Yugure. I'll also keep an eye and ear out in case anything comes up on my end, and keep you posted. ...Well, it may be a bit out of place saying it, but you've got my trust completely now, so I'm going to help in whatever way you need me to." he meant it, since now even his family was in the thick of it apparently, and he had to protect a lot more people than he figured at first. In any case, he truly was grateful to her for speaking with him.
-
"I'm glad to hear that, Seifer. Thank you. Feel free to text me whenever you need anything."
It felt very good to have gained his faith. No stronger ally is there than one who trusts you and you trust back.
"It's late over there. Get some sleep."
-
"Oh, hello again." Isabella was thinking about Mi-hime and her disease, if there was something that she was hiding. Come to think of it, Hana had never asked her much about it. She just left it to mom-san.
She decided to just figure it all out tomorrow.
"Now getting any sleep Darobo?" She asked.
-
"Right, you to." Seifer replied, hitting the end call button and laying down. He felt like he could sleep a bit better now that he had some solace, even if he didn't have a lot of answers. It was more the security of having someone that would help. His last thoughts were of how he could do anything to help out before he went to sleep.
Yugure AF+2
-
Darren shook his head lightly and said, "No, I guess I can't. I've been thinking a lot about my deck and what I can do..." He sighed lightly as he was looking at the fire. "I have a feeling that something is going to happen soon, right?" he asked her plainly. "Before I got here, the things I have already seen... I thought they would only be in my comics. But clans were sealed away with magic all over the world and we just teleported. Having us training the way we are and against people that can connect to their units like you do... I can tell you want to test us for something. I don't need to know what it is, I just hope that I can actually help you like I promised I would..."
He'd had a lot of time to think of a lot of things. He couldn't understand what it was he needed in order to bridge the gap between him and Hana or even Noel and apparently her brother as well. It wasn't a fair comparison, but if something was going to happen, what would he really be able to do for it? In his heart, he felt too... ordinary to make any kind of difference.
-
"It's more bonding than testing or training." She answered plainly.
Strength is important to her now. She trains herself and pushes herself tirelessly and endlessly. Her goal is to achieve a power that surpasses that of the threat itself should it come. Despite all this, she never personally agreed with the presence of power as well as a hierarchy based on power with the world of Vanguard. She still doesn't. The effect of strength is acknowledged as she seeks it to make a difference, for someone else's sake, not for her own.
"When you have something or someone that you want to protect, than that's when you're stronger I think, since you aren't thinking about yourself and you're so focused on what it is that you need to defend that your own selfishness becomes almost non-existent. Plus, people are usually stronger when they work together rather than alone." Straight out of the Paladin book of cheesy quotes courtesy of Blaster Cheesehead.
-
Darren couldn't help but smile at such a simple answer. Its not that she was wrong but it did help to ease his pain. He wasn't alone doing this, at least not this time. He didn't have brothers or sisters and his parents were always busy. That was part of the reason he was even in this city now. Even then, the family he was staying with was almost never there. The idea of wanting to protect something wasn't foreign to him but he wasn't used to it either.
"I guess you're right about that," he said softly. "You sound like something out of one of my stories but that's how I know you're right. You get the ability to protect when you want to protect something more than anything else. Guess that's the difference I can't see... After all, I have never really had anything like that before."
-
"Well it's not like I started playing Vanguard to fulfill a destiny or anything. Well, my sister did, but my family actually tried to keep it away from me."
It was getting quite late again. With the promise to wake up early on and cook eggs on the next day, Isabella would have to sleeo soon. She stood and looked down at the fire again. The great outdoors sure does a good job at making weirdest things entertaining.
"Bottomline I guess is that you don't go around looking for power or heroism I guess, it'll just come to you if you believe in it." Isabella yawned and stretched, "Gaaah what am i ssying, I guess I shouod sleep now. Goodnight." She walked off and entered back into her tent. The camping trip was a success.
-
Darren smiled lightly as he got the answer he wanted in the end. Her family had some kind of destiny with Vanguard but she wasn't a part of it. So of course it meant she just wanted us all as her friends before anything. He didn't doubt it, but it would be on the back of his mind if he hadn't confirmed it in some way. He waved to Hana as she went back to her room, watching the flame a bit more before he stood up.
Its true that one shouldn't search for strength or heroism, and that those things just come with time. Darren wasn't a patient person when it came to trying to help others and he didn't know how much time he had. Within that flame he made a promise to himself to try and relax more, let things happen. He came on the trip to have fun, not to get stronger, and he was having a lot of fun here.
Darren gave a small yawn as he knew how late it was getting. Fatigue was starting to hit him at last as he threw some dirt on the fire to put it out. The best way to do so without water. He went back to his tent and turned in for the night.
-
Camping trip is over. Time Skip will be tomorrow 8:30 am EST