Colin's posts

Sorrel looked at the note, and sighed.

"An attack..." he said.

"...I need to prepare." he told her.

"And we need to alert everyone here." he went on. "Making sure nobody knows this info came from Vic." he then added quietly.

"But this means I have preparations to do." he continued.

"And hope that, maybe, the nest nearby will deter them." he then mumbled.

Sorrel was out tending to some of the plants, when he received the silent missive.

He was silent for a moment, before sighing and quickly finishing up what he was doing.

"I'll be back soon." he told them, before leaving and making his way through the sanctuary. He quickly arrived at the office, knocked on the door, and entered.

"Hello, hello." he greeted Emi, stepping through and closing the door behind him.

"What's going on?" he asked her. "Normally you only summon me using the mark when we have a problem." he commented, walking closer towards her.

Ash nodded.

"All right." he replied.

"You do that." he told her.

"I... well... I should get back to the kitchen." he said.

"I'm technically on break." he mumbled.

"You'll know where to find me if you need me." he added.

"I suppose that would be the optimal case scenario." Ash admitted.

"That being said, we need to warn everyone about this." he told her.

"Just in case a fight DOES need to break out." he went on.

"But how do you want to go about doing this?" he asked her.

"I make good food here, but people are STILL wary of me." he muttered.

"I doubt they'll listen to me."

Ash was silent for a moment, before she saw an eager and confident grin spread out across his face.

"Only one way to find out." he replied.

"Time for a little trial by fire, so to speak." he said.

"Nobody's willing to really spar with me, so we'll see how I do." he told her further, cracking his knuckles.

"Been spoiling for a good fight, though." he added.

"We have bigger problems." Ash told her.

"Not that Mina isn't important, but... well... here." he said, handing her the note.

"A Sylphjay found me earlier. Gave me this." he told her further. "It's from Vic." he said.

"And from the looks of it, we need to prepare." he continued, gritting his teeth.

"We have a battle ahead of us."

Ash looked at the note, and growled lightly.

"Damn it." he said.

"Need to find Emi. Fast." he muttered.

With that, he scrawled a quick response to Vic, gave it to the bird, fed it a little treat, and sent it off when he made his way to a window. Once the bird was gone, he made his way to the head office, where he knocked on the door.

"Hey, anyone home?" he called in.

Mina, Emi, either would work. He needed people to know about this, and the 'higher-ups' were the best place to start.

Ash was silent as he heard that.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"I see." he said.

"Then I'll talk to them after this meal." he told them.

"Listen, if you can help them put out better food, then you'll be loved here." Emi's brother commented.

"Seriously. Food that tastes good is a luxury, for the most part. It'd make SO many people happy."

Ash smiled a little when he heard that.

"Awesome." he said, as those that appeared to work in the kitchen started to bark out orders and such, telling people to sit down, shut up, and let the food come to them.

"Oh yeah." Ash whispered to Emi.

"You guys need help in kitchen detail or anything?" he asked her.

"I'm good in the kitchen."

"So this is a crucial time for them, and for Sorrel." Ash commented.

"Yeah." Emi's brother responded.

"I can understand that." Ash replied. "Anna and Andrew would disappear for weeks on end at times when they were caught up in their growing." he said.

"We only ever got worried if a month had passed." he went on.

"But man, some of the things they cultivated..." he finished, trailing off wistfully.

Ash was silent as he heard that.

"Dragon... blooms?" he asked.

"Yeah." Emi's brother responded.

"Why? You know what they are?" he asked.

"No." Ash responded.

"But I remember hearing about them before I was sealed away. Anna and Andrew would speak of them, but whenever I asked, they wouldn't say anything." he told him.

Ash was silent as he took a seat.

"Yeah, I can see that." he said.

The male just huffed a bit.

"Can you blame me?" he asked.

"You're my sister. You're family." he said.

"...and family look out for each other." Ash added.

"........yeah. I was going to say just that." Emi's brother said to him.

"Rene said that all the time." Ash responded with a smile.

Ash just shrugged.

"Yeah, that's me." he said.

"You two related?" he then asked the male, gesturing to him and Emi.

"Yeah." the male replied.

"I'm her brother." he told Ash.

"You make any sudden moves towards her, and I'll drain you to within an inch of your life." he then threatened.

Ash quickly followed Mina to the table, and sat down in one of the empty chairs.

"Greetings once more." Sorrel said to him.

"Hey again." Ash responded.

"So..." one of the males commented, speaking to Emi. Ash could see some strong resemblance between the two of them... as though they were related.

"This is the guy?" he asked, running a hand through his jet black hair.

"The man, the myth, the legend?" he asked further, a subtle smirk on his face.