Some Random Scene To Be Renamed Later

The meeting in Tolbana with Prophylaxis would normally have left someone with a lot to think about. However, Mikage has never been the one to spend much time researching lore. Instead... she's always left that to Cyrus. In the aftermath, the Snow Leopard had spent more time with his nose in books, and since he deals with her strange wanderlust, she patiently... spends her time doing other things while he reads to not be a complete distraction.

At this moment, she's just returning to their camp near Fort Ouph. "I brought sandwiches!" Yep, distraction. Rama, being a feline, races right up to Cyrus and tries to insert himself between the Cait Sith and what he is reading, perhaps even to sprawl himself out on it if Cyrus isn't quick enough to dissuade him.

"They're not Sassaral level, but... figuring everyone is on edge, it's the best I could find." Swiping through her inventory, Mikage pulls out a couple of paper wrapped sandwiches made on fresh baked bread, with some kind of animal meat on it. "I traded some of my hunting spoils. Seems like most of their hunters are doubling down on guard duty so they were happy for the meat."

Sandwiches. She can see the way his ears perk a bit, and radar-ear seek out the source of the sound, practically turning on his head as the male is busy finishing the last few sentences of a book, before he takes it by the side of its cover and closes it firmly and leans back - adjusting himself to lean back in such a way that it's an invitation for Mikage to position herself behind him.

"Not everything has to be Sassaral level." He answers her as she pulls out the sandwiches, and accepts the offered sandwich while looking up at her by tilting his head back. "Thanks Miki." He remarks, before leaning his body back forward once again.

"So far, I haven't found that much useful stuff to be honest. The Crystal Tower Rebellion is from before writing really became a thing in this region of Alba." He explains to Mikage.

Once the book is closed, Rama seems content to sprawl out nearby, his big paws right on the cover. It's an obvious sign that book reading is over. Cat gravity.

Mikage unwraps her own sandwich, taking a few bites of it before looking over towards Cyrus with some measure of curiousity. "It's okay." She explains, making sure to not talk with her mouth /too/ full. She settles down near him, looking from the book to her companion and back again.

"Seems like you're really into this stuff. The history of the world, what makes it tick." It's a statement of fact. Though Mikage isn't dumb by any means, she just isn't as interested in the Lore than other people. "You know... I've heard about one of those strange abilities that plays into the Lore. I mean, I'm still trying to figure out the one that Kirin unlocked in me, but... seems like there might be some other ones out there that are more suited to you?"

Cyrus seems to be alright with cat gravity taking hold of that book.

Instead, he turns as she sits down near him and turns his chair to properly look at her, leaning one arm on the wooden table while remaining in a wide-legged stance. He rolls his shoulders a bit and takes a deep breath in, then out, before eating a little bit on that sandwich.

"Maybe. I've considered following up on that myself." He answers Mikage. "I've met at least one old guy who seemed to want me to follow up on some kind of unusual quest I'd not seen before." The youth explains to Mikage. "Seems to involve exploring some never-before-seen Dungeon. Figure that might be up your alley either way. If you don't mind helping me out on that."

"I mean, I didn't exactly go looking for this power..." Miki smirks a little, and then shrugs her shoulders, showing some measure of amusement. "Kirin is a strange creature, but then again so am I, so it's probably no surprise that we have that sort of connection." She takes a few more bites, reaching into the sandwich and taking a piece of meat which she tosses to Rama.

The Lynx eats it in one bite, then seems to stare, as if doing so would make more treats materialize.

"Honestly, any sort of strange dungeon or new location or unusual quest is something worth looking into. The game seems... less and less like a game the longer we spend here, and those sort of things seem to develop when we least expect." She watches him curiously, "You know I'd help you with anything. Especially if it helps you be better at the things that make you special in this world."

Being part of the New World Alliance means that there are plenty of opportunities to further the magic of this world, especially their own. "Then again, we might need to wait for a lull in the storm for that. Especially with the Palace Landers still pushing their advance."

Cyrus makes a bemused sound as Mikage points out that she is a strange creature. He agrees, but he doesn't voice it with anything beyond that little amused sound from earlier. The young man runs his hand along the Lynx's head and scratches it a bit behind its ears as he considers Miki.

"Everything seems to flow on its own time. It doesn't seem to care about the players, in the typical terms. Things happen, wether we are ready or not." He remarks to Mikage. "So yeah, it's... definitely less and less like a game. We're in a bloody war now after all." He taps his foot a few times, considering the strange world itself.

"We'll find time. Dungeons like those can help us get levels. Though it's a bit risky, what with my church being in Mac Anu." He points out. He's confident of his abilities, as well as those of Mikage's. But there's something just... unnerving about the possibility of death - beyond what it already holds.

As Cyrus reaches to scratch Rama behind the ears, the Lynx leans into it slightly, his back leg wiggling a little as if he were trying to scratch at the air. Over the past year, the little Lynx has gotten bigger, and is likely close to full size now. It's a sure sign that things born in this world do grow and age within it.

"Yeah." Miki acknowledges, picking at a bit of her sandwich. "I was never much into war games, for obvious reasons." A lot of those require levels of coordination and twitch-style reactions that she simply doesn't have in the real world. "I wonder if my father would be worried about me. A soldier in a war for some other world. It's like one of those anime comics."

She looks over to Cyrus, some concern showing there, "Maybe we should wait on it, at least until we can figure out a way of turning things back around in Mac Anu. I don't want to risk you being lost to the Crowned."

"I enjoyed a game like that now and again, when I had a top-down view. You know, Red Alert, Star Craft, that kind of thing. This kind of war gaming is a bit too much for me. I'm sure that Moon Tree is throwing conniptions about this whole mess. I'm just glad they're fighting back. I mean... they're not really /pacifist/. They just don't like this kind of stuff." Cyrus remarks, motioning his hand dismissively.

"I'm pretty sure he'd be worried though. Your dad seems like good people." The young man takes another bite of his sandwich and stands up, stepping over to Mikage and touching a hand to her head, drawing her to lean against his chest and legs. "Yeah... probably for the best." The youth notes. That anxious energy hasn't left him for a while now.

"But it would be nice though. I've been hearing some of the tales from people with these... 'paths of power'. It sounds neat. Even if one of the first people to get one is an absolute idiot."

"Those sort of games aren't too bad. Though I tended to prefer the old school Circle Soft RPGs. The turn-based sort of thing made it easier for me to interact without having to worry about reaction time." As he approaches, Mikage naturally leans against him, seemingly content to do so as she looks towards him.

"I just hope Sassaral is okay. I know she isn't much into the fighting, but she's probably safer in Ninetails." Miki comments, thinking about their long-time friend and companion. The trio had parted ways back at the beginning of the war.

She doesn't comment all that much about her father, though often times she does seem to miss him a lot. Not enough to join those raiding in the Tower, but at least enough that it bothers her from time to time.

"I'm not entirely sure how mine works, but ... some of the others seem to be able to do some amazing things with their abilities." Then, he has to go mentioning a certain someone. "Well, amazing and idiotic things from time to time. I think it takes a special sort of someone to want to tamper too much with the way the game works, but... I don't know. Whatever is up with him, he seems to be on a slow suicide mission."

"I always enjoyed the Circlesoft games." Cyrus points out with a bit more ease, while running his fingers through her pale hair. Looking down at her as they two of them talk. "And I am sure that Sassy is going to be fine in Ninetails. That place is well protected. And she's staying close to the entrance, in case she needs to flee Dun Loireag." He points out.

He then listens as she talks about her abilities.

"Heh. Idiotic things sounds about right. But honestly, it is hard to tell a hero from a fool sometimes." He points out to her. "But I still think he's more of a fool." He shrugs his shoulders. "What about you? Gotten any more practice with your own abilities?"

Mikage's eyes drift shut as his fingers run through her hair. It's obvious that for someone who may very well be a bit touch-starved in the real world, that she appreciates even such small gestures. "You know me. I worry." She lets out a breath. "We have plenty of allies, but precious few close friends, even here."

She smirks, "A lot of people would call us fools, especially me. I dive head first into battles that a lot of people would avoid at all costs." Rama stretches out, as if the conversation was causing him to fall asleep. Either that or he's just being a cat and sleeping the majority of the day as cats are prone to do. "A little. I've been trying to work on a new storm attack using Dawnbreaker. What I really need is to upgrade my sword. It's special to me, but... it's so behind in levels."

Cyrus hrrms lowly. "Yeah, we both do." In fact, Cyrus probably has less friends than her. Though he knows a lot more Landers than Mikage. One might suggest he's gone native, like some of the other New Worlders.

"And no, you're definitely more 'brave' than a fool. You know what you are doing and have a good head on your shoulders." He tells Mikage as he keeps touching through her hair. "Just let me know if you need any help with that sword. I don't even recall what you got from the last Tournament. Did you get anything good to help with that sword maybe?"

There is a thoughtful look when Cyrus offers up that question about what she had won during the last tournament. the girl swipes her fingers in the air, looking through her inventory. "It's some kind of pack of Undine artifacts. Some of it might be able to be used for some armor but not as helpful for weapon crafting."

Mikage is not really knowledable with crafting, however, which means she may just not be thinking outside the box on how the items could be used. "I do have some more Elemental Machine parts. And this weird monster drop that can pierce steel."

She shrugs, looking a little uncertain. "I'd probably have to talk to Miho, or maybe one of the other weaponsmiths. You know me, I have no real clue about how the crafting system works."

Cyrus hrrms as she rolls through her inventory. He can't see what she is looking at, but he can tell she's going through her inventory -- the gesture is kind of well known by all adventurers at this point.

He releases her hair for the time being and relaxes his posture a little. "Hmmm, piercing steel - that certainly sounds useful for weapon crafting." He points out to Mikage. "We can work with that." He shifts his head a bit left to right.

"The Crafting System seems to largely be... craft it like you would expect it to be done at a smithy, and you when what you get. We just don't really know how to do that stuff."

Not only is it obvious what she's doing, but it's probably also obvious that Mikage has a /lot/ of things in her inventory. Being a hunter, she seems to have access to a lot more monster drops than most other people. She looks through a few more things, then swipes to close the menu.

"I mean, Miho has some real life experience with crafting. Me? Not so much." She laughs, shaking her head. "But I do have a huge amount of items in my inventory, so I can at least afford to put some of them to use."

Miki gives a somewhat uncertain look, though, "I'm just not sure most of our local weaponsmiths have much time right now. War makes it hard to find room in a commission queue."

"Aye, it's honestly kind of interesting. Let's be honest, most people don't know how to craft anything. Yet, when in this world, it almost feels like we pick up on some of this stuff far more easily than we might have in the real world. This kind of... clarity." Cyrus explains to Mikage as he releases her and moves to sit down next to her.

"But you are right, most of the weaponsmiths are way too busy right now with the war. Still, maybe we can look at gathering various materials ahead of time, or maybe looking into things like monsters that might inspire us for new weaponry?" Cyrus offers. "Obviously, we can't exactly go hunting Machina. But Elemental Machines might be an option... maybe that Terraformer island has more Machine parts?"

After a thoughtful sound, Mikage leans a little into his shoulder as he settles beside her. "I've also saved up a few things that might be useful for an armor upgrade at some point, too. But that falls under the same problems..." That being that most of the higher level smiths are a bit preoccupied at the moment.

"I'm not sure. I know there's a good number of dungeons we haven't done lately. We've been a bit busy with other things, ourselves." The two used to pretty regularly run Hunter's Guild quests, but the war has acted as a distraction in many ways. "Though, we might want to wait and focus on whatever might help best for the Yamato Adventurers once they have that council meeting."

She semes uncertain, "I don't really know what our next steps will be, or what we'll be able to do against the enemy."

Cyrus offers; "Honestly, with where things are, if the enemy attacks the Root Towns, it's not like we can fight back." He remarks and leans back on the seat, sliding his arms up behind his head and closing his eyes, trying not to think about the war too much.

"But a lot is going to depend on that council meeting, I think." He then adds.

"I don't think it's that simple." Mikage replies, shaking her head. "We've got some of the brightest minds, someone is going to figure out what they did in Mac Anu and how to prevent it or reverse it." The girl has such faith, it seems, unwilling to fall to despair.

"Once we know, we'll be able to act. We'll be able to do something to help." Right now, however, they are in a bit of a holding pattern. There is still much to do, refugees to aid, and plans to make. "I think the best thing we can do is start working on finding what ways we can to support a reclaiming of Shibuya."

That's a big ask. "I'm not sure how but... there has to be something we can do. Right?"

Cyrus agrees; "It's never that simple." As he rubs against her back to try and keep her mood from falling too much. "We'll figure it out somehow. We've got a lot of smart people working on figuring it out."

He opens his eyes again, looking to her back. Being in a holding pattern doesn't work that well for him either. "I'm sure. We might not be able to scout the place out. But there might be something to be said about making their lives harder. There's a lot of high level monsters in that area... how about we just run a good old fashioned monster train?"