Path of the Vampire forum

Dulce raised a brow at Zakar’s choice of words while addressing Nix. Not that she would be offended so much by it because if it was her she would soak in the energy that fueled it. There was a thorn festering in his paw and his focus was all on Nix when he roared. Now was not the time to be slinging **** and acting like primates. If they weren’t going to move beyond that as a plan then they would all eventually be in cages or worse. The Lionelle’s would be more than happy to come and hand them their asses all over again.

Karina really had some major issues with Doc. It was almost obsessive and rather disappointing to see. They needed her head in the right place not looking to disappear up Doc’s *** for affection. A team was created and it was done so by their leaders. In the tall blonde’s case it was her sires that assigned her to a certain task and role. They had expectations. Hell, she had expectations. This typhoon of what-the-**** was not working. As she finished that thought she heard the unsheathing of a blade gliding free from its holding spot. The woman had lost her goddamned mind. She was in a Lionelli stronghold and she was taking another weapon out dancing like a prima ballerina towards one of their team? She had yet to hit anything they really needed to. So now their own team was bleeding and they had little to show for progress beyond stepping in the door. She as well had managed to **** up her own first attempt at going unnoticed. Her face couldn’t register an expression if she wanted it to. Her jaws tightened and her teeth lined up the top and bottom row nice and neat. Slowly each pressed hard against the other as her nostrils likely flared.

“Let’s save the endearments for later, Zakar. Perhaps you care to take that up later with Nix when all this wrapped up.” The time was ticking away.

Dulce slid the gun in her hand back where she carried it and retrieved her sword. Her eyes went for Karina as she raised it to view. She twirled it and then brought it down as her fingers locked firmly in the position for the strongest and most flexible grip.

“Anyone who raises a weapon to another team member before this is over is out. My vote, my hip checking them out a window, a boot in the wrong place at the wrong time...whatever it takes. We get no where weakening each other and wasting energy leaving wounds we can’t even use our strengths to heal. That made no sense, Rina. It only proves we have half of your strengths to work with. The rest of you and your common sense walked out with Doc.You put your emotional instability ahead of the team, Karina. Are you able to get a grip on whatever is going on or do you need to leave now and get some cuddle time in?”

Eyeing the wound to Emeritus had her more pissed. If she was to go around stabbing everyone with an opinion that didn’t jive with her own in or out of the faction she would have a huge human fan club seeking her out for all the chaos it would cause. Self-discipline and control was needed in each of them. Anything else was a weakness and one that was easy to be used against them. Finding Zakar sobering up to the reality of the situation meant they had a man who would be weak when he crawled out because he would be a little low in blood and no source of healing. He was delivering a message. He was not the one who chose for them to be powerless. That was something they all earned due to their less than impressive performance.

“Zakar you ready to work with what blood and strength you have left and leave the flowery compliments for another time? Emeritus are you going to survive that needless wound and do as planned? Rina...hit the enemies not the team? We go in with the most reasonable plan which nix so far has come up with and see it through? Get this ******** back to the Eyrie as expected and see if we can accomplish it before New Years Eve?” Her icy blues drifted to each one then took up her sword once again ready to get started. “I am ready.” Her focus went to Nix and was looking to head on in.

<Phoenix> Nix’s eyes went wide at Zakar’s vitriol. It wasn’t in her nature to brush off that kind of insult, but at least she recognized it was certainly not the time. Not the place. A low hiss escaped her lips, but that was the only sign of her displeasure at the man’s words. She did have to consider the source – some kind of upstart, ignorant Arab prick by the looks of him. Considering he’d walked into a team effort drunk and promptly stepped into a trap, the redhead was loathe to give his words any weight. The rest, however… Phoenix watched the back and forth between Karina and Em in utter shock.

Between Zakar being an ignorant little snot and the actual, physical attack on Emeritus, she hadn’t a clue what to do to solve the… issue. Issues? Was issue even the right word to describe this clusterfuck? She didn’t know. Just as she opened her mouth to reply, the vibration of her phone cut her off; she’d forgotten the damn thing was in her pocket. Though she was tempted to ignore the call, the flash of caller ID onto the screen sealed the deal - she couldn't resist picking up. Hitting the talk button, she whined into the receiver. "Save me."

<Doc> "Save you? What? No...I'll admit, I am curious.. I want to know it all went down I haven't seen anyone back yet." The Eyrie was quiet, Ari are gone, Mortll had things to do, so he was bored.

<Phoenix> She stared at the individuals in the room with her, making no attempt to lower her voice as she spoke into the phone. "Zakar replaced you, but he came in drunk and then walked into my ******* shock cage. Apparently we're not to use our powers. Rina flipped her **** because you're gone and apparently just can't handle **** without you, so she flipped more and slit Em's throat." Her teeth clenched.

<Doc> Doc was quiet for a long moment. With supreme effort, he was able to say the next sentence completely straight-faced and serious, "Give Rina my Love.." Mentally he was picturing Phoenix wanting to crawl through time and space and claw his eyes out. He grinned.

<Phoenix> The phone came away from her ear and she stared at it in dead silence for a long time. Her nostrils flared, static crackled over the line and a fine twitch developed under her right eye. Oh yes... she was going to make him regret this later. The phone was placed back against her ear and she managed to choke out words. "I'm going to give you some of my love when I see you next. Puppies and rainbows and all the happy things... I can't wait." And she hung up.

At least Dulce had her head in the game and Rina’d calmed down. But that left two injured members of their team. **** it… “I’m going to get that ******* Lionelli that just walked by – follow or not, your goddamn choice.” With that, the redhead stormed out into hostile territory.

<Dulce> Dulce watched the fire red veil of hair fade with the woman and her pointed words. There was no second thought. Action was involved in each step and that was about time. the tall blonde was right in pursuit as the sounds of Nix's steps were consistently guiding her towards their target. She was done waiting, re-planning and listening to second thoughts and complaining.

Keeping the sword close, the weight fixed in her strong hold left her the flexibility to be ready in case. Anyone of those Lionelli's would be stupid enough to come to interrupt their plans. The clicking of her heels on the stone was too loud and she softened her following advancing by going nearly silent with each advancing pace.

<Doc> Doc having been hung up on by Phoenix.. calls Rina.

<Karina> Rina's excitement came to a dull roaring halt as Phoenix answered the phone and began to talk so someone, though the answer to who shortly came with just the words that Nix had said. Doc...checking in. If he needed to check in then why in the hell did he leave. ********. Rolling her eyes as she cleaned off the blood on her blade and prepared to wait for another Lionelli to pass. It was her bag vibrating and moving across the floor that pulled her attention away from the hallway. Tilting her head as she watched it for a moment and then quickly rushed over, digging through the mound of items that she hoarded on a daily basis to find the source of the vibration. Vel had told her to stop hoarding but it was her one major flaw and couldn't help it especially with the lockboxes multiplying and her bag never empty. Finding her phone, she whipped it out as if it was God's greatest gift. "HA! I did bring you!" Perking her brow as she noticed the caller, she answered the phone as she stared at Nix as she spoke to him. Maybe she didn't give him the answers he was looking for.

"Hello?"

<Doc> "Hi Rina.. I was calling to see where everyone is.... Phoenix hung up on me. I guess shes PMSing.."

<Karina> "Well...I'm sure she's stressed."

<Doc> "Look I am sorry I ditched the team.. it wasn't you.. You know that right? She can get on my last nerve"

<Karina> "You had a lot of nerve leaving? Who in the **** does that, Doc? On your last nerve or not...ignore her."

<Doc> "Do you remember .. back in the late unpleasantness with Her? I am not going to be the one that sets on her on the path of destruction. We need to be ******* separated. And .. she wasn't listening to anything I said.. I was going to end ******* shooting her.

<Karina> "Yeah I remember but this was a task from Vel and Micah. I think we could have worked around any unpleasantness. Hell...it's a clusterfuck right now and honestly...I'm sort of in the midst of it. Dulce is annoyed with me, I would prefer to kill Em with his degrading comments and well...Nix wants Zakar's head on a damn platter for his rude comments towards her."

<Doc> "Darlin.. its a game. Remember that. I wasn't having fun.. I wanted to kill a faction mate.. I took my leave. Now..." He sighed, "I am alone.. everyone else is out on game. but, its cool, unless you want to come keep me company..."

<Karina> "I had forgotten it's a game...I got really pissed at Em. Slit his throat. There's something wrong with me to be honest." She tilted her head as she listened to him. "I thought you would have gone to see your hag. Are you fighting or something? Though keeping you company...appealing as it is...we have no powers..."

<Doc> "Yea I thought so too.. saw her for like a 10 minutes, but now she's out and about ..so I am kicking it by myself." he paused, "Why don't you have powers?"

<Karina> "That sucks...If I was here and you were available...**** anything else that had to get done." Hearing the pause, she wondered if someone had walked in but then he continued. "You left...that's why. Vel and Micah took them from us."

<Doc> "Oh.." Doc sighed. "I am sorry I didn't expect that.. I didn't know that would happen." He paused again. "Ok.. look.. I am going to let you go so you can focus.. on.. stuff.."

<Karina> "Well...none of us could have expected that one." She wanted to frown but she had to get her head in the game as she had already been struggling. Giving a soft sigh, she replied with a smile. "It was good talking with you. Maybe we can hang out after this is done."

<Doc> "Absolutely.. You give 'em Hell darlin.. " he couldn't help but add, "And if you have to shoot someone.. Shoot Phoenix.. Talk to you later darlin.."

<Karina> Cutting off from the call when he hung up, she put her phone back in her bag to get lost once again amongst the rest. She slung her bag over her shoulders letting the strap rest across her body, she kept her sword in hand so that she was ready to actually complete the task. "I think the three of us can clean up to be honest. Let's nab some baddies and get back to the Eyrie." Relaxation in her hut was highly desired at this point and maybe she would take Doc up on his offer to go hang out with him until the Hag returned home.


<Phoenix> The second she stepped out into the open and spotted the Lionelli that Impy had described as ‘the Shifter’, she knew her wraith had been wrong. No, they weren’t supposed to use their powers, but she didn’t need her powers to sense power. Like the gravitational pull of a supergiant, this man’s aura was unmistakable - like some kind of cosmic vibration that rang between them, reflected and magnified off her own person and all its many relics.

Her stride extended as she closed the distance between them, and that creature of immense power faltered, uncertainty evident in those clear blue eyes. The man was almost handsome, she thought as her blade came out and flicked through the air. Young, blonde, blue-eyed… with a sword hacking off his leg. The shock gave way to fear the second his leg fell away in a pile of ash, severed just above the knee. She didn’t give him pause before reversing the sweep and lodging the blade into the man’s heart.

Those blue eyes were so many things as her blade twisted inside his chest before it was yanked free. One leg down, but she still thought he had far too many arms. Just as he reached for his own blade, she lashed out again, letting anger fuel her stroke. Anger, and the sharpness of that well-honed blade.

Without an arm, he couldn’t hope to compete with her in open combat. Phoenix knew he’d reach for his powers as she normally would hers, but his first choice was to invaded her mind, blocking access to what she needed. Yes, do that, she nearly laughed aloud as she danced just out of reach of the shadows that coiled and came at her. The man struggling to crawl was no longer a physical threat, but his mind was still perfectly functional. A second too late she spotted she shadow come at her, and she let out a shriek as the blade of darkness bit into her thigh. Almost, she thought, she even deserved it. And so she danced and waited until the jerk exhausted himself.

Of course she didn’t want the overlord dead, but she did want it incapacitated. A leg gone, bled out and likely out of juice. When he stopped and lay there in silence, glaring at the group, she gave a curt nod to Dulce. She didn’t realize she’d had an audience… “Take him to the Eyrie?” she asked, collapsing in the corner to assess her wounds. Bloodlust and adrenaline had combined so she didn’t feel the scratches and cuts - it was more than just her thigh that had been nicked by the shadows, she just hadn’t felt it. “I need blood… We should all head back to guard the… prize. Come back tomorrow.”

She’d never admit it, but she was completely exhausted.

<Dulce> Dulce would have given Nix full credit and anything else she deserved at that moment but time was ticking away and there was a castle full of pains in the *** ready to come after what they were about to head out the door with. Quickly she leaned down and tugged her leather thigh length jacket from her lean shoulders and wrapped the target up like a bleeding burrito and stood up with the body tossed over her shoulder. This would not be such a bad thing. People get drunk all the time and need help home. She was helping a friend home. "You guys tome back and I will be there shortly." Her long stride carried her out of the castle and back to the outdoors. It was dark out and the snow kept more than usual indoors. There would be no audience. thankfully they had got the hell out of there and back on track.

Moving through the streets she took careful measure to walk tight against the walls and use the less traveled walk ways to navigate her way back to the Eyrie. Hopefully Nix, Em, Rina were not too far behind.

<Karina> Rina just stood in awe as she watched Nix seemingly manhandle the man with her sword. Putting her sword away as she clearly didn't have the skills needed or at least skills like that to incapacitate a man in mere seconds. Watching as Dulce wrapped up the man and carried him out the door instead of toming, she looked at Nix with a smile. "Maybe I should learn this sword business from you. That was awesome!" Quickly making sure that she had everything that she had come with, she pulled out her tome. "See you back at the Eyrie." Reading the words upon the page that Micah had provided her, she was instantly gone from sight.

Vote off Zakar

* Karina went to check on the Overlord and when she noticed he was gone, a deep snarl erupted from her as she took off to find Nix only to be stopped by a message that echoed in her mind. Her Sire and step-sire seemed as if they were pissed. She stomped off in the direction of the foreign hut or so she thought. Finally finding the right one after doing circles and making note that the hut number order didn't make sense, she walked in. As her eyes rested upon the group that had already arrived, her first words and attention was directed at the tall red-headed woman, cutting in to the conversation and not really caring what it was about. "What the ****, Red?!!? How in the hell did the Overlord vanish? Didn't you put the pendant on him that you said you would put on him?" Walking toward them, she realized Doc was among them. Punching him in the arm as hard as she could, unsure if it was hard enough, she growled at him. "That's for abandoning your team. There are times I love you but seriously...dick move!" Feeling a little better for punching him, she looked around. "Why are we here anyway?"

<Doc> 'What?! The overlord is gone?" He still looks at Nix, "You lost the ******* overlord?!" as he rubbed his arm where Rina punched him. "That ******* hurt.. " his voice low, then louder to Phoenix, "How did you **** that up!?"

* Karina perked her brow at him and smirked. "Good!! You deserve it. Seriously...Dick...Move..."

<Doc> “Do you know why we failed..” he eyes Phoenix. “Lack of trust.” He looked at Rina “We are here to figure out .. why we ******* failed.,.. and write an essay to Vel and Micah about it.”

<Phoenix> Nix had gotten the telepathic message and subsequently been dragged here earlier in the evening by the snarky asshole presently barking at her. She wasn't interested. Still sore from the night before, she roller her eyes, not in the mood to take any of the **** either of them were dishing out. "There's a letter, Rina," she waved a hand in the direction she'd last seen the damn thing. "And no, I did not lose the ******* overlord, so check that attitude right the **** now. I just fought the damn thing while you two bickered over the phone, and then Dulce carried it back. Em, as far as I know was jerking off in a corner and Zakar... well **** that dunce. No. I didn't put a pendant on him because he had no energy with which to extract himself from the Eyrie. So... logically, if he's gone, he was summoned, which a pendant wouldn't have prevented anyway." She took a moment to breathe, stomping down her annoyance. "Lack of trust isn't why we failed, it's because we were all too busy with our own agendas to goddamn focus. BOTH of your **** was obvious as sin."

"My task was to get an overlord and another high-up into the Eyrie. It wasn't to ******* babysit."

<Doc> "We ******* failed because we didn't have a ******* plan. Plain and simple. You wanted to run in guns blazing.. without sharing **** with anyone."

<Karina> "Well you walking out on the group didn't help that, Doc. You haven't had this big of an issue with Red in at least a year...she works for you for fucksake..." She perked her brow as she listened to every word that slithered from Nix's mouth like venom tipped sword swinging at them both. Her eyes squinted as she glared at her, taking in what they both said in regards to the letter that she didn't need to read it for herself. "Both of our ****? Are you ******* kidding me? Nothing is going on but you two have been bickering like school children on the school yard during recess."

<Phoenix> "The game is over, Charles, so you can stop trying to stir up ****," she said quietly, eyes fixing him with a very pointed look. "Your task was to retard our progress. You can stop now." Those honey brown eyes flicked to Rina. "What were you doing while I was getting my *** beat?"

<Karina> "Watching you! You made it clear that no one can take the overlord but you. On top of that...we all know that I am **** with both guns and swords...I was lucky to get Em at all. I have zero training. I looked like a God damn pretty pretty princess trying to attack Em and he wasn't moving."

<Doc> Doc looks at Rina, "Do not begin to tell me that we.. " He gestures between himself and Phoenix, "Don't have ******* issues! All we have are ******* Issues! The fact she ******* works for me.. makes it that much more ******* hard! I ******* walked out.. because No one was listening to me.. I wanted to ******* shoot her.. I still want to sucking shoot her! and she knew the god damned area and I didn't! YOU were better off without me!"

Doc hears Rina say that Nix had said only she could take the overlord, and sighed as if he was justified, "See.. its the ‘welcome to Phoenix show!’ Where we all are just supposed to know what is going on in your head without you telling anyone. This is why we should have gone over it step by ******* step. But Noooo.. Lets just do it! Lets wing it and hope we succeed."

<Phoenix> "You weren't being listened to because you weren't doing **** all other than imploring we wait and wait and wait. To me, that doesn't seem like someone wanting to get the task done, it seems like someone intentionally trying to ensure we do not complete the task. Which we didn't. So well ******* done." She even gave a tiny golf clap. "The problem was we had no leadership. We all had our own agendas. And if Dulce and I were the only ones to actually seem to give a **** about whether or not we completed our task, maybe it was because we were. If I wanted the Phoenix show, I'd have just gone and done what was needed without a single one of you when we split up - I could have."

<Karina> "No one....seriously? No one? **** you, Doc. I was listening but I was also trying to keep the **** to a dull roar, hence why I elbowed you. If you have that many issues with her...then why in the hell does she work for you? Glutton for punishment much?" She shook her head at him. "No! We weren't better off without you because your replacement was a drunken mess that fell into the trap that was for the Lionelli that would have made this whole ******* trick a helluva lot easier on us. We would STILL have our powers but no...A mystic ritualist having to rely on the two skills that she is completely lacking in....I was made useless just like ******* Em and Zakar. How perfect...a five man team rendered to two. Not sure how that was BETTER for us." She looked at Nix and shrugged. "Well maybe you should have because God knows that I'm useless to this ******* faction. Three plus years here and finally get a fatal strike on an offender...and that I swear was just pure luck...yeah...not sure why I am even ******* here." She turned and didn't see a chair so she just copped-a-squat on the floor against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest while her arms wrapped around her legs, her knees becoming a pillow for her head.

* Phoenix remained silent. She was done explaining herself if they weren't going to focus on the ******* task they'd been given for the day. Where was Dulce? Dulce would be efficient with this...

* Doc looked at Rina, the argument with Nix forgotten about for the moment, "What the **** are you talking about? Of course you are important to this faction! Day in and day out, you secure the **** out of our home, and make it so that we can all sleep easy. I do not, for one moment take that security for granted. So what if you don't get a ******* kill shot.. I don't get that many.. and that ..is what I do. I have no other marketable skill to offer. Apart for my scintillating personality.. " He brushed her hair back, "This **** we're in is more Her and My .. " he counted silently, ".. fault than anyone elses."

* Karina perked her brow at Doc. "I only secure it from thralls...Shadows or those with shadow skills can still get in if they truly wanted. There are a handful of ritualists that can do that ritual. It really doesn't take much...it's not that powerful. Micah does it when I can't and probably wouldn't have a problem taking the task from me. I can't make weapons, I have proven that I can't use them." Her eyes followed him as he moved to lean down to brush her hair back and sighed softly. "I don't know...I honestly think I am just tolerated because I have been here since before the faction was a faction and Vel's kiddlet. I'm oldish in this life because I remember the Elders Council, Enforcers, Old Code, etc where as there are so many that take what they have now for granted because they have no idea how it was when the Elders were able to flee the Shadow Realm. ****...I have never even 'died' and have no idea what to expect...not a clue...everyone just tells me that I don't want to. I honestly think there are more issues at play here than just you and her. There are insecurities, distrust, feelings that shouldn't even exist, and carelessness"

<Phoenix> Having said what she had to say on the matter, Nix slipped off into the side room. It didn't take her long to find some paper tucked away under the table along with a pen - thanks to her session with Zodiac, she knew where to look. Once she had what she needed, the redhead dropped down onto a pillow and began to write.

* Doc sits beside her, "I have never died either.. I have been to the shadow Realm.. I can fadewalk.. I fadewalk to go annoy the ones we kill sometimes.. because I am an *** like that. And that.. is another reason you are needed in this faction. There are too many of us that relish killing. There are too many of us that have ******* attitudes.." He looked at her, "You do not. You are genuine. You care .. and I mean genuinely care about people. You do hold a lot of knowledge. A lot that I don't know. A lot that may come in handy sometime. So that isn't something that should be taken for granted either. I appreciate you Rina. I may not say it. But I do."

* Karina rolled her head on her knees to the side to look at him as he sat beside her. "I can fadewalk too but I have only done it once...I get stuck down there and I did it accidentally...I was trying to put down a shadow gate and ended up down there. I had no clue what happened." Sighing as she shook her head. "No...this knowledge isn't needed anymore, the young vampires in this city have proven that. Anything with the Elders is ancient history because most of them are looked at as jokes of our community. They haven't done anything to help us or make this place better...Ty did that until the Crow was banished. As for attitudes...I have one...sometimes...or I wouldn't have punched you." She lifted her head as he said that he appreciated her. Focusing on that a moment as she looked him in the eyes. "Just because I have a genuine personality? That's awesome but lame at the same time...no offense."

* Doc grinned, "And you're honest. You said there is an atmosphere of insecurities, distrust and carelessness. I would agree with that. And you think it is lame that you have a genuine personality, that is only because you don't see how rare that is. Phoenix said we all had our own agenda, and that is true. Not just for this game.. but in general. Except you. You don't have an agenda. You are who you are. You belittle yourself because .. " he frowned slightly, "Because I think, you feel you should be something more. But you are perfect .. just the way you are. Agendas aren't all you may think they are. They get in the way. They cause trouble. They can ******* suck to be honest. Be happy you don't have one. They are ******* tiring."

<Karina> "I'm glad you agree with that because it's all true...you and Nix have issues which lead to distrust, I attacked Em for his belittling words towards us woman after you left which made me distrust him, carelessness because of the bickering and Zakar being drunk off his *** which landed him in a trap...he only pointed out the one truth...I'm rendered useless without my powers. Insecurities...well that is simple...I have a load of them. I am nowhere where I should be...I can just dance. I failed at my agenda for this...task...you left." Tilting her head as he said one word that she never expected. "You think I'm perfect? You couldn't be further from the truth...I'm flawed...I'm flawed in a big way." She gave a nervous laugh before resting her head on her knees once again. "Agendas get in the way...you couldn't be more right about that."

<Doc> "Yes you are perfect.. you need to let those insecurities go," Then he frowned, "Wait. You had an agenda to keep me in the team? That was your job? To keep the asshole on the team? How did you know I was the asshole and not Phoenix?"

<Karina> "I don't agree with you...if you knew me better then you would see that I'm not perfect. Hell...you probably would never look at me beyond or like a sister or something." She shrugged as she stared across the room. "I didn't know that you were actually the asshole to be honest. I just knew that something was off between you and Nix. Yes you both have your issues but not like this. My job wasn't just to keep you in the group...it was to keep everyone there."

* Doc nodded, "Well.. Vel and Micah should have known.. putting she and i on the same team.. not a good move."

* Karina nearly laughed as he only focused on part of what she had said. He seriously was a guy. Hone in on one particular phrase or statement. One track minds. Priceless. "Well maybe it was because you both have acted as if you were getting along lately and could put your possible differences to the side for the betterment of the group."

* Doc had heard quite clearly what she had said, and he was trying to process it, without asking for clarification. He decided it was better to look oblivious than let on he was trying to sort out what she meant. So yes now his curiosity was piqued, but now was not the time or place for him to question her. Not with Phoenix in the other room. No. Absolutely not. "Well.. me leaving was for the betterment of the group. If I had shot her like I wanted.. and was really close to doing.. it would have long reaching implications to me as a member of this faction. It was game. I wasn't going to sacrifice my faction for the game."

* Karina looked at him now and shook her head even though he was right. "Maybe but even with you leaving...didn't add up to be for our betterment either. To be honest...I don't think there was a right answer to that situation. Both directions were wrong."

* Phoenix finally set down her pen and reread what she'd written. It wasn't the best letter - she wasn't the best writer, either, but that didn't matter. All the scratched out words and broken sentences with little notes dancing above them had come together into a cohesive letter, more or less. It was of course entirely from her perspective and she'd done it alone, but it was better than what the others were working on. Which was, as far as she could tell, nothing. Her eyes skimmed over the letter one last time before she pushed herself to her feet and slid back to join them. “So… I wrote something. Want to hear it?”

<Doc> "It was rushed.. too rushed. If..it was something we had all done before and we knew our roles, we knew the layout of where we were going.. then jumping right in.. I can see. But this was something we have never done before. I didn't know the layout. I wanted a chance to look at it and study it before we ran in guns blazing. But Nix was adamant .. 'go now'. So we went. And it didn't get any better. I honestly believe there was not enough planning." He was going to say something more when Phoenix deigned fit to rejoin them. He just looked at her.

* Karina shrugged as she listened to him. "You might very well be right but we would never really know since that was in the past and now we are grounded to our rooms for a minimum of twenty-four hours...which I wouldn't put past either Vel or Micah to extend it if they saw fit." Looking up as Nix reentered the room. "Sure, though from what you both told me...we were supposed to work on it as a group and well...two are missing."

* Phoenix didn't much care for the whole group work thing at this point. She really just wanted to **** off and be alone, but that wasn't going to happen. So she just read what she'd managed to throw together. "Vel and Micah,

"We fucked up from the start. The problems from the very beginning stemmed from lack of leadership and an inability to see past our own agendas to the bigger picture (which applies to everyone other than Doc, since his job was to **** us up – which he did). We worked towards our personal goals instead of working as a team and focusing on the task at hand. We all knew this was a game, so that also likely contributed to the general clusterfuckery. Without guidance, tempers flared, devolving into distrust and bickering amongst each other. We focused, as a team, on what people had done wrong instead of working towards doing things right and working through the mistakes.

Yours,
Team Fail"

<Phoenix> Her eyes flicked between them both, "Feel free to discuss edits."

* Doc has no comment.

* Karina just shook her head. "Just sounds like a bunch of excuses to me and to end with 'Team Fail', that is not taking this punishment at all seriously which we should...game or not. It's as if you are trying to mock them for punishing us for our ****-ups."

* Karina realizing that no one was really going to say anything, she leaned over and rested her head on Doc's shoulder as she closed her eyes. She would just wait for at least Dulce to show up and they can get the damn letter written and then suffer the rest of their sentence doing their own thing in their own corners of the hut.

* Doc put his arm around Rina, and gave a her a squeeze in consolement.

* Phoenix shrugged and tossed the paper towards them. "Edit away, then." She didn't give much of a **** at this point, and it showed. Her head shook and her eyes rolled before she wandered back to the room with the actual furnishings.

* Karina snuggled into Doc as he consoled her, keeping her closed as Phoenix responded in what seemed like a toddler tantrum. Rina couldn't help but think that no matter how much this was supposed to be a game, it didn't feel like it and because of that, she forgot often that it was a game. Friends were at each others throats which seemed to act as an aid in severing those friendships because of side tasks that caused conflict. Hell...Rina couldn't even keep them together and keep anyone from getting voted off. Any leadership skill she hoped to have was proven to be non-existent with her inability to keep centered and keep the team balanced without explosion. Maybe it was time for another vacation...she just didn't know what or where and if she would go alone or not. Maybe she would choose to experience the Shadow Realm, she was curious and wanted to research it because her questions were never properly answered about the place.

<Doc> As Phoenix left again, "Shake it off. We did learn some valuable things from this event." He nudged her, "We learned you are not total **** with a blade. Em will vouch for that. We learned, Em has heart and is willing to do what is needed. We learned, Dutch can focus even in the middle of a temper flare up. We learned never put Phoenix and I on the same team. We learned Zakar can’t hold his ******* liquor; therefore do not drink before a mission, and lastly, we learned that even though her people skills need work, Phoenix does attempt to do the job at hand. " He nudged her again, "Maybe we need to say something like that in our letter?"

* Karina opened her eyes and looked up at him but her head remained on his shoulder. "Oh? And what was that?" She couldn't help but laugh and nodded. "True but I honestly think that was luck. I don't have any training at all." She listened and smiled. "See...that's what should go in the letter...our why we failed and what we learned. Not all excuses as to the clusterfuck and then be all like 'Whelp...**** it all...doesn't matter.'" As he nudged her the second time, she lifted her head and nodded. "I agree wholeheartedly. That is what Vel would want to hear, not a pages of excuses because...she really isn't looking for excuses."

* Doc reached forward and grabbed the paper Phoenix had flung earlier. He turned it over, using the pen from his breast pocket he began to write. "We accept the fact that we had to spend 24 hours in detention for what we did wrong. Why we failed, in the simplest terms with the most convenient definitions, is because we found out that each of us is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal with a secret agenda that was more important to some of us than to others of us. But what we learned, was just as beneficial. We learned: Karina can use a blade. Em has heart and is willing to do what is needed. Dulce can focus even in the middle of a temper flare up. Never put Phoenix and Doc on the same team. Zakar can’t hold his ******* liquor; therefore do not drink before a mission. And lastly, we learned that even though her people skills need work, Phoenix does attempt to do the job at hand. " When he was finished he showed it to Rina.

<Phoenix> She could still hear them. She could hear Doc still trying to **** with the team. "Go read the ******* letter, Karina. She wants reasons we failed. Those are the reasons we ******* failed. You actually want to fail this, listen to him," she shrieked from the side room.

Phoenix stormed back out and glared at the pair. "Can neither of you read? Seriously? The task is, verbatim, to "discuss what went wrong. Work out why this team failed as badly as it did and present these reasons to [them] in written form." They do not give a flying **** what we learned!"

* Doc stood up from, the floor, straightened his jacket out, and then held out a hand to Phoenix. He said nothing. He just held out his hand to her.

* Karina watched over his shoulder as he wrote out the revised letter and smiled. It had a positive feel to it. As Phoenix's voice echoed into the main room from the side, she took a deep unneeded breath to calm and focus on only the letter. It was when Phoenix stormed back out to join them once again, she couldn't ignore the tantrums the woman was throwing at them so with her temper flared...Rina attempted to throw some shade even though she wasn't the best at it. Instantly, she stood up from Doc's side because even if he tried...he couldn't stop her now as she stormed toward the woman, thinking about gouging out her eyes with the stilettos of her boots. "Reasons as to why we failed...not ******* excuses. Your letter was weighed down with so much negativity that it screamed that there were more issues than we were actually admitting to. You want to be Xena, go off with your killing mating call while doing the job all yourself as if you are the ultimate perfect one here then you should have done so and we could have just interrogated the fuckwit when you got back but nope...all of us but you, unfamiliar with the area and what we were up against went out there and pure chaos happened. **** that ****...next time...for something like this...I will just say here and **** with the ritual table because that clearly is what I can deal with while you go off half cocked and do the job that you know that you are only capable of doing, **** the rest of us and what we can do to actually work as a functional team." She was going to continue but stopped when she noticed Doc stand up behind her and extend his hand to Phoenix. She took a step back as she tried to process what the **** was going on.


* Phoenix ignored Karina's outburst, because the whole thing was nonsensical - what Vel and Micah wanted were reasons for failure and she'd given those broad reasons. The fearless leaders didn't need some *** kissing 'what we learned on our time out' ********, they wanted to know that the **** had gone wrong and they wanted to assess whether or not the group was able to see their own goddamn flaws. None of which she said, she simply stared at Karina with that deadly bring it on look in her usually warm brown eyes. "Karina," she finally said calmly, "you've never seen me angry. Never. Please don't push it with me. Yank your head out of Doc's *** and see what he's doing." With that, she took Doc's hand.

* Doc pulled Phoenix forward into a hug as she took his hand. He hugged her briefly, whispered a simple word into her ear, "Relax.. " and then slowly let her go. "We are all too strung up.. we fucked up. None of us like ******* up. But fighting about it now?.. isn't going to help. We fucked up because some of us, were too focused on our individual agendas. We're competitive. We all need to learn to give some.. including myself."

* Karina gritted her teeth at Nix's comment as the woman spoke calmly to her. How in the hell could she do that...get yelled at and only give a 'polite' warning. Ballsy on her part. As Doc pulled Nix into a hug, she didn't hear what he told her but just blinked in disbelief. Rina felt as if she was going to explode but the emotions that was causing this feeling was mixed and highly conflicting that she suddenly felt like she didn't know which way was up. Shaking her head as she walked off into a smaller room, she went to sit on the tree branch.

* Phoenix stood very, very still while Doc hugged her. She didn't move for fear of... god only knew what, but she she didn't move. Relax, he said. Relax while they **** everything up worse than what it already was? She twitched as Doc pulled away, staring at him with obvious confusion and frustration. "I'm not strung up, I'm frustrated because you're not even trying to follow the instructions given. Why?"

* Dulce closed her eyes as the voices went on and on. There was a point it would hopefully die down so that she could grab a sense of reason from each and make it focus towards what they were supposed to be doing. resolving issues that brought them to this point. Not adding to them.

<Doc> "We did. We failed because .. as I said.. some of us were too tied up in our personal agendas. We do not have to beat it to death. It is very simple. Why we failed."

* Dulce witnessed rays of progress.

<Dulce> "Can it be possible to move forward then?" She had a letter to write. this was way more emotional than she felt comfortable with. If they ironed out their differences that was good enough for her.

* Karina closed her eyes as she rocked back and forth on the branch. No she wasn't in the hut but she was in the vicinity which counted...right? She was right outside the window getting fresh air to try and calm but every bone, muscle, and nerve in her body screamed at her to jump no matter how high up she was. Jump and run. It was the whole fight or flight mechanic that everyone possessed, only hers was much louder than most. If she did, then her sire would be severely pissed off at her for not following the rules but she....she had to run...flee...escape...her head was filled with confusion and conflicting thoughts and it only seemed to get worse by the minute. Screaming out of frustration to fight of her fight or flight mechanic would draw negative attention to her and well....she already had plenty of that. Instead, she pinched her eyes closed and continued to rock back and forth in silence.

* Phoenix spotted Dulce and visibly brightened. The giant blonde didn't have time for petty bickering and squabbling - Nix even managed a smile in the woman's direction. Down Rina, up Dulce. Not a bad trade off, at least until Rina righted her head. "Yeah, moving forward is great... What happened to my letter? What do you actually think needs to be changed in it?"

* Doc finally went after Rina, who sounded far too stressed right before she bolted. He headed into the small room but there was no Rina. He frowned and looked back out at the other room, then back at the small room, and then he saw movement outside. He moved to the window, "Rina.. " He had thought Phoenix was close to breaking, but it was Rina who really was. "Rina.. Come on back in.. " He held his hand out to her.

* Dulce nodded in return. "Care to read it outloud? Share your words with us and then we can follow suit. Each of us should have our time to read what we have then we can combine and submit our agreed reply. they will be waiting for it." Her eyes drifted briefly to Doc guiding rina back. "We can do this."

* Phoenix went about rummaging for the paper on which she'd jotted down her thoughts. It took a few moments, but finally she held it up triumphantly, even with Doc's edits on the back. But those could be erased. To Dulce, she read her bit, "We fucked up from the start. The problems from the very beginning stemmed from lack of leadership and an inability to see past our own agendas to the bigger picture (which applies to everyone other than Doc, since his job was to **** us up – which he did). We worked towards our personal goals instead of working as a team and focusing on the task at hand. We all knew this was a game, so that also likely contributed to the general clusterfuckery. Without guidance, tempers flared, devolving into distrust and bickering amongst each other. We focused, as a team, on what people had done wrong instead of working towards doing things right and working through the mistakes." Her eyes flicked to Doc and Rina. "That was mine..."

* Karina heard movement in the room behind her but she ignored it. It was safer for her to ignore it. The whole event only made her wish that her sire and Micah hadn't been upset with her being a hermit. This was one of those times that she could throw her hands back at the situation as if it was on display in a museum and say 'This is why, I hide. This is why I can't deal with people. Why socialize if it's unneeded unless hunting?' But she knew that it would be unacceptable and continued to work on her 'social skills' that she seemed to hate. Keeping certain people close and everyone else at a distance was comforting to her. When Doc's floated out to her, she waited a couple of minutes before opening her eyes and looked back at him and his extended hand. "It would just be better if you all wrote the letter and let me...I don't know...sit here. Jumping is prefered but I know would get me in more trouble than I already am in." After a few moments, she decided he was right and she should go inside. Taking his hand, she climbed back through the window. Staying close to his side but kept her lips pinched closed as they joined the others while Nix carried on and then read her version of the letter.

* Doc continued to hold her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you.." He could feel the tension in her. When this was over, he was going to find out what was going on with her. He could tell now, this event wore on her far worse than he noticed before, and it concerned him. Once Nix was done, Doc held his hand for the paper, "May I read mine?"

* Dulce nodded. "Please."

* Phoenix flipped the page over and squinted at the... what the **** were those? Letters? Were they actually letters that made up words? She squinted at the paper, but that didn't help, so she turned it over sideways. Still no luck. The paper was flipped another 90 degrees, and another before she just, flat gave up. Defeated, she silently handed Doc the letter he'd written. "Of course." Yes... of course you can read yours, Doc... I sure as **** can't.

* Dulce was tempted to chuckle but at this point it was a relief just to see the two of them get along with out needing a mop and bucket for the bloodshed.

* Doc decided he was above Phoenix jibes. He was going to read this, then spend some time with Rina. "My letter reads: "We accept the fact that we had to spend 24 hours in detention for what we did wrong. Why we failed, in the simplest terms with the most convenient definitions, is because we found out that each of us is a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal with a secret agenda that was more important to some of us than to others of us. But what we learned, was just as beneficial. We learned: Karina can use a blade. Em has heart and is willing to do what is needed. Dulce can focus even in the middle of a temper flare up. Never put Phoenix and Doc on the same team. Zakar can’t hold his ******* liquor; therefore do not drink before a mission. And lastly, we learned that even though her people skills need work, Phoenix does attempt to do the job at hand. "

* Karina nodded to him and him only as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze even though she still wanted to flee. Muttering quietly to the point that she would have been surprised if he had heard her as she just stared into the room at the other two. "You're welcome..." She stayed tightly to him even as he asked for the paper from Nix to read their version. Her jaw remained clenched though the back of her mind, she mentally kept looking back at the window. Yes...flee like a coward...a coward was definitely not Ty material. Closing her eyes as Doc was handed the paper, she tried to hide the fear and panic she felt and maybe the tears that threatened her weakness...she was unsure at this point. Her body was just pure chaos and she couldn't wait for the 'game' to be over.

* Dulce blinked her icy blues ever so little that they likely appeared to have not blinked at all. As Doc read what was on the paper before him she had this odd feeling it was somewhat familiar but thanks to her lack of first hand memory prior to the bite down she was left with the amusement that slowly filled her. It was not negative or sarcastic but rather fitting and honest. "I think both are great and remind us what we failed to appreciate from the start in each other." Her own words echoed back to her and she was wondering if she was sounding like those annoying 'let me give you some sunshine up your *** today' life coaches. "We are a team when we are sent out. We need to stick together and show why we were chosen and accepted to be given the assignments.”