[ToxicShadow]

[Temporary Pet Form]
[Human Form]

Yanora sighed as she watched her friend disappear into the crowd, only having a handful of minutes to speak with him before he apologized and had to return to his family. As always, the woman told him that she understood entirely and also told him to give his wife her best wishes. However, she gave a sideways glance toward the Purine recruiting booth that she stood only a few feet from. They had only met up for a few moments, but in that time, she had been informed that her dear friend intended to return to the Purine's forces once more. She couldn't live with herself if she let him go alone, so she promised to be with him, every step of the way, just like before.  The recruiter seemed to have been delighted when they had turned over the names, too. After all, Yanora had come out as the best of the Purine Riders, the illustrious Sky Paragon egg having come into her hands as proof of it, while Zelos had been one of her companions in such time. Having them back was certainly considered a good thing by the Purine army.

Sick and tired of the grim train of thought that the woman had allowed herself to follow, she began to move. Though she wasn't the most socially adept, anything would be better than standing around, thinking about the past and what terrible things she had just gotten herself into. Perhaps she would find something good to eat, and come up with a plan from there. Festivals weren't that fun alone, though she didn't expect to find anyone else to talk to. For all she  knew, most of her other associates refused to go to the festival or had made plans with someone else.

[Sarah]

“Come now brother it’s not so bad.” Duerme said with a slight smirk. They had been partaking in many of the festival activities and socializing. A fairly rare occurrence for the two demons. But since they joined the purines they had decided that the best way to go about patrolling was by making friends and acting as normal as possible. More people would talk to them if they were thought of as normal. it was the first time in a long time that they were out and about with mortals and they quickly realized their way of speech was fairly outdated it was taking them a while to adjust. they weren't even up to date with the latest technologies. the first few unfortunate people to talk with them became greatly confused, and after a few moments had just laughed them off calling them 'larpers' which was something the brothers had never heard before, and not something that they thought they would liked to be called.


“True. But I was hoping for more blood and fighting you know.” Dante replied slowly. When they had first even come into the city they were only passing through, and as a joke Duerme had signed the two up for the army.  When one had forever to live what was a tiny amount of time spent in a war? For the brothers it was an easy way to pass time. Plus it beat sitting around waiting for orders from down below. The brothers had made quick work of patrolling and were now back where they had started. They had seen nothing that could be called suspicious, not even someone calling someone else a bad name. “What now then?” Dante asked sounding annoyed. “You think I know? If we want trouble we will probably have to make it.” Duerme replied, eyeing his brother cautiously. “Too many civilians.” Dante dismissed with a wave of his hand. Duerme was a little surprised civilians didn’t usually mean much more than a soul to feed on in the eyes of his brother. “Very well.” Duerme started slowly. “Would you like to go around again?” Duerme asked slowing down to match his brother pace.

“I thought we could call our dear sister.” Dante smirked pulling out an old flip phone. Duerme sighed nervously. “It’s only our funerals.” He growled exasperated at his brother’s constant wish to invite the hunter into the brother’s affairs. “Scared of a hunter brother?” Dante half snarled his eyes growing dark red. “Of course not, especially our sister.” Duerme growled back. “It’s the damn paragon that makes me uneasy.” He clarified, a small shudder escaping his body. “Ah yes, I forget that the creature is immune to you.” Dante teased. “If I remember correctly she is immune to your persuasion.” Duerme snapped, he would not allow his brother to tease him over something like this.

With a displeased look on his face Dante snapped the phone shut. “Another round then.” Dante growled stopping short when he saw a woman alone in the crowd. “hello.” He said walking up to her. “Are you lost ma’am? Need any help?” he said trying his hardest to sound polite and his eyes quickly changed back to their normal violet. Duerme walked up behind his brother, keeping his distance from the two but trying not to look completely pissed off.
(I hope you don't mind my dropping in.)

[ToxicShadow]

It took the woman a moment longer than it should have to realize that someone was speaking to her as she weaved thoughtlessly through the crowd. She actually had to stop herself short, in order not to collide with him. Looking up, she turned her golden gaze to his eyes, a small frown settled onto her face from before. Right, social activities. How long had it been since she had been outside of the manor? She hadn't even taken anyone new into her home in quite some time, which left her primarily cooped up in her bedroom, dealing with her peculiar medical issues on her own.

"No, I'm not lost," she finally came to a response, after a moment of thought, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly, in an attempt to seem friendly and polite, as well. She wasn't lost, she just didn't have any direction to go in. Momentarily, her eyes shifted to the second man that came to stand behind the other. "I'm... Just not sure what to do here, that's all. There seem to be enough new recruits patrolling without any action to entertain them, so what's one less?" Yanora wasn't particularly in the mood for conversation, but a small part of her was actually thankful that someone had at least interrupted her wandering. It hadn't exactly been getting her anywhere. "What... Are you two up to?"

[Sarah]

Dante waited for the woman to collect her thoughts. With a soft smile he tried not to notice that it took moments to long for her to answer him. When the woman finally spoke Dante was a little disappointed that the woman might not actually want them around. He nodded in understanding at her remark about the army knowing all too well how little there was going on ‘bad guy’ wise in the festival. Though he was one of the few who was actually anticipating the war breaking out he doubted this woman shared his feelings on the subject.

“Well, we just finished going around the whole festival.” Dante answered, slightly relieved that this woman could keep them occupied for the moment. He wasn’t exactly thrilled at the thought of going back around to all of the festivities. “Went through all the different games and stands and everything,” Duerme piped in from behind them “rather boring really.” Dante tried not to roll his eyes, “what about you? Did you come here just to join the army?” Dante asked trying to take the focus off his brother mostly for selfish reasons.

[ToxicShadow]

Despite herself, she actually chuckled at the second man's comment, feeling as though she could somewhat relate. "Festivals aren't particularly my thing, either." There were too many people, making it much too crowded for her level of comfort. She preferred her space, only a handful being allowed to get close to her without making her flinch or lash out at them. Being in a place where strangers were bumping shoulders with her was generally an unpleasant experience. From the way they spoke, though, she assumed that the two of them had been recruited into the Purine forces as well. There were plenty of murmurs going around that a war would be breaking out soon, but she probably knew that better than anyone, at least out of those that weren't in the army itself until just recently.

"Not exactly, I had been trying to avoid it." Although it wasn't any of their business, she felt no harm in saying what had occurred, especially if they were allies. It would be a wise decision to be on good terms with them now, before all hell broke loose. "They sent me a letter specifically requesting my return, although I had no intention to respond. It was a friend of mine that invited me here, and I agreed to return alongside him when he made his decision to reenlist." Things hadn't gone how she expected, that much was evident, but she didn't regret her choice in not sending her old friend off alone. "You two are new recruits?"

[Sarah]

Dante wished he could glare at his brother. He was the kind of guy who needed the attention on him it was a sort of side effect of his persuasion powers. Seeing as the woman seemed a little nervous he glanced around noticing that the streets were fairly crowded and scolded himself for not noticing before. Of course he had eyes all over the place on any normal occasion, but he had been pretty caught up in searching for anything that would lead him to a fight everything else had been thrown out from under his radar. He did wonder for a moment why this woman would be around a festival if she didn’t care for people. Dante wasn’t familiar with the city but in most other cities one could find a recruiting office. It wasn’t like those were crowded anyway. But he supposed that the festival might be a big deal, and so even the most secluded might come out for a drink or two. It had only been a coincidence that he and his brother had come to the city at such a time.

Dante’s interest was pricked when the woman talked of being invited to join the army. “You must have been very important then? If they sent out a personal invitation to join the army.” Duerme asked before Dante could get his reply out. Cursing his brother he actually turned to give him a quick glare. “We are new recruits.” Dante said pleased that he had beaten his brother to the words for once. “I signed us up in hopes that we could do some good.” Dante tried to lie very convincingly, even throwing in a concerned smile. “I really don’t want to see people hurt because some bad guys blow into town hoping to tear it apart.” he added waiting for his brother to call him out on his lies. “Yes, we wouldn’t want to see a whole city in chaos, though it doesn’t seem like there is much going on at the moment.” Duerme said, taking a few steps forward to stand next to his brother. "But where are our manners.” Duerme shook his head in exasperation. “I’m Duerme and this is my brother Dante.” The man introduced them. Holding out his hand hoping people still shook hands when they met each other. “And might I ask who you are?” Duerme asked with a grin.

[ToxicShadow]

Yanora doubted the sincerity of the men's words. Though she wasn't a social butterfly, she had a bit of a knack for reading people, at least rather they were honest or not. Of course, why they would lie wasn't really her business, even if she wanted to know what their true intentions were. They didn't seem dangerous, at least. Well, they felt different, but she was considerably different, too. When Duerme offered his hand, she placed her hand in his and have it a firm shake. "Yanora Veneficus Lamiai Vrykolakas, previously retired Purine Rider. Just call me Yanora. Anything else is a mouthful," she introduced herself, not quite smiling, but her expression a little more of a smirk. Her words not only said who she was, but also explained why the Purine army would invite her, personally.

"I fought in the last war, when the Imperials invaded the city in search of the Maiden's Tear, and became the most decorated of the riders, one of the three military companies." Of course, it wasn't Yanora that did most of the fighting directly on the battlefield, but her companions that answered to her. So, in reality, it was she, Zelos, Madlek and Toxicosis with the title. Only one of which, she was certain, would be returning with her. "It's not... particularly a title I am proud of, but it is as it is." The woman didn't enjoy fighting, she only did what she felt she had to do. "I suspect that you two actually enjoy fighting?" She then inquired, raising an eyebrow, even though the partial feline-like mask she wore hid that portion of her face. "It's just a feeling, but there is nothing wrong with that, if my assumption is correct. I would imagine that a military force requires those sorts, too."

[Sarah]

Dante felt the woman’s skepticism but didn’t really care whether or not the woman perused the topic. When she just moved on he was more than ready to let it go. After she took Duerme’s hand and introduced herself the brothers were beginning to feel a little more comfortable, physical contact was a method they used in determining ones intentions and only rarely was it wrong. “Yanora does seem a little easier.” Dante tried not to chuckle, it wasn’t like he was unfamiliar with long complicated names it was more that he found them amusing. “Maybe we’ll get a title after the war brother.” Duerme speculated enjoying the feeling of respect it brought. “Keep dreaming.” Dante snickered with the business they were into there wasn’t much use for titles.

“Duerme would love to sit down and share war stories. He’s always interested in that stuff.” Dante said rolling his eyes at his brother who just shook his head. “I haven’t been in any real wars.” Duerme started but stopped mid-thought figuring that it wasn’t really important to the conversation. With a huff Duerme struggled to find words to answer her inquiry properly. “Fighting isn’t often our style, but we have a complicated job description.” Dante interjected before Duerme could open his mouth. “Though I’m not sure the army would require the two of us, we more joined it on a whim.” Duerme added with a smirk like he was telling someone an inside joke that they wouldn’t necessarily understand.