The five followed the trail through the woods, Byrd carried Cathryn and Kokoso down the cliff and Spring lifted Maria and brought her down to join the others, and the stopped by the spring.
"How far until we reach the equator?" Cathryn inquired, turning to the green haired spirit behind her.
"We're about a third of the way there!" Spring announced cheerily, "You tired yet, Kitty?"
"No, not...not yet." she wheeled around and sighed, instead of saying anything about the nickname she'd been given, she shook her head and turned back around.
"Huh, what is it?"
"I know you're just having fun, but I don't like to be called Kitty, okay? Kitties are helpless, and...and I'm not." Spring turned her around and stared at her for a few seconds.
"But it reminds you of when you were?"
"It reminds me of when I still am."
"The axe is your life," Spring stood on one foot and peered behind Cathryn to see the others were a good distance away, "every time you strike, you leave yourself open to a counter, you're trying to solve all your problems like this, doesn't work."
Cathryn stared back at the greenette, and at the space she occupied when she walked away. She wished it was as simple as Spring thought, there were a number of reasons she had power and weight and momentum were factors she could harness, and factors that she could master, in that way she would master the axe.
Beyond the spring and the surrounding woods they found a canyon, Kokoso was insistent on standing near the tree closest to the canyon, which was a couple of yards from said canyon. Byrd turned to him with a huff and waved him over, "Come on, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner you don't have to worry about falling."
"Uh, yeah...about that, wide canyons...kind of scare me, because the other side is so far." Kokoso admitted.
"Well, you could always hang with the monsters," Maria sighed, "maybe they won't wake up before we get back."
"How about this, close your eyes and count to ten," Spring started beating her wings against the air and raised him up, "we'll be on the other side before you open your eyes!"
"That's actually a really good idea," Kokoso muttered, "okay." he held his hand over his eyes and took a deep breath, "When should I start?"
"Now." Spring gesture to the others and Byrd lifted Cathryn and Maria, following Spring to the other side.
The girl wandered the beach, casting weary glances back at the waves. Mother Goose wasn't expecting this visitor, and that scared her, it was outside what the spirits told her, and up until now everything was going according to plan, Spring awoke and now the warriors were headed towards the equator, but that left her, an anomaly in the formula of success laid out before her by the spirits, she had no idea what the future would bring now, but she could only hope this strange girl wasn't sent by the Company.
"No, she's much too paranoid of the ocean, as though she's waiting for someone or something...perhaps she's simply a Animen sympathizer...still, I'm curious as to what role she shall choose."
She jumped as she sensed a presence somewhere to her right, the girl turned to her curiously, "My apologies, hatchling, you simply sneaked up on me!" Mother Goose laughed.
"Hmm, sorry." she muttered, before making her way to the inn.
Mother Goose observed her silently before flying to the woods, where the Mosiac Rosetta stood, she took a brief look into the stone's realm and found the likeness of the strange, nameless young woman in the place of the Lone Wolf, "But mustn't you eventually take a side? I suppose I may only watch and wait."
"Okay," Spring panted, "we can climb down the mountain at dawn, someone set up the tent, my feet are killing me."
"We're halfway there, then?" Maria inquired.
"Just barely...but it's a step up from a third of the way!" Spring rummaged the supply sack and found a stake, "Here, someone take this."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it," Byrd grumbled glaring at the tent, "hey, Kokoso, little help?"
"If only it wasn't so cold," Spring mused, "we could probably sleep up here."
"You're the spirit of spring, can't you make it warmer?" Byrd wondered.
"I could, but it'd take a lot more energy, and I'm already exhausted." Spring informed.
Maria turned around from the fire she was working on, "Well, no need tiring yourself out, not when we have other means to warm up."
"Besides," Byrd added, "if it's only a small area, it's not worth it."
"There, a Kokoso-style tent!" Kokoso laughed, "This has my seal of approval!"
"Good, now where are the sleeping bags?" Byrd wondered.
"Oh, I handed them out while you were, uh, uncollecting the exotic berries you tried out." Kokoso pressed his finger against his tightly pressed lips, "Yep, I figured the team sack was cluttered enough, even if it can carry a lot, doesn't mean it should."
"I'll put you in charge of gear management, then." Byrd shrugged, "All in favor?"
"Wait, you're not serious?" Kokoso stepped back, startled by Byrd's serious expression as his hand went up.
"I'm serious." Byrd confirmed.
"I'm all for it." Maria shrugged.
Cathryn looked up from her drink and nodded, "Might as well, someone has to be responsible for all the potions and meals we're carrying."
"If anyone has to tote all the stuff we're carrying," Spring contemplated, "then why not take turns?"
A mutter of approval rose up and Byrd groaned, "No one raised their hands." he pretended to complain, much to the team's amusement, "Okay, I'm hitting the hay so try not to stay up too much later."
"The team dad has spoken." Cathryn announced, after gulping down some more water.
"So says the team mother?" Kokoso chuckled.
"N-no, just because we always hang out doesn't mean anything!" Byrd yelled, reemerging from the tent, "We're just friends...just friends!"
"Poor guy, he's obviously suffering from a crush." Spring snickered.
"Here we have the team kids." Maria pointed at the laughing rabbit and spirit.
"I guess that makes you the older sister?" Kokoso sputtered, amusing Spring even more than she had been."
"Now, now, you'll wake Father." Cathryn warned, a small smirk playing on her lips.
"Ha, right, sorry, Mom." Spring giggled.
"Poor, sweet, innocent children." Cathryn sighed, shaking her head, "If only they knew that Father was adopted."
"Oh, Mother, I understand completely." Maria crossed her arms, grinning as she heard Byrd huff in the tent.
"I guess we should follow Dad's example, eh, younger sister?" Kokoso turned around and crawled into the tent, followed by Maria, while Cathryn sat outside the tent to watch the fire.
"It's been fun, so far, exploring with you guys," Spring almost whispered, "it's been a long time since I've been so happy."
"Glad you could laugh at my expense," Byrd muttered, "now go to sleep."
She smiled and stifled a laugh, but managed to stay quiet and close her eyes, but she heard Cathryn and Byrd swap shifts before she felt tired, and only after Byrd and Kokoso changed places did she fall asleep.
"That's what you get when you try to control AI, Sire." the lead researcher shook his head, "A...decommissioned security detail and a bunch of broken glass."
"You speak of the vials and tanks, what of her, was she able to take control of it?" King Remulus turned to the scientist, who merely shrugged.
"As it happens, she went offline, so it's hard to tell if our rampaging weapon has a soul link or not, if one is established, then our Project E.N.D. could still succeed, but we'd need to find out where she scampered off to." the scientist looked through the recorded numbers and shook his head, "As far as we can see, this thing had a mind of it's own, and what did you call this spirit you were trying to siphon into the Vessel?"
"Unseason, a powerful spirit, ancient as time."
"Well, see, Unseason couldn't possess the Vessel because the Vessel already had a will of it's own, you have to go out, drag it back here, and then beat her to a sound pulp just shy of to within an inch of it's body's natural ability to heal, otherwise Unseason will get poured right into a cup full of holes, we'll have a new program that will make it...a bit more compliant, and then come up with a play that will have it running back home, it should be all over within a year!"
"Do as you will, I want a report later explaining just what your plan is."
"You shall have it, Sire." the scientist promised, running to call his assistants in.
Maria let out a tired yawn as she stared at the dying fire. It was hard to believe an entire night passed so quickly, she still felt tired, but dawn's light just under the horizon couldn't be mistaken, "Maybe I'm just groggy."
She leaned forward, tempted to close her eyes, but somehow managed to keep the open. A sudden grunt had her reaching for her claws in alarm. She stood up and peered over the edge to find the second new addition to the village climbing up the last of three short cliffs that rose from the trail.
"Hey," she grunted, pulling herself up the cliff, "are you heading off again?"
"We're halfway there, I'm not sure if we'll be back before dinner, but Spring probably knows what she's doing." Maria waited a moment before asking the question on her mind, "Why are you out here?"
"Um, no reason...I couldn't sleep."
"Oh...but how did you get across the canyon?"
"I flew, I had some juice left in my rockets after that flight over the ocean, enough to clear the cliff, I'm saving the rest for an emergency."
"Um, how did you acquire the rockets?"
"I...don't remember, my energy cell was empty, all I can figure is I must have got shot and spun out of control and crashed into the water, my flight log doesn't really give those kinds of details."
"Flight log?"
"Yeah, I've got a flight log in this armor, it says that I was denied clearance after a successful test flight, so I must have stolen it after flying, that raises the question of why I was there, but it explains why I got shot down...and yet, why would I want steal a Valkyrie suit?" she noticed Maria's questioning eyebrow and shrugged, "That's what the log's called, 'Valkyrie Model I's Flight Log', so I think maybe that's the name of it's series of equipment."
"Is you name logged?" Maria asked, crossing her arms.
"I understand the skepticism, but what all I have is the initial 'N', nothing more." she sighed and pulled out her log, "See, you can have this." she held out the pad with a shaky hand, "I don't have cards or badges or anything!"
Maria extended her hand and reached for the pad, curled her knuckles, and pushed it away, "I...believe you, I don't think you could pretend to be so distraught, and if you're undercover...then you truly are disgusting." Maria turned to the tent behind her and grabbed a canteen, "Here, it's a long road ahead, and we can't really go back right now, so stay hydrated."
"T-thanks, um-"
"Maria." she said, turning to face her as she started into the tent.
"Maria," the other nodded, "thank you."
"You're welcome...Noel." Maria smiled and disappeared into the tent to stir the others.
"Noel?" she smiled and let out a deep breath, "I like it...it feels right, somehow."
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