#lorentrolls

Attempting to maintain peace of mind required anchors of significant strength - choosing to believe that he could hear the world itself was the greatest he had yet forged. A number of small deepsea creatures gathered around him, sensing the heat that was maintained beneath his skin. Large seacreatures may take an interest in the potential morsel but larger ones yet would feast on them instead.

Though he had descended into a frigid hell, devoid of light and filled with danger, Engarl knew only peace. It seemed this juxtaposition had been the only way to tame himself.

Kapala didn't have time for any of the peaceful, philosophical shit that could possibly be thought about at the bottom of the ocean. Kapala was pissed. The critters around here were acting funny- the sort of funny that meant there was another troll around. She could smell them, as implausible as that sounded; after spending so long in isolation, the presence of other trolls was far too easy to detect. Her skinny, spiky form zoomed through the pitch black depths, searching for the intruder. Technically this patch of the sea wasn't her turf at all, her own hive being located quite a while away, but as far as she was concerned the entire abyss was her domain.

"YOU!"

Though he couldn't see the approaching troll at the distance she was currently located, her voice carried clearly to him. It was accusatory, but he was unable to tell the reasoning behind that. The most obvious route would be that someone had hunted him down at last with the intention of slaying him for his past actions. That would be fine. Although the difference in his physique, between then and now, meant they'd have to have a good sense for identifying people, especially at this depth.

Small fish roused as he slowly rose to his feet, turning to face the encroaching troll.

"What!!! Are you doing!!! In my abyss?! GET OUT OF HERE!" She drew her trusty bat out of her strife specibus and swam right up to his face, barely restraining herself from beating him to death. "LEAVE."

Oh, that's a different reaction to what he expected. It seemed this one lived here as well. What suffering was she enduring inside? Something that powered her body with rage, no doubt. "This is not your abyss," his voice was slowly drawn, weighty. "This is my home. For the length of time I have been here, if you had not found and dislocated me yet, then you have no say." His movements were just as slow, but Engarl folded back into his sitting position, trying to regain his sense of the waves. "I am causing you no harm, however I have no intention of leaving. Be on your way."

Kapala shrieked in rage and aimed her bat directly at his head. She was nothing if not a lady of concise action.

Engarl hmm'd slightly as the hit crashed into him, carried by her force. She was strong, but so was he. It had hurt, of course, but no true damage had been done with that blow. It had disturbed his concentration though. He sighed, opening an eye to glance at the livid troll. Seeing that she was seething with fury, he closed the eye again and continued to hum.

Oh, great. Of course he was as tough as she was. Otherwise, how would he even be able to survive out here? Fuckin awesome. Kapala tapped the bat against his head again. "I ain't leaving until you do."

"Then I advise you to be seated, as you will never leave again," Engarl replied, eyes still closed. He could hear the noise in the currents that signified the larger beasts swimming far overhead. "However even if you did wish to continue your violence, perhaps waiting for them to pass first would be the correct decision."

She hit him again. "Did you come down here because nobody else could stand your stupid way of talking?"

"Did you come down here because nobody else could stand you?" Engarl smiled to himself, before frowning and trying to return to his proper thoughts. Trading barbs with the hellfury had no value, it would merely encourage her to continue acting as she did. "I have my own reasons to be here. As I am sure you do. Let us both resolve not to care why the other is here."

"HHHHAH!" Kapala switched to jabbing him in the gut, laughing at the way his stomach fat was displaced by her weapon. Since Kapala herself had the body fat ratio of a streetlamp, she found it hilarious to watch. "Oh, I know, you came down here 'cause you heard the whales swim deep and you wanted to be amongst yer own kind."

Engarl was doing his best to maintain his complete composure, and while this crass woman was testing him he was still successfully holding onto his train of thought. So focused was he, at this point, on tracking the movements in the currents, that he completely missed her words. He had heard speech however he had not bothered parsing it. His silence, as she continued to prod him, was all she was rewarded with.

"Oi. Oiiiiii. Fatty! Mister Blubbers!" A harsh cackle came out of Kapala's mouth, but it was born more of frustration than actual mirth. "How are you here, anyway? Fat floats, don't it?! Ahahahah!"

As he listened to the swirling of the schools of fish - tiny creatures that could bear the deepsea pressures, Engarl recalled moments of his past. The harsh laughter he employed as he took the lives of others without care. What a disgusting creature to have chained inside of his head, to be starving of attention until the day it finally dies. Her sounds were reminding him of who he used to be, it would seem. Ah, so she was a test. By giving the worst of him physical form to torment him, he would be forced to face his mistakes head on.

Was she even real then? Probably. He wasn't that delusional yet. Still, how long should he ignore her now? If she left he would be happier, but would that be the better choice? He contemplated this.

Fed up with poking him, Kapala stopped to consider her options. The guy was tough, with insulation that pretty much absorbed the brunt of her blows. Normally when she splattered seadwellers they weren't as strong as her, and weren't able to tank her hits, but she had the sinking feeling that she could hit this guy all night and he wouldn't be fazed. What else was she going to do?

She grumbled, withdrew her bat back into her strife specibus, and sat down in his lap. The bony seadweller dug her sharp elbows into his gut and flexed her spiny fins back so that they jabbed into his own face. "Heh!"

She weighed so little, it was ridiculous. By what power did she handle the pressure of these depths? Perhaps, rather than blood, pure vitirol coursed through her veins. Her elbows had less effect than her bat, however her fins were a new brand of annoyance. They scraped at flesh and though he had no value left in his eyes, Engarl still did not desire their loss. Still, there were ways to move to avoid this. He leaned his head forward, pushing his forehead into the back of hers. Her fins scraped along his cheeks but as long as he kept contact between their skulls they could not stab as she would like. And to break this contact she would have to move.

Kapala hissed in annoyance and squirmed, making sure to scrape her fins against his flesh as much as she could. She flailed like a wiggler throwing a tantrum- well, strictly speaking, she was throwing a tantrum- and wailed as well, trying to produce the most unpleasant noises she could.

"What's your problem, fuckin' asshole!? Just get up and fuckin' GO!"

She was most determined to be rid of him, it would seem. But this was Engarl's place. This was the rock he had chosen and it was here he had anchored himself. "Your intent to remove me, is it fear? You ran to the depths and fear you will be followed? You are of no concern to me, if you are trying to protect yourself you are wasting your time. You may as well scream at the mountains of the deep." Oh to have the patience of a mountain. He would not even need to consider her were that the case.

That was it. Kapala flipped herself around and wrapped her legs around his waist, digging her heels in and gripping his neck tightly in her hands. She found the gills in his neck and stuck her fingers in, knowing that was something no seadweller could find tolerable; in her rage, she had begun to make a terrible hissing noise.

"I'll kill you!"

So much fear, so much rage. He had been just like this once. But he had been given a chance to escape. Would she?

She was killing him. It was pain beyond pain and he knew that if she continued, he would die. But what would that mean to him? What intention did he have to go on living? He was simply passing time until death came to him, as he had no role left. Should he allow it to be her?

He raised a hand, and placed it against her cheek. Both eyes open, he focused on hers, wild and terrified. If she was truly capable of this, then she would do it with her eyes meeting his. His vision was fading even beyond its usual limit, and his insides felt like they had been set ablaze. But his hand and eyes were steady. If he was to die here, she would remember this decision she had made.

What the hell was he DOING? Kapala withdrew her fingers and slapped him across the face, scooting off his lap as fast as he could. "Oi!! Oi!!! W-what do you th-think you're doing, tr-trying that sappy shit on me!! D-don't you do that!!!" Her face had gone bright purple, although in the darkness it was impossible to tell. Still her voice had gone up several pitches, so maybe it wasn't impossible after all.

Engarl breathed deeply, feeling his internals recovering. His gills still stung horribly, but it seemed he was not to die at this point. Or perhaps she would simply be goaded further. "You have been scared. And alone. Like I have. But while difficult it is not impossible to move past that state. The pain we live with, is not impossible to escape. I will not harm you. I will never bring you harm. I will not say 'trust me', because you have no reason. I will not say 'believe me', because I have no right to ask such a thing. What I say is 'listen to me'."

It was so easy to move from sitting to standing, carried by the waters. All he had to do was read the currents, and movement would come to him. He expected her to be surprised at the speed with which he closed the distance between them. Finally, so close, he could see her face properly. She was terrified. He bowed his head to her, and waited her judgement. Likely just another swing of the bat.

She made a strange high pitched noise, covered her face with her hands, and booted him in the throat as hard as she could before scrabbling to her feet and swimming back into the abyss.

The coughing fit as Engarl attempted to regain his breath lasted a significant amount of time, enough for him to wonder if he was facing the risk of dying of asphyxiation twice in such a short span of time. Eventually though, he managed to recover enough. His face was covered in scratches, bruises from her attacks covered his body and his breath was still catching, even hours later. It would seem a quiet life harming no one further was never going to be an appropriate penance. Engarl sighed as he continued to listen to the waters. Oh for a mountain's patience.

She was in fine form tonight, having either matched or surpassed her target goals for the session. All her dummies featured new lacerations in the middle of the bullseyes painted on them, a fine sweat had gathered on her spotted skin from all the exertion she was putting forth, and if her lusus was capable of leaving the moat around her hive she was sure it would be politely cheering her on (then again, swordfishes can't do much in the way of anything except stabbing, so maybe not). Since Csetje had never met another troll in this area before, she was wholly unexpecting anyone else to wander over.

Walking the world was the basis of Jalous's existence these days. He still returned to his hive, but more often than not he could be found on entirely different continents. Searching for trouble and more than often generating it himself, he hadn't expected to find anyone tonight, rather just to catch a moment of peace in the quiet lands. But to his surprise, he had stumbled directly upon something he was very familiar with - devotion to the art of the sword. She had been consumed in it, up until this point, and only now that she was done, he permitted himself to clap.

"It is good to meet another with such skills," he praised from where he stood. There was something a little off about her appearance though. Was she injured?

Ah! She spun, alarmed by the sound of his voice, and immediately dropped into a defensive position; she did not relax once she examined the troll's appearance properly, as she could tell that he was a stranger. Still, his caste was evidently the same as hers, so... she did not have any sort of plans to strike. "And vho are you? I vhas under ze impression zhis plot of land vas wholly uninhabited. Alas, is zis your property?"

"Just a traveller," Jalous raised both hands and took a step forward, though the presence of a sword at his waist was quite obvious. "By coincidence I came across you, nothing more." Now that he was closer he studied her more carefully. Yes, she was definitely of the same colour as him. Though there definitely were some... differences. "Although," he paused, wondering how to phrase this, "Are you well?"

Csetje made a derisive noise under her breath and spun her sabr in the air, pointing it down and sinking it into the ground beneath her feet so that she could lean on the handle slightly. "I am at ze prime of my health. Are you versed in history at all?... I suppose not, because if zat was ze case you vould know vhy my appearance differs from ze norm. Vhy is someone of our caste "just a traveller", though? Zhat is ze true question here, hmm?"

Well, if she insisted Jalous would not push further. Those of his blood were most certainly not renowned for being the most stable. "Just that I am," he shrugged in answer. "I travel this world because I am free to, pursuing my own goals. And of course, seeking to further my skills." He tapped the sheathed weapon at his hip. "Hence my taking the time to appreciate your own dedication to the art, rather than leaving you be." There were only a few other trolls Jalous knew with the same love of the blade as his. Most of them wanted to kill him. But this time would definitely be different.

The spotty troll relaxed a little, eyeing off the blade at his hip. "Aha...! A fellow enthusiast of ze blade. Vhat is your preferred style of swordsmanship? I vill admit, it does please me to see another indigoblood vho uses swords. I despair at zhe common subjugglator stereotype vho sports such undignified veaponry...!"

"Undignifed is a goto for our caste I would say," Jalous chuckled, unsheathing his blade and pointing it to the sky. The longsword caught the light of one of the moons and Jalous took a moment to admire it. "My style was grown from the teachings of the one who gave me the blade to begin with, the basics being taught and then the specifics developed solely by myself. I have taken to calling it Storm Blade for a number of reasons which elaborating on would take too much time. The essence would be... to shatter the strength of those who oppose me, I would say." He lowered the blade, but did not sheath it. "Or something like that."

A longsword, hmm? Very... masculine. "It is a travesty zhat our caste, second only to ze seadwellers, is overrun by a plethora of honking imbeciles vho foresake zheir nobility in favor of disgusting acts of buffoonery and mindless slaughter. Do you agree?"

It was most definitely refreshing for Jalous to find a fellow who at last understood. He couldn't help but smile at this. "Too easily consumed by haste and too infatuated with their own power to make any use of it." He walked into the circle of training dummies, leaving a slash along one. "It is infuriating to deal with such a majority, convinced that I am the one at fault for not sharing their ideals. I must say it is refreshing," he swung the blade again, adding force to the word, "to meet another like me, in blood, art and distaste for the faults of our caste. My name is Jalous Houlen and this evening has become far more pleasing for me than I had ever imagined when I first set out on my walk."

Well, well, well. Csetje was impressed indeed- she knew there were others who thought the same as her out there, but coming into contact with one was a pleasant surprise. "You are not alone zhere. Both I, my matesprit, and a few others share ze opinion zhat we blessed vith ze most noble land-dwelling blood possible ought to act our part. Alas, our numbers are far too limited to do anyzhing about it-" She held up her hand in front of her face and examined her splotches, sighing. "- I vould know, my ancestors did zheir best." The laughter that followed was short and harsh. "Vatch vhere you're swinging zhat sword, now! It vas hard vork, setting up all zhose dummies. And zhe lowblood I forced to do it had ze audacity to try and kill me after it vas done."

"Hmm." Jalous did not respond to that with any definitive meaning but he eased his movements. While still practising his own bladework, light evening exercise, he at least avoided adding further cuts to the dummies. "I would say we are both caught in the struggle to be better than what we are expected to be. Separating the strength of our caste from the weaknesses in our blood, the controlling anger and violence, is a challenge those of us aware of ourselves take on." He was getting distracted by his practising here, focusing on his movements for long enough that the train of thought he was speaking aloud went silent.

"Veaknesses? Zhat is a strange vay of putting it." She walked over to where he was and drew her own sword, checking her reflection in the shiny metal. "I prefer to think of ze... control, anger, violence... as a fundamental facet of ze role our caste plays. It is our duty to uphold ze hemospectrum and keep ze-" With a thrust so quick it was naught but a blur in the air, she impaled the straw dummy right through. "Disrespectful lower castes in zheir place." Csetje put her boot against the support of the dummy and tugged her sword out. "You agree? Disagree?"

He was too caught up in the stream of movements to stop, but words still emerged from the form of Jalous. "Without control, our anger and violence, even our strength, is weakness. Disrespect comes from everywhere, those above us and those below. Everyone is too lazy and weak, trying to use things like anger to justify their actions, to blame their mistakes on and to try and absolve themselves of guilt when they do not even try to fix what is wrong with them. A seadweller who kills others just because they feel like it is no better than any other troll to do so. The hemospectrum matters only to those who can control themselves enough to acknowledge it." His sword cut through the air and the noise of the slash carried on. "There is no room for wild beasts among Trolls. No matter who they are I stop them. I show them they are wrong. I seek to break them of the bad habits they have let take root." He grinned with a measure of wildness, looking over to the swordswoman. "I prove myself better than the others by being able to control by leading, not by just throwing violence at problems to make them go away."

She raised her eyebrows. "Heh. Impressive vords. But-" Csetje raised her sword with a flourish and took her usual fighting stance. "Dear Sir Houlen, vould you put your caegars vhere your mouth is? I, Csetje Zsebet, challenge you to a duel." Her mouth split open to show her excruciatingly sharp teeth, vicious incisor fangs glinting in the light of the twin moons.

Jalous matched her smile, sweeping the blade around him into a bow before taking his own stance. "It delights me that you asked," there was excitement in his voice and it was definitely communicated by his expression. "Let's share our art in the only way we know how." And with those words he launched himself forward, swinging the long blade around to add even more power to the opening strike.

"Zhen I vill be sure my passion is expressed to its absolute depths...!" She deftly sidestepped his initial strike and counterattacked, avoiding his blade and aiming her rapier at the side of him left unguarded. Her footsteps were nimble and her expression focused; despite this, she was very obviously pleased at punch to have found a new swordsman to fight with.

Continuing his spin Jalous similarly stepped around her blade, continuing his wide swings which she expertly avoided, countering with stabs that he too dodged. Since her speciality was with a rapier it was clearly in her interest to avoid a direct clash of the blades, as the heavier weapon Jalous wielded would quickly overpower it in a direct confrontation. But there was no need for theatrics or powerplays here, each was merely expressing their style and judging their opponent's. A chance to show off their skillset to someone else who would truly understand it.

Ill will removed from combat, it was an experience Jalous craved and never did get enough of. So yes, this was good. When he stepped back for a moment's respite, he found himself recovering his breath. "You have clearly spent your life training," he nodded. "It is a joy to know others dedicated to the blade as I am."

Considering she had been training for quite a while even before Jalous had showed up, it was remarkable that Csetje wasn't 100% out of puff. She still had to take a few deep breaths before responding. "And you, too! Zhis is great...! (puff puff) Do you have a hive nearby? Or are you truly a rootsless vanderer?"

Pulling a cloth out to clean his blade before sheathing it, Jalous sat down to aid recovery. "I do have a hive to return to though it is a significant distance away. I spend more time wandering than I do resting there and as such I am quite used to finding accomodation at short notice. When I first spoke to you you asked if this were my land, so I would say you are not familiar with this location either? Your hive is also distant then I take it?"

She looked around before pointing behind her. "My hive lies over yonder mountains. It is not zhat far. About an hour's valk. Exercise is very good for ze soul, ohoho. Do you vant to come back for a meal?"

Smiling, Jalous returned to his feet, offering a hand to shake for Csetje. "It would be a pleasure," he fixed his now sheathed sword to his waist once more. "Lady Zsebet I must admit that this chance encounter is one I find most agreeable. Shall we then?"

Of course it was his own fault he was here. He'd gotten a little too creative in his latest activity, and accidentally crashed the glider he'd been using into the side of a mountain. He was fine, naturally, besides the fact he was now stranded in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, nothing to do but take the long walk home. Maybe there'd be something interesting along the way.

This swamp wasn't interesting to him. Just horrible. Or it was more horrible than it was interesting. That was probably it. Orseth was game for the craziest of stunts, but just like any other seadweller, bad water made him baulk. Yuck.

Bad water meant nothing to Valoki- at least, not any more. He knew this swamp like the back of his gross, slime encrusted hand, and wading through the sludge and guts of the Alternian swamp was just everyday routine. It was a fairly quiet evening for this part of the world, with nary a glimpse of the usual terrifying swampmonsters to be seen; since it was hibernation season, Valoki supposed he should be counting his blessings that there was a very low chance of him being accosted tonight.

Well, by a monster, anyway. He hadn't seen another troll for so long he had started to forget what they even looked like.

For all the background noise of a swamp, insects and bubbling water and so on and so forth, movement that pushed through foliage still stood out enough for Orseth to investigate. Of course the odds were well in favour of it being some monstrous swamp beast but that just meant things might get a little interesting. Frankly Orseth was bored to tears of this place already. Bouncing from tree to tree, he nearly rammed into the trunk of one when he finally caught a glimpse of the other presence around. Grabbing a lower branch to try and catch himself, he ended up with both feet pushed against the trunk and both hands grasping the branch, performing a high grade handstand. The troll olympics panel went wild.

Except not.

"Woah!" Orseth Tameri did not believe in subtlety and thus did not even try to obscure his presence from the troll on the ground below. "I was NOT expecting to see anyone out here this is great!" He pushed off the treetrunk, swung around the branch and dropped to the ground below. Ugh, squelchy. He hated this swamp. But hey! He had company now at least. "How you doing, bro?"

Valoki stopped dead in his tracks. Another troll? Are you serious? He was- wait, is that a seadwelling troll as well? He was so dumbfounded he couldn't muster words, jaw agape and eyes wide. It took him a good ten seconds for his thinkpan to remember his attitude towards other trolls at all.

"The fuck are you doing here? Leave. Now."

Orseth blinked. Yeah okay, he'd had better reactions. Then again he'd had worse ones too. Things were still fine. By his standards. He had shitty standards. "Man I am trying," he rubbed the back of his head, looking around. "Everything looks the same to me here, I've got no idea which way is which." He smiled widely. "But that's okay now! You've definitely gotta know how to get out of here, right? Let's go!" Orseth dramatically pointed off into the direction of what he presumed was the way he wanted to go and was probably just the mountain he'd crashed into, his other arm reaching over to place a hand on this guy's shoulder. New friends yeah!

Valoki punched him in the face. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

The part of Orseth's brain that marvelled at the strength he'd just been hit with was running a few seconds behind his surprise, as the force of the blow he'd just taken lifted him straight off his feet and slammed him into a tree behind them. The wood of the old tree groaned and had it been any more rotten likely would have snapped. Once his feet were back on the ground, Orseth looked up at this troll with an expression of wonder.

"Dude!" He rubbed his nose checking for blood, damn that had actually hurt! "You have GOT to be the crazy strongest greenblood I have ever seen that was AWESOME!" He rushed back over to the troll, hands clasped together. "I straight up can't believe this this is the coolest thing I've seen all day! I bet you could fight anyone even seadwellers!" Orseth was always impressed by the shows of strength his peers managed. He never did compete in quite the same league, but then his strength was elsewhere. And that at least he was able to compete in.

That praise earnt him a horrified look from Valoki, quickly followed by the seadwelling troll being put in a headlock. "I don't know what you're doing here, but I don't care. Get out or I'll kill you." Was this troll daft? And a seadweller, to boot- just the thought of that caste made Valoki's blood boil. Still, his headlock wasn't so tight that it was suffocating.

"Oh man oh man," Orseth tried to straighten up a little but couldn't get the grip from the greenblood to shift. "Okay okay, hold like that, I want to see if I can get out first." A few moments of struggling later, Orseth stopped. "Nope you've completely got me. Ahahaha dude what did you even do to get this tough this is amazing!" After a few more moments Orseth finally got around to comprehending this guy's words. "But uh yeah, getting out is fine but I still don't know the way. Like, at all. Help a dude out?" There was absolutely no way they weren't going to be the best of friends.

This little shit wasn't taking him seriously! Valoki squeezed tighter before releasing Orseth and picking him up- by his hair. Raising his arm above his head, he brought the seadweller up so he was eye to eye (well, two eyes to one eye) with Valoki and snarled. "Why would I help you? You got in here, get yourself out. Or die trying." Best of friends, obviously.

Orseth waved his arms about in some sort of mock concern at his situation. Being held by the hair wasn't that fun though. That he'd like to get out of shortly. "That's bo~ring though," he complained, somehow still failing to grasp the part where this greenblood had absolutely no desire to be anything even resembling 'friends' with him. "You're way more interesting, this makes even this stupid swamp cool to know a dude like you is hanging out in here. Hey, what's your name anyway? I'm Orseth!" He stuck out a hand, offering to shake. Ideally that'd require this one to let go of his hair first.

Valoki threw him as far as he could and spat on the ground, turning 180 degrees and storming off in the opposite direction. "Fuck off."

He would've rathered the trees. He definitely would've preferred to hit as many trees as was required to not land splash right into a murky pool, which was no doubt the murkiest of all because apparently he had it coming. Spluttering and gagging, Orseth hauled himself out of the rancid water and spent about five minutes doubled over and coughing. Yeah, fuck bad water.

Eventually he managed to stand up again, and took a quick scan of his surroundings. Absolutely no sign of super troll in sight. Hmm.

"Bet he can't catch me if I stick to the trees. Alright greenbro, hide and seek starts now!" In a grand display of lacking all common sense, Orseth climbed the nearest tree he could and started hopping back in the direction he figured he'd come from. He was gonna find that greenblood and get his name if it was the last thing he did. Which quite possibly would be considering how tough he was. But whatever, Orseth lived for the thrill. And this guy? This guy radiated danger. That was EXCITING! Yeah this was definitely worth it.

Only he would ever think that.

Confident that he had lost Orseth, Valoki sighed to himself and continue to wade through the muck to the location of his makeshift hive; a pseudo-treehouse made of sticks and mud, wedged into the crook of a tree and hidden by tall grass. He clambered into the hastily carved out opening and sat in the entrance, waiting to see if any creepy-crawlies were wandering by; he was kind of hungry, and the best source of food was obviously a gross swamp monster.

"Pretty sure I'm actually deeper in this swamp than I was before." Orseth watched the night clouds from the roof of the mudball hive. "Getting lost is really easy without a guide. Though that's probably not your problem huh?" This was the best idea ever.

The swamp practically shook from the vibrations of Valoki's agonized scream. "YOU!!!!!" He leapt out of his little shitshack and reached for Orseth, attempting to throttle him. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Orseth nimbly leaped to a nearby branch, making sure to keep an eye on the greenblood now. This was a time to be serious, or at least as serious as he got. Which was still way less than it should be. "Last I checked I'm not hurting anyone," Orseth pulled himself up some branches to gain height over the glowering troll. "We're all free to go where we want. You want me gone I'll go. Two conditions. One, you show me the way out yourself. Two, your name." He smiled widely. "But don't feel bad, friendships always start rocky. You and I'll be best buds eventually you'll see." It was an honest miracle that Orseth actually believed that. "But yeah I'm all for leaving this swamp let's get going."

Valoki was so mad you could practically see the anger radiating off his skin. He pointed a finger to his right, gritting his teeth. "My name is none of your business. LEAVE."

For his credit, Orseth at least hopped a few trees in the right direction. At least now he had an appropriate escape vector. "You know you can get as mad as you want but that just makes me want to get to know ya better," he sat down on a branch, maintaining the staring contest this one had started. He'd never win it though, he wasn't projecting pure hate beams through his eyes. Or eye rather in this case. "You've got some issues with some people that happens to everyone but you think blaming everyone works out? Never does." He raised an eyebrow, preparing to abscond the fuck backwards as soon as the greenblood made a move. "Why don't you calm down a little. Come on, take a break from crazy swamp and hang out with me for a bit, I bet you haven't eaten out in ages I know some great burger places. I know some great everywheres actually whaddya say? Relax, have a little fun and let's go get some good food and maybe not hang around in a swamp all the time. Sound good?"

The only response he got to this was Valoki crawling back inside his hive and closing the entrance with a curtain made of leaves.

Oh what. Damn, that sucks. Orseth frowned. "Hey no screaming this time!" He chipperly remarked. "See things are improving already. I'll come hang out later and we can see about that burger joint. I just need a long swim to get the smell of the water around here off of me first." He stood and stretched, turning in the direction he'd been pointed in. "Alright superstrong greenblood, till next time bro." And with that he was off. Not the world's dumbest seadweller by any measure but man, sometimes he made the effort.

Valoki stayed curled up for several minutes before poking his head out of his curtain, gingerly looking around to see whether the seadweller had actually gone; when he saw no sign of Orseth, he exhaled and crawled out. Thank god, that annoying motherfucker had actually gotten a hint. He hoped he was sitting in the stomach of a swampmonster by now... although, from the dexterity and toughness the seadweller had shown, that was highly unlikely. Damn, damn, double damnation. He better not see that fucker again...

And it seemed something interesting was going on today.

"A fight? No..." a crowd was nearby, and Regali approached. A lot of space cleared for this highblooded troll, a lot of whispers behind her back. She inspected the scene before her.

When it came to creating a ruckus, there probably weren't many trolls as experienced in the matter as Cohete was. This time around he wasn't in a fight, though! Well, in a fistfight, at least. It was the semi-finals of the (Un)Official Totally Legit Street Racing Championships, and his shitheap- he meant, uh, his really good totally well built engine-powered wheelmobile was looking at clear chances of victory.

With the engine revving at the maximum power possible and the body of the machine vibrating around him, the tealblood zoomed through the streets of the city at a speed most trolls would shudder to contemplate themselves going at. His opponents flanked him, their own shitheaps adorned with varying weapons to hit the other racers with, but he was pretty sure they couldn't touch him. After all, he- did someone just throw a banana peel at him!?

Cohete swerved to dodge it, ramming his vehicle into his leftmost opponent; in their shock they fired their missiles directly behind them, collapsing the bridge the racers had just passed underneath and crushing three other racers in the debris. One wheelmobile exploded, raining debris across the street, with a particularly viciously airborne tyre speeding through the air and crushing the bonnet of the only racer still left in the game. Every racer not unconscious or dead reacted to this in the only way they knew how: climbing out of their vehicles and beating the everloving shit out of each other.

Well, he wasn't down for that. The tealblood bailed out of his machine and attempted to book it into the crowd, only to run headfirst into some beanpole and lose his balance.

"Watch it, assho-" He looked up. Seadweller. Oh shit.

"UH."

"Hmm," Regali looked past this troll to begin with, pointing at the fight. "They should be wary of the damage to their vehicles. Explosions will take them." The machines, smouldering and generally looking very unhappy, failed to explode. "What was that about?" she looked down at the troll before her.

"What? Huh? Uh... What." Cohete stood up and brushed himself off. He wasn't dead, so at least he hadn't run headfirst into one of the really bad seadwellers. What the hell was a glubgrub doing around these parts, though? A more tactful individual might have reworded that thought before vocalising it. Cohete did not fall under the parameters of "tactful individual."

"What's a glubgrub like you doing in this shithole?" At least he didn't say it maliciously.

A fair portion of the trolls gathered around began to back up now. If this seadweller was going to go ballistic they wanted to watch the carnage from a safe distance. Regali mainted her standard expression of a small smile, observing everything around her with interest. It was so different to her mountain.

"I felt like a change of scenery," she answered simply. "And my name is Regali, I will have you use it thank you very much."

"Welp. Miss Regali. I hope yer amused." Cohete shrugged, standing up to his full posture. He wasn't gonna let some seadweller outshadow him, no sir. Behind him, something finally exploded; he hoped it wasn't his car. "Are our lowblood shenanigans amusin' you?" That was punctuated by a laugh, which he hoped indicated to the royalty that he didn't mean any harm by it. A lot people tended to assume everything he said meant harm, which wasn't true! (Sometimes.)

"It is not something I had seen before." She considered the troll before her. Seemed rather undisciplined for certain. Still, the races had been interesting. It probably took a degree of wildness to provide the level of grit involved. Still, the fight raging before her was dull. Nothing to it. "You should tell me of these races, Coinet," she turned and beckoned. "Come with me."

Wh... what did she call him? Cohete turned around and looked at the other trolls in the crowd, his face the picture of confusion, but they just gave him a look of "you're so fucked". He shrugged and started following her, wondering what this was about. He was either about to get a gold-plated weapon to the face or a boring seadweller conversation: he hoped it was the latter, because at least those were easy to recover from.

"Where we goin'?"

"It has been significant time since last I left my hive," Regali probably remembered the layout of this city. This was definitely the right way to the markets. "While I visit I wish to purchase new objects to take back with me, alongside more exotic foods. You know this city and thus you will make an adequate guide for me." It had been more than half a sweep since Regali last had troll Italian food. She was looking forward to it.

"Must be great, just manhandlin' random trolls into doin yer bidding. Why are you heading towards the red light district if you want food?" Cohete paused, making a funny face. "Your definition of food is the same as mine, right? 'Cause if it is, you want to take THAT path." He'd heard funny things about seadwellers, man. He really didn't want to be dragged into the Randy Redblood Ranch again.

Regali paused. Wrong direction. "They've changed the layout since last I visited." The fact city layout changing was a bit bigger deal than Regali was writing it off as flew by her unnoticed. Probably for the best. "Which direction should we travel for the shopping districts?" This tealblood would be a benefit after all, rather than a companion to slacken her boredom and enjoyment of conversation. Most excellent.

Cohete's face was sorta frozen in an expression of bemusement now. If she was going to make him hold her hand through the entire commercial zone then there was no way he'd be able to get back to his prized shitheap before it got completely scrapped for parts by thieves. He hoped she didn't have a sharp eye, because he was definitely stealing some of her purchases. "Follow me, fishy. Whoops, I mean, miss Regali." He waved his hands at the street clearly marked "Shopping District Entrance" and walked off, assuming she would follow behind.

She fell in step behind Contae, looking about with interest as he led the way. What would she do first she wondered. Her Lusus would arrive for her in due time, and she wished to have a significant amount purchased to bring back with her. Some new foods that would expand her palette, although they would need to be foods that survived underwater, since her hive was at the bottom of a lake after all. Similarly some new decorations, her hive was quite bare and the small part she occupied she felt could do with more personality.

And perhaps some new reading material. Of course, all three of those things would need to be waterproofed. Honestly the difficulties she was beset by were most concerning. She stopped, now in the middle of the street, and looked about. What shops were where...

The tealblood shrugged. They were in the middle of a pretty big bazaar (by troll standards, anyway), with plenty of various merchants trying to hawk their goods. There were farmers from the countryside flogging authentic lusus wool pyjamas for fifty caegars a pop, mountain-dwelling hermits with mystic carvings (that they probably found in a dumpster somewhere), and at least three enterprising trolls had set up food stands. He could really go for a shish-ke-grub right about now.

"Well, welcome to the shops, lady. Go look at whatever interests ya." He couldn't help but feel a little anxious- the area was primarily dominated by low to middle bloods, and most of them probably wouldn't appreciate a member of their oppressing caste waltzing right into their place of business.

"Hmm, perhaps a restaurant first, it has been some time since last I had professional cooking." Regali paused as she turned, feeling something bounce off her head. Turning back around, she saw a trio of trolls, one tossing a rock up and down. He hadn't thrown it hard enough to do more than catch her attention, but perhaps that would change the second time around.

"Watcha up to fishblood?" The lead of the three sneered. "Visiting us poor lowbloods? Zoo's closed m'lady."

"I have no business with any of you," Regali showed the barest hint of annoyance. She was having trouble deciding what specific meal she would order today. "Be on your way."

"Oh shite." Cohete turned to the trolls and made quick throat-slashing gestures, attempting to convey that it wasn't a good idea to mess with a seadweller. He realised too late that, as a pseudo highblood himself, his message was probably distorted into "fuck off or I'll gut you." "Yo, fish princess, these guys are up for starting shit."

"Ya damn right now butt out, blueboy," the leader of the trio took a menacing step forward. "Fishes shouldn't come swimming in filth, it rubs off on them."

Regali finally paid proper attention to the lowblood. The corners of her mouth twitched, just enough, to give a faint smile. "You'll lose," she stated simply. "I have forseen it."

"Oh really now?" He laughed at her. "Seeing the future are we princess? Look at you coveting what you don't have. Pathetic."

Regali maintained her serene smile. This caused a look of annoyance at his lack of effectiveness to appear on the lowblood's face. Forsaking further banter, he simply took a charge in, swinging a fist around at Regali.

Moving around it was simple. Bending her knees Regali dropped her height below the lowblood and stuck out a palm, straight into his gut. Moving a leg forward, she then shoved him with the full weight of her body.

With incredible speed and force the lowblood flew backwards, crashing into his peers. Standing back up at her full height, Regali turned her back to them and beckoned to Colten. "I believe I remember the location of my favoured restaurant. Come along."

Fuuuuuuuuucccccckkkkk. Cohete had definitely been expecting something like that out of the seadweller, but seeing it in action was something else. A bead of sweat rolled down his neck: what had he gotten himself into?! He would have probably been in less danger if he'd stuck to the race brawl! Too late to flee now. Better just suck it up.

"Is it seafood? I bet it's a seafood joint." He stuck his hands in his jumpsuit pockets and walked after Regali, trying to divert his eyes from the sight of the broken lowbloods on the floor.

"Aha!" Against all odds, Regali had successfully located the restaurant. Troll Italian was hers once more. "I will cover this meal so order as you desire." she gave Contra what she hopped was a friendly smile, changing her default expression was not something she often had cause for. Oh well. Stepping inside, she savoured the smells. Ah yes, this had been a long time coming.

Troll Italian...? Well, at least she had taste. And was he getting a free meal out of this! Score!!! (Not that he was low on funds, being teal and all, but Cohete wasn't exactly the type of person to turn his smellsponge up at a freebie.) He flagged down a waiter and grabbed a table, flipping open the menu with a speed that would make you think he had some sort of acceleration power. "Oi! Waiter! Do you guys do woofbeast bags? Yes? Cool, I'll take everything." He grinned happily. If he was stuck making polite conversation with a crazy strong fish princess for the next hour or so, then he would at least abuse the hell out of her offer.

"Soooooo! Miss Fishgali. How'd you ever find a place like this in the first place?" He leaned back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head. He still wasn't entirely sure he was going to make it out of here alive.

"I have visited this city before," Regali replied simply, opening the menu. "It is the closest to my hive. Furthermore," she took a moment to lower the menu, making eye contact with the tealblood, "I would request you not take advantage of my generosity. My kindness is not without limits and bad manners are your best bet for wearing thing my patience. Something to consider." That said, she raised the menu again. Ah yes, this looked nice.

She placed the same order she made every time she visited the city. The waiter, having been on long enough to know Regali, rolled his eyes the moment his back was to her.

Cohete shrugged. "Alright, laaaaady." Whatever! That was only his first warning. He figured he could get away with one flagrant disrespect before he got the fish punch to his face. "Don't y'all have really fancy markets underwater, though? I didn't know you guys liked stuff that didn't come plated in gold."

"I do not live at the sea," Regali poured herself a glass of water. "And," she raised the glass to her lips, prolonging the gap in her sentence, "I do not believe I am popular among my fellows."

He snorted. "What! How can you be unpopular with seadwellers? Last time I checked, literally the only criteria for being a true glubgrub was "a) have fins" and "b) be capable of punching motherfuckers out cold." You seem to have both down just fine!"

"Well," Regali spun a knife between her fingers, waiting on her meal to arrive, "Consider this: you are currently still alive, are you not?"

"Yeah, but y'all can't just kill everyone you see, or else you'd be outta subjects!"

"Either way the amount of free reign I allow those lower than me is looked upon with disdain by the majority of the aristocracy. It is perhaps a consequence of my life being seperate from them. Nonetheless, I am not blind to the way others treat me." She smiled at the waiter bringing her her meal. She had been looking forward to this.

It took no time at all for Cohete to pick up his fork and stab his incoming food viciously. Like a true male, his trolltalian cuisine was shoveled into his face so fast that it left him no room for talking; a "silence" fell over the table as pasta after pasta met it's demise in his fangs. Eventually he straightened up, stomach full and plate empty.

"That political aristocracy stuff sounds like a dragggg. Why don't you just buy some friends? I bet you'd have plenty of folks fawning over ya if you slipped them a few caegars."

"Hardly my style," Regali raised a napkin, cleaning her face with her meal complete. "Whether fellows or mates I let the hand of fate guide me where it will. The results have yet to displease me."

"Oh, are you into that... spiritual stuff? I never had much stock with that. Some redblood bitch blew the top of my hive off with lasers, haven't been fond of mystic shit since then."

"Everyone has something they believe in," Regali took another sip of her drink. A discrete cough to her side made her look up, where the waiter was standing.

"Lady Nouval," he addressed her, "While I hate cutting short your meal, your Lusus is presently preventing any more customers from entering this establishment. If you would be so kind?"

Regali frowned and stood up. What was her Lusus doing, usually he waited for her at the city upper levels. She hadn't been here that long. Opening the door to the restaurant, a blast of fish breath and a loud roar momentarily stunned her. He was in a foul mood. "This is not what I needed," she muttered. Looking back to Cohtar, she nodded to him. "It would seem our time together is at an end; I thank you for your kindness in assisting me today. Perhaps, fate willing, we will have the opportunity to dine again in the future. Until then, Cohete."

Stepping outside, Regali hopped onto the giant flying eel that was her Lusus. He grumbled at her, and began rising immediately. Whatever was on his nerves she would have to deal with.

In the restaurant below, following Regali's whirlwind exit, the waiter brought Cohete the bill.

Demari was beginning to feel like he was developing a nervous obsession. Every few moments he tapped his wrist, feeling the bracelet around it, making sure it was still there. Sergya and Makina both had assured him the holographic system was perfect, and that he looked completely different from himself. He was still concerned though. Going around as himself was fine, he could do that whenever.

But actually linking himself to the show he ran? He avoided that like an angry subjugglator. Yeah no, he was not comfortable. Still, he'd sent the invitation, he had to maintain composure. He breathed and took a sip from the glass before him.

"I'm hoping the meal is to your liking, Ms. Sanque." God so formal, that wasn't like him either. He probably sounded like wood to her. Why was he doing this? Stupid stupid stupid.

"It's very nice, Mr... Dargin, was it?" The blueblood smiled her distinctive snaggletoothed grin and set her fork down, strategically placed so it'd stop the grub on her plate from wiggling off and making a break for freedom. She had to admit she'd eaten better in her life, but she'd never turn down free food. Especially when she was invited out by a fan! At least, she assumed this guy was a fan. Everybody should be her fan. She was great.

"I'm flattered that you would invite humble old me to such a lovely dinner, sir! How did you come to hear of me?" Shaana battered her overlong eyelashes, effect slightly ruined by the fact her eyes were so bloodshot they were more blue than orange. Oh well.

"It would be a crime not to show my appreciation," Demari meant that, at least. He respected her work immensely. Not many trolls could navigate their own romantic mindfield, let alone those of others. "But I must admit there was a secondary reason I had, in inviting you out. Tell me, have you ever considered expanding your sphere of influence? Having a presence beyond your online hall of advice?"

She raised an eyebrow, curious as to what he was getting at. "Hmm? Well, I do personal consultations sometimes. I've been invited to a party or two, haha. But I suppose those were small, informal occasions. Are you suggesting I break into the music scene? Ohohoho~" Her laugh was a little irritating, but then again, this WAS Shaana we're talking about. She took a sip from her glass and set it down, pausing for what she probably thought was a suitably thoughtful-seeming silence. "Tell me, what are you getting at, dear?"

"Radio." Demari steepled his fingers and focused. Had to get this right, the words, the tone, the poses, everything to the right degree to make the sell. "I happen to represent an interested party who runs their own radio show - You may have heard of Radiolution? They have made remarks about expanding their hosts roster and specifically mentioned your talent for keeping the interest of an audience. I have little doubt that your presence as part of the show would be mutually benefitial, providing a greater volume of listeners, generate more revenue which you would partake of and of course expand your own influence further. It is something to consider."

Shaana was so surprised she clapped her hands together, eyes wide like a wiggler presented with a new and shiny toy. More listeners? More money? "Well, why didn't you mention this before, huh?! I mean, that sounds excellent!" She had to admit she'd never contemplated the idea of being on the wireless before- mostly because she had always dismissed it as oldfashioned- but if it was really going to get her those things he had promised, she'd sell her soul to whoever Radiolution was in a heartbeat.

"My dear, I'm all for this idea! One hundred percent! Tell me more!" She leaned forward in her seat, the picture of interest. Unnoticed by her, her dinner squirmed off the table and began to slowly crawl towards freedom.

"Of course." Demari smiled, and hoped that was communicated through the system he had disguising him. "The current host is something of a recluse, preferring to maintain their contacts with others via proxy. That would be why I am serving as an intermediary today. I am sure though, that should working together prove benefitial to you both, they would happily make motions to meet with you. Here," Demari placed a few documents on the table. "Are reports concerning income by perigee, viewership numbers and other key details, as well as what it will take to set up a system to both relay and join the show from your own hive. Projected profits based on the viewership your column currently sports are beneath that."

Of course, nearly all of these documents were fakes. Demari had never set up Radiolution as a source of profit, it had always been for one reason. Honestly, if he had he'd probably have a much more solid base to work from but good life decisions had never been his forte. Makina was, quite willingly, taking the bill for this one, as much as he'd tried to protest. Honestly that girl did too much for him. But that couldn't be helped, the addition of the Shaana Sanque to his show would be a pivotal moment. He really wanted this to work out.

"Feel free to keep these."

The blueblood picked them up and shuffled through them, although her excitement levels were way too high for her to actually process the words written on the pages. Her thinkpan was already calculating the possibilities of her being on radio- the money made, the new fans, the chances of new and exciting quadrant opportunitiesssokay Shaana settle down you don't need to tell your new associate about that one. She mentally signed and steeled herself, looking back up at "Dargin" with a perky grin.

"Fascinating! So, what were you imagining my segments would consist of? Do I take calls from viewers? When's my first paycheck? Ehehehe~ Ohohoho~"

She really was into this. Demari was thankful for that. For two reasons. One: it made him feel a lot safer behind this disguise, if she was this happy. And two: he really wanted this. It may have been started as a tool but Radiolution was one of his great loves. Seeing it flourish was happiness for him. "I believe the specific content would be left to your imagination," he continued, "Something based off your current advice column style perhaps? Callers are always an option, as is adding something to differ yourself from the column, perhaps reader sent stories? I am sure you would know best. Perhaps you would even be able to combine your show and the column, taking reader requests online, answering them via radio and posting those answers after the show? The possibilities are no doubt endless."

Pay Demari was thinking about a lot right now. He couldn't leech off Makina to handle this, that wasn't him. But he definitely wasn't going to leave Shaana here high and dry. He'd need to figure this out. "The next show is scheduled in seven hours from now, arrangements can be made in that timeframe for you to join the casting as a special guest. Your impact on the show and reception based on that will allow us to make better predictions on how well this will benefit you, and decide on a paycheck you would receive on a by the show basis."

Demari thought that sounded right. Business wasn't his strong suit. "I hope that is satisfactory for you?"

She stroked her chin thoughtfully. "I suppose that'll do. We'll do a first run and see how it goes, hmm? Where do we record this?"

"Live casting." Demari withdrew a usb, placing it on the table for the troll opposite. "The program on this will provide you the abiltiy to join the casting today. All you need do is connect and talk."

Shaana snatched it up and flipped it over, examining it (although she didn't actually know that much about technology). "Excellent. Recording from the comfort of my own hive... you do know how to treat a lady!" Her laughter sounded again, and she went to go pick up her fork- only to discover a dismaying lack of food. "Oh."

Demari hid a small chuckle, leaving himself with a smile. Finishing his drink, he stood and placed the money to cover the meal on the table. "It has been a pleasure, Ms Sangue. I look forward to hearing your voice once more this evening."