12-15-2017, 11:37 PM
The gates, almost twenty feet tall, made the almost typical creaking sound that was loud that anybody nearby would feel it in their chest. Still, Morene stood stationary, waiting for the koopalings threatening her with spearpoints for their cue to move a muscle. Quickly, a nod followed from the both of them in unison.
These soldiers seemed to really not trust the woman, despite her efforts in saving the area from dark energy zombies. Either way, Morene walked forward, and King Koopa immediately raised his voice.
"Lower your weapons, you jumpy dolts, she is of no harm."
The order issued by the kappas' higher-up went into effect almost instantaneously. As grateful as Morene should have been, she couldn't help but hold back a chortle at the benevolent king's vocabulary. Dolts? She rolled her eyes in a typical 'oh, you!' sitcom-friendly fashion, trying her hardest to remain serious. She figured at this point that perhaps getting on this man's good side wasn't going to be too difficult. Still, he was of royal heritage, and Morene waited for his eventual follow-up. Bowser spoke once more, making sure he let his presence be known.
"Liberator, explain yourself; I've got a bad headache, like just about everybody who had to deal with that situation."
Bowser's head lowered, and Morene continued to walk forward. A gutsy maneuver, but at this point, neither of them felt as if they needed to be too careful here.
"My name," the huntress responded, "is Morene Fellon of Creedmoor. I know I come in on a very intense time for you and your kingdom, but I simply wish to... perhaps get to know the man indirectly responsible for keeping me and my allies alive."
Morene nodded, continuing with slight hesitation, "A few questions as well, if you don't mind?"
Bowser snorted, smoke coming from his protruding snout.
"Oh, no, you all saved me from at least five more migraines, so you don't owe me much. Even those... darned twerps from... What, the Blades or whatever?" Under her helmet, Morene couldn't help but smile at how not-at-all menacing this kappa was, despite his rather mountainous size.
He kept going, unaware that Morene was standing almost right behind him.
"Eugh, ask away. I've got nothing much better to do until my scouts come back anyways."
"Very well," Morene clasped her armored hands together, making the Koopa jump in surprise, "might you have any information as to why the Liberators not currently residing in your daughter's garrison attacked you?"
"Jeez, take off your helmet bud, this isn't THAT serious..."
Clicking a button beneath her gorget, the woman's helmet folded itself snugly at the back of the bun in her hair. Wide-eyed, Bowser seemed... intrigued. A girl was talking to him the whole time? Not even Rosalina was that... wide. Shaking his head, Bowser attempted to respond accordingly.
"Er... No, we don't have much of anything. Unless you plan on knockin' 'em down a size or two, I don't feel as if they're much of a threat anyways," Bowser sighed, looking over with full confidence that statement was a true one.
The huntress was almost disappointed at the answer, but she didn't expect much else in all honesty. After all, who would follow the intentions of some random mischievous demon-boy with almost no discipline?
...Well, Morene mentally corrected herself, Kuzuru was a power-hungry Prime who didn't care for the lives of his very own teammates, so perhaps her and Bowser were a bit too quick to jump to that conclusion. Either way, now wasn't the time to worry about that. She paused, only to come up with another short question to ask the king.
"In that case, I'll lighten the mood, perhaps? Where do you get the time to build these structures? They're quite pretty."
Bowser's rather large eyebrows perked up at the question. The innocence of it was... strange, needless to say. It's almost like she wasn't here to discuss professional matters with the man. If asked, Morene more than likely would have shamelessly responded with a definite 'of course.' Besides, Morene herself needed something wholesome to contrast with the terribly and literally heated chaos of the Ashen Steppes.
"Uh..." Bowser looked away, almost flattered. Making a rather awkward expression, Morene didn't even let the kappa try to answer that.
"Hah, you don't need to answer that, 'twas a bit strange of me! I honestly don't have much else to ask you at the moment."
"...Eh," the Koopa replied, "I think I just... enjoy how orderly big ol' castles are, ignoring the whole feel-like-a-king aspect of it. Which is most DEFINITELY why, don't mistake yourself."
Morene let out a bit of a chuckle.
"Surely," the huntress held her chin, "it's a bit difficult getting around some of these garrisons while some of your soldiers are so short-statured, no?"
Surprisingly enough, king Bowser himself responded with a hearty laugh of his own, however short lived.
"Tell me about it; it probably wasn't a good idea to give my children responsibility making an entire defense fortress, but I gotta spoil 'em every once in a while."
As Morene expected, looking onto the king, the smile that was just on his face quickly faded as he looked onto the rubble before him.
A short moment of silence followed. Looking back, the guards previously pointing pikes at her stood still at the gates, almost like marble statues. It reminded Morene very quickly that she was somewhere safe for once. Standing at the edge of the garrison's porch, Bowser himself stayed quiet, letting out a short sigh. It didn't take long for the armored woman beside him to take a seat, however horribly dangerous it was to sit down at the edge of the roof of a structure about four-hundred feet in the air. Not as if the huntress cared; she was sure both her and the kappa could have survived falls much greater than that.
For a short moment in time, Morene felt good. Even if she was nowhere near home, she had somewhere to stay for a while. There was something reassuring that, yes, despite there being a literal benevolent turtle-king next to her, he still seemed to enjoy the smaller things in life.
"Hm," Morene perked up, "I need to go check on Ebony and Summer soon enough. Do you mind if I take my leave, your highness?"
"Go ahead, but, do me a favor? Just call me king Bowser. All that other stuff is a bit... much, yeah."
Giggling a bit more, Morene nodded her head, slowly raising herself upright and taking her leave.
As she continued to walk off, saying farewell to the king before her, Morene looked down at her wrist as she took note of the Liberator aid still beeping gently on her wrist, reminding her once more that this job she committed herself to was far from over.
These soldiers seemed to really not trust the woman, despite her efforts in saving the area from dark energy zombies. Either way, Morene walked forward, and King Koopa immediately raised his voice.
"Lower your weapons, you jumpy dolts, she is of no harm."
The order issued by the kappas' higher-up went into effect almost instantaneously. As grateful as Morene should have been, she couldn't help but hold back a chortle at the benevolent king's vocabulary. Dolts? She rolled her eyes in a typical 'oh, you!' sitcom-friendly fashion, trying her hardest to remain serious. She figured at this point that perhaps getting on this man's good side wasn't going to be too difficult. Still, he was of royal heritage, and Morene waited for his eventual follow-up. Bowser spoke once more, making sure he let his presence be known.
"Liberator, explain yourself; I've got a bad headache, like just about everybody who had to deal with that situation."
Bowser's head lowered, and Morene continued to walk forward. A gutsy maneuver, but at this point, neither of them felt as if they needed to be too careful here.
"My name," the huntress responded, "is Morene Fellon of Creedmoor. I know I come in on a very intense time for you and your kingdom, but I simply wish to... perhaps get to know the man indirectly responsible for keeping me and my allies alive."
Morene nodded, continuing with slight hesitation, "A few questions as well, if you don't mind?"
Bowser snorted, smoke coming from his protruding snout.
"Oh, no, you all saved me from at least five more migraines, so you don't owe me much. Even those... darned twerps from... What, the Blades or whatever?" Under her helmet, Morene couldn't help but smile at how not-at-all menacing this kappa was, despite his rather mountainous size.
He kept going, unaware that Morene was standing almost right behind him.
"Eugh, ask away. I've got nothing much better to do until my scouts come back anyways."
"Very well," Morene clasped her armored hands together, making the Koopa jump in surprise, "might you have any information as to why the Liberators not currently residing in your daughter's garrison attacked you?"
"Jeez, take off your helmet bud, this isn't THAT serious..."
Clicking a button beneath her gorget, the woman's helmet folded itself snugly at the back of the bun in her hair. Wide-eyed, Bowser seemed... intrigued. A girl was talking to him the whole time? Not even Rosalina was that... wide. Shaking his head, Bowser attempted to respond accordingly.
"Er... No, we don't have much of anything. Unless you plan on knockin' 'em down a size or two, I don't feel as if they're much of a threat anyways," Bowser sighed, looking over with full confidence that statement was a true one.
The huntress was almost disappointed at the answer, but she didn't expect much else in all honesty. After all, who would follow the intentions of some random mischievous demon-boy with almost no discipline?
...Well, Morene mentally corrected herself, Kuzuru was a power-hungry Prime who didn't care for the lives of his very own teammates, so perhaps her and Bowser were a bit too quick to jump to that conclusion. Either way, now wasn't the time to worry about that. She paused, only to come up with another short question to ask the king.
"In that case, I'll lighten the mood, perhaps? Where do you get the time to build these structures? They're quite pretty."
Bowser's rather large eyebrows perked up at the question. The innocence of it was... strange, needless to say. It's almost like she wasn't here to discuss professional matters with the man. If asked, Morene more than likely would have shamelessly responded with a definite 'of course.' Besides, Morene herself needed something wholesome to contrast with the terribly and literally heated chaos of the Ashen Steppes.
"Uh..." Bowser looked away, almost flattered. Making a rather awkward expression, Morene didn't even let the kappa try to answer that.
"Hah, you don't need to answer that, 'twas a bit strange of me! I honestly don't have much else to ask you at the moment."
"...Eh," the Koopa replied, "I think I just... enjoy how orderly big ol' castles are, ignoring the whole feel-like-a-king aspect of it. Which is most DEFINITELY why, don't mistake yourself."
Morene let out a bit of a chuckle.
"Surely," the huntress held her chin, "it's a bit difficult getting around some of these garrisons while some of your soldiers are so short-statured, no?"
Surprisingly enough, king Bowser himself responded with a hearty laugh of his own, however short lived.
"Tell me about it; it probably wasn't a good idea to give my children responsibility making an entire defense fortress, but I gotta spoil 'em every once in a while."
As Morene expected, looking onto the king, the smile that was just on his face quickly faded as he looked onto the rubble before him.
A short moment of silence followed. Looking back, the guards previously pointing pikes at her stood still at the gates, almost like marble statues. It reminded Morene very quickly that she was somewhere safe for once. Standing at the edge of the garrison's porch, Bowser himself stayed quiet, letting out a short sigh. It didn't take long for the armored woman beside him to take a seat, however horribly dangerous it was to sit down at the edge of the roof of a structure about four-hundred feet in the air. Not as if the huntress cared; she was sure both her and the kappa could have survived falls much greater than that.
For a short moment in time, Morene felt good. Even if she was nowhere near home, she had somewhere to stay for a while. There was something reassuring that, yes, despite there being a literal benevolent turtle-king next to her, he still seemed to enjoy the smaller things in life.
"Hm," Morene perked up, "I need to go check on Ebony and Summer soon enough. Do you mind if I take my leave, your highness?"
"Go ahead, but, do me a favor? Just call me king Bowser. All that other stuff is a bit... much, yeah."
Giggling a bit more, Morene nodded her head, slowly raising herself upright and taking her leave.
As she continued to walk off, saying farewell to the king before her, Morene looked down at her wrist as she took note of the Liberator aid still beeping gently on her wrist, reminding her once more that this job she committed herself to was far from over.