Day Three

[Gildarts]

There was a stern determination painted on his face for a moment, it spread from deep within the layers of the way he held his eyes on the spot she had vanished from, and the emotion sulked a bit on his lip. The veteran was overly aware that it wasn't just his comrades watching, but Karl as well. He would carry on Guu's honor, by fulfilling her last wish. It was the only way he knew how to survive in a place that pitted people against themselves with the betrayal of temptation. Still, all he felt he could do was set a good example for those watching and the powerfuk Prime nodded to the empty air which his leader had gone from.

By the sound of things, Karl was on a killing spree. The mage smirked a bit, but Guu was alive and well. It finally felt like they had gotten one over on ol' Karl Jak and in this moment, the game master seemed a little more conquerable. "Careful Karl, your humanity is showing."

Droplets of crimson were speckled along his forearm. He was marked with the blood of the innocent. Needless carnage was always a pity. You didn't even know who you were really fighting against.

For the once-tricked Gildarts, the obvious answer of who his enemy really was dwelled only on Game Master Karl Jak, whose name was known by each participant, but never explicitly stated as a competitor. Karl was his ultimate rival, the most sound competitor in the game, and the only real winner.

Guu had left a snazzy looking shield behind. It seemed to have its own symbol embellished on it, and for some reason when he had touched it, he felt empowered with freedom. Gildarts was busy trying to attach it to his arm when a mouse appeared from some rattling brambles.

At the sound he had immediately readied, on high alert and clutched his Gunblade with careful precision of his prosthetic hand. Once it was decided that Mickey was a friend, Gildarts took it upon himself to make an introduction, it was a good example, and the kiddies were watching.

"Hi there, I'm Gildarts." He went through thr motions of extending a mangled hand, and lifted his silver limb, "Looks like I don't really have a good hand to offer you."

The smoldering pain had been numbed out by his sheer sense of mental fortitude, but as he has shifted his weapon away to meet the Mouse's glove with his armored arm, he felt the unhinging intensity of his awful agony thrash in the back of his mind where the never-tamed magic lashed in distress.

A glimpse of this shooting pain was sure to have shown in the most minute expression across his face as he reached toward the mouse, who eyed him with consideration before offering his own gleeful introduction. "Howdy! Nice to meetcha! I'm Mickey Mouse!"

Mickey had met warriors, and thought at least for the time being he wouldn't mention the severity for the sake of something so petty as Pride, but Samus wouldn't like it. If Mickey knew her, she wouldn't appreciate a liability. Still, he couldn't help but feel some compassion, and planned to show his concern for the injury a little later.

After their greeting, time seemed to glide by as a map was revealed and Gildarts finally was able to get a clear view of the coordinates that had been narrowly avoided as well as the deadly consequence that happened should they be stepped on.

The only problem with Guu's request was that he had no idea where to look for the purple one. Quickly the Prime got a good look at the map's crossed or lettering and reconsidered the best avenue to take.

"And which direction did you come from Mickey? Did you see anything?" Useful Intel would be valuable in this killer climate.

The others didn't seem to mind Gildarts' presence one way or another, and they had been put in a boat of mutual hatred for those people who were playing the game. Twenty had died -no, had been murdered- and he had played right into Karl's excuse and used self defense as a reason. If he were completely honest with himself, Guu's mission offered him momentary solace from the idea that the abyss had created a monster-killing machine out of him. He was ready to leave that in the dust, or at least he thought so, until the idea of a fated battle to test his limits grew in his mind with more and more appeal.

He fished around in his bag and found some tools that mortals used to survive and guzzled some satiating water. It also looked like there was food in those aluminum sacks, and Gildarts decided to shake up some grub.