Hanako Herupa

IC: (Hanako) "Ah...yes it would be better to speak inside," I replied, still a little in awe of all that had transpired in their journey and now their arrival. There were many matters to attend to, my own individual questions, and the questions that others wanted to ask must wait. "Thank you Leah and Ga-Koro for opening the port for our submersible. I am also glad you were there when that vagabond attacked it. So you have my thanks. There's quite a few reasons we came here, one of them being we know so little of each other. We are intrigued as excited as any of you. So we wanted to open ourselves to you, so that we could better know and understand each other. This town has such natural beauty, the lilypads, the huts, the use of bamboo. That and it is quite active. Anyways I apologize for my distraction. We came here to learn, but to also see if we could not only open ourselves to you just culturally, but through trade as well. There is so much the Dasaka and Mata Nui people can learn from each other." I just hoped I wasn't going to step on any toes, cultural clash could be an issue. It was one I would like to avoid.

IC: (Sakuya) "Yes, but the material is rather dry anyways. I didn't expect to see you here, by the way. It's nice to see you around." She looked over his book, she moved ahead of him by just a little, so she flipped open her book. "So you're still on the Articles of Confederation. Take what you think is relevant, all that stuff. Mainly dates, and locations if they're mentioned. I know most students are so bored with history, because they feel like it doesn't matter to them. Got to make it important enough for your brain to remember, it'll do the rest of the work." Sakuya smirked, pointing to some of her notes. "We also quiz each other later if you're available. History's actually rather fun for me. Just don't ask me to give you calculus answers. That is definitely my weakest link." IC: (Asa) "Yeah, I'm fine," Asa replied with smile, only to follow her answer with a yawn. She really didn't, she spent a good portion of her night getting the baking done, mainly because she couldn't sleep. Then she spent more time in her bedroom trying to get sleep, eventually her body gave way to exhaustion, and halted her insomnia, however by then she had only got about five hours or less of sleep. "It's really hard to see myself opening a bakery," She answered Angela. She sipped her coffee, she looked so thoroughly exhausted. She barely attempted to cover up the fact she didn't get any sleep. Though that was mostly because she couldn't put in the effort on such low energy.

IC: (Sakuya) "Having some trouble?" Sakuya asked, as she pulled up a seat beside Dallas. She had noticed he was struggling between his work and ignoring said work. Most of the time history wasn't that fun for anyone, but she'd still rank it above the required math courses. History was just a bunch of notetaking, but she realized there were other ways to write down information, you could give exact dates and all that required work, but then mix in a little humor to keep yourself amused. "First thing, put the iPod away, and I'll go over my notes with you. I've gotten a big chunk done already."

IC: (Asa) A large plate of covered cookies sat upon the coffee table, placed there by Asa. The mercenary found she didn't get much sleep, not that she had gotten much sleep before she came here. Sometimes it was a bout of insomnia, other times it was paranoia. Lying awake at night, wondering whether you were going to be hunted down by SHIELD or someone less likely to pull their punches. That and if anything SHIELD wasn't get softer any time soon. Depending on how much of a problem they thought she was, she wouldn't doubt them taking her out if needed. Wasn't really SHIELD that worried her, there were jobs she took, the kind of people that paid, but didn't do so willing. Heck, even Osborn considered her expendable, and it was only really Daken who didn't decide to pull the trigger. She was thankful for that, but she could have been just as unlikely, if she didn't tickle Daken's fancy just right, she would have been a corpse. She liked him, heck she trusted him, but there was this side of her that wondered. She felt like there were moments where Daken opened to her, that he was honest, but other times where he closed off, made a joke, or showered her with a gift. Was she clingy? Was she suffocating him? Was she just like any other girl or guy he could have? As a result of these fears and frustrations, Asa got up in a groggy state, stumbling into the game room in her shorts and t-shirt. She smiled weakly at Daken and waved at Angela, before moving to pour herself a cup of coffee and a cookie. She had no quip, no joke. Just a soft spoken. "Good morning." IC: (Sakuya) Sakuya Harada stood outside her first class for the day, normally she didn't like getting to class so early. She was good at taking notes though, and it allowed her to section off a bit of time in class, writing lyrics, and notes in the last few pages of her notebooks. She did this with almost all of her school notebooks. You could open one up, flip to the pages in back and always find something there. So she sat on the bench outside of class with those few pages and a pen in her hand. She'd write a line, cross it out. She write down musical notes, only to fill the margins with a million ways it could be changed, though unsure of which was better. Sakuya's problem was she seemed to radiate an aura that seemed to be standoffish. She had done a few extreme things, made some points clear, didn't suffer fools gladly, and didn't reach out a lot when she should have. She didn't like thinking those things, there were ways to make passing the time alone easier. Working out, writing music, playing her guitar, playing video games, classes. However when the weekend came and no one was there, everyone else was hanging out with everyone else. Well...that's when the reality had a way of sinking in.

IC: (Kino) There are some voices, faces that you never forget, all for different reasons. I remembered that voice, the calm and smooth sound to it, I remember those dark green eyes and I remember the pain in them. I remember running across rooftops. I remember trying to be a hero in a town full of thieves and murderers. I remember friendship, family, and I remember death. I remember killing bad people, killing good people, killing people who just happened to be in the wrong place. I remember prostrating myself before a dark god, the closest thing I had to in my teens as a father figure. I remember Pae, I remember everything we did together. I remember we were always there for each other. I remember giving him a job and I remember walking away from the organization. I remember little white pebbles. "Pae...it's good to see you," I said. I noticed that someone else was with him, but I didn't ask. I felt that flood of emotions, each all mixed up and I tried to sort through them all. I wrapped him in a hug before pulling back, an outburst of compassion, Pae was my friend, the very best, and he had always been loyal to a fault, and I to him. Yet...I feel as though I abandoned him, that I left him to this dark life and he had enough of it. He deserved better.

IC: (Kino Iho) I was making my way to the Lavapool, weaving through the throng of matoran, Toa, and other species in the Ta-Koro Marketplace. Growing up in a humid environment like the Kumu Islets, the dry heat of the volcano was actually more comfortable than back home. Ta-Koro was a city of industry, of forges and choking black smoke. The marketplace was like any other, granted Ga being a coastal city had us beat in sheer variety, Onu-Koro was the other big marketplace, the biggest. Basically if things didn't go through Onu, they would go through Ga. Ta-Koro was a forge city, a city of creators. It felt good being a part of that, protecting that. I moved through the market slowly, easing my way around people. I needed to gather more knowledge about these "Piraka" and see what damage they had wrought upon us. I needed to know how bad the threat was, a solid understanding of my enemy. I had a good thing here, good people, and to be honest it was the longest time since I had done some good. Most of my life had be a lot of bad, a lot of rotten things to atone for. Lot of mistakes that were made, things that still hang around my neck like a millstone, dragging me down. Here, in Ta-Koro, I could make up for that.

IC: (Hanako Herupa) There was so much to take it, so many things that were happening at once, and I couldn't possibly respond to all of it. Lengthy individual talks would have to wait for later, for now we were learning a great deal about their culture, their government makeup, and I found it quite interesting. They lived a less rigid lifestyle it seemed, they were bound by caste or a rulership that seemed to lord over them, but rather civil servants acting for the common good of their people. In other words nothing like ours. I heard Asa's question to them, but decided to ask my own, to further elaborate on what Eutuchia had said. "Toa Leah, what is Eutuchia speaking of?" I asked.

IC: (Sakuya) Sakuya flipped through the albums, until she came upon an album, self titled, with light blue and purplish hues, looking inside the album itself was robin egg blue. She had hear a few of their songs before, loved the work. She loved this second, self-titled album the most of their work. Was a little saddened the group was now defunct, but at least they managed to turn out some good work before they fell apart. She came upon beside Dallas, reaching for her own cash. Seeing Dallas giggle, she chuckled. "Huh you and I are alike, music is our sweet tooth craving we need to fill. How about you let me buy the album this time." She smirked and pulled out the money for both his and her albums. "There we go, you can pay me back later if you like. Don't have to though."

IC: (Hanako Herupa) I had no idea that some of the island's inhabitants would be so hyperactive, especially the one matoran who had came aboard. Or the one that was trying to be a show off with his control over metal. It was exciting and interesting, a Toa like that could throw our entire economy out of control. That and some were said to control other elements as well, to create metal out of thin air it was almost magical, but I couldn't be dazed by such displays, not at the moment at least. I need to speak with the leader of the village, or the next best person to speak to. I spoke to those crowding around the submarine. "I apologize to those of you who have many questions for us. Trust me, we have many questions for you, we are as excited as you are. That said we have duties and honors. We must speak to your leader, if they are available. We wish to give our respects and speak with them," To be honest with a situation like this I could have spent all the time here speaking with every individual. Getting to know them, how they were governed, how their economy worked, what technologies they had created. This was a mission of peace, of exploration. I bet things would be exciting for us on Kentoku, granted most Dasaka respected authority enough, unfortunately because they usually met with some punishment if they did not. That was one thing I was glad to see, that they were not so zealous as to punish them. Dakte's methods they were for protecting the sub and those aboard it, they were extreme measures. I thought on those with us, Soraya being one of them, and realizing I still needed to speak with her. Well, I'd have to wait for that till later, right now I had responsibilities to handle before I handled personal issues like that.

IC: (Sakuya) "Well that definitely sounds exciting." Sakuya chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you say that, I came after all that happened." They had finally reached the store, and Sakuya opened the door, waiting for Dallas to walk in, she'd follow. Dallas seemed to have a rather unorthodox approach to grabbing his music. Not that it seemed bad, mixed things up, albeit some of the bands and songs were pretty bad, she usually went with things closer to her interests, and branched out from there.

IC: (Sakuya) Sakuya had listened to it all, she didn't interject, didn't cut Dallas off at any point. Partly because she was an outsider and wanted to know what was going on. She could see though, that Dallas needed to talk about it. So she didn't open her mouth, not till he was finished. "That's a lot to go through, and I can see why you're frustrated. You want your old friend back, but his time over in that other world changed him. He's more aloof, and it just feels wrong to you. Thing is, sounds like whatever happened. He's still recovering. You want to help him, but it seems like there's a wall in the way. You want to understand, and yet you can't, at least not at the moment. That's a lot of heavy stuff to be dealing with," Sakuya replied. "I'm glad you told me, it's good to let that all out. It wasn't boring, it just sucks that you had to go through all that." Sakuya kicked a pebble, and watched it bounce along the sidewalk. "So got any idea of what vinyls you want to pick up at the store?" Sakuya asked, after everything Dallas told her she thought about hugging him. The guy needed a hug, but she didn't want to make it awkward, especially after just meeting him. She already liked him, he was fun, and he cared for his friends a lot. He had been through a lot, and Sakuya's previous frustration over the idea that the X-Men was basically canceled, seemed wrong. They were just kids, teenagers after all and they were forced to grow up far too fast. Right a trip the record store sounded good, sounded like something that could help, and she could know him better.

IC: (Hanako Herupa) After taking that deep breath, I looked at the seaside town know as Ga-Koro. It seemed from what she could see it was comprised mostly of lily-pads, big and stable enough to support a variety of huts, and other buildings upon them. Combined with the weight of all of its people, it seemed much like a marvel of its own. I was surprised to see a small boat rowing out so soon after we emerged from the depths of the sea. I know Ayiwah could speak to them, but it was my responsibilities to make a good impression for my people. While I heard the previous expedition, had came upon this Koro, it was only for a short time, and relatively hush-hush. What we had done was like showing up to a party with a marching band, so of course I could see people in the streets of this village, staring at us, wondering what we would do next. I heard a clang, seeing that one of these matoran had struck our submersible with her oar, on the same boat there was a Toa and also another one on his own raft beside them. Perhaps they were emissaries from the village sent out to great us, either way it was important to make a good first impression. I avoided initially the dresses that I could have choose from, choosing my red handmaiden robes, albeit with a pin that Yumiwa had requested I wear. I keep the hood down and walked closer to those three beings who came so close to ship and waved to them. Finally having enough confidence to speak. "Salutations! I am Hanako Herupa, Emissary of the Umbraline Empire and its Empress, Yumiwa Umbraline," I then motioned to Commodore Ayiwah. "This is Commodore Ayiwah Umbraline of the Imperial Navy and commander of this vessel, the Chisai Ryuu. We wish to make port in this village and ask permission to come ashore. We have spent many days traveling from our land, the Kentoku Archipelago. I apologize for any chaos our arrival may have caused. You have a truly beautiful port, I must say." I smiled, I kept my tone formal, but tried to avoid sounding stuffy. I was excited, but I had to kept formal, I wanted to ask them so many questions about this island, about themselves. This seemed like such grand adventure, I wanted to see what I could from, to fully immerse myself in the beauty of another culture.

IC: (Hanako) I had stayed out of the fight, as per Ayiwah's request. She made it abundantly clear she'd rather not spare sailors and soldiers to keep me in my quarters. I wanted to help, but I also knew that I wasn't a soulsword, I did not have the martial prowess that they did. So after the fighting had stopped I made my way to the medical bay, I had some training in first aid, and I could likely lend help to my fellow Dasaka. I had dressed in grey robes, an outfit that I didn't mind getting dirty. I came into the medical bay, see those ailing from the various issues that the beast had plagued them with. "Lady Asa, may I assist you?" I said, bowing slightly. I wanted to help, being unable to contribute in the fight made me feel worthless. I wanted to help, and I didn't like to see people in pain. I could help her, maybe not with skills some doctors had, but with general help.

IC: (Kino Iho) By the time I made to the front desk, I was done fuming. Joske might have rubbed me the wrong way, but I needed to fulfill my duty as a detective of the Guard. I made my way to the front desk, happening upon the secretary who had apparently bumped into the white one. "Hello, I'm Kino I wanted to talk to you about your run-in with one of the Piraka, also see if you can hand me off some other witnesses as well as the cell the blue boy was locked up in," I said. Given all that had happened, I wasn't curt with him, had no reason to be. Some cops were impatient people, usually gloryhounds or generally bad people to work with. I found that more amiable approach was often the best. Anyways we we're both of the guard, albeit he was one of those poor unfortunate souls that rode desk jockey. Some people liked it, but paperwork was truly the worse part of the job. If you're thinking I got into this job because of the benefits you'd be wrong though. I know why I did, and right now I wanted to live up to what a Ta-Koro detective was supposed to be like. Actually hunting down people responsible, making things right.

IC: (Hari "Arina") "I can handle myself. No need to worry about me," Hari replied, giving the cocky smirk that most mercenaries seemed to wear upon their faces. So he did know about the man known as Tykoh. That was good, it meant she was on the right track towards finding the man who had last seen her parents alive. "That's good, I was hoping this wouldn't be another dead end. So, if I may inquire, how do you know him? Or if you'd rather not talk about that, would you know where to find him? She's been looking for quite a bit, I'd like to solve it quickly for her, that and I don't want to take up much of your time." Hari tried to avoid being brusque, she didn't want this man to slam the door in her face, it was really the only lead she had. She had heard the genuine concern in the Lesterin's voice, so he definitely did not seem like a bad guy, just a little wary, which was understandable, especially on this side of the town.

IC: (Kino Iho) "Wow it's like I'm not even here!" I said. I mean I'm glad that Angelus is seeing his old friend, but it felt like there was some club and I wasn't invited. Instead I was standing at the side, and feeling more than a little left out. I had heard enough about the Piraka, Vault and all that, because I was, standing right there in the rec room with them. "I'm Kino Iho and you must be Joske Nimil. I'll see you two later, you seem to need to catch up on some things." I wanted to throw out some biting sarcastic remark about his manners, about his behavior, but instead I just stuffed it all inwards. This was a friend of Angelus, and me getting an attitude over being left out wasn't right. I'd go down to the crime scene, and doing some investigating, starting with the cell our blue Piraka was held at. I wasn't going to wait for things to happen, wait for some divine destiny to sweep me up. I wanted to know what was going on, but I also knew from the way Joske dropped his voice, he didn't want me around. So I took the hint and left. I started making my way towards the cell, something had to get accomplished around here.

IC: (Sakuya) "Oh, so he's your pet! Thought it was kind of strange to see a fox this far into town." She said, before sipping her lemonade. Thankfully the water was melting, most people didn't like their drinks watered down, but her first cup and been far too sweet for her. She walked over, looking at the pleased fox as Dallas pet him. "Hello Morrison, aren't you an interesting little fox. Gonna keep following us, or continuing snacking on those fries?" She said, before turning to Dallas. "So about that walk and talk, I think there's a shop near here so we can talk about, what happened, you know if you want. I'm not gonna push, but what's going on between you and Alex?" IC: (Asa) Asa Thurman couldn't get any sleep. After four hours of tossing and turning, she awoke around 2:13 AM. Not exactly the time she intended to be up, but it didn't seem she would get any worthwhile rest. She had some games on her computer, but they were so boring right now. That and every time she thought of booting one up, she quickly quit out of a feeling that she was wasting her time. So she did something else, a little more productive. She wrapped an apron around her she had hanging in a closet. She went to the kitchen, started pulling out some bowls, some measuring cups, and a couple of ingredients. Back when Asa was on her own, she baked. There was a certainty to baking, baked goods often required exact measurements, and complete adherence to the recipe. At first she baked because she had something of a sweet tooth, but she found another reason she liked it. That exactness baking required, the work put into it. It gave her something to focus on. Gave her order when she needed it, and the work allowed her to think. Sometimes she found it easier to think about life when she was multitasking. She thought about how her life had led here, she wasn't really surprised about working with a group of mercenaries. It was her line of work, she'd be working with and against other mercenaries. That was just her line of work. What she didn't expect is that she'd fall in love. She didn't expect to find herself fawning over a guy, like she did with Daken. Lovers before were the kind that burnt out quickly. As she wasn't exactly open in her relationships, she didn't like baring herself to others. It meant getting closer than she wanted, it meant truly falling in love. She figured she'd live fast and die fast. Her entire life slammed on the brakes when Daken spared her that one day. When he said one thing, but his actions said more. He had defied orders for her, he could have just as easily killed her and go on his way. He didn't though Daken said he "fancied" her. That there was something about her, and well. She never thought anyone would do that for her, most mercs would have easily killed her and moved on. Daken didn't. Now Asa had finished stirring, and placed the cookies into the oven, before prepping another cookie sheet. So she started falling, a lot harder and faster than she intended, now it wasn't just simple attraction, she felt something growing between them, but Daken wouldn't let on, he cared for her, but love. Daken never explicitly stated that, sometimes it felt like he did, other times she wondered if it was just a casual encounter. Those latter thoughts were quickly squashed as her trust in him grew. Now though she was a little frustrated with herself. He was only gone for a night and yet here she was baking treats and unable to sleep. She pulled out the first sheet, before scooping a hot cookie off and grabbing a glass of milk. She wasn't much of a cook, that was something she left up to Daken to handle. So far he hadn't let her down yet, in that or a lot of things.

IC: (Sakuya) Sakuya eyed the fox suspiciously, before finishing the rest of her burger and grabbing her fries. Dallas seemed to just barely be holding it together, him and Alex had lost someone, wasn't her place to ask, wasn't her place to know. However she knew when someone was suffering, and when the guy that was supposedly his best friend had ran off for some reason, abandoning him. It didn't feel right, she might not have had the empathy power Dallas had, but she could tell when someone was twisted up and sad, frustrated with the world. She tossed the fox another fry before walking inside. "Hey Dallas, wanna go for a walk and a talk?" She asked, placing her hand on Dallas' and helping with taking her cup out of his hands. They really just met, but she couldn't leave a guy to suffer like this, no matter how awkward it seemed. He needed a friend, and she would do her best to be one.

IC: (Sakuya) Sakuya Harada smiled back, though a little unaware that she was smiling. She had gotten herself a bacon cheeseburger and was halfway through it when Dallas had spoken to her. She swallowed her current bite down and sipped her lemonade before she responded. Sake noticed there seemed to some frustration in the air between Dallas and Alex. "Well a few, not much. As you said you haven't really shown up. Surprised some of them keep calling you, I don't think I've seen you in any of them," She replied. At least as far as she remembered. She heard things about him, all the chaos that had happened. She was the school, but she was never in front of anything like Dallas and the others were.

IC: (Kino) "Hey hot stuff, waiting for the axe to fall?" I sighed, knowing full well Jaller was going to be ####### us both out pretty soon. Angelus didn't deserve it though, if I hadn't ask him to go out with me. He would have been here. And yet at the same time as much I as I felt guilty for not being there, and felt guilty for distracting Angelus. I had really liked last night. Now though I'd find those people who did this, those Piraka. I'd gut them for ruining what would have been a perfect night, by messing up my Koro. I intended to walk in there will Angelus explain what happened last night and why we weren't available. Then we'd get to more important things, like actually hunting these people down.

IC: (Hari) Well the report must have gotten Roth wrong or someone had messed with the records, either way I wasn't expecting a Lesterin, or one pointing a gun at my face. So surprise had coloured my face for about a minute before I had finally relaxed and spoke to Roth. "Hello, my name is Arina, I'm looking for man who goes by the name of Tykoh. This girl had paid me to find him, nothing violent or anything like that. I think she just wants to find him. I dug around and found you might have known him. You're Roth right?" Parts of what I said were true, which was what made it easier to tell. This man, was really one of the only chances I had at finding out what had happened to her parents, they were killed I already knew that. How or why they were killed though, I could never find out back in Po. I needed closure, and I could feel it, the strings hanging out there for me to grab, I just had to snatch those threads and pull.

IC: (Sakuya) "Umm, I'm not exactly sure what is going on. What are you two talking about?" Sakuya asked, extremely confused. Heck she was tempted to leave Five Guys now, given all the strangeness, she felt awkward. Like she intruded on something that she wasn't. I mean it seemed like they were talking about someone, perhaps a friend who died recently. Heck, Dallas' behavior had gotten really odd when he talked about his fantasy football team, and started staring at his phone. She felt both sad and frustrated, she barely knew the two of them. She couldn't speak to them like any normal friend could lean on, like any good friend could lean. People avoided Sakuya, rumors spread around and people thought she was a lot more violent than she actually was. She was out of place, this whole situation was a mess, given the stares that some people were starting to give. "You know what guys, it's still rather warm out, how about we grab a seat out there?" She grabbed the hand of each guy. If they wanted to scream, yell, cry. They deserved privacy, not the awkward stares of the patrons, away from their silent judgment. IC: (Asa) Asa nodded, and left Daken. She didn't want to leave, but she didn't say that. Daken had something he wanted to do, something he had planned. Tomorrow she would be happy, but tonight she would be miserable. It didn't matter that Daken was a room over. It didn't matter that her room looked absolutely perfect and had everything Daken believe she could ever want. When she sat on the bed, it was cold vacant for more than a week. The sheets felt foreign, cold, impersonal, not mussed up by constant activity. Not warm. She was alone, and she shivered despite the room's default was a perfect sixty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. She climbed into the bed, resting her head against the pillow and stared at the wall for the next two hours. The rest of the night she shifted and moved, as if she was grasping for some, the sheets and blanket wrapped around her, Asa moving about in her sleep, unable to find peace, unable to find comfort. She wouldn't find any till the sun rose the following morning.

IC: (Sakuya) Sakuya had grabbed her burger and fries, she walked up to Dallas, he seemed to be distant, the way he looked, the way he carried himself. Something was up, she couldn't leave it be. "Hey Dallas, something up?" She had intended to get some lemonade, but her concern for the guy outweighed her thirst. She didn't feel so pumped, so ready to fire off a joke or an insult. The way Dallas and Alex were, they could be in a crowded room, and still be so alone. IC: (Asa) "Well then I won't bother with that makeup then," Asa chuckled. "Really, I chalked you up as unpredictable, but in a good way, it makes you fun, exciting. It makes you, you. Maybe I do a little, but only a little." She smiled.

IC: (Kino) "Nice to meet you too Jolek," I replied, with a smile. I was able to hide how red in the cheeks Angel had made me by coming out and saying I was his girlfriend. My heartbeat a little bit faster, and I was also happy to see that Angelus was able to hang out with one of his good friends. Good news for Angelus, considering the state of Ta-Koro, was good that he'd get his mind off it for at least a little bit.

IC: (Braen) "Indeed, the man has a reputation and usually that comes from being really good or really terrible at your job. I doubt Echelon is ineffective in his line of work." Braen smiled, rubbing Lana's back and neck. "Indeed he will. This dark Toa is one of the best, it is unlikely our goals will fail with a man like him with us."