Jason ) It hasn't really been all that long since the last full meeting, all things considered, but Jason was enjoying the lack of a need for it. He breathes a sigh and leans back in a chair, seeming slightly distracted; Mimring sits behind him, somehow managing to not look pathetic with his one wing, while Kyton sits nearby, appearing alert. /At least it isn't boring around here,/ Jason thinks wryly, to which Mimring gives a soft snort. The dragon doesn't say anything, however, sensing his master is for some reason not in a very good mood.

Dark || Arriving at the meeting room with Dark and Emma in tow, Jude turned to face the latter. "Now, I merely need to deliver some important information to the group, which includes you two as well. I will help you after discussion has died down a tad and the two of us can safely leave the meeting room." he started, before beginning to walk towards the door to the meeting room, "You have my word, Miss Isokoski. These dreams you are experiencing have my interest as well." He then enters the meeting room, motioning the other two to follow.

Emma gives a nod and quietly gets comfortable on her chair. She didn't interact with many of the members in the room, making it somewhat awkward for her to announce her presence. /Well, let's see what news lies ahead of us./

Copper | Oddly, a familiar but rarely-seen face is also at the table. David sits several spots away from Jason, but seems not to be paying attention. Instead he had a couple books and a pencil, which he gnaws on slightly before glancing at the door. Why is he even here if he's just going to bury himself in some books?

Shadow watches as the room gradually fills with Cultists. He had been called--or notified by Espira, really--quite early on, so he chooses to remain relatively silent (save for short greetings and such) until the meeting officially starts. The extremely odd sight of David being actually present elicited a few odd looks launched towards his direction every now and then, but other than that, he waits for whatever they were all reunited for. /I wonder what it is this time.../

Deathstorm ) Through Jason, Deathstorm can tell at least everyone they could get into the meeting room was present. One notable person missing was Starr. /She must still be in the infirmary.../ He paused. /Well, I guess someone can fill her in later. If anything, we certainly have a good amount of people present./

Jude took a glance around the room to be sure everyone required was accounted for. /Everyone appears to be present, as well as a very familiar face indeed.../ this thought led him to direct a quick glance at the other person in the room--David, no doubt--before regaining his composure and beginning the meeting. "Now that we are all seated, let us begin." he started, "Earlier today, there was an incident at one of the seals involving Deathstorm and the other two dragons. However, the circumstances surrounding this incident are of greater interest than the incident itself."

Jude places his hands dow on the table and leans over. "I am sure many of us are familiar with a certain dracomancer who we experienced the joys of doing battle with not long ago." he said, quite clearly looking towards Jason as if expecting him to understand what he was trying to reference, "At one point a strange knight had appeared in our midst, very clearly targeting the Shadow Drakes in our ranks, claiming to require their power for his "master."" He then shifted his gaze around the room to the others. "Today, something very strange indeed happened up on the mountain ledge where Deathstorm and the other Shadow Drake--Vergari--had been guarding the seal. The very same knight appeared once more, with the same goals. However, this is unusual as the previous knight's "master," whom we know as Drake Kuro, had been defeated and disposed of not more than a year ago."

Copper glances up at Jude in response to the mention of a familiar name, but returns to scanning the books he had brought with him. From the way he keeps glancing up, though, perhaps he's paying attention now.

Jason raises an eyebrow (despite knowing most of this aready through Deathstorm; it's likely an invitation for Jude to continue) and Kyton blinks. Obviously, the latter had not been around during the battles with Kuro, though he opts not to say anything. He'll probably find out here anyway.

Emma leans in a little closer on the information given. She didn't know who this dracomancer was, but the other figure he mentioned had her a little concerned. Especially if it was back doing the same thing. The situation was sounding quite unusual. /I wonder if this "knight" is dumb enough to start anything here. If so....I'll have to try my best to protect the Lady./

Jude takes Jason's invitation, and continues. "Deathstorm himself had mentioned Kuro by name when we spoke earlier about the knight and its intentions, and given one of Kuro's former dragons was present in the cave, we can make the figurative addition happen and be left with two possible explanations;" he continued, "One: Kuro himself has returned, which while unlikely, is worth considering, and Two: that he or one of his allies might have had something to do with this." Heaving himself from the metal table, he finished, "Due to the nature of his targets, it can be assumed that he may be after something in particular and requires the help of much of his former gamut to acquire it."

Jason sighs, putting his head in one hand for a moment. He gives a muttered "why /now/?" befour putting his hand down and glancing through the assembled Cultists. "It's a wonder we can keep our priorities straight with everything that's going on," he says almost bitterly,before sighing again. "Well, Deathstorm and Volant are still at the seal, so that gives us some time to track down Kuro and kill him. Again. Unless somebody has a better idea?" This last question has a somewhat hopeful undertone, but he knows not to expect too much.

Jude looks towards Jason again. "Well, this is the reason we have decided to convene, is it not? To offer up any possible courses of action?"

Deathstorm ) /But that only solves what to do about Kuro. We'll also have to figure out what to do about the knight. Regardless of whether or not they're working together, they still represent individual threats./ Deathstorm paused. /And if the knight isn't working with Kuro, then there's a third person involved in this.../

Jason looks to the side, the usual distracted look on his face that signals when he is communicating with his dragons. However, he vocalizes his thoughts as well as directing them to Deathstorm. "I think we should concentrate on the most immediate threat. As concerning as this knight is, so far he isn't doing anything overly... harmful. We should make sure that he doesnt get that far, yes, but Kuro poses a more immediate threat than the knight right now, and the Sealbreakers haven't recently made a move, so we can't do anything about them until they do."

Ziolang ]] A loud banging resounds from what most assuredly would be the Headquarter's entrance being unkindly opened. Moments later and nearly-silent footsteps sweep toward the meeting room before their owner appears in tow. The Demon stands for a split second, glancing over the cultists, before sidling inside and to the right where he casually leans against a wall. He showed no signs of hostility, but his face was serious and uncaring. An empty visage of a once relatively cheerful being.

Jason doesn't even spare Zio a glance. He does address him however, in a completely flat tone. "I told you not to come back."

Copper looks up more fully now, not closing his book but looking from the demon to Jason with a curious and confused expression.

Ziolang retorts without a moment's hesitation. "I never agreed to that."

Jason looks up as well, narrowing his eyes. Near him, Kyton tilts his head before glancing to Zio as well. "You don't have to agree. Are you looking to get shot?"

Emma tenses up under the noise, then catches a brief glance of Zio before pulling it away and wrinkling her nose a bit out of annoyance. Though her display was only visible for a split second. /Just what I needed./ she mentally curses

Ziolang sighs in what might have been aggravation. "Shut up, 'Kuda'. I'm here for one reason. If Kuro has returned; there is unfinished business." The shapeshifter was rubbing into the Demon's impatience even faster than usual. He should've killed the whelp.

Jason glares; Mimring bristles and gives a chilling warning growl at the demon. "Then go deal with it on your own terms, Demon. Leave."

Jude snaps slightly. "Enough! We did not come here to argue about whether one man is welcome or not." he exclaimed loudly, "In fact, regardless of any of our opinions regarding Ziolang, he very much has a point regardless of what his intentions were. We ALL need to discuss this."

Jason growls, but his next comment is muttered. "Oh, just shut /up/." He sighs and sits back again, giving Jude an annoyed glare before returning his gaze warily to Zio.

Ziolang turns his attention on the shapeshifter entirely, eyes dancing like the flames of anger that were beginning to burn inside. Jude erupted into control, so Ziolang didn't pursue the argument. But he returned the shapeshifter's gaze with an uncaring expression.

Deathstorm ) /Jude does have a point.../ He paused, although this time he seemed a bit uncomfortable... Especially with what he was about to say next. /And really... whether anyone likes it or not... There's one other person that would agree with Zio./

Emma sits back in her chair, getting more anxious by the second. The yelling and tension. She hated that with a passion. Not to mention the shell of a demon was in the same room as her. Crossing her arms lightly, she kept her gaze at Jude and Jason as they went along with their business. /This is getting ridiculous..../ "We're not going to acomplish anything like this." She cuts in "Just continue. We need ideas. Any." /Hopefully this puts things back in track./

Jason rolls his eyes. "Honestly, Emma, when do we accomplish /anything/?" He seems to be done after this bitter question, however, though Kyton gived him a wary look (possibly because he's in such close proximity to the other Shapeshifter, who's acting like he could start a fight himself at any moment.) Mimring decides to chime in himself, though. "That aside, we should get back to sorting this out. We can feud when this is all over." Jason gives him a resentful look, but stays silent.

Emma straightens out her dress shirt and tilts her head /With that attitude it's only logical that we don't acomplish anything ever./ She nods in agreement with Mimring "He's right. Now," a pause "What will be our course of action?"

Jason looks at Emma with irritation and confusion. "I suggested a course of action right before he walked in." He jerks his head at Zio to indicte who he is referring to.

Deathstorm: ./Well, he does have have Vergari in his possession. That should make tracking him a bit easier./

Ziolang spares Emma an empty glance as she speaks. The vampire seemed to be fully immersed in the cult now, a shame really. One of her talents deserved something more. In that regard the same went for Shadow. /Stop caring./ "I'm certain Giga would have an idea or two. He's already met with the armored shapeshifter at least once when it attacked Starlight. I'm certain this being is related to the Kuro possibility."

Jason looks at Ziolang for a moment, brow furrowed more in confusion than hostility. He opens his mouth to ask a question, but this time is stopped by Mimring's own irritated response. "We are not accepting help from that ​rakh​."

Emma blinks, not entirely knowing what Rakh meant. But with that context she was sure it was something negative. However, she chimes in "Well, if this situation is as bad as it seems, we can't be picky on who to ask for help."

Copper chimes in with a shrug at Emma. "Well, we can if that person is dangerous. Sounds like Giga is."

Emma drags her glance at David. "That won't help us in the least when the situation calls for that extra help we're seeming to refuse."

Copper: You can't have an ally you don't trust. I'm pretty sure half the Cult doesn't trust Giga anymore- or Zio, for that matter. We should just go to the Station instead.

Ziolang scoffs. Whatever happened between Giga and the cult; Zio was certain it would've been entertaining at least. "Trust is an irrelevant ideal. Work toward the shared goal and then you can rant on how much you hate each other. This is pathetic."

Jude: Jack: It doesn't matter if he's dangerous or not, fact remains we need to act together and not refuse opportunities like this. Every single person here could be dangerous given the right conditions, does that mean we refuse to act as a team because of /possibilities/?

Emma narrows her eyes. The Station. "...Eurgh, not that group with the flirtatious animator....." she mumbles to herself. That man she took his eye out on. The one who burned her back. It was coming back to her again. She simply composes herelf. "Well, if that's a good alternative then go ahead."

Jason raises an eyebrow at Emma. "You're pushing for us to ally with a man who has killed, kidnapped, and crippled three different individuals, yet you're against allying with a group that has one guy that flirts too much?"

Emma raises a brow. "Not so much against. I'll agree to whatever seems best for the situation. Even if that means holding on to the suggestion of Giga being our ally for the time being." crossing her arms, she leans back on her chair. "That's all."

Deathstorm: ./Not like our decision really matters in the long run. If Giga's already has run in with this knight, who accoring to Zio is a Shapeshifter, it's likely that he's going to be doing something about him regardless of what we do./ He paused. /Remember, we are talking about someone who can track achlymerpists in Ustream./

Jason snorts, then turns to face the group at large. "You're free to do whatever the hell you want on an individual basis, but the Cult is not allying with Giga. End of." /Yes, Deathstorm, I realize this. Giga can do whatever, he can get himself killed for all I care. Because Cor knows I'm going to make sure he dies one way or another. If Giga manages to take Kuro or the knight down himself, that's good for us./

Deathstorm ) The only response is a somewhat annoyed sigh.

Jude: Jack: And you're free to hold grudges. Doesn't mean you speak for the rest of us.

Emma stands up, clearly done with the conversation. She was tired, hungry, anxious, and a bit angry. This wasn't helping the vampire at all. "If this is all we're going to mull over, I'll have Jude fill me in on what the results where afterwards. This is noise is making me uneasy." Emma gives a respectful nod to the leader and heads for the door.

Jason gives a sidelong glare at Jack. "I suppose the fact that you consider me your "leader" means nothing, then? Does the leader not speak for the group?" He spares a glance for Emma as she leaves, giving a returning nod. Looking back at the lycan, Jason seems about to say more, but Mimring nudges him and Jason takes the cue to shut up.

Jude: Jack: At this point, I'm starting to question that belief myself. *gets up and follows Emma out of the room*

Jason glares at Jack as he leaves, but then sighs and rubs his temples again. /... Guys, I can't do this./

Deathstorm was silent for a few seconds. /Honestly, I am uncertain that we should continue this meeting. At this rate, I doubt we'll be able to agree on /anything/./

Jason: Mimring: /I do not think we have to do anything more for this meeting to end. I believe that last exchange means that it is over./

Ziolang allowed himself a light smile. At this rate the cult would tear itself apart from the inside out. The shapeshifter had clearly lost his influence; although the Demon wondered if Kuda ever truly had any. A spark of some kind of emotion shot through him and was gone as soon as it had appeared. What, sympathy? Of course not. "If there is nothing to be gleamed in regards to Kuro, then I no longer have a reason to be here." He paused, giving Kuda a serious look. "The patriarch has shown weakness to his clan, it shouldn't take long now." With that, Ziolang exits as well.

Jason glances at Zio, then stands up rather suddenly. Kyton and even Mimring draw back slightly, startled by the abrupt movement. "Right. I'm going to go kill a deer." He, too, walks out.

Jude narrows his eyes in irritation. "That was an arguably pointless meeting." he says, getting up to leave. Passing Jason on his way out, he delivers a sharp glance to the Shapeshifter that almost seems to say 'soon', and then, with that, he finally leaves.

Ziolang: *Destiny meanders across HQ, watching as people gradually depart the meeting room. None seemed too happy. She didn't seem to show any surprise when the Demon exited. A little longer and Jason was there and after the briefest exchange with Jude, she approached the troubled shapeshifter.* "How was the meeting?"

Jason glances at Destiny, giving her an acknowledging nod. For a moment he doesn't reply, simply continuing towards the entrance to HQ. Mimring pokes his head out of the meeting room, watching his master with concern, but does not follow. After a moment, Jason sighs. "Horrible. I don't even know why I tried."

Emma gave out a sigh of relief once she left the meeting room and even the building. The crisp cold air hitting against her frame was comforting and liberating for her pent up anxieties to begin flowing out of her being. The woman gives a look around and then begins walking towards the forest, intending to hunt for her needs once again. "...Tch." was the only thing she spits out while walking. /Why was he there? Rather-- heh, why the hell do I care? / her eyes narrow /This shouldn't bug me one bit.....the audacity, though.../ The sight of towering trees begin to grow closer as Emma increases her walking speed and tries to stop her thinking right there. Though suddenly a slight rattle of some leaves make her stop. Emma looks around the collection of trees and dense vegitation she found herself in and forms a bow out of caution.

Destiny picks up her pace so as to walk along side Jason. In truth she heard much of the end; there was a lot of mortal emotions being thrown around. "Well what does a leader do but try? You can't force anyone to have your opinions after all."

Jason gives a "hmph"-like noise of self-deprecation. "It's not so much a matter of opinion as... I'm just trying to keep the Cult safe, and both Giga and Zio have shown exactly how trustworthy they are /not/." He tilts his head slightly. "Hell, I'd be surprised if more than a third of the Cult, if even that much, really thinks of me as a leader anymore. I haven't exactly been good at my job." Too many mistakes, too many slip ups. His temper has been oddly short as of late, and it's shown.

Destiny walks on in silence for a bit. It was still difficult for her to understand some things when it came to emotional situations, but thankfully she had mortal emotions herself to help steer her. She just hoped they were guiding her in the right direction. "If I may..." she begins at length "Why exactly do you lead the cult? For someone who seemed pretty determined on being alone and free, you sure were rather quick to making ties." A nervous wink punctuates her inquiry, resulting in her subconsciously rubbing at her eye as if that would stop the tick.

Jason takes a moment to reply as well. "Dunno. It was a matter of survival, at first. Safety in numbers and all that... and you know the other reason at that point already. Guess I just got too attached." He snorts. "I couldn't leave if I tried. Ustream's become my home and I like some of the people here too much." He gives Destiny a pointed look, before his eyes slide over to the large building they'd just left. "I just fell into the role of leader somehow, I suppose."

Emma moved closer...slowly. Heart racing as the ratling in the bushes intensify. But then it suddenly stopped. The heck? Emma tilted her head and then went to the bush to check on it. /...something was following me. It knows I'm here..../ Her boot lightly taps the plant, making a white furry creature hop out of it. Emma's eyes snap wide open in surprise as she stiffens up. /A-A...a bunny...../ The vampire blanky stares at it while it stares at her, wiggling it's nose at her direction. Emma slowly lowers her weapon and looks both sides cautiously....then swipes the creature off it's feet and wraps her arms around it tightly. "Aaaaaahhhh you're shooooo cute! So fluffy cuddly cuuute!~" The bunny wiggled around in her tight grip and then twitched as the vampiric woman began to cuddle her cheek against it. Her cheeks took a very pink tone "Eheheheh! I don't normally say this to anyone but I just wanna-- "

Destiny puts an arm on Jason'd shoulder to stop him. "Perhaps now's the time to pass it on? This cult seems to run itself well enough. Why not let someone else take charge?" She gives him a smile. "Or at the very least take a break."

Jack walks out from behind a nearby tree. "What are you doing?" he asks, almost rhetorically, as he noticed the white rabbit in Emma's hands.

Emma freezes and releases the bunny immediately. Her head slowly turns at Jack with a blank look. "What did you see?"

Jack quite audibly chortles. "Oh nothing, just you hugging that bunny." he says, obviously amused that someone as... hardened as Emma would have a thing for rabbits, "Not that I have a problem with it or anything, it's just weird to see for the first time."

Jason snorts. "Yeah. Probably. The issue is I don't have anyone to pass the torch to." He sighs. "Giga's no longer second in command and I haven't yet given that position to anyone, so I've really just been running around trying to do everything myself." He looks at Destiny, then casts his gaze away. "Needless to say, I haven't exactly been successful. I just need to hang in there until I know for certain who's going to be helpful to pick up the slack."

Emma 's face goes completely red. Busted. "You were just imagining things." she says flatly. The bunny looks up at Emma and twitches an ear. She must resist temptation of smothering it. Too cute. Her eyes dart to the sky and then at all directions, making sure nobody else really saw her moment of weakness. "....../Tell no one./"

Jack shrugs, looking at the bunny near Emma. "Alright, if you say so." he says, almost jokingly, in response to Emma's semi-defensiveness. "We all need /some/ comfort at least. There's nothing wrong with you liking bunnies."

Destiny nods slightly. "Well, I'm here if you need anything. Remember this is my home now, too." Thinking it best to allow the shapeshifter some alone time, she continued. "You don't have to do it all yourself." With that, she gives Jason a peck on the cheek, blushes, and canters off back toward HQ, whistling an unfamiliar tune.

Emma 's eyes almost show a sign of sadness /There is.../ but then she coughs and crosses her arms. "What are you doing over here anyway?" a brief glance at the bunny is made.

Jason grins in spite of himself at Destiny, though this fades shortly after she departs. /... That isn't the first time someone's told me that,/ he thinks, his mind wandering for a moment to the talk he had with Shadow back in Nienearcl. The Shapeshifter sighs, no longer needing to release his pent-up energy in a hunt (he wasn't even hungry anyway) and instead opts to sit against the trunk of the nearest tree. Sensing his master's mood, Mimring decides not to say anything, allowing Jason mental space as well.

Jack smiles. "I was actually wondering if you wanted somewhere other than outside to train. I mean I have a dojo and sometimes training in there alone is kinda boring."

Emma 's face lights up a bit. A dojo? "Ah...a training session...that would be useful." she gives a respectful nod. "I would like to take up that offer, err.....you" Emma points at Jack. /What's his name again...?/

Jack sighs. "Jack. My name's Jack." he says, "Anyway, my dojo's on the second floor, so if you want to train, come on back with me."

Emma gives a nod. It's been a while since she's worked out on anything. She was growing slow. "Alright, I will catch up with you in a second. I need to stretch." she spares one last glance at the bunny. Obviously she was lying.

Jack turns around, noting the bunny again. "Again, if you say so." he says, chuckling and beginning to walk off.

Emma puffs and takes a moment to sit down. She goes into deep thought for a little while /...Why does this feel so wrong...? I don't know the reason why but I can feel it just fine.../ The bunny hops up to Emma's lap and places it's paws on her. Emma gives a quick look around before picking it up and stroking it. "..It must be nice being a bunny....you get to be cute all day and not worry about many things...what a lucky cutie you are..~" Emma lets off a giggle and puts down the animal, then heading towards HQ again