Episode S15: A walk in the woods [Archived & Ended]

[Archivist Omega]

Ideas and thoughts have been floating around as the two groups have been meeting off and on the last few weeks.  She sighed as the real question had not been answered.  It seemed as the newer group was focused on their mission, not the larger picture.  She found that was often the case in times like these.  It was the main reason why she looked over time, itself.

Her celebi danced around in the quiet forest beside her.  It was peaceful to be away from the others.  They were her one and only family.  These days that meant a lot.  She felt as if there were too many people around added unneeded chaos.  Solitude was were she survived.  Most would have gone mad spending eon after eon all alone.  Not her for she was build and trained for it.  Her father made sure of that. 

Her feet crunched over a few branches here and there. The random bits of sun warmed her face as a rare smile graced her features.  She spotted various creatures here and there peeking through the underbrush.  She did not let it bother her.  She was unaware of another mortal presence for the time being.

[T.K.]

Opening his eyes as he detected an unusual presence slowly entering within his sensory range Terrence hummed thoughtfully as he idly glanced the direction of the presence even as he got up from where he had been meditating at his campsite deep within the woods. Many of his days were spent out here instead of in the city as he felt more at home out in the woodland vs civilization. Granted a large part of that was due to the world he had lived in prior to being dropped off here and how he was always on the move there without a permanent residence so he had gotten very used to being left to his own thoughts more often than not. It had taken him some time to adjust to these new lands and the pokemon that were prevalent throughout still he didn't think it was a bad change to be here, in a sense he compared them to some magical creatures back where he had lived previously, more intelligent and dangerous than more mundane beasts so he always had some measure of caution when dealing with them.

His brow arched as he peered back at the campsite at some of the tools and supplies laying about and briefly debated on hiding them as many were not made by human hands nor materials found around these parts especially the tanned hide that his large tent was made out of, however he shook his head as he finally figured out the identity of the individual whom was about a city block and a half from his position "Does she know I'm out here? Or is this just coincidence? Either way I recognize her from the temple.." he mused quietly as he exited his camp. He figured it wouldn't be the end of the world if one of those Moon Kingdom senshi saw his camp if it comes to that coming from a powerful magical kingdom themselves. A half grin tugged at his lips at a thought 'Given her quote back then..she might even appreciate some of the tools around camp, Lord of the Rings indeed.'

Terrence smoothed down his dark green training outfit which was a Elvish tailored tunic and slacks tailored to his muscular build, the coloration of it intentional for blending in with leaves of trees if need be if something dangerous came his way. He glanced down at his clothes briefly having second thoughts 'Is it really ok to be blatantly wearing this? It was a gift from a friend back then..then again the minor enchantments on it are way too convenient to not use..' he mused inwardly as he slowed his approach as he sensed the creature around Setsuna assuming it was some kinda pokemon associated with her. A slight rustling of leaves a ways ahead of the senshi of time would alert her to Terrence's presence as he finally slowly came out into view far enough away to hopefully not cause alarm. "Not going to lie, this is pleasant surprise to find you out near my neck of the woods. Honestly very few folk come through here so tis only natural I'd be curious.."

[Archivist Omega]

The thoughts of the green haired woman came to an abrupt end. She tilted her head to one side as her eyes narrowed. Her celebi, Naryu, hid under the long wave. The large eyes peeked out over the shoulder as it's body started to shake a little. She was a little shocked to see the man from the other day in the middle of nowhere. He was new and also enjoyed her quote from a popular movie. There was a different air about him. Her normal research into a new person was set aside as she had larger concerns.

"A walk to clear my head is what was needed. I didn't realize another would be here. Curious that you say your neck of the woods...."

She left the statement open ended. It would be telling as to his intentions. He may have had some thoughts at the meeting, yet no one knew what side he was on. Whatever his true nature, it would come out in this conversation.

[T.K.]

Terrence watched the unfamiliar pokemon float around and hide behind Setsuna in a show of nervousness which was understandable giving the situation still he did what he could to come off as nonthreatening as possible while he returned his focus to the green haired beauty offering her a small smile and shrug "The coincidence is amusing to say the least if you didn't know my semi-permanent campsite is set up a short ways that way.." he pointed off in the direction he had come from. He shrugged with a slight grin "For what its worth I apologize for shocking you and your pokemon with my appearance out here. Admittedly I had approached because I assumed someone was coming to look for me, still this could be a fortuitous meeting in disguise."

He folded his arms and leaned against a nearby tree "For future refrence out here is the most likely place to find me if I'm not helping out with the guardian's little skirmishes as I prefer this.." he trails off motioning to the woods in general "Over the hustle and bustle of a heavily populated city."

[Archivist Omega]

Setsuna folded her arms under her chest as she watched the man carefully. She gave a slow nod of her head with his explanation. She could understand with wanting to be away from the crowded city. There were times that just being around her friends was too much. It was something that she would never tell them. It would break the heart of her little family.

"It is a nice place to be. Here you are one with mother nature. I tend to stay way from the heart of the city for much the same reason."

She paused as she thought about what he said a moment earlier. "Do you often have someone looking for you out here? It does seem a little out of the way."

[T.K.]

Terrence unfolded his arms briefly to offer Setsuna a light shrug of his shoulders "I don't believe so, anyone that I know and -might- want to track me down could just contact me through our communicator." he admitted idly brushing his fingers over the wrist mounted device. "I don't exactly have a broad spectrum of individuals whom I know beyond the Guardians and allies." He paused briefly with a slight twitch of his lips "I mean alright I guess there is a small off chance one of the dark kingdom generals might wanna try to pick me off since I'm secluded and have been identified as one of their allies, which would be a mistake on their part. I suspect however that is unlikely at best as they probably have other plans to pursue."

He couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he eyed the Celebri floating around the green haired beauty "Its kinda intentional that I'm out here and 'out of the way' as you put it. I'm more comfortable with solitude and it makes meeting others a more unexpected and memorable experience, moreso if they come out looking for me specifically. If someone has gone out of their way so much to come see me here instead of waitin for me to drop by the city then I know its probably quite important and will take things seriously."

[Archivist Omega]

She gave a brief nod of her head. She could understand the need for communication devices. The thought amused her that he had just as many friends as she did. Maybe slightly more than her as the other team she kept at arms length. She felt as if there was something a little odd about them.

She snorted at his cockiness, "Don't count out the generals just yet. One never knows when they have a bigger part to play in all of this. After all, you could be apart of their plans. It would be easy to catch an older being off guard in the middle of no where while thinking."


A hand was held out for little Naryu to come sit on her shoulder. She had a bit of curiosity with the last part of his statement. It was odd for someone to make a comment like that. "Do the other allies often come and see you here?"

[T.K.]

Terrence offered a light shrug of his broad shoulders as she mentioned older beings getting caught off guard "I guess its a good thing early twenties isn't a good time to be called an older being, if so then perhaps I should look into super early retirement." he retorted lightly with a wry grin while hooking his thumbs into the belt of his outfit. "On a more serious note however I understand what your saying, hubris is often the downfall of older beings whom have amassed a great deal of wealth or power having seen and participated in such events firsthand. Because I've seen what can happen and the fact I'm fairly..cautious to begin with I won't fall into those particular trappings." While speaking he slowly approached the woman and her pokemon companion his eyes occasionally drifting to Naryu with a curious gaze.

He offered the timid creature a friendly reassuring smile before turning his attention back to Setsuna his lip quirking up in amusement "Sides to catch me offguard thinking would require me to actually think in the first place, I'm a creature of instinct more than logic so you'll never see me winning any sort of chess match or reading the art of war." he said poking fun at himself in good nature, however the way he added in creature of instinct certainly hinted there was more to that line than meets the eye. He did however bring his arm up to draw attention to the communicator again "I don't get social calls out here so to speak so I don't see the others usually unless I happen to be in the city shopping for supplies and drop by the shrine for a brief visit or unless they are calling their allies for assistance" he trailed off with a thoughtful frown showing he wasn't entirely happy with how things were done here. If the woman was observant she'd likely be able to see numerous faded scars along his exposed arm when he had brought it up to show the communicator, someone as old as the Senshi of time would undoubtedly recognize they came from bladed weaponry along with likely arrow puncture wounds that healed years ago.

He let out a faint sigh "I know its unreasonable to expect it from teenage girls but I wish they'd try to train more, if they expect to be in battle with the generals and possible future threats then it should be important to get whipped into shape and not rely entirely on the transformations to do the heavy lifting, granted this is me working under the assumption that the transformations act as a sort of force multiplier for their physical abilities and the stronger they make their base form the more bang they'd get outta their transformations, don't suppose you can confirm or deny that assumption?"

[Archivist Omega]

His comment about being in his twenties caught her slightly off guard. There was more to this man than met the eye. This chance meeting allowed her to understand who he was and what he did. She had looked into him a little as time allowed. Her attention had been on other important matters. She could tell that he was a little cocky with his answer, almost as if he was above a lot of things.

"Ah but you see, one can always fall into traps. I believe there is a term for it even if you are cautious. There is a tale or two about things such as that. We all have traps that we are more susceptible to."

Naryu cocked her head at him as she looked at her friend. She was enjoying the exchange of words between the two. She liked that her friend was able to have the other think just a bit.

She shifted her feet as he talked about instinct. "And yet even the simplest creature has some thought, even if it is not very complicated." She left that alone as a light chuckle escaped her lips. "Ah so I would be the first to find you out here. It is often nice to have a friend just to drop by. I know how it feels to only be called upon when needed. We are lucky to have the help which you offer for us."

She laughed as he talked about training. She knew these girls would not do such a thing. It would be hard to convince them of such. She knew there was many times in which the guardian cats tried. It did not work out well for them. There are those which rely on strength alone. She was trained at a young age in the old ways. She did her best to pass along her knowledge even when it fell on deaf ears.

"Transformation adds powers which they are blessed to yield. There is not much of a physical strength increase nor makes them smarter. You may be my guest in training them. I rather doubt it will last too long. They have other important things to focus on."

[T.K.]

Terrence heard out what Setsuna had to say, he wouldn't deny her statement about everyone having their own traps they fall into and to deny it would be folly. It was likely she'd have several questions for him given the Gates of time couldn't show her anything about him prior to his first encounter with the Guardians and Stephan when Jadeite had first extracted the crystal piece turning him into Machulk, however actions from then would strongly indicate he is the sort to take challenges head-on and go straight into traps knowingly, though likely not out of arrogance but experience. "Your not wrong of course, have stepped into more than one in my travels granted most have been more of a direct sort rather than hostages or having to make a hard choice. ..don't get me started on puzzles I hate puzzles." he groused with a whimsical sigh.

He briefly looked at Naryu again unsure of what kind of pokemon she was with his eyes flicking back to Setsuna "I'm not quite a pokemon expert but given your station I would hazard to assume this little one has skills to compliment your own temporal ones?" he asked tempted to hold out an arm to offer Naryu a place to rest but decided against it not feeling he's built up nearly enough trust as of yet. He met the senshi of time's eyes "Some would call finding me out here to be a dubious honor at best, if only because I usually ain't the best of hosts. I mean I could offer you tea but it would be more akin to a picnic since I don't exactly have a house to invite you into." he admitted with a playful smile. One that faded ever so slightly "Sadly combat assistance is bout the only thing I can offer and even then prompt assistance would require someone to come get me if its a sudden combat without prep. I don't exactly come off as the information gathering sort, nor can I really offer a place of sanctuary or even a decent rest. Thankfully it seems just a bit of extra muscle is just whats needed most of the time."

He couldn't stop a laugh that rumbled out at the mention of him training them "Oh gods no, I'd never willingly subject anyone, much less innocent teens to the kind of training I was forced through then continued on my own afterwards, honestly if I had it my way I'd rather they just not have to fight at all, would pick up more of the slack m'self if I could I'm already tempered to basically be a creature of battle and if I could save others from being forced to temper their mettle through danger I would." He took a step back and slumped ever so slightly with a surprisingly deep sigh "Unfortunately, being that I can't be assured my stay would be a permanent one..I don't feel its right to help much more than I already do. After all..if someone grows too reliant on my assistance what happens when I'm not available?"

He paused and shook his head "Sorry, getting a little off topic here with my rambling. Thanks for the tidbit about their transformations, I had been really curious about how it affected their physical abilities, guess its just extra protection and their magical attacks. Asides some extra stamina they wouldn't even benefit quite as much as I had hoped from physical training, so sadly I ain't the right guy for the job."

[Archivist Omega]

Setsuna nodded as she listened to the talk about his weakness. Puzzles can be difficult to navigate in the end. For her, it was more of choosing her duty or her friends. It was nice when they coincided with each other. She needed to understand why everything is mirroring the past. It did not sit well with her. She disliked when things were hidden from her view.

"Puzzles require a certain type of logic to solve them. I tend not to do well with games that require me to figure out who did the crime. They are rather annoying to say the least."

She smiled as she looked at her friend. The corners of her mouth turn downward when he mentioned her powers. She could not recall a point when he knew about them. She kept things of that nature under wraps. At least, her true origins were still a secret. She would call him a foe should he know of that.

"Naryu is a Celebi. She is associated with time, yes. Answer me this, how did you find out about the nature of my powers?" She took in a deep breath, "I don't mind a bit of tea. You have a home of sorts here. A house only has a roof and provides the basic needs of everyone. I do think fate will find a way to make sure you are were you are needed."

She cocked her head to the side at the statement. He seemed to know a lot for a stay that was going to be rather short. She crossed her arms over her chest as she asked what was on her mind. There was things that she would confirm a little later.

"Where are you planning to go after this? And where have you come from?"

[T.K.]

(I might have made an error assuming Terrence -might- have picked up Sailor Pluto's station from the senshi meetings he's attended thus far, I'm envisioning this taking place at some point after the Celestial tower combat thread. Still I'll roll with this if no one has ever mentioned pluto's station at the time gates. I'll roll with this regardless. Will post a little later once I've got somethin!)

[T.K.]

As Setsuna frowned and soon queried him about how he knew about the nature of her abilities Terrence grimaced unwittingly, it didn't really occur to him until she spoke that some of the senshi might infact be somewhat secretive about the extent of their skills. Having been around Dawn and the others and how freely they exposed their magical powers to their allies had somewhat biased his judgment leaving him assuming the rest don't really mind what their allies know. With a sigh he came clean "Honestly I wasn't certain by a long shot but your response confirmed it. I had a hunch you might have had temporally related talents so I kinda sorta threw out a guess, the trick of course is speaking with confidence to really sell the idea that you know for certain, and kinda hoped you would confirm or deny it. However I will apologize for doing so in a roundabout way instead of just asking you directly and respecting if you chose to not divulge the information, my curiosity got the best of me here." With that said he took a step back to put a comfortable distance between them after he realized he might have unwittingly made her suspicious of him and pulled back to try and assuage some concerns.

"As for how I came to that conclusion, well I've been told I have a disturbingly accurate intuition and can make leaps of logic based on small snippets of information. I based my guess off of two things.." he holds up a hand and idly ticks off a finger "One, when you had offered to enlighten me if I wanted to know more about the past but that alone wasn't enough to really go on as that could have easily been telling me stories or showing me documents, but it was a factor especially combined with the far more telling clue" he ticked off his second finger "How you arrived at the shrine that day was the main contributor to my theory, when someone suddenly shows up within my sensory range I tend to sit up and take notice and without giving away too many of my own secrets just yet I'll say standard teleportation types feel different from wormhole style magics which again feel different from the rare individual whom might time skip or use some other means to use time powers to relocate themselves. The third kind is actually somewhat startling for me so I was slightly spooked when you first arrived out of nowhere at the Hikawa Shrine." He lowered his hands and let them lightly rest over his stomach in a relaxed stance after explaining the last bit.

"Now like I mentioned it was actually just a guess since I knew there are other possibilities like someone else had sent you or you just used a device to arrive and had different powers altogether but I was confident enough to ah toss the idea out there and see what kind of response I'd get. For whatever it may be worth since it seems to be important to you I'll not tell anyone else about this, granted since I don't talk to many people outside of the Senshi and Guardians it shouldn't be a issue." He stole a glance back in the direction of his camp as he mentally filed what he might have to pull out of storage to accommodate a guest for some tea before looking back to the green haired beauty "Now..for your other questions there is...alot to unpack there, the short answers are, I don't know where I'll go after this or when as its not really left up to me to decide." He smiled wryly "Where I came from prior? Another time and place, now I'm willing to expand upon that for you but its probably best we do so over some tea at my camp, I'll probably need to show several items to lend some credence to what might otherwise be an unbelievable story at best."

[Archivist Omega]

Setsuna's eyes narrowed as she listened to the male's explanation. It made sense on some levels. He was smart, she gave him that. She sighed the more he went on. She kept the distance between them.

"See that you don't spread word on us. I shall state that if you betray any of the senshi, you will find yourself on the wrong side of my powers. There are plenty of ways to cause pain and suffering without your prior knowledge."

It was a matter of fact for her. She had ways of getting revenge when others least expected. She has a long memory. It was something that helped her guide the other through out their journey. It was as long as they listened to her. This man was mystery that she was not fond of at the moment.

"You are a little off the mark with how I teleport. I might be willing to talk with you about that should the opportunity present itself. I am interested in hearing your story. Shall we head to your camp for this tale to be told."

[T.K.]

Leading Setsuna back to his encampment Terrence sighed as she gave her warning, while he understood and could respect why it was issued it was still insulting nonetheless but he kept silent for a few moments 'She doesn't know anything about me, so its only reasonable but man if it doesn't sting to have it implied that I'd betray someone, much less people whom do protect others.' he thought inwardly as they arrived. Upon entering the small clearing it was quickly made obvious he's been out here for a while with a handmade firepit constructed with safety in mind with a rack of meat smoking over it to dry and preserve it another sign he's used to living in the wilderness. To the side of the clearing was a large tent made of some kind of beast hide that seems unfamiliar but looked to be large enough for a couple people to sleep in with a unusually fine table and chair resting nearby.

"Give me a moment to get some water boiling.." he said motioning for Setsuna to make herself at home while he approached a boulder that was resting near the center of the clearing being a few times larger than he was and idly shoved it with a foot off to the far side of the clearing, likely he used it as part of his training. Turning back to the rack of smoking meat he shifted it off to the side away from the fire and set up a kettle over the fire with practiced ease before finally returning his focus to the woman and her pokemon companion "Apologies, it'll be a couple minutes before the water is heated, wasn't expecting a guest." While he spoke he reached over his shoulder with his hand visibly vanishing into what seems to be some kind of storage as the air rippled before he pulled out a second chair so they both had a place to sit then brought out a couple finely crafted mugs for the tea accompanied by a scented pouch, probably leaves for the tea. One thing that would stick out to magical senses is the fact the mugs, kettle and a few small tools he had all had faint magical feel to them.

With a light sigh he finally took a seat at the table "Now to get into the meat of the subject, where do I plan to go after this? I don't know, its not my choice really I'm kinda just along for the proverbial ride, I'm twice removed from my home realm so currently I'm just assuming some point down the road I'll be forced to move on regardless of my wishes, though from the short time I've lived here I'd prefer to stay since this land is much more peaceful and civilized. I can't say much about the thing that brought me here if only because I'm unsure about its identity. However I'll gladly answer what questions I can, trust is important and I want to work on it."

[Archivist Omega]

She did not regret her warning one bit. She would ensure that he truly was a man of his word unless the betrayal had a reason for it to happen. It would happen when she was back at her station. The timeline would stay in tact no matter what.

She followed him the short way to his camp in silence. She let the weight of her words sink in. Years of guarding the Gate of Time, she had a hard edge that many did not see. She was usually one to guide others. Being an ancient being, there have been plenty of times where her training and long memory take over as she protected things. She took a seat as he indicated. Her eyes took in his home. She got the feeling that he often found himself in the middle of the wilderness. The hide had caught her interest as well as what she would guess was some sort of pocket dimension.

She placed her hands gently in her lap as she listened to his words about how he got here. It almost felt as if a being bigger than himself caused the rifts or a simple dimension ripple. It could explain the randomness of things. She turned to her earlier question.

"Tell me of your home land. Where did you grow up and how you came to know of the such dimension magic? I noticed from when you pulled out those extra objects."

[T.K.]

He also got comfortable with his arms folding across his chest leaning back into the chair a bit more as he organized his thoughts, finally he spoke "To be honest until my mid teens I was an ordinary student entering high school at 15, my original home has similar levels of technology as what civilians enjoy around tokyo minus anything pokemon related and no actual magical girls, or magic in general. Unless it was the greatest secret the world ever had there wasn't anything supernatural or magical actually happening, humans were the only sentient species there and oddly enough share some similar literature which is why I ended up catching your Lord of the Rings reference having read and adored the books." He unfolded his arms long enough to point at her Celebri "Beings such pokemon and girls like the senshi didn't exist where I was born."

He once more searched his memories letting out a soft sigh as he did "I was no older than many of the guardians here are now, like I mentioned just entering high school when my life was first turned on its head, I had just finished a wooden shield in woodworking class as a project, I always loved the idea of medieval times or the concept of fantasy in general so I thought it would be fun to make something like that as a project. On the way home I heard the occasional rumble of thunder and assumed it was going to rain soon, still I wanted to play with my newly finished shield so I went into my backyard to mess around with it." He offered Setsuna a lopsided grin "I should have went inside, it was only several moments after I got home when I heard a loud crackle of lightening and moments later I blacked out waking up in a forest, needless to say I was stunned and afraid but also incredibly curious which probably stopped me from totally stopping and panicking and likely saved my life as shouts would have drawn attention I wasn't physically or mentally prepared for at he time."

He idly stretched his arms over his head with a light grunt, his green tunic doing little to hide incredible muscle definition as a result before lowering his arms to rest on his lap as he continued "Turns out some being decided it wanted some form of ..amusement and apparently dumping a mortal off in a completely different environment turned out to be fairly entertaining for it, for me? Not so much at the time, especially since the forest housed a tribe of goblins ones that regularly sent out hunting parties which I absolutely needed to avoid which while successful forced me to discard my shield so I could move around easier and disturb less bushes and leaves. My memory is a little fuzzy about what happened after the first couple days, I couldn't sleep due to fear and a dangerous environment and I didn't know what was safe to eat and ended up out of desperation eating some berries, while not terribly poisonous added to my addled mind and I think I entered a fairly delirious state." His brows were furrowed as he spoke surely a sign he was struggling to correctly remember events as obviously unpleasant as they were.

He opened his mouth to say something just as the kettle started to whistle prompting him to push himself up from the chair grabbing the herbal pouch as he did and moved towards the campfire "There was an incident that happened after I escaped the forest and apparently I did find a road following it to a travelers inn along it.." he tossed the herbs into the kettle giving it a light swirl as he picked it up off the hook and brought the now brewing tea over. "Something happened there that caught the attention of a individual passing through whom decided I seemingly fit a criteria for their dwindling sect of warriors, dwindling for good reason might I add." the way he spoke while he finally poured tea for Setsuna then himself left no doubts he was neither happy or proud of whatever happened then. "Like I say I don't remember any of this and just was told when I regained consciousness later on a wagon what had occurred. It..it wasn't pretty."

He finally returned to his seat and spoke once more as he picked up his tea which shared a somewhat similar scent as Green tea but not quite and carried a unfamiliar spice with it "Its true most of what I said doesn't answer your first questions completely but I felt it was important to give you a general idea of how my..journey started. I quickly discovered that I wasn't left without -something- to help me get along in the new world by the entity whom dropped me off. Languages of any sort are never a barrier, so long as it can be replicated by human vocal cords I can understand and speak any language I'm exposed to within minutes then nearly a year later I finally discovered my storage entirely by accident, its not something I created but more was granted the ability to access it and its attuned to me alone so others with dimensional magic can't touch it so to speak. Main limitation is I cannot place any living entity into it which I'm fine with the thought of putting an animal or person into storage like that just makes my stomach turn, but I can toss a body of say a dead animal into it so I can bring it out and butcher it for meat later so food storage is not a problem for me."

He offered the green haired beauty a kind smile as he nodded down to the tea "Its similar to green tea, its an elvish brew favored by some of the royalty for its soothing properties, perfectly safe for our consumption. I hope its to your liking, since I effectively have endless storage I tend to stock up on different weapons and supplies like foods and drinks from different cultures and races if I found them palatable. Its hard to not be a pack rat in my case."