[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider just stared at Arle, looking rather uncomfortable about the idea. What if they were actually falling for a part of a devious plan? Then again, these clones didn't seem to actually think properly. But whatever thought process Rider was having, it was quickly interrupted as Arle simply jumped inside the smoke dome. Why would she do that?!
It could be a trap, or worse yet an ambush!

“M-Ms. Arle...!” Rider blurted out. "O-oh, no..."

---

Fortunately for Arle, the cosmic smog was proven to be completely non-toxic! Good for her! And the star looking ready for the taking, so it looked like it was just grab the thing and go home. Pretty simple.

Too simple, even.

The red cloud suddenly whooshed to Arle, going through her body, seemingly doing nothing to her. But it did something to the cloud itself, as it soon took the shape of...Arle herself, however in her Valkyrie form.

It let out a dry giggle. "Howdy-do." said the clone, with almost the exact same voice as Arle. "So...you and your buddies are trying to yank my Star away? Unsurprising." A scoff is heard from the wine-tinted Arle shadow.

"You know, I really don't like what you did to me before. You see, the girl invaded my territory, and I was merely threatening her so she would...you know, leave. Then you and Blondie came along and destroyed my clones...which are parts of me. Oh well."

"Here's the thing...if you take that Star away from me, I cease to exist. Don't ask me how or why...I just know that. But, you know what? I won't let you..."

The Cosmic Arle raised her free hand as the red smog cleared.

"Not without a fight, at least."

[Deleted]

As Paula braced to go In...Arle decided to go In by herself and quickly entered the cloud before Rider & Paula could do anything, shocking the two. "Well I guess that was decided." Paula said looking at Rider, who looked worried, Paula tried to reassure her. "Dont worry, I'm sure she'll get out of that cloud very quickly with the star." Paula said as she looked up to the sky, ready to battle any enemy's who will appear and attack the two. "Just check the inside of the cloud every once In awhile to see If she's doing ok." Paula said to Rider as she waited for enemy's.

"Enemy's should appear any minute now." Paula said.

"I'm ready."

Damage: 5%

[Mari]

Arle flinched as she stared herself down. Man, burning her own pretty face was not how she wanted to spend her afternoon. But she supposed she had no choice ... No, wait. Hold that thought. Arle held up her hands towards her doppelganger disarmingly, waving her hands about for a moment as she spoke. "...That is a really nice look and catchphrase you've got going on there..." Arle mused aloud, trailing off for just a moment before immediately continuing. "But hold up a moment." she went on to request, taking a moment to consider the situation some more.

Mhm. Yup. Uh-uh. Right.

"...I don't want your star. What I want is for you to leave my friend alone!" Arle snapped, gesturing over her shoulder. "...Honestly, why are you even trying to protect this crater? It seems kind of lonely and... sad." she went on to remark rather lamely, holding up her arms in a helpless shrug and shaking her head in distaste. "Are barren, lonely craters just kind of your thing? Can you at least turn into some furniture to spruce the place up?" Arle questioned in confusion, attempting to talk the anomaly down.

20_Jtxtcp_1d20+4 (Arle's Persuasion)1d20+4

[TheSpatialWeeg]

The Cosmic Clone seemed curious about Arle's questioning. Maybe listening to the girl wasn't going to be a waste of time as he thought. "Hmm, let me see here...your request seems noble on it's own, although I still have my doubts on whether or not should I trust your words."  The clone then began to float a small bit.

"Secondly, to answer your question, my mission is not to defend the crater. I am the Star's...defense mechanism, if you will. It may not look like it, but that right there..." It pointed to the star. "...that's a living being, just like you. And I am it's main method of self-defense."

"You see, we lived onto the far reaches of space, somewhat next to Li. One day, we noticed that we were losing power. Stars without power tend to vanish, and we weren't ready for that. Unfortunately, as you yourself denoted, Li's barren. Devoid of life. We thought it was the end...until...we noticed power...from the Hyrule Crater. Being desperate, we decided to crash land there and start getting that power."

Rider walked to the sorceress, but before she could tug in to ask, the clone pointed at her with the spear. One may not actually see it, but the clone was scowling.

"We began getting this weird life force that emerged from this crater. However, while we did so, this girl popped in. The Star thought she was going to yank us away from our source of power, so we retaliated, bringing us to where we stand."

"M-Ms. Arle, wh-what is going on?" Rider asked. "I-it's looking at me..."

[Deleted]

Paula turned when Rider walked towards the mastermind behind this cloud and what was causing clones to attack Hyrule Crater, but It seems no enemy was coming as Paula quickly followed Rider towards Arle and the cosmic clone...Who was the Star's defence mechanism, It soon explained why It came to Li and It was because It was slowly losing It's power In space and was going to vanish If It stayed In space for any longer.

"I see, I'm sorry about your situation." Paula said before looking up to the Cosmic Clone. "However getting life force here Is a very bad Idea, you see this planet also has a dangerous virus called Starvia and If you stay here any longer, you, your clones and the star might get infected by the virus." Paula said to the clone before speaking again.

"However, there might be a way to solve your problem and the mission without any fighting."

Damage: 5%

[Mari]

Arle was watching the clone carefully when it abruptly pointed it's lance at Rider! Arle flinched, but quickly realized what was happening when Rider spoke and alerted her to her presence. Oh. So the others had decided to join her. She took a deep breath and reached out to wrap an arm around Rider, gently yet firmly tugging Rider over to her and protectively hugged the smaller girl to her side.

Arle figured her actions likely spoke for her, communicating to Rider that there was still danger present, so she decided to address the clone instead and let Rider catch up from that. "I don't think Ms. Rider wants to steal your star either." Arle warned, showing her disapproval of the clone's hostile actions and simultaneously clueing Rider in on what they were currently talking about. "She's just a little kid, ...like a little baby star in the sky." Arle went on to explain, trying her best to explain what a child was to a celestial body. "...But Paula does have a point about the Starvia. It has a really weird way of infecting things you wouldn't think could be infected, and we haven't been able to make any progress on getting rid of it or curing it." Arle mused aloud.

And then it occured to her. "It almost sounds like we should be rescuing you, now that I think about it. But I'm not sure what to do since we can't move you." Arle lamented, at a loss as to how to help the star with it's problem.

DyZ46K1kp_1d20+4 (Arle's Persuasion)1d20+4

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"...A virus, you say...?"

The Clone's face turned into heavy worry. Were they really putting themselves into risk? He turned to see the Star...and then back to Rider, whom Arle compared to a 'baby star'. The clone shook his head in dismay. "I am truly sorry. I was the one who caused this misunderstanding. I wanted to protect the star...but I think I ended up dooming it to a fate worse than death..."

Rider looked at the Star. "U-um...should we grab the star then...?" She asked.

The clone thought for a while...before announcing an idea. “Listen, this may sound suicidal, however I have an idea. Seeing as I’ll disappear once the Star is grabbed, I’ll try to absorb the virus out of it, then you pull it off. How would that sound?"

"Y-you think that'll work...?" Rider asked.

The clone shook its head. "Dunno, but it is worth a try."

[Deleted]

Paula watched as Arle tried to defend Rider and said she was only a child...A baby star, which did not fool Paula. "She looks like around my age by the looks of It." Paula said to Arle and Rider as the clone realised his errors now that she knows the existence of the stariva and apologised for her actions. "It's fine, I'm just glad this situation didn't end In blood shed." Paula said to the clone.

Who had a plan, a suicidal plan, which shocked Paula.

The clone explained her plan which was to sacrifice herself so the trio could get the star and escape, however they were unsure If they should go through with It, especially Paula.

"But, you'll die...Are you sure this Is the only plan you can think of?"

Damage: 5%

[Mari]

Arle turned her head and just kind of gawked at Paula for a moment. At first she was wondering why Paula was going out of her way to sabotage her efforts, but then it occurred to her. She glanced at Rider, who was almost an entire foot shorter than her. Clearly younger at a glance at a mere 4'4'' or so by the looks of it. She probably hadn't even hit puberty yet. Then her gaze drifted back to Paula. One could just see the distress and angst wash over her features as she observed Paula's similarly apparent youth.

Was that... Twelve-year-old lecturing her for calling the nine-year-old a little kid?!

Arle appeared dumbfounded. What the hell was even happening right now?! The mage shook her head in disillusionment but declined to release Rider from her protective side hug. Diplomacy was going well, but she didn't want to risk the chance that Rider stepped forward and the clone reacted hostilely again. "R-Right... Um--Well, while we still have you. What do you want us to do with the star after we take it?" Arle asked, knowing that the life sphere was the only truly safe refuge. She was being a tad clumsy and awkward in her speech, still trying to calm down from that silent little meltdown earlier.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Arle's Cosmic Clone...looked at Paula in a rather curious and weirded out manner. She quickly knelled down to Rider. "How old are you...?" she asked, to which Rider promptly answered with "Nine years old...!" The clone raised up again. "Well, guess she is a baby star after all..." The clone said quietly, then turned to go to the star as Paula asked her if there was no better plan. "Hey, I was bound to vanish eventually, I'm sure there's no better plan..."

Then came Arle's question.

The clone stopped in her tracks. "...That's...a good question...actually..." She began to think as she on-looked the star. "...I don't know. I think you could take it to somewhere safe. The minimum I ask of you will be this. Just place it somewhere safe and I'll be in peace."

The Cosmic Clone placed her hand on the star as purple energy began flowing unto her. "Listen...if I try anything funny...don't hold back! End me!! And...make sure to protect that baby star...okay?!"

Rider's mind began racing as she watched the spectacle happen in front of her eyes. The small imp could not do anything but to hug Arle tight and let some tears flow away.

"G-guu...I...I can't stand seeing this...!" Rider said as she covered her eyesight on Arle's glistening armor.

[Deleted]

Paula watched as the clone questioned Rider's age and did not seem to mind about the way Rider was being treated, Paula shrugged and looked back at the clone, who said that there was nothing the group could do to save It, but they can save the star which would mean the mission would end bittersweet judging by Arle's plan, the atmosphere became bleak as Rider began to cry, Paula looked back at the clone to sympathise with It. "I'm sorry you have to do this...If this Is the only way." Paula said to the clone as she walked towards Arle and Rider.

Before looking back at the clone.

"Well, were ready to do this when you are."

Damage: 5%

[Mari]

Arle opened her mouth to object, but could not find the words. One did not simply talk their way out of the starvia. She could only hope that the amounts of the virus absorbed by the star wouldn't be enough to completely infect the clone. She was a tad taken aback when the clone asked her to take care of the baby. The implication that Rider was her baby to take care of was not lost on her, flustering the ever loving puyo out of the mage-knight.

That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part, worse than anything going on right now ... was that she couldn't deflect the awkwardness with a joke or some sass. The situation was simply too grim for such a remark to be appropriate. "...A-Alright. I'll see to it that neither star is harmed." Arle stammered out, trying desperately to hide her feelings on the matter with only mild success. All of a sudden Arle became aware of Rider burying her face against her. It was the shift in weight that clued her in more than anything, followed closely by Rider's words.

Arle's resolve melted. She knew she ought to be preparing for the worst, but she couldn't help herself. She turned partially to wrap both her arms around Rider and took the moment to comfort her, a curtain of feathery wings closing around Rider's head and shoulders to help hide the sight of what was happening from her. From the corner of her eye however, she still watched.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider only kept her gaze averted as the cosmic being began to pull away the virus from the star. The clone had a clear expression of pain and anguish, yet she kept going, absorbing the virus until here was no trace of it under the star. The clone panted as she fell down on her knees.

"M-my job here is done..." The clone said to the three. "You can go and pull the star off...although...I fear it's a bit...buried, so to speak. I don't think it's nothing you three cannot handle, however."

((Roll 10+ Strength to pull the star out of the ground. If none manage to pull out...something bad may happen.))

Rider rather uneasily let go of Arle and went towards the star, attempting to pull it out.

CsNmAvFgp_1d20-1(Rider's attempt to pull things.)

Unfortunately, she didn't even make it budge.

"I'm s-so sorry..."

1d20-1

[Deleted]

Paula watched as the clone said that the only way they could stop the cloud was to pull the star of the ground. "Well, we might as well try." Paula said sounding uncomfortable as she walked towards the star so they could start to pull It out now. "So what happens If It stays on there for awhile?" Paula said as she tried to pull the star off of the ground.


Uu4e9IBbp_1d20+1(Almost.)

And she almost managed to pull the star out, however she quickly grew exhausted and fell on the ground, she looked at Arle and Rider.

"I guess It's one of two's turns."

Damage: 5%

1d20+1

[Mari]

Arle was ... understandably not surprised when the younger girls had some difficulty lifting the star. It honestly looked a little intimidating even for her. Sometimes she had to remind herself that even though she felt like her normal self there was a massive surge of holy power giving her strength far beyond her normal means.

Right. Best not to tempt fate. "Wow, I guess it's pretty stuck there. Let me give it a try." Arle requested, stopping for just a moment to observe the fallen clone. She really wanted to ask if she would be alright, and it was kind of... eerie in a way, seeing someone who looked so much like herself suffering. But--What was she supposed to say? She was at a loss for words. "...Maybe once we get the star somewhere safe, we can find it a cleaner power source and we'll be able to see you again." she offered apologetically, more for Rider's comfort than anyone else's. In truth, she didn't know if that was even how it worked.

The mage-knight moved to embrace the star, crouching down and digging her gloved hands into the dirt around it to get some leverage. She then gripped the star tightly and attempted to stand back up!

_pML0Hc1p_1d20+2 (Arle's Star Retrieval)

...Pop! The star came free of the dirt and nearly knocked Arle off balance, holding it in her arms. Phew. That was a close one!1d20+2