SERIOUS: Reconnaisance Unit, Chapter 2: Broken Bonds and the Mysterious Predator of the Valens Mountain Range (OPEN to Shad0w and Cryptic Terror)

Narrow green slits slowly widen as the purring cat was awakened from her slumber by the abrupt conflict. Jade had been quite surprised and distracted by Hawk's mistrustful jump to potential violence with weapon in hand - that was usually her job; the day she when she first met the magician himself was no exception to this odd habit of hers. The seastone dust that covered her was nearly gone but there was still enough around to make her transformations erratic and poorly timed.  Without warning she was forcibly snatched back into her human form before she could move away from the magician.  

She closed her eyes as she crashed downward.  When she opened her eyes, she found herself nose to nose with Hawks, her hands on either side of his head, her legs straddling his hips. "Oh ... now you can't possibly blame me for this ..." She sits up, still perched on his hips, and turns her attention to the potential enemy as he begins to speak of the magician's father.  Suddenly her eyes go wide as Hawks begins to pull himself up in a most ... unfortunate way ... by climbing anything he can ... grab. She freezes, unable to react. "...and certainly not for that. Is th-that r-really the best place you could find to put your hand when I'm TRYING to focus on your cock?!" She gasps as he panics and falls back down.

She winces as her back hits the ground hard. This time she she opens her eyes, the finds the magician looming over her, their positions switched - he was now straddling her hips, pinning her to the ground. After a few moments she notices his hand was still in the same unfortunate area. Her eyes were wide and a slight punk flush filled the golden cheeks of the very flustered Sphinx. "Hawks I- there is ... I um... you should ... your hand... um m-move ... and ...I um - was referring to ... um... to  that one over there... focusing ... there ... and I ... I- you ... um..."  Jade was paralyzed into some loop of rambling idiocy, her heart rate elevated and her eyes wide with fear as his position triggered a particular memory that kept her away most nights. Had those two somehow swapped places for the day? He was violently pursuing threats and becoming an accidental tormenting tease while she was the calm one, only turning into a babbling fool when afflicted with the aforementioned torment. She was never able to take a dose of her own medicine - not from him, anyway.

Well, that surely wasn't much of a good impression these two would leave to ANYONE if they were to act so stupidly awkward and odd when with each other. Apparently, while close to each other, some sort of hidden, unlocked, deep forgotten ability that they apparently happened to both possess into the darkest and most far-away parts of their being, that would manifest itself into the outer cosmos in the form of waves of flustering, stuttering, weird actions, unnecessary body part grabbing as well as persistent pressing against each other. Too much body friction, in sort.

Luckily, it seemed that this cock was not interested, or amused, or merely not that perplexed when witnessing such a big mess. Or he didn't cared. "Are you done fondling your subordinate?" he calmly and casually asks, as if the action he just talked about was nothing wrong or creepy. "W-what are you saying?! ... wait, you mentioned..." Hawks yells, flustered and blushed, his hand still stuck on her breast, simply due to the massive cloud of awkwardness that had them covered. But also because he quickly snapped and remembered what the cock said. "My father's friend? ... How could I know that you speak the truth?" the magician adds up, and sits on his knees, his position happening to be exactly behind Jade's posterior, finally his arm, at least, away from her bosom, and now alongside the other one, as they are crossed together on his chest. Still, that image was so wrong, in several ways, especially if someone was looking from the cock's direction, which there was ... the cock himself. Luckily he was still unfazed, much like Hawks that was now back to serious-mode, not noticing Jade and her .. butt.

"Allow me to introduce myself ... my name is Ferdinards Richard." Upon that name was mentioned, Hawks eyes widen a bit. Is he familiar with that name? Apparently he was left at least mildly surprised, as his crossed arms are now relaxed, and placed on Jade's back, apparently he was so focused on this conversation, he completely forgot about Jade, and merely placed his arms there, as if she was a .. table!

The flustered magician panics yet again, abruptly tipping her off of his lap as she tries to get up - effectively shoving her forward and into the ground, on her hands and knees. She gasps and whimpers and the sharp stones of the ground cut her hands, getting somewhat louder as he braces his hands on her waist, causing her to grind her hands harder into the knife-like rocks. "Ahh... Hawks... too hard!"

Unable to bear him any longer, she lifts her self up, her back arcing as his hands are still perched around her waist. Her back presses warmly against his bare chest as her hands come up to her mouth.  She slowly slips her finger tips through her lips one at a time to collect the blood before slowly licking the wounds on her hand - which couldn't be seen by anyone facing her.  She shivers as the cuts heal - always a euphoric feeling.  "Mmmm... yeah ... just like that ..."

She suddenly leans back too far, losing balance and causing him to fall back onto his backside with her landing across his lap, with an arm around around his neck and her side pressed to his chest. "I - well ... ok - this one may have been my fault ... but you were doing it too hard..."

"Jade, stop this ... wah .. oh huh .. uhhh .. what .. this isn't the time for ... such nonsense .. eeeh .. hmmm .. release me at once .. we are .. this .. this is important .. why are you on top of me?!" Hawks is once again reduced into a flustered, blond, cheeks-blushed boy that squirms around, trying to gets himself back up and act maturely and seriously again. An endeavor that, with him being so frantically awkward and ... well, awkward sums it up quite nicely, ends up making her sit on his crotch, with her face positioned in front of him, eyes locking at each other's. "Enough! You are making me feel pressed!"

Finally managing to pull himself up, God knows how many more times they just rolled around trying to untangle themselves from each other, and how many times her extremely-light dressed current situation being the reason that an awful lot of skin that wasn't meant to rub against his body rubbed, he looks at the man, crossing his arms, trying to look serious, but still with blushed cheeks. "This name is familiar to me. Indeed. But, how can you prove to me that you are indeed that person?" For that request, the cock nods at him to approach. Apparently he wants to tell him something confidential. Reluctantly, the magician draws closer. Well, if he wanted to harm them, he had many opportunities before, so he should be safe, right?

Bending forward, he lets the cock whisper something to his ear. Immediately the magician's face becomes from pink to as red as humanly possible, his mouth slighly inflated, biting his lips, and his wide eyes, indicating ... what? He draws away fast, and facepalms. "... You have to be the real Ferdinards, to know about this..." he says ashamed, while the cock thumbs up with both of his hands, smiling in a really weird and stupid way.

"WHAT?!?!  You are blaming ME for this?!  Do I need to remind you where your hand was when this 'nonsense' started?!" As he shifts, she is pushed into a worse position, straddling his hips, her back arced, her chest presseD against his, her hands finding his shoulders for stability.  She freezes, almost frightened as her face is only inches from his forced to remember the preadator in his blue eyes. She can hear every heart beat and every breath in slow motion as the universe fades from the back ground.  Not this again!

Quite suddenly the moment is shattered as she is unceremoniously dropped harshly on the ground as she stands, causing her to fall against his leg - not enough to knock him over, but just enough to look like she is adoringly clinging to his leg. Upon noticing, she crawls away, disgusted.  Enough of this. Her hair was disheveled, her face was warm and flushed and she felt oddly exhausted, yet very unsatisfied with everything that just occurred.

Her body twists and shrinks until she is a plush little cat with golden fur and annoyed green eye.  She hops onto a rock, sitting with her tail neatly wrapped around her front paws, slightly twitching and her green eyes narrow to watch the magician with an primal annoyance that only a cat could manage. Whatever just happened, Hawks seemed ashamed? Why did their crew have to be so proficient at attracting ... weirdos. A ghostly cock from a magical past - this would only happen to a Black Cross.

......

"So, I see ... you have been working for that man named "Bishop" in order to track me down, so you could actually protect me from his pointless, vain wrath. That is ... quite admirable, my father would be grateful, as I am." Hawks tells to Ferdinards, apparently, while Jade had morphed back into her cat form again, he and the cock were having a conversation, which had seemingly just ended with him and the flying cock in a somewhat alliance-of sorts. "That is indeed correct. Bishop is a man of great wealth, and his hatred for your bloodline, however foolish and shallow, is a detriment to you as he has the money needed to hire dangerous emissaries to hunt you down. Dangerous enough not to be scared to face a potential wrath of your infamous captain, that is. That or they are just that ill-minded and greedy, of course."

Hawks then realizes something, his eyes widening up slightly. "Ah .." he starts, a bit frantically, "we got carried away talking, and we forgot about the events here. My comrade, Ginji, was left behind. We have to go find him right away! ... How pitiful, to leave him behind.."
"Yes, very lovely pitiful..!!" A voice, a familiar voice, is heard, and Hawks turns his head. "Ginji! You are alive! ... And ... why are you carrying all of them?!" Ginji, completely unscathed from this ordeal, was now standing behind the group, and on his back, he was carrying Chimerah, the insufferably jealous woman, and even Brosko.

Jade whimpers a bit as Ginji is mentioned. She wanted to go back for them during their flight but she made a bad call and chose to be over protective of that idiot magician again. Apparently there was nothing to worry about, as the odder a creature is, the more likely their crew was to befriend it somehow. Suddenly a familiar voice shatters her sulking and she trots happily over to the source of the sound with her tail high like a little flag and brightly proclaims,  "Myaaaan!" She begins purring until she notices just what Ginji is carrying - her happy little chirps cease, causing her to release a vicious hiss. She dashes back over to Hawks, leaping into his arms and she emits a low and warning feline growl toward Ginji's unconscious passengers. Suddenly remembering she is annoying with Hawks too, she offers him a hiss for good measure, while still in his arms.

"How do you always escape the most dangerous of places, that I will never understand. But, glad that you are safe.." Hawks comments, slightly awkwardly as he could see that his subordinate was clearly bothered and upset at the fact that they left him behind. True, things were really bad, but he was their companion, what they did couldn't be overlooked like that. Then, a bit more awkwardly, he glares at the cat perched on his arms, his left eye's eyebrow slightly narrowing. "What did I do to you now?" he asks her, a small sweat-drop forming at the back of his head. Then, he turns his attention back to Ginji, while the cock had gotten really close to Jade, and was looking at her with a really intimidating and creepy facial expression.

"Why did you saved them, Ginji?" The magician asks, but instead of a response, Ginji actually flips the middle finger at them, much to Hawks constantly-rising awkwardness and uneasiness. "That is none of your lovely business! ... But ..." Ginji starts, angry at first, but then looks down, seemingly recollecting something.

......

"Come, lovely friend, we must lovely go! This place will lovely blow up! Maaaha~!"
"I can't leave like this! They are ... MY FRIENDS!! AND I WANT ... LEAVES!!!"
"Oh ... you poor lovely soul .. dragged into the darkness by them, yet lovely ... loyal, to them!!"
"Doc-san, please ... save my friends! They are the only ones that .. I WANT TO TEACH THEM COOL STUFF, LIKE THIS! THEY .. NEED ME!!"
"Oh, Goat-san!"
"DOC-SAN, DON'T CRY!"

......

"And thus, I lovely had to save them all .. because .. lovely Goat-san is my friend!" Ginji remarks, and extents his arms suddenly, making everyone he was carrying drop off. How very .. thoughtful!

Jade ignores the glare from Hawks, twitches her whiskers and begins licking her paws to wash her face. The little bell on her collar jingles softly as she proceeds to give herself a bath while occupying his arms - the ultimate insult. Her eyes were closed as she enjoyed cleaning her fur - but sensing a change in tone, little slits of green open as she spots a well aimed cock glaring in her direction.  Her low growl resumes as she hisses angrily at the creature, she presses herself against the magician while eying her new opponent.  

Meanwhile Ginji and his entourage of idiots is being ignored. She knew any explanation he had would be free of logic anyway.

*Why do I always find myself in the middle of the most awkward situations on this planetary system?..* Hawks thinks to himself, while being left to just vacantly stare at Ginji and his stupidity, with the rest of the awkwardness around the place being also triggers of this stare into nothingness. The Goat head, the only one awake at that time, was currently wearing a rather expensive-looking, and suspiciously clean, considering everyone's endeavor and difficulties faced all day, silk fabric, wrapped around his head, and was chewing tobacco leaves, while Ginji was with his back turned to Hawks, the cock was still staring down at Jade, who was using him as a bathtub, that crazy woman from before, being curled up, with an overly "cute" face, and being topless at the same time, and Brosko...

"Y-you obnoxious, ungrateful feline ... I .. I will make you pay for this!" The ape says, and, as he was pretty badly injured, he shakily raised a piece of lean, sharp metal, part of the, now reduced to scrap metal, flying device, and pointed it towards her.

Jade narrows her eyes at the Ape who was randomly threatening her after having his ass saved by him crew mate. So much for gratitude ... meanwhile she snarls at the odd cock who was still giving her an unsettling looK.  Hawks seemed to be annoyed with her while the topless creature who also wanted her dead was curled up near by.  She was surrounded by bizarre and awful enemies and could take it no longer.  She leaps from the magician's arms, barely landing before her fur darkened from gold to a deep black as she grew.  

The welling frustration and fury inverted her colouring, giving her a glossy, midnight black fur while her usually onyx claws turned a shimmering gold. Her eyes flickered, turning paler and almost white before deepening to a blood-coloured crimson as she glared down at everyone around her. Her sharp white teeth were exposed as a snarl escapes her lips.  "ENOUGH! I swear I will fly EVERY ONE of you bastards into the lava and eat you as barbecue if you don't shut up, calm down and kindly explain WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!  WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU IDIOTS?!"

Ginji raises his arm. "Uh, Goat is my lovely friend ... and his lovely friends are them, so that ... OH, COULD IT BE? ... That, then we all are ... lovely friends?!" To that, the goat begins shaking its head around. "INDEED!" the other two heads, awoken by all that ruckus, are merely left just watching the stupidity unfold, in a way, victims just like Jade was. "That is incorrect, Ginji ... uuuh, why must all of you be stupid?" Hawks comments, crossing arms, and sighing. "That is only half-true, as, you are allies with cock." Ferdinards also comments, nodding, much to Hawks annoyance. "Why does everything you say have to be wrong?"

Meanwhile, the topless one was just napping, with her thumb in her mouth, making some really weird, rather inappropriate facial expressions, while, most seemingly ignored Jade and the ape that has just threatened her. As Hawks just walks around, his hand on his forehead, not believing that everything has to be this weird, Brosko "lashes" out on him. "Don't try to protect her!" he yells, thinking that he got in the way to protect her, while he was merely walking around. A shift pat on his shoulder, however, was enough to get the man fall down, Hawks looking at him with a poker face. "D-damn you! ... W-why ... why must you be this strong?! ALLAS!" Brosko laments, weeping. "I BARELY TOUCHED YOU!"

Ferdinards then looks at Jade, once again intensely, but this time talks. "You are a beast ... so, you can feel it too, right? Don't your instincts just scream that you should get away from this place?" his words, combined with these idiots here, it looked like he spoke about them. But this wasn't the case. As he looks towards the volcano, he remarks. "Surely you feel that .. we are still not safe."

Annoyed and dripping with dark malice, the onyx sphinx thunders over to the fallen ape, placing a paw over his throat. "I don't want to hear another word out of you - I will spare you from becoming my lunch because my crewmate is an unimaginable, endearing idiot who we accidentally abandoned and seems to have found cause in saving your miserable existence - but know that I do not share his sentiment and your first transgression will end in blood."

She saunters away in a brooding lion's posture, the colour of her fur still deepening to the darkest black. Jade blinks for a moment and looks at the cock in astonishment. "Of COURSE we're not safe - this is an active volcano that SOME IDIOT ape decided to trigger by somehow artificially increasing the pressure within the mountains crust - this is only the beginning.  Any idiot can SEE that - you don't have to be a beast to know this is a horrible idea and YOU- You are not even a beast - you are merely DRESSED as a chicken from for some reason I don't care to know.  Unless you happen to be a zoan of another sort who randomly CHOOSES to dress as a chicken instead - which sounds about like the sort of absurdity this crew regularly attracts - your instincts are human at best.  ... and yes, this entire group of islands are riddled with unnatural phenomena that scream that the best course of action is to leave this place as soon as possible - but again SOME IDIOT decided the best thing he could find to do was trigger a bloody volcano. Who the devil are you anyway?!"

She narrows her eyes at Hawks as she indicates the chicken. "YOU are responsible for this one.  The rest of the idiot brigade belong to Ginji since he decided to save them.  We're PIRATES - why, EXACTLY, are ALL of our enemies still breathing?!  What's wrong with you two?!  We've go so much work to do and tearing out some throats would make it so much more efficient!"  The crimson bloodlust was glimmering in the eyes of the sphinx who was clearly tired of all of the idiocy of her crew and their unlikely, annoying companions.

"... She is quite the feisty and easy-to-agitate female, isn't she?" Ferdinards responds to Jade's reaction, but rather than address to her, he asks that question to Hawks, who just sighs and looks down. "I am sure that in the end of all this, somehow I will be the one to be blamed for it all." saying that, he shivers in the thought of what kind of horrible punishment will likely await him after all this was over. The magician then looks around, and places his sword on his shoulder. "Alright, we have to move from here ... you, ape, is there any safe spots closely for us to reach? There's still something he have to retrieve from these lands, but it seems unlikely that we will work on that until this madness you invoked wears off."

"Regarding that, I lovely think that I've found something that could lovely explain all this fuss...!" Ginji then blurts out, and Brosko's eyes widen, as he glares at the eccentric madman, also part-time doctor. "Y-you .. what is this that you speak of?..!"

Jade narrows her eyes at the cock working hard to find a good reason to to put it in her mouth and bite down hard. It had been a long time since her last meal and her patience was wearing thin - until something catches her attention. That magician - so upset about being blamed for everything was visibly shivering. What kind of monster had she become? Her body shrinks to its lithe human form but she's too ashamed to face him.
"I shouldn't have gone ahead without you two. I was still traumatized from - from something I was never smart enough to appreciate. This it my fault" (It was really Ginji's ...)
Her pale green eyes are soft and calm now and she timidly approaches the magician. "Hawks - I didn't mean to - ... I - um... thank you for rescuing me. Kind of." She hugs him lightly but not creepily, which strangely made it more awkward than anything. As she starts to back away, her eyes widen, she felt the pressure of that truly horrible dress change quite suddenly - it could be stable or perhaps not ... and fearing the worse, she stays put.
All of this occurs in the middle of a discussion about the dangers of the land, their next course of actions, and a mysterious discovery ... Maybe no one would notice.

"..... ?" A heavy, almost chocking, wave of awkwardness instantly travels across the area the group was sitting on. No one is talking, no one even moves to begin with, everyone is just there, motionless, the only thing that seems to be alive, being the widened eyes almost everyone was exhibiting. It's so silent and so awkward, it feels like the cosmos itself was left void of life and mobility. Until, a piece of clothing slowly falls off, and a soft, bouncing sound, the first sound to be heard in what felt like an eternity, a frozen, uneasy eternity, following up, alongside the movement of a pair of .. balls. Even then, after this, still, no one was talking, moving, nothing, aside the eyes, they were getting wider on some.

"...Well .. lovely heavens, that escalated quickly..."
"...WHAT ARE YOU DOING AAAARRHHH, CONCEAL YOURSELF, WHAT KIND OF A MOVE WAS THAT? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HIM BECAUSE HE IS A PERVERT? THAT IS NOT A GOOD PLAN!!" Hawks screams, his face as red as humanly, and perhaps even more, possible, as he frantically extents his arm, his wide eyes, combined with said blush was hilarious on him. But, the same arm that frantically moved forward, also an action done reflexively, possibly to attempt to "hide" what was just revealed into the area, ends up covering up ... one of the balls. A bit fast. A bit tight. A bit squeezing. *WHY?!!!* He thinks, as this action takes place, horrified face, his shame, he'd wish he had vanished from the universe itself!

Jade had been tightly pressed against the magician, unsure on if the garment had trulygiven up on carrying its cargo or not. Perhaps no one could have noticed if he didn't flip out - perhaps she could have found a way to tie it together ... but as he begins to flail, she is pushed away, drawing attention to the failure of her garment - that she did NOT volunteer to wear and was now being yelled at. She had felt awful for being so cruel to the magician and tried to make him feel appreciated as a crew member and a friend ... but now everything had been shattered because of that awful dress.
Her eyes drift down to where Hawks had decided to be ... helpful. She looks back up to him, her eyes dead and void of reaction. She pulls him closer - but only so she can begin untying the scarf that had been tied around his waist - which probably looked more awkward considering their proximity. She calmly does a a combination of twisting and wrapping and tying to create a garment to cover herself until they can return to their ship.
"You will do well to remember that I did NOT put myself into that horrible contraption of a dress. How it's made and what it represents are things I wanted no part in." She give Brosko a deadly gaze that could turn the world to stone - before turning back to Hawks. " -- but sure , magician, blame me if it makes you feel better. Though, keep in mind that I don't have to listen to it." She didn't take her full sphinx form but her wings did emerge from between her shoulder blades. She walks to the edge of the cliff pausing for a moment. "Goodbye, Hawks." With that she took an elegant dive off the edge.

Hawks is left just watching as she was leaving them by, actually saying "goodbye" as an addition. "S-she sure knows how to make an awkward and over the top exit ..." he laments to himself, while standing there and blankly looking, with a large sweat drop forming on the back of his head. He wanted to go after her, but she was already on the move, and he couldn't fly like she could. Besides, surely it wasn't like she was leaving away or something. Plus, in reality, she was the one that was the safest amongst them, as she could at least soar above the soon to become, a molten surface that was once the crystalline, white chilly endless. However, he then remembered that Ginji had just pointed out something weird. "What did you meant, Ginji?"

"Do not speak to him of it ... I don't know how you figured out but .. don't speak!" Brosko desperately shouts, before he collapses again, panting. "Hmmm ... well, see, the lovely reason why that man did all that he did was lovely .. for the sake of the will of a person dear to him."

Idiots.  She was surrounded by a pack of idiots.  Her allies and her enemies created a steady supply of unreasonable stupidity that constantly put her in the most horrible of situations - which was why she was currently flying over snow caps, surrounded by lava, while wearing nothing but a stolen scarf. She couldn't focus on anything with the threat of her precarious ensemble falling off.  Again. Furthermore she was tired of being yelled out for the awful outfit a pervert slipped her into while she was unconscious - which was only slightly more disturbing than being thoroughly molested by a crew mate who remembered none of it.

Who knows what the idiot ape did with her clothing - which was likely incinerated at this point.  She had no choice but to return to the ship.  Since her clothing was gone she had to steal yet another of the magician's shirts. She corseted a small piece of leather around her upper ribcage before putting on the shirt which was left unbuttoned with the ends of the shirt tied in a sturdy knot, just under her chest. She double-belted her calfskin trousers and added more belts to the strip of leather under the shirt, finishing with a holster belt, carrying a blunderbuss, and a swordbelt for her katana.  Everything was tided down, multi-belted, knotted, and tight.  The only thing exposed was her neck, her upper chest, and her bronzed abdominals where the belts intersected - this sphinx would not lose her clothing again - not without considerable effort and bloodshed. She knotted the stolen red sash about her hips so she could return it to that idiot so he could have one less thing to yell at her about. That magician was so temperamental, she sometimes half-suspected he was a woman.

Now that she was harnessed by more strips of leather than a team of stagecoach horses and annoyed that this was even ... necessary, she left the ship, disappearing into the woods briefly before taking to the air, not bothering with a full transformation. From the sky, she could see the perch she recently left - what fresh hell was waiting for her, she could not say.

Meanwhile, the group has left the piece of land that they used as a temporary shelter, now instead being located at an unidentified location. It seemed like they were underground, darkness was surrounding them, sans the faint light provided by a set of torches that were installed there by someone. The tunnel was going deeper into what seemed to be a small building, one that could actually be seen as a home. Actually, it was a house. An actual, everyday, wooden house, complete with a ceramic roof, a fence across the facility, forming a small area that could be seen as a yard, and what seemed to be a well, close to the building's entrance. The whole construction seemed to be abandoned, however, as nothing seemed to be living in here. Well, being inside a cave, underground, with what is an arctic area right above, for this place to exist here was already suspicious and unexpected.

Also, worth of notice was that, there were only Hawks, the flying cock and Brosko there, apparently they had been separated. Hawks looks around the place, before he nods to Ferdinards, who was carrying the injured enemy. "I see ... well, let's hope that Ginji will locate her by the time we are done here." he says, and walks towards the house. Weird.

The sphinx carefully lands at the exact spot she departed, but to her surprise everyone is randomly gone. She wasn't even gone for that long. She knew better than to turn her back on that band of idiots even for a moment. She begins to venture further inland from the precipice they occupied not long ago. The soft clang of her blades echoes slightly with her movements. She felt much better, more comfortable, and battle-ready in her current attire. Even the extreme heat from the nearby lava flows could not ruin the simple joy she was receiving from her trousers. She shuffled along, singing nonsensical words and playing the flute that hung from her necklace, reflecting the happiness of ... pants. "I have pants... I have pants ... but I've got no Hawks and I've got no cocks and Ginji's run away... annnd Ginji's run away I say"

While she just moves around, humming to herself, minding her own business, a looming mystery approaches her. From the snowy tops of the rocks around, the icy landscape and the rugged terrain up, before, and all over the place and ahead, something is crawling it's way towards her, with considerable speed and agility. Probably not obvious at first, due to her mind being abstracted by other things, as well as the, initially, greater distance between the two, surely she'd notice it now, that something was following her trail. Another enemy? One of her stupid subordinates? An old idiotic enemy, pointlessly befriended and saved from a fiery inferno that was triggered by said idiotic enemy?

From atop a slope, the unknown entity then leaps, appearing as a shadow, a weird, insect-like, large shadow. One that had several legs, and what seemed to be a large, curly tail with ended up on a sting. Or, actually, that seemed too lean and straight to be a sting. It looked like a dagger. And, without any further delays, Sasori, the scorpion dagger, appears, landing in front of Jade, and immediately dashes towards her, waving it's frontal, also dagger-like, legs, to it probably being a sigh of happiness to find her, for anyone on that blades of doom's path, a rather dangerous sight to behold!

Jade was indeed distracted with her aimless song of nonsense as she strolled alone looking for the rest of her party. By the time her ears noticed the sound of something approaching, the creature had already landed in front of her. Upon noting the endearing, deadly shapes of the creatures silhouette, her eyes soften and she moves her hand away from the hilt of her blade.
The little fellow must have followed her from the ship after she changed clothing. She wasn't quite sure how he got here. She could fly and the place was covered and lava but scorpions were mysterious creatures - like cats, they seemed exempt from the laws of physics and seemed to come and go as they please with unnatural ease and method.
How ever he managed to reach this high precipice, she was happy to see him. She scratched lightly under his chin while offering treats with the other hand. "You're worried about your pet magician, aren't you? He's keeping the company of cocks, but was well and characteristically obnoxious when last I saw him. Will find him ... and the other one too so we can leave this awful place. It doesn't have enough of an insect population to keep you well-fed."
It was odd that the Sphinx was much kinder to and much more patient with the scorpion than she ever was with anyone else. There was something endearing and innocent about the arachnid that made her so fond of him. His deadly appearance somehow made him even more adorable to her strange sphinx eyes. He also never made her angry - not even when he poisoned her. "This is the only way they could have gone..."

Sasori, delighted by the treats, tries to show his affection by moving around his razor-sharp, bladed legs, which, as delightful and cute as it may have been, could easily decapitate someone by accident. Which would be an unfortunate thing to occur to her. Pretty confident a Sphinx cannot lick away a chopped-off head. The creature's jolly behavior abruptly changes, however, as the scorpion turns towards the east; something was happening, perhaps an enemy, was approaching. The creature does seem to grow weary and restless very fast, too, as it turns back to Jade, tapping it's tail on the ground, the sword on the top pointing towards the opposite direction of the direction of the unknown reason that was causing his uneasiness. As if he was trying to say "This way, go this way, something is approaching."

Jade closes an eye as one of the creature's legs grazes her cheek. Soon small droplets ob blood srout from the abrasion. The wipes the blood away with the back of her hand, then locks the captured blood slowly. The remaining saliva on the back of her hand is then brushed against her cheek, causing the cut to heal seamlessly. Somehow this accidental injury was still adorable to the Sphinx. She raised her chin as the creatures excitement died and his focus shifted. She turned the way the creature indicated - a soft breeze blew past whipping her hair back and carrying the scent - of trouble. She narrowed her eyes and stepped in front of her arachnid friend and she move carefully in the direction indicated, keeping to the shadows.

The setting sun was beginning to cast a rich, golden-red glow across the bizarre landscape of ice and fire. This unnatural place brought more trouble than it was worth. It would be better for them all to abandon this hell hole as soon as possible but they had been separated again. She needed to find her crew mates quickly. The animal instincts granted by her zoan fruit sensed something troubling about this place - something that made her uneasy. She wasn't sure what it was but it made her feel the need to leave as soon as possible. She had to find those two clowns before it was too late...