Out And About

Cadmus didn't expect to be lead into Alice's room but he honestly didn't mind too much, he did want to catch up with them and besides that Alice was easy on the eyes so being in close quaters didn't hurt.

"Fine with me, I could use a bit of a nap though. Do you want me to sleep in the same bed?" The Alice he knew was very shy..then again it had been three years so who knows what she had been doing and had changed during that time. He was rather proud of her though for doing for herself though, she was stronger mentally then she gave herself credit for.

Alice shrugs "I, personally, don't mind." she says "The others don't really have any say about whom I let into my room." she points out "And speaking of, this is your room now as well, so please feel free to do wat you normally would do." she says.

"I could work with that. I'm going to change down a bit so I'm more comfortable resting, be right back" It would be too much of a pain in the ass to try to rest with his coat and everything on, so he decided to get himself a bit more comfortable.

He took off his coat and everything else, just having a single t shirt and shorts underneath, or boxers really. He folded the rest of his clothes neatly, it was his room but he was still an guest. He came back shortly after. "Do you have anywhere designated for the clothes in here?"

Alice definitely liked what she saw. She nods "In the hamper in he bathroom, if you want them washed. Which doesn't take very long." she says.

The bathroom in question, much like the rest of the room, was dark and gothy, but most certainly a girl's bathroom.

Cadmus did wonder if Alice was into the whole goth thing before she was turned but it didn't really matter. One thing he did wonder if him turning Alice had left any quirks he didn't know about, since he wasn't exactly a normal Heartless.

He put his clothes away before coming out the bathroom. "Its free if you need to change too." She could not want to lay down or was fine with what she had on, so he didn't assume.

She shakes her head "No. I have to go see Jack, he's the leader here, and explain to him the situation, if Marcen hadn't already." she says "Have a good rest. If you need anything, feel free to ask Buddy, and remember to wear your visitor's pass when you leave the room." she says.

She heads out, knowing that he would still be there when she got back. Since he couldn't teleport or open a portal while on the base... "Buddy, would let me know if Cadmus leaves the base?" she asks. She only got him back and, oddly enough, she was feeling better now, then she had in a long time.

Cadmus watched her go before laying back down, he didn't intend on going anywhere if he could help it. It did seem Alice wasn't As shy anymore, since something like this would fluster her in the past.

Natomi hadn't found Marcen yet, or rather Jack had gotten to them first and more then likely was already telling him about things. So if that was the case, her input wasn't needed.

Kobe was with Elora and Ramona talking about something, maybe she'd go see them.

Alice wanders over to Jack's office and catches the and of a conversation he was having with Marcen and Mondo "... Which is why I stand by what I earlier. If it's good for her, it's good for the team." he conclude.

"Okay. I'll talk to Buddy and have this Cadmus fellow taken off the visitor list and added to the regular list." Jack says.

There was a wrestling of papers "That's it for my report." Marcen says "Natomi's looking for me, so I'm gonna head out." he says.

Alice started to panic and uses one of her cards to make herself invisible as Marcen passes by. He pauses, looks directly at her, then turns and heads off.

Natomi was doing her own thing when she noticed Marcen. "Just the person I wanted to see. Did Jack tell you already what happened with me and Sam when we hit the Lookout? Because if not, its something I feel you should know."

Marcen nods "Yes.He also said that yo wanted to hold a meeting about it. He's finishing up with Mondo, but he said you can call your meeting whenever you wanted to." he says.

Alice decided to head back to her room, since Marcen had already taken are of what she anted to talk with Jack about. She stops just before her gets to her room "Buddy, is Cadmus still a visitor?" she asks.

There was a pause for a second "Yup. Jack's still talkin with Mondo and after that'll be a meeting, so it'll probably be a few hours." Buddy explains.

Alice nods "Okay. Thank you..." she mumbles as she heads in. She could use a nice hot shower, but didn't want to be caught ni there when the meeting was called, so she would wait for now.

Natomi was a bit surprised she was the one calling the shots as far as when the meeting happened, but she wasn't complaining. "I'd like to do it as soon as possible get it out the way, but I'll wait until Mondo is done with Jack."

*

Cadmus was just taking it easy when Alice came inside. "Welcome back, that was pretty fast. How did it go?"

Marcen nods "That's fine. Jack's finished with his talks with Mondo. So you can call the meeting whenever." he points out.

* *

Alice shrugs "Marcen already talked to Jack about it and since there's plenty that needs doing at the moment, it'll probably be a little bit before u're off the visitors list." she says. Though she did wonder what would happen if Cadmus didn't have his pass with him.

Natomi nodded. "In that case, Buddy can you make an annoucement for the group meeting?"

* *

Cadmus knew he'd have to carry that pass longer then. "I guess there's nothing for it, I'll just keep it with me in the mean time."

All of the links that each member has chirps as a general announcement "There will be a meeting of all members in briefing room three in ten minuets. Repeat, there will be a meeting of all team members in briefing room three in ten minuets." Buddy says over the coms.

* *

Alice nods with a sigh "I have to get going I'm not sure how long this meeting will take or what it'll be about, s if you get hungry, there are food replicators in the mess hall. Bully will point the way for you." she says as she heads back out.

Natomi headed to the briefing room so she could wait for everyone to gather so they talk about what happened and has out any ideas. Marcen and Hitomi had the most knowledge far as Chakra ninja went and villages, so besides the summary those two would likely be helping the most after the fact.

Alice comes walking into the briefing room, her usual expression plastered on her face. Hitomi files in, followed by Jack, Sam, Mondo, and Marcen was, seemingly, already there.

Natomi cleared her throat. "Me and Sam were told some troubling news and I wanted to let everyone know of it so we can best prepare and plan.."

She then told them what she knew after the talk. "..That's the gist of it. Jack already has some plans, but Marcen and Hitomi might have ideas why they might be attacking."

Marcen nods, a grim look on his face "It's mainly to ensure the protection of their village." he says in a calm tone "The Mizukage must think that these Templars will eventually get their hands on all these Pieces of Edin and joined with them to make sure that their village is protected." he explains.

Jack nods as well "Whatever the case is, there's every chance that they are now our enemies and we have to be ready to fight against them." he looks to Marcen "I know this goes against what you believe, but we'll need you to help us get read for them." he says.

Ramona wished she had a better clue of 'where' these pieces were, not only to stop the Templars but to possibly prevent a confrontation in the first place.

"It explains their motives if true, but doesn't why we get into conflict with them." Elora started. "The Templar that is, but I guess that can be chalked up to just getting in their way during their plans."

Kobe had his eyes closed briefly, arms crossed before opening his eyes again. "One thing that doesn't make sense. According to Jack's friend, we would lose against the village normally, but also said Jack or Ramona alone enough would be able to deal with both the Brotherhood and Templar. Yet, Marcen's village is going along with them which by that present logic that could of easily wiped out the Templar if they thought they were an threat."

"Further, the fact they're making a deal means its not on steady ground to begin with. What I mean to say is in order to make such a deal, they'd need reason they may not be just left alone. There isn't a guarantee the Templars will keep their word.." Kobe nodded to Sam. "Though, only you would know about that. That being said, its also possible the reason the Mizukage is going along is because the Templars either have blackmail or they have someone they care about hostage. Not everyone in such a village would be a ninja of some kind, or a particularly strong one."

Natomi wasn't too sure.  "It's possible. Not as likely because anyone that the Mizukage cares about that much would likely be well protected..unless they brought help.."

"It's just an idea so we shouldn't put as much stock with it without proof, but just keep an eye out. If its true, then if we get to that problem we won't have to fight the village. But again, that's only if that idea is remotely true." One didn't need to be the strongest or fastest to beat your enemies, especially in war. You just had to out manevour them. If Marcen's village didn't help, that would cripple their enemy. It was possible but he didn't want put much stock into it, however the annoying part is there would be no way what so ever to know right now.

After hearing Natomi's story, going into a direct full front war seemed foolish, the collateral damage enough would make it not worth it even if they won so he was thinking of ways to either stop it before it began, or mimize the damage. He wished they had a decent physic on their team, they'd be useful getting an edge in diplomacy. The only other immediate option he could think of was either prove the Templars were untrustworthy or make them think they weren't.

Hitomi and Marcen could disguise themselves, but he was sure it could be detected some way unless they had some way to booster to trick even the most keen individuals. And they had Alice to help avoid them being spotted as fakes possibly...ideas, ideas, ideas...

"If its possible,  I want to avoid a full on conflict not just because of the damage it'll do both people and collateral damage wise but obviously having one of our teamates fight their loved ones. I do have a number iof other deas how we might get around it, but if all else fails we should prepare for the worse. But I have to ask Marcen, is there any merit at all in my first idea as an possbility of the Templars having something over the village leader?"" Kobe finished.

Marcen shakes his head "Not likely. The Mizukage is surprisingly strong and wouldn't back down when challenged, especially by the likes of Templars." he says.

Hitomi nods in agreement "If the Mizukage is anything like my Hokage, it would be a matter of pride, if challenged by a foreign power, to accept the challenge on behalf of the village." she says.

Marcen nods "Indeed. Which means that the Mizukage is willingly helping the Templars." he points out "And if that's truly the case, than we won't be seeing the standard class of shinobi..." he mumbles the last part.

Hitomi frowns "Anbu Black-Ops?" she asks and Marcen nods. Hitomi looks to the others "The Anbu Black-Ops are a hidden villages 'Secret Enforcers'." she says "They handle all the...Classified, missions. That our village leaders don't want anyone else to know about." she explains.

Marcen picks up the explanation "They are highly skilled, Very dangerous, and extremely good at what they do." he finishes "If the Anbu are working with the Templars, we might be in trouble." he mumbles the last part again.

Jack looks over to his people "Okay, we'll have our work cut out for us. Any ideas on what we should work on, as far as keeping the Pieces of Edin out of the Templar's hands and how to combat the Anbu?" he asks.

Kobe had to rethink things a bit, but the question was something only the chakra Ninja and Sam could answer respectively so he was silent, as were the others.

"Are you positive there's no way to possibly cause mistrust enough to make the alliance break from the two?" Ramona added after a bit.

Marcen nods "Oh, I have a feeling this 'alliance' is on egg shells as it is." he says "After all, why would a powerful shinobi village bow to the wishes of some sword swingers?" he asks.

This gets a frown from Sam "I do not wish to be 'That Guy', but there is a reason the Templar Order has been the sworn enemy of the Brotherhood as long as they have." he says, calm "To underestimate them, is a fatal mistake that most do not repeat." he cautions.

Marcen nods slowly "Fair enough." he says.

"The only reason I can see that the Mizukage would willing work with the Templars...." Alice pipes up "Is if they already have one or more of the Pieces of Eden and these pieces do something by themselves." she points out.

"If that's truly the case, than it possible the Mizukage is oly working with the Templars to get their hands on the Pieces of Eden that they already have." Hitomi says.

Marcen nods again "That's certainly a possibility, but without any proof, of either, it's just speculation." he points out "And while it's something to consider, it's not something we can act upon." he says.

Mondo shrugs "Still, it's something worth considering and either way, we should probably be ready for it as well." he says.

Jack nods "Agreed. Fortune favors the prepared, after." he says. He looks to Manny "You've been pretty quiet. Something on your mind?" he asks.

Emanulle shook his head. "I just don't have anything to really add that hasn't been said. Carry on."

Natomi seemed to be thinkining. "Is there an way to figure out how badly the Brotherhood has been compromised? Is it just the current leadership or something else?"

Jack was a bit disappointed in Manny's response. As one of the more level headed members, Jack was hoping Manny could come up with a way to stop the Templars, Brotherhood, and mist village without directly fighting all three at once.

Sam shrugs "I can not say without being there in person and I do not tink I have to tell you that would be very bad for my health if I went back." he chuckles.

Marcen shakes his head "Even if we ame to the decision to send you back to check things out, it wouldn't be along." he states "One of would go with you to make sure the Brotherhood didn't get too frisky."

"It's an option, though not sure how much it would be worth since I don't think there's anyway to do it too fast and I'm not sure how much time we have to work with." Natomi says.

Manny couldn't think of much of anything, but he did have one idea. "The only thing I can come up with, is if Marcen and Hitomi disguise themselves to purposely sabtoage the alliance so its not just shaky, but it breaks. The mist village is too risky, but it should be doable with the Templars. They more then likely have ninja with them though and have ways to see through disguises."

"But if Alice can do something from far enough distance, we may have something."