1084/Titan Field Trip: Geological Samples

Titan Field Trip: Geological Samples
Date of Scene:	05 December 2014
Location:	Galianda
Synopsis:	A field trip to Titan becomes an example of multiversal interaction! The depths of Titan become host to lesson both for students and Elites.
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 76, 152, 513, 626, 627, 629, 630, 633, 635, 638, 643, 647

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Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
The faculty of Alexander Academy firmly believe in giving students the opportunity to put their talents to use in productive ways. Thus it is that they have organized this field trip into the upper mines of Titan in order to allow for the students to exercise their skills as well as contribute to the general knowledgebase of Galiandan science.

Additionally, members of the extraversal community have been invited to accompany the students, both to allow them to observe the students in a normal activity, as well as giving all sides a chance to familiarize themselves with the unusual situations one might encounter on both sides in a relatively safe environment.

Titan is a massive mountain, and the buildings reflect this. Steel and glass rise from the sides of the mountain in a cylinderical fashion, not growing upwards so much as /outwards/. Foundaries and ore processing are by far the most plentiful buildings, but all of the conveniences of modern life are present.

The teacher, PROFFESSOR MISTER GREEN, DARK LORD OF THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT (his legal name), had handed out the assignments and then left the students to their own devices while he worked on his latest attempt at a 'Magitek death ray toaster'.

Geological maps of the upper mines have been provided to the students, as well as a list of common minerals. Their objective is to gather samples of these minerals and identify the locations that these minerals have been found. As usual when PROFESSOR MISTER GREEN is involved, failure will involve banishment to the DETENTION ZONE.

The upper tunnels are well-lit and roomy. Tracks for carts have been installed and the tunnel walls are well-braced with imported timbers. Piles of rock lie here and there through the mazelike areas, the tunnels splitting off in all directions . The walls gleam with dense deposits of a minerals and common crystals such as quartz and mica, even the outermost areas rich with minerals even if they are comparatively worthless. The closest Danger Ranked area is quite some distance deeper, so everything SHOULD be perfectly simple, right?

This probably explains why they're fine with sending a mixed class on top of things.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    With field trips, especially a Galiandan school's field trips... well, there's a few hazards out there. Quentyn is here not as part of the class, but as a white mage ready to help in case of students not too aware of such hazards. Gotta rack up those field work hours.

    The white mage quietly but appreciatively takes in the sights, eyes lingering on everything from the most awe-inspiring, gargantuan ore processors to the humblest of Titanic abodes. What Quentyn doesn't do is give input on the maps, directions, or navigation in general; he is simply content to follow the rest of the student group here, and step up when someone inevitably hurts themself.

Beatrice Marshal (638) has posed:
    Beatrice, too, isn't actually here as part of the class - after all, she's only Elemental-grade. No, instead, she's here for a very similar reason to Westwind - healer field work hours. Even though she's not a White Mage, she still needs healer credit to pass Arcanima class.

    Being the Job that does a bit of every other magical discipline does have its down sides.

    Beatrice has her Geometric Tablet (pretty obviously a customised mogPad) in hand, currently using it to maintain her Physical Scan. Very faint pulses of gravity magic emenate from her every so often, granting her a perfect mental image of her surroundings. And everyone in them. Unless one of those cheating Thieves is using Hide.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena is here because she is a Behemoth Class Student...which means basically a senior. She graduates next year...which means she basically is coasting by right now. She has her entire future to look forward to, and as such...is pretty lazy. To be fair, Helena was always looking for some way to just coast by, despite her brilliant mind. Work was for people who couldn't put it off on others...

    Today, she has a map located in her MOGNET hud, connected to her MOGNET Glasses, which allow her to see things in a mini-map display in the right hand corner...she uses the cheaty methods of beacons to leave a trail on the minimap back to her point of entry...but while she is here, she also looks at the machines a bit closely on the way down... Beyond that, she seems focused on getting to the HUDs and then..well, MAYBE diving deeper. For no reason at all. "Okay so seriously, lets tag these things and get up to no good."

Faruja (152) has posed:
For the record, one Faruja Senra finds Galianda absolutely fascinating. A modern city, modern industries all forged into a mountain both sets his fur on edge as well as has delayed his arrival by a good hour. Thankfully, his human-passing bodyguard-slash-Acolyte, the tall viera Strawberry, managed to get the Inquisitor here in time to join the foray into the upper tunnels.

Faruja is clad in his normal red robes, shouldering a somewhat large pack of supplies even as his more modern armed Acolyte lightly clutches her shotgun. There's a pick strapped to her back too, and a map shoved into her belt.

The pair nod to one another, Faruja leaning on his cane slightly as he limps over to the amassing students. Strawberry gives a swift wave to all and sundry, her ears tucked under a scarf, while Faruja offers a warm smile and a bow.

"Lord's blessings, Sers and Dames! I trust I hath found the students of Alexander Academy? Inquisitor Faruja Senra of the Most Holy Church of Saint Ajora Glabados, and mine Acolyte, Lady Strawberry. Well met!" He offers before falling in. For the moment, the pair remain in the back, curiously observing the students.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Today seems like a pretty easy assignment to Kyra for two reasons. One, geology was SCIENCE and Kyra just loved herself some science! Ultimately, rocks and minerals amounted to "base reagents" to her so she had every reason to take interest in them and every reason to be enthusiastic about being here. Which she clearly is as all of her classmates can see.

    Secondly, this was a group assignment and Kyra prefers working in groups.

    All geared up, her backpack seems pretty empty at the moment, obviously meant to carry samples. There might be a brick or two of explosives in there but she didn't bring too much since they are in a mine. There's probably explosives somewhere around here she could borrow.

    "Yeah yeah, get up to no good as usual. Hey, link me your minimaps, just in case. Not that I plan on getting lost or anything." Kyra says as she scrolls through the list of samples they need to pick up on her mogpad.

    They are hailed and as Kyra looks up from her device, she starts and almost makes a reach for the gun she has hidden underneath her hoodie at the sight of Faruja and the viera. "Hi! That's us, nice to finally meet you in person, Faruja. I'm Kyra Hyral."

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
"An interesting land," Kenshin remarks to no one in particular or specifically, having mysteriously appeared not too far away from the entrance to the tunnels. Why is he here? How did he know there was a meeting today? Was he invited or did he simply show up? These are the great mysteries that must be answered whenever Kenshin shows up somewhere. Or they can never be questioned and everything moves on just fine.

Kenshin, wrapped in his usual cloak, has simply shown up as he is often wont to do. He doesn't, presently, do much besides just show up. He shuffles around a bit, looking left and right before he finds a nice rock or boulder to sit down on and then cups his hands to his mouth. There's a very feel-able rush of magic around him before, as he blows into his hand, a flute noise starts to play.

It sounds sort of like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsihxORASks

Noiela (647) has posed:
Mute observer, the local outworlder Noiela keeps herself strictly to the sidelines with her hood and scabbard hanging down from her belt. A tome rests on her other hip that she pats occasionally as if to reassure herself of its presence.

The others she studies with an sharp eye for minor detail, never lingering for longer than is polite on each student...respect she does not extend towards the rodent and his quaint speech, briefly riveted. Could be the fetching, eye burning scarlet of his robes, more likely his divergence from a standard human form.
Presently unaware Quentyn is with the group, she grants only the other non students a faint incline of the head in acknowledgement. Leaving the youngsters (several who look older than herself) to mingle without disruption.

Answering Kenshins floating remark with a murmur of her own. "Indeed. But the unfamilar always is a novel sight."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Oooh, right, outworlders! Quentyn looks over to Faruja and his acolyte... well it's more of a stare, but a curious one... and if the priest sees the student white mage, he'll give a quick smile back in greeting, a thumbs up to confirm the priest found the right group, and stop said staring.

    Onikaze likewise gets a curious look and, if noticed, a smile in greeting. And while the white mage is looking over those not native to this world, he *does* notice Noiela. He meanders over through the students, holds up a hand in greeting and gives a small smile. "Hi again. Welcome to Galianda." He looks around briefly. "And Titan."

Finna (513) has posed:
    A higher-pitched (but not shrill) voice cries out a wordless cheery goat-noise from nearby Faruja! As if agreeing with him entirely as it too falls in.

    It's a mountain goat with white fur. Completely normal sight on mountains, though whether they are about in this world normally is another story.

    Regardless, the animal has somehow or another been confidently following along fairly close to Faruja.

    Where did it come from? When did it arrive? And where might it be going?

    Answers to the first question will be hard to come by. Except for the most alert and active-minded individuals, it will be hard to say just when the beast arrived. Was it with everyone the whole time, was it supposed to be here?

    It will be very easy to rationalize this as Faruja's pet goat he never told anyone about.

    Yes. One gaze upon the goat, and most would simply think that there is nothing at all unusual about being followed by a goat into this place.

    Think two or three times about it though, and the mystical tomfoolery backing this obvious assumption will develop a few cracks though.

    The Goat plods on alongside Faruja.

    What the heck.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
The mapping methodologies are working fine. There appears to be nothing unusual on the scanner, through Beatrice does pick up a lifeform of some kind in a pile of rocks ahead.

It pops out of the rocks, a black creature with bright pearl-like eyes and bunnylike ears. The fur on it is ragged and sticks out in all directions. It sounds kind of adorable as it sleepily wakes up from the oncoming noise, blinking at the party in surprise. Various scanning materials return data:

L4 SPRIGGAN CUB x1

The firepower present is ludicrously overkill for this, but it does happen to be clutching some shiny rocks...

Maya has posed:
Maya is also just arriving now she was curious about this bit and had wnated to see the world beyond the currently limited area and she jumped at the chance to get in on this she's quite the outworlder ot be sure flad in heavy leather and metal armour with a huge rifle across her back and she grins a little bit.

"Finally a world that's constructed in a sane fashion."

She pays no mind to the goat.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena rolls her eyes at something, but DOES put the minimap information up for Kyra. "Gosh, if I wasn't your FRIEND or something." She complains about the extra work, but still does it. She looks sideways at the Rat... "Do I...know you?" She asks, having a feeling of deja vu...but it passes. The goat is more interesting suddenly. It is a creature she hasn't seen before...AND rediciously out of place. "You! Come with me if you want to have adventure!" it sounds more like a demand than anything else.

    However, SPRIGGAN?!

    Helena doesn't even think twice...

    She gets the initive.

    Command > Throw.

    Throw > knives.

    Helena proceeds to throw knives at the Spriggan cub.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Oops, time to cut short the introductions. You're not fooling anyone, oh-so-adorable Mr. Spriggan. Quentyn's PDW is quickly in his hand and then sighted at the monster-- safety off, breathing controlled. ....buuut the white mage doesn't fire at first, perhaps waiting to see if it's an aggressive one. But when Helena attacks, Quentyn adds his own short burst of fire (as long as no one's in the way).

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja keeps up his best priestly smile. It might be slightly marred by the amount of teeth possessed by your average nezumi. He offers another swift bow, though his gaze doesn't linger too much now that they're moving.

"An honor Lady Hyral! The pleasure is entirely mine."

Berri's words are less formal. "Hiya! Never a shortage of interesting people these days." There's a cheerful grin on the bunny-woman's face.

For her part, Noiela gets a look as well. It's mostly the coat that catches his eye at first, then the stare. She's not exactly the first stare he's dealt with, and he takes it in stride.

There's a short bow to her as well. "My Lady, blessings upon thee." He offers.

As for Quentyn? The Sage gets a nod, and a far more exhuberant wave from the viera.

Reeeach! Faruja reaches down, and pets the goat between the horns. Rubrubpetpet.

"Good girl." Ignore that slightly teasing sound in his voice, and the smirk. No, he's giving Finna no respect right now. After all, she's a goat.

Suddenly, Spriggan Cub. Faruja raises a hand from his goatly friend, and incants.

Greyish-black magic forms in his hand as he applies a light, constant tug of Gravity against the shiney rocks the creature's holding. Wanting to see what those gathered are capable of, he'll simply try to make sure the rocks don't go flying in the inevitable battle of blade, spell, and apparently knives.

Beri makes an 'awwww' sound. "It's so cute!"

BLAM! Gunbunny then shoots the cute adorable black bunny-thing. Irony has no meaning to Acolyte Strawberry.

Noiela (647) has posed:
Noiela gives a start, refocusing on Quentyn after viewing the cognitive disconnect that occurs whenever her attention strays to the goat. It's hard to pinpoint other than sheer incongrity why the goat causes her eyes to water. Unsurprisingly, the poor student recieves the rough edge of her tongue in a tart greeting back. "Hello, do you ever knock-" In springs the foe, trampling her not very witty line flat. Instead of bullrushing the beast, she hangs back, tensed for action.
"Blessings upon you." For Faruja. Manners cost nothing.

Roxas (629) has posed:
You know what the problem is with extradimensional means of travel in a Multiverse where things are getting stitched together in strange places all the time? It's that sometimes a new environment is injected into an unexpected place and you have no basis to know it. The Corridors of Darkness have been more difficult to navigate ever since Unification... and today is simply more evidence of that for ROXAS and his companion. A swirl of darkness springs forth into a great portal a small distance down the tunnels from the Spriggan and those who are attempting to vigorously beat it to death.

Roxas staggers out of it into the tunnel with a distinctly confused expression on his face. He mis-steps, catches a rock underneath his foot and hits the tunnel floor with a cry of surprise and alarm. This is not where he expected to emerge from the darkness. Wasn't there a town here the last time he came through? The sound of him talking is audible as a vague murmur in the distance, "Hey, Xion, if you're coming out, watch your step!"

The black-clad youth rubs at the back of his head, carefully moving to get back to his feet and look around. Some kind of cave system...? Roxas quickly determines that he is hopelessly, terribly off-target. Re-entering the Corridors of Darkness from here would be a blind jump just as surely as this was. And is that the sound of fighting down there?

"Aw, man..." He complains to himself, childishly.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Whoah, whoah, just Kyra is fine, alright? None of this...Hyral stuff." Quickly she shakes her head...then sticks her tongue out at Helena.

    Kyra eyes the goat suspiciously. Sometimes random encounters look adorable. THIS IS A LIE TO LURE YOU INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY! It isn't any type of monster she's seen on their world before and Kyra likes to think she has a great working knowledge of all the dangerous random encounters-

    An actual Spriggan shows up and Kyra is quick to pull her gun. Unfortunately, rogues outspeed white mages and Helena no doubt destroys the little beastie before much else can be done.

    Kyra slips her Mogpad into her backpack after slipping the case over it and pauses suddenly, frowning as if listening to something off in the distance. It sounds like a...flute? Then...scrabbling noises?

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna is not too surprised that Faruja has figured things out already! He's seen her playing around several times before. But she doesn't seem to be bothered at all by this treatment. Although she does lightly headbutt Faruja - literally in the rear - with the flat of her horns once he stops, only to then skitter closer to the unfortunate Spriggan and watch from afar! She's got a plan alright.. just not for the Spriggan.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Horns meet ratbutt. Faruja stumbles a bit, caught by the tail by his Acolyte. That spell, at least, doesn't falter.

"Ye art eating regular oats for a week!" At least he's keeping up the pretense.

Noiela (647) has posed:
The hairs prickle on Noielas exposed skin at the scrabbling noise heard echoing in the distance, encapsulated by a rather uncharacteristic panic that with her bunched hair captures perfectly the impression of an alarmed rabbit. Pivoting sharply on one toe, she glances back at the trail left behind. Several lengthy seconds tick past in silence, her shoulders slackening from their raised hunch and settle into her usual rounded slouch.

Monster up ahead. Focus. On winds the inner lecture reflected in a frown, then back to observing with just a near imperceptible shudder twitching her dangling fingers.

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
Kenshin's flute-playing stops when Noiela speaks to him, nodding his head to her as his hands fall to his lap, "It is true. That is why one must travel. New sights open our minds and enhance our perspectives. By remaining stationary, the air stagnates. It is the wind that carries us to new places which renews our breath."

When Kyra looks around for the source of noises, Kenshin gives her a happy wave. She may or may not see it, that's up to her.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Those native to the area know well the problems Spriggans cause. Even the cubs can be mischevious, gumming up the process of mining and ore extraction with their endless search for shiny rocks.

BLAM! The Spriggan Cub doesn't even know what hit it. Well, okay, maybe it does, but only for a fraction of a second. The monster is immediately defeated, and the minerals and a couple Gil clatter to the floor in the aftermath, leaving the group free to continue exploring. Physical Scan returns no new contacts at the moment.

There are a number of directions the group can proceed from here. There is a winding path deeper into the caves. The map available shows it goes past an interior lava flow. Another direction passes through some wide cavern galleries, while an upwards path looks like it goes up through an exterior craggy area.

Meanwhile, Kenshin continues to play their music. Nothing seems to respond, but the sound does echo through the tunnels creating new shadings and echoing responses. Roxas arrives safely enough. The area appears clear of Heartless, at least.

Maya has posed:
Maya has her rifle off her back at this poing as there's even monsters showing up.

"Hey Faruja!"

She also gives Noiela a look for a moment before making sure she's ready and she notices there may be more monsters showing p soon she sees the cub jut go down very hard and it's dead.

"... What just..."

She peers at the drops shrugs and moves on keeping with the group and clealry now being more alert for trouble.

Xion (630) has posed:
    Tumbling out of the Corridor herself, Xion falls backwards while windmilling, landing on her butt and grumbling under her breath. "Next time, I'm guiding!" She announces to Roxas, before standing up. "The corridors are all sorts of tangled. But, I mean, all we have to do is figure out where we want to go. That's why you shouldn't just run off for a shortcut! It's the darkness! There's no shortcuts." She continues, standing up and dusting off her legs and butt, which mostly accomplishes getting her gloves dirty on top of her black coat.

    But... Then... NOISES!

    "Roxas! I hear them! It must be heartless!" She stage-whispers, sounding... Eager. Happy. Elated. Very... Positive.

    "Your shortcut worked!" She continues, before extending her right hand, a metallic shwing accompanying the appearance of her Keyblade, as she... Charges off.

    Right into the group. She almost runs Helena through with her dull pipe sword, before pulling out of her headlong rush, tumbling ass over teakettle into a pile near everyone, her giant key-sword tumbling off out of her grip. She looks like a total moron. It may be because she's a total moron.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn flinches at little at the tartness, but that's before the monster steals his attention away. Even after the Spriggan is obliterated... well, he lowers his gun to point at the ground and flicks on the safety, but he keeps it in his hands--attentive to his surroundings but, unlike some of his schoolmates, not possessing much in the way of detection abilities besides his natural senses.

    Quentyn looks over to Helena, "Are there more?" He steals a glance at Noiela, trying to gauge the welcomeness of further conversation attempts. Girls are strange.

    -- And, yup, looks like more-- gun raised and sighted again, safety off again. But at least Quentyn's apparently not the shoot first, questions later type.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena moves over to collect her knife...and the gill. She hands the 'reagents' to Kyra, who will no doubt catalogue them as either part of their mission, or part of her...collection. Helena does not ask questions!

    Helena puts her dagger back into her pocket...right as Xion comes barreling at her. There is a moment of surprise, as Helena doesn't even have to move, and Xion goes knocking herself down. Raising her head up, she looks down at the very strange girl and then smiles!

    "Well well! Miss Dark knight, you have to hurt yourself BEFORE you attack! Not during!" She smiles, mischeviously, and offers a hand to Xion up, because she is just the most adorable thing ever. The goat is forgotten about, it seems disinterested in adventure, and Helenad dislikes boring goats.

    "Wana come with? We're on a boring homework assignment." she looks at Kyra, "So how about we go towards the lava flow. I think going deeper is going to get us what we need." And it isn't just an escuse for trying to find a hot spring for other less approprate things.

Finna (513) has posed:
    With Xion coming in and swinging her strange weapon ineffectively, just to topple over a moment later, the goat easily hops over and questioningly bleats down at her - right as Helena's hoisting Xion up!

Roxas (629) has posed:
"W-wait, but you just said..."

Roxas is about to reach over and snag the back of Xion's hood to stop her from charging off... when Xion just goes charging off on her own. He would stare in disbelief if not for the fact that he's got to do something pretty fast or he's going to lose her! Who knows what kind of stuff is in these caves. It might be Heartless, it might be something worse. Or at least, something just as bad. He takes off after his partner, charging through the tunnel with a bit more caution... and less of an inclination to draw his weapon just yet.

This caution and disinclination pay off. Roxas, unlike Xion, doesn't have to abort an excessively quick run and go tumbling past somebody. On the other hand, he DOES have to help her out. Roxas hurries on past the group, but he's not really needed to take care of this. Is Helena just nice, or has she met with Xion before? The young man looks perplexed at the abrupt PARTY INVITE extended to Xion.

"Sorry about that... we kind of came the wrong way, and ended up..." Roxas looks around at everyone assembled, and then at the surrounding caves. "... Well, wherever here is, I guess. I've never been here before."

Faruja (152) has posed:
Overwhelming firepower proves successful. Faruja and Berri ignore the money, only sweeping up the minerals. He'll hand them over to Quentyn.

"...I assume ye art not so lucky as such to be our quarry?" Faruja isn't a geomancer, nor a geologist.

Still, he seems more than satisfied by the short display overall. The group at large gets a nod. They seem capable.

Until Xion comes tumbling in. Blink. The priest-rat looks from Helena to Xion.

"Art ye quite alright, mine Lady?" He offers.

Then, Roxas receives a bow. "Lost I see. Well, /do/ be careful. Ye art in the mines of Titan, a...'land mass' upon Galianda. Heed caution, Ser, for these mines art filled with dangerous monsters. Well met, both of ye. Inquisitor Senra, at thine service. Acolyte Berri." He motions to Berri. The viera waves cheerily as she flicks on the flashlight on her shotgun.

Noiela (647) has posed:
Noiela shoots a brief glance back towards the spellslinger, swiftly moving away to haul the poor huddled lump that is Xion upright and retrieve her keyblade once it appears Helena has the whole, saving damsels in gawky distress down pat. Carefully twisting it round so the sharp knobbly parts are directed away from any soft, squishy bits. "Uh, keep your grip further down, easier to control and swing without losing." Unasked for advice dispensed, our erstwhile tactician falls back into line to assume her place beside Quentyn. Stick to who you know, keep clear of the two youths with oversized keys. Analyse.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Cheerfully, Kyra waves at Kenshin. "Hi! Welcome! Feel free to join us, we're on an assignment." With the crystals passed to her, Kyra places them in one of the compartments of her backpack. "We'd be more than happy to have you party with us."

    The other skittering noises turn out to be a pair of familiar faces: Xion and Roxas. It's kind of a relief though. "Nope, I don't think there are any Heartless down here. Plenty of other dangerous monsters though! So you won't have a lack stuff to fight if you so feel inclined!"

    She looks a bit apprehensive at the thought of going to the LAVA ROOM but adds, "Well as long as other people are coming with us, sure, let's go to the lava flow. There are a number of igneous rocks on the list that will probably be in that area."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn looks puzzled-- Helena must know these two? He lets out a breath of relief and finally holsters his gun. He shoulder-surfs whoever happens to have one of the maps handy for a few seconds. "Umm, I don't know... we could try the path up first... to get the easier ones?" the white mage suggests the alternative to the group.

    Noiela gets a shortlived, tentative (but genuine) smile in greeting. "Are you going to be in Galianda for a little time?"

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena looks at Quentyn, "BORING!" she says, crossing her arms. "Lava!" she points again, and she seems pretty unmoving on the topic. Roxas gets a look, "You know her?" She points at Xion, "Well, I guess you can come too." he's not as adorable as Xion.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Maya also gets a salute from Faruja. "Lady Maya! Come to see the abilities of our newfound allies as well?" he offers to the woman. Then, he's nodding in Kyra's direction.

"I agree with the Lady Hyral. Nay doubt we shall find what we seek in the more dangerous sections of the mine. Wouldst hardly be a fitting challenge from thine tutors, were it not so."

Noiela (647) has posed:
"A short time. If money permits." Such scintillating conversation, brought to you by madam with the pale hair that is starting to look distinctly stringy as the heat rises, sticking in straggling curls to her cheeks and jaw. A belated glance and murmured greeting for Maya, another familiar face to divide from the school of students. Because students do resemble fish.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     "Oh, I know her. Her name's Xion, Celba." Said Soan Sagittarius.

     The young thief wasn't there a few moments ago. On the spot where he stands, once was a small rock, rock that is currently cruely under foot of the thief. The more attentive among you would probably have noticed that he came into perception range, or allowed himself to be percived, around the time the two dark omnious portal of forbodding came into being. Perhaps it's a coencidence, perhaps it's not.

Roxas (629) has posed:
"Oh, uh... I'm Roxas." Roxas introduces himself to Faruja, having no titles himself apart from the somewhat-ominous number thirteen. He doesn't feel like it's all that good a title to introduce himself as, so he just omits it as a matter of course. He smiles, perhaps in a somewhat cocky fashion, and remarks, "I can handle some pretty tough monsters if I have to. Xion's pretty strong, too..." The part that he doesn't add onto that thought is, 'When she's paying attention.' It wouldn't be very nice, even if it's gotten to be kind of true. And besides, he can't talk too much.

He glances towards Xion, "Wow... you've made a lot of friends while I wasn't looking."

Towards Helena he replies, "We're partners, so of course I know her. Why d'you think we're both wearing the same clothes?" Roxas raises a metallic drawstring on his black coat. It's kind of a strange and ominous uniform, especially if the hood's up. It isn't right now, though.

Roxas doesn't weigh in on where they're going. He's kind of overwhelmed by all of these people and things going on.

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
"Ah. I do not normally venture deeply into caves, but I suppose." Kenshin says in a polite tone, hopping down off his seat to follow after her. His sword, sheathed, appears in one hand and he holds it there as he follows after Kyra, "Enclosed spaces are a hinderance to many of my abilities which utilize moving air." He explains.

He looks around curiosly, pretty much emanating an aura of 'tourist experiencing wonderment' as he trails along behind her, "Truly you are blessed to have such a wonderous place to visit." He says to her.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn rubs his eyes beneath his glasses, then straightens out those glasses of his. Well, deeper it is. The boy doesn't seem surprised to see Soan here, perhaps figuring he just hadn't noticed the thief among the other students. But he holds up his hand in a wave of greeting. And listens to the introductions of Xion and Roxas.

    Quentyn nods to Noiela, "Um... could you maybe help me out with something in a few days, related to a school assignment? You'll share the rewards too..."

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    "Yeah, I was there when you MET here." Helena reminds Soan, "She drank all of the punch I spiked." Helena grins a little. Too Roxas she shrugs, "Man, I don't question fashion in the outside world. I thought it was a trend. Dark and broody, ya know?"

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
The group appears to choose to descend deeper into the Mountain, towards one of the molten flows.

The tunnel slopes downwards, turning gently to match the curvature of the mountain in an easy path. The area continues to be clear, thankfully. After some time, one can notice a more oppressive feeling, the temprature rising noticably. There is deep, thorough heat that emanates from a cavern ahead as the tunnel opens wide to reveal a molten waterfall of slag and lava. Some say that the lava is the blood of the ancient, fallen Divine, and that it beats still in the unknowable depths.

The lava flow runs with variegated color, molten metals and rocks joining into a colorful but deadly flow wiithin the masses of red-hot slag as it curls down a far wall. stalactites of cooling rock gradually build, shaping the flow in natural, almost artistic patterns as it rolls on downwards into a molten crevasse, plunging far below. A wrought iron bridge crosses the crevasse, caged for protection.

The scent of sulfur and burned steel waves upwards in hot updrafts from below, and the endless burbling of the rock fights with deep, rhythmic chugging as Ramuhan geothermal sinks, foundry apparati, and filtration systems seek to make the most use of the natural resources of the Plate possible. The walls of the crevasse are studded with gleaming lights, flames dancing along the walls. Physical Scan reveals concentrations of creatures within those walls, but they are clearly too far away for them to reach those above.

The walls are thick with igneous rock, as predicted. All one has to do is reach out and chip some pieces off...

Or they could as the sizzling spheres that erupt from the sluggish flow above and land upon the opposite side of the bridge. The inner glow, the spherical bodies, and stubby arms are well known... but the fiendish grins even moreso. One does not even need to use Scan to know what these are:

L8 BOMB x6

The area is reinforced against such beasts, but it seems like the native wildlife is not content to remain in peace...

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion is picked up by Helena, a big grin on her face. "Ooh! That's new. Is that what I am supposed to do? Hurt myself? That seems bad. Bad things... are bad! I'll stick to being dark and creepy." She replies, having to dust herself off once more. "Oh, I'm fine! Nothing broken, nothing scraped. Just more dirt on my coat! And that's cleanable. But it's nice to meet everyone!" She greets, generally, before the Goat bleats at her.

    Xion stares back at the goat, as Noiela goes for her Keyblade. She leans in, looking deep, deep into the Goat's eyes. "... Are you a heartless?" She asks, entirely seriously, before she is offered her own sword...

    And quietly freaks out. "N-no! That's mine!" She cries, suddenly, even though she's being offered it. She swipes the blade out of the tactician's hands, before moving back, startled, poining it at Noiela. "D-don't touch it! It's mine. Only mine!" She stammers, looking pretty frantic.

    But, then, well... Things calm down, and they get moving, as Xion hugs the sword to her chest. Thankfully, it's super dull and awkward, so she can do that. And, deeper into the mountain... Bombs reveal themselves!

    "Those aren't heartless." She notes, pointing at them. "What are those?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    The Goat bleeeeaaaaaaaaats again at Xion, staring into her eyes with a soul-less, cruel, mocking gaze--

    Oh wait this is an actual goat. not THAT goat.

    ANd then the goat was a young lady in very little clothing. After a strange display of melting fur, rippling flesh and other shapeshifting weirdities anyways.

    Finna's human form, this time, has even LESS clothing than her previous attempts at eyecatching modifications to her huntress leathers. But the reasons this time are very different. "Too hot...boiling in my own skin..." Only a scant few strips of leather adorn her here and there. A bit more covering than a two-piece bathing suit, but not by much. She would be covered in perspiration but it's so hot in there that evaporation is doing a great job of things.

    Coughing and spluttering follows when a waft of thick, noxious and sulfuric air reaches her... and then the creatures that caused it appear before her eyes. ".... Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy. They look a bit more hot under the collar than the last thing was."

    Although she does not immediately go onto the attack. There IS a flicker of light as she flicks her wrists and somehow pulls out a few throwing knives, though!

    "You people aren't making my job very easy. Straight into a volcano?!"

    What IS her job anyways?

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena walks, unworried about the potential danger. They have a big enough party for this kinda thing, and there isn't anything REALLY dangerous around at this level...not anything super dangerous for people of THEIR skill level, and people. When the bombs appear, Helena grins, it was convient!

    "Alright, listen up! These are bombs, they ARE sort of dangerous, but only if you handle them badly." She starts.

    "Kyra and Quentyn are gona start with stoneskin, in case one decides to blow early. They are going to grow a few times, when they enter their final growth...they get DANGEROUS. Let Soan and myself handle them then, and move on to the next...but remember, DO NOT hit them when they get REALLY big. They'll explode. And It'll hurt, even with the stone skin."

    She looks back at Finna, "Huh." she says, not that surprised. Helena's already got a pair of blades into her hand... "Oh, and they DO sling spells and try and kill you normally. So if you're weak to fire, well...sucks to be you."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Gun drawn again--he may as well just keep it in his hands. But Quentyn doesn't seem too hasty to use it on these. He chatters hurried on the radio for a moment, then the white mage calls, "Ok, gather on Helena please!". Aether gathers around the boy as he casts a variant of Shellra on Helena--A green shield that encases the recipients before fading from view. It will give them some protection from those spells Helena talks about. After that, Quentyn will simply help Kyra Stoneskin anyone in the front that his fellow white mage hasn't gotten already.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan walks rather causally, as he usually does in a monster-infested wildarea. "Just had to make sure." The thief says, shaking his head. "You /did/ spike the punch." Sagittarius comments off handedly, leaving it at that on the subject. He eyes Xion as she freaks out, furrowing his brows at her sudden outburst. That is rather troubling, but another piece of the puzzle. Only hers, huh? Hmmmmm... The man with him must be Roxas. He'll have to talk with him at another point down the line.

     Then they encounter bombs, in the life blood of Titan's paths. Soan's eyes light up. The chance for restocking on a lovely amount of bomb cores is--

     Soan looks at the strange quadruped shapeshifting. He eyes her as if she just grew a second head, split off then used it as a bowling ball. He stares for a few more second, then shakes his head. Gods almighty.

     "Most dangerous of all," He adds after a while. "You'll know they're starting to explode as they start swelling up. Use Ice on them, or Water if you are able."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Oh, man, you are on the wrong plate if you have a lot of air-based skills. This is Titan, basically the opposite of air in nearly every way. I'm afraid you're going to have to figure out how to adapt down here...hey, think of it as a challenge! And don't worry, I've got your back." Kyra gives him a big, meant to be reassuring, thumbs up.

    As they travel along, Kyra unzips the front of her hoodie to take stock of what she has on her. Since they've gone the underground route, she seems to have opted for more potions and less explosives. Vials of stoneskin formula are included in this, one of which she loads into one of her dart guns. "Oh boy! Bombs! I needed some bomb cores too." Sounds like there might even be a fight for the loot after this battle has passed.

    "...did that animal just turn into a scantily-clad woman?" Kyra remarks slowly, "Wow. ...ANYWAY, you heard Helena there. If they start to get really huge in size, get out of the way because it's about to self destruct. Or alternately keep hitting it and you might be able to kill it before the chain reaction goes off. That would actually be ideal!"

    Kyra starts offering up people hits of Stoneskin, which is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Only she doesn't use magic to do it and seems to have replicated the effect in a mixture.

Noiela (647) has posed:
Having previously backed away from the wild eyed Xion palm raised in winced placation, Noiela stammers out a reply to Quentyn's tentative request. "Uh...certainly. It would be a chance to hone my skills. Why me though? I would imagine with your advanced technology...the battlefield is easily studied and broken down into helpful information." She taps her forehead meaningfully, barest slither of a smile as she adds, "This brainbox is hardly optimum."

Roxas and his whole 'mystery stranger' elicit another, more notable grin quickly swallowed as ever moving, they reach the lava level.
Damp patches become minor lakes, sticking wetly in creases to skin when they pass through and she is forced to summarily shrug her coat down the shoulderline inbetween rapidly worsening gasps for air not filtered through molten rock or imbued with the tang of sulphur. The derobing is stopped preemptively by the rise of the bomblike beings.
"Naga help me...what I would give for a wind tome..." Crooking her fingers, the tactician devolves into a series of rhyming nonsense about 'moon struck slumbers'. No soul poetry, this drabble may induce a torpor upon their foes movements visible through a faint blurring wind that sweeps through the cavern to envelop their foes. Key word, may.
Most fortunate, the intense focus she musters up renders her immune to Finnas mind boggling transformation from goat to not goat. Just wait until she finishes the incantation.

Faruja (152) has posed:
"...I must say, ye Galiandans hath quite the facinating home." Faruja comments aloud as they enter the sloping tunnel and enter the oppressive heat of the area. He doesn't seem overly bothered, having spent quite a bit of time in Phoenix's hellish shrine, though he noticably pants a bit. Berri, for her part, sighs openly and lets her blouse sit a bit looser.

As for Xion and Roxas? "Well met! More blades the less devoured by such creatures, I say. We art seeking certain forms of rock. The good students aught know exactly what we seek." He explains for their benefit.

Pardon the pair of Churchies while he stares at the beauty of the flows, and Berri snaps pictures with a small disposable camera. Then, they're off down the bridge and towards their potential goal.

Before Faruja can saying anything regarding the tacticioness and Xion's little spat, there's Bombs to deal with. Faruja smirks.

"Ahh, Bombs. Let us see how hearty these beasts are compared to Ivalice's."

A glance over to the 'goat'. Faruja /scowls/. "Wh...what in the bloody Abyss art ye wearing, Lady Finna!? 'Tis...'tis..." Yup, he's out of words to adequately describe his indignation. He stares a bit, blushing in the ears.

Then, he's tossing an extra robe at her! "PUT SOMETHING ON BY AJORA'S KNICKERS!" That one likely echoes throughout the immediate area. Seems he's more bothered by her clothing than the transformation.

A nod to Helena. "As ye wish, mine Lady."

Then, he glances at the party, and both himself and Berri move towards Quentyn, and by proxy, Noiela. Seems the pair now have meat sheilds, even if one is a mage. He has plate armor though beneath those robes!

Berri affixes a bayonet, taking up a guarding stance as Faruja incants.

"Oh hallowed God-Servant, encase the Fell in freezing vengeance! Shiva!"

Magic flares around Faruja, and a sudden bolt of ice falls to his left. It shatters, and the (slightly melting) form of Shiva floats lightly. She lets off steam from the environment, and looks to Faruja with a glare.

He gives a cheeky grin, before kneeling briefly to kiss Shiva's hand. The Esper lets out a wordless 'hmph', and floats a moment before her Summoner.

Esper, Bunny, and Summoner alike converge near Helba for sweet, delicious buffs. Meanwhile, with a mental thought, Shiva snaps her fingers and causes a small torrent of ice-spikes to fly out towards one of the offending Bombs.

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
Kenshin makes a distinct frowny-face when Kyra informs him of that, "Vexing. I will have to utilize my more sorcerous skills and rely less on wind mastery."

"They... explode?" Kenshin asks, looking over to Helena in curiosity. The idea of a creature that commits suicide as a defense mechanism strikes Kenshin as spiteful. But also causes him to ponder upon whether or not it the same could be said of any human who makes a heroic sacrifice to save their friends. Perhaps Bombs which detonate are merely the self-sacrificing heroes of their race.

He stands there, pondering this for several moments as Helena explains the plan. He comes out of his self-ponderance and lifts his head, "Mm. I see."

He looks towards the Bombs and then seems to flicker from where he's standing. He vanishes abruptly, but reappears instantaneously next to one of the creatures, inspecting it in a probably far too curious fashion, "Hm."

He holds a hand out to it and then there's a sort of ripple in reality. To the one Bomb he is standing next to, Kenshin is holding out his hand and manipulating time. It's similar to a Time Mage, but also different at its core. Kenshin is pretty much just playing with one of the bombs, trying to move it forward along its personal timeline, then backwards along its personal timeline, then forwards along its personal timeline, and then backwards even FARTHER along its personal timeline.

It's incredibly disorienting and unpleasant for the Bomb to be shunted through the time stream repeatedly. It also, possibly, makes it really hard to tell if it should be exploding or not because every time it makes that decision, it might find itself reverted to before it made that decision.

Maya has posed:
Maya is aware of bombs she's heard about them in reports over the years but never run into them. She does know enough they explode afte a time and get bigger as they get hit. She knows they tend ot be related to fire however and she looks at them for a moment she looks about and has to wonder for a moment. %R "Bombs...I have heard of these things, this is so not good!"

Maya has a spell card in hand water baed maybne that will do better she loks to Noiela and says

"These things explode after taking so much damage like their name says!"

A Simple apt name that's also a warning so away the water goes she casts sendin several powerful streams of water towrds the bombs!

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Mapwise, it's pretty simple for the Tactician to process. There is no major terrain to worry about, just the Bombs on one side of the iron bridge and the party on the other. On one hand, it means there's no complication. On the other, it means that there's basically nothing other than native knowledge and exploitations of inherent weaknesses to allow one to gain an advantage tactically. But hey, it's a job. One would think that the engagement distance would be an advantage.

They're wrong. The Bombs drift closer, hissing ominously as they begin to belch balls of Fire at the party. The slumber incantation begins putting a crimp on that, however, as several of them nod off, emitting sleepy bubbles from their fanged maws.

Faruja, meanwhile, goes from 0 to Shiva in one action. The summoned Esper's icy assault shreds through a pair of Bombs, one of them detonating while the other takes a glancing strike. It attempts to puff up in indignation, while the rest scatter.

You can't escape Onikaze, however, as Timedickery is a thing. The Bomb is moved forward through its lifecycle, turning from cherry red, to a yellow, then backwards to red, as it shrinks, then grows and goes yellow, then gray... Even the scan readings go wild as reads Bomb-Balloon-Grenade with various Level readings going all over the place. It basically isn't even capable of reacting to Onikaze, so disorienting the temporal flux is.

Maya supports with Water, however, and the hissing complaints of the Bombs are quite apparent as steam billows up around them, appearing to cause severe distress. A couple of them grow in anger, but the rest seem to be too doused to do so! Unfortunately, this also woke them all up. Sorry, Tactician.

Roxas (629) has posed:
"You're NOT supposed to hurt yourself, Xion." Roxas insists, shuffling over next to her and looking between Xion and Helena with a measure of concern. He's not sure he likes the idea of somebody spiking punch Xion is drinking, and the advice that she's been given is just plain strange. It's not long, of course, until something else sets his partner off. Why's she even have a problem retrieving her Keyblade like that...? She should just be able to call it straight back to hand, shouldn't she? So, once they're moving again, he decides that it's probably a good idea to calm her down.

He nudges at Xion's side with his elbow and whispers at her a bit. It's not entirely inaudible in these circumstances. "Nobody can take a Keyblade away from you. You can just kind of... poof, and get it back. So don't worry about somebody picking it up and actually taking it away. I don't think that can actually work. I mean, they're kind of a part of you."

Suddenly, bombs. An explanation comes from Helena pretty quickly, so there's not much time to sit and wonder. A metallic ring echoes through the cave as Roxas calls his Keyblade to hand. It doesn't look like a real weapon at all. Like Xion's strange weapon, it just looks like a bit of pipe in a particular shape.

"I don't really have anything water or ice-based... Xion, you got anything like that?" He asks, raising his Keyblade and gathering light at its tip. The advice everyone's given suggests to him that keeping out of arm's reach of the bombs is a good idea. So what he ends up firing is a series of light-based orbs that issue from the tip of his Keyblade, arcing up like a thrown projectile and then down in the direction of the ground beneath the bombs. The explosion that rises up from each of the projectiles has a very peculiar, stylized shape that flares up and out before the column of light disperses into nothingness.

Despite its brilliant, the Light-based is not particularly hot like fire is. It would certainly burn away darkness, but its elemental affinity isn't a liability against Bombs.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena grins at Soan, as the two Thieves plot.

    Helena looks at Finna, "You ignore that rat, and you keep being a bearly clothed thing, you crazy thing you!" Helena suddenly LIKES Finna, after all, she is at least two of the three things Helena likes the most. Scantily clad, and chaotic.

    Helena, looks towards Roxas, "There is a lot of things you said there, and I'll come back to them once this is done." She says, "And don't worry about that...physical force works just as well, just gota be finesse with it!"

    Helena focuses on the ones on the right first, aiming to charge negitive energy along her weapon first...and focuses on the ones closer to death, when one gets to the last stage, she dives at it, moving to flank it and MALICIOUSLY abuse quick attack, committing BACK STAB to it.

    However, the negitive energy ALSO procs, ALSO gets backstab damage...and the energy dispurses!

    Those around Helena gain BUFFS!

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn starts to peer at Finna. Wait, wasn't she..? But then the shard of ice comes and out comes Shiva. Blinklink. He just gapes at Faruja for a few moments, before he tears his eyes away to focus on the battle. Noiela gets a distracted response, "Um... tech doesn't really have anything to do with it-- some students don't really use technology-- Anyway I'm just in a kinda tight spot, um, I'll give you the details later."

    He'll slip off his white mage hoodie in this place, leaving himself covered in just a (fortunately light) T-shirt. After that, well, it's pretty much just waiting for the injuries to roll in.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     This fight's outcome is kind of foregone. The amount of firepower in this expedition is simply staggering, especially since one of the non-humans, Faruja was his name, apparently is a /Caller/. That, alone is enough firepower to atomize most of the bombs if it came to that. Others also chip in. Celba took command for the moment, which is just fine -- she's a good adventurer and is competent, even if he can't agree to some personal things.

     Fearlessly of the artilery thrown, or the other fighters, Soan darts into the battle just as the Necrothief has suggested, zipping through to get at the Bombs on the left, his long sword, Blacksteel, drawn at the ready. He leaps at it, slashing away at it, but it's really not the important part -- this is the time to make this bomb understand that he's in the wrong place of town, and he's should damn well, give up that Bomb Core if he damn well want to, uh, well no real threats as it'll be /dead/, but it's REALLY menacing. It wont know what hit 'm.

     He'll get to stare at the scantily clad woman later, if he /really/ cares about that all that much.

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
Kenshin has a new friend. It seems to dislike moving back and forth through time, however, if its appearance and inaction are any indication to him. The idea of discomfort at time travel sometimes escapes Kenshin due to his weird and slightly temporally flexible nature. He squints faintly.

"If I let you out, are you going to be good?" He asks to the bomb in a sort of airy, detached inquiry. He helpfully informs it, "Because if you explode, I'm going to have to move you through time again to fix it. But if you are good, you may not wind up like your companions whom the others are dealing with? The winds of fate offer you passage to the future, will you ride upon them?"

Noiela (647) has posed:
Noiela hears distantly the rattle, shake and tinkle as numerous effects from the group pile up to produce a magical maelstorm. Maya's little tidbit snaps her concentration, causing the tactician to pull back her twitching fingers sharply, tips reddened and blistered. "Feedback." Intoned softly, her gaze locates Kenshin shuttling his victim back and forth in a hazy stock motion effect. Blinking rapidly, she frantically searches elsewhere for inspiration, brillant columns of light instinctively sending her stumbling further back, where it is cooler. Darker.

"H...hey!" Raising her voice until it cracks from the strain, she yells over in Kenshins general direction, dusting away the ice dust coating her hair. Time to be awed later, she has learned.
"I want you to...spring your moves the moment Miss Maya sends another water jet out! Keep it enmeshed in a bubble. Divide and conquer!" Flexing a hand that feels strangely heavier. Stiffer. "Flank them if you can, everyone?" To be frank, her cursory assessment is with a sinking sensation that she is outmatched. Can she marshall troops five times her strength and experience.
"Be...Be careful, Master Sagittarius!" His dive into the melee invokes a groan, before she zigzags after with blade out and flashing at high speed to clear her path.
"Please, Master...whoever you may be. Sir, I'm not certain their comprehension is geared to ponder the matter of actions and consequences so...rationally!"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra gets nowhere near those bombs. She will happily hit things with potions from afar and magic if need be since that's simply what her job entails. It also gives her a nice view of everybody else putting in work to fight those bombs. She's pretty curious how the others not of the world cope with this pack of monsters.

    She tries not to act too impressed when Faruja calls Shiva (or at least his version of Shiva), nodding impressed yet at the same time growing a little peeved at the constant religious references he keeps throwing out. "Faruja, are you a Paladin by chance? I think I must've missed that."

    Now when Kenshin refers to "sorcerous abilities" Kyra seems a little surprised, "Your wind wasn't sorcerous to begin with...?" she questions, having equated him to an extraversal mystic knight. Now he seems to be displaying a strange brand of time magic upon the bomb that is fascinating to watch. From afar it looks like the bomb is swapping back between explosion size and non-explosion size extremely quickly, like someone flicking a light switch on and off. "Are you...Kenshin, I don't think it will respond to you! By the way, hold still!" From across the room, Kyra takes a shot at Kenshin again with a dart filled with stoneskin formula. If it works on him, his skin will temporarily harden. This particular mixture will not change the appearance of skin.

Maya has posed:
Maya has got the Bombs very unhappy and she sees it's having some effect. She's helping to keep some of them under wraps but others are awake, Maya's not the best tactican but she does have the sense to default to someone who seems to know what they are doing in an area she's lacking. She nods once to Noiela as she times her spells in such a way ti work with her plan te water keeps coming this time with some better level of control over her spells, she could try a summon but she's not sure if it would be the best idea here, also summoning an elemental lord on to another phanteon's turf when it's not a time of need may not be wise.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Spotting the great battle of elementals beginning thanks to Faruja, Finna takes refuge near Shiva and... thus, knows some relief from the heat. So when she catches the robe she sort of... half-seriously, uselessly drapes it over her shoulders. Doesn't really help a lot, and she doesn't bother actually putting effort into covering herself more. "Pffffft. Silly Priest! Don't get distracted by ME~ now. Can't call these things a better distraction, but -they'll- leave marks."

    And it's a good thing she waited to hear what others made of them. Because if they really do explode and get nasty when they're big, the trick is to take them down before they get big. Finna, thus, focuses on only one Bomb. She hurls knives one after another with deadly precision. Kind of hard to spot any real weak spots on these things so she goes for the eyes instead!

    After the first few knives are let fly, she follows up with GUNFIRE. Somehow, she's found a revolver despite not having pockets. BLAM BLAM BLAM!

    "Y'know, things I can outwit and sneak up on are much more entertaining!"

    She grins wildly at Helena. If there's something she can appreciate, it's people who can joke a bit while fighting!

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Bombs have no particular elemental weakness or resistance to Light damage. Roxas can do just fine spamming his attacks. The blasts weaken the Bombs more, their flaming forms swelling to dangerous sizes. Helena and Soan rush the lines, taking flanking positions just as the Tactician asks. Soan engages in the finer points of what happens when you step into the wrong goddamn neighborhood, while Helena is much less cute about it, unleashing a Darkness-powered backstab that obliterates another Bomb. Noiela follows up with a cleave to work in conjunction with Soan, taking down another Bomb. Maya times her water as well, and soon there's only one shuddering Bomb left. It's about to explode! However, Finna sends a handful of knives slamming into it and follows up with a revolver blast. It falls over, the flames dying out as it perishes like the rest.

Did we say like the rest? There's still that one that Onikaze is playing with. The Bomb stares up at Onikaze, unspeaking for several seconds as he sort of fiddles with the Bomb some more. Slowly, the maw opens a little bit, the eyes alighting.

Could Onikaze have reached a term of peace with a Bomb? Could this usher in a new era of understanding between Hume and Monster? The eyes alight as it stares up, perhaps in enthusiasm as it looks into its future, it's potential as it becomes the first in a new breed of Bombs, a kinder, gentler monster that has tamed its beastial nature and will live in har-

Hell no it's trying to blow up in Onikaze's face. Sometimes, Mister Onikaze, the bomb is just a bomb.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn does stay relatively close to the group; he's not using his rifle, but needs to be in range and ready to cast conventionally if needed. And... it looks like it isn't. He looks back to Kyra and gives her a thumbs up and a grin. Then he murmurs something into his radio. He'll wander back towards the other party supports, staring at Onikaze's bomb cautiously.

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion looks to Roxas curiously. "Well, of course not." She replies to the sentiment on hurting herself. That's easy, right?

    The comments on the keyblade makes her nod, slowly. "O-okay. Okay! You're right, I shouldn't... But it just felt so bad. Someone else had their hands on my keyblade! It's..." Xion trails off. "Well, I didn't think it felt good."

    This entire time, Xion is just sort of holding a conversation as the Bombs are blowing up. Or, you know, dying.

    As Roxas throws out energy attacks, Xion looks on dumbly at the other youth. "Ice attacks? Water? I mean, sure, I know a few. I know a lot of magic! Not /all/ the magic, but I know Ice. And water!" She offers, raising her empty left hand to let a globe of water swirl around her black-gloved hand.

    "OH! OHHHH! You want me to use my magic on the bombs! Well, why didn't you say so?" Xion wonders. Even though Roxas... Did say so. Turning, she throws her hand forward and hurls a BLAST OF AQUATIC DOOM UPON THE BOMBS!!!!!!!

    And splashes Kenshin all over. Pros? He's now brisk and cooled off! Cons? ... Xion sucks at fighting.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja raises a brow. He can /feel/ the distortions in time that Kenshin is causing. He looks to Berri. "...We truly aught investigate that man."

The priest huff's at Finna! "Bah! Take a measure of propriety!" Muttermuttersillylunarsmutter! At least he doesn't oggle too much. No, there's bombs to deal with.

A perk of a fuzzy ear, and a nod to Noiela. The woman at least seems to have a head for tactics. "As ye wish." He affirms aloud, before there's a mental discussion with his icey friend. Then, Shiva swifly floats over to flank the remaining bombs. As the others rush in to apply large amounts of stabbing damage, the ice-Esper continues that flurry of ice-spikes aimed at the bombs. Though certainly deadly, they're far more broad, aimed at mostly hemming in the remaining bombs for easier stabbing by the melee fighters. Otherwise, Shiva holds her ground.

Helena gets a glare at her comment! "Lady Finna is a fine woman, however, she simply aught dress accordingly! Truly!" Grrrrr!

To Kyra, Faruja shakes his head. "Inquisitor. I am afraid mine swordplay is most...lacking in general. An Inquisitor is both judge and investigator of crimes against Heavenly Law, and the Holy Church. We root out Heretics, criminals against the Faithful, and more...supernatural threats." Explains the rat.

As for the gunbunny? She moves forward a bit to strategically shotgun the stage 1 bombs.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena grins at her new friend. This is going to be a beautiful friendship, she is sure. However, Helena looks back to see that there is one bomb left, and it's held in time dickery.

    Helena looks towards the white mage. "So...he totally doesn't count towards our grade, right? I don't think he should..." She says, seemingly uncaring if he gets exploded or not. It seems to be a right of passage.

    And then Xion effects the battle meaningfully!

    Helena laughs a little...but FARUJA seems insessant on controling OTHER people's dressing! This does not stand! A woman should have the right to wear as much (or as little) as they want!

    Helena holds up a finger, searching for the APPROPRATE SPELL...

    CLOTHES BEAM!

    Suddenly she is in a haulter top that litterally exploses as much of her albino skin as possible while keeping her decent. Her bottom is a pair of leather pants that LITERALLY look like they were painted on.

    She looks towards Faruja, with a <3 motion.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan comes out richer with a Bomb Core. He is satisfied with this.

     Then this guy is starting to wrestle with a bomb.

     "I don't think so." He comments to Helena, scratching his chin as he sheath his sword, eyeing the proceedings. "I think it's his problem, he's got it well in hands, if I do say so myself."

     Then Helena explodes her clothes off, provocked by the other scantily clad woman. The young thief blinks a few seconds, then slowly shakes his head. Good thing they aren't in Shiva, there.

     "Inquisitor?" He says, joining the conversation with Kyra and Faruja and he scrounge up for other loots. Thieves have this knack of finding things that no other people would have found in their right minds. "Of what religion?"

Roxas (629) has posed:
Roxas contributes meaningfully to beating up a bunch of adorable explosive ball-monsters. He eats a fireball in the process, partially because he leans over to try to coach Xion and ends up not paying attention to the fire belched at him. He retreats a step or two and puts himself out before the flames can spread across his coat or something equally disastrous, hissing painfully as he does so. Fighting things that use fire is pretty annoying most of the time, and these are no exception.

"Y-yeah... when I ask you that kinda thing while we're fighting, you should--" He stops dead in his speech as Xion uses her water magic, following its path in slow motion to Onikaze Kenshin. That... is absolutely not who she was meant to hit. Internally, Roxas is screaming bloody murder about this because it's a natural reaction to friendly fire! Externally, he's filtering that out because he doesn't want to treat Xion like Larxene treated him.

He makes a small noise of exasperation.

What's the best way to frame this?

"Say, Xion... would it be alright if we did some practice later? Um, when we're not... you know... out here." Roxas gestures at the incredibly hot caves around them.

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
Kenshin had hoped a peaceful accord could be reached, but instead the monster tries to blow up on him. Having done as much as he could, he... is promptly splashed by Xion. He was focusing too much of his energy on holding the bomb in place. This means that Kenshin is absolutely drenched by Xion when she flings water at the bomb he is holding.

    It also means that, hung in time around the bomb is the water she flung at it. Kenshin gives her a flat stare that betrays no emotion while he attempts to figure out which emotion he feels, "Sound, if unorthodox, strategy." He eventually says. Unfortunately, the words come out (because Kenshin is manipulating time and so the water around him never FALLS TO THE GROUND) as, "Warrgarble wargle bargle wargh." Delivered in a calm and soothingly neutral voice.

Following this, he goes to Noiela's strategy. He releases the Bomb from its containment and vanishes, all the water falling to the ground immediately after this as time resumes normal flow. He vanishes from where he was standing (accidentally wasting Kyra a dart due to his jumping about in time and space. Sorry, Kyra)., reappearing next to Kyra, "It appears your assessment was correct." He says, dripping water on and around her.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    "Umm..." Quentyn scratches the back of his head, unencumbered by a hood for once, and he gives Helena an uncertain smile. "I can fix any wounds he would get, but I don't think he would want to... um, experience a bomb explosion." Pause. "And there's no teacher here to dock us," Quentyn points out.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     "YOU," Soan comments, lifting a finger at Quentyn, "Are a fool! PROFESSOR MISTER GREEN is /always/ watching."

     His eyes widens a little. "Especially on a field trip. I can tell you right now, he's cackling maniacly, right this moment, roaring as we defeated his Bombs."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn stares back at Soan blankly. Doesn't look like the little guy gets it. "Um... 'His' bombs..?"

Maya has posed:
Maya is making sure to keep the bombs spirits dampened so they are less likely to explod thankfully things seem to be about over save the last bomb Onikaze is playing with this could end upo going poorly She looks from one to another she pauses.

"Professor Mister Greene?"

Whom is this man that inspires such terror in Soan.

She looks to Noiela

"This seems to be second time you backed me up."

Noiela (647) has posed:
Whoosh. The summary of the entire battle as it rains deadly needles of ice, water and glinting steel. Usual fantasy fare, livened up by the odd scattershot fire.

Noiela uppercuts her last victim, pushing a stringy mop of bedraggled hair from her face. What greets her is a woman on par with the floating apparition when it comes to baring flesh, albeit less dignity involved all round. A pause, as it sinks in. Ears redden, the girl temporarily stunned by the booty swaying dismissal of the whole scenario.
A self conscious clutch at the imaginary pearls round her throat, mutter and emphatic swerve round to grant Helena her back concludes the brief encounter. Figuratively speaking.

"Uh..." One step towards Kyra, Faruja and Soan, three steps back to where Kenshin is embroiled in his attempt to form a link with his fang gnashing captive.
"Sir..." Whatever else she was about to utter is drowned in a glubber when Xions little water show sprays her full in the face. Tottering back, the tactician bowls over to land with a squelch on her backside.
"Nrk." Hair fills her vision, adhering stickily despite her scrabbled best attempts to clear it because she cannot simply teleport away.

What is most humilating? Her little sacrifice was utterly pointless; the man got soaked and she is the one left, puddle for a seat.

Noiela (647) has posed:
"Nurkle...yersk, I did." Noiela mutters through a wad of hair to Maya.

Finna (513) has posed:
    For some reason or another, Finna starts snickergiggling uncontrollably at Faruja's commentary, but with the bombs dealt with she eventually has to stop. She's not sure which si more amusing. Faruja's misunderstanding of her skillset, or his idea of a 'fine woman.'

    Oh she is fine. But their standards are a bit different.

    The second reason is Helena's uproarious spell. She all but doubles over at this display. "Finally! Sorcery I can appreciate! Ahahahahaha...."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra could be wrong, Kenshin could have beastmaster abilities too...though the whole 'can talk with monsters' thing was always up to debate. She watches him continue to manipulate the bomb as the rest of its companions fall around it.

    Then Xion tries to teamkill! ...or...team soak since by Kyra's EXPERT MAGICAL OPINION, she could tell that the spell wasn't very strong at all. "Wow...um...that...you need to work on your aim, Xion."

    Faruja's explanation for his profession results in dramatic eye narrowing. Granted, it wasn't the Church that she was familiar with but she knew the type-Faruja's type-well. There were several of such in her family! "Good question there from Soan. How DOES that religion of yours go, out of curiosity?"

    Kenshin reappears next to her, causing her to jump a little. Her wasted dart goes unnoticed. "Well, you're unexploded, so that's good. Interesting time magic you have there."

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
Soan still points.

     "Yes. Well, I presume, anyway." Soan says, lowering his hand. "It fits his M.O."

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
The Bomb promptly detonates, leaving behind an assortment of minor materials and shattering some pieces of rock off of the wall. Handy!

If nothing else, the area seems to be peaceful enough again.

In the distance, one might just be able to hear a cackling laughter. Or that just might be the lava. CAN YOU TELL?

Collecting the local minerals seems to be simple enough at this point. The question is if the students are confident enough to turn in their assignment now. Either way, time is running out!

Faruja (152) has posed:
The mingling scandal and fury in Faruja's gaze that is leveled at Helena lasts for all of about five seconds, before he's looking away, nose bleeding and flushed to the fur.

"Ye art a bloody minx, Lady Helena Celba! /Manners/!"

Soan, and the battle at hand, is a welcome distraction. "The Most Holy Church of Saint Ajora Glabados, of the land of Ivalice. We worship the one, True God, and His Son, Saint Ajora Glabados. Why, I hath several copies of our Holy Book. I shall offer thee both a copy once we art done here! The Lord is loving, and ever willing to accept offworld converts, for He is the origin of all that is true and good!" There's a slight smile, even as his gaze is soon rooted on the Bombs.

Then, Fire. Faruja barely teleports away in time, his robes singed silk and fur. Berri is luckily out of the line of fire, using the side of the bridge as cover.

A glance back. The poor tacticianess is water'd in the face. Frown. A glance to Berri.

The viera smiles, and tosses a towel towards Noiela. "Careful! Your hair will dry out with this much heat, and look weird~"

Then, Berri is hefting a pick, with the Bombs dead, and starting to get Minecraft up in this Final Fantasy. Faruja helpfully haste's and Floats the viera, to prevent any lava-related accidents.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Shiva also poofs out of existance, with one baleful look at Faruja for bringing her into Ungodly Heat yet again. He'll pay for it later.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn seems to wither a little bit under Soan's steady pointing. Reluctantly and not really getting it (At least from the look of him), he nods. He tilts his head for a moment, as though listening to something. Then shakes his head to no one in particular, as though he must have imagined it. He pays no attention to the loot from the bombs.

    So the white mage hastily makes his over to Noiela. "Um, are you OK? Any wounds?" he asks, looking her over just in case there are. Well... At least it's warm here? Sadly Quentyn apparently has neither towel nor drying spell. But he offers her a hand up.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena moves to collect things for her project...and also some bomb cores.

    Turning back towards Faruja, a hand goes to her hips. "That I am. And don't you forget it. I do not appreciate you pushing your religion either. That's assuming we don't have our own set of beliefs, that we don't hold sacred, and somehow yours is better." She says, growing increasingly annoyed. These types, she tends to dislike.

    Reguardless, she has her stuff, "Huh, I guess we're running out of time. This was a net gain at least." She says, winking towards Finna. "Then we can go have some fun! That isn't being surrounded by tons of rocks, or stuffy knight-types."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Oooosh. I hope there's at least some hot springs in here since we've got all the lava!" Finna gets out while still fanning herself. She's looking about ready to ditch the robe Faruja tossed at herr. She glances sort of sideways at her own body, as though this robe were offending her. But she doesn't wanna get Faruja set off either. "Cold, cold I don't care about. Can wander around in nothing through the firest blizzard and it won't more than tickle me. HEAT?! Ugh...I didn't know you folk were going for a volcano-- oooooh?" Her eyes all but light up as Helena grabs her attention!

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Welcome to being around Helena." Kyra says dryly to Faruja. "It..."

    Faruja explains the Church of Glabados and looks thoughtful, weighing the sort of impact it might have on her parents if she converted to an /offworld/ religion. Already she had heard rumblings among the Cosma Naturalists that they were discomforted by the existance of the multiverse and what that might mean to Cosma in general. It could certainly piss them off...

    "It sounds a lot like one of the religions we have here on Galianda." Kyra remarks. "I'm not sure I'm looking to convert. Paaaardon me-" she then goes about collecting the various rock samples, prying them out with a small hammer as needed.

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
Kenshin smiles widely at Kyra, "Yes, I am fully in one piece. Thank you for your concern." He looks down at himself, "Though I have found myself more than slightly damp, I am sure the nearby lava will aid with that."

He further elaborates, "When I sought to become like the wind, I learned many things. When I freed myself of obligation, that included obligation to time and space. The wind moves where and when it pleases, and so shall I." It's a weird and flowery explanation for: Kenshin learned weird time shenanigans so that he could not be bound by time. And be free-er.

Then he just watches her collect rocks. Rocks are pretty neat.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan listens to the description of the Ratman's religion, patting his chin. Hm. That religion does seems rather familiar, frighteningly familiar. He gives Kyra a brief look as she seemingly is pondering on this as well, knowing how she thinks. Is she going to think about convertin--no, no she's not.

     "I am not a very religious person, myself." Soan comments, smiling, giving the Viera a look as she goes mining. He already got what he wanted, because Soan Sagittarius /cheats/. "We live on the corpses of several Gods, Cosmoa is precisely my cup of tea with the current state of the Church. But I'd be interested to take a look at the book in all cases."

     Of course, he can't expound on the fact he's a /Bloody Dragoon/ and what that entails. He couldn't give a flip about some foreing religion's truthiness.

Noiela (647) has posed:
Noiela flashes the viera a look of pure, unmingled gratitude through the matted ropes that is her hair and begins to vigorously towel down herself. Tackling first the head, until a comination of heat and friction causes her hair to fuzz out in wild profusion. A couple of sneezes to clear the nose and ears, barely ready to wobble upward when Quentyn arrives in his bumbling (her view) to lend a hand.
Sadly, it seems she mistakes him for another person, baleful pinpricks swiveling round to regard him through her tangled veil.
Fingers caress her dampened tone, tones pure sugar laced with arsenic.
"Thunder." One clammy hand grips his wrist, spark arcing across her damp skin to crackle over his.
Realisation dawns a second later, what can be glimpsed of her eyes widening in shock. "Q-Quentyn...I thought you were that...that ghastly professor!"

Maya has posed:
Maya humms for a moment as she tilts her head for a moment and humms at SOan for a moment tilting her head.

"Curious and interesting my world's fates were left to over see the world after the Creator backed off to not interfear with mortal free will."

She looks to Noiela for a moment and then to Finna for a moment.

"Ugg I hate the cold my self, if anyone needs healing I can help with that."

Xion (630) has posed:
    "Oh, you wanted me to use water or ice on the bombs right then? Well say so!" Xion grumbles, looking put off. "You asked me a question, all like" Xion approximates Roxas' voice "'Well, Xion, what kinds of magic do you know? Can you cast an ice or water spell?' Yes, Roxas, I can! And, you know, maybe..."

    She looks soured, not precisely pouty, like she has a bad taste in her mouth. "Maybe I thought that swordsman looked /really hot/." She mumbles, before dipping her eyes. She understands this feeling in her face and ears. Embarrasment.

    "Y-yeah. We can practice some more, later. When we're not in a fiery mountain."

    "Are you hot? I'm hot. And all the other girls are taking off all their clothes! Or, you know, stopping being goats."

    Xion skips over everyone that doesn't conform to her idea of reality. They don't matter.

    As if just remembering, she gives a little wave of her gloved hand to Kenshin. "Sorry I doused you! You... uh... Looked hot! And water cools you down."

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    "Exactly, Xion, we are all hot, and I recommend cooling us off." Helena says, mischeviously.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
Quentyn's skin turns to stone! Taking up that stony texture first on his hand but rapidly up his arm as the spell arcs over right up till his T-shirt covers it. And his hand feels rought and stony for that flash of time. Fortunately--that green barrier, for a briefly visible moment, partly blocks the spell. Unfortunately--

    "O-o-o-ow-ow-ow-owow COSMOS DAMMIT FU--" The boy just manages to bite off his words but from the look of intense pain on his face, despite the defenses, it still /hurts/. The gun in his other hand clatters to the ground as the teen staggers back and well, with any luck Noeila wasn't relying too much on him keeping his grip.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Helena's words quite literally have Faruja vibrating in anger. "Knave! I hardly 'push', as ye say! I merely offer the Word of God to all whom wouldst hear it! Shouldst they wish to take up the mantle of the Holy Saint, 'tis their choice." Glaaaaare! The Inquisitor takes a long, deep breath, followed by a swift grab of a hip flask. It's drained in a thirty-second long pull. No, he can't remain sober in this woman's presence. Finna's laugh only earns her a now slightly blurry squint.

"...I hath dealt with her type before." Faruja responds to Kyra. Mostly by Burning, but for now, he'll settle for pure hatred. He slowly smiles, patient and warm.

"I shall look forward to meeting members of this church. All come to the Lord in time." There's a certain amount of self-assuredness in his voice that may well be darn creepy. A dyed-in-the-wool zealot, this one.

Faruja's brow twitches at the corpses of dead 'gods', but he finally calms. Soan, at least, seems 'honest' and curious.

"Why, of course!" Then, Soan is all but shoved a Holy Tract into his arms. From whence it came, who knows. He's a priest, after all.

Then, he's smiling more. 'Current state'. That smells like weakness and opportunity. "...Remind me to offer thee to tea, Ser...Soan, was it? Thine 'Plates' art named after Holy Espers, art they not? Most curious. I pray what knowledge I possess of Espers shall assist thine world." That last part, is honest enough. Who better to help a world made of Espers than a Summoner?

As for Berri? The Viera whistles as she works, swinging her pick with enthusiasm. All of the appropriate movements no doubt prove for interesting viewing for Soan. The woman looks back, and smiles warmly. Yes, she's aware of stares. No, she doesn't care at all. And she has quite the singing voice, on top.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena looks at Quentyn, and then back at the girl who stunned him...and then back at him. "She was.." A beat, "Stunning?"

    The amusement dripped off of her face, when Faruja rants and vibrates in anger at her. A shadow falls over her face, as she slowly, and mechanically, turns towards Faruja. You are not sure when it happened, but a dagger was in her hand.

    "My...type?" She says, starting to approach.

    "My.../TYPE/." She says, her tone harsh. Her red eyes focusing right on Faruja.

    "Please, tell me, MISTER FARUJA...What is my type?"

    "The type who rejects any type of love that they do not consider right? The type who sees the world for their own eyes...and not spoon fed other's opinions?"

    "TELL ME, RAT, WHAT TYPE DO YOU SEE ME AS?" She says, just now ready to get into it. "Please...your CONTRIBUTION in this matter is VERY IMPORTANT."

Xion (630) has posed:
    Xion looks to Helena. She feels... Good! Being praised swells her chest and makes her feel light and generally makes her feel categorically 'good'.

    "Okay!" She replies, with a hint of eagerness.

    Then she starts channeling a spell, motes of water twinkling around her.

    After a few moments, everyone that isn't Kenshin? May have to deal with a ball of water over their head dumping a pile of cool H2O on them.

    Xion is a very literal person.

Roxas (629) has posed:
"Well, yeah, but..." Roxas rubs at the back of his head awkwardly. This really isn't the place to be explaining the concept of context to Xion. He doesn't want her to be put on the spot any worse than she already has been. It's not easy for her, he knows, but it's something that they need to work hard not to screw up on! Saix is a lot less forgiving of this kind of stuff, and if it happens in front of him... man, Roxas doesn't even want to know what he might do.

"... We're /all/ really hot. These jackets sure aren't meant for a place like this..." He looks down at himself. The rush of battle had distracted him from it, but Roxas is sweating pretty profusely. Problem is, he hasn't got anywhere to put his coat even if he were to take it o--

"Don't!" Roxas just barely manages just not to shout at Xion. "I-I mean, it's normal to not wear heavy clothes in a place like this but what they're doing isn't how most people act. I don't know why they're barely dressed but a lot of people will look at you weird if you do that." A glance is cast towards Faruja.

Roxas rubs at his chin thoughtfully, then snaps his fingers, "When I was changing clothes outside of home a lot, I carried a backpack and just stuffed my things in there. We can get you one and some normal clothes too, okay?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Listening to Kenshin's explanation on how he gained his timedickery powers, she finds herself slightly confused, "So you say, through sheer force of will, you have managed to exclude yourself from time and space and can thus manipulate them...? I have trouble even fathoming how to get such...control." She finishes stuffing the last of the rocks into her bag. "It seems pretty, well, useful. I could never really get time magic."

    To Faruja she smiles thinly, "Maybe. Maybe not, the don't seem too interested in outsiders quite yet." she says with a hint of 'sadness', "But they'll have to come around and face the music eventually."

    Helena starts to flip out-Kyra at least knows the signs to his. "...whoah. Easy there, Helena."

Finna (513) has posed:
    "YOU try wearing such heavy clothing in this he-... oh, you are..." Finna stares over at Roxas. Apparently she caught his words despite having seemingly paid him not much mind until now. But she can't pay him much attention anyways.

    Because she's picked up quickly on Helena's hostility and she waves a hand at her, tensing up rather noticeably. "Ah-uh, no no, no need to get blades out, I'm sure your tongue's sharper!" She WILL intervene if that gets nasty...

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    And suddenly Quentyn it sputtering just as much as Noiela was. He reels and teeters some more, but somehow manages to keep on his feet. And he still looks like he's hurting, but manages to find his firearm with a hand and then stick it in a holster. And despite all this, he tries to stagger towards Helena, interposing himself between Helena and the priest.

    "H-Helena, stop!" Is his voice shaky from having spells slung at him or standing up to her? "He's an idiot, w-we have to ignore them all the time. We-we're on a mission. Quest. You know. Get the rocks." Water still drips from him and he hastily straightens out his skewed glasses.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan notices the creases on Faruja's face, taking good note of it, peeling away his glance from the Viera. He smiled back at her, waving. It was an interested stare, watching her muscle moves, see if they worked in an alien way. They didn't. To be frank, he also stared more at the ears. They seemed such a pain to deal with. Then he remembers he's being evanlized at.

He takes the book. "They're not 'Named', it's them. It's their corpses, and we are of their blood. I'm descended from Ifrit, for example." He says, remaining quite polite. It's a good conversation!

     Not one that will be aided by her snapping comments at Helena. Soan turns around to face at Helena, spreading out an arm to block her path. The pleasant Mild-Mannered Soan Sagittarius disapears for a moment, face focused.

     "No, Celba!" He lets out, stepping into the way. "He's a guest here, even if he's saying some very ignorant stuff right now, I /doubt/ this would look good on any of us if you made him a zombie, /Including/ Murasame. /Cool out/."

     Even with all that, he looks at Quentyn, "Are /you/ allright, man? You just got shocked! Besides, /you're right/, we're on a timer here."

     He eyes Helena backs. "And PROFESSOR MISTER GREEN will toss us into the DETENTION DIMENSION if we miss the deadline by a microsecond."

Noiela (647) has posed:
"L...Let me take care of it!" Noiela practically jumps into assistant mode, swooping in like the graceful, dishevelled swan of mercy she hath become in the spate of ten seconds. When he staggers away, out come her arms to wend round his waist and torso respectively in a cradle position if she manages to pull it off without a deservedly violent reaction.

Problem? Tiny sparks jump and snap between her outstretched fingers, eager to frazzle the white mage. Then cometh the tide, allowing her coat to slide like a slippery eel from her back and reveal a flimsy cotton vest underneath.
Nudged forward by the momentum, she clatters forward in a soggy heap. "Unnn..." The argument filters through her reeling consciousness "Yes. S-sorry for mistaking you...and please, leave theology for o-outside." A limp wave at the surroundings as she manages to extract herself out the predicament she is facing. Sans Coat.

"B...bruises everywhere."

Faruja (152) has posed:
A few months ago, Faruja would be screaming platitudes. Now? There's a brief look of /pity/ towards Helena. It quickly evaporates, rock-solid surity on his face.

"The 'type' whom is far too cynical, provocative, and /lost/ to believe that there is a force of pure Good in the Multiverse, that wants for naught but peace, harmony, and all of those 'cliche' things that art so often lost in our daily lives. That a being greater than they may exist, and therefore, one must deride and erode those of Faith for their so-called 'delusions' at every turn as they try to build a fellowship to overcome the pain and loss of mortal life."

A glance to the knife, then Helena. Berri reaches for her gun. Faruja gives a severe look, and she stops.

"Please. Feel free to disabuse me of such a notion, Lady Celba, if I am incorrect of mine assumptions?" Ball's back in your court, heathen. He glares with his single eye.

Quentyn gets a look. "...I am passionate of mine faith, Ser." He sounds utterly insulted.

Faruja sighs slightly. "...Ye know, I read the report, ye it still is quite...hard to grasp." He admits to Soan. A shake of the head weakly.

Then, he tenses all the more, and takes a step towards Helena. "...Zombie? Surely...SURELY this knave is not a Fell NECROMANCER!? A defiler of souls! A HERETIC!" There's a deep, enraged snarl in the rat's voice. This one really must not like those who screw with life.

There's suddenly a Berri, who shoves a bottle of wine into Faruja's mouth. Glug glug glug. Smiiiile. The rat soon passes out.

"...Nothing to see here. Our dear Inquisitor has passed out from battle fatigue. Right." She laughs nervously.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Then, Berri all but hefts Faruja's limp form over her shoulder. Smiiile. Seems the bunny girl is far more open to new ideas than the Inquisitor.

Helena Celba (643) has posed:
    Helena is surprised by a few things...

    Dr. QUEN stepping up like he did. She is given pause, in his state...

    Helena looks towards Finna, trying to calm things down. Then to Soan and Kyra. Even Noiela contributes...AND THEN FARUJA KEEPS TALKING.

    Helena grits her teeth...

    And then Faruja is incompacitated. She blinks a few times, the mood of the moment shifting without a clutch, and then she laughs.

    The knife is away, and she is soaked. "Well, we're all hot, wet...and close..." A beat, "Crap, and I can't enjoy it! Stupid assignments!" She says, sighing. "Lets turn this in and THEN have fun." She winks to Finna and Kyra. nO eScApE.

Maya has posed:
Maya looks anf sighs about Faruja she nods in agreement to Beeri quite strongly

"He needs some vaction time he's running himself ragged Berri."

Man the day Faruka figures out about her is going to get quite nuts really and she looks to Noiela.

"You need help?"

Maya's being good around the Necromancer there's been no yelling of die necromancer or anything like tht Helena's not done anything to pull a Lich King now has she?

"Yes we need to find some rocks."

she pauses at Helena and stares certain alarm bells over someone she knew long ago go off in the back of her head.

"Better watch it with Finna she might be too much for you."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    The terrified white mage lets out a shaky breath of relief, shoulders slumping. The word 'bruises' and it's like Quentyn suddenly remembers Noiela exists again. "That-That's what I was asking..." he murmurs. Aether does its little dance around the mage as usual, and the tactician gets a Cure followed by a Regen spell.

    Then, he reaches into a belt pouch and pops an ether. Just the normal kind, not the fancy energy drink. Once the contents are swallowed, the white mage simply lets the bottle fall out of his hand and closes his eyes for a few moments.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Faruja get drunk instantly. Soan stares. He wants some of that wine, it sounds /amazing/. Fortunately, the emergency get resolve, the young thief taking in a deep breath as he steps off. Okay. The rat is getting dragged off. He has a new book to read. He think this is a net bonus, as far as he's concerned. He returns to give a look around as they starts heading out.


Notably, Noiela, furrowing his brows as he makes his way to her, offering her an arm to lift her up. Quentyn can heal her up, but that's still gentlemanly to do. "Why /is/ everybody so wet, anyway?" He calls out, to the crowd at large.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Hmph! Not at all how I intended things to go, but fun! This school's much better than the other ones I've looked at..." Better how though, that's the question. The proposition from Helena's met with a sly, sideways little look over a shoulder. "Long as it's not near the lava I'm game for anything! This group's fun. Reminds me of some friends..." And then there is the case of the amazingly instant-drunk Faruja to peer at.

    Not to mention the Necromantical acusations. Hrm. That gets an ear twitching...

Onikaze Kenshin (76) has posed:
Kenshin looks to Xion, much belatedly, and says to her, "Oh, do not worry about that. It was meant to be, and so was unavoidable."

To Kyra, he smiles, "Yes! That is the simplest explanation for it. It involved sorcery and an apocalypse, however. So it was a rather unpleasant series of events all told. I still think your own abilities are admirable. Being able to heal people is a very notable talent, and an area I sorely lack."

Noiela (647) has posed:
Noiela groans, shoving back a quantity of her barely tied back hair. "Thank you." Addressing Maya first, she wriggles and flops by degrees towards her waterlogged coat. Blissfully donning it without a damn given to weight or the disconcerting dampness seeping in a gentle trickle down her neck. As to being overlooked; usual story. Easily fixed by the warmth deadening any pain from jarred elbows and scraped knees, she does not demur when Soan gives his arm for her to lean on.
Spitting out water, she reaches into her sodden coat to pull out a light, opaque bottle. "Who? Only two who could use water freely in our group. Miss Maya and Miss...the dark coated one who dropped her blade." Observational skills, flawless. On necromancy she remains silent, busying her free hand with digging out the cork plugging the bottle. Only her stiffened shoulders imply any opinion.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Quite fortunately, Faruja's assistant shuts him down before Helena can start the violence. Kyra breathes a sigh of relief, happy that she will not have to get between the Inquisitor and Helena. Not that if she did it would help very much at all...but at least she could pick up the pieces of whoever was left over from the ensuing fight.

    Not that being winked at and promised "fun" from Helena is much better an outcome. She'll have to sneak away once they collect the last bit of rocks. Maybe the extraversals can distract Helena long enough!

    "Sorcery and a...well I'm still impressed. I-" she reddens just a little at the compliment, "Well, thank you, Kenshin."

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     "Oh. Misfires." Soan sumrises, bobbing his head a little foward as he let her standing back up on her feets, grinning at her. She's chugging a potion, even after Quentyn's spell -- she really must have been bruised there. "At least, we're done here, we can take a breather when we get out of here."

Maya has posed:
Maya Says "Hymmm and Just call me Maya, would you?"

She ginrs a litlte bit and seems to be relaxe enough as she moves to help where she can and she smirks a bit.

"This is alien compared to school for me."

Noiela (647) has posed:
"Yes." Tilting back the bottle to catch the last few drops, Noiela plucks another from the inner folds of her coat. "Mis...Maya, vulnera...healing potion." Hasty correction, letting Soans surmisation stand as the last word on their water sports. Tugging at the creased vest does nada to stop it from outlining her figure faithfully. She prefers not to dwell on it.

Soan Sagittarius (633) has posed:
     Soan gives a smile toward at Maya, giving her a nod as he let Noiela straighten herself, taking a drink from a healing potion. Good enough, good enough. He's also quite one of a gentleman to /not/ look at the wet clothing on the young woman, or any of the other young women(or men for that matter), present. "It'll dry out soon enough, it'll dry out soon." He repeats, getting on.

Noiela (647) has posed:
"Indeed." Noiela deadpans, not quite hiding the barely perceptible flush lending colour to her cheeks. Time to jump ship and she would, after everyone checked out per Quentyns instructions. Commendable how she has kept at bay the embarrassment, the unfamiliar and therefore terrifying experience of touching. Horrors.
During their march on and out the inexplicably steamless cave, she keeps a respectful distance from the white mage, sticking to anyone else rather than encroach on his personal space. Even going so far as to grant Maya the vulnerary intended for him.