Multiverse Crisis MUSH - User contributions [en]

4427/Pokemon Hatching Marathon

2016-08-15T05:47:04Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/08/14 |Location=Pokemon World |Synopsis=A fun little scene where people try to hatch Pokemon Eggs. |Cast of Characters=188, 20, 994, 686, 11,..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/08/14
|Location=Pokemon World
|Synopsis=A fun little scene where people try to hatch Pokemon Eggs.
|Cast of Characters=188, 20, 994, 686, 11, 673, 714
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Nimbasa City, Unova Region. The Big Stadium. A large stadium, built for big scale sporting events. In it's off time, it is usually used for other random events, or practice. Today? Lute has requested it for the purpose of a little hatching experiment.      The sun shines down upon the open-air stadium. The field currently looks like a large Olympic sized race track. The red rubbery track is nice and clean. Balloons are hung up through the stadium, decorated to look like Pokemon Eggs. On one side of the stadium, near the spot where a team enters? A table has been set up. Upon it, masses of Pokemon Eggs.      Lute stands near the table, arms crossed. He's wearing his standard 'labcoat and jeans, minus shirt' outfit. He stands at attention, waiting for people to come out. A number of families are in the stands. It's not /many/ people watching this event. A lot of kids and their moms, mostly. Kids who just want to see a Pokemon hatched. Lute looks up at the groups of people, giving a big wave to them, and then a thumbs up. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     She's not really sure /why/ she decided to come here, but hey, idle curiousity or whatever. It's not like Toph knows much about Pokemon to begin with, but with nothing better to today the earthbending master had decided to stop by. Perhaps there will be some cool earth pokemon or something! Or metal ones, that would be even cooler.     The blind teenager walks into the stadium, clad in casual clothes befitting a warm summer day; a loose t-shirt, shorts, a cap on her head, her satchel flung over her shoulder as she heads on over to the tables. Of course she can't miss the 'sight' of Lute however. It's been about a year since she last met him... and considering what happened then it might not be too strange that she isn't exactly beaming. Or maybe it's because of the whole weird Team Lute thing that totally wasn't a thing. And if it was a thing it would have had a different name, like something cool.     "Do they usually hatch at the same times or something...?" Toph inquires curiously as she walks up to the table. Maybe she would actually get a look if the eggs were on the ground... 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Athela Valemore has been trying to learn more about the other worlds pertaining to Pokemon that populate the Multiverse. She sees enough of the battling side of things in Bayern as is, so an event about breeding and hatching eggs sounded like a preferable place to start. In what will likely be stark contrast to everyone else present, she's still suited up in her armor like usual. Granted it's not heavy, full suit of plate armor or anything cliche like that. But in this much more modern world it really stands out. (Unless you've seen Team Plasma's grunts and their armor cosplay uniforms.) Though she only gets a few steps before stopping to take an awed look around the stadium. "This certainly be the most elaborate colloseum I hath ever seen." Her halt is so sharp that the Timburr following her bumps into her back. Athela teeters a little, but keeps her footing as her Eevee weebles to the side and lashes her tail to stay balanced on the young woman's shoulder. "Aheh. Sorry, Mizzen. Did not mean to cut short on you." "Burr," the pokemon replies dismissively as he rubs his head, then grabs his plank and gets back onto his feet. 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Hatching Pokemon! Gakupo's familiar with the concept of these tiny (and not so tiny) monsters, and he's always wondered how creatures that are apparently mammals hatch from eggs. That's how it works, right? Then again so is the platypus, and... well, yes. Therein is the trouble; the Vocaloid does not know! So he's heading there to find out. He's showed up in a pair of dark blue knee-length shorts, a lavender t-shirt, and running shoes! Since he does expect to be doing the running. His long purple hair's still bound up in its high topknot, still nearly reaching his ankles despite being bound high on his head. Perhaps he doesn't recognize Lute, because he doesn't make any kind of upset looks in his direction. Then again, Gakupo hasn't had any major run-ins with Lute that he can really remember. Of course, 'electronic' memory doesn't equal 'infallible' memory, after all. He DOES still need processing space, and the older the memories, the bigger the chance the space that holds them will get overwritten. Anyway. Gakupo wanders in the direction of the table as well, looking at the eggs, and then at Lute. "Hello there," he greets, with a polite nods of his head and a smile. Toph's question draws his attention, and he greets, "Oh! Hi there!" He knows Toph, apparently, given the more familiar tone. Athela's presence draws his attention in her direction with a blink of bright azure eyes. But he greets her and her team nonetheless, with a polite bow. That is not a casual-dressed man's bow, despite the t-shirt and shorts; that is a knight's bow. 

:'''{{#var:11|Metal Man (11)}} has posed:''' So even combat androids do like to take time off. Metal Man has known Lute for a long timeand did consider him a friend so here he was to see the hatching and he was joined by several other Wily Robots. Metal while not dressed casually his helmet was removed and scraggly brown hair looked, if he'd been human you might think he was German. Along with him was Wood Man and Crash Man who seemed to be in good spirits. "We should take more time off, this beast dealing with Mega Man." Woodman notes while Crash Man is off looking to see about getting something to drink. Sure they didn't need to but all the Wily robots did have biodisel backup power plants. It wasn't perfect but hey? Beside Metal Man had long grown fond of Green Tea and Sake due to Shadow Man. "Lute." Then Metal Man sees Toph and feels a pang of fear, it's a metal bender. he makes notes to not /anger/ Toph in any way shape or form today. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:''' One of the people who's come is... well, few people are going to recognize her. But the news of a Pokemon Hatching has drawn the attention of Rory White. A solidly built (in more ways than one) young bluenette dressed up in a fancied-up labcoat, one perhaps designed more for style than cleanliness or utility. Almost something a traditional mage or a priestess from some RPG might wear...     And Rory has a very eccentric person to thank for the entire appearance.     She spends a moment adjusting her hair while walking up, keeping her sight of the event clear! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute turns to Toph. Truth be told? He's actually really surprised to see her coming here. They have a bit of a... history. He realizes, after a moment, that it's a bit hard for her to actually 'see' the eggs. As such, he grabs one, and puts it on the grass near the table. Toph actually would be able to tell a lot more about this Pokemon egg than most could, due to her powers. After all, what is inside is a Geodude.      "Nah, not usually," Lute notes. "Most of them I have /some/ idea of when they should hatch. All within the next few days. We're just testing an urban legend, though, that if you run around with a Pokemon, it'll hatch faster." He reaches under the table. There is a pile of things /under/ it too. Boxes, holding something... Specifically, cloth slings that are meant for holding children. Wordlessly, he walks to Toph, tossing it around her, and sliding the egg into the sling.      A glance is given to Athela as she shows up. He blinks slightly, sliding his hands into his labcoat pockets as he does so. He /does/ know of Team Plasma, but that outfit... No. It isn't right, at all. Someone from another land...? He'll shrug it off for now. "...Newcomer, eh? I'm Logan Trieste, codename, 'Lute.' Pokemon Professor. Glad to have yet another lovely lady here, to help out a bit with this egg hatching thing."      Gakupo gets a bit of a wave as well, Lute assuming his introduction wsa soon enough ago that he heard. "Hey. Grab a baby sling, and an egg, just like Toph has." He motions to the slings.      A blink as he looks towards Metal Man, and the two other Wily bots. He actually didn't /know/ that they had a way to take off their helmets. Hell. Crash Man has /hands/? He barely even glances towards Rory at first, too distracted by the robots. He finally waves at her, nodding to her as well. His eyes linger on her, too. A woman in a labcoat...? Lovely.      He starts to hand out eggs, multiple distractions in his mind. He had planned to give everyone an appropriate Pokemon, but he's just handing them out to random people, now. With... unfortunate results. Metal Man gets a Honedge egg. Crashman, a Voltorb Egg. Woodman? Slugma. Athela is handed an egg for a Flabebe, and Rory, the egg for a Grimer. For Gakupo? A Whismur egg.      "Now! Everyone, line up. It's less a race, more a marathon. The longer you can run, the better! Let's see if this really /does/ make eggs hatch faster!" 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Athela Valemore for a moment is distracted from her admiration of the stadium by Gakupo. Despite his current attire that was definately a gentleman's bow, so she returns it in kind. "A good eve to ye as well, sir." Then swings her attention back the other way, actually noticing Toph now. "And you also, Toph." Though the metalbender gets a more casual wave, as they have met before, and Athela knows Toph isn't exactly the 'formal' kind. Okay, the fellow apparently in charge of this is introducing himself. The redhead tilts her head a little to the side at 'professor', but then her expression brightens when she manages to click new terminology and what she's familiar with together. "Ah, yes, a scholar." She gives a brief bow to him as well. "Athela Valemore. If ye have prehaps heard of the land of Bayern; we also have Pokemon but your world is very... different." She stands up, just in time to have the egg handed to her. "Ah, yes. We have similar lore." The way she holds the egg up a bit to inspect it shows she at least has some familiarity with eggs and breeding. "Cannot say I reconize this pattern." Sprite leans from her shoulder a bit to put an ear against the egg, then shakes her head. "Vee." Sounding almost disappointed. Athela laughs softly in return. "I am fairly sure it is not an Eevee, no." Now we just have to figure out this sling thing. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     The arrival of a certain Pokemon Knight doesn't escape Toph's notice, and she does seem to smile as she turns her head slightly. "Figured you guys would come here, huh?" No, Athela is right. The girl isn't stuck on formalities, and she seems to prefer keeping things casual when she can.     Likewise, Gakupo as well gets a nod in greeting. "Been a while, huh?" she notes in good humour.     Metal Man and his companions luckily doesn't seem to draw much attention from the girl, which might help him calm down somewhat. If she had reason to be angry with anybody today it might be Lute. Rory too isn't somebody Toph has been spending much time with, so the blind teen doesn't react much besides giving Rory a brief wave of her hand.     There's actually a slightly surprised look on Toph's face when Lute, who obviously knows well enough how she 'sees' after some years of fighting both together and against the other, places the egg into the grass. The earthbender crouches down and places her hand on the ground next to the egg, a curious look on her face. Hmmm. Well, this might be a coincidence. Yet she can't help but look a bit skeptical when he declares that walking with the eggs will make them hatch sooner. "That sounds like utter crud. I mean, it's not like that pregnant women will give birth sooner by walking a lot." It sounds like complete nonsense in Toph's opinion at least! Though she doesn't seem to have a choice when Lute presents her with the sling in a rather forward manner. "Hey!" she half protests, about to take the sling off... but then he's already placed the egg into the sling. So instead she sighs. There's no way she would actually harm the egg or anything, because that would just make her into an asshole, wouldn't it?     She stands by as the other people are handed eggs, waiting patiently while she makes sure to adjust the sling so she can be sure she can move the most efficiently all while keeping the egg safe. And Lute confirms it by stating that they need to focus on distance and keeping their pace steady. Which means that the best way to do so is to use her bending, of course! "Let's see who can hatch their egg first!" Toph declares with a grin, then kicks into the ground, causing it to rise underneath her feet into a wave... and she's off! 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:''' Rory had shown up intending to watch eggs hatching! The prospect of RUNNING with an Egg... gets her worrying quickly. The girl frowns at the unusually large Egg that's landed into her clutches. A rapid series of calculations about this urban legend has her immediately coming to a few conclusions...     Which she doesn't hesitate to point out in gentle tones. "Um... Professor Lute, you have a control group of un-run eggs from the same clutch for comparing results? And this seems a little dangerous. Someone could trip, and..." And there goes an egg.     Which is probably why she's frowning. There's a very high likelihood of tripping here, if she wants to AT ALL keep up with the others...     Although she does go for a sling, and... the weird part is that her outfit begins ADJUSTING ITSELF. Her long, billowing robeskirt starts shrinking and tightening into pants.     Rory reacts to Toph's wave with one of her own and a faint nod. Metal Man does get an extra peering at, being a noteworthy source of radio signals in an area that doesn't have many otherwise... 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo watches Lute putting the sling around Toph, and then as Lute explains, the Vocaloid nods. "Oh! That makes sense," he replies. "Maybe it's the movement?" he suggests. He has no idea, and it probably approaching things from an even more alien perspective than most, since he's completely artificial. Biological things confuse him sometimes. Not to worry, though, he did indeed hear the introduction. And in response, he offers, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Kamui Gakupo." Nonetheless, he grabs one of those baby-carriers and puts it around himself, just as Lute's handing out the eggs. The egg he's handed is slipped into the baby-carrying pack. And he nods to the words of a marathon. "Here's hoping!" he says. He does notice Athela's bow, and smiles. It's rare to see that sort of thing in these times, even in his own world. Though the Multiverse makes that a little less of a concern. Anyway. Toph's words get a nod. "It has been, yes," he agrees, with a smile. Though he chuckles as she starts off to run, with her bending carrying her down the track. He notes that Athela seems to be having a bit of difficulty with her sling, and heads in her direction. "Hello there," he offers. "Do you need some help?" He's not concerned with 'catching up' to anyone, since as was pointed out, it's not exactly a race. 

:'''{{#var:11|Metal Man (11)}} has posed:''' Metal Man grins at Lute for a momentand pauses to also look the way that Lute is looking. The young lardy certainly was attention grabbing, and one eyebrow at her. He looks to Rory for a moment. "Yo, the name is Metal Man." Metal's Man's voice is almost netural of any english accent and it's clear he's speaking such. Meanwhile he and his brothers take the eggs in hand, the Masters seem to understand they are caring for a young lifeform. The make ready to run and he's also looking back at Rory she's giving off signals much like one of his own would. He was certainly curious about that, however as he and his brothers line up? They are making ready to get into the race. He's also trying to ahem to draw Toph's attention, he knows what she can do. Seriously little girls with power are the most scary thing in the Multiverse. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' Sanary was totally here on time! She definitely didn't lose track of time trying to stab things and failing miserably. Really! Still, it looks like she's not too late even as she jogs towards the group gathered by the eggs, waving a bit and apparently wearing more exercise-worthy t-shirt and shorts combo for today's experiment.      "Heeey! Hey. Uh. Hey, Lute. Things just getting started?" She looks just a little winded even as she flashes Lute a wide grin, picking up one of the slings for herself and trying to figure out how to get it on properly. She freezes up just a bit when she spots Toph, though. It could really get awkward if she ends up saying the wrong thing, so she takes a deep breath and calls upon all the dignity and casual-ness she can muster!      "Er. Hey, Toph. Sorry about the... Almost drowning thing." So smooth. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute has heard there were people from new Pokemon realms showing up. He hadn't heard the name Bayern yet. He would probably, if he had read his reports more thoroughly. He nods at her though, giving a bit of a bow. He stands up straight again, sliding his hands into his pocket. "Mm. The egg contents will be a surprise for everyone! If you manage to hatch it, hey, then you'll see! But. Not an Eevee for you, but could be something /else/ cool, right?" Encouragement, to keep people going.      And then Toph takes off, earth-surfing with her bending skills. He stares after her, a blank look on his face. He is at a complete loss. He wants to tell her that isn't how the old wive's tale works, but... That would involve /catching up to her/.      He lets Gakupo help Aletha with the sling. He /could/ help, and thus get closer to the woman before him, but.... Eh. Not the priority today.      The hesitation from Rory is dismissed, Lute lifting his hand to shake at the air a little. "Ahh! I got a control group. And don't worry. Just go at your own pace, and be careful. Pokemon Eggs are pretty sturdy. If you're worried, go ahead and just walk." He blinks a little as her outfit readjusts itself, though. He actually kneels down a little, looking at the fabric as it shifts. He mutters to himself, "Fascinating..."      Lute looks towards Sanary as she arrives late, shaking his head a little. Still, it's cute, how much she's rushing. As she gets close, when he feels no one is looking? He leans in to give her a quick little kiss on the cheek. Soon after, he tosses the baby sling around her. He actually /does/ have a Pokemon prepicked for her, specifically. He slides it into her sling, patting her on the shoulder. "...Sanary. You're terrible at apologies. Also you came to a running event by running here." 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' "I think she was more disappointed than I am," Athela calls back to Lute. Then lets out a slightly embarassed sigh at Gakupo's offer to help. "Appreciated. I have helped my uncle with his Buizel breeding on several occasions, but we use nothing like this." With Gakupo's help though she gets the sling on properly and the egg tucked in place. "Much better." Only for Toph to take off ground surfing. "He said this wasn't a ra -- Oh bother. Mizzen, stay here." The redhead takes off sprinting to get back onto the track. The Timburr gives a bit of a 'whatever' shrug, shoves one end of his board into the ground, gives it a good smack on top with his fist, then hops up to sit on it at watch. She may not be exceptionally fast, but Athela does keep a good stride even in combat armor. Granted she's not wearing a full suit, but it's still a good clip. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Why wouldn't Toph make a race out of this? She's known to go at things in her own pace, and well... she's known to show off.     As it is the blind teenager keeps one hand around the egg in the sling, using her other arm and legs to keep her earthen wave moving forward in a steady pace as she begins going around the edge of the arena. She does turn around slightly to face Athela though when she calls after her. "Since when did I listen to what Lute says?" she calls back, having no problems in keeping the earthen wave rolling even if she isn't facing in the direction that she is going. Oh yes, quite a show off.     Perhaps it's a good thing that she was already racing when Sanary arrives. Perhaps the others don't notice the slight reaction she has as her eyes widen a bit, and she quickly turns back on the earthen wave, yelling back at Sanary. "WHAT? I can't hear you over this earth!" And around she goes to the other side of the arena as she keeps on moving. What is it with Confederates trying to get her attention today? Does Metal Man think she's about to bend him after what happened ages ago in the mine? Hardly. 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo nods to Athela's thanks. "You're welcome," he notes. "These are... well, normally you put actual human babies in them to carry them. But today we're carrying eggs. Let's see how this works, hm? Maybe it's true, they'll hatch faster!" He seems excited at the prospect. And as Athela begins to jog to head onto the track, so does he. This is why the casual outfit and running shoes, to make this easier! One might expect Gakupo, as a machine, to just take off and tear up the track, but... he doesn't. He has stamina on his side, being that he doesn't have muscles to get tired, but he's not too terribly much faster than a well-trained human when he's going his fastest. And here he's not going his fastest. He's worried about distance, not speed. It's a steady pace of running; aside from the purple hair (which in retrospect might not be as weird in a Pokemon world as first thought), he looks like a normal human running around the track. 

:'''{{#var:11|Metal Man (11)}} has posed:''' Metal Man and his brothers are running with thier eggs and taking good care of them. Metal Man has no issues with anything that might get in his way. He has no idea wht he has but he keeps running and he doesn't mind thigns too much but? He may have a Grabby copter flying over the race right now to keep an eye on everything. He keeps moving he doesn't think she's going to well strike out over old things. He's more concerned about setting her off, so he's going to keep moving while Toph is busy with things. He's still howeverr wondeirng about Rory and just what's up with her. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' Okay, maybe the jog over took a bit more out of Sanary than she thought it would. She had been feeling fine right until she stopped to talk. Sure, she had been training for most of the day, but... But still! She's not supposed to be this out of shape! Luckily for her, that self-depreciation is cut off by that peck on the cheek and a flustered stammer from the healer as she reaches over to mess with Lute's hair.      "Wha... H-hey! I'm trying. I just didn't have anything prepared and it just kinda... Came out." Looking both flustered and embarassed, she looks back over at where Toph's sped up to, and she lets out a relieved sigh when she /doesn't/ get a rock to the face. That's... That's a good sign, right? Right. "Oh! Uh. Sorry for...!" No, she's getting way too far away for that to work. "... Later!" Sanary calls out once more to the earthbender as loudly as she can. She can just try and apologize again once Toph gets a lap on her! At the rate they're both going, that shouldn't be too long.      At least Sanary /is/ trying to jog again. She moves briskly to try and not fall too far behind the rest of the pack, although she clearly isn't trying to win any footraces. Eggs are delicate, and she's not going to risk dropping it if she can help it! "So... So how long do we gotta run, anyway?" She calls out to nobody in particular, peering at the egg every few seconds to make sure it's still firmly in that sling. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute's hair is messed with, his neatly combed elegant hair now a bit messy. He smirks at Sanary, rubbing her shoulder for a brief moment before letting go. "Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. Toph isn't the kind to hold a grudge for /too/ long. Fuck, she's here and not trying to punch me, right?"      As the jogging goes to full speed? Two of the eggs start to hatch. Toph's is first. The egg in her sling begins to shake against her, breaking open within the sling. The earth-surfing might be a bit /extreme/ of a method of travel, but perhaps it's working?The Geodude within starts to stick its oarms out from teh shell.      Metal Man's egg is the other one that hatches. The shell starts shaking, before it suddenly opens up. A honedge! A female one, not that Metal Man could likely tell. It suddenly holds its body against the Robot Master.      It's trying to hug him. Awww!      ...Shame it's a sword. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Athela Valemore raises a brow as Toph pretty much laps everyone with her land surfing. Which appears to be working. "Huh" She glances down at her own egg in a sling for a moment. Then tugs the straps a little to make sure they're still tight. It's questionable if she was just going too slow because she was trying to not jostle the egg around, or because what's inside may be very different from what she's familiar with. Either way, if surfing seems to have worked for Toph... "Hang on." Athela hooks one arm around the sling and egg, just to make sure it stays stable. With the other hand she tunes in her Tide Caller ability, projecting it in front of herself into a small but quickly rolling wave. That she steps onto and gets a lot more literal with the Surf part. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:''' Oh dear, it's a RACE now?     Rory frowns a bit more.. but Lute's explanation settles her worries. The frown vanishes, although the expression shift's a bit too... mechanical, almost. Like she's having to think hard about body language at every turn.     Her running's similarly precise and practiced, but she gets moving at... a surprising clip, really! Is she really human? She's running a bit faster than an olympian athlete averages...     Up overhead, one of her Saucers is watching events. Particularly the hatchings... 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo just keeps running. He may not notice the hatchings since he's running and concentrating on not falling over. He doesn't have any fancy ways to move fast, not even thrusters in his feet! Then again, that would really be cheating, wouldn't it? And probably not an applicable method for hatching these, if it's true that it works this way. So he just keeps running. One foot in front of the other. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Rory starts running, making an impressive go at it? The egg in her sling shifts, as well. It shakes rapidly, moving quickly inside the egg. The shell of the egg starts to thin quite a bit as well. It's eating the shell away, instead of cracking it.      And is that... a foul smell...?      The egg breaks open.      "GRIMER GRIMER!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     No people are about to get punched today by the mighty earthbending master, no!     Unless they do something utterly stupid, that is.     For now though she keeps on racing, and once she goes the round and overtakes Sanary, the blind girl goes around her, clearly not intent on stopping to talk with her right now. Why, one might almost think that she's evading the older girl! And then, when Toph has finished nearly two lap she's surprised by the fact that her egg begins to hatch! The moment the egg begins shaking and cracking she gasps, then halts her earthen wave, kicking her left heel into the earth. "HEY, DUNDERHEAD!" she calls out, her voice ringing out over the stadium as she holds up the sling. "It's beginning to hatch over here!" Seriously, this running thing actually /worked/?!     And she grins, looking slightly pleased with herself and the egg itself. "I /thought/ I felt something earthy in there!" And she runs over to bring the egg to Lute so he can inspect it. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' "I hope so! Maybe I can throw together a..." Sanary trails off, both because she's not quite sure whether Lute will even hear her and because she's not quite sure what to do. A party? Nah, too noisy and messy. A private dinner? Nah, too fancy and date-y. A night of listening to weird radio shows and binging on junk food?      That one might actually work. As the Earthbender starts coming around from behind her, Sanary breaks into more of an actual run to give chase and try to get more time to get more than a few words out despite that evasion. "Hey, Toph! Sorry about the... Almost drowning you... Thing." Okay, no, Sanary's not going to be keeping up with her at that speed or even finishing a full sentence at this rate. Maybe if she can catch her on the second time around?      Or once she finishes going around the track. Alas, her target is on the other side of the track, and turning around now would risk running into people in the opposite direction. For now, the healer's just going to have to suck it up and try to catch them both on the NEXT go around! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Toph runs over to Lute, he blinks a little. His hand reaches to grab the top of the Geodude's head, hand petting it. He smirks a little down at it, before looking back up towards Toph. His hands go around her neck a little, preparing to get the sling off. "Hold your hands under it."      If she holds her hands out, Lute will unsling the Geodude. He lets it fall into her hands, the heavy young rock Pokemon weighing down on her. It looks up, repeating its name over and over. It's only a baby, so it can't quite /talk/ like the other Pokemon can. Not yet. Toph's senses will also tell a lot about it. Despite being a creature of rock, it is... also alive. It's harder for her to sense bits of it.      "That is... Geodude. The Rock/Ground Pokemon. It's a fairly large specimin, for its age. ...and it wasn't supposed to hatch until three days out. This is actually a bit of a surprise..." 

:'''{{#var:11|Metal Man (11)}} has posed:''' Metal Man has a Honedge hatch in his hands, though iut means no real harm? It tries to hug Metal Man and this does not go well for either of them it's a sword he's got fairly light armour and there's a yelp as he tries to talk to the littl ehitng without harming it as he knows the sword pokemon is an infant. "ARG! SOMEONE HELP!" Wood Man and Crash Man just sweat drop more or less as they keep going. Meanwhile Metal is almost flailing and searching for help. 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:''' OH?! What is this? Rory feels the shell wobble and shake... rather severely. This throws off her whole balance, so she slows down... and brings her dash to a halt. Of course she cans ee behind her without looking thanks to eyes in the sky - but she does so anyways, looking over her shoulder...     Blink blink.     STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE.     "Happy... Birthday?" She's not sure what to make of this goopy mess with a face sloshing around in the sling. Fascinated? Sure. Is it cute? Maybe a little. But olfactory sensors are off the charts with some nasty thiols and other compounds that would map to 'unpleasant,' if she had a normal sense of smell. She doesn't.     "Ahhh... ummmm..."     Her expression quickly turns to 'oh god what do I do now.' 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     The earthbender isn't slow to move her hands to steady the Pokemon as Lute unslings it, nor does she seem worried about hurting it. To her senses it seems strong and sturdy, and well... Toph is used to carrying heavy rocks around. For now she does seem rather curious about the creature as it repeats its name over and over. "A... Geodude?" Who the crud names these things anyway?     The statement that he's surpised the Pokemon hatched this early earns a snort from Toph, and stands a bit taller. "Some of us do stuff the /smart/ way." Heck, he should know that she's criticised him for not thinking logically at times.     When Metal Man cries for help though, Toph arches an eyebrow. "It's just a little sword Pokemon, you wimp! And you're metal too!"     When Sanary nears the place where she's standing though, Toph makes a point to not be facing her direction. Instead she calls out to Athela. "So you finally decided to do the smart thing, huh?" Man, she really is kind of a waterbender, isn't she? 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Apparently something in the way Metal Man is flailing with the Honedge is amusing, because Timburr starts laughing loudly at it. Hard enough that he rocks himself right off his improvised seat. Whump! Which, being a sturdy fighting pokemon, doesn't really bother him. "Mizzen, be nice." But Athela can't divert too much attention from keeping her water flow stable. This isn't quite as easy as it would be to do over a body of water so she's still not quite as fast as she could be, but it's getting the job done, right? "This is hardly how we do it back home," she replies to Toph, raising her voice a little to be heard as she passes. "But I would be foolish to expect the same things to apply to another world simply because it also involves pokemon." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' There's eggs hatching left and right, it seems! Some are turning into weird arm-rocks, others are turning into piles of goop, and others are... Swords. Makes about as much sense as the other Pokemon Sanary's seen before, anyway. But hers... Maybe it's a speed thing? She breaks into a steadier run and even a sprint to catch up to Lute and Toph sooner, pausing by Metal Man to give him a reassuring smack on the back. "I think it likes you! Or... It's trying to cut you. Hard to tell with a sword."      That's something she never thought she'd ever say. Catching Athela's assessment of what she assumes is her own world's hatching methods, Sanary starts putting a few things together in her head! Not enough things to get a real assessment of who she is yet, but... Well, at least the fact that Athela's from a world with Pokemon in it is something.      "Lute! Toph! Hoo... Whoa. Thought I'd never catch up..." She belts out before hunching over a bit, still cradling the egg carefully while panting heavily. She might be used to long endurance runs, but sprinting? The adrenaline only helps for so long! 

:'''{{#var:11|Metal Man (11)}} has posed:''' Metal Man is getting taunted abit but well maybe he's asking for it he does seem to calm down a little bit evne as others start laughing at him. His brothers just remain silent as the wonder what they are carrying? Who knows what fate might befall the brothers Wily today. Metalman Meanwhile gets smacked in the safe portion of his back where Sanary won't get cut or lose said hand. and that really snaps him out of it. "All right little one just don't ... stab me all right?" Hopefully there's some way to get this thing to understand not to stab him. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The Honedge keeps trying to hug Metal Man, clinging to his body quite tightly. It's rubs against him a little. Luckily, the blade is not trying to cut him. Far from it. But, there is stilll a /fair/ amount of risk.      The Geodude, meanwhile, is wrapping its arms around Toph, hugging. It's still young, its eyes looking a bit huge compared to the rest of its body. It holds her close, nuzzling against her stomach. Lute smirks at Toph, not noticing Metal Man's plight.      "Yeah. Geodude. Pretty solid Pokemon, really. ...And, hatched way earlier than the other egg. ...Guess there /is/ something to this urban legend."      The grimer, for its part, isn't /trying/ to smell. Normally they hold it back, unless mad. But it's just a child! It starts crawling up, moving up along Rory's body until it manages to sit itself on her head. Grimers like to form groups in the wild, with the young Grimer getting on the Muk's head. Least it is slowly controlling the smell.      Sanary's egg begins to hatch as well. Shaking, the shell breaks open suddenly. The Pokemon within her arms? It... looks like a small pig, with orange and black markings. An adorable little Tepig.      Only Athela's hasn't hatched yet. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     When she's hugged Toph can't help but blink at the little Pokemon. "Huh. Affectionate little crud, isn't he?"     Perhaps Lute will notice how Toph lets out a slight sigh when Sanary runs up to them, and the blind earthbender begins trying to unwrap the little Geodude's arms from her waist, all an attempt to try to push it into Lute's arms so he can take it. "Now we know that earthen waves help in hatching Pokemon. Make sure to give Boulderface a safe home!" She /really/ should be heading off. Because hey, she's done with hatching the egg, so she helped out! And it was kinda awesome. Not to mention she's totally a busy earthbender that's gotta get back to make sure the repairs to her metalbending academy are proceeding as planned.     Perhaps she could be more forceful, but it's not like she wants to harm the little Pokemon either, even if it seems to be a bit too attached to her. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Athela Valemore would go faster but 1) That would require more water than she can easily summon on her own, and 2) she doesn't want to risk losing control and doing more harm than good. As good as she is with her hydrokinesis, she's not accustomed to using it like this away from a larger body of water. "When my uncle needs to hatch Buizel eggs we typically place them in a tide pool and let the sun warm the water to incubate them. Similar to how the wild Buizel do it themselves." At least she can keep up a conversation as she goes, for anyone that's actually listening. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' A few more breaths, and Sanary's standing back up straight again! She can still practically taste the awkwardness lingering between herself and Toph, and she glances over at Lute for a moment as if trying to psyche herself back up. Once she gets her brearings straight, she steps towards the slightly younger teen and clears her throat. "H... Hey, Toph. Sorry about the almost drowning you thing. My ehad was in a weird place, and... I'll be fine if you wanna take some shots at me for that. But after that, you wanna hang out sometime? We can listen to some..."      Sanary starts trailing off, however, when she notices the movement from her egg. "Radios and... Music?" She squints slightly at the Pokemon struggling to break free, glancing between it and Lute nervously as if trying to make sure she's not doing something wrong somehow. When that egg finally cracks open and the little Tepig pokes out of it, though?      The healer just starts letting out this odd, excited droning noise. Sanary's helped with human births before and she's brought plenty of pigs into the world on the farms, but this is different! The noise just keeps coming out of her at a low, but steady volume as she settles down to hug the tiny creature carefully.      She's not going to let go of that Tepig any time soon, is she? 

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:''' Uhhhhhhh.     Rory's eyes turn as upwards as they can go, her expression not changing much... besides lots of blinking. Eventually she reaches up and gently prods the goopy mess gently, doing her best to make sure she's not going to agitate it or... hurt it or...     She has absolutely no idea how to handle a baby ball of stinky goo with a face! But at least it seems to be enjoying itself.     "I don't know a thing about this species, but it's QUITE interesting!" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Athela's egg begins to shake. The quick movement of the surfing helping it along. Lute does look over towards her, somewhat shocked at what is going on. He hears her words, though. It's something that he should consider, really. Looking into methods from ancient times. But, the surfing seems to be working, at least. Athela's egg starts to shake. And a little Flabebe appears, riding on a flower. Sadly, this being a Pokemon often carried by the wind on its flower? It smacks right into Athela's chest, in some surprise.      Lute is /almost/, almost, about to help try and patch things up between Sanary and Toph. But then, the egg hatches. And Sanary just /freaks out/. He stares for a second, before turning to Toph and shrugging a little. He places a hand on Toph's shoulder, and Sanary's shoulder.      "Members of Team Lute shouldn't fight eachother for long."      As the Grimer on Rory's head is poked, its body shakes. The slime creature wiggles a bit on her, smiling down at her. Some of Rory's hair is taken into its hand, and it starts to suck on it. This /might/ seem gross -- and it is-- but it does have a bonus! It sucks oils and grease from the hair, removing filth and making the hair look /wonderful/ afterwards. 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo just keeps running with the egg for a while, maybe an hour or so. It's long enough to tell that it's not going to hatch. Oh well. Not everyone can have the same luck. He finishes the lap he's doing and then heads back to the table the eggs had been on. Handing the egg sheepishly back, he notes, "Sorry I couldn't get it to hatch. Maybe it doesn't work if the person carrying it isn't really a person." He IS an artificial being and all. Oh well! He smiles and heads off then, with a wave. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Oooh great. She didn't manage to get away in time. The blind girl closes her eyes, and as Sanary speaks she raises her hand, keeping it between her and the older girl. "I don't want to talk about it, and no, I don't wanna hang out." Well... at least it doesn't seem like the master earthbender is about to take some shots at Sanary at least...?     Perhaps it's a good thing that the Tepig hatches, and Toph finally manages to get the Geodude free as she shoves it against Lute's chest. And she does look grumpy for a moment. "WELL, you threw me out from Team Lute last year, don't you remember? Or did I hit you in the face too hard with that metal?" she asks. 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Oh, there it is starting to crack finally. Athela lets the wave start to fade, intended to slow back down to walking before it finishes. But it doesn't quite work that way as the pokemon that hatchs is much smaller and lighter than anticipated. Fortunately the surcoat over her armor gives it some padding to land on when the tiny Flabebe thumps against her chest. "Easy there little one." As the water ripples away finally Athela scoops her hands around the teeny Fairy to pick it up gently, and start walking back to the others. "Mister Lute, your egg hatched.... But I admit I doth not know much about the typing of Fairys." 

:'''{{#var:11|Metal Man (11)}} has posed:''' Metal Man finally accepts his fate, he sighs and hopes he just doesn't end up well imapled this thing is a baby after all and even he's not /that/ mean.SHe does seem to be a bit on edge and hopefully someone will find this little pokemon a home where it wont' have issues with harming it's partner, right? 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' Sanary does flinch a bit when Toph's hand goes up, almost like she's bracing for something up until she starts speaking instead of sending rocks everywhere. "Ah... Y-yeah, that's fine." Although she does deflate a bit at that, it still went better than expected. No bruises or concussions or anything!      It's not until Lute makes contact with Sanary that she finally snaps out of her freakout phase and realizes that there's still people around. People that probably saw said freakout just now. So much for her street cred, huh? Clearing her throat once again, the healer tries her best not to look directly at the Tepig while continuing to stroke its head softly and staring straight at Lute and the others drawing closer for one reason or another. "S-so. Uh. Where are these gonna go once we're done here?" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      With Gakupo's return, Lute rubs his chin a bit. He bites the side of his lip, listening to the thought. 'Not a person'? He shrugs a little bit, "I really doubt such is the case. If anything... Hm. Maybe this egg just isn't as close as others...? ...Or..." He frowns. "...Or it still /could/ be just random chance, that the eggs hatched earlier. ...I'll need to do a lot more research."      The Geodude is shoved into Lute's chest. He holds it for a moment, petting and rubbing its head before lowering down and setting it on the ground. The Geodude promptly begins to pretend and be a rock. Lute gives Toph a look... A sort of strange look of kindness. If only she could see it.      "Toph. Sanary and I don't actually have any hate for you. We just ended up on different sides in a conflict. Hell, I joined up with the Confederates due to coincidence, more than choice. While I hold no regrets about being within it? I hold no hate to you, even as much as we fought. I am fairly certain Sanary is the same way. So. Even if I /did/ kick you out of Team Lute? You're still a member of it anyways."      And then the Flabebe. Lute turns towards Athela, nodding towards the small Pokemon. He holds out a hand, palm up to offer to hold it. "Mm. Flabebe is from Kalos. Fairly simple Pokemon. But... Very vulnerable, especially when just born. We'll have to be careful with her. I'll be sure to get her to a nice field to live in, or find her a nice trainer."      He looks towards Sanary next, and the Tepig. Smiling. "Mm. Find trainers for them, or release them in the wild to a new family. It'll at least spend some time being researched until a situation is set up, though. Don't worry. I can get them all home on my own." 

:'''{{#var:994|Athela Valemore (994)}} has posed:''' Athela Valemore sets the tiny fairy-mon in Lute's hand carefully. Gives it one last pat on the head. "I leave it in your best capable hands then." Then steps back and makes a short bow. "And hopefully helped you with your research as well then. Good evening." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     If Toph could see the look on Lute's face things might turn out even worse, honestly. As it is she can't help but roll her eyes at the little speech. "That's easy for you to say, you weren't there when it happened." No, she's /not/ about to forget what happened during that day when Sanary lost control of herself. And that's actually worse than the annoyance than the talk of Team Lute. "Whatever... good luck with the Pokemon, I'm heading back home." Yes, she's grown into a typical teenager all right. At least it could have gone worse as she hasn't thrown any punches or used her earthbending for anything /bad/. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:''' Sanary chuckles lightly as Lute keeps trying to make her case for her to Toph, and she actually gets up to give him an appreciative ruffle on the back of the head. "It's alright, Lute. I... Kinda did try to-"      Wait. Right. Not talking about this while Toph's not feeling up for it. She clears her throat and nods towards the Earthbender, wiggling the Tepig in her arms a bit in the meantime. "Take care, Toph. I'll... Uh. I'll be around." There's still some hope in her voice, at least! Besides, she can't let herself get too depressed with the tiny pig Pokemon in her hands!      If nothing else? At least she'll be keeping an eye on the Tepig until everything's done for this test. 
}}

4333/Pokemon at the Beach

2016-07-18T03:40:45Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/07/17 |Location=Pokemon World |Synopsis=A group visit the Pokemon World to document wild Pokemon. |Cast of Characters=188, 919, 1016, 1017 |pr..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/07/17
|Location=Pokemon World
|Synopsis=A group visit the Pokemon World to document wild Pokemon.
|Cast of Characters=188, 919, 1016, 1017
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The summer sun hangs high over the sky of Hoenn. This somewhat tropical area of the Pokemon World is having quite a bit of a heat wave. This has, in turn, lead to a number of alterations to the behavior of the Pokemon. Pokemon use some of the same strategies as humans when they have to deal with the heat. Namely, going to the beach. And, due to this? Lute has put out an anonymous request for help, seeking to find various people who might be willing to help document the vast varities of Pokemon present.      The beach near Petalburg City is swarming with Pokemon. Wingul and Taillow fly throgh the sky, occasionally diving into the water. Masses of Krabby and Corpish wander near the beach, the waves rolling against them. Zigzagoon leap into teh water here and there, while some Wurmple hide under leaves near the edge of the beach, on the grass. Some Magikarp even flop up onto the beach on occasion. A number of unusual Pokemon for the area are present as well. Mankey lounging on rocks, Squirtle surfing along the water, Lapras swimming in the distance. Some Bellsprout and Oddish have their leaves spread out and are taking in the sun. Even some Pikachu and Pichu are hanging out. ...And for some reason the Pikachu and Pichu seem to be playing beach volleyball with some Minun and Plusle. Don't ask.      Lute himself is on the edge of the beach. As per usual, he is wearing his white labcoat. It's waterproof, so it makes perfect beach wear. In addition to this, he wears his other standard for beach attire. A black speedo.      He waits near the beach, with binoculars, looking at all of the Pokemon nearby. He whistles a little, "Wow. This is a /lot/ more than usual!" 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     Eithne isn't entirely sure what kinds of pokemon there are. She knows about Pikachu! It's the yellow one, right?     But the ad said that all she had to do was document the different kinds, and she can get into places that a lot of people, can't... and she could use the money. So, cameraphone in hand, she's parked her bike by the boardwalk (and locked it up) and gone out onto the sand, feet bare and sunblock properly applied to everything not covered by her rose-print sundress.     The animals here are weird! She frowns, but immediately spots the Pikachu. ...And the other, smaller Pikachu. And the red-trimmed Pikachu and the blue-trimmed Pikachu. Are there supposed to be so many kinds?! 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' A bright sun and a heat wave. Genya is doubtless quite miserable in all this. Why didn't he just send a group to deal with it? Because he couldn't get Pokemon research OK'd through the Japanese government. Sometimes having to work through a government is a pain. So he's had to come by himself. He's dressed as he normally is, in his dark suit-- which is probably not helping how miserable he is-- and is holding an umbrella over his head to shade him from the sun. In his other hand he holds a tablet computer with a camera. He locates the one wearing the lab coat, and heads in his direction. The one with the lab coat probably has something to do with the request. Maybe a contact or something. 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' Roses supposes that she isn't Moses, and yet there she is, walking up out of the sea. She's dressed in a one piece swim-suit, white of course, and looks rather nice in it, if she does say so herself. She rises from the sea, shaking out her curly pink hair, untouched by the salt water. Well... It's a little damp, actually. The tall, buxom Gem looks around at all the new people. She'd just been looking for gem monsters in the ocean and... "This isn't Beach City." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute hears the others approaching. To a Pokemon Professor like himself, he can easily tell the difference between the footsteps of a human and the footsteps of a Pokemon. He looks at Eithne and Genya through the binoculars, before lowering them and smiling towards them. He gives them a wave. Part of why he made the post anonymous was to draw in people he didn't know. Aaaand to avoid his reputation ruining his chances of finding useful helpers. He smiles at them, saying, "Hey! I'm Lute. Thanks for coming. I've got some spare cameras, and some notes on which Pokemon are which. I just need help getting shots of what is going on, to help give me a rough count."      But then, outof the water, rises Rose Quartz. Lute sees her just out of the corner of his eye. And then, he lifts a finger up, towards Eithne and Genya.      "One moment."      And he just stands there for a moment, looking at Rose through the binoculars. At least he reaches into his labcoat pockets to pull out the cameras, and holds them out for Genya and Eithne. 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     Huh. Oh, there's the man that must be their contact! ...In the labcoat. And the speedo.     Eithne wonders for a second if it's not too soon to turn around and just go home.     Then she remembers that the rent is due in two weeks.     "Hullo! I'm here to help!" she calls instead, resolutely going to meet up with the man and his speedo (and the overdressed Gentleman who must be sweltering in the heat). "Oh good, I just saw-- what the-" There, on the guide. There's a ... a root vegetable with a face. And a flower with beady eyes and a stupid expression.     She might be wafting shoujo sparkles. "WHAT IS--" she starts to exclaim, stabbing a finger at the pamphlet, when a giant woman rises out of the sea. "...that?" she finishes lamely. 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Genya Arikado offers a bow and a polite nod as Lute introduces himself. Truth be told, even if he'd recognized Lute, Genya is a lot more permissive of the present of 'bad guys'-- quote, unquote. He's one of those weird people that believes evil is necessary in the world, after all. So as long as Lute wasn't actively seeking to cause trouble, even if Genya had have recognized him, he'd have helped with this without a problem. As it stands, though, Genya nods to Lute's introduction. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Genya Arikado," he says, in Japanese. He shifts the umbrella to lean it over his shoulder as he's handed the camera, putting the small tablet computer in his inside coat pocket to free up that hand to take the camera offered by Lute. "We only need to take pictures of the Pokemon here?" he asks. He turns to look at Eithne as she calls out, and nods in greeting to her as well. Though it isn't until Eithne reacts so to Rose Quartz coming out of the water that he notices the latter. He turns in Rose's direction, observing her carefully. She doesn't appear overtly threatening, no... and Genya's the last one to think ill of someone for them being different. Thus he nods in Rose's direction as well. 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' "Well hello there." she says, as if speaking to young children. Her shape ripples, and her usual white dress appears in place of the swimsuit. "Goodness, what adorable little creatures." she says as she approaches, looking at the Pokemon. "I've never seen anything like them!" she coos. "What are they?" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute keeps his eyes on Rose. There are just certain things he, as a man, has to prioritize first. But, after a moment, he lowers the binoculars, letting them hang from the strap on his neck. He looks back towards Eithne first, to see what she is looking at.      "Well. That is a pink haired babe. And those Pokemon are... Oddish. Grass/Poison Pokemon. They normally come out at night, and hide under the soil at day. So, it's a bit unusual. I'm guessing the soil just got too warm for them."      And then, he glances towards Genya, nodding. "Mmm, yep. Just take pictures. If you see any unusual behavior? I'll give you more money for those pics." He pauses a moment, looking over Genya. For some reason, the last name sounds familiar. But he just can't place it. He'll shrug it off for now. But, there is somethign else he is concerned about.      "...Isn't it warm in that? You should switch to something more practical." He reaches into his pcoket, pulling out a spare swimsuit. At least this one isn't a speedo. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      And then, Lute walks over to Rose, smiling. He doesn't notice, or ignores, the way she talks as if they're kids. The dress changing is somewhat of a surprise, but he's seen some shit in the Multiverse. He makes a little bit of a bow towards her, looking up at her. Smiling. "They are Pokemon, my dear. Creatures that live on this world, living alongside people. I'm a researcher of them. My name is Logan Trieste, codename Lute. It is a pleasure to meet you, miss....?"      Eithne should be glad she didn't come in a swimsuit, or she would be recieving similar treatment. 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     They mentioned weird creatures. They didn't mention sweltering businessmen or underdressed scientists or ~amazing beautiful giant ladies with awesome hair~. Eithne wonders if she's over her head, just a little bit, and then remembers that she just received a history lesson from an Actual Vampire yesterday, and that her life is awesome.     So she can absolutely handle weird scientists and the most adorable plants she's ever seen AND a giant lady that looks like she could cheerfully wreck everybody without getting her dress dirty. "I'm Enya," she nods, bouncing on her bare heels. "Nice to meet everyone!"     Inside, she is still a teenage girl, and thus internally squealing about cute flower monsters. "Thanks I'll take lots of pictures see you soon good luck!"     And she's off like a shot, feet kicking up sand as she races for the place where land meets beach (possibly shooting past Rose and Lute in her hurry). SHE'S GOING TO PET THEM ALL 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' Rose laughs at the sight of Eithne, one hand over her chest. "Oh she is delightful. Is she your daughter?" she asks. She looks over to the Pokemon. "A... What is '-type'? You say it like it's a taxonomical classification." she says, frowning slightly. She appears to either be immune to his flirting or jusst genuinely doesn't notice. 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Genya Arikado nods to the confirmation of what he's supposed to be doing here. Though the offer of a swimsuit gets a dubious look. "That would be more trouble than it's worth," he notes. Itd leave more of his skin exposed to the sun, and that would mean more danger of the sun overwhelming his resistance to it. "I do appreciate the gesture, however." He executes a polite, traditionally Japanese bow. Then Lute is over greeting the woman from the water, and Genya smirks. He probably knows where that's going, because he doesn't go over just yet. Then 'Enya' shoots past and he shakes his head. He starts to head towards the Pokemon on the beach at a more sedate pace, keeping the umbrella where it can block the sun. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute stares at Eithne as she runs past, blinking. He's surprised a bit, at /how/ excited she is. He smiles a little, sliding his hand into his labcoat pockets. The smirk remains at the side of his mouth, as he watches her running around.      The oddish, on the other hand? They're a fair bit more taken aback by this. A few of them even bury themselves in the sand, while the others hide in the leaves of the ones that hide in the sand. A couple sort of peek their eyes out from their hiding, looking up at the curious girl.      In comparison? Genya gets a lot less attention. The Pokemon just sort of ignore him cause he isn't making a big scene of things. The volleyball the electric mouse Pokemon are playing with accidentally flies into his direction, though.      Lute's attention is drawn back to Rose, though. He stares at her for a second, blankly. "...No. No no no. She's like. Pretty close to my age? I think? I mean. I'm only like, nineteen. And my wife and I haven't had a kid yet." He looks toards Enya. Lute bites his lip. Does he really present himself as seeming so old now...?      But, at least, something he can answer more easily. "Ahh! It's part of their classification. Pokemon are all part of the same sort of group, and a number of species of them can even mate with creatures in the same group as them. Like, say, the Monster group, the Human-like group, the dragon group. Individual species fit into these groups, and from there, the species also have elemental type. So you have fire, poison, grass, water. A bunch of other types. But types don't really affect classification, it's just something the individual species kind of... have." 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' "Oh goodness, you humans are getting married older and older all the time. I remember when you would be married at thirteen. Of course, that was back when you still lived in huts around castles, but still. So much older than it used to be. Oh how time does fly." she says. Noticing Eithne's difficulties, she walks over towards her. "Shhh. Sweetie. Here. These animals are a little shy. You have to be gentle. They think because you're yelling at them, you're angry or hungry and want to eat them." she says, sitting down. She reaches out to the plant-pokemon, brushing up against them with just a touch of her 'Green Thumb'. "Come here babies." she coos to them. "Come to mama Rose." 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     What the-- nooooo she scared them!! Eithne stumbles to a stop a few feet away from the little radish things, appropriately crestfallen. Rose, however, is here to save the day, and Eithne watches as the tallest woman she's ever seen reaches out with a gentle voice and... something familiar that resonates underneath her skin.     "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare yeh," she apologizes, and if she feels silly for talking to plants she doesn't look like it. "I got excited because I like flowers an' plants and I'd never seen any that could walk around by themselves before."     She goes to her knees in the sand, skirt floofing out around her legs, and closes her eyes. Her power's not as strong as Rose's, but it's the same thing - affinity, the scent of leaves. 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' That's actually what Genya was aiming for, not getting too much attention from the Pokemon. One can hardly observe normal behavior if one causes ABnormal behavior. So he's walking around the perimeter of the Pokemon's play area, taking snapshots of the Pokemon's behavior. A lot of it, particularly the volleyball match, seems almost human. But then, he's read some reports. these creatures are sapient, as far as he's aware. So that's not too big of a surprise. The volleyball flies in his direction, and Genya drops the umbrella to catch it. The umbrella falls from his shoulder and he winces as the sun hits him. It's not going to burn him, no-- even if he were not disguised, he has resistance to the sun. But that doesn't mean it's comfortable. Genya just offers a half-smile to the electric Pokemon playing volleyball, and rolls the ball back to the nearest of the group. Then he shifts the umbrella to his shoulder again. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      It's at this point that Lute realizes that Rose is, in fact, not human. He really should have figured that out from when she just sort of walked out of the water. But, he can be slow to react at times. He nods a little, watching towards Eithne and Genya. "Mm. Yeah. That was... Mm. Actually, not certain. Hundreds of years ago? Least a few hundred. Age of marriage has been rising. And for this day and age? I got married pretty young."      He won't ask her where she is from, at least not yet. Instead, he just sort of follows along with her as she goes to help Enya. The Oddish calm down significantly with Rose's presence, and Eithne calming down helps as well. He just watches, smiling. Sure, this is sort of interfering with the 'watch them and see what they do', but hey. He can't help but feel warmth as he sees some people fall in love with Pokemon.      The Oddish, now, get up and smile. Some of them even start popping out of the ground. They move to surround the two, looking up, and smiling a little. They still are nervous. Something minor will set them off again. But, things are going better now.      The Pokemon here aren't talking all that much. Usually, they don't start doing much talking until caught. The electric mice still smile back at Genya as the ball is rolled back to them. The Minun and Plusle wave to him happily, obviously showing their thanks. The Pikachu gives him a thumbs up.      And then suddenly a Wingull, the seagull Pokemon, lands on Genya's head.      Also notable? A few zubat are flying around. But so far they're ignoring Genya. 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' Rose laughs and gets out a comb. She picks up Eithne, if she doesn't resist, and starts combing her hair. She's got a tendency to do that with these small humans. Most of them protest, and she lets them go, but she can't help it. They're small and adorable, like puppies! Rose can't help but want to cuddle them and dress them up in silly (to her) outfits! "Here, I'll do your hair so that it looks like Oddish leaves." 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     Did a bird just land on that guy's head--?     The oddishes seem to like her better now that she's quieter and Rose is there to help, and Eithne can't help but feel happy. She wants to take them all home with her and ... she has no idea how to take care of pokemon, Eithne realizes. It's probably best that she doesn't try to convince any to come home with her.     Even if she really wants to see what they look like when they bloom!     And then she's picked up like an energetic puppy and settled into the lap of a giant lady. "?!" Is... is this how giant pink women interact with each other?? Is it a plant affinity thing?? What do?!     With no clear answer in her immediate grasp, Eithne just sits still. She may be kind of making a o.o face though. 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' For himself, Genya offers a smile back to the volleyball-playing Pokemon, and fades into the background again. Not literally, he can't really do that at the moment. But he can sort of... emit the magical suggestion to ignore him. It's relatively weak, but it helps with situations like this. He looks to Rose and Eithne, and smirks. He has to stifle a snicker. That's hilarious and cute on so many levels. And then suddenly Genya has a bird on his head. A twenty pound bird. This does of course, shift his stance more than a little, and pushes his ubrella out of the way. Which makes him wince again. "What...?" he mutters. He places the umbrella on the sand next to him and raises his freed hand to try and either pick up the bird from his head or shoo it away. And knowing they can understand, he ventures calmly, "Excuse me, that is my head." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute sort of just stays back, now. He's a little bewildered by Rose's behavior, but at the same time, he doesn't want to interfere. It's sort of adorable. For a moment he almost forgets that Eithne is not that much younger than him. A glance is given towards Genya. And then Lute puts a hand over his mouth and turns away, to hide his snickering.      The Wingull looks down at Genya, for a moment. At first, it just sort of sits there, shaking its head at him. And that is a lot of shaking, since its head is most of its body. It tries to grab a bit of Genya's hair, likely to make a nest. It tugs a bit, though weakly enough Genya could resist. And then, it flaps its wings and flies off.      The Oddish, meanwhile, sort of just circle around the two women. They start playing around the two, dancing a little and playing here and there. Smiles and happy looks are given up to the two. Lute finally decides to walk in, speaking softly.      "Oddish are cute, huh? ...You know. If any of you would like to? You /can/ catch Pokemon and train them. Most of them like having partners, and most everyone on this world has at least one partner Pokemon of some kind. You'd need to do some learning first, but..." 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' Where Rose is pulling hair care products from is anyones guess, but by the time she's done, Eithne's short, boyish hairdo is spiked up like an oddish's leaves. With dark green tips. "There, now don't you look precious." she says, setting Eithne amongst the oddish and risin. She goes back to join Lute, smiling. "They're so cute when they're playing with animals." 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     What. What. What. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.     Oh god.     She doesn't know what to do about people playing with her hair! She doesn't know what to do about large people holding her in their laps! Rose isn't even anything like Eithne's mother, aside from being absurdly larger than life.     help what has happened to her life     And then she's set gently down onto her feet. Eithne looks over her shoulder at Rose and Lute, one particularly springy 'leaf' bobbing with the motion. "Ah - thaaaanks?" what     At least the oddish are still there. Eithne fixes her attention on them, because she's the sort of person that finds it comforting to set her sights on a single goal and bullheadedly charge through all obstacles until she gets there. Maybe now she'll be accepted into their tiny culture. "Eh- do they really???" she gasps, looking back at Lute again. And then at the oddishes aga-- oh dear, that man in the business suit has been attacked by a bird --in, and settles back down onto the sand on her knees. "Is it true?" she asks the little plants. "I mean, if one of you would be willing to teach me how..." Yes, she's still talking to the oddishes. They're the least odd of anybody here!! 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Aggle aggle aggle... So much shaking! Genya most definitely feels it. Though the tug on his hair gets a quiet, muttered, "''Au...!''" Not, notably, the 'itai' that should have been uttered by the supposedly Japanese man. He swats gently at the Wingull as it flies away. His irritation makes his power spike juuuuust a bit, though he quickly quells it. Can't have that getting to levels that can be sensed. But he merely sends a rueful smirk at Lute. Yeah, he knows it was funny. With his head and hair freed from the marauding Wingull, Genya puts the umbrella back over his head again, leaning the haft on his shoulder to free his hands up for camera-work. And he starts to take pictures as Eithne, her hair done up by Rose Quartz to look like an Oddish's leaves, play with the Oddish. Blackmail material for later, perhaps? Not really. He's watching how the Pokemon react to outside stimuli. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Rose is a strange one. This much, Lute has figured out already. A hand lifts to his head, moving through his hair a little bit. He is, in fact, trying to pose a bit. Trying to show off his abs. But, he still at least talks to her pretty normally otherwise. "Mmm. Pokemon get along well with people, and it can be pretty cute when they play. I play with my own Pokemon on occasion, too, but mostly for their sake, at this point. Keep them healthy and active." Thoughts swirl through Lute's head. He's already getting that Rose is a different mentality than humans. He's met enough nonhumans to know. But, it's still odd, for a person who doesn't understand humans to admire them so much. Usually, the differences in thoughts lead to them hating humans and thinking them lesser...      But. He has to help Eithne deal with the fall out. Taking his hand off his hair, Lute holds a hand out towards her, motioning towards her new hairstyle. He's not going to laugh at her. Laughing at women? A bad idea. "Mm. You know? There are places here where that hairstyle would really fit in. Some trainers like to style themselves like their Pokemon. And, it's not a /terrible/ look, either."      The Oddish look up towards Eithne, some of them looking amongst eachother. One of them finally does speak to her. It looks up, repeating its name over and over. But, the translation of the Multiverse translates it easily enough.      "Oddish odd oddish." <You need one of those Pokeball things to catch us in. A lot of us want to stay in the wild. But... some of us wouldn't mind having a trainer. We live in this area. Come back, sometime, and you could try to catch us. ...If you want...?>      Lute gives a glance to Genya. "Mmm. That Wingull will be pretty happy to use some of your hair for its nest. Usually they lay their eggs in the spring, but this region doesn't really get that cold." And then, a pause. "...Also, be sure to get lots of good pictures." 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' Rose... Once again, doesn't seem to notice for a while... Then something clicks in her head. The last time she went to the Beach with the gems! All the posing and whistling, and how Greg told her about... "Oh goodness are you... Trying to flirt with me?" she asks, looking at Lute in shock. "Oh that's so sweet of you!" 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     Please god let nobody outside of this beach see her hair like this. Please please please. She's a good (mostly) Catholic (partially)! That's got to be worth something, right??     "Eh? R-really?!" Are there people who actually style their hair like this on purpose?! This world, Eithne decides, is messed up. But other stuff makes up for that, she has to admit, nodding down at the cluster of adorable radish monsters. "Okay. I will! I'll study really hard, an' when I know I can take care of an oddish properly I'll come back with a pokeball and ask again."     And because Eithne is a Scion of her word, she gently reaches out to pat the oddish on its leaves. It's a binding contract for the Tuatha. "I promise!" 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Genya Arikado keeps quiet until Lute mentions the Wingull that grabbed some of his hair. Then he raises one hand to the top of his head. "Drawback of having nice hair, I suppose," he notes. As to the regional weather, he nods. "Perpetual spring," he comments. A smirk at the mention of getting good pictures. "Not to worry. I have a keen enough eye." And amongst the pictures of the Pokemon volleyball-- and possibly a picture of that Wingull if he can locate it again-- he's definitely getting pictures of that interaction between 'Enya' and the Oddishes. It's worthy of study! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The oddish looks up at Eithne, nodding and smiling wide. It moves forward after being touched, to rub against Eithne's leg. "Oddish odd odd!" <Okay! Be sure to come back soon.> It keeps rubbing the leg a little more, cuddling up to her.      Lute chuckles a little at Eithne. "Well. You made a friend. I can train you in how to use Pokemon. There are other resources, too. But. You'll need to know the basic care, at least. Alright? There are licenses too, buuuut those are optional. So don't worry abotu them too much."      He then nods to Genya, "Mm, there /is/ a summer. It's warmer now than usual. But, this place is great if you love the sun." A glance at the umbrella. "...Meaning this is probably hell for you. Visit Sinnoh sometime. It's further up north, and a lot more mild, and sometimes pretty cold."      And then, Rose realizes. Lute looks at Rose, smiling. Well. She knows what flirting is, at least! A hand lifts up, to touch upon Rose's cheek. Sure, she called it 'sweet', and still he assumes she is acting more like he is a kid. But, it is worth a shot. "Mm. Some nonhumans don't even know what flirting is. But. If you'd like to go out sometime~...?"      Of course he mentioned earlier that /he has a wife/, so even for an alien that might cause some questions. 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' "Of course I would! You humans always have such amazing stories to tell and experiences to share!" she says, clapping her hands. "I would love to go out sometime. You should bring your wife too! We can share!" 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     By this point, Eithne has totally forgotten that she was ever given a camera. She made a tiny radish friend! She met a giant woman! She saw a man get attacked by a seagull! SHE'S SO HAPPY, YOU GUYS.     "I suppose it takes more than the right fertilizer to raise a plant that can talk," she nods. Like everything else in her life, she's going to study hard for it. "I'd be happy to learn as much as I can from yeh--"     "Didn't he say he had a wife?" she stage-whispers to Genya, brows furrowed. 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Genya Arikado nods to the mention of the summer. Well, that's at least a good thing, that it's not always this hot and sunny all the time. The mention of it being 'hell' gets a... well, a smirk. "I sunburn easily," he explains. Which is not a lie. And his skin is practically '''white''', so there's some visual proof for what he's saying. "I'll have a look around Sinnoh," he replies, with a nod. He really isn't paying much attention to the flirting. He's watching to make sure Lute doesn't do anything untoward at Rose, though. Thus as Eithne draws his attention with the stage-whsper, he looks to her, raising a brow. "There are many different cultures in the Multiverse," he answers quietly. "Perhaps this is all right for his." And then a bit of a smirk. "And also John 8:7. 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her'. I believe that's equal opportunity. It's not my place to tell him he's wrong." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Now, this is, in fact, a bit of a surprise. Not to the current personality of Lute, but to his other half. His split personality is simply /amazed/, and just watching this in wonder. Lute's base personality? Well. He just feels this is completely natural.      "Mmm~. Well. My wife, Harp, would be /very/ pleased to come along. We'll work out a time and place soon enough~."      And, unless stopped? Lute leans in, to give Rose a kiss on the cheek.      He turns towards the others, smiling. "Mm. I hope the two of you got some good pictures. Just... So /many/ Pokemon around here." 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' Rose Quartz leans casually away, so casually that maybe she didn't even do it on purpose? She does go over to Genya. "And how are you doing? I saw you were having some trouble with that seagull. Are you alright?" 

:'''{{#var:1016|Eithne Sullivan (1016)}} has posed:'''     She... she hadn't thought about that, actually. Eithne blinks in realization as Genya reminds her that not everybody lives by the same rules. "Huh... I wonder if it's a cultural thing, or a personal one?" she murmurs to herself. "Can a family unit be matriarchal as well? Do polygamous groups form a single family unit or..."     She might be at this for a while. 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Genya Arikado rather unnecessarily straightens his hair when Rose Quartz mentions the seagull. "I am. Thank you." He bows politely. "Occupational hazard when on the beach, I'm afraid." Eithne's question gets a raise of his brows, and he blinks. He's actually not sure if she's asked him or not. He's quiet for the time being about it, then, because he doesn't want to interrupt her thoughts. But he does think to ask Lute something. He turns to find one of those batlike Pokemon. Hopefully they're not flying so fast that he can't catch them on camera. "These bat Pokemon. What are they?" Of COURSE he has an interest! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The kiss is either rejected or ignored. Lute can't tell which. She's a bit weird, even for a nonhuman. He'll have to ask some questions about her later, figure out who or what she is, exactly. Maybe some of the other Confederates would have encountered her. Something to file away to think about later.      He doesn't realize what Eithne is thinking about, or he'd explain. He just looks as her as she is lost in thought, staring blankly. "...Are you okay? You seem... easily distracted."      And then, he turns to Genya, before looking up at the Zubats. "Ahh. Zubat. One of several types of Bat Pokemon. They live in caves and generally come out only at night. But, some of the caves in the area likely got too warm for them. They're blind, and use sonar to find their way around. Their next forms, Golbat and Crobat, grow eyes. They're poison /flying Pokemon. ...they are sort of... ridiculously common, especially in caves. But their higher forms? They can be ridiculously powerful." 

:'''{{#var:1017|Rose Quartz (1017)}} has posed:''' Rose Quartz smiles as she nods to Genya. In just a few moments, she passes out a number of small cards. "These are the gate coordinates to my world. It's called 'Beach City'. I hope you'll all come visit me soon." she says, tousseling Eithne's hair. "Be careful, okay?" she says. With that, she gathers herself. And jumps. To the untrained eye, she simply vanished. But if you look up, you can see a pink and white dot soaring overhead. Not so much flying as 'controlled falling'. 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Genya Arikado listens to Lute's explanation of the Zubat and their higher forms. "That's right, they... 'evolve', somehow," he notes. It's not the way he knows 'evolution', but he'd read a bit about it. "Changing forms to grow into a stronger one." And then Rose is passing out cards. Genya accepts one, and nods to her words. "Thank you for the invitation," he offers, with a polite bow. He does look up as she jumps, and watches the pink and white dot. Interesting. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute takes the card, blinking, nodding to Rose as she leaves. He waves as she takes off. That leap is... A lot more insane than much that he's seen. Honestly? He thinks she's flying.      He turns to Genya, nodding. "Yeah. If you're interested? You can look up training Pokemon, too. But, Zubat is usually not the best choice for a first Pokemon. Sure, it can /get/ strong, but.... It doesn't start off that way."      And then, Lute lifts up his hand. "Mind if I get the camera...? I think you're the only one who took any photos." 

:'''{{#var:919|Genya Arikado (919)}} has posed:''' Genya chuckles slightly as Lute mentions Zubat not being very strong. "I doubt I would be battling with one anyway," he remarks. "I spend much of my time behind a desk. There's rarely time for battling." The request for the camera gets a nod. "Of course," he replies, and hands the camera back to Lute. "I hope you can use some of them." He'd taken a number of shots of the Pokemon playing volleyball, a few of the Oddish (and very possibly of 'Enya' with her hair up and playing with the Oddish!), and some of the Zubat (presuming he could catch them on frame). The Wingull had likely escaped before he could get a picture of it. 
}}

4305/Space Station Game

2016-07-11T01:32:12Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/07/10 |Location=Yu-Gi-Oh Earth |Synopsis=Kaiba organizes a game called Space Station, loosely inspired by Werewolf and Space Station 13. Sever..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/07/10
|Location=Yu-Gi-Oh Earth
|Synopsis=Kaiba organizes a game called Space Station, loosely inspired by Werewolf and Space Station 13. Several Elites join the game, trying to discover who the traitor is.
|Cast of Characters=7, 20, 151, 623, 941, 989, 995, 1014
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      It has been a fair amount of time since Kaiba has ran a game for the Elites of the Multiverse. This one has had a simple open invite to much of the Multiverse's Elites, offering them a chance to take part in a game of wit and betrayal. All they need to do? Show up to Kaiba Land, and enter Kaiba's Holographic Game Field.      The field is already set up, and ready for the game to start. It is a high tech space station, with a fair amount of areas. Everyone starts near the shuttle dock. But, there are oh so many places within. Private rooms, research and medical areas, a mess hall and kitchen, a chapel, an area for officers, and various crew areas. There is even a spot for the ship's on board computer. Everything looks up and ready for the start of a game. At this point, everyone must simply gather around for it.      Notably, Kaiba himself is not in fact around. But, certainly. He is waiting and watching. Somewhere. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''     Well, party's over, the cops are here.     Wait, no, that's not right.     Marshal Mel Brock is here because, for once, she's got some time completely to herself, and no 'off-hours busywork' to fill it with, and nowhere to be that requires her to make a days-long trip in the Firestarter. So she's here off-duty. Rather than her usual Marshal jumpsuit, she's here in casual clothes; a black top that's not so much 'a tanktop' as 'a T-shirt with the sleeves removed', a pair of comfortable jeans, and a simple handbag to keep most of her important stuff. She's still wearing her limiter on her right jawline, as she always does, and over her shoulder she's carrying the strap for a large, sheathed sword.     If stopped about the weapon she's carrying, she'll indicate that this isn't an armament, but an attendee. Hrafn can vouch for herself if need be.     So here's Mel, wandering in at the shuttle dock, adjusting the strap for Hrafn's sheath slightly as she does. "Well hell, this almost feels like home. This could get pretty interesting, haven't played a game like this in a while." 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     When it comes down to manipulation and wit, there are really none more suited to the task than the eldar farseers, such as Ela'Ashbel. So, she shows up, ready to ply her skills at a little game and perhaps make some friends, because everyone needs friends. Her competative nature ensures that she will try her best to win despite what ever might come.     Dressed in her full regalia of wraithbone, she looks rather regal and potentially intimidating - but that is part of it! 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley has showed up to this game in her usual casual attire. She's not attended Kaiba's games, having been busy with entirely different matters, but felt like it would be worth experiencing something new.     She has her hands clasped before her and she's humming a gentle song to herself. Her eyes are half-lidded while she patiently waits for instructions in how this game is played. She looks to the others as they arrive or speak, but doesn't have anything to say herself just yet. Mel's remark about it seeming like home makes the feathers on her head puff up and her smile warm for a moment, apparently enjoying the idea of someone being comfortable here. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     It's games and not always fun when dealing with Kaiba's games, but eh... why not? With little else to do Toph Beifong decided that she might as well accept the invitation that was sent out, and so she's here. Like Mel the blind teenager is also clad in civilian clothing. Shorts and an oversized t-shirt, metal bangles around her wrists, and she's got her satchel with her just in case she needs some various items. Who knows?     Kaiba Land seems like a weird place either way, and Toph looks curious as she wanders around, though she isn't too thrilled about the game field itself. Oh well, at least it's metal, so it's not like she's walking into this completely blind. The others are greeted with a nod and a handwave. "So... what kinda game do you think this is going to be? Like the Russian Roulette game with food?" she asks. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' "Sure is an interesting place out here, eh? Doesn't look anything like home to me, but this place sure is interesting." Raquna whistles softly as she checks out the scenery around the main room, peering at various screens and even pausing to read whatever's showing up on them without touching anything. The adventurer looks more like a tourist than a Protector today, donning a cap and blue t-shirt combo adorned with (what else) Kaiba Land's logos along with denim short shorts and...      ... No weapons? No shields? She's definitely not here for work today. "Russian Roulette? If that involves food or booze, I'm game~" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa was happy to get out, Kaiba was a very interesting host for games while he was very much in it to win he always pulled out all the stops. She was more than willing to wait fdor the game to start it was quite curious to see it as everything was laid out and she had to wonder, was this also a test of a layout for an actual space station? She'd not put it past Kiba at all to mix business with his gaming, given the money he had throw about. Also it was likely a test for something new at Kaiba land as well but she had no issue with it. She was chipper and ready for it as she look in everyone pausing at everyone and how they are dresse Ela'ashbel gets a heck of a look from Kotone who wasn't expecting something like that. She does however look to see Ainsley is here which is quite welcome and Toph who she knows mostly by reputation. Everyone else? Is a bit of an unknown to the young cyborg. 

:'''{{#var:1014|Heaven's Armory (1014)}} has posed:'''     Hravn is here, though not materialized in humanoid form. She's just hanging on Mel's back, in her sheath, that last being a fact that is not likely to change unless this outing goes horribly, horribly wrong. The former is a point that will probably change once she needs to do something other than observe. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      A monitor appears. Upon it? Kaiba's face. He smiles, looking down at the group. It is, quite certainly, a two way monitor. He speaks, a smug look on his face. At the least? He looks like he is /very/ much ready, and very entertained.      "Mmm. Good evening. Welcome to Kaiba Corp's newest game: Space Station. The rules are simple. Each one of you will take on a role upon the space station. Each one of you will act out said role. Holograms will dress you for your role, as well. And, once everyone introduces themselves and their role? Head to your area of the space station. At that point? The traitor will strike."      "Once per round, the Traitor will remove one of you from the game. Holograms will simulate the results. No matter how real it looks? Don't worry. You're all safe. Once the traitor has removed someone from the game? The group of you, as a whole, will have a brief discussion, followed by a silent vote. Simply subvocalizing your vote will be enough. Once half the crew have decided who to accuse? The execution will take place. Pick the right person, and you win. Pick the wrong person? And the traitor strikes again."      And, a small smile. "And... There might just be more than one traitor. Good luck."      The monitor stops displaying Kaiba's face. Instead? It displays the following list, showing everyone's basic roles. Notably, Toph's role is read aloud, for her. Chaplain - Toph - The Chaplain is in charge of religious services upon the space station, and providing spiritual guidance. The Chaplain is also responsible for funerals, being the only crew member aboard the ship who has the keys for the coffins, and the device to eject coffins into space. Chef - Mel Brock - The ship's chef, in charge of ensuring the crew remains well fed. Their home is the kitchen, and they have access to all of the supplies that come with it. Clown - Raquna - The ship's entertainment. They have no real place on the ship, instead just wandering and making sure everyone is happy and laughing. Computer - Ela'Ashbel - The station's on board computer. Though it has eyes throughout the ship, it suffers from blind spots on occasion. It can not directly interact with others, lacking its own body, but can order out robots to take care of things for it. The person playing the computer sits isolated in the computer's room, watching various monitors put up for them. Captain - Ainsley - The captain of the space station. Usually remains in their office, but is often tasked with walking around and ensuring that everyone stays in line. Medical - Kotone - The head of the medical staff, meant to make sure everyone on the crew stays healthy. Also responsible for pronouncing crew members dead.      And, once everyone has had enough chance to read the text? The holograms activate costumes for everyone. Their normal clothes are still 'on', the hologram simply uses trickery to make them seem invisible, and to dress the group in their appropriate costumes. The costumes themselves feel real too, though. Kaiba's holograms truly are astounding, and seem so real. 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     Ela'Ashbel is on the computers. "Interesting..." She murmurs. The alterration to her outfit is interesting, too. She had not been expecting that, especially something that felt so real. This Kaiba fellow really had something going on here. So, she departs towards her station. No sense waiting around. With the physical eyes of the computer and her psyker witchcraft, she'd have no trouble keeping an eye on everyone. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''     "It's an oldschool game of Mafia, sounds like," Mel replies to Toph, hands in her pockets. She looks up to the ceiling to listen with interest, not really paying the monitor itself any mind; the words are what's important, and it turns out she's the cook. "Well, no promises to five-star cuisine, but I'll keep you all fed, I guess. Unless I'm the traitor, in which case I'll keep you all dead," she adds with a light smirk. The psychic reaches up and lightly adjusts her chef's apron a bit, before heading for the kitchen. "Hrafn, keep your eyes open for this. The game itself is just about as basic of social interaction and interplay as it gets, nevermind all the pretty holographic trappings. Good way to see how people out here in the Multiverse interact."     A pause, and then she yells over her shoulder, "Dinner's at six, ya ingrates! You're not there, you're not eatin'." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     While Toph can't see the monitor, she hears Kaiba's voice easily enough, tilting her head a bit. Space Station? The explanation sounds kinda.... familiar? Isn't this like the game she played at Njorun with the others way back? The blind girl doesn't look too worried, though she does narrow her eyes. "The Chaplain...?" she asks, looking a bit incredulous. Because she is certainly very very religious as everybody knows. So religious that she bends crosses in front of highly devoted rats. But whatever, she can go with this.     So Toph adapts a snooty expression while she clutches her hands in front of her, as in prayer. And she nods at Mel. "Sure sounds like it... played that game once, very fun. Except everybody seemed to suspect ME of being the werewolf all the time," she snickers. "And well, I'll get preachy enough for you if that's what you want!" With that she heads towards the chapel. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Oddly enough, Ainsley is given the role of Captain in this game. Her outfit actually turns out to be roughly similar to her ordinary one, a black jumpsuit of some variety with a wide-brimmed red hat, her jumpsuit decorated with various medals. It's a little thick, like she's got armor on, but a captain has to be prepared after all.     Once she gets acquainted with the space station with some walking, her hands clasped in front of her the whole time, she finds her office and takes a moment to announce to the others using an intercom likely found in her office (or with her magic, for the effect):     "Hello, this is Captain Ainsley. I don't expect everyone to be polite, but I do expect everyone to do their jobs. Captain out." 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' "That sounds easy enough. So we don't know who the traitor is, but..." Raquna trails off as she makes her way back to the monitor, scanning the list of names and roles to spot hers. Her carefree grin grows just a little wider when she finds her name, then waits for the holograms to work their magic. She takes a moment to look over her goofy novelty slippers, the poofy pants, the silly hat...      "Not what I was expecting, but... I can work with this~" She reaches into her actual-pockets and digs out a pair of castanets, slipping the small percussion instruments over her palms. She gives them a few quick test clacks before saluting the rest of the group, looking each person over to try and remember their appearances.      "Never heard of this mafia thing, but I'll make sure everyone's having a good time, yah. Raquna Sheldon. Pleased to meet you all~!" Another laugh, several more clacks, a twirl and bow later, and the redhead starts to simply start wandering the ship! It's as good of an opportunity as any other to learn the layout of the place since she doesn't have a place to claim herself, anyway. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa ponders the use of holograms for clothing given just how far this world has /pushed/ the tech already? She has to wonder where it will end up. However she's here to play a game aas sh listens and she gets into costume easy enough. "Greetings I'm the chief medical officer Kotone Yamakawa." 

:'''{{#var:1014|Heaven's Armory (1014)}} has posed:'''     Hravn doesn't visibly move or audibly talk, but she's still doing as Mel asked. Just keeping an eye out, particularly behind the cook. Why is a cook carrying a great, big, curved sword? This would be a good question for most station crews, and the answer is probably not 'chopping vegetables.' 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Some brief time is given for everyone to get to their stations. But, then, suddenly? The lights go out. Kaiba's voice speaks up. "You all went through the day, performing your jobs as admirably as you can. But... During the night? Tragedy strikes, in the Medbay. You have all been called to visit it as a matter of standard business. It's time for most of you to have a bit of a check up. But... Upon arriving...? Or for the computer, upon her looking at the monitor? Well. I'll let you see for yourselves."      The lights come on slowly, to simulate morning. There is silence, as everyone makes the trip. The medbay? Well. It looks much the same as normal. At first. The lights are dimmer than on the rest of the ship. There is a switch near the door into the medbay, to turn them up more. It looks like business as usual. Sitting there, at the front desk, is the chief of medical, Kotone. But. She is slumped over, laying back in her chair. Arms dangling to the side. Marks are around her throat. Red in color. The color from the rest of her body? It has been drained, competely. Kotone is no longer alive.      Elsewhere, though? Kotone has been removed from the game. The Holograms have brought her to a waiting room of sorts. A monitor is on the wall, allowing her to watch the action. Several chairs are lined up, as are a number of snacks. And, Mokuba is within the room as well, sitting near a table.      "Yo! Enjoy yourself while the others get themselves killed, okay?" 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''     When Mel enters the medbay the next 'morning', she's putting on a bleary face, as if having just been woken up. Is she... actually playing her role here? She might be. Especially given that, once they reach the medbay and there's nothing but a corpse to be found, she stops dead, goes wide-eyed for a few seconds, and then mumbles, "Well, that's... that's uh... that's one less mouth to feed, right...? Aheheh..." Yep. She is, in fact, acting. Or roleplaying. Same thing. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Sure, it's just a simulation rather than someone actually getting killed, but still. It's a good thing Raquna's seen plenty of bodies in her line of work, though, or she'd be visibly freaked out over this! "Whoa. That's pretty rough right there, eh? At least nobody can blame her for napping on the job~"      She clacks to punctuate that last part. Raquna's still got a job to do, after all, and she's a professional! "... So do we have any leads on this? I didn't see a thing last night!" Clack clack, and then a twirl in those big floppy clown shoes and a honk of that big red clown nose. 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     Ela'Ashbel watches from the monitors. Surprised she did not notice that someone had snuck in and offed some of the competition, she resolves to keep a better eye out - especially for herself. "How intriguing..." She states over the communication systems. "This is your computer expert, Ela'Ashbel, I can assure you, I saw nothing. Rather strange..." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     When they're called to the medbay, Toph rushes along with the rest, not sure what the others can see. But... her eyes widen slightly when she realises there is a still body in the chair there, quiet at first. Raquna is right in her bizarre humour though, and Toph nods slightly, her expression tense. "Well, obviously I didn't see anything either," she responds. Well, at least more of them are up for some brief jokes. It's just a game after all.     But who did this? That's the real question. Somehow she doubts she will be able to tell if people are lying in this game, as it was the same in the other game, rigged to nobody would have an unfair advantage.     "So... who did it?"     It doesn't hurt to ask, at least. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' Mel Brock folds her arms over her chest. "Awful suspicious, the computer not seeing anything." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Sighing, Toph shrugs. "The last time I played this game it was set up this way too... although it was slightly different." 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' "Whoa... Do you think anyone's really gonna fess up that easily?" Another nose honk, and Raquna holds her hands up. "I know for sure it wasn't me. My hands are full!" Clack clack. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' Mel Brock chuckles. "Of course you're gonna say you're innocent. So am I. So is everyone." She uncrosses her arms, and points at a camera. "We gotta start with what we know. And what we know is, the computer shoulda seen something, yeah? Which means either someone hacked it, or it's crooked to start with." 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "I have blindspots. And the power went out." Ela'Ashbel reminds everyone. "So, its only natural I might miss something." 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' Mel Brock arches an eyebrow. "Entirely too natural, I'd say. Makes a perfect alibi. I think the computer did it. Mostly because we don't have anything else to go on." 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "That's horrible logic!" The intercom protests. "If it seems too easy, it probably is. The person was crafty enough to evade my vision and kill one of us without anyone noticing. Think about that for a moment." Ela'Ashbel seems a bit aggitated that they weren't thinking it through well enough. "In all likelihood, it was one of you." 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Raquna hums softly and takes a seat on the table directly, taking the opportunity to do REVERSE BRIDEGS on the surface of the table with just her head and feet making contact. She's just showing off now, isn't she?      "But if it was the computer... Wouldn't it be easier if she didn't record it at all?" Clack clack. "Nah, it'd have to be someone strong. Choking people is harder than it looks, eh?" 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' "It's much easier to believe the computer was tampered with, I say," Mel replies, crossing her arms. "Or if it tampered with itself. Easy for the recordings of a work robot strangling someone to death to just disappear." 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "You know, if I am reading correctly, my computer states here that Mel there is a law enforcement officer of some sort. She'd know how to stage a scene!" Ela'Ashbel protests, sticking her vote on Mel. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' "What're you talking about? I'm just the station's chef," Mel replies blandly. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is going about her bsuiness as it's morning things are quuiet and she's goinv ove the medicl work in the bay,m honestly? Kaiba didn't even skimp out on the small details like the paper work actually not being a pile of Rossums. It doesn't however last too long she'd been working late? Kotone meets her end to whom hever the traitor is and she's choked to death and she's there for a bit but not too long. She looks to the waiting room she's in and she sees the nack which she gets up to go get. "Mokuma, it's been a while. Have you been doing all right and this should be interesting to see how this plays out." 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:''' "But were you always a chef?" The intercom adds in questioningly." 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' "Far as I know," Mel replies with a shrug. "I don't have a backstory." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "They are most likely not a very moral person," Toph huffs in displeasure where she stands. "Just how can we know if this is scened anyway?" Suspicion is part of the game, so of course people will try to trick them. And somebody is being awfully quiet... 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley speaks up after staring at the body with a mild frown on her face. She doesn't have much reasoning to share with the others, because she just lacks any evidence to make a judgment here. She listens to the others keenly, one of her hands resting on the brim of her fancy hat.     "Wouldn't you think... that if someone were to murder another member of the crew, they would go to the trouble of making sure it wouldn't be seen? The computer is the first the mind jumps to, but the first person to suggest it was the computer was Mel," she says, lazily gesturing toward them. "I believe it was them, if it was anyone. They were the first to think of a way to shunt blame. That feels more suspicious than the computer not seeing anything. None of us saw anything, either." 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Clack clack, then a whistle! "Oh? A computer ready to wreak vengeance on humanity, a chef looking for the most dangerous meal, a chaplain seeking to bring everyone closer to god with her own hands, a..."      Raquna pauses. "... Oh! A captain with secrets to hide, and a clown playing everyone for the fool. Oh, this is getting juicy already~!" Is Raquna still playing the part, or is she actually starting to enjoy this in a weirdly morbid sort of way?      Clack clack. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' "No, I'll tell you what I'm doing, I'm painting a great big target on my back," Mel replies to Ainsley. "Trying to get people talking and thinking. If I wanted to be a pain, I'd point to the person who just leapt on a chance to toss me into the fire. Buuut..." The chef swings her hand around, and points at Toph. "They're not nearly as suspicious as the person that keeps quiet and tries not to be noticed. Just going with the flow, hoping nobody'll suspect you, huh?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley shrugs at Mel, and reminds, "I wasn't the first to divert attention to you," with a helpless hands-at-her-sides posture. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The votes have been made in secret. A monitor displays who has voted for who. And, now, as it stands? 3 votes for Mel. 2 for Toph. Kaiba's voice speaks up, yet again.      "And, with this? The decision has been made. The group has decided on Mel. It falls to the captain of the ship to execute the one the crew has judged as traitor."      Suddenly? A laser pistol is in a holster, and added to Ainsley's outfit.      "Of course, someone else can fire the shot, if you wish. Or, you could simply launch the accused into space." 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "Well, I think it was the right decision." Ela'Ashbel states over the intercoms. "We'll find out if we were correct or not." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "People ought to think about this lest they doom an innocent person and make it harder for the killer," Toph says. "Rash voting will lead to one more person dead, and the killer one step closer into finishing us all off. Wait and listen." That's the best way to solve most things in life, the typical earthbender way. Though she turns her attention slightly to Ainsley. "You seem awfully suspicious yourself though..."     And then it's decided, and Toph swallows slightly. "Launched into space...? Okay, that's one way I don't want to go!" 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' The execution order actually catches Raquna off guard, and she almost slides right off the table! "Whoa... Wait, it has to be direct like that? Even if it's a game, that's pretty harsh, eh?"      Rubbing her butt before standing back up, the Clown Guard turns to Ainsley with a sympathetic sigh. "Well... At least there'll be a trip of a lifetime if we do this 'space launching' thing."      A long pause, and then she remembers to honk her nose! Clowns are awful. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley pulls the laser gun from its holster with a calm motion and aims it at Mel calmly. She doesn't seem shocked in the slightest and her life experiences and her very nature make it difficult to be bothered by such a scenario. She glances aside at Toph and then to Raquna, and decides:     "Space her."     She holsters the laser pistol after that. 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "Its pertinent to keep in mind, if you sentance someone, they must die." Ela'Ashbel states over the comms. "Otherwise our debate means nothing." 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' "Okay, I take it back, it was definitely the computer," Mel says, raising her hands into the air. "When one of you turns up dead tomorrow, take a magnet to the backups." She seems resigned to her fate. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     There is a solemn look on Toph's face when Ainsley gives the order, and she closes her eyes, giving a brief nod, though she doesn't look happy about it. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Another sigh, and Raquna squeaky-walks over to Mel before giving her a light pat on the shoulder and leaning in close. "Ah, don't worry. We'll be ge-"      Wait. There's a kid here, isn't there? She's not quite sure how old Toph is, but... Better safe than sorry. "... We'll make it quick. But hey, tell us how the view is once we're all done here~"      Clack clack. The clown's diligent about her work, at least! 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "The view from vacuum is rather intriguing, to say the least." Ela'Ashbel states. "Its, however, not very pleasant." 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' Mel turns her head to stare at Raquna for several seconds. "I change my mind. Suspect the clown if one of you dies. The clown is creepy." Her hands are still in the air. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Raquna flinches and throws her hands back in exaggerated surprise! "Wha... M-me?! But I couldn't hurt any of you cuties! Everyone's just too... Cute!"      Way to make yourself look less creepy. At least it's all an act, right? RIGHT? 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Launched into space. A terrible fate. Mel is put into a coffin, and shot into space. There is a brief time where she is stuck in a coffin, simulating what it'd be like to put into such a thing. It's not for long, though. She is soon teleported to the holding room. From there, she can continue to watch the events and eat snacks.      Some time is given for each person to return back to their rooms. After all, it's time for the next night. Time to see if someone managed to survive. The lights dim as before. And, then they turn back on. Morning has come again. It's time for everyone to search the Space Station, and ensure nothing happened.      Sadly for the group? Something /does/ happen. Another person has died. Right in the middle of the station, at a central hallway.      Ainsley lays on the ground, face flat upon it. Her skull is bashed in. Thankfully, it spares the gore from such. But, the murder weapon, the implement by which she was struck? It still rests on her head. A banjo, broken from multiple repeated impacts on Ainsley's head. She, too, gets to join the others in the waiting room. This leaves Ela, Raquna, and Toph, still alive. The station? Now without its captain. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''     Having been 'killed', Mel finally steps into the waiting room with Kotone, and gives both her and Mokuba a nod. "Yo." She reaches back and lightly taps the sword at her back. "People always look at the loudest person in this game, and it gets them in trouble every time. I might've done that on purpose. Just maybe. They'll be more careful now." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     As the person in charge of the coffins, Toph isn't happy at all about putting Mel in one of them.     And morning greets them with another death. Ainsley, horribly murdered and maimed by music. Indeed they often go for the loudest person in such games, and well... they chose poorly. They will have to choose better next time. Because it will be the last.     Without turning towards the others, Toph adapts a serious tone. "Perhaps we shouldn't trust the clown." 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Simulated sleep! Or pretending liek she slept. Raquna's not sure what the case is out here, but at least she doesn't feel tired. Invigorated, even! At least until she sees A NEW BODY.      "... Oh, that's just cruel. Who'd waste a perfectly good instrument?" Raquna clicks her tongue in time with the castanet clacking. She pauses for a moment, then grimaces. "... But really, how are we supposed to figure this one out with just the three of us?" 

:'''{{#var:1014|Heaven's Armory (1014)}} has posed:'''     Hravn chooses this moment to reveal her 'human' body, the woman in yellow falling into a chair next to Mel. "Aha, I see. This is an interesting game. There's so little to go on, so one leaps to conclusions over the smallest thing. Something like that?" She looks through the snacks before taking up some potato chips. Munch. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''     "Pretty much," Mel replies, lacing her hands over her abdomen and reclining a bit. "But there's also mind games going on. You watch how people act. See if you can figure out a pattern under all the baseless accusations." After that, she falls silent, watching the show. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is also in the waiting room, since she was killed in the game. She shrugs at Mel and smiles toward the other deceased players. "That was fun," she says, "Brief, but I enjoy the dramatic flair this has." She then adds, as a side note, "It was very hard to avoid cheating during this, I could very well have read people using my magic." 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     The intercom beeps. "So, which one of you folks did it this time? Hm? The kid? The clown?" She ponders that over for a moment. "I... I must say, kid. You strike me as a little too guilty. Maybe I should have picked you before. Sorry." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     At that Toph lets out a snort. "Who are you calling a kid? I'm fifteen years old," she points. See? Totally not a kid. "And you seem awfully suspicious yourself, the chef was right." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa looks over to Mel and grins for a moment moving to offer her chips for a moment. "The real assaisn would be quiet about it helpful in 'looking into it. Then again I'm just an rank amature but I know yelling and wearing a bright jumpsuit isn't the way to do it. So how does it feel being dead Mel?" 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''     "Remarkably comfortable," Mel replies to Kotone, with a grin and a thumbs-up. 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "The chef was incorrect. However, if we select incorrectly now, we all perish, save the killer. One vote, two deaths. Are you confident enough to select me? Or are you going to select the clown." The intercom crackles a bit as the computer lady laughs. "But in all seriousness, I can't even leave this room." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Mokuba is in the waiting room with the others, mostly supervising. He sits back in his chair. Notably, Mokuba's chair is higher than the others. Mostly to make the grade schooler a biiiit taller. Also, his chair is more of a throne.      "This game has been great so far! And just wait. The winner is /sure/ to love the prize!"      And, a glance to Mel. "....Hehe. We didn't actually program it to let you 'Experience Death'. This time~. So of course it's gonna feel pretty comfortable!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "It takes guts..." Toph agrees firmly, crossing her arms across her chest. At least she looks as confident as always, or at least she tries to. "You might not be able to leave your room, but maybe there are other ways you could have done them in," she states to Ela. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Honk. Raquna's having way too much fun with that squeaky nose. "Maybe you don't need to leave the room. Maybe that's just what you want us to think. But... What if you had your drone do it the whole time?" She peers at the intercom skeptically, pauses, then turns to Toph. "Perhaps it's your way of getting us closer to your god as soon as possible. With so much in your history books and fancy texts, you just had to keep the humans from getting too ahead of themselves!" Raquna levels an accusing look at Toph, then throws her hands up dramatically and...      Clack clack. It's not complete without the clacks! 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "Garroting someone is a very personal method of elimination." Ela'Ashbel states. "More likely someone out there managed it than me." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "Hey!" Getting people closer to god? "Sure, I might be the type to force people, but surely I could do better to convince you to get close to him! Like praying for him to save us from the killer or something..."     The clacking of the castanets makes the blind girl blink twice... Then she shakes her head, letting it go. "I'm certain it was Ela. She claims she had no way to commit the murders, and that sounds fishy in my book. It's almost too perfect to be true." 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:''' Watching the proceedings, Mel leans over and murmurs something to Hrafn, pointing at the screen. 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "Well, if you think it was me, go ahead and come and get me. You sign your own death with that." The intercom states. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Raquna hops into a chair and kicks her feet up onto the table, lounging back and trying to peer underneath the table. The clown has to keep up appearances! "The chaplain does raise a pretty good point... But it does all seem a little too easy." The redhead slumps a bit, then strokes her chin. "But if you want us to think it's too easy, then it's... No. No. I'm not falling for that."      That'd just cause so many headaches. "I think... Yanno what? Let's see who fortune smiles on today!" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The monitor with the votes shows the final results. Two for Ela'Ashbel. One for Toph. Kaiba speaks over the monitor.      "The majority of the human crew members remaining have made a unanimous decision: The Station's Computer has gone haywire. With a unanimous vote, the computer has lost most of the power it had to control the station. Only one thing remains: To remove the intelligence chips for the computer, disabling it."      A door opens nearby. Within? A red lit room. A large number of computer chips are installed in the walls and floors, in various slots. All that remains? To remove each of the chips, and disable the computer. 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     "Well, it seems you have selected me. Rather poor decision, I might add." The computer states. "Ah well, come get me then. I cannot stop you, after all. I have no arms." 

:'''{{#var:1014|Heaven's Armory (1014)}} has posed:'''     Hravn conspiratorially whispers in conference with Mel while watching the screen. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Another decision, and Toph turns her head a bit once the computer goes haywire. There's some nervousness there, and Toph nods at Raquna. "Let's go." They surely got the killer this time...! And by removing the intelligence chip, it will all be over.     Carefully Toph ventures into the room, walking over to the walls before she quickly begins removing the chips. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "Good to hearthen, chip?" She offers MEl a bag of lays. When Ainsley arrive she grins a little bit at her and moves to offer the bag of chip to Ainsley once Mel is done with any she might want. "Well you still managed not to right and here chips? The level Kiba corp has taken holograms is impressive and the fact he's kept it to the civilian sector says a lot about him honestly." Kiba could be a jerk sure, but Kotone could think of ways this could be used for military ends and it doesn't seem to be done so.So that does say something to her. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Raquna clacks her castanets with POWERFUL DETERMINATION. "We'll find out soon enough. The climax of this play is coming, so we can only go forward! Without a computer running this whole thing."      She's furrowing her brow even as she follows Toph into the room to start removing chips. It's probably a good thing this isn't happening for real, or she'd be regretting her choice already! 

:'''{{#var:995|Ela'Ashbel (995)}} has posed:'''     Well, there's not much left of the computer. Its gone. Kaput. Done. Finished. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Another nod leaves Toph, and she pulls out one of the chips... and then with a sigh, she pulls the last one needed out. There.     With that she grins. "We did it!" she says, one hand on her hip, and she tosses the chips in her hand up and down. All before she throws twitches her fingers... and then lets out a cackling laugh, throwing her arms aside as her hologram shape begins changing... into a twisted monster. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Raquna putson the straightest face she can as Toph's hologram changes and shifts, growing more monstrous and significantly less like a cute teenager!      "... Looks like I miscalculated. At least we had a good show, eh?"      TWO FINAL CLACKS. 

:'''{{#var:1014|Heaven's Armory (1014)}} has posed:'''     Hravn claps her hands together twice, showing appreciation for the show. "So it was the chaplain, after all. Knowing the votes is quite an advantage, though someone could play some tricks based on them, as well. You wouldn't expect someone to vote for one other than the one they'd openly accused, for instance." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Kaiba appears on the monitors, smirking. He doesn't block the view of the others, seeing the space station from the 'losers' room. He'll let them get a good view of Toph as a monster for some time.      "I must admit. You all did well. You put logic forth. But... The wrong conclusion was still drawn. Miss Beifong managed to outwit all of you. Stark is training her well, isn't he...?"      Some time is given for Toph to go in for the kill on Raquna. It's just holograms, after all. No one will feel pain. Of course, he /could/ turn the pain on. But. He's not feeling that malicious today. But, after a bit, Kaiba continues to talk.      "Of course. The winner shall be granted a prize. Toph Beifong. You shall be given a rare Duel Monsters card. Parasite Paracide. In addition, you will be given a card sleeve with brail on it, to help you play it more effectively. The card will be waiting for you outside the simulation." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "That was a good deal of fun. Though I think the larger the group the more interesing the games dymanics would get still it was quite intering and humm not bad from what I know of duel monsters. I'd certainly make use of it again, the next time I come to Kaiba land if it's up for public use again. It was a pretty smart move to kill me first, I could have caused her a lot of trouble." 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Man, there better not be any pain! If there were, then there's no way Toph would agree to play this. It's rather quick with how she ends it all, though with some flair. She's not about to gloat!     The prize she's given though makes the blind girl arch an eyebrow. "What? What do I want a card for?" she inquires, then shrugs. "Well, good game! Lots of you were suspecting me, it's not like I blame you..." All in all she seems to be in a good mood. "Ice cream's on me, order whatever you like guys!" Seriously, Kaiba thinks Tony has been training her? She was this devious to begin with, which is why she managed to get along so well with the person who's now her adoptive father. 

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''     Clapclapclapclap. Mel is on her feet. "Hey hey, pretty nice job. Keeping people dancing like that's not easy." She turns to Ainsley and adds, "I honestly thought it was gonna be you until you turned up dead too." Hrafn interacting and engaging with the game, even as a spectator, seems to bring another little smile to the psychic's face, too. 

:'''{{#var:989|Raquna Sheldon (989)}} has posed:''' Raquna's playing along quite well, flailing dramatically and clutching at her chest and making sure to land on that big red nose. She needs to make sure it feels like a fun show rather than something weird and frightening, after all!      Once everything's back to (relative) normalcy, the redhead is still looking about as amused as ever. "Aah... That was a fun game. Clever girl, Miss Beifong~" She winks at Toph before scooting over to Ela to give her a light clap on the back. "I should've stuck with my gut instinct from the start. Still, we got a really interesting mix for this game, eh?" Another clap, and she looks towards Mel, Ainsley, and Kotone at the mention of ice cream.      "... You think they've got maple?" 
}}

4141/Lute and Medusa Talk About Sanary

2016-05-23T05:25:59Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/23 |Location=Pokemon World |Synopsis=Lute and Medusa talk about Sanary becoming Drowned. |Cast of Characters=22, 188 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/23
|Location=Pokemon World
|Synopsis=Lute and Medusa talk about Sanary becoming Drowned.
|Cast of Characters=22, 188
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      It's a beautiful sunny day in the Orre region, the bright hot sun shining down on this desert region. But, the area around Lute's house isn't unpleasant, due to some mist in the air. It's one of the nice things about having a home close to the aqueduct wall of the place.      Lute himself is in his front yard at the moment, a yard mostly filled with pebbles and desert plants. Such is how one has to live, in a desert. Sure, he /could/ get enough water for grass. But, ehh. He just hasn't gotten around to it yet.      Either way, the yard is still spacious enough that he can play with his pets. He throws a frisbee across the yard. The frisbee is then caught by his Arcanine.      Who promptly accidentally melts it with his breath.      Lute pauses. "...Oh right, that's why we stopped playing fetch." 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     From up above, a silhouette becomes visible against the sun, a sharp contour that comes closer and closer. It's clear that whoever it is, they're not trying to hide their approach. And when a certain familiar witch gets close enough to be recognized, it should be easy to tell why. Medusa Gorgon is pretty certain that she has little to fear from the Pokemon trainer.     A light chuckle leaves her as she witnesses the short-lived attempt at playing fetch, and the witch slips off of her broom once it's only a few feet above the ground. "At least your Pokemon is enthusiastic, Lute dear~" she greets him, picking up the broom as she steps towards the younger man. Seems she's only slipped her usual snakeskin coat over the black dress she usually wears in medical. And strangely enough she doesn't seem to be sweating either. Just what is this woman made of?     Unless Lute stops her, Medusa will walk right up to him, wrap her arms around him and offer him a peck on the cheek. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute covers his eyes a little to look up towards the approaching shadow. A smile, as he sees who it is. His entire body relaxes just a little bit more, taking on a sort of comfortable slouch. Fingers slide into the pockets of his labcoat a little, smirking just slightly.      "Mmm. Maybe I'll just have to find something fireproof to play with him."      He wraps his arms around Medusa as well, closing his eyes as she kisses him on the cheek. He holds her tight, squeezing with his hands a bit, moving to kiss her back. But, on the lips. He breaks the kiss, smiling, speaking again.      "So. What brings you here? Just miss me?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     "I'd recommend staying away from asbestos in that case," Medusa teases him back, letting Lute pull her as close as he wishes to, and when he leans in to kiss her on the lips, she complies and closes her eyes, returning the kiss in kind until he pulls back.     While she is still smiling, there's something there in her eyes when Lute poses his question. "Ah, I'm sad to say that isn't the only reason I'm here... there is important business to discuss regarding Sanary's current state." It might be reassuring that Medusa doesn't appear to be upset. But she does look determined, and... a tad annoyed despite the smile crossing her lips. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      There is a blink from Lute. Sanary's current state? He pauses a bit, looking at her. It's actually a bit more of a worried look, than anything. Somewhat nervous. He looks away a little, considering. It's been... a while since he has been in touch with anyone. He's made comments here and there, checked in, but...      "...What happened to Sanary? I've... been out of the loop. I've been preoccupied with research. Massive migrations of Pokemon that were unusual, lots of rare types and species appearing, and also a bunch of new ancient ruins were found. ...Been /too/ much out of the loop."      A pause. He looks back to Medusa, guilt on his face. "...Please don't tell me it's anything too terrible." 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     Where to begin...? The witch withdraws her hands from Lute's back, sighing. "We should probably sit down... do you have anything cold to drink, perchance...?" Medusa inquires as she steps away, looking around. Perhaps sitting outside to talk is okay enough for now.     "Sanary is... relatively okay. Though things could be far worse." What's far worse is the situation. That somebody thinks they can interfere with what the serpentine witch regards as /her/ pawns. "You might talk with her on the radio later, though... I thought it would be better to give you a warning." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute sits down for a moment, upon his front porch. He doesn't have any chairs set up, outside. So, it isn't ideal. But, he already has a good guess that he isn't going to like the news. He whistles a bit, for his Arcanine. "Hey. I know you don't have hands, but. Urm. Can you find one of the Pokemon who does to help get us drinks?"      He looks up towards Medusa, listening, while the Arcanine heads inside the open front door. Lute rests his hands on his lap, closing his eyes a bit as he listens. Well. 'Relatively okay' is alright, but... That could mean a lot of things.      "...Just... Go ahead and tell me what happened. If she's okay, that's good. But. I want to know what is going on, and I don't need it sugarcoated." 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     Following Lute, Medusa walks over to the front porch and sits down next to Lute, resting her broom against her thigh, and placing her hands on her knees while she gets straight to business. "I am not sure whether you've read the reports or not lately, but there is a relative new one which describes some of the events," she begins in a calm and collected manner.     "Briefly explained, a new ally to the Confederacy, Drowned Ophelia has been rather enthusiastic in spreading her misery across the multiverse. Personally I have nothing against it, but she's been taking Sanary with her. And used Sanary for her ability to link with her. Due to Ophelia's... rather affected mental state, it's taken its toll on Sanary. To the point where she was lethargic and mentally exhausted. I'm not sure she was able to withstand linking with Ophelia several times. Which is Ophelia called for me."%R    The Confederate nurse leans back where she sits just a bit, half closing her eyes as she peers up at the sky. "It's clear that Ophelia has become... possessive of her." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute bites his lower lip a little as Medusa talks, his fists clenching a little. He looks up towards the sky, before closing his eyes. He is trying very hard to remain calm. A deep breath is taken, filling his lungs quite a bit. He has several guesses at what might be going on. He'll need to read the reports in more detail. He pauses for a moment, thoughts flowing through his head.      "...Sanary is probably at fault. She seeks power. And, if this misery has its power? Well. Sanary might want some of that power. But... Mm. The main question now is... What are we going to do about this situation?"      He looks towards Medusa, a fierce look on his face. His anger is obviously barely constrained. His teeth are clenched. And his fists are tightening just a bit more. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     As expected Lute doesn't appear to be happy about this. Still, Medusa isn't done talking. "Let me finish. Ophelia called me to assist her in restoring Sanary's mind. Which involved drowning her, which is a sort of corruption. She was rather vague about the entire procedure, and when we got there she initiated it without giving me time to properly prepare." As she explains, Medusa's pupils turn into thin slits akin to that of a snake, and she looks rather displeased. "If it were not for quick thinking, Sanary would have been even less like herself. Rather than ensuring that I had the information I needed in order to assist her to the full extent of my skills, our dearest musician seemed to place more importance in reciting dramatic words that only sounded beautiful. Poetry without substance," the witch adds with a slight snort of disdain.     Then Medusa narrows her eyes and turns her face more towards Lute. "She needs to be watched. And to be taught a lesson, especially when it concerns rank and respect." Sure, Medusa doesn't exactly place too much importance in rank. But she at least pretends to. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      "...So she corrupted Sanary, pushed the process forward /more/, and now ruined her even more." After saying that? It takes him yet another moment to calm down. More and more deep breaths. His fists clench, his body tenses. He's doing everything he can to control himself right now. Too much anger, and he'll enter his 'Berserk' state. He can't let that happen, especially when he needs to be absolutely clear minded.      It's at this point, though, that his Pokemon arrives. A Gardevoir. The elegant white and green Pokemon holds two glasses in its hand, and a bottle of chilled white wine in the other. It pours the glasses, before using its psychic powers to lift the glasses to the two of them. Lute takes his glass, and chugs it.      And then he reaches for the bottle in Gardevoir's hand, takes it, and starts chugging directly from the bottle. He tosses the bottle aside, breaking it.      "...So. What are we going to be doing about this problem? Because, whatever you have planned? I'm in." 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     Well, she can't fault Lute for him summarising events, and Medusa simply nods once. It's easy enough to tell that he is upset by this, and it was expected. So she sits still, clearly intending to give him whatever time he needs to process the information regarding their mutual friend. Good, he's focusing on breathing.     It's only when the Gardevoir arrives with refreshments that Medusa looks away from Lute, offering the Pokemon a nod of appreciation as she reaches out to take the levitating glass. Unlike Lute she only sips from her glass, clearly intending to spend some minutes finishing up the glass. No comment is offered to Lute's drinking habits for today, as it would most likely go unheeded.     When he finally asks the obvious question, Medusa taps her fingernails against the glass, narrowed eyes watching Lute. "I suggest we teach her what real power is. Which can be done in many ways, for instance ensuring that she ends up in my care." The meaning should be clear, shouldn't it? "Or we can be less obvious about it and enlist a fellow Confederate who also cares for our dear Sanary. She's not exactly disliked, considering she even has some Unions whom she is on friendly terms with..." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute ponders the options. The alcohol, chugged that fast, was probably not the best idea. But, it will help him calm, and help him deal with things a bit. The more intelligent part of his mind, the alternate personality, wants to take over. But, alas. He won't let it, right now.      "...Normally, I'd wanna go for her myself. But. If Sanary consented, there is less we can do directly. So. We might just want to get outside help. The Union can be manipulated in order to help her. They'll wanna make her less corrupt. So. We can do this. Totally. I might not be the best person to contact the Union, though. But... I do have /some/ contacts in it, myself."      A pause. "...This Ophelia person, though. Has she made enemies with the Union, yet? Because that could help, too."      His Gardevoir stays just behind the two. Normally, Gardevoir would go back to his normal things. But with Lute in this sort of mood? He is staying around Lute, just to make sure nothing bad happens. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     "There's the fact that Sanary was probably not all that able to give informed consent. Sure, she said yes... but did she really know what she said yes to?" Medusa points out. Outside help, now that is a slightly more lucrative option. "From the reports it does appear she's been gathering the ire of the Union. And it sounds like they are just as happy with her in return." So yes, it does appear Ophelia is regarded as a threat by the Union. How absolutely wonderful for them.     "There might be a third option. Hire somebody who can make it appear like they are from the Union..." Medusa adds, arching en eyebrow as she looks at Lute, reaching a hand out to rest it on his back. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute nods, leaning forward a bit. His elbows rest on his knees, his hand propping up his head. Hrm. This... Yeah. That's another option. The wheels in his head start turning a bit.      "...Right. We'll need to figure out how to get Sanary out of this... Drowning thing. But, if we can hire someone else, blame the Union? Yeah. Good plan."      He takes another deep breath, before letting out a long sigh. Wordlessly, he leans against against Medusa, wrapping an arm around her. Resting his head on her. He tries to slow his breath down a bit more, and calm himself even more.      "...I swear. Every time I step away from my duties, this sort of thing happens. I... really need to focus more." 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     When Lute leans closer, the witch carefully wraps her arms around him, letting him rest his head on her shoulder. One of her hands moves up to stroke his hair in a careful manner, and she lets out a soft murmur. "It's not your fault. But we will handle it. For Sanary's sake."     And to teach Ophelia a lesson to ensure such a situation doesn't happen again.     "I will make sure to keep a closer eye on Sanary as well under the guise of medical observation," she adds, then kisses Lute on the top of his head. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute lifts his head up after the kiss on his forehead, moving in towards Medusa's cheek. He closes his eyes, kissing upon it. His arm squeezes her closer, just a little bit. Something comforting. He nods a little bit, looking at her.      "...Well. Thanks for giving me the heads up. Let me know when I'm needed, and I'll be there. But. For now..."      He looks back towards his house, and then back towards Medusa. "...Want to spend some time with me? I mean. I understand if you've got to go back to work, but..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     There's little surprise that Lute seeks out those closest to him when he's upset, it's normal human behaviour. It might or might not be the reason why Medusa strokes his back and hair in what might be a motherly fashion, hugging into him as he kisses her cheek.     "I will keep an eye on matters and inform you about the progress on the ask at hand. And let you know when you're needed," she promises in a soft tone.     The offer wasn't entirely unexpected, and Medusa doesn't answer at first, at least not verbally as she shuts Lute up by pressing her lips against his. It's only briefly, because a few seconds later she's rising to her feet, pulling Lute up with her. "My patients are stable at the moment, I do think you need me more at the moment."     Nothing more is said for now as she leads Lute inside by the hand. 
}}

3782/Lute's Post-Wanko Medical Treatment

2016-02-08T05:48:12Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/02/08 |Location=The Citadel - Medical |Synopsis=Sanary heals Lute after her fight with Wanko. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=188, 714 |Tinyplot=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/02/08
|Location=The Citadel - Medical
|Synopsis=Sanary heals Lute after her fight with Wanko.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=188, 714
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute is a bit late in getting to the Confederate medical. Coming in? He actually doesn't look all that bad. Some broken bones most likely, some bruises. Nothing too overly bad. His Pokemon are much worse off, but he left them at the Pokemon Center. For Pokemon injuries, he trusts them much more than Confed medical.      He's been brought to a room already, given space to rest. He lays back in his bed, taking a deep breath. As per Sanary's request, he has sent her a message to let her know he has arrived. He lays back, keeping his hands behind his head. He sighs, closing his eyes a little. It won't be too much longer til she arrives, he knows. But, he might as well rest his eyes a bit til then. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary doesn't take long to arrive in Lute's room, having gotten a room prepared for him ahead of time. She's looking much the same as usual, and there's a worried look on her face as she comes in. When she does see, Lute, though, she lets out a relieved sigh before stepping towards his bed and giving him a light pat on the cheek.      "Hey, Lute. Sorry to hear about the loss." She grabs his chart as she says that, readying some healing magic in her free hand while leaning in to give Lute a light peck on her cheek. "Alright... Where's it hurt? And what happened out there?" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute's labcoat is, of course, off already. The injuries upon his body are more or less obvious. He makes a motion with his hand, towards the injuries. He shrugs a little, smiling, "Ehhhhn. It's not that big of a deal that I lost. Honestly, the thing was a stupid situation that was forced on me. If it turns out there is a really important reason for me to go back and take a title again? Then I will. Might have to, just to keep up appearances. But... I lost. But didn't lose much. If that makes sense."      He pats the side of his bed, motioning for Sanary to join him and sit next to him. He doesn't seem in all that bad of a mood, at least. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary sighs lightly when she looks over those wounds on Lute's body, motioning towards one of the passing nurses to have them get some anaesthetics and medication ready. Is she actually learning their names, though, or is she just letting them figure out what she actually needs?      Either way, she does sit on an occupied spot of the bed and holds her glowing hand over Lute's wounds. "I guess. Still... Well, yeah. You've fought worse than them before. I mean, if she's the one that needed you to take her home..."      Sanary pauses. Healing magic does flow into the wounds that won't need bones being re-set, at least, and she eventually gives Lute a sly grin. "... You didn't go all out, did ya? Was she hot? A..." She squints briefly. "... 7, at least?" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute smirks a little. Sanary knows him far too well. He shrugs a little, closing his eyes as the magic flows through him. He remains calm, breathing slowly, to try and minimize discomfort from this. He stretches a little bit, before looking back at Sanary.      "Seven or eight. Her sister is much hotter than her, but like. She's got her own cute charm. The whole 'little sister' thing, to the extreme. Buuut, got no plans on going after her. The whole thing is enough of a mess as is without me trying to actively hit on them."      He reaches a hand towards Sanary, placing his fingers through her hair, still smiling. "...Besides. I'm dating enough girls right now. Fuck, I don't even have to do anything and more keep hitting on me. ...Plus, if I hit on a bunch more right now, that'd be a /lot/ more Valentine's Day gifts to get." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary continues moving her hand across Lute slowly, letting the energy trickle out and help to boost his own natural recovery. She's still avoiding the broken bones, but that can be taken care of easily enough once he's unconscious. "Understandable... Ah, that sort. I should probably look for pictures of her, then. Although..."      She pauses, then laughs and nods in response. "Yeah, that'd be too much of a mess. Although Momoyo does have a..." Another pause, and then the cleric slumps a bit. "... W-well, I can at least beat her in healing other people. Probably. Haven't heard of her doing /that/ yet."      Sanary relaxes as Lute touches her hair, leaning her head in a bit. "Hell, if she wasn't so crazy, I'd probably have half a mind to try it. Ah, but... Yeah, that'd be expensive. Especially if you try that dating spree again." Another chuckle, and she smiles warmly with a thoughtful look on her face. "...Shit, has it already been a year since then?" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute smiles up at Sanary, hand still going through her hair. He closes his eyes as he leans back, whispering a little. "...Yeah. It's been a year. About a full year since you and I started dating. We'll have to do something special. ...I'll have to do some special things with other girls, too. But. Heh. We've come a long way since then, huh?"      He leans up, lifting his head to move his lips towards Sanary's own. A soft, gentle kiss is placed upon her. Soon after, he lays back a bit again.      "...I'll probably still fight Momoyo at some point. And I do find her cuter. But she's too much of a wild card. We gotta make sure we stay on her good side, though, so she doesn't flee to the Union." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Could invite 'em over for a big party. Big ol' deep fryer, throw a whole cow in there... Maybe a pig, even." Sanary chuckles and leans in for that kiss, then sits back up to keep tending to Lute's wounds. The nurse comes in not long after to that, providing Sanary with the necessary injections and solutions to get to work on the more troublesome injuries. "It'll be fun. And.. Hey. Fried food."      When was the last time she even ate fried pig, anyway? Hopefully, it won't be too much longer.      "Definitely fight her. She... Seems like the type to respect strength, so kick her ass. And then... We can work on trying to get her to join us, maybe. Especially if she wants to actually /do/ something useful with all that power she's got." Sanary lets out a low grunt as she says that, sounding just a little annoyed about something. She doesn't let it distract her from her work, though, and the needles will be stuck near into Lute soon enough. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute, being Lute, looks towards the Nurse as well. He probably doesn't even care if Sanary notices. He leans back once she leaves, getting ready for the inevitable medication. He chuckles a little, "Fried food. You always love the fried food. We could do something like that. You, Yari. Ferham, if she feels like coming. ...Sarracenia might be up for coming, too. Though she still is pretty jealous about some of this stuff..." A sigh. A problem he still has to solve.      He nods as Sanary talks about Momoyo, "...Well. She already has some friends in the Union. But as long as we can keep her out of it... At least, we can probably convince the Union she is way too wild for them. One step at a time."      And then, he closes his eyes. It's about time for the needle, and he wants to distract himself with thoughts for a moment. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Who doesn't love fried food?" A pause. "... That has teeth?" Sanary's learning! She hums a bit at Lute's suggestion, nodding each time while checking to make sure everything's properly cleaned as well. "Would be a good chance to talk to her a bit myself, actually... Er. Sarra, that is. I think she's still pissed about my not wanting to fly in her ship."      Even Sanary's still not used to that.      "After yesterday's mess... Yeah. The Union's not any better than the nobles back home. It'd be a shame if she joined up with them." Sanary sighs lightly, then gives Lute one more pat on the cheek before getting to work.      "Alright... Time to get you really fixed up. It'll be time for breakfast soon." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute chuckles a bit, shaking his head, "She doesn't hold grudges for long. But, we can get you over your fear of flying a bit. And ships. Honestly, airships are pretty awesome. Wouldn't mind having one myself."      He lays back, quietly. He doesn't like talking to the Union all that much. Every time he thinks on them, he gets frustrated. Their mindset... He can't understand it. At all. He keeps his eyes closed, just thinking for a bit on it. "...We'll make sure she doesn't fall for their lies."      He stretches one last time as the cheek is patted, bending his feet a little. He smiles, looking up at ceiling. "...Yeah. Apply whatever you need. You've been getting really good at this. A year of practice does a lot, huh? You've done so much."      "I love you," he says somewhat out of the blue. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "One day. Eeh... Regular ships aren't too bad, at least. It's just the flying ones.. And the closed ones especially." Sanary shivers a bit just thinking about it, although she regains her focus soon enough to make sure she doesn't screw up the injections. "It's not so bad on Mister Crabs or anything that walks, either... Hmm."      An airship on massive stilts? Preposterous.      Sanary's own experiences with the Union have been rather conflicting as well. She's trying not to think too much about it now, at least, but... It's definitely something she'll need to get off her chest sooner or later. Tonight, though? It's a time for healing and recovery.      "Heh... Does, doesn't it? Would've called you a liar last year if you told me I'd know what a..." The cleric pauses to look at the label on the IV she's about to put in. "... Can't even pronounce this. Eh, whatever. I just know it goes in now."      Close enough. She does blush faintly at that sudden proclamation, though, and she squints a little more closely at Lute's arm rather than making eye contact again. "... Love you, too." 

}}

3724/The Search for Malboro

2016-01-25T05:02:48Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/01/24 |Location=Ivalice |Synopsis=Lute, Echo, and Sanary head out on an airship to try and capture a Malboro, and run into Finna. |Thanks= |Ca..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/01/24
|Location=Ivalice
|Synopsis=Lute, Echo, and Sanary head out on an airship to try and capture a Malboro, and run into Finna.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=188, 513, 640, 714
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      Tchigolith Fenlands. It was a rather large swampy area east of the clockwork city of Goug, located on a peninsula in the southern reaches of Ivalice. Thanks to it's location, it was marshy, wet, poisonous, and quite fetid--the perfect spot to try and find a Malboro. As well as bombs, undead skeletons, the rare Coeurl, and sometimes even it was rumored that ghosts of soldiers killed during the 50 years war still walked here, trapped between this world and the next.      Echo found this to be a perfect spot for a casual afternoon outing. She had no difficulty in traveling long distances, but she'd have borrowed a small airship to transport herself and her human, un-winged compatriot, as well as use it to secure any 'catch' they might acquire should they get lucky and bag themselves a poison-spewing, spore sowing couch-sized fanged maw surrounded by tentacles and eyestalks. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Other worlds are the BEST PLACES for acquiring new forms. interesting, freaky forms. When news of THIS particular creature reached her... Finna knew she had to at least SEE one, if not undertake the Sacred Hunt. Currently wearing the form of a pelican for the combination of aerial mobility, swimming, and looking damn BOSS among birds, she's searching across the swamps sleuthily.     Grateful that in this form, the creatures' supposedly AWFUL stenches won't nauseate her so much. Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute is on the airship with Echo, standing near the edge of it. He looks down upon the swampy landscape, a... smile on his face, of all things. He hasn't been to this world before. He has read of some of its monsters, though. It's partially due to his former rivalry with a Trainer named Raven DeVanos. She spent many times in worlds similar to this one, with similar monsters. He felt a need to look them up, just to know the basics.      Since last week, he had a new interest in these monsters, though. A pet Malboro. It sounds /wonderful/. He's even picked a team of Pokemon specifically to hunt them, already. His six Pokeballs are on his belt. And, his I-Class Destroyer, Imima, is tagging along as well, resting on the floor near him. The twisted metallic spirit of war rests in front of him, preparing for what might be a battle.      Also with him? Several bags of meat, piled up near the edge of the airship.      "This is going to be /awesome/." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      A swamp. Well, it's no lightning field, at least, and Sanary's actually sort of dressed for the location! Thick boots to keep the swamp gunk out, her usual coat for optimal movement and not worrying about excess weight, and excess weight in the form of her Charge Blade and two shields. She's tagged along for today's job, although she wasn't too pleased with having to ride an airship to the location. Wouldn't it have been easier to walk?      Judging from how swampy the area is and the local fauna she's seen in passing... Probably not. She's looking considerably calmer once it looks like they're getting closer to their destination, and her eye focuses on Echo and Lute while she scratches her back lightly with the back of her sword.      "Looks like this is the place.. Uh. So what do these things look like?" 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      Echo comes out of one of the cabins, pulling behind her what looks like... a little red wagon? A little red wagon stuffed with what looks like hunks of recently butchered beef, anyway--racks of ribs, a few legs, even an entire cowhead, and she's carrying what looks like hemp rope with hooks tied to the ends. She's wearing a face-mask and elbow length leather gloves, though whether they were meant for clubwear or utility purposes were unclear. Instead of a cocktail dress and heels for this outing, she's clad in what looks like a wetsuit, her legs stuffed into a pair of matching heeled thigh-length boots. Waders? Probably not, though they did look glossed to ward off the rain. This was probably the most practical thing anyone has seen her wear, before now.      "Here we go, just need to find a good spot to hover and we can go fishing, I think--doesn't that sound fun, Lute?" she grins a little, perhaps making a joke about men and loving to fish. She starts by fitting the steer head onto one of the hooked ropes and tossing it over the side of the deck, tying the other end off onto a metal rung. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     The presence of an AIRSHIP sends wildlife in the swamp scuttling. Creatures scurry away! The water churns a bit. And one unlucky startled frog vaults from the water's surface... and ends up falling right into the pouch of Finna-pelican's lower bill, snapped right out of the air with a lightning movement!     With muffled, high-pitched squeals of the WORST sort emanating from its pouch, the pelican is left peeeering upwards at the airship. Head tilting left. Then right. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute smirks at Sanary, reaching into his pocket. Despite this being a terrible wetland swamp, he's in his normal outfit. Labcoat and jeans, with no shirt. He pulls out a picture from his labcoat pocket, and holds it up to Sanary. A picture of a large green Malboro. "This, basically. We wanna get a nice good breeding stock of them for Echo. And for me. Should be a good profitable thing to breed once I get the Ranch fully going."He hands the picture to Sanary, letting her look over the horribleness.      Lute turns to Echo as she comes out, smiling a little. He flips back his hair a bit, staying close to Sanary, "Yeah. From what I read, they just sort of wander around, hunting. Can be pack animals, but are just as likely to be solitary. I couldn't find a /lot/ of info no their reproduction, but some of the things seemed to say eggs, others said spores. If we can find an egg, or a small one growing somewhere, that'd be /best/."      He walks over to the edge of the ship, looking down. He doesn't pay any mind to the scattering wildlife. Odds are the hunting animals like Malboro wouldn't be scared by such a thing.      And then he spots a pelican that is still staying down there. Hm.      He reaches into his own bag of meat that he brought, pulling out a chunk of beef roast.      "Bet you guys ten credits I can nail that pelican from up here."      And with that, he throws the beef straight towards the pelican. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "... Pretty. That's a..." Sanary trails off as she just keeps staring at the picture of the Malboro, grimacing after a few moments. Where does the mouth end and the face start? It's definitely not the sort of thing she's used to seeing, but at least...      Wait. That's exactly what they're hunting for today. "... Yeah, let's hope we find an egg. Otherwise, I might be able to turn it into a statue for a while." The healer taps on the side of her head where eye is, then laughs at the mention of fishing.      "Definitely not the kind of fishing I do... Wait. These things are /fish/?" And then she's back to looking bewildered. Just what kind of creatures did she get roped into looking for? At the sound of a bet, however... "You're on. Don't think I've ever seen you throw something from this far, actually, so."      Only one way to find out. Sanary grins at Lute widely and steps aside, motioning at Echo to come over to watch the spectacle. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "Hmm, see if you can catch it, it might make good bait," Echo nodded a little, putting the yolk of the small wagon down as she reached up and brushed hair black hair back from her head--she had used a bandanna to tie it back, and pushed a pair of goggles up she had used to protect her eyes while chainsawing cow parts. Apparently she had just brought in a whole butchered cow to use as Malboro bait. She peered over the deck of the airship, her white wings tucked behind her back--apparently the wetsuit had holes made for them.      Beneath the pelican-Finna in the murky waters of the swamp, a few bubbles rose up from down somewhere in the depths--popping against the murky surface of the water. Nothing else could be seen, but /something/ was watching the white bird from beneath the surface.      "Yeah they're not exactly the gentle sort of tentacle creatures, Sanary-dear," Echo grinned a little sheepishly as she nodded to the cleric, patting her on the shoulder--hopefully her hand wasn't very bloody from sorting the bait. "Not exactly fish, they're like a kind of couch-sized carnivorous plant monster, well, omnivorous, they'll eat anything, I suppose," the bat lady nodded. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Down, DOWN goes the hunk of meat. The Pelican keeps canting its head about... except for one brief moment that's almost like comical greed! Up goes its spear-like beak! But... and, this probably isn't intentional...     WHUMPF!     Instead of the pelican being smashed hard and driven under the water... the beef hunk's SPEARED STRAIGHT THROUGH, and ends up lodged on the beak. The bird makes some screechy noises in protest - though they're mostly just loud squeaks. PElicans aren't very vocal birds!     The impact also has it now BOUNCING atop a small set of waves the impact startled up.     Hard to tell if it knows anything's watching it or not...     But the bird starts flail-flapping its wings and scooting over the water as if protesting this development!     And the unlucky Frog continues 'screaming!' 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute looks towards the meat hurtling at the Pelican, even as talking to Sanary, "Ehh. /Worst/ case, if we get parts of one, we can have Confederate Science try to frankenstein us something up. But, getting one captured for me to tame, or getting an Egg that I could have imprint on me, would be /best/." A pause. "...And yeah, not fish. We're calling it fishing jokingly. It's best to just toss a line with some meat down, and try and hook something."      And then the meat hits the Pelican. "YES! Direct hit! Man, years of throwing Pokeballs /really/ pays off!"      Lute lifts a hand up, waiting for a high five from someone. And then he notices Echo with the chainsaw. "...I didn't know they liked it /that/ fresh."      Meanwhile, Lute stretches a little. From under his labcoat, about ten Unown appear. These letter-eye Pokemon fly out from Lute's body, and down lower. They start scouting out the surface, slowly looking for any signs of Malboros. The first sign of one, and they'll mentally alert Lute. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Well... At least they've got good taste, I guess." Sanary stil doesn't seem too convinced about the wisdom in pursuing a Malboro, but if anyone can make it work? It's probably Echo and Lute. "Could be useful if you two figure out a way to control 'em. Might need a few more of those birds, though..."      A big toss of meat later, and the pelican gets its beak through that slab of meat! The healer looks rather impressed and even half-whistles to show it, although she does grouse a moment later while checking her pockets (and not noticing the handprint on the back of her coat. "... Ten, you said? Alright.. I'll get it to you once we're back home." She can't be too mad about it, at least. It /was/ an impressive throw!      "Probably should've figured from the balls, but... Ah, whatever. Think I should head down with 'em?" She gestures at the Unown before turning to Lute and Echo again, an inquisitive look in her eye even as she gets her gear ready. Even if she's hoping there won't need to be a fight for wrangling a Malboro, she can't be too careful. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      Unbeknownst to The Finna, in her avian form, there is now a series of slick and slimy tentacles headed straight for the pelican's white and thrashing body under the now frothing surface of the brackly water. They were reaching out for her, trying to twine their slimy tendrils around the bird's body! Ruh roh.      "Hmm? got it from a good friend of mine, Negaduck, ever met him?" Echo grinned a little, setting the chainsaw down next to her. She didn't have a sawed off double-barreled shotgun nearby, so really didn't compliment the look too much. "Hmm, I think we might have a bite down there, Sanary-dear, can you perhaps tie a rope on and go down there for a closer look?" the bat lady grins fangily as she pats the cleric girl on the back, handing her a length of that thick-looking hemp rope.      She does however, high-five Lute, though given she's wearing the bloody gloves still this perhaps was not the best idea. Reaaally didn't think that one through. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute looks at his bloody hand. A pause. And then, a shrug. He just wipes it off on the side of the airship. It /is/ a rental. A bit of blood on it that'll be washed off later isn't a big deal.      He then goes about helping tie a rope around Sanary, to lower her down. He has forgotten to tie it to something else to anchor it, though, so someone better fix that before Sanary jumps. He ties the knots around her waist and torso, making it a bit more solid of a body-harness than just a knot.      "...Be careful down there. Okay?" He whispers this to Sanary, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek when he thinks Echo isn't looking.      He then moves to look over the side, "This bird is going to get /so pwn'd/." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     The moment a slimy tendril wraps around one of the pelican's looooong legs it squeaks in protest again!     But... something WEIRD happens.     The bird executes this bizarre sort of animal jiu-jitsu, whirl-squirm-flipping around and freeing itself of the grasp in under a second. The movement doesn't look... quite...     ... Natural.     It's so odd, so unfitting for the bird, that anyone trying to imagine what it would feel like to execute might WINCE. What's STRANGEST OF ALl is the way it skids across the water on its feet and wingtips a few moments later... retreating from the tentacles through a stunning display of backflips that dislodges the speared beef via centrifugal force. The meat's snagged again between its beak, almost as if the bird's wielding it as a weapon!     The frog appears to have been swallowed at some point in this display of acrobatics. One question does remain though.     How the heck is the bird STANDING ON THE WATER instead of floating with its body? 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      A bite? On closer inspection, it does look like there's something going on down there. The pelican is... avoiding the Malboro? "Impressive... Maybe we should bring that bird back with us." Sanary lets out a non-commital grunt at Echo's suggestion to get closer, but she does at least comply and helps Lute get that rope around her waist. "... Fiiine. Only because you're training me, though. And... Even though this is gonna suck."      Completely suck. But if nothing else, it probably wouldn't be too hard to petrify the Malboro if she could get close enough to it. Turning back to Lute, she smirks at the cheek-peck before tapping two fingers to her head in a quick salute at the two. Afterwards, she gets a foot up on the edge of the ship... Dramatically! "Wish me luck."      And then she's off! The healer just dives right off the airship, falling headfirst and clearly not trying to look like one of those cool people in the movies. She flips herself around at the last moment to fall feet-first, pumping energy into her AANS to slow her fall, and...      Still sinks into the swamp to just above her shins. How lovely. To make matters worse, she's landed not too far away from where the bird is! Naturally, the healer just holds up hand to try and look as non-threatening as possible. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "So good of her to volunteer for checking it out, I knew it was a good idea to bring the cleric along," Echo grinned a little, her yellow eyes watching the surface of the water that was now frothing, and which long dark gray tendrils were beginning to emerge from. Her eyes go wide as she realizes the bird has somehow freed herself and is now running across the water, causing the bat to lean over the ledge, trying to get a better look at what was going on there.      "How did it--" Echo began, and then the dark blue/slate gray form of the Great Malboro erupted from the surface of the water, a couch-sized row of teeth greeting Sanary as she descended and dangled there, the water being pushed aside and acting as a sort of drag beneath her as it's weight displaced the loam and clay and water.      "Oh, looks like Sanary has caught it!" Echo grins, while taking one of those large racks of beef ribs attached to a hook and trying to send it flying into the beast's mouth! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute stares down as the bird acts. He is, in fact, a bit in awe. He's seen movements like that before, but he is trying to place then. Something about the style, and the movements. He bites the side of his lip a little, frustrated.      "What the hell is that bird..."      And then Sanary is within the mouth of the creature. Lute stares, blankly. This is NOT GOING WELL.      "I'M COMING, SANARY!" Lute shouts, leaping off of the side of the boat. This is /not/ the best idea, but he wasn't intending for Sanary to be used as bait. He is also spacing the fact that he could have, much more simply, release one of his Pokemon to go help her. In fact, he figures that out midfall.      "GO, TENTACRUE--"      Splash. He hits the water near Sanary, his Tentacruel appearing within the water just after Lute hits. His timing kind of sucks. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     The Pelican is... rather distressed by this development! With a lightning movement, the bird seems to ROCKET across the water and kick up a spray of muck, SLAMMING itself into the malboro's... well. Center of mass. Under jaw? Something.     Weird, silvery light accompanies the impact, and there's enough force in that to rip off a cheap car door. Certainly enough to make the creature flinch.     Hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary is quickly starting to regret her choices today. If making an ill-advised bet and landing knee-deep in swampy ass water wasn't enough, she's stuck face-to-face with a massive... Malboro? But the colors seem off. She keeps her hand raised in the same way she had held it up to the pelican, but somehow she gets the feeling such a passive approach won't work with this creature.      At least Lute's landing is about as good as her own. Plus, the pelican appears to be trying to defend her!      Wait... What? The cleric has to do a double-take before shuffling over towards Lute, trying to get close enough to actually help him out of the water. "What the hell..? Oh. This is what we needed, right?" She doesn't have much time to wonder why the bird's doing so many distinctly un-birdlike things, instead refocusing her attention on the common enemy here: THe Malboro!      It's worked twice before, so maybe it'll work here. Channeling energy into her eye, she focuses her gaze on the giant tentacle beast before firing a grayish beam at it, trying to turn the thing to stone at least for a little while. It's slow moving, but she's hoping the Great Malboro is even slower. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "Think we've made here boys," Echo wipes her gloved hands, standing up straight from having spied the strange supernatural way the bird seemed to be moving and standing on the surface of the water. "Either way, we have a malboro, now we just need to catch it without killing it--and before it eats Sanary," the bat put a hand to her chin, using the back of her glove, thankfully. "Hey, leave that couch-sized row of teeth and death alone, it never hurt anyone--it never even had a chance!" Echo holds her leather gloved hands around her mouth as she shouts at Finna-Pelican.      The Great Malboro is ROCKED by the sudden slam to it's side, it's tendrils whipping about alarmed as it begins to emit a noxious and status-inflicting belch of air, attempting to inflict the (MINI) status and shrink the girl and the pelican nearby, as well as Lute as the three begin to surround the massive plant monster!      The Great Malboro's eyestalks whirl around to center on Lute's tentacruel and narrow somehow, as if sensing a rival... uh oh. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Capture it ALIVE?! Who do you guys think you are butting in on my Sacred Hunt?!" The Pelican SQUAWKS. In this light though... the noxious cloud of AWFUL breath has a weird effect. Silvery light shines under the Pelican's feathers. On its skin. Whorls and weird patterns that mesmerize the mind. And well, there's the fact that it spoke.     Spoke in a pretty recognizable voice.     The bird's shape changes in a ripple of flesh. It executes a stunning backflip mid-change, landing delicately atop... a cattail. Somehow, even as Finna's human shape emerges and sprouts clothing over silver-tattooed flesh, the teeny, wavey, top-heavy plant doesn't break... It just bends slightly.     "Just my luck. I go hunting and THIS happens!" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute is shrunken down by the spray of bad breath. He, at least, has something to help him get up out of the water. His Tentacruel lifts the now Shinki-sized Lute up onto his back. And Lute crosses his arms, dramatically. He points towards the Malboro, dramatically.      "You are /my/ pet now. I'm going to take you home and raise you. And any other Malboro that might be around."      And then Finna speaks up. Lute /stares/ at her, in a fair amount of awe. "--DAMNIT FINNA! What are /you/ doing here?! This thing isn't for you to hunt! It's for me to raise as a pet! Help us capture it, stay out of our way, or end up with me fighting you!"      This would be more intimidating if Lute wasn't tiny right now.      "ANYWAYS. WRAP!"      The Tentacruel launches its tentacles forward, trying to ensnare the Malboro in them. But, seeing the number of tentacles both have, this is not /likely/ the best strategy. At least it might help distract the Malboro while the others do something more effective. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's looking a little paler as she stays in that water, and that gaseous breath from the Great Malboro surely won't be good to breathe in. "Tch... What kind of defense is this even?!" Bringing up her shield to protect herself from making direct contact with the breath, she doesn't even notice right away when everything (other than Lute) seem to be getting bigger around her.      She does notice, however, that familiar voice coming from the bird-turned-giant-woman. "... Hey, you're... Uh. Finna!" Sadly, she appears to have forgotten Finna's name before Lute straight up says it. But with that shift in size, the gears in Sanary's head start to turn as she keeps her shield ready to keep herself and the Pokemon trainer covered.      "Kick its ass, Kaelin! Let's see if I can fix something else, then..." Channeling energy into her eye once more, the healer turns her gaze towards Lute next. "Just hold still for a sec." She looks a little nervous, but eventually that effort starts to bear fruit as she activates the Esuna matrix, causing a blindingly green light to surround herself and Lute. With any luck, they'll start reverting back to their original size! 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "Ahah, it was no bird at all, more than meets the eye, it's a foxgirl in disguise!" Echo points a finger accusingly down at the lunar exalt. The malboro's tentacles are soon joined by Lute's tentacruel's, meeting in a big frothing... tentacled mess! As her two compatriots are mini'd, Echo finds it necessary to jump over the deck of the airship for a bit and flaps her white wings--hovering about just above where the action is, she's also carrying one of the ropes with hooks and attempting to toss it into the malboro's mouth!      The Malboro seems to be holding it's own though, though it's struggling with Lute's Tentacruel.      Sanary finds herself able to dispell the mini-status on her and Lute, thankfully unlike Ivalician white magic, it doesn't have a horrid percent-chance to land or not! 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Huuuuuuuuuh." Finna grins coquettishly, tapping a finger against her cheek. She is... wearing something a bit different today. Arm bands of silver. Not -quite- Moonsilver, but close. Lute might recognize them.     "Finders keepers, but I'll let you have this one for some attention later! Or maybe its firstborn... if this thing even HAS babies." She wrinkles her nose at the distasteful creature. It's gotta reproduce SOMEHOW, right?     Even she, a Lunar, isn't sure she wants to think about exactly -how- it accomplishes that.     Oh that's sly.     She's DEFINITELY teasing him in front of his allies in her own way. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute rapidly grows back to normal size. He does rather well at staying still, and even his Tentacruel, Kaelin, manages to stay up and tall. He keeps his arms crossed in front of him, looking straight towards the Malboro. He has to stay focused.      He then stares at Finna blankly. Before shouting, "OKAY FINE I'LL GIVE YOU ATTENTION! But later okay!" He seems actually a little caught off guard and surprised. And he is... blushing a bit. Huh.      Thankfully, Kaelin is less distracted by woman than Lute. Though it holds its own against the Malboro, even it can't keep it up forever. Still, it's trying to hold her still until Sanary can weaken it, or Echo can hook it. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's not quite sure what to even focus on any more. The tentacled monsters crossing way too many appendages together? The foxlady requesting their 'attention', whatever that implies? Echo hurling a rope at the Malboro? Or the Pokemon trainer getting distracted by the foxlady?      Might as well go in size order. "Er... Sure? I dunno what kind of attention you mean, but..." She shrugs lightly and gives Lute a quick pat on the shoulder before bringing her shield back up and lifting herself out of the swampy ass water with the anklets to float upwards out of it.      She's tempted to go after Echo to try and catch her, but the fact that she's some sort of bat-woman probably means she can land safely, right? Right. That leaves the tentacle beasts! Sanary's not one to stay too far from the fray unless necessary, and this time is no different.      So she flies straight for the Great Malboro, bracing the shield in front of her to try and just ram directly into its lower tentacles! Legs? Whatever else it might be? 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "Aww, looks like Lute has a friend down there," Echo grinned a little as she hovered in the air, her wings working double time to keep her in a hover. The malboro seems to be getting tired--they never were the most hardy of creatures, understandably. Kaelin seems to be much more of a handful for it, likely the much higher uses of 'wrap' it had than the Malboro had of it's tentacle.      "She's some kind of trickster fox, and can charm humans, not surprising," Echo snerks a little, noticing the effect on Lute. "Well, it IS Lute, so there is little doubt that this will be crushingly effective on him," Echo seemed a little cross but also quite amused at this, even as his Pokemon fought deathgrip-style with the Great Malboro. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Come on. Show me what you guys can DO!" Finna demands, her tone a strange hybrid of friendly amusement and sadistic jeering. HOW she's managing to remain balanced on a cattail sticking from the swamp amidst all the water thrashing and flailing tentacles and giant Pokemon bouncing around is anyone's guess. As it bends and sways she just shifts her balance ever so slightly to stay upright! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute is still a bit flustered, and blushing. But, he needs to focus. He reaches to a Pokeball again. RIGHT. He has more than one. And he has his I-Class Destroyer back on the airship if things get really bad. For now, though? Just another Pokemon. Something that can help keep this monster restrained.      At last, he finally manages to open up the Pokeball. He shouts, "GO! SAVANT!" With a flash of light, his Gardevoir appears. The Gardevoir floats in the air, the Psychic-type Pokemon trying to somewhat hang back while avoiding the poisonous swamp water. The Gardevoir focuses its Psychic Powers, trying to hold the Malboro in place.      "Come on, guys! We can do it!" He says this mostly to amp himself up, and distract himself from the fact that he has suddenly realized each of the women present has at least some level of dirt on him, most likely. Especially Finna. And he is suddenly afraid of it blowing up in his face. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "That so..? Huh." ... Wait. Was Finna flirting with Lute specifically? That's what it sounds like, if Echo's words and Lute's awkwardness are any indication. Sanary narrows her eye slightly as she shoots a look back at Lute and Finna, although she can't focus too much on them as she bounces off that surprisingly sturdy hide of the Great Malboro.      Not that she probably wouldn't do the same with that same sort of power, but still.      "Okay... Different strategy!" She coughs lightly landing in the water, sounding nauseous again. Circling around the Tentacruel and Malboro this time, she focuses on something a little more basic: Healing magic! Spotting the Gardevoir, she starts channeling energy towards both Pokemon at once, trying to boost their natural recovery while also giving them more stamina to go all out with! 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      As the Malboro continues to struggle, it seems to be slowing as the gardevoir's psychic ability begins to work on it. Well, it wasn't necessarily a grass-type, that's for sure! "Alright, it seems like it's stuck, someone get that hook into it and we can try to haul it up!" Echo calls down, swinging that hook down and into the malboro's mouth. "Lute and Sanary, get clear!" the bat lady calls out, the healing magic apparently having a beneficial effect on Lute's Pokemon, at that.      "Remind me to take a shower after this, like ten thousand of them," Echo descends a bit as she begins to help with the... 'retrival' process. It would be wet, messy and likely disgusting. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      With the hook into the monster, Lute gives the order to his Tentacruel. It pulls its tentacles back, Kaelin rapidly moving back. Neither want to be pulled up with the Malboro. That would, after all, be incredibly frustrating. The Gardevoir keeps up his job at keeping the beast at bay. But, it looks like they've won this, for now.      Lute sits on the Tentacruel, looking at Finna, Sanary, and Echo.      "...Yeah. I'm going to be showering constantly for a while too."      He lays back, smiling. "...Of course actually training it will be the hardest part." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Right. They /were/ fishing for this Malboro to begin with, weren't they? "Ah... Got it!" Sanary's not afraid to get her hands a little more dirty at this point, and she gets right in there to make sure Echo's hook is secure on the Malboro before scurrying away from the noxious creature.      "Showers do sound pretty good around now... Hnn. Well, good work, team!" She grins broadly at ECho and Lute before turning her gaze back to Finna, looking... Mostly confused more than anything else. Should she even ask?      Maybe next time. Everyone's ready to leave, after all, and she simply shrugs and climbs onto Kaelin to head up with the others. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "People told me these things were big, smelly, and ugly... the tales DIDN'T do the thing justice." Finna remarks, grinning rather sheepishly at the thing as it's being airlifted. She can genuinely say she did NOT assist Lute in capturing a new monster if anyone asks! That's a thing.     But beyond that... the foxgirl ends up scratching her chin. This has been a WEIRD little adventure... "'least I got a snack out of it..." 

}}

3696/Batovision

2016-01-25T00:07:47Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/01/18 |Location=The Citadel - Pleasure Palace |Synopsis=Lute and Echo meet, while Echo proposes a plan to go get some Malboro. |Thanks= |Cast ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/01/18
|Location=The Citadel - Pleasure Palace
|Synopsis=Lute and Echo meet, while Echo proposes a plan to go get some Malboro.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=188, 640
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute's life generally finds him in two places. His home, or the Citadel. He prefers spending time at home, spending time with his pets. At the moment, though? He has found himself in the mood for the worldly pleasures that the Citadel could offer.      He rests on one of the various fine couches, reclined back within it. To his right, there is an endtable. Upon it, various snacks. There are some finer treats such as deviled eggs and calamari, but also some simpler things such as chips and onion dip. A glass of wine is on the table. Lute snacks on the food, taking a bite here and there, while taking part in a form of entertainment that most would find somewhat sick and deranged.      Namely, he's playing a visual novel on a big screen TV.      He leans back, relaxing and smiling. It's just such a /great/ way to get rid of stress. Plus visual novels give him some of his best pick-up lines. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      As Lute sat there relaxing, the television's image would actually seem gain some artifacting like one would see from digital television when flipping the channels too fast, a minor annoyance, at worst. A few seconds later however, there seemed to be a small blip of white static all across it, and then... wait, what the heck was this?      "Hey there boys, do you wanna have a fun time tonight?" there is a cooing feminine voice from the television now, easy-listening music in the background, ruh roh, this is one of /those/ sorts of commercials.      The image on the screen is a big red phone, which a surprisingly pale hand with red nails was going to pick up. Wait, was that girl just pale, or was that something else...? Fur, kinda like on a shorthair cat? 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute just gives a blank stare towards the screen. Does.... Does this visual novel have random commercials? But, he realizes something is up. He straightens up in his chair, leaning forward. Many Confederates would be made a bit nervous by their television suddenly displaying something that is obviously wrong. Lute, though? The soothing female voice excites him a little. He leans forward, only barely noticing that the hand is a bit off. He smiles, paying close attention.      He calls over his shoulder, to anyone else who might be listening, "Hey, when did we start getting ads for 1-900 numbers in here?" 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "If you're looking for company tonight you need not go far," the voice continues, the sight of what seemed to be a fireplace with a screen in front of it roars in the background. Meanwhile a number begins to flash at the bottom of the screen.      1-900-BAT      After a few more seconds, the 'camera' pans upward to reveal the fangily grinning visage of Echo, lips red against the ivory-white of her fur and teeth, her yellow eyes staring right at Lute.      "Just give me a call, ahahaha!" she begins cackling madly, at first pointing at the screen until the image on it begins to artifact and warp and suddenly her nail tips begin to distend outward from the screen itself, coming THROUGH it. It's a good thing this is a widescreen after all, it makes it none-too-difficult for the winged bat sorceress to literally crawl right out of the plastic material of the screen, apparently phasing right through it from god knows where.      She's wearing a mid-thigh length black silk kimono with golden bats embroidered here and there, with red stiletto high heels on her feet. She reaches up to momentarily readjust her long black hair over her long, batty ears.      "So you're Lute, hmm?" she asks, putting a hand on her hip as she stands between him and the TV now. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute stares in surprise as he sees Echo on the screen. He's seen her in reports before. But still, her appearance here is definitely a bit of a shock. He is reminded of some horror stories he heard some time ago, of demonic or ghostly beings appearing from televisions. This is enough to cause him to jump a little, seeing her coming out. He moves back in the chair, trying to push himself away at first, until he finally calms down.      He has to admit. If she were just a /bit/ more human, she would probably be ridiculously attractive. But for now, that gives him a chance to focus. He won't be /too/ distracted, especially as he calms down. He reaches over, taking a chip, dipping it, and then taking a bite.      "Mm. Well. Yep. I'm Lute. And you're Echo, right? So. what brings you here?" He still stays /somewhat/ on guard, but still tries to appear /somewhat/ calm. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      She steps around the man as he remains sitting, apparently unphased that she just scared the crap out of him, and nods a little. "That's right, I am she," she speaks at first with a hint of medieval anachronistic speech. "I hear you are a tracker and tamer of animals, a beastmaster of some sort, correct?" she nodded a little, now not blocking the television which has returned to it's regularly scheduled... visual novel? Echo isn't about to judge, it appears, she just smirks a little.      "I think I might have spoken to you before about a beast I was interested in, it's called a Great Malboro, are you familiar?" she asks, her palm upturned as she languidly gestures with it in the air, creating a small 'window' in midair which shows snatches of what looks like a blueish slate-gray tentacled creature, each of the 'fronds' bearing what looks like reddish slit-pupiled eyes.      "They're highly dangerous, capable of poisoning or sedating their prey, petrifying them, turning them into frogs..." she rattled off the list like it was everyday business. "The breed known as 'great' also are capable of emitting spores which can infest a living creature and slowly transform it into one of their own kind, as well," she lowers her hand, the small 'window' disappearing.      "A perfect pet and a welcome addition to any aspiring keeper of exotic animals," she grins, those ivory fangs of hers overhanging her red lower lip. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute nods a little. He listens to what she has to say. This sounds familiar, even if it /has/ been a while. The Malboro... He actually has heard of them before. But, he remains quiet. Some of these fine details he had not heard... And his mouth turns up into a smirk.      "...Mm. I do know a /bit/ of them. I didn't realize they were /that/ poisonous, though. That's... interesting." His eyes linger on the blu-ish image. He leans forward in the chair, considering. Hrm. This sort of creature /does/ have a number of potential uses. He lifts a hand to his chin, rubbing a little.      "...This creature. It's from your world, correct? I know there are some other worlds where variations of it can be found. What sort of habitat does it live in? What sort of food does it eat? And, is there any history of them being trained for combat already? Any of these details would help make it /quite/ a bit easier to get ahold of one, and train one." 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "They're a lot of things," Echo nods a little with some bit of a return smile for the man. "It lives among the peat and fetid waters of swamps, typically poisonous marshes, those sorts of places. Not unheard of to be found in dank caverns however, especially with other great beasts," she thinks for a moment, putting a red-nailed index finger to her chin. "Hmm, whatever it can get it's fronds on, however typically carnivorous, but they'll eat just about anything--and yes, they can be trained, same as many other monsters from my world," the bat woman nodded.      She seemed to find his smirk and grinning in return a little curious, heels clicking as she made her way a bit closer and around his chair. "Penny for your thoughts on this, Mr. Trieste?" she seemed to be a little curious with what he had on his mind. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute smiles, leaning back in the chair again. His hand remains on his chin in consideration, while he looks up at the ceiling. A useful creature. Ridiculously useful. He looks away from Echo as thinking, before finally looking up towards her again. His smile has gotten even wider.      "It is, without a doubt, a creature I /could/ train. Easily. Meat is a perfect training tool if it enjoys it. I've trained Poison Pokemon, which can live in swampy environments. And, I have trained ferocious beasts that many considered /untameable/. The only matter is /getting/ one."      He lifts a leg up, laying it across his other one. He lays back in his chair, smiling, "We just need to find where my to find this new little pet. I'll need your help tracking one down. And then... I could train it to be /quite/ powerful." 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "Hmm, I suppose you are considering just what the compensation for this would be, then, judging from your smile," Echo nodded a little, her wings rustling behind her back a little, they had been folded against it. "Hmm... usually can find them around the Tchigolith Fenlands at certain times of the year, if you're lucky, though we might need to search more than one place, such as the Dorvauldar Marsh," she shrugged a little. "The important thing is if they don't have any friends with them, are you also capable of breeding such creatures?" she seems to want to know if he can raise these creatures from scratch, at that.      "Surprised you're not more put off, actually, you seem pretty calm for a man who just watched a woman crawl out of his television set at him," she grins a little in return though she relents with a shrug. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute stands up, stretching his arms above his head, and cracking his knuckles a little. He slides his hands into the pockets of his trenchcoat, giving Echo a bit of a look over. "When it comes to monsters? I can do most anything with them. I can get them breeding, if we get a good breeding pair. Heck, I can breed them for /strength/ too. We could make a whole horde... Especially once I get my ranch, going."      He passed over the bit about compensation, but finally, he addresses it. He shakes his head a little, "And, compensation doesn't matter. We're allies. I can breed you a number of them, and I can get some for myself. It's win win for everyone involved."      He glances towards the TV. How to explain how unphased he is? He thinks for a moment, before shrugging, "One of my favorite people in the Confederacy is basically an undead horror ghost of a ship, I've been in the Multiverse for ages, and I've seen things few others have seen. It's a bit of a surprise, yes. But. I've learned to go with the flow." 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "I am not sure they 'breed' exactly in the same sense as other creatures, though they probably can if they're not turning other creatures into more of them," Echo nodded a bit, apparently fine with this. "And you don't want anything in return? That's uncommon, for a man to not want any compensation, I mean," she looks back at the human with her yellow eyes, one of her long batty ears twitching, brow raised. "If you wish a number of them for yourself that is fine," she seems to find this agreeable.      "And one with a steel nerve too, I like that. I'm known in various areas as a necromancer, so it will do well if you're not upset by creatures undead or otherwise," she bowed her head just a little, a hand on her hip as she stood there, knees bent just a little thanks to the posture enhancing of the heels she was wearing. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The comment about a man usually wanting more actually takes Lute off guard. Normally, she isn't the type of woman he'd be into. But that little comment still throws him off. /Was/ he looking too much? He actually sweats a bit, trying to hold back his reaction a little. He lifts a hand to his mouth, coughing a little. "I-I'm not sure what you mean by a men not wanting compensation, but. For something like this, all I need is some monsters of my own out of it." He feels his cheeks flushing a bit. It's weird, for him to be caught off guard like this. He usually is suave around women.      "He clears his throat again, before making sure he is looking at Echo more dead on, right in the face. He smiles a bit more calmly, bringing himself back together again. "...And I've not known many actual necromancers. But. Undead never bothered me, except a couple of kinds, and more for personal reasons. Some of my best friends have been undead, anyways."      His eyes linger down a little. And then immediately go up again. Trying to change the subject from his occasional looks. "...When are we going to head out for this, then?" 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      Echo begins to grin again, those ivory fangs visible over her red lipstick'd lower lip. "That's fine, you shall have a few for yourself, I'm sure, even if I need to make it use it's spores to reproduce, sound fair?" she relaxes into a sort of smile as she leans back on those heels. "I've studied that, black magic, and enchanting, I'm fairly well-travelled in the arcane world," she explains, before she puts a hand to her chin, considering this.      "I will make some preparations and send you a notice in a few days, I think, on when I'm available, you would do well to give me an idea of your... convenience as well," she clucks her tongue, idly toying with the tip of one of her fangs with it, before she looks back at the TV. "Sometime when you're not glued to the television watching pretty girls, I'd think." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute's eyes look towards those lips. He finds himself staring, despite focusing on her face. He moves to those yellow eyes instead. He lifts a hand to flip some hair out of his face, a nervous habit to distract himself. "If it's spores, it should be feasible to get it to reproduce without magic... But. We could also possibly speed it up. I'm curious if the magic would affect the spores, though. It might end up coming out a bit more magical in nature due to such."      He just smirks at the last comment, "Oh, come on. It's not /just/ to look at pretty girls. I play them for the plot!" A pause. "...And for the girls." He shrugs a little, flipping his hair once more and moving some braids out from infront of his eye.      "...But yeah. Let me know. We'll get a team. Capture one. I can get some cages ready. ...Do need to know how big of a cage I'll need, though." 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      "Who said we'd need magic?" she just grins a little and shakes her head. "They've survived as long as they have by making themselves versatile, like humans, like beast-kin," Echo seems to be fine with whatever, come what may. "Of course," she doesn't seem to find his ogling or hobby there particularly disturbing, god knows she's into far, far more unsettling pasttimes.      "They're quite big, about as tall as a man, about as wide as a sofa--picture a couch-sized ball of teeth with tentacles waving around it," she gestured with her white-furred arms and hands. "Charming mental image, I know," she put her hands down, then noticing his staring at her lips. Putting a hand to her mouth, she closed her eyes and leaned toward him as she blew him a kiss--which proceeded to manifest as a set of red lipsticked lips that floated towards him. It was bizarre to see, sort of cartoonish and unnatural. Of course as it grew closer he'd be able to see the lips sported a set of fangs, much like her own~ 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute shrugs his shoulder again, "If magic can make it easier, it might be worth a shot. But. We'll manage some way. Besides. This is what I /do/. I train, raise, and breed monsters. I study them, and learn everything about them. Even if they /are/ a giant mass of tentacles, they've been trained before. It should be easy enough."      He doesn't even flinch a bit as the lip-marks come in, simply looking at them a bit. Sure, he knows there are some creatures who might be able to harm him through some sort of magic trick like this, but it is an ally before him. The only thing that makes him regrets this? He finally notices the fangs. He thinks of various demonic beings who use their looks as a weapon.      He hopes he didn't fuck things up, and hopes that this isn't a test that he just failed. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      The set of red floating lips promptly fasten to the man's cheek with an almost comically stereotypical "SMOOCH" noise, leaving behind an imprint against his cheek shaped much like them, though he could perhaps swear he could feel a brush of those fangs against his skin, also.      "Hahaha, definitely a normal man after all," she nodded and held a hand over her mouth as she calmed herself, not wanting to make too much noise. "You just stood there like 'I am not sure if want'... ohh you're quite something, Mr. Trieste," she stepped back with a hand on her hip, nodding a little.      "I suppose that will be all then, I shall send you a bat-o-gram when I have located what I need, I trust you will be able to... occupy yourself until then, hmm?" she asked with a smile. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The marks upon Lute's cheek is highlighted a little, his face turning quite a bit more red as the mark hits him. And those fangs... That hint of danger. He looks somewhat stunned, and awestruck. And the fact that she is reading him so well... Yeah. This is unusual for him. Even he realizes there might be some risk here, of this woman manipulating him.      He realizes he is only making himself a bit more obvious by not speaking.      He coughs a little, sliding his hands into his pocket, and nodding. He won't address the little bit about him being a normal man. He'll just pretend that she didnt' say that, and move on a bit.      "...Yeah. I'll look forward to the letter. And don't worry, I've got plenty of ways to occupy myself til then."      He is really curious if she is going to go right back into the television again. 

:'''{{#var:640|Echo (640)}} has posed:'''      A good illusionist doesn't endeavor to make themselves any less mysterious or engimatic by just explaining their tricks or actions, and neither does Echo. Instead of heading back towards the television, she instead raises the hand not on her hip and it glows faintly, a phantasmal light-greenish color. Her body begins to become transparent and indestinct, her voice carrying on even after she's nearly invisible.      "I trust that you do, till we meet again, ahahahaha..." the sound of her laughter seems to fade out, as if a door was being closed around her, very much giving the impression she was no longer there, and not just turning invisible.      And she seems to just be gone. 

}}

3521/To Castle Gamelon

2015-12-14T03:54:03Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/12/13 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Union heads to save Zelda from her uncle, while the Confederacy aid in the revival o..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/12/13
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Union heads to save Zelda from her uncle, while the Confederacy aid in the revival of Ganon.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 70, 248, 385, 513, 714, 864, 878, 924
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Land of Gamelon is a beautiful place. It has been untouched by the hand of Agahnim, or the Twilight. Though just an island, it is vast. Forests, deserts, mountains, lakes... Even the villages are made in an old English style, that looks rather picturesque.      The area right around Dodomai Palace, the home of Duke Onkled himself, is a lot less so. Especially, at the moment. The Union has been here, only briefly. The vast number of Union allies who went here were construction crews, simply to build a now broken Warp Gate. Before, it seemd beautiful and wonderful as the land itself. Now? The castle has changed. The town surrounding it is filled to the brim with monsters of all kinds. Moblins, Bulblins, Octoroks, Lizalfos, Stalfos, and similar. The soldiers of the castle are still present, walking as allies with the various monster races. A number of homes are boarded up and shut. Some signs on these homes list them as former homes to Enemies of Ganon. The fate of the villagers who did not join the Duke in his worship of Ganon are likely no more.      The castle stands tall in the center of town, next to the sea. It has four tall towers at each corner, and a massive tower in the center. One of the four towers has bars on the windows. And, due to a fly over from Finna in bird form earlier, she was, in fact, able to see someone special behind the bars. A woman in a grey cloak, covering most of her body. Her long hair hangs out from under her hood, and she looks out the window constantly. This is, in fact, Princess Zelda. It is not a trick, it is not a disguise. She is locked in one of the tallest towers, waiting to be rescued.      There are many roads leading to the castle, but all of them go through the city. There is one path that only the Confederates could take, though. On the south side of the castle, facing the ocean, there is a cave. Within the cave is a dock, for the various ships of the Castle. Should the Confederates take a small vessel here, they will be more than welcome into the castle. At which point? They will be guided to the throne room of the castle. Unlike the throne room of Hyrule? This one is done up in blacks and reds. Dark stone, a wrought iron throne. The Duke of Gamelon sits on it, a massive and tall man in black armor. His face is old. He might have been a handsome man, once. Especially with his long hair. But now? Age has not been kind to his looks. Still, he is a man with an air about him that commands respect. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' It's time. Having paid for a boat after scanning the map and finding the most secluded entrance to the castle, Archer sails towards the dock, dressed in the same beggar robes as the night before. As he's shown the path to the throne room, he observes the guards. Are they scared or confident? Are they trained, or just men given swords? Once he reaches the Duke, Archer bows in respect, before speaking. "To the Duke of Gamelon, I, Rider, bring greetings." His eyes scan over the man quickly, before he continues. "The Confederacy knows of your plans, Duke Gamelon, for Agahnim has been slain, but not before he told us of them. We are most interested in what you plan on doing, and we would like to form an alliance to bring forward the Dark Lord. We are willing to provide protection and manpower, in exchange for the cooperation of you and your men, as well as assistance to the Confederacy." "To prove that we wish to work with you, we have been told that the Union plans to strike tomorrow. However, they have already lied to us once, and therefore I would recommend sending your men on the defensive as soon as possible. The Union comes for Princess Zelda. What is her importance, detailed, to your plans, Duke Onkled?" There's a bit of Charisma added to Archer's words. He's not lying, but he's trying to make his words as believable as possible to make this go over smoothly. Hopefully, it works! 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's not quite sure what to make of Gamelon. It definitely looks like it's seen better days, although the alliance of monsters is definitely not an unwelcome sight. The fact that they've been united under a common banner is almost admirable, although... Well, would it really hurt them to have some decent-looking people around.      At least she doesn't have to stick close to them for too long. For the time being, the healer is safely inside the castle, having gotten inside through a bit of flight and a lot of walking. She's decked out in her trademark white coat, significantly cleaner than it usually is from not wearing it for so long. It's not the most protective of outfits, but it does help her look a little less... Conniving? It's certainly better than if she showed up in full armor carrying an entire armory on her, and it isn't nearly as restrictive as a suit.      "Sanary Rondel. Good evening." After offering the Duke a bow, she makes a beeline for one of the windows to keep an eye on the outside as another set of... Single eye watching for intruders. Negotiations didn't seem to work in her favor last night, so she's leaving that to the Rider and any other Confederates in the area. Hopefully, there won't be any Union interference this time around. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Hopefully... this would end with a more advantageous outcome then the prior evening.      In Vergil's mind, the Confederacy - or more specifically, the Bowman, the Knight and the Mage - turning on Agahnim before they had driven back the Union had been a colossal mistake. If they had waited until after the Union was driven back, Agahnim would not likely have expected betrayal so quickly, and he would have been weakened enough for them to overthrow easily. They would have been able to keep rule of the land for themselves.      The castle as a staging ground. A shred of semi-legitimate claim. A bargaining chip to give to this Duke as a show of good faith. All of it could have been a possibility - and all of it was subsequently cast aside because the bowman, the knight and the mage felt the risk outweighed the reward.      ... in all honesty, that was likely very much the case, though - Vergil had always been one to exceed his reach, heedless of the risk to others. Yesterday was probably the first time anyone had actually forced him to back down from a plan or superseded a goal he had in mind.      However, the Son of Sparda's arrogance tended to keep him from considering that he might have overextended his grasp as usual on the day before - a key factor in why the half-demon accompanied the Bowman into the castle, though one brow rises inquiringly as he addresses himself as 'Rider'.      Vergil himself is dressed in his typical attire, lacking any of the burns or damage he sustained against Nero. He paid for his own transport, though like Sanary he walked much of the distance as well. He also shows a possibly-disturbing lack of alarm of even discomfort at the sight of the monsters. In fact he seems to feel more at ease with them then he did with humans.      Like Sanary, Vergil offers his own bow and introduction - "I am Vergil. A pleasure to meet you." For the moment, he let 'Rider' do much of the talking - if the Bowman wanted to play the part of leader for now, Vergil would let him... and if he crashed this particular vessel and sunk their interests, it wouldn't be anyone else' failing.      Besides, he was curious as to just how the Bowman would get the Duke to put forward such sensitive information as this when they had nothing to validate their claim off-hand - and he was more then willing to wait and see what cards 'Rider' had to play before making any moves of his own. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Duke of Onkled gives a bit of a twisted smile, nodding at each of the Confederates as they introduce themselves. Though the last time he was met by the Union, he seemed like a strong and powerful man, his slimy nature is showing through a little bit. He looks upon Rider, focusing on him before the others. After all, he is the one asking questions, it seems.      "Don't underestimate me. I already knew of your betrayal of Agahnim. If I hadn't, why would I even /allow/ you here? The Cult of Ganon has spies everywhere. It was not long after his death that I heard of your involvement. And, I one up your offer. I am merely a servant of the Great Lord, Ganon. But: I can say this. The power and might of the Confederacy has not gone unnoticed. Ganon and his Army would be more than pleased to join the Confederacy, once he is revived."      He looks up, towards a certain direction. Towards the tower. "...Zelda is not, in fact, important to my immediate plans. Though I am a worshipper of Ganon, I still love my niece. My goal is to simply keep her safe as a prisoner, rather than let her die in the war that will come. The only thing that she /might/ offer, one day, is the Triforce of Wisdom. That piece of the Triforce keeps appearing in the women of the Royal Family. It has not appeared in her, though. I am uncertain where it might be."      He stands up, looking behind him. The wall behind the throne begins to shift, the walls parting to reveal a hidden passage. He motions back, towards it. "But. For my immediate plans? There is one thing I can ask. As a member of the Royal Family, I am incapable of reviving Ganon myself. But. One of you /could/. Now. I understand one of you is the leader of the Confederate operations into Hyrule. I would ask that person to be the one who revives Ganon." His eyes turn, looking towards Sanary at this point. "It is a simple task. You must simply pour a special vial upon Ganon's ashes. Are you up to it?"      He holds a gauntleted hand out to Sanary, motioning to her. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     It's taken a bit of planning and scouting, but Finna finally has a plan to get Zelda out of there with the least hassle.     Which is why, in hawk form, she finally zips past the princess' window. just long enough to make eye contact. And that red-tailed hawk's eyes are full of DIRE URGENCY. There's no words, but they are enough to carry a single message. 'Get ready. You won't be here much longer.'     WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSH. Down, down she goes to one of the windows on the tower's outside edge. The part facing AWAY from the castle, open to the grounds.     All Deelel and Priscilla have to do is get to that point.     Because one or two archers in the windows aren't enough to stop Finna. As a hawk, most people will question just WHY a hawk simply dropped in onto the windowsill from completely nowhere.     That moment of hesitation is all she needs to DIVE FORWARD and sink her talons into jugulars and claw out windpipes with a flash of silvery light. Human or 'blin of some kind, her talons rend both variations of flesh easily and ruthlessly.     Her goal: Secure a windowsill for just a minute and keep the other guards from noticing too soon... 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Thankfully, this is an opportunity where the Union is afforded the luxury of stealth, at least in the form of not having to rush forward and take out a gigantic, flashy, magical barrier with a sword; admittedly a very good way for an arch-sorcerer to prevent being snuck up on. It's likely the Confederacy already has their own designs on the place, having heard the exact same speech from Agahnim as them, but that'll have to come as it does. For now, there's a plan worked out, of which Priscilla can fill a couple of difficult gaps with her powerset, and has insisted on doing so rather than settling on a plan B or C.     The crossbreed is actually nowhere near the towers for the time being -- though that'll easily change -- sat invisible well out into the trees. It's not difficult for her to pick out Finna circling around the window, and so she focuses on those bars in particular, a faint corona of light momentarily washing a small patch of nondescript forest in hues of fiery twilight as the iron bars sing softly, seeming to sizzle in some strange, non-physical way, before simply quietly falling to pieces, shredded to flakes of surprisingly hot metal by some unnerving, unseen hand. It's not actually harmful if Finna briefly gets in the way, but she'd be advised not to for . . . other reasons. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's expression drops just a bit when she hears the Duke name himself and his forces as a cult, although it's obscured by the fact that she's staring out a window instead of facing him directly. The idea just doesn't sit quite right with her, but... Hell, she bit the bullet last time with the Grimleal. It's not like her home could get any more blown up if she helps this one, too. Thankfully, this one seems a little more reasonable and direct than Agahnim, and the way he speaks of Zelda does give her a small boost in confidence.      It's not until he mentions the revival of Ganon that she turns around to see the Duke looking right at her, just barely missing the sight of a weird bird falling at someone. Although her stance and expression are firm, it's a little unnerving being asked to do something that important in his stead. She looks towards Vergil and 'Rider' for a moment before nodding at the Duke, a confident grin crossing her face.      "Of course. Let's not waste time here, then. He'll probably need to stretch his legs some, anyway." She starts towards the Duke of Onkled, waiting for the opportunity to start heading down that passage with the others. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad himself is nearby, in the city. He is here on horseback, riding along Excelsior. He normally is not one to hide himself, but today, he knows it is far too serious of a mission. He sits upon the back of Excelsior, wearing a black cloak. Upon it is the symbol of Duke Onkled's men. Sitting in front of him is his Shinki, Serafina. She is wearing a similar cloak.      They're blending in well enough at the moment. He rides through the streets, looking around. He has been to this town before, and so he can at least wander without looking like a tourist. His eyes keep looking to the castle, though. Trying to watch for the sign of him possibly being needed. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil takes note of the Duke's nature a bit, somewhat reminded of Arkham - a human who exuded an aura of respect, yet inwardly was just another twisted mortal.      ...      And yet, deep down... some part of Vergil simultaneously chastised yet approved of how the Duke was willing and able to retain defense of his niece. It was... commendable that he would defend her and value her... yet at the same time it was a weakness to become outright attached. He was keeping her as a caged bird.      In the meantime though, Vergil suppresses his surprise as he takes note of the Duke's open willingness to side with them so easily - another blow to his pride regarding his goals the night before - though he finds it a bit more bemusing as Sanary is regarded their leader.      Inwardly, he would prefer to contest such a claim... but it wouldn't do any good right now to show fractured goals so openly to the Duke.      He waits for Sanary to approach before stepping in stride with her - as much as he hated passing himself off as something lesser, 'Rider' had already taken the role of speaker among the group.      Granted, Vergil /could/ parlay himself as being the 'second', and Sanary was probably well-acquainted with him enough to do so... but that would have to come later. When he didn't have that blasted bowman disputing every word he said.      For now though, Vergil kept pace with the group even as he cast glances in Rider's direction, hand resting casually on Yamato... and wondered how much they would be able to accomplish before he Union no doubt arrived to try and take Zelda. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna's powers, such as they are, aren't really designed around 'stealth'. This doesn't stop her from trying to be sneaky when the situation calls for it ... such as trying to steal away a prisoner from the tower in which she's trapped, without drawing attention until her allies have a head start on their successful departure with prize in hand. That still leaves the problem of getting close without being noticed, but fortunately for Yuna, a lot of people just don't typically think to look *up* very often. Combine that with the fact that her Flight Form is capable of flying very high indeed, and Yuna's got her means of arrival. Yuna is flying high enough that even if somebody happens to spot her from the ground (or from one of the castle's tower windows), she should just look like a random dot in the sky; Jiina and Marina are coming in from other angles at even higher altitudes, but they're ready to converge on Yuna's location as required. And Elner is so small that the robo-faerie - flying alongside Yuna, at the moment - is practically impossible to spot unless you've got a telescope. Once Yuna is in the general vicinity of 'above Onkled's castle' (still at a fairly substantial altitude), all she really needs to do is wait until Finna tells her they're on the way out ... or at least, that's how the plan is laid out. It might even be one of those incredibly rare plans that works out roughly as intended, too. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The human watchouts in the tower are struck in the jugular by the hawk. Not one of them manages to stop the hawk, and many of them are taken by surprise. It isn't something they're trained to look out for. There are Monsters in Hyrule that fly, but all but a few are allies of Ganon. They should not be a threat. But, the guards fall, leaving the tower a bit less defended. Soon after, the bars are broken by Priscilla's long ranged attack. It will be more than simple to get someone inside the windows at this point. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' Archer nods to the Duke as he speaks, deferring to Sanary as the leader. He follows along silently. He'll wait to see what they must do with Ganon before he speaks again. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Duke Onkled bows a little to Sanary. His eyes never leave her. Whether he notices her surprise at all is hard to tell, from the expression on his face. At least, he is certainly /very/ thankful for this. He walks towards Sanary, placing his hand on her shoulder as he guides her into the back room. He looks towards Vergil, and Rider. Even though he is a traitorous bastard? He has the highest level of respect for all three present, and for the Confederacy as a whole. But, finally, the Shrine is entered.      The throne room looked dark and intimidating. This back room, the Shrine to Ganon, is without a doubt, pure Evil. Golden statues of a pig-like man line the walls, looking down towards the center of the room. These statues have red gemstones for eyes, magically illuminating the room. The floor of the room itself is covered in a giant magical circle, done in red colors. In the center of the room itself, there is a gold pedestal. Upon it there is a pile of ashes, which look as they have been untouched for ages. Next to them is the vial. Vial is really underselling it, though. It is more of a giant glass jar, filled to the brim with a red liquid. It is almost certainly blood.      Duke Onkled motions forward. "Step forward. Pour what remains of the Hero upon the Ashes. And then... He will be back." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Boom. there goes the window. Deelel and Priscilla, looking on from the ground, see Finna - in human form - emerging amidst the rubble and peering out - without actually pushing her head into view from any other window. She can't see Priscilla obviously, but... after determining this was NOT caused by the guards bleeding out beneath her... she flings both hands out onto what's left of the 'windowsill.' Silvery lines fly down as though rocket propelled, dangling freely. One from each of Finna's palms.     All Priscilla and Deelel need to do is grab on and they'll be hauled up and through the window quickly and quietly!     It's like an elevator made of Essence-charged spidery silk! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel had heard the plan on the comm and it was a pretty good one really. It hopefully would work. She was thinking about what a tight fight it might be to squeeze in thee but she didn't have the issue of interal organs like a organic lifeform would so she thinks she'll be okay. Thankfully it seems Priscilla has a plan in mind and it will make life easier. She gives Priscilla a nod and then looks up making ready, she's also got a few more items attached to her outfit than she normally does. "Here we go, Lady Priscilla." With that she'll get the line and hang on to it hard. She seems focused and she's ready to go, she knows they have been played, as unhappy as she is, the objective is to save the Princess Zelda. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      To Sanary, this is really starting to feel like something that'd be more up Vergil's alley. Son of a demon, probably knowing more about demons in general... But she's agreed to do it, and she's not going to back out now. She's actually rather thankful that he and the 'Rider' are both around to back her up, nodding once at each of them before steppinginto that Shrine. Oddly enough, the sight of the pig-man actually seems to reassure her just a little bit more.      She has to find confidence from /somewhere/ if she wants to get through this properly.      Taking the jar of blood, she doesn't pour it right away, and instead stares at the liquid for a few moments before glancing over at Duke Onkled. "So how's the blood tie into this, anyway? Does this work with anyone's ashes and blood, or...?"      She shuts herself up fairly quickly, at least, apparently realizing that this sort of thing would be best asked after the ritual. She takes a deep breath to ready herself from what's probably going to involve a bit of a mess, then starts pouring the blood onto the ashes slowly and carefully. Not a drop will go to waste, not even to splashing or spillage! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The moment the blood hits the ashes, an intense feeling of dread fills the room. Seconds later, it feels the entire world. Across Gamelon, across Hyrule, the sky goes completely dark for a moment, before changing to a bright red color. Thunderclouds and storms appear throughout the world, completely unseasonal. Every single citizen of the world feels what is happening. Even those indoors, unaware of the change in the sky, find themselves completely nervous about what is happening.      The ashes start to take form. The altar itself melts away. A humanoid shape appears. It's hard to tell if it is the shape of a man, or a beastial monster. Perhaps it is both. The entire room rattles, the statues falling to the ground. Thankfully, everyone within the room remains safe. The immense evil pressure is felt by all present. For weaker people, it would possibly break them. For the ones present? It will make them feel uncomfortable, at most.      A loud beastial scream is heard. It shakes the entire castle The shape of a massive pig man forms within the center of the Shrine of Ganon. Its entire body is cloaked in shadows, but it looks down upon all present. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      After a few moments, the shape of the massive pig-man changes. It shrinks It is a green skinned man, with bright red hair. Sharp, pointed features, a masculine face. He wears leather armor across his entire body, and a long black cape flows from his back. He smiles at the group, looking around.      "Mm. Thank you for your help." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil takes note of the temple's architecture as they enter, the gold design being extravagant yet perhaps a bit too flashy for his own tastes.      It certainly was a testament to the being they were summoning forth, though. Even after how long it must have been, the power of this Ganon must have been nothing short of impressive to still linger here.      Then... the blood pours upon the ashes... and the situation changes once more as the dark presence floods the room.      Vergil is no stranger to evil presences... but the feeling that pours out as the ashes take a more seemingly-mortal form has the Son of Sparda standing tensely as the creature returns to life. Outwardly he may seem relaxed, not so much as flinching as the dark being is reborn - but inwardly... he is perhaps a mix of anxious and curious.      What exactly will the black king of the chess-board move toward? And will it benefit them? This was what the bowman had advocated they turned their back on Agahnim and kill him swiftly to aide... but would he take that action as beneficial to them... or would he simply turn out to be a greater threat?      ... For now... Vergil keeps these thoughts private, instead affording a measure of respect he would keep for a fellow demon as he inclines his head in a bow. "You're welcome, Lord Ganon."      He goes with the stereotypical 'lord' title as his greeting and response. It tends to be the common courtesy, so it will hopefully be a courteous reply in the eyes of the restored presence. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' As the room shakes, Archer grins. They've succeeded, and the Union was incapable of preventing Ganon's return. They now have a powerful ally, and that should also help the Confederacy's perception of him and his Master. Archer bows his head in respect, as he greets the Lord. "Lord Ganon, it is most honorable to meet you. We represent the Confederacy, who we believe would love to have you as an ally, for we know all of your power. If you would be so gracious to join us, we can bring you to the Confederacy at haste." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's legs shake beneath her as that feeling hits her along with pangs of anxiety, dread, and even a bit of regret over what had just happened. It's strangely reminiscient of that feeling she had when the Dragon Balls were used so many months ago, but there's also something... Exciting about it all. Like she's actually done something right for once.      Maybe the Grimleal actually had something going there.      As the pig-man's shape changes, the cleric steps back to give him some personal space before offering him a low bow at the waist.      "It's good to have you with us, Lord Ganon." She refrains from speaking further at first, glancing over at the Rider, then at Vergil. They seem to have defaulted to Lord, but the question just keeps nagging at the healer. Perhaps against her better judgment, she takes a deep breath before rising from that bar and looking straight at the green-skinned man.      "Or do you prefer any other titles? Like King or Emperor or... Anything along those lines? Best get that out of the way before 'Lord' gets stuck in everyone's heads." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The tower is, thankfully, rather empty. The path further up is unguarded. The Duke's forces had assumed, incorrectly, that any attack would have to go through lower levels, and the same for any escape attempt. The guards are stationed lower, and the path further up is safe. It's a walk up a flight of stairs before they finally come to a solid oaken door, with a sturdy lock upon it. It's near impossible to pick from the inside, but from the outside? It should be more than possible.      Down below, Ganondorf looks towards those gathered in front of him. He flexes his hands, cracking his knuckles. An intense amount of dark energy flows through his body, before concentrating within his fists. He gives a sly smile towards those in front of him. He speaks, in a firm and powerful tone. His voice is somewhat booming, filling the entire room without even trying. But, even as he speaks, he looks up towards the direction of the tower. His eyes narrow, for just a moment. He decides not to mention anything. Instead, he looks back to the others.      "I am aware of the situation. Though I have spent a long time dead, that was no reason that one such as I would be /unaware/ of what transpired. You aided in the removal of one of the Twilight, which would have proven a threat. You have collected Majora's Mask, and brought power to it. Power to a potential ally of mine."      He smirks a bit wider, "So, yes. I will join the Confederacy. Onkled. My castle has been taken in my time away. Your castle is now mine, until I can build another. Keep my castle /safe/, until I have returned."      With that, the Duke bows to Ganon, nodding. And then Ganondorf looks towards Sanary, giving her a sly smile, "You can call Ganondorf. Apply Lord, King, or Emperor as you feel needed." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's eye widens at that restrained, yet somewhat obvious show of power from Ganondorf. Was this the sort of power they were trying to bring back all along? Any doubts she had are more or less extinguished, a confident grin given in return to the Gerudo. She does notice that look upwards, but it's not given much attention since if it is anything... Well, someone probably would have mentioned it by now.      Also, Duke Onkled gets something of an apologetic smile from the healer.      "Ganondorf, then. No need to call me 'Lady', in that case. Just Sanary is fine." Granted, it does feel rather nice to be addressed so formally, but... Well, it's more polite to return the favor, right? She's not quite sure what else to say after that, though, looking towards Vergil and the Rider once more.      "I... Guess our job here's done, then?" 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla doesn't even need to be outside to feel that. Something so severely violating the causal flow of death, the return of a soul of that magnitude to earth, that incredible pressure of pure, inarguably evil power; something that doesn't really even /exist/ in Lordran; is completely unmistakable, never mind the skies, the clouds, and the sounds of thunder. "So." she intones vaguely into the radio. "It wouldst seemeth Agahnim was misguided. Princess Zelda is ultimately irrelevant to the revival of the demon. The Confederacy is likewise being so bold as to taketh credit for the action, revealing their presence immediately. There art several courses of action before us."     Of course that's not going to stop her from at least following through with the projected recovery of Zelda, and so the grass bends in a handful of places as an invisible pressure skips great tracts of it at a time, the air pressure flattening it briefly as a series of superhuman leaps take her up the castle walls, midway onto the hanging grapple, and then in through the window behind Deelel. "Sir Fassad. All pertinent information on the demon lord. Immediately." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil gives a respectful nod to Ganon, taking note of how the dead entity had still been able to observe events even when his physical form was deceased... and it seemed they would end up being rewarded for their efforts thus far.      ... inwardly, that rubbed his ego somewhat raw, seeing as Agahnim being taken down alive would have risked the self-proclaimed king trying to sabotage this ritual in all possibility.      It was never enjoyable to think he might have made a mistake had he done things his way... but for now, all he could do was begrudgingly continue to work down their new path and focus on their apparent goal. All while not letting any of that show through.      He gives a glance to Sanary, struggling idly. "I suppose so. Or at least until the Union tries to make some form of attack."      However... they likely ought to keep their guard up. Just because Zelda was not needed for Ganon's revival did not mean she should be reclaimed by the Union - or at least not without a fight. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is now making her way up and into the tower, when she's on her feet and making ready to move for the door? Ganon returns she doesn't so much feel it but her Keyblade does and it's suddenly in her hand without her even willing it there. She senses it's clearly on alert and a souce of light like this might get Ganon's attention but she needs to work and rork fast as she bings up the blade. She focuses for a moment, she's not done this too many times but it doesn't take too long there's a thin beam of white light heaing towards the lock from the Dual Disc, if it works the lock should just end up trigging unlocking it self to allow the team entry, if not she'll have to take other measures. Priscilla does a good deal with summarizing what's going on here too she has thoughts racing through her mind and she just hopes they can be out of here with her swiftly. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna is still the better part of a mile into the air over what is now Ganondorf's castle, and she still can't shake the chill trickling along her spine; by this point, it's crawled right down to her tailbone and is now creeping back upwards like an extremely stubborn mountain-climber. The mission is most important, she keeps reminding herself. As long as Ganon's attention doesn't shift to the rescue mission, they can still get in, nab Zelda, and get out in one relatively-unhindered piece. ... right? Yuna grits her teeth briefly and starts sort-of-rehearsing song lyrics in her head, keeping a solid chunk of her attention ojn the radio for when Finna calls for extraction-cover. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Deelel unlocks the door, Zelda stands from her resting spot. She walks towards it, the lock simply falling from the door. She grabs at the handle, pushing the door open quickly. She looks at the others. Despite the presence of Ganon still being palpable, little fear is upon her face. Instead, determination. Eagerness. She looks to the others with Deelel, speaking calmly as per usual.      "We must make leave of this place at once. Is there a way out of here?"      Thankfully, the skies remain calm. Less calming is the method of leaving the Island of Gamelon that Ganon has prepared, even while remaining inside the castle. Yuna will be able to see it, rising from the ocean. A massive ship made of dark wood, with tattered black sails. Skull designs line across its railing. The water rolls off of it, a crew of skeletal Stalfos standing throughout the deck. It turns in the water, sailing to the dock.      Inside? Ganondorf leads the way. Despite being dead for so long, he definitely knows his way along this place. As he leads the Confederates back to the docks, he speaks, calmly.      "...Do not worry about her. It is better to let her be, for now."      He does not know what the Confederates are discussing. But, he is a wise man. He can guess easily at the concerns the Confederacy has, leaving Zelda here. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     With it seeming more and more likely that they're not going to be unchallenged on the way out, Finna decides that while Deelel's focused on unlocking the door - and probably Zelda's cell - she'll focus on putting up some kind of defense.     Finna hasn't been idle with all of those rupees amassed from monster slaying. She pulls a bag out of Elsewhere and swiftly rigs up a trap using sprays of Essence silk and a handful of deku nuts in said bag.     It's really quite simple. Trip the wire, and have a few impact-detonating deku nuts drop in people's faces.     And she rigs the thing up in about ten seconds easily.     Then walks into the room with Zelda, answering, "Nope. But..." Finna jabs a thumb at Priscilla. "She's gonna make one. Stay clear of the walls, Princess!" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Also of minor note: The red sky has finally begun to fade, turning back to blue. At least that's over with, for now. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Following the whirlwind of activity over the comms, Sanary's looking both more determined and thoroughly confused. She clears her throat before looking over at Rider and Vergil. "Alright, Vergil. Rider. Let's back him up and secure his escape rou-that is a huge boat." Her attention is grabbed rather quickly by the ship coming out of seemingly nowhere, and she hurries up to catch up with the Demon Lord. Her eye darts around rapidly even as they move towards it in relative safely, her attention returning to Ganondorf as she starts to focus her energy into her hands.      "Take some of this. It should help you get a little more... Oh, what's the word." She gives up on trying to figure out the word rather quickly, focusing instead on just transferring raw magical power to Ganondorf. Assuming he doesn't have any wounds that'll need healing, it'll probably all go towards rejuvenating him! She even has enough spare in the tank to direct some energy towards Vergil and 'Rider' just in case, although it's clear that her goal now is to accompany the Demon Lord until he's safely out of harm's way. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' As Sanary makes her orders, Archer nods. He begins to move towards the ship, taking the scouting approach, but he does eat that delicious mana as it's transferred. He grins, before fading away, dematerializing. It's time to escape. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel sees that Zelfa is there she seems very happy that they found the right cell. She bows slightly to the Princes and then nods to Finna. "Yes, Lady Priscilla will be making us a way out soon." She keeps the keyblade ready and does seem on edge, who knows what else is going to happen here after all. Hopefully Finna's got some of the escape plan handled at this point but she doesn't seem worried about that given her allies skill sets. She does however move to guard Zelda and make ready as best she can. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Simple enough. Suspiciously simple, actually. It doesn't hurt them in any way though, and so Priscilla is willing to take it. Ganon can be dealt with later, at a more opportune time. "There shalt be shortly, Princess. Stay close, but not overly so." she says to Zelda, walking over to the outward facing wall. She looks it up and down briefly, and then takes in a deep breath, causing the temperature of the room plummet rapidly, and then releases it as a stream of glittering crystal dust like the snowy haze of a luminescent blizzard, filling the room with the sound of tinkling glass and reeking of magic.     An entire section of the wall crystallizes nigh-instantly, frosting over with a blue-grey shine patterned with whorling streaks of white that eerily resemble faces here and there, creeping outwards like a growing, living thing, continuing to do so even after she stops. Once it encompasses a sizable area, Priscilla takes a step forward, and then strikes it with the back of a curled fist, shattering several feet of what used to be solid rock instantly, letting the returning sunlight stream back in. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil expresses light surprise at Ganon's perceptions, noting that he seems perfectly willing to chance Zelda falling unto Union hands in favor of his escape. Whether or not this was a guess or an educated deduction, Vergil can't tell... but if nothing else, the warlock is as guileful as he is powerful.      "Very well, Lord Ganon... but if nothing else, I shall at least make sure they have a harder time reaching us. Plus, if we get the chance... well, securing her safety will likely be priority. Especially if it seems she's in danger."      Pausing, Vergil turns to face the direction they came from... and reaches into his coat, pulling free a few ritualistic stones.      Then... as he tosses the stones into the air, there is a soft 'chink' of steel as Yamato is pulled free of it's sheath... and drawn across Vergil's own palm, spilling droplets of his blood outward unto the objects in mid-air descent.      And then... between his own power and Sanary's boost, the stones shatter and spill out into a vile-smelling liquid that traverses the floor until it forms a wide summoning circle made of what seems to be blood.      Then... in a burst of red smoke and with a sound like sheering fabric, reality buckles and dark shapes emerge into the land of the living.      Six black-cloaked forms, skeletal hands clasping their bent, reaper-esque scythes. Dark hoods are drawn over their gaunt, ghoulish faces, red eyes gleaming like embers against a flame. Of the Seven Hells of the Demon Army, these - the Hell Prides - are the weakest of the demons Vergil can summon forth.      However... the seventh form is a bit different - tall and lithe in a red-twinged blood-stained cloak with a large fur-lined collar, the Hell Lust was far faster and more agile then the Prides, and, without Sanary's power, Vergil normally wouldn't have been able to summon it without reducing the number Hell Prides down to four.      "Kill anyone trying to stop us... and if you see the Princess... kill her." Vergil commands, a bead of sweat trickling down his brow from the energy he expended on the summoning, the six black-cloaked forms turning to lumber down the halls to deter any pursuing forces. The Hell Lust takes an almost sentinel-like position behind the group of demons, the creatures moving toward the intoxicatingly-powerful scent of souls that would belong to the Union.      Vergil in turn proceeds to catch up with the others, though with less energy then originally. If the Union came after them, they would now at the very least have some opposition to work through. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     When the wall has been toppled down, Finna steps forward. Her human form's already melting and reshaping, arms shifting into great wings but remaining folded carefully. the rest of her follows shortly thereafter. She stands proudly in the gap created by Priscilla, facing the (now) blue skies with the face of a noble, fierce, ENORMOUS eagle that barely fits in the given area. There is enough space to climb on this creature's back, but only JUST BARELY.     "Squeeze on. I'll grow bigger once we're out! And pick up Fassad and his horse if need be. Gonna be a bumpy ride, girls, but we'll manage!"     She's already as big as three horses. SHE CAN GET BIGGER?     But there's plenty of worry in her eyes. might be best to not question.     Looking closely, one will see that this eagle's tail feathers are weirdly colored and shaped, retaining some hints of the foxy aesthetic. The ears are a much bigger pointoff. Zelda and Priscilla will have no trouble seeing them. Deelel may have to squint. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The raw magic being transferred causes Ganondorf to raise an eyebrow. It's not that he is confused. In fact, he is actually a bit more surprised. He is not one who admits to weakness, ever. But, he has, in fact, just revived. Coming back from the dead is not something one does without a bit of difficulty. He has not returned to his full potential yet. The magic entering his body? It will help keep him together for today, even if he is attacked. To him, it is no wonder Sanary is leading this group.      Eventually, he makes his way onto the Ghost Ship, standing amongst the Stalfos and the others. Once the Confederates are aboard, he looks at them all in turn. He says nothing. He is not much of a talker. But, he walks to a throne placed on the deck by the Stalfos. The ship begins to move away from the port, setting sail.      Ganondorf, meanwhile, thinks on one thing: How best to reward those who helped him. After all. One /must/ reward loyalty.      Meanwhile, near the top of the tower, Zelda nods to Priscilla. She is at least familiar with those here. It is reassuring. She follows along, keeping a distance as asked. When the wall is frozen, and shattered, she lifts her arms to block any rubble from hitting her. A magical barrier appears in front of her, to make the task a bit easier.      Finna's transformation into a giant eagle leaves her unphased. It is not the weirdest thing she has seen today. Wordlessly, she moves forward, climbing upon Finna's back. She grabs ahold, showing no sign of fear of the flight ahead of them. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad, meanwhile, frowns at the events occuring. Once again, he is striken by a fact: He is not the hero. If he were, in fact, the hero? He would have been able to go into that castle on his own, fought through everything, and stopped what happened. Finna told him not to. But. He could have just kept going. Was that the wise thing to do? Or is he just afraid?      It matters not for now. Instead, he turns around, guiding his horse back to his own ship. He will return to the mainland, and help with the reconstruction effort. And, most likely, he will tell Zelda the truth about himself soon enough, as well. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is not going to argue about this she'll move on and hang tight she banishes her keyblade in the process as she looks carefully at Finna wait fox ears ona hawk? Well there's no way she could forget this even if she wasn't a basic that much. She's going to hang on for dear life howeve.r She gets the idea it's time to go. She hears Finna is pretty much at her limit right now. She Makes ure everyone else is okay. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil takes his place by Sanary, though the fact that he's lost some energy is probably evident considering the sweat-droplets that have dried against his forehead. Of course, he is now in the process of wiping them away a bit as he runs a hand back through his hair to make sure it doesn't fall down over his face.      That being done, he did find himself looking over the Ghost Ship with interest, as well as noting that Ganon himself seemed to prefer speaking with actions rather then words, which he could very much respect.      He also takes note of a sight farther up - the large eagle form that had rather abruptly materialized out of nowhere.      The Union's escape strategy, likely. A shame they couldn't do anything to stop it - not without drawing attention directly onto themselves... but still, at the very least, he'd like to think his 'parting gift' to them would prevent them from pursuing... or direct focus on protecting Zelda if they took her near them,     The six Hell Prides soon lumber through the halls, tracking the scents of powerful souls to feed upon - the souls of the Union members. The creatures are slow and individually weak, reliant on their numbers to cover each-other... but together, they may be a hassle for Elites if nothing else.      The Hell Lust on the other hand, screaming and hissing as it shoots down the halls swiftly and ravenously, soon may come upon someone to hassle and occupy as it takes to patrolling the castle's interior for the Union, almost as if daring anything to come after it even while actively seeking out a target to stalk. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Finna and the others seem to be safely on their way out of Gamelon; Yuna hovers for a few seconds longer, making sure her friends aren't drawing attacks from anyone on the ground, before following their lead - still well out of nominal sight of the ground, and (she's comfortably certain) *way* out of attack range. She's not letting her guard down, though. She's still got the screaming heebie-jeebies about ... she has to presume it's Ganon's resurrection she had an instinctive reaction to; it's the most convenient explanation to fit the facts as she knows them. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     INDEED! OFF they go. It's a bumpy ride but the great eagle's wings are enough to carry all three OUT.... and Finna grows TWICE as large once she's clear of the tower. With a triumphant, screechy SHRIEK the huge bird takes off, speeding up gradually but very noticeably. And flies RIGHT overhead of the black ship.     They may need someone to clean the deck later. Possibly several someone's.     ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! 

}}

3516/Siege on Hyrule Castle

2015-12-14T03:51:17Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/12/12 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Union lays siege on Hyrule Castle, while the Confederacy turns on Agahnim. |Thanks= ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/12/12
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Union lays siege on Hyrule Castle, while the Confederacy turns on Agahnim.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=70, 73, 248, 385, 513, 626, 714, 789, 804, 805, 864, 878, 879, 880, 891, 908, 924
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      At long last, the time has come for Hyrule Castle to be sieged. It is time for the Union to try and place Princess Zelda back upon the throne. They meet, just south of the castle, gathering under the cover of darkness. Fassad waits for the group, hiding behind various trees and jutting out rocks on the trail between the Castle and the City. He has left his horse behind today, and his Shinki. In a situation like this, he is unwilling to risk those two. It seems he is willing to risk himself, nonetheless.      The plan is simple: Rush in, and seek out Agahnim. Fassad will use the Master Sword to break the barrier surrounding the Castle. The path forward will be open. And, they will make a straight rush for Agahnim. The problem will be stopped straight at the source.      The sun begins to rise, and the light shines down upon the land. The vast towers of Hyrule Castle cast shadows upon the land. With the morning light, some of Agahnim's forces can be seen. About ten men in heavy armor are patrolling the walls, wearing green-colored armor and helmets that conceal most of their faces. Those with better eyesight can see the armor is, in fact, empty. These are animated soldiers created to protect Agahnim. In general, there seems to be very little for forces. Fassad's report is likely correct: Agahnim has sent most of his forces elsewhere.      Fassad smiles, looking towards his allies. A sword is within his right hand. It, at a glance, might be mistaken for a normal blade. Looking closer, and one can see and feel a glimpse of what it really is.      And, within the walls, it has turned out this is true. Bare bones forces are present, simply enough to defend the castle against most forms of attack. Agahnim is still present, sitting in the throne room of the Castle.The massive red-cloaked man clutches the armrests of the opulent golden throne, his eyes narrowed and looking forward. He put a call out for Confederates to come for a meeting with him. They have been gathered before him, so that he might have an audience with them.      The look on Agahnim's face is unpleasant, to say the least. He is a man seething with fury. He is restraining it, as best as he can. He speaks as calmly as he can to the Confederates before him.      "I have called you here to ask you but one question. I understand that our alliance is... loose. I have not officially allied with you all. You have been aiding me, in exchange for things to come down the road. You have aided me in killing three of the four Great Fairies. But. You've been doing /more/, haven't you? I learned through the Union of your destruction of the Deku Tree. Death Mountain is suffering, as well. I sent out scouts to investigate. And, I ask this of you."      And then, Agahnim's voice becomes booming. His restrained rage is let out, and an intense magical pressure fills the entire room.      "Why are you empowering Majora's Mask, allying with an ancient malevolent God that is almost certain to bring about Hyrule's destruction? The destruction of the land /I/ plan to rule?" 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED answers readily when the question is asked, and he answers very simply. "I am a Knight, my lord. When I am tasked to perform a mission, my answer is 'Yes, my lord.' I do not presume to know why this path was chosen, but if you have issues with them I will not hesitate to defend my honour." And with that, he mounts the tall black machine that is his Armour. Locking himself inside its defensive shields and putting a hand on the monofilament broadsword. "This is the first I hear of you raising issues with that path, perhaps you should have mentioned it sooner?" 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     NO WI-FI SIGNAL.     Gudako looks up from her cellphone as she makes it through Hyrule Castle for the rendez-vous. She is accompanied by two ethereal presences, obviously powerful spirits.     "How drab. Caster, what do you think?" 8D     "I would decorate differently, master~." answers the disembodied female.     "It's missing something, isn't it?" 8D     Gudako glances down at her cellphone again.     NO WI-FI SIGNAL.     She finally arrives in the throne room, a bit late. She hears the outcry about a mask, the defense of the space knight. She idly chips in: "We're your allies, right? So, whatever power it gives us, you get to use too, you know? It's win-win." 8D     Gudako glances down at her cellphone again.     NO WI-FI SIGNAL.     Gudako frowns. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' Standing amongst the crowd is a man in his mid-40s, wearing a beggar's cloak. His face is partially concealed by the hood, and his entire body is wrapped in it, hiding whether or not he wears armor. What is clear is that he's immensely magical, and that everything he wears is made of magic. Archer steps forward as Agahnim berates them, smooth and clear, but at the same time, comforting. "Lord Agahnim, please lower your voice and calm yourself. Such stress and anger will not help anyone, especially if we are yout allies in any form, nor will it solve our issues. Yes, we give the Mask power, but why we do so, you do not truly know, nor can I say. It is not an attempt to meddle with your plans, nor to ruin your kingdom, for the alliance we are building with you, we want strong and firm until the end. Please trust us, lord, for we have done nothing but trust you and follow your wishes." Despite not looking it, Archer seems to be specialized in words. His delivery is smooth, everything enunciated clearly and at a firm pace to allow all ears to hear and understand his words. Once he's done speaking, he steps back with the others, waiting to see what else is said. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary, as expected, arrives at Hyrule Castle fairly early in her heaviest combat gear: the Berserk Tetsucabra's armor, a kite shield on her back, a folded riot shield attached to one of her guantlets, and a gunaxe on her hip. It's a little much, but she's not wearing it because she's expecting any sort of outside interference today. Rather... Well, she has to be prepared for any possibility now that the Fairies are dead.      Apparently, it might even be a possibility that Agahnim himself is aware of, if the question is any indication. She keeps her non-shielded hand against the side of her helmet, blocking out some of that volume before lowering it once he finishes. She takes a moment to weigh her words before finally speaking up, a tired sigh escaping her. "Better than letting it power up and actually destroy Hyrule, right? If we controlled it, though, then there's no risk of any of this getting destroyed while we both get the power involved in all of this."      Gudako and the hooded Archer each get a nod in agreement. A light smirk crosses the cleric's face a moment later as she turns from them to Agahnim once again. "He's got the right idea. Speaking of power, though... We've completed our part of the agreement. Now it's your turn." 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' Within the throne-room is a diminuative woman dressed in pink and white, a hat that is a good foot, and also an outfit that seems to belong more in a band than it really does out in the open. Despite that, she doesn't seem to be bothered by the question is that answered. "Well, if it's a destructive force, I'm all for it being empowered. You can rule over if it's dead, you know~. It'll just be stronger because there's less weaklings cowering. Then you're only left with those worth existing." Fighting with the unwrapping of a hard candy, Nonon tilts her head a bit before leaning back against a pillar. "I'd rather have a just a few elites than a thousand novices. If there's going to be a harmony, I don't want everyone just screaming their lungs out, they have to know what they're doing." Then, she silences herself on a jumbo gumball. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil, arriving in his typical attire, joined the defenders at Hyrule Castle shortly, having taken a moment to observe from the ramparts or any available vantage for signs of their enemies.      He sensed many powerful presences... in higher numbers then their own. Something that boded ill for them, and highlighted why eliminating the Union would be the first priority.      After that... they could decide what to do about Agahnim.      Vergil had been present for the deaths of two out of the three slain fairies and the destruction of the Deku Tree - the latter a key part of reviving Majora's Mask - and he'd advocated the idea that, should Agahnim's reward be lesser then what they could gain for making their own move against him that they should take it. But that in turn required first dealing with the threats to Confederate interests in this world - chief among them being the Union. r      After that... then they could see which way the wind blew and take it from there.      ... if only it were ever that simple.      Agahnim's thunderous bellow has Vergil looking over his options, somewhat surprised that the self-proclaimed ruler of Hyrule had found out about the Mask so quickly.      It was... unfortunate, in that whatever reward they were likely to get was probably going to be withheld by Agahnim unless someone spoke out. And given the lack of volunteers...      "As the Knight said, we were never vowed to do anything more or less then kill the Great Fairies. As for the reason for empowering the mask... I personally don't know what the original intent for it was, though suppose you can call it an insurance plan." He gestures to the walls idly. "I don't know if you've looked out there, but with most of your army presently gone we are now rather outgunned in terms of manpower against the Union Elites"      Vergil's words are made to appeal to to Agahnim as best he could with reasoning - it would be... ill-advised for them to have to fight two enemies at once. "If we end up having to abandon this castle for whatever reason... the Mask's power might be the only trump card left for us to play, lest you be utterly deposed without any way to maintain your rule. We've agreed to help you, and we're confident in our ability to uphold that deal... but it never hurts to have a contingency, now does it?"      He isn't even lying, really - if things go wrong with the upcoming battle, they would need the Mask and it's power to ensure the effort put into Hyrule wasn't wasted... though whether or not Agahnim would be part of that future was subjective.      After all, it depended entirely on whether or not Agahnim made the sensible choice here and now.      "Anyway, it will only come down to that /if/ we get driven back. However, if that's not enough for you, I'll point out that a loss will become all the more likely if we start arguing amongst ourselves now; at the very least, we'd be better off driving back our common enemy - the Union and their 'champion' - and settling this once we're sure your rule remains uncontested."      At the end, Vergil also gives glances of approval to Archer, Nonon, Gudako & Sanary "Like they said, we've worked with you throughout this, we all stand to gain from this, we have done all you asked of us. Our fates are already tied here - we have no need to quarrel, and any lingering reasons will have to wait until later... after the battle is won."      Try to inspire some confidence that they either can win or believe they can - the latter being true... the former being possible. And only possible if they all stood as one. Otherwise... they'd already lost. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Hopefully the 'good guy' plan doesn't involve stealth, as Frederica is riding up to the castle in the belly of a fire elemental. Frederica really doesn't do subtle, not if she can help it.     And why WOULD they need to be subtle? The castle is covered by an impenetrable shield, right? Agahnim sitting happily inside his little bubble ought to be not-at-all threatened by anything approaching. He doesn't know the Union, and Fassad in particular, intends to burst his bubble. Once that shield goes down, things are going to get unsubtle in a hurry... so she figures why not arrive in style and comfort? 

:'''{{#var:879|Yalai the Stave (879)}} has posed:''' Two of the Hyruleans here are not of Hyrule at all. They had come from the far-flung realm of Skyloft, a time-lost land in the clouds, to lend their aid to their allies in the Union and the siege of this castle in darkness' grasp. So it is that the shadow of great, wide wings falls over the area where the Union forces gather. Presently a great bird dives down from the clouds, before pulling up from the ground at the last moment to alight on large, stork-like feet. The bird snaps its bill once, cocking its head to eye the gathering with its reddish eyes. As the bird tilts its head, it gives its rider a chance to stand up against the harness around its chest. Yalai the Stave's stark white hair, pale skin, and red eyes pop up from behind her bird, and she grins her familiar fox-like grin -- but this is not the Yalai that Fassad had once known. Indeed, there's no recognition in her blood-red eyes, or she might be busy trying to smack Fassad upside the back of the head for old times' sake. Instead, she hops down from her Loftwing. Her black cloak is embroidered with the Weeping Eye -- truly, it must be an ancient symbol to come from the Sky Realm itself -- and she wears the same familiar black tunic and leggings. She does something behind her back and produces a quarterstaff, carved with pale runes. Whirling it in a practised arc, it comes to rest bobbing at her side, in perfect control. Yalai smiles thinly, tilting her head to Fassad in greeting, the delicate chain in her right ear chiming softly. "You are having help from the Skyloft Knights, and we of the Servants of the Goddess as well, yes?" The quarterstaff rises to stand upright, halting against the bone of her wrist with a theatrical, practised /crack/. She steps forward, lightly, and comes to stop in the light before Fassad, inclining forward into a formal bow. It's just a little too articulated for human movement; too eerily agile. "The Sheikah." 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     A simple plan! Kyra likes it and can't find anything wrong with it. Except maybe the assaulting the castle part, that is always tricky due to the inherant advantage a castle has. Though from what Kyra can see, there doesn't seem to be as many guards here as expected-which actually makes her kind of wary.     She waits, of course, at the rear atop a Chocobo Called from her summon matrix. When 'there', the bird seems to behave like a real chocobo and even paws back and forth while waiting, pecking at the ground or any floppy enough pieces of clothing to those that get too close. The rest of Kyra is obviously kitted out for some HARDCORE, AGGRESSIVE SUPPORT today, especially as she sports the GLEAMING GRENADIER'S CURE-ALL on her back.     While she waits for the signal to charge, she starts casting the basic diagnostic spell Scan on things. The barrier. Allies. The Master Sword.     "I'll be keeping to the back, by the way." Kyra announces, holding up her Galiandan hunting rifle, already pre-loaded with darts of some indeterminant kind. "Give me a radio with your position if you need any support, healing especially. Today feels like a good day so I promise there won't be any..." she glances to her Servant, "..uh, mishaps. Good luck everyone!" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Normally, when it comes to assaulting a fortified castle, Yuna's first thought is El-Line. But given that the objective is less about taking the castle down and more about getting INSIDE the castle, Yuna's elected to use a smaller option. Somewhat smaller, anyway. Rather than the regular blue-and-white of her Light Suit, then, when Yuna joins Fassad and the other Unionites wherever they, the Savior of Light is outfitted in a green-and-white exoskeletal battleframe, two larger manipulator arms mounted on the suit's shoulders while Yuna's own arms are clad in extra armor - still entirely usable, but it's Powered Form's exo-arms that do the proverbial heavy lifting. One of those exo-arms already sports her kite shield, Shugoseiheki, while Yuna's own arms hold the Matrix Divider at the ready; the suit's legs don't look too practical for running, but Yuna's used Powered Form often enough to know how it handles.. She hasn't used her Powered Form as a siege-breaker before - and technically, she STILL isn't using it for that purpose. But for the purposes of charging into the teeth of the enemy's defenses, knocking them down, and invading the castle? It should work just fine. "Thanks, Kyra," Yuna says with a smile. "Good luck to all of us." She glances up at Frederica's fire elemental, then looks around at the other Unionites and friendlies. Hopefully, luck won't even come into it. ... but Yuna takes a moment to pray silently to the Queen of Light for guidance and support, nonetheless. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     There is NO SIGN OF FINNA anywhere. Which is maybe worrying. Or maybe relieving.     But it doesn't last. not for the sharpeyed among the group. A mouse, tiny as they get, has managed to climb up Fassad while he was busy turning to smile. And now it's sitting proudly on a shoulder, up against his neck.     The tiny creature hoists itself upright, delicate paws against Fassad's cheek...     And just starts LICKING an earlobe for a second.     Then ZOOMS over to the OTHER shoulder.     "Remember!" Sayeth the Mouse, in Finna's voice. "Dead people don't get rewarded in any way. I'll watch your back. You convince that sword to do what it exists to DO." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' SARAH PARSLE stands in the forest, not really standing out much from the trees and rocks around her. She's mostly just standing there glooming around, thus repelling most small woodland creatures that tend to gather around young women in fantasy woodland settings. A Disney Princess she is not. "Okay, Blondie. This is it, huh?" She says, and peeks out around the tree to look out at the castle. "So we just need to get you in there, let you punch the barrier, and roll in to kick the evil wizard's ass?" She pauses, and turns to look over to the new woman arriving with the bird and unusual heraldry on their cloak. "Huh. You're new. Here to help out now that we did all the heavy lifting?" She doesn't wait for an answer. "I don't care, it's fine with me. Welcome to the pain train." She says dryly. "Name's Sarah. We're all working with Blondie McToothgleam over there. Pay no attention to the burning hellfire woman there, she's totally not the giant distraction." Sarah thumbs over to Frederica at that. 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      Nero was here in spirit form. No need to be materialized right now. Of course Kyra and anyone else with any amount of arcane sense could pick up her incorporeal form. She was positioned ahead of her Master, silent, but prepared.      At Kyra's mention of 'mishaps', Nero's voice echoes out with a tone of sarcasm. "Oh yes. I shall endeavor to keep you free of any 'mishaps', Praetor." If she were materialized, she probably would have been giving the white mage a pointed look.      She was never going to live down getting turned into a statue. Nope. Never.      Once the time came to charge, she would materialize and do just that. But not a moment sooner. No need to waste prana just yet. 

:'''{{#var:891|Aedan MacCarvill (891)}} has posed:'''     Accompanying Yalai is a much larger, more unwieldy man. He has to land his Loftwing a small distance away, because it and he are far too large to land in a group of people. Aedan clambers off with a rattle of mail, waving his own bird off as he strides over to join the Sheikah near the rest of them. On closer examination (and hearing), he clinks and rattles quite a bit more than just mail. A quiver hangs at one hip, and his belt is ringed with small bottles full of strangely colored liquid that don't seem to be holding to any sort of specific consistency.     "Did you introduce us while I was still in the air?" He asks of Yalai, his expression somewhere between amused and annoyed. Assuming that she did, he introduces himself anyway, "I'm Aedan, Rescue Knight. We'd heard of other Hyrules in trouble, so we came out to lend a hand. Ours has been pretty quiet for a while now, except for the colonization efforts and... you know. This." He waves around vaguely, and also seems to be ignorant as to who Fassad is. So goes the Multiverse.     A glance is cast towards Sarah, "No, no... nothing like that. We're recent arrivals. Suddenly the sky opens up and the borders are all wrong. You know how it goes, I'm sure." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Well she had promised to be here, or rather, Priscilla had promised to see Fassad safely through at least this much. She hasn't been so comically predisposed towards heroic guarantees as to promise Fassad that he'd survive Agahnim himself, but she's come alongside him as the proper action to dignify his being brave enough to accept what she had to say and come to Hyrule castle regardless of being rejected by the Master Sword. For the moment, she has no idea of Majora's Mask, and whatever it is or wants, or what the Confederacy has to do with it, though at least some inkling that their recent activities of killing off parts of Hyrule may be against the grand sorcerer's modus operandi, and so she fully expects to have to fight them as well. It's certainly been a while since she has. Two years at least since she's done so in earnest. It's a strangely nostalgic, but not altogether good feeling, to be at a staging grounds with allies like this again.     Priscilla been here for a while already. Her particular skillset and incredible capacity for patience and ignorance of the elements often makes that the case in situations like these. Most of these Unionites she knows, at least passingly. A good deal have been with Fassad from nearly the start. She's past the point of automatically (greatly) mistrusting supposed allies that she doesn't know by now, and so it seems like as decent a force as any. She does little more than glance to each new arrival however, clearly fixated on something unspoken to anyone thus far; the active and alert equivalent of being lost in thought. "Is this all, then?" she asks in passing, fingering the oddly twisted cage of titanite wires suspending the unblinking blue eye over her collarbone, momentarily obscuring a certain 'scar'. "If so, it wouldst do very well for a handful of us to proceed ahead. I wilst not hath Sir Fassad walk out into the open to deliver the blow to the barrier, only to be riddled with arrows on sight." Putting her money where her mouth is, she disappears in a gust of utterly frigid wind, travelling out ahead unseen. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Agahnim tries to remain calm as the Confederates offer his explanation. His mouth is covered somewhat by the red robes he wears, but it is almost certain that he is frowning behind them. The look of his eyes, the narrowing of them, makes it almost certain.      At least, he does not shout again. It is most obvious that he wants to. Especially at Nonon's words. So many explanations are given. Agahnim has started to wonder if the Confederates are stumbling over their own lies about why they are after the mask.      He looks to Sanary, first. She asked for the reward. He closes his eyes. "The reward, the Golden Power known as the Triforce, is nearly in our grasps. That is, in fact, /why/ the troops are gone. We'll have to see if they can clean up this mess. With Zelda held by her uncle, the situation is worse than you can possibly imagine. We /need/ to reclaim her, in order for us to claim the Triforce. That is why I sent most of my army. But, there is no way the Union can possibly get past the barrier. Even if they /do/, I have enough forces present to hold them back."      His eyes open. He clenches at his throne a bit more. A glare is given to all of them. "It doesn't matter if you think the Mask could be of use. It is far too dangerous. And, it will turn against all of us. I give you but one option: Give me the Mask, so that I might Reseal it, and banish the Dark God sealed within once again. Majora must /not/ return."      "Oooh, I think you've got some other problems than just the mask, right now~." A somewhat playful, melodic voice speaks out. Its words are somewhat alien sounding. An unusual woman walks out of the shadows of the throne room. Her skin is a light blue in color, her hair a striking orange. She wears a hooded black cape, cloth over her torso, and a long skirt. Strange glowing tattoos cover her body. She smirks at the edge of her lip, looking towards the Confederates.      "Some enemies are nearby. Your barrier is about to fail~. We'll have to beat them the old fashioned way."      The woman looks towards the Confederates, her eyes piercing and red. "Oh. We haven't met, have we? I'm Midna, Queen of the Twilight Realm." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad nods at Frederica, smiling. He gives similar to Yuna. He is about to greet them, but then, he spots Yalai. His eyes go wide for a second at the bird she is riding upon. And then, it hits him. Her mannerisms, the lack of recognition... They are from a different land. The comment about 'Skyloft' confirms it. He still grins, though, speaking calmly and regally despite his non-royal nature. "Ah. It is a pleasure to have you here, Yalai." He turns to Aedan as well, "And to you as well, Aedan. Let me introduce myself. I am Prince Fassad, of Arcadia. And... I am currently borrowing the power of the Master Sword, at least for today." He assumes they'll know the importance of the Master Sword. Most Hyrule-offshoots do.      He looks towards Sarah, smirking, "As eloquent as always. But, yes. We are going to fight Agahnim now. The barrier should, in theory, be opened by the Master Sword." Despite himself, he's grown used to Sarah's ways... And he wants to stay on her good side. She is one of the few who know he is not, in fact, a Prince.      And then Finna licks him in mouse form. Fassad's entire body goes straight, eyes going wide. He grits his teeth. He is so close to knocking Finna off his shoulder. It's a good thing she finally speaks. He sighs, looking down towards the mouse. "...Don't worry. I will use the Master Sword as per how it should be."      And finally, he looks towards Priscilla. He smiles towards her. She has, most certainly, been one of his most stalwart allies. He looks towards her, speaking, "...Don't worry. If anyone wishes to help keep me safe on the path to the barrier, they may. It should be outside the reach of their arrows, though. Let us go."      Fassad walks forward. The barrier around the castle, visible before him. It is a giant sphere surrounding the place, electricity vibrating through it. Even while being a few steps away from the barrier, the force of it is affecting Fassad. His white cape blows in the wind, along with his long blonde hair. His eyes close, as his entire body braces against the repelling force of the wall. He knows from the reports that so much as touching it can lead to being electrocuted. He also knows that the Master Sword has not fully accepted him. Will it, at least, act in this case?      He lifts the sword above his head. In this early morning light, it reflects against the sun. He pulls it back behind him, still holding it tightly in his right hand. And, with all of his force, and all of his power, he slashes forward. The blade strikes the barrier. There is a massive burst of power, from the Barrier and from the Sword. Fassad screams out, closing his eyes as he tries to use every bit of his body to push the Master Sword forward.      There is a flash of light. The entire landscape is illuminated in its brightness. As the light begins to clear, the barrier is gone. For the first time since the Twilight fell, Hyrule Castle is now open.      Fassad stares forward. His mouth hangs open, just slightly. Even though the Master Sword rejected him as its owner? He managed to do it.      "CHARGE!" Fassad shouts, rallying his allies to begin the siege. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' That's all Yuna really needed; as soon as the barrier goes down (and Elner confirms it), she powers up her suits hover-thrusters, rising about half a foot off the ground, and accelerates forward with more thrusters pushing her in the direction she wants to go: straight towards the palace gates. If Priscilla is already in the vanguard, Yuna's not exactly looking to displace *her* - but if Priscilla stays invisible, it's up to her to get out of the way if Yuna comes roaring up behind her. If there were any opposition to be seen, Yuna would be opening fire on them already, one way or the other. As it is, if nothing DOES show up to stand in the good guys' way, Yuna doesn't plan to come to a stop until she's inside the castle's front hall ... preferably by OPENING the front doors instead of just bowling through them and taking them halfway (or all the way) off their hinges. Either way, she's not going to let them STOP her - or any of her allies. 

:'''{{#var:879|Yalai the Stave (879)}} has posed:''' The Sheikah blinks somewhat owlishly, all the wind seized from her sails, and swivels to look at Aedan as he clatters his way up to the gathering; those red eyes go a bit blank. Did she--oh. Whoops. Yalai clears her throat. "No. Not you." That's okay, because he introduces himself anyway. She sidles a little closer to the much taller Skyloft Knight, dubiously eyeing the glass bottles hanging from his belt. None of them will explode, /probably/. Right? Sarah Parsle is eyed for a moment, thoughtful; the Sheikah finally grins, showing teeth just a hair too pointed. "Heh. That does not mean I cannot still be helping, yes...?" When Fassad introduces himself, and indicates the Master Sword, her eyes turn to the weapon -- and widen, the Sheikah herself staring in evident wonder. "The Blade of... no, that is not being the Goddess Sword. But it looks close..." Yalai frowns. No time to think on it. They've got their opening. With a curt nod to Aedan, Yalai whirls her quarterstaff, fetches it up against the back of her wrist, and lunges forward -- straight for the shadows of the trees. Her shape seems to waver, and then fade from view entirely the moment she's no longer focused on directly. It seems she's scaled one of the trees, leaping and sprinting lightly from bough to bough, but it's hard to spot. She's almost a blur, only taking back to the open fields when she's run out of trees and shadows to hide among. The Sheikah will pace her allies right up to the front gate, whereupon she'll dart inside -- and immediately swerve off to the side, nearly spinning on her heel in her haste to stuff herself into the nearest shadowed corner of Hyrule Castle's foyer. Yalai doesn't quite vanish, but it's pretty damned close. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     There's some confusion on Finna's part when Aedan and Yalai arrive. The latter's voice she recognizes though, so the mouse decides to not worry about it too much. The more help the better!     What matters more is this barrier. Just APPROACHING it... Fassad doing that's made all her little mouse hirs stand on end, sizzling with a static charge. ALL PUFFED UP.     She has not noticed this, and it persists even after the barrier's brought down. All thanks to how hard she had to HOLD ON to Fassad's armor with that much energy flying around!     The little mouse gapes and squeaks once. Very impressed indeed! "Wooohooo! that worked! We're in!" She's cheering like a little girl! Just that excited.     "We don't need a mythical hero to oust this jerk from his stolen throne. Teamwork's more than enough!" 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "We'll trade the mask for your end of the deal." MORDRED informs Agahnim of the conclusion they have just reached. "We have not brought it along regardless, and I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to." The Knight bows from within his Armour, it moving with his gesture. "Your majesty. I am Prince MORDRED, Knight Errant, lord of Mercury, son of the High King of Earth. It is my pleasure. Please forgive me for my rudeness, but I believe the enemy is at the gate and we have little time for pleasantries." Thus said, Glare-NT's maneuvering thrusters engage, and the Knight draws his monofilament broadsword. His systems are analyzing all sensor input to try to determine the direction of the incursion, before heading that way. If he's right, he'll stay out of close range long enough for allies to be there... if not, he'll look foolish. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Once with everyone, Frederica dismisses the fire elemental, pulling all its flame and energy within her once more. It's really not much good in a mass battle, particularly one where she can already hide behind more willing melee fighters and just throw ranged fiery death at archers and stuff.     "Good to see you all." she says pleasantly to those she recognizes from previous missions. Yes, even little miss snark Sarah. The only one who gets a less than warm greeting is Finna, mostly because the shapeshifter is so eager to tease and lick people. Not that Freddie has any problem with being licked by adorable little animals or anything; she just draws the line at sentient ones that do it to tease. Well, seemingly to tease.     When the barrier comes down, Frederica is not one of the first to charge. She can run, certainly. She's preferring to stay back a bit, that's all. Having been warned of archers she readies her powers to counter them. Any arrows will be met with return fire of the most literal sort. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sighing again, Sanary crosses her arms as Agahnim explains why that reward won't be coming today. "Well. That's just great. This better be worth the wait..." Her attention turns to the stranger coming through, a hand reaching for her guanxe before pausing at the mention of the barrier that couldn't possibly fall falling.      And then she laughs. "Sanary. Good meeting you, Queen Midna." She brings her free hand up in a quick salute, glancing over at a window when the unbreakable barrier breaks. "... You were saying, Agahnim?" A smirk tugs at the corners of her mouth as she heads for the entrance to the throne room, unfolding the riot shield while removing the kite shield from her back to have both of them at the ready.      "MORDRED's got the right idea... Worry about the intruders first. You want to meet 'em outside, or funnel them in through here and just blow up anything that moves?" She pauses for a moment before stepping away from the direct path to the doorway, keeping her shields raised and watching that door with a cautious eye.      She doesn't want to be hit by friendly fire, after all. 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' As the declaration is made, Nonon shrugs and begins to walk away, unenthused. "Well, I don't really do charity gigs anyways." She mutters, almost planning on simply bailing. As everyone else begins to make haste to certain parts of the castle, the member of the Four Chairmen isn't really worried about what is going on. "Might be worth it though just to find a reason to slap them around." It's conflicting, but being ordered around is less than pleasant. Except by Satsuki-chan~ <3 <3 <3. Nonon eventually claims a hallway, wide as it is, and just leans against it. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' Archer sighs as Agahnim's distrust in them shows. They likely won't be able to convince him tonight, and it certainly seems like they won't have the time either way. As the forces charge in and the barrier is destroyed, Archer tips his head briefly to Midna in greeting, before looking towards the doors. "Allow me to get into position. May the gods favor you all." Lifting his hand up, Archer summons a bow, making it obvious to anyone who knows stuff about Servants that he is indeed likely Archer-Class. Archer then proceeds to dematerialize, dashing through the halls and leaping onto one of the balconys, where he crouches for cover. Rematerializing, he aims his bow towards the door and waits. It's time. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     That kind of barrier is something else. Priscilla had been expecting something a little lower key than that. Subtle but powerful wards, perhaps. The giant sphere of coruscating energy that appears as Fassad approaches it reminds her more of the seals broken only by the Lordvessel a year ago more than anything else, more keenly impressing that Agahnim is either an incredible showoff or greatly deserves his reputation. Possibly some of both. She's actually about to try and step in as Fassad seems to be about to falter, but ultimately, as she predicted, the Sword knows when it is sorely needed, even if it hasn't had its first choice in heroes, and so the way is cleared.     Even if it has been quite a while since she's participated in any operation like this, that kind of experience doesn't leave one very quickly; especially someone with such a long memory. Old allies like Yuna can correctly assume that she's already moving well up the front, even if they can't see her, emboldened to a position of vanguard by the relative safety of her doing so. They can also correctly assume that she knows how to maneuver around allies, having a flawless track record of not keeping out of paths of movement and lines of fire. Doing so is especially trivial now with the ludicrous increase in physical parameters afforded to her by the Lordsouls.     Any soldiers immediately in the party's way will be taken care of as a matter of course, playing the part of an invisible wind of death. Small numbers of them may be destroyed before anyone even gets to see them. Her goal however, is very obviously the throne room. She's reaching out with her extra senses more than trying to memorize the castle layout, assuming that someone as powerful as Agahnim will be impossible to miss even from a significant distance, and unlikely to be trying to hide his presence whilst secure within his own fortress. This may or may not include a number of the Confederates with him as well. 

:'''{{#var:891|Aedan MacCarvill (891)}} has posed:'''     "... Prince, huh? Nice to meet you." Aedan casts a rather wary look towards Fassad, now. It seems like this one has a bit of a predilection towards looking down on the upper class as well, though as Fassad is holding what closely resembles the Goddess Sword, it looks like he gets a lot more benefit of the doubt than had been offered by the previous iteration of this guy that Fassad had met.     Or maybe he's just more agreeable in general.     He shields and closes his eyes as Fassad breaks the barrier. Too damn bright, though he's sturdy enough not to be blown away by all the power flying around. Aedan blinks very rapidly in the wake of it all, offering a vaguely appreciative whistle at the spectacle of it all. Yalai says most of what he would have, and the questions really can wait until later anyway.     The Knight of Skyloft backs off from the group entering from the front, and it turns out that his whistle had been to his Loftwing. He mounts up and lifts off, heading towards the skies over Hyrule Castle and peering about. He's looking for alternate routes in, as well as to see if any of the walls are manned. 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     The dark wizard says stuff about a mask again, and generally grumps about dark powers, evil gods, betrayal, a princess, and some demands he has. Gudako's eyes flick back to her     chr">NO WI-FI SIGNAL.     One of her eyes twitches. That noise, that's the noise of time-a-wasting. That's the noise of AP building up. What was it at before she came? She thought for sure she could just spend it while handling this, so she put it off.     Her train of thought is interrupted by the obvious rumble that accompanies the breaking of the barrier. The magus glances up, then towards Agahnim, and then ponders. "Caster, Berserker, hunker down. They're going to try to get in here, so it's kind of pointless to go elsewhere." Gudako turns towards her allies, regaining her dead-eyed, empty stare and big smile.     "Outside, huh? Nah, you guys can go play there if you want. I'll stay here. With the dark wizard and the queen." She glances to her side.     Caster finally materializes, the blue-robed, pink-haired foxgirl appearing out of blue specks of lights and magic. She... pulses, briefly? Maybe she's just establishing her body.     This pulse provides Priscilla with something to home in on.     It almost seems deliberate. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     "..eh heh." Kyra laughs nervously, "I have no doubt you will, Nero. I have complete trust in that you being here will mean that I am completely safe from harm." She sounds like she means it. It's totally not sarcasm. /Definitely not/.     She observes intently as Fassad works the Master Sword, her eyes widening in surprise as she watches. "Nice...very nice."     Just before everyone charges, Kyra chants, "Shield these heroes in their charge!" she calls out, gesturing both hands ahead of her, dropping her weapon for a second. It doesn't fall, held to her by a strap. "PROTECTGA!"     Once that's done, she makes her chocobo charge forward, following after those assaulting the castle, careful not to draw aggro before she needs to. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "I sure as hell won't be arguing." Sarah responds to Yalai, and shrugs to Aedan. "Like I said, I don't actually care. You look like you can actually fight, which is more than I can say for myself, really." She looks out over the castle and shields her eyes as Fassad brings down the barrier. "Let's get to work." Sarah says, hanging back just long enough to begin scurrying forward. She seems more focused on avoiding enemies than taking them down, using rubble and environment and the loud, explosive, and powerful allies with her as cover. If nothing else, maybe she can get an idea of what they're in for. 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      "But of course. That is why I exist here and now." Nero smiled in a self-satisfied manner in reply to Kyra, remaining incorporeal.      Once Fassad brought out the Master Sword, despite not being accepted as it's true wielder, and shattering the barrier, Nero assumed material form, landing upon her feet. "Very well then. I shall move on ahead, Praetor. Inform me if you require assistance."      Prana gathered, flowing into the Saber class Servant's feet. And then she burst forward with inhuman speed. Past Kyra and her Chocobo, she sped towards the castle doors, Aestus Estus materializing into her grasp. "Now then! Let us see how these fools fare against the likes of me!" 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil sighs as it seems some of the Confederate's explanations trip over in Agahnim's eyes - they really ought to have /coordinated/ an explanation over the blasted comms before spitting out a justification and he curses himself for not advocating such a course of action.      Well... nothing to be done about it /now/. Especially when a new piece on the chessboard moves out of the shadows; the queen, it seems.      The 'Queen of the Twilight Realm', no less - and likely the one responsible for the titular pestilence on the land.      "Our situation's the same as yours" Vergil replies smoothly. "You can't give the Triforce's power without Zelda... and like the Knight said, we can't give you the Mask because it isn't here with us, and that will have to come after your hold in the land isn't in active jeopardy."      At least from the Union, that is - because Agahnim had just now let slip a very important secret; the key to the Triforce was actually an individual outside his current control... and one they could claim themselves if they managed to claim victory today.      As he steps toward the doorway, he glances at Sanary - the Confederate he's worked with the most thus far - and gives something of a dry smirk. "Try to keep up with us - we're going to need all the energy we can get if we want to outlast our enemies."      With that, Vergil steps forward to serve as the counter to the vanguard.      And he immediately takes note of several things.      One of those is that men are being cut down seemingly out of thin air - and he didn't see any cause for it. An invisible enemy that seemed preoccupied with the small-fry guards. The second was a man in white that was seemingly the leader of this clash - probably the one bearing the Master Sword. And the third, charging straight for the gates, was a blonde-haired woman in red who's blind rush and confident smirk seemed almost a dim mirror of his brother's, being followed by a hooded girl on a large yellow bird.      The prince would be targeted by either the knight or the bowman. The invisible warrior was held back for the time being slogging through their numbers. That left the oncoming vanguard as the big issue.      ...      With that decided... eight phantasmal Summoned Swords promptly materialize around Vergil - four on either side of him - and shoot ahead of him toward the hooded girl to try and off-balance her - or even off-balance the swordswoman mid-charge with concern for an ally - as he dashed forward, Yamato being torn free of it's sheath for a vertical slice at the oncoming red streak, silver katana crossing and locking against the vermillion longsword.      Looking at her closely, Vergil found himself raising a brow questioningly at her... interesting choice of attire for a battle. "And you are?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna pretty much just barrels through the castle, up stairs and down corridors. Any wandering mooks she encounters are subject to one or more of the following: - Blasts with the Matrix Divider (preferred for single targets) - Bigger blasts from her shoulder-mounted beam cannons (this is preferred for massed hordes) - Just getting bowled over (if they can't put up much of a fight but insist on trying to block her) Honestly, Yuna would be happiest getting to the throne room without having to fight anyone along the way, and with Elner's guidance (plus any maps we had prior access to), she's trying to take the most direct route from the front door to the throne room. It really *will* take an Elite to slow her down significantly, but short of that, she's clearing the way for the others as effectively as she can ... 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' As Archer scans the charge, he spots Kyra riding the chocobo. A mounted warrior could likely be an issue, so he'll need to take them out quick. Manifesting an arrow in his hand, he puts it to the bow string and pulls, aiming at the chocobo's leg. Energy coats the magical arrow as he pulls, firing a clean and very accurate shot straight ahead. And then, rapidly, he's pulling out another arrow, firing it at the bird's chest, before nocking another to fire at Kyra's chest. He readies the next arrow, watching her to see the outcome of the first three shots. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Upon the castle walls, various archers nock their arrows. Their aim is decent, but they're no match for the various elites. They all stand a minor chance of hitting their targets, though they focus on those that are flying through the air. A few shots are taken at Yuna. Yalai goes unnoticed, moving too fast and too stealthy to be spotted. A number are fired towards Frederica, incinerating within the air. Some shots are taken towards Aedan as well. They aim more for his Loftwing than him, knowing that taking it out will lead to him crashing.      The path through the gates, and the door into the castle itself, are a lot easier thanks to Priscilla. Her invisibility provides a good sense of surprise, cutting down the animated suits of armor working as guards.      Midna just gives a smirk towards Sanary, the arms still crossed in front of her. "Charmed." Her tone is almost a little sarcastic, as if talking casually in a situation like this is a little silly. She gives a glance towards Agahnim, and shakes her head a little. "Everyone, feel free to keep in here. We can have a grand battle in the throne room. Besides, there is /still/ something he neglected to tell all of you, that he really should. If claiming Zelda from her uncle was /all/ he worried about, he wouldn't have had to send his /entire/ army. Really, though, Agahnim~? Come a bit more clean~. Or are you afraid they'll betray you for him?"      Agahnim glares towards Midna for a moment, before closing his eyes. He stands tall, looking towards the remaining Confederates. "...Fine. Once the Union is in here, I will tell them why they were foolish to so easily trust the Duke of Gamelon." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad rushes inside. His shield leads the way, bashing at any enemy in his path. He looks untroubled by what he has encountered so far. Thankfully, from the entrance? It is a rather straight path to the throne room. He definitely makes himself a target, though. It's easy for anyone to see him rushing forward, leading the charge. Or, trying to. He does come in a bit after Yuna flies in, though. With just a bit of effort, he makes it to the throne room. He looks upon the enemies present within. MORDRED, Gudako and his Caster, the strange grey skinned woman that is Midna.      But, most importantly? Fassad sees Agahnim.      The Master Sword is lifted. He points the blade towards the Gerudo Wizard. Even though there are so many others present in the room, that is who he has his eyes locked onto. He frowns towards the wizard. For so long, he has considered what to say in this situation. Now that it is finally here, he forgets what he had rehearsed.      "...Agahnim. You will perish."      Of course, this is if Fassad can get past all of the other people in the throne room. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      And it is in the throne room that things end up a bit crazy.      Midna stands still, just smirking. She snaps her fingers. With that, the halls of the castle are filled with Twilight Beasts. Shadowy wolf creatures are everywhere, black in color and with glowing cyan markings upon their body. These creatures will do whatever is in their power to aid the Confederates, and attack anyone they see.      One group, in particular, goes after Yalai. Though she is hiding herself, the wolves can smell. They run through the castle, finally spotting her. They leap at her, biting.      In the throne room, Agahnim speaks. He glares at everyone. The Union, the Confederacy. A bit of disdain is given for both sides. He has come to a realization, even if it is false: All of them plan to stand in his way.      "...You're fools. All of you. Half of you fight me blindly. Half of you bargain with a powerful darkness. But all of you will just lead this land to destruction. But Union... You do not know what you have set forth on this land."      "You have entrusted Princess Zelda with an enemy of all of Hyrule. You have entrusted her to the Duke of Gamelon. He is a cultist, to a being far more dangerous to this land than I."      "He has Zelda in his hands. I can only assume he has already found the youth he has been seeking as well. It's only a matter of time."      "The Duke of Gamelon is going to revive Ganon." 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "That is important intel, but we have more pressing matters right now." MORDRED informs Agahnim over the comms, then he flies his Armour to block Fassad's path, and his voice mimicks that of a popular movie perfectly. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, dave." He lands rapidly and points his Monofilament Broadsword at this 'Prince' His voice back to normal. "I am MORDRED, and I have sworn to stop the Union advance. I will not falter, I will not fall. Turn back or perish." To accentuate his words, he swings that massive, razor-thin blade right past Fassad. A warning strike, but a potent one. 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' With Yuna charging through at break-neck speeds, not slowing down at all, it's doesn't stay that way. One of the most direct routes happens to /not/ be, especially a shockwave of sound and music blares across it, causing Yuna to have to evade it. Even if it strikes the machine, it's more of a note for Yuna to 'slow the hell down, where do you think you're going?' but at her speed, it should be more than enough to get her attention if it does slam into her. "Do you enjoy this?" The familiar voice may ask. "Putting your neck on the line for people you don't even know? What your /draw/ anyways? Or maybe you just like pain~?" Nonon taunts, teasing Yuna as if she as a freshman! "I'm not really into sadomachism, but I do enjoy hurting others if they deserve it~!" Twirling the 'baton', Nonon's three star goku uniform begins to glow. "I guess it's a tight fit... but you know, I was thinking this place didn't have a fitting surround sound system for the wonderful acoustics!" Swallowed up by the three black stars, Nonon's replaced with a tank - strapped to the front - with a grin that is full of vitrol. "Lucky you~. I hate doing charity concerts, but maybe you'll join in if I play right." She doesn't mean singing. 

:'''{{#var:879|Yalai the Stave (879)}} has posed:''' One moment the Sheikah is sprinting down the corridors, using shadows to conceal herself; the next there's some kind of wolf-thing snapping at Yalai's heels. It misses her ankle, but it does take a piece out of the corner of her cloak, and she can feel the heat of its breath against the back of her calf. "Ghh!" Spinning on her heel, Yalai throws herself back against the wall, lashing out with her quarterstaff as much by instinct as by training. "Sorry, but I am not having time to be playing with you. Be going back home to your masters, curs." Not that they can understand her. She leers, showing her teeth, and lashes out again more purposefully with her quarterstaff. As the rest of the pack catches up, it becomes a whirling death-dance; Yalai leaping and spinning and dodging through the teeth of Midna's shadow-beasts. Every so often the solid /CRACK/ of her quarterstaff can be heard as she lashes out at the beasts, or the snarl and howl of shadow-beasts, and the snarls of pain from Yalai, when they manage to draw blood. It's a good fight, though. The longer she can keep their attention, the longer they'll be involved with her, and not her allies. She voices a howl of her own; an eerie, ululating sound of savage joy. "Come! Monsters! Is that being the best you can be doing?!" Maybe she can call more of Agahnim's host. If they're tangling with her, they're leaving her allies alone... and if need be, she can lead them on a merry wild Cucco chase. 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      Nero charged unbothered by the enemy soldiers, they would be taken care of. Her goal was the eradication of the higher profile targets. Smirk on her face, she gripped her blade and sped forward still.      It wasn't until a volley of phantom swords flying towards her position caught her attention. Well, that was new. The Servant was undeterred still, and once the distance closed, Nero veered aside, dodging the first sword. A quick uppercut parried the second, the third grazed past her cheek, guarded by her blade. The fourth was cut down with a swift overhead slash. Once that was cleared, she could spy a man in blue charging right for her.      "Hooh?" And without missing a beat, Nero used the momentum from her previous movement, spinning in place once before bringing Aestus Estus around in an inwards horizontal swing, clashing with the silver blade.      Sparks flew between them, forced into a mutual deadlock. "Well, well. It would seem that you have some skill, Man in Blue." Her smirk endured through the deadlock, directing upwards to meet his gaze. "You ask who I am? Well, I am..." Her sword flared up, and with a burst of strength, she stepped in, pushing with her wespon. ".../quite/ glad you ask!" The deadlock was broken with an outwards slash, disengaging both blades. "I am Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus! The mightiest Heroic Spirit there is!"      So she says.      Pressing the attack, Nero took another step in, bearing down on Vergil with a flaming overhead slash aimed for the point between neck and shoulder. "And just who might you be, man who stands in my path?" 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     As Kyra rides, one hand shifts to grip the reins of the Chocobo. The second stretches out, aiming towards Nero. A few more muttered words: "Mow down the resistance before us! Bravery!" The spell that follows, settling upon the Servant, further enhances the power of her physical strikes. Having seen the Saber in action, she knows very well that the Emperor would put the extra power to good use. Beyond that, getting into the castle seemed to be the priority! Kyra had taken care to memorize the layout beforehand so she knew how to at least get to the throne room, where the sorceror Agahnim was apparently holed up.     A blade comes flying at her and her Chocobo mount. Violently, Kyra yanks the reins sideways and the chocobo veers off, nearly crashing but fortunately retaining its footing.     This doesn't last very long.     An arrow spears through the chocobo's leg, following one that lands in the chocobo's chest. Rather than blood spurting from either wounds, the combined damage seems to make the riding bird explode into a flash of green sparkles. Kyra is thrown sideways, which prevents her from taking an arrow to the chest, the third shot landing in the meat of her left thigh instead. Something vaguely resembling a steampunk egg timer-her Chocobo summon matrix-sparks and emits a thin stream of smoke. Kyra doesn't notice, instead squirming in pain as she grasps the shaft of the arrow and rips it free. Angry swearing follows as Kyra drags herself to find some cover. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     SAY... WHAT?!     "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD IT!" Shouts Finna, leaping off of Fassad's shoulder and straight into the path of MORDRED's blade. A tiny mouse. Hardly even NOTICEABLE. And yet...     The SILVERY FIRE OF DETERMINATION burns in that mouse's eyes!     CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!     Mice teeth bite into the broadsword with a flash of silvery light. Although the weapon is in no way DAMAGED by this, it vibrates HARD. Enough to force it WAY off target and into the ground. Wisps of silvery blue flame burn on its length for a brief few seconds before dying off harmlessly.     Getting that blade back under control won't be hard for MORDRED, but it's a wackily odd sensation to say the least.     "Alriiiiiiiiiiiiight," Says the young woman in huntress leathers who emerges from the flash of light a moment later, a polished, 'viking'-style longsword in hand but not raised yet.     "On the assumption that you're actually a dastardly mastermind, care to explain why you didn't tell US this, Sorcerer?" She points a finger at Agahnim while keeping half an eye on Mordred. "Since by now you know exactly what we were doing instead... hrmph. But I think we can reach some agreement here that doesn't end in anyone's head being lopped off, don't you? Start spilling the beans and maybe nobody'll end up dying today." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     As tempting as it is to take advantage of the cascading sequence of clashing Elites by trying to get in quick blindsides as Confederate finds Unionite one after the other, Priscilla is aware that Agahnim is their priority here, and that the Confederacy is coming to his defense here specifically for that reason, not just because there's an excuse to fight. The appearance of the Twili wolves is startling, but not immediately threatening to her personally, and so she leaves them in the so-far capable hands of her allies as she sticks with the rapidly dwindling spearhead of the assault, arriving in the throne room ahead of just a handful of others, homing in on that release of magical energy she had detected earlier.     She's barely out of the way when MORDRED swings for Fassad, warning blow or no, trusting, or at least hoping, Finna can handle /that/ with a minimum of spectacle/disaster. Gudako and her twin extra presences are noted in the room, all three of which 'feel' excessively powerful, as does the Twilight Queen off to the side, but with Agahnim outright getting up and announcing who he is to the rest of the room, there's really no doubt about who it is. Gamelon. Ganon. Zelda. A youth. She can find the rest out later. Right now, at least for a few seconds longer, she has a clean shot at the dark wizard before he even knows she's there, in the sweet spot between the confusion of battle started and the concentration of battle joined. Sheer, ruthless pragmatism won't let her decline the opportunity to take at least one swing at him.     One can presume it's the once-infamous Lifehunt Scythe being used, if only faintly by the accompanying pang of existential dread and the melancholy ringing that sounds out a fraction of an instant before a rather large and nasty blade would hit Agahnim's neck. Being a ludicrously powerful sorcerer, it's certainly likely he has countermeasures against being simply stabbed to death unawares, but the aberrant power focused through the weapon should at least wound him through those defenses even without an actual, physical hit, all going to plan. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      " 'Keeping up'? You ass. Don't get chopped up out there." Sanary chuckles lightly as Vergil passes her on the way out, seeming content to stand guard at the entrance to the throne room instead of heading outside where she could be shot at from all sorts of angles. Blocking the way with two shields, though... That definitely seems to be the best course of action for the healer currently, especially as Midna and Agahnim speak.      She'll need to remember those names for later. Duke of Gamelon. Ganon. Zelda. For now, however, her attention turns to the arriving prince and the... Transforming mouse? The lady that turned her into a tyrant lizard.      "Ah. Evening, you two. Good to have you joining us." Grinning from behind her two mismatched shields, the armored cleric channels energy into her eye without firing anything at them just yet. "How about you take your army and leave? It'd be a lot more convenient for all of us." The eye flashes purple for a brief moment, although she seems content to just block the way to Agahnim alongside MORDRED rather than initiating a fight herself. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Gwyah?!" exclaims Yuna as SONIC BOMBARDMENT happens; she's going fast enough to go straight through it, but considering how she's spinning to face Nonon and braking to a halt, that definitely got her attention. And her ears are ringing - not as badly as they might be, but they ARE ringing, and loudly enough that she doesn't catch Agahnim's explanation of what's going on with Zelda - she has to focus just to catch what Nonon's saying. ... and kind of regrets doing so, as evidenced by the look Yuna gives Nonon. "I don't like for *anyone* to suffer, Jakuzure, and in case you missed it? Between Agahnim and the Confederacy, this *entire country* is suffering. Standing up against that kind of evil is my duty, as the Savior of Light. Let me put it this way: if somebody came to Honnouji, overthrew Satsuki, and started wrecking the buildings and killing and torturing students, *just because they could*, you'd want to rally and overthrow your oppressor, right? Satsuki is the 'rightful ruler' that you place your trust and your faith in, and more than that, she's your friend. A *deaf* girl could hear how you talk about her." Meanwhile, Nonon breaks out the Symphony Regalia, which has basically zero room to maneuver in the corridor. That could play into Yuna's hands .... if the wall-to-wall weaponized speaker system doesn't blow her away without a chance to fight back effectively. Yuna doesn't waste any more time, whipping the Matrix Divider up and firing a focused shot at Nonon's hat - assuming the hat is still THERE, at least; if it disappeared during the transformation, Yuna just aims for whatever Nonon's got on her head in place of the drum major's cap. 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     Agahnim yells again. This time it's about... a youth? A duke. Some guy named Ganon. Gudako's interest is piqued, as she wonders how fun a guy this dark person might be. She muses, she thinks. She talks on radio, and plans come together. It's unfortunate for Agahnim that he gave the plan away. Now the Confederacy just has to go meet that Duke of Gamelon guy and see what's what.     But today? No princess. No Triforce. No end of his bargain. Just demands, for a Mask that is seemingly very powerful! And that giving away would be dumb.     Gudako keeps her mouth shut from there onward, just standing back and smiling. It's Caster who speaks to Agahnim, briefly, and telepathically. <<I'm going to start setting up a support field. It might take me a little bit! ... I hope you're as powerful as you say and can hold those guys off~.>>     Thus does the Servant hurl a pair of ofuda at the throne room walls. And then another pair. And another. She seems to be placing them in what would probably eventually trace a perfect circle, if she kept throwing them. They glow a bit, latching onto the walls like they're glued in place.     A first-glance examination of the spellwork being prepared seems to indicate it's a support spell, in Agahnim's favor. Something to enhance dark powers. It's not active or complete, though!     This COULD give the Union a false impression of what she's up to, but it's a small risk to take. At least, neither the foxgirl nor Gudako are actively attacking those who've intruded in the throne room? 

:'''{{#var:891|Aedan MacCarvill (891)}} has posed:'''     Largely disregarded by the battle on account of being up in the air along the exterior, Aedan maneuvers his loftwing alongside the upper windows of the towers. He doesn't enter immediately, because he's looking for something specific: Stragglers. He's avoided the battle proper so far, but his intention is to get ahold of a straggler if he can. It'll make entry a lot more convenient for him if he can pull it off, and it sounds as if things are difficult enough on the ground. He glances back towards the main gates and entrance, pondering heading back down.     It might've been better if he'd just stayed behind and helped clear the way for Yalai. If it takes too long to locate one of the enemy's soldiers, he'll just have to fall back on doing exactly that. For now, the search continues. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah never really expected to invade a castle at any point in her life, and here it is. They're invading a castle. Arrows rain down around them. Everyone sees a little girl. She has no weapons out. She has no apparent superpowers, no magical aura to make her stand out. Soldier eyes slide over her and immediately get pulled away to notice the others, and she takes advantage of this fact. Once they begin the great showdown in the throne room. Sarah is already edging around the back, using the dark areas. The summoning of the Twilight Hounds might have been a bigger problem, but moments before it becomes critical to deal with, Yalai goes and draws their attention. Sarah makes a note to bake her a pie or something later. Quickly, she vanishes into the dark corners while the big reveal goes down. And then someone speaks up from behind Aghanim and Midna. "Sup." Sarah pops out, sits down, and kicks her legs casually off the dais. "Nice place you got here. So that's a cool reveal and all, but they're not here, and you guys are. So what's your deal? You, lady, with the new-style fashion statements and the darkness powers. I mean, way I heard it you guys pulled a coup, killed the King, and are covering the land in some jerkass darkness power. What's your side of the story?" 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      The blue swordsman finds his prior assumption correct - the girl's vigor and method of attack are much like his brother's in how she repelled his blades.      However, Vergil tilts his head in more obvious surprise at the name - he's studied historical figures before, so he's familiar with the name of the Roman Emperor.      ...      A girl in a dress with a transparent front-slip did /not/ fit the mental image he had of that historical name's visage... yet he didn't think she was lying or even telling a cruel joke, even though he was sorely tempted to believe otherwise.      He backpedals a step from her return slash as the blade lock is broken, parrying her flame-infused blow away even as the tip scratches against the edge of his temple and leaves a slight burn - the woman's blade was of greater length then his own and thus she had better reach even if he defected the weapon itself.      However, the wound quickly vanishes, providing the visible indication to Nero that her opponent is hardly all he seems either.      And no less prideful as he readies his own weapon; "I am Vergil. Son of the Dark Knight, Sparda, though I can't be sure you'll know the name. And it seems that today... I'll be slaying a legendary figure, myself."      With that, the blue-clad swordsman brings Yamato close - and lashes out with six swift slashes, alternating between vertical and horizontal blows as he attempts to push his way inside Nero's guard and past the length of her blade with speed.      It's part attack, and part feint - a test to see if she can keep pace with him... and see how her swordplay operates against and in contrast to his own. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' Archer's target has been hit, so the mount is out of the way. Now, they have new plans, and he's on point to take care of it. He keeps his arrow nocked, glancing at Agahnim briefly, before turning back to the entrance and the Union. But he does not fire. He's waiting for something. He's going to need to plan this out. 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' There's lecturing that goes on. Nonon's eyes begin to roll like the boulder in the myth that must be rolled up the hill - and then back down. It rolls roughly that much and does not remotely begin to stop. Of course, Yuna HAS stopped to talk to her. Talking isn't what Yuna was supposed to do, however. Not at all. "You sure like to talk alot, that's /not/ the sounds I was hoping to hear from you. Looks like there's still tuning to be done." Of course, the Matrix Divider is fired at her hat, Nonon ducking down as the hat - and the skull on it - is blasted and damaged. Nonon's eyes were wide, words halting as a hail of energy accelerates towards her -"WHA!?" If Yuna was hoping that it would disable the entire uniform, she is incorrect. The initiation of the uniform already went through - it just won't be able to be used immediately /after/, is all. "YOU!!" Simmering with rage at having to duck and having the skull on it blown away, along with the rest of it. "You want to know what's flawed? EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID! First, overthrowing Satsuki? Like HELL anyone would be able to do that!" Cymbals whizz out of the sides behind her, blades spinning rapidly as they bounce against the walls, frantically traveling towards Yuna. "If they DID, and the buildings and the students were wrecked? THEN THAT'S WHAT IS DESERVED." With such a zealous declaration, it's clear she's not lying. "Honnouji Academy isn't a place for the weak or failures - and I'm going to make her dreams become reality! IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW BETTER, YOU'RE WRONG, BITCH!" To accentuate this key word, the speakers all at once glow brightly and flood the room with a massive wall of force, the sonic eruption washing through the room like a wave at Yuna. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     Kyra grumbles something under her breath-it's a cure spell, which immediately closes up the hole left by the arrow and the process of removing it. She claws her way back up to her feet, using the wall as support, before running off for the throne room. From what she can see as she looks through the door, talismans have been laid upon the wall, each starting to weave what Kyra can tell is some kind of spell with a dark affinity to it. It's a familiar dark affinity too since she has seen Gudako in action before.     That's bad. Kyra immediately assumes that she's assisting the sorceror claiming Hyrule Castle as his own. "Aw hell no-" she says as she rushes for the room, reaching out a hand. "Unravel the patterns laid before me, return the particles to their frayed state-DISPELL!" 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' As he waits, he spots Kyra using magic, magic that will interfere with Gudako's barrier. They need that barrier to stop Agahnim's escape. He cannot allow that to happen. Rapidly pointing his bow at Kyra, he glances for a second, before firing, flying the arrow straight at her outstretched palm that is casting the spell, in an attempt to pierce it. He nocks another, firing at her side, before readying a third. He doesn't fire yet, but he aims it at her head, waiting to see how she'll move after the first two hits. 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      "Vergil, Son of Sparda! Very well!"      Nero had noticed that the wound she left had already healed. This man was not completely human. With a healing factor like that, he must had some other manner of blood flowing through his veins. But this was not the time to make guesses. Rather than be deterred, she just smiled confidently.      "You think you will slay me? I welcome the challenge!" And with Aestus Estus gripped tightly and held back, she swung. What happened next was literally too fast for the average human eye to follow. The first strike, she failed to parry, and a laceration along her midsection was her reward, the second blow, she upped her speed, parrying it aside, and leaving a shallow slash upon her shoulder. The third was turned aside, the wind kick from the blow slicing past her head and taking a few strands of hair. The fourth, fifth, and sixth, were all parried equally.      A blur of blue and red. Silver and black. Both swordsmen clashed, speed increasing to keep up. And with the last strike from Yamato weathered, Nero immediately stepped into a dash. Pursuing the advantage of the greater length of her blade, the Servant drew in Prana, causing flames to once again renew upon her blade mid-dash.      "Rosa Ichthys!"      And in the follow through, Nero let loose a blindingly fast, inwards slash cloaked in vermillion. Starting diagonally from top to bottom and aiming to slash past the man in a single moment. She wasn't attempting to test his defenses, she was attempting to capitalize on the recovery of his little flurry, if there even was any. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Yalai proves effective against the shadow wolves. As the quarterstaff comes down, it smacks hard into the skull of one of the beasts. Upon the one hard strike, there is a loud crack of the skull. The beast vanishes, turning into a cloud of smoke. Soon after, the other two are struck down. But, more and more of them are arriving, and roaring at Yalai. Her agile nature keeps the biting beasts at a distance. More and more of them come in response, to aid their fallen brethren. It keeps them distracted from the others, at least. They run in, trying to bite and scratch at Yalai more. They aim for her legs, mostly. An attempt to slow her down.      Aedan doesn't go without notice. Though he is out of the range of the remaining archers, there is still one ace in the hole who was saved. As he peeks in through the windows of Hyrule Castle, the main tower suddenly bursts apart. A giant bird creature is inside, blue in color with white and red wings. It's red head and yellow beak cries out. It's not alone, either. A large creature is on its back. A rotund, green humanoid. It wears minimal for armor, aside some heavy armor slapped onto its shoulders. In its right hand, a massive axe. The massive bird, the Helmaroc King, flies towards Aedan, guided by its rider, King Bulbin. It goes in, trying to knock the smaller bird out of the air.      Agahnim is about to speak to Finna, at her question. But, Priscilla comes in. This was, in fact, unexpected. Though a powerful wizard, he has never seen invisibility quite like that. There is, in fact, a bit of a protective spell across him. A clinking sound, much like metal, can be heard. His neck is still cut. He is bleeding, and heavily at that. Despite his power, despite all of his magic? He is still a man. If not taken by surprise, he would use his magic to teleport around the room, blast magic, and likely make such an attack only a glancing hit.      With that, his hood is cut off, falling somewhat off his head. He reaches for his neck, covering the bleeding with his hand. His face, for the first time, is revealed. He's a surprisingly handsome man, albeit with rough features. He looks tired. Incredibly so. He falls to one knee, grimacing. He looks towards Caster. He will have to trust his Confederate allies. What other choice does he have? He will hold off, until the protective field is created.      Still Finna and Sarah both asked him the same question. Agahnim will, in fact, answer. Magical energy fills him, even as he speaks and tells them why.      "Every one hundred years, a Male Gerudo is born. They are the King of the Gerudo. I grew up, in the desert. In a poor land, devoid of life. We are simply lower class citizens. I sought but two things: To give my people a chance to thrive. To take Hyrule for my kind. And... To end the line of the Hero, to prevent the return of the Dark God, Ganon. And I allied with others who have been unfairly persecuted."      And that is where Mida speaks up, interrupting Agahnim. "Oh~. That's me. We Twili were shoved in the Twilight Realm for the crimes of our ancestors. Two downtrodden groups, allying together... Plus, I've got no love for Ganon, either." Midna, for her part, is a bit more aware of some of the danger that Agahnim is in. As such, she does the wise thing, and starts to back up a bit. She moves near a wall, preparing to make her escape if need be.      Agahnim frowns. He comes to a stand again.      "...I will not fall here. I will /not/ let the Gerudo fall! I AM AGAHNIM! THE KING OF THE GERUDO! THE ONE WHO WILL STAND AGAINST GANON, NO MATTER THE COST!"      And with that, Agahnim lifts his hands. He is indiscriminate with his magic. Though most of his magical attack is aimed towards the Union, there is certainly a chance the Confederates present will get grazed by it. He holds up his hands, magical bursts of electricity filling most of the room. Even Midna gets hit on the stomach, wincing. With that, the Twilight Queen vanishes, disappearing into the wall. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad flinches a little as MORDRED slash at him. Even though it is a warning attack, he takes it seriously. He starts to move to try and block it, only for Finna to take care of it instead. He sighs in relief, giving the woman a smile and a nod, before taking a few steps closer to Agahnim. But, he becomes surprised by Agahnim's words.      Specifically. He is surprised that Agahnim is, in many ways, so much like himself.      Even a few months ago, Fassad would not have noticed. But today? He has. Fassad knows enough of the Gerudo to know that, since the Dark King of the Gerudo in ancient times, there have been no kings of the Gerudo. It was a tradition, /once/, that the male would be the King. But, it is no more. Agahnim has fashioned himself as a hero for his kind, forcing himself to be king, and trying to stand against a great evil.      Fassad is glad he did not fall down a similar path to becoming Royalty.      Fassad lifts the Master Sword as the lightning comes in. It does little to stop it. He is sent flying back a little, the sword acting as nothing more than a lightning rod. Though the barrier was broken, the Master Sword is not granting him the Power to Repel Evil. He closes his eyes. In this battle, it will simply be a particularly fine sword, not a legendary weapon.      He still has an option, though. He lifts his shield. The Mirror Shield. He holds it up towards the lightning, and walks forward. The bolts of it that fly at him, fly straight back at Agahnim. They strike the wizard, causing him an intense amount of pain. Agahnim cries out loud, still casting his spell in the wide spread. The rage is overwhelming Agahnim. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' The cymbals come flying at Yuna; she dodges several of them, blocks a couple more with her shield, and bats one away with the Matrix Divider before getting blindsided by the last of them. That rattles her enough that she misses part of Nonon's rejoinder - And while she gets her brain back together quickly enough to catch the tail end of Nonon's diatribe, she isn't fast enough to retort further before a solid wall of sonic force erupts from Nonon's 'uniform' and blasts Yuna, so hard that she HAS to re-ignite her thrusters to get through it. The Matrix Divider is dismissed as well, so Yuna can cover her ears - an extra layer of protection, she hopes. She also has her shield on the left exo-arm, and she has the armor interpose that in front of her actual body as the Powered Form armor keeps, well, powering its way forward. It's not hovering now, just lifting one foot at a time, pushing against the sonic storm with thrusters and servomotors to plant that foot further ahead, then repeating the process with the other foot. There *HAS* to be an eye to the storm, or Nonon would deafen HERSELF when she uses this - unless it's just that the Goku Uniform protects her ears somehow. Either way, Nonon got HALF of her wish: Yuna isn't still trying to talk at her. For now. But the Savior of Light adamantly refuses to give the pink-haired pipsqueak the satisfaction of screaming. She has things she really WANTS to say to Nonon, if she can just get the younger girl to LISTEN to something besides her own overly bloated ego ... 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "You are guarding him. Very well, I will fight you both." MORDRED does not sound upset, no in fact, it seems he respects this path. "But beware that any reservations I may have had at fighting to the fullest will be gone. I will not yield. I will not falter. I will not fall." Every single one of those 'I wills' sounds like it's spoken with the solemnity normally reserved for oaths. He is not kidding. "You have ignored my warning, now die or flee, it does not matter to me which path you choose, though if you die, please die well." The razor-thin blade is pulled put out of the ground, six feet of supermassive, hyperthin blade, and it's all swinging for Finna by the hands of a fifteen foot tall machine of war. Apparently MORDRED intends to knock her /into/ Fassad, that's how much force he's putting behind this strike. He is indeed not joking around. 

:'''{{#var:879|Yalai the Stave (879)}} has posed:''' The Sheikah dances among her foes, stepping lightly and lunging to keep half an inch ahead of those clashing teeth. Or do they even have teeth? Whether or not they have teeth as one would know them, they can certainly bite, and they can certainly do damage. Yalai is forced to get creative as they show up in ever greater numbers. Reaching into a pouch at her belt, she takes a fistful of what look like blackened walnuts. One of the things is hurled into the midst of the shadow-beasts. In the same motion, her arm curls back around to cover her eyes. Deku nut. Standard issue equipment for the Sheikah both past and present, it seems. Once it hits the ground, it ignites -- and the hallway is thrown into sharp-edged relief, bright as the sun for just an instant, blinding and probably uncomfortable for the beasts. In the meantime she's already advancing forward to strike what lethal blows she can, trying to dispatch as many of the creature as she can. Hopefully that thing stunned them good... because she's going to have to get out of here soon if it didn't. Sheikah aren't meant for direct conflict, and there's getting to be an uncomfortable number of these things headed for her. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary sizzles as one of those lightning bolts strikes her armor, and the healer staggers on her feet several steps before shooting a brief glare back at the sorceror. Oddly enough, Midna is nowhere to be seen, and MORDRED apepars to be handling Finna.      That leaves Fassad with his... Lightning-deflecting shield and Agahnim firing way too much lightning. With few other options available to her that don't involve getting electrocuted to death, she instead makes a beeline for Gudako and the Caster.      "Hope you weren't waiting too long. Alright, let loose!" Setting up the riot shield between them and those coming from the door as an impromptu wall, she holds that now-free hand towards the two. Magical energy starts flowing from her into Gudako and Caster, connecting the three of them while she acts as a new source of mana for their spell. It's crude, it's unrefined, but it's still a fresh source of raw power to draw from! 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "This was really the best plan you could come up with?" Sarah replies, frowning. "You're not exactly putting yourself in a good position to-KKKKRRKRKRK!" Sarah's assessment of the situation is suddenly cut off as the lightning blasts through the area, and she is sent flying back into the wall next to where Midna phased out. Sarah, however, does not, She bounces off the wall and hits the ground, emitting a squeak where she lands and smouldering a bit. "Owwwwww. Lightniiing suuuuuuuucks." She moans. This is going to take a second. 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     Whoa, magic everywhere!     First, Kyra attacks Caster's setup. This is a super bad thing, because the Bounded Field she's trying to set up has a lot of components, and while some are dedicated to the camouflage of its effect, a single piece getting purged by the White Mage's antimagic is a big deal. Fortunately, the 'Rider' on Gudako's side attempts to intercept Kyra. Unfortunately, it's just a bit too late.     Purged by the dispel, two paper talismans fall off the wall, ceasing to glow. Caster frowns. "Master, it's disrupted. I need--"     Gudako raises her hand.     "Caster. Finish your spell."     There is a momentary, extremely bright flash of red light. One of the six Command Spells on the girl's hand and forearm flashes like a lighthouse, and then dims to a dull gray-red. A surge of magic augments the blue-robed Caster.     The Caster's mirror appears, too! It gets in the way of Agahnim's bolts, but only barely; one still grazes the magus, tearing one of her sleeves off and drawing blood. She really isn't sturdy, but seems unbothered by the pain.     With renewed vigor, and with Sanary's sudden infusion of magic, Gudako's Caster produces countless paper talismans and runic symbols in the air. They spread to every corner of the room, and then become linked magically. An invisible dome envelops the throne room.     "Sorry, but I think the Gerudo are going to fall. It's nothing personal, but your demands are cramping our style."     The Bounded Field turns on. It creates immediate pressure in the throne room, and attempts to enforce the following effects:     1. Exit is impossible.     2. Heavy paralysis effect on Agahnim.     3. Agahnim's magical essence is being drained and crystalized inside Caster's mirror for potential later use, or just to keep it as a cool crystal.     Of course there's always the chance Agahnim can power through, if he wants-- he isn't a scrub. And a solid enough punch or lightning bolt could pierce a hole out of the field. 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' "Yes, YES! Maybe if you understood WHAT Honnouji stood for your words would actually HAVE MEANING!" Nonon yells, though her words may be lost in the cacophony. As the armoring powers forwards, lifting a foot at a time, Nonon attempts to blast it away - intending to /continue/ pushing back. Yet even as the music is poured on, sonic weaponry and force only have so much effectiveness. With Yuna growing ever closer in her stupid suit, Nonon, in her totally cooler suit, continues to swing back and forth her batons on her shoulders from the uniform! It's not really enough, though. th another heavy step, Yuna would find the music has ceased for a moment. "I guess you're not a fan of the classics." The voice isn't exasperated as it is almost cheerful, playful, as the music changes. "How about something more modern~?" With that, parts of the tank snap open that are very clear. Streams of notes ignite out towards Yuna, four different 'chainguns' of notes pouring them towards her as some rather jaunty music plays - from this century! Imagine that! It's not even deafening! "I don't care about these people, and I don't care about their home. So really, tell me why I should 'stop'?" 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      While he lets out a small smirk as his first blows draw blood on the Servant, Vergil notes that her speed is increasing to match up with his own.      She wasn't an ordinary human - historical figure or not, that kind of power was not common among non-demons. He was temped to think the Emperor of Rome the spawn of a demon herself... but she didn't feel like a demon at all.      Something else, then.      The slash of Rosa Ichthys forces him back further - he summons forth six more phantasmal blades before him, arranged in a circle to try and blunt the damage of the fire, but the force of the strike pushes him backwards nonetheless, dust being kicked up as his heals dig into the ground.      Small burns now dot his shoulders from the edges of the inferno that the swords couldn't defect, the Son of Sparda opting to try a new tactic as he drops into a stance, blue energy condensing across Yamato's blade as he delivers two harsh air-pressure distance cuts - one for Nero's waist and one for her neck - to try and off-balance her with the ranged assault, so as to give Vergil time to charge up a more powerful attack.      Time to see if the Roman Emperor could maneuver her way to a victory against ever-changing attacks. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Once again Finna's attempts at getting anywhere are thrown to shambles by a team that doesn't have much teamwork! Although there's a VERY noticeable instant of COMICAL DELIGHT when Agahnim turns out to be someone handsome instead of a twisted beast. It's just for a fleeting instant though. She's got MUCH more important things to worry about.     Like MORDRED here...     Who she grunts at. "Why do all the good-looking guys have to be such--- URAAAAH!!!"     Her Feathersteel longsword's up in a heartbeat and torrents of silvery light trail across her arm as it's brought up to parry.     A very unlikely parry. She's prodigiously outclassed in both power and weight. Yet her eyes are flickering about left and right while Agahnim's picking his targets. A subtle magic filters through her spirit... and what Agahnim's aiming it isn't exactly QUITE the right trajectory.     The AWFUl sound of steel being torn about and cleaved through rings across the throne room and a large chunk of Finna's sword goes flying into a wall, simply SHAVED off by the blow. The foxgirl herself's pushed back all the way to another wall, skidding over the ground to bleed off the force and wring out her aching arm! For the moment she's stunned, but she's grinning slyly regardless.     Because while Agahnim thought he was aiming at her, so close to Mordred, amidst all that distraction...     Well, LOTS of magical lightning is headed straight for MORDRED's huge form. Right at his back, in fact.     "... Such hardasses. I'm trying to vouch for reason here!" The Lunar exclaims, her other hand cupped against her mouth to yell through the room! 

:'''{{#var:891|Aedan MacCarvill (891)}} has posed:'''     That's no good. Aedan had been trying to -avoid- this sort of confrontation, not bumble right into it. Where the bloody hell did they even find a bird big enough to hold such a massive Bulblin?! He guides his loftwing into a dive to drop abruptly out of the way of the flying train represented by King Bulblin and his mount, twisting in the saddle and drawing his bow as he does so. They swoop underneath the Helmaroc King, slipping beneath its legs and coming up to its rear.     A sharp-eyed gaze is turned towards the rider of the Helmaroc King. An axe-wielding lunatic, but the size of the bird limits its speed and the rider's weaponry limits his attacks to charges. Maybe thrown hatchets if he's unlucky, in which case this will get messy just as soon as the Bulblin realizes that he's going to have a hell of a time staying within reach.     Really, this is the sort of thing Yalai would be better suited to fighting, the Knight reflects as he looses an arrow towards the Helmaroc King's backside. It flashes ominously as it soars, detonating violently somewhat shy of where it might conceivably have struck if it was on target. Looks like the explosive timer was set so that it would detonate BEFORE impact. The idea is that even a near-miss in explosive form is a lot harder to evade than the arrow itself, especially in an aerial battle like this one. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     Kyra's outstretched hand is pierced by another arrow, resulting in another cry of pain as Kyra stumbles into the room, her spell disrupted. Knowing what happened last time, she manages to shift as the arrow meant for her side sticks into one of her bandoliers beneath her hoodie instead, sparing her further pain. "Damnit you-" She pauses for but a moment to hear the sorceror rant and, moments before as she scoots to the side of the room, trying to get out of dodge as she sees a man aiming a bow and arrow at her.     Suddenly, lightning bolts. Kyra will not stand for this and, wincing, gestures wildly, "SHELL!" she screams, placing it on herself, halving the incoming damage of the lightning but still leaving her very unhappy looking. Unhappy enough to lift her rifle and firstly take a shot at Archer. What comes from the gun is a dart that is filled with an explosive mixture that activates on impact. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     A direct hit, almost ideal in execution, but Priscilla can already tell by the pressure of the resulting spurt of blood, not quite deep enough. An identical subsequent blow should clinch things, but getting the chance again will be much more difficult now. Heedless of the insistence of one ally in particular, Priscilla wastes no time in pursuing the kill, all too willing to assassinate their great and obvious enemy here and now before they can regret not doing so later, and then pursue the same leads the Confederates now have, but the Scythe has only just swung over her head when the arcane lightning catches her at point blank, inadvertently shielding some of the others in the room as the bolts stop dead seemingly in thin air.     The straight up shock is enough to break her invisibility, at least temporarily, revealing the stark white crossbreed in the practical half of a queen's regalia as she is hurled off the steps to the throne and onto the ground floor just below, twisting rapidly to hit the ground feet first and bouncing with the impact. The left side of her chest has been badly scorched, even through the titanite weaving in the seemingly light clothing, enough that it should have stopped her heart if she had one, but for how much of the attack she had eaten, the damage is relatively low, due to her exceptionally high composite resistance to magic. The air frosts over as she lets out a hissing held breath, her free hand clutching the wound briefly before falling away.     "As much as I wish to accept thine reasoning, noble intentions hath never been adequate absolution for sin. The chosen path is never guaranteed simply because it is chosen with lofty ideals. Ganon shalt succeedeth not, and neither shalt thee. Face the reality that thou hast chosen poorly; thine actions, thine allies, everything; and then face thine deserving retribution." The fact that she even has that much to say is unusual, never having been one for speeches and mid-battle moralizing. Priscilla speaks without indignation or anger, and without hesitation or regret. The air sings as Moonlight is conjured into her off hand, effervescent embers of raw magic cast from its blade as her power surges through it like the kindling of a fire; and then cries out in rapturous, metallic chorus as she swings it, loosing a deafening arc of eerily shining soulfire straight ahead of her. She bursts forward in its wake, so that the haunting black and silver scythe arrives mere moments after the cleaving sweep of volatile magic does, disappearing midway into the lunge. She's no expert on bounded fields and especially not whatever Midna was doing before she left, so her best option is to aggressively eliminate Agahnim before he can do anything drastic and worry about the rest later. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' The music stops, ever so briefly. Yuna almost misses that opening - but by the time Jakuzure finishes taunting and switching over, Yuna has seized the chance and is rocketing forwards. The barrage of notes clips the exo-arms as Yuna barrels in towards Nonon herself; if the 'chainguns' can reorient like turrets, then they can probably keep aiming at her even as Yuna seeks out the hoped-for blind spot (deaf spot?) in the Symphony Regalia's armament. And if Yuna gets close enough? She moves Shugoseiheki aside, raises her right arm, and tries to just *SLAP* Nonon across the cheek. "MAYBE YOU SHOULD *TRY* CARING, JUST TO SEE IF YOU *CAN*!!" Yuna screams, literally in Nonon's face if she got close enough. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' It's time. But before he can ready the shot, an explosive dart is sent flying at him. He's knocked back and wounded, slamming hard into the floor of the balcony. Quickly, he begins to pull himself up, as he begins analyzing the battlefield. Let's see. Odds are decent, as Agahnim is not moving and has his attention distracted. Gudako's barrier is going to weaken him, which will improve odds. No one is focusing directly on defending Agahnim, nor does Agahnim seem to expect an arrow coming his way. Lifting himself fully up, Archer nocks an arrow, and points it at Agahnim's head. He takes a second to putall his strength into the pull, readying a powerful shot. The arrow flows with magic, as Archer eyes down his target, taking a breath. Fire. The arrow goes flying, slamming towards Agahnim's head. It has a very strong kick to it, and if it isn't blocked, could be potentially lethal. Which is what Archer is hoping for. 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      Nero's strike is weathered by a formation of phantom blades. How convenient, the Emperor thought, but did not say. Her brow twitced a bit, pausing in her advance to get a read on the situation. He was gaining distance again. Well that was smart. Her reach was greater than his. To stay in close quarters, when speed was near equal, would be tantamount to suicide.      Of course, that didn't mean that she would simply /allow/ him to do so. Nero immediately moved forward, attempting to pursue the son of Sparda after her assessment. Speeding forward, she held Aestus Estus back, channeling additional prana into it once more. She was, however, surprised to find a burst of cutting air pressure forming right upon her.      "...!"      One for the waist and one for the neck. No time to deal with both. In a bold move, Nero simply allowed the pressure at her waist to strike, cutting into her and drawing fresh blood. However, she raised her blade to her neck, shielding herself from the cutting winds. And without stopping, she proceeded forward, golden greaves becoming a blur upon the stone pavement below.      "You think you can stop my advance with something like that? Try a bit harder, son of Sparda!"      And then suddenly, she crouched low, and in a burst of power, the Servant leapt into the air, blade raised high. It was a risky move. Showy, obvious. But still, this was just like the Roman Emperor. Gravity could not control her for a moment, and then it began to pull. Empowered by Kyra's attack boost, combined with her own abilities, Aestus Estus flared to life.      And in the apex of her jump, she swung downwards, sending a jet of flame hurtling downwards for the swordsman's position. And then she began to fall. Descending for Vergil, Nero bore upon him with a falling overhead slash to follow up her previous burst of flame. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Deku Nut leaves the Shadow Wolves stunned, stopping them in their place. It gives Yalai plenty of time to get out of the way. The only downside is that someone else manages to find her. Midna steps out of a wall near Yalai, and looks towards her. An eyebrow is raised towards her, and a smirk is given. Midna considers the woman in front of her. She /could/ attack right now. In fact, it might almost seem like she plans to. She holds up a hand, a large white mirror appearing next to her, an overly elegant looking artifact. It glows with an intense power. Instead, she walks into the mirror, and the mirror vanishes. Midna has disappeared.      And with her, the rest of the Shadow Wolves.      The Helmaroc King cries out in pain as the arrow explodes. A patch of bare burnt flesh is upon its body, much of its feathers flying about the place. He lets out another shrieking cry, while turning back towards Aedan and his Loftwing. Despite King Bulblin holding the reigns, the Helmaroc King does most of the planning and guiding. The Helmaroc tries to get a bit below the Loftwing, trying to get the Bulblin a chance to swing that massive axe.      Agahnim is taken by surprise. The magical energy drains from him quickly, not helped by the fact that he keeps lashing out, shooting out electricity. He aims in all directions, falling to his knees. Being hit by his own lightning, and then being trapped, paralyzed, and drained? It is more than he can handle.      He is slashed, yet again, by Priscilla. His wound, as is, would be fatal if left untreated. Even with treatment, he wouldn't be the same. His body cut completely across the chest, bleeding heavily.      And then, the arrow. This guarantees there is no chance of Agahnim's survival. The arrow hits him right in the head, sticking straight through his face. And, through his skull. He is silent for a moment. He collapses to the ground, falling upon the stairs to the throne.      His last thoughts are hopes that the Goddesses of Hyrule will take him in after his death. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad stands there. he looks around to the group. The Confederates turned on their allies. Normally, this is something he would find despicable. At long last, though, Agahnim is no longer on the throne. Zelda can become Queen.      First, though: To Gamelon. He sighs, looking at the Confederates. They are, in fact, the biggest wildcard here. He speaks quietly, tired by the difficult battle. "...Why... Why did you turn on him? Are you our allies in this fight? Will you aid us in saving Zelda?"      He doesn't have the energy he usually does. He feels winded. He slumps over just slightly, looking towards the ground. Breathing heavily. 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' As Kagurazaka rockets forwards, a barrage of notes clipping the exo-arms due to her risky and yet clearly paying off action! With the 'chainguns', they can aim but they can only follow if the target is faster. There has to be something more - something to slow things down. Such things don't exactly occur - the sound shockwave that was chargin and Yuna gets close enough for the exo-armor, or perhaps normal hand, slap. The sound drops entirely at that moment as she's slapped across the cheek, Nonon's face growing red where she was struck. Her head does not re-orient where it should face, staying turned to the incorrect direction for a rather long moment, as Yuna screams at her. Slowly but surely Nonon turns to face her, eyes wide, as she stares at her. Finally, she does speak. "Lady Satsuki doesn't need someone who /cares/. She needs someone who /does/." It may not be clear to Kagurazaka, but the Symphony Regalia was armoring a weapon while Yuna was so very close. It's a missile. It's an oboe missile being fired at her despite the proximity. "If I can't , or won't... then Lady Satsuki wouldn't need me~. CARING ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE THAT!" There's a thick plume of smoke that surrounds them both - followed by an explosion shortly after - it washes over the Regalia, blasting parts of it everywhere - but what of Yuna!? 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     That's a wrap. Or it will be, when Sanary looks at her arm. Agahnim's no slouch, even an accidental bolt of lightning is a threat to Gudako. The magus turns towards Fassad, still smiling.     "Ah? It's just like I said. He made demands of us and didn't reciprocate our help. We're not interested anymore! But I'm not in charge." She motions towards Sanary. "She is."     Then towards Caster.     "Caster, take the field down. We're done here."     The Caster nods, and with a snap of her fingers does every slip of paper in the air and walls fall to the ground, before burning up in purple and orange flames. And when there's just the ashes left, the Bounded Field's presence is gone. Caster twirls a dark purple crystal in one hand, and dematerializes it to prevent theft. That is going right on a shelf with the Incarnation and Einherjar crystals. She has no idea what Gudako is collecting shards of people's power for, but it's not hard to take a few guesses.     "So! Aaaah... this is kind of awkward now! Who're you guys going to put on this throne?" Idle conversation, her only recourse! 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     Kyra moves, ready for retaliation from the archer, fully expecting it. Why not, after this guy has shot multiple arrows at her before with little provocation. She assumes he's some Confederate, maybe working with Gudako? But...     ...but then he goes and plugs an arrow into Agahnim's head. "Wait, what?" There's no time to save the sorceror with healing-not from an obviously fatal blow on top of the severe one caused by Priscilla moments before. He's pretty dead. Instead, she turns to the archer, gun lifted and pointed at him. She doesn't fire but she does gesture with the rifle.     "What the hell, you guys, I thought the 'feds were backing this guy! Then you go and straight up trap and /cap/ him!" Gudako offers some explanation to this. 'Didn't reciprocate'. "What, he needed to die over that...?" 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Following the wake of magic crashing into Agahnim, and feeling the give of a human body parting under the blade of her weapon, the Lifehunt welling up to its bursting point, Priscilla is startled more by the arrow that flies across her field of vision and into the dark sorceror as a long-distance double tap than his actual death. As Agahnim crumples to the ground, ghostly white flame silently flees his body along with his blood, swirling into the air around Priscilla as she absorbs the essence of his soul, briefly suffusing her with pale, colourless light before it fades back under her skin. As she reappears, the eye held around her neck by its chain blinks; or is that a trick of the imagination?     She casts a critical eye back along the path of the arrow, and then finally to Gudako and Caster, Sanary alongside them, both esoteric weapons still in hand and filling the room with the sense of their twin presences. "Such action is fickle and cruel even for one of the Confederacy. How long hast thou planned this?" Her tail twitches side to side in agitation, but otherwise she remains restrained and composed, since icy suspicion thankfully cannot kill someone alone. "Everyone in this room hast heard of the same things. Do not suspect for an instant that thou wouldst be able to convince me that thou simply intendeth to consider Hyrule a loss and leave it." That tone is more usual of Priscilla; the one that screams 'I feel like maybe I shouldn't try to kill you right now so don't convince me otherwise'. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' After being hit in the back by Agahnim, Lunar tricksiness or otherwise, MORDRED seemed quite frustrated and unable to focus. He does answer Fassad. "Some of us had our doubts regarding the long-term viability of him agreeing to the terms of our agreement, while he was expecting ever more from us, to the point of accusing us of double dealing while we never broke our word. Even here, while you were invading, he insisted on these thngs. I wish we could have parted ways more peacefully, but this option was no longer available to us." He starts, weaving truth with subtle gaps. "Until such a time as we can settle a more permanent solution to holding the capital, I propose a joined regency by delegates of parties with a legitimate interest. I do not have the authority to make this decision on behalf of the confederacy, and due to the diplomatic state of affairs regarding Union and Confederacy I do not believe such a truce can last forever, but I hope as an interrim solution it can be acceptable." Pause. "I further propose to preserve the royal nature of this realm that each such member of this regent council is royalty or nobility, though again I repeat this a personal proposal." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Panting lightly as Caster's barrier drains Agahnim's energy, Sanary adjusts the flow of energy to provide more of a healing effect to both Gudako's arm and her own back. Hearing Fassad, she picks her second shield back up before nonchalantly dropping it back down on the fallen sorceror's head. Just a precaution, really.      "We had a deal, he didn't pay up. Also, pretty sure he was trying to kill us as much as you back there." She gestures at the scorch marks on her back, keeping her gaze on him for a while before circling around to get to MORDRED. She does pause for a moment at Gudako's appointment of the cleric as the person in charge, hiding a grin briefly before continuing forward. Once she reaches the man in the massive suit of armor, she'll start directing healing magic his way!      "So... Uh. Yeah, I guess. Can't exactly use the land if it's /completely/ destroyed, right?" Sanary smirks at Priscilla for a brief moment and noting that concern, trying not to let the size difference intimidate her. Turning to Fassad again, she sighs and sets the riot shield down again to hold that hand out to direct a small light-cloud of healing/stamina restoring energy over Fassad's way as well.      "We can still fight after this, if you feel like it." 

:'''{{#var:891|Aedan MacCarvill (891)}} has posed:'''     The battle winds to a close down below, while Aedan is tied up in the skies. The massive figure on the Helmaroc King is still trying to get within swinging distance, which he will /eventually/ if something's not done about him. But, with the commander of the enemies dead and the keep taken, the Rescue Knight doesn't feel particularly inclined towards a battle to the death up here. He slows up, swapping from his bow to his own hatchet in preperation for a potential melee attack. For the moment however, he elects not to take proactive measures.     Instead, he lowers his altitude and shouts over, "Your commander's gone! No point in fighting anymore. Head on back wherever you came from and find somebody less vicious to serve, maybe." Aedan had always been weirded out by the surface-dwellers like the moblins, who had a choice /not/ to be vicious little pricks, but always made the decision to be tribal and nasty to anyone around them.     Maybe they just need more time. For that matter, maybe Aedan's wasting his time trying to parley a little with a great monster of a Bulblin, it's hard to say until a response is made. 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' As the shot pierces Agahnim's skull, Archer /grins/. He is proud that not only he proved Virgil wrong, but that he succeeded in his blow. "You were no true king, nothing like the one I was or the ones I knew." He leaps off the balcony, shaking his head at the sight of Agahnim's corpse, before dematerializing his bow. He stands firm as he turns to Kyra. "I do not 'back' anyone. I work for myself, and my own interests, not others. He no longer agreed with my interests, so he had to die." And then, Archer steps forward, purposely putting himself in between the Union and the Confederacy, to try and symbolize that he is in the middle. "I have a solution that may be favorable to all parties. Until your princess is recovered, which Ican assist with, I contest claim to your throne based on taking the killing blow. Even then, I would be amenable to putting up a regent from both sides of this conflict for that time, of both sides choice. Is this not agreeable?" 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      In his opinion, Vergil felt things were falling apart.      Gudako and Archer in particular seemed more then willing to throw Agahnim's life away in what he considered a very hasty manner - and if it drove Agahnim to side with the numerically-superior Union in desperation for his life, they were going to be /routed/.      ...      So be it then, he figured - if this cost them all, they'd have no-one but themselves to blame for it.      However, he is pulled back to his fight, gritting his teeth as he sees the woman take the force of his blade and /endure/ it enough to charge forward-      -and leap into the air.      Showy and flashy the same as Dante. It's something he's seen all too often... and yet the flame-burst made it much more difficult to counter, his magic having not recovered enough to bring up more blades. Instead, he pours demonic energy into his weapon and throws it upward into a counter-strike-      And because Nero is falling down at him, the flames pour down as well, searing part of his face and burning a gash into his shoulder even as he tries to drive his upward blow through the falling Roman Emperor.      And with this strike... Agahnim apparently falls dead somewhere behind them, the Son of Sparda still uncertain of if the correct decision was made there to kill him before they even /tried/ to see what he knew.      Thus, he's left standing there in the end-stance of his final strike, steam trailing from the burnt portion of his coat even as his face again starts to heal, looking at Nero contemplatively - provided she endured his strike. "It seems hostilities are over" he notes, a trace of what sounds like audible bitterness in the edge of his voice. "Unless you intend to continue?"      Vergil himself, however, really doesn't. There's no reason to anymore - the die has been cast. Whatever Aganhim could have given alive is gone... and now they have to work a new angle.      He only hopes this turns out well... and that they haven't just slain the only lead they had to their dues that they could have possibly controlled. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' It's about this time that Sarah stirs, finally coming to her senses enough to push herself up enough to see Aghanim get trapped and then his energy drained out as he gets his ass killed. "Well, crap." Sarah mutters. "Of course that would happen." She grunts, and while everyone immediately begins arguing over who's the new king or whatever, begins searching through Aghanim's voluminous robes. By her measure, this isn't over. There might be something else on the corpse that can give additional information on hint at more of that strange relationship between Gerudo and Twili, or what Gamelon is really up to. The chance for some kind of loot is of course just a bonus. 

:'''{{#var:879|Yalai the Stave (879)}} has posed:''' The shadow-wolves cringe and cower, blinded by the radiance of the incendiary seed. Hardly have they left when something else takes their place -- the Twilight Princess. Yalai bares her teeth, whipping her quarterstaff around and lunging forward-- --and lunges right through where Midna vanished, smacking violently into the wall, bouncing back, and laying herself out flat on the flagstones, groaning. "...ugh." 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      Both opponents clashed, blade for blade. Nero could feel Vergil's silver sword bite into her arm with a strength that she did not have, and she grit her teeth. Once the momentum was lost, they disengaged. She leapt back, skidding a small ways and standing ready. "......" Bringing an hand to her ear, she listened in to the radio chatter on her side.      "So it seems." Smirking, Nero relaxed her stance and straightened. Not that she was all that tall to begin with. "Very well. I am not so stubborn that I would pursue a battle that has lost it's meaning." Aestus Estus dematerialized, and she chuckled. "I will admit, you have great skill, Son of Sparda! Perhaps another day, we will have the chance to bring this battle to a conclusion. But for now..."      She moved forward, soon passing the swordsman. "...I must see to my Praetor. Have a good evening." And just like that, she went, no longer consumed with battle adrenaline. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Missiles. The Symphony Regalia has them, and Yuna's fought Nonon before so she knows that they exist. Whether they're any good at this kind of extreme close range, Yuna isn't sure - but she's not entirely surprised when missile exhaust erupts and surrounds both her and Nonon. The Matrix Divider reappears in a brief flash of light amongst the smoke, and even without being able to *see* the missile properly, Yuna blasts it as soon as she can aim - but the thing is so close that the explosion still knocks her to the side, away from the explosion proper - and out of Nonon's face, figuratively speaking. "You know what, Jakuzure?" Yuna snaps, even as she divides her attention enough to get her exo-armor back on its feet and balanced properly. "I bet you're as sick of hearing me talking about my duty and protecting the innocent and all of that as *I'm* sick of hearing *you* prattling on about your precious, all-powerful Lady Satsuki!" She fans some smoke away, coughing a little bit. "Agahnim's dead, by the way. Whatever you were fighting for here, you're NOT getting it. You LOST, Nonon Jakuzure, while you were so busy fighting me that you forgot to watch out for your local ally." And with that, Yuna brings up her suit's exo-arms and starts just starts striking at the Symphony Regalia - punching with one arm, lashing out with the kite shield - smashing with the face of it, slashing with the tip and edges, whatever works. She's not even aiming for *Nonon* any more; she's so close that she can pretty much just try to rip the normally-flying tank apart - particularly any weapons that she can identify while she's this close. If it's resilient enough to stand up to Yuna's close-range strikes, she's still looking for less-resilient weak points; if she can actually DAMAGE it, then damage it she does. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna's still rubbing her stunned arm while Agahnim goes down. She swears quietly under her breath. There goes one possible chance at learning about Ganon and maybe having them off each other or who knows what else. Since MORDRED's disengaged she leaps to Fassad's side instead, staying wary with the remains of her sword still raised defensively.     "Well... THAT sure was anticlimatic... and now we've bigger problems to deal with." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The King Bulblin blinks at Aedan's words, before looking down at the castle. The Shadow Wolves are gone, the signs of combat are going down. He suddenly just looks... Bored. "...I serve only the strong. I will find someone else strong." The Helmaroc King's reigns are pulled, turning its head away from Aedan. It begins to flap off, flying towards the direction of Death Mountain.      Fassad looks towards Gudako, considering her a bit. He stares at her blankly, confused by her apparent honesty. So, they did simply kill him for their own profit. The question of who is in charge is simple to answer at least. "...Princess Zelda will be saved, and placed on the throne."      He stares blankly at MORDRED, "It is not my place to make such a decision on the royalty of those involved."      And then he looks at 'Rider', frowning, "Kings are not picked by who killed the last king. At least, not around here. I will put a representative of the Union in charge of this Castle for now, until the rightful Queen can be returned. ...In fact, I'll pick a representative right now. Lady Priscilla? You are the acting Reagent of Hyrule, until we manage to save Zelda."      Fassad does not trust Sanary at all. She's the one who seems to have lead the Confederate incursion into Hyrule, after all. Fassad considers the options, of fighting now or not... And he speaks, softly, "...Well. There is not much point in fighting right now. Instead, I suggest an alliance. On Monday, we head to Gamelon, and save Zelda. I would suggest sooner... But we need time to prepare." Of course, he actually /does/ plan to invade Gamelon sooner. He's not going to tell the Confederacy this, especially since they /just/ admitted they only fought because they didn't get a payout.      Agahnim's corpse has a decent amount of loot that Sarah could steal. A number of pieces of jewelry. One of his pockets is larger on the inside as well, and a wooden cane is inside. It may or may not be magical. There is little else as far as personal effects, though. 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     "Yeah pretty much," Gudako answers Kyra.     Sanary heals her arm, which is a huge bonus! It takes the magus a few stretches of it to reach the conclusion she is fine with this and to stop paying attention to it, giving the healer a thumb up.     Priscilla accuses; Gudako shrugs. "It's my first time here, honest. His attitude annoyed me. So! Why waste time? He was being a dick, now he's not! He's out of your hair, and out of ours, isn't this a happy ending?" 8D     She is telling the truth, her involving in all this prior to now was basically zero. She shrugs again, and heads for the exit, with Caster following-- well, prancing after her, the happy foxgirl quite proud of herself.     "Right, well! You guys figure out this succession business, I guess we're out. Or, I'm out! If I'm lucky I can salvage this night." That is, if she's lucky, she can reach the Warp Gate before her AP caps and starts wasting. Besides, the Confederacy already got what they wanted out of this, right? Next up, gotta befriend the Duke of Gamelon, see if that Ganon fellow is their type or not. Or that's what she'd do, anyway. This is technically Sanary's decision to take! 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "And I expecteth thou wilst continue to attempt to extract the promised ends of such a deal on thine own. Even to assumeth thine reasons to turn upon the sorcerer so suddenly were to be perfect logical and self-serving, that hardly removes thee as an enemy." Priscilla says to Sanary, her voice ice and crackling glass, only turning to a cold, and hostile laugh at both Archer and Mordred, almost irrationally so for two people she's only just met.     "I shalt dignify no such absurdity as to call it a contest or a delegation. The fact that either of thee wouldst demand such is beyond absurdity, and into a realm of hubris that exists well distant from reality. We art perfectly aware of thine exploits; roaming about this land and bleeding it dry; murdering it in pieces at a time. I see not the shadow of a reason to alloweth thee any manner of power whatsoever over its future, especially not for simply betraying thine benefactor at the very end and claiming all is fair. The fact that thou were ever afforded such outreach of diplomacy in past was due to shared interest, the generosity of Sir Hall, and the efforts of those of thine allies far more clever than thee, and as thou can no doubt see, Sir Hall is not here, we remaineth in competition, and I am entirely confident in our ability to annihilate thee shouldst thou attempteth to insist otherwise."     The hostility cracks suddenly as Fassad agrees with her by outright electing her representative right then and there. It's not /too/ surprising in later retrospect considering the thoughts they share on these subjects, but it's startling at that exact moment. "I- . . . very well then. I shalt accept the offer gladly, until such a time as the Princess Zelda may taketh her rightful place." Smooth. At least she gets to shoot a 'take that' look. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     "Oh really?" Kyra looks completely nonplussed at the archer and holds up her hand. That hand still contains one of the arrows he shot at her. There's still another sticking out of her side, embedded in some of the gear she keeps underneath her hoodie. "Then explain THIS. Explain why you were shooting at me, especially when I came in to disrupt the spell Gudako's Caster was setting up."     Kyra takes that moment to snap off the end of the arrow. Then, with clear pain on her face, she pulls the other end through her hand and throws it to the ground. Right away, she casts a Cura on herself to close up the wound. She's shaking a little as she does this and starts fumbling around beneath her hoodie. A syringe is withdrawn, which she sticks into her arm. A moment later she relaxes as the painkillers course through her bloodstream.     Gudako confirms that they straight up killed him for not providing enough compensation. "I don't buy that jerk thing, the Confederates are /full/ of jerks and you're not killing each other. Also I don't buy putting /him/ on this throne. The people of this world should be able to make that call." she nods towards Fassad, "And it sounds like he's made his decision." 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "Then we are at an impasse. Because I do not trust the Union to deal fairly and honestly while shutting us out, and I will not evacuate the premises until a proper truce has been acknowledged and representatives of the Confederacy have been granted equal access." MORDRED states very clearly to Fassad. "If you have issue with that. I regret to say that is not, so to say, my problem." He steps out of his Armour, as a gesture of goodwill, though he stays near it. He is tall, handsome, and in many ways the image of a perfect prince. "I am Prince MORDRED, Lord of Mercury, Son of High King Arthur." He pulls out a silk glove and holds it out like he wishes to slap someone with it. "And this is not a matter in which the Union gets to place rules and expect us to abide. Either agree to a temporary shared rulership, or get out of our castle." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Well damn. No info. But hey, loot. Aghanim isn't gonna need that jewelry anymore, and the cane gets immediately Captchalogued. She'll find out what is up with it later. After that, Sarah just climbs up into the throne and lounges in it while everyone continues to argue. "Frankly, you guys, it's not our problem who runs the place. None of us should be here or running it with the exception of maybe Prince Fassad. He's at least nobility, and more importantly, /he's a goddamn native/." She smiles faintly at that. "People aren't going to accept some random guy walking in and taking over. He's been running around and putting out fires for months, probably, since before he even put out those requests for help." 

:'''{{#var:924|Winedark Archer (924)}} has posed:''' Archer actually doesn't seem upset whatsoever by the decision, but that's only external. Whatever he is thinking internally is carefully concealed, as he nods. "Very well. If that is the law of your land, I cannot argue it, and I have no further reason to be in this throne room." And then, he turns to Kyra, sighing. "I was hired to defend this castle, and you were an intruder. I learned that I would not be paid, and that he was attacking others who were working with him. I refuse to trust those who would betray me or my interests, and therefore, he had to die. You can accuse me of whatever else you wish, but I will continue to deny them." Archer glances at Mordred as he contests claim of the castle, but does nothing. Instead, he vanishes, dematerializing. Soon, his blip of energy is gone from the area, having completely left the Castle. 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' The explosion clears, the Symphonia Regalia damaged but still protecting Nonon. It's not clear if she knew if it would have survived. It's clear she didn't care, however, in the thick of things. The declaration from Kagurazaka is joining the ringing in her ears. It's about as enjoyable as it to her, as well. Yuna's strikes begin to impact the armoring after she talks, after she claims they lost. A smile, somewhat twisted, sits on Nonon's face. "No, maybe the Confederates lost. But I didn't, Kagurazaka." The Regalia snaps shut, black and red energies flashing once before her uniform, damaged, reforms about her. It's tattered now. Parts are missing and tussled. There's at least a handful of loose ends hanging about to make her look like a mess. The hat is missing on top of it. "Say what you want about me or the stupid mission, I was shooting at /you/, but not for /them/." Nonon declares, brushing the uniform off of soot and smoke, wounded limbs burned slightly from her own explosions and assaults, as if she simply didn't care. "And you're just sick because you're /not/ her. If you knew her like I do, you'd understand." Nonon declares - her unwaivering faith in her Lady of Honnouji truly shining, as usual. "Your group won though, I guess. Since you're all going to just dogpile me if I fight back, I guess we're done. Even if I'd like to keep going until you couldn't make /any/ sounds." How truly friendly. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "No." Priscilla states flatly. "/Thou/ art at an impasse. Those of us with Hyrule's best interests in mind art entirely satisfied. Those of thee alone responsible for killing it slowly art the only ones displeased. The rightful princess is our ally, Agahnim's undoing is our effort, and these measures hath been selected by a native prince. Thou hast no legitimate claim to anything, only the means to stamp and shout in entitlement." It's really rare anyone gets to see anything like this from her. In fact, it might actually be a first as she steps to MORDRED, the royal carpet glassing over in her footsteps.     "I am Priscilla, Archlord of Anor Londo, Dragon Queen, Daughter of the Ashen Sun, and White Lady of Disaster. I speaketh in no uncertain terms, Sir Morded. Taketh thine leave from /Hyrule's/ castle, or part with thine /soul/." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary raises an eyebrow at Fassad before sighing quietly and rubbing her forehead, finally taking a break from directing that healing magic around. Side-bonus: It keeps her face out of view after what Priscilla said! "Well, you're not completely wrong. But we did kinda..." She trails off and gestures back at Agahnim's corpse (and Sarah by extension) while nodding in agreement with MORDRED.      "We could've dug in and made things a lot worse for everyone in the Union involved, but we didn't. And since Zelda's not on the throne..." She closes her eye and tilts her head back slowly, letting it crack a bit before coming up to Fassad and looking straight up at him. "So how about this. Fassad acts as the Union rep, Gudako..."      She pauses, glancing back at where Gudako had been standing. "... Isn't interested, I guess. Okay. Uh. MORDRED or I can be the Confederate rep... 's? And that guy from before can.. What's his name. Arrows... Guy?" Sanary makes a show of glancing around slowly, another sigh escaping her after a moment. "Was gonna say he could be the neutral one in all this 'til we find this Zelda chick. Or we can keep the fight going. We've got a lot of really..." She furrows her brow, trying to find the right word for it. "... Huge assholes around that'll break things just for fun. That's not going to be good for anyone.""      Another pause, then she turns to Fassad to size him up. "... You wanna just punch each other in the face, anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "Your majesty. There is the problem. We are still here, we are still armed. I care not who the Confederate representative is, but the fact remains that as long as we are both here, and are unwilling to accede to eachother's demands, we yet lack a conclusion that is satisfactory to either of us. You claim victory when it was not your hand who has slain Agahnim, and when it was us who ceased the offensive upon his death." MORDRED remains firm, and firmly maintains a lack of intimidation. "If you seek to claim my soul, I would certainly try to stop you. I do not know if I can succeed, but it does not matter. Because mere threats will not make me bend knee on this matter. Regardless, the longer you waste time on these squabbles, on seeking to assert superiority where I merely seek for a temporary shared custodianship until a more permanent solution, like the return of the rightful ruler, Queen Zelda, you are not rescuing her." 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      And then Nero comes striding into the throne room.      "Hrm. Well now. It seems like quite an incident took place here."      And then without batting any further an eye, she walked right over to Kyra, taking note of the arrow wounds. "Praetor, will you be okay?" She came to a stop not soon after, remaining at the white mage's side while observing the situation in the throne room.      What nonsense. She had zero interest in this throne, frankly. So this puppet show going on right now, drew an overly amused smile on the Servant's face. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "You guys aren't listening to me at all, are you?" Sarah points out. "If you guys take the throne you're just as much of a conqueror as Aghanim was. No one /CARES/ who killed Aghanim. He was basically dead as soon as enough people decided to come after him. Frankly, I think you guys were premature but hey, no one listens to the kid." Sarah shrugs. "The best solution is /everyone gets out of the pool/, and we go get Zelda back from Gamelon. None of you guys are going to run this place, the people aren't going to accept some random guy stomping in and yelling they're in charge, and frankly, who the hell would want to run this place anyway? Seriously, have you even LOOKED at it? The place is a dying wreck." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "I've been at Honnouji," Yuna states flatly. "I've seen how your precious Lady Satsuki runs things. It's *not* to my liking, and I've faced tyrants and monsters who make her - *and* you - look like the schoolyard bullies you are. You wear a fancy transforming uniform which makes a *mockery* of music, and you think that plus your allegiance to Lady Freaking Satsuki gives you the right to talk down to everyone else, whether they're a Honnouji student or whether they're old enough to be in college or beyond." Yuna shakes her head. "Grow up while you can, Nonon. Anyone who rules by strength is subject to being overthrown by *greater* strength, and there'll always be someone in the Multiverse who can apply that 'greater strength' against you. If that's part of Honnouji's system and you're really content to go from one overlord to the next at any cost to those who get trampled ..." She trails off, shaking her head again. "I feel sorry for all of you who are stuck there. But yeah, if all you personally wanted to do is fight me? Then yeah, you got that much. I'll admit it." Yuna looks at Nonon. "Thanks for at least listening to *something* I said," she adds dryly. 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     Gudako does not seem to care one bit about the succession matters. It was really just a way to strike discussion up with Fassad! Being a king sounds like a huge pain, honestly. Not in a good way. Of Hyrule, especially! What does this place even have? It has NO WI-FI, that's what it has. Soldiers, random wilflife? Come on, they can get that elsewhere, and way easier.     She spins in place and back around to facing people, standing near the exit to the throne room. "NOPE! A thousand times nope, I don't wanna be queen or king or even caretaker of this place. It's lame and dumb and doesn't have internet. HEY, PRINCE. Get internet, it's the future."     She also glances back at Kyra! "Hey, hey. Nobody's backstabbing each other in the Confederacy though! He tried to screw us over, that's what he gets. Dead, I mean. Obviously dead! HEY, Prince! Second demand. So, like, get internet, seriously, that was serious. But, how about this, you guys can keep Hyrule, we don't make a mess on our way out, but we get to keep Agahnim's body. To stuff it and put it in our living room or something. With a 'this is why you don't screw us over' plaque. Deal?" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad is about to say something to MORDRED, but then, Sarah speaks up. He has to admit, though the girl is really blunt about everything, she does know what she is talking about. He nods to her. He's about to speak again, to offer another deal to MORDRED...      And then Gudako asks to let the Confederacy keep Agahnim's corpse. Fassad stares blankly towards Gudako.      "...I... suppose... that would be fine?"      He looks horrified. But what damage could they do with just a corpse? 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Well... he expected this. In fact, believing the Union would be in a better position of power if they struck too soon was why he had wanted to wait until /after/ they were driven back to betray Agahnim; if they helped him survive, he might have been more lenient towards giving them some kind of share in rulership in exchange for defending him... and for being in a superior position of power to him since his deal relied on an IOU.      ... of course, this conveniently ignores the fact that Vergil's own greed for that possible power had overruled the fact that the risk had long since outweighed the reward they might have gotten. The half-demon isn't used to having his bids be shot down or defied.      He assumed himself to have been the voice of reason that was ignored... as opposed to the voice of desire that was lusting for a possible outcome that was far more risky then the payout would have recouped for, not at all used to having his ambitions be pulled back, tempered or even refused by others.      None of this crosses his mind - in Vergil's opinion, Priscilla's refusal to acknowledge any claim of theirs, since they /knew/ the Confederates had other goals and refused to help because of it, made the Son of Sparda believe he'd been right. Instead of having a stable ground with someone they could potentially control, they were now on contested ground and disputed claims with the Union.      There really is no way to win this now. In Vergil's opinion, Archer and Gudako struck too soon and now they were in another mess.      ....      Well... there was only one thing left to do at this point; try to reinforce the path that had already been taken. As if they had a /choice/ anymore.      ...      And then... a radio message comes in and changes everything.      Stepping into the hall smoothly along with Nero - and silently agreeing with the young girl Sarah's assessment that they /were/ premature in their actions - he steps in beside MORDRED and makes an offer of his own.      "At the very least... can we not request some form of compensation? This was an assignment - and obviously... things went sour." He silently curses Gudako's mouth, though - as if they would give them what they wanted if she asked like /that/. He sighs and rolls with it, though - "At the very least... we would request ownership of Agahnim's body. If for no other reason then the value it will have - the only way of recouping our losses, so to speak."      It wasn't a /lie/ really... but it wasn't the whole truth either. 

:'''{{#var:805|Nonon Jakuzure (805)}} has posed:''' Yuna talks - and talks down to Nonon heavily. Eyes glaze over very quickly as she faces her, how she's 'nothing', how she's 'a bully and really should grow up'. How they are all 'small useless things'. Yeah, maybe they don't have a chance at their goal. One that she'll never learn if it all goes well. "I plan to die before I fail Lady Satsuki." Is her answer to Yuna after all those words, after all those attempts to tell her there's more to it. "If there is, then let them come at Honnouji. They will find what is stronger." She doesn't even face Yuna, looking entirely away and heading out as she walks. "I'm actually disappointed I let you talk at all. We're not /stuck there/. We're there because we WANT to be." Because they have to be. "... Fuck it." Is her final response to the whole conversation, flicking her hand back from her scorched hair and just walking away. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     While all the others were bickering, Finna managed to slip out amidst all of the chaos. Quiet as a mouse, sly as a fox. If anyone was watching, she huffed in disgust and strolled out on out of the throne room, headed left down the hallway.     That was quite a bit ago. Probably easily forgotten now that...     ... now that the sound of clinking metal's coming from the OTHER end of the hallway. not the way that finna left at all. Clinking metal, albeit faint and cushioned, along with the rustling of excessive fabrics.     "Or," a clear, authoritative, yet polite voice - graceful as silk yet strong as any steel - pierces through the argument, "Instead of appointing a regent, you can instead leave that to me. I'm too late to help anyone in stopping this madness, I see. Some of you I recognize!" Her warm gaze falls across Fassad and several Union members briefly... but Princess Zelda's gaze is just a tad wary at the Confederates.     She steps purposefully into the throne room. Yes... it is Hyrule's princess, who should be missing. Locked up in Gamelon. And yet here she is, in incredibly ornate battle attire. Strategically placed golden armor over top of a formal pink and royal purple dress covered in the imagery of the royal family, with the royal crest on display at knee-level. Her blue eyes are fierce and haven't lost a bit of their light, for all...     For all she's otherwise kind of in shambles. There's mud on her armor, parts of her dress are torn, and a few of the decorative jewels that her battle attire would normally have are torn off.     She's clearly been through a few scrapes on her way here.     "Others I do not. I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. Who might you be?" 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "Your highness, very well. I am Prince MORDRED, lord of Mercury, son of High King Arthur of Earth." MORDRED politely but slightly bows to Zelda, a respected bow to a social equal, but not a superior. "I hope you will allow us the body of our late and treacherous 'ally' but since I was only asking for regency until your return or some other form of permament resolution, I see no point in pressing the matter." He retreats into his Armour, and seems to make it fairly clear he at least wants the body. 

:'''{{#var:908|Gudako Ordria (908)}} has posed:'''     Gudako is standing by the door! With Caster, but that's largely irrelevant. She didn't notice that Finna snuck out (although she had noticed that Finna was WITH THEM since she kind of yelled at Agahnim and all that). The appearance of PRINCESS ZELDA is kind of a big deal, and gets the magus to stare a bit. Who's this elf? Ah, there she goes, introducing herself. Zelda?     The Zelda they were just told was in another kingdom, being held hostage, for the revival of an evil god-like figure, by the evil wizard who actually feared the evil god-entity? W... what?     Blink.     Gudako glances around the room.     She cannot see Finna anymore.     Unfortunately for Finna: 1. she has seen Finna shapeshift before. 2. both of her Servants are shapeshifters, so she knows the tactics. 3. this is absurdly convenient, that the only other shapeshifter in the room is gone when the princess who shouldn't be here shows up.     "Huuuuh. Caster?"     Caster slaps a paper talisman on the back of Gudako's head. The magus' eyes shine just a bit, and then she ohs, sounding a bit disappointed. "Aww, here I thought we wouldn't HAVE to hunt for Zelda. Hello Finna! That's a nice disguise. Ah, but you really could use some lessons in subtlety though! How do you do that anyway? I can't see all the way through even with Caster's help!" 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Oh Priscilla is just not having this. Not from a Confederate. She remembers times well before routine cooperation between the factions was a thing. "Dost thou perceiveth thus to be the issue? Sir Mordred, the fact that thou art still present and remaineth not only armed, but alive, is by mine discretion only. I care exceedingly little for what claims an aimless mercenary may maketh to loosing a superfluous arrow at an opportune moment, thou hast no claim to this land, the Union dost, and I am personally prepared to see that it shalt remaineth that way by force. I tire of thine rhetoric. Whatever morbid fascination thine people hath with a man's butchered corpse, it is beyond mine concern. Accepteth the young Lady's common sense, take it and depart immediately. Hyrule castle shalt be under Union watch until Princess Zelda is retrieved shortly, and no royal action shalt be taken until then. The next thou proceedeth to argue, I shalt striketh thee and most likely slay thee, honourable or not." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary sighs lightly as her attempt as negotiation or punch-trading goes nowhere, instead picking up her shield and folding it back into a more compact cube attacked to her gauntlet. She's not quite sure where to really go from here (aside from probably having to carry the corpse back herself), although the sudden appearance from the woman calling herself Zelda does give her some hope for not having to do any more physical labor for the day.      "Ah. Welcome back, Princess. We're the Confederacy, and we just took out the guy claiming your throne." She jerks a thumb back at Agahnim's corpse in question. "Well, us and some weird guy with a bow. He left, though, so." She leaves the rest of the talking to MORDRED there, although something else draws her attention to Zelda: Gudako calling her Finna instead.      Sanary just starts laughing after that. "Is that what you're trying now? Oh, great. So. About that co-running plan we were talking about...?" 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     "Uh huh. Then there really isn't any point in arguing with you further, then, is there?" Kyra points out to Archer, shaking her head. True to her words, she doesn't bother the guy about it anymore, moving on to focus on other things.     "I'm fine now, Nero, don't worry. Thanks for taking on that guy who threw swords at me."     Finally, Gudako: "Oh, well. That's a lot lower number than I was expecting. I'm okay with this, really, but I don't want to know what you end up doing with this guy's corpse. Stuffing it seems mean-spirited but that's just my opinion." Which wasn't worth much to 'Feds. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad facepalms a little, his fingers rubbing his temples. This /was/ a good plan. There have been several good plans. But, things are going a bit surreal. He looks towards Finna!Zelda for a bit. In many ways, this actually makes him uncomfortable. It doesn't help that Gudako and Caster figure it out.      "...I am going to the Castle Town milk bar after this is over."      He shakes his head a little bit, trying to shake it off. He smiles, despite not feeling it. He looks towards Sanary, shrugging, "Well. The plan is simple. On Monday, we make a full assault. Between the forces of the Confederacy and the Union, there is little chance we could fail to save Zelda."      A pause. A last look at all of the Confederates. "...Please, enjoy your corpse." 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "If she is this 'Finna', then today marks a great shame on the Union for attempts at deceit, but I have no evidence for this claim other than the claim of one person. And though I trust them to report fairly, my own eyes are clear as day. I do not feel like it would be constructive to quibble over perceptions." Whether it's the magic influencing him, a desire to back down and go do something more productive, or something else... He appears to be willing to buy it. "I will take our traitor. Have a nice day, your majesty, your highness." He goes to pick up the corpse, if people let him, before flying off. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Oddly enough, milk actually sounds quite good right around now. It really had bene a long day, and Sanary's fairly confident she can at least get some laughs at out of it if nothing else. "Hey, Fassad. What else do they serve there, anyway?" She lets out another long sigh before starting towards the exit as well, hurrying up a bit to catch up with the prince. "What kinda money do you use here, anyway? I'm good for credits, so..." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      In spite of his personal dissatisfaction with how quickly they simply cast Agahnim to death, Vergil can't help but smirk when Gudako proves useful in uncovering Finna's attempt at deception... and in doing so, might have considerably weakened Priscilla's position.      Granted, he doesn't expect them to attain the throne at this rate... but if nothing else, backing MORDRED over Priscilla is one small point in undermining her authority. "I hope you don't mean /that/ Zelda that our mage identified as a fake. Considering you have a shape-shifter that just tried to enact a bid for authority when the Prince has disarmed and approached you earnestly, I don't see very much reason to trust your word over his personally."      He trusted the mage more then the Union, even if he found her to be brash and hasty.      In the meantime, though, once they have the corpse on hand, there isn't any reason to push things further once MORDRED makes his eloquent claim of the Union having shamed itself if Gudako is right. And he in turn takes his leave after Mordred and the others, casting a glance to Sanary as he is unsure whether she's trying to probe Fassad for information, simply get a drink or both."      ...      Likely both. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "My sources tell me you also 'took out' the Deku Tree." 'Zelda' answers Sanary, her eyes swiveling with a flicker of anger at Project MORDRED on the way out. "Without that great spirit the people will suffer in other ways." Yes. this is not Zelda. But her words are just as sharp, just as piercing, as any other. If Sanary has any memories of her parents left this rapier-precise tone is certain to drag up every erg of GUILT and SHAME she may have ever felt when chastised as a little child, such is the aura behind it.     Even being 'revealed' by Gudako, this is no less effective. "Among a number of other heinous crimes. And for what? What did this traitor promise you?" Oh, the Princess is angry. Legitimately angry.     Finna is counting on the fact that someone, instilled with a suitable flash of guilt, might blurt it out.     Regarding Gudako's reveal, she does nothing. Not until Project MORDRED has left anyways. She sees him off with a deep, respectful nod.     She's left STARING at Gudako. Perhaps waiting for any possible remarks from Sanary others before doing anything about this matter of being 'revealed.' 

:'''{{#var:880|Nero (880)}} has posed:'''      Oh, the show is over already?      With a nod to Kyra, Nero dematerialized, no longer seeing a need to be physically present. She did her part. Now, she was just going to linger around Kyra until the girl saw fit to leave this place. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad gives a look to Sanary. A flat, blank look. "...I am not going to accompany a known Confederate to a milk bar. But, if you must know, the standard currency is Rupees, but Multiversal Credits are accepted as well."      Fassad remains silent, otherwise simply just drained. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla has historically had extremely little patience for Finna's way of doing things. It's a miracle that she's restraining herself as well as she is right now. Her eyes don't even roll. "Whatever a hypothetical shapeshift hast to do with anything is, again, beyond mine concern. Do not seek to chastise and lecture mineself for deceit and betrayal, for thou shalt find such a glass house shattering very, very swiftly. Such juvenile attempts at embarrassment shalt changeth not mine mind." That's incredibly diplomatic for what she could be doing right now. "Saveth thine efforts for whence they shalt matter, Sir Vergil especially." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Outside the castle, as the Confederates finally leave? They will see a man, floating in the air. He wears full body green tights wtih a pointed hat, with red around his waist. A number of balloons are carrying him, connected to a large backpack on him. He looks... Unique, to say the least. Possibly familiar to some.      A sign is on his stomach reading 'Maps For Sale!' 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Oh, come ooon. It's too late for more shit, anyway." Sanary actually flashes Fassad a genuine grin as she says that, putting her shield back on her... Back to keep both hands free. "I just wanna see what this 'milk bar' thing even is and get a pork chop or five."      Her strangely cheerful demeanor after all the back-and-forth doesn't remain the whole time, however, darkened somewhat by the false Zelda's words. "Mm... Your sources aren't completely wrong. But I gave 'em a chance, so..." She lets out an irritated grunt and keeps moving, intent on getting to that damn milk bar.      She's going to eat those pork cohps so hard. Even harder than... She pauses to stare at the flying balloon man, then shakes her head and starts moving faster just to get away from that... That. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Once Sanary has left, Finna banishes her 'facade.' This was no shapeshift. There's no rippling of flesh. Instead, the facade melts away in a show of prismatic moonlight losing resolution and cohesion. It wasn't a shapeshift.     That was an illusion.     A thumping good one.     And the (slightly shorter than Zelda by an inch or two) foxgirl's grinning up a storm at Gudako.     On the way out, Gudako might intuit a message in that grin. Or maybe she won't.     'You'll never achieve this. No matter who you kill or steal from, it will never be yours.' 

}}

1771/Zephyr Vs. Lute at The Rookery

2015-12-01T06:05:44Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/03/10 |Location=TARGET: The Rookery (TR) |Synopsis=Lute and Zephyr get into a fight for control of the Rookery. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=1..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/03/10
|Location=TARGET: The Rookery (TR)
|Synopsis=Lute and Zephyr get into a fight for control of the Rookery.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=162, 188
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute has not been having a good time of things recently. For about a week or so, perhaps more, his luck has been turning around. Things have not been going his way. Normally, he can deal with the fact that his life is a constant stream of dissapointment and bad luck. But, for a brief bit in February, /everything/ was going his way.      And, now it stopped.      The sudden twist in his luck is simply too much for him. And so, he is going to take it out on the Union, and their forces. He flies into the Rookery, on the back of Giratina. Trailing him are his horde of Unown, flying after him in sevearl lines. They circle the Rookery, and Lute looks down at the troops below, the various Union encampments.      He's not going to hold back, not going to pull his punches, and not going to make this a casual affair, at all. He is not going to be his normal self.      He is, quite simply, going to destroy as much as possible.      The Unown have no need to be ordered around by Lute verbally. These are the few Pokemon he has a mental connection to now. And so they just start flying down towards the Union encampments. They send out bursts of Hidden Power, the bizarre wave of multi-colored energy which can be any elemental type. They aren't aiming to incapacitate, as Lute would normally do in such a casual battle. Instead, they're simply aiming to kill.      A wicked smile is slowly forming along Lute's face. Yeah. Samar was right. Just letting your negative emotions out as rage towards your enemy is a /great/ way to deal with the problems. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "SET UP!" cries a female voice from somewhere in the encampments. A burst of purple light surges out of one of the tents, as the ground forces scatter, retreating to hardened bunkers.     Zephyr wastes no time, surging through the swarm of Unown and hacking in a flurry with her Device, a thin trail of purple light following every swing. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The moment the Unown are attacked, Lute knows instantly. They alert him to this, giving him flashes of their own vision. Showing Zephyr cutting them down. And Lute smiles. Well. It seems an Elite has arrived to defend. He is not surprised by this. In fact, he was hoping for this. He needs /someone/ who can take what he can dish out for a while. Someone who he can get rid of some of his rage against.      "DRAGON CLAW!"      He shouts this to Giratina. Giratina, of course, knows the target. He can see a bit better than Lute, and knows who the biggest threat here is just by watching the Unown getting beaten down. And so, the shadowy dragon flies down, coming at Zephyr from behind. On its wings it has massive claw-spikes, and it brings them in towards Zephyr, trying to claw into her with them as it passes by.      Normally, Lute would make some attempt to offer a chance for them to escape. But, not today. No, that is not the /point/ of today. Instead, Lute just laughs like a madman, as if he is getting complete joy out of this already. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <KITE SHIELD!> chimes Divine Wind, partly deflecting that strike, though the sheer force shatters the shield quickly, sending the Mage down into the ground with plume of dust on impact. Zephyr growls, picking herself up and glaring skywards at the dragon and its rider.     <MISTRAL SQUALL. EMPOWERMENT MODE!> chimes the Device, as Zephyr brings the axe up like a wand. The blade shifts, rotating along the axis of the haft in a 180 motion, providing a 'sight' for the mage. <MISTRAL BUSTER!> it chimes again, magic gathering into the gemstone, while the two Bits rotate around it lazily, providing cohesion.     She follows Giratina's path, letting Divine Wind feed prediction adjustments into her vision to line up her shot, then she calls "FIRE!" unleashing the purple beam of raw magic. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The beam of magic impacts into Giratina, leaving a nice magic burn on its side. It's flight pattern is thrown off a bit. But, Lute himself remains calm. Or, perhaps calm is not the right word. Instead, he is feeling a sort of tranquil fury right now. He holds up another Pokeball, releasing yet another Pokemon.      "FIRE FANG!"      As Lute shouts this, Arcanine moves in. Arcanine speeds along, rnning at a high speed, as it heads towards Zephyr. As it leaps in, it is careful to try and avoid the axe itself. But, it still aims for the arms. It opens its mouth, fire filling it, as it tries to bite down /hard/ at Zephyr's arm.      Lute, meanwhile? He stands tall atop Giratina, balancing himself well despite being on a flying Pokemon. He holds his arms out to his side. And, the Unown begin flying to him. Merging with his body. Most of his body is now a mass of black, spotted with the unblinking eyes of the Unown. And Lute just starts laughing, once again.      "...Well. You picked the /completely/ wrong defense mission to take up. You're going to leave here with /every/ limb broken, if I have anything to say about it."      This, honestly, is /completely/ atypical behavior for Lute. Normally, he'd at least /try/ to flirt with Zephyr. But, instead, he wants to harm her and nothing else. This isn't even like his other side, his cold, calm, and collected sociopath side. This is, most likely, 'dumb' Lute. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr sees that giant dog coming, and brings her right arm up in a defensive posture. <WINNOWING WREATH!> chimes the Device, as her entire body is covered in a thin 'film' of magic. She takes the bite in her off-hand arm, screaming in pain as her defensive ward buckles, and those flaming fangs sink into her flesh.     Zephyr brings her Axe around, and presses the head against Arcanine's chest, firing off a 'pulse' of energy to try and knock it away. Even if unsuccessful, she deploys another spell, countless motes of light appearing around her, which lance out with a barrage of 'homing bullets' at Lute and Giratina. "It'll take more than you to break me." she replies defiantly. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The beam strikes into Arcanine, causing it to fly back, bouncing along the ground. It will take it a second to get up. But, as the mass of countless beams fly in towards Lute, Lute realizes there isn't a way he can possibly dodge it.      "GIRATINA! TANK IT!"      So instead, he has Giratina fly up, and block the hits for him. Lute takes none of the damage directly himself. But, the moment the beams vanish from the sky? Lute leaps forward, through the air. Every single Unown Eye that can possibly see Zephyr is turning to face her, at the moment.      And, as Lute comes in, he lifts a palm. One of the eyes is upon it. And, from it, a circular burst of energy flies out. Though it is prismatic in color, it does in fact have an element, randomly, each time Lute uses it. And this time, the Hidden Power has the the element of Electricity to it.      But, Lute isn't even done after that attack. For, he keeps moving in, and with the other arm, tries to punch at Zephyr, right in the face. This is /also/ unusual for him. He generally won't attack a woman in the face. But, it'll be quite a strike as well if it hits, due to the boosted strength Lute holds due to the Unown he is wearing as armor. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     The Arcanine is knocked clear. Good. For a moment, Zephyr touches her wounded arm, wincing a little as blood trickles from the wounds. <MASTER! INCOMING!> warns Divine Wind. "We've got permission. DRIVE MAX!"     A flash of purple engulfs the mage, accompanied by the clarion call of <MAXIMUM DRIVE. BARRIER JACKET SET. TEMPEST MODE. MISTRAL TEMPEST. AREA MODE. ALL SYSTEMS GREEN!> As Lute dives in to attack, the pulse of Hidden Power strikes the 'bubble', negated by the defensive barrier. The punch is grappled by an armoured right arm, supported by thick plate metal. The rest of the girl comes out of the bubble as it collapses, and she jabs her Device into Lute's midsection. "Stun Mode. Disable. Maelstrom Buster."     Divine Wind chimes wordlessly this time, as magical arcs crackle around the head of her Device, and a high power pulse of raw magic fires out at point blank range. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The raw blast of magic engulfs Lute. But, after it ends, he is still there, albeit worse for wear. The Unown upon him look damaged more than anything, though. They are, in fact, his armor at the moment. But, when they come off? He is going to feel the pain of this. And he is going to feel it hard.      Lute launches another punch. This one, aimed for Zephyr's stomach. But, even as he does so, he shouts to his Arcanine, and his Giratina.      "FLAME THROWER! SHADOW SNEAK!"      The burst of flames comes from Arcanine, moving to engulf Zephyr. And, Giratina's shadow stretches out from its body, the shadow itself moving to try and claw at Zephyr.      And Lute just glares at Zephyr.      "Awesome. I /wanted/ a better fight than what you were putting up before." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr's reinforced Barrier Jacket manages to dull the punch, making her grunt more than anything else... though the Flame Thrower and Shadow Sneak attacks do a bit more. Purple light springs out to deflect some of the flames, scorch marks showing up on her right arm plates and her skirt shredding near the bottom hem. The claws of the shadow rake across her armour, leaving gleaming silver welts in its wake.     "We'll see just how confident you are when I'm beating your face into the GROUND!" she snarls in reply. Divine Wind chimes, as the Bits draw in to attach to her back(2) and the counterweight side of her axe(3). <MISTRAL TEMPEST. BOOSTER TWO. STRIKER THREE. MISTRAL CUTTER. STORM SHIFT!> The mage seems to blurr out of sight, rapidly appearing and slashing at Giratina, Arcanine and Lute himself with a brightly glowing axe blade. Instead of the non-lethal 'bludgeons' of before, these strikes are fully sharp and will cleave through their target like a normal axe. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Zephyr rapidly moves across the battlefield, slicing and dicing, Giratina and Arcanine roar out with pain. Lute just grimmaces. Though Lute /should/ be bleeding at this, and cuts are visibly forming? Nothing is coming out, and the Unown are reforming over his body. Trying to keep him together. Patching him up, on a temporary basis.      Lute reaches into his pocket, the Unown moving so he can. Another Pokeball is pulled out. From it, a Tyranitar appears.      And, Lute says a phrase that many Pokemon Trainers fear.      "Hyperbeam."      Tyrannitar opens its mouth, and a massive beam of energy /bursts/ out from it, trying to engulf Zephyr. And Lute just keeps laughing madly. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr grunts softly coming to a pause as her Linker Core pulsates oddly. It's this opening that lets Tyrannitar get a bead on her... and her scream echos across the Rookery. Blasted back by the force, the mage skips and skids along the ground, armour melting and simply being blasted clear in places.     It looks like she's down for the count, but with effort, she pushes herself back to her feet, and pulses magic to clear debris from around her. Zephyr sets her stance, draws her device back with both hands on the haft, and narrows her eyes. <BOOSTER TWO. STRIKER THREE. MISTRAL CUTTER, IMPACT SHIFT!> this time, she's visible, charging along the ground with a trail of purple magic in her wake. It's not until she's close that she vanishes from sight, appearing behind the Tyrannitar and attempting to cleave through its back with the blade of her axe glowing brightly. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Zephyr appears behind the Tyrannitar, he is too slow to react. He can't dodge it in time. All he can do is turn his head back, hearing her come in. Which is why it is luck, for the Tyranitar at least, that Lute's Unown can alert him to things Lute wouldn't see with his own eyes.      So, as the axe comes in, Lute steps in, reaching a hand up to grab the shaft of the axe. It doesn't stop the Tyrannitar from being struck, instead slowing the strike. And Lute just smiles, delivering a quick roundhouse kick to Zephyr.      "GIRATINA! SHADOW BALL!"      Hopefully managing to kick Zephyr away a bit, Lute gives that order. And, Giratina launches it from his mouth, the orb of Ghost type energy, which will explode on impact. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     The kick sends Zephyr flying away, though a flash of purple light at the impact point might give away that it didn't directly connect with her. She rights herself quickly, and as the Shadow Ball comes in she holds position. Just before impact that 'version' of Zephyr simply vanishes, allowing the ball to pass through and strike the ground harmlessly.     Appearing behind Lute again, Zephyr goes in for a rapid series of strikes, a punch, kick, a round-house swipe with her axe, 'comboing' at him with all her boosted speed and power. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The series of blows is seen coming, but Lute can't dodge in time. He is struck, over and over, only managing to dampen a few of the blows. But, as he ends up sent flying by the final strike, he skids ahead along the ground. He turns around. And he smiles.      "...Yeah, this is /exactly/ what I need. But. My turn, now!"      The Unown leave his body, suddenly. His wounds are bleeding out now, and the bruises and cuts are visible in general. He looks /incredibly/ tired due to all of this. But, he's still laughing, madly. The Unown fly forward, circling Zephyr. And they move in, pummeling her, one after another. With each one that manages to strike, a burst of Hidden Power occurs. Every single element of a Pokemon can use bursts out from the Hidden Power of the Unown, as they just attempt to pummel Zephyr, over and over again.      And Lute just keeps laughing, like a madman, watching this. It's almost like he's absolutely lost it. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <MASTER! EVADE!> chimes Divine Wind. "No time, Shield!" <RAMPART AEGIS!>     The barrage strikes into a hastily erected shield, transluscent purple magic taking the multi-element bombardment. The sheer number of different energy types begins to overwhelm the shield, as it tries to rotate to absorb one, only to get struck by a different or opposing one. Cracks form, holes break open, and eventually, the girl is undefended. As the dust clears, the Mage is serverely battered, panting for breath with her Barrier Jacket in ruins. It still covers her modesty, but there's not much left of the armour, and great tears showing in the cloth and leather undergarments.     "Divine Wind is giving me the power, to make sure that monsters like you cannot roam free!" <STRIKER SYSTEM OVERDRIVE. STANDBY.> the five Bits latch onto the axe blade, and begin to spin up rapidly. <STRIKER FLARE!> "NOW! HURRICANE THUNDER CLAP! OVERDRIVE!"     The girl sweeps the axe around behind her, lifts off the ground and launches forwards, trailing purple magic in her wake. She charges in without regard for her safety, and with a sweeping pirouette, aims to slam that axe blade into Lute's chest, where the built up magic explodes outwards like a shaped charge warhead. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute sees this coming. She's powering up. It is obvious: A really powerful attack is coming in. If he does not time this, /just/ right, it could very well be the end of the battle for him. But, in this moment? He relishes the danger, he enjoys putting his life on the line. And so, he simply motions at her, for her to come at him.      His Unown fly to him, rapidly. Forming a barrier in front of him. A hexagonal grid of light appears in front of Lute, as the Unown move to protect him. They are not a perfect defense. If they don't hold, he will fall.      But, as the blast is held back by the shield, even briefly, he speaks. Calmly. Sadistically.      "Fire Blast."      And then, Lute starts laughing like a madman again, holding his arms up high. His Arcanine steps forward, from Zephyr's side, glaring at her. His mouth opens. A ball of fire is forming within it. It is shot out, aimed at Zephyr.      A five-pointed symbol of flame appears, on impact. Hopefully, impacting against Zephyr herself. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr is about to growl out something, but she's blindsided by that blast of flame. It strikes her directly, blasting her clear across the Rookery, into one of the bunkers, where emergency teams are evacuating the non-combat staff.     They load the downed Elite into a transport, than then rockets away at high speed. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      And Lute just remains there. Laughing. Absolutely going mad. Even as he is bleeding out. He orders his Pokemon: Destroy remaining Union facilities here. And, he just stands there, enjoying the destruction.      Samar has been a bad influence on him. 

}}

3435/The Master Sword

2015-11-23T16:11:52Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/11/22 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=Fassad and a group of allies head to the Master Sword, only for Fassad to fail to pull i..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/11/22
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=Fassad and a group of allies head to the Master Sword, only for Fassad to fail to pull it.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=70, 248, 385, 513, 789, 901
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Hyrule is now open for exploration. The Twilight has been completely cleared, making travel easier. Monsters still fill the wilds, but it is a significantly safer place to visit than it once was. The vast fields of the land are a wonderful place to explore, filled with various locations one may visit.      Fassad himself is glad for this. It will make the last leg of his journey all the easier. He stands in a clearing in the woods. This place he has visited today is part of the Lost Woods, albeit quite different. Absolutely everything about it feels different. The plants and wildlife are still present in the area. Small animals such as birds and rabbits can be glimpsed frequently. The only oddity is the strange fog that covers the area. This fog makes it incredibly hard to see more than a short distance into the woods. This makes Fassad a bit nervous. Why would the Master Sword be in such a place? But. His conversations with the Spirits of Light have lead him to believe this is the place where the Master Sword rests.      He had planned to go alone, but others have offered to join him. He waits for their arrival, nervously staring straight at the path ahead. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Hoshi hadn't really heard much of the difficulties that were facing Hyrule until last night, when she'd heard about the terrible events that had been done by the Confedearacy. She'd spent a lot of time thinking about it after the fact, meditating while she looked into her mirror through a good portion of the night. When she'd heard people were intending on visiting the world to help out a Union member that was there, she didn't hesitate, and got the coordinates.     Hoshi's arrival is quiet and cautious. While the sounds of animals was calming, the way that the fog hung around obscuring her vision reminded her uncomfortably of the Mirror Forest. Given that she didn't think she needed to worry about appearances, she's come in her full kendo outfit this time, her sword sheathed at her side. Behind her helmet, Hoshi looks around with a small frown, but Rosamond's presence in her mind calms her thoughts.     When she's finally able to see Fassad through all the gloom, she jumps and comes to a stop, bowing to him from her waist. "Uh... Hi. THis is where we were supposed to meet, right?... You're not a robber or anything?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Hyrule is a big place ... and Yuna really has no idea where she wants to go looking around. There are a couple of points of interest, and she doesn't have a particular priority among them - but Fassad does. Fassad, on the other hand, *does*. So meeting up at the Lost Woods seems like as good a place as any - maybe it's less spooky and creepy with the Twilight cleared away, and with the Kokiri knowing that Fassad and his allies are friends. Most of Yuna's usual retinue is missing today; there shouldn't be any major trouble ... and if there is, well, it's probably part of Fassad's tests to be deemed worthy (or not) of the Master Sword. She's not above helping, but it's Fassad's job to reach the Sword, not hers. He's also the one who collected the gems which prove his worth, so all Yuna has a right to do is tag along, maybe help out, and keep him from getting lonely. As the blonde idol-turned-warrior approaches Fassad's chosen meeting place, she raises an arm to wave. "Hi! Everything looking good for the last leg of your quest? - Oh, hello!" she adds, grinning sheepishly and nodding to Hoshi. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     The Twilight has never really impeded Finna. Nor have monsters. But then... few things can stop a Lunar from going where they want to go. After all, growing wings or gills is pretty easy. Perhaps this is why, possibly more than others, she has already been pretty busy journeying all around and finding useful tidbits of info in the weirdest places.     But The Lost Woods she's avoided. That fog wasn't natural, among other hazards locals had spoken about.     "Alright, time to do a big thing!" Finna drops in from above on the group. Or... wait, is that Finna?     Green clothes in the style of the Kokiri, rusty-brown hair... she drops straight onto Fassad's shoulders. Thankfully the kid's pretty light. She leans forward, so that her upside-down face is just right in front of Fassad's! "Aren't we?"     ... Well.     Finna's here.     It might take a moment of peering really hard until people familiar with her can see that this child has her signature fox ears and tail. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Truth be told, Priscilla is pretty interested to see this 'Master Sword' for herself. Though her primary motivation for being here is of course seeing Fassad through that dangerous period where one relaxes right when reaching the end is assured but just before actually arriving, she can't help but have some curiosity for this artifact that Fassad has been questing for over a period of months, requiring so many trials before even touching it, and which he claims is near singlehandedly the key to Agahnim's undoing. Fog isn't too much of an issue for Priscilla, having one or two other senses to rely upon in lieu of being able to see only a little over dozen meters or so.     A forest does seem like an odd place for it, admittedly. Especially a holy sword. She'd have expected some sort of temple or tomb or reliquary, or at the very least a proper armoury. Whoever had made it, or at least last wielded it, had been pretty serious about keeping it secret rather than just well defended. She steps in from shortly behind the group, not exactly needing any powers to be difficult to see, though easy to feel for the way the mist begins to grow cold and frosty immediately around her. "What nonsense, Lady Amakasu. Who couldst possibly mistake such a valiant figure for a common thief?" she says wrily to Hoshi. All Fassad has to do is smile to practically blind someone after all. She's in a good enough mood for the moment that she's able to bear Finna dropping in as a fake kokiri without visible exasperation. "And thou art sure of this way forward?" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad jumps a little upon hearing Hoshi, lost in ihs thoughts. As he turns around, he smiles towards the girl before him. He doesn't recognize the girl, neither through voice or appearance. He can guess easily enough that she is an ally, though. He gives a bit of a bow as he looks towards her, introducing himself, "Ah. A pleasure to meet you. I am Prince Fassad, from the land of Arcadia. I am no bandit. Are you a fellow ally of the Union?" He looks over her, smiling. She obviously isn't of this land, at least. Her clothes look too different.      He turns to Yuna next, definitely recognizing her. A bow is given to her as well, though a bit more casually. "Yes, everything seems to be going well. I have made my preperations, and even sent a scout ahead to stealthily check the path."      As if on cue, Fassad's Shinki arrives. Serafina, his Olbern model Shinki. She flies in wearing her battle armor so that she can fly, though her weapons are currently put away.      "Hey! The path is all clear! I /think/ I see what we need ahead!" She has a particularly high pitched, albeit cute, voice. She floats through the air, her mannerisms much like that of a Fairy.      And then Finna arrives. Fassad almost jumps again at her appearance, but he has grown used to her oddities. As she is on his shoulders, Fassad looks up towards her, smiling, "Yes. This is the place. This is where we do the 'big thing'. I will finally, at long last, make my claim on the Master Sword."      A smile is given to Priscilla. He has begun to realize she is getting a bit more of a sense of humor. He blames those she hangs around. But, still, she is a lot happier seeming than she used to be. He gives a smile at her, "Yes. I am certain. This is where the Spirits of Light told me to go, and this is where it must be."      Without another word? He starts leading the path forward. His pace is slow, and the path is winding. There are various side-routes as well. Fassad holds up a map as he walks along, focusing upon it. It glows with a soft light, akin to that of the Tears of Light. Obviously, a gift from the Spirits. Serafina follows along with him, flying close to Fassad's side. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well, he's not a bandit. Good way to start. Hoshi gives another bow with his introduction. "I'm Amakasu Hoshi, third year in Drachenblatt Academy." Weren't his teeth too white?... "Yeah, I'm an Ally. Might end up actually enlisting at some point, though." She gives him a small nod, though she shifts a bit under his direct gaze. "Erm... S-so, why is this place so creepy, anyway--gah!"     Out from the fog came Yuna, and Hoshi spins around with a hand ready to draw her katana, then lets out a small breath of relief. "Ms. Kagurazaka... S-sorry, I didn't mean to overreact. Just... This place is so off-putting." She bows hastily, several times, to apologize for her mistake.     The fairy out of the forest didn't get as bad of a response, just a quick turn of Hoshi's head to catch a glimpse of her--and then child out of nowhere! Instead of striking out, Hoshi grips the handle of her katana tightly and grits her teeth. It's time to stop acting like a scared child. "... Wait, Ms. Finna? That is you, right?"     Priscilla's entrance and calming tone thankfully manage to calm some of Hoshi's jumpy nerves. "Ahaha... Heh... Sorry. This place is a little too close to the Mirror Forest for me, and my luck hasn't really been that great recently." She perks up. "But, uh... W-well, it'll be a honor working with you all." Priscilla gets a slightly timid bow.     As they start making their way down the path, Hoshi elects to set herself in the back of whatever formation they assume, occaisonally walking backwards. She was trying really hard to make sure they weren't ambushed or being followed. Shadows were wont to sneak up and kill their victims. There's a chance such a thing might exist here, too. Hence the vigilance. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna waves to the other arrivals, then looks back at Hoshi. "It's okay, I think these woods are meant to be kind of creepy. Natural defense - or supernatural, maybe - against the weak-hearted." "That doesn't seem to send you running," Elner observes mildly from its spot hovering by Yuna's left shoulder. Yuna lets out a breath, "Well, we DO have business here ... anyway." She looks towards Fassad's back. "So how are the Spirits of Light doing now that the Twilight's been cleared away? No other sudden quests we need to chase down, I hope ..." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Finally!" The 'kid' Finna offers a wave to the others, particularly Priscilla and Hoshi from her perch up on high... but then she hoists her legs around and slides down Fassad's back to the ground.     She ends up grinning at Hoshi... then her flesh and clothes ripple in a few moments she's shooting up to adult normal form again. Except... she's kept the Kokiri-style outfit, just sized it up. The young woman tosses some hair over her shoulder while keeping her grinning gaze fixed at Hoshi. "Do your people NORMALLY draw weapons at children? Because that's gotta go over well back home." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "Well then, far be it from mineself to mistrust four ancient forces of something as close to 'objective good' incarnate that I hath heard of. Such unreservedly helpful and selfless beings art uncommon in the extreme, and thus I shalt maketh the uncommon decision to place mine faith in them in its entirety, especially if they hath seen fit to provide thee with such a particular tool." The nature of the map is hardly about to escape her after all. "And what hath they said of any safeguards? I wouldst assume the woods themselves to be one, but I hath yet to see the use for the three spiritual stones."     She speaks as she walks, doing very little in the way of actively monitoring her surroundings in any visible way, but one gets the sense of constant, subtle alertness from her at all times regardless. "This place in particular was hardly meant to be inviting to anyone, and any hero worthy of taking up such a blade wouldst not be so easily deterred by atmosphere alone." she says to Hoshi, doing her best not to betray any particular reaction that would disrespect the excited teen's nervous display of deference, merely beckoning her along if she spends too long staring at her feet. "Well met, Lady Amakasu, and rest assured that there is likely little 'work' ahead of us for today. A perfect time to distance thineself from developing a fear of anything that resembles a forest, no?"     She turns her head slightly towards Finna, the grass strangely silent even as it should crunch beneath her feet. "And how often do children normally leap from high places onto the backs of armed travellers? How often wouldst one even be found in such a place? No sword is drawn without cause or context." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad turns his head back to Yuna as he walks. "They're all doing fine, at the moment. They say there have still been patches of Twilight on occasion, but they're smaller. The length of time they were gone has, apparently, left the Twilight as something that /can/ break through on occasion. But, so long as the Spirits remain safe, we should be fine."      He smirks at Finna. He's in a bit of a jovial mood, "To be fair, most children don't appear from nowhere, leaping onto someone's back."      He looks back to Priscilla, shrugging a little, "As far as I am aware, the only safeguards is the nature of this place itself. The Sword of Evil's Bane can not be claimed by Evil, or touched by Evil. Should any such evil come close to its holding place, they should be repelled, in some manner. ...It's somewhat speculation, though, on my part. I'm basing much of what I say on the legends."      The fog remains thick, but at last, a clearing is reached. There is a different atmosphere in this place. It's quiet. Alarmingly so. The fog in the area feels a bit more still, a bit more frozen in time. Not even a bird can be heard chirping in this place. There is a slight aura throughout it. Even those who are not sensitive to such a thing will feel it. This place is Holy, in the truest sense of the word. It is a divine place. A place that can, most certainly, bring a bit of peace to whoever enters it.      In the middle of this sacred clearing is a platform made of stone. Beautiful decorations line the sides of it, mostly symbols of three triangles. A staircase of just a few steps leads up to the platform. Notably, the entire thing seems to be one solid piece. It is as if the stone was formed this way. as if this is a place that has always existed.      On the platform is a small stone slab. Writing is upon it, in some lost and unknown language. The pedestal is almost unnoteworthy compared to what is within it. Hilted into the stone is a long blade. The metal of it sparkles, unblemished by time. Near the base of the blade, the image of the three triangles appears again. The symbol of the Triforce. The blue hilt of the sword is elegant and beautiful, with a golden diamond shape right near the blade. The holy nature of this grove is nothing compared to aura of the blade itself.      Fassad is now wordless. He walks towards the altar, slowly stepping up it. He looks towards the sword, eyes wide as he looks upon it. He is frozen, nervous to even touch this. He has been looking for this blade for months, but he has dreamed of even touching it all of his life. The Legends of this blade don't just exist in Hyrule, but across the whole world. His mouth opens a little as he looks at it, trying to seek words on what he is feeling or thinking. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' If Yuna hadn't already been in her Light Suit, setting foot in the clearing would have prompted her to consider transforming. She *does* bow her head and clasp her hands in front of her chest, though, offering up a brief prayer, even though she's not an adherent of any of Hyrule's religions - she knows the feeling of holy ground when she sets foot there, and the fact that it's sanctified to protect a weapon makes it feel more appropriate to be here as the Savior of Light. Elner, for its part, just stays close by Yuna. The robo-faerie is tempted to get a closer look at the platform's inscriptions, but where Yuna is moved spiritually, Elner of Wisdom refrains from approaching out of more pragmatic concerns. Besides, once Fassad has the Sword in hand - assuming it accepts him as its wielder - the inscriptions will presumably still be there. Yuna finishes her prayer, lowering her hands and opening her eyes, and just watches quietly. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     With all of that information, Hoshi has to admit--there's probably a really good reason why this place is so foreboding. Knowing that doesn't necessarily make it easier for her so to speak; instead, she starts viewing it as a challenge that has to be surmounted instead of an ever-contant sense of doom. When she talks, her voice is more controlled. "No, it is not normal to draw a sword on a child. Good thing I didn't, hm?" She deadpans to Finna. "Don't worry... I think I got it." Taking a deep breath, she marches forward with her back straight.     The implication of Hoshi getting a fear of forests causes her to blush under her helmet. "Yeah... That probably wouldn't be a good thing. It's nice to finally meet you in person too, Ms. Priscilla. I got it. I just have to think of it like something I have to get past then something just... watching." Maybe sometime she ought to see a psychiatrist before this became an issue, though... She'd have to ask about that.     When they emerge into the clearing, Hoshi... doesn't really understand what she feels. She'd been an atheist all her life, but the peaceful, calming aura brought a small smile to her lips, and she pulled off her helmet to get a better look of the area. Her eyes were wide and curious, especially when they found the sword. She opens her mouth to say something... but can't. She can't break the peace of the place. Instead, she does the most respectful thing she can. She goes to her knees, left to right, then places her hands in a traingle form on the ground. From there, she bows, and stays bowed for several seconds before she eventually straightens. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna's answer to the counters is grinning impishly.     But the grin doesn't last when the group reaches the Altar of the Sacred Sword.     Finna... slows, rather than really approaching it. She in fact keeps some distance from it. Unusually she just... seats herself around the perimeter, looking on in as if maybe considering herself unworthy, unwilling to anger whatever spirit looks after this place. It's a startling shift in attitude to say the last. Especially with the way she's just STARING at the sword in the altar. Awed. Maybe a bit freaked out. ".... Wow." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "Such shalt be sufficient for the time being. I am certain the spirits will manage." Easy for Priscilla to say considering that she's somehow never even seen the Twilight, but then Fassad doesn't seem to be much concerned about it himself. "That is all well for repelling evil, but what of well meaning but ultimately unsuitable . . . it is no matter, I supposeth. We art here, the sword is here, that is what matters." Her reservations about leaving what could possibly be the prime relic of the goddesses, after the triforce itself, out in the middle of the woods will wait for another time.     Though, for extremely obvious reasons, it is not even close to her first time being around places and artifacts of divine origin, for a less obvious one, Priscilla lingers hesitantly at its edge, stopping as she arrives at the threshold of where the rolling fog gives way to the timeless, suspended haze, and where the trees break aside in reverence to the ancient stones. Something about it seems to make her feel mildly uncomfortable, as if she strongly dislikes the thought of being near it, like a critical introvert looking upon an extremely crowded and noisy party. "This is . . . quite unmistakably the place, I wouldst believeth. Say whatever words thou deemest appropriate, then take in hand what thou hast toiled so hard for. I doubt it wouldst suffer any other wielder at this point." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad walks around the altar, to the other side of it. He breathes, softly. The three Spiritual Stones are pulled out of the pouch on his belt. First, the Goron's Ruby, the bright red stone of Power. Second, the Zora's Sapphire, the calm blue stone of wisdom. Finally, the Kokiri's Emerald, the brilliant green stone of Courage. He sets them near the altar. A magical power begins to lift them. The stones lift into the air, circling around the altar. They suddenly fly down, insetting themselves into the stone of hte platform. There is a glowing aura of power, a flare of energy from the Master Stone.      Fassad looks towards the others. All of them, encouraging him. Even Priscilla is telling him that he can do it. A smile is on his face. This is it. His dream is now coming true. His hands grasp at the hilt of the blade. His eyes close. He will savor this moment to the last. His fingers gently caress it, feeling the hilt. He braces his legs, both hands clasping the hilt with as much power as he can.      He grabs ahold of the blade. He tugs on it, pulling at it. Every single ounce of strength is put into it as he tugs on the hilt of the sword. Every muscle on his body tugs on it, trying to force it out of the pedestal. It all proves to be useless. The sword does not, in fact, budge. Fassad falls to his knees near the pedestal, hunched over and looking down to the ground. His hands touch the altar. He presses his hand against the flat side of the blade. Tears fall from his eyes. Why? Why did he have to fail now? Did he really go all of this way, just to be proven as not being the hero? 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Serafina had been staying at Fassad's side. At this point, she floats down to sit on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. She knows what this means to him. The small mechanical girl looks towards the Master Sword and the Pedestal, frowning as she considers it. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Hoshi can't help but start getting excited as she sees Fassad touch it for the first time. Ignorant of much of Western culture as she was, she knew about King Arthur and the sword in the stone. Who didn't? Now she got to watch something like that happen, right in front of her, witnessing history as it came to pass, towards a better future. Or... at least that was the hope.     Hoshi's smile turns into a quizzical headtilt, then a frown as Fassad tries and tries to no avail. Why wasn't it working? He'd brought all the items, turned in the quest, so why?... Was he not worthy somehow, still? "I don't get it," she finally says to break her silence, though she keeps her voice pitched low anyway. Eventually she stands and slowly makes her way over to Fassad, though she doesn't dare get particularly close to the altar. That wasn't her place. "Uh... Mr. Fassad. I know you're troubled right now, but we should try to figure out why this happened."     An uncertain look is sent to the others. "I don't really know much about this. Do you guys have any ideas?" They may just be completely at a blank, but it doesn't hurt to try. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     THIS... this turn of events doesn't at all fill Finna with hope, nope. Fassad is CRYING. it takes her a moment to realize... "... The thing's not BUDGING?!" What does that mean?     "Hey... the stones are in place! Why isn't it budging?!"     Finna leaps out onto the altar platform and looks skyward. "Spirits of Light! Gods of Hyrule! The old owl! I know one of you is listening. Please, show yourselves. You sent us on this quest. We did everything that must be done. The Spirits of Light are restored and the Spiritual Stones have been collected. What remains?!" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna looks at Elner for a moment; Elner looks back wordlessly. Then the robo-faerie flies closer to the pedestal to go ahead and read the inscriptions - or to at least compare the text against other known writing systems, just in case they can be deciphered that way. Elner's staying outside the perimeter marked by the pedestal's edge, though - just in case. Yuna closes her eyes again for a moment. "Fassad ... I was called to become the Savior of Light, in my world, without any warning or preparation. It's only now that Elner and Ryudia are really trying to teach me *how* to be someone worthy of my title. The Master Sword ... it might need you to draw the traits, the virtues, forth within your heart ... not to think about the legends or the title or the sword's power, but ... just to focus on being who those stones say you are." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "It's pretty obvious why it's not budging." Huh? Where did that come from? From the entrance to the clearing, a shadow detatches from the trees, stepping forward. "The Hero of Light is supposed to pass three trials. They are supposed to be strong, wise, and courageous, someone worthy of using the sword to strike down evil." It's Sarah. She looks over the assembled group, and then simply folds her arms and shifts her gaze to Fassad himself, who struggles with the sword. "You put on a good show, Blondie, but you've never felt like hero material to me. We don't know what you did or where you went to get those gems. You've been talking a good game all this time but we don't really have anything but your word for it." She ticks off a finger. "You're not strong or enduring. The only thing I've ever seen you fight are dust bunnies and stains." She ticks off a second. "You know a lot about old legends but that's not wisdom, that's rote memorization, and talking the Zoras out of a gem and trying to figure out how to stand up their princess is not what I would call wise." She ticks a third. "And courage... You had to walk through a spooky woods to meet with some terrifying elf kids, and got it handed to you. That isn't much of a test at all, especially since you had all these stupidly powerful people to kill anything remotely threatening and solve the puzzle of the Lost Woods for you. /I/ could have done that alone." She shrugs, then, and spreads her hands. "It's not accepting you because you're a big fat faker. You've been lying to us the entire time. Lying to everyone around you, and above all, lying to yourself. You're not going to beat anything like this. You don't have what it takes to fight real evil. And it doesn't matter how many magic rocks you have, as long as you're not showing you learned anything from all of this, that sword isn't going to budge." She points, then. "That sword is for Heroes of Light. And you're no hero." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad speaks through tears. It's hard for him not to be heartbroken by this. He has sought to be the hero his whole life. He looks down, speaking through the tears. He tries to hold himself together, despite the massive amount of grief that has overcome him. He speaks in a somewhat hushed tone, despite his attempts.      "I... I have wanted this blade my entire life. Ever since I was a child, I saw so many injustices. I heard the tales of heroes. I wanted to be one of them, to shine brightly, to be a symbol against injustice. ...But it was never meant to be."      He looks up, towards Yuna. As he listens to her words, he frowns, the tears still rolling down his cheeks. "...The situation is likely the same as yours. I was /not/ called to be the Hero. I... I've suspected as such for ages. It's not any failing of my own. It's the fact that I am /not/ the Chosen Hero of the Goddesses. I've seen the signs. My world is /not/ the only Hyrule out there in the Multiverse. All of them had one thing in common. They had a hero. The heroes from Hyrule's legends. The hero known as Link."      And then, Sarah speaks up. Her words cut like a knife. Fassad barely can stand at the moment, his entire body overcome by grief yet again. Every bit of what she said? It is right. He did go through trials, but they were simple. Too easy. Even the trial of courage. He takes it to heart. He isn't a hero. He is a lier. He looks to his side. For a moment, he glances at his bomb bag. Serafina notices this while riding on his shoulder, but he looks away again. He was considering something... Another option. But, no. Sarah is, quite simply, completely right. He stands before the lot of them, too lost in his sadness to care anymore.      "...You... you speak true. I am... I am nothing. I am no... I am not a..."      He was about to the truth. Admit, finally, that he is 'Not a Prince'. But, as he was lost in his surroundings, Serafina reached into his Bomb Bag. The Olbern model Shinki set up a number of bombs, around the altar. Fassad is far enough away not to be caught in the explosion itself, but the force pushes him forward, causing him to trip and fall on his face, off of the altar.      The pedestal, that was holding the Master Sword, is no more. The bombs have blown it up, and left a crater where it once was. In said crater sits the Master Sword, now free of its pedestal. Serafina lifts the sword up, dragging it to Fassad's side.      "IF MASTER FASSAD WANTS THE SWORD NO STUPID PEDESTAL SHOULD GET IN HIS WAY!"      The Master Sword sits there on the ground, radiating power. The power it is emitting is /significantly/ less than what it was in the pedestal. Perhaps it is the brute force approach that is causing it to weaken. Perhaps it is protesting against this chain of events. But, the Master Sword is now free, and Fassad is absolutely bewildered. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "I beg to DIFFER." Finna whirls about, twitching a finger Sarah's way. "... If he was really a coward, he would be fleeing Hyrule, not even trying to take this trial." Finna puts both hands on her hips, cheeks puffing out a bit at Sarah. "Yeah, he's got a few rough edges... putting too much stock in image for one... but the one thing he isn't is a coward. Have you seen what we're up against? An ordinary person would NOT have been wandering all over the place in a monster-filled world looking to claim a weapon suited only for stabbing an evil sorcerer powerful enough to CURSE WHOLE REGIONS." And with that, she folds both hands over her chest. Still waiting for the gods to answer.     What she gets, instead is... Fassad breaking down and revealing something she'd been suspecting ever since nobody in Hyrule really knew of just what nation he was FROM...     "... Lots of rough edges..."     ... AND THEN BOMBS! Finna leaps back, yowling in protest, but it's too LATE. KABOOM! ... and the Master Sword comes free.     "........" Finna's left STARING, dumbfounded. But she also approaches the sword and leans over, peering at it. "... I think it's not happy with you. But hopefully it'll cooperate in bringing the barrier down?" She sounds... nervous, uncertain... but she grabs the blade regardless and holds it out to Fassad in both hands, putting on the best 'take your blade' demeanor she's got, kneeling even.     "I don't care how full of hot air you are. Or whether you're this Link or not. I don't care if you're royalty or not. What matters is, you were willing to make a stand and stop Agahnim. I don't care if it's because you're selfless or you just want to impress a Princess into your arms. I don't care if you're alone or relying on friends. Nobody ever said a hero has to do everything alone. So what if you don't have a destiny to be great. Screw destiny. Take this sword and start proving your worth, we've got an evil sorcerer to stop before it wrecks this lovely world any further!" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna winces at Sarah's point-by-point takedown of Fassad's shortcomings. True, she didn't see him going through any of the challenges for the first two stones, and the Confederacy made sure that there couldn't be a proper trial for the Kokiri's Emerald (probably without even thinking of it) ... And for Yuna's own personal doubts about Fassad, she was TRYING to give him the benefit of those doubts. Sarah isn't being anywhere near that gentle about it - even if she's basically saying the blunt side of what Yuna was trying to be nicer about conveying. And then Serafina blows up the pedestal. Yuna's reeling enough that the massive explosion *does not* make her yelp or jump back or climb up a tree for safety or anything; she covers her ears, but they're already pretty well covered by the earpieces that come with her Light Suit. "If that was the real Master Sword and the real altar to hold it, I doubt the Spirits or Goddesses would have let it get blown up like that unless they *wanted* to give Fassad his shot," Yuna observes once things have quieted down. "Elner, did you get a full image of the inscription?" The gold force field buble around Elner blinks back out as the robo-faerie emerges from the dust and smoke. "I have a full recording of the inscriptions, yes," Elner confirms. "I didn't have time to try and translate any of them, but that will take further time in any case. Assuming they *can* be translated." Yuna nods, then walks around Sarah and over to where Fassad is sprawled, offering him a hand back to his feet. "Destined Hero or not," Yuna says, "you're committed now. Fail, and the Master Sword is probably going to get wiped out of existence along with whoever's holding it. I think that means you're going to HAVE to win no matter what, but you're not going to go into that battle alone." Yuna offers an encouraging smile. "So. Ready to write your own legend into this Hyrule's history? Because nobody else is going to write it for you now - your Shinki just blew up your only chance at backing out, I think." 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Hoshi remained silent for most of these proceedings. She has no words that she can offer Fassad. She's not a hero, she's just a dumb girl who was lucky enough to survive an open challenge in a world she didn't understand any more than she understood this world's events. As Yuna and Finna try to come to some sort of understanding with what happened, Hoshi found herself tromping over sadly to stand by Priscilla. "Nothing ever comes easily, huh..." It wasn't a question, really. Just a sad statement.     As soon as she hears Sarah's voice, Hoshi slowly closes her eyes and takes a calming breath. She can get a sense of what was about to come by her tone. As much as Hoshi wants to stop the verbal thrashing that's happening right in front of her, she affects a stony visage and turns to face Fassad. Was he a liar? He'd never lied to her personally... Except maybe that Prince thing, which gets a small scowl, but right now that's small potatoes. Eventually, though, she joins up with Finna. "It seems like the Multiverse loves empowering the least likely of people and throwing us at the grinder repeatedly. If it was really that easy, then--"     That was when the bombs went off. Hoshi's eyes go wide, and she stares at the altar and the sword that had fallen free. For a moment, Fassad's little spirit gets a look of pure, incandecent fury. She wasn't even religious, but this desecration--! "Stupid little thing--" is what she manages to spit out. It takes a supreme effort of will (and a lot of her hand gripping her sword) to bring her tone down. When her eyes fall on Fassad, her tone is pure frost. "Congratulations, hero. Take your prize. Now's about the time you prove you're actually worth all of this effort." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla's uneasiness persists throughout the entire affair. It's difficult to guess why. She certainly couldn't be considered evil, could she? And isn't she half-goddess? Why would holy power have anything to do with it? These woods hadn't put her off before, and the idea that she'd blanch at the sight of a weapon is unbelievably absurd. Whatever the case, she keeps a good distance from Fassad, the legendary stones, and the sword of evil's bane throughout the entire process, only finally braving the effort to step forward as the ritual fails and the Gordian approach is substituted instead. She stands just behind him, looking off into the misty woods rather than down at his defeated form, hands behind her back, and she speaks as if to no one in particular, but with a certain kind of firmness that betrays a strange, quietly impassioned confidence.     "I knoweth not the veracity as to what Lady Parsle has said in opposition to thine own claims, Sir Fassad, but nor to I particularly care. Agahnim is here, in Hyrule, right now. The Twilight hast already blanketed these lands. The Spirits of Light were already slain. The Princess hast already fled. The king is already dead. People hath already suffered greatly. If this is not Hyrule's darkest hour, whence the true hero is meant to arise and take up his rightful place, then I see little reason to wait for it. The sword's predestined wielder hast had ample time to show himself and claim it, and it is through no blame but his own that someone else hast had the initiative to take up arms before him. Regardless of what this stubborn old sword wouldst believeth, there is ample cause for its use. Whether thou were meant to wield it, or whether thou hast truly earned the right to do so, is irrelevant. By wielding it now, thou art given the opportunity to rid these lands of a great evil, one way or the other. If wouldst feel as if thou hath not yet earned the right to be called hero, then do so now. The obtaining of the sword is of little import next to what thou shalt do with it." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "He wasn't in this to save Hyrule out of the goodness of his heart, you nutcase. He was in this because of the fame and fortune he'd get if he succeeded. No actual hero postures half as much as he did." Sarah shoots back at Finna, but then there is an explosion. Sarah holds up a hand to protect her face from rock splinters, but the bombs are too far away for any serious damage. She scowls at the results. "Your little robot friend is insane. I admire her guts though... And I'm disappointed that ancient pedestal wasn't more resistant to that kind of thing." Sarah sighs, shrugging and shaking her head. "Do what you're going to do, it won't matter either way. The end of this farce is already written out. Priscilla, Yuna and Amakasu are right. You don't get the luxury of bailing now, Blondie." She does, however, look back to Finna. "Don't goddamn coddle him. People giving him passes on his bullcrap are the entire reason why he's gotten this far without having had to shape up. We MIGHT have been about to see some actual personal development here." She sighs. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. Everything's insane. The damage is done. Let's bring this to an end." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The words of the others are mixed. Encouragement, and doubt. Fassad registers it all, finally moving to a standing position once again. Finna and Priscilla give the most support, by far, in their own ways. Finna, the strong denial of what Sarah said. Priscilla, the blunt admittance of necessity for this blade. The others bring up points as well. The fact the path is set forward already. Fassad looks towards his Shinki for a moment, staring at her even as Sarah continues to berate him. Of course, the berating is rightful. He has, in so many ways, been a terrible hero. Her words, he takes to heart most of all.      He kneels down. Slowly, he reaches for the Master Sword again. He lifts it up slowly, feeling the weight of it. It's heavy in his hand... Much heavier than it should be. He lifts it up, pointing to the sky. The fog in the clearing moves away, just slightly. He looks at the blade above him, before lowering it.      "...I may not be the true wielder of this sword. Or.... I might not be worthy of it. But... At least, until we have gotten Agahnim away from Hyrule Castle? I will use this blade."      He looks away, awkwardly. "...I am sorry I am not the hero, and that you all put so much effort into helping me. But, I will do by best to fill in until we can find the true Legendary Hero." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna waits patiently until Fassad takes the sword... then backs several steps away.     And Priscilla gets an approving nod. "Uh-huh. Priscilla's got it! Also... the first step to being a hero is having the spirit for it. Stepping up when other people would back down. What matters to me is being brave enough to take the risks. Like I said. I don't care if he's full of hot air or out only to be the new king. Agahnim's in the way of anything and everything, and Fassad's only path to it is RIGHT THROUGH THAT--" Finna clams up for a moment, mindful of where she is perhaps. "... that creep. Selfless hero or ambitious poser, it's all the same to me if he can take him down. Buuuuuut... by now, I think he's more than aware Agahnim won't go down easily, legendary sword or no legendary sword. It's literally... do or die. And if he dies I'll take this sword and finish the job. And if I die Priscilla can take it and finish the job. Because I can guarantee you the gods'll be happier having a Hyrule to keep looking after than suffering this sorcerer much longer. They won't care HOW it gets done."     Finna exclaims rather firmly, stomping a foot into the ground... although as an afterthought she adds in an aside to Fassad, "If you'd like to get in some combat practice I'll see what you're capable of! ..."     Finally she sighs, and shrugs some at the others. "I'm not coddling him. But one brave man who was inspired by tales of justice and heroics is worth way more to me a legendary hero who's nowhere to be found. I swore that I'd save Hyrule. Never said I'd do it their way." Her grin turns a bit impish.     "Oh, and..." The young woman claps a hand on Fassad's shoulder, slips behind him, and stage whispers, "Claiming to be a prince from a land nobody's heard of takes guts in its own way. My patron would approve of anyone who can pull THAT off." 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     The icy look in her eyes and demeanor didn't change, but Hoshi nods very slightly at Fassad's proclaimation. Right now, it's all that this world had. These things were one hell of a headache. "You're going to have to learn how to use that sword. Actually use it. Get yourself some lessons as soon as we get back." She turns her back and starts heading for the entrance, slipping her helmet back on as she came to a stop at the edge of the clearing. "Also--you get to explain what happened here to everyone in the Union. I swear, if you try to pawn the report off on one of us, I'm going to drag you into the Mirror Forest to train with me against the Shadows, and I can promise you won't like that much."     Finna's words eventually get a harsh reaction from Hoshi. "Stop calling him brave. Or a prince. Or a hero. Those are things that you have to earn, and he hasn't. Not yet." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna grins wryly, "It may not be the same courage that the Kokiri's Emerald was supposed to be proof of, but taking a sword that wasn't destined to be yours and stepping into a prophecy that wasn't about you? That takes courage, all right." And so, she reflects, does taking up a role that you never wanted in the first place but got saddled with anyway. She does not pointedly look at Elner while she's thinking that. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "You're still as pushy as ever, Amakasu. You should relax before you run into someone who will knock you the hell down for all that fronting you're doing." Sarah comments dryly. "But you do have a point. Get training, Blondie. Aghanim isn't going to be beaten with dramatic poses. In the meantime, we'll be here to help in our own ways." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "I believeth thou shalt find that I put so much effort into aiding /Hyrule/. Whether it was done according to its legends is of lesser consequence to mineself than seeing it done at all. Though thou art no legendary hero, and possibly undeserving of the title, it is none but destiny's fault for failing to properly proof its prophecy against alternate conclusions. Go forward without guilt or reservation, knowing full well that no other man was willing or able to do what thou art about to. At this moment, thou art Hyrule's /only/ choice of saviour. The goddesses shalt maketh their peace."     It's telling that she hasn't made any firm insistence one way or the other as to whether Fassad is a hero or not. She's had more than enough run-ins with legends, prophecies, predestination and chosen to have well grounded beliefs, but first and foremost amongst them is that if someone who wants to is given an opportunity to make a difference, it's nobody else's place to tell them that they can't. After all, even if Lordran had abided by its 'prophecy' by the end, and selected its Chosen, in the end it was the obsessions of unwelcome outsiders to do the right thing had been what had given it its new life.     "Prepare well and thorough to proveth thineself, Sir Fassad. Though none may begrudge thee for taking the place of another more suitable, thou oweth everyone nothing less than thine best efforts if thou wish to claim that right of mercy from their scorn." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad is quiet as Finna talks. His eyes go wide at the whispering, though. He had thought none of them would piece that together, and yet, she did. He sighs. The cat is coming out of the bag. He's uncertain whether or not Hoshi caught on as well. He assumes she did, but it could just as easily be that she feels a prince needs to earn his place. He looks off to the distance, frowning, considering if it'd be best to just reveal it officially. He stays close to Finna for a moment, before whispering back. "...I'm... I'm not sure I'm ready to drop that act yet."      "...I suppose more training would help. I am already skilled with the sword, but more training would likely be good. ...I suppose I will have to push myself further."      As Priscilla speaks yet again, Fassad grimmaces. He catches that she didn't call him a hero... But no denial. He looks towards her, considering her. "...I will do my best to finish this before the Hero arrives." 

}}

3024/Restoring Majora's Mask at Death Mountain

2015-11-23T16:10:14Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/14 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=Majora's Mask is brought to Death Mountain to recharge. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=446..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/14
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=Majora's Mask is brought to Death Mountain to recharge.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=446, 701, 714, 804, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Death Mountain. Majora's Mask has guided the Confederacy here, via a series of visions. This tall mountain can be seen from most places within Hyrule, towering above from whereever you go. A long series of mountain paths are the main way up it, but it is easy enough to take some other means of transportation.      The goal itself is rather simple: Reach the center of this shrine, and then corrupt it. Majora's Mask must be brought along for this purpose. Its power is, currently, subdued. But, it has been decided that MORDRED is the best one to carry the mask with him inside the temple.      The temple itself is set into the mountain, large stone columns lining the massive square doorway. A giant pair of stone doors are held close, with a large metal latch and key upon it. Of note, the door looks somewhat ancient. And, sitting near it are strange flowers with round black objects inside. ...Objects that look far too close to bombs. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED's Armour is still undergoing repairs from Din's Fire, and so he's on foot, a regular sword strapped to his hip and some chainmail to serve as lowercase A armour. He has a shield strapped onto his right arm, and holds the mask in the hand of that arm. His face is entirely emotionless, and his movements precise, not a single effort wasted. His mind is elsewhere, he's letting his automatic procedures control his body for the time being. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Another day, another mission in Hyrule. Death Mountain, oddly named as it was, didn't seem all that bad to Sanary on the way up. A little desolate, sure, but...      ... Okay, so Death Mountain kinda sucked a lot. But hopefully, she wouldn't have to be here for too long. Just get in, corrupt the mask, get out. She's brought some lighter armor along today, consisting of the fuzzy Lagombi set that does help quite a bit by being much lighter and maneuverable than her usual fare.      Keeping MORDRED's armor repairs in mind, she's keeping her shield up and ready just in case she needs to use it at a moment's notice. "Holding up alright over there? Shouldn't be too painful today, but..." She leaves her thought at that without elaborating further, a cautious glance tossed behind her just in case. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia isn't sure she should be coming along on this mission, but she is still hoping the mask will help with her dream of finding a hero. And, having Sanary around helps ease her discomfort with coming along to corrupt a temple. After all, princesses are not supposed to do evil things like that!      She has been following along at the back of the group, her hammer held at the ready to smash falling flaming rocks or giant spiders or the like. She is also a bit annoyed that MORDRED was chosen to carry the mask. She was the one who liberated it from that mask salesman! Without her, they wouldn't even have a mask! As they enter the temple, she sees those flowers and blinks a few times. "Oh my! What lovely flowers!" she says, approaching them but not actually touching them. One should never touch a bomb one has not set up oneself. 

:'''{{#var:701|Circe (701)}} has posed:'''     Caster is not particularly familiar with demons or demonic energy. Not her field of expertise. Healing, transmutation of living organisms, alchemy, weaving of enchanted garments... These are things she is experienced with. But at the moment, the biggest contribution she can proviede is that first one, so she is here, prepared to enhance and heal those she is travelling with to the shrine. So she is dematerialized and floating along invisible and intangibly, only her voice and her highly noticeable mystical presence there to indicate she is still with the group. With Sanary here to also provide healing, Circe isn't sure if she'll be needed for that... But as was shown just recently, two healers are better than one, incase the other healer gets too injured to heal herself!     The bomb-like flowers are concerning, of course. Though the fact there's a lock but no key leads one to make certain assumptions. Just as Sarracenia notices the flowers, Caster likewise considers them. She's not terribly familiar with explosives EITHER, but the knowledge provided by the Grail at least gives her the basics. "The gate, while decrepit-looking, acts as a barrier to further progress. There appear to be explosives laying about, waiting to be used. Logic suggests that they be used to open the gate. The logic also warns that the fact no one else has done so before us may have cause." the slightly echoing, disembodied voice of Caster offers.     "Thus, I shall make the attempt to blast open the gate, if no one here has a key or lock-picking skills to offer. But I recommend caution in the event this does not go as expected." Then the Servant materializes near one of the bomb flowers, and attempts to pick one up in order to then use it upon the huge stone gates. Better to use the materials available, even if utilizing her magecraft would be far more fulfilling for her ego.     Hopefully this plan doesn't blow up in her face. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The very moment the bomb flower is picked up, it starts to pulse and surge. It flashes red, growing and buling over and over again. A fuse seems to have activated on top, a fuse made of a little plant vine. It is, almost certainly, going to explode in seconds.      At least, Caster has a chance of getting out of the way just in time. But, when the bomb does go off, against the stone facade of the door? The door breaks into pieces, collapsing on the ground in a pile of dust. The keyhole lock is on the ground, in a pile of rubble. And, the door beyond is now visible.      The first room is, in fact, a bit unexpected most likely. A stone tile room at first, but it turns into a giant cave. The cave's ceiling is several stories high. The floor of the cave has molten lava flowing freely around. That is, almost certainly, not going to be something people want to touch.      A number of stone platforms lead across from this area, to another door straight ahead. Looking up, it seems as if this shrine is built with a vertical floorplan. A particularly large door can be seen high up above, set into the wall. It is, most likely, the goal. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Circe certainly has a point. Old-looking gates and bomb-like plants? That's certainly not a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen. "Still, we gotta get inside. Unless someone can actually crack that lock or whip up a portal past the door... Might just have to blow it up." Sanary cranes her neck slowly as she approaches those bomb plants, her shield raised just in case those bombs spontaneously decide to explode in her face.      "Not that it wouldn't be fun blowing 'em all up at once. But... Screw it, more fun this way." She glances over at Sarracenia and laughs lightly before motioning at her to step back and doing so herself. "All yours, Circe. Just be-"      And then the bomb starts pulsing. That's all the warning Sanary needs to rush over to Sarracenia, hoist her up at the waist, and haul ass away from the door! Sure, the explosion was a little less dramatic than she had expected, but better safe than sorry. ".. Yep. Definitely gotta be careful about touching anything in here."      After setting the princess back down, Sanary heads on in with her shield and charge blade at the ready! "It's like the opposite of yesterday... Hm. MORDRED, we'll take point?" She eyes the lava cautiously and is very careful to put as much distance between herself and that lava while moving along. Spotting that door above them, she glances at her ankles for a moment before turning to the others. "I could try and fly up there, but it could be a problem if we get separated." 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED draws his blade, on foot he's still of above average height, but nothing like his Armour. "Now I wish I had rushed my repairs, the thrusters would really have simplified this matter." He turns towards Sarracenia and bows. "Cousin" In the sense of 'fellow royal', not in the sense of claiming any kinship, "Can your explosions be used for quarrying rock rapidly? I would rather build an impromptu stair than deal with whatever trickery those who designed this place want us to deal with." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks as Circe just grabs one of them. "Hey! You can't just-!" Then Sarracenia herself is grabbed and hauled away by the relatively small Sanary. The princess seems a bit embarrassed, but thanks Sanary all the same. "Ah...thank you Sanary. Although, I am sure I could have handled it." she says, dusting her dress off a bit after the explosion.      She also blinks in confusion at MORDRED. Cousin? But, it seems respectful, so she nods in return. "I could, but as an explosives enthusiast, I must say it seems like a bad idea to haphazardly use them in a setting such as this. One wrong bomb and the entire cavern could collapse, throwing us into the very unpleasant lava." she says as she steps toward the edge of the platform they have bombed their way onto. She smirks lightly, then points at the other platforms. "This sort of thing is a piece of cake for those from my world." she says, then holds her hammer firmly and leaps to the next platform rather gracefully. 

:'''{{#var:701|Circe (701)}} has posed:'''     Color Caster alarmed! The purple-dressed red-head finds a hissing bomb in her grasp once she picks it up, and hurriedly dashes over to the gates to set it down perhaps less-than-carefully. But with the physical abilities of a Servant, even one such as her is more precise than the vast majority of normal human beings. And far faster as well, as evidenced by her getting out in time and back to where everyone else is. While the explosion is enough to crumble the doors, it is not quite big enough to justify the distance she retreated to, making her somewhat annoyed with herself out of embarrasment, but soon enough she is floating through the crumbled entrance and looking around.     The sight of lava is displeasing given her history with the stuff. Bypassing the dungeon layout IS tempting... She could even offer to turn those who can not fly into birds to aid in travel. But that is costly in terms of mana and better saved for the future. And being separated is indeed a danger. So Caster ofers something else. "I have potions which can temporarily enhance physical abilities. Those who can not easily make the jumps may partake of such. The platforms themselves may be trapped, but attempting to ignore the intentions of the shrine's builders may yield unfavorable results."     So saying, she withdraws a few potions from a Bounded Field set in a properly prepared garment, and offers them. She too could simply fly up there... But after saying what she just said to the others, and meaning it, it is probably better to do the jumping as well.     Which she does, after any potion distribution takes place. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      With the jumping and the potions, the party is able to get across the room. A door lies on the other side, though it is unlocked.      In the room beyond it, there are a series of large man-sized blocks up upon a nine by nine set of tiles. They are all near the party as they enter the door. There is nothing blocking the path around them, allowing people to see grooves on the other side that these blocks must be pushed into. To the right, there is a little slope leading up. The path ends near the slots in the floor. To the left, a raised cliff.      The puzzle is almost certainly obvious. Make a path. It's almost /insultingly/ obvious.      But, on the wall on the back of the room, there is writing. It's rather simple, and done up in the Hylian script, but it reads as follows:      'The Shrine of the Gorons is our Holy Place. It is said that from the Gorons raised from the Holy Spot within the Shrine, crawling out of the stone. Consider our humble origins, as you push these blocks.'      ...Seemingly, it's meant as some kind of meditation. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Probably. Just didn't want you getting hurt, is all." Sanary laughs lightly and glances between Sarracenia and Mordred a few times. "Also, I didn't know you two were related. Must be nice." She chuckles after a moment, then eyes the distance between the platforms once Sarracenia jumps across.      Everything in her mind is telling her to cheat. The AANS would make almost any sort of jump negligible, Forneus could probably ferry a person or two up, and the healer's not as confident in her jumping ability with all this gear on. Still, she's not about to let herself get shown up here!      And so, Sanary just breaks into a sudden run at that platform, jumping at the last moment and actually making it across safely! Her landing isn't so graceful, though, as she just falls on her shield with a loud clattering noise. She does scramble back onto her feet moments later, at least! "... Easy enough."      Once they're in that room with the blocks, Sanary needs a moment to figure out just what she's looking at. "Is this like the one from last time..? Hm. Looks easy enough, at least." And so, the healer works on getting one of those giant blocks into position! It's busy work, to be sure, but someone's gotta do it.      Obviously, she isn't meditating at all on that. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "We're not related, miss Rondel, at least, not by blood." MORDRED clarifies after taking the potion, then jumping platform to platform to get to the next section, once there, he clarifies. "Sarracenia is a princess, my father is a high king, thus we are both royalty. It's customary where am from for royalty, in absence of blood ties, to refer to one another as cousins, to emphasize that we are equals." The implied, though possibly not even consciously considered, part of that is of course that non-royals are not their equals. The Once and Future Traitor Prince looks at the puzzle, if it can be called that, and takes a moment to consider this. "Wait." He says sharply, "These Gorons crawled out of the stone, then why are we pushing things into the stone? Are these blocks not stone themselves? He sounds like he doesn't trust this one bit. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia nods in understanding as MORDRED explains. "A noble custom." she says before she regards the stones. "Would you all mind moving these stones? A princess such as myself could never do such menial labor." She also doesn't think about how it implies others are lesser.      MORDRED's question makes sense. "Hmm...but, what else should we do with thse stones?" She asks before she walks around and takes that path leading up to get a better view of the room. She looks for any other clues that they should do something else, or some sort of area to place the stones other than the obvious grooves. 

:'''{{#var:701|Circe (701)}} has posed:'''     Caster can not read Hylian, but while she may not be inclined to meditate, she is inclined to consider whether this might be a clue of some kind. Perhaps a caution. Given who she is, and her respect for the gods (or at least the ones she recognizes), not offending deities by desecrating their holy places is something she is keen on. When Mordred translates the text for them, she says, "If we are to make a path, I recommend we do so in the manner that is indicated for us. If this is a challenge to prove our worth, bypassing it may cause ill-favor for us further down the line. Especially in a place that is revered as holy. I also would caution to keep in mind the words we are given. Perhaps the warning is for our safety. Perhaps it is to encourage us to learn something from this experience. I do not know. I do not even know what a 'Goron' is. But though I loathe being commanded and controlled, in this instance, it may be safer to do as expected of us."     The redhead shrugs. "Maybe there is a symbolic meaning to placing the blocks that is apparent only to Gorons. It matters little, as long as we complete out objective here without endangering ourselves unnecessarily." She looks up as Sarracenia takes the place to get a better view. "Perhaps you can coordinate us to move the blocks appropriately, Princess~." Circe offers with a lilt. With the body she has, she has the strength to move even heavy burdens. Though MORDRED and Sanary seem to be just as strong.     Once she has direction, she will move to do as Sanary is already doing as well. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The blocks are lined up into place. And... Nothing happens. They're stuck in the rivets now, is all. It's an easy path to get up, and an easy path to move along. A few simple hops and jumps to get across the stone path.      The door forward is unlocked, thankfully. It brings them back into the room they were in before, but at a higher level. At least, there is no more jumping through here, instead a simple swinging wooden bridge that looks ancient and old. Thankfully, it will hold everyone's weight, unless something stupid is done. Such as cutting the strings of the bridge.      And... In the room beyond that, across? Another block puzzle. A ladder is before the group, with a square rivet beneath it. A single block is nearby, not in a straight line to it. It'll have to be pushed a bit forward, and a bit to the right, in order to get it in there.      More Hylian Text is on the wall. It reads as follows:      'Consider the Block. The Block is a Block. It is on a set path forward. We will all reach that path forward eventually.'      The dawning realization might hit a few people that this entire dungeon is block pushing puzzles. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' After helping move the stones, with a polite, "Of course, cousin." MORDRED is ready to move on, only to spot the next line of text and groan lightly, "Thank you for your keen insights." MORDRED says aloud while looking at the Text, "I won't even bother translating this, it's nonsense failing to sound insightful." He heads to push the block into place without delay, just to get it over with. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "I see... Huh. Makes sense." If Sanary notices that implied difference, she doesn't show it. Is it because she didn't get it? Or perhaps that she's already accepted it? Whatever the case may be, she's hard at work moving the stone! "It can't be /that/ trapped, could it? I mean... It's a temple. Aren't temples supposed to have people in them normally, anyway?"      Hylians must have a very warped idea of the word temple. Bombs just to get inside, block pushing routines just to open some doors... So many different types of people, yet all with that same weird logic behind their architecture.      Well, at least they're done with that block puzzle. Better yet, they've made progress to a higher level without any sort of jumping requirement! Assuming nobody and nothing stops her, she'll move right on to the next room to discover... Another block 'puzzle'!      "This... Um. Wow. Starting to think there might be a pattern here." She moves ahead to check out the potential pushing location for the next rivet, then doubles back to stand guard while MORDRED works on pushing that next block. "Or a fetish... Ech." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia doesn't have to do much in the way of guiding, though she is happy to offer more than enough direction for the others. When they reach the next room and there is just a single block and a single spot. she rolls her eyes lightly. "Perhaps the Gorons are not a very imaginative people." she says before blinking at Sanary. "A...rock fetish?" she says, seeming rather confused and a bit weirded out by the idea. Then, she smirks. "I must not know you as well as I thought, if you would suggest such a thing, Sanary." she says teasingly, arms crossed over her chest.      She looks around the room as MORDRED pushes the block. "Perhaps these people are some sort of naturalist monks. The building seems to simply make use of natural formations with very little effort made to create regal surroundings." 

:'''{{#var:701|Circe (701)}} has posed:'''     Circe is beginning to regret placing so much faith in these Gorons. But... Still. "Traps might only be triggered by those who do not respect the rules of this place. To weed out the unfaithful. Supernatural traps or divine influence can strike down those who offend them without an obvious mechanical mechanism to do it." But doubt is somewhere in her voice as well. Maybe it really is just block puzzles.     Thankfully they are making progress. She will help out however she can, but she is nooooot quite revering this temple right now. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The ladder leads a long ways up. Atop, it leads to a hallway. It spirals around a bit, leading to another vast room. And, yet another block puzzle. This one, though, is actually a bit more bizarre. There is but a single block in this room as well. But, it is on a see-saw like device. It weighs down on the left side of the seesaw, the right side pointing up. There is a hole in the ceiling in this room as well, directly above the seesaw. If one looks closely, a hint of the door moving further can be seen in this room.      Also present in this room? A large number of paintings of the Gorons themselves. They look humanoid, but only vaguely. Brown skin, white hair, and rocks growing out of them. Each Goron drawn is currently dancing.      The text in this room reads as follows: 'Dance up and down, as we have always done'. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Eh...? W-wait, I'm not into that sort of stuff! I was just saying the Gorons might because of the..." Sanary trails off, refusing to dig herself into a bigger hole than she needs to. She just goes on over and gives the princess a playful shove on the arm instead before continuing onwards. Luckily for her, the armor consists of actual pants! And if nobody objects, she'd even climb up last to take up the rear guard just in case.      Thankfully, Circe's given her something other than Goron fetishes to think about. "Yeah... Kinda sucks, but jumping through the hoops is our safest option here." Spotting that seesaw device with the block on the other end, she doesn't quite get the message as she peers at the paintings. "So... Are we supposed to jump around or something, then?"      Just in case, Sanary does indeed start jumping! Not on the seesaw or anything, though. That'd just be silly and dangerous. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The princess giggles at the little shove, then follows the others up. She is more than happy to have Sanary act as her guard. She is wearing a dress, after all. Once at the top, Sarracenia looks around, then after MORDRED translates she moves toward the see-saw. "Well, a see-saw such as this is easy to manipulate. So, I suspect we are supposed to jump around, but only in a certain area."      The princess hops up onto the see-saw, then climbs her way to the other end. Hammer in hand, she jumps on the right side of the see-saw, expecting it to slowly lower with that large stone on the other side. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      It's only due to the extra weight of the hammer that Sarracenia's plan works. The Goron are large people, and this puzzle is meant for /them/. But, jumping on one side of the see-saw will push it down, causing the block to shift to it. Jumping back to the other side will do similar. Each time the see saw moves up and down? It'll slowly on a polle, up to the top of the room. Sarracenia can, in fact, get up fairly easily in this method.      ...Now it's just a matter of getting the others up there as well. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' At this stage, MORDRED just folds his arms and refuses to do anything to interact with the silliness. Once the pole is up he simply grabs a pieces of rope, wraps it around the pole and starts climbing, tightening the rope firmly when he moves his legs, then when his legs have a firm grip loosening the rope to move it up. It's an old way of climbing these things, but it ought to work unless the pole is exceptionally smooth. 

:'''{{#var:701|Circe (701)}} has posed:'''     Caster is still along the for the ride, though increasingly disappointed in this temple. For the time being, she is allowing others to figure out the puzzles and will not aid unless called upon to do so or it becoming necessary (such as an emergency or because she can't move forward without cheating otherwise). No matter what she may think of the puzzles, she at least respects the possibility of danger. So she does not intend to bypass them. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary just feels silly after watching Sarracenia jump where it's actually necessary. She can still snicker at the princess, at least. "Looking good! Okay... Now how the hell do we-"      Right. The AANS. The healer directs some magical energy into the anklets that have all but become permanent placements on her ankles, taking a few moments to orient herself before floating upwards! She's getting better at controlling the things than she was weeks ago, but it's still a little tricky getting up as high as she needs to be without rocketing straight into the ceiling. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia looks pretty proud of herself when she reaches the top of the room. Trusting that the others have a way to get up, she hops up through the hole and moves toward the door, then pushes it open. "I am starting to think that there is little to no danger here at all." she says as she rests her hammer on her shoulder and pushes through the door. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The climbing, the jumping, and the even the floating all work. There is, in fact, seemingly no trap to prevent cheating. This place, after all, isn't what one would call a dungeon. No. This is a temple. Each section is meant as meditation. Easy challenges, that even the youth of the culture can go through. A method to clear the minds.      But, once up above? They are on the final leg of the journey. A stone bridge leads across the lava-room once again, towards the massive doors visible from earlier. These large stone doors don't even need to be pushed open. Instead, they just magically open as the party gets close.      And here is the main room of the temple itself. A large number of altars to various deities are spread throughout. Most of them seem to be minor deities. Spirits of the mountains. Gods of specific paths, rivers, caves, or similar. One is even apparently dedicated to the God of Large Stone Blocks. That... that might explain a bit.      In the center of the room, there is a large square altar. Upon it, there is a carving of three golden triangles.      The mask that MORDRED has? It is /calling/ for him to put it on the pedestal. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' Considering that he's here to do a job, and that the job seems to be abundantly obvious, MORDRED goes with his gut feeling of 'if this is the mistake I think it is, at least it's a mistake I can blame on following orders.' As such, he places it on the pedestal without much hesitation. "That ought to do it." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      There is a sudden shift in the room. A sudden cry of pain from throughout the shrine. Certain things are not seen immediately. All anyone here can see at first is wave after wave of dark energy flying through the air, pushing into the mask. It leaks out of the wall, floor, and ceiling. This black energy is draining the life from the land itself. And, despite its name? Death Mountain does, in fact, have a lot of life to it. Outside in the center room of the shrine, the lava is rapidly cooling into stone. Similar is happening throughout the mountain. And the air across all of Death Mountain is becoming /incredibly/ cold.      There is ap ulse of power from the mask. It has been revived, if just a bit. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia is still not sure the mask is evil. After all, it promised her adoration and love would come her way! But, despite that, she feels apprehension as MORDRED approaches the pedastel. The salesman swore the mask was evil, and if so they are about to possibly spoil a potentially sacred space.      Then, the mask is placed down, and...well, it appears to Sarracenia as if it actually cleanses the area. Dark energy being drawn in? Lava cooling? A nasty, way to hot mountain being cooled down? Seems nice to her!      Until it starts getting -really- cold. She starts shivering as the cold settles in. "W-well...that was not so bad." she says, even as she digs in her purse for a fire flower. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      That certainly seems to be the opposite of evil, although such a drastic change in environment might not be quite as good as it seems. If nothing else, at least Sanary's got her cold-weather armor on! She even moves over to Sarracenia and opens up the front of her jacket, then tries to partially close it around the princess. Double warmth!      "That was pretty painless all around... Hmm. How's the mask feeling now?" 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "It's got more energy to it." MORDRED seems far less convinced this was the opposite of evil, though perhaps living on Mercury alters your perception of reasonable and sane environments, "I think we just killed this mountain, I wonder how far this will ripple and how many people will be hurt by its loss." He sounds... uncertain, concerned, but then he forcibly shakes his head and says hardly, "Irrelevant, we have achieved our objective. Let's go." 

}}

2939/The Royal Shadow Beckons

2015-11-22T21:27:51Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/01 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Confederacy meets Agahnim for the first time. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=108, 380,..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/01
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Confederacy meets Agahnim for the first time.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=108, 380, 446, 714, 758, 864
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The call out was given. The Confederacy recieved the message. It was short, and to the point. So many have their interests drawn in by the simple call to come to Gerudo Desert.      A small town is nestled within the Desert, just north of the mountain pass into the desert. The buildings are rather simple. Adobe buildings, of various sizes and shapes. They are built layered into hills and cliffsides of the steep mountains nearby. Most of the buildings look incredibly ancient, and torn apart with age. More recent structures are on the edge of the city. A number of cloth tents are also built throughout.      It's late at night, the sun long set. The streets are still busy. Women walk through the street. Each one has dark tan skin, sharp features. Bright red hair, usually kept long. They wear simple outfits, mostly in the same style. Desert clothing, meant to keep them cool during the hot days and warm nights. As they are passed, they'll just give glancing looks towards the various arrivals.      And there is not a single male in sight.      With the size of the city, it's almost worrying whether or not it will be easy for the Confederates to find who invited them. But, a short glance around, towards the mountainous cliffside, gives a good hint of where the host is. A large multistoried, multilayered adobe building. It looks almost like an inn, with a tavern on the first floor. Outdoor seating on wooden benches, people coming and going. Lots of drinking and merriment amongst the female denizens of the city. But, what draws everyone's attention to this is a bit more obvious than just the fact it is an inn: The Red Eye symbol that was on the message rests upon the front doorway. Glowing slightly, so that anyone who arrives at this city can see it. It seems that the party will have to walk up the long winding staircases to get to this cliffside inn. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The village may think itself under attack as a large wooden airship about the size and description of a spanish galleon floats in overhead. Where sails would be it instead has large propellers on its masts. The propellers spin quickly, keeping the large ship in the air. Then, a rope ladder is lowered down, and on the end of it is Princess Sarracenia.      She steps daintily off the rope ladder, her large DK hammer slung over one shoulder, then she makes her way into the village. She takes note of the seemingly all female population, and nods respectfully to any that cross her path. Their desert clothing draws her attention, with its minimal yet elegant designs. But, she is heer for a meeting with someone who calls himself Agahnim. She heads toward that inn and tavern, looking quite out of place with her pale skin and poofy dress. Once inside the tavern, she looks around. She really has little idea what their host looks like. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Something something harem joke," Krezentia says, as she travels presumably with the other inbound Confederates, through unspecified means. Maybe she's walking, maybe she's on her hoverboard, maybe she borrowed a horse. Either way, someone had to make the joke, and she's statisfied to have gotten it over with quickly.     "Though, I'm pretty damn glad the Twilight doesn't extend to this place. I guess I expected a territory under the big bad dark advisor's control to be swallowed by it, not going to complain though." On the other hand, if she wants to complain, she has ample material. "Why is it so stupidly hot here though? If I was an evil sorcerer king the first thing I'd learn is how to install a magical AC on the entire planet."     Today, at least, the Magi isn't with her fairy, so it'll be a nudge more quiet than it would have been otherwise. Then they come across their destination, and it's atop a freaking CLIFF, and there's a staircase.     "Nope."     A purple wormhole opens at the end of the stairs, and another in front of Krezentia. She steps into one and comes out the other. People are free to use them before they dissipate a minute later. That done, she'll just head in too, looking for whoever looks most like an evil royal advisor. A hat, she guesses. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      It has been quite some time since Sanary last went to any sort of meeting as a Confederate representative. She's dressed to the nines today, of course, to put her best foot forward despite not having any real authority, wearing a finely tailored purple suit and pants combo along with her trusty gunaxe on her belt.      "I-is this the place?" As well dressed as she is, though, she definitely hasn't considered the environment in her choice of clothing. The suit isn't nearly warm enough for a cold desert night, but she's banking on the inside of their meeting area being much warmer than this. As cold as she is, though, the healer is still on her best behavior, and she nods politely to each local that she passes.      "Harem joke? Know a couple of people that'd love it here... Maybe." The fact that there aren't any men around doesn't go unnoticed by her, but that's probably not something she'll need to worry about. No, she needs to keep her mind on the task at hand: Making sure nothing goes wrong tonight!      Sanary laughs lightly as she comes to that staircase, glancing at Krezentia just in time for her to disappear into that wormhole. After weighing her options, however, she'll opt to just go up the stairs the long way. It builds character! 

:'''{{#var:380|Madeline Vance (380)}} has posed:'''     Arriving from the desert had Madeline Vance dressed in travel wear, but that changes very quickly. She lifts an eyebrow at the shortcut that Krezentia provides, then laughs to herself and just shakes her head before stepping in. She's not going to delay the meeting by going the long way around.     When she steps out of the wormhole, she's wearing a flowing, formal gown suitable for diplomatic events, though she has also kept the sword that she carries at her side through the outfit change. "There are a number of things I could say about that, but I think it best we just accept it as a cultural quirk." Her pleasant attitude hides some mild concern for the situation. Without her Exalt, she's limited in what powers she can deploy, and reliant upon her current company for protection. She only really knows one of them well, and... that one isn't the one she'd pick for a bodyguard. 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' Winnowill is totally taking the shortcut. She's actually in her elf form, dressed in the long black robes that she normally wears. These aren't very useful for travel so she's definitely not bothering with the stairs. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The inside of the inn, the tavern floor, is rather simple. The floor has some wood panneling over it, though much of it looks eaten away by time. Creaks from the floorboards of the inn rooms above can be heard, people walking here and there. It's rather crowded, with lots of revelry. A couple of fist fights are happening between the women inside. The barkeep is a woman as well, a bit older looking. A bit plump, wearing purple robes over her body, and a red scarf.      But, the moment everyone comes in? The room quiets down. The women all look towards the arrivals. All of them start to file out the various exits from the inn. Even the barkeep walks into the backroom.      And then, suddenly, a flash of light. The furniture in the room changes. There is simply a large round wooden table, sitting in the middle of the room. Just enough seats for all of those present. Each chair is elaborate, ornate. Beautifully crafted. Several servants seem to be walking around the table. They are skeletal beings, wearing only armor. They'll pull the chairs out for the various guests, seating them, and then pouring each of them a glass of red wine. Pots of tea are also available, for those who wish to take that instead.      At the far edge of it from the entrance, a man sits on an extremely ornate throne. It is crafted of wood, but has elegnat curves and edges. Large armrests, plush back. Gold trim in places. While all chairs present are comfortable, this is intentionally a bit more over the top. Sitting within it is a large man. Or at least, assumedly it is a man. His body is massive, sitting at least seven feet tall or so. He is dressed in red robes, covering the vast majority of his body. Golden trim is along an outer robe. His head, covered in a cloth hat. Only a hint o fhis face can be seen. Harsh features. A large nose. Tan skin, just like the woman of this village. He isn't what one would call ugly, though. If anything, simply a bit exotic. Strong.      And upon his chest is the eye symbol, in blue.      He reaches one of his large hands towards a glass. His fingernails are like claws. He swirls the wine around in his glass slowly, looking towards the group. He lifts it to his face, tilting his head up to take a small sip of the wine. His left hand clutches at the arm rest, his fingers tapping at it slowly for a moment. He looks at each Confederate in turn. Considering them. Judging them.      He speaks. His voice booming. Deep. It isn't without its charm, though.      "Welcome. I am Agahnim. Current Ruler of Hyrule. Please. Introduce yourself. Take some of the drinks. Should you request any food, my servants can provide. Ask for whatever you wish." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Their host spares them the need to look for him. That's actually very polite and courteous. Points in his favor, the Magi mentally notes, though to be completely honest, she's more muscle than smarts-- the others here are far better at handling negotiations than she is, and it'll be best if they do, most likely.     "Krezentia Einjager Sepperin. Muscle for the Confederacy. Adventurer when bored, I guess. I'll take pineapple soda if you guys have that here," she does request, not to test the servants or their stock, just because she really likes pineapple soda.     "Though I do have a question. Aren't you supposed to be barricaded in Hyrule Castle, behind a barrier that only a special sword can break? You know there's heroes looking to kill you, right? Mighta been safer to meet there." But then, what does she know. Maybe this place is just as guarded, if not more-- and she doesn't mean by the army of ladies, she just means in general. The Owl made Hyrule Castle sound -unbreachable-. This was just a god-awful desert town, really. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia ends up walking up the stairs with Sanary and Madeline. She wears a long dress all the time, so moving up the stairs is easy for her. She just has to hold up the front hem of her dress a bit. "I am certain we would never see Lute again, one way or another." she says to Sanary as they climb.      When they finally reach the top, presumably a minute or two after the others, Sarracenia is panting a bit from the climb. She composes herself quickly, then curtseys to Agahnim. "I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom." she says before she takes a seat at the table so that she is facing Agahnim. She picks up a wine glass, then swirls it gently before sipping of it and looking over to motion for Sanary to claim the seat beside her. The princess's hammer is leaned against the table beside her for now. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Ah, he'd survive somehow. Doubt he'd go down that easily." Sanary pauses, then snickers and glances at Sarracenia while nearing the top of the stairs. "... Well, you know what I mean."      By the time Sanary reaches the room proper, she's actually looking fairly comfortable. Still a little tired, but significantly less so now that she's inside. Her first instinct when people start filtering out of that room is to keep her magic flowing and ready nearer to her head. Worst case scenario, the walls should be easy enough to blow through to make a hasty escape!      Of course, those fears are allayed when the room changes before her eye. She's just a little wary of the skeleton servants, although there is some small amount of charm to the whole thing. Catching that motion from Sarracenia, she moves over to the Princess and sets her gunaxe by the table to keep that from getting in her way. The skeleton that pulls her chair out for her even gets a light nod in acknowledgement! How nice.      Agahnim's presence draws her attention quickly enough when he speaks, however, and the suited healer straightens up as he regards the Confederates gathered in that meeting area. At his request for introductions, she waits until just before there's an awkward delay in nobody speaking before speaking up herself. "Sanary Rondel. Healer and soldier for the Confederacy and Murasame Zaibatsu." She bows at the waist to Agahnim, then turns to one of the servants to ask for some local food. Might as well try something new while she's here! 

:'''{{#var:380|Madeline Vance (380)}} has posed:'''     Skeleton servants make Madeline wary for some reasons, but she doesn't show it in this case. Instead, she accepts the alteration of the room with a small nod, then introduces herself. "Madeline Vance, Empress of the Skullstone Archipelago, the Radiant Empress of Unwavering Rule. Lieutenant in the Confederacy, which is more immediately important." She straightens from her bow and considers. "The local wine would be fine," she finally decides.     Looks like she'll probably be handling the negotiations, unless Winnowill chimes in. So she's going to ask, after introductions, "While the question is an interesting one, I think of more interest is what you wish to speak to the Confederacy about." 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' "No, thank you," Winnowill replies. She's staying apart, refusing the drink for now, but being polite about it. Such conventions are a little off for her, since this is another culture she's unfamiliar with. Introductions come to her, and she answers, "Lady Venevol, of the Djun Empire." Her own position of power there is left vague, of course. She will, in fact, leave the actual negotiations to Madeline! The telepath can't read minds, so doesn't even try. All she'll do is open up her senses to get a feeling for the magic being used, mostly due to curiosity. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      It doesn't matter that Krezentia was simply wanting it. Agahnim still obviously views it as a test. He lifts his left hand, snapping his fingers. From the back room, another servant appears. It is a Ghibdo, an ancient mummy. It drags its feet along the ground, slowly making its way to Krezentia. It holds a glass bottle of pineapple soda in its hands. It opens it, and pours it in the glass for Krezentia.      Sanary herself is soon brought some local food. It's rather middle eastern in flavor. Lots of meats, wrapped in flatbread. Some local grains, that look much like quinoa. Most of it is cooked in a lot of animals grease and fat.      The man smirks at each guest in turn, bits of his smile peeking out from his robes. He nods at each of them, but a particular glance is given towards a few. Sarracenia, after all, is a princess. That causes him to raise an eyebrow at her. Another surprise as Madeline introduces herself. An Empress? Well. It makes sense, that so many rulers are here. He is uncertain about Winnowill, though. At least, she is certainly high ranked.      The magic in the room, at the moment, is fairly powerful. Normal people would likely feel an incredible weight and pressure from it. But, for those in the Confederacy, those who are so used to performing wicked deeds? They will all feel comfortable here. The magic animating the undead, though, is seperate. The rest of the magic seems to be Agahnim's.      Agahnim smirks at Krezentia. His glass is set down on the table. He places his elbows on the table, leaning forward. Fingers interlocked. A dark hearty laugh comes from him, before he speaks again, "Yes. As far as they are aware, I have not left the castle. Should they find me here, there is, in fact, some level of danger. But. The women outside? They are the Gerudo. The warrior women race of the desert. Should anyone who is not welcome arrive, they will chase them out. Immediately."      A small chuckle, "After all. I am the only male Gerudo. One is born only once every one hundred years. And, that man usually acts as their king. They will do what they can to defend me. And, I can vanish from here in an instant."      He reaches to take one last sip of wine, before finally moving onto business.      "The matter is simple. I seek your aid. I am no fool. I heard of the call for help from that foolish man, Fassad. But, no matter how little of a threat he himself is, the aid of the Union is more than I can handle on my own. So. I ask /this/ of you."      "Aid me. Follow the adventurer's, posing as their allies. And, as you do so? Aid me with certain tasks. I do not care if they find a way to free this land from the Twilight. Even the Twilight Queen herself agrees with me on this. It would be a small bump in the road to my complete conquest of this world. But, by travelling with them, you could provide me a great deal of aid. You could rid me of some of my greatest enemies. And so, that is what I ask. Be my allies. Travel with them. And do my work."      He remains quiet, leaving a silence upon the room as they consider his request. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Krezentia takes a moment to consider the fact her soda is both in a glass and being delivered by a mummy. The mummy part half-bothers her, but she's had very, very bad luck with assorted zombie-related apocalypses. The one time with the nanite zombies, that one time with the... lich... tarrasque thing. That one time with the Necromorphs. UGH the Necromorphs. Her arm still aches thinking about it.     She'll keep her composure, though, and sip from the glass. This guy comes through already. On the sole merit of his ability to procure soda, the Magi is already sold. She's just curious, at this point.     "Why would the Twilight Queen agree her realm getting banished from this one be just a speed bump? Wouldn't that cut her off entirely? I thought the Owl said something about the Twilight being sealed, originally, and you kicked those doors wide open."     She's sure someone else will ask 'what's in it for us'.     No use locking on. 

:'''{{#var:380|Madeline Vance (380)}} has posed:'''     Madeline listens. She sips her wine, and listens. Fortunately, she also listened to Krezentia's earlier very very brief explanation of what is going on here, so she's not totally lost and can actually seem pretty calm and collected. "I see." In truth, hindering the Union was probably enough for many Confederates, but Madeline at least had little hostility toward the Union in general. That's why she is indeed one to ask such a question.     "The Confederacy is not against the idea of an alliance, but in any alliance there must be a bit of give and take," she points out. "You are asking us to put our people in danger while working with their enemies, who would turn on them if they knew what our real plan was. That is a lot of danger to put ourselves in for no reason but to aid you. What can you offer the Confederacy in return for this aid?" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia snrks lightly and rolls her eyes at Sanary. "Yes, I am sure he would be all too eager to go down." she says, shaking her head. She sips her wine again as she listens to Agahnim speak. She has no magic sense, so she just feels a bit uncomfortable with the atmosphere here. Not to mention that creepy mummy. Sarracenia leans away from it despite it being fairly far away.      Madeline gets to the point, but once Agahnim has explained she hmphs softly and crosses her arms, a slight frown on her face. "I am a princess, not an errand girl. A princess must maintain appearances, and I could hardly build trust with other kingdoms by becoming a spy."      Again, Madeline brings up a valid point, and the princess nods in agreement. "I could only place myself in such a position if there would be something rather substantial to gain from it." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary resists the urge to just go to town on that food. No, she's been practicing her table manners! Small bites, small sips, even wiping her mouth and making sure not to have so much food in her mouth that she can't talk at a moment's notice. The mention of the Gerudo finally gives her a name to attach to all those faces outside, too, so there's already quite a bit to work with here!      And then there's Agahnim's request. It certainly sounds simple enough, and there's always benefits to be gained even while working with the Union. Besides, she's worked with the Union quite a few times before, so this probably wouldn't be too different from her usual classes and some of her other jobs.      The mention of the Twilight Queen does raise an eyebrow, though, and she glances over at Krezentia to try and parse some of that. Clearly, she's some sort of royalty, and from the sounds of it... There might be some sort of alliance and bad blood between the two? How peculiar.      After taking another bite of that quinoa-like grain mixture (which she's already polished off), she finally speaks up. "What kind of aid are we talking about here? I've worked with the Union plenty before, and it takes time to.. You know. Build up trust with them so they don't immediately start thinking I'm going to put an axe in their backs. Is this aid the sort that would make it obvious that we're not on the same page as them?" 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' Letting the others ask the hard questions, Winnowill is simply watching for the time being, getting a feel for the odd magics. Once matters are out on the table and discussion underway, the elf finally begins to speak her mind on some subjects. She has little to say of import right now, though. "Some of us will have an easier time than others, I think, but it is certainly possible. I too have to wonder why this Queen would cede part of her kingdom. I would guess that the end reward is even greater than what she would gain from holding on to it," Winnowill murmurs. She looks to Sarracenia, "And of course, if you find the task distasteful, I am sure we can find something /else/ for you to do, Princess." Is that a threat? Maybe not. Winnowill always talks like that anyway. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Agahnim nods towards Krezentia. He motions a bit with his hands, pointing towards the room around him. "The people of the Twilight Realm do wish to return here. It would be a step against their return. But, it is not an insurmountable one. I defeated the Spirits of Light once. I could do so again. But, that in and of itself, is /not/ enough to make the beings of the Twilight Realm return. It is like trying to get a passenger across a stream while using a leaking boat. It might manage with some difficulty. But it is not an ideal solution."      A smile to Sanary, a simple question. The task is important, though. "It's a task the Union and others should not even see. Within this land, there are four Great Fairies. They are beings of vast magical power, who can stand in my way. They also provide some protection to the land. Getting rid of them will make my grand mission reach its completion even sooner."      And then, the matter of the gain. A sly smile is on Agahnim's face. His teeth show. Despite the day and age, they're rather clean. A bit sharp, as well. "Of course. Straight to the point. What you all have to gain. First and formost, Hyrule is a resource rich land, and it is filled with magic. These resources could be those of the Confederacy. I also control a vast number of monsters, creatures, and powerful beasts. These simple servants are but a taste of what work for me."      His voice gets just a bit more booming. A bit more weight to his words, "But. That is nothing compared to the /true/ reward. The entire purpose of my taking the throne. There is a treasure in Hyrule. A treasure of /vast/ power. The last gift, granted by the Golden Goddesses. A treasure that can grant any wish. A treasure that /can/ bring the Twilight here, and a treasure that has uses beyond your wildest dreams. If you aid me in killing the Great Fairies, we will be one step closer to destroying the barrier to the Sacred Realm, where this, the Greatest of Treasures, can be found."      "The Triforce." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Fair enough," Krezentia answers to the matter of the Twilight. Seems reasonable, really. So the Twilight leaking in is kind of a shoddy but distracting way to do what they want. They can do better, but doing it anyway probably keeps heroes too busy to see the big picture. She likes it, at least. Good plan. There's a lot of information to take in, but it's pretty straightforward, so the Magi doesn't have questions. And a wish-granting artifact isn't too shabby a reward.     She's not the one Agahnim had to convince, though. She already knew the day before she wanted to come meet him, and all in all it's what she expected. She's still displeased about the whole 'trek in the god-awful desert' part, but this is quickly being smoothed over by promises of unimaginable cosmic power.     "What's the step after? And what else is in the Sacred Realm? It's not another awful cursed realm that turns you into an animal, is it?" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia raises an eyebrow at Winnowill. She looks the elven woman over, as if for the first time, then hmphs. "I should hope so. This task is hardly befitting a princess." she says. That is, until the Triforce and its great power is explained. Her eyes sparkle at the possibilities, though none are ruling an entire world or destroying one dimension so that another can thrive. No, what comes to Sarracenia's mind is the adoration that such a wish could bring. She could be the princess everyone loves! And maybe even find her hero!      Her daydream is ended when she realizes that Agahnim said they would have to kill not one but four great fairies. Surely such an act would forever stain her reputation even moreso than it already is.      When Krezentia asks about the Sacred Realm, Sarracenia giggles. "It could hardly be called sacred if it instead cursed you and changed you into some animal." She pauses a moment, then blinks a few times. "Did you say 'another'? Is there already such a realm?" The princess apparently doesn't read briefings. Perhaps she thinks they are beneath her. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Those answers just instill more skepticism in Sanary. She takes a moment to order more of that grainy fat substance and works on some of that flatbread and meat. Despite her skepticism, she actually looks rather comfortable even with all of skeletons milling about. Peering at Sarracenia's wine, she weighs her options for all of three seconds before asking for some for herself, too. "How is that, anyway? Food's definitely not bad..."      And then her attention is back on the king! "So we kill these faeries without anyone noticing. Erm... If they're as powerful as they sound, though, what are the odds we'll just end up getting caught in the act?" She strokes her chin lightly and leans back in her seat for a moment, righting herself a moment later after remembering her manners. "I mean, I guess we could wear disguises or something, though, but... Do you have anything that could keep us from getting identified while we're going at it?"      The topic of the Triforce itself doesn't go ignored, either. It's certainly a great sounding prize, but it sounds a little too good to be true that Agahnim would just let them have it instead of keeping it for themselves. The tricky part is figuring out how to word such a delicate issue... "This Triforce. Is it a one-use type of artifact, or can we all use it as much as we want?" 

:'''{{#var:380|Madeline Vance (380)}} has posed:'''     Hmn. Madeline tsks, "I don't know, I can imagine quite a lot." She folds her hands into her lap. "But you make your point. That is indeed a prize worth all this trouble, isn't it?" Really, she was rather straightforward compared to some, but Madeline does have a sharp enough mind to quickly see a few points... and remain silent about them.     "Wish-granting artifacts often have a catch," she finally mutters. "Still..." She trails off, sips her wine, and considers. Partly this is to give the others a chance to chime in with their thoughts. Also it keeps her from glowering at Sarracenia for not paying attention. 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' The price does get Winnowill's attention, but she's spending more time smiling pleasantly at Sarracenia, as if she hadn't just said something inflammatory to the princess. While she has little to add in the form of questions, she does have things to say to others. "If you truly wish to have a different appearance, that can be arranged very easily. Just speak to me after the meeting." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Agahnim raises an eyebrow at Sarracenia, "...Have you not heard of the Twilight? Those that enter take on the form of an animal, if they are a strong willed being. Most simply become ghost-like apparitions. The form within is a reflection of your true self."      The step after question gets another smile for Krezentia. Agahnim's smirk widens, "Once we capture the Triforce from the Twilight Realm, my next steps are simple. Free those stuck within the Twilight. Make it so the Gerudo can move out of this desert, by removing the people of Hyrule. Give those who have long deserved the chance to control the land the chance they truly deserve."      "And... I know naught of the true form of the Sacred Realm. I know that it exists. It is not, in fact, just legend. I have confirmed in my research that much, at least."      Sanary gets a bit of an eyebrow raise.. He looks towards her allies, somewhat confused. She is so different from the others assembled. So out of place. "...I do not /know/ where the Great Fairies are, and your journies will find them. Do you /really/ think killing them, right away, is the best plan? Simply wait for the Union to leave. But, if you are /so/ worried about them accidentally discovering your identity... I could, certainly, help create a method to disguise you from them. Or have your ally do it."      "The Great Fairies /are/ powerful. But, their power is in Healing. They will be no match for the lot of you. My own magic can be stopped by them, though. My magic is... ancient. Powerful. But, it is something that they are a counter to."      And a smirk, in regards to the power of the Triforce. How often it can be used. "Do you think I would offer you the power if it could not be shared? I am no fool. I would not promise the Confederacy something, and then step back on my word."      He looks towards the group. Both of his massive hands clench upon the armrests again. And he smirks at the group again.      "So. What say you?" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The princess coughs softly when asked about the gap in her knowledge. "Ah...I am very busy. I do not have time to read every little note that crosses my desk." she says, trying to preserve her pride and her superiority at the same time. She then looks to Sanary. "Obviously we would find the location of the fairies, then return later when the goody-goodies from the Union had left. And we would of course shift blame onto our friend Agahnim, since they would be expecting him to have done it anyway." She considers a moment. "You would probably have to wait a day or two before striking if we wished to minimize suspicion. They might suspect us, but they would have no proof."      Sarracenia sips of her wine again, then peers at Winnowill as the elf smiles pleasantly. Sarracenia recognizes such pleasantness. It is the same kind she uses when she must look sincere even when she isn't. "But, as I have said, assassin is not within my duties as a princess. The others here may agree to assist, but I will not help beyond perhaps relaying information and ensuring the 'heroes' reach their next target." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "If all we have to do is hang out with Union and pretend we're heroes for a while, that's no big for me. I already sorta kinda helped them take out... what'd the prince call them, Shadow Beasts? Pack of three of them," Krezentia answers, though she's not the one who'll be making the final call.     "I mean, I'm in, this deal sounds pretty sweet. And if we get to murder a bunch of high-and-mighty fairies for entertainment along the way that's almost payment enough."     She won't be seeking the disguise talents of Winnowill, though. There's no actual reason, she just doesn't feel she needs a disguise yet. Not until they have to act overtly, anyway. At which point they'll figure something out! 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      That explanation seems sufficient to quell Sanary's doubts. She nods slowly and pats the handle of her axe, a light grin crossing her face as she looks from Agahnim to Sarracenia to Willowill. To say that she's not amused by that exchange between the latter two would be a complete lie, but there is a time and place for everything. Might as well try to draw attention away from that.      "Sounds like a plan. Head in some days after once we get the location, get some disguises, take out the faeries." She laughs at Krezentia's response to Agahnim's request for an answer, eventually taking a big bite of flatbread before raising her glass. "I'm in, too." 

:'''{{#var:380|Madeline Vance (380)}} has posed:'''     Madeline considers, all right. "Obviously we will have to plan carefully to make sure we don't tip our hand," she says, with a glance sideways. That might be more for Agahnim than anyone else. "I understand. Their aura keeps you from reaching them with your magic, but they are vulnerable to people who punch things. This is not an unknown phenomenon in my world. Many, many problems can be solved by the ancient magic of Fist to Face."     She sits up further. "Well, we can draft up a formal agreement with the exact details later, but I think that I can safely say that we can enter into an alliance with you. The exact terms can be settled in writing in the next few days." 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' "Indeed," Winnowill agrees. "It would not be the first time I have worked with the Union, either. Though they wouldn't know it. That is sort of the point, isn't it? I will do what I can, then... and if you really need a disguise, we can work something out I am sure. I doubt you'll need one, if we can provide a reason to be helping. Lady Vance can surely think of something." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Agahnim lets out a dark, hearty chuckle. The sound of it resonates throughout the entire room. His eyes dart around the group. His eyes linger on certain members, those who seem more out of place than others. But, overall, there is a look of approval on his face.      "Fine. It is a deal. We can work out the details over the days to come. For now, let us feast. This will, in fact, be a /grand/ alliance. Together, we shall be a powerful force. Hyrule has not seen anything like this since ancient times."      He snaps his finger again. Suddenly, the table is filled with food. Plates before each Elite. There are roasts, fine cheesey dishes, potatoes. Some vegetable dishes line the table as well. Various deserts and cakes. The scent of all of it is almost overwhelming.      And even Agahnim himself is loading up his plate. And, he lifts his wine glass, to the group. A toast.      "To our continued alliance." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Despite her refusal to assassinate fairies, Princess Sarracenia is more than happy to enjoy the food. Politely, of course. "It is nice to know that despite the distasteful actions you must take to secure your throne you are still able to provide properly for honored guests such as myself." she says between a bite of something and a sip of something else. She keeps her eye on Winnowill for a while, but eventually relaxes and just enjoys the feast. Even she does not eat like this all the time, and a proper feast is always a fun time.      Sarracenia does seem to be focusing more on the wine than the food, though. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Alliances made, loads of food to eat... Yeah, Sanary's pretty pleased with herself right now. "To our continued alliance!" She practically shouts as she raises her wine glass again, quickly lowering it with a sheepish grin on her face. Her excitement doesn't necessarily make it impossible to feel some shame, after all, and she's more than ready to hide herself for a bit after that little outburst.      Thankfully, Sarracenia's right there to hide behind. Sort of. Although the healer's not hitting the wine nearly as hard as she is the cheesey dishes, the fatty grain thing, and the potatoes, she's still knocking them back a bit herself. After all, how often does someone in her position get to eat so much fancy stuff at once?      Not often. Might as well take advantage of it. 

:'''{{#var:380|Madeline Vance (380)}} has posed:'''     Madeline has no worries about poison. Perhaps she is overconfident, but not without some basis in fact. She lifts her glass in a toast. "To our alliance," she declares, answering it in a formal, precise tone. She's had to refine her skill with that, of late. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     If the deal's struck, it's good news all around. And then they're paid in food, which Krezentia isn't going to turn down. She's no Big Eater, but she can appreciate a really good meal same as anyone else. 'Summon Giant Feast' must be one of the handiest spells to have when you're trying to make an impression, too. She's already halfway to the tables when he proposes a toast, and she feels no need to reiterate the obvious when she could be sampling some of that meat instead.     She's muscle, anyway. She said so.     The deal-making can go to the deal-makers. 

}}

3397/Investigating Lake Hylia

2015-11-21T06:24:59Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/11/15 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=A monster appears at Lake Hylia, and the third Tear of Light is found. |Thanks= |Cast of..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/11/15
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=A monster appears at Lake Hylia, and the third Tear of Light is found.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=73, 385, 492, 513, 714, 789, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Lake Hylia was passed earlier in the quest, though only seen from a distance, from Lon Lon Ranch and Spectacle Rock. It's a large lake just south of Castle Town. Today's journey takes the party dangerously close to Agahnim's stolen territory. It's some distance from Hyrule Castle and the Castle Town, but still visible. At least, it's far enough it's unlikely to be an issue.      The mission today is a favor to Princess Ruto of the Zoras. She has been wanting to visit the grave of her Father, built near Lake Hyrule. It was revealed that she has visited the Lake recently, despite protests from her mother. She wasn't able to get far, though. Some strange monster was in it. An insect like monster, possibly connected to the missing Tear of Light from Zora's Domain.      The lake sits quietly in the afternoon light, a light wind causing ripples to go over the surface of it. The meeting area is on south side of the lake, close to Lon Lon Ranch. It's also relatively close to the location of the grave. A number of piers and wooden bridges make a strange path forward, towards a small island just about one hundred yards into the water. This island is where the grave is supposed to be.      It's as good a place as any to start investigating whatever strange insect creature has been hiding in the water. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary almost feels bad showing up at the lake. Almost. After all, it's partially her fault why some things have been so bad in the area lately. Not that she lets it show or anything, even going as far as to disguise herself by wearing her coat instead of that armor she's been stomping around in the past few times she's been in Hyrule. It'd be hard to investigate the place if any locals recognized her in that armor!      It's actually somewhat nice out there, even. Standing at a pier, watching the water, just taking a moment to relax while being armed to the teeth just in case a monster does show up. If she had a spear, she'd probably be in that lake right now. Alas, there's a job to do, and the healer's going to have to be on her best behavior.      For now, she waits. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' As usual for visiting this version of Hyrule, Yuna's in her Light Suit already as she heads to the rendezvous point. Elner is currently a ways up in the sky, ready to reduce altitude if Yuna needs it to take a closer look at something; Jiina, Marina, and Erina are sticking fairly close to Yuna, in their respective combat forms. Which is too bad, in Yuna's belief. If it weren't for the monsters roaming around in some spots, it's a fairly peaceful day and the landscape is fairly pleasant to walk through. The Light Suit is fairly comfortable (as armor goes, anyway), but she'd prefer a dress or something and comfortable shoes rather than the armored leotard, boots, and gauntlets which she's sporting. On the other hand, this way she's safe is a ravening monster lunges out of the lake and tries to swallow her whole. Or at least, somewhat safer. Yuna is keeping a modest but respectful distance from the water's edge right now, although she does wave to Sanary, calling out a greeting to the (armed) healer. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Though she hasn't always been part of the Hyrule expeditions, Frederica's heart has been with the nation and with those who have come to her aid. She's able to make it to this mission however, and sees no reason she can't contribute. Fighting giant insect monsters, after all, is something she's been doing for longer than she's been part of the Multiverse.     She comes in from nearby, having been in the area a short while. "Yuna!" she waves to the blonde warrior cheerfully, approaching. She doesn't really know Sanary, but has no reason to fear her. "I hope we don't have to go swimming today." she notes, gesturing out to the lake. "I didn't bring beachwear, sadly. But..." she sighs. "I suppose we'll just have to see, won't we?" she says with a grin. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah predicted water stupidity, and here is the first part of it. She stands on a pier looking out over the water with her arms folded. "This is going to be wet and terrible." She predicts gloomily, turning away and looking to the others present. "Well, we'll see what happens. So who's taking point on this?" She looks around. She doesn't see the usual tanks. "I'm not going first. I am entirely too bite-size for aquatic horrorterrors." She asserts. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr has been scouting the area for a few hours beforehand, searching for any sign of this creature Ruto was talking about, or for anything suspicious. He's identified the position of the grave in question, but has stayed off of any piers, because...well. They don't look like they'd hold up his weight, exactly.     "I'll go first!" he volunteers, as Sarah calls Not-It. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "No reward without risk!" Exclaims Finna, the foxgirl from... JUST BEHIND FREDERICA. She claps both hands on her shoulders from behind and LEEEEANS in over one of them. "Would you like to be a dolphin?" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      A surging in the water can be seen. The wooden piers and platforms in the lake suddenly begin to break. Large crashing waves occur, as something moves within the water. Some bubbles come up from under the surface as well. It's hard to tell what exactly it is. The lake, while fairly clear, is still somewhat murky. A large, bus-sized shadow seems to be moving through the water.      Suddenly, it bursts through the water. The bridges break apart completely, a number of wooden logs and planks throughout the area. They are, most certainly, sturdy enough to support the weight of most people present. The broken bridges are likely not the first priorty, though. Unless you are Sanary or Sarah, who are standing on the piers. For everyone else? The monsterous bloated insect certainly is likely first priority. It glows a soft yellow, like the Twilight. It's black body is a hard bloated shell, with various tentacles in place of arms. A set of tiny wings come from its back, barely capable of helping it hover in the air. It sinks back to the water, sparkling with electricity as it dives. Feeder of Darkness Twilit Bloat      Things instantly become worse, sadly.      The sky darkens, despite the time of day. With the strange insect, the Twilight has moved into this region. It seems most will have to fight transformed. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Wet shouldn't be a problem," Yuna replies cheerfully to Sarah. "As for 'horrible' ... that's a matter of perspective, isn't it?" She starts out onto the pier .. JUST before the giant waterbug starts breaking the pier apart. "Ack!" yelps Yuna. "Marina, I could --" She falls in at roughly the same moment that the Twilight descends. Elner lets out a startled exclamation as the robo-faerie transforms into a quasi-mechanical dove. Yuna's three mechanical 'doubles,' on the other hand, turn into different animals - the green-and-white armored one winds up as a canid-looking quadruped, possibly a fox or a wolf or some version thereof; the purple-and-white figure winds up as a falcon (larger than Elner's dove), and the reddish-orange-and-white one winds up as some sort of fish. "Hang on, Yuna!" replies the now-robo-fish, trying to flop its way towards the water's edge ... But Yuna doesn't have anything that she CAN hold onto, having been dumped away from any of the floating footholds. And the calico cat into which she's been transformed by the Twilight is thrashing about in utter helplessness. She's going to need help, and Marina isn't going to get to her in time at this rate. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      And there they are! Yuna gets a quick wave and grin from Sanary, and Frederica and Finna both get curious looks. Friends of hers, perhaps? "Hey, Yuna! Er. Let's hope we can lure it out without going in. Even if we can all swim..." The healer trails off and fiddles with her eyepatch, raising an eyebrow at Sarah moments later. The notion of swimming just had to keep coming back, didn't it?      Blurr gets an odd look as he volunteers to go in first, although she does eventually shrug and give the Autobot a wide grin. "Sounds like a plan. I'll head in after-"      And then she sees the movement in the water. Her eye widens as that shadow draws nearer, and she about-faces quickly to just bolt right off that thing. "It's coming!" She barely has enough time to dive away from the pier as it breaks apart behind her, and the Twilight reaches her shortly afterwards, turning the healer into...      ... A canary. Right. That happened last time, too. "Oh, son of a...! Yuna!" The tiny black and yellow bird flutters towards the flailing cat, not seeming to remember her significant decrease in size until she's already next to Yuna, uselessly trying to pull her up with those tiny bird feet. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' EVERYTHING GETS WORSE. Sarah yells as the piers and bridge shatter and she's left clinging to a wooden plank. "YOU SON OF A- AAAAAA HORRORTERROR!" Sarah yells. "SOMEONE BEAT IT UP!" And then IT GETS EVEN WORSE. Even as Sarah yells, she is engulfed in the blackness of Twilight, and becomes a very soggy, very angry black cat clinging to a plank. It would be prime Youtube material were it not actually life-threateningly dangerous. She scrabbles onto the plank, and glares up at the beast, but immediately leaps away to another plank as she sees the electricity. "THIS THING IS BULLCRAP!" The now feline Sarah yells. "Someone do something about this before it eats me! I'm even /more/ bite-sized now!" All she can do is wait for it to surface, regardless. It's not like she can swim. Have you ever seen a cat try to swim? Cat-paddling is a terrible thing. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica is more or less relaxed by the various presences, even the caustic teenager. Perhaps surprisingly, it's the mechanical form of Blurr that give her... not fear, not exactly. Discomfort. In a place where everyone becomes animals, a giant robot is a little jarring. Then again, everyone else seems to transform. Perhaps it's not so strange after all.     Frederica jumps as Finna speaks from out of nowhere. She whirls on the foxgirl. "HEY!" she cries, shaking her head. "YOU be a dolphin. I'm not even used to being a hedgehog yet!" she complains with unconscious irony. "I'd rather not be a fish, not with some stupid sea monster around!"     The arrival of the Feeder of Darkness catches Frederica a bit off-guard, but fire is never far from the surface for her. She scowls and lofts fireballs into the air, arcing them down around the big bug. Considering its hard shell, mobility and the water all around it, those early fireballs are unlikely to do anything to it. She's getting a bead on it though, and preparing an extermination attempt.     Unfortunately that's headed off by the arrival of the Twilight. While Frederica's powers solely require her mind, not her body, the form does shape how she tends to fight. As a woman, she can loft fireballs and direct them. As a terribly-nearsighted hedgehog, she can't really fight at range. She can HEAR though, and the sound of screaming and freaking out have her running on stubby little legs towards the water.     Of course Frederica IS a hedgehog right now. It's not like she's the best person out there for someone to grab hold of. Or for her to grab hold of them. Oh well, at least she'll be a good target. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Oh. Nope, no dolphin time for Frederica! Finna finds herself turning to look at the approaching creature just a few moments before it's fully surfaced. Did she hear its approach? Quite probably. "Or nooooooot!"     Other people transform as the creature's Twilight aura engulfs them. For Finna... the thin veneer of normality that is her illusionary protections is peeled away as her Moonsilver Tattoos glow in response to the Twilight magic. These mystical wonders have fixed her form so that only her own will can change it, but they reflect STRANGE THINGS of the Twilight nature when one looks too closely at them in this environment. Normally silvery-blue, they take on a strangely yellowish patina here.     "Oh, it's this thing again!" Feigning amusement to cover up her flash of PANIC, Finna just GRINS at the distant monster. "So this is why Ruto couldn't approach."     She takes a step forward, jabbing a heel into the ground and taking a stance with a hand on her hip.     But her eyes immediately turn towards analyzing the surroundings for anything she can use against such a large creature!     "Hey, didn't Rutela say something about bugs? Maybe this one ate the Spirit of Light!" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      There is a small bit of luck for everyone. The Twilit Bloat is a massive hulking monstrosity. The small animals before it? Two cats, a hedgehog, and a canary who is getting suicidally close to a cat? These are not things that will make a giant beast like this sweat. It does seem to eat, though. It coughs up a little, some fish bones spitting out of its mouth. The obese insect, at least, doesn't seme to plan on making a meal of the people around.      One of the party members remains humanoid, though. Finna draws its attention. It moves in towards her fast. Despite its size, the creature can move incredibly fast when it wants to. It tries to outright rush into her in a tackle, its body surging with electricity as it tries to impact the Exalt. Hideous cicada-like noises come from its mouth, along with the gnashing of its exoskeleton.      This leaves it somewhat open to the others for the moment. It doesn't expect the animals to be any level of threat, and so they are ignored. Finna has several different impromptu weapons nearby that she could use if need be, as well. The most obvious are the planks of the piers that just shattered. Some large rocks are also present, along with some large chunks of driftwood that have washed up onto the shores. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     A FLAT-OUT CHARGE. Finna blinks, but reacts with the kind of speed that only a Lunar of her sort could pull off. It's evident to her that this creature is pure malicious instinct, and she is a Lunar, master of beasts.     She simply beckons with a twitching finger, taunting the creature and vaulting backwards JUST quickly enough that the creature can look forward to catching her. She is a tasty morsel, a challenge, a shiny thing that's worthy of its full attention for a brief moment!     All of its attention, through that charge. Leaving hopefully NONE for the thing to realize it's charging straight for a ****ing BOULDER. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Sanary-canary would find that she has some help in fishing Yuna out of the water; once Sanary's managed to pull the calico up a little ways, the purple-and-white falcon descends next to her, slipping a talon through Yuna's collar and helping to haul her to safety. "The log there!" the falcon calls out. Meanwhile, the 'dog' mechanoid has gotten the 'fish' into the water - and a couple of microtorpedoes start cruising through the lake to home in on the Twilit Bloat, aimed to detonate along its flank just beneath the water's surface. Hopefully that'll help keep the monstrous insect from turning its full attention on anyone in the party while they're getting their footing back; the attack might even help to weaken it a bit. Yuna herself is going to need a bit longer to recover, once Erina and Sanary have gotten her onto a piece of driftwood that won't dump her right back in the drink. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Even though it's probably better for her survival that she's being ignored by the Twilit Bloat, Sanary can't help but feel a little... Slighted. So what if she's smaller than everyone else around here? She can still do some damage if she wants to!      Once Yuna's brought to safety (probably due mostly to the mecha-falcon) and no longer at risk of drowning, the one-eyed healer turned one-eyed-bird flies up to give herself some room to build momentum. A little while later, and she dives right at the giant insect! And once she's in range, she...      Well, she'll probably just bounce off the thing if it doesn't swat her away first. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Freddie The Hedgehog only realizes her mistake as she reaches the water. She can't jump particularly well, and even if she could she couldn't grab Yuna or Sarah to help rescue them. Fortunately she isn't really needed for that. Yuna seems to be safe. Sarah... well, hopefully someone can get to her. Frederica decides her best approach should be to engage the giant disgusting bug.     There's no subtlety in her attack, not right now. She charges the beast, trying to take advantage of Finna's actions to line up an attack. At the last moment she bursts into flames, tucking in her vulnerable face and rolling the last few feet at top speed. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' The massive hulk spits out some fish bones, and the black cat seems to turn a little green at the sight. "Gggh..." Sarahcat emits, and clutches the board for dear life as the horrible insect begins rushing around trying to eat Finna. "Come on people, coordinate! Hit the thing after the foxgirl gets it to slam into boulders! Stun it and hit the weak point for massive damage! It can't be armored /everywhere/! Look for an eye or something soft! Go go go!" The cat is trying to coordinate their offense among the generally inoffensive animals. It's something, after all. There's no way she can use her tools like this. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Finna is lucky that the creature is particularly mindless, driven only by instinct. It makes it significantly easier to mentally affect, and abuse. With wreckless abandon, it flies towards Finna again, moving in towards the gigantic boulder in front of it. As it hits the boulder, the boulder flies all over the battlefield. The stone has broken into pieces, scattered across the landscape. The creature itself came out injured, but not terribly so. Some dents are in the front of its hard exoskeleton, even some cracks. It's close to the ground, close enough for Frederica to move in. Frederica hits it immediately, while it is still somewhat shaken. The fire burns at the creature, causing it a bit more pain. But, it is still capable of flying, and it is still looking around the battlefield as it moves back up. It moves to dive back into the water.      Sadly, the return to the water leaves it vulnerable to the torpedoes. They fly towards it, exploding at its side. More of its thick shell breaks, revealing some of the flesh inside. It's still doing well, though. It bursts its head out of the water, just in time to see Sanary coming in.      As the small Canary that is Sanary comes in? It bounces off, but not before getting a bit of a shocking surprise. The body of the creature bursts with electricity, sending a jolt through the woman's body.      The creature dives back down into the water. The water is quiet for a moment, before it bursts up again. The tentacle-arms on it spread out, each one trying to flail at all of the animals and Finna. It roars in pain, angered at them. The fleshy tentacles fling around like whips, trying to impact into everyone. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah continues to surf the board for all she is worth as the water churns and bubbles, but there's only so much one can do. With a yelp, Sarah tries to leap away as it emerges, but a tentacle strikes her and sends her flying into the water. "STUPID! TENTACLES!" She yells as she does her best to try to cat-paddle to the nearest bit of flotsam or jetsam. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna finishes recovering from her dunking just as the monster finishes recovering from ITS abuse - and the Calico of Light just barely manages to leap off her chunk of driftwood before one of those tentacles reduces said driftwood to so much soggy kindling. Rather than splashing into the water, Yuna manages to seize hold of one of those tentacles, sinking both claws and teeth in; she fully expects the monster's 'flesh' to taste UTTERLY VILE but she's willing to sacrifice her taste buds in the name of saving Hyrule. As before, her claws glow brightly as she tears at the exposed tentacle with it; she can't see it, but so - apparently - do her *teeth*. That probably helps keep the anticipated awful taste at bay. Yuna's allies mechanical pitch in as well: Marina's fish form launches another salvo of microtorpedoes, the firecracker-sized 'missiles' actually jumping out of the water to pepper the nearer side of oversized bug's belly. Erina, in her falcon body, flies above and flaps her wings down hard, flechette-styled pulse blasts showering down at its head, or what seems to pass for it. And while Jiina's canid shape remains on dry land, her tail arcs forward, armor panels peeling open to expose an emitter - and a beam cannon blast is fired to rip further at the bug's armored belly. If they had their normal bodies, this fight would probably be over in a hurry; as it is, though, their animal forms are substantially smaller than their humanoid bodies, and their firepower - even Yuna's - has been scaled down to match. As it is, though, Yuna's also worried about hitting any of her allies, so the Matrix of Light HAS to hold back for their sake, too. After that second salvo of miniature torpedoes, Marina swims over to Sarah and tries to give her a helpful boost. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna perches atop one of the rock fragments as it sails through the sky, riding it to the ground. But she frowns, quite dismayed at this thing's endurance and tenacity. A normal animal would have RUN OFF TO RECOVER. This thing's still on the attack!     "Gotta leave these freaky magic beasts from other worlds. But if they wanna-- WHOAH!"     A tentacle comes flying close to Finna like a whip. Her body contorts and twists weirdly through some insane gymnastics as beads of perspiration roll down her face. She zigs and zags and eventually gets clobbered across the side of the face and sent tumbling to the ground, bleeding from a cheek. Oh hey, blood.     The Lunar grins. EVILLY.     "Hey, birdie, c'mere! No arguments!"     Finna's hands shimmer, fingernails shifting to claws. she RIPS OPEN ONE WRIST when the little canary nears and holds out the wounded hand, blood dripping everywhere. "DRINK."     Oh boy. Where is this going? 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica is a flaming hedgehog. Anything flailing at her is going to leave with a limbful of spikes and on fire besides. It doesn't even cause crippling damage, given the nature of the girl-beast's armour and her protective shielding of flames. This form has its limitations, but it comes with some pretty solid advantages too.     Of course, she's also been knocked into the water. That's a bit distressing. Frederica uncurls from her armoured ball, the flames extinguished, and she begins paddling towards the shore. Fortunately the hedgehog form is a fairly decent swimmer. Fortunately for Frederica, though she did end up in the water, it wasn't while wearing her usual outfit. This form's arguably better suited for it than her human form would be. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      That shock draws a series of pained chirps from the bird, and the impact itself didn't really accomplish what Sanary was hoping to. Her flight is somewhat haphazard as she struggles to get her bearings, and by the time she sees those tentacle arms coming in?      Well, at least she's small enough to only get hit by one of those instead of several. She's batted out of the air easily, landing right next to Finna with a weak chirp. The healing magic flowing through her is the only thing keeping her conscious, and she's fairly certain that she's not taking bird anatomy into account while fixing herself up.      "Stupid insect asshole. Stupid bird body. Fff... W-wait, is that what you..." Of course it had to be blood. It couldn't have been some kind of alchemical brew or space booze or... Something! Well, it's not like Sanary has many other options, so she goes to drink some of that blood from Finna's wrist!      And then she starts changing (again). It's not even a subtle change, either. She grows rapidly in both height and mass, eventually turning into a massive t-rex. Screw subtlety, she's going to charge right at the Twilit Bloat to try and body-slam the insect! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Marina's help most likely is what helps get Sarah onto a dry board. Sarah is attacked by one of the tentacles /just/ as she gets onto it, though. The smack is placed at the center of the board, while Sarah is near the edge of it. This leads to the cat being flung through the air, towards the beach of the lake. There isn't a lot of sandy beach, but at least Sarah is going near a pile of grass. Also it's a good thing cats always land on their feet.      The taste of the tentacle is surprisingly present. Though it is raw, the currently animal body at least helps Yuna handle the taste a bit more. It tastes somewhat like crab, possibly surprisingly. It shrieks in pain as its tentacle is bitten into, and eventually the tentacle is even shed. Her allies' attacks tear at the creature even more, leaving a number of broken parts on its body due to the explosives.      Frederica is ignored for now, even though she is a bit more prone in the water. Something else has drawn its attention. The giant T-rex running at it. It is slammed back, going flying. It takes a moment in the air to right itself, before it rushes straight at the T-rex again, its tentacles moving forward to try and push at it. Somehow this has become the Hyrule equivalent of a Kaiju Battle.      Of course, while it is distracted with the T-rex, it is probably a good time to attack. Its shell has broken a bit, especially on the back. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's feeling very good about herself right around now. For starter's, she's probably taller than everyone else in Hyrule by a large margin, and she's also got the physical bulk to just fight against the insect without having to resort to any sort of weaponry or special techniques or anything like that.      This must be what powerful people feel like. It's an exhilirating feeling, and she's actually laughing even as she wrestles with Twilit Bloat. She puts her whole weight into it as the massive insect pushes back, pitting strength against strength and trying her best to keep the thing occupied!      "Come on, you wiggly asshole! I've taken down bigger things than you on my own!" The t-rex bellows out a loud roar as she struggles against it, eventually remembering that's she's got a significantly bigger head and massive teeth. A quiet giggle later, and she'll aim a big ol' chomp right at it! 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica makes it to shore, automatically shaking to spray droplets in all directions. It's not as uncomfortable as it might be for her to have fallen in the water fully-clothed, but it's still a little uncomfortable. Not to mention undignified.     Getting her bearings, Frederica orients on the battle of the two titans. "Oookay." she says, more or less to herself. She's not sure who's who, but she can probably tell the difference between a giant bloated insect and a lean mean kaiju killing machine like a T-Rex. She didn't see the transformation, but she doesn't need to. "If you're an ally, stay out of my charge path!" she yells out in warning, breaking into a fast waddle as she heads for the melee, trying to aim for the bloated tick-like insect form. When she reaches ramming speed, she ignites and tucks in for another flaming spike slam of doom. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Crab is certainly a lot more tasty than Yuna expected; she keeps clawing, clawing, and biting at the tentacle as long as she can - but when the tentacle is discarded, the cold darkness of the lake surrounds her again before she can recover any kind of solid footing. Fortunately, she doesn't have time enough to start flailing before a familiar presence is close at hand. All that's visible above the surface is a brief green glow ... ... and then a mer-calico with a mechanical fishtail leaps out of the water. Yuna had been wondering how her variant armors would adapt to functioning in the Twilight; she seems to have her answer now. She launches a few more of Marina's microtorpedoes, aiming to widen one of the newly-opened cracks in the Twilit Bloat's shell - and then gravity puts an end to her leap, and she practically burrows inside the monster, ripping at its exposed flesh with gold-lit paws and their claws, occasionally tearing a chunk off in her teeth - but only spitting it out. It may *taste* like crab, but in no way does she trust it to be healthy if eaten. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Hell yeah, help! Sarah can almost feel appreciative for a moment as she finally starts grabbing onto a new plank... And then the tentacle beast launches her. The yowl of indignant rage is /real/ as she spins end over end for the shore, but thankfully some instincts seem to be inherent to being a cat and she splops (Yes, splops) onto the beach with a mrrrr of irritation. She scrambles away from the water, and looks back over the tactical situation, noticing it has in fact GONE FULL KAIJU. "That /does/ look kind of awesome." She says quietly, as if afraid of ruining her sassy demeanor or something. However, she is right back to yelling again as she notes the big breaks on the back armor of the bug, and starts yelling into the radio some more. "GET UP ON THE HORRORTERROR'S BACK!" She yells. She figures the reason why would be pretty obvious, but you never know. In the meantime, she flops over into that pile of grass, hiding in it and poking her head out as she engages STEALTH CAT MODE. There is no way someone will see a black cat sticking its head out of a pile of grass. Nope. No way. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     AND THERE GOES SANARY THE TYRANT LIZARD. "Woooooo! Yes! Now THAT's more like it!" Finna's NEVER SEEN a clash like this, but she EAGERLY joins in. As the T-Rex crashes into the bug and otehrs damage it more and more... its exoskeleton is cracking.     All according to plan. She pulls out a plethora of KNIVES from seemingly nowhere and jsut starts HURLING them at prodigious speeds with an eye on those cracks.     Because there are few problems you can't solve with enough knives. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The force of the T-rex against the Twilit Bloat keeps it at bay. The thing has one advantage against Sanary: Its limbs are longer. Even as it is being bitten into, its tentacles move forward to jab at Sanary's underside. It aims to hit hard, enough to pierce skin. It cries out in pain constantly despite its continued assault, due to the bite upon its body.      The rushing hedgehog only makes things worse. This time, she manages to hit straight into a nice soft spot in its cracked shell. It cries out again, bleeding. from the crack in its body, a hint of light can be seen. It's shining brightly, much like a Tear of Light. More of hte light shines as the torpedoes fly in to strike at it, even louder cries. This causes the Twilit Bloat to stumble, giving the Sanary-Rex more of an advantage.      Finally, Finna's knives move in. As the blades press in, the creature lets out a roar of pain. It's body begins to swell, light bursting from its body. It's soft insides have faded away, replaced completely with light.      Suddenly, the creature bursts. Its exoskeleton breaks into pieces, spreading across the landscape. All that remains is a Tear of Light. It slowly moves down, floating above the water and waiting for people to claim it. The Twilight in the area begins to fade as well, returning everyone to their normal forms. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna's practically in the water already when the Twilit Bloat explodes; the dispersal of the Twilight leaves her reverting from mer-cat form to the more conventional 'armored mermaid' shape of her regular Marine Form. And a moment later, she surfaces with a leap out of the water, grasping the Tear of Light on her way up and holding it aloft at the peak of her jump. She doesn't 'pose' for long with it, though, holding it close as she turns and dives back into the water; if any of her allies need help getting back to dry land after the boss fight's end, she's prepared to lend a hand. (Just one, though; the other hand is full and she's *not* letting go of that precious treasure.) 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     As the twilight recedes, Frederica transforms back into her normal form. She's slightly dizzy, somewhat wet, and irritated to find her wet skirt clinging almost indecently to her thighs. Happy though, pleased that they defeated this monstrosity, helped out the Zora Queen, and... what's this? A Tear of Light! "Most excellent." she murmurs, watching Yuna claim the prize. Very appropriate, given she's the Warrior of Light. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' It's over. "FINALLY." Sarah grouses as she flops back into the pile of grass, wet greens stuck all over her as she just lies there messily, staring up at the now-cleared sky. "No one's dead? How about the T-Rex? Everything fine? Great." She doesn't even bother looking, she seems exhausted. "Got the tear? Cool. Now we can get the princess and let her visit the grave provbided it wasn't smashed up. It's not smashed up, is it?" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Maybe it's just a side-effect of being a huge carnivore, but the stabbing at Sanary's underside draws furious growls from her even while her mouth is full. It definitely doesn't help that her arms can't do much to stop it at all, but she just needs to hold out long enough for the others to finish the insect off!      And finish it off they do. Just in time, even, as the transformation making her taller than she's ever been wears off. It's probably for the best that she's wearing sweatpants instead of something thinner, or else she'd be just as indecent as Frederica! That wet t-shirt of hers would almost be so if not for the fact that the end of that transformation leaves Sanary face-down in a daze.      "... Nguh. Good work, team. I'm alive! Uh. We should do that again some time. Anyone need healing or..?" She's not even bothering to get up, instead just letting some healing energy loiter around her in a green light cloud while letting it work on her own injuries. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     RESULTS! Of the best kind. Finna YANKS at the air... and all those knives come flying back to her. Only really sharp eyes can see the glistening silvery silk lines like puppet strings that facilitate this. She snags them all out of the air and tucks them away back to... wherever they were stored before, huh.     "Well, that was a thing! Go team! We scored a Tear of Light! ... is this the only one though?" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The grave, for reference, is on the island that was across from the pier. It'll be a swim to get there now, but the stone monument to the King of the Zora still stands, albeit a bit covered in moss due to the time it has left alone. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "We're going to need to take it back to the Spring to find out. If nothing else, it should buy us enough time to get others if we need to." Sarah says, finally sitting up and shaking grass out of her hair. She stands up and lookc ovver the wreckage. "Ugh. Good thing the Zora know how to swim, because that thing isn't getting fixed anytime soon." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna does a rather odd thing. She just takes a flying LEAP and... sails onto the lake's surface... and just...     KEEPS RUNNING across the surface straight towards the lonely royal grave to go investigate. And make sure nothing WEIRD is over there. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "I.. I think I'm good over here. Just gonna." Sanary finally pushes herself up to get her face off the ground, wobbling a bit while reorienting herself. She's up just in time to see Finna running across the water, blinking slowly at the sight of the white-haired woman just bolting across the lake.      "... So! Uh. I'm gonna go, then. Any of you need a pick me up before I go, or..?" She claps her hands together and, without really waiting for a response, just throws out some healing bursts at each person in turn. Wound mending, energy boosting, and magic recharging all in one conveniently green package! 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna is kind of torn at this point. On the one hand, she's well-equipped for swimming across the lake right now, and she wouldn't mind checking out the grave. On the other hand, she has that Tear of Light and does NOT want to waste time or take unnecessary risks doing recon when there's somewhere the Tear needs to be delivered. ... and then Finna just runs across the lake's surface as if it were a comfortably paved track. Yuna stares for a moment, then heads towards shore with the others. The healing magic from Sanary prompts her to stop where she is and 'accept' the spell; once her healing's been completed (along with the other benefits), Yuna finishes getting up on dry land, disengaging from Marine Form once she's safely out of the water. Marina rematerializes fully next to Yuna once that's done. 

}}

3354/Attacking the Great Fairy of Courage

2015-11-09T15:07:35Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/11/08 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Confederates launch their attack on the Great Fairy of Courage, chasing it down unti..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/11/08
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Confederates launch their attack on the Great Fairy of Courage, chasing it down until it can be killed.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=22, 714, 864, 878
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Agahnim has located the next Great Fairy, and its location has been relayed to the Confederacy. The location is a place familiar to some of them: The Kokiri Woods, the section of forest near where the Deku Tree once was. Thankfully, it is far enough away from the Kokiri Village that the children of the forest are not present at the moment.      The entrance to the Fairy Cave is against a cliff in the forest. Like the last one, it is a dark entrance leading into god knows where. There is a sign outside of it, reading 'GREAT FAIRY OF COURAGE', scrawled aged in the past. The forest around the cave has mostly died, due to the death of the Great DEku Tree. Some monsters can be seen, here or there. Carnivorous plants called Dekubabas, though they're all off the path and easily avoidable. Some batlike creatures, Keese, flying through the air. There are even some Ropes, a species of snake, crawling along the ground. Their long black bodies squirm through the remaining undergrowth.      The mission is simple: Kill the Great Fairy. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     It sounded like an interesting task, and so the Confederate witch known as Medusa Gorgon didn't see why she would decline the chance to join in on this mission. Faeries are supposed to the opposite of witches, aren't they? Can faeries even be killed? It's a challenge, and certainly bound to be a good time.     The area itself seems quite lovely and promising too, sort of familiar in the dread sense of way, she supposes? Either way Medusa arrives at the rendez-vous point, her broom flung over one shoulder. Who knows what this fight will be like? Magical in some aspects, she suspects. Unless this fairy is different from the stereotype, but they will be given more information if that is prudent, right? But she does know that there are other Confederates who have expressed interest in today's mission. So they should have a decent chance if everybody pitches in.     For now she waits patiently for the others to arrive, not about to engage in fighting just yet. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's not in the best shape today, but luckily... She's got armor! Too much armor. Also, she's got weapons! Her gunaxe, a large bell, a charge blade, and even a few grenades just to try out something different for once. Hopefully, that sort of technological advantage might make up for the fact that she's still recovering from the events of the night before.      It has also been a while since she's last entered this neck of the Multiverse, so she's also really hoping that nobody is going to remember that last little number her partners did with the tree. Thankfully, it doesn't look like any of the forest children are around.      Spotting Medusa, the cleric straightens up a bit to try and look at least a little more respectable. "Medusa. this is.. Uh. Gonna be our first combat mission together, isn't it?" She chuckles and gives her quick salute, then unhooks the kite shield from her back. "Well, I'll be around if anything impossible to dodge comes our way." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      He seems to treat this mission almost as though he's talking a stroll, coattails of his blue coat trailing behind him as he walks unperturbed by the fact that, yet again, he's effectively about to bring ruination to part of this world.      If one asked him about his calm... his simple response would be why he should concern himself with people that don't affect him?     If one asked why he could say that when he was rather directly making their lives worse with his actions, he would in turn reiterate that what happens to them is of no direct concern of his as they are but strangers. He has no qualm with them, but neither does he have any obligation to them - only to himself.      A reason that has carried Vergil comparatively far in life. A reason he doesn't intend to turn back on.      Standing at the entrance to the cave, Vergil glances around at the dead trees around them, noting the Deku Tree hadn't been exaggerating about what it's death would do to the lands around them - the entire forest seemed to be in a state of decay.     If fairies here were like examples from human legend - that they drew strength from nature and were weakened when their surroundings were damaged - then it ought to make their job easier.      Still, that didn't mean he wouldn't get proven wrong.     As he walks for the meeting place, he takes to entertaining himself at a few instances with the local creatures, practicing his swordsmanship skills by swiftly cutting down any of the creatures that cross his path or attack him.     If they drop any rupees, he collects them for himself - not vastly different from collecting 'Orbs' from fallen demons in his mind.     Upon reaching the cave, he takes notice of the woman waiting at the front, garbed in black to contrast his blue coat, and unlike the soft fabrics of his own, hers looked like snakeskin.     He also noticed, to his interest, she radiated a magical aura that was feint yet potent, as if kept concealed. He gives her a simple appraising look before moving toward the cave.     Sanary on the other hand is someone he is more acquainted with, having first met her on the mission to slay the Deku Tree. He gives her something of a dry-sarcastic quip as he looks at their surroundings apathetically, expression unperturbed by the dead forest. "I guess we've made a mess of the place, huh?"     His response doesn't hold any bemusement, sorrow or pleasure. It's hard to tell if he's trying to be sarcastic, fatalistic or just stating an obvious fact. Either way, the manner he makes his comment so straightforwardly and with such a straight face might unsettle Sanary or interest Medusa.     Glancing at the worn writing, the Son of Sparda gives bemused chuckle. "Heh... normally, when someone's hunting you, the last thing you'd typically want is a sign advertising your location" comes the deadpan observation a moment later. After a moment though, he tilts his head as he peers into the cave slightly, seeming slightly dubious about the sign's sincerity. "Of course, it could also be an obvious trap... not that it'll make much difference."     If nothing else, he's confident in his own abilities at least. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The creatures outside the Fairy's Fountain are indeed easy to slay, especially for one as strong as Vergil. Rupees drop from some of them, though not a significant amount. Perhaps enough to buy a sandwich.      The cave still stands there, waiting. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     A warm and motherly smile spreads across Medusa's lips when she spots Sanary arriving, and she cants her head with a slight chuckle. "My my... it certainly looks like you came prepared, hmmm~?" There is a teasing tone to it, however. "Are you certain you can move well enough in that, dear? It's all well and good to be armoured, but not if it leaves you a sitting duck, if you ask me."     The witch gives a nod at least. "Yes, we haven't fought together before. I'm looking forward to seeing how you perform. It shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as we work together."     The arrival of the young man in blue diverts the witch's attention, and she nods in greeting, offering him a smile as well. "Good evening~" No, his comment doesn't seem to unsettle the witch, and if she's curious she doesn't show it, instead she carries herself with absolute calm. Regarding the sign, she shrugs. "Perhaps she's used to a more benevolent clientele?" Either way, she turns to glance down at Sanary. "Why don't you go in first, and I'll follow closely behind you." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Ah, I've gotten used to the bulk. Not too hard to move, takes a hit like nothing else I've got, and I can even get set on fire with it on!" Sanary sounds a little too proud about that last bit, but at least she's in good spirits! Maybe it'll even hide how drained she's feeling. She offers Medusa another quick salute before holding that shield at her side. "Sounds like a plan, Miss Gorgon."      Hearing Vergil's approach, she chuckles lightly while turning to him with yet another salute. "Vergil. Only a little mess. Not too noticeable, is it?" She's really hoping nobody recognizes her right now. With all of nature getting thrown out of whack, it'd probably wouldn't be unexpected at all. Still, the fewer obstacles in their path to the faerie, the better.      The sign gets an odd look from her, but she still manages a confident (if quieter than usual) laugh. "If it is a trap we can get through... Yeah, Medusa's got the right idea. Just let me take the lead, and at least only one of us gets hit with whatever's waiting. Worst case scenario, you two can probably take it down much faster than I could. Might as well have someone else take the hit, right?"      And with that, she's headed into the cave itself, keeping that shield at the ready. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     Sparing a glance of curiosity, Vergil takes note of the black-clad woman's seeming familiarity with Sanary, wondering if they know each-other well, though their comment of not having fought together seems to deflect this somewhat. The tone from the older woman was almost paternal-sounding, yet they didn't really look related in his opinion.     Curious.     The demon-hyrbid actually seems somewhat amused by the greeting, returning it with a prompt "Good evening" of his own, though his sounds somewhat more like a simple bemused acknowledgement then anything else.     He gives half a shrug at Sanary's reply, glancing from tree to tree. "Maybe not with one forest. Though I'm guessing trees dying worldwide is going to turn a few heads sooner or latter. I also heard the mountains are getting some kind of early winter, too." He places a hand on Yamato's pommel, resting it on the hilt in a habit almost as old as himself. "Guess that means whatever we're doing is working."     Again, no joy or remorse, nor glee or amusement - just simple acknowledgement. Still, if nothing else, it's a sign that he doesn't seem to consider the damage grossly consequential compared to restoring Majora's Mask.      He glances at the pair inquisitively when Medusa volunteers Sanary to take the lead, though he doesn't object. Instead he gives another shrug - "If you want, then by all means."     Thus, as Sanary leads the way, Vergil effectively walks slightly behind her - or if the tunnel is wide enough, just a pace or so away of being astride her, hand resting on Yamato's hilt in a relaxed gesture that still makes it easy to grasp should combat occur. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The path through the cave looks natural, at first. Carved stone, worn through the ages. About fifty feet into the cave, the beautiful carvings of the Fairy Fountain begin. The stone loses its natural shape, becoming carved into a square passage. It is a simple geometric design, with water here and there dripping from the wall. Some designs of simplified fairies appear on the wall, all in the same spots.      As walking through the cave, something is off, though. It highly depends on the party, how long until they feel something is up. It could be minutes. It could be an hour, or more. It is simply a matter of how long it will take them toget impatient.      But the party does not seem to be getting anywhere. The walls are still the same. The light is still the same. The tile patterns are still the same. How long of a passage could this possibly be? 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     "Good, as long as you can handle yourself," Medusa nods, falling behind Sanary as she agrees to the idea and heads in first. Likewise she will allow Vergil to fall in after Sanary. "I am certain you can handle yourself, dear. Though you do have the friendliest face out of us three if I would say so myself," she points out. For now she falls in last as a rear guard. For now she doesn't know anything about Vergil's combative capabilities, but he does seem to carry that sword properly, suggesting he isn't a novice.     Through the cave they go, and Medusa studies the stone as well as the carvings in the wall. "It certainly seems like the right place," she whispers lest her voice carry too far. Though she does narrows her eyes after they have walked for a while.     "We should have been there by now, considering the distance we've walked." It's a simple observation. Still, just to make sure, the witch raises her right hand. "I was hoping to not draw too much attention, but..." A sigh leaves her before she speaks. "Soul Protect Release." People sensitive to magic will notice the presence of chaotic and dark magic within the woman rather easily, which is why Medusa tends to use Soul Protect on a regular basis. Most likely the Great Fairy would have noticed, but if there is magic in place here, they need to deal with it. She mutters something under her breath and brushes her hand against the wall, leaving an invisible arrow on the wall, pointing in the direction they are headed. Perhaps she can notice something here... 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     As they enter the beginnings of the artificial aspect of the passage - and the start of the unfamiliar fairy architecture - Vergil takes note of the flowing carvings and their distinct differences from most of the aesthetics he was used to in a design.     He also takes notice of the woman observing him from beneath her hood. Cautious... and practical. Both of which he approved of in regards to how one ought to treat new faces.     It ends up taking only a few minutes - namely the fact that aspects of the architecture are starting to loop - to draw Vergil's attention to the fact that they seem to be on something of a repeating track.      "I agree" he mutters in reply to Medusa's quip. "Something's wrong. Some sort of defense - an illusion, maybe? Or perhaps a full-fledged dimensional loop to keep us in a circle? I don't know the extent these 'fairies' can affect their surroundings or traps... but it seems we're in one such trap."      Upon feeling the dark aura from the woman - something Vergil is rather familiar with due to his own studies in the occult - he turns back to glance at her, eyes narrowed inquiringly as he recognizes she is likely a 'dark mage' of some form. Maybe a wiccan or witch, depending on what alignment she followed or what she used that magic for.      "Find anything?" he asks offhandedly. He refrains from simply trying the brute force method immediately - he'd prefer not to show his strengths until after they faced the fairy in person. He also spares a glance to Sanary - "What about you? Any suggestions?" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary's feeling significantly better heading into that cave with Medusa and Vergil behind her. Not that she doesn't think that she couldn't handle this job with other Elites, but the extra insurance never hurts! "Friendliest face? Aw, really? Well, I'll try and live up to that if we need to do any talking, then." She lets out a hearty laugh, the fact that she's got all that armor and gear on her to detract from her friendly-looking levels not really phasing her in the least.      The cave itself is fairly intriguing, that shift from natural to hand-made never getting old for the axe-wielder. She keeps her eye open for any particularly valuable-looking pots of treasures to scoop up if they happen to be in her way, but her main priority is taking the lead to make sure the path ahead is safe.      She's not quite as observant, though, only raising an eyebrow when Medusa stops to use her magic. A curious eye is directed towards that nothing she sees, but the change in the air is certainly noticed. "Illusions... Ech. Last illusionist I fought was kind of an ass."      The cleric strokes her chin lightly at Vergil's question, pausing to consider it for a while before drawing her axe. "Don't suppose either of you want to use this place for yourselves later?" She presses the gunaxe's head against the wall opposite Medusa before starting to walk, dragging the blade along it to try and dig a rather sizable marking as they walk. "Let's hope this works. If we see the end, we'll know we're going in circles, at least." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Medusa releases her power, the magic in the place becomes /significantly/ more obvious. Every single bit of the room is filled with magic. The stone tiles, the water dripping, even the flowing of the air has some magic within. It's a bit hard to place what exactly the magic is /doing/, though. The only place that seems to be lacking magic, the only place where it is weak, is on the path back, towards the direction of where the party entered.      The invisible arrow can be placed on the wall, though. Nothing prevents that from happening.      Sanary is easily able to mark the wall, as well. As the mark is dragged along, as she keeps walking forward a bit on her own, she'll see something in the distance. A couple of figured ahead, in the darkness. If she runs ahead to see them, she'll find herself... Right back where she started, at the beginning of the line she marked.      Yeah, there is some annoying magic going on in here. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil takes note of the mark Sanary left in the dirt as the one-eyed warrior walks ahead of them, with the Son of Sparda clicking his tongue as they reach the same spot they started... though it does offer up some useful information.      "Well, at least now we know this tunnel isn't endless - just looping back around. And because the mark is still here... it means we're capable of damaging our surroundings." He glances to the water leaking through the walls at points, narrowing his gaze. "Though based on the presence of dripping water, I'd guess we might be flanked by a lake of some sort - if so, breaking through this passage might flood it. Either a precaution to wash people out of the passage... or a trap to drown them if they tried a more brute-force method of escape."     Clever. At the very least, these fairies had gone through a lot of trouble to hide themselves... though it also begged another question;      "I'm surprised that, if they have the ability to warp reality like this that they wouldn't just set up some form of pitfall - lead us into a volcano or something" Vergil deadpans, tapping a hand against one of the walls experimentally. "Do they just not have the power to do more then send us in circles, or are they just deferential to a non-lethal method of discouraging most trespassers?"     The question is generalized, directed at both Medusa or Sanary to try and see if he can get ideas on how to circumvent their current situation going.     After all, they're obviously not getting anywhere as they are now. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     Something is clearly wrong. "This place is filled with magic," Medusa mutters, annoyance clear to the two others. "We will see what it is, let's continue onwards," she suggests. "I don't know what sort of magic this is yet, but we won't learn unless we test it further. It might be an illusion, or it might be something more." For now she suspects the latter.     As they have walked a bit more Medusa stops, chuckling. "We are right back where we started, indeed." She glances to Sanary's marking of the wall. "A loop... how interesting. Something to keep people from moving forward, only allowing them to leave. Sadly, my magic isn't suited to dispel it."     Vergil's comment makes her cant her head slightly. "Perhaps they themselves do not wish to fight, and maybe they are benevolent of nature. It's a common shortcoming of that kind. "There's magic ahead of us, nothing behind us." Then she glances at them. "Disarm yourselves. Perhaps that will allow us to pass." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      As that mark loops on itself, Sanary furrows her brow while lowering her weapon. "... The hell. How does this even...?" She grunts lightly before turning to Vergil, resting that weapon on her shoulder. "Yeah, that's... Geh. At least we didn't waste too much time." She resists the urge to strike the wall, especially after that warning about the possibility of drowning.      "Maybe... They don't know where to find a volcano around here? Doesn't help us get out any faster, though." She blinks slowly at Medusa's suggestion, the thought of disarming herself giving her reason to pause. Still, if she thought it'd be the best way to get through? They'd just have to figure out a different way to fight.      "Understood. Ah... Man, I really hope we don't lose any of this stuff. Audrey's gonna get pissed if I need to get these replaced..." The gunaxe, the charge blade and the corresponding kite shield, and even the bell are all set by the wall. Sanary gives that gear a look before sighing, only slightly relieved at the additional weight being taken off her back.      "I still got the eye thing, at least, so... Ah, we'll be fine!" And then she's off to head further into the cave again. Time to see if that'll work! 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      ... this causes Vergil to pause a moment. Even if it were an option, he wouldn't part with Yamato or leave it unattended.      ... still... if nothing else, he could try to conceal it.     Normally, a Devil Arm could be stored in one's body - provided they were of demonic heritage - but it was normally done when switching out one Devil Arm for another. However, it was a better option then simply abandoning the blade that symbolized his birthright.     After a few moments, Yamato seems to evaporate from Vergil's side in a small flash, the half-devil letting out a breath through his nose before glancing to Medusa. "Will that suffice?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     The witch nods in approval when the other two disarm themselves. "It's frowned upon to bring weapons into some sacred places. Perhaps the fairy is one of those?" she offers with a shrug and a smirk. She's not going to argue with Vergil, and she continues onwards to see whether this has worked or not, following closely behind Sanary.     "Of course we will be fine," she assures her. She herself doesn't carry weapons, but she does have her magic. So just in case, she mutters under her breath again. "Soul Protect." Again the chaotic presence is gone, and she begins walking down the tunnel again. Hopefully this will bring results... 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The guess was good. The marks down the path start to vanish after a short bit in, the stone no longer cut. It seems not having a weapon is, in fact, enough. With a bit more walking, a new section of the Dungeon is reached.      The new section is actually a little bit different. Within the center is a spring of water, just like in the Fairy Spring that Sanary visited previously. It's the centerpiece of the room. But, there is so much more. Training dummys are set up along the walls. Various wooden weapons are placed on weapon racks.      It's quiet in here, but there is definitely a sense of magic from within the spring. The Fairy is, in fact, within it. She is not showing herself yet, though. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Glancing curiously at the chamber they have entered in, Vergil takes the time to furrow his brows a bit as he seems to contemplate the sight. "Well... seems you were right" He glances toward Medusa.     ... at the same time though, he can't help but feel somewhat confused. "It's strange. All someone has to do is walk in here without weapons in hand and they can get through? If an assassin who's weapons were concealed-" he glances meaningfully at Sanary and Medusa at the next juncture, "-or a mage who had no need for such tools entered this place... the boundary would be useless. Did they just not expect anyone to threaten them unless /obviously/ armed?"      The training dummies and wooden weapons seem to compound Vergil's curiosity further. "Hardly effective tools for defending oneself against steel or even magic... but it /does/ show that these fairies may not be pacifists. Perhaps just unwilling to kill in that case? I don't see any lethal weapons here."     As he nears the spring, he seems somewhat suspicious of it. As if he can taste or smell something in the air emanating from it.     And of course... there's no telling if his inherent demonic nature is going to affect the pool due to his proximity to it. He doesn't know for sure - hence why he's not going to just up and stick his hand in it.     Instead, he glances to Sanary and Medusa, gesturing to the pool - "You two will likely have had more respective experience with Hyrule and fairies then I have. Is there some special requirement to getting what we want... or are we supposed to simply destroy it like the last time?"     By 'last time', he is referring to the destruction of the Deku Tree. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      An amused pseudo-whistle escapes Sanary's lips. It's not quite whistling, and it's mostly just a weird blowing noise. She's getting closer to an actual whistle, though! "Nice work, Medusa~ It kinda makes sense, I.. Guess? I mean, they probably don't have to worry about other magical beings coming to attack 'em that often compared to people like... Well."      She gestures at herself, then at Vergil. "Even with your.. Thing you did yesterday. Migh tneed that later, by the way." Another chuckle, and the cleric takes a moment to take in their surrounding. Training dummies, a familiar fountain in the center...      "This is the Great Faerie's room. If I'm remembering correctly, she'll just show up right around there if we call out to her." She gestures at the the center of the fountain, watching it with a cautious eye before lowering her voice. "Just need to wait for her to show up. Last time, we just shot and magic.. 'd at her until she died. Worked fine." Sanary promptly grabs one of the dummies as a shield to tuck it under her arm just in case (the whole thing, even!) while approaching the water slowly. "So... Uh. Great Faerie of Courage! We're.. Visitors! Seeking.. Erm. Courage!"      Truly, the greatest actor of her time. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     A knowing smile crosses Medusa's lips when her suggestion works, and she offers Vergil an amused chuckle. "Shrines and holy places tend to have some rules in place," she explains. "And perhaps customs are different in this world. Most people who seek out fairies are those seeking their favour."     She too inspects the training dummies, narrowing her eyes as she walks over and touches them. "I sincerely doubt a great fairy would require training dummies. Perhaps they are meant for the people coming here to seek her out?" she suggests, then reaches out to pick up one of the wooden weapons. "I suggest we try these out. It must be a reason for them being here." When Vergil suggests that the two women might have more experience with this place, Medusa can't help but chuckle, whacking the training dummy once with one of the wooden swords. "This is my first time in this world, sadly. So I have ever little to offer." But she doesn't stop nor discourage Sanary from calling out to the fairy. Who knows, it might work! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Sanary calls forth to the Great Fairy, there is a great swelling of magic, a bubbling in the water, and then...      Nothing. Nothing comes out.      "I'm not coming out for the likes of you~."      ...It seems like the Great Fairy of Courage has decided to hide. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     "Maybe proving a person's worth and seeking is why these dummies are here, too?" Vergil theorizes openly, watching as Medusa takes up one of the wood swords. "Leave your weapons at the gate, then perform some form of... evaluation? Or train at their behest with weapons that won't be turned against the teacher?" It takes off of Sanary's suggestion as well, in how the fairies probably aren't visited by anyone else but either willing students who wouldn't carry weapons... or bandits trying to pillage the place. In that case, the defense probably works well enough.     Against them, though? Not so much.      ... Of course it couldn't be simple, as the fairy makes her verdict on the matter clear.     Then again, it only made sense. After all the damage inflicted on Hyrule, someone was probably going to make the connection between unscheduled visits to notable guardian entities and their sudden demises afterword sooner or later.      Of course, why she'd make her presence known to them instead of doing the smart thing and staying hidden was unknown to him.      "I guess they've wised up since the last one?" Vergil suggests to Sanary. Soon after though, a note of fatalistic sardonicism enters his voice - "Then again, openly saying you killed the last fairy you met, in a room you just said she could apparently hear us in, might have something to do with that." He gives a glance that doesn't seem angry or exasperated - just deadpan; "Maybe you could have waited until /after/ she was in the open first and then say how to kill her." After a minute, he finally gives an expression of mild sarcastic bemusement as his lips pull up in the slightest of smirks - "Though I suppose being bold enough to announce your intent so openly counts as being 'courageous'."      Letting out a sigh - an expression of genuine exasperation this time - Vergil walks over to the very edge of the fountain spring and looks down at his own reflection, as if trying to discern how it's meant to work. He also spares glances at Medusa and Sanary in between looking over the water's surface... and fishing something out of his pocket; A Red Orb. "Maybe alchemy of some kind will entice her? Or corruption of the pool? Potions and enchanted water was never really my forte." He cups the Orb in one hand contemplatively, willing to wait until the others offer their own input before risking trying to dump crystalized demon blood into the water. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Well. So much for that idea. Medusa seems to have her own idea, at least, and Vergil's words... Well, they sting quite a bit, and Sanary's awkward smile on becomes even more so as she realizes how stupid that was in retrospect.      "Y-yeah! It was just... Courage. That's all." She laughs and steps back from the fountain to brush her nose off, clearly trying to save face with that opportunity. "You know, getting a.. Fair fight and all. With three people." She's probably not doing a great job at it. The cleric clears her throat loudly before turning away, looking over at that Red Orb curiously before shrugging.      "Might work. I got no objections. Uh. Medusa?" Stepping over to her superior, Sanary starts striking at the other training dummies as well. Not with the weapons, though. No, she's swinging the training dummy she's got in her hands instead. These sorts of things are usually meant to take hits, anyway, so why not turn the tables? 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Red Orb does, in fact, get her to act. There is a bit of a sigh from the pool of water, and a sudden torrent rising up. The Great Fairy appears, in all of her glory. Her body is curvy and beautiful, covered only in various vines and leaves.It makes up her clothes, hiding most of her skin. Her hair is long and green in color, pulled back into three pony tails. She laughs a little, her echoy laughter filling the chamber.      "Fine~. I am The Great Fairy of Courage. I am granted power by the Goddess Farore, the Goddess of Courage. You can /try/ to defeat me, like you defeated my sister... But....~"      There is a sudden burst of wind, a swirling cyclone of green around the Great Fairy. She is suddenly not there.      "You'll have to catch me, first~."      Her voice echoes from a /little/ bit down the hallway into the place. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     The bubbling of the water catches the witch's interest, and she looks rather amused as Vergil points out Sanary's error. "He /is/ right, dear. Please watch your words from now on, it can be rather worrisome."     She does not protest against Vergil's idea, and she peers curiously at the orb. And there she is, the great fairy herself. And she appears to be a trickster, now is she? It's a challenge if she ever heard one, and the witch raises her left hand. "Let's hurry up and catch her, then~" Somehow it looks like Medusa is amused at the very idea.     "Soul Protect... release!"     Immediately the magic around the woman flares up, black vector snakes coiling about her, ready to attack. "Vector Plate!" The tunnel gets filled with black arrows on the ground, pointing back towards the main room of the cave. All in order to force the fairy back towards them, Medusa hopes. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     Cocking his head at the apparent challenge when they finally draw the fairy out - and unperturbed by her 'choice of attire' - one of Vergil's brows rise up in a questioning expression... then he lets out a half-chuckle. "Fine. Have it your way."     A moment later, reappearing with the same subdued flash that it vanished with, Yamato materializes at Vergil's hip, flicking the blade partway out of it's sheath with the edge of his thumb.      Then... there's a sudden flash of light to either side of the half-demon, eight Summoned Swords comprised of blue phantasmal energy forming around Vergil, four on each side. Sparing a glance to Medusa and Sanary, he gives out a simple sentence-      "I'll try to force her out for you. I can take whatever she throws at me."     -and then dashes forward down the tunnel a few paces. When he comes even with the limit of Medusa's arrows, he launches his Summoned Swords down the rest of the passage to try and pre-empt any waiting traps - or possibly graze their fleeing target.      If they hit nothing, Vergil will continue forward, seeming very much confident in his own strengths and at the very least considering Medusa and Sanary capable of watching his back. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Medusa, too? Just another thing for Sanary to improve on in the future! She's not quite sure whether it was Vergil's Red Orb or her and Medusa's work with the dummies that got the Great Fairy out, but the important thing is that she is, in fact, out of the Fountain! Just in case, she keeps that training dummy with her as she steps over closer to where the Fairy emerged from.      She may also be staring a bit, but only for a moment! "You know how it's gonna go, then. Good, good... No hard feel-"      And then the Fairy takes off with that burst of wind! "...-ings. Dammit." She sighs and glances at the two with a light shrug before breaking into a light jog down the hall with that training dummy in tow: Not too fast so as to tire herself out, but just fast enough to get the blood pumping. "Of course she wouldn't make this /that/ easy... Come on out! You're setting a bad ex-" She stops in mid-sentence as Medusa works her magic and Vergil bolts down the tunnel right past her. The healer opts to just keep her mouth shut. Instead, she focuses on keeping that training dummy ready to fling at whatever might come out unexpectedly! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As the black arrows fly forward, the Great Fairy is taken by surprise. Despite the long time spent in the hallway, it is actually not all that long. As they travel along the wall, the Great Fairy looks at the walls, frowning. She turns back immediately, flying down back towards the chamber. An assumption has been made: They are, most likely, some sort of attack magic.      This ends up being a bad choice. The Summoned Swords fly forward. The Fairy of Courage is struck across her whole body. Thankfully, due to her intense magic, she survives. Her mouth hangs open, breathing heavily due tot the pain. Vergil will catch up to her /quite/ quickly. A frown. She immediately starts to turn around, and flee back out towards the entrance. All of the vectors end up halting her progress, though.      The fairy is injured, and trapped. She looks towards Vergil, frowning. Magic begins to gather around her, as she is trying to cast a spell. It's hard to know if it is an attack, or another attempt to flee. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     This is no time to slack off, and perhaps Sanary will learn from example. She is young after all, with much to learn. And Medusa leers sinisterly as Vergil acts, showing what he's good for. Though with precautions taken, Medusa isn't slow either to attack, the black snakes coiling and wriggling about her shoulders as she moves her arms, throwing one of them forward to guide the attack. "Vector Arrow!" And forward they go, dozens of black arrows that shoot out through the air towards the Great Fairy, all intending to slice right through her.     "Sanary, get her!" she calls to the younger woman, and she suspects Vergil needs no encouragement to attack the fairy again. Just how long can she last against the three of them? 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil lets a decidedly self-satisifed smirk cross his features as he closes the distance, noting the Fairy having taken hits from his Summoned Swords. The fact that she survived is mitigated by her sustaining injuries as she tries to flee, making him rather confident that, if it comes down to a straight-up fight, she likely won't be able to offer much resistance once cornered. "Well, I guess you won't mind me 'trying' to defeat you, since catching you doesn't look like it will be that hard now."     The fact that she had been slowed down by their attacks proved she was hardly invincible.     When she seems to decide on standing her ground - for the moment at least - Vergil decides it may be time to start attacking her more seriously. In an instant, he pushes down on the ball of his his foot - enough to crack most masonry, though Hyrule stonework may be stronger then most - in order to propel himself forward in a swift dash-     -capped off by the Son of Sparda pulling Yamato free from it's scabbard and slicing at the fairy from a distance, sending an air-pressure cut tearing for her midriff.     Between Medusa's arrows and Sanary waiting in the wings for her own shot, cornering her should become simplicity... and if she dodges his attack, either Sanary or Medusa ought to be able to capitalize on it.      Regardless of which attack the fairy takes on... Vergil feels it a safe bet she won't get away, or at least not unscathed. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Although the mission is quite finished yet, Sanary's actually somewhat relieved that the Great Fairy is still alive enough for her to catch up to. It'd look pretty bad if Medusa and Vergil did all the work, after all, and she /is/ actually able to run at a decent clip even in all that armor!      "Once you face us properly, we'll be able to make things easier for you~" Is she actually enjoying this? There's definitely something of a small grin on Sanary's face as she picks up the pace, barrelling straight at the Great Fairy with that training dummy grasped firmly in her hands. She even ends up running past her weapons and shield! "Understood, Medusa! Dummy.. Uh... Throw!"      Naming attacks on the fly is difficult. Once Sanary's in range, she hurls that training dummy at the Great Fairy with all her might and skids to a stop, gathering energy into her eye for her only real ranged attack: An explosive heat laser fired directly at the Great Fairy's legs! There's an odd purple tinge to what would normally be the red-hot beam, however, and the magically-inclined would even sense both the beam and its explosion radiating with... Anger? But the healer's not mad about something, is she? 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Vector Arrows tear into the Fairy's body, another cry of pain escaping her lips. Tears are upon her whole body, magical energy leaking out constantly. She has little time to react to Vergil's next attack. As he breaks the stone under his feet, as he dashes forward and cuts, the blade cuts across her midtorso. Another loud cry of pain.      And then the training dummy bounces off of her, uselessly. Her eyes go wide. One of the last thoughts of the Great Fairy will be great confusion.      The eye beam strikes last, and it is the straw that breaks the camel's back. The energy tears into her, striking her right in the heart. Her body was already beginning to disassemble in most places. She stares forward, a blank look on her face.      A single tear falls from her eye.      And suddenly, she explodes into dust. The magical energy in the Spring has vanished completely. 

:'''{{#var:22|Medusa Gorgon (22)}} has posed:'''     Well, that wasn't hard, now was it?     The witch lowers her arms, and she snaps her fingers, causing the black vector plates on the ground in the tunnel to disappear. "Excellent work, I'm sure the person hiring us will be pleased to learn of our success. As an officer I will see to the report." Perhaps this was too easy, but still, there is no trace of magic around them from what she can tell. None of them were injured either.     "I wouldn't call her very courageous, however. I mean, hiding and running off like that? Tsk~" Medusa chides, making a tsk-ing sound as she shakes her head and then starts heading towards the tunnel leading outside again. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      As she keeps skidding along those tiles after the Fairy is destroyed, Sanary wears a satisfied smirk on her face...      For all of three seconds as she recalls how much damage she had taken just one night ago. Even running like she had has put enough of a strain on her joints that her body rebels against her, sending her to ground in a crumpled heap. Assuming those tiles aren't reinforced by any means, she'll even leave a sizable mass of cracks with her impromptu face-to-face with the ground.      "Gghk... I-I'm fine! Ow. Uh. Yeah, that went well. Nice work, Medusa. Vergil." Even though she's stuck on the ground for the time being, she still manages a confident laugh. She does manage to force herself onto her feet after a while, doubling back to grab her things (and leaving a few more craters on the way). 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      As the fairy's body explodes into dust and the spring's energy evaporates, Vergil lets out a breath through his nose as he returns to a more relaxed stance, swiftly sheathing Yamato back into it's scabbard as he witnesses her final moments.     For some reason, he seems to linger at the sight of her shedding a tear upon her demise. She had been rather self-assured about her chances... yet upon actually dying she did not rage at them or protest her death as opposed to letting a tear fall.      Was there something she had in mind? That her 'siblings' - the other fairies likely, since the previous one that died was apparently her sister - would not have her around to help them? That she failed her oaths? That she couldn't stop them.      ...      Well, in any case, it was over now. And it wasn't even that big a challenge - then again, between the three of them, it was unlikely /anything/ could have held out for long.      "I'd imagine so... though at some point I'd imagine they'll have to start looking into importing" Vergil muses offhandedly, almost /feeling/ the vitality seem to drain away from their surroundings. "At the rate this world is collapsing, they're not going to have many natural resources left to trade. Then again, if they can survive the hardship that follows this, chances are they'll find some way to make due."     As Sanary forces herself up, Vergil tilts his head back towards her inquisitively, offering a simple "You able to manage?" as simple courtesy.      As he follows Medusa's lead back out of the layer, Vergil gives something of a shrug in response to her quip. "The fact she didn't face us straight ahead might count as well... though in my experience, courage can be defined by conviction as much as it can be through charging the enemy. For example, following someone's beliefs even if the world opposes or stands against them could be seen courage by some, while others would see only madness."     He glances around the area, taking note of any damages their actions have inflicted on the already-suffering landscape before continuing. "Challenging a system in any way - be it opposing some form of edict or even simply trying to shift a status que - can be considered courageous from a certain point of view. It just depends on context." ... and a moment later, a rather abstract notion passes his mind, though it represents his point just as well.      "In fact... you could almost say that, from a certain point of view, we're actually 'courageous' for pursuing our interests at the cost of a world, even if from our own perspectives it's more apathy, curiosity or a simple contract."     It might be somewhat disconcerting to hear such a viewpoint as it means that practically /anything/ could be considered justifiable under the right light with that context... but Vergil had never really been one for more broad ideals of right and wrong.     Because, in the end... what constituted black and white was dictated by whoever had the power to do so. That was, quite simply, how the world worked. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The paths through this place are left somewhat ruined through Vergil and Sanary's footsteps, several craters left from Sanary's steps alone.      The spring is changing quite a bit, though. The water is drying up from the Fairy's Spring, the light is fading. The magical light keeping the area lit is fading, and things will be getting dark soon. The forest in the area right around the spring dies even more. Even the trees start to collapse, simply turning into Ash, and nothing more.      At least, one more fairy is dead. Her sisters will feel it. Even further preperations will be taken for the remaining two, to ensure the tragedies do not continue. 

}}

3346/Visiting Zora's Domain

2015-11-09T04:36:24Z

Cheeseman:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/11/07
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The heroes questing against the Twilight finally manage to speak to the Queen of the Zora.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 70, 492, 513, 789, 821, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Zora's Domain is a beautiful place. It is a vast network of massive caves, the ceilings of which are several stories tall. Deep pools of water spread throughout the cave system, flowing from one chamber to another via rivers and waterfalls. The water throughout is mostly still, and surprisingly warm. It moves and shifts enough for the water to remain clean and sparkling at all times. Stone walkways are carved into the natural stone, allowing passage to various rooms or locations that aren't directly in the water. This provides ways for human visitors to travel the Zora's Domain, though a number of Zora walk across the land paths as well.      Today's mission is simple: Inquire on the location of the Spring of Lanayru. The Zora have instructed the party to speak to the Queen, and hence the delay. A fair amount of time has been needed to wait for the meeting. At long last it is time. The party can wait, gathered near the large metallic gateway that leads to the Queen. Water flows along the path forward, a trace amount of it along the way to the Queen. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Although Finna's been in and out a few times for this long wait, she's spent a CONSIDERABLE amount of time frolicking in the waters. Perhaps to the surprise of the Zora, Finna has proven capable of sprouting gills on the sides of her neck and sprouting a variety of aquatic creature traits - feet and lower body becoming a fishy... yeah, she's gone full Mermaid Suit except it's not a suit!     And has been engaging in all kinds of aquatic shows and hijinx. Races and contests and whatever other weird attractions that the people of Hylian seem so fond of hosting.     She's gotta spend those Rupees SOMEHOW, after all.     But she's also spent considerable time just hanging around talking to people, asking about Zora history and culture. There's a method to her madness.     It's given her an opportunity to acclimate to their manners and sensibilities and maybe, hopefully, improve her chances of impressing the Zora Queen.     For now though, she's walking up that path, in human form. Moonsilver Tattoos are on full display, the mark of the crescent moon faintly aglow on her forehead. Her attire is her simple hunter's gear but it's notably cleaned up and crisply decorated.     "To the Queen we finally go. Be on your best behavior, girls and boys." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' So here was Deelel it was time to get all formal what's a basic to do when her idea of formal was her casual semi user inspired outfit? Well she's wearing that but he's clearly what's best suited for here. Though Deelel seems on edge about water, why? That's a very odd thing her world /has/ water so what's her problem. She looks to Finna and nods. The water was warm here, that was odd the water of the sea of similtion was not warm, not warm at all. She's not kept in yet but she's keeping behind Finna. "I'll treat her with the respect I'd give The Creator of my world, don't worry." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah is here. There's an amazing amount of sunk cost going on with that back door dungeon they had to go through so there's definately some royal visitation that's going to happen here even if she hadn't been sitting around. She's been out and about. Here and there. To and fro. Hither and thither. "Okay guys, let's do this." Sarah comments to the others before advancing along the path when she's sure everyone's going to move along. she does, however, poke Finna. "Foxfish? Fishfox?" She comments seemingly out of nowhere. "Reminds me of a princess I know." She comments offhand. "Don't fall asleep now." 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      It seemed a tranquil place. Peaceful. Isolated from the world and it's troubles.      In one instance, that would make it an idyllic place... somewhere that the tragedies befalling this place could not reach. And yet at the same time it made it all too easy to simply hide one's head down and ignore the suffering of the outside world.     That was, perhaps, the biggest curse of introspection - for every positive one saw, there was always a negative to consider. For every justification, there was a consequence. And rarely was the reward ever worth the cost... or last as long as the fight to secure it had been.     As such, Archer is, as always, as impassive and, for lack of a better word, brooding as when he first arrived, leaning against the 'wall' - or rather, whatever surface he can lean against - with his arms crossed and eyes closed. He's been largely silent, having not spoken a word as they waited. There wasn't really any cause to, aside from one instance when Finna had first entered the water, having given a single quip as to whether "The definition of "waiting respectfully' means something very different for you, doesn't it?"      Not that he bothered to stop her. What she did was her choice... and she seemed to have a somewhat functional method of learning about the locals; direct interaction. At the very least it saved some of them the trouble of doing the same.     As a Servant, he really didn't get physically tense the way most would from standing still in one spot for too long, having little issue with waiting aside from the simple tedium of it, passing the time mostly by observing the antics of the shape-changing 'fox'girl' - or 'mermaid' as she was now. However, this was largely because doing so let him listen to her conversations with the Zora about their culture and history, taking down the information for himself for future reference as well.      A good way to keep up on the events they considered important... and see what, if any, affect the events outside these caves had on them.     Ever since many of the forests in Hyrule had started dying out, it seemed that much of their efforts to try and counteract the despair in this land was being matched and equalized. Likely the work of Agahnim and his agents - possibly trying to taint the land further until maybe even the Tears of Light couldn't restore it.     As such, the Servant of the Bow is perhaps less enthusiastic then others about how well this will go... or how much a difference it will make.      ...     Still... it wasn't like they had any other options at this point.     When Sarah effectively takes the lead among them - something that seems to have become an unspoken differential among most of the group whenever the young girl was present - Archer follows suit, willing to take after her lead... if for no other reason then the fact she was both willing enough to do so and competent enough for him to have no issue with it. He does however let himself smirk slightly upon hearing her 'orders', actually bothering to reply - "I suppose it /would/ be too easy if our Princess was straightforward about the information we're after. It isn't as though anything about these missions have really been simple." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Sarah is familiar from their last jaunt through the godforsaken back entrance to this otherwise pristine place, but the others may be surprised at whatever has happened in the interim between Priscilla showing up with half her face and throat eviscerated, and now. The only visible indicator is the mismatched eyes of sunny, reflective gold and ominous molten orange, but the feel she gives off is almost entirely different. No longer quite so insubstantial, her far away impression seems vertically distant rather than laterally, the self-assured confidence visible in everything from her posture to her stare where vague, forgettable detachment had existed before. A sense of 'above' rather than 'apart'. Extrasensory impressions are in for a real surprise. Something has happened to make her 'aura' burn fivefold in strength, the fearful chill now mixed with alien whispers, and white hot fire.     Still, despite sounding more assertive, her personality hasn't seemed to have changed much. "I say the same back to thee thrice over, Lady Finna." she remarks drily to the notoriously mischievous Lunar exalted, though she gives her the benefit of a doubt with how earnestly she's been visibly preparing for this. "Respect, but not submission. She is a queen by right, but she is not thine. We come to her doorstep to bring that which she already desires." goes to Deelel. She takes straight to the head of the group beside Sarah rather than hovering around the back, supernaturally graceful in her step. She seems . . . actually kind of hyped? "To speak of princesses, thine own shalt not be attending, Sir Archer?" It's difficult to tell whether she means that literally or sarcastically in a friendly way. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr had assisted the group in getting through that treacherous cave full of monsters, and so he's here once again, waiting for an audience with the Zora ruler. He stands behind everyone, given that he's so much taller than they are, so as to not block anyone's view. But he's also tired of waiting. Ugh, waiting, the absolute worst thing in the multiverse. He sighs impatiently. "What are we all waiting for, are they ready or what?" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Zora do give Finna a bit of a look, but they don't question it too much. Their assumption is some kind of magic. There are a number of mages throughout Hyrule who can perform various tricks. They simply assume she is a powerful mage of some kind. The history on the Zora is given as well. They have lived in these waters for countless years, since the times of the Golden Goddesses creating the world, if the legends hold true. Ever since then, their line has remained unbroken, royalty passed down through the female line. Legends even say that they helped ancient heroes of old throughout their quests. One even mentions that, recently, the hero Fassad passed through. Others mention that there are rumors that the Princess, Ruto, is now engaged.      The chamber holding the Queen is vast. Water flows down from the walls, through small little tunnels in the wall. Statues are built throughout, of Zora Kings and Queens of old. They are beautiful stone statues, crafted from fine marble. Gemstones are upon most of them, helping make them all the more stunning.      The Queen herself sits in her throne made of iron, with turtle shell decorations across it.. She is a beautiful woman, for an amphibious creature. Her skin is pale pink and white, with long fins flowing off of her back. Some growths on her head mimic hair, looking somewhat like coral growing off of her. An elegant white dress graces her body, covering a bit past her knees. Her legs look more like fins, elegant forms suited for walking and swimming. She looks somewhat soft, kind, and motherly. She is Queen Rutela, leader of the Zora.      To her right, a woman stands. She looks to be in her twenties or so, if these water dwelling folk age similarly to humans. She looks a little bit more cheerful. She hasn't deigned to wear human clothes, but she isn't human. There is nothing to show. A sleek, fishlike body, covered in blue scales, with purple eyes. This is, most likely, Princess Ruto, the daughter of the queen.      The Princess stays quiet for now. The queen speaks, calmly, looking towards the group. Her hands cross and rest on her lap, as she looks from person to person. She speaks, her voice gentle, "...It's a pleasure to meet you all. What brings you to my realm?" 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     The Autobot peers down at the queen and her daughter, crouching slightly to get a good look. Clearly amphibious creatures, but rather similar to humans, actually. "Uh, we're looking for something called a 'Tear of Light'. Right?" Blurr replies, though he also glances around at the others for confirmation on this. He's still not sure exactly what they -are-. But he's seen them clear away some kind of contamination that everyone here seems to refer to as the 'The Twilight'.     He looks back to the queen. "You wouldn't happen to know of any or where they might be, would you?" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel nods in agreement to Priscilla for a moment. "An understandable fear given my people's nature? However I am not as young and foolish as I seem to be. I would still give Kevin Flynn his due but I would also not let him lord over me either." He ran, he hid he left the ISOs to be butchered, she had some idea why given what he carried on his ID disc. A terible choice but she still would have words for him someday. For now she's here to see what she can do here, she's clearly howerver ready as she's ever going to be. She looks to Finna for a moment and pers back to SArah for a moment nodding to her. "We best do so." She looks over to Archer for a moment and wonders is Rin with him? "Rin's would be a useful ally in this effort." The party presses on to go meet the Queen now and Deelel remains quiet for the moment, she's an artist and a fighter. "My companion is correct, we have come seeking the Tear of Light and had hoped you might be able to help us locate it." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Even if Zoras are weird fish people, Priscilla seems to approve of the queen's bearing and presentation. She'd be calling the kettle black otherwise on the former subject anyways. She steps forward for whatever passes for an audience plinth, inclining her head formally, but not going so far as to bow, for reasons that swiftly become apparently. "Well met, Queen Rutala. I am Priscilla, Queen of Anor Londo. I knoweth not the entirety of the news that reaches thee in this piece of the world, but I wouldst presumeth that of the Twilight is familiar to thine ears. Simply put, we art those who wouldst banish it, and hath done so successfully twice over. To proceed further, we requireth access to the Spring of Lanayru, however we art lead to believeth such is thine purview, and so we must ask of thee what is courteous."     She looks urgingly to Blurr and Deelel to try and treat this with some basic attempt at formality. "Two guardians hath had their Tears of Light returned. We wish to do the same again, but require the knowledge of where this place is, and thine blessing to venture to it." 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Archer only shrugs when Deelel comments on Rin's absence, as if wordlessly remarking that he could hardly do anything to change it now.     Likewise, he doesn't seem perturbed by Priscilla's quip, regardless of whether it is a barb or an honest question, giving half a smirk. He even seems to be amused by the idea of someone calling Rin a 'princess.' "Not quite the term I'd use to describe her - in my experience, a 'princess' is someone who their knight would consider flawless... and unfortunately, I am to perceptive an individual to have that opinion of her." He lets out half a chuckle, before finally responding to Priscilla's original question - "As for her absence, she's taken to burying herself in Multiversal records as of late, trying to keep informed on who has or hasn't fallen off the grid, and what their abilities to date are."      The response is such that one might not note how weary he seems of Priscilla, picking up how she was practically almost a solar flare of prana now.     She had most certainly not been like that before, and slight differences about her demeanor - or at least in her presence - reflected this was not just some gradual transformation. What could possibly have changed? And... was it a threat?     Pushing the matter aside for now - though making definite note of it for latter - he returns his mind to the topic of 'princesses'... specifically if there was any truth to the rumors he had heard the Zora's conversations with Finna.     Fassad's 'quest', for lack of a better term, seems to have taken him through here... and the fact that the princess was now engaged seemed a rather hard coincidence to ignore.     Taking in the architecture, Archer finds himself both impressed and yet critical of the artwork; while the craftsmanship is superb, he finds it has something of a heavy focus on trying to impress. Granted, these were their ancient historical figures, so that wasn't unexpected, but he personally preferred more of an emphasis on form rather then decoration.     Still, they were eye-catching at the very least and ensured most would pay attention enough to take in the rest of the details, which meant they did their job superbly as memorials and monuments.     Looking at the young amphibian-humanoid, Archer's brows rise up in concealed surprise at her lack of clothes - human features or not, it was still something most would consider a bit off-putting at worst and unusual at best. Still, he supposed it wasn't anything to be concerned about - it wasn't like they were really showing anything, he supposed.     In fact, trying to figure out how she and Fassad could possibly have been engaged was much harder to comprehend for the bowman, though he kept from speaking out on it due to the exact fact he didn't know the circumstances. Best to cross that bridge only if it actually came up      He casts a glance to Blurr and Priscilla as if wordlessly asking if they should have been quite so up-front about what they were after. However, it's easter for him in turn - he doesn't feel he needs to dance around the issue.     After a moment, Archer bothers to speak up himself - "As I'm sure you've noticed, things are starting to take a turn in the outside world. Whatever is behind the Twilight seems to have started encroaching on other parts of the world - forests everywhere have started dying and some of the fairies have been caught in the crossfire. Time may be of the essence in this... or there may not end up being much of a world left to free by the end."     He doesn't mince words at all. To him, it would undercut the gravity of the situation. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna tkes a few moments to take in the sight of the Queen and her beautiful daughter. She's gobsmacked, to say the least. ONly a Lunar might appreciate otherspeciesly appeals and she definitely does. The Lunar executes a formal bow. Somehow there is simply no trace of her usual wild self. "Good evening, your majesty, your royal highness," She nods once to the Queen and then Ruto, respectively, before rising again. "Finna Snowdancer, a guardian appointed by the Moon Goddess of another world outside Hyrule. It is as they say. We are here to restore the Spirits of Light and chase off the Twilight. And I must say, this is a very lovely settlement. Outside it isn't so peaceful, though... have your people been having trouble?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah enters the throne toom and looks around, observing the beautiful environment that the Zora have created for their throne room. She doesn't comment, but something unreadable crosses her face as she looks upon the Queen, a faltering in that distant gloominess that she usually uses, before she looks down, frowning for a moment before she looks back up. Priscilla seems to have things well in hand, however, and she nods to the Queen of Anor Londo before just looking back to the proceedings. She seems to be wrestling with something, but hasn't decided if she wants to say it. "I'm Sarah Parsle, a kid adventurer from Afterus. Just helping out." She shrugs, apparently willing to self-depreciate. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Queen Rutela listens quietly, her arms remaining folded on her lap. The phrase 'Tear of Light' causes an eyebrow to raise, just slightly. She looks just slightly lost, until Priscilla introduces herself, and clarifies the details on the Tears of Light. Rutela closes her eyes, contemplating the words. She finally opens them again, speaking properly and softly.      "Greetings to you, Priscilla, Finna, Sarah and your friends. I welcome you to my realm. I know not what the Tear of Light is, but the Guardians of Light are known to me. Behind me, behind my throne, is the Spring of Lanayru." Looking behind her, there is a tunnel, leading back. She motions to it briefly.Before the Twilight appeared, he helped protect this land. It was around that time that our Guardian of Light fell. I have been suspicious of such for some time, but it has been hard to communicate with other lands. At least, it was, until you have started clearing the Twilight."      "There is one thing I can offer to you, though. The night the Twilight fell, there were strange activities in the night. A number of strange insects appeared, crawling out of the Spirit of Light's Spring. We tried to attack them, but my guards were slow to react. They swam down the waterway. To where, only the Goddesses know. They could be anywhere in the land of Hyrule now. But, if they appeared when the Spirit of Light was killed, perhaps they hold this Tear of Light?"      A glance is given to Archer. She bites her lip a little, considering. She carefully considers her words. "...I have noticed the trees dying. That isn't the only unusual occurrence. You know that I was gone from here. During that time, I was travelling to visit various allies of the Zora People, to ensure they were surviving. I started by visiting Death Mountain, realm of the Gorons. ...I could not get all the way there. There was an unseasonable storm of snow. Some weeks back, far early for the season, a vast snow started to cover the land. The heat from the mountains itself have vanished. Even the lava cools. Something has hurt this world on a deep level. Something has caused an affront to the Goddesses themselves."      She looks the group over again, considering. A sad look is on her face. "I would like to offer you help, but there is little I can supply. The most I can offer is some supplies from our shops. We have had little for contact with the outside world, aside my trip out. I won't even let my people leave, until the Twilight is cleared. For any of them to come to risk... It would leave me heartbroken." A glance is given towards her daughter. Rutela leaves it unsaid, but if Rutela dies, they at least have the princess Ruto.      Rutela looks away from her daughter, and Ruto looks towards the group. She mouths words, motioning to the entrance. 'Meet me out there'. Silently, she starts to take some steps away, moving towards a side passage. Rutela notices her daughter taking her leave, but shakes her head just slightly. "...I'm sorry. My daughter Ruto has been somewhat lovesick recently. It's left her in a flighty mood."      "Is there anything else I can offer you, though?" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      Well... that /was/ actually easier then Archer thought it would be.      Yet... at the same time, it wasn't. Even though they knew where the Spring of Lanayru was, it seemed the Tear of Light was already gone. "Insects? Could you describe them a bit better then that? Distinguishing marks? Coloration?"      Archer gaze narrows hearing about the world's seeming collapse, the bowman's demeanor becoming all the more cynical as it seems his prior belief was validated; every act they had accomplished was being counteracted by an equal affront on the rest of Hyrule.     He gives a simple, wordless nod at the offer of supplies, as well as the pragmatism of not letting anyone leave the caves while there is danger... though another part of him considers it selfish when the rest of the world is suffering.     Hearing that the princess is 'lovesick' actually brings a bemused smirk on his expression, his prior suspicions confirmed. "Oh? Was it a man with blonde hair seeking to fulfill a prophecy? If so, we may actually know of him; he would be the one that originally set most of us on this mission." 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr peers at Priscilla's urging looks, appearing a bit confused. Formality? He's never really had to try to impress a monarch like this before. Back on his home planet, before it was basically destroyed anyway, monarchy was never quite a thing. Still, he nods politely toward the queen once she's finished talking. "Insects, huh. Sounds like we need to go find some bugs." Archer certainly has a good question.     Then Ruto appears to want to talk to them outside, away from her mother. Maybe she has some more information. "Well thanks for the information, ma'am." He salutes the queen briefly before following Princess Ruto toward the side passage. Hey look, there's some formality! He's trying, okay? 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel catches Priscilla's look and does back down at this point, she's being fairly formal. Well by her own standards, she gets she shouldn't press harder by Archer's response and she's going to let Pricilla nad Archer do more of the talking at this point she is doing her best but some things about organic cultures just don't click with Deelel. She is thankful for the non verbal correction. "Forgive mw your highness, I did not intend to be rude I'm am Deelel." She fades back at this point to let the others talk and she also more imporantly listens to what information the Queen has to share with them. She listen and wait until the Queen finishes up. "I thank you your highness for the information you shared and it's still useful to us." She thinks about the bugs? Deelel seems to be thinking over waht the Queen has told them and is checking what other data they have. She does hear note of the lovesick princess she politely does not comment on that. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla's lips twist into the faint expression of a frown at the news, though she seems unmoved to any loss of certainty. "Fear thee not. We wouldst not be so helpless as to come to thee only to beg for the aid of thine own people. Those beset by the Twilight art, by necessity, in little position to be rid of it themselves. The simple knowledge of where to venture and what to do whence there is enough, though in this case, part of the former is unfortunately uncertain. It wouldst seemeth obvious that they hath transported the Tear of Light away, and unlikely that it hast fled to the other side of the world, as near or within the Twilight itself wouldst be the safest place to guard it, but the waters of this land travel to a great many places, as I am to understand."     "The situation of Death Mountain is . . . I cannot say that similar disturbance will not visit thine lands as well, however. Thine people may be at risk despite thine best efforts if this remains unresolved any longer." It's suspicious timing considering Fassad had successfully completed a quest there not long before hearing this. "It may, in fact, be our place to offer some form of aid after the Tear of Light is retrieved, at least for a while, to see that no similar disaster undoes our efforts. I shalt second Sir Archer's request for any further details of these insects, and ask only that we remaineth unimpeded whence we return with the Tear to its rightful place." She seems like she might stay a little later with the queen, but nods aside at the group in the direction at which Ruto indicates, urging anyone who has the time and inclination to see what she has to say. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Strange insects thats cuttled off when the Spirit of Light went down?" Finna blinks. This is the first time she's heard of such insects. "Hmm...the Tears of Light have some powerful magic. I think they're some of the Spirit's very essence. But why would strange bugs pester a Spirit of Light? yeah.... more information on that would be great."     The corner of Finna's mouth twists up in a brief smile at Ruto's gesture. Ruto might have no trouble at all gleaning from this a complete intent to catch up with her, though Rutela... would only see a momentary grin for some reason. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah nods, listening to the situation. "That could be a bit of a hunt. Maybe we'll be able to find the insects around somewhere. Either way, like they said, we don't need to put you guys in danger, you guys have it rough enough." There is a pause. "Speaking of having it rough, have you seen a guy in white, sort of yea high, blond hair, has a smile like he's starring in a toothpaste commercial?" She says, getting on her tiptoes and putting her hands up in a vague attempt to indicate how tall Fassad is. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Rutela gives a nod towards Deelel, smiling, "Do not trouble yourself. You are not royalty yourself. Most lose themselves and simply become awed in front of royalty. You are all doing very well."      Rutela thinks back, recalling, "It was... Late at night, when the insects appeared. I only saw a brief glimpse. Their bodies were black in color, and they were fairly large. About the size of a large salmon... They glowed somewhat, too, like the Twilight. I am sorry that I can not offer more on their description."      A pause, and Rutela looks towards Archer and Sarah. A smile is on her face. "Ah. You are allies of Prince Fassad? Yes. You have guessed correctly. From what Ruto says, he even accepted the Zora's Sapphire. That is, more or less, a promise of marriage. They'll be a lovely couple. And he set out, seeking his next goal in his quest for the Master Sword."      Fassad, of course, has no idea about this.      As for Priscilla's request, Rutela nods, "Alright. I will permit you to visit the Spring of Light at any time. Consider my throne room, and all of Zora's Domain, open to you. You are heroes, after all. You are trustworthy. And, if Zora's Domain ever needs help, we will be sure to let you know."      A smile is on her face, "I wish you all the best of luck, on your journey."      If there are any more questions for Rutela, now is the time to ask. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Blurr starts to move after Ruto, Rutela blinks. She /almost/ looks like she is immediately regretting giving them free reign of the place. Priscilla and Finna have been massively polite, and Deelel has been doing her best, but the others have been... Iffy, at times.      "...Why are you walking towards my daughter's private chambers, if I might ask? ...I did give you free reign, but...." The mother has a somewhat worried look on her face. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr is surprised at Rutela's...surprise. Private chambers? "Oh uh, it looked like she wanted to meet with one of us over in that direction." he says, pointing toward where Ruto has taken off to. "So if you had a problem with it maybe you should take it up with her?" He wasn't aware that passage led to her private chambers or anything. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah looks moderately surprised. "Wow, he's still alive. Well, that's unusually promising." The mention of the rumored nature of the Zora's Sapphire being a promise of marriage causes Sarah to smile, and clap her hands. "You're right, they'll be a great couple. Don't worry, we'll make sure everything turns out great." Now she WANTS Fassad to live. Because come on, the look on his face when he finds this out? /PRICELESS/. "I won't waste any more of your time, Queen. We'll get on this problem, find some insects, and get everything running properly again as soon as possible. We'll keep you updated as we get through this." She actually looks a little motivated, now. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "I expect we shalt find little in the way of insects that match such a description. I am able to thank thee for that much." She tries very hard not to crack up at hearing of the sapphire's intended purpose however. She instantly recognizes that Fassad must have had no idea. Thankfully, her range of expression is still pretty small, and so the faint smile looks little more than an approval of a happy affair. "I see. Having known Fassad for some time mineself, I wouldst dare say the same. He is sometimes slow on the uptake, but he possesses a fair and brave heart, and is a man of consideration and honour." Yes. Dig him in deeper. That's it.     "Thine understanding and generosity is thusly much appreciated. Our next visit to the Spring shalt be with Light in hand." Now to cover for Blurr. "Ah, I believeth there is something of Sir Fassad that the princess wished to ask in private, though I knoweth not what. Fear thee not. Sir Blurr is of little else but armour. He holds within himself no capacity for untoward motions." He's a robot. That's how it works. Shush. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Friend, weren't you paying attention to her majesty? The Spirit of Light is THAT WAY!" Finna bounds over to Blurr in a hurry and WRAPS HER ARM AROUND WHATEVER OF HIM HE CAN REACH, tugging him elsewhere. "Didn't you just say you wanted to solve that as soon as possible?"     DID he say that?     The moment Finna challenges that fact, anyone hearing her words might feel their own thoughts get a little bit fuzzy on the subject. Yeah, that was what Blurr said. That's what he said the whole time, why are you people thinking otherwise? ... maybe?     People with a lot of willpower and magical potential will probably shrug this off without even noticing there's a subtle magic laced in Finna's words working to change their perceptions of Blurr... 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Sometimes, Blurr wishes he'd spent some more time researching organic races. But Primus, there are just so many of them! Sigh. At any rate, he opts to use the holomatter projector at this juncture, pointing it in the general direction of where Ruto has headed, to avoid alarming the other Zoras. That way they won't even see him following her, he'll just appear outside somewhere and start looking for the princess.     And then Priscilla makes a comment that basically sounds to him like 'don't worry, he's just a giant buckethead' because he totally doesn't understand what she means by 'untoward motions'. He doesn't say anything, but shoots her a look that clearly says 'Um exCUSE me?' 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Again... that same viewpoint they have of him. 'Hero'.     It didn't sit well with him. Didn't fit well for him to be regarded as such. Not when he hadn't exactly volunteered for this.     Although... in all honesty, that was the sole requirement for one to be considered a 'hero'; perform actions that get them acknowledged as such... regardless of what the reasons it was done for.     Taking note of the princess' request - and finding bemusement in how inexperienced the mechanoid Blurr is social interaction - Archer proceeds to follow her. However, he makes sure he leaves open sight - giving a formal bow to the queen so as to try and placate the queen as him 'taking his leave of her presence'... along with a a mock-thanks; "Apologies for the misunderstanding, though I am certain your daughter will not be dissuaded from her betrothed so easily. Additionally, I am certain that some of us" - he glances meaningfully to Sarah - "Would not mind being present for the official ceremony when Fassad's journey has been completed."     Priscilla may be digging deeper, but Archer's already hammering the nails into the coffin.     After this is done and he leaves her sight, he then enters spiritual form to pursue Ruto in private.     He also winces internally feeling the effects if Finna's spell - a faint prickle at the edge of his senses - knowing his crap magic resistance is probably only a small part of why her words aren't overriding his memories. His stubborn character is probably the rest of the reason.     Upon reaching the are where Ruto is, Archer rematerializes before her, though he approaches from behind so as not to startle her by just appearing out of thin air. Once this is done, he decides to take a few steps forward so as to, with those audible footfalls, let her know someone took her up on her request. "You wished to speak?" 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     And then Finna is grabbing his leg or something, insisting he's going the wrong way to find the object of interest. Blurr stops, frowning, as the magic confuses him as well. "I...uh--right." Something doesn't quite make sense. Had something caused a glitch in his processor core? He shrugs.     Well anyway the avatar is outside, and has joined Archer and Ruto. It resembles a blond teen-aged human in modern attire, and nods at Archer. "What he said." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel takes the compliment as it's intented or at lest how it seems to be intended. She's out of her social grade she knows it but her world has a very set order even when it doesn't have a tyrant calling the shots. "Thank you for your kindess again." Now there's more information to be given to them so she quiets up she has a weapon of her own an she wonders if Dual Disc might be able to help Fassad in his own quest? She'll have to think on that. She now choses to remain silent than risk opening her mouth again at this point. Though the talk of marraige does get a bit of a suprised look out of Deelel. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Rutela opens her mouth, staring for a moment. The effect from Finna helps. She nods, just slightly, looking at the two, "You may look at the Spring if you wish. There... Isn't much to see there, at the moment. Perhaps there is some clue that we have missed?"      She gives a smile towards Sarah and Priscilla, "Yes. I believe it will be a great match. I was surprised to hear the news, myself. But, should you see him again, please tell him that he has my blessing."      A glance to Archer, "Ahh. I suppose we /should/ prepare for the wedding, eventually? If you would like to help preperations, that would be wonderful." She blinks a little as Archer dissapears, though.      In the hallway to Ruto's chamber, Ruto has stopped. It looks like she is lifting a few rocks away, opening up a somewhat hidden waterway. She looks towards Blurr's avatar, and Archer, blinking a little bit. She looks confused. "...I... was planning to sneak out, and meet you outside. ...Why did you come back over here?"      She shakes her head a little. She might as well explain.      "I'm sorry for calling you over here," Ruto says. "This... Isn't actually about your quest. It''s about something else... You heard my mom say that I can't leave, right? ...Well. I want to visit my Father's grave, at Lake Hylia. And I'm wondering if you might take me. It's... Well. The anniversary of his death just passed. I used to visit it every year. I've been stuck in the Domain for so long... ...Please, could you all take me to Lake Hylia to visit him?" 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     The holomatter projection shrugs at Ruto's question. "Sorry, I thought you wanted us to follow you or something." Blurr listens to her request, then nods. "Sure, I could give you a ride, just tell me where to go." he offers.     He thinks that Queen Rutela's policy or not allowing anyone to leave the area is rather selfish. She may be concerned for their safety, but the rest of the world is suffering. What if some of them want to go out there and help? Plus, there's no harm in Ruto honoring her father's grave. As long as Blurr and Archer can watch over her, nothing bad will happen to her...right? 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     The Servant of the Bow shrugs in response to Ruto's reply nonchalantly. "You never really specified if you meant outside the room or outside the caves."     However... that nonchalance falters when Ruto explains her reasoning, simply staring at her for a long moment with his brows having risen up slightly in surprise.     Inwardly though... it's not quite as constrained. He knew all too well what it meant to lose family... and what it meant to mourn one's father.      ... therefore, Archer couldn't quite help but feel a pang of sympathy... and even though he outwardly remained impassive, a touch of what sounded like understanding was present in his voice. "I see." He pauses for a long moment, closing his eyes and sighing as he ponders her request...      ... and once again curses how nothing in the world can ever be black and white. Or that one action /must/ always entail a consequence, as he steps in front of Blurr as if to block off the answer he just gave.      "While I understand you wish to pay your respects... you must consider the fact that we cannot /guarantee/ your safety, especially given how events in this land are playing out. And we do not even know if this is as bad as it will get" the bowman replies evenly. "You're the heir to this land, and the only daughter at that - what would happen if something occurred?" His gaze holds traces of sympathy, though the steel in them is still as ever-present as before. "Your mother does not want to lose you, too... and if you were lost, your entire race would be affected. You will be able to visit your father any time after this is resolved... but if you die out there, you will never be able to return to your mother."      Archer then turns to face Blurr, the bowman's response - tantamount to being a refusal to help her visit her father's grave - likely having soured the Autobot's view of the Servant; "Besides, this seems a rather reckless choice to make on our own. At the very least we ought to inform the rest of our group."     Of course, he knows that if they outweigh his opinion on the matter, the princess will be kept in danger... and although he does sympathize with her, the bowman cannot in good conscience - or at least what shallow vestiges of it have been branded into him by ages worth of following a doomed path can /pose/ as a conscience - let her do such a thing at the potential detriment of her people's future.     ... perhaps it /was/ for the best that Rin had not come. She, more sentimental then in her past, would likely have circumvented Archer's argument had she been here. And that, in Archer's opinion, the wrong choice in regards to what was best for everyone.      After all... if Roto were to /literally/ join her father and they had helped her in this, it would likely cause division with the Zora against them in addition to being detrimental to their race. From a purely logical standpoint it was just as much the wrong choice. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Archer might be a bit surprised to hear Finna speak up from the door. The little white fox is standing on a puddle of water. Not breaking the water's surface. It might take a while to realize this.     "Lake Hylia, huh? That's halfway across Hyrule. Fastest route would be the river, but you'd be spotted in no time at all. You have some plan for getting there and back fast enough that nobody knows you're gone, Princess?" Finna returns to her human form just behind Archer.     Not too long ago she had dismissed herself and headed for the Spring. But Queen Rutela would probably find it very hard to see the brown mouse that zipped across the ceiling and towards Ruto's room soon afterwards.     "I'd be all for this if it didn't mean your mom would get mad. And it wasn't the middle of a war. But then you wouldn't be asking. Sorry, hard to hide from my ears. You might as well've been right next to me, even from the throne room!" She grins, poking at her ears.     "Bring everyone to the Spring. We'll investigate and discuss it more there."     And just as quickly as she entered Ruto's room, she's OFF AGAIN. As a super-speed mouse towards the Spring. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is going to folow the group at this point as the head for Ruto's chanmber the basi is firly quiet as they finally catch uyp with Ruto she does listen. She speaks of family but she wants to get past the lockdown on travel to see her father's grave and now she stars to think this over a little more than say Blurtr has. "I also understand your desire to do so but we can not be certain of your safety even with us. I do not think he would want you to needlessly risk your self during a crisis like this." She looks to the others here handling it. "I beg your pardon but I think I would be better suited to taking care of the spring, Princess." She bows and follows after Finna. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla is keeping appraised of the situation primarily by radio. As much as she'd like to tell Ruto that she can see her father's grave, it feels irresponsible to do so, especially as a somewhat well known Union associate. Aside from putting her in unnecessary danger, it also delays their actual trip out into the Twilight for the Tear of Light, giving their enemies more time to transport it even further. She makes her opinion known over the private connection, before turning back to Queen Rutela. "I shalt do so at the very first opportunity. For now, I shalt use up no more of thine time. We shalt pay an inspection to the Spring, and return to it soon enough with its Light." She formally excuses herself, turning back and using the path to get up to the cave. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ruto looks away from Archer, though her eyes glance towards Blurr. She crosses her arms in front of her chest, but soon looks away from both. Form the look on her face, what Archer is saying is sinking in, hitting right at home. Finna has a point as well. There is a glimmer of hope as Blurr says it might be a good idea... But the others vote it down.      She makes a grumpy face at them. Some sadness is to it. Soon, Ruto walks away, heading into a door leading to her bedroom.      Rutela nods at Priscilla, smiling at her. "I thank you for this, once again. The insects seemed somewhat aquatic, though. Stick to the seas, and to, I assume, Twilight covered areas, for your search. I wish you the best of luck."      Once the group gathers at the Spring, they will find it much like the others, simply inside a cave. There are some holes in the ceiling, letting in natural light. But, there is no obvious source of the water. It just appears. The same sense of the other spring's broken forms is present. A shattered light, and a bit of loneliness. It is almost like the Spirit is trying to call out, and yet it can't. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Well, it seems Blurr is outnumbered in the decision against helping Ruto sneak out. He shrugs helplessly, but gives her a rather knowing glance that is telling of the fact that he doesn't think this is quite over... 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     When a Lunar wants to speak with someone, they're quite hard to shake off. And Finna's already taking a liking to Ruto. She senses a KINDRED SPIRIT in her.     This might be a problem for some people.     So as Ruto's walking past... as it turns out, the moment RUto opens her door... a bolt of white zips inside and springs up to the ceiling.     Ruto's room has a CEILING FOX.     "I thooooooought everyone could discuss this better at the spring. When we're not all split up. But one on one's more appealing. Good evening, princess. Shall we discuss some mischief?"     There's an INCORRIGIBLE grin on the fox's face. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr's avatar remains in Ruto's room as well, while his actual form follows the others to the spring. Hopefully it isn't too far back. "Well," it smirks slightly over at the Fox girl. "Looks like we have some company."     "So. Lake Hylia. Like I said, I could get you a ride there. And...maybe Finna can handle cloaking?" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Finna has been around enough for Ruto to have heard about the transforming fox women. The bit of time spent at Zora's Domain helps. She stares at her, quite blankly.      And then Blurr walks through the wall, his avatar just phasing through it.      "A POE! A POE!" She screams, now assuming he is one of the various ghosts haunting the land. She reaches for her pillow, tossing it at him. She'll throw heavier objects soon after. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     A what? Blurr is confused. What's a poe? "Uh--!" Ugh, that wasn't a good idea, was it? He -really- isn't having a very good solar cycle. "Hey Finna, what's a poe?" he whispers, before the projection turns back to Ruto and holds its hands in the air to show it is unarmed.     "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, we were just talking, remember?" Facepalm. He glances at Finna helplessly--hopefully she can fix this situation and calm the princess down before things get too out of control. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "You DUMBASS! Are you trying to get the guards running in here?!" Finna's all but SEETHING at Blurr. She drops from the ceiling and lands silently, STARING into his eyes. "From now on you are BANNED from acting on your own in foreign territory. Got that? Stay quiet. Or outside!" She's ANGRY, alright. Furious at Blurr. "Calm down, calm down Princess! The noise'll ruin our chance to talk!" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      Archer isn't unsympathetic to her cause... but it is simply too much of a risk, all things considered. There was already an increasing risk that the Tears of Light might not even be found in time to save this land at the rate things were degrading.     To foolhardily risk causing irreparable damage to a race's future would only compound that.      ...      Of course, when it seems that a certain fox-girl is absent, Archer began to feel a headache budding in the edge of his mind as a horrid suspicion began to take root.      From what he'd seen of her, Finna was like a horrid mix of Emiya Shirou and Illyasviel von Einzbern - trying to help others when not prudent and doing so in such a painfully-whimsical manner that it begged the question of if she was even thinking of the outcome.      "You two will have likely had more experience visiting the actual shrines then me. What exactly should I look for?" Archer asks the rest of the group, taking in the vague feeling of... not emptiness, but more like an absence of something that had once been a very integral part of this room. Something that the chamber itself seemed to miss, for lack of a better word.      "Trace; On"      Reaching out with 'Structural Analysis', Archer probes the area's architecture with his magic to try and seek out any irregularities.     Of course, this may or may not /also/ alert him of where a certain fox-girl is in relation to him, as he is also using this to reach out as far as he can, hoping she's /not/ where he suspects she is. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel makes it to the springs with Archer at this point she wonders where Finna is but then she hears her voice going off on a tear at Blurr, oh dear. She's not happy about this but she needs to check the place out she looks to Archer for a moment as she tilts her head a little bit at him. "I'm a multimedia program I'm afraid I'm still learning about things here but humm there seems to be a sense of style here." She's looking for patterns she knows people have used art and patterns within to hide information or other things in plain sight and Archer's skills to trace should help a lot with figuring this place out. She also wonders what the heck Blurr has done but it sounds like Finna is handling it. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ruto tries to calm down, but it's hard. Her breathing is heavy. She's even gagging a little at the same time, accidentally having tried to breath through her gills, just a little. But, she finally calms down with Finna's reassurance. She pulls a blanket over herself to hide, somewhat. Ghosts are certainly something that /terrify/ the people of this land. They're rarely seen, but they are almost always dangerous.      "A-ah... What... What do you want? You've already made your choice, haven't you?"      The Spring, when scanned, doesn't give much info. It seems to work as intended. Water is magically springing forth from it via a spell. Some traces of the broken Spirit could be detected, even without magic. The entire place looks broken.      There isn't much for clues in the spring. It's simply been /far/ too long since the time of the Spirit being killed. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Ehhhh... just enough to get the guy in red off my back." Finna gestures with an open hand, shrugging slightly as though to say 'there's no helping it.'     "Iiiii want to discuss this crazy idea of yours and just how you're planning on pulling this off. Because the world out there isn't safe. Even we can't guarantee your safety. We've got 'blins of all shapes and sizes dropping out of the sky wherever they please. SOMETHING was powerful enough to freeze over the world's most active volcano. And you know this. Somehow I don't buy you want to make this trip just to visit a grave. Even if it's one very important to you. So what's up?" 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     And now Finna is all pissed. Blurr's holoform folds its arms and immediately gets defensive. "Hey, cool your tailpipes lady, I was just trying to help. I didn't know she'd flip like that! Slag, I have no idea what a 'poe' even -is-, so how could I know this thing even looks like one?!" Hmph!     And no, the fox girl -doesn't- get to order him around. "-Excuse- me, -Snowdancer-, but you don't look like my superior officer. Far from it in fact." Seriously, what is it with fleshies and trying to order him around as if they were Ultra Magnus or somebody? This really isn't Blurr's day, -at all-. First with the queen getting all paranoid about him, and then with Priscilla essentially calling him a pile of armor, and now -this-. He -really- needs to study organics more, or something.     But, he -finally- stops his tirade and lets Finna do the talking (albeit somewhat bedgrudgingly) when Ruto appears to have finally calmed down, the avatar leaning against the far wall so as to make sure it -absolutely- does not look like he is going to make any hostile moves against her.     Meanwhile, Blurr's actual form has gone to the Spring behind the throne room with everyone else, and appears to be scanning the area as Archer is. Though of course he appears rather distracted, with his attention divided. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ruto looks towards Finna. Her face actually looks hurt by the accusations. "You... You think I don't want to just visit my father's grave? Have... Have you ever /lost/ a parent? Do you know what it is like, to go through life without a father?" She looks away. Frowning. "I just... The Twilight never sticks to the waters. ...I've been out, despite it. Only a few times, on my own. But it's just been... Too far for me to go on my own. While the rivers are safe, there was... /Something/ in the waters closer to Lake Hylia. If you're all really friends of my fiance..." ...Didn't she leave at that point? She must have been eavesdropping. "...You could take it out." 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr shrugs, even though the question was directed at Finna, though he doesn't say anything because of course he doens't know what it's like to lose a parent, since parents aren't a thing on Cybertron.     He nods slightly after a few moments, though, his expression softening. "I'm sorry about your dad, Ruto. Can't say I know what it's like since I've never had any parents, but I'm sure it isn't easy." he says quietly.     The avatar frowns at her description of something in the water near the lake. "Huh. Well, we--I mean, at least -I- would be happy to help you deal with that thing, but maybe it's best if you stayed here while we did that? Then once we've taken care of whatever it is, you can go visit the memorial." A slight pause. "You could definitely help though, by giving us some more specifics on what exactly you think this thing is? Or what it looked like? Whatever you remember." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "eheheh..." Finna taps her fingers together. "I figured you might be trying to seek out said fiance when nobody was looking." Answers the fox girl, wearing an impish, mischevious expression. But it doesn't do much to hide the lurking frustrations underneath.     That question hit a nerve and her silly expression falters in no time at all. "... yeah, my dad's gone too. It was a stupid duel over a stupid reason that did him in. But I don't think my dad would want me roaming around in a monster-filled land if he was buried halfway across the world. That's a quick way to your own grave. Though you've got guts, Princess. Now I'm impressed with both the Hylian AND Zora Royalty."     Finna folds her arms, thinking. "The rivers are safe for now. Zora's Domain is safe for now. Thinking about it... much as I hate to say, if something froze over Death Mountain overnight then Zora's Domain isn't REALLy safe either. I could take you anywhere in Hyrule you can give directions to. Quickly... discretely... but safely? Can't guarantee safety--" Then Blurr says something that gets her tapping the side of her head.     "That's a good point. Aaaaand since you're pretty likely to sneak out again, you'd at least be better off doing it with us and not on your own." She cracks a wry grin. "But I'm not taking the blame for it if something goes wrong. What're you going to say to your mother, huh? How long will it take people to realize you're gone?" 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Getting irritated by the bickering over the radio, and presumably the bickering she will find in person, and seeming to have no further use for the abandoned spring being not exactly forthcoming with further details, Priscilla departs to join her allies dealing with the princess. Knowing those two, she really should have had someone less stubborn accompany them. She seems to have little particular care for the emotional state of the young girl, having seem it as a thinly veiled tantrum a moment ago, but though she finds Sarah's reasoning dubious, it is at least a destination.     "I will brook no further argument on this subject." She states simply, and firmly, carrying some edge to her voice. "Princess, if thou so desperately wish to visit this grave, thou shalt be able to wait a short while. We will go forth ahead of thee, thoroughly inspect the burial site's safety, and then bring thee to it by secure transit, via sorcery or warpgate if necessary, where thou shalt hath thine deserved time alone. Thine mother shalt be aware of this, and we shalt do it with her full knowledge and consent. Until then, thou art not to venture into the Twilight on thine own, in due patience. Is this acceptable to thee?" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ruto stays sitting, looking at the two. She still doesn't trust Blurr. Or at least, she doesn't trust him anymore. There are some things that even the people of Hyrule won't be able to comprehend without some prepping.      "...There isn't anyplace safe. You just admitted it yourself. I'm as good out there, or in here. But... If you all decide not to take me there, to go to Lake Hylia, in safety? ...I'll stay here."      Ruto lies through her teeth.      But, Blurr did ask her on the creature. "It was like... I don't know. Completely black, larger as a whale, but with an exoskeleton body. I didn't get a good look. I fled, the moment I saw it." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has left the springs at this point as she and Archer has got all they could from it. Priscilla ends the fighting on the radio pretty heavily and she's more than happy to let someone better skiled at this handle it. It's a good plan as she moves to catch up with the rests and she simply nods to Priscilla, ashe does show up to hear some info about a creature. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna's well aware of Priscilla's presence even before she arrived. One of her fox ears has swiveled to hone in her approach, visible or invisible. ".... Thaaaaat, I didn't know was even an option. Well, there's your answer, Princess." Finna grins. But the expression doesn't last for long. I just had an awful insight. Better go tell the Queen...." 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Right, which is exactly why Finna should be the one to stay with Ruto and keep her safe while Blurr and potentially Deelel or whoever else wants to come travel to Lake Hylia to investigate this trange being the princess is talking about and determine whether the grave site was safe or not. And if not, make it so.     He nods as she answers the question. "Thank you, any information you can provide will help us complete the mission. I'm glad you're willing to cooperate with us. Being patient isn't easy." he smirks a little bit. "Trust me." Because if anyone knows that it's him.     With that, the avatar just -vanishes- from the room as the holomatter projector deactivates. Obviously, he -totally- learned a lesson from just now and all of Finna's beratings. (Not.) But hey at least he didn't just step through the wall, right? He's getting there, ok?     Blurr himself is outside with the others, but he's probably already starting to make his way out toward Lake Hylia to get some initial readings... 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ruto looks towards Priscilla. Pausing for a moment. She is /trying/ not to freak out at this. Because she at least /did/ see Priscilla meet her mother. Blurr's holoform randomly appearing and walking through a wall was troubling. Still. Ghosts. All of these people are ghosts. Her Fiance is friends with Ghosts.      She will be having a stern talk with him eventually.      "...That sounds like a good compromise." 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      In the wake of having gleaned nothing from analyzing the Spring, Archer sighs and walks out of the room, still musing on the rather heated discussion over the radio.     This was perhaps one of the /downsides/ to how similar Sarah Parsle was to Tohsaka Rin - namely that once she had her mind set on something, she refused to budge on it, even willing to fly in the face of her own typically-pragmatuc knowledge and viewpoints.      ...      It also didn't help that, more often then not, her hunches ended up being /right/ in spite of going against the logical process.     In this case, the girl had ended up being right about the princess' desire to find her father's gravestone seeming to have a connection with the Tears of Light... as the creatures that blocked the grave were seemingly the same ones that escaped from the Spring.     What were the /odds/ of that connection? Why? Was it that the king had some tie to the Guardians of Light. Had... he actually /been/ one of them, if that was possible?     Either way, much as it chafed at what little pride he had... Archer had to admit that this was looking more and more like the correct action... and the same as Rin, he doubted Sarah would let him live that down.      ... however, that didn't mean this was a decision that should be made without consenting the people that it would affect most. If the princess was to leave, the queen should at least be made aware of it.     That being said, the most prudent course of action was thus to scout the lakeside... and as a spirit, he felt he could so so more comfortably then most could, simply because he could avoid being seen.     Hopefully, that would be enough. 

}}

3156/Killing the Great Deku Tree

2015-10-06T05:05:06Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/05 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Confederacy kills the Deku Tree in order to power up Majora's Mask. |Thanks= |Cast o..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/05
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Confederacy kills the Deku Tree in order to power up Majora's Mask.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=446, 546, 714, 864, 878
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Great Deku Tree is the next target suggested by Majora's Mask. It's fairly hidden away from the world, deep within the forest. Only a vague idea of the location is given to the Confederates, a vague map transported to the group from Majora's Mask. The Mask, itself, does not need to be present today. Instead, the Confederacy is to meet on the outskirts of the Forest. Their goal is simple: Find the Great Tree within the forest, and burn it down.      The meeting spot is a plains, on the edge of the forest. There is a path leading in, but it is hard to tell where it even goes. No signs mark the path. Instead, it is simply a long and winding trail into the forest. Of course, that's if they even /want/ to take the path. Perhaps there might be another way to find the Tree faster? 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Burn down a big tree. Probably not as easy as it sounds, but straightforward enough that Sanary doesn't need to bring too much extra gear with her today. She's decked out in her heaviest set of armor, picked partially for its ability to withstand flames. Hopefully, there won't be too much self-immolation going on, but it never hurts to be prepared!      Arriving at the designated meeting spot, the healer checks her gear over one more time just to make sure she's not forgetting anything. Gunaxe loaded with flame shells, check. Shield, check. Staff that she still hasn't actually used yet, check. Flying anklet devices in working condition, double check.      Now the only thing to do is wait for her allies. Or chat over the comms, really. Either or. 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     Killing can take a lot of forms; mean a great many things; some of them potentially to Nox's advantage. Ancient tree spirits are something he's tangled with before, though he already has the suspicion that this 'Deku Tree' will be significantly more than the overblown, Venerable Soft Oak. Barely better than a waste of his time, that one. In any case, his plans here aren't to burn the thing down. He has grander designs than that; ones to make use of the power the obviously useless old growth is sitting on pointlessly.     Horologium is currently overflowing from the unbinding of the Lord of Nightmares the previous night, but hopefully won't be needed in this instance. Nox arrives almost solo, save for the inevitable small cloud of noxines, and some of his 'deforesting equipment', i.e. environmentally destructive automata, in reserve. He's had the time to replace his damaged armour by now, so he doesn't look much worse for wear, floating fixed in place a foot above the ground, hands folded behind his back in his usual, neutral pose of cold, businesslike appraisal. "Taking suggestions from a mask, and it isn't even here. How droll." he remarks with a complete lack of humour. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Destruction! Princess Sarracenia might not be into corrupting things or killing things, but destruction of a giant tree is something she will enjoy quite a bit. He hates giant trees! She has enough of them back home, and doesn't wish them on anyone.      So, she arrives fully prepared for some demolition. A small airship, about 50 feet long, makes its way into the area. It is wooden from bow to stern with a design much like a spanish galleon. Just smaller. And like the galleons of Earth, this one is lined with cannons along both sides, as well as a few on deck and at the bow of the ship. Large propellers have replaced sails on the airship to keep it aloft. On the bow stands Princess Sarracenia, hammer in hand and her purse around her shoulder. "Would any of you care for a ride?" she calls out above the amazingly quiet propeller engines to the people down on the ground. The airship lowers down, then a section of the hull opens and a ramp slides out to allow others on board. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     He heard of this mission on what can be described as the 'open channels' that he had been perusing when looking for information on... well, everything to be frank. Even for someone like him, Vergil had to admit he was somewhat overwhelmed.     A 'multiverse'. A nigh-infinite interconnecting realm filled with many, many different worlds, factions, enemies and more.      ... and all of it promised untold power, waiting to be claimed by someone who had the capacity and ability to wield it.     If Vergil had any say in the matter, that someone would be him.     When Vergil arrives, his characteristic cyan-blue longcoat, sheathed katana and slicked-back white hair helping him stand out somewhat amid the forest, he casts a eye to the assembled party so far - and giving something of a confident bemused smirk in response to Nox's remark. "Droll, but predictable - nobody tends to want anything done themselves if they have a choice."           Seeing the Airship appear above, Vergil regards Sarracenia's vessel with something of a mock-amused expression. "I see no reason to refuse... though I'm curious as to why you'd need something like this just for a tree? Hardly seems worth the effort, though I'm guessing it's not without cause. There must be something quite valuable there..." His tone of voice, while cordial, is slightly probing - he's fishing for information. He also doesn't regard Sarracenia as a superior or even an equal like the princess probably expects - in fact he sounds almost as though he's addressing her generally as opposed to directly. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The airship is, luckily, left completely unbothered. If it has any radar or scanning on it, it'd even be able to detect things within the forest itself. It won't be perfect. There are some magical portions of the forest that will mess with the radar. But, it is, in fact, a near perfect way to cut ahead of the problem a bit. This is a land without air travel. It barely even has any machines of any kind! As such, a way to chance finding the tree in a bit more luxury rather than trudging through the forest presents itself.      Or alternatively, people could still walk. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Eh. Easier on me if anything goes wrong. Fewer heads to keep track of." Sanary laughs lightly as she turns around to face Nox, blinking a few times once she actually looks him over. Clearly, she hasn't seen too many others that look anything like he does. "... Name's Sanary. I'll be your healer slash battery for today, so don't run too far if a tree falls on you or you need a boost."      Sarracenia's entrance, meanwhile, is much easier to notice and not nearly as disconcerting, strangely enough. She raises a gauntleted hand in a stiff wave while eyeing her aircraft, weighing her options. Fly on a deathtrap, fly on her own, or walk? "I'll... Keep an eye on things down here. In case there's anyone else coming."      And then there's Vergil. The healer recoils slightly as a hand grips the gunaxe at her side, eventually loosening once she realizes that he's not who she thinks he is. She still manages a nervous laugh, though, taking a moment to steady herself before giving him the same stiff wave. "Hey, there. Yeah, these things usually don't go as smoothly as they sound like they would. Might end up having to fight an army of trees or... Something."      She stretches her arms out a bit, then turns back to the path and starts heading down it! "Don't suppose any of you have any intel on this place, hm?" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia waves to Sanary, then eyerolls at her reply. "Alright. But, do not come crying to me when dangerous forest creatures leap out of the underbrush and attempt to eat you." she says, smirking lightly.      Vergil is allowed onboard and escorted onto deck by a strange plant-like creature that has roots for feet and giant leaves for arms. Not to mention a strange round red bulb with a mouth full of sharp teeth for a head. It is even wearing a hat characteristic of an American sailor. There are several on board the ship, making sure it stays in the air.      She also seems to agree with Nox about the mask. "Especially after I am the one that freed it from the clutches of that selfish mask salesman! It never thanked me, and it has so far not lived up to the promises it made."      Once everyone is aboard who is coming aboard, the airship rises back into the air and starts slowly over the tops of the trees. Sarracenia continues to stand on the bow of the ship, eyeing the area. "A giant tree should be easy to find...right?" 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     Vergil tilts his head in curiosity as he observes the reaction of the girl in the eyepatch - Sanary, as she identified herself - to his presence. She seemed... slightly anxious. Perhaps a bit guarded. Not at him, though, but rather at his appearance - she'd seen someone like him it seemed. He does give a more confident smile at the description of what they will likely face - "Only trees, then? Well, that ought to make things more straightforward."      As he comes aboard the airship, Vergil glances out across the landscape, seeming rather assured of their advantage here - the locals didn't even possess aircraft of any kind, so it was unlikely anything they faced would be a match. He does not Sanary's reluctance to board the ship though, but it ultimately isn't his concern - if she wished to walk, that was her choice.     It would be one less obstacle if he decided what was at the tree was too valuable to destroy. After all, the only thing more foolish then to sit atop power and not use it was to cast it aside the chance to take it from such a person.     Vergil doesn't hesitate to take a position astride Sarracenia, crossing his arms as he looks out at the area from their increasingly-high vantage point. "I'd imagine it be fairly easy to spot, provided it's the largest one around. Of course, if the trees have gotten too tall, we may have to cut some down first to find the one we're looking for." He idly regards one of the plant-like creatures that seem to be serving as deckhands aboard the ship for a moment. "And if worse comes to worse, I assume you at least have a map to follow." 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     "A healer." Nox replies, in a form that seems as if it should be questioning, or at least rhetorically introspective, but really doesn't sound like it. "Well, I certain at least one of us will need your talents." He fails to mention the fact that his natural body has long since been replaced Ship of Theseus style, but understands the value of having someone like Sanary around regardless with the rest of the crowd. "Not as of yet." he follows up after a long pause. "But I doubt it will be very complicated. Old magical forest likely means nature spirits, wild animals, dark corners with unfriendly entities, potentially cursed or isolated areas under the influence of magic." Covering all the usual bases seems like a safe bet. These things tend to crop up in places as ancient and steeped in native power as this.     He regards Sarracenia's airship for a few moments. It seems perfectly functional, but leaving Sanary to trudge through the underbrush all on her own seems like it's just asking for trouble. "I will know it when I see it." he states simply, drifting forward at an unnaturally even pace, not so much as bobbing as the elevation of the ground changes. "We will split our efforts." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      It won't be far into the forest before Sanary and Nox meet someone. As they walk into it, a feminine voice can be coming from the tree. It's young. Emotionless. Curt.      "I know what you want. Leave. You do not know what you are doing."      If the two look up into the trees, they will see a girl standing upon the branch. She looks around ten years old or so. Her blonde hair is styled back into a couple of pigtails, a green hairband seperating her bangs. She wears a simple outfit, a green tunic and a pair of brown boots. She looks towards Sanary and Nox, a blank look on her face. Her blue eyes pierce at Sanary. Next to her, a small pink ball of light, with two transparent fairy-wings. It floats around the girl.      The airship will have far less for interruptions. Some monsters are in the sky, various large predatorial bird creatures. Even they know not to mess with something of this scale. The monsters catter as the airship flies through the forest. Amongst the sea of trees, one can be seen that stands taller than all the rest. It is in a clearing, a clearing covered mostly by its own system of branches and leaves. A small canyon is nearby, leading to another clearing that seems to have a small village in it.      By far, this appears to be the largest tree in the entire forest. It might be a good spot to check. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary laughs and waves a hand dismissively even as she goes further down the path, unsure of whether she'll even be heard at this point. "It'll be fine! Can't be any worse than..."      She can't even think of how to finish that. Loads of terrible things could be in here, couldn't there? Still, she's made her decision, and she has to stick with it! Even if it means potentially getting eaten by all sorts of creepy shit. Thankfully, Nox is there, and having Vergil in the airship with Sarracenia does ease her mind at least somewhat.      Hearing that voice from above, Sanary peers at the child from beneath the helm obscuring her forehead and little else. "Hey, kid. We.. Know exactly what we're doing, actually." She crosses her arms over her chest and clears her throat, glancing back at Nox once before turning back to the girl with an attempt at a confused expression.      "We heard there were some bad people coming by. We're here to stop 'em. Have they shown up yet?" Why, it's an attempt at a bluff! She even tries to sound as friendly as possible, lowering her arms and keeping her hands away from her weapons. "Don't mind him. He's... Kinda shy." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Unaware of the situation on the ground, Sarracenia and her airship push ahead. The cannons take aim at the flying creatures, but do not fire since none of the creatures actually attack. When she spots the tree, Sarracenia suddenly points at it. "Treeeeee-hoooo!" she says, then giggles and directs the airship in that direction.      The ship slides smoothly through the air heading toward the tree, and Sarracenia calls for all cannons to be loaded and readied. The plant people rush about the ship both above and below deck, getting the ship ready for battle. Or in this case, the bombardment. "That tree will never know what hit it!" Sarracenia says happily as they near it. She looks over at Vergil as he takes up a position next to her. "Hey! This is my area! No one may stand even with the princess without her permission!" When she says that, a pair of armed plant men step forward and point their spears at Vergil, urging him to step back. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      "Well, I suppose that's it" Vergil remarked dryly as he viewed the approaching form of the massive tree. He seems somewhat unimpressed by the sounding vista, or at the very least is more focused on their objective then on sightseeing. Pausing, closes his takes a deep breath, as if picking up some form of scent - or as if something about the air itself is somehow cleaner then the rest of the forest. "There's great power here... buried and dormant. Maybe because of all the black shadows across the land."     Opening his eyes, Vergil actually gives an amused smirk at Sarrancenia's request, utterly disregarding the plant-men pointing spears at him. Then, almost as if they didn't exist, Vergil simply steps past them toward the bow of the vessel, his hand resting on the pommel of Yamato as he calmly regards the airborne beasts that flee before the path of the ship.     Looking down over the rim, his eyes soon fall upon the village, looking at it with passing interest. He then gestures to it for Sarracenia to see - "Are they going to be a problem? If they worship this thing then our actions will be seen as defilement - we'd have to go through them." Perhaps disconcertingly to some, he doesn't sound at all perturbed by the idea - he sounds completely nonchalant, only asking so as to know what is or isn't a necessity for this mission. However, he doesn't advocate their destruction either, seeming to be the picture of neutrality on the matter.     Unless they actively interfere at least. 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     Nox's head snaps upward with a juddering, mechanical click at the sound of a human voice, and at the minute trace of magical energy accompanying it, fixing those expressionless, perfectly circular lights in the front of his mask on the girl's face. Children. Wonderful. Sanary responds before he's fully done thinking over several options however, which would generate an expression of incredulity were he not wearing an impassive, faceless helmet. "I assure you madamoiselle, we are perfectly aware." is all he leaves behind before he abruptly flickers out of spacetime, reappearing at the bow of the airship with an electrical flicker of blue static.     "Local children. Bothersome but useless. Continue at full speed." he then glances to the cannons. "I sincerely hope you aren't actually intending to simply blow the thing to pieces without extracting anything of use from it. Do you think of yourselves as no better tham a guided bomb." It takes him a second to recognize the position of the plantmen guards to either side of Vergil. ". . . are you two entirely done. We've been here less than an hour." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The girl in the tree just stares down. The look on her face says it all. She does not buy it for a minute. She remains completely still as she looks towards Sanary. She barely even blinks as Nox vanishes. She speaks. Her tone sounds like a whisper now, and yet, it echoes through the forest with volume.      "You seek to kill the Great Deku Tree. It will kill a large portion of this forest. Monsters will fill it. And. You are doing this for a malevolent reason. All of you will, forever, be an enemy of Hyrule."      As the ship gets closer, they'll at least be able to get a look at the village. It's hard to tell at this distance, but it looks like peopel are looking up. If the ship has any binoculars, they'd be able to make out interesting things about the villagers. The village has a really hand-crafted look to it, many of the houses even built into trees. The villagers themselves /all/ appear to be children, and all of them have a small ball of light floating with them. Most of them are looking up at the airship, now. Some of them are pointing at it, confused.      A particularly bratty one is climbing on top of a house, aiming a slingshot, and taking shots at the airship. He's missing by a fair amount.      The tree itself is a bit easier to view now, as well. It has a wise and old looking face on one side, its eyes closed underneath a pair of bushy looking eyebrows. A long square nose is down teh front of its face, and its mouth moves slowly. It can't be heard, all the way up from the airship. But, it certainly matches the description. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks in surprise as Vergil not only disregards her request, but actually steps forward. The spears of the plant men come up quickly to poke at his chest in an attempt to stop him. They don't really try to hurt him, just stop him. Sarracenia steps in front of him after that, arms crossed and a less than amused frown on her face. "If you are going to ride on -my- airship, you are going to abide by -my- wishes. If not, then there is the ground. We will not be landing in order to accomidate your departure." she says.      Then Nox appears and speaks up. This earns him the ire of the bratty princess. "That goes for you, too!" she says before she looks down at the village. "Even if they wished to stop us, they have no weapons that could hope to match this ship. And I happen to like bombs! I will annihilate that tree! Serves it right for getting so big and not caring about who or what might want to grow around it! Look at that big bald patch where it has sucked up all the nutrients!"      The airship flies over the village and continues on toward the tree without even slowing down. Hopefully Sanary isn't going to still be down there when they open fire. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "... Very shy." Sanary coughs lightly at Nox up and disappears, and she glances over at where he was a few times just to make sure. Yep, he's gone, and now she's being faced with...      ... Lots and lots of children. Probably not the greatest obstacle, but she does at least know better than to underestimate lots of tiny hands with tiny knives. "Well... Worth a shot. I'm just doing my job, you see. And if that means making enemies... Well. Can't be friends with everyone."      The healer's still got that light tone in her voice as she speaks, another laugh escaping her before she starts moving forward in the general direction that Sarracenia's airship is heading towards. "But yeah. I'm gonna go through and do that, so stay out of my way." Although the healer doesn't draw the gunaxe yet, she does take the shield off her back and keep that ready while keeping her free hand on the handle of that weapon. Not that she wants to hurt children or anything, but she does at least need to act like she's willing to.      "If you can do that, I won't have to hurt you. Er. Directly." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      When the plant-men try to stab him, Vergil - still unperturbed and bemused - ducks under the spears and continues walking until Sarracenia steps in front of him. He listens to her speak,but, aside from looking at her, he doesn't seem to acknowledge her as giving an order.     He doesn't give a reply before he sees Nox materialize, with Vergil raising a brow at him, seeming interested in his abilities... and he becomes even more-so when the masked individual voices Vergil's own internal thoughts on the tree.     Well, at least the suggestion was in the open, now. No need to hide it.     "I agree" he replies earnestly, if not cordially, Nox, though he eyes with an analytical eye. Perhaps cautious as well - and possibly in doing so giving the silent warning that he has similar aspirations for the tree... and does not plan to share what he takes. "This tree holds untapped potential - power that has sat useless and unexploited for years. Destroying it outright would be foolish... or at least not before finding out if some of what it contains is capable of being claimed. Besides, I think that patch around it is just because it's roots are in the way of anything else growing, not because the nutrients are gone."     When Vergil looks down at the village, his eyes focus on the occupants in curiosity, pondering what a town filled with children could be doing here. His eyes pay especially close attention on the single child who has the courage to shoot at his attackers, futile a gesture as it was... but the boy lacked the strength to stop them, so Vergil's interest wained quickly - the village was secondary to the goal; the primary target was the tree itself.      As they draw near the tree, Vergil looks in mild fascination and subdued surprise at the image of the face in it's surface, his brows raising up slightly at the sight. However, it quickly passes as he turns to face Nox and Sarracenia, though he only addresses the former as they share the same wavelength on how to approach the tree - "I don't suppose you have any way to communicate with it? Or tap into whatever core of power it has? If it's like a nature spirit, it's strength would be in it's roots, though it's center might be contained in the trunk. The creatures in this world are unfamiliar to me."     Already he has likely gotten on Sarracenia's bad side, but now he's practically acting like he is the one giving orders, treating the other two like mere advisors. 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     As it has been ever since Nox put on the mask, his expression is completely unreadable. What he thinks of Vergil, and of Sarracenia, is hidden from view behind the iconic faceplate of the heretical xelor, only to be expressed in whatever way he wishes through his voice, sometimes completely honest, other times, less so. "That may be so, madamoiselle, but as you can see, I am clearly not riding your ship." He gestures curtly downwards, calling attention to the fact that his feet aren't touching the deck. It's a safe bet that he's fully aware of what an asinine deflection it is. "Rest assured, you will have your chance to blast it to bits after we have concluded our business, but not a moment before."     His gaze ticks toward Vergil, figuratively and audibly, likely appraising the half-demon as well. "The only reason I could imagine wanting to communicate with that thing is an interrogation or demand of surrender. Otherwise, I am a specialist unlike any other in obtaining power by force. Roots, trunk, boughs, or a single, specific chestnut hidden in leaves; it fails to matter." The elastic thwack of the slingshot draws a faint, metallic sigh from him. "I sincerely hope those little /microbes/ have the sense to stay out of this." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The girl with pigtails leaves Sanary alone. She jsut stands there. The other kids are further along, in the village. She remains staring forward, standing tall.      "You are going to do this no matter what I say. If I attacked, I would be throwing my life away. You are destroying one of the few truly Good things in Hyrule. A Tree that has lived since the Days of the Golden Goddesses."      She stares down at Sanary. "...We, the Kokiri, might not survive without him. Saria might. But."      "Why are you doing this?"      Nothing is done to prevent Sanary from carrying onward but Fado's words.      The villagers keep watching. Mido keeps shooting Deku Nuts at the airship. One of them somehow catches the wind just right, and hits. A small flash of an exposion. A flashbang. Nothing more. The tree just sits there, waiting to be destroyed, or to be spoken to. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia hates to admit it, but Nox and Vergil have a point. If the tree has power that they can exploit, they should. However, she is never going to tell THEM that! And they are -both- treating her like she is a subordinate, when she is the only one among them who is an officer of the Confederacy!      Sarracenia's fists clench, then she smiles sweetly. Overly sweetly. "Well then...you two should go down and talk to it." she says in a very kind and courteous voice. Just before she winds up and baseball swings her huge hammer at the both of them, attempting to sweep both off her ship at the same time. The plant soldiers quickly drop to the ground even as she winds up. They know their princess, and know when to duck.      Once the two are cleared from the deck of her airship, the ship starts downward and comes to a stop above the clearing, in front of the tree's face. She hops off the bow of her ship and rides the head of her hammer downward. When she lands, the hammer drives into the ground, creating a small impact crater and somehow keeps her from being injured. Then, she steps toward the tree, her hammer resting on her shoulder. "So, you are not just a tree?" she calls out. She saw how it seemed to be speaking before, even if she couldn't hear it. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     Looking between the two, Vergil stays silent for a moment, then glances back at the tree, before finally giving a half-shrug. "Well, it's not as if we have anything to lose by speaking with it. At the very least, we may gain something without having to resort to destroying it immediately - and perhaps the threat alone will make it talk."     He listens to Nox's explanation of his abilities, and, while he seems to judge him more noteworthy, still seems cordial at best. "Tempting as it is to simply take whatever power it has, I'd rather see what can be learned through a gentle touch first before potentially damaging whatever prize we stand to collect." Then there is the odd flashing, this time actually forcing Vergil to raise an arm up to shield his eyes, grunting in displeasure and agitation, though he's more annoyed then anything else.     It's not enough to warrant a counterattack... but it is evidence that they will likely be a problem.      He sees Sarracenia's hammer wind up for the swing... and before it is swung, Vergil actually jumps up of his own accord, letting the wind from the swing propel him across the distance toward the tree itself. He lands against it's bark and half-skids down the side until he reaches a foothold from which he can face the immense face that exists in the tree's side, giving a somewhat flashy mid-air spin before he lands.     When he does, he regards the tree with more apparent interest, resting a hand on Yamato's hilt. "I don't know if you've noticed, but someone obviously wants you destroyed very badly. Mind telling me what you could possibly have that would be considered so valuable as to uproot you and, I'm assuming, half the local ecosystem just to get you out of the way." He then glances to where the airship hands above with the children still vainly trying to shoot it down. "You might also want to speak quickly, lest my... associate lose her temper with the village. Convincing them to back down would also be nice."     His tone is cordial, yet assumptive and arrogant - he rather clearly believes he has the upper hand here. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      At least the pigtailed girl has enough sense not to attack. Or any of the other kids, even, and that's something Sanary is inwardly relieved by. The girl's words do make her pause for a moment, however, as the weight of what she's about to do does weigh her down briefly.      It's not as if she didn't expect to hurt someone doing this. Or a lot of people, even, considering what Agahnim had said in the past. "It would be a waste, yeah. If you leave now, you'll have a better shot at finding somewhere to survive."      At least nobody can say she doesn't have a heart! Sanary's about to continue walking, but stops again to face Fado directly at that question. Just what /is/ she fighting for and doing all of this for, anyway? Money? Status? Power?      Definitely power. It doesn't take her all that long to shrug lightly. "Power. If that means destroying some people for what's important to me... Well." She's not quite sure how to finish that sentence, and just continues walking towards the tree and her allies after a moment. She doesn't stop talking, though, so it's up to Fado whether she wants to follow or not. "Guess you're even unluckier than me, then. So go on. You might be able to get on the airship if you ask nicely." 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     Well, there's no point sticking around to get hit in the face with a hammer, and no use in fighting with Sarracenia, especially in one of these moods. Nox blinks out of existence as the hammer swings through his personal space, accomplishing the intended goal of the princess getting him away from the ship in a more dignified manner than being propelled with a blunt object. Predictably, he reaches the clearing near-instantly, zapping down in front of the Great Deku Tree with a minimum of flash and fanfare, ever one for efficiency over awe.     Up close, the tree is much more impressive. Already he can detect a difference in class between the being before him and the overblown weed from that island way back when. Even its facial features seem to be deliberately expressing great age, as if to drive the point home further. His tone is marginally more respectful than Vergil's, though it is rarely outright rude. "And a much belated good evening." he appends to threats of violence against children. "My time is valuable, and I'm sure you can already guess why we're here, so let's skip that part shall we. You have . . . let's say five minutes to say anything you need to say. I would advise against attempting to summon up whatever meagre protections this backwoods may have, unless you want it to be cut short." Well, if everyone else is doing it, he can spare that much time. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      "We are the children of the Forest. We can not leave, or exist outside of it. When I die, no one will remember the name Fado. Within a few days, I doubt even you will remember me."      There is a rustling of the trees, and suddenly the girl vanishes.      Sanary is free to go through the village. None will attack her. Even Mido is entirely focused upon the airship. It's a walk through a small canyon past the village, and at last, Sanary will reach the Deku Tree.      The others arrive at the same time as her, due to the antics on the airship.      The Deku Tree looks at the group through slitted eyes. It's mouth shifts, as it prepares to talk. Its voice is slow, and each word is spoke with meaning and intent.      "I have nothing of worth. Destroying me will simply break a seal. A seal upon the Mask. You all know it as a source of Power. It is also a great danger. It is a force that threatens to destroy this world. Some might control it. Few could. The weak will become a puppet to it."      "There is nothing I can say to stop you. I have been on this world for a long time. I wish to keep living. When I die, much of the Forest will die. Not just here. Across all of this world. Nearby, the water will turn to poison. The animals will die. These woods will become lost to all life. This does not matter to you, does it?"      His lips move again. His brow furrows. A thought is lingering in his mind, and he speaks it aloud.      "And here, I thought I would fall at the hands of Ganondorf."      He rustles his leaves, shaking off that train of thought. "...Nevermind. Now. Do what you must. I was granted Courage by the Goddesses. I will move on without fear." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia finds herself staring in awe as the tree talks in that ancient voice. Her hammer lowers, and she listens intently to what the tree says. As she listens, anyone watching her would easily see her resolve for destruction disappearing. She knew that the mask wanted them to destroy a sacred tree, but she figured it was the quotations kind of sacred. The kind like some uneducated forest people think a tree is magic because it is old and big and has a face. But this one...it is actually talking! And it seems to be noble and strong, unafraid of what they represent.      She stays a short distance away from the tree, just staring. Even as the others talk to it and discuss how to kill it, she just stands there. Until the tree says he was going to fall anyway. That seems to ease whatever worry she had. She still doesn't seem eager to destroy the tree, especially considering she brought a ship designed to destroy things. And she doesn't seem inclined to get things started, either. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     As Vergil listens, he tilts his head, seeming skeptical at first. "That's it, then? You're nothing more then a guardian for a seal?" He crosses his arms, closes his eyes...      ... then he shakes his head and smiles.     How ironic that it would be so similar to to the seals on his father's tower, the Temen-ni-gru?      "Nothing else to say, then?" Vergil asks, somewhat curious. "No pleas to spare the village? In turn, his gaze narrows inquisitively. "Or... have you simply concluded that nothing you say would change that outcome, either."     The ironic thing was that this was actually not true - Vergil had no qualms with those living in the village. If anything, he almost pitied how they were about to lose everything. But, such was how the world worked - there were those that took and those that were taken from. The only difference between the two was how much strength one had over the other.     After a moment, Vergil scoffs and smirks. "Well, I suppose that makes this easier, then. If what you say is true... this mask is a source of power that /can/ in fact be controlled."     Calling it dangerous was redundant - all power was dangerous if one couldn't control it. Saying it would control the weak was redundant - power ruled over everything. It was the key to achieving one's goals, as they were nothing but dreams and musings without it - of course those too weak to grasp it would be victimized. That was simple logic.     When the Tree gives it's final response, Vergil at least grants it an answer; "I have no grudge against this world or it's people. I couldn't care less about their battles or their grudges, and I have no wish to attack or antagonize them. However, I likewise don't care if they hate me or if the forests or every plant in the area dies. This is not my world... and even if it was, it makes no difference to me." With this, he brings up one fist and clenches it lightly, as if grasping something in it. "The only thing I care about... is acquiring power. Without that, nothing one has can be retained, and you cannot protect or build anything in this life without it." He gives the tree a more arrogant, yet assured smirk at this. "Like I said, I don't have any grudge against this place... but so long as I attain the power I seek, then I could care less what happens to this world as result."     At this, he turns to face Nox, gesturing to the tree's roots. "I suppose this is your department, now. Can you siphon it's energy? That should also kill it /and/ complete our mission." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "... Well. That /really/ sucks, then." Sanary slows down again as Fado's words hit her, hesitating for another moment before adjusting her eyepatch. "I'll... Try to."      She's not lying, at least! Still, that won't stop her from completing her assigned task, and the healer reconvenes with her allies at the base of the tree. They're all in one piece, so she can only assume they got through without much difficulty. As such, she only channels a small amount of healing energy their way, mostly to keep their stamina and magic reserves topped off just in case.      Listening to the Deku Tree, her eye keeps darting about at their surroundings warily. Nothing's happened yet, but she's starting to get a little worried /because/ of how much nothing has gotten in their way so far. She keeps some energy swirling about in her head near her eye, although she doesn't fire just yet as she looks towards the ancient tree.      "If you're prepared, then... That just makes it easier for everyone involved, then." Sarracenia gets a light nod from Sanary, the healer's resolve only strengthening at hearing Vergil's own reasons. They're not all that different from her own, although he is substantially more eloquent about it.      Is As she readies the magical energy necessary to fire the heat beam from her eye, however, she pauses again. "... Don't think you'd be able to let those kids leave the forest before then, would you?" Sanary will wait for an answer or for her allies to fire first (if at all), but won't be the first to fire! Juuust in case. 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     "How remarkably candid." is Nox's reply after an uncharacteristically long period of silence. His voice lacks any of the detached, professional cheer from before. "I'd have liked it better were there some bluster in you, but it seems you understand your position very well." The eyeholes of his mask close over briefly as Vergil speaks. "I could repeat the same, tired line as to how little I care for this world, but I assure you, my callousness is a matter of practicality. After all, all of this is temporary. Die knowing that your purpose went to something much greater than yourself, and assured that, soon enough, neither your forests, your children, nor you yourself will never know any of this ever happened."     It's absolute nonsense. Something that only means anything to him. Such, however, is the fate of genuises, and men with visions beyond their time. Let it not be said that Nox is too cruel, too selfish, or too cold to be unhearing of and unmoved by the Deku Tree's words. This is something he has done a hundred times before, and never once has he forgotten that the act itself is evil. By now however, he's simply come too far to back out, and in the end, all of it will rectify itself. There's no use worrying about the training lap, after all. Nothing in this multiverse will count against him once he is vindicated.     The noxines swarm from the trees, banding together into a synchronized ring, discharging their stores of power in luminous trails behind them that connect into the outline of a perfect circle in unison. As the circle is completed, it is filled with a rippling sheen of spatial distortion, allowing one to view somewhere /else/ through an impossibly confusing layer of distortion. From that gate trudges a small horde of hulking, mechanical aides, gear turning with no obvious or functional source of power, and yet somehow driving the vaguely arachnid constructs of steel and brass foward, each one posessed of a partially transparent body the size of a small truck, and a quartet of finely machined needles beneath their soulless, glowing eyes, crackling with arcs of something that isn't electricity.     They are designed to make short work of targets like these. They clamber into place, latch on with their multiple legs, and drain their prey's life, its vital and spiritual essence, through their hypodermics, compressing as a luminescent fluid within their tanks, until all that's left is a husk. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      "I am the guardian of a seal. But, I also protect this forest. It will no longer be safe. The seal is secondary. I am the ruler of all Forests, first."      "There is no need for me to ask for the Kokiri to be kept safe. My answer will likely not matter on that, either. You have no reason to kill them. They will continue living, at least for some time, without me. They are immortal, ageless children of the forest. My children. I have faith in them."      There is a brief pause. His lips part yet again. "...But. I do have one last request. It is not for you. And, she has already been informed of her duty."      As the swarm latches onto the Great Deku Tree, it only has but one last thing it can say, as the life drains out of it. As its entire body slowly begins to turn grey. And that phrase is simple:      "Farewell."      It continues to drain, the brown of its body very slowly vanishing. As it dies, it's last request, a request given to one of the Kokiri Children, is performed. Throughout the air of the grotto holding the Deku Tree, music echoes. It is a cheerful tune. Surprisingly so. It is its favorite song, composed by one of its favorite children. On the cliff nearby, a single Kokiri child can be seen. She is young, with short green hair. In her hands, a wooden ocarina. A tear rolls down her eye, as the ball of light that is her fairy floats against her body to comfort her.      She will keep playing, long after the Deku Tree has turned completely grey and become dead petrified wood. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The princess just continues to watch as the others talk and Nox summons those mechanical creatures. She wants to say something, but she just can't seem to get the words out. She is once again reminded of the kind of people with whom she is allied. People who do not really care what is destroyed so long as their mission is completed.      As Nox's creatures tap into the tree and the tree's color starts to fade, Sarracenia turns her head away from the sight, then looks up at her airship and motions toward it. The plant-creatures lower a rope ladder, which Sarracenia grips before they haul it upward. "Well...I suppose our mission is complete." she says as she is lifted back into the sky. She looks pretty sad herself, which probably seems pretty strange to the others of this party. And as the music starts, she actually turns away from them and looks over at the young girl. Sarracenia just watches the girl until the princess is back aboard her ship. The cannons are retracted and secured as Sarracenia tries to avoid showing anyone how she is feeling. It wouldn't do for her allies to see that she was wiping at her eyes every now and then. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      There's no need for Sanary to fire as the swarm of... Whatever those things Nox released to start sucking the life out of the tree, and she lets the magical energy resume circulating through her body normally once more. The Tree's last words don't go unanswered, however, as she lets out a long sigh and repeats what had been said to Fado earlier.      "I'll try to."      And with that, the healer turns around to head towards that village again. She pauses after the first few steps, however, to look over at the lone girl in the distance. Is there anything she can even say to help her out? Probably not, although...      Well, Sanary had come to destroy the Tree. Nobody said anything about bringing some refugees back. And so, she heads back to the village with a renewed energy in her step and practically shouts once she gets there!      "Hey! Your tree's dead, but you don't have to follow it. So come with us if you want to live!" Certainly not the most eloquent way of putting it, but... She did say she'd try. She never guaranteed any results. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Kokiri that stands on top of a tree house, the bratty boy? He shoots his slingshot at Sanary. It's not enough to hurt her, really. It's just a bright flash of light, right in the face. He yells down at her.      "Get out of our forest!"      The others all start moving and hiding in their homes. Not a single one will want to go with Sanary. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      After a brief staggering from that flash of light right in her only functioning eye, Sanary sighs and rubs her temples. "... Well, I tried. Can't say I didn't."      She doesn't leave right away, however, taking her time in passing by some of those homes to try and peer inside. No takers, but it's not like she could just drag them out. Or... Could she?      No. Definitely not. At this point, her only real option is to just leave and remember what happened here. With any luck, it wouldn't have to happen again. 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil regards the tree silently, listening to it's last words, though none of which are able to shift his previously-stated reasonings. He does however reply at the request for the children - "I have no grudge against them, and we have no reason to harm them. So long as they do not pursue or attack us, tat won't change."     As the tree dies, Vergil can practically /feel/ the environment dying around them... though the song does seem to strike a cord in him, however slight the half-demon remembering a time in his long-forgotten past when his own family was torn apart.     This was the result of what happened when one did not have the strength they needed to protect what they had.     That ideal reminding of him why it was so important to have strength in life, Vergil also takes Sanary's actions as cementing this further - "It's best to lave them. They'll eventually head out on their own - they won't have a choice now that we took away their guardian." He then turns away, speaking over his shoulder as he does so - "Besides... it's pointless to try and reason with children who have lost their parent. Especially if their blood is on your hands"     He speaks dispassionately, no guilt or remorse in his voice at all for what they have done... though does at least have he decency to have some form of pity for the village when he looks at it.     However, shortly afterword, he invests himself in observing the fruits of Nox's labors. "Very efficient" Vergil comments truthfully, actually allowing himself to sound impressed, subdued as it was compared to other people... though his attention itself was not directed at Nox, but rather to the large containment units that carried the fluid extracted from the tree, seeming intrigued by it.     However, he also seems somewhat inquisitive... and more then a bit expectant. "Do you intend to share any of this? I'd like to think we each would have some form of reward for all our trouble."     He uses the word 'each' though as a means of parlay, bringing Sanary and Sarracenia into it only to highlight the point of reaping some of the spoils of the mission. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia shakes her head to Vergil. "No...I do not require any reward for this. My tools were not the ones to finish the tree." she says as her airship stays near the ground. She motions to one of the plant-men, then the ship heads off into the sky. She flies over the village, watching as the children reject Sanary's offer.      Sarracenia makes a note to check on them later. They may need water or food if the forest is truly dead. Assuming these elf-like children even survive without the power of their guardian. But for now, the airship flies away, leaving the other Confederates behind. 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     Nox watches Sanary depart without comment. If she wants to bother with the children, so be it. Even Sarracenia seems to have gotten cold toes. His attention is more preoccupied with Vergil. The xelor abruptly teleports on the spot, disappearing and reappearing for the sole sake of rotating ninety degrees in place rather than manually turning around. It's a little jarring. "'We each'? I don't recall either of those two indicating that they had any interest in the Deku Tree's power. In fact, they were quite adamant on destroying it before even getting near it. I don't see why I should, or why you should want to. Bringing their names into the equation doesn't mask your intent at all." His tone is brisk and curt. It's clear Vergil is toeing dangerous territory here.     "Do you even know what this is? Clearly you are in need of some kind of power, but I believe you haven't the faintest notion of what or how. Tell me, are you an inventor or machinist? Or perhaps a mage or spellcrafter of some sort? If the answer is no, I can't see what possible use you have for a raw resource of this nature and calibre. If you want power, specify what kind and for what purpose. I may give it to you, or at least direct you towards it, but not this, and not until you properly earn it. I guarantee you, this tree's essence is going towards a far more important design than your personal growth." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     When Vergil replies, his smirk is more tightly-lipped as before - mostly due to the other two losing their nerve partway through. Though he filed this away for future reference, it didn't change the fact that he was left with his barefaced ambition as the only justification for his request.     Thankfully, he did in fact fill at least a few of the prerequisites Nox had cited... though whether he would relinquish the item was still up for debate.      "I do in fact have experience in spellcrafting. It comes with the status of having demonic blood" he replies, his smile still present. "As for what I want power for... well, I'd imagine the same as you; the creation of an order that will ensure stability in the world. To be blunt... rulership over my world's Neatherealm... and from there, the unification of it with the human world to create a single realm."     He tilts his head slightly at this in a half shrug - he had no reason to really hide /why/ he wanted power and resources... though he didn't need to exposit on how he wouldn't hesitate to claim any higher position of status if it meant getting him closer to that goal. "In that, you and I aren't exactly different... and natural energy such as that-" he gestures toward the fluid in the tanks "-may be the perfect stepping stone in helping me fuel those efforts, more powerful then even the souls of a thousand demons could be... besides, just because the other two turned down the chance to claim a reward doesn't mean one isn't deserved. Especially since we are supposedly 'allies.'"     He uses the term loosely... and only as leverage to get what he wants in this instance. 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     That, of all things, elicits nothing but a laugh from Nox. Not quite dry and humourless, and not at all sarcastic, though still tinged by that metallic reverb. "Rulership? Order? If I had wanted to I could have conquered the globe years ago! Those are the ambitions of people who concern themselves too much with how things are rather than how things could be, or rather, how they could have been. Mine simply can't be compared to such mundane aspirations as those. I've surpassed the gods to do what they could not, not to become another one of them."     "To know that you're more than a fashionable idiot with a sword is reassuring, but at this time, I cannot reward anything but your boldness. I share my power with the Confederacy because they prove useful enough to be worth the expenditure. Prove useful to me, and you will get the same. After all, I can hardly call you an ally after only just meeting you. I don't even know your name." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''      Vergil's response is still controlled and tight-lipped, though still smiling. "If it makes so little difference to you, why do you care what another does with the power they gain? Moreover, isn't 'surpassing the gods' in and of itself making what 'could be' a reality when they could not?" He then gives a more inquisitive expression. "Besides... if you truly have surpassed them, why do /you/ in turn seek more power, then, if not to accomplish something with with it?"     Listening to Nox, the son of Sparda seems more and more convinced that this being, who had gone as far as proclaiming he'd 'surpassed the gods' yet was still bound by the desire for materialistic power, was not going to give him something for nothing.     Smart. Admirable. Bot no less frustratingly irritating.     At the last part, he tilted his head and gestured toward his 'ally.' "I could say the same to you, as you haven't introduced yourself. But... as for my name? Vergil. Son of Sparda - not that I can assume you to know the name as, for me, the world has gotten far larger then before. And in turn, as I've told you my reasons... perhaps you could tell me what you think you need this for?" He gestures again, this time to the tanks.     After all, if nothing else, he at least wanted to know what Nox planned. 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     "Nox." is the simple reply. "That's the name I've had for two hundred years now." It'd be discourteous to offer less. "Don't be mistaken. I have absolutely no care for what you do so long as it doesn't affect me. What I care about is the fact that I need as much energy as possible, and giving it away to everyone who asks politely would clearly get me nowhere. I don't make investments unless I know there will be a return. Surely you can understand that." He does however, pause carefully before continuing. "Because being greater than them isn't enough. There wasn't enough power in the world to do what I need to. Not power for power's sake, but a means to an end."     "Simply put, I will invoke the magic that will fix everything."     "If you insist that you have something to offer worth being granted these stores, you are welcome at any time to make arrangements with my private frequency, or with the Confederacy at large. I am not at all generous, but I am practical. I do not ignore things that prove beneficial to me." 

:'''{{#var:878|Vergil (878)}} has posed:'''     Practical. Safe, Guarded, but not unreasonable. All traits that Vergil respected. And while it was frustrating to think he wouldn't likely be getting anything out of this immediate deal... it did open the possibilities for other ventures.     In this case, patience would be needed just as much.      "Power for power's sake would be pointless, I agree. After all, if it's not directed to an end, what good is it? It becomes nothing more then a tool that gathers dust... like this tree was."     Hearing Nox's assurances was not exactly reassuring - Vergil rarely took anything at face-value... but so far, Nox had not given him reason to treat him as unfair as of yet. After all... it was only common law that you provide for something in return, much as Vergil would wish the law could be subverted at times for the sake of his own ambitions. "Equivalent exchange, then? Heh... very well. I will keep your offer in mind, I suppose. And as for what to offer... well, I do have an example of what my world can provide as baseline research"     At this, he reaches into his coat and pulls something free, tossing it to Nox - a Red Orb, the image of what seems to be learning demonic face within. "These are known as Orbs. Crystalized demon essences - the end result of what happens when a demon's bodies are cut down or destroyed in my own world. Those with demonic blood can consume them to gain power, and there are different colors for certain essences - blood, tears and so-forth. Each offers different properties - Green Orbs can heal wounds, Red Orbs can increase the powers in one's demonic bloodline and so-forth. You're free to study them - all you need to do is kill demons - enough to get a working sample size - since their blood and vital fluids crystalize while oxidizing. There's no short supply of them, after all, so nobody will notice a few going missing. And if that's not enough... well, consider it a starting basis for how things function in my world... and something to research if at all interested." 

:'''{{#var:546|Nox (546)}} has posed:'''     Nox doesn't move to catch the lobbed orb. Space swiftly bends to catch it, compressing a layer of congealed spacetime around it before slowly dragging it closer to be examined. It doesn't take Vergil's explanation for the xelor's specially tuned senses to understand that there is power in the thing, though the full thing is much more interesting. "I see. This is unique. Convenient even. I can't call myself a demon in more than the figurative sense, but, mmm, we'll see. We'll see." It's pretty clear that Vergil actually has his interest now, at least a little bit. Another world to pay a visit to. Study material is, after all, a good use of time. "We'll be in touch. For now, I bid you adieu."     The xelor abruptly disappears. It doesn't initially seem like Vergil has gotten much out of coming here, but no doubt he's smart enough to realize the opportunities he suddenly has, especially as an unaffiliated freelance. 

}}

3146/Meeting Duke Onkled

2015-10-06T05:04:26Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/03 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Union meets with the Duke of Gamelon to decide if Zelda should go with him. |Thanks=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/03
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Union meets with the Duke of Gamelon to decide if Zelda should go with him.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 70, 385, 492, 513, 864
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      A message has gone out. Though it was primarily aimed at the Union, others within the Multiverse have received it as well. All of those who have been aiding in rescuing Hyrule have gotten word, in one way or another.      Zelda's Uncle, Duke Onkled of Gamelon, wishes to meet with her.      Coordinates were given in the message. An empty spot in Hyrule Field. No other landmarks are nearby. Simply a flat stretch of plains within Hyrule. The Duke and his forces are already there. About fifty horses and riders are with him. Each of the riders is dressed in an armor similar to the standard outfit of the Hylian army. Light metal armor over most of their body, metal face-covering helmets, and a tunic with the symbol of the Hyrulian Royal Family upon it. Unlike the standard outfit, the bits of color upon the tunic are not the normal blues. Instead, it is a simple red, the chosen color of Duke Onkled.      The Duke himself is present as well. He wears armor as well, albeit heavier and more well made. It is fashioned to look golden in color. Instead of a simple tunic, he instead has a rather well crafted red tunic, with a long red cape. His long brown hair flows behind him, messily. His face looks worn with age, his once strong face now covered in wrinkles. It seems he isn't above fighting himself, though. He has several weapons with him. A spear, a sword, a crossbow, and a shield.      Duke Onkled remains on his horse, waiting for the group to arrive. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Rather than coming in on foot (or on horseback), Yuna makes her approach to the meeting point from the air, outfitted in her Light Suit's Flight Form. "Hail and well met, Sir Duke!" she calls out to Onkled as she approaches. "My name's Yuna; I'm a member of the gruop that's been working to free Hyrule. More of them are on their way with Zelda," she says, slowing to hover in front of the Duke and his retinue - not quite touching down; she wants to be ready to react in case any hostiles turn up. Elner's still holding position overhead, scanning the area for signs of movement that can't be chalked up to known friendlies; although it should be fairly easy to see anyone else coming, neither Yuna nor Elner wanted to take chances. Distractions can be easy and effective, after all, and Duke Onkled is probably going to be preoccupied with Zelda; his guards/soldiers might be as well, and it'd be kind of embarassing if something snuck up in the middle of a family reunion. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr approaches the coordinates assigned for the meeting point in vehicle form, speeding across the grassy field until he is nearly on top of Yuna. But no worries, he has this completely under control! He stops just in time, sliding to a halt as he begins scanning the humans before him. "I'm guessing one of you is Duke Onkled?" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel had been kept away by problmes back home, if it wasn't one thing it was a virus, a root kit or some other malware program. Still she's managed to get those things settled and here she was. Her clothing would be strange the almost form fitting nature of half the outfit and then the glowing tattoos she had on her exposed arm which might look quite strange even to one who knows what they seem to be. (Part of a circuit lines. She's come in by foot not wanting to spook the local riding animals. Her voice has an strange warble to it but she seems friendly enough as she looks to the Duke. "Duke Onkled I presume?" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Although normally not one for diplomacy and pleasantries - too wild, she'd tell herself, totally uninterested - something about the prospect of this meeting draws Finna's presence. Perhaps it's the oath she swore, or maybe it's something else. But she arrives in her usual fashion, simply FLYING in as a hawk until she is on the outskirts of the gathering and then shifting back to hman form.     What IS obvious, however, is that she's chosen to garb herself in more colorful attire than normal. She's adopted a fancily embroidered cerulean gown of local designs, along with boots and several bits of minor jewelry. Of course, it's all products of shapeshifting, wrought of pure Essence, but the naked eye can't tell that...     "Greetings, Duke Onkled of Gamelon! good to see you and your entourage arrived intact! ...hopefully without incident."     Even her manner's changed a little. While not actually speaking the local language, her intonation and accent has shifted subtly, it'll be hard to peg her as a foreigner now. Even if one knows she is, there's a familiarity to her that simply screams 'traveler of the lands of Hyrule.' 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Out of the crowd, Priscilla probably fits in best without actually trying to. No flight, no shapeshifting, no turbo speed car form. Her extraneous features are worth noting, but in a land that has gorons, zoras, dekus, and who knows what else, they aren't especially noteworthy, and neither is the clothing she wears absolutely everywhere. Aware of the place of meeting and with nothing else of immediate concern, she's made the effort to arrive early, picking the obvious place at the sound of hoofbeats on the air. It's refreshing to deal with the kind of knights with regular swords and armour for a change, riding normal, trustworthy animals. The Knights of Gwyn are a little eerie to be around, and Solaire is hardly even close to one anymore.     Priscilla isn't one for physical signs of formality -- things like cultural institutions and self expression don't come terribly easily to her -- but as always her tone carries that for her. "Well met, Duke of Gamelon, and hail to thee and thine loyal men. The Princess was not far behind when last I left. She shalt be here momentarily." She assures Onkled, since it isn't immediately obvious. "Thou art welcomed and thine generosity appreciated. It benefits all that it shouldst be someone of familiar that sees to her." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Princess of Hyrule rides in, upon a white horse. Her body is covered in a plain brown robe. Her royal gown is underneath it, though magic makes sure that the robe covers it compeltely at all times. Zelda doesn't come on her own. Just as the Duke has her own men, Zelda has several of her own bodyguards with her. Five Hyrulian Guards ride along side of her, forming a perimeter around. A number of others are following along as well. It's unlikely anyone will see but a glimpse of them, though. But, the Sheikah never leave Zelda alone.      The Duke nods to those who arrive, in greeting. His face has no smile upon it. He doesn't seem the kind to do so. Far too serious. He speaks, his voice somewhat booming and loud. Despite his age, it's fairly smooth and pleasant to listen too, albeit deep. He gives the most attention to Yuna and Priscilla, for they are the ones who are being the most polite. Priscilla even helps reassure him, until Zelda stops on her horse with the rest of the group. Some glances are given to Finna as well, but she doesn't introduce herself. "Yes. I am Duke Onkled. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Yuna. And..." His eyes turn to Zelda, his ancient brown eyes looking her straight on. He gives the closest thing to a smile that any of his servants have seen him give for a long time. A simple upturn of the lips, that soon vanishes. "...I never thought I would see you again, my dear niece."      Zelda nods as well, removing her hood. She, too, doesn't smile. She keeps up a rather blank face. With all she has gone through, with the fact that this is her first time back into Hyrule in years? The fact that she is meeting her beloved uncle again for the first time? The fact she is holding back her emotion is admirable.      "It is a pleasure to see you again as well, Uncle. Even before the Twilight arrived, it had been too long. We do not have the luxury of time, though. Agahnim is almost certain to realize this meeting is taking place."      The Duke nods, and looks to the group. "...First, and foremost. I would like to offer my aid in your efforts. The Twilight has been in this land for far too long, and the fact that you are making headway against it is a miracle granted by the Goddesses. So. I ask this of you."      "Is there anything you would ask of me, as far as supplies, equipment, rations, or similar Ask anything. I can not promise I will have access to it. But, if it is within my reach, I would be willing to give it to you all."      He looks towards Zelda. "And... Second, but most important. I would like to ask all of you to allow my Niece to stay with me, in my castle. It has been far too long since she has been in Hyrule. The Castle is safe, on an island in an area free of the Twilight. Every attempt by Agahnim to attack has been stopped. And, Zelda would be better able to command troops from my castle. We'll get her a step forward towards taking her rightful place, as Queen of Hyrule."      Zelda bites her lip a little. She looks towards the others. While she could make this choice on her own, a sense within her tells her to ask, "...Hm. I will leave this decision up to my allies." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel sees others arriving she knows most of the party even i it's not too well, so thats good. She has osme idea about everyone here the basic looks to the Duke smiling for a moment as The duke sees Zelda. She'll hold off on introducing herself given the family reunion here. She waits a moment before speaking up to the Duke. "My name is Deelel Duke Onkled." She thinks now the Duke hasn't set off any alarm bells with Deelel also given Zelda response. "I admit I'm not versed in large scale tactics but the Duke's plan sounds solid, what say the rest of you on it?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Still hovering, Yuna smiles, bowing politely to Duke Onkled. "It's a great pleasure to make your acquaintance," she says to him - more formally this time - before straightening from her bow. "If you're certain that the castle is safe and secure, I don't see why Zelda wouldn't be protected there ... but, would you permit us to accompany Her Highness to help confirm her safety along the way, and to do what we may to ascertain that the castle is proof against Agahnim's forces? Just because he hasn't broken through *yet* doesn't mean it's actually impossible ..." 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     "Well if you think those things are gonna be after her yeah it might be a good idea." Blurr replies, as a somewhat normal-looking young man with blond hair and blue eyes appears near Onkled. Well his clothes are weird for the setting but at least he looks like a human right? He nods toward Yuna. "Sounds like a plan to me." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "I hate to contradict your declaration, sir," Finna points out, wagging a finger, "But there's an awful lot of strange dark magics at work. To think that the entire realm is pockmarked with this Twilight plague. Yuna has the right of it... your defenses are mighty as anything that can be found in these lands, but so were Hyrule's. Nobody will be truly safe until the traitor wizard's no more. And unless you have wings, a castle's walls can become a trap juast as much as it keeps the enemy out. I'm not so sure if she'd be SAFER /ANYWHERE.../... your dominion will become an even bigger target if your asylum becomes known... so, not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, but there's possibly just as much bad about turtling up as there is flitting about like a mayfly."     This probably isn't going to win her any points with the Duke. Possibly not Zelda either. maybe not anybody really.     "So I guess it boils down to... are you sure your defenses will hold against ANYTHING that might be thrown your way? even if it's three or four times worse than what you've faced so far? Because what I've seen of Agahnim's operations so far says we should all be expecting it." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "Lady Priscilla, of no titles that hold relevance in these lands." Priscilla finishes before vague prompting can take place. She doesn't bow, since that's not really part of her culture, but her tone couldn't be taken for arrogance if one tried. "I am . . . no stranger to long reunions. Longer than most live for. The fact that thou wouldst offer something other than flattery and thanks is well appreciated. I didst possesseth no expectations whence I arrived, but I see thou art a man of character, or at the very least, action." She pauses to consider.     "I cannot say that I requireth anything in the way of supplies, but some further knowledge of these lands ahead wouldst proveth desireable. More precisely, locales with which to prepare means of our own, out of sight, or at least defensible. 'Safehouses', if thou wilst, even if work is required. It's a lot better than having to trek across country between villages in the case that they might have to do so for longer than a day. There's been an awful lot of rescuing going on, though refugees are far from unexpected in this situation.     Riva, once again, raises more than a little displeasure in the crossbreed with her attitude. "In deed, no fortress is proof against all enemies, and the sorceror may redouble his efforts once the princess' location is known, but again, now that she is known to us, it is a simple and well defended location which we may arriveth at under trivial circumstances. If necessary, a warpgate may be constructed, but regardless, there art swift and sure reinforcements awaiting thee and thine cause at any notice. I wouldst very much prefer to defend the princess from a castle's battlements than a barren road, or else be made to chase after her." She then glances to Zelda with the opposite expression, clearly approving of her composure. "Asides. It is well that someone be able to rest securely with their kindred, rather than a stranger's home." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Zelda, for her part, listens to everyone. This is a hard choice for her. She has longed for homeland and family so long. Her first instinct is to go with him. But, she realizes that. This is why she is letting the others chose. She actually looks towards Finna appreciatively. Her and Yuna voiced concerns that Zelda was having, but Finna put in a lot more explaination on why it is a bad idea.      The Duke listens the arguements. A hand moves to his chin, as he ponders. He ponders their words. At last, he speaks again, eyes looking at Finna and Yuna more than the others.      "...I admit. I can not guarantee her safety. No where in this land is safe. Perhaps it is just greed guiding me. I never married. I have no children. She is the only family I have left." He glances to Zelda, a somewhat sad look in his eyes. Zelda looks at him, before looking away. It's not often she feels embarrased, but...      He glances at the group again, speaking softly, "...If you wish to visit my castle, we can. It will be quite a ride, and then a boatride across the sea. It is, technically, part of Hyrule. But, it is far removed from the mainland."      He looks back behind him, from the direction he and his troops came from. The ocean isn't even visible from where they are. It'll be a long trip.      But, Priscilla offers an option. A warp gate. The Duke smiles at Priscilla, motioning to her, "Ah! That would be a great option! A warp gate, to Gamelon. I have heard of such structures before. If one is constructed, it would /certainly/ make it much easier to respond in case of danger. Would all of you settle with that as an option?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna nods, "Yeah, a warpgate would be a good option. Priscilla, I assume you meant to request the Union constructing one so it'll be secured through the regular Union protocols?" Because setting up an UNSECURED warpgate would be one of the worst ideas ever, particularly when the whole idea is to help PROTECT Gamelon Castle in case of emergency. An unsecured warpgate would basically be an open door with a welcome mat for any invaders who happened upon it ... "If we need to get to Gamelon faster," Yuna adds, "I could go back home and get the Mike-maru-go, come to Hyrule and pick up Zelda, Duke Onkled, and a couple of others ... I don't think I can bring everyone in my cruiser, but it *would* be quicker than riding all the way." 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Safehouses, hey Priscilla has an idea there. "Now she's got a good point." The avatar nods toward the woman. "Duke's base might be better fortified, but more obvious. I could have some safehouses set up at various locations, hopefully easily defensible ones. I'm not too familiar with this planet but I'm sure someone else here is. So in the case that we start realizing your defenses won't hold up, we could whisk her off somewhere else."     He smirks just a little bit at the 'long ride' bit. "Not for me. Just tell me where to go and I could be there in a few cycles. Er, hours." The avatar glances about. "Unfortunately I don't think -everyone- could easily ride in me without falling off, but I could take a few." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "A warp gate would help us. Wouldn't really help against an invasion except making sure we can arrive faster though. These damned monsters can teleport from one part of the world to another through black holes in the sky!" Finna waves an arm enthusiastically, quite angry that... the bad guys can do this and she cannot.     That's thumping unfair, it is.     But she adopts the calmer demeanor of before soon enough... and smiles. The Duke just won a lot of points with her for that admission. Most rulers she's encountered would have gotten huffy and blustery at their authority and puissance being challenged. to admit even he himself is not sae in his castle gets her blinking. "i think I like this Kingdom. It has wise people in charge. The vow I made wasn't a mistake at all." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Duke shakes his head a bit at the safehouses question, "I'm uncertain of any place within this region that is actually safe. Perhaps Windfall Harbor, Zora's Domain, Goron Village, or Kakariko Village? This is the first time we have been able to travel to Hyrule in ages. But, the city of Greywater, in Gamelon, is safe, if you want to travel a further distance." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has understood no place in Hyrule is safe, but this location is at least armed and on alert. It's better than being out in the open and she nods for a moment as the warp gate would be useful but it could be a double edged sword as well. "IU have means to get there fiarly fast but it's nly personal transport as for the gate it could be useful but we'd need to make ready to protect it and Blurr a wise idea to ahve a few bolt holes as well set up. You know the land better than I Duke. I'll have to defer to you and the Princess on this." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "The Union is most sympathetic to this world and the cause of its rightful rulers. A dedicated warpgate for Union military use wouldst be most preferable." she clarifies to Yuna. Yes Union use. She's also somewhat familiar with Blurr, so she knows he's not overstating much when he gives that time estimate. "Unfortunately, we shalt be made to wait for the Duke as well, unless thou art able to transport fifty men and horses. I ill like the idea of leaving his faithful retinue behind." She looks with vexation to Finna. "That is precisely what will aid us most against an assault. Elites dispatched directly from Njorun station or another secure network wouldst be far more reliable in repelling any enemy than mere topographical remoteness or structural defenses. We need only to warp to a single location, naturally countering their advantage. I sincerely doubt the Duke's holdings couldst be conquered within minutes."     She appears more thankful to the Duke, inclining her head subtly. "I shalt remember those names for next I lay eyes upon a map, and provided the time, may arrange to inspect them personally. No place is ever perfectly safe, but 'close enough' shalt do." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna twists her lips and returns a most irritated look at Priscilla. "And if you'd let me conclude matters... as I was saying, nowhere in HYRULe is really all that safe. Who knows what spies, far-seeing magics or other tricks this sorcerer has/ Buuut... does that influence cross the borders of other worlds? ... though i guess we can't just suggest the Princess shuffle off to some no-man's land... I mean, I can guarantee she'd be well-treated in Tuskstad or Icehome, but I doubt she'd want to leave her people.... so, fortifying what we've got is the next best thing."     But she casts a glance over her shoulder at Zelda. maybe she'll think differently. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Zelda's face remains stoic still as she looks upon the group. She pulls the hood back over her head, considering them all for a moment. An idea has crossed her, especially considering that everyone is so supportive of her going with her uncle. She looks at the group, speaking in her general royal mannerism, "I think I have come to a decision. I will accompany the Duke to his castle. If some of you wish to come with me for protection, you may. Once the Warp Gate is built, it should be the safest place for me in this land. Would this suit everyone?"      The Duke remains quiet, listening. He waits for the group's reaction to Zelda's suggestion. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     "Well, yeah. I mean we could hide her on the Ark or in Metroplex, she'd probably be safer there but I assumed she's pretty determined not to leave her homeworld behind." Blurr affirms. He nods at Priscilla. "You're right, but Yuna mentioned she could bring some other vehicles from her planet?"     Zelda's plan seems solid. "Union-secured warpgate on base sounds like a good plan. That way if things do get out of control then we could send her to Njorun temporarily in case of an emergency. And like I said I could look into getting safehouses set up at secure locations that the enemy hopefully won't know exist." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "That arrangement sounds like the best one we're going to get in the circumstances..." Finna grumps. She doesn't like the idea of relying on big, fancy castles. She has penetrated them FAR too easily many times. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna considers for a bit, nodding. "Yeah ... I could see if a larger transport can be requisitioned, but I kind of doubt it," she admits. "But I'm willing to help escort you all back to Gamelon, if you like - about how long *was* the trip to get here?" she wonders. "And if you can give us the coordinates," she adds, addressing the Duke, "we could send a team ahead to get the warpgate set up." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel says "It sounds like a solid plan I would be happy to escort you to the castle I have the means to keep up with you." She seems to approve and is more than willing to go along with them on this. She's pretty pleased all things considered. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Zelda nods to the group, looking off towards the distance. "In that case... We'll travel ahead. Word will be put out, to get a warp gate crew there. Once it is created, then, the quest to clear the Twilight will continue, while I organize for the assault on Agahnim, to retake Hyrule Castle."      The Duke smiles as well. He rides his horse forward a bit, to move next to Zelda. He places a hand on her shoulder, smiling at her. "...Consider my castle more yours than mine, now. After all. You are the one who is to be Queen."      But, the plan is made. The group will ride off to Gamelon, and Zelda shall be housed there. 

}}

3099/To Lon Lon Ranch

2015-09-27T05:26:42Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/26 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=A trip to Lon Lon Ranch leads the heroes to the second Tear of Light, and a battle with ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/26
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=A trip to Lon Lon Ranch leads the heroes to the second Tear of Light, and a battle with Bulbins.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=42, 70, 385, 513, 789, 821, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ordon Village was attacked, and is now covered in Twilight. A decision was made: Follow the trail that created the destruction, and hope that there is some sort of lead there. Along the way, there was a plan to drop off Ilia at Lon Lon Ranch. At last, the time has come to follow the trail more, and take Ilia to her temporary refuge. Ilia follows with the group, trying to remain in a cheerful mood despite herself. She is fine with whatever mode of transport the group chooses, even if they settle on just hoofing it the whole way there.      Lon Lon Ranch is located in the Trilby Highlands. To the East of Kakariko, at the foot of Spectacle Rock. Lake Hylia is even visible nearby, just to the North West. The ranch itself is surrounded by a tall stone wall, with wooden railing on top. It isn't something that can be walked on, and as such the railing is mostly for show. A large wooden gate is on the North-East side of the stone wall, the massive wooden doors left open. The sign above reads in the Hylian language, 'Lon Lon Ranch.'      Inside, there is a little ranchhouse right near the gate. A simple wooden structure, two stories tall. A little barn is right to the left, and a much larger barn is on the opposite side from the gate. A number of wooden fences line the area, put together as places for animals to wander freely and graze. Oddly, though, there is only /one/ cow, wandering the field.      As for people, only one person is visible. A rather rotund man in blue overalls and a red shirt is laying against the fence. His head is bald, and he his moustache is grown out so much it connects to his mutton chops. His eyes are closed, and he snores loudly. A bit to the right of him, a pair of young girls are playing with slingshots. Both of them look identical, aside clothing. One wears a tan dress with blue embroidery. The other, a light pink dress. They seem to be taking turns, aiming towards a strange saucer-shaped balloon they have in the yard. Both of them seem rather down, but also have determined looks on their face. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Lon Lon Ranch seems to be an island of idyllic peace in the troubled lands of Hyrule. The fact that the place is neither burning nor covered in Twilight is a reasonable sign for the pessimistic child, and she aproaches with minimal caution. That is to say, she still makes someone else go first. Once it's been verified that there's no ambush waiting inside the gates, Sarah pops in and looks over the place. One cow. Snoring guy. Girls with slingshots. "Hi." She says simply to the girls, from her position. "Surprise, you have visitors." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     MODE OF TRANSPORT!     ... is animal.     That's right. Finna has decided to humble herself a little and play pack animal for a little while. Ilia seems worth it in some strange way that she can't quite put her finger on!     So unless Ilia -refused,- she's earned a ride on Finna transformed into a GREAT TERROR. The creature smells like wet horse, but is also easily as big of a horse... but BUILT like an enormous... well, it's vaguely feline, vaguely canine, not really one or the other. But 'really big lion' describes the shaggy mane of hair this thing has. It has a LOT of hair, easy to hang onto. No, no, Finna doesn't have a horse form.     The creature just pads along. Pad pad pad. Happy as anything!     Strangely enough, through some magic or another, the farm animals will find it VERY HARD to so much as NOTICE this obviously alien predator that's big enough to bite them in half. One that is apparently trained well enough to crouch down in front of the slumbering Talon (giving Ilia an easy chance to slide off) and...     "*Grraaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorghhhmf.*"     Or well, the low, deep, chuffy bellow sounds something like that. Might be enough to wake the dude!     The dude that this creature is sitting about five feet away from. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      Inwardly, Archer sighed to himself as he cast another glance to their wayward group, currently in his invisible astral form so as to conserve prana. It also made the tedium of walking vanish as he wasn't corporal enough in this state to feel the dullness of repetition wear on him. At the moment, his focus was split between keeping a vigil... and on glancing at the dark-haired girl in red who had decided to join them this time... as was becoming disturbingly more frequent.     Ever since the mission to Harbourtown - where Archer had faced the Knight Mordred of all beings as a Servant and Rin had helped evacuate - his Master had taken to watching him much more closely as of late. At times she would even give him a somewhat annoyed glance, though he wasn't sure what he could have said that would make her angry with him. Well, there was their usual banter, but she'd hardly ever held a grudge about that before.     Of course, in flagrant denial of that logic, Rin stopped in her tracks when they reached the border of the seemingly-idealic oasis of peace that the 'Lon Lon Ranch' apparently was, giving a divisive snort as she glanced to where Archer stood, gesturing offhandedly toward the gate. "Archer, go make sure there's no traps or ambushes or anything. I didn't come all this way just to get ambushed and I'm not risking Ilia or anyone else's life on a maybe."      "I suppose you'll want me to have a cup of tea ready for you when you get there?" The Red Knight's disembodied voice replied, smiling even though nobody could see it in his current ghostly state. "After all, you do enjoy working me to the bone, thankless Master that you are."      As expected, Rin promptly crossed her arms and frowned, annoyance clearly written across her expressions. "Quit stalling and get a move on already - we don't have all day."     Sighing, Archer gives his expected "As you wish, Master" and takes off, a single bound, landing lightly on the edge of the wall in spite of it's small and narrow design. After a moment of confirming there is no danger, he materializes into sight and gestures to Rin and the group to come - a sign there is no nearby threat.     He would not have revealed himself if there was a danger, after all. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Given that Yuna's only available methods of transport are somewhat impractical in Hyrule, she's more or less resigned to walking. She COULD bring in Jiina or Erina for Powered Form or Flight Form, but that would only benefit her and maybe one other passenger - and while she'd be more than happy to transport Ilia, she doesn't really want to leave the rest of the party behind, particularly when monsters are still a potential threat. So if walking is the conveyance of choice, that's okay by Yuna; she gets around on foot often enough not to complain about her feet being tired, and if somebody happened to lay hold of a wagon, she'd take turns riding with others. Either way, she's staying alert for approaching monsters or hostiles, and Elner's helping to scan the area for potential trouble that Yuna and the others might not actually see. Reaching the ranch prompts a quiet, even subdued cheer from the blonde idol/paladin ... and then she ventures onto the ranch's grounds to see if everything is as it should be. It'd be a major waste to come all this way and find out that the 'safe harbor' that was advertised isn't safe at all and is in fact harboring monsters of some kind. And Elner's going to take a more detailed look at that 'balloon' for good measure ... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Woah, that's cool." Staren comments to Finna. "You're like some kinda lion-dog. Doglion? Where did you find that form?"     MODE OF TRANSPORT!     ...For Staren, at least, is being a robot. After changing to fight the Slaughterhouse Ni... err... A hundred and... however many there were, Staren isn't in a huge rush to change back. (Rapidly swapping back and forth can cause... problems, so unless there's a pressing reason, he sometimes stays this way for a few days afterward). And one convenient perk of this is that Staren can /literally/ set his body to autopilot and focus on other things. Even when not 'on autopilot', he can't get tired or fatigued, so that's a nice benefit, too.     Outwardly, though, he appears the same as ever -- the body is the same size and has high-quality synthetic skin and hair and such, but superhuman senses may well notice the difference.     As they approach the ranch, Staren's support AI gives him a sort of mental nudge to pay attention again, and he starts looking around. He takes in the ranch curiously, but he's not sure he wants to be the first to speak up. He's often bad with words.     And what sense of mischief he hasn't managed to surpress is /realllly/ interested in how that guy will react to the giant liondog right in front of his face. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Walking is fine. What's wrong with walking? After all, Priscilla's been getting around an entire country by foot for a year now. Sure it helps that she isn't exactly human, but clearly only the whiniest of babies would complain about walking this distance.     The image of stoicness is also helped along by her visible injuries, slowly fading by the day, but barely enough to be noticed. The temporary scars across her throat and face are more or less at their discoloured line stage, though she still seems to have no use of a left eye, judging by the slowly diminishing number of bandages. Her footsteps are practically silent, and the long dress gives her the appearance of almost gliding over the ground, but she hardly looks terribly attentive just yet. More lost in thought than anything. She may have taken this job just as an excuse to get out and think, as she doesn't seem to be intent on getting talkative.     Her attention infrequently, but repeatedly, drifts to Ilia, wondering what exactly about the girl could be so special. She seems more or less within the acceptable boundaries of a normal, human soul. The ranch also clearly isn't much to look at. It has that kind of rustic charm, but it's very, very empty, and almost depressingly quiet. She almost seems surprised when they finally actually arrive. A quick, inexplicable gust of icy wind blows over the sleeping man's face. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The two girls turn to Sarah, looking at her. Both of them smile, cheerfully, at her. These two girls can't be much older than twelve. The tan dressed one introduces herself first, smiling and bowing while holding the slingshot behind her back. "Hi~. I'm Malon." % The pink dressed one keeps the slingshot, and her hands, to her sides as shw bows and introduces herself. "And I'm Romani! Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch!"      And then the two of them stare at the massive beast before their father. It's with visitors, including one they recognize. But, it still gives the two young girls pause, their bodies breaking out into cold sweats.      Ilia facepalms as Finna terrifies Talon. Talon, the owner of the ranch, bursts up and leaps a couple of feet into the air, screaming aloud. He steps back against the fence, wincing, covering himself with his hands. "PLEEEASE DON'T EAT ME!"      Ilia facepalms, sliding off of Finna's back. She looks utterly embarrased. she whispers to the man, "Don't worry. Don't worry. They're... Friends." She struggles to figure out what to say for the last word, especially as she looks at the chaotic force that is Finna.      Talon, though, gets on his knees, bowing to all of them. He looks up towards them all, in utter /fear/ of all of them, due to the fera in him. His daughters seem humored by this, more than anything. But he? He just begs.      "Please, don't hurt me! Or take our last cow! All of our livestock went missing recently! I... I think it was some sort of creature from the sky, which is why I'm having the girls practice! I think they even got my daughter!"      Romani sighs a little. She whispers, so only her sister, Sarah, and any other adjacent Elites can hear. Not her father, though. "...We keep telling him we have a guess at what /really/ happened, but he doesn't believe us..."      The balloon, on closer inspection, looks a little bit like a UFO, only not. It's rather mundane in general, though. Sure, it's made of cloth. But still, this world has an interesting level of tech. Mostly medieval, but with a few curiousities like this. It does have /some/ magic to it, though. Just a minor bit, to make it float. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren winces a bit at seeing the poor man /beg/. "I think maybe we went too far, Finna..." he steps forward, "Relax, we're adventurers. If anything, we're here to help you! But, Ilia here needs a safe place to stay. The village of Ordon was..." He looks to the others. How does he put this?     After someone speaks up, he turns back to Talon helping him to his feet if necessary. "Maybe we can even deal with this beast for you." Although, if it already ate his daughter, that's small comfort. Hopefully it hasn't.     Staren then turns to look at the girls curiously. "So what /do/ you think happened? A missing daughter, the obvious thought is she ran off with a boy, but that wouldn't explain the livestock... and this land certainly /does/ seem to be... dealing with dark forces right now. You know about the Twilight, right?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Creatures from the sky stealing your cattle?" Yuna asks Talon blankly. Even with the UFO-like balloon, that seems really unlikely. Well, if Ilia isn't the missing daughter, that's not much of a lead. Her attention does shift to Romani, though, and she stagewhispers, "What *is* your guess about what's really happening on the ranch?" Elner goes back to surveying the rest of the ranch, now that Yuna's focusing on the girls. Scanning for encroaching Twilight is also a priority for the little robo-faerie. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "Sup. I'm Sarah. I'd say it's good to meet you but we're about to be overshadowed by a big and loud showoff." Sarah turns and watches the proceedings with the flat expression of the person who expects everything to go poorly and is seldom proven wrong. "Did you HAVE To use the big scary wildebeeastie in the middle of a place that probably sees dangerous wildlife all the time?" Sarah asks aloud, then she turns to the girls, letting everyone else deal with the panicking Talon. Yeah, she's the best and most concerned person ever. Except not. The girl looks more intent when Romani begins sharing info. "Oh?" Sarah says quietly, "What's the situation? You and Malon look like you're the brains of the operation here." It seems like she actually respects the girls enough not to say that loud enough for Talon to hear. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Archer takes note of how Rin seems to become slightly anxious when the tall, pale-skinned woman walks alongside her, though she did her best to mask it - and he really couldn't blame her after all. The woman radiated power not unlike a Caster... yet was clearly mortal. Or as mortal as such a being could be. The scars also were a point of dread as well - what could cause injuries like that to something that was practically out of the age of Gods in terms of prana output?      Upon seeing the reaction from the farmer, Rin deadpans at the sight of his cowering before sighing and glancing to Finna - "You're a shape-changer, yet you couldn't have chosen something a bit less intimidating to be during a visit to a peaceful farming ranch?" That being said, she takes a step toward the two girls and their father, making a show of placing a hand on Finna's snout to show she's harmless. "See? She's a friend. Like you probably heard me say, she's a shape-changer."     Archer can't help but smirk when he sees Rin's face morph into an irritated frown at Staren's blunt commentary, watching her glare rather pointedly at the mech-suit. However, he does find Staren's commentary brings up another possible idea regarding the Twilight - "Depending on the circumstances... it's possible the girl might have actually /become/ a monster herself, such as a dragon or the like. That would explain both her absence and the missing livestock. After all, depending on the possible size, creatures as big as cattle might be the only way she could-"      "What the hell is wrong with you two?!" comes the almost-predictable explosion from Rin, her fists clenched and her face now twisted in an almost comical expression of exasperated anger. "Don't you two at least have the decency to not talk about their missing family member right in front of them?!"      "Would you rather we be straightforward and say there's likely little chance she's coming back?" Archer replied stone-faced. "After all, if she's been gone too long, that kind of possibility might be rather slim at this point, and it may be better to prepare them for that."     Rin's teeth clench visibly at this, looking as though she wishes to throttle the pair before glancing to the others in the group, as if silently asking for them to back her up in reprimanding the two rather blunt men in their presence. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     This is immediately a little outside of Priscilla's zone of awareness. She'd known Fassad had been questing around on this particular world, and heard something about people turning into animals, but flying monsters abducting children and stealing cows is suddenly a little out there. She does, at the very least, spare the time for a withering, slit-pupiled glance at Finna, diminished in no way by the single eye that comprises it.     "Peace, farmer. None here shouldst indendeth thee harm." Somehow she even manages to sound a little too anachronistic for this place. She moves to stare wayward at the balloon, clearly not recognizing its shape. "If thou art in need of defense against vicious predators, I do not believeth a pair of children with slings shalt be adequate protection. Is there no lord of the land thou canst send missive to? Or at the very least, a mercenary band." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren looks at Rin, nodding as Archer points out the chances aren't good. "We /were/ trying to be tactful, yes. But if there /is/ any chance of finding her, we have to have more information first," he crosses his arms, "and I don't see how we can gather information without talking about it." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Thankfully the GREAT TERROR doesn't in fact move to eat Talon or cause any sort of trouble. The huge beast just makes a single deep *CHUFF* noise... then slowly shrinks once Ilia's off its back. In a matter of moments the Great Terror is gone and Finna's human form emerges from the shifting flesh. She bursts into laughter at Talon, but it thankfully lasts only a few moments.     "Yeah, maybe..." She agrees with Staren, but still finds herself slapping a hand down on Talon's shoulder. "Easy, farmer. I'm no threat... and this ALMOST doesn't look like a ranch!"     She makes a show of cupping a hand to her forehead and looking all around.     "Who'd steal a bunch of cows at a time like this? ...wait..."     She can think of a FEW good ideas but... "No, they'd only take one or two... not ALL of them..." Finna's left headscratching, and quickly turns around to the girls.     "Don't mind me. I'm a shapeshifter! Magic to spare. What took the cows... errr, wait, we came here to drop Ilia off and track down the ruffians who ransacked Ordon in the first place...."     of course then there's the matter of Rin's words to her. Finna shines a grin her way. "Nothing but the best for Ilia, and a Great Terror's the most majestic beast my land has to offer!" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Talon finally gets up, still looking nervous. His body, sweating a bit. He wipes his forhead slightly with his sleeve. He is breathing deeply, trying to regain his calm as he looks at the group. It is lucky that Finna changed back, and that SO MANY are confirming that yes, they're here for peaceful reasons. Otherwise, who knows what he would have done?      He shakes his head at Staren, though. "The beast... You can't handle it. It's something I've only heard /rumors/ about. Bright lights in the sky, and metal disks of silver, that come down and grab cows! That /has/ to be what took them. Why, even in the Twilight, we so rarely have bandits stealing cattle and livestock!"      He breathes deeply, though, looking at Ilia. A gentle smile is given, and he nods to her. "...Ah. Ilia. You're a good girl. I'm sorry that something happened to your village. I'm just glad you're safe."      Talon then turns to Priscilla, blinking, "...Well. I guess slingshots might not be much... But the Royal Guard is gone, the King is dead, and that, uh... What's his name? Agahnim? He's in charge now. Heck, we can't even make money selling our milk in town due to some of the regulations. My farmhand, Ingo, is over trying to smooth things out at Castle Town, so we can sell again... If only we /could/ defend ourselves."      Romani looks towards her father, then whispers to the others who do want to listen to her, "...We were up late, one night. Dad said we were just dreaming. But, we saw these small green creatures, running through the ranch. They opened the gate, and started leading the cows out of here, ropes around their necks. They had no torches lit, but once they were out of here, they lit them... And headed up towards Spectacle Rock." She points, to a nearby hill. It's mostly barren, though there are some trees here and there. It's some distance away, so it's hard to make anything out from this far, unless somene has telescope eyes or something.      And if they do have a telescopic vision, they'll see a camp on the top of the hill, between a pair of large rocks. A camp populated by Bulbins.      Malon gives Sarah an awkward smile, "...Well. Our dad does most of the farm work. We help out. Our older sister, Cremia, does most of the running of the business." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     When Talon asserts they can't handle the beast, Staren asserts, "We're /adventurers./" Although, he looks kind of... whaaaaa? As Talon describes flying saucers. It's a bit out of genre, sure, but it's possible, isn't it? Staren shrugs at the end of Talon's speech. He can't make them able to defend themselves.     He crouches down to listen to the little girls' tale with interest. And then Romani describes... little green men... his face starts to go 'what' again before it becomes clear she's talking about those goblin things and not aliens.     Staren stands and looks at the hill. He doesn't have telescope eyes, just high-res cameras. "Huh. Well, that's easy enough to check out." Staren suddenly frowns and looks back at Romani. "But what about Cremia, then? She isn't mentioned in your account." 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      "How about you at least have the common courtesy to not bring up the odds of if she'd dead or not??" Rin half-shouts, half snarls through her teeth at Staren, looking visibly incensed and one wrong word away from firing a Gandir curse at him.      "They might expect miracles in that case - ones we can't promise them in good conscience" Archer replies evenly, crossing his arms as he faces Rin, the latter turning to look back at him in visible anger. "I'm actually a bit disappointed in you, Master - in your heyday you could be just as straightforward with Emiya Shirou and not so much as bat an eyelash." He actually has the gall to look somewhat bemused at Rin now. "You've gotten soft while I was gone."     Rin subsequently flushes slightly as she looks more and more aggravated. "That's different - Emiya and I are both magi and magi are always supposed to be frank with each-other, especially given what was at stake back then! These are just farmers - they don't know what they're up against and neither do we, so I'd rather not write people off so early and it should be /common sense/ not to do so in front of their families!" At this point, Rin is almost fuming openly.      "Actually, speaking bluntly, it isn't exactly a top priority at all" Archer shrugs, this time leaving Rin staring at him as if accusing him of something - being heartless most likely - though it doesn't stop him from continuing. "Our objective is following the trail of whoever attacked Ilia's village. We came here to leave her in the care of people she trusts, not chase down rumors."     However, Archer and Rin's argument is cut off when the girl - Romani - speaks up on the back of Talon's ravings and talks of woe. Turning to face the direction she pointed in, Archer and Rin reinforce their eyes, with Rin being able to barely make out the camp while Archer can see enough detail to see the Bulbins. Archer in turn glances to Finna and Priscilla - "Do you two see them? Bandits - local creatures at a camp. Guess it's a small issue after all."      Rin on the other hand becomes more hopeful as something crosses her mind - "Maybe it's all one in the same? Cremia might have been taken by the same group that hit Ilia's village... and these guys might be part of that group. If so, that camp up there is where we need to go." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "You're saying aliens did it. You're actually saying aliens did it." Sarah says flatly. "Oh my Gods. Are we seriously doing this?" Sarah says, facepalming. She shakes her head and listens in to Romani, nodding and listening. "Spectacle Rock. Got it. Maybe we can get your livestock back while we're at it, but we gotta ask you for a favor." She thumbs over her shoulder to Ilia. "She needs a place to stay for a while. We can't take her with us. Too dangerous, and she can't stay at home. Full of Twilight and ghosts and stuff." She looks back to Malon then. "Well yeah. He looks like he's strong like a rock, dependable like a rock, and smart like a rock. But that's okay. You both look like you're handling things. So did Cremia go chase down the cattle, or..." Abruptly, Sarah points at Rin. "Hey, lady. You're the one who gives Big Red the orders, right? Tell him to go check out the place. He does good scouting." She plants her hands on her hips in mild indignance when Archer mentions it's Not Their Problem. "Get with the program, Red. We need to follow leads, and this is the best one we have. They might know where all the children were taken too, if they have a camp." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     At Archer's prompting and the talk of 'Spectacle Rock', which interestingly coincides with the direction Finna remembers the pack was going, "well maybe I'm wrong and those ruffians DID take all of them..."     She cannot, in fact, see as far as Archer can. But her eyes change, becoming hawk-like and vision 'telescopes' a good degree regardless, sharpening. She cannot see the camp, but she can see some smoke from fires and other signs!     "Well, SOMEONE's up there... gonna be quite a climb!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods as Archer says exactly what he's thinking, again -- that he can't give people false hope in good conscience. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla sighs plaintively at Finna. "The beast is quite literally named a 'Great Terror'. Shouldst that not indicate something to thee?" She tilts her head towards Rin next, silver hair slipping over her shoulder, as for the merest instant, there is a palpable sensation of cold, heart-jumping penetration behind her gaze, like missing a stair in the dark, before she simply shakes her head knowingly. "I am unfamiliar with thine companion, but Sir Staren is . . . his value lies elsewhere than social graces." Something that might have been a half-hearted attempt at a helpless smile follows.     Talon's next words are a little more serious though, and thus demand a greater degree of attention. "Ah, yes, I believeth I hath heard some fleeting news of this." Her expression regains its coolly neutral countenance. "And Agahnim hast no interest in the preservation of the serflands under his control? No kingdom of men hast lasted long without those who till the land and raise its beasts." She seems to be considering something very intently for a few moments, before Archer catches her attention.     She turns towards the distant hill immediately. Her eye(s) don't quite match an Archer's, or sophisticated magnification technology, but they are still categorically inhuman, and she has other, additive senses besides. "Not precisely." she admits. "But I can sense their number. Thine own Lady is perhaps correct in mind with Lady Parsle. I hath little compunction on the matter. Time I possess in abundance." A sword flashes to her hand from nowhere, long and slender of west european make, with a blade etched the entire length and width in shimmering patterns, reflecting a soft, blue-white albedo, like moonlight rather than steel. It is a crystallized soul in the shape of a weapon, overflowing with the raw, primal nature of magic. Its significance is purely sentimental to Priscilla however.     "This distance shouldst pose no obstacle to any of thee, but shouldst thou be of no mind to assist, continue as thou were. I shalt be brief." There is a brief whirl of chill, biting wind, and the woman disappears. Those familiar with Priscilla know the score, though it shouldn't be terribly difficult to get the idea she's headed towards the camp. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna does not have telescopic vision. What she DOES have is a robo-faerie who can fly, teleport, and protect itself with force fields if anyone actually tries attacking Elner .. and so Elner heads up towards Spectacle Rock to scout around from a closer-but-hopefully-still-safe distance. Getting a headcount on the Bulblins would probably help, as well as trying to ascertain what's happened to the captured (or stolen) livestock. Meanwhile, Yuna purses her lips at Romani's story. "What's the terrain like between here and Spectacle Rock?" she wonders. "Are there paths the cattle could travel on?" She looks at Talon. "As for whether we can handle this 'beast' ..." She shrugs, and gestures at her Light Suit. She's VERY CLEARLY not from around here, although she's just as clearly (or at least apparently) human, if you don't mind that her ears are short and round rather than elongated like Hylians. "I think we can handle whatever's been making off with your cattle if we have to fight, and better us than you or your family, right, Mr. Talon?" she asks with a bright, warm smile. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Romani bites her lip a little, looking away from Staren. "I... I didn't see that part. But... It'd was the same night, that she went missing. But Malon, she said she saw something..."      Malon nods a little, "...Well... While Romani was watching, I woke Cremia up. She followed after them, sneaking. I watched over the fence, from the barn roof. And this monster, really big, and green, unlike the little green ones? She followed it. I didn't see what happened, though. The torches went out, and she was gone."      The two of them have started speaking a bit more loudly, since they are being taken seriously. But, Talon shakes his head a little at them, "Girls, I keep telling you. That was a dream. I would have waken up. No, the strange lights from the sky? /Those/ were what took the cattle. Now stop bothering these people with your bizarre, made up stories."      He sighs, looking at the group again. "...Alright. I suppose the group of you /could/ stand a chance. But.. I'd ask you to stay here. Going to Spectacle Rock would be a fools errand. I mean... Sure, there are paths up there that cattle could walk on. But no one lives up there but wild, unorganized monsters without any leader."      Ilia is biting her lip this whole time. She doesn't want to correct the one who is taking her in, but the look on her face? It's obvious she believes the girls more than Talon, on this one. But, she isn't going to say anything about it.      Before Priscilla takes off, though? He does at least give /some/ explaination on why Agahnim might value the ranch. "...Well. All of our cows are milk cows, not meant for beef. And, well... Milk is not something some people find reputable to sell. I mean, sure, if you use it for baking, it's perfectly safe, but there are some people who get addicted to the stuff pretty hard, you know? ...Heck, I drink a few mugs every night, myself."      Some of the party members likely know that milk is, in fact, alcoholic in Hyrule.      The trip up to Spectacle Rock, should others wish to join Priscilla? It will, in fact, be a few hour hike up the hill for most. Priscilla's longer stride might make it faster, though. Some might have means of getting their faster, as well. But, it is entirely possible to reach there tonight, should the heroes wish to continue up there. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     When Sarah speaks up, Rin looks at her somewhat blankly for a moment, before realizing that her fight with Archer actually distracted her from thinking about a plan of action. Bringing a hand to her mouth, she coughs once to cover up her moment of embarrassment and works to restore her composure. "Uh, right, of course. Archer? You heard her - get moving."      Archer closes his eyes and shrugs, smiling sardonically again. "We don't have conformation they're even connected though. However, I suppose that if I'm given an order that I may as well investigate."     "Don't give me that" Rin scoffs. "The reason you were trying to ask them- " she gestures over her shoulder at Finna and Priscilla "-if they could see was so you could hold back and let /them/ do the scouting, wasn't it?" Archer doesn't deny it. "The shape-changer can literally take flight. She makes a far better scout then I do in this circumstance, whereas I do better as the support. I am, first and foremost, an Archer after all - and an Archer does best at range, not in close distance for scouting."     "Any other Archer, maybe" Rin shoots back. "You... well, I here I thought I had reason to have some confidence in your abilities." This time, she's the one to cross her arms and smirk snidely. "I thought you were supposed to be the best Servant by default due to being mine? Surely you can handle something mundane like this, right? Besides, it's best you go anyway - being able to turn invisible as support will be a help in case they spot the shape-changer, and the two of you can climb the terrain better then any of us. Well, maybe he can-" she glances at Staren's mech-suit dubiously, not quite trusting of the capabilities of machines "-but you two can move the fastest, quickest and most quietly. Now stop making a fuss and get moving."      Shrugging, Archer gives a dutiful "As you wish" and gestures to Finna that he's going up and that she is free to come with, taking off so as to catch up with Priscilla - though he silently takes note of her abilities, once again wondering what she could possibly be to have such power as instant transversal at her disposal.     Rin however, left behind to keep vigil on the farm and Ilia... tilts her head in amazement at Talon's words. "W...what? You mean to tell me you can... get /drunk/ off milk here??" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is oblivious on the milk issue. He figures there must just be some weird cultural thing about milk here.     Staren heads up towards the camp with the rest of the party, letting the stealthier folk lead. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna finds herself looking over a shoulder at Rin and her handling of the bowman. There's wisdom in those words.     "Point! Let's just collect any more information there is to get first then I'll be off!" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah looks between Rin and Archer as they argue. "I can see why you two are stuck with each other." Sarah announces, but doesn't explain. In the meantime, she nods to Malon. "Of course. She's the most responsible one so she's the one taking the stupid risk. Okay, we're going to find out what's up. No guarantees, though." Sarah rounds on Talon, staring at him for a moment. "Are you defective or something? There's a bunch of raiding monsters throughout the land and you're more willing to believe a bunch of aliens in flying spaceships that don't match the technology level of this place at all are taking your cattle, instead of the very obvious narauders who basically take whatever they want? Come on, you look like you're an actually decent parent. Don't be that guy." Sarah looks back to the girls. "I'm going to go hurl myself into the middle of danger like an idiot. I'll be back unless I get brutally murdered." At that, Sarah begins scurrying off after Priscilla. Well, sort of. In that direction. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Monsters from the sky, monsters from the mountain ..." Yuna smiles reassuringly at Talon. "Hey, if we can get you your cattle back, how much of a difference does it really make? You can't run your business without your cows, and maybe we can get you some extra customers in the process!" As for actually getting up to Spectacle Rock ... Yuna's not too proud to have Erina fly in from the warpgate and rendezvous with her; Flight Form makes it an easier trip overall. She STILL doesn't want to get separated from the rest of the party by too much, so she doesn't go zipping ahead like she might; she scouts ahead a bit from the air, but otherwise, Yuna's planning for the whole group to get there more or less together if at all possible. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ilia nods a little, "...Yes, milk from cows is alcoholic. ...Is that not normal? At least, goat milk isn't alcoholic." She actually looks a bit puzzled that people are surprised by this.      The march up Spectacle Rock is long. Winding hilly paths through rocky terrain. Once they are close to the twin-peak of the hill, the two giant boulders on top? There is, thankfully, a fair amount of hiding spots. Large boulders, trees, bushes, and similar, which can be hidden behind. This will be made a bit easier by the fact that the sun is beginning to set, leaving plenty of shaded spots. This isn't even mentioning the people who can just go flat out invisible.      The camp itself is a bit chaotic. A lot of leather tents, sewn together. There isn't much room to walk between them, and the paths are messy. Garbage all over the place, including a number of cow bones. The cows themselves are visible in a wooden pen, built against one of the two large rocks. There is an adjacent pen, with large riding boars in it. In the center of the camp, between the two rocks? There is a clearing, with a fire built in the middle. Most of the camp is actually rather empty at the moment. Most of the small green imp-like humanoids, the Bulbins, have gathered around the fire. Sitting on a wooden throne near the fire is a particularly large one. A bit taller than most humans, and incredibly rotund. A number of iron weapons are upon his belt.      The prisoners are visible, as well. Three young children. Two boys with brown hair, and one girl with blonde hair. They're tied up, set near the fire. Some of the Bulbins seem to be feeding them food.      Also sitting nearby is a girl that looks much like Malon and Romani, except older. She's in her late teens, likely around Ilia's age. Shes' in a dress with a white blouse and purple skirt, tied up and sitting on the dirt near the group. A book is laid out in front of her, and... She is reading it to the Bulbins? She actually doesn't seem all that happy about it. It's some sort of simple children's story, about some hero of days old. She looks unhappy in her situation... As do the three children. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Difficult terrain has long ceased to bother Priscilla. Aside from living on a snowy mountain for a thousand years, Lordran's untamed wilderness and bizarre sub-worlds have been less than inviting in past. A regular person would probably be sick and tired of the walk by the time they get there, but the halfbreed is ready for more. It doesn't take her long to assess the situation once she gets there either. With the fire lit and the camp relatively in order, not to mention the way the captured children easily stick out from bandits of an entirely different species, the individual points of interest are easy to pick out.     Priscilla extends her general awareness, but she doesn't expect to pick up any particularly powerful souls in the vicinity. The leader of the mob looks physically imposing, but that's much more straightforward to deal with than magic or the supernatural. What she does while invisible is to flagrantly stride right into the camp, not even a whisper by the firelight, as she drops a standard Union commdot with each of the children, into their collars if necessary. She broadcasts the same message as them to the rest of the people present, her voice otherwise inaudible in the same way her ability hides the sound of her footfalls.     "Children, do not speak or respond. Continue as if thou hearest nothing. Once the first creature falls, break and flee down the hillside and take refuge out of sight. Leaveth the cattle. They shalt be retrieved shortly after." She gives them a few moments to absorb the information, and failing any kind of inopportune freakout, she begins with the bulbins feeding the captives. Unlike conventional invisibility, no form of attack breaks her disguise. A phantom blade cleaves through flesh and bone with little more than the whistle of wind to betray its passage, though it cuts not by sharpened steel, but by completely disintegrating that which comes into contact with it with the intensity of its magic. Given the first opportunity, she slices the ropes with surgical precision. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     A Snowy Owl is a bit out of place for this area, but Finna takes the form anyways. For the wings of the Snowy Owl are one of the best forms of airborne stealth she has, and really... who pays a lot of attention to birds anyways?     She swoops in after the exhausting flight and lands on one of the rock outcroopings overlooking the situation.     Already her attention's on the captives. Yeah, she can see them. What about the cattle-- ah, yeah, there, there they are.     Hrm. Alone, she could probably swindle her way through this camp, but it'd be a bit tough to do it without losing a single cow or the captives being hurt...     It would be better to wait until the captives aren't so CLOSE to all the Bulblins... unless she wants to risk just trying to MAUL all of them in one go. That... would be tough.     "Gonna need the others..." She murmurs to herself. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren gives Ilia a confused look. Alchoholic milk? "How does that even /work/?"     Eventually, they're close enough that high-resolution cameras let Staren see the camp ahead. "They haven't killed /these/ children... but why not? What are they keeping them for?" He was ready to slaughter the monsters if need be. And he's still not 100% sure they weren't planning to, say, eat the kids and they're just fattening them up or something. But, he's inclined to show some mercy and try to talk to them, maybe.     Rescuing the children takes priority, of course. It seems Priscilla's on that.     Staren continues letting stealthy people do their thing. He'll step in later. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Milk can ferment, right? It has sugar (of a sort) in it, although milk going *bad* tends to mean something happened other than fermentation ... but that's a question for another time. Yuna's more worried about rescuing the kids and the cattle. She winds up hovering over the camp with Elner as Priscilla tries to rescue the children - warning them, then starting to ambush the Bulblins. Elner transmits, "The 'monsters' don't seem to be terribly well organized ..." The human captives have already been found by the time Elner mentions them, and the cattle are pretty obvious. And while she hates inflicting pain or suffering on anyone, human or otherwise, Yuna materializes her Matrix Divider and gets ready to start shooting Bulblins from above. At least the ones Priscilla is dealing with die too quickly to really suffer .... not that Yuna considers killing an improvement on less-lethal forms of violence; much the opposite, really. But if it looks like any of the green-skinned brigands are going to notice their fellows dying, Yuna attempts to prevent the raising of alarms by sniping would-be alarm-raisers with bolts of concussive light. They shouldn't be *lethal* shots, although if Bulblins are 'monsters' spawned of the Twilight or some such, it may be Yuna's compassion and mercy won't do any good - those bolts have a lot of holy/light-elemental power in them ... 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Hearing Sarah's comment, Rin blinks and then shoots the girl a glare. "And what does that mean? You think I like being stuck with an obstinate, twisted /jerk/ like him for a Servant? Yes he's useful but he sometimes just isn't worth the headache." She crosses her arms at this, looking the picture of huffy, indignant exasperation with her nose turned upward towards the air.     Even now, she was still every bit the girl Archer remembered.     Rin regards Ilia blankly at the latter's question. "Not where I'm from at least... though that certainly explains why bandits would want them." When she sees the others leaving one by one, she sighs and brings a hand to her forehead. "Well, I'm not going to go rushing off and leave you unguarded, and me and Archer both fighting would drain my prana reserves too quickly. So I guess I'll be staying here. Jeez... what a pain."     Finally, she spares a glance to Malon, Romani and Talon, pausing a minute before giving as reassuring a smile as she can - "Don't worry. My Servant may be a jerk, but he's actually pretty ernest. Between him and the others, I'm sure they'll find your sister in no time."      Due to his nature as a spirit, Archer traverses the distance up the mountains relatively quickly. As Rin requested of him, he takes advantage of his invisibility to get close to the Bulbins, taking note of the cattle bones - apparently the Bulbins didn't care quite so much about the value of selling the milk - but especially of the sight of the three children and the teenage girl. Cremia, he assumed.     Seeing this, he quickly bounded off his perch and dropped back down, slowly moving until he was directly behind the largest creature, facing the back of the throne.      /"I am the bone of my sword."/     Archer materializes behind the throne, simple nameless blades forming in small bursts of energy, hovering in place for a single moment... then flying forward into the throne, two lancing toward the forearms of the larger creature while the other pair stab for it's shins.     They need this one alive - he's the one that assumedly gave the orders... and the only clue to finding out what they were doing or if any link existed between their actions and Ilia's village. Of course, chaos will break out now that he's visible and has just attacked their leader... but hopefully, that will give the children their chance to run, or for the others to save them. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Any response to Rin is going to need to wait. Sarah hustles along the shaded areas as they head in towards the camp. She seems to have a knack for staying out of sight and unnoticed as long as she keeps her mouth shut. The distraction of the Bulblins allows for some superior positioning. Sarah moves in to get near, but can't get closer until the one feeding them is distracted somehow. As soon as they fall, Sarah moves in and begins untying their bonds. "Hey there. Let's get home." She says to them, simply. "Stay low and quiet unless you like getting people who came to save you killed. I don't judge much." Sarah will begin leading them out of the area provided nothing happens to prevent her from doing so. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The children perk up the moment they hear the voices. It looks like they /try/ not to act, but still. This is obviously a big surprise for them. Meaningful glances are exchanged between the three. Cremia simply keeps reading without reacting, though.      Yuna does a good job taking out the few people who /might/ sound the alarm. These guys don't seem that well organized, though. Or bright. Any chance of an alarm being sounded immediately fails, giving the heroes a chance to rush in.      Unfortunately for Archer, though? The King Bulbin is surprisingly quick to react. The mment he hears the phrase, he immediately leaps to a standing position. Two of the blades still hit, though. One in his right shin, the other in his left forearm. The King Bulbin screams out in pain, before turning around and just /roaring/ at Archer. He reaches for one of the weapons on his belt, a gigantic wrought-iron axe. For most people, this would be a two handed weapon. For him? He weilds it fairly effortlessly in one hand. Despite his size and injuries? He moves fast. He smashes through his chair, swinging the axe down at Archer.      The other Bulbins reach for their own weapons. Bows, mostly. They're all aimed towards Archer, preparing to fire, getting ready.      Luckily for Sarah? Everyone is /pissed/ at Archer, and unaware of anyone else. They're getting ready to swarm him. The three kids, and Cremia? They're ignored. There is plenty of time to untie the four of them, each one of them start running out of the camp, back towards Lon Lon Ranch.      Notably, though? Cremia is wearing a necklace. It doesn't look carved by a human. It looks like something the Bulbins gave to her, for some unknown reason. But, this skull totem glows with a soft light, suddenly. She looks down at it, somewhat confused, as she works on getting out of there. She's starting to tug at it, trying to unbind the string from behind her neck. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Priscilla will likely realize? The Soul of the King Bulbin? It is, in fact, surprisingly powerful. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     At the camp, Rin winces when she feels Archer's distress across the area, worried the Servant has gotten himself into more trouble then he can handle - as usual.     Archer curses when the giant bulbin reacts with the speed befitting a Berserker-Class, forcing Archer on his back-foot at the sight of the incoming axe. Thinking as fast as he can, Archer calls upon a weapon - a large, two-handed broadsword he hefts with both arms - and swings the blade up to counteract the strike.     It's only somewhat effective, the axe cutting into the nameless sword and getting lodged there a moment before a flick of the wrist splits it in half, the force sending Archer tumbling back into a roll so as to get himself back on his feet.     Even if it was nameless, to break the blade so quickly... this wasn't an ordinary opponent. He was strong, and he was cunning enough to be trouble.      "Trace; On."     Kanshou and Bakyua form in his hands, and a dozen nameless weapons materialize around him in mid-air. Prana surges through him as Archer lunges forward toward the Bulbin King while the blades streak forward for the Bulbin archers. Archer purposefully leaves his flank exposed during his charge to try and goad the Bulbin King into attacking there - an arguably-suicidal style of intentionally having gaps in his guard so as to know where his enemy would strike and counter the attack when it came. As he does, his right arm swings forward, arching for the Bulbin's left kneecap.     He had to weaken the mobility of this thing if he was going to get a foothold against it. Moreover, he had to keep it invested in the fight, lest the it and the other Bulbins noticed his allies trying to free Cremia. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     The King Bulbin complicates things slightly. The disorganized rabble would take minutes at most to clean up, but letting someone fight alone against him specifically, while potentially viable, seems like an unnecessary risk; doubly so if his minions come to his aid. Though Priscilla is pleased with the children's relative calm and the ease of dispatching the unaware bulbins beside them, the camp doesn't stay unalerted for long. Yuna did well in allowing her time to work without an alarm being raised, but, though attempting to take the leader hostage wasn't a bad idea, it seems that Archer may have underestimated his quarry, and so their cover has been blown.     "Lead them well away from here." she utters to Sarah, giving her the verbal equivalent of a nod of acknowledgement since the girl currently can't see her. As soon as the children are down over the first ledge, she whirls on the rest, quickly appraising the situation. Yuna and Staren are well known to be capable combatants, but seem to want to insist on non-lethal means. Finna she has her doubts about, but at least an exalted shouldn't be easy to kill. Archer seems to be demonstrating the right combination of prowess at arms and willingness to kill, but is tied up with the king Bulbin.     If they want to take the big guy alive, the first two Elites would be the best bet, and Cremia looks like she might need help, which Finna is on, so Priscilla focuses on cutting down the lesser bulbins to deprive them of their numerical advantage against Archer. As they ready their bows, the air shivers with a sound that almost sounds like the chiming of an ethereal bell, and then splits before an arc of ghostly light, scything through as many bulbins as can be loosely lined up at the most convenient angle, before violently detonating in a blue-white conflagration of raw soulfire. She follows up in the period in which they should still be blinded, staggering, or looking around for the source of the attack, a dervish of invisible butchery ploughing through the ranks. It's not exactly stealthy, but at the very least, they should have a hard time actually hitting her, and it keeps them off of Archer for the time being. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' So much for doing it quietly, but at least the heroes managed to get something of an advantage. Yuna dives out of the sky, zooming over the camp; the Matrix Divider is no longer in her hands, but instead, her vambraces have opened to reveal the pulse-blaster arrays hidden beneath the armor. And as Yuna flies over the Bulblin camp, she opens fire, sprays of focused energy bolts raking amongst the Bulblins. She's STILL holding back enough to try not to kill the Bulblins - but she wants them out of action, and fast. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     With Priscilla and Archer on the offensive in a way that's SURE to draw all KINDS of attention. If she's going to get the three out of there INTACT, it's gonna have to be through a bit of a risky manuever. Sarah's going to need considerable protection and a further distraction. Power floods Finna's body, enough power that the Snowy Owl guise cannot contain it. The mark of the moon appears upon her brow just as she leaps forwards, shifting from snowy owl straight to her 7-foot-tall Warform and slamming down right in the group's middle.     Although this form's undoubtedly derived from her vulpine spirit, there's nothing at all CUTE or particularly alluring about the DEADLY BEASTMAN TRANSFORMATION form that Finna's adroped. Every inch ripples with densely packed muscle, much denser than the lithe limbs hint at. The beastwoman stands upright and unleashes a bone-chilling, blood-curdling screech that speaks straight to the instincts of any living creature.     Those little instincts that say 'do not go out at night, the wild beasts will chew the meat from your bones.'     That Beast is now in the midst of the Bulblin camp. It's aglow so fiercely that its actual form is hard to distinguish. Light and shadow mixes strangely in a bonfire blaze of twisting, flickering moonlight and thick shadows that cast. Within the aura the creature itself seems almost a living white-silver fire with golden, slitted eyes. Its phantasmal spirit, a titanic fox that's easily ten times bigger than the actual body, fills the skies above the camp. It's probably even visible from Lon Lon Ranch!     And this beast dives for the Bulblins like a tiger after prey, clawed limbs ripping one way and the next. Sometimes Finna lets loose with a backhand, but each blow's made with enough strength to crack a boulder! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Now? Now there is no more need for stealth. Staren leaps. A flick of wings and thrusters are used, together with robotic strength, to make it a /flying/ leap. Light washes over him as he tumbles through the air. When he lands in the camp (cratering the ground slightly), he is clearly not human, or even organic. The appearance would /scream/ robot to anyone that knew the word, all basic shapes rather than exacting imitation of a human - a boot shape instead of feet with toes, for instance. Expressionless eyes that look kind of like headlights. Staren levels a phaser and starts firing stun shots at the archers. "What did you want with these children?!" he demands, although he hasn't really given much of a reason to /answer/ him. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Bulbin King falls for it, moving in to attach at Archer's weakpoint. As the giant creature moves in, it opens its mouth, roaring again. The creature's breath is almost as bad as it's roar. Perhaps worse. Smelly, rotten teeth are inside it, teeth mostly suited for gnashing at meat. He swings his axe in, only to be hit in its knee by the blade. A gash, and blood leaks out. Green, dark blood.      A number of the archer bulbins are struck by Archer's blades, causing them to fall to the ground. Revenge is desired, but then, they have to deal with Priscilla. The scythe cuts through the smaller bulbins, cutting through them with ease. They do bleed on death. But, these aren't just Shadow creatures of evil. They fall to the ground, dead. Priscilla could easily take their souls, though they're all relatively weak. Some of them are spared by Yuna, though. Her hits manage to knock some down, letting them fall to the ground, unconcious. Staren, similarly, manages to stun a number of them, though he gets no answer as to /why/. A few of the unconcious ones still die, though. Finna isn't being careful, slaughtering chunks of the group at a time, and accidentally stepping on some of those fallen unconcious.      At this point, though? The numbers are dwindling /fast/. A group of Bulbins like this would certainly be a challenge for any one person here. With this group as a whole, though? It's not a challenge, at all. And King Bulbin even /realizes/ it. He is brought to his knee, angrily looking towards Archer, and angrily looking to the others present.      But, suddenly, a noise in the sky. A low rumble. Those sensitive to such will detect a fair amount of magic. Looking up, something /alien/ is in the sky. It looks like a flat wall of blackness. Green lines, almost like circuitry patterns, cover it. The flat surface suddenly shifts, a tunnel inside. A tunnel that has the feeling of reaching into someplace /else/. The King Bulbin is, slowly, being lifted into the sky. Into the tunnel. He shifts a bit, surprised at first, as he is lifted up. But, after a glance up? He looks calm.      All of his troops, though? They're already fleeing by traditional means, and so they're unlikely to get sucked up into the magical escape portal. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' That's definitely not a good sign, is it? Yuna comes out of her strafing runs, glancing up at the blackness and the hole - and tries really, REALLY hard not to give in to the desire to just go flying straight back home and pull the blankets up over her head. Elner is, of course, more level-headed about the situation ... but given that magical phenomena continue to largely defy its sensors, there's not much the robo-faerie can evaluate, and Elner quickly flits over to Yuna to try and help her keep her wits, plus 'nudging' Erina to keep Yuna from getting pulled into the magical wormhole in the sky. Yuna's extremely freaked out at this point, but at least she's being quiet about it. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah was worried for a moment as everything went to hell, but the rampant dissection of the camp by the other Elites shows that she more or less has gotten the assumptions down on the general competency of those present. "Why can't I get /these/ people in my damn Session?" Sarah gripes quietly as she helps lead the kids out with the benefit of coverage from the fighters of the group. It's when the King bulblin bails through that weird portal in the air that Sarah actually stops, staring up at the hole in space for a short time as she works to fit that into her ongoing understanding of the situation in Hyrule. "That... Is bad news." Sarah concludes, and turns to the kids. "Let's go!" She tells them, trying to get them all out there collected with Cremia, wherein maybe they can all begin to share info on the way back to Lon Lon Ranch. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     As the last bulbin either falls or flees, Priscilla's veil of invisibility drops with another whistle of air, her dress briefly fluttering as she finds herself suddenly standing ankle deep in corpses. Moonlight shines by her side in the swiftly dimmin light of the setting sun, somehow stained with not a single drop of blood. At her presence, the usual happens. Orbs of pale, colourless, silent flame, rise up from the bodies of the slain, gently drifting over and spiralling in towards her, as if caught in an invisible vortex, before simply fading into her, suffusing her with a short lived glow. It isn't even a conscious decision on her part. She doesn't take their souls; they simply come to her.     The king bulbin looked to be at a severe enough disadvantage to surrender when she had done so, but mere moments after, as she turns to reaffirm the fact that Archer has won, or is at least about to win, she finds her gaze torn upward by the hole that opens in the sky, or rather, the hole that opens in what has /appeared/ in the sky. Both the precise form and general aesthetic of the magic are well outside of what she's used to, more bizarre than something she'd naturally call sorcery. It's obviously a very significant event, but she can't fly, and thus has no way to reach the escaping king, and she has little investment in slaying every enemy to the last when the goal had simply been to return the farmer's children. She takes a second glance around, and then resigns herself to tracking down Cremia to make sure she hasn't gotten separated, suspicious of that necklace she had glanced earlier. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Freakish magic goes everywhere and Finna's forced to leap away from the Bulblin bloodbath. Her beastly form heaves and pants, not with exhaustion, but with the effort to NOT CONTINUE that bloodbath. An induced berserker fury that's requiring ALL of Finna's effort to keep down. That's why she leaps away from anything alive and just crouches, breathing. The insane glow dies down a notch or two, the giant phantasmal fox vnihin into her body as she shifts back to human form... but most of that power's still whirling around her. Probably will be for some time. "Okay, that was easier than I expected...!!!"     But every fiber of er being is singing with the violence and wants to re-engage in it. NO, all of her reasning answers... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well, this certainly went in an... unexpected direction! Staren stops fighting bulbins and looks for Cremia. "Cremiiiiaaa! We have to get out of here!" Then he remembers he looks scary, and a light washes over him, restoring his normal appearance.     They certainly can't let /her/ get sucked up into this thing! He will bodily pick her up and carry her out of there if he needs to! 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Rin's reaction to seeing the large, slab-like ship is a mixture of shock and disbelief as she watches what looks like a scene straight out of the horrible science-fiction soap-operas she always scoffed at.     Dragons, she could believe. Goblins? Tricker, but she could comprehend it. But /aliens?/ Multiverse or not, the sight was probably the last thing she would ever have expected to see, and she can't help but glance at Ilia with a look of trepidation.     Moreover, she wasn't even sure if she was right or not since the sight before her looked disturbingly like someone had painted Magic Circuits into the sky itself, reminding her vividly of a mage construct.     "Okay. I get that things work differently here. Milk is like alcohol and there's roving bands of monsters - sure. Whatever. I've heard of crazier things." In spite of herself, Rin sounds somewhat unhinged, letting out a short, high-pitched anxious laugh at the end before moving toward the window a few steps, now pointing directly at the slab in the sky. "But, could you please tell me... exactly what the hell /that/ thing is supposed to be?? Because I don't care how different your reality is from mine - that /cannot/ be normal!!" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Up close in his battle with the Bulbin King, Archer smirks in satisfaction when the king acts as planned, throwing his body into a combat roll with the momentum of his strike to the enemy's knee in order to carry himself underneath the arc of the incoming axe. As he makes his combat roll, Archer swings with his other blade, trying to gash open the Bulbin King's side-     And is forced to break this attack off when he feels reality itself distort above him, backpedaling away from the King Bulbin before he can potentially be caught in the effect himself. Looking upward, Archer's eyes widen in a very rare moment of genuine shock at the sight of what looks like either an alien ship or a summoned gateway pulling the Bulbin King away.     Even while leaping away to escape the portal's reach, Archer sees the king's expression is calm - he recognizes what's happening it seemed... and was wiling to let it take him away.      Not that Archer would just let him, or at least without trying to stop him.     but he didn't want to waste the prana on an arrow that might not hit the target - so he went for something quick.     Twin flashes of prana replace the blades in his hands, one hand now holding his bow. Drawing the Hound of the Red Plains from the field of blades forever within his mind, he knocks the twisted black arrow back against the drawstring and pulls it taunt.     He doesn't have the time to 'break' it or even charge it, so for all intents and purposes it is being shot as a simple arrow... but it is an arrow that will not miss so long as he keeps the target in his sights. He doubts it will kill the creature - he doesn't have enough time to make it that strong a shot - but at the very least it should still /hurt./      "Hurnting!"     The black arrow flies forward, streaking for the Bulbin King and shifting course to follow his accent - so long as he remains in the sights of Archer's bow, the arrow will home in on him.     A warning to the creature that, if they meet again, Archer can kill him without having to get close to him. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      King Bulbin is lifted into the air. He isn't laughing down at the enemies, though. No. Instead, he almost has a look on his face that can read as being one of Respect. But, the arrow follows him. He is struck, right in the stomach. Another spot, injured. He winces, looking down. His eyes meeting Archer's. A mix of respect, and anger, is in his look. The opening in the sky closes.      Back at the ranch? Ilia looks up to the mountain, in awe. Her mouth hangs open. She looks at a loss for words. But, finally, she says but one thing.      "...I have no idea what that is."      The children went with Sarah, all being reasonable. Who knows how long it has been since they last saw humans aside themselves? Cremia ran a bit ahead, though she stops to let the others to catch up. But, glancing back at the camp? She lets out a sigh of relief... Before spotting the thing in the sky.      "...What... What is /that/?"      Yes. It does seem that Talon was, in fact, partially right on the strange object in the sky. He was drunk on milk at the time, so details were wrong. But, it is almost certainly possible for people to guess what happened: The portal opened, Bulbins were dumped out, and then they lured the cows out via standard means during the night. That is when the girls got up, and looked, and when Talon passed out drunk.      But for now? Cremia just sighs. She's finally gotten the necklace off her neck. She frowns at it, before tossing it to the ground in anger. She speaks, rather quietly. She is a girl who is normally rather cheerful and happy. At the moment, she's angry, and sad.      "They gave that to me. I... I don't know why they took me, too. Or the kids. They wanted me to read to them. And... That's all they had me do. I think they might have wanted to... Learn about us? Or maybe they just caused chaos....?" She sighs, completely at a loss.      Her foot steps down hard on the skull totem. And suddenly, it breaks. In it's place, a teardrop-shaped piece of light. It causes Cremia to shield her eyes, confused at its presence. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     It seems Priscilla has joined Cremia at just the right time. She doesn't immediately recognize what a Tear of Light is, having not yet seen one up until this point, but to other senses than just her common sense, there are very few things that could exist of its apparent nature. Priscilla simply closes her current remaining eye, navigating by soulsense to the source of blinding light and grasping hold of it as best she is able, folding it into a bolt of worn white cloth to try and dim it down a little.     "It matters little by now." she says to the girl, trying to sound reassuring. "They shalt not likely be returning. Think instead of thine father." Sarah seems to have executed her end without a hitch, and so Priscilla guides her the short way back to the children under her supervision, and then begins the long trek back, plainly visible this time. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      One of the kids, the young blonde boy, speaks up. He's rather quiet, and speaks in but a whisper.      "One... one of the others who was with us... He... He got seperated from us as we travelled here. We... We don't know what happened to him. We... We want to go home, but... If you find a missing child named Malo, please let us know... ....alright?"      The boy looks incredibly worried.      ELSEWHERE.      Hyrule Castle Town. It has, overall, been a rather dreary place. But, amongst the darkness of the harsh rule of Agahnim? There is a single bright light.      Loud music comes out of a brightly lit store. Inside, every single customer and employee is dancing to the catchy music constantly being played within. The place is almost obnoxious.      In the corner of the store, the small child, Malo, smiles as he looks over his work. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Slowly recovering from her freak-out, Yuna glides over to where the freed children are talking to the others, and her boots settle to the ground as she nods to the blond-haired boy. "A boy by the name of Malo ... all right, I'll try and remember to ask around for him in the other safe zones we find." She smiles, "You've been braver than some people might be, getting captured like that and keeping your heads together. Shall we take him back to Lon Lon Ranch if we find him, or just bring back word that we found him and how he's doing?" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      Rin, in response to Ilia's words, cups her face in one hand and mutters in exasperation - "You don't know... great. That's just great." She then puts her hands against the window-sill and sighs worriedly. "Dammit... just what the heck is going on in this place?"     Archer narrows his eyes at the sight of Hurnting getting firmly lodged in the Bulbin King's stomach - there must have been far more muscle-mass then body-fat to have stopped the arrow from going all the way through him. In fact it didn't even look like it would become more then a new scar for the massive patriarch to boast to his underlings about.     Archer kept that in mind for the future - only charged arrows would be lethal... however, toward the goal of taking him alive, uncharged arrows would likely do well enough.     When the Bulbin King vanishes into the portal, Archer lets out a breath as his weapons dematerialize, looking around him at the carnage that was unleashed by the others during his fight with the Bulbin King.     A slaughter ground. A not unfamiliar sight... though not exactly a welcome one either... but neither is it unexpected. After all, it was life or death, and leaving any alive to come after them would have endangered the ranch and the farmers.     However, as they leave the mountains to return to the Lon Lon Ranch, Archer realizes he senses something familiar - a crystallization of energy he'd felt at the Forsaken Fortress. He glances to where the disturbance originates... and catches sight of Cremia with the tall, pale-skinned woman who had silently butchered many of the Bulbin archers - something he was thankful for, yet it didn't lessen his sense of unease at trying to puzzle out exactly what she was.     Deciding to approach, Archer makes his way over to the group, brow furrowed as if trying to discern something - then his eye catches on the glowing object folded up in a bundle of cloth in one of her hands, letting slight surprise leak onto his features. "You actually found one of the 'Tears of Light' here? Did that Bulbin patriarch drop it in the chaos or did you find it somewhere else?" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     The King Bulblin may have escaped, but now that Finna's gotten her wits back about her, she... apparently vanishes from her perch, leaping off into the shadows.     But not without a good reason. There are many Bulblins scattering into the wilds, and it will be child's play for her to pounce on ONE of them and capture them for questioning.     A language barrier of any sort won't stop her at all, nor will a cultural one. She'll... figure SOMETHING out. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     After quickly checking on the others via the radio, Priscilla presumes she will arrive shortly. Even if the sun goes down fully, the dark poses little obstacle to her, and she has all the patience necessary to help Cremia through the rocks should it be needed. She does temporarily stop as she senses Archer coming however, the spiritual profile of a Servant, as always, unmistakable, being a veritable bonfire of that kind of power.     "The creature either had no idea of its significance, or intentionally left it with this girl. The totem . . ." she gestures vaguely to Cremia's collarbone. "I am gladdened to hear that such is exactly what this is. I didst hath mine doubts for a moment." she finally admits, keeping close hold of the precious object. "Talon ill needs to know of it. His daughter is returned, as shalt his livestock be shortly." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren gives a sort of frustrated grunt. Does nothing today make /any/ sense?     Asks the robot catboy from another dimension.     "I wonder if we've been played, somehow. Someone tricks the bublins into trying to learn about you, we retaliate..." Staren looks around at the bodies, and shakes his head. "We'll get to the bottom of this, eventually." He looks curiously at the strange light that forms. Reflexively, he squints at it, and then his sensors adjust to the brightness. A teardrop-shaped light? Almost like... a tear of light. Is /that/ what they look like? Staren nods as Priscilla takes it. "...Yeah. Let's get you kids home."     Why was a tear of light inside a weird necklace...? 

}}

3072/Returning Ilia to Ordon Village

2015-09-21T02:25:38Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/20 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=Ilia is returned to her home, where the group learns that some of the children of the vi..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/20
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=Ilia is returned to her home, where the group learns that some of the children of the village were stolen as well.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=42, 73, 513, 533, 789, 821, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      During the attack on Forsaken Fortress, the adventurers managed to rescue Ilia, from the village of Ordon. She has requested the Union take her there. It has been some time since the last time the group set out, but Ilia needed time to prepare for her journey. And, from Kakariko village, the group has had to travel quite a distance. It has, luckily, been mostly free of the Twilight. It's still a long hike, though, over vast plains.      At long last, the group has arrived at the border of the Ordon Forest. And, within this land, the Twilight has returned. For some reason, Ilia is not transforming as the others do. Instead, she remains human, though she looks over the group happily as they walk through Ordon Forest.      Some trees are around here and there, though it looks like the landscape was recently burnt in a fire. Ilia looks at this with a sadness, though she doesn't seem surprised by this. The path forward now leads over a rickety bridge. The bridge is wooden, with long strands of rope supporting the edges. It leads over a canyon, at the bottom of which is a fast moving river.      The village is visible past the bridge. Some recently burnt trees are near it. The village itself is rather simple. The homes are mostly square wooden buildings, mostly log cabins. A stream runs through the center of town, with various wooden log bridges to allow passage over them.      The people in town, though? They stand around, looking frozen in place. Their bodies are transparent, all of them in a sort of blue spirit form. The vast majority of them are sitting down, in prone positions. Hands on their faces, fear conveyed through their posture.      Ilia herself? She has stopped at the bridge itself, looking terrified of the sight of the town before her. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     This time, Finna has chosen to not heed the wishes of the Twilight at all. She remains in human form, but has exchanged her hunter's clothes for some simple traveler's attire in the local styles, including a scarf so big that it's blowing around like a cloak whenever the wind blows. Her bow's slung across her body and sword sheathed at her side. Moonsilver Tattoos glow brightly in the strange lighting conditions the Twilight casts everything in, though thankfully most of her body's covered, so only bits of her face - cheeks, mostly - show said markings.     "Well, I've seen worse damage. Looks like whatever came through here didn't want to ruin the village."     She casts a rather sideways glance at Ilia, pondering just HOW the young woman is apparently immune to the Twilight. And why she's special enough to be imprisoned. Daughter of someone important? Has some special spiritual trait, maybe? She has no idea.     "Disturbing lack of flesh around though. Hope these poor souls can sit tight until we've straightened it out. Gotta collect the Tears of Light for the Ordon spirit, right..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     They're going to walk /how/ far? "Can't we bring a vehicle? Or even some horses?" Using his flight protoabstractum actually takes concentration and a small amount of energy, so it's not like Staren can effortlessly hover along. During the trip, he's mostly staring into space, working with a computer interface only he can see.     And then they finally each the edge of the Twilight, his focus returns. He considers the barrier curiously for a moment, then turns into a cat and hops through, before turning back to watch the others enter.     "It looks like there was a forest fire. I wonder what caused it?" Staren-cat wonders allowed, in his squeaky voice.     And then... spirit village. "Okay, /that's/ new. Do you think it has anything to do with why the Twilight doesn't effect Ilia?" he bounds over to the 'spirits', circling one from several feet away, looking for anything about them that might hint as to what's going on. "I don't like the looks of this. A spell? Were they scared by the return of the Twilight?" He looks for something to climb, so he can get to a high perch and see if the people in the entire village are all afraid of something in one location or direction, or if someone... or something... might have gone around the town, terrorizing and ghosting them one group at a time. Or perhaps there was more than one. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica, as before, is stuck in hedgehog form. She sighed theatrically when forced to enter the twilight once again, but... well, her body language doesn't seem too displeased. She's grown used to being a hedgehog, and of course being told hedgehogs are cute has done wonders for her self-esteem in this form.     She sighs at Staren's question. "It's not new. ALL people turn into those spirits in the Twilight." she reminds him. "Except the rare few who turn into animals instead. And Ilia here." she adds. It's bizarre, but there's nothing unique about this place other than Ilia herself. "They're not scared, they've all become affected by the Twilight. And since it's been years, I don't think we have to worry about them sitting tight while we investigate. They can be helped or they can't. Undue haste on our part won't help." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah traveled with the others through the long trek to Ordon with only mild kvetching. She walked on her own two feet and only sassed the general environment occasionally. Maybe she was in something approaching a good mood since they're making reasonable progress and there seem to be competent people handy. It's when they hit the Twilight that Sarah indulges herself, perching upon Ilia. Whether it's comfortable or not depends on how much you like having a cat on your head or shoulder. It's when they reach the town that Sarahcat pauses, looking over the environment and the people within, and shakes her head. "Okay, this sucks." She actually gives Ilia a pat on the shoulder with a paw in some semblance of consolation before she jumps down. "We can find a solution though. Maybe if we remove the Twilight they'll return to normal." She looks over to the others. "Come on guys, let's spread out and look for clues." For some reason, the spooky and ghostly environment doesn't seem to put Sarah off. She begins padding across the bridge so she can start investigating the village in more detail. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     For the Servant of the Bow, walking was not truly an issue. He didn't get fatigued the way normal humans did, only experiencing such if he was hitting prana depletion in combat. That didn't mean it wasn't tedious - even more so as he was, at the moment, not even human.     Once again, Archer was in Hyrule, and once again he had been made into a red fox by the strange 'Twilight' that dotted the land, his shroud present as two sleeves with the waist-cape becoming a cloak around his neck.     He spared a glance to group, curious as to why Ilia - the girl they had rescued from the fortress a few weeks prior - wasn't being affected or changing either. Perhaps it had something to do with why she was taken in the first place? Seeing her concerned look, Archer takes the chance to speak up - "I assume this place was in better condition before you were taken prisoner?"     Another thing that caught his attention... was the swordsman who had joined them today.     Another Servant like him. A Saber-Class... and one he indirectly knew, for he'd traced that blade already... from Emiya Shirou, during the war in Shiva.     Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun... and Knight of the Round Table of Camelot.     One of /her/ knights... like Mordred. Another person with a tie to her... like Emiya Shirou himself.     It cemented things a bit more... especially after he'd read the more recent Union reports.      "So a knight graces our presence?" His words are careful - Emiya Shirou must have met him to have his blade traced, but he was not sure if the two were just acquaintances or allies... or if the boy had told Gawain about him. "I don't suppose anything in your time might have given you a clue as to what this is? After all, as a knight, you surely must have faces your share of witches or sorceress'."     The indirect reference to Morgan le Fay - the woman who's jealousy largely caused the events of Camelot's downfall - was a risk due to likely being a sensitive topic, but it would set up the grounds for the knight to be less guarded, making it seem like Archer himself was familiar with the time-period... and ensuring that, when or if he finally did meet the King of Knights again, his being able to recognize her wouldn't seem out of place to the Knight of the Sun. 

:'''{{#var:533|Sir Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' Sir Gawain is here to help, the golden retriever dressed in his armor, Excalibur Galatine in his mouth, the knight ready to- wait. Yep, Sir Gawain has been transformed by the Twilight, a large golden retriever, though he still has his Servant abilities. Walking alongside the path, he stops next to Ilia, sheathing his blade so he can talk. "We can save them, right? I assume there's a cure!" Gawain is then addressed by Archer, who he nods to. "I know exactly what this is...it's magic!" The dog joyfully nods, as he looks back at the village, though he has little clue on who this fox is. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ilia doesn't seem to mind Sarah upon her shoulder. She almost looks like she wanted to pet Sarah a few times, but she of course thought better of it. She sighs a little, looking at the village. But then, the pat on the shoulder. Ilia actually msiles a little, especialyl as Sarah confirms that the situation isn't the best.      "...There is... /something/ a bit different. When I left, this village wasn't usually covered in Twilight. ...But that was just three weeks ago. The Twilight could have grown."      And, a stare is given forward, towards the village. She finally starts to walk over the bridge. A glance towards Archer.      "...And, yes. Even aside the Twilight, this place is different. When I was kidnapped, there was a fire set by the monsters...."      A grim look is on her face as she makes her way across the bridge. "...I have no idea if anyone else was hurt or not in the attack." 5r 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Once Staren is in the village proper, he can hear muttering from them. It's much like a broken record. The vast majority of them are sitting down on the ground, or kneeling against it, looking compeltely in fear. But, they each can be heard speaking, over and over again. Each saying a different phrase. A selection of the repeated phrases are as follows:      "Why did they have to burn the village... why?"      "So many... Where is my wife? What happened to my wife?"      "My daughter... Why did they take my daughter?"      "Why did they carry off so many children...?"      ...That's probably an ominous sign. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Want an eye in the skies? I can scout around, make sure nobody's out to ambush us..." Although before she does that, she first stops where she stands and exhales quietly. The young woman's foxy ears turn back and forth like radar dishes, honed by a flow of Essence through her effort. Suddenly mumbles from afar are heard clear as day. Were there a crow or owl in a nearby tree she'd be hearing its heartbeat. Everyone else's heartbeats, well, they're certainly audible. The only question is, does anything in all of that stand out of place?     The same goes for smell. She takes a few whiffs of the wind.. there's burned trees, but how recent is the burning? Is there a TRAIL perhaps?     Because she can hear the anguish. At one point she'd consider such raids on other tribes just part of existence, not -exactly- her business, but she made a vow. The first really mature thing she's done since Exaltation.     It's her business now. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren /jumps/ when he first hears them speak, looking around for the source before realizing it's the spirit. Now his tail is all bushy. "...Okay, that is seriously creepy..." he pads back towards the group to relay his findings to any that stayed with Ilia. "The... spirit-forms repeat a single phrase over and over... it sounds like 'they' invaded, burn..." he suddenly realizes he's talking to someone who /lived/ here and this is her /home/, but, too late to try and soften the blow now, "...burned the village, and kidnapped people, especially the children. Any, um..." he looks for /someone/ who might be better at talking to Ilia more gently about this to help, "any idea who they might be talking about...?" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     For a brief moment, Archer half-deadpans at Gawain, idly wondering to himself if this sudden feeling of amazed exasperation was what Rin experienced back when she had been teaching his past hopeless self long ago. "Yes... clearly it is magic" he finally replies, slight hints of irritation leaking out.     That this was magic was palliatively obvious. What he had hoped was that Gawain had enough experience with it to know anything about countering it. After all, as a Knight of the Round he would have known Morgan le Fey and seen her curses at work, and even if not then he would have at least have known Merlin - even though the latter was assumedly less likely to use his magic for something like this.      Looking at the scene of the village closer, the mournful whispers reach his ears - perhaps his being a Spirit himself helps him hear it better considering he's not as close as Staren.     And as he listens, Archer gives a small sigh, a rather grim thought crossing his mind - one he doesn't bother to keep to himself as all options should be considered in this instance; "Aren't we assuming too much in hoping this is reversible? Are they even still alive for that matter? For all we know, these are simply lingering spirits who are frozen in the positions they died in. That or, if they are in fact disembodied, their bodies may no longer be in a state with which to return them to life. After all, judging by the look of this place" - he inclines his head to the surrounding, charred forests - "it doesn't look like they were being too careful about who they killed... or at least not immediately so, since the village wasn't leveled entirely."     With this, he glances to the girl. "Perhaps the reason they didn't just destroy the village wholesale was so as not to harm you - maybe they wanted you out alive before they actually killed anyone... and after you were gone, nothing was left to hold them back. If that's the case, it's not restoring them that the issue is... but rather resurrecting them from what is looking more and more like death." 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica considers giving a smack to Staren, but decides against it on grounds of her current form doing far more damage with that sort of thing than even she'd normally intend. Though while she's debating this, Archer opens his mouth. She just stares at the fox. "You are SUCH an idiot." she declares, possibly resembling Rin in this. He's more an idiot because of what he says to the girl rather than his specific arguments. Still, it's easier to speak to the words than to address the tone.     "We know the Twilight affects things and people, and that when it goes away those effects are reversed. There is NO reason to assume anyone's dead just because they LOOK dead. So don't lose heart!" This last to Ilia. "Not over this jerk." 

:'''{{#var:533|Sir Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' "It is better to have hope than not! I will act under the impression we can save their lives!" Dogawain barks zealously, travelling closer to the village to sniff around. "What are we looking for? Anything specific?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah pads through the village, listening to the words of the people. Okay, so some people invaded and kidnapped children. This sounds like a problem that needs resolving. She begins walking around through the area, looking for trakcs or signs of what direction the attack might have come from. "Do what you guys are going to do. It just looks like this is a Twilight thing so I was working off of that assumption instead of them being super dead. Ilia mentioned that the village wasn't under Twilight before, so what looks like happened is that the village was clear, /then/ the attack happened, and then the Twilight rolled in while people were reeling from the aftermath of the invasion." She pauses. "So within the last three weeks. That's what you said, right, Ilia?" Her tail snaps irritably. "Okay, people, let's stay on task. We're going to backtrack these guys. Follow them back to their place and hit them hard. They wanted the kids for a reason, probably related to whatever caused the Twilight to move in. Look for signs and maybe any tools we can use. Be careful, this place has been hit by fire so some of the areas might be unstable." At that, Sarah begins doing exactly what she told everyone else to do: Look for tracks and signs of where the kids might have been taken, as well as anything that might be promising for use. these people aren't using it, after all. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      There is in fact a trail of destruction, leading from the city. A burnt out path through the forest, with a number of fallen small trees that look like they were trampled, going both ways. It seems this was their way in, and way out. It leads to the north east, and would be relatively easy to follow some distance into the woods.      There is sadness on Ilia's face as she is within the village proper. Her eyes look all over the place. A long glance is given towards a particular tree that has been burnt down, a treehouse home within having fallen to the ground and burnt into just a frame itself. She sighs in relief, though, looking at two people. An older man, and woman.      "...Thank the Goddesses that at least my parents are alright."      A blank look is on Ilia's face at what Archer, said. There is so little known about the Twilight, that the fear within her is somewhat justified. She wonders, for a moment, if they might be dead. But, she relaxes as she listens to Frederica. "...I'm sure they'll be fine."      Ilia looks to Staren... Frowning. And then, she looks around again. "...The children... There were a number of them in this town. And... And I don't see a single one of them. They must have been taken, just like me." She pauses, trying to stay as strong as she can.      "...But. They have to be safe. I was kept safe, after all."      There are a number if items that can in fact be stolen from the town. Above the door to the Mayor's house, there is a shield made of wood that can be stolen. There is also a local store, a small little shop with an open door. A shop person is at the counter, stuck in spirit form. It looks like they sell milk, be larva, lantern oil, Deku Nuts, Deku Sticks, and slingshots, as far as /really/ unique local items you wouldn't find in normal stores in other worlds. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Archer can't help but half-chuckle to himself when he hears Frederica speak, indeed finding himself briefly reminded of Rin by her comment and her attempt to reassure Ilia. Even the way she called him a jerk sounded much the same. "I'm simply being honest about our chances" he replies, giving as much of a shrug as a fox can pull off.     As for Gawain... once again, Archer feels exasperation bud in his mind, wondering if this was some form of karma being delivered upon him - either for how much naivet� Rin endured to teach a younger Emiya magecraft or just because of how Archer himself was prone to regard others. "If we knew that, we would be much farther along. As I said, you as a knight must have had /some/ form of experience with magecraft in your life, correct? Court sorcerer perhaps? Mage advisor to the king or like? Nothing about this seems familiar at all?" Though in all honesty, Gawain was a knight first and foremost - even if he knew of magic, it was unlikely he had direct contact with anything like this. Archer knew that... but still, he'd hoped.      That being said, he glances to Staren and Sarah respectively - especially the latter as her down-to-business attitude, analytical eye and predisposition to order everyone around like she was the boss once again reminded him of Rin. "Well, they obviously didn't want to destroy the village entirely, so they must have wanted the people alive in the short-term at least. If the Twilight came after, that means it's either tied to acts of bloodshed or tragedy or is possibly summoned by some kind of ritual." Looking around, he sees Sarah was right about traces, with Finna quickly confirming it.     He then decides to help in Sarah's outlined course of action by turning to face Staren - "You're obviously keen to get a closer look at these 'spirits' - are any of them making references to /what/ exactly took their children? Orcs or Moblins, maybe?"     Finally, there is Ilia's words, with Archer giving her a blunt yet somehow gentle-sounding rebuke - "Don't forget that you were kept separate, though, and you aren't exactly a child. Even if they were taken alive, something must have been special about you in particular to them if you weren't kept with the rest."     At the very least, he didn't confess that the children were probably dead to her... though he half-believed that was an unspoken truth at this point after three weeks. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren tries to look apologetic after he speaks, or at least uncomfortable, and then Archer cranks it up to 11.     Staren looks to the treehouse. Those are Ilia's parents?     Oh.     His ears splay and his tail droops. He doesn't know what to say. He can't imagine how she must feel. (His mind tries to anyway, it's like trying not to think of an elephant, but just returns 'NOPE') He looks at her sadly, but doesn't know what to do. She already knows they're going to work to undo this, of course, but in the meantime it must hurt. She looks like she might need to cuddle a fuzzy animal or something, but offering that would sound creepy.     Fortunately, Sarah-cat has taken charge! Staren's ears turn to her, followed by his head. Everything she says makes sense and sounds like a good idea. He nods and heads off looking for clues... he's not sure what, exactly, but perhaps the invaders might have left something behind... at Archer's question, he sits and holds a paw to the back of his head in an embarassed gesture. "I actually forgot that this is what normally happens to the locals when the Twilight comes." Then he perks up, "But that's a good idea!" He pads off to seek out all the spirits and see if any of them specifically identify the attackers.     And also save his allies the experience of listening to all of them. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' An examination of the village results in a number of items vanishing into Sarah's Captchalogue. You never know when you might have to rub an item on something else to solve a problem. As everyone regroups and shares information, Sarah looks in the direction of the obvious tracks. "Okay. We've got as much as we're going to get here in terms of information. We need to go investigate where the kids were taken." She points in the direction for the people who don't get it, and then looks over to Ilia. "You need to decide if you're going to stay here while we check it out, or if you want to come with us. It will probably be dangerous and you might get hurt or worse if things go badly. But It's up to you, since you've probably already decided." 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frika can't be upset with Sarah. Sure the catgirl is abrasive, but since when does Frika consider that a bad thing? Besides she's mostly abrasive to the guys, she's practical and she's RIGHT. That earns her points in the pyro's books.     Frika the Hedgehog looks up at Ilia. She'd go up and offer nuzzlings and pettings to the poor girl, but that seems like it might not work so well right now. "It's up to you." she says gently, agreeing with Sarah. "But if you come with us, we won't let anyone hurt you. If we can, anyways." she adds. Not to discourage, but... sometimes it's simply not possible. Ilia would have to at least help them all look out for herself, to keep herself safe. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     While Ilia worries about her parents and others the townsfolk, Finna charges off. She's in fox form in no time at all, switching as naturally as breathing. Her excellent nose is boosted even more in such a state, and her eyes far sharper for nightvision - very useful for seeing details in the shadows cast by large trees. She goes bounding across the whole village several times with her nose tot he ground and ears pointed and alert!%R    Eventually she ambles over to the biggest source of that scent, the rather obvious trail. Why scour the village? Just in case she missed anything, of course.     In another few moments she's airborne upon hawk wings, fox form melting way in favor of avian shenanigans! Up and up she goes at incredible speeds no bird could manage, to spy from above... and see just how far the trail could possible go.     if the raiders are camped anywhere nearby, enjoying their spoils, she'll probably see smoke from campfires, as an example. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Finna follows the trail along into the distance, she'll find it leads completely out of the forest. Here? It gets much harder to follow. The trail is weeks old at this point, and any grass they might have trampled is long gone. There is some garbage here and there from what /might/ have been a temporary camp on the edge of the forest. But, it leads further across the plains of Hyrule. If the group's map is consulted, though, the next landmark in that direction is a place called 'Lon Lon Ranch', just near the base of Spectacle Rock.      Ilia, though? She actually looks uncertain. She looks to the group, and the town, frowning. "I... I don't know if it is safe here. Or safe with you. I could go to Hyrule Castle Town, but that is right near Hyrule Castle, and Agahnim... But..."      She ponders, looking to the distance, "...I have a friend who lives at Lon Lon Ranch. It's not usually been covered in Twilight. Maybe I could stay with her?" 

:'''{{#var:533|Sir Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' Sir Dogawain follows along, sniffing the tracks and doing dog things. "You should be safe with the Union! They can protect you, after all!" He joyously barks it, before going on ahead to investigate. "I don't smell anything yet...what type of scent should I be looking for?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "We don't have time to go shipping her off to some weird Union hugbox." Sarah points out. "Besides, she has a perfectly good suggestion of her own. Let's go to that ranch and see if they can put her up while we deal with this problem. It'll be like a sleepover except with less sackbeating and brick filled pillows. We're headed out that way anyway, right?" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      Archer tilts his head at Ilia's words. "Convenient, since, last I checked, that particular ranch is roughly to the Northeast as well. Still, all things considered, it would be unwise to leave you unguarded as you are the only clue we have in discovering what happened here and how it connects to the Tears of Light. In this instance, I actually would agree with him under normal circumstances"- he inclines his head at Gawain. "Namely that you would be safer overall in Union territory. However, that's not the case here - until we know how you fit into things here or whether or not you can help us with anything we face, we need you on hand. Also, if we took you off-world, it might give Agahnim an excuse to attack us more directly if we start kidnapping natives from his world."     Fox-Archer closes his eyes and tilts his head as he listens to Sarah, then looks back to Ilia. "I suppose the best compromise would be having Union members keep watch over you." He then glances to Sarah, feeling he might know what else she'd find a positive in the action - "Besides, we can probably use the ranch as a staging base - we'd have access to far more supplies there then we have now. Also, we can perhaps trade in some or any of what was salvaged here, or anything we find along the way, for something better - or just to get some cash on hand at all in case of an emergency."     It could be called callous of Archer to so bluntly degrade what's left of Ilia's home to 'salvage', but in all honesty they needed all they could get for this - Fassad wasn't around to supply them with local currency, so they needed to have some form of income going for the immediate future. And, distasteful as it was, salvage was the most readily available way to do so. Besides, most of what was here was either damaged, worn out from disuse or would likely be replaced anyway if they were to succeed... and he'd like to think the villagers would offer supplies to the group anyway if it meant saving their children and potentially restoring them to normal.     That didn't mean some part of him deep down didn't shudder uncomfortably at the idea of taking what little these people had left, though, and he wasn't exactly going to volunteer doing so himself. But he could hardly stop Sarah or the others from doing so if they wanted, so at the very least he would offer a suggestion of what could be done with it. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Finna has the path! Staren will follow. "Umm," Staren interjects after Dogawain, "I'm not sure most of us are in the best state for protecting right now. Staying with your friends sounds like a good idea... if this 'Lon Lon Ranch' is still outside the Twilight."     Staren blinks at Sarah. "Wait, what? What the heck kind of sleepovers do you /go/ to?" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna once again lands... on Archer's back, no less. She's still in hawk form, but being careful to not grip painfully with those talons. "Any amateur could follow this trail... a boot to the head is subtler than the dopes who blazed it."     Thankfully, she hops OFF Archer quickly enough and returns to her own fox form.     Coincidentally, she takes the time to BOUNCE HIGH at the first opportunity and lick Ilia's nose. SURPRISE!     Cheer up! 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "The kind with a fish princess." Sarah replies to Staren without batting an eye. "Pillow fights are serious business." At this point, the cat turns to Gawain. "Hey you. Hold still a second." She leaps up and perches on the big golden retriever, and then gestures with her tail. "We'll see what we can do once we've seen Lon Lon Ranch. Let's move out." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The sudden licking of Ilia's nose actually causes the girl to stumble back, eyes going wide. She looks shocked at first. Soon after, though? A hand is on her mouth. She's trying to hold back giggling, her eyes closed as she tries not to laugh. She takes a deep breath, smiling at the group around her.      "...It's been a long time since Hyrule had a reason for hope. You're all heroes. All of you."      She glances north, pointing to a patch of trees just to the north, that is less burnt out. "...Once you do find the Tears of Light? That's where the Spring of Ordona is."      She sighs, happily. "...Thank you. Thank all of you. But." She glances to Finna. "...Please don't mention that fox-licking thing again. It's kind of embarrasing, alright?"      A pause, and Ilia adds, to make sure it's clear.      "It's a secret to everybody." 

}}

1705/The Bear and the Banjo.

2015-09-18T06:04:13Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/03/02 |Location=Great Ocean - Northern Loop |Synopsis=Lute hunts down Kuma and co to Attack |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=188, 367, 685 |Tinypl..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/03/02
|Location=Great Ocean - Northern Loop
|Synopsis=Lute hunts down Kuma and co to Attack
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=188, 367, 685
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     It's near dusk on the Northern Loop. Kuma and her Fleet are on a patrol mission. They're traveling in a loose diamond, with Kuma on point, Chitose in the middle and Shigure and Nowaki handling the 'wings'. "It'll be night soon, kuma! Get your Star Shells ready, Nowaki and Shigure, kuma~!" calls the Cruiser over her shoulder, "Chitose, launch recon flight, kuma! Check south east around to north west, kuma!"     Spray kicks up from their feet as they skate along, Shigure unhooking one cannon-fa and inserting a red canister shell into the breech. Nowaki does much the same on her 'necklace' cannons, inserting a pair of red canisters into the turret housing.     Meanwhile, Chitose deploys her launch rails, and aims upwards at an angle. "Go Zuiun! Patrol sortie!" Pulling the trigger, a pair of floatplanes roar to life from the rails, followed by another four pairs that form up into four squads of three, taking different distance points as they fly out their patrol routes. Chitose reports. "Scouts deployed!" before closing her eyes to let their feeds fill her mind. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute has been preparing and planning for this for some time. Naval training exercises at the Confederate base have been just one aspect of his preperation. The harder part? Finding Kuma. Using information from the Abyssal Fleet, though, he has finally gotten a lead on where she might be making a patrol. And so, Lute sent his Unown into the evening sky, to spread wide across the ocean until they spot something. And, at long last, Kuma has been found, along with her fleet. The Unown starts flying after them, trailing them and relaying their location to Lute.      And, Lute smiles, seeing through the eyes of the Unown that the fleet are out. He has been scouting the ocean as well, flying atop Giratina. The massive dragon Pokemon loops flies high above the ocean, hard to spot against the darkening sky. Lute gives orders, and changes the path of the Legendary Dragon.      "Let's sink her fleet, then, shall we, Giratina?"      Giratina response is simple: a roar.      The first real sign of Lute's approach is the Unown massing in the sky. They might be harder to spot as night comes, but still, odds are, a hundred Unown beginning to cluster in the sky following Kuma's patrol? It'll get noticed. But, not long after that, Giratina comes in. Roaring. The creature /almost/ looks like something the Abyssal Fleet might have in it, though not quite. And, the roar is the only warning of attack it gives. It immediately launches a burst from its mouth, a swirling ball of shadows and darkness about a meter across. He's aiming, specifically, for Kuma herself. But, the splash damage of the attack might strike the others as well.      And, with that attack, Giratina simply starts circling the Fleet Daughters, roaring yet again down at them. If one of them looks closely, they might even be able to notice the horde of Unown moving a bit towards Giratina, about ten or so of the Unown merging itself to Giratina's underside. So, Giratina now has a number of unblinking unnaturaly white eyes on its underbelly. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure spots the Unown and swivels 180, lifts her cannon-fa and fires the Star Shell. A bright red glowing ball flies skywards, and very slowly begins to fall down. "Incoming! Break formation!" she cries, juking further out from Chitose.     Nowaki frowns, and swivels her waldo-mounted cannon up, returning the Shadow Ball with her own two explosive shells. For her trouble, she takes splash damage from the ball, as it slams down into the water nearby.     Chitose jukes out, recalling her floatplanes, which come roaring in. They're not built for aerial combat, but they have machineguns, which they fire into the Legendary Dragon as they swoop in. Kuma is the only one not to get in on the action, her equipment just not suited to aerial opponents. "Maintain formation, kuma! We're stronger together, kuma!" she rallys, her voice, though young, ringing a clarion call across the darkening ocean. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The cannons and machine guns graze against Giratina. It's a fairly agile giant dragon, and so it's doing its best. It is caught minorly in the explosive shells's blasts, and just barely gets out of the path of the Star Shell, butit has more trouble avoiding the machinegun fire.      "Giratina! Move in. Slash through them all. And, well... Time for the signal."      Giratina swoops down, skimming along the water. It lets out a roar again, as it spreads its wings. From this angle, it's probably a lot easier to tell who the human on the back is. Yes, it's pretty obviously Lute. And, for some reason, he is holding up a flare gun. He shoots it up, and a red flare flies into the sky. As this happens, Giratina simply keeps going forward, using Slash via the massive spikes on its wings. It's trying to cut towards their legs. Lute has one order for Giratina tonight: Do not kill. /Sink/. And, the creature knows this. It roars again, looking at each of the Fleet Daughters in turn.      With the flare in the sky, though? Another creature is moving in. It is swimming along the water, though slowly, heading towards this location.      This creature is Mr. Crabs, the giant Kaiju. It will take a bit for its arrival, though. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Kuma grits her teeth and cries. "Scatter!" The giant dragon is too fast though, scoring right through the middle of the formation. Uniforms tear and the sound of metal being ripped up fills the air. Nowaki staggers, her backpack missing a goodly chunk of material. Chitose manages to keep herself mostly intact, just missing the crane from the left side of her backpack. Shigure skids back from the slash, arms crossed with her cannon-fa blocking the hit directly to her, though they earn a large silvery scar for it. Kuma herself attempts to grapple the dragon, grabbing onto something and getting taken for a ride... though from here, she unloads her 14cm cannon at point blank range.     Chitose orders her floatplanes to angle around, their underslung bomb load bring brought to bare now, as they angle to drop the bombs in Giratina's path.     "Unknown submersible unit approaching! Nowaki, depth charges ready!" calls Shigure, though she currently focuses fire up at Giratina, firing twin blasts from her 12.7cm cannon-fa. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      At the point blank range, Giratina can't avoid the cannonfire. It lets out a roar as the blast digs into it. Instead of blood, it leaks out a black mist instead. It is a ghost type Pokemon, so its physiology is a bit different. But, this is still not something Lute expected. for Kuma to actually /grab/ the beast.      "...You're more impressive than I thought you'd be. It's going to be a bit more of a challenge to sink you than I thought."      Lute just grins. He sounds... fairly wicked right now. He is wincing a bit, though, as Giratina flies into the path of some of the bombs being dropped in front of him.      "...Alright. Go, Castform. Use Rainy Day, then Weather Ball to get her off of us! And, Giratina, angle back towards the others, and use Dragonbreath from above!"      Lute holds up Castform's Pokeball. The small Pokemon that vaguely looks like a cloud appears, and shoots a strange burst of blue into the sky. Suddenly, clouds form, and it begins to rain. Not in a wide area, though. About the size of a city block. But, still, there is rain on the battlefield. It then shoots forward another ball. It looks plain and white, but upon impacting the rain, it becomes a ball of water. It aims to strike into Kuma, and try to knock her off Giratina.      The large dragon Pokemon turns towards the other Fleet Daughters, before swooping into the air. Again, it starts circling, looking down at Kuma's fleet. It fires burst after burst of a firey dragon breath at them. Its aims at the edge of them, though, trying to keep circling them with the blast. Trying to keep them pinned together.      And, Mr. Crabs begins to rise from the ocean. It is still a distance away, but the large crab Kaiju, eighty meters tall, can be seen bursting its head from the water on occasion.      Lute just laughs again, quite heartily, "Seriously, just give up. I just wanna bring you girls back to some of your sisters!" 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Kuma grins ferally at Lute. "DON'T YOU DARE UNDERESTIMATE ME, KUMA!" she roars over the rushing wind. The rain beats down, and with a snarl of defiance... Kuma swats the Weather Ball away. She then digs her feet into some of Giratina's scales, and with a nearly bestial roar of, "FIRING TORPEDOES, KUMA!" four explosive javelins unhook from the racks on her ankles, attempting to embed into the Pokemon before they detonate. Kuma releases her hold, crashing back down into the water. "Ocean Fitout!" she cries, becoming engulfed in white light. The bubble bursts outwards, as the bow of the Kuma-class Light Torpedo Cruiser, Kuma breaches, then crashes down in its full glory.     Shigure jinks out of the path of that dragonfire, then turns to see the head of the Kaiju coming in... "LEVIATHAN!" she calls in warning, before she too is engulfed in white light. The Shiryatsuyu-class Destroyer breaches the bubble and slams down into the water, steaming ahead to bring her cannons and torpedoes to bare against the approaching waterborne menace.     Nowaki transforms also, though her turrets continue to track Lute's Dragon, firing airburst shells into its path. "Do not think we will go down so easily." she says stoically.     Chitose transforms to Ocean Fitout as well, the planes she launched growing in size as well to match. They come in to land, while a new set are attached to the launch rails and fired into the air, six Bombers and six Torpedo carriers. They angle after Giratina and Mr Crabs respectively. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The torpedoes blow away at Giratina, bursting off more of its skin. Some of the AA fire strikes it as well, blasting holes into it. It roars, and without orders, moves to land on the now ocean outfitted Kuma. Lute has heard that something like this might be possible. And so, he just smiles. Yes, he came prepared for this, too.      Either way, as Giratina tries to land on Kuma itself? It opens its mouth again. Giant blue balls of fighting type Aura appear from its mouth, trying to pummel into the ship below, over and over again.      As Shigure moves in towards Mr. Crabs, the top-hatted and monacled Kaiju lets out a bestial roar of its own. It moves in towards Shigure. It is simply trying to tank the cannon fire from her, while also tanking the torpedoes and bombers. With its massive crab claws, it tries to pinch into Shigure. This is a creature capable of fighting giant robots. If it gets a good enough grip on a ship? It can cut it apart as well.      Lute, still atop Giratina? He tosses a Pokeball towards Chitose. And, it opens, revealing Registeel. Lute just shouts to this Pokemon.      "Registeel, use EARTHQUAKE!"      The gigantic steel golem lifts its claw and stomps its feet. He tried this strategy in training against Ri, actually. Earthquake breaks apart the earth. But in this situation? The battleship itself counts as the 'earth.' So, this could be a bit nasty as well. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure's girlish voice rings metallically from the Destroyer as those claws move to pinch into her hull. The Destroyer makes a sharp turn to try and avoid them... but it caught. Metal groans under the strain, and a girlish scream of agony sounds out from within the hull. Cannons fire, machineguns strafe and torpedoes continue to launch... but she's in a bad position.     Once landed on, Kuma's AA guns turn and fire at point blank, though the gravelly battlevoice of the Cruiser grunts in pain from each strike into her superstructure. Metal flies off and lands in the water, and one of her 14cm turrets gets turned into a misshapen pile of scrap.. until one of them right under Giratina fires into it's underbelly, trying to dislodge it. Nowaki comes alongside Mr Crabs, launching a large spread of torpedoes to try and get its attention, her smaller cannons firing rapidly into the monster.     Chitose isn't a battleship, nor is she particularly well armoured, so as Registeel comes stomping down on her, she screams in pain. Hull shakes, one launch rail comes loose from its mounting and falls off into the water. The returning torpedo bombers dive in an strafe with machineguns, while the Seaplane Tender's own defense battery fires into the metalic golem. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Even as the attack on it continues, Mr. Crabs keeps its grip tight. It's powerful shell is obviously cracking in various places, but it keeps fighting on. Master told it to destroy these ships, after all. Sink them. Bring them under. And, these ships are enemies of its master. Even as Nowaki moves in, it keeps trying to tear into Shigure. The only change? It turns its body slightly, to try and face Nowaki a bit. It begins to spit bubbles. Normally, it is cute when a crab does this. But, these bubbles are in fact highly acidic. They float towards Nowaki, trying to cover her.      Lute just winces as the AA fire is aimed at Giratina. There is too high of a chance of him being hit himself at the moment. Some of the fire does in fact graze him, but Giratina is moving to protect Lute with its wings. And, Lute just smiles, looking at Kuma. Assuming Kuma can still hear him.      "You'll be so much cuter as an Abyssal, you know. Giratina, Dragon Breath!"      And, unfortunately, before Giratina can fire its breath out, it is shot in the underside, and launched into the air. It does manage to right itself up again, though its underside is largely torn up. It sends forth a burst of Dragon Breath, though it's a fairly weak burst. Lute just sighs, "Giratina, get into the air a bit higher! Let's just keep circling for now."      And, Giratina does so, flapping to get higher while it tries to regain composure.      Registeel as well simply tries to tank the machine gun fire. Its steel body is getting dented. But, without an order from Lute, it just keeps fiting on its own. It randomly walks around Chitose, punching down into her with its massive metal claws. It doesn't have much strategy aside just 'destroy', really. It's a Shadow Pokemon, a feral beast.      Lute looks down on things, smiling. So far, it has been working. Force them into ship mode, give his Pokemon room to fight. The extra damage to Giratina was unexpected, but... He can manage with the plan still. And, there are still some more Pokemon he could send out soon, if need be. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure would be gritting her teeth here, if she still had human form... as it stands, she's letting out a long groan that sounds exactly like a ship hull slowly being torn apart. She changes back to get out of those claws, landing back in the water in human form. She sinks down to mid calf and looks much worse for wear, scuffed skin, shredded clothes and one cannon-fa bent useless. "Being able to corner me like this... well, whatever." murmurs the Destroyer, as she wades out of the way, dropping another spread of torpedoes as she tries to evacuate the area.     Nowaki turns out of the acid bubbles, though some of them manage to melt through her superstructure, one turret melting into useless slag.     Chitose tries something desperate. As her deck is punched, her remaining catapult traverses into position, aiming right at the Shadow Pokemon. A plane appears on it, then launches at pull speed, seeking to knock the metal monster off of the ship.     Kuma, meanwhile, adjusts her course, getting a mild singe of that dragon flame. Her AA guns traverse and fire up at Giratina, while her main battery targets on Mr Crabs, seeking to disable him at least with her heavier firepower. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Registeel is launched away, Lute holds up its Pokeball. A beam of light reaches out to Registeel from the Pokeball, "REGISTEEL, RETURN!" He frowns. Well, at least Registeel did a bit of damage.      The torpedoes and AA continue to pummel into Giratina. Lute frowns a bit. Well, time to bring out another Pokemon, for support. He opens one up, and a Gardevoir appears on the back of Giratina as well. "Savant, keep Giratina afloat! Do whatever you can to make sure we stay in the air! Support him with all you have!"      A thin psychic barrier appears around Giratina. Some of Gardevoir's psychic powers are being used to help make things easier for Giratina as well. It's not much, but it at least keeps Giratina up.      Mr. Crabs, meanwhile? He's moving to the forefront. Moving in towards Kuma. Lute lets out a shout.      "MR. CRABS! MORE ACID BUBBLES! THEN, GET OUT THE BASIC BUBBLES! Grab at Kuma!"      Lute points towards Kuma, so Mr. Crabs knows who he means. That is the main goal, after all. Sinking the others would be icing on the cake, but... One of them is already leaving the area.      Mr. Crabs, though? He's spitting out more of the acid bubbles. And soon after, another type of bubble is spit out. The two bubble types, on impact? They lead to a massive explosion. Mr. Crabs is trying to launch an explosion across the battlefield, to engulf the three ships still nearby. Once done, he moves to try and pinch into Kuma. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure isn't exactly leaving, just getting some distance before she pulls her remaining cannon-fa from her back and opens up on Giratina again. "I'm disappointed in you guys." she grumbles softly.     Nowaki turns again, bringing her AA guns up at Giratina and firing a spread of torpedoes at Mr Crabs once more, while Chitose, unable to launch more planes, turns and attempts to back off, parting shots from her AA battery up at the dragon.     Kuma, meanwhile, turns her broadside to Mr Crabs, and unleashes hell in the form of all her torpedoes... she manages to get them out just before that acid explosion smashes into her, melting metal and ripping off one of the smoke stack caps, sending it spinning into the water nearby. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Something odd happens.      Even as the shells continue to pummel Lute and Giratina, even as Mr. Crab's exoskelton is torn off? Lute seems to be having a conversation with someone. A quick little radio conversation. But, the moment the conversation is over? He takes on a completely sullen and broken appearance, for just a moment.      And then he suddenly looks like he has completely broke mentally. It looks like he has gone completely mad.      The Unown still floating around? They start to return to Lute. Merging onto his body. Lute lets out a beastial roar. It has been /some/ time since this has happen, but something has made Lute /so angry/ that his third personality has come out. His personality that is a complete berserker.      With the Unown attached to Lute's body as an armor, his strength is increased incredibly. He no longer is thinking rationally, at all. He leaps off of Giratina, down towards landing on Kuma herself. He rapidly runs towards her mast, and tries to grab it. Trying to /rip it off/ of her. With the boost from the Unown, and his own bestial mentality right now? It's very much possible.      And then, if successful, he tries to slam the mast straight into Kuma. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Thump. tacktacktacktack CRRRK, CLLLLANG! That's the sound of a Lute landing on the deck of a Light Cruiser, running over, RIPPING OFF the radio mast, and smashing it into the deck further down. A pained groan escapes the Cruiser, "For Kuma to get in this shape, what a disgrace, kuma..." Before she reverts to human form... where this leaves Lute? Who knows... but before he hits the floor, the battered, bruised and burned girl pulls on her ahoge. It morphs, shifts and detaches, forming a three-section-staff, which the Cruiser leaps into action to use, slamming the reinforced rod into the berserking man, using all the might that a shipgirl can muster. "Don't underestimate me, kuma!" she repeats from earlier, laying into the pokemon trainer for all she's worth. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Kuma transforms, Lute is just there, swimming in the water. Even in his berserk state, it seems he can manage some sort of self preservation and last in the water. But, still, this puts him at the /worst/ disadvantage. The three-section staff strikes hard into Lute, sending him /flying/. Giratina, though? He flies in, to catch Lute with his mouth. Lute is still frothing and raging, but he is calming down a bit as he looks /incredibly/ injured from that last attack.      But, there is one other thing in the water now, that wasn't there before. While in the water, one of Lute's Pokeballs opened.      It floats, under the water. As the other ships are dealing with the Kaiju, and focusing on Giratina, something else is moving in to try and focus on Kuma herself.      A large grey tentacle bursts out of the water. It attempts to grab hold of Kuma's right arm. Then, another comes out. It attempts to grab ahold of her left. More and more tentacles keep coming out. Once all of the limbs are /hopefully/ bound, the additional tentacles will be trying to help the others restrain more, and to grab all around the body.      And then every single tentacle starts to try and crush down upon Kuma's body, trying to break every limb. Trying to crush in her body.      And as they do this? They /try/ to bring Kuma under the water.      Underneath the water? Kuma is likely able to see a Tentacruel. Lute's starter Pokemon is trying to finish the job that Lute went too berserk to finish. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     "Kuma!" "Flagship!" "NO! No no no no nononononono!" Nowaki, Chitose and Shigure cry out as Kuma struggles against the crushing tentacles of the jellyfish pokemon. Shigure, damaged as she is, tries to limp in to help, Chitose just keeps firing up at Giratina, trying to nail the source of all this, while Nowaki turns wide, coming in with her Depth Charge launcher primed. If she had a face, it would be in a determined, thin line with gritted teeth behind closed lips.     Kuma isn't done yet though. Even as her limbs creak, equipment groans and buckles, and she's pulled inexorably beneath the waves, she has a dauntless expression. She's a reckless character, always has been, and so, as she stares into the Tentacruel's eyes, she smirks, materializing a spread of torpedoes right in it's face... the explosion plume reaches all the way up to Giratina's height. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As the torpedoes fire at the Tentacruel, it is shot straight in the face. At this point, its not /quite/ unconcious, but its tentacles have been burnt bad enough that it can't grab on anymore. Lute is going to be /very/ dissapointed, later. The Tentacruel floats away, trying to regroup itself a bit.      Mr. Crabs, though? It meanwhile just tries to keep the other ships back and away. With its master somewhat insane right now, it's just in 'defense mode', not full out attack mode. Even Giratina and Gardevoir can't do much. They're just trying to keep afloat and keep Lute from breaking free.      Which leaves just Castform left.      Castform suddenly decides to make it snow. Just because.      Damnit, Castform. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Kuma sinks, her brown eyes watching the dim light from the surface fade slowly away. "Kuma... wanted to stay... a little longer..." she transmits, as a hand forlornly reaches to that light, as if it would help her keep hold of it a moment longer. 

:'''{{#var:367|Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367)}} has posed:'''      Though it might not be readily apparent, there was a shadow flying relatively high in the sky, sharp eyes scanning the water's surface as the Guardian of The Wilds arrived. As castform begins to make it snow, this possibly aids further to Nasa's arrival being relatively stealthy, but mostly her own silence in flight would likely be the biggest factor. Once Nasa spotted the pokemon, along with the other ship girls...      Nasa's eyes narrowed. These were her friends, even if she had only known them briefly. Nasa's fingers shifted, magical energy gathering in her hands as she folded her wings roughly above where Kuma was sinking. And... unless stopped, her wings would simply fold in against her back, as Nasa suddenly dove down towards the water. Breaching the water's surface would be easy from her height, the impact softened by her magic. Her intent was simple. Dive down and start swimming as fast as she could for Kuma, with a small bubble of air around her own head to allow her to both see and breathe. If she managed to get to Kuma without too much disruption, a similar bubble would form around the fleet daughter's head, while Nasa worked at bringing her back to the surface. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Castform is happily making it snow, it sees Na`Sabal-Une entering the battlefield.      OH NO SHE WON'T.      It grunts, and launches a Weather Ball at Na`sabal-Une. The ball becomes a ball of ice, due to the snow.      It is stupidly ineffective. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     As the world starts to fade, Kuma's eyes sliding closed, she forces them open as something moves... it isn't her crew, they abandoned her, they just, left her to die... no, isn't that... she doesn't know who that is, but they're... coming for her? She hasn't been abandoned!     Kuma reaches out for Nasa, renewed faith in her friends bringing her back from the brink of those sorrowful, ragefilled thoughts. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      At this point? Lute's Pokemon are leaving the area, with him and Mr. Crabs. Eventually, Lute will calm down.      Lute will, of course, be pissed at his failure. Because he was /so close/. And then /that happened./      But, that's something he's going to have to be pissed about later. 

:'''{{#var:367|Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367)}} has posed:'''      Luckily for Nasa, she has Mage Armor on her right now! Which means that beyond it possibly being mildly uncomfortable and sending her slightly off-course, the ineffective attack would be, well, ineffective! Nasa quickly continues to swim down... and the sight of Kuma reaching a hand out towards her gets a brief smile from Nasa. She hadn't lost Hope. Good. Nasa quickly grabbed for Kuma's hand, magic spreading from her to Kuma to create a small water bubble around her head, along with several other places on her body to begin helping Kuma float up to the surface.      Meanwhile, Nasa keeps firm hold of that hand, using her other hand to begin to help her ascend, her feet kicking at the water. It might be a little bit, but they would break the surface. Meanwhile, those airbubbles persisted on Kuma's sides to ensure that she continued to float on the surface, just in case she couldn't stand on it just yet. 

:'''{{#var:685|Kuma (685)}} has posed:'''     Nowaki has taken up station around the sinking point, ready to take Kuma, Nasa and the others aboard. She's the least damaged of the fleet, after all.     Chitose and Shigure come over and board, then help Nasa get Kuma aboard as well. The Kagero-class destroyer then turns back toward Hikari, taking a long way around so she isn't followed. 

:'''{{#var:367|Na`Sabal-Une Fang (367)}} has posed:'''      Nasa somewhat happily took the invitation onboard Nowaki, because, frankly, swimming in saltwater /sucked/ and already she could feel the salt beginning to settle in all the wrong places. On the other hand, she also felt fulfilled. Kuma wouldn't sink today. Nasa made sure to stay beside Kuma the whole time, carefully doing what she could to tend to the fleet daughter's wounds...      Not that she could do ~too~ much for a ship, but bandages and such were still applied. 

}}

3017/Killing the Great Fairy of Power

2015-09-14T04:14:08Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/13 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Confederacy heads out to kill the Great Fairy of Power. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/13
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Confederacy heads out to kill the Great Fairy of Power.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=714, 758, 804, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      During the time in Kakariko Village, a bit of info on the location of the Great Fairy was gained. The Great Fairy rests just to the North-East of the village, on the path to the Forsaken Fortress. It's visible from the road, if one knows where to look. A slight fork in the mountain path, heading towards what looks to be a natural cave. A simple wooden sign sits outside of reads in the local language: 'Spring of the Great Fairy of Power'.      This place is, thankfully, fairly far removed from the village, or any other people. Few have any reason to travel to the Gerudo Desert. But, the ominous cave lays before the group. On occasion, a small ball of light with insect-like wings fly out. Fairies.      This is, almost certainly, the place.      And Agahnim has asked everyone to kill what is inside. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      The Great Fairy of Power. It was a name that Sanary hadn't heard much of before, but she knew better than to underestimate anyone just because of the name. For even something like a fairy to be renowned in that manner meant it had to be truly powerful even compared to non-fairies.      With that in mind, she's fully prepared for the job at hand. She's got her Tetsucabra Z armor on today, knowing full well that she probably won't be able to meet power with power after her past few fights with... Well, everything. No, she'd need something to amp up her defenses, and this armor would do just the trick. She's also brought her trusty charge blade and kite shield combo along, stowed on her back along an odd looking staff under all that for safe keeping.      And just in case anyone legitimately trying to seek the fai aid is around, she's got a light cloak and breathing mask on for good measure. Sure, it makes her look even bulkier, but she's not in this to win a beauty contest! She's here to kill some fairies. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED is not really a fan of faeries to begin with. This is based on reading up on various variants of his own story, and fairies never being mentioned in anything but a negative light in them. Unlike Sanary he makes no pretense at being here for peaceful purposes, he's suited up inside Glare-NT, the fifteen foot tall warmachine looks somewhat like a giant suit of medieval armour, if it wasn't for the thrusters and other mechanical elements that aren't exactly hidden. He's drawn his monofilament broadsword and seems ready to go. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Is that a freaking sign?" is Krezentia's first reaction, as the group (or at least, Sanary and her) come across a wooden sign advertizing the spring. She wasn't there, when information was gleamed about the Great Fairy, but she expected...     Guards? A dungeon? A palace? Something, really.     Anything.     Instead it's some backwater cave with a sign.     "Huh... well, alright," the Magi finally comes to the term with the facts.     Flying by the blonde girl is a fairy of her own, purple light forming a sphere around Kopie, who'd actually blend in pretty well here if not for the fact her wings are much smaller, and her foot-tall humanoid body is much easier to distinguish. The ones here are so bright it's kind of hard to tell if there's a tiny person there or just a very large firefly.     "I guess we should knock, funya~," Kopie offers. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The handful of fairies that fly near the entrance come and go fairly randomly. But, it's no problem to sneak past them. It's not even necessary, though. The fairies don't seem to mind visitors, at all.      Once the group /does/ head inside? It's quite a sudden change. After a bit of cave, there is suddenly a rectangular hallway. Fancy stone tiles make up the walls, ceiling, and floors. Here and there, there are unusual statues shaped like nothing in particular. Progressing further inside will lead to an incredibly large room. There is a calm ambience within the room as a whole, and it is filled with a light watery mist. The walls of this chamber climb up into a domed ceiling. Some drips of water fall from the ceiling, landing on the centerpiece of this room. A large circular pool of water, surrounded by a series of grey bricks. The pool of water is only ankle deep. Within the center, a symbol can be seen. A series of three triangles, set with each meeting at a corner. The symbol of the Triforce. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "That... Is a sign, yep." Sanary laughs as she peers at that little sign, rubbing her neck and wincing at the light crick from stretching it. "Means we got the right place, at least." She looks from Krezentia to Kopie to MORDRED, holding in another snicker at the vast discrepancies in their appearances.      "We really need to coordinate outfits next time." Taking a deep breath, the girl adjusts her eyepatch and breathing mask before heading itno the cave proper. She tries to make it look as natural as possible, of course, and even waves at the fairies passing by. It'd be easier to kill the big one with the element of surprise, after all!      The change in decor does make her pause for a moment, however, and she does take a little more care in her steps so as to not clonk about with those heavy boots on. Granted, it's probably for naught what with MORDRED being in his Glare-NT, but still. "Nice place they got here... Wonder who built it." Stepping towards those series of triangles, Sanary adjusts her cloak to keep herself covered before stepping into the pool proper. "Hey. Uh. Think we gotta do anything with this?" 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "Not much to coordinate for me. Unless I'm fighting outside my Armour." While he's certainly not being stealthy, MORDRED is /not/ making clonky sounds with every step. That's because his thrusters are set to hover, and they're fairly quiet when they do. He transmits over local encrypted radio, just for the sake of not being too blatant about this, "If no-one else knows how to lure out this so-called great faery of power, I would venture a guess that if she's a threat worth sending all of three of us after, her initial instinct upon seeing her spring demolished would be to come forth. Not my preferred method however." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Huh? Why? I mean, what's wrong with this?" Krezentia glances at Sanary, before inspecting her own outfit. Sure it's not armor, and it's not power armor, but it's comfortable. Do they really need to look like a team?     Heading inside, she glances about, occasionally at fairies, other times at the walls, just curious for anything that stands out. It turns out this is really just a cave, with a pond, and a bunch of triangles. Great.     "Yeah, no, I got nothing. I'm with the guy in the mecha, if we blow up her house she might show up, unless you've got a better idea." Things they should have done: ask the evil wizard lord how to summon the Great Fairy, if that's even necessary at all. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Thankfully for everyone, the Great Fairy won't take any sort of special summoning ritual.      A laugh happens. It is incredibly high pitched and screechy at first, before slowly tapering off. The water in the center of the pool bursts up into a column, a silloutte of a female figure within. There is a wave of water, splashing through the fountain. Sanary herself is almost certainly going to get a bit soaked due to this.      She appears, though. Her form is, almost certainly, completely unexpected. Giant and towering, twice the height of most humans. Her face has incredibly sharp features, with wide eyes and too much eyeshadow. Her ears are long, Hylian ears. Her hair flows behind her in three long ponytails, each floating magically behind her. Her body isn't covered in clothing. Instead, a vast amount of vines and ivy cover her. A pair of black knee-high boots are upon her feet.      She takes a sitting position, floating in the air. One leg is crossed over the other, while her hands are crossed under her chest. Her red lips smile, as she considers the three before her in turn.      "...Ah~. And what brings the three of you to my fountain?" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      The lack of clonking is indeed a relief to Sanary, although it does make her just a little more self-concious about her own. "There's nothing wrong with any of it. We just look.... Disorganized, is all." She laughs lightly and leaves it at that, shuddering briefly at having even thought about that sort of thing. She'll need to go through some tougher training later to make up for it.      the idea of smashing up a place so nice looking isn't all that appealing to her, but at least they don't have to stoop to that level once the Great Fairy appears on her own. She definitely could have done without the splashing, though.      Looking up at the Great Fairy, it takes Sanary a moment to regain her composure. /This/ giant woman was still considered a fairy? Great fairy or not, something just didn't add up here. Still, they had a job to do, and the element of surprise could still be on their side. "Er. Hey there, Greet Fairy. We're here because..."      Shit. What would be a plausible excuse? "Because... We wanted to borrow some of your power! To fight a great evil... Thing." She glances over at MORDRED and Krezentia, giving them a rather vague look with her eyebrows raising a few times. Damn breathing mask making it hard to mouth things silently. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "Please forgive my companion, she does not know how to properly handle these things." MORDRED follows up Sanary, by now his voice is transmitted through audio, before pointing the six foot long sword he wields at the Great Fairy of Power. "We have come to kill you. If you do not resist, your death shall be swift and painless. If you do, we can make no guarantees of the sort." Subtle? Definitely not. But there's honesty to it, at least. "Will you stand down peacefully?" 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Oh. Eh. We look fine." Krezentia shrugs.     It seems, at least, they won't need to look far for the Great Fairy; she shows herself willingly, and it causes the Magi to grin, mentally swapping through her arsenal. Oh, there's a good one. We couldn't have the Great Fairy run away, now could we. As Sanary attempts to make excuses, the Magi does not, and instead briefly glows. Her hair and shirt turn a dark blue, and her eyes gleam red.     "What she meant to say is 'fight FOR a great evil'." She raises a hand, abruptly, and a wave of magic crashes through the cave. "Time Unlimited."     In a sudden flash of light, a spell recreates the cavern inside a pocket dimension. The colors are inverted, saved for the occupants, but the realm doesn't spread very far-- leaving this room, at least by walking, wouldn't be possible. The Great Fairy isn't a schmuck, though, so it's entirely possible she can trivially overpower this.     Krezentia figures, though, it's as good as any other means to try to keep the being contained for now. "Anyway, what he said. You can stand down or we can stuff those ponytails down your throat. It won't really change what happens, but in one version of the story you scream and hurt a lot less." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Great Fairy looks towards Sanary as she speaks... And then towards the others. She lets out a laugh again, another high pitched laugh just like her first. The smile never leaves her face. If /anything/, this all is just /amusing/ her. She lifts a hand to her face, pressing a finger to her lips as she looks over the group one last time.      "Ahhh, well... You three have some magic to you, then? ...Well~. I suppose I should be polite, and give my answer."      The finger on her lip moves forward, and suddenly snaps. There is a spiral of flame surrounding her, spreading out wide and far. If this goes unstopped, the entire room will be completely filled with fire in short order.      Her other hand waves around the room. She can't just /effortlessly/ remove the spell of Krezentia. In fact, it's taking a fair amount of focus. But, with time, she is likely to undo the pocket dimension. She knows it will leave her /somewhat/ open to attack if she spends a significant amount of time doing that, though. Which is why the flames. It is also why she takes a moment of time to prepare a weapon.      Specifically, her weapon is a gigantic empty glass bottle that is now in her hand. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Well, that was one way of getting things started. Sanary backs up steadily as that fire starts to spread from the Great Fairy, removing the gunaxe from her back and switching the Lightning shells out hastily for Ice shells. "That works. No hard feelings, but a job's a job." Once the healer's out of the water, she channels some of her energy into MORDRED and Krezentia to give them a bit of a jumpstart to their stamina and magic recovery.      Once that's done, she raises her gunaxe and pauses for a moment to stare at that glass bottle in the giant's hand. Confused as she is by the sight of that thing, she doesn't let it occupy her for too long before firing a few blasts of ice at the encroaching flames closest to the group, aiming to halt their advance and give her allies a little more breathing room. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED's ablative heat shields can take the fire, at least for a little while. Outer layers designed to handle the heat of re-entry while in combat melt away, as they're suposed to, and leave MORDRED more open to fire-based offenses until he gets the opportunity to reapply them, a slow process. Thrusters firing, he attacks with his blade, a wide-arcing slash augmented with a forwards dash to increase the energy in that razor-thin, large, heavy blade. He aimes for the gut, but he's not particularly picky. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Fire everywhere, and she's laughing too. And it's true, the false dimension is already starting to crack and ripple under the stress of the attacks. Krezentia doesn't need to last it long, just long enough to subdue the Great Fairy.     Who is now producing a... bottle?     She can worry about that when there isn't so much fire around that Sanary's healing is almost needed. The Magi has no worthwhile defensive spells; she gets singed, and scorched, and then magic closes the injuries. She's a 'robot', but she's also sufficiently close to being organic that healing magic doesn't distinguish.     "So, I take it we aren't the first to try?"     Krezentia's right hand begins glowing, charging up the same weapon she's already used. Her left hand flashes, and unleashes a barrage of green and purple energy bolts towards the Great Fairy, semi-charged shots at best. MORDRED will have to be their muscle for now while she's charging, but she can still support him. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The ice shells do a fine job at taking out a fair amount of the fire, though flames still exist. It at least slows the process of the flames completely filling the room. A glance is given from the Great Fairy towards Sanary, though. And a smirk. This is, certainly, not a comforting thing.      As the knife comes in, she twirls out of the way, her movements graceful through the air. It still hits, though, stabbing into the side of her stomach rather than straight on. Her eyes remain completely focused on Sanary, though.      But, as the charged energy shots come in from Krezentia? The bottle is swung forward. She remains solely focused on Sanary, swinging to hit the shots out of the air. Her timing is off on a number of them, but still. She manages to hit them with the bottle.      Redirecting them straight at Sanary.      "I think we'll take care of the healer first... And then..."      She turns back, faciing towards MORDRED and his mech again. Her hands hold forward, a massive ball of flame within.      "Din's Fire~."      The ball is pushed forward, aiming right at the suit. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      There's something incredibly disconcerting about the Great Fairy staring straight at Sanary even while she's getting stabbed and shot at. With that distance between them, it does at least give Sanary some time to take the shield off her back and brace it in front of her, still taking potshots at the fire and even a few at the fairy for good measure.      "You've definitely done this before. Good strategy, but-what the hell?" It appears the bottle wasn't just for show! She's not quite sure what's going on at first, but the sight of those energy shots coming back out of the bottle and towards her is enough to give her a better idea of what it's for.      Instead of dodging them like some sort of sane person, she just takes them with the shield head on! She's still knocked back several feet, and the impact from those shots still manages to rattle her arm in several places, but she's still standing!      "So that's how you're gonna do it, eh? Alright... Try and deflect this, then!" Sanary lowers the shield briefly and charges up some magic into her eye, then fires off a brief heat beam! She's not aiming at the Great Fairy, though, and is instead aiming for her legs. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED dodges out of the way, well, mostly, the ball of flame still grazes past his Armour's back, causing significant damage to his central thruster, drastically reducing his mobility, though fortunately not completely the maneuvering thrusters will keep him aloft and moving. Like Sanary, he decides to bring the heat. He sheathes his monofilament broadsword and draws the XTE Lancepack, quickly charging up a blast of superheated hydrogen plasma, which is aimed for the Fairy's head. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     That's the first time she's seen someone effectively wield a bottle like a weapon. Well, a shield, in this case. The Magi frowns, refraining from further generic shots for the moment, instead focusing wholly on charging her current weapon up.     "Bit longer, folks."     The Time Unlimited spell starts falling apart at the seams, sections of the real cave starting to become visible here and there, shining through cracks in the inverted background. At least, Krezentia manages to avoid the Great Fairy's DIRECT attention briefly, even if there's still fire EVERYWHERE. She didn't really expect a 'Great Fairy' to be some sort of powerful fire mage, but apparently they may need to ask Agahnim for more details next time.     A lot more details, preferably. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The fire does, in fact, hit the Great Fairy's legs. She winces in pain. Thankfully, the leaves on her prove fireproof. Her body? Not so much. Her boots look a bit charred now, and she tries to move into the water below her.      But then, the headshot. The hydrogen plasma strikes her /straight/ in the head, the blast causing her a fair amount of pain. No more laughter. Instead, a loud, horrible scream. She doesn't bleed from the hit. Partially due to the heat, partially due to her body being magical. A light of magic leaks from her face.      There is a sense from this creature, that she is, in fact, a being of pure good and light. Were it but one of these Confederates, she might have had a chance. But against three? It's impossible for her.      She screams out again, the flames moving in all directions in a spiral pattern once again. A fair amount is aimed at all three. It won't be much longer, now. She's going to fall, and quickly at that. In fact, the magical light from her body is slowly vanishing. It is being harnessed into the flame attack, this last burst of Din's Fire.      These are her death throes. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      As unpleasant as those screams are, they still offer Sanary some relief that the battle's almost over. "Just a little more! Don't let up now!" The lack of anything being thrown back at her gives the healer a chance to refocus her energies on pumping more energy into her allies, both to soothe their wounds and transfer some of her own mana to Krezentia directly.      I'll handle the fire. You two finish her!" She doesn't focus solely on just funneling power to MORDRED and Krezentia, of course, as she raises her gunaxe once again. It's not quite clear to her where she should even be aiming at first, but the spiral pattern does start to make sense after a few moments. Once it does, she starts firing volleys of ice blasts in the path of those flames, aiming for quantity over quality to try and stop them in their tracks. If she gets the opportunity to, she'll even squeeze a few out at the Fairy directly (aiming for the legs again). 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' If these are her death throes, and MORDRED seems to realize this, it's ever so important to confirm the kill. Guilty conscience be damned, those things can be taken care of later. MORDRED charges his XTE Lancepack as he weathers the flame, lets it harm his Armour, lets the fire heat it up so much his hands are blistering from holding the controls, and then he fires an overcharged blast of superheated plasma. Enough hydrogen plasma to melt through a tank and make it unrecognizeable. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Heh. Not laughing anymore about setting us on fire, are we?" Krezentia quips, as Kopie has long since found refuge in the Magi's black vest. Coat. Jacket. The burst of flames this time can't be avoided, and Sanary's regen spell isn't keeping up. Metal is exposed under skin, and reinforced clothes ruined (well, at least, partially ruined, and blackened).     The transfer of mana from Sanary does help the Magi finish charging up though, and she grins, despite the obvious pain. "Anyway, time's up! Too bad you didn't want to cooperate. DIMENSION DESTROYER!"     Her hand clenches, crushing the sphere of magic she'd been building up. The pocket dimension shatters, and what shards of 'glass' are produced spin and rotate in the air around the room like a broken mirror, before all angling themselves at the Great Fairy, a hailstorm of sharp, pointed pieces of reality suddenly converging on her.     They MOSTLY fly around MORDRED's Armour, but she can't guarantee there will be absolutely zero friendly fire. She's trying, though! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The frozen shells do wonders against the flames, keeping it from completely melting through armor. The fairy is soon after hit by the massive plasma blast. Her body is melting apart, magic leaking rapidly from the Great Fairy's form. She cries out yet again, an agonizing sound of pain as her body becomes not much more than melted flesh.      Adn then, the entirity of reality breaks. The shards fly in, cutting apart the Great Fairy from all angles. The melted bits of her are torn apart, into pieces. Even her cry of pain is silenced, as she explodes into a burst of light.      The sense of magic from this fountain is entirely gone. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Did we... We did it." Sanary pants heavily as she looks upon the nothing left behind by the demise of the Great Fairy, the adrenaline of battle wearing down and fatigue starting to kick in. It's still too early to celebrate yet, however, and the healer keeps directing a steady trickle of energy towards her companions here.      "Alright. Did we need to grab anything before we left or do we just go? Because... Probably better not to stick around here if we don't need to." She takes a moment to readjusting that breathing mask, having lost its white coloration and taking on a dirty brownish color. "It'll be easier if nobody know we were here." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Bright side: no more fire.     Not so bright side: ... ???     "So... uh... I guess that worked?"     Krezentia glances about. The pond feels... less special? But did it do what Agahnim wanted it to do? Do they even have a way to tell? She has no idea. Sanary brings up a good point too.     "I have no idea. Maybe we should take some of the water? It must have been special or something. Hey, where'd her bottle go, we can fill it up if nobody brought one." She didn't. Maybe MORDRED has something he can stuff full of water in that big Armour of his'? 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The bottle is in fact still laying around.      Thankfully it shrank down a fair amount so it is reasonable size. 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' MORDRED's Armour is in no position to be doing much of anything beyond 'carefully return to a safe environment and get repairs.' "Ow." He notes as he sets his Armour into autopilot mode and jumps out, looking at his blistered hands. "I really should not be doing what I just did." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "No? I dunno, you kicked ass there. That sounds like something to do MORE of," Krezentia comments, as she eventually finds the Great Fairy's bottle. Kopie emerges from one of the Magi's pockets, settling onto a shoulder instead.     "I have the strangest urge to get into that bottle, funya~," the fairy says.     Krezentia does not answer, and instead fills the bottle with pond water. She figures Agahnim can sort this mess out. He seemed pretty on the ball about knowing everything. "You going to be able to drive that thing back out or do we need to call a lift?" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "The water... Oh. Definitely want to bring the bottle back. Hell, we can have our more... Smart people take a look at it or something." Sanary laughs lightly and winces, putting her gear back on her... Back. Turning from Krezentia to MORDRED, she nods slowly while directing a little more energy into him. She's even able to focus it on his hands from a distance now!      "You both did great. Doubt I coulda done all of that on my own." There's another laugh, then an awkward cough at the realization that she'd probably be dead right now if that was the case. Glancing at Kopie next, there's another laugh before the healer starts moving towards the exit and keeping her eye out for any incoming fairies or would-be heroes. Better safe than sorry! "That... Could be a little tricky, yeah." 

:'''{{#var:804|Project MORDRED (804)}} has posed:''' "It's functional and on autopilot, it'll get back. It's not really in any state to be used as a vehicle, however." As he says this, Glare-NT starts flying off towards the nearest warpgate. "Now I could use a lift, personally." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      A look at MORDRED, then at Krezentia, then at MORDRED again. A moment later, Sanary sighs and hunches over a bit while patting the shield on her back. "... Hell with it. Climb on, but watch the corners."      She's feeling rather generous today, isn't she? That shield really does have sharp corners, though. Quite easy to poke an eye out on, even. 

}}

2975/Reviving the Spring of Eldin

2015-09-07T05:33:20Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/06 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=The Spirit of Light, Eldin, is revived. Meanwhile, Noa and Staren investigate Forsaken F..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/06
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=The Spirit of Light, Eldin, is revived. Meanwhile, Noa and Staren investigate Forsaken Fortress and accidentally rise it from under the desert.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 42, 73, 248, 492, 513, 788, 789, 863, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The battle against Blind the Bandit's forces left everyone fairly winded. There was a close call at the end, the notorious thief Blind almost being allowed to depart. But, with some revelation from Ilia? The group learned that the shapeshifting bandit was not someone they should allow to go, only partially for the fact that he held the Tears of Light within his body.      Now, the group gathers at the Spring of Eldin. Some very well /might/ have decided to head back to Forsaken Fortress, considering that one of the Multiverse's most ASSHOLE ELVES wants to claim it for himself. But, most will be at the Spring.      The spring is set against a cliff side, various natural waterfalls flowing into it. The spring is rather shallow, only ankle deep or so. The water that trickles out of the spring does so via a number of small little streams, heading off to the distance. The entire area is woodland, with plenty of vegetation nearby.      The entire area is /also/ covered in Twilight. Kakariko Village is currently safe. But the spring itself is in the midst of Twilight.      As such, many will arrive in their animal forms. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad is already here, waiting for the party. His white horse, Excelsior near him.      Fassad himself is, of course, a large pink rabbit. He hops around on all four, standing near the spring itself. Waiting for the others to arrive. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      Asshole Elf is a tautology.      But if it wasn't, Noa Nuquerna, self-proclaimed Adversary, would be the best example in the multiverse. He was held up during the actual invasion, something he forever is annoyed about (he really wanted to see some of those supposedly hot thief girls) (he's a teenager, after all, even if he's an Elf), but by...uh...by...      ...atheism?...      ...no, wait! By the Mere Theoretical Existence Of A Higher Power, Which It Is His Moral Duty To Oppose, he's not going to let somebody else take HIS startup castle. Sure, it's a startup. Sure, one day he'll pass it to somebody else. But right now it's all he's got.      More importantly A) it might still have hot thief girls, B) it's far away from his Enemies (read: the people unfortunate enough to have him as friends).      Noa is currently stalking his way through the halls of the Fortress, looking for A) the aformentioned Hot Thief Girls, B) Treasure People May Have Missed, C) The Throne Room (so he can Officially Sit On It), D) Anything Else Of Interest, in no particular order. He's dressed in exactly what he was last time, which is to say the leather coat, leather pants, bandolier-and-normal belts, and random pieces of armor. On his face he is wearing the Skull Mask, because, who knows, maybe someone'll mistake him for their god or something.      It could happen!      "Number One," Noa tells the cucco on his head, "We've got *big things* ahead of us, you know that? You joined the right team. We're going to terrorize people from this fortress for, like, a thousand years of darkness."      "Or at least until we get sealed away," He admits, "But don't worry, that's probably just, like, sleeping for a really long time."      Number One, the sinister cucco, now equipped with a cucco-sized Skull Mask, lets out its terrible chicken call, as if in answer to its master's promises.      "Or at least until we get bored and find a better place," Noa admits after a moment, "I mean we don't wanna, like, franchise. Then we're just being The Man. Maybe we'll loan it out to starter Adversaries, like a, I dunno, a training retreat."      Number One glares down at him. Noa swears in Elven.      "I sound just like THE MAN. I gotta stop doing that. Remember, Number One, No Gods, No Masters. No Gods, No Masters."      "K-KAW"      "You and me, Number One. You and me." 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Haguro's looking a little on edge today, and for good reason: It's her first mission after returning from that months-long expedition! She's well-prepared for a fight today, having replenished her ammunition and repaired her armor earlier in the day. She's hesitant to actually approach that spring at first, mostly because of that Twilight hanging over the whole thing.      Still, she can't stand outside of it forever, and she finally makes her way in! The actual transformation is incredibly jarring to the ship girl, but she does eventually come out of it as...      ... A hippo! A massive one at that. She even leaves giant footprints in the dirt as she approaches the spring proper and nods towards the rabbity prince. "Ah... Hello. Are you here for the mission as well?" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Although Finna might've grabbed a bit of bling - Joy Necklaces, some rupees, and odds and ends from the corners of the Forsaken Fortress, she has little interest in them beyond claimining a trophy or two. With no interest in the fortress itself and every interest in clearing the Twilight, she's come to the Spring of Eldin... taking fox form to do so.     Out of humility, familiarity, or a desire to toy with others a little more, it's hard to say.     At least, if you're not looking at her. She's wearing a troubled expression, as if maybe a little lost. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' MEANWHILE... "Meow." Sarah says, her voice dripping with sass as she sits near the spring, her tail whipping from one side fo the other. She just KNOWS that Noa is elsewhere probably skulking into that fortress that got cleaned out by the ludicrous superhuman murderboats that she kind of tagged along with earlier. And she knows she's going to regret this. It's Inevitable. Either way, there is a job to be done. She reaches out with a paw, leaning over the water to look at herself in the reflection of the spring. A paw slowl reaches out to poke at it in that reaching cat way. "You know, my friend keeps rabbits." Sarah comments to Fassad as she plays with the water. Of course, that's when a giant damn hippo shows up. The crashing noise causes the cat to fall into the water with a SPLOOSH, resulting in some feline screams and curses as she flails in the water in surprise. A drenched, bedraggled cat pulls itself out of the spring a moment later, glaring at Haguro. "Of course. It was just a matter of time before we got someone like you." She mutters. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Won't you get a house you can turn into whatever you want when your Sburb session starts? I mean, have you seen Arthur's totally sweet skull volcano lair? Then again, I suppose it's good to learn the ins and outs of castle ownership beforehand, so you're not having to work it out at the same time as your life is in danger from a death game."     Staren stalks along behind Noa, taking a look around. He was told it might be a good idea to help the kid, and he's earnestly giving it a shot. He's wearing what looks like leather armor, but is actually high-tech body armor, with a duster and his usual bandana and messenger bag over it.     "It's good to keep the possibility of failure in mind, but I do hope you'll strive to avoid being sealed away. You never know how that will go. You might end up sealed in a dark realm tortured by your own fears, or not asleep at all but completely awake with noone to talk to, or maybe some other upstart villain will get the bright idea to bring you back by modifying the sealing spell into a /control/ spell, and then you'd have to /take orders/, /ugh/, until you finally cleverly betray him and break free."     "You have big dreams. It's hard to inflict lasting, far-reaching change without being THE MAN. I'd be a terrible THE MAN, though, so some of my long-term plans are kind of hampered. Perhaps the route you find to success will show me how I can make the Multiverse a better place on a bigger scale than fending off the occasional monster or villain."     Staren blinks, as he sounds like he's starting to not fit in with the group. He coughs, "Um, because then the clueless sheeple will be able to enjoy better lives when I've finally freed them from being shackled by their upbringing and their own closed-minded preconceptions." Yes, that sounds more like it <_< 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Though Frederica may have shown up simply because hey it's the Twilight, there was a specific request for a healer. And while Frederica is still not the world's best healer, she likes opportunities to apply her power in positive, non-destructive ways.     Of course she hasn't considered what might be involved with healing as a hedgehog. Arriving at the springs, the pyro girl is indeed now stubby and spiky. She recognizes the cat and the fox, and of course the mighty bunny rabbit. She smiles in greeting, though in this form it's more a wrinkling of her nose. She then eyes the mighty hippo. "Someone new? Welcome to the quest." she says cheerfully. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Forsaken Fortress is fairly empty at this point. It was cleared out, near completely. Not even a single Moblin or Bulbin remains present. And, more dissapointingly, there isn't much for treasure, either. The outer walls of the fortress have a number of crappy pig-iron weapons hidden within them, but mostly the walls are just a number of half-assed barracks. Most of the original furniture of this castle is obviously gone, and there is a sharp contrast between the castle itself and the thief's additions.      Most notable, though, is the complete lack of a throne room in the center tower. The first floor of which is now completely empty, aside some moblin corpses that no one had real time to clear out.      But, near the back of this central tower room? There is a doorway. And a staircase, leading downward. Some sand is down the staircase, and at the bottom, there is a veritable pile of sand, blocking the path further down. With some effort, one might be able to dig through, though.... 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      At the Spring, Fassad gives a pleasant smile to Haguro. Or at least, as pleasasnt a smile as a hippo can give. He nods slightly, to her, "Ah, yes. We spoke on the radio earlier. I am Prince Fassad, from the land of Arcadia! A pleasure to meet you in person, lady Haguro."      The Prince gives a nod towards Finna as well, happy to see her again. But, confused at why she is in animal form when she can so obviously exploit her own powers. And, a similar nod to Frederica. He thinks back to her flaming hedgehog moment. Truly, she knows how to use her animal form well. But, Fassad makes a small bit of a comment to Frederica, "...Oh. The women who was planning to cook for me didn't show. So... I don't /think/ I am in danger of eating her poisonous food /yet/. Still, thank you for coming."      And then Sarah falls into the spring. Fassad's reaction is almost immediate. He leaps over to where she was, trying to lift a paw to help pull out. He can't do /too much/, though. He's only a rabbit. But, it at least says /something/ about him that he still leaps blindly to help others. Probably that he's a bit stupid.      But, there is a flash of light from Sarah. Something is /forcibly/ pulled from her Sylladex. This is, almost certainly, something that almost never happens. The Tear of Light appears, floating above the Spring. And then, the entire area becomes awash with a bright light.      A giant hawk appears. It's body, entirely made of light. Massive wings spread from its body, and it slowly flaps its wings as it stays above the spring. It just stares to the group, a blank emotionless look on its face. And suddenly, the Twilight fades, starting from near the spring. Fassad and Sarah are likely the first to shift back to their human forms. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     A request for assistance from the Union had gone out for the removal of some kind of ....aura? On a planet called Hyrule. Blurr is guessing that the natives had been relying on these 'Spirits of Light' to keep the stuff out of populated areas--so perhaps they're shield generators of some sort. If that's the case, they shouldn't be too difficult to get back up and running, right?     ...yeah he probably has no idea what he's getting himself into.     At any rate, he arrives with the others at the spring in a bright beam of blue light that flashes momentarily as he teleports down from his ship. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Hearing that splashing from nearby, Haguro glances around quickly before bowing her giant hippo-head to the cat in apology. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to... Mm..." She trails off and shrinks back just a bit, although it probably doesn't come across all that clearly considering her size. Thankfully, nobody else seems to be as irritated by her presence, and she manages another light nod of her head to the hedgehog and Fassad. "Ah.. Hello there. My name is Haguro. It's... It's good to meet you, too."      Even with all her size, she's still looking a little jumpy. At least she's sounding mildly relieved at the familiar voice! Thankfully, she won't have to endure that awkwardness at being so huge compared to the others for long once the Twilight fades.      "So this is what we're working to get rid of, right? Where are we starting today?" 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica returns to her true form when the twilight reverts. She spends a few moments just looking down at her arms, not displeased, but sliiiightly more intrigued by what's happening to herself than with what's happening to the land.     She does eventually look around to take in the landscape without the Twilight. "Beautiful." she says, sincerely. Then she kind of notices the hawk. Rather than repeat herself, she just stares.     "Oh uh... hello." she says in greeting to the hawk. Which almost has to be this spirit of the spring or something like that. Maybe even the owner of that pathetic voice from the last time she was here. Or maybe not, she's not sure. "Is this your... your spring?" she asks. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna was not transformed because of the Twilight, and so her form doesn't change when the wave of light dispells the Twilight.     Yes. She transforms of her own volition, a moment later, going upright and clapping her hands together! "Well, that takes care of one. Hello, great spirit!" She can TRY to be cheerful about things, right? And well, she's a bit genuinely awed.     She's seen gods, but they're rarely this... well... actually majestic. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah was totally going to get it out herself. HOWEVER, it looks like quest item usage overrides how much of a pain in the ass her Fetch Modus is. This is actually pretty acceptable to her. What's also acceptable is her transforming from a drenched and bedraggled cat back to a drenched and bedraggled little girl in the middle of the hilarious image of watching a rabbit try to pull a cat out of a spring that isn't really deep enough for her to drown in. She sits there for a moment on the edge of the spring, and then shakes her hair, probably spattering Fassad. "Thanks, Prince Charmin." She says, as if she didn't just basically intentionally spatter him with water. At least it's water and not mud. It's after that, that she looks up at the shining hawk. "Oh hey. Hello there, Spirit of Light. Is everything cool now?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Also, there's the matter of Haguro. Sarah watches the hippo turn into an awkward girl with more metal strapped to her than a legion of nerd retainers. She shuffles over towards her, and leans in, squinting. The silence becomes almost oppressive as she leans to one side, and then the other, oberving Haguro from multiple angles... "Nothing you could have done about it. It was bound to happen." She says, abruptly, straightening out, turning away and heading back to the edge of the spring. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Blurr was a little bit confused to see all these odd-looking Earth animals when he arrived, since their energy signatures actually matched those of the Union elites in the database. He might've...glossed over that bit in the report about the animal forms. Or might have just not realized what it meant.     But then, a big shiny bird appears suddenly, and they all return to what they're -supposed- to look like. Then it dawns on him. Oooh, right. "I'm guess that's the 'Spirit of Light' thing?" he asks, pointing. "Well that was nice, it didn't even need to be repaired or refueled or anything." Sure, talk about the spirit as if it weren't even a living thing. Probably not the best idea. But that was just the impression he'd had from the report. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Haguro freezes up as Sarah moves in to inpect her, trying not to even move her head while following her movements. She's definitely not the calmest sort, and her arms are even shaking a bit while she stands there like she's being inspected by some sort of drill instructor. It's not until Sarah turns away that the girl finally relaxes, slumping in place a bit.      It's also at that moment that Haguro finally looks up at the hawk, staring in awe at the majestic creature... Spirit? Whatever it is, it's definitely not something she's seen before. She's got a bit of a dumbfounded stare on her face at first, although she does straighten up again and offer the hawk a bow as well. She just can't figure out the right words to actually say to it just yet. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad is splashed with the water. It takes everything he can to not smack Sarah. But, he stands up, shaking out some of the water that got on him. And, despite the insult, he still puts a hand forward, offering to help. He isn't trying to help her with this. Nor is he trying to impress her. Instead, it is simply the way he is.      The large light spirit shaped like a hawk looks over the group. It looks towards Frederica. Its voice remains a blank. It doesn't even move its mouth. And yet, it still speaks. The words are in an ancient language, though one that seems to translate well via translation effect. Specifically, it is the language known as Ancient Hylian.      "Yes. This is my Spring. I am the Spirit of Light known as Eldin. Though I was slain, I still had some awareness of the land. And, I still had some awareness of your deeds. All of you, even those just joining today? You are working so hard to aid Hyrule. I, and this entire land, are in your debt."      "...But. I still have more to ask of you all. The three other spirits... You already seek them, but I still ask you to find them as quickly as possible. You likely already know, but... They are in the Ordona Region, the Lost Woods, and in the Zora Headwaters."      "...Ordona?"      That quiet question comes from a girl. The girl who was rescued last time. Ilia. She was supposed to be back at Kakariko village. But, apparently, she followed. Ilia looks towards the group, considering. "I... Know where Ordona Spring is. I met the spirit, Ordona. And I helped care for his Spring. He vanished years ago... Around the same time I lost one of my friends. And when this Twilight appeared."      Ilia looks at the group, considering. She looks like the type of girl who is normally very cheerful, but she looks somber right now. She pauses, considering them all. All of these people have been working to help Hyrule. She can trust them.      "...I can help guide you to my village. For some reason, I'm not affected by the Twilight, so it should be a simple matter to help you all get there." 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Haguro swallows again as the light spirit begins to speak, first identifying itself as Eldin before mentioning the three other spirits they need to find. The names of those locations don't ring a bell to her, but she does mutter them silently to herself before looking over at Ilia. Haguro listens intently as she speaks, a look of sympathy on her face before finally speaking up once the girl finishes.      "Th... That's very brave of you." Takinga deep breath, Haguro gives her a determined nod. "Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you." There's even a fire in Haguro's eyes as she says that. A new, rekindled spirit to at least keep up with someone so tiny and unarmed! 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     Oh, well slag, the thing -talks-! Blurr is somewhat shocked when the bird starts talking to them, though it does kind of sound like a recording or maybe a drone. And then it references places he has no idea where they are, and was wondering if it could spit out some coordinates instead when Ilia offers to lead them to at least one of them.     "Great, you can tell us where it is right? What's your name, by the way?" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna can sympathize with how Ilia feels. Somewhat.     in so far as wanting to be cheerful but being haunted by something that's keeping her down. So she strolls over to Ilia and claps a comforting on her shoulder. "And we'll keep you safe the whole way!"     Still, her gaze turns up towards Eldin again. "If only most of the Gods of my world were as benevolent as you seem to be. Most are jerks. But not my patron Goddess... Luna. Upon the Silver Lady's name I swear myself to this cause." 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     "Of course." Frederica says soothingly to the hawk-spirit. She likes animals, and this world resonates with her on several levels. Besides, despite occasional petty cruelty and a streak of mockery a mile wide, she's got a heroic and gentle soul. She's happy to assist in any way possible.     The former hedgehog turns her attention to Ilia, curious and somewhat suspicious at someone apparently immune to the Twilight. Ilia's a girl however, and so Frederica's suspicion doesn't bloom into burning flame. "That's odd." is what she says on the matter. "Any idea why you aren't affected when everyone else is? You can tell us along the way!" she suggests cheerfully.     She turns and bows to the hawk-spirit. "You ... remind me of Phoenix." she says, and there's a hint of reverence there. She totally agrees with Finna's judgment of the spirit. "I'll do everything in my power to help." she promises. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' The ship spirit might soon find she's not alone. The program had bene a bit behind things. Still she's been listening and catching up on things She looks to the spirit gets a faint smile from her as she listens intently to tthe information about where they might go. "Humm I know the term Zora but I'm afraid I don't know any of the others." She wonders about that mask she got a few days ago maybe it's connected to that place given it's name. "Thank you, still it's quite useful to know where we're looking for. We might have to hit that map maker up again." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' If Sarah feels any guilt over spraying Fassad with water, she doesn't show it. She did, however, allow him to help her out so he gets to have helpful hero feels there if he wants. At this point, she has taken off her shoes and is dangling her bare feet in the edge of the spring, enjoying the clean and refreshing water. At least, as much as Sarah seems to enjoy anything. Without looking up, she simply adds, "Okay, this is pretty straightforward. So Ilia can help us get to Ordona. Anyone think this friend might have something to do with the Tear of Light that we'll need to find out there? Either way, we're going to need to get there and start at square one. We put a dent in the problem but it's not going to be fixed until we've finished levering all this where it needs to be. That's just how this stuff seems to work." Don't hate the player, hate the Death Game... And the fact that Sburb uses a pretty archetypal RPG model. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Ilia turns to Blurr, smiling. Despite the completely strange robot lifeform behind her, she remains calm. "Yes. I can take you there. And, my name is Ilia Ordon, daughter of the village's leader." Illia then glances to Frederica, shrugging, "I... don't know? I'm just not affected. My family was, though, so.. It's not that. Maybe it's because I was friends with Ordona?"      And then she looks towards Sarah, shaking her head, "...No. He doesn't know of Ordona, that I'm aware. I visited Ordona the day the Twilight arrived, and I was talking about him. I might as well ask, though. If you are clearing the Twilight?"      "Please. Keep an eye out for my friend, Link."      Hearing that name? Fassad's face just goes absolutely /blank/.      Eldin just remains flying in the air, looking at the group. Finna's promise makes him glad, as does Frederica's promise He speaks again, "Your promise is noted. Thank you, for helping, and promising on your God's name. But. I should make one thing clear."      "Not all Gods of this land are benevolent. But, those old Gods have been sealed away, long ago. There are various beings who could be considered as Gods. The Wind Mage Immortal Demon. The Masked Evil. And, The worst God-like being, the King of Evil, was long ago sealed away by the Seven Sages. Seven chosen ones, picked to give their entire existance to keeping the Seal on the Dark One. But, he is banished forever. And nothing can possibly bring him back."      "But. We must focus on the task at hand. The Dark Interlopers. Currently, lead by their Dark Queen. But, by saving my brethern? The Twilight will be sealed away once again, and their Queen will be gone."      Eldin looks towards Sarah. At first, it might seem as if he is mad at her soaking her fet in the spring. But, instead, "And, as this girl does? Should you ever feel the need to rest, or recover? Feel free to relax in my spring. It is welcome."      And with that, Eldin vanishes. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''     "Nice to meet you, Illia Ordon. I'm Blurr." The Autobot replies, similing politely. He would shake her hand but holomatter things require extra energy and effort that he doesn't feeling expending right now. "Well what are we waiting for, let's get this race down the tracks. You got coordinates, or at least a direction or something?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "We'll watch for him, but no promises. If he's alive, we'll help how we can. If not... Well, there's not much that can be done." Even with that heartfelt request, Sarah just seems to handle things directly and without optimism. After Eldin vanishes, however, Sarah flops back on her back, looking up into the clear sky. "Isn't it great when the shiny important NPC guy tells you that there is absolutely no way that the seal holding a great evil can ever be broken?" She observes. "Everyone always underestimates how bad people can be, or maybe someone will try to break it from the outside or whatever. If Noa were here he'd give a big speech on it, I'm sure." It's at this point, she dries off her feet and gets her shoes on, standing up again. "Still, there's some useful info there of what to watch out for, at least. When everyone's ready, let's get moving to Ordona. We have a lot of work to do." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna has a SPECIAL SENSE for that kind of turbulence. The strange expression Fassad shows has her ears perking up, but she keeps mum for now. Most of her attention's on the being of light during the explanation. Once Eldin's gone though...     Finna scratches behind one of her ears with her free hand, looking troubled. "Ohhhhhh not again."     She remembers the last time anyone said something about 'awful old spirits, sealed away.'     Last time anyone said that, ODIN broke loose. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Evil gods, demons, a missing Link, and a force of darkness trying to turn everything into animals... This definitely isn't the sort of thing Haguro's used to facing. Still, she can't back down now, especially with so much at stake and after giving her word that she would help.      "NPC...?" Blinking at Sarah in confusion and glancing back at Deelel as she catches up with the rest of the group, the Fleet Daughter takes another moment to consider what they had all just heard before speaking up (albeit rather quietly).      "Right. I don't know how useful I'll be, but... I can fight at long range and close range, so I can cover our retreat if it ever gets too dangerous. Although I've never really.. Um. Dealt with anything magical like this before." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel says "I shall do so if we are lucky to find this." She looks at the mention of old gods. She listens for a moment amd flags this memory index what is being said today? Will likely be needed later. "The Twilight can be sealed? Humm I may be able to help if we can find the source." She watche as the spirit leaves and then she turns to the rest of the party. "A gaming term for non player character." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Ilia looks around the group, smiling. She is completely not taken aback by how... eclectic they are. Instead, she just smiles at the lot, looking at them.      "...Well. You all seem to know what to do next, at least. So... How about this? Let's head back to the village, and rest for the night. It'll be good if we get ready for the trip. It'll be a long, hard one. Through a lot of Twilight."      And Ilia starts walking back to the village.      Fassad follows, silent. He looks distant. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "I will of course get a house eventually but while I'm waiting I might as well have somewhere to live that isn't next to my Enemies," Noa points out with his usual mix of practicality and madness, "It's a Secret Base."      "Just, you know. Not secret. Because they know about it. But since they know about it they'll never expect me to actually live in a place like this. I mean, look at it!" Noa kicks at the sand. "This place is a shithole."      "BKAWK!"      "Right, right. It's a fixer-upper. I mean, hell, worst comes to worst I'll just flip it and make a ton of Evil Start-Up Money," Noa polishes his fingernails thoughtfully, staring at the sand. He considers this for a moment.      "Okay, this sand is pissing me off. We're gonna see what's under it. Maybe it'll be the Seal of an Ancient Evil a Thousand Years Old who'l be willing to give me some pointers in exchange for freedom, IDK." Yes, he actually says IDK. Yes, he's That Guy. Yes, Noa is *that* obnoxious.      "And, speaking of, sealing isn't really failure. If you get sealed for a thousand years it means you'll be back eventually. You'll always be back eventually. There's no such thing as a perfect seal if you're good enough at what you do. Hell, there's no such thing as a perfect seal because THAT implies there's not somebody dumb enough to wake your ass up from your thousand-year nap and expect gratitude." Noa starts tapping his foot impatiently. "You know what'll happen to the first dumb motherfucker who wakes ME up from my thousand year nap and expects to control and-or be-rewarded-by me? I'm gonna fucking torch the guy."      "Anybody stupid enough to hit the button that says RELEASE ANCIENT EVIL doesn't deserve a reward, he deserves Darwinism in action. And before you point out the irony let me remind you that I expect neither reward nor service, just some start-up tips if he's in the mood and otherwise hey that's cool, whatever, one Adversary to another, Professional Code. Evil Guild or something."      After a moment, a Devil appears. It's small, floating over Noa's shoulder. It's carrying...a pamphlet. Noa takes the pamphlet and snaps his fingers. "Give me the rest of these," he tells the Imp.      Then he passes the first pamphlet to Staren. "OK, so, while you're waiting you should read this, but in like ten minutes we're gonna be buried in pamphlets. If you've got something that spins fast and like some clips or some shit, get it ready, 'cause we're gonna blow this shit away."      "With /literature/."      Noa pauses.      "Literally."      "K-KAW!"      The pamphlet helpfully reads WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU'RE A MINDLESS TOOL: A BRIEF GUIDE TO FREEING YOUR MIND AND ESCAPING THE TYRANNY OF SOCIETY'S CHAINS      After a moment, a very large number of imps appear around him. They start dropping pamphlets at Staren's feet. Noa whistles.      "Didn't even have to get the Angry Belt off," he observes.      "They must fear Number One's all-consuming wrath." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods as Noa explains taking the castle and that he's not worried about being sealed.     Staren blinks at the pamphlet. "Oh. So these are the famous pamphlets. Have many people actually read them?" Pamphlets start piling up. "...Something that spins? Maybe, but I don't suppose you can just captchalogue 'pile of sand' by any chance?"     He holds a hand to his chin and considers for a bit. "I'm not sure paper will make a very strong fan. And this is in a confined space at the bottom of the stairs, there isn't really anywhere to blow it /to/. Maybe we could turn it to glass and remove the glass? Uhh... hmm." 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "Dude you overthink too much," Noa tells him, gesturing at the sand, "This is a sand puzzle. We need something to blow the sand backwards. Make a fan and let's roll with it. Have you *never* played a video game like *ever*?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren blinks. "That... that..." He looks at the sand. "Thet would only work in a videogame, and we're not /in/ sburb. The tunnel here is probably full of sand.The amount of energy needed to push /all/ of the sand at once is tremendous!" He throws his hands up, then winces and rubs his right elbow. "Nngh. ...Can you just try captchaloguing 'pile of sand' and see if it works?" 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "You think way too fucking much," Noa rolls his eyes, "OK, I will try and have my imps pick up a giant pile of sand."      One of the imps appears. Noa unbuckles the bandolier-style belt. It reads ANGRY on the buckle. "Okay, you little bastard. This is what we're gonna do. You're gonna add that PILE OF SAND to the Captchalogue. Do you understand?"      The Devil glances at the belt. "Make m-"      WHIP-CRACK.      "YESSIR," the Devil replies, then floats over to the pile of sand and...      and....      ...and adds the pile of sand to the Captchalogue. GET: PILE OF SAND...? 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel Think it's a good idea to get back to the villiage, she'd use a light craft, but the patches of Twilight would have that end in diaster so on foot it is. She's moving along but she pauses at Fassad for a moment he doesn't look well and she wonders. She'll leave the castle to it's new master. She's got a lot of thinking to do. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The sand is captchalogued. The stairway is revealed, and the door further on is ready to be opened.      Once the door is opened? A large pile of sand will fall on whoever opened it. Thank /god/ that there isn't just a wall of sand behind it, at least. Sure, throughout this entire next room, there are lots of traces of sand. But, it's not as bad as it could be, considering the large number of windows within this room.      ...Windows?      Yes. Windows. Glass windows are throughout, mostly stained. A number are broken, and piles of sand are the only thing keeping this room from being completely covered. There are a lot more oddities as well. A large amount of actual ancient furniture is around. Some of it is lost to time, broken apart. Others are intact. A few nonhuman skeletons stick out of the sand, half buried on the ground. Bookshelves line much of the room as well, though the vast majority of them are completely lost to time.      There seem to be a stairway going down. As well as a label near it. Labelling this floor.      LIBRARY - FLOOR 10      ...This castle is much larger than it first seemed. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Thinking too much is what we do. It's why we don't just do whatever THE MAN tells us, right? You're not out helping restore the shards of light because you thought of an opportunity for yourself."     When the imps... captchalogue the sand, which Staren /doesn't/ think about how it works because he's learned not to analyze Sburb too hard despite Noa's complaints, Staren holds his hands up in front of his chest, palms-up. "See? That was way faster than building a giant paper fan, anyway."     When they open the door... sand! "Oh COME ON!" Staren gets clear, then sighs in relief when he sees that the whole room wasn't /full/ of sand. "This is weird. How'd this sand get here in exactly these positions...?" Thinking again.     He quirks an eyebrow as he sees the skeletons, and... bookshelves? And a stairway going down... Staren gasps. Oh gosh this is a MAGIC EXTRADIMENSIONAL CASTLE!     Wait no. Staren gasps. Oh gosh this is a GIANT BURIED CASTLE! "This is a giant buried castle! But... what the hell could have happened that would have covered it all in THIS much sand?!" 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      Noa looks smug for a moment. "You know if this wasn't a video game *that shouldn't've worked at fucking all*," He points out as he strolls downstairs. More sand totally doesn't bother him. He just kinda steps around it. "I overthink when I need to but if you overthink everything you paralyze yourself. You gotta learn when to just go with the flow."      Noa pauses, browsing to see if any of the books are still up. "This is great. It's like ten floors down and full of dead people. If I ever learn how to make skeletons I've got a pre-built army, man."      "Let's keep going down. There's probably better shit down below."      He pauses and gives Staren a weird look. "You know we're in a desert, right? There are probably cracks." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods a little at Noa's comment about game logic getting them out of that jam. He nods, "Point." He follows, giving Noa a surprised look. "This is floor 10! That means they didn't dig into the sand and build a basement... this castle was built when the sand was /much lower/. Maybe this wasn't even a desert at all..." 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "It was probably lush as fuck before the EVIL VILLAIN WHO LIVED HERE corrupted the land and turned it into a shithole," Noa agrees, "You remember that part, right? That this is an *evil fortress*?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Maybe." Staren shrugs. "But Agahnim sounds like a pretty powerful guy, or at least he has powerful friends. Which might be the same thing. You really think he trashed his own sweet fortress? Who would do that? Even if he used magic, making a castle /this/ big was probably a lot of work. He's not gonna ruin it. Would /you/?" 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "Yes," Noa replies immediately, "If I got beat I'd make sure shit collapsed around me so nobody else could use the place. Fuck those guys. They put no work into it. They wanna get an Evil Fortress, they're gonna put the work into fixing it up like we're doing *right now*." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The path downward leads to various other floors. The vast majority of them seem to have numerous purposes. The ninth floor is mostly rooming, for the higher class residents of the castle. Below that, floors that look like they are meant to host servants, guests, things like that. In fact, most of the floors from nine to five seem mostly residential, including a vast number of barracks. Floor three seems to be a place of work, for the various resident servants. Kitchens, dining areas, but also some eccentric things such as ancient blacksmiths. Armories. Floor two appears to be a vast ballroom, or something similar. Of course, much of this is almost /completely/ unusable due to age, and the massive buildup of sand. It's lucky that it is even this free. And, getting to the first floor, they'll find why the sand has drained out. There is a crack in the floor, and the sand is flowing into massive caverns below.      But, on the first floor?      There is the grand throne room.      A giant room, with a throne on a pedestal. The throne is a dark golden color, with bits of brighter gold covering it. It is covered in spiles menacing outwards, and is outright /massive/. Plush red cushions are still upon it. In fact, the throne room itself is completely /untouched/ by age.      It looks as if it has been waiting for its master. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      Noa loves *everything about this*. There's a look on his Elven face that's almost *gleeful* as he wanders through the halls. He takes in the armory, the ballroom, the sand...it's amazing. He just strolls through the halls with a look on his face like ABSOLUTELY YES.      And then they hit the throne room, and Noa's eyes widen with delight. "DIBS."      And then he runs over and sits down on the Throne, without second thought. The chicken on his head attempts to look suitably regal as Noa adjusts the Skull Mask on his face.      "Holy shit this is awesome. It is probably also super-evil. This is some serious mojo. Look at this thing. Somebody *badass* sat here." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's thoughts go in the same direction right after he says it, so he nods to Noa. "Good point. But still, it's easier to wreck the place than to /summon a desert/, or whatever he did. ...Maybe it sank, though." He pouts slightly. "Damn, I was hoping we were gonna discover there was some kind of ancient buried land of mystery down there."     When they finally get down to the exposed cavern, though, he brightens up. "Wow! A mysterious giant cavern! Okay, that's pretty good too."     And then they come to the throne room. He smiles at Noa's enthusiasm. It's infectious. Noa has dibs, "Of course." He watches Noa run to the throne and do his best to look like an evil overlord, pulling a tablet from his pocket and taking some pictures. "So, this place looks /untouched/. Like you say, somebody /badass/ sat here. Do you think maybe he left some of his toys behind? This room looks protected... like he intended to come back someday." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Noa sits upon the throne, there is a sudden shift in the room. A magical effect, due to detecting him on it. Nothing hurts him. Instead, the castle acts as if the Master has returned home. Various banners unfurl from the walls. Upon them, the silloutte of some great, massive boar. Organ music can be heard throughout the castle. It fades soon, though. But, the various tapesteries and banners remain where they weren't before.      At the least, this place seems uninhabitted still. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "Fine, if he comes back, he can have it," Noa replies magnanimously as he settles on the chair, "I mean it's his place, I'm just borrowing it. And if he doesn't come back and I make it Big as the Adversary then I'm willing to do business. Being an Adversary requires a network and not just minions."      "/Holy shit it played organ music/," Noa claps, "Did you *hear* that?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren steps back in surprise as the castle WELCOMES NOA. "Pssh! Holy cow..." he laughs a little. "Do you think that's just for looks, or maybe it means the castle has magic powers and just crowned you its new master?" 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      Noa shrugs. "Maybe the dude just imparted part of his self into me and I'm now carrying around some of his Evil Spirit, or maybe the throne's corruptive and treats anyone who sits on it as its master until it turns them into him. That's what I'd do if I was making an Evil Castle, is make sure anybody sitting on it turned into me eventually."      "It's cool though, I'm sure it'll be fine."      "Maybe it'll come with Evil Superpowers." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      There is a sudden shaking. The entire castle is moving. And, the entire castle is /rising/. Slowly, it shakes. Moves. There is the sound of a massive amount of shifting stone and sand.      After several minutes, the castle has risen entirely out of the sand. Forsaken Fortress has, in fact, risen from the desert sands once again. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren hadn't thought of that, but it sounds more concerning than Noa's treating it. But Staren won't argue that point right now. "Well... if you've got evil superpowers now, shouldn't you figure them out? You oughtta at least get a sweet ride out of them before you get taken over, rather than just being all 'Oh shoot, I'm turning into Agahnim' one da--"     THE CASTLE SHAKES.     "See this is what I mean! That right there, what are you doing?!"     Staren notices some odd readings on his tablet's accelerometer. "You're... /raising the castle/? Wow, are you doing this on purpose?" 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "I haven't done shit on purpose," Noa tells him, "But if this thing has a manual I'm gonna figure out where it is and how to use it, because I wanna know what else it can do."      "Maybe it plays MP3s or some shit. How tight would that be? Upload some fucking MP3s so when I sat on the throne it'd just bust out some rhythm."      Noa is a teenager. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      With the castle risen from the sand, almost all of the sand inside is, eventually, going to fall out. Of course, some will need to be cleaned up manually. Searching will not find much in the way of spellbooks, written history, or /anything/ firmly placing down what the hell this castle even is. There is no instruction manual.      But, if Noa /focuses/, while on the throne? He will be able to request the castle play /any song/ he want, in ominous organ music.      /Any/. /Song/. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      Noa's delight intensifies when he discovers this. He immediately experiments with obnoxious Anarchy themes, various supervillain themes from games he's played or heard of, annoying Pesterchum meme music, and random configurations of notes that sound vaguely menacing.      "/My house can write me a theme song/," He tells Staren eagerly, "You have to help me figure out how this shit works dude, I want this in *all* my houses." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Noa turns on the music. He's obviously controlling it as he switches through various songs. "...Did you just find Agahnim's mp3 player." he says, in 'wat' intonation. Then he crosses his arms, smirking. Staren actually /is/ curious about how that works. "Oh sure, /now/ you want me to think--"     "...Oh my god that is the most ominous 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' has ever sounded!" He laughs, then, "Oh wait, can you make it play it in a minor key and slower?" 

}}

2954/Infiltrating Forsaken Fortress

2015-09-07T05:31:59Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/03 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=An attack is made on Forsaken Fortress, to save Ilia and to get ahold of the Tear of Lig..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/03
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=An attack is made on Forsaken Fortress, to save Ilia and to get ahold of the Tear of Light from Blind the Bandit.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 446, 513, 714, 787, 789, 790, 821, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Forsaken Fortress is deep in the Gerudo Desert. The vast majority of the Gerudo Desert is known to be free of the Twilight. But, the Forsaken Fortress? It has long been assumed to be. After all, the area around it is covered in Twilight, in a perfect ring around it. The party will indeed have to go through a patch of Twilight, those affected taking on forms based on animals.      But, within a short bit of the fortress itself, around a rocky overlook that provides a lot of cover? The Twilight vanishes.      The Fortress is in fact free of it.      The fortress itself is a massive castle. Four large massive black walls, with wooden drawbridges on each side. A channel runs around the castle. Seemingly, it was once a moat of some kind, but it is long dried out. Notably, the bottom of the moat looks more melted and covered in magma stones... Perhaps it was once a lava moat.      A tall, five story tall tower can be seen in the center of the castle. Windows lining along it. The walls themselves seem to have various rooms as well. Large muscular pig men, Moblins, walk along the ramparts here and there, about three to each wall. At each corner of the base, massive spotlights point down, each a complicated series of mirrors and torches. They point along the desert, keeping an eye out for anything that might be approaching.      There are, of course, many ways to go about this. The goal is to rescue a prisoner, and to find the Tears of Light. There is no need to fight, if it can be avoided. But... A more brute force option is almost certainly something that can be considered. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      After getting some rest and having the mask she 'purchased' taken from her by the meanies in the Confederacy, Princess Sarracenia is making her way toward the Twilight with the others. She is not in a very good mood after having to turn over the mask, so she has been pouting the entire walk to the barrier.      She stops when she reaches the edge of it. "So, we are supposed to turn into animals if we go in here?" she says aloud. She looks around at the others, then hmphs before stepping in. "I am sure I will change into something regal." The princess steps into the Twilight without hesitation. Perhaps foolish, but she prefers to think of it as bold.      Once inside the Twilight, the princess groans as the magic takes effect. She glows, then is forced down to all fours before in a burst of light she becomes...      A Chinese Crested Dog! About half the size as she was before, with cute poofy white fur on her head, the end of her tail, and around the bottoms of her legs. And, much to her dismay, it is neon pink fur. "P-pink...? Pink?! NOOO! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE PINK?!" The transformed princess buries her short muzzle in her forelegs dramatically and whines. 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     Victor was, for a brief moment, an animal.     Predictably the gambler turned into a rabbit. A bright yellow rabbit radiating LIGHT. One might mistake him for a Solar Exalted, honestly. He'll be rather happy to be done with that once they reach the fortress, but it might make their approach much more visible. Sorry guys!     The young teen, once out of the Twilight, immediatly darts behind the nearest cover, presumably where everone will also be tempted to go. Can't really just run in, they have to find the best way in! Right?     "This is the Worst. I am not High level enough for This."     He reaches for a deck of cards kept in a holder on his belt, shuffling the pack and placing it back in. He draws himself an initial hand.     5S, 6S, 8S, AD, Red Joker. Could be worse. He'll want to avoid the Clubs suit here. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     As before, the Twilight seemingly has no effect whatsoever on Finna. If anything, she's FLAUNTING its inability to change her, Moonsilver Tattoos proudly on full shimmery display, although the Twilight's energies do cast them in a weird, sombery, orangish light with streaks of silver and they occasionally reflect things native to the Twilight instead of the world around them.     For weaponry, she's got a short sword of what looks like viking make on her waist and a hunting bow in hand, complete with quiver of arrows. A dagger completes the assorted weaponry...     "They really don't name stuff 'the Forsaken Fortress' without reason! This sure looks the part." Of Course she's hiding behind dunes when the spotlight passes over. If it gets too hairy to progress further she can always shapeshift into a bird and go give the spotlight-watchers a bad day... 

:'''{{#var:787|Epicea Chelid (787)}} has posed:'''     "Let me get this straight. We go into the dark fog junk and then we become animals?" Epicea wonders, before they enter the Twilight.     One might expect a seadwelling troll to become something aquatic when they entered the Twilight, a form twisted and amphibian, or worse, a fish. In open air.     Instead she becomes a rather large sloth, with hooked claws and dopey-looking eyes.     "Could go for some dank leaves and stuff now." Slothicea rumbles, trundling along with the rest at her own pace. This probably means she leaves the Twilight last, but everything works out. Unlike Victor, there is no field of LIGHT or whatever, but she's pretty freakin' chillaxed, maaaaaaaan.     When she's back to normal, she looks up at the fort and shrugs. "So, what's our plan for violence? We gotta get in /somehow/." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "So... Bets on what we're gonna turn into?" Sanary wrinkles her nose slightly as she eyes the outer rim of the Twilight area, her arms crossed and her brow furrowed. It's not every day that she's faced with the possibility of transforming into something else entirely, but it's probably something she'll need to get used to if she hopes to explore this region further. "I just hope I don't end up with something stupid..." She edges closer to the ring before turning around suddenly to face her comrades for this mission.      "If any of you laugh, I'm using you as battering ram." She's got her usual gunaxe hooked to the side of her belt and a bestial-looking kite shield on her back, and her armor is... Fuzzy. A little thick, too, which would probably be more appropriate for a desert at night rather than any other time of day.      And then she's off! It's quite an uncomfortable transformation, shifting from her regular human size to something somewhat larger, and it's not quite clear at first where she's even gone. Upon closer inspection, though, there's a tiny yellow and black canary fluttering about rather haphazardly within the field. It lands on Sarracenia's head and give her a light nip on the head before.. Grunting?      "H-hey. At least you can bite stuff. The hell am I supposed to do like... Like /this/?" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel does not enjoy the twilight there's this inate revultion to grid bugs, much like humans have towards insects. She's able to supresse it as she's not turned into a hulking digital spider like thing for very long. She's soon back on two legs and stares at Finna for a moment. "Show off." It's good natured at the veyr least and to Epicea she says "I brought a few means of entry but the question is do we want to go in loud or quiet?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah is kind of taking her situation as a black house cat in stride, though she does glare at the Shiny Rabbit as they pass through. "Will you people relax, it would actually be better if the stupid fortress /did/ have Twilight, most of us would be better off for sneaking around then. Also, look who isn't surprised that Princess Shadycakes is a toy poodle." Yes, she's getting it wrong on purpose. Catcatcatcatcatcatnotacat. Sarah exits the Twilight with the kind of acceptance that someone who is already convinced everything is going to go to hell has. She looks over the initial entrance and thinks for a moment. "No front guard. Shadows are deep enough to stay out of detection if we avoid the spotlights. Regular movements, regular patrol patterns." She looks up at the ramparts. "They've been here for some time. Their patrols are getting sloppy. You're going to find holes in their patterns." She looks to the others. "I'm going to start sneaking in. It's more optimal than trying to fight an army of pigdudes. If you want to go for stealth kills, do whatever you want, but as long as the alarm stays down we can probably get this done quick and easy." Sarah doesn't waste time, slipping in around the edges and keeping to the shadows as she glooms her way around, looking for a good opening to exploit. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      Rin had been keeping track of this particular mission ever since Archer was given it, and she - still the sucker for offering help in these cases it seemed - had basically leveled him with the mandate of helping when he could with it. And what she ordered, he obeyed as per their contract.     Upon arriving though, Archer felt equal parts dread and nostalgia at the sight of the fortress - and a very well-guarded one at that. He hadn't helped attack one since his early days... or at least not conventionally.     However, this particular fortress was different from those of Earth - the people here weren't any strangers to magic like those back home, and it was well-known enough to likely make their castles resistant to being collapsed at a distance by magic. Another issue was that these weren't human - they were some sort of... well, pig men was the only word to describe them. But it wasn't their appearance that was really surprising - after what he'd seen in his few short missions so far, Archer felt he'd believe just about anything now.     No - the issue was something else entirely. that he didn't know how much punishment these creatures could take or if they were resistant to magic, or at least more so then humans. Otherwise he could have risked just sniping them out one by one - but if they didn't drop with the first hit, they'd should an alarm. After all, if they were anything like the pigs on Earth, they could probably shriek pretty loudly.     Enduring his short transformation into a scarlet-haired fox as he had the last time he was within the Twilight - and thankful that it was an animal that could move quickly with relative silence - Archer re-emerges as himself again and makes his way to the budding group that is meant to be his comrades for this mission. Hearing the questions, he shrugs offhandedly - "It's an easy choice; fighting is straightforward but it will make things harder since we don't know what these things are capable of. The girl" - he gestures offhandedly to Sarah - "is right about their patrols. They're getting sloppy - they don't expect an attack. Plus, we have a captive to think out - he's useless if he dies in the crossfire of a battle."     Matching Sarah's pace, Archer glances down at her and smirks - before promptly fading from sight, turning invisible as he enters spirit form. "Mind if I tag along? You might need the help if any fight breaks out. Besides, two people tend to have better chances of success then one." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The group goes mostly unnoticed.      Mostly, aside the glowing bunny rabbit who is lighting up the Twilight.      All of the spotlights are /now/ pointed towards the group gathered, towards the rocky outcropping the group is hiding behind. The nearest gate of the fortress opens. A number of Bulbins start to ride out. They look to be bizarre creatures. Short, vaguely humanoid. Their arms reaching almost as long as their body. They are dressed in various leathers, and hoods. Horns come off of the heads of most of them, as well. They sit upon the back of /giant boars/ the size of a large car. Rushing into the group. There are about twenty riders in total. Ten archers, near the middle and back of the formation. Spearmen on the edges. A slightly taller one at the front, with a cutlass in his hand.      Thankfully this means that Sarah and Archer are going completely unnoticed as they sneak away. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Riding Sarracenia the rest of the way through (flying is hard!), Sanary flutters off shortly just before they actually cross that inner edge in order to avoid crushing her once she transforms back. She resists the urge to groan at the soreness in her arms, instead moving over to a more shadowy position with the others. Luckily for her, this armor is significantly less clunky and loud than her usual armor!      Alas, being stealthy is not to be, with the lights trained on that hiding spot. Just as well, though, since her armor (as fuzzy as it is) is still armor, and being able to brush off the smaller nicks that dodging won't take care of would be a godsend. "Time to make some noise, then." She peers out from behind the rock at those approaching riders, then takes a deep breath before drawing the gunaxe and shield. She starts pumping magic into the anklets worn under her pants, tilting forward slowly until she starts lifting off the ground! A little wobbly, but she's going high enough that it'd be easy enough to avoid the spears.      "Hey, stupids! You're... Stupid!" Satisfied with the height she's getting as she faces the moblins, she starts swinging her axe around and trailing fire in the air behind her swings! She probably won't hit anyone with that, but.. It's bright and flamey! What a nice target. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The princess shrugs at Sanary. "Sing for us?" she suggests. That is what a canary does, right? Sarracenia makes her way out the other side of the Twilight finally, then blinks as she sees those creatures rushing toward them. "Well, I suppose that means a sneaky entrance is no longer an option!" she exclaims as she changes back to normal, her huge DK hammer in hand. She gives it a twirl then rests it over her shoulder before she digs into her purse and pulls out...three green leaves. "Whoever wishes one, take it. It will allow you to fly after getting a running start."      The princess uses one herself, and a pair of cute brown ears along with a raccoon tail appear on her. She then charges right at the charging Bulbins. But, just before they would clash, she leaps and her tail flutters, taking her sailing into the air. In moments she is high above them, sailing toward the top of the ramparts. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Aaaaand out come the Moblins on their charges. Finna blinks. She was expecting, oh, maybe them to set up barricades and bar the gates, maybe fire some arrows or throw stones. Not go expose themselves at the first signs of danger!     Morons.     With a sigh, and deciding that any prisoner under these dimwits' care must be in serious trouble indeed, she flies the coop. That is to say, she backflips spectacularly and is already aflight as a red-tailed hawk, wings pumping supernaturally fast to send her skywards and over the walls! First she'll circle around a few times and see if there's anything of note to report back to her allies though... 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     "I AM INCREDIBLY SORRY RIGHT NOW," Victor says to whoever is still with him (most likely everyone who isn't Sarah and Archer), behind the safety of the very large rock he's cowering behind. He considers it a very lucky break when Sanary just sort of CHARGES IN WITH AN AXE. Oh, good, someone can tank!     Victor draws two more cards, shuffles them with his hands, and then peeks out of his cover very briefly. Two cards lance straight out of his hands like high-speed projectiles towards the middle rows of pigmen, namely the archers.     Those two cards are the SIX OF CLUBS and the ACE OF DIAMONDS. The six of clubs is more or less a hand grenade in explosive output, but the ace of diamonds is top-notch piercing damage-- for someone of Victor's strength, that is.     New hand: 5S, 6S, 8S, QS, Red Joker.     And then Victor dives back into his cover.     "This is the Fastest I've ever seen a Plan go south! I hope we have a Backup besides killing these Monsters until they run Out of monsters to throw At us!" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah skitters along with some of the other stealthier specialists. When Arther joins her, she mutters quietly, "Oh, hey, you're invisible. Nice trick. Let's move." She's prompt and on business, moving along with Finna, who is also a sneaky person as they work their way into the area. As she quietly hunches in the darkness as the Bulblins ride out, Sarah shakes her head and moves on. She must be thinking the same thing as Finna. While she's not supernaturally agile, she knows hot to generally stay out of notice and in motion. Being a little girl helps, people don't notice kids so much. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Archer clicked his tongue in annoyance as the guards emerged - once again, he cursed his E-Rank luck. This was the /second/ stealth-intended mission they had embarked on here, and yet it was already becoming a battle.     Then again, he ought to be used to nothing turning out as he'd expected it to. That had pretty much been the case since he started taking missions in the Multiverse.     Staying in line with the young girl, Archer follows her and fox-spirit into the fortress. He was basically relying on these two to know where they were going - he couldn't use structural grasp on the castle's layout without potentially exposing himself. Still, he was at least able to speak - softly enough for only Sarah, and possibly Finna, to hear.      "I assume you know where we're going?" 

:'''{{#var:787|Epicea Chelid (787)}} has posed:'''     "Pff, chill out, Victor." Epicea urges, as her friend draws ALL THE AGGRO, ALL OF IT. "See, they're all coming out and leaving the door open. I knew I could count on you to make this plan work great. Or something. Like my lucky charm." She notes to Victor in a chillaxing tone. "Seriously though, don't worry about it. Look, they're all charging us, the door's open, it's perfect. Plus, check out night-bright over there." She gestures to Finna and her Moonsilver Tats which are also glowing like fsking spotlights screaming HERE I AM, I AM A LUNAR, HELLO YES THIS IS LUNAR.     To support the frontline attackers, Epicea begins to... throw pillows at the enemies. Yup. Pillows. The -blins get paffed by pillows which easily bounce off or fall short to a stop. Though, if they connect, they connect like sacks of bricks.     "See? Everything's great. Just chill out and go with it, everyone. We're fighting idiots, so just apply violence."     Epicea lounges on Victor's rock and casually continues throwing pillows, in plain sight. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As the group of riders make their way forward, they suddenly shift their route. They're aiming at an angle, looking as if they're getting ready to circle the group. And, they're doing this at /quite/ a far pace. Why rush forward if they're just going to be wrecklessy rushing to attack?      Well, that's because they do, in fact, have a strategy. The archers are drawing their bows, while their pigs follow the rest of the horde. They aim the bows up, firing at the group from quite a distance. Their arrows look rather simple at first glance. Bow, simple feathers on the end. But, there is a trace of something on the tips of each of the arrow. Local poisons, refined and prepared upon their arrows. they're not aiming at anyone in particular, jsut at the group as a whole. Hoping to strike them with the arrows in the panic. A few are aimed at one person in particular: Sanary. She's trying to draw aggro, after all. And, one of the lancers breaks formation, going in towards Sarracenia. It brings in its spear, only for Sarracenia to suddenly be upon the ramparts.      And, on the ramparts themselves? A few large Moblins are near Sarracenia, both holding gigantic axes. They start running at her, from both sides. Their axe, swinging down towards the Princess.      Finna actually gets unnoticed, her bird form being considered just a bird. One bulbin archer casually looks up to her from the ramparts, raising an eyebrow. He takes a shot towards her, but misses. Snapping a finger, muttering something about wanting some fresher meat.      But, as Finna circles the tower, she'll find a window that sticks out from all the others. It is on the fourth story of the five story tall tower. Thick bars upon it, and with awning that makes it hard for the sunlight to get inside. Torchlight is inside, though, revealing a girl. In chains. She is in her late teens, and laying on the ground, her knees bent. A chain connects her leg to a bolt in the floor. A small plate of mostly rotten food is next to her. Her short blonde hair looks dirty, and it almost looks like she has been crying. She exactly matches the description of Ilia.      Archer and Sarah go completely unnoticed as they enter the fortress. The tower has but one doorway, and a particularly fat moblin sits next to it, on a chair. Sleeping. A ring of metal keys are upon his belt, and a padlock is upon the door to the tower. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The cards manage to do a fair amount of damage to the bulbins. The explosion causes a couple to fall down, especially considering how /closely/ grouped together they all are. The piercing strike takes one down, leading to him falling off the boar and being trampled. Only a handful of archers remain, now.      And, the front bulbin, the one who is simply weilding an intimidating looking cutless? The one leading the group? He is hit by the pillow. The only one who actually seems to not /care/ about them, assume the pillows are safe. Possibly one of the only Bulbins who even knows what a pillow /is/ enough to assume it is harmless.      And then he falls off, and gets trampled.      The Boar Riders are beginning to scatter a bit, now. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia swings her hammer as she flies over the lancer, aiming to knock his head in. Whether that works or not, she is now on the ramparts. With two big Moblins. Holding equally big axes. "...perhaps this was not a sound plan." she says to herself. Still, she stands her ground, letting them close in. Letting them think she will be easy to catch.      Then, just as they are about to slash at her, she ducks and dives off the rampart. Without a running start all she can do is float down, but flying wasn't really her objective this time. She was hoping that the Moblins were not very smart and would either be unable to stop their swings and hit each other, or just plow into each other and hopefully knock each other out.      Even if that plan does not work, she is floating down toward that dry moat inside the castle's walls. When she touches down, she starts running again and again leaps into the sky, trying to rise up onto the next wall. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is able to get close enough and most of them are able to avoid getting seen. Shje's going to try to keep form getting noticed when. She will take up the offer that Sarracenia made and will take a leaf. It will be quite the odd bit with the tail and ears, but once she gets a good runnign start? She can't argue with the results. She'd have used her light jet but that thing is not stealthy at all. Once she gets in the air she's going to fly only as long as is needed before she'll find a on the fortress where she can come in for a landing and get to searching for the hostage. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Not as many as Sanary had hoped would focus on her, but it's still a good number. " As those arrows come closing in, she pumps more energy into one of the anklets to, ideally, push her just out of the way of those arrows! With the angle her foot's at, though, and from putting in a little too much energy, she starts spiralling in mid-air! Oddly enough, it's actually timed just right to avoid most of the those arrows without really moving anywhere.      Unluckily for her, though, that's not all of the arrows. The timing on that spin just so happens to put her shin right in the path of one arrow, sending it cleanly into the side of her calf. "Son of a... Lucky hit, you shitty... Shit ass." She shakes her head quickly, feeling somewhat woozy after all that spinning. A little too woozy even for that, though. Was there something on those arrows?      Fighting back the urge to vomit on the spot, she bites back a cry of pain as she yanks that arrow out, focusing her energy on that leg wound while bringing her shield around to augment her mid-air defense. Instead of firing back with her gunaxe, however, she opts to direct some energy into her eye. After a moment, she fires a red-hot beam out of it to try and sweep it at the archers! Like with the archers' shots, she's not aiming at anyone in particular and mostly just hoping it'll hit something. Of course, her reflexes are somewhat dulled by that poison, so it's not as if she'd be able to aim properly at just one of them, anyway. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Well, getting in hadn't been a problem. Now there was the matter of getting their prisoner back out.     Fortunately, there wasn't much opposition in here. The outside battle would have been a problem if it spread into the castle.     A single guard? Alone inside with no back-up and a commotion outside to drown out any sounds? That wasn't quite as much a concern in dealing with.     Moving behind the sleeping guard, Archer quickly re-materalies, not even hesitating to wrap his arms around the creature's throat, casting Reinforcement on them to increase their strength - and twisting sharply to the left, snapping it's neck with a sound like breaking bark.     Quick and painless. He could only hope things went as smoothly from this point on.     Letting the body flop to the floor, kneels down, picks up the keys from his belt and then turns to face Sarah before giving a sarcastic smile and half-bowing to her, holding out the key to her as if he were a knight. It's unclear as to whether or not he's polling fun at her-     But then he gives an all-too-polite "After you" that sounds suspiciously like he's assumedly asking 'what would you do without me?' 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "It's a prisoner, they have to be keeping them in a place where she can't just walk out." Sarah whispers back. Meanwhile, she sees a fat, lazy Moblin at the door. She would unleash scorn but that would be counteproductive right now. Stay on task. Stay on task. Keep focused. With a quick motion, Sarah scurries up to the sleeping Moblin and then carefully begins doing the keys- When Archer solves the problem permanently. She pauses, looking at the dead guard, and then back to Archer, and gives a somber thumbsup. Sass is for when they're not playing a stealth game. She takes the keys from Archer and USES the KEYS on the DOOR. 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     They're not friends! THEY ARE NOT -FRIENDS-. Damnit, Epicea! You know Victor is aware of the narrative! Okay, not really to that extent, but if you'd spoken that out loud he'd have argued it to hell and back.     The sound of arrows clipping the rock and landing right near him stressed the boy out, who wonders if he should even stick his head out one more time. It seems like a BAD IDEA.     "Relax? Relax?! I would like To point out we are Being besieged by an Army that may have belonged To a King of Evil, they are Huge, also pigmen, those arrows Look poisoned, and we might Die!" he replies to Epicea, ignoring the secondary plan to fly off. There's archers! Flying is an awful idea! Oh god why are people doing it.     Two more cards, and the boy peeks his head out of cover. How close are the riders? Please still be far. PLEASE STILL BE FAR. The two hurled cards this time are the QUEEN OF CLUBS and the RED JOKER, doubling as an ACE OF DIAMONDS again. The queen of clubs is basically high-yield explosives, the ace of diamonds stand-in wildcard is the exact same thing as before. And yes, he's making sure not to friendly fire at Sanary, if he can help it.     New hand: 5S, 6S, 8S, QS, KS.     "How many Pigmen can you fit in One fortress anyway? Maybe we should try getting In or something. HEY PEOPLE WHO ARE FLYING, THROW A ROPE DOWN THE RAMPARTS WHEN YOU GET UP THERE!" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Sharp hawk-eyes catch the tone of fair skin against all the dreary stone and rusty metal in this awful place. Finna enters a steep dive, heedless of the one arrow, and heads for the barred window. Unless these bars are tight enough to keep out bugs or a mouse, she'll have no trouble squeezing through. Literally. If a hawk can squeeze through the bars, she'll do that. If not, she'll shift to a mouse first...     But either way, once she's through, the creature walks up to the cage.     Finna paces around the area a few times, listening carefully to find if there are any guards approaching.     Once she's fairly sure they're safe, creature-Finna aproaches the girl.     "You've met with a terrible fate here, haven't you? Ssh, don't alert the guards."     In no time at all, Finna resumes her natural shape. Flesh reshapes and the tiny bird grows clothes in place of feathers, human features instead of sharp animal ones.     "There's a rescue party keeping the guards busy."     Presumably these leg irons are locked somehow, and Finna knows how to deal with that. She pulls out some lockpicks and gets to work, assuming Ilia doesn't flip out too much! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Moblins stop /just/ short of hitting eachother. Even then, their axes were aimed similarly, so they would of just stopped as they stuck eachother's weapons as well. One of them runs for something up on the ramparts, which wasn't immediately visible: A large lever.      And he Pulls the Lever.      Panels open up across the castle's walls. Lava begins to flow down, filling into the moat. At least, Sarracenia definitely has time to get out. And seemingly the moat /is/ still in use.      Sanary manages to hit a spearman as the riders begin to scatter in the confusion, the beam from her eye striking him just right. Or more of, hitting his boar, causing the boar to fall to the ground, and the Rider with it. Soon after, Victor blows up a number more. Bodies, flying all over the place. The few remaining riders are fleeing into the Twilight, rather than heading back to the fortress. They seem to know when shit hit the fan.      Deelel manages to land inside the fortress, right near where Archer and Sarah are. Just in time to see Archer crush the throat of the Moblin, breaking its neck. It falls over limp, dead upon the ground.      The key opens the door. Behind it? A /vast/ number of enemies. There are no less than twenty moblins, and ten of the small bulbins. They suddenly all lift various spears up, pointing it towards the trio outside the door.      It only hits the minds of the group after the fact that they should have thrown the fat moblin in first, to intimidate the numerous Moblins inside. At the least, a staircase leading to the next floor is behind them, so they can do that with the /next/ room.      As Finna enters the cell room, she'll find the inside rather plain. Wooden floor. A door on one side. A staircase leading further up, with a large lock on it. Ilia turns, her leg chained to the ground. She lifts a hand, wiping a tear from her face. As Finna starts to pick the lock, she simply whimpers a bit, "That... that's what the noise is, out there? A rescue party... Just for me?"      Ilia moves to Finna's back. Wrapping her arms around her. It feels like she wants comfort. A chance to relax. Perhaps it is simply the joy of seeing a human seeming person for the first time in ages.      Or perhaps it is a trap. Which is a lot more likely, considering the knife that suddenly appears out of nowhere in Ilia's hand. Ilia presses the knife to Finna's stomach in a sudden flash of movement, while Finna is working at the lockpicks. Ilia keeps trying to hold onto Finna, trying to hold her back. Even as Ilia's shape changes.      Her skin turns red in color, her hands becoming larger. More masculine. Her clothes change completely, into a simple white rope covering her body. And her head, becoming a large face masculine red face with large pupiless eyes. Shapeshifting Shadow Thief BLIND THE BANDIT 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Tinker tinker tinker! Finna's about got one of the things unlocked when she has Ilia climbing onto her. Okay that's a little odd, but she can tolerate that.     Then her instincts scream at her. "Wha--OORGH--!!!"     STABBED! A searing pain lances through her gut and Finna nearly doubles over... but that's kinda hard with this awful THING that nearly has her in a chokehold. "Grrrrkghh..."     Instead of doing the 'smart' thing for most people in her position and putting some serious CQC hold-breaking to work, she glances back and immediately makes a face like she's about to vomit.     Then she takes a solid, deep breath, ignoring the pain and the blood that's seeping from her wound-- wait? Seeping?     Blind was probably expecting that to be a nasty wound that would need medical attention. It is not. There's very little blood at all, as Finna's wound clots supernaturally fast.     "Rotting food so I wouldn't smell the rotting trap... cleeeeever. But you picked the WORST possible time to spring this one. You've lost the element of surprise and have only one person to assault. And I..."     Power gathers through Finna's body. Her Moonsilver Tattoos gleam and shine from within as Lunar Essence concentrates. Fur sprouts from her flesh and muscles bulge and ripple. In a few seconds she's grown a full head taller... and all of her fox features are on full display. A great humanoid fox woman with white fur's what Blind's holding on to now.     All that power in Finna's body then erupts out in a swirling aura of brilliant moonlight and twisting shadows, wreathing her whole body in a thick light that keeps her exact stance, size, and shape vague. It's bright enough that the light shines through the tiny window like one of the fortress's spotlights, except this light twists and tears at the night air and stone.     THAT's when she spins around in Blind's grasp and attempts to hurl him at the wall with all her might!     "I can play this game too!" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Well, if nothing else the girl wasn't squeamish about killing. That was helpful to know - practical for the mission as well.     A good thing too... since at this moment they were now thoroughly in trouble.     Muttering a curse, Archer barely had time to grab the fat moblin - an easier task with his strength still under Reinforcement - and half-throw, half-shove it towards the oncoming mob.      "Run!" He only says it once - he figures that's all he needs to as the girl doesn't seem the type to need telling twice. He also must trust the girl in the circuit-covered jumpsuit to keep an eye on her... while Archer bought time.     That done, he prepares to try and stall out some of the oncoming moblins.      "Trace; On."     Nameless swords materialize in the air around Archer, suspended in mid-air and ready to fire. The moment the moblins can get past the body of their fellow, he'll launch the blades straight into their midsts - and hopefully buy himself time to pull back himself.     After all, he wasn't big on suicidal heroics if he could /help/ it... or had any choice in it at all, for that matter. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      After hearing the many complaints of her companions on the shared radio, Sarracenia realizes they probably need to get out. But, now there is a moat of lava. The princess dives toward the Moblin who released the lava, and as she comes in she swings her hammer in an attempt to send him flying off the side of the wall and into the lava. She lands near the lever and tries to close it again.      Whether that works or not, she reaches into her purse and rummages around before pulling out an icy blue flower out. She gives it a squeeze, and it bursts into sparkles that quickly settle onto her dress, turning it from red to ice blue. She then proceeds to run along the wall, firing ice bolts down into the moat, attempting to cool it quickly so her trapped comrades can escape. If a Moblin gets in her way, it is targeted with those bolts as well. She isn't sure how well they will work on a Moblin, but they freeze creatures from her world solid. She is really hoping they work on lava and Moblins. Otherwise, she might be in trouble. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      She can't keep it in forever, so she might as well let out now that the moblins have scattered. Sanary takes advantage of her mid-air vantage point to just empty the contents of her stomach on the ground below. It's quite liberating, although it does keep her occupied for a brief time while she focuses on just accelerating her own healing and getting it all out of her system. Spotting the commotion by the entrance, she takes a deep brath before hovering over at a steady pace, albeit more carefully and slowly with the poison still lingering in her system.      There really are quite a lot of moblins and bulbins, aren't there? The numbers game is certainly a thing that would work in their favor, but just trying to run would mean leaving allies behind! Thus, she falls back on that last strategy that got her an arrow for her trouble...      Flying right over the creatures and swinging a flaming axe around. "Lay down your weapons, weaklings! Bow to your new burning god!" She's practically shouting that as she draws those flames in broad, sweeping arcs, even firing another heat beam out of her eye at the gathered pigmen to try and make herself as intimidating (or hard to ignore) as possible. Hopefully, it'll at least buy the others some more time to escape! 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' If Sarah knew the area was full of Moblins, maybe she would have. But hey, that's the curse of incomplete information. As she sees the horde of pigmen and mini-pigmen raise their spears, she sighs. "Ugh. Of course everything went straight to hell." A moment later, she turns and runs up those stairs even as Archer tells her to run and starts covering their back. To this guy's credit, he has solid tactics. It can't be worse than staying down here in Grossly Outnumbered Land like he is. Should she encounter more Moblins, she's not going to stick around and fight them, she's going to go full evasive, trying to get lost in the growing chaos. 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     They're-- running. Okay, Victor can live with this.     It's certainly better than dying.     As the riders and pigmen retreat, the future Mage of Light walks out of the cover-- fortunately, not near the moat, because he's lethally allergic to lava-- and like a good hero in training, starts looting the minions. Maybe they still have some of that poison, but overall just having their cache of weapons and armor and assorted belongings might come in handy later.     This is done by repeatedly throwing two ten-sided dice at various belongings, which turns them into cards and stores them in his Sylladex. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel ios able to join up with Archer and Sarah thankfully and she takes a moment to summon her keyblade the weapon takes shape in her hand. She knows things are about to get crazy. She does seem to know how to handle the strange weapon and she's looking to engage the numerous moblins she'll take a moment to buff herself and archer with a haste spell of some sort which should if it's able to effect a Servant give him better reaction times. "Little bit of overclocking, now really?" Wtih that she dives in ot enages the enemy with the keyblade. "Give up now and yourt lives will be spared!" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The light causes Blind to wince for a bit, though thankfully it isn't true Sunlight. That, after all, is a massive problem for him. It's enough to cause him to stumble back, before taking off into the air. He floats above the ground, his white robes flowing around him. His hands, becoming covered in flames. Though Finna does manage to push him back, he manages to halt himself midair. He laughs, wickedly, loudly.      "Awww, you can shapeshift? What a surprise! Not a lot /quite/ like you around. But, heh, you know what? You still fell for the trap! You /aren't/ going to find the girl! It was only a matter of time til someone came for her... Almost surprised, though. Still some heroes in Hyrule."      "Now, tell me who the hell you guys /are/. Did the Duke send ya? Or... Huh. Agahnim maybe planning to come back and take this place back? Pft, he's sick of his old allies not working for him anymore, eh?"      Blind lifts his hands, burst of flames flying forward. Notably, the floor /is/ in fact wood. And, he doesn't seem to care about /hitting/ the wood. So, if Finna dodges blindly, the floorboards might start catching fire.      Even if throwing the Moblin into the room is a bit delayed, the act still makes the others nervous. More terrifying? The various numbers of swords. This is unlike /anything/ these guys have ever seen, and they work for a shapeshifter. A particularly brave Moblin moves forward, only to be struck straight through.      The others sort of just back up against a wall. This is /way/ past their payscale.      And then Deelel rushes at them wtih a keyblade, some of the wussier ones drop to their knees. They surrender. One is even /crying/ at this.      Leaving Sarah free to run further up. As she gets to the second floor, she finds something that she is almost /certainly/ going to have trouble with. There is a door, visible on the other side of the room. But, in the path? Numerous blocks. They have to be pushed out of the way /just/ right, or else they will completely block the path.      ....Or she could just climb over them. But at least she /is/ the one who is good with puzles.      Sarracenia manages to send the Moblin off the wall, causing him to fly into the lava. He melts, screaming out in pain. Bursting to flames before even /touching/ the lava. The lever is hard to pull, but some effort will make it /finally/ stop, the lava no longer being pumped into the moat. The bits of ice help cool down the lava, hardening it. It's /still/ incredibly risky, but at least it can be /safe/ to step upon those cooling stone platforms.      Victor, on the plus side, manages to collect a lot of Moblin and Bulbin gear. Thankfully ther are a /lot/ of them, so he has plenty of REALLY CRAPPY WEAPONS in his inventory now. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah doesn't know that the people below him are actually holding fast and even winning. She thinks there's going to be a pair of wounded allies and a horde of spear-wielding pigmen charging up those stairs in a minute. And those allies don't need a pile of boxes in the way. Sure, she could YOUTH CLIMB over them, but... As a matter of fact, that's what she does first. She climbs up on top to survey the room, plotting things out in her head. "That has to move there, and that there, then this over there, and then..." She leaps down, then, and makes her choice, shoving crates around, her little girl arms straining as she pushes things around as fast as she can. As long as she sticks to the Plan everything will work out. In the meantime, she listens to everything fall apart some more around them. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Yeah, yeah, I fell for your trap! Gotta compliment you on that one. -I'm- usually the one setting the traps, not falling for them." The praise is genuine enough, even if the Lunar's delivering it with some heated barbs in her tone. From his angle, Blind can see her bloodied gut... the wound is healing fast enough that he can SEE it closing.     She glances around quickly. Fireballs and a flying enemy in a fairly tight arena? This is NOT to her advantage at all.     "As for who sent us, you'll have to beat that answer out of me - if you can. But my name is Finna Snowdancer, and you're about to learn why!"     Indeed, dancer is a good word for what follows. She elegantly backflips away from the fireballs, zigging and zagging further and further back... only to frown when the wood's struck by it. "Are you burning down your OWN TOWER?!"     She reaches around her back and pulls out, seemingly from NOWHERE, her bow and quiver. the latter's slung over her back in no time at all. While zigging and zagging she brings up arrow after arrow and launches them.     This is not to her advantage though with all of that FIRE around! Because eventually one strikes.     And she's covered in BIG, FLUFFY FUR!     WHOOOOOOOSH! "Hyaaaaghhh ow dammit!"     After a few seconds of FLAILING though the fire is EXTINGUISHED. All that fur disappears... replaced with lizard-like scales. THAT's more resilient to flame at least! So now she's a giant fox-woman with SCALES instead of fur... weeeeiiiiird.     And it gives her an opportunity to aim another shot, except this one's aimed... at a wall? The tip of her arrow gleams silver before she fires!     ... And this arrow fires off with phenomenal speed. To strike a wall - and BOUNCE OFF IN ANOTHER DIRECTION. It keeps bouncing off the walls several times in a dizzying pattern before finally flying right at Blind's head! 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia slows her run to a trot then to a walk and finally a stop as she hears Archer say that the bad guys seem to be surrendering. Queue deadpan look. She -just- went to all the trouble of frying a moblin and using an ice flower, and now they don't even need to escape? The princess sighs, but keeps cooling the lava in case those outside want to come in. Then, she makes her way around the wall to find an entrance into the fortress.      The princess isn't certain, but she figures if she follows the stairs toward a general center of the castle direction, she will meet up with either Archer or Sarah. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Well. That seemed to work out better than expected. That, or the creatures were more intimidated by the significantly greater threats from Archer and Deelel along with that surprising display of acrobatics from Sarracenia. Whatever it was, though, Sanary's more than willing to take credit for it anyway!      She doesn't stick around for long, though, focusing for a moment before sending out a wave of healing energy to each of her allies. The magic wouldn't mend their wounds immediately, but it would boost their natural regeneration by a significant degree: Wounds mending, energy coming back, and even magical power restoring!      Afterwards, Sanary heads upstairs after Sarah and even grounds herself, both to make getting up those stairs less risky for her head and to conserve what's left of her magical reserves.      once she's up there, of course, she just gets a faceful of boxes. "... The hell is this shit?" SPotting Sarah hard at work trying to move those things, though, she cricks her neck and gets into position beside her. "There's... A reason for this, right?" She laughs and just starts going along with whichever boxes Sarah's trying to push. She might not have the mind to figure these things out, but she sure as hell can do the grunt work! 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' When Sanary arrives, Sarah pops her head up. "Oh, hey, you. Good, come use those farmer muscles for something useful." She hops back and gives Sanary room to help. "Okay, just push these exactly how I tell you and we're all good." She then proceeds to lay out the plan step by step to get all the crates where they need to be. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      It seemed that the moblins weren't used to something like him - many of them paused in fear when he threw their companion's body at them. When he lanced a sword through them, they all started shaking in what looked like terror.      It almost made Archer pity them...     If not for the fact that, had their positions been reversed, they would not be showing any mercy to him. Besides, if he turned and left, chances were they would just take up arms and swarm them again if they reunited with the rest of their forces and got their morale restored.     Not everyone could be saved... and not everyone deserved to be saved. Murderers cowered in fear after being caught for their crimes in many cases - did that make it alright for them to simply walk away?     Archer knew the answer to that... and it was the same one these creatures would get.     Eyes radiating steel and face set in stone, Archer's hand rose up... and a split second later, the blades around him speared forward into the hoard of cowering opponents, headless of the fact that they would not fight back.     It was no garuntee they wouldn't come fight again when their backs were turned. He wasn't going to take that risk. If the blue-haired woman beside him saw him as a killer, so be it.     It wouldn't be like she was wrong.     After the deed was done, Archer spent only a spit-seconed contemplating the result before turning and running up after Sarah, leaving no threats behind him that could endanger them later on.     After all... who in their right mind put their enemies over their comrades? 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      It won't take Sarah long to clear out the block puzzle, especially once Sanary starts to aid. Once the blocks are moved, there is a nice clear path to the next door way.      Also of note? There are a pair of treasure chests near the door leading further up.      And soon, the      Blind simply smirks a bit, "Well... I'm BLIND THE BANDIT! No clue who you are. But, really /doesn't matter/. You're after the girl we caught! And we ain't letting /no one/ get her! Way too vital!"      "...Also, the floor is just /wood panelling/, over /stone/. Come on, do you think I'm /that/ stupid?"      And then teh arrow strikes him in the head. It's actually a rather big surprise to him. The arrow hits, piercing. His head, falls clean off. It rolls along the ground for a few moments. And then it starts to levitate into the air.      Aw fuck.      The head of Blind the Bandit breathes out a massive burst of flames, while the hands are tossing ball after ball of fire towards Finna. The flooring /will/ catch fire eventually. That might need to be addressed.      The moblins slump to the loor, dead. Archer eventually meets up with Sarah. All that is left on the second floor is the door to the third. And, the fourth floor is where Finna is.      The third floor, once entered?      It's actually empty. There is nothing in there, but the door to the fourth floor, and a /large/ number of pots and urns lined about the room. Tempting you to smash them. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel had been moving ahead because they had to she'd been putting in a call for a prisoner transport to come in and pick up the enemies who had surrendered after all she'd given them her word she would. No she wouldn't find out until later what had happened at this point. She'd trusted Archer to handle things till the pickup crew would arrive but this would prove to be a fatal mistake for the prisoners. She's going to press ahead and meet up with the others at this point. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Everything about those treasure chests screams booby trap. There could be explosives in them, a monster might be hiding inside, they might trigger the walls to come down on them...      And yet, Sanary can't just ignore the things. "I call the one on the left!" It's only fair, right? She did do the grunt work in moving those boxes with Sarah, after all, and even moving those was tough work. It's only natural to reward herself with a little ill-gotten loot from the tower of weirdly-shaped pigmen.      "Keep your eyes open in case anything comes out." She's not completely clueless, though. No, the healer's at least got the sense to throw a rock at the chest first while keeping her shield raised. Assuming it doesn't explode right away, she'll then follow up by trying to actually pop that sucker open before heading upstairs!      After all that's said and done, the next course of action: Heading upstairs to the fourth floor to rejoin with Finna and (hopefully) a non-burning floor! 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah nods as the work completes. She dusts off her hands, and looks to Archer as he arrives. "Hey. You're not dead. Awesome." This seems to pass for what she has as congratulations as she scurries to the chests, getting her loot on for the right. "Yeah, okay, that's fair. You helped." She admits, letting Sanary get her choice. "Hey look, the advantage of solving puzzles and being thorough, right? Sarah says, her legs sticking up out of the box as she tries to pull out what's inside. Once she pops out, she'll probably look like she's dramatically holding it over her head for some reason. Once the loot is over, Sarah will stash whatever it is and head up to join the others. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia arrives right behind Archer, unaware of pretty much everything he and the others have been up to in here. She has lots of money and treasure already, so the chests and urns are hardly a distraction for her. "Forget the items! We have a comrade in danger above us!" she says, running past the others and the items to be smashed or opened. She still has an icy blue dress, and still has a giant hammer, so she is certain she will be helpful when she reaches the fourth floor.      It is pretty easy to find Finna. There is fire everywhere, after all, or at least the whoosh of flames being thrown. When Sarracenia reaches the door, she swings her hammer and attemps to smash it in. "Hold on, whoever you are! Help is on the way!" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Pausing once they reached the room, Archer's gaze narrowed dubiously at the sight of the many pots strewn across the room. "Well... this certainly looks too easy." Looking at Sarah and seeing Sarracenia rush past her, he gestures for the latter to move back a bit and off to the side. "There might be more enemies behind the door. Hold back - I'll clear the way. Then you can take point up to the last floor."     That said, he traces his bow with a flash of prana in one hand... while in the other, a nameless arrow takes shape.     He doesn't need to use anything too strong like Caladbolg - it could rattle the castle's foundations and bring parts of the ceiling down. Instead, he simply decides to aim a simple arrow for the door.     Drawing it taunt, he takes a breath, prana filling the arrow as the bowstring is pulled back-     -and sent flying for the door at close to Mach 2, charged with enough prana to cause an explosion on impact large enough to rival a small frag-grenade. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "You've got it the other way around, thinking about it. If that was a wood floor and you sprang the trap here you could've sent everyone tumbling. YOU can FLY, cheater!"     Finna proclaims - just as the arrow strikes. Her triumphant fingerpoint and smirk combo's brought to a halt as the head just... FALLS off. The finger falters, her smirk turns into jawdropping... "... sooooooo cheating... what the hell ARE YOU?!"     NOW she's genuinely freaked out. Finna decides to DITCH THE FLOOR ENTIRELY and instead vault over to a wall. Because, for whatever reason, she seems to have no trouble running along the wall. As if it was the floor.     They're BOTH CHEATERS.     "Come on, what kind of power is THAT?!" She complains to nobody in particular. Just KINDA freaked out now.     But not so much that she can't return fire with a few more arrows at Blind's floating head while zipping in-between fireballs. Unfortunately that's making her accuracy pretty poor... 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Sanary kicks open the treasure chest, she finds... A map. Of the fortress.      This would have been useful much earlier and yet is in just about the last room.      The second chest has a blue rupees in it. That's worth a whole FIVE RUPEES! Wow!      The door is blown open, and everyone rejoins Finna. They'll maanage to see Finna engaging with Blind the Bandit briefly. His head still floats around the room, spinning randomly now. It bounces around the place, laughing heartily, "AH! I /told/ you what I am! I'm BLIND THE BANDIT! Master thief!" What decapitation has to do with being a master thief, who knows.      The head is struck by the arrows, taking minor damage. The arrows stick out of them, though it still manages to spit out fireballs. It's aiming for the floor just as much as it is aiming for Finna, trying to /engulf/ the entire room. It doesn't realize how bad thigns went downstares.      And then as his body randomly floats around the room, his head turns towards the door. And sees the group of Elites.      "Aw, fuck."      He is a strong match for one Elite. A true Boss Fight.      This is a bit overkill. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      FIRE EVERYWHERE!! Fortunately for Sarracenia, she has just the solution for fire. Ice! She starts tossing freezing bolts all over the floor. It shouldn't take long to cover the burning floor with sheltering ice. "You guys help her!" Sarracenia says as she keeps tossing ice bolts. "I'll keep the fire under control!" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     ALRIGHT, PEOPLE ARE ARRIVING! With one hell of a show at that. Finna enters a spectacular flip that leaves her standing on the CEILING, making her a difficult target indeed with so many people on the GROUND filtering in. Granted, the ground is on fire. That's a problem.     Although she's pelted with a few fireballs on the way up, leaving her scorched and holding her side, she still has enouggh spunk to cup a hand near her mouth and yell down to Blind, "You MIGHT wanna consider surrendering. Tell us where Ilia's being held and we WON'T tear you to shreds... also what does that have to do with YOUR HEAD FLOATING OFF?!" Although for Finna's part, she doesn't fire any more arrows. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Well, it's better than nothing. Cramming that map into her pocket, Sanary hurries to meet with the others just in time to spot a...      Floating head thing and Finna on the ceiling. Well. "Alright, you wanna do this the easy way or the hard way?" She tosses a quick glance at the other Elites gathered in the room, taking note of Finna's offer before levelling her gunaxe's barrel straight at Blind. If that's not enough, her eye is also glowing with the telltale sign that she's ready to fire one more of those heat beams!      She also spits out a bit of leftover vomit on the floor. That last bit's probably not intended to be threatening, but it could be! Maybe. Not really. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     When the door is blown open, Archer regards the floating head with masked weariness in response to it's insane antics.      Drawing the images to the forefront of his consciousness, six nameless blades materialize before the decapitated head of Blind the Bandit, each pointed directly at him - two of them being close enough to prickle it's skin.      "You should consider listening to her - we're not exactly in a patient mood anymore. That is, so long as you don't have any issue being left pinned to the wall in a room being slowly coated in ice? I can't imagine you'll last long now that you've lost your body." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' You've found a BLUE RUPEE! That's worth FIVE RUPEES! Sarah is just kind of standing there with a look of irritation on her face as she holds it over her head. Nevertheless, she pockets it and moves on with the others. As they get to the flaming room with the floating head, Sarah looks at the situation and just stares for several moments, then turns to Archer. "Kill that stupid bastard." She says. And then they say a thing. Sarah sighs and turns to the head. "You, head guy. Tell us where the girl is or you die. Nice and simple." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is eying all the pots as well she holds back from it and keep sher keyblade ready as Archer dows his thing she's not sure just how it' going to play out but it's going to be quite a show right? She gets teh cheating but they are on a rescue mission and to clear this place out one way or another to hopefully stop any raids being staged from here. She's going to work cleaning up here. She snags one of the ruppies not because she wants money but because they are pretty. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Blind stops moving. The fire is being put out by the princess with the ice. He looks towards the group, considering all of them. This /is/ too much. Way too many for him to take all at once. And with all of them here...      His men are defeated, too.      And so, his head goes back to his body. He floats, near one corner of the room. And, he smiles at the group.      "...Fine! You win. I'll give you the key to let the girl out, /if/ you let me go." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah nods. "Fork it over, creepy head guy." Sarah's already pulled the Renegade Trigger this scene like six times, you know what she's already advised. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Archer doesn't even hesitate to let the blades inch closer to Blind's head, the blades practically pricking through the skin and drawing blood.      "Give us the key, then tell us where she is first."     He lets it be unspoken what will happen if Blind tries to protest this - the blades should be motivation enough. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia wipes her brow as she finishes putting out the fire, then looks toward the bandit. "Killing a defenseless opponent is bad form." the princess says, lowering her hammer. But...she does fire some ice bolts at Blind, hoping to ensure he can't just escape. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Blind reaches into his robe. A gigantic key is tossed forward, matching the keyhole to the door above. He smiles, looking at the group as a whole.      "She is right up the stairs. Now. I'll be leaving."      And, he slowly makes his way to the window, unless stopped. Seems he plans to just leave through the bars and fly away. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel doesn't intend to let him leave, and moves aot attempt to block his entace. Sanary seems to have a plan to deal with him. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Oh no. You're not leaving yet." Sanary moves over to the window to try and put a physical barrier between it and Blind, keeping her gunaxe barrel trained at him.      That's probably not a great idea in a room that had just been on fire, though, so she lowers the gunaxe and just opts to swing her shield at his face instead! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      And, Blind's head is suddenly knocked off of his body by the shield hit. It rolls along the ground, before starting to float up in the air again. He gives an /annoyed/ look at Sanary.      "Please do not do that again." 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:''' As if to punctuate the statement made before by Sanary, Archer's blade's plant themselves in the floor around the disembodied head, effectively trapping it in a cage of swords. The blades are angled so that the hilts lock together at the top, leaving the head trapped.      "Don't try to escape next time."     He leaves it at that since the arrangement of the blades should be clear enough indication of what happens if he tries it again. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna, of course, with everyone else trying to bar the way, is going to VERIFY that. She flicks a wrist and SPIDER SILK slings down to snag the key. Then she dives for the door - wary of traps, this time. Time to go see if Ilia's ACTUALLY there!     She seriously doubts it. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Once the path upstairs is open, there is a spiral staircase heading up higher. The room up above is beautiful. Stained glass windows, depicting events from ancient times. They are set into the circular tower, forming a tiangle. These three images are art from ages past. One, a picture of a boy in a green outfit, with a green hat. He faces the viewer, eyes open. A sword in one hand, a shield on the other. above his head, a brilliant golden triangle, with light shining off of it. On the south window, a picture of a princess in a pink dress. She has long, flowing blonde hair. Her hands are clasped in front of her. A triangle above her head, as well.      The last window is broken, and patched up poorly. Broken shards. It is hard to tell what the person in that image is. But, it too, has a golden triangle above it. Whatever this third picture was, it is long forgotten.      A girl sits in the middle of the room. She at least has a bed, some fresh food, and some amenities. This is Ilia. The real Ilisa. She lets out a sigh of relief, before a look of dissapointment. The dissapointment fades quickly, but not before a glance back towards the stained glass picture of the youth clad in green.      But, she looks at the group, smiling.      "Oh, thank the Golden Goddesses. They hadn't hurt me, yet. I don't know what they wanted from me, though... They just kept asking me strange questions, about this Spring near my village. Ordona Village. I... I was kidnapped from there, and brought here."      She lets out a sigh of relief, "But... This must certainly mean you killed Blind the Bandit. I heard him talking... He stole this... /thing/, called the Tears of Light. Used it to power himself up... I don't know /what/ he was planning, but apparently, I might have been used for it."      A smile, "At least, with that murderous bandit dead? I think I heard that one of the Spirits of Life can be revived."      ...Oh dear, it is good you guys didn't let him go. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah comes upstairs with the others who choose to come up. She looks up at the artwork, considering them for a moment. "Huh. This isn't going to be prophetic at all." She says, but then looks oer at the girl, looking close at her. "Yeah, looks like the real Ilisa to me." She listens to what she's saying this time, and blinks. "The head guy stole them? He used them?" She turns around and points down the steps. "RED GUY! HE HAS THE TEARS INSIDE HIM! KILL HIM ASAP, WE NEED THOSE THINGS!" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Sarah shouts that back down, Ilia just gives a blank stare.      "...You guys /didn't/ kill the murderous backstabbing kleptomaniac psychopath monster?" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      "We were just about to! We didn't know if we would need him later or not!" Sarracenia says, even though she didn't really even try to kill him. She rushes back downstairs, hammer in hand and ready to smash a head. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "Some of these guys are really dumb. I blame all the heroism. It goes to their head." Sarah says, gesturing to her temple. "He's downstairs under guard." 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary laughs and strolls on over to the head, stepping around the blades before leaning over to get as close to eye level with Blind as she can without falling over. "What he said. Now this is how it's going to go. You're coming with me, and we're going to have a nice long talk back home. And if you behave, you won't get any of this."      She turns her head and, as if on cue, coughs out a bit more vomit. "Ookay?" Just how long is it going to take for that poison to get out of her system? 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Well... that settles that. They only had one real course of action now.     Looking down at the head a moment, he meets it's eyes as his own gaze bores into them. "So you have some of what we need hidden inside of you. I guess that explains why you survived getting your head cut off. I wonder when you were going to tell us /that/ part?" he asks the disembodied head rather blankly, almost idly.     Of course... he never finds out an answer - not that he expected one - as the next instant the blades surrounding the head enclose.     In fact, by the time Sarah cals out to him, the six blades have reached Blind's skull, cutting it to pieces without hesitation.      After spending a moment to regard the head and make sure it is truly dead, Archer then swiftly repeats the process with Blind's body, a dozen new blades materializing in the air and piercing the headless form, slashing it to literal ribbons in an instant.     The bloodshed over, Archer steps forward and looks up at Ilia, giving a half-wave - and sidestepping Sarracenia as she rushes down, speaking to both. "It was a problem at first, your highness" he addresses the two princesses - he knew from experience from Rin how finicky women with titles were to appease if you didn't address them properly "... but it's been taken care of." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Ilia stares at Archer. It is an unfortunate misunderstanding, beause Archer is /not/ in fact one of those who was around the day before. But Ilia blushes a little, looking at him blankly.      "Uh. I'm not a princess. I'm a farm girl. ...My village was attacked and I was kidnapped. I... need to get back to there, soon." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia stops when Archer addresses someone else as a princess. And, it's the farm girl no less! She huffs, then makes her way back toward Archer and Ilia. "Could you not tell that simply by looking at her? She is obviously one of the working-class." she says, apparently a bit insulted that someone can't tell the difference between a princess and a farm girl.      After that, though, she smiles to Ilia. "That is why we are here. We will take you back to Kakariko, where you can secure safe passage to your home." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      With Blind's skull destroyed, the rest of his body bursts into a puff of smoke as well. Sitting in the room is a strange object. It looks like a teardrop shaped object of light. As in, raw light, floating in space, in a way that light is not really /supposed/ to act. An astounding sense of calm, relaxation, and benevolence comes from it.      This is certainly the Tear of Light. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     To his credit, Archer does manage to take the news with little surprise, instead giving a courteous smile of the kind he would use to placate Rin's occasional flustering. "My apologies. I'd assumed you had been held captive because of status. It seems... somewhat common in cases like this. As for her state..." he turns to regard Sarracenia, offering her a shrug. "Well, I doubt anyone would look well off if they were a prisoner for a long period of time, so forgive my failure to tell the difference. I am, after all, nothing but a humble bowman."     Looking once at the dissolving corpse of Bind, he then tilts his head at Sarah when hearing her speak, and his smile seems both genuine... yet somehow bitter. "You're more right then you know." Turning focus to the Tear of Light, Archer regards it somewhat wearily before looking back at Sarah and the other Union members. "So... what exactly are we meant to do with it? Does it bind into us like it did with our dead friend here? Or is there some way of carrying it?" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia pats Archer's shoulder. "Then, you are forgiven." she says before she notices the glow. She turns to see the Tear of Light, and her eyes widen. "Oh...how lovely." she says before approaching it and attempting to hold it. "This is what the weakened spirit needed, is it not?" she says as she inspects the orb. She smiles happily, then turns to the others. "We should return as quickly as possible!" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "I think that was the case, yeah." Sanary lets out a half-whistle, half-blowing noise at the sight of the Tear, an impressed look in her eye even as she stands up and adjusts her eyepatch. "Got everything we came for, so.. Yeah, let's get outta here before any more of those pig guys decide to come back."      Just in case though, she does take another moment to dispense some more of her energy around the room. Not enough to drain her completely, but hopefully enough to keep everyone on their feet for the return trip! 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah brings Ilia down, and if no one else takes the thing she'll CAPTCHALOGUE the TEAR OF LIGHT into her SYLLADEX. She'll have to make a note of the captcha code for later, just in case. "Agreed, let's get moving. I'm sure Noa is just waiting with baited breath to move in as soon as we leave anyway. This place looks like it was hit with a swordnado." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Tear of Light can be picked up and handled like most anything else. Trying to put it in one's body would fail. Some /really/ dark magic would need to be used in order to take it into one's self to steal its power. It would be an abuse of what it is. But, still, it is easy enough to pick it up.      Or, as it turns out, it is entirely possible to Captchalogue as well.      And soon, the group will need to return to the Spring near Kakariko Village. Bring the Tear back, so the Spirit might return. And then, the Twilight surrounding Death Mountain and Kakariko village will clear up.      Of course, there is the matter of Ilia. Her home, Ordon Village, was attacked. She hasn't been home since. And who knows /why/ she was captured. But, she is far past due for being returned home.      Such will be the next quest. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     As they leave the castle, Archer himself moves away from the main group, making for one of the exits. Moments later, his body fades from sight as he enters spirit form, leaving the group.     He couldn't really afford to stay in this world, after all. Not that Rin would let him have free reign anyway. Still... he had to had to admit, it hadn't gone as horrible as he had initially expected it to, given how it started. Especially in the wake of finding some of these 'heroes' weren't quite as strict to the credo he'd once followed as he'd initially feared.     With any luck, that would be the case for any future missions Archer took. He could certainly hope as much. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is with the rest of the party and she keeps escort as they move to go. It's time to get going as for good or bad everything is over it's time to get going here. It seems to be pretty insane and she's got a better idea of her allies ways of doing things. 

}}

2945/Exploring Kakariko Village

2015-09-07T05:30:00Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/02 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=A visit to Kakariko Village. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=8, 73, 108, 446, 787, 788, 789..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/02
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=A visit to Kakariko Village.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 73, 108, 446, 787, 788, 789, 790, 826, 864
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Some discussion has happened, and the party has decided where to head first: Kakariko Village. It is, overall, an incredibly logical first stop. Located right near Death Mountain and the Gerudo Desert, it is the nearest town to the border of Hyrule. And, luckily, it is not covered in Twilight.      A large wooden gate leads into town, reading 'WELCOME TO KAKARIKO VILLAGE' in Hylian text. The village itself is rather pleasant, albeit small. The main road is a dirt path, though the village itself has a fair amount of greenery. The homes are a mixture of different style. Adobe buildings, wooden structures made of wattle and daub, log cabins. It's location has brought out a vast number of different styles.      There are a number of different places one could start. A simple tavern/inn is located near the front of the town, in a large two story building. The sign reads 'The Dancing Cucco'. A number of different stores are in town as well. A potion shop in a shack. An adobe building that has a sign reading General Store. A metalsmith working out of an adobe brick building with a large smokestack coming out of his business. Near the end of the main street, a farm house, with various animals in fences outside. Chicken looking creatures, along with cows, stand in diferrent fences off areas. Off the main street, there are numerous homes. And, up on a nearby cliffside, up a long staircase? A windmill. A quiet sound of an accordian can be heard coming from that home.      A few people walk up and down the street as well, mostly going about their business. Ignoring the party, aside giving them simple nods in greeting. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia opted out of her usual grand airship entrance today. Instead, her personal ship floats down just outside of the town entrance. It is a one-person craft, so it is just her without any soldiers or anything today. She is unsure of how the Unionites will react to her presense and the presense of the other Confederates that may show up, but she is merely looking about town for the moment.      Her hammer is nowhere to be seen for the moment, but one can be sure she has it somewhere nearby. "So, what this is where the search starts, hmm?" she says to herself. "It is a rather...quaint village. Can they really help us?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah comes down out of the inn where they stayed overnight. After all, she DID say she was tired. She also put out word over Pesterchum about this area and how there are potential opporunitues for smashing and higher learning. And Loot. Always loot. I guess there's that saving the world thing too, whatever. So they need to gather these Tears of Light and free the Spirits of Light to take out the Twilight. Solid enough overall goal but no one knows what the hell to do. Sarah decides to start by hanging out in the tavern, possibly checking some pots and grass outside for some Rupees so she can buy some milk and listen in for rumors. Taverns are perfect classic information gathering areas. 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' Bertram hasn't been here before, so he's coming by foot. He looks to be in a somewhat serious mood, but nothing too too serious. He's holding his staff tight, perhaps a little overly tight, and has put on a forced smile. He just stands in the center of the village and appears to hope that the tall bearded fellow in white mage's robes stands out sufficiently for people to figure out he's here to help out. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      Noa is an Elf, which is the prettiest form of humanoid there is by scientific fact (it's true, look it up: noted elfologist J.R.R. Tolkein once described them as superior to men in every way, and since then, no elf has ever let go of that descriptor. Ever.). Dressed in his long black leather jacket, his black leather pants, bits of metal that presumably serve as armor, a belt that says FREE around his waist, and another belt wrapped bandolier-style around his chest, Noa simply strolls into town with a scowl on his face.      "Look at this place," he complains to Sarah, "LOOK at this place. This is ridiculous. It's like somebody took Old-Timey Oldsville In The Middle Of Oldtown, Oldcountry, Oldworld, and plopped it down in the middle of nowhere. What are these?"      He points at the chickens. "What even are these? These aren't chickens. THese are like if chickens were assholes. I can tell. They're asshole chickens."      Noa fixes one of the cuckoos with a stare. He brushes long black hair back down his back. It's a very pretty motion. "You seriously think there's loot here?" 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:'''     Unsurprisingly, Winnowill has not shown up as her normal appearance. This is actually a bit odd, considering she normally has pointed ears and all that. She'd... not actually fit right in, but possibly more than her current look. Instead of Winnowill, the strange party known as BLACK SNAKE is attending this matter, ostensibly in an attempt to get out of Equestria. Being (supposedly) from the Equestria with humanoid sorts, she has the nub of a horn on her head, and her long dark black hair is accented by a silky black tail that flicks out from her robes.     She isn't going to let on how much(or little) she knows of the situation for now. Introductions are all that she does, before lazily following the lead of the others who have come. The farm gets her immediate attention though, so it isn't long after that she murmurs a soft excuse and wanders up toward the farm to get a better look at the animals. And maybe talk to anyone there. But mostly to look at the animals. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has come down out of the inn, it would hav ebeen strange for anyone seeing her sleeping. She didn't move she didn't breath, she didn't move at all. It was like she was a corpse. She sems quite chipper and yes she does actually eat a meal when she gets up. She's in good spirits as she hiking about taking in the landscape as she goes. A few times she'll pause to work on a strange holotech item of some sort. "Well this is quite the lovely place..." 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica does her best to remain discreet and appear local as she always does. Sadly, her best really isn't very good considering she favours short skirts revealing plenty of leg, detached sleeves, and of course a hooded cloak with animal ears. She makes her way to the gathering point.     "So. We're not actually going into the Twilight today, I guess?" she asks, sounding slightly disappointed. Between yesterday and today she's kind of come around on the whole hedgehog thing. Probably because people pointed out how cute she looked. Cute is a big deal to her after all. 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     Exploring a village sounds like a nice break.     And VICTOR ELLSWORTH, GAMBLER SUPREME, also not a girl despite his dashing young looks, hadn't been out and about in a while. He could use to stretch his legs! That's why he's with SARAH, although ever grumpy she's the one he stuck with.     "Please, Noa, this is obviously A starter quest, There will be loot, and It will chain into a Large series of events Leading to some legendary Prophecy or some other shit Like that. Come on you Should know your clich�s Better than that. This is the Sort of place where a hero Starts."     Being in the TAVERN/INN as well, he glances about. "I think we Should split up though, we're Wasting time being in one place. Our Odds are better if we go Multiple places." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      As Sarah enters the Tavern, the bartender looks at her. He is a rather heavyset man, wearing a tunic, baggy pants, an apron. He also has the /most amazing beard and moustache/. Braided, long, exquisitely done, and it obviously hasn't been washed for years. He raises an eyebrow looking towards Sarah, narrowing his eyes as he looks at her.      "...Hey. You aren't from around here, are ya? Traveller? Don't see many of those recently, not since the trouble started. ...We have some rooms to stay upstairs if you need one, though they're pretty spendy. We also have a common room, if you want." And, a brief pause. "...Also, you're way too young, so don't even /bother/ trying to buy any milk from me, we don't sell it to kids. Fair warning."      ...Why is milk prohibited to kids? ...Also all of the adults in the tavern are sitting around drinking frothy mugs of milk.      Victor, on the other hand, proves a bit luckier. Despite his age, the moment he coems into the tavern? The bartender slides him a glass of milk, and smirks at him. "...Going on some sort of quest? What, is someone finalyl going to look into that group of Moblins and Gerudo that came through a while back?"      Bertram, unfortunately, gets nothing but incredibly strange stares. One small child, as passing, hands him a green rupee, before running away. Apparently they are assuming he is homeless. Perhaps it speaks to the times?      A stray cucco apparently managed to get out of the fence. It is, currently, walking towards Noa, even if he follows Sarah into the tavern. It sort of rubs at his leg and nuzzles against it. For some reason.      Black Snake is getting some more stares than the others. The few who try to talk to her or ask what a farm animal is doing out hear the murmered excuse, shrug, and move on. They do look back at Black Snake quite frequently, though. So out of place, in so many ways. The cows and cuccos move near the fence, looking curiously towards the pony. They tilt their heads, considering.      As Black Snake observes the animals, a man comes out of the farm's building. He looks like a traveller himself. He wears a fairly nice purple coat, with purple clothign underneath. Upon his back is a gigantic travelling backpack, covered in various places with different masks. All of them look rather interesting and unique. Sarracenia, should she glance at him, will even notice, of all things, a /Mario/ mask on his backpack. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "I knew this thing was an asshole," Noa grumbles. He did not, in fact, follow them into the bar. The chicken stalking him gets a Look, as Noa tries to decide whether or not he's alright with it. On the one hand, it's a chicken, and thereby one of the most evil creatures on the planet. On the other hand, it's a chicken and an asshole, and thereby one of the most evil creatures on the planet.      "Fuck it," he says, and picks up the chicken, utilizing his ELF skills, because elves are good with animals (yes, really) "You just became my Number One lieutenant. Your name is literally Number One, and you are the first of a vast and powerful army."      "Welcome to the team, Number One. I promise that at some point I may hide a shard of my soul inside you in order to survive a horrible apocalypse or violent beating at the hands of people who do not understand me."      Number One now acquired, Noa looks around. The Mask guy looks cool and is Nearby, so Noa just saunters over that way. THE BAR IS WHERE ALL HIS ENEMIES ARE.      THEREFORE HE GOES THE OTHER WAY.      NOALOGIC. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The princess, with nothing else catching her eye, raises an eyebrow at the Mario mask. She approaches the mask salesman, then pauses a moment and looks around in a rather paranoid fashion. She shakes her head, then continues toward him. "Excuse me," she says to the salesman, "...but, where did you get that mask?" She points to the Mario mask, then leans in a bit closer. "And...do you have anything special? I enjoy masquarades, and so few merchants deal in high quality masks."      Sarracenia speaks softly, so that only Black Snake is likely to hear her other than the merchant. 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     Oh, milk! Victor accepts the glass, grinning at Sarah. "On the other Hand perhaps you needed my Much smoother presence to really Get anywhere. It seems as ever Odds would have us team up. As you would put it, We are once more Fated to to team up, because Your limited point of view and Experience means we must work Together."     He sips from the glass.     He grimaces a bit.     "This Milk tastes odd."     Back to the bartender, thouh, he inquires: "What are Moblins and Gerudo? Is it Unusual that they are seen Together? Did they do Bad things while here?" 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Being apparently snubbed by the villagers, Frederica considers where to go for information. The farm would be nice... but then, the strange horse-woman went that way. And, unfortunately as Frederica might like to get to know her a bit better, she's stealing all the attention (or so the pyro girl thinks) so she decides to head another direction to get her own admirers.     And so Freddie heads in to the General Store, looking around for priceless (or at least cute) things for sale for cheap. And people to pester for information on fairies and tears and stuff. 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' Bertram hands the kid his rupee back, with another one. "Thanks, I don't need it. Use this to buy something nice for yourself." He smiles, and decides to head for the local eatery/boozehouse. Maybe there's people he recognizes there, or at least, people who seem as out of place as he does. "I'd like some milk and a bowl of soup." He orders, sitting down. 

:'''{{#var:787|Epicea Chelid (787)}} has posed:'''     Exploring a village? Sounds great!     The grey-skinned troll is wearing a beanie atop her head which... doesn't hide her horns really at all, but it's comfy! So, with blatant nubs sticking out, and her normal slacker-clothes, Epicea Chelid is here to...     "Sarah, buddy, what are we doing here?" She asks, rubbing her eyes sleepily.     Apparently? Especially exploring a tavern. A tavern that... Serves milk. She scores Victor's milk glass, taking a drag (she can do this because audacity), and begins to look very confused.     "Oi, barkeep. What sort of bovine makes milk like this? Tastes like if I put it in a microwave before bed I'd have a bad time."     Noa is rambling about being a huge jerk and having a lieutenant. This is summarily ignored. It'll work out. 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' Black Snake's ears flick, perking up a little. Okay so she does look kind of adorable, even if her attitude is 'standoffish' at best. SOme might call it 'icy bitch' from the way she looks at the animals, including people. She is considering the creatures when the saleseman comes out, and that gets her interest much more than simple farm creatures. "Hmmm?" Well then. Time to check out the salesman. Sweeping over toward him, she speaks mildly, "Hello. You do not seem quite like the others in this place. Merely visiting?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "Deal with it, Noa." Sarah replies. "Not every place can be full of willowy assholes living in trees. Look, you're even attracting your spirit animals." She stomps off, leaving Noa to the Cuccos. A MINUTE LATER Sarah kind of stands there with a blank look on her face as she looks to the adults sitting there drinking... milk. And that Victor, who is her age, justgot casually served. Jumping Lowells, he didn't even get carded for the milk bar. What is this crap. Epicea asks her what's up, and Sarah looks to the Troll Princess with an aggrieved air. "How many times do I have to tell you, we're looking for leads on the Tears of Light and the Spirits of Light so we can score some cool gear and maybe save the world, probably in that order. Don't sleep through this one, Epicea, this one seems like it might actually not be terrible." Sarah allows herself to facepalm as Victor tells her to spread out. "That's not increasing the odds, that's the opposite of playing the odds. It is in fact removing chance from the equation. One of these days you are going to get that through your insane luck cultist head." She pauses, and adds an exasperated, "Ugh." to make sure he knows just how irritated she is at the moment, especially since he got handed the obvious quest pickup. "I'll go investigate out there, then, and maybe get some more information while pushing things into an inevitable conclusion." She takes the opportunity to make a face at Victor with much tongue-sticking out involved before she scurries out. A MINUTE LATER She steps out and separates from the group, spreading out and doing exactly what Victor recommended (but not because he said so, that is Very Important), instead approaching the first guard she finds. "Hey there." Sarah addresses him ."I heard there's some thing going on about evil Moblins passing through and some junk. Did you see where they went?" 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The chicken is happily picked up. It is hard to tell if it knows its name, but... It gives a /little/ nod. Yes, the Cucco is a little bit sapient. These species of dangerous chicken-like beings have a /lot/ more to them than meets the eye.      Also it lays an egg in Noa's hand, before leaping onto his head.      Noa has acquired one NPC.      The Mask Salesman turns to Sarracenia, smiling at her. He clasps his hands in front of him, bowing slightly towards her. An incredibly wide smile is upon his face, his teeth showing. His eyes closed. In fact, his eyes almost never open.      "Ah, this mask? I know little of it. I found it outside of Hyrule, in a kingdom filled with mushrooms. I decided to pick it up, and take it for myself... But let me think. You enjoy masquerades? Yes, masks can be /quite/ a thing, can't they? Let me show you some of my wares, then, for a woman as lovely as you!"      He's a pleasant salesman, at the least. He kneels down on the ground, before Sarracenia. The backpack is pulled off of his back, and set on the ground before him. Slowly, he shifts through the various masks, pulling them out. There are all sorts. Bunny hoods, Keaton Masks. Masks resembling various species of the land. Goron masks. Zora masks. A heart shaped mask. A Deku mask. Eventually, though, he pulls out a masquerade mask. It is black in color, with elegnant gold trim. Black feathers come off of it.      "This is the fanciest masquerade mask I have! Certainly suitable for a lovely woman such as yourself. Should this not be fitting, I can almost certainly take a comission to make a proper design!"      The Mask Salesman turns up to Black Snake, the pleasant look on his face still. "Ah, yes, I am a travelling merchant. I go across this land frequently, and often off of this world in general. It's been a fairly fruitful bonus, this Multiverse. But, still, I wish that Hyrule was more cheerful. Though this is not my homeland, Hyrule was where I set up a more permenant shop. With the Twilight here, no one wants to buy a mask..."      A pause. "...Would you like a mask as well, though? If you want a custom one, I could even start a project. The farm has been letting me use their basement as a workshop, and so we could step inside and discuss your order. It would not take long for me to modify a mask for your taste, or to create a new one for you."      Victor's milk, of course, tastes odd for a very specific reason. It is /really potent alcohol. But, the bartender frowns a little, shaking his head.      "...Well. Wasn't just Moblins. Bulbins too. Moblins are monsterous pig men, and Bulbin are these green fellas. Mostly small little imp like creatures, but some big and tall fat ones too, usually the leaders. The Gerudo are a warrior woman race. None of them really work together ever. But... Some time back, we saw them up to the northwest side of town, near the Spring of Eldin. None of us have any clue what all of them were doing there. Was a few years back. But..."      The man frowns a bit. "...Well. They came back through, recently. Mostly the Bulbins, though a few Moblins and Gerudos helped them too. They had a girl with them. A Hylian girl, one of our race. Bound, gagged. Took her off to the desert. Some people say they when much further northwest, past the Great Fairy's Spring, and all the way to the Forsaken Fortress. We were going to rally up some able bodied men to chase them, but... There be Twilight over that way."      And a glance towards Epicea.      "...The milk is alcoholic."      Sarah hears basically the same exact thing the Bartender just said, except a bit more polite as opposed to casual and gruff sounding.      The General Store is rather simple and plain. Wooden shelves, various objects on all of them. Bombs, seeds, nuts, sticks, all seemingly mostly used for combat. A simple wooden shield is for sale. They have a vast variety of other goods up on higher shelves, out of reach without a ladder. Bug nets, Magic Bottles, and even a boomerang. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      A small demon plucks the egg from Noa's hand, makes a face, and vanishes.      Noa looks up at the chicken on his head. Well, people called him a cockhead all the time. Apparently it was literally true for the moment.      "Come on, Number One, let's find out what's up with this guy with all the masks. Those are some creepy fucking masks."      Noa, cucoo on his head, makes his way over to the Happy Mask Salesman without a second thought. He glances at Sarracenia and Winnowill with the sort of lingering glance an elf tends to give non-elves, e.g. a slightly arrogant inspection that results in the elf in question mentally labelling them as NOT ELVES, although Winnowill's ears draw a moment of ELF? instead. He also looks at the Happy Mask Salesman with the same look, but the Salesman also has ITEMS FOR SALE, making him worth Noa's time.      "I want one," Noa points at the masks, "What's it cost and what's the Loophole I'm gonna have to jump through to either get it off my face, change back, or otherwise make it an actually useful thing for an up-and-coming Adversary instead of a cunning test of character, wisdom, personal strife, or other theoretically Heroic virtue I'm supposed to have?"      Number One makes a Cucoo noise.      Noa points up at the chicken. "He wants one, too."      He holds up a hand at Sarracenia and Winnowill. "Sup. Noa. This is Number One, my Arch-Lieutenant. We're here to buy some masks."      "You?" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is leaving the chicken be she doesn't have any desire to try and piss it off. She's going to break off and now look ot the merchant whom is selling masks. She's curious about what he's seleling she'll wait for an opening to speak. "So you seem to be quite well traveled sir, is there anything else of note you might have heard while peddling your masks?" 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     After certain experiences in a certain online game Frederica has a bit of affection for wide-area explosives. Not that she really likes weapons that can hurt her friends, but there's still a certain glee she has for things that go BOOOM. Though she lacks local currency the land of Hyrule's been part of the Multiverse for a while, so exchange rates should be set. The only question is how much Union bucks it'll take to buy a bag of bombs, and how much fun Frederica will have haggling for it.     While she's purchasing, as an afterthought, "Oh, can you tell me where the Spring of Eldin is around here? I've been told I shouldn't miss it!" 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' Black Snake hmmns. "Well now. I think I might take you up on that offer," she murmurs. Glancing back toward where the others are working, she curls her lips into a 'pleasant' smile and considers the various masks, making a big show of which one she is thinking about. In the end, she gestures to the heart-shapedd one. "I think that one will be fine. How much would you like for it?" 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     Victor nods to the barkeep, allowing Epicea to take a sip from his glass before being told what it is. He glances down at it, and places it back on the counter. "Oh. I'm too Young to drink. I think. I'm not Too young for death games Though so I guess it's an Oddly arbitrary thing like that." He pushes his glasses up, dramatically. "Nonetheless, Thank you for your information. We will go Investigate the Spring of Eldin, and then Later, we will go investigate the Forsaken Fortress. Did you see what the Girl looked like, so we Know what to look for? 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     "And also," Victor remembers, "Why is it called the Forsaken Fortress? Who lives there besides Gerudo, Moblins and Bulblins?" Because, that turns out to be an important thing to ask too. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah nods and thanks the guard for their time. It's better to be polite than an asshole to random people when they give you help, there's no telling when you might need their help again. The rest of the people she's dealing with, however, they don't get such mercies. She putters along, following Frederica as she gathers the last information they need to set out. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Mask Salesman's look never changes as he faces Noa. Just the constant smile. "...Well. I can almost certainly get you, and your cucco, wonderful masks! I am not sure what you mean about loop hole. Though, if your'e asking if any of these are magical... Some are. Very few are cursed. Let me see if I can find the /proper/ mask for you, though. It will need to be a custom job for your Cucco!"      He reaches into his bag, pulling out a mask. It looks like a skeleton face, covering just the nose, eyes, and forehead. He holds it out to Noa, "This one has not been selling well, but perhaps you would like it?"      A glance is given from the Salesman to Deelel, and he shakes his head, "Ah, I've only had bad news, recently. Moblin and Bublin raids across the Tribly Highlands. Even Lon Lon Ranch has been struck. No one has been able to get to Zora's Domain, because the pass is blocked. Twilight comes and goes through the land. There are only two nearby regions mostly safe. The Gerudo Desert, aside from the area around the Forsaken Fortress, and the Kingdom of Gamelon. In fact... The Duke of Gamelon, the King's brother and Zelda's uncle? He is currently working on gathering an army, last I was there. Planning to strike against the ursuper. He is a good man. I met him several times, and he wants nothing more than to have his niece take the throne."      As Winnowill asks for the heartshaped mask? The shopkeeper shakes his head, just slightly. "Ah, I am sorry. But, this Mask is not for sale." He pulls the mask out, just so the top of it can be seen. It is heartshaped, with yellow spikes. Purple and red markings are drawn upon it, and it has large eyes. No eyeholes.      "...This mask. It was once used by an ancient tribe in their rituals. I simply hold onto it for now. And, as said, it is not for sale. You may look at it, briefly, though." He'll let it keep being at the top of the pile of masks for a moment, as long as Black Snake is willing to look at it.      The shopkeeper is rather harsh on prices for the bombs, and the bags. Buuuut a lot of debate later and Frederica can probably negotiate for the bombs at a significant price. Not quite a whole month's salary, but still astoundingly high. Most of the price is for the /bag/ itself, made of pure Dodongo leather. The question is at least answered easily. "...Well. The Spring is just to the northwest, on the edge of town. There is a little forested area near the cliffside, and the spring is against the cliff. Not been a lot of visitors to it recently, though. The magic seems to be gone from it."      The barkeep ponders a bit, thinking back, "The girl... Blonde hair, blue eyes. Some people actually knew her name, too. Frequent visitor to this town, actually... Ah! Ilia is her name. Usually wore farm clothing. From Ordona Village. She used to come into town on occasion with this boy her age, another blonde haired youth. ...Haven't seen him since the Twilight fell, either. She was a nice girl... We're all wishing there were a way to save her, but...."      "And the fortress is called that for a reason. There are legends. Ancient legends. It is a castle from times /far/ past, ruled by a Gerudo King in times which history has lost to us. We don't even know his name, but. Legend tells that he was the King of Evil. He invaded Hyrule. And, a young boy wielding the Master Sword fought him. Defeated him. And, that, his former castle, now serves as a home to so many evil beasts. No clue what else lives there, though. No good folk would make their home there. Just those dirty desert thieves." 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Mask Salesman, for the price of the mask, notes, "Ah-- almost forgot, apologies! This Skull Mask? It is worth about fifty credits, in the currency of the Multiverse." 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica isn't about to buy bombs without a bomb bag. That'd just be silly. For one thing, how would she carry them around? It's not like she's got a magical videogame inventory or anything weird like that... but a BAG is easy. And of course for the other thing, if she's carrying bombs around openly it'll probably make people nervous. Especially her allies.     Once she settles the purchase, she slings her purchase too-casually over one shoulder. With a bag like that, all special leather and everything, it's clearly a fashion accessory! And an expensive one at that! Never mind it probably bulges in weird places like it's full of melons or something. She makes her way out towards the group, eyeing the Northwest. Wherever that may be. Chances are she gets it wrong. She's not exactly a rural sort of girl despite vast experience in Alfheim Online. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "Sold," Noa replies, dropping coins into the man's hand, "Number One will take a similarly awesome mask, I'll pay for a custom job, whatever."      The Cuccoo puffs itself up imperiously and bobs its head up and down. Apparently it's gotten used to its new position as Arch-Lieutenant. It casts an approving eye over the masks, nods, and settles in comfortably in its nest of Elf Hair.      Noa fiddles with the mask for a moment before a demon plucks it out of his hands, sticks its tongue out at him, and vanishes.      "You little bastard!" He shouts, "Give that back! And my compass!" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia watches as the many masks are presented, but one in particular catches her attention. Perhaps because it is a giant heart. She points at the heart mask. "That mask is unusual. What is it for?" she asks before she admires the offered black and gold mask. She looks it over, then takes it from the merchant to get a better look. But, even as she holds the black and gold mask, she is paying close attention to Winnowill and the heart-mask. 

:'''{{#var:787|Epicea Chelid (787)}} has posed:'''     Upon recieving this key informaton on what the crap they're doing, Epicea promptly ignores it, Victor getting back his milk. His ALCOHOLIC MILK.     The female troll finds this to be stupid as hell, but then she comforts herself by realizing that this place is basically Hero Quest World. Which gives her an idea.     "Wait, so, there's a place filled with dirty thieves that a hero once cleared out, dark stuff fell all over everywhere, and... A magical spring? Well, alright."     She starts a mental checklist. It goes something like...     <x> Inquire at Quest-Guy for Quests     <_> Investigate spooky fortress     <_> Investigate magic fountain     <_> wtf is twilight     <_> apply violence things with 'blin' in the name     With this mental plan in place, Epicea heads out of the tavern - not even leaving a tip! - to go find Noa to recruit him for the violence. And then... happy... mask... salesman. "Noa!" She calls, over the Happy Mask Salesman's massive bag. She doesn't hop but she does wave her arms.     She looks to Sarracenia. "You look important. So, tell my asshole friend -" she points at Noa, who if he's not ignoring her due to not-noticing her, is ignoring her due to being Noa-who-is-a-huge-jag - "That we need to roll out the violence crew. Thanks." 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     Epicea's ability to BULLET LIST that shit is hugely appreciated by Victor, who would give her a thumb up if she made a real physical list instead. But she didn't, and didn't speak of it, so he doesn't do anything about it. Shame.     "I see. Thank you Again for your information. I promise My compatriots and I will try to Rescue Ilia if we can. We are with Prince Fassad, maybe you have Heard of him?"     Though, if there's nothing else, Victor will aim to regroup with everyone so they can head for the Spring of Eldin! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel says "humm so it sounds like there's bandits who need dealing with them. That's helpful hopefully I and some other can change that shortly. So a man that wants to put the rightful ruler on? If this is true he's going to need all the support he can get, thank you. Also I would be interested in a mask they are works of art and I was given life orginally to make art and music. I'm always curious to learn and collect from other cultures." Deelel is bouncing slightly on her feet while this is serious she's getting a whole new world to explore. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Masked Salesman's eyes remain slightly opened the whole time he holds the mask. He lifts it up, just slightly, "...Again, for rituals. I do not know the full details, but. Great curses were placed on the enemies of this tribe, is the rumor."      The eyes on the mask are too much for him, though. He puts the mask back in his bag, and then closes it quickly.      But, he at least pulls off a mask for Deelel. A mask in the shape of a head of a Zora. He hands it to her, smiling and eyes closed again, "I /think/ this would be the most fitting mask for you. One hundred credits for it."      And a glance to Noa, "Ah, if you give me an address in the Multiverse, I can have the mask for your assistant shipped to you. Would that work? Good luck on your quest!"      The Barkeeper looks like he is considering for a moment, and then finally he answers Victor again, "AH! Prince Fassad. The fellow who came through with the Princess Zelda while she escaped. I heard that Prince stayed in Castle Town, mostly. I don't know much about him. But... If you can rescue Ilia? We will be eternally grateful." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks in surprise as the Masked Salesman puts the mask away. She huffs softly, then smiles. "So, how much for the black and gold mask and the heart-shaped mask?" She realizes she needs to join the others headed toward the Spring of Eldin, but something about that mask calls to her. "A relic with such history would find a wonderful home in my castle. I could brag about it to every foreign dignitary who visits!"      She pulls her wallet out of her purse and holds it up. It is quite the extravagant...and fat...wallet. "I assure you that whatever reasonable price you name, I can handle." she says, giving a little wink and a playful grin. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Masked Salesman puts his bag back on his back, and frowns. Shaking his head. "That evil mask is not for sale. But. The mask you currently have? ...Well. Consider it a gift, for a beautiful princess."      The smile remains on his face, as he slowly walks back towards the farmhouse. Seemingly planning to work on Noa's mask commission. 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' Unlike Sarracenia, Black Snake does not attempt to buy the heart-shaped mask. She'll use her magical senses to feel out the mask, mentally, but they aren't precise enough to really get a good feel for what the various masks do, only identify if any of them are magical. But she doesn't try to purchase any of them. Not right now. "I may have a mask for you later, if you would be willing, but we have dallied here enough for now. Another time, I think." Not that she's stopping the princess from hers. 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     Victor nods to the barkeep, and he's off!     As he arrives at the salesman where the group is still gathered, he glances at the man's wares, though upon being told to by the FISH PRINCESS, produces a notepad, a pen, and makes a checklist, which he hands to Epicea after.     "You should post That on the Syndicate's net or Whatever."     He's not doing it, you do it.     "Why are we All buying masks now? I Missed something." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks as the Masked Salesman refuses her, then her hands clench. "Evil mask? Do not be silly. I am sure it is merely a rumor. Hearts are not evil." She leans forward at the waist and sways lightly, smiling as sweetly and sincerely as she can. "And, even if it is evil, surely the purity of a princess can handle such a thing. I will take the mask and with the power of my own heart I will purify it."      She is following after the mask salesman. So, if the others are leaving, the princess might get left behind. She seems rather intent on that mask. "I must insist that you sell it. There is enough evil in this land already. Removing some of it could only benefit this Twilight-torn country." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel thinks she cna afford that easily given the union's pay she gets for helping them out. To be honest she'd have trouble functioning without it. She takes a moment to fish the credits out of a pocket and pay the merchant for the mask. "Thank you, for the information. Keep your ear open for anything else. I'll be back for more business." With that the BAsic is going to go and try to catch uyp with everyone else now. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      Inside of the farmhouse is completely empty. The Masked Salesman glances back towards Sarracenia. His face is actually turning into a frown. It doesn't look pleasant. "No. I told you already. Leave me alone."      He starts heading down the staircase, stopping at a table in the basement. A number of woodworking tools are spread around, along with some unfinished masks. The Mask Salesman keeps the bag on his back, glaring at Sarracenia if she /still/ followed him to the basement. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      In true Link fashion, Sarracenia completely disregards that this is someone's home and workplace and just barges right into the basement behind the salesman. "Why will you not sell it to me? Do you not think I can handle your price? You are a mask salesman. Having a mask which you are not willing to sell makes no sense! Is it because I already have this masquerade mask? I will return it to you if you wish, but I must have that heart mask!"      The princess seems on the verge of tears. Whatever it is about that mask, it has struck something deep inside her. If she can only get it, she might get what she has been wanting all these years in the Multiverse! She just knows it, and isn't willing to just give up because of some stubborn salesman who for some reason won't sell things! 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Mask Salesman stares up at Sarracenia. Frowning more. His face, actually looking angry. He takes a few steps towards her, ignoring the fact she is near tears. And, yelling.      "I have said no! You will /not/ be buying this mask from me! It is /not something that you should have. I will not let /anyone/ hold it." 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     "Hey, come On, stop pestering the guy Selling shady evil masks, we Have a Spring to go To," Victor says towards Sarracenia, himself not interested by masks! Honestly, masks are a pain to wear when you wear glasses in the first place.     "Besides, don't you Know how this works? Some NPCs have scripts that Only change after you do Certain things. Maybe after we Clear the Spring, the Salesman's stock and Prices will change. Some games Do that instead of each town having Better gear than the last, You know? Maybe the Next town will have a better Mask salesman too." 

:'''{{#var:787|Epicea Chelid (787)}} has posed:'''     Epicea looks at Sarracenia. Up and down. And then, there is a soft snort. "Yeah, sure. Purity. Every single princess is super pure." She laughs. "Come on, let's get our violence on, Princess. Plus, being pushy like this isn't really pure or princessly anyway. You know what is?"     Epicea thumbs to herself. "Punching out goblins and stuff. Take it from grade-a royalty. Violence, along with naps, is what you gotta focus on."     Then, without further ado, she heads with the others assembled on Violence Patrol to head for the fountain. 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "Man, you're cute for a human, but you're a huge bitch," Noa observes, "Leave the dude alone, let's go kill some shit so I can take over an evil castle and we can get treasure and shit."      Number One lets out a mighty KWEH of agreement, because he hasn't yet remembered that he's not a chocobo, he's a cucoo, and Noa's player doesn't remember the cucoo noise well enough to onomotopeia it. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The princess doesn't back down. In fact, when the Mask Salesman gets mad at her, she gets mad right back. "So! You are simply being selfish! Well, I am a princess, and I deserve such an amazing mask! It will be mine!" she practically screams, then she reaches into her purse and rummages around a bit, then pulls out...a purple mushroom! The infamous poison mushroom that shrinks one down to about 1/4 of one's normal size. She quickly jams it into the Mask Salesman's mouth, and once he has shrunk she looks around for any others that might be about.      But, they are inside the farmhouse in the basement. No one else is around, right? The slightly unbalanced princess forces the bag open, grabs the heart mask, then dashes for the door. She stops just inside the basement door to pull out some large gold coins of the type the salesman probably saw when in the mysterious mushroom land. She throws five toward him, but not at him, then runs for it. "I am sorry, but this mask is for me! I can tell!" she says to the salesman just before she disappears out into the village. She runs with the heart mask clutched to her chest, the other mask stuffed into her purse. And she doesn't stop running until she catches up with the others.      "Forgive me. That mask salesman took a lot of convincing." she says once she has reached them. 

:'''{{#var:864|Agahnim (864)}} has posed:'''      The Mushroom goes into the Mask Salesman's mouth with some resistance. But, eventually it goes in. He shrinks down, the backpack sliding off of him. The mask is taken.      The walk to the spring takes just a short bit of walking. It's to the northeast of town, literally right on the edge. A small wooded area, and then a clearing with the spring. It is set against a wall, a number of natural sources of water flowing down the cliffside in water falls. Ending in a pool about ankle deep. There is a mist in the air around the pool.      And only a vague hint of magic. The magic comes fro mthe pool itself, and is soft and warm. It feels painfully weak, though. The magic is, more or less, feeling like it is suffering. Those more sensitive can almost feel the pain.      And then, finally, the whole group at the fountain can hear a soft voice. A shadow of a voice, speaking to them. It is kind. It is caring. But, it is nothing more than a whisper.      "...Pleaaase. Help me. My... body... The... the tears of light...."      "....Forsaken Fortress."      The whispering keeps speaking, keeps repeating itself, several times. Until, finally, it fades. It stops. And the magic present seems even weaker than it was before, struggling to say even /that/ much. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah isn't having any of these shananigans with the Mask Salesman. Right now she is focused on getting things moving along so they can get to the spring. The spring, which could possibly move them along to another optimal location. They make it to the spring, and Sarah immediately begins to poke around in the corners, diligently examining the area. She tilts her head as she listens. "Huh. do you hear something?" She asks, and then blinks. And frowns. "The tears of light, your body... forsaken Fortress..." And then with a grunt, she looks up, realization dawning over her as she calls up an agonized expression. "... We went to the wrong area first." She says, with a resigned sigh. "Of course we did." 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "HAH," Noa shouts pactically in Sarah's face, "CALLED. IT."      "New Evil Fortress, here I come." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Once she is certain the mask salesman is not following her, nor are any sort of guards, Sarracenia relaxes and slips the heart mask into her purse nonchallantly. Then, they are at the spring. Sarracenia doesn't have much of a magic sense, but she still feels the warmth. Then, she flinches as she hears that voice. She looks around before looking at the water. "...a spirit?" she asks softly.      she looks over at Sarah, then at the others. "Where is this fortress? We must hurry there if we wish to save this spirit!" 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica has little to do with the mask seller, having come out of the store after that group had basically ended their little negotiation. Fortunately for everyone, particularly herself. She catches up by the time the group reaches the spring however. She wincesat the spirit's voice. Or the fairy, or whatever it is. An undine, she suspects. Not like Asuna, but a real undine.     Either way, she sighs unhappily. "Don't fret. We'll save you. Save your strength." she says in an attempt to be hopeful. It's not like she could lend energy to the pool. She could lend POWER to it, but her power isn't magic. And honestly, she can't see any benefit of turning this place into a hot springs. Well, besides the obvious. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah frowns at Noa. "Look, it was going to happen. There wasn't anything we could do about it." She turns towards Sarracenia, then. "Oh, hi Princess Shadycakes. Glad you could join the class." She forrtaps impatiently and croses her arms. "Turns out as Noa said, we went to the wrong place first. We're going to need to go get the stuff from the Fortress first, and then come here." 

:'''{{#var:788|Noa Nuquerna (788)}} has posed:'''      "I want to hear you say 'as Noa said, we were wrong' one more time," Noa observes, radiating Elven Smugness. (It's a racial talent.) 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "Get a tape recorder, you ponce." Sarah spits back at Noa. "Even you can be more accurate than usual occasionally." 

:'''{{#var:108|Winnowill (108)}} has posed:''' Sigh. Black Snake looks a little nettled at something, but smooths out her expression and follows with the others toward the spring. Naturally, hearing the call there is... something she finds interesting. "Hmm. The right direction, but a little more than we should occupy for now, I suppose." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks at Sarah. "Princess Shadycakes?" she asks, then hmphs softly and crosses her arms, turning her nose up at Sarah. "I am not sure what you mean by that, but I am not shady. I am always direct and quite pleasant." she says, seeming quite sure of that 'fact'. And the elf boy is getting on her nerves as well. "Alright, we shall gather supplies, rest, then apply the 'violence' that you are advocating." she says, directing the comment toward Epicea. 

:'''{{#var:787|Epicea Chelid (787)}} has posed:'''     "Well this seems pretty clear cut. Victor!" Epicea points imperiously at Victor. It looks pretty offhand and lazy. "Append the bulleted list. Add 'save the damsel' to it, because that's mad obvious." She notes. This is how a 'leader' operates. Delegation!     Then, Sarracenia finds her new nickname poor, but agrees with the general plan of Applied Violence. "Sure. Consult my bulleted list. The spooky fort - which we want to do - has the damsel to save, and also the -blin named creatures to violence. I've accounted for every variable. It truly is an excellent, heroic plan. I went to stupid death game school, so I would know. Also..."     "At least you're not Princess Sleepyhead. That's me. It's true, so I can't complain. Sarah's nickname game is on point usually." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel arrives with the others and she now movbes through this place she can only have an idea about the magic due to the weapon that's bonded to her some time ago but she keeps it away for the moment. She does hear the voice and pauses, at the words. So it seems they have an idea of where to go, she can tell it's not easy for them. "Sounds like it Epicea, we got a rescue mission, There's the raiders as well. It seems you have been paying attention to your lessons too." 

:'''{{#var:790|Victor Ellsworth (790)}} has posed:'''     Victor updates the bullet list.     <x> Investigate tavern for quest hooks.     <_> Investigate Forbidden Fortress     <x> Investgate Spring of Eldin     <_> wtf is Twilight?     <_> Apply Violence to things with 'blin' in the name     <_> Save Ilia at Forbidden Fortress     <_> Obtain Tear of Light from Forbidden Fortress     <_> Take that shit back to the Spring of Eldin     He then hands it back to Epicea on a slip of paper. 

}}

2936/The First Expedition to Hyrule

2015-09-01T04:57:20Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/31 |Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5> |Synopsis=Fassad leads an expedition into Hyrule, and the group learns the path to clear the Twili..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/31
|Location=The Hylian Mainland <LoZ-5>
|Synopsis=Fassad leads an expedition into Hyrule, and the group learns the path to clear the Twilight from the land.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 42, 73, 248, 385, 481, 513, 758, 774, 789, 821
|Tinyplot=Clearing the Twilight
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      It has been a long time since anyone in the greater Multiverse has been to this incarnation of Hyrule. Few Elites from outside the land have visited, if any ever have. After all, a great curse has befallen Hyrule. Still, from where the Elites are gathering, it is /quite/ a beautiful land.      The meeting point is Kakariko Pass, a wide trail through the mountains. The long path leads down into the Trilby Highlands. From this height, nestled between the mountain pass? The vast majority of Hyrule can be seen. Rolling hills, vast forests. Small villages here and there, dotting the landscape.      Some of the trouble can easily be seen, though. Large patches of the land look different than they should. It is the middle of the afternoon, and yet large portions look as if it is the twilight of the day. The landscape has large shadows, while lit in dark tones, oranges, and yellows. These patches of Twilight slowly move through the land, almost like the shadows of clouds. It's a rather dreary looking scene, but it /almost/ looks beautiful.      Fassad stands at the pass, waiting for the others to arrive. Normally, he would bring his horse, Excelsior along. But, with where they will be travelling, he has decided not to bring his horse. He looks as he normally does. Blonde, tall, and handsome. He looks towards the trail ahead on occasion, while waiting for the others to arrive from the trail behind him. The trail ahead is rather forested, and densely so. More importantly, it has that distinctive orange tinge. It will only be a short moment before they step into the Twilight.      Fassad simply hopes that those who respond to his request will be able to help with the problem, and won't back away from the challenges they will be facing. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah is here because ADVENTURE, and ADVENTURE means LOOT. LOOT means MATERIALS for eventual ALCHEMY and possibly a quick EARLY GAME BOOST for the SESSION when it happens. So it's to her direct benefit to go help these putzes with their crap. You never know, maybe something actually interesting will happen. Sarah arrives, shuffling forth with no apparent equipment, a 14 year old girl looking probably heavily unprepared for what's about to happen. She is, but that's beside the point. She takes one look at Fassad, and with a measured gaze, she greets, "Sup, Prince Charmin." She's betting he won't get it. Without much more fanfare, she steps over to one side, figuring the prince will tell them all what needs to be done and what they have to watch out for when everyone is assembled. This is reasonable. No point in wasting effort explaining things more than once. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Boredom justifies a lot of things.     And that's why there's a blonde, red-eyed Magi answering the call. Krezentia's attire is as usual, black cargo pants, combat boots, a purple shirt with a black jacket over it, and a baseball cap slid backward, with an upside-down cross pinned to it. Unarmed, she is however accompanied by a small, foot-tall fairy, who floats over one of her shoulders, emitting dull purple light for the time being.     Nevermind the fact she's a Confederate; long as you keep her entertained, it probably won't backfire to let her along. Her eyes trail from the changing land, the odd effect making her curious, though it seems to worry her fairy more than anything.     "Was this really a good idea, funya~?" Kopie asks.     "Please, when do I ever have bad ideas."     "I have a lis--"     "Shut up. Whoever's responsible is probably interesting, anyway."     The pair make their way to Fassad (and Sarah, and whoever else is already there), looking impatient. "So what's the plan? We just march in and wing it?" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     When calls go out to help purge a land tainted by some strange dark sorcery, FINNA of all people answers the call. She's passed up opportunities for heroics at many opportunities, instead being off doing her own thing - whatever that is, exactly.     But she arrives alright!     A red-tailed hawk DIVES down from the heavens... and upon nearing the ground? Shifts and enlarges. Finna's changing body swerves around in midair so talons-becoming-feet (with boots appearing at the last moment) slam into the ground, slowed by the last things to fully change... her wings into arms. Because using the wings for maximum drag HELPS a lot. Even so she misjudges the impact velocity on this ground and goes sorta half-bounce-tumbling forward with a yelp!     --... Only to land upside-down on one hand. "SAVED!"     Still hand-standing and tail white-furred fox (for who can see it) wagging wildly, she turns about and faces Fassad!     "Found you!" 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     The idea of an alien effect has covered the sky and corrupted a world, that's the thing that draws Frederica Tenjuin. There are of course many other things that draw the fiery-tempered woman's attention, but a world with a corrupted sky is definitely one of the big ones. She has no particular interest in Fassad's goals over anything else the Union does, except for the lure of the world.     That, and of course there was mention of transforming into animals. But she's not about to admit to that being a major motivating factor. Nope.     Arriving on the scene, Frederica takes a looooong look down into the twilight-covered lands below. Her own world's sky was once covered, blocked from the sun. It has a certain meaning to her, and she shivers before finally breaking her gaze. Instead she looks to the others gathering around. "Well, this is it I suppose." she says. "Not very homey right now." she shakes her head, pulling up the hood of her outfit, perking the fabric ears upright as the hood settles into place. Yep, seems she's prepared... sort of. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     A mix of teleporter and magic wings helps Staren find his way from the warpgate to the meeting place. He's /not/ in his power armor for once, although that's largely because the nature of the Twilight might make it useless to him anyway. Instead he wears a labcoat over a T-shirt and shorts. Totally normal.     From nearby, Staren 'skates' over the ground, his shoes hovering through the grass, and waves. Once he's close, he nods in greeting to Fassad, and gives curious looks as he sees who else has arrived to handle this. Interesting.     Then he reaches the point where he can see all of Hyrule. He stares for a moment, just taking it in, but upon seeing the Twilight, he comments, "Woah. That's ominous. So what determines what animal people change into, anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     Dorian is not blond, but he is definitely tall and handsome! To let him tell it he was, anyway. Well that's neither here nor there, really. What is important is that he's also HERE. He has followed the directions to the area, to meet with Fassad. With his own world having a hole in the sky that spews out demons, not to mention the Blight, it's little wonder that he wants to help another world that has a wasting curse.     Anyway, he is there, arriving on-foot, in his usual attire. It's a light-colored leather outfit with metal diamond-shapes studded on it at places, an outfit that probably functions as light armor as well. Stylish AND practical! He has a white cloak over the lot, and on his back is slung a staff with three serpentine dragons at the top.     He bows to those assembled. "Greetings," he offers, to the group at large. And 'large' is a good word to describe the group here, too! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has known Fassad had been with the union for a fairly long time. Yet it had been a very long time since any dared to set foot in his Hyrule. Deelel was a bit on edge though given she'd never been there before. She's a bit strange looking. The clothing, the glowing tattoos but she's got a big old grin on her face at seeing Fassad. She was happy to lend a hand here, She's also happy to see she's not the only one whose come to help. "Greetings!" Her voice has an digital warble to it, it's faint but it's easy to notice. "I'm glad to see I'm not only the one whose come to help. I also have no idea if it will effect me. Given what I am." 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      In all honesty, Archer had forgotten how much of a taskmaster Rin could be. He'd only just come back from one mission and was already on another. And once again, the cast was quite the colorful assortment. And while none were as surprising as the version of his past self he'd met the last time, they were still... noteworthy, to say the least.     Two of the men - one the apparent 'leader' of this expedition, and the other an apparent mage with a well-groomed appearance - carried vague hints of Matou Shinji; pompous, arrogant and somewhat concerned with their looks. There was also a blue-haired woman in a jumpsuit with circuits on it, a thin blonde-haired girl-     Archer froze for a moment when he caught sight of blonde hair with a strand sticking out off the top, an image of an armored figure in silver and blue flashing before his vision. For one moment... he thought it was...     But then the sight doubled, and he knew he must have been misinterpreting it. Shaking it off, Archer let out a sigh when he saw one of the woman only looked like her slightly because of the hair, admonishing himself for the lapse. Of course /she/ wouldn't be here. Why would she?     Then again, anything was possible.     Returning to his observation, Archer noted the small pruple-haired familiar on her shoulder, then noted the other woman had in fact looked closer to what he'd seen with green eyes, blonde hair and silver-on-blue attire, but was still different. Then there were the last three - a thin, pale black-haired girl who seemed rather lethargic, a young man with wild golden-brown hair, and finally a white-haired woman with fox-like ears and tail... though nobody seems to count that as strange. Were sights like that common here? What's more... her power level was on-par with what he'd expect from a Caster-class servant.     What does make him pause is the sigh of the landscape, having an all-too-famaliar sense of dread bud at the edges of his perception. He wasn't a newcomer to things like this     Still... he hoped it wouldn't be like the Shadow. He didn't need to ever face a monster like that again. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna has a bit of experience with various versions of Hyrule, so when Fassad put out a request for help in resolving a crisis in his version of that land, Yuna's only real response was to check her schedule and see if she needed to reschedule anything, and then let Fassad know she'd be happy to assist. Which leads to the blonde idol/paladin/quasi-magical-girl approaching the meeting point, already attired in her Light Suit and accompanied by Elner. "Hi everyone!" she calls out to those who were here ahead of her - many of whom she knows, a handful of whom she doesn't, all of whom she seems willing to treat as friendly for the duration. Yes, even Krezentia. Tia's old adversary/counterpart (and Kopie) get a particularly cheerful grin and wave from Yuna. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika hasn't had a chance to stretch her legs on a mission like this in some time, so it's good she brought the armor for this one. Her sabatons give a metallic thud as they tread towards the meeting grounds, the kitsune aware of the risks inherent to bringing a horse along as well. She can carry her weight on foot just fine, anyways.     As she approaches Kakariko Pass, she observes the scenery with a frown. This 'twilight' Fassad spoke of worries Kirika just as much as the plague back home in Kasun. It's clear this world has suffered for some time, and it must end soon or else.     "Prince Fassad," She greets as she joins the group, bowing her head respectfully as her tail swishes side to side, and her cloak billows in the wind. "Well met to you, and the others as well. I trust I am not too late?" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      A glance from Fassad is given towards those who arrive. Smiles and waves to all who show, even if they are a bit unusual, or Confederate, or similar. He smirks a bit at Sarah, crossing his arms under his chest as he looks at her. "Ah, a pleasure! I am glad for one who recognizes me as a charming prince! So few treat me as such." And then, Finna's arrival. He raises an eyebrow, but remains with his charming smile upon his face, "Ah, and you are energetic, as usual!" He then looks towards Frederica, smiling, "Well... Yes. I wish I could bring you here in a time of peace. Hyrule is, truly, a beautiful land. I have long wanted its beauty back. There is no other place /quite/ like it."      And then, Dorian's arrival. This actually causes Fassad to blink. He, above all others here, looks like a true /hero/. And so, Fassad gives Dorian a bit of an extra greeting, bowing towards him, "Ah! You truly look the part of a hero. Certainly, you will be a massive boon on our quest into Hyrule!"      Towards Yuna, he simply gives a smile, and a nod. He knows she is a strong fighter. But, there are certain things that he feels that he has decided not to say. This could be an incredibly dreary trip. Having a lighthearted pop starlet along might make things more comfortable for many.      He looks towards Staren, "...and, curious as always. I am not certain. Some say it is a reflection of who you are, but. I believe it is, in fact, completely random." Fassad grimaces a bit as he says that. Most likely, there is a reason he doesn't want it to be based on who he is. Next, he turns to Deelel, giving her a bit of a nod and a wave as well. Another curious adventurer, "I have no idea how it works on nonhumans. We shall see, though."      He looks towards Archer. Blinking. This man carries himself differently than most everyone else here. But, Fassad can see it. The weight of experience. Archer gets a bow as well, Fassad smiling towards him, "I am glad you could come, as well."      He turns to Krezentia, her fairy, and then the others. Time to explain the plan, as asked. "...Alright. So. The plan is rather simple. We will be going into the Twilight, and starting on the path to explore. We will be looking for clues to dispel the Twilight. We have no clue what magic caused it to arrive, but our searching outside of Hyrule has proved fruitless. We /must/ go in. Once we are inside, we will all take on our animal forms. We should still be capable of speech."      And then, a pause.      "...and, I suppose it is... up to me to go first." His tone is almost embarrassed as he speaks.      Kirika arrives just as Fassad steps into the Twilight, Fassad being a second too late The moment Fassad steps into the Twilight, his form changes. His body flashes with darkness, his form shifts. His proportion shifts. It almost looks painful, and there are uncomfortable noises coming from him. As the transformation finishes, the shadows over his body vanish. And, the reason he was so embarrassed to go first is almost /certainly/ revealed.      Because Fassad is in the shape of a pink rabbit.      At least, it's a rather large rabbit, the side of a medium sized dog or so.      He looks back for the group. Ears lowering down to the side of his head. Waiting for the others to enter. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     It's complete coincidence. When Krezentia had long hair, she'd have looked very little like a certain king. The bags are too large, really, and that royal bun is missing besides. But then, amusingly, a version of Rin scarred her eyes, and in the moment of blindness, basically the only male member of Mobile Section Six cut her massive ponytail off with his spear. It was either her neck or her hair, a small price to pay, but an annoying one no less. Iris could have fixed her eyes, made her hair regrow, but she chose to keep the style. Kept her separate from Spiritia.     Now here's what ISN'T coincidence. The Magi's eyes lock onto Archer, curious. He kind of looks like her boyfriend! ... older, grey-haired, those eyes are the wrong color, so's the skin... alright, maybe he barely does. Something about him though. Erk, she can't place it.     And then YUNA. Yuna fucking Kagurazaka.     Maybe if Krezentia pretends REALLY HARD that she doesn't know her it will become factual reality. She rumbles to herself, just looks at Fassad instead.     "Krez, Krez, it's Yuna, funya~!"     "God DAMNIT Kopie. Don't enable her."     Fortunately, Fassad interupts any antics with a PLAN, and leads the way. Krezentia follows, stepping through the warping, if eerily pretty land. The moment she does, half of a large, golden gear springs out of her pocket, crackling with divine power. Golden light covers Krezentia, shielding her from the worst of it. She gains WOLF ears, a tail, and a slight shift in her features besides, but she isn't wholly transformed. She snatches the gear up and pockets it again. That was unexpected.     "KREZ, LOOK, I'M 2SPOOKY4YOU, FUNYA~!"     Kopie on the other hand is now a floating skull surrounded by a spinning barrier made of purple orbs. "WOOOO, SPOOKY, FUNYA~!"     "WHAT THE FUCK, DON'T DO THAT!" Krezentia jumps at the sight of the ANTI-FAIRY, before calming down and frowning. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     "Well." Frederica states with some assurance. "If the transformation *isn't* random, surely I'll become a fox. Or maybe a wolf, or something like that. Something dignified and majestic and beautiful as befits myself." she says with all the self-assurance of the deluded.     She takes one look at the transformed Fassad and starts laughing. She doesn't MEAN to be cruel, it just sort of happens. When she finally gets control, she grins. "Don't worry, Prince Fassad. We'll find out what happened and we'll be able to fix it. I surely have some power over darkness, and all the people here have impressive skills as well." she claims magnanimously. "But, I suppose the best thing to do right now is to get started." she adds, looking at the twilight with some well-hidden worry.     Frederica steps forward, and the transformation grips her. Darkness, shifting, proportion and size... and when the darkness clears, Frederica is revealed as her spirit animal. It's not a fox. It's not a wolf. Arguably it's not magestic in the slightest.     It's a hedgehog. Large, and cute as hell perhaps, but nooot exactly what Frederica had in mind when she signed up for this. Also, it's not the two-legged fast-moving blue kind. Nope. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren quirks an eyebrow at Fassad's comment. Is there something he's not telling?     It becomes clear when Fassad steps through. Staren winces at the transformation -- that looks painful. Then his eyebrows raise in surprise. A pink bunny? /A pink bunny/? Awwwww that's adoooorable no don't smile look stern look stern. Staren takes a breath, then approaches the wall. Someone he doesn't know becomes a wolf-girl. Interesting, so the animal thing doesn't work entirely? Frederica becoming a /hedgehog/ is similarly kind of amusing. He figured she'd be a cat or a fox or something. More credit to Fassad's theory of randomness, perhaps?     Well, he doesn't want to be the last one through! He /hops/ through... "Arrrg..." oh geeze painful transformation and then--     A black housecat wearing a little sea-green bandana. He raises a paw and looks at it. "Oh." His voice is high and squeaky. He pads a few feet into the Twilight and then turns around and sits to watch the rest. Okay Staren. Be mature. Do not take impish glee in people being transformed. You can do this. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Anything further Yuna was about to say to Krezentia (or Kopie) is swiftly and brutally derailed by a loud scream. Apparently, anti-fairy Kopie really *IS* too spooky for somebody besides Krez herself. Somehow, Yuna does NOT go running off in a phobia-induced panic. She also doesn't produce a weapon and open fire, which is probably just as well. She takes a few moments to collect herself, raising her eyebrows instead at Frederica's animal form, then takes a deep breath. "Well, hanging around in the 'safe zone' isn't going to help save this land ..." She strides forward, crossing the 'boundary' ... The flash of light of her armor dematerializing mostly masks her other transformation, into a rather plain-looking cat. She doesn't even have a spiffy little bandanna like Staren; the closest thing to a collar is a thin band of blue, akin to the choker from her Light Suit. "... hey, Fassad? What kind of monsters did you say we're going to have to deal with?" she asks dubiously, sounding relieved as it's confirmed that yes, she CAN still speak more or less normally. Turning into a pony on Equestria is less disorienting, somehow. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Yep. He didn't get it. Sarah isn't sure whether that makes it more funny or less. "We probably have the firepower here for that but that's probably the boring way. Nice fairy. That your Guardian or something?" Sarah replies laconically. to Krezentia. "Apparently, there's some kind of animal thing going on too? I don't even know." She looks over as the explanation goes out. "Looking for clues. Hope you have an idea where to look, Prince, because otherwise we might wander around this place for ages." But the time comes and there's a moment of grumpiness from Sarah before she sighs. "Whatever. What will happen, will happen." She mutters, before she steps forward across the threshold. ONE TRANFORMATION SEQUENCE LATER There is a distinctly plainative and bitchy meow from the new small housecat, the fur black with some interesting rings of color around the eyes, almost like a mask. Either way, Sarah takes this opportunity to leap up on top of Krezentia's head and sit there like a feline hat, looking down at Kopie. Sarah's assessment? "That's pretty damn cool." She murrs. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Archer can't help but smirk inwardly as another arrival comes in who peripherally reminded him of Rin due to her black hair, red attire and overall atmosphere of being what most would call a beauty with power. Hell, after having met a version of Emiya Shirou a short time ago, he wouldn't be surprised to see an alternate Rin. He also took notice of her also vulpine features like the white-haired one, privately wondering if they were native to this place.     However, that question will have to wait. The fact of the matter is that they're about to enter what's apparently a very dangerous area of this world, and if there was one thing Archer hated, it was rushing in blindly. Closing his eyes, he felt the image of the firing hammer click back in his head-     And then tossed that plan aside when, much to his surprise and amazement, their leader did something he wouldn't have expected someone as outwardly pompous as him to do - take the first step into danger.     That, however, didn't quite shock him as much as the sight of seeing the man transform into a small, pink-furred rabbit.     ... well...     ... that was... unexpected.     Oh, hell... a curse. Cursed land. One that forcibly imposes a shape-changing spell.     At this point, Archer cursed three things. One - his E-Ranked Luck for getting this mission. Two - his D-Rank Magic Resistance which wouldn't do a damn thing to protect him form this. And three - the fact that Rin could probably see this through their Master-Servant link and was probably laughing her ass off this very moment... and would also never let him live this down.      But... too late to back out. Not to mention Rin would never let him live down abandoning a mission, either.     Letting out a sigh of resignation, Archer steps forward second-to-last of the group, wincing as the darkness envelops and shifts his form, noting the pain as his body shrinks and alters.     When it clears... what remains is a larger-then-avarage fox, with sharp-red fur, a black underbelly and paws and an streaks of silver across his brows and the sides of his face. His red shroud remains as a cloak and two sleeves over his forepaws... and he has a very unamused expression. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Finna charges through the barrier just as soon as a few others do. SOMETHING on her body sizzles and shimmers on contact with the Twilight magic. In a few moments the illusion guarding her MOONSILVER TATTOOS fails, revealing an elaborate pattern of glowing marks all over her exposed flesh. It's the energy of the Twilight at war with them. Weirdly enough she shrinks down to fox form and starts pacing around. She sees a lot of other creatures, some very unexpected.     The Snow Fox, Moonsilver Tattoos gleaming through her fur, paces around to examine some of the creatures everyone's become.     But upon pacing around in front of Frika, she drops her forelegs for a really close muzzle-to-muzzle and peers.     Then licks Frederica's nose, and RUNS LIKE HELL. 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     Dorian offers polite bows and smile of greeting to those to arrive after him as well. Pompus perhaps, but most definitely not rude. He's got etiquette training after all. And out here in the Multiverse, you never know when you're meeting with royalty. Multiversal royalty have an annoying habit of not showing it until they're offended...     Fassad responds to his greeting, and he turns in his direction. "That's certainly my hope," he confirms. "Fassad, was it? Prince Fassad?" He'd heard the word 'prince' being thrown around. He bows, once confirmation of the rank is given. Then he offers, "Dorian of House Pavus, Altus mage of Tevinter. How do you do?" He's aiming the greeting at others too, since introducing himself once should be sufficient.     He quiets when Fassad starts outlining the plan. Though he notes the hesitation and raises a brow. Ah-ha. Always a catch. And then people start going into the Twilight... and changing. Fassad being a vey large, pink bunny when he enters this 'Twilight', apparently. Dorian does have the decency not to laugh, though it's a near thing. But he offers, "Have none of you ever seen a rabbit's teeth before? They're frightening."     Nonetheless, his turn soon comes, and he sighs. Well, Dorian. Get it over with. You surely won't be the only one embarrassed today. And he enters the Twilight with the others.     Darkness and transformation sequence! And when the darkness fades? He's a peacock. That said he does have rather nice blue plumage. And being male he has a lot of very long, pretty, blue and green tailfeathers. He looks at himself the best he can. "...I can't say that was entirely unexpected..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren watches Kirika not transform. "Tch. Aww." And then Yuna is another cat! "Huh, that's interesting." He raises a forepaw to point at her. "I wonder why you have a collar?" Next is Sarah, who he's only heard on the radio before anow. "Another cat, huh?" He watches her bound up atop Krezentia. "Wow, you got the hang of that quick." He tilts his head. "Have you been a cat before?"     Finna is a fellow cheater, but suddenly tattoos. "Huh. Does that usually happen?" Some guy he doesn't know is a peacock. Staren has no comment. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika is...not entirely surprised to see that people are turning into animals, as she observes their entry into the Twilight. Tilting her head, she shrugs a shoulder and walks her way in without delay. "I will try to contain myself." She promises Fassad quietly, as she doesn't notice anything wrong...yet.     And then she shifts form after a flash of light, a black fox with red ears and eyes. This definitely gives her a regal, if mysterious appearance with how she carries herself even in fox-form. "How shocking." She mutters, then observes the Snow Fox for a moment. When Finna slurps on Frederica's nose, Kirika stifles a giggle before she takes off after Finna. "Get back here! We shouldn't split up so soon without knowing the lay of the land!" She calls out in pursuit. Amusing as this is, serious time is now. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Suddenly assaulted by a fox, Frederic really isn't sure what to think. She might LIKE to be pounced by a fox in some other circumstances, if friendly at least, but her new hedgehog reactions come to the fore. She tucks in her head, rolling into a ball with spines outwart, yelping in indignation. After a moment she unrolls slightly, her nose peeking out and beady eyes glowering. "That is totally unfair." she claims. "YOU get to be a fox. THEY get to be wolves and cats. This is so random!" she insists, annoyed. "I could've even been a peacock. That would have been dignified, but noooo." she scoffs. Obviously she's not impressed with her current form. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "I've watched a lot of cat videos." SarahCat deadpans back to Staren. As Frederica complains, she just says, "It's probably some stupid thing about the true nature of our hearts or something." She takes a moment to lick a paw. "Maybe this can be therapeutic for you. At least you're not a bunny, and being a peacock is terrible. You're probably actually the best off of any of us. At least you can do some damage if something tries to eat you." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Will you NOT scream like that, oh my GOD Kagurazaka," Krezentia snaps annoyingly, motioning towards the new ears atop her head. "We've been in close proximity for a minute and I already want to eat your face." Maybe that's just the wolf fangs talking, though. Or the desire for meat. Oh well.     And now there's a cat on her head.     Sarah is cat, won't fix. She knows better than to argue with a cat.     The Magi glances between the Archer-Fox and the Peacock she doesn't know beyond his introduction. "Can't decide who got the best deal here. That's swag-ass bird though."     Kopie, meanwhile, floats over towards Fassad. "Now what, funya~? How do we even investigate this? It's not like there's gonna be a sign saying 'THIS WAY TO THE EVIL LORD'S TOWER', funya~!"     Then again with how those towers tend to flash like they're trying to cause seizures, maybe there will be. "Man, though, a rabbit? That's not super princely," Krezentia idly comments. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The pink bunny that is Fassad looks up towards Krezentia. There is in fact a bit of a raising at the brow of the pink rabbit, as it looks at Krezentia. Her transformation is unusual. Not... fully transformed? Alas, such is the Multiverse. So many strange resistances. The fairy turning into an Anti-Fairy though? That is, in fact, a /complete/ surprise. Fassad actually leaps forward a bit, turning around. Finally realizing it is simply the fairy, Fassad sighs. "...That is... strange. You have, in fact, turned into a monster from this world. An Anti-fairy. Seeing that you are, in fact, a fairy, your reflection of yourself shouldn't be the /opposite/ of a fairy. So, most definitely, we are not taking on aspects based on ourselves, and it is simply random."      And then, Frederica's laughing. Followed by Frederica's animal form. Fassad doesn't laugh back. It is, in fact, still a better animal than his own form, he feels. Instead, the rabbit face smiles at her, "...As I said. It is random. And yes, we must solve this problem as quickly as possible." And then, Fassad just gives a /blank/ stare as he watches Finna lick Frederica's nose. It's like a deer in the headlights look. From a rabbit.      Fassad looks at Staren's transformation. It does not surprise him, in the least. But, a small chuckle comes from him as Yuna transforms, "...Well. Your claws should both make good weapons. And the monsters... We /can/ fight them in these forms, but they are best avoided. They are... Large, vaguely humanoid creatures. Usually, they walk on their arms and legs. Their skin is pure black, with strange glowing markings upon them." A glance is given to Krezentia, "...But. Perhaps we /might/ have some extra defense against them, considering the state of some of us."      And then, a glance at Kirika. Ah, yet another who is immune to the effects. The pink rabbit smiles, "...Yes. Quite a bit more firepower than we normally would have in here."      Sarah's transformation draws some attention from Fassad as well. Yet another cat. Strange, how that is so popular. He shrugs it off for now, in order to answer more questions. "No leads, but there are some places to check first. Towns, villages. Ask around. That's all we can really do, at the moment. Explore. I never said this would be easy."      Archer turns into a fox. Hrm. Fassad ponders that. Despite his comments, he does think there /might/ be /some/ truth to the personality factor. But, for now, who knows. A smile. And a joke, "Well. I am glad you don't take on the nature of the animal. If you did, you'd be hunting me now."      Fassad smiles at Dorian, in rabbit form, "Yes, Prince Fassad, from the land of Arcadia! It is a pleasure to meet you! Having a mage such as yourself along should be quite useful. Perhaps your magical skill can help analyze the Twilight? Our own mages have failed."      "But... For now? Let's go."      Fassad leads the group on, traveling along the trail. It is about ten minutes before anything of note happens. Suddenly, a rustling in the bushes and trees on the path ahead. Fassad acts immediately. Moving to hide, behind a fallen log. He doesn't motion for the others to do the same. He assumes each of them has a good idea of /how/ much they can handle in their animal forms. After all, the skills of the animals come naturally, while transformed this way.      But, three creatures move along the path ahead. They're humanoid. They're alien. Black skin, strange glowing markings that almost look eldritch. Large, wide heads. Long 'hair' coming from their heads. These creatures look completely unnatural. Strong, albeit obviously grunts. And, of course, the entire party is not at their best. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     If it's any consolation, Kirika might have changed form or something. Not a power she broadcasts, but being a fox does have its uses time to time. She swishes her tail towards the rabbit before she skids to a stop mid-chase of Finna. Those creatures...     The amulet around Kirika's neck remains, and she is quick to head its warning as she begins to run like /hell/ towards cover as the Twilight beings appear.     She isn't acting out of cowardice however, the kitsune is in a hunting posture after all, she's stalking the creatures as though she's been this way her whole life. Kirika moves with grace and stealth, like a proper huntress. "Hmmm..."     Hunched over, she moves quickly and nimbly to the trees, seeking to remain out of sight while anticipating patterns of movement of these beings. She doesn't like her chances without her sword, but tooth and claw will have to do. Her magic does remain however, which is a good sign... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren looks concerned, and pads over to Fredericahog. Hedgerica? "Chin up," he says in his squeaky voice, "Maybe if you ask Finna nicely she'll let you try being a fox or a wolf or a cat sometime?"     At Sarah's comment, Staren replies, "Makes as much sense as anything." Watching cat videos makes you a cat, sure why not. Then he looks to Fassad, "Hey, /is/ there anything here that will try to eat us?" Then back to Krezentia, "Well I should hope not, we can hardly fight an evil lord like this, can we."     Staren hangs back as the others move on. He concentrates, and in a quick blur he changes -- Normal form? Check. Blur. Human girl? Check. Blur. Willing transformation to cat form? Check. Good to know he can take on the monsters if needed. Some lingering sense of mischief keeps him from informing the others right away.     Staren bounds after to catch up. "Huh. Monsters already? I can't make out mouths. Are they gonna try to eat us, or just kill us? Or maybe drain our energy. Wanna try to stealth past? We're mostly pretty quiet little animals. Actually, I think most of us are animals /known/ for stealth..." He's already finding a bush to watch from underneath or a tree to hide behind. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "Ohhh... don't whine so much! Hedgehogs are awesome. They can fit in all kinds of places. They've got great noses, a good defense from predators, and they're able to run pretty quick for their size! What's wrong with hedgehogs?"     Finna's full of energy as always. But well, she doesn't really seeing anything bad about MOST animals. ... Most.     Except.. "What's a peacock gonna do? Just... run around and be flashy I guess. They're pretty useless!" 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Oh. Oh I... think there's meaning, funya~," Kopie answers Fassad, just sort of a hovering skull giving a disappointed answer. If only she had a wizard detective to hassle. And a simpler name. Like Bob. Yeah that'd do.     "Hey. HEY. Don't diss the god damn plumage," Krezentia retorts towards Finna, evidently disagreeing on the inherent coolness factor of a bird with that sick a feature. It's like a big 'BEHOLD MY MAJESTY' button the bird can press at any time!     Nonetheless, she'll hide behind a bush or tree at the sight of the creatures, glancing at them. To the group, or at least Fassad, she whispers: "What are they even guarding anyway? What's in a place like this? Besides animals. I assume they're guarding something, anyway, nobody just sort of stands there on a road idling." Maybe they just camp the road for passerbys, though. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' At least her transformation didn't hurt like some (?) of the others' did, Yuna reflects. Maybe it was the Light Suit still at work? She nods to Fassad, then gives Krezentia a slightly sheepish look (while trying to pretend Kopie isn't there). "Sorry about the scream, Krez," she says - maybe only a pro forma apology, but it IS an apology nonetheless, and she recognizes that it's in order. "Come on, Elner, you're not helping anybody by hanging back where it's safe." The little robo-faerie emits a sound strongly akin to a sigh, powers up a small forcefield bubble, and advances - And when the bubble 'pops' out of existence, a robotic-looking dove thrashes about briefly before regaining lift, and flight, before fluttering to alight on a tree branch. "I didn't think that would affect *me* as well," Elner's voice comes from the robo-dove, "As for Yuna's collar, Staren, all I can confirm at the moment is that her Light Suit is still functional, which appears to support the theory that your powers should still work. How you'll wield anything in that form, though, Yuna ..." "The faster we find where we need to go," Yuna replies with her tail up and stiff, "the less we'll need to find out how combat-ready these bodies are." She stalks forward, keeping pace with the others - and slipping into the bushes when *she* spots the monsters ahead. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     As Archer examines his new form, he lets out a snort of discontent. Granted, his red shroud remained and was even shrunk down to fit him, but that was probably because it was made to resist supernatural forces.     A shame Archer himself wasn't. And somewhere in this, there's probably some sort of message as to why he ended up a fox - a creature that relied on agility, cunning and slyness instead of stopping power. He also noted the girl-turned-cat's explanation, understanding it in the case of the mage turning into a peacock.      Archer sees that he's not the only one to become a fox - with the other two seeming markedly more familiar with their forms. "Figures you two are more familiar with your forms - especially the mage" he deadpans, gesturing with his head - or... snout - at the white fox that has run off. He also turns to face the hedgehog - "You could have ended up a field-mouse, you know. At least you have a definite reliable weapon /and/ armor, and across your whole body at that. Heck, even a rabbit can be a pain to deal with."     When Fassad speaks, Archer tilts his head and sighs again, consenting the point that it /could/ be worse.     As they move down the trail, Archer finds himself somewhat thankful that he ended up as something that naturally had sharp hearing and eyesight, as well as a pronounced sense of smell, as well as the fact that his claws could let him scale small trees. The moment he senses something, Archer darts into the underbrush, making his way up one of the smaller trees and peering wearily at the strange creatures that moved past.     At the very least, he's thankful that his magic remained intact. Even in this form, he ought to be able to summon up a blade that can handle some light combat at least - but only in the last resort. Pompous as he initially found Fassad to be, he couldn't deny the man-turned-rabbit had the right idea - for now, it was best that they stick to stealth. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel Says "We'll find out, I'm a bit wary of it to be honest." Deelel was worries given the mentality of the only thing that could be considered an animal on her world. However the's not much she can do however as she watches the others step through into the effect. She takes a deep breath, not that she needs to. It's just a habit she's picked up with her long history of hanging around people from off the Grid. So there she goes and she changes it's strange it's alien even to her. What's left is a very large grid bug. It's the size of a wolf rather than the normal size of a human hand the silver thing has spindly limbs mandibles and the same blue glow that Deelel's tattoos normally have. There's a very shocked skree out of Deelel. She move sto follow along with the others now and it's clear about one thing? Whatever Deelel's become? There's not a lick of flesh to it. "I'm a grid bug?!" 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Hedgehogs, ironically enough, aren't really all that fast. Frederica's able to keep up however, being at least as fast as a peacock even if she has to waddle in undignified fashion. She's not really that upset about the form. Spikes are nice, and ... well, it's not like she actually uses her body to fight with. Her mind is what's important. It's just so undignified, that's all.     Her first instinct is to roll up in a ball when monsters are spotted, but that's really not very productive. Instead she waddles to a bush and vanishes underneath it. She can fight, but... well, she's not the veteran here. And besides, she LIKES hiding in back of others when it comes to a fight, launching fireballs from protection. Let someone else charge the foe. 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     There are indeed a lot of cats. But there are also a lot of foxes. He does seem to be the only bird in the group, assuming someone here doesn't have multiple forms. This is, however, the Multiverse; literally anything is possible. He nods to Fassad's directive to start. "Lead on, Your Majesty," he returns respectfully.     Finna's statement actually ruffles Dorian's feathers. Quite literally in this case, he fluffs up, shaking his plumage indignantly. Yes, that is definitely a peacock. "I have wings. I'm sure I can fly with them. Any bird can be dangerous if it applies beak or talon to an eye." Krezentia's words of 'not dissing the plumage' gets an upward tilt of the head. "Thank you," he replies. Can a bird smile? He tries     Uh-oh, there's suddenly trouble! Unfortunately, because Dorian is currently a large, bright blue bird with long blue and green tailfeathers, hiding is going to be hard, and he knows it. He does, however, have wings. Which he immediately uses to get into a tree, perching on a branch. "Well, that's something at least," he mutters. He can fly, so he can at least get out of the way. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah doesn't judge the others or really question why it is what it is. It's not like she had any real say in it so there's no point in complaining. Just deal with it. Man, she needs to pick up some shades sometime. "I'm not going to go into why that line of logic is completely wrong." Sarah says in response to Fassad's analysis. "You certainly seemed the fluffy and mostly harmless type." There is a low growl of irritation from Sarah at the admission of a lack of leads. "You like just jumping into things and praying they don't kill you, don't you?" Sarah comments. "I guess we're the intel team today." They process through the area, Sarah resting easily on Krezentia's head as they reach a group of strange eldritch enemies. "Oh, look, a bunch of horrible monsters that would probably kill defenseless animals." Sarahcat deadpans. "Good thing we have competent people here today." There is a pause, and Sarah attempts to access her PUZZLEKIND STRIFE MODUS. A JENGA STACK manifests on top of Krezentia's head, and Sarah raises a paw to begin prodding at it... And it promptly collapses around Krez in a pile of blocks. "Welp. That's about what I expected." Sarah states. She looks down to Krez. "My bad." She actually admits, then looks up at the monsters. "Anyone have insane firepower to make these things go away?" She asks. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Some annoyed looks are given from Fassad to Sarah. Normally, he is calm. But, she is cutting right to the point. He looks back at her, frowning slightly. "...We have no leads. But. What else can we do? We are not simply going to let this kingdom fall. We /will/ find what we need, somehow."      Fassad whispers quietly, explaining to everyone. Answering some questions in the process. "These are what we call Shadow Beasts. They seek to kill us, if they find us. At least, that is the standard response. They don't eat us. To kill them, we must strike all of them down at once. Or else, well... Their cries can bring the others back up."      Krezentia asks a good question, though. What, exactly, /does/ bring them here? Fassad's rabbit face scrunches up as he thinks. He simply will have to give his best guess. "...We have not been able to communicate with them. They seem intelligent, but... Our encounters with them, they have simply seemed to be hunting any who can take on forms such as ours. I do not know why. Perhaps they view us as a threat, or perhaps they are searching for something in specific? ...But. This close to the border... They could simply be a border patrol, searching around."      The group goes unnoticed. At least, it seems as such. The creatures walk across the path, moving from one part of the forest to the other. They stay close to the ground, almost as if sniffing around. One in particular gets rather close, though. He stops, for a moment. Right behind the log. His head down, near it. His head, moving along the ground near the fallen log.      And then, the sound of Jenga blocks falling. The creatures all lift their heads up, towards Krezentia's location. Towards Sarah. And suddenly, they /leap/ through the air, in unison. Running along the ground, towards Krezentia.      It seems the cover has been blown. ...Though, all of the chatter from everyone, Fassad included, has likely not helped. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah looks at the beasts. they notice the group. She looks back at the others. "Hey guys, overwhelming firepower /any time now/ would be awesome." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna-cat's first reaction is to back away from the charging monsters, hissing as her fur stands on end ... And her collar glows, just a faint shimmer of gold at first, but it brightens rapidly as Yuna's half-instinctive reactions shift from 'flight' over to 'fight'. With a yowl, the Calico of Light bolts out of the underbrush, legs coiling briefly beneath her before she LEAPS at one of the Shadow Beasts, aiming for the face, and starts clawing madly at its eyes if she can get up there. A close eye might notice little flashes of gold light with each swipe of her claws; Yuna herself certainly isn't noticing it right now. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     This is /exactly/ why Kirika has been keeping quiet. As the beasts notice the group, Kirika rears up from her perch before she gives a significant look to Dorian. The peacock seems to be some sort of mage, and Kirika motions for him to throw down whatever spells he can manage in this state of his, while her paw glows and burns with flames.     Suddenly, Kirika leaps from her perch in the trees, flames blowing towards the Twilight monsters while Kirika lands upon one of them. Her fangs and claws bite and scratch away at the monster, aiming to keep him occupied until someone else can finish it off. If not, then she suddenly uses her tail to wrap around the creature's neck like a garrotte with fur on it, and she /twists/ its head at a very disturbing angle. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica sighs. "Fine. Overwhelming firepower coming right up. You brave people had better not leave me hanging here." she claims, and pushes out from under her bush.     It occurs to Frederica that being a hedgehog has its perks. She's used to flames being a personal shield, and calling up flames to ward her body is relatively natural to her. Now she's also got spikes. Well, why not? She breaks into a run, charging the beasts. As she runs, she ignites, becoming a spiky flaming ball of four-legged death. CHAAAAAARGE! 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     "You want overwhelming firepower?" There is a very distinct smug note in Dorian's voice. "Just watch." He's blustering a LOT here, because he doesn't even know if he's kept his magic here or not. But luckily he seems to have kept it. He finds this out when he gathers his energy to cast the spell. the mage rears back on the branch, flapping his wings... which suddenly seem to have fire around them all of a sudden, just at the ends.     Dorian aims the spell under the feet of the Shadow Beasts and the fire does explode up out of the ground. Though they may have already moved. Hopefully this will happen BEFORE anyone goes melee. Otherwise this is liable to get messy. If nothing else he'll catch the Beasts off-guard. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Why were jenga blocks stacked on her head.     No, nevermind, why was a cat playing jenga to start with.     The Magi doesn't have much time to consider when things jump at her. Even if Fassad says they WON'T be eaten, being killed is still absolutely awful. It's 10 on a 1 to 10 lethality scale.     Fortunately it seems everyone has kept their powers, or at least some form of them. Krezentia's left hand flares with green and purple mana, and rather than wait to be lept on and torn to shreds, she's just going to cross-counter punch one of the Shadow Beasts. It'll cause an eruption of plasma and magic, not unlike a beam, on impact, but there's no telling how sturdy these guys are. And if they ALL need to die or else they can revive each other, that might require hella teamwork.     "I'm going to guess your people haven't managed to capture one and drag it outside the Twilight to see what happens yet?" she idly asks Fassad, assuming she doesn't get the wind knocked out of her by a counter-attack.     "I'll help, funya~!"     Kopie just... tries to tackle-slam into one.     She probably can't do the magic-drain some Anti-Fairies can do, but those little floating orbs of magic should still hurt just fine. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     And, of course, everything goes wrong. So much for stealth      "Guess black cats really /are/ bad luck" Archer mutters as he sees the beasts lumber for Sarah. Nothing to be done about it now, though. Keeping in mind what Fassad said about being sure to down them all at once - aiming for one that currently wasn't under assault by the impromptu animal attack, Archer closes his eyes and visualizes an image of a blade to cut through one of the creatures.      /"I am the bone of my sword."/     The next instant, a flash of prana consolidates over the fox's head, forming into a long, gleaming blade with an ornate gold-on-black handle - Durandal, the blade of the Paladin Roland, gifted to his people by an angel in legends. Enchanted to never lose it's sharpness and embedded with three instant-use 'miracles' in the form of drastic increases in power. Strong enough to kill, or at least maim, one of the creatures.     Archer, from his position in the trees, follows his namesake as the distance fighter in this instance as the blade, suspended in mid-air for a moment, suddenly shoots forward like a bolt of white light for the head of one creature. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     How the heck do you use Jenga as a weapon, anyway? Staren's not assuming it wouldn't normally be effective, though. Sburb is... interesting.     Staren was kind of hoping this would go quietly, but now that monsters are attacking? It's serious time. Staren blurs and retakes his normal form. He reaches for his beam saber -- no, maybe getting into melee would be bad. He draws his laser pistol and starts shooting one of the monsters while backing away from it. Hey, maybe if he's really lucky, creatures used to living in darkness will be vulnerable to something that is literally weaponized light?     "Keep safe! If you can't fight as you are, stay in cover!" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Ruffling feathers is just one of the things Finna enjoys doing. She grins over at Dorian before he goes floofingup into a tree, apparently unworried about Krez's criticism!     And on towards the Twilight monsters. She flinches. They look BOGUS to her, and ALL her alarm bells are set off. So she sneaks in close using the forest's natural resources for cover.     Then, well, they all go into a fury rush so so much for that.     "Oh well!~" That's when Finna decides being a small fox is for chumps and ENLARGES, regaining a humanoid shape. She grows to a full seven feet tall of brutal fur and fangs and muscle, taking on her DEADLY BEASTMAN TRANSFORMATION.     And with a blood-curdling SNARL she launches out at the nearest of the beasts with a thrashing claw that trails silvery light in the Twilight! 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "I heard that, foxboy!" Sarah yells. Looks like being a cat has SOME good sides. Mysteriously, the Jenga Blocks have vanished, the cat remaining securely perched on Krezntia's head for the moment. She's not lifting a paw to help fight at the moment, her combat skills are functionally nonexistent at the moment unless she finds a puzzle that a cat can solve. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel ius chittering a bit not evne thinking about it as she keeps with Fassad.. She hears the warning abotu shadow beasts she wonders if she can even summon her keyblade like this. She knows how grid bugs hunt and it's not pretty, also she's not sure if would even work on the beings of this world. "Well we shuold be careful then." things go good for a bit but it seems that they are found out in time. She sees the hunter and then they come going for Krezenita she lets out a cry and leaps on the nearest one trying to latch on and see if she can drain any energy? From it she's not evne sure what's going to happen here. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The first Shadow Beast is struck by the punch, and knocked down. These things are notable threats, if a group of three targetted one person. Unfortunately, they are /quite/ outmatched here. Soon, it is struck by Staren's lasers. It falls to the ground, only to soon after be ripped apart and torn into by the thrashing claws. Despite the constant thrashing, though? It remains on the ground, it's body trying to /heal itself/ as it is attacked. It takes all three falling to be killed, and it is taking an impressive amount of damage.      Yuna manages to hit the Shadow Beast in the face, the Light energy tearing at it quite readily. Yes, these things do, in fact, have a bit of a weakness to light. These are full creatures of the Shadow. Light is their opposite. Soon after, Dorian's fire strikes the beast, setting it ablaze. Soon after, the powerful Durandal moves in towards it. It is struck straight in the head, falling to the ground.      Kirika manages to claw into the second, the flames tearing at it. It makes a hideous cry as it is burnt. It tries to step back, only to accidentally step down on a burning hedgehog. The squishing of her body will likely hurt Frederica some. But, not as much as the various quills poking into the Shadow Beast's foot, made worse by the flame. A non-burning part is grabbed ahold of by Deelel. She is, in fact, able to drain some energy from it. Everyone does, in fact, get some bit of power from their animal's true form. And then, Kopie flies in against it, hitting it with the minor orbs of magic. In what proves to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, the Shadow Beast falls to the ground. A /very/ minor amount of drained magic going back into the fake Anti-Fairy.      All three are now down. Suddenly, the bodies of the three creatures swell. They explode into an eldritch-looking cloud of smoke. These explosions do not hurt. In fact, one can not even /feel/ the touch of the explosion.      And Fassad sighs in relief, glad he didn't have to fight in the form he considers so useless. But, he smirks up at the group, smiling.      "Well done! And... This is /exactly/ why we haven't been able to take one back. It is hard to restrain three at once, without difficulty." There is a sudden flapping of wings. Loud wing beats can be heard, the flapping of some great bird. There is a flash of brown amongst the trees. A large and great owl lands on the branch of one of the nearby trees.      He just looks at the victorious group of adventurers, casually watching them. Before, finally, speaking.      "Hello, there." 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     "This is why I hate charging into battle." Frederica complains. Being stepped on really isn't fun, but it wasn't terrible at least. The spines are somewhat flexible, taking the brunt of the impact and leaving Frederica herself ruffled but not exactly traumatized. Oh she quite enjoys charging into battle as Frika, and she might come to enjoy it somewhat in this form too. It's just... well, kind of more painful than her normal option.     When an owl shows up, Frederica tucks herself into a not-quite ball, only peering out a little. A flaming ball, one might add. "Wh-who are you?" she asks. Possibly no pun intended. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The monsters go down! "Frederica, are you okay?" Staren runs over to her. And then, flapping wings. A flying monster? Staren looks /up/, ready to shoot.     It's... an owl? "Who are you?" Staren assumes it's another transformed person. He doesn't put away his gun, though. Wait, aren't owls supposed to be silent fliers? He glances around, his ears perking and turning this way and that, searching for more wingbeats. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     'I am the bone of my sword' he said.     Krezentia's wolfy ears twitch, and she eyes the sword-mage fox with increased suspicion. But she does not say what's on her mind. The appearance just... really didn't match. And that's coming from someone who's still dating one, had an intense rivalry with another, and met a third only recently. And only briefly.     The Magi shakes her head, emerging from her position to-- be greeting by a giant owl. Staren beats her at asking the obvious question, so she just motions for Kopie to stop hanging around and orbit her again. Safety first, and all.     To Fassad, she does aside: "You oughta consider setting up an expedition with overwhelming nonlethal firepower then. Get magical chains or rope or something, and drag one or three right out of here. Maybe they'll turn back into whatever and can talk then, huh?" But, maybe not too.     If those things are natives maybe they won't turn into anything. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika leaps off her adversary after she finishes it off, landing gracefully as she swishes her tail. She can't help but observe Finna with curiosity, before she approaches the fellow fox and does a 'tailbump' of sorts with her, then she gives a nod to the others, including Archer in particular. "I've seen a technique like yours before, if my memory serves me correct. It is quite fascinating." She comments.     Suddenly, owl. Kirika tenses up as the owl appears, tilting her head with wariness as she issues a warning snarl, posture low and aggressive before it suddenly speaks. "Who or what are you? What business have you with us?" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna checks her paws for blood, idly wondering how she'll clean it off if there is any ... and then the owl shows up, and she looks up at it. "Uh. Hello ..." She dips her head briefly, as close to a bow as she can do on all fours. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      Archer winces in annoyance at being called 'foxboy' by the black cat, sorely temped to shoot a counter at her - but for now, the priority needed to be shooting down these beasts before they could recover, and the fact that they were showing a very high level of endurance only highlighted the need to kill them quickly.     He was however slightly surprised, though not truly shocked, to see Finna shift back to her humanoid form and from there into a more beastial one - he'd known from the start she was a mage of some sort, or a spirit. This proved it somewhat.     It also alluded to the idea that her initial change to a fox wasn't an unwilling one. Something Archer decided to file away for later.     When the creatures go down, Archer is perhaps one of the few that doesn't let his guard down, concerned that the sounds of fighting might have drawn attention to their presence in the woods. He already is visualizing another weapon to bring out if need be.     When he hears wingbeats and sees the owl, he acknowledges it wearily. Last he knew, an owl's wings didn't quite make that much noise in flight, so Archer keeps his ears open in case something else comes.     Gaze narrowed at the owl, Archer doesn't offer any of the same courtesies as the others until he is certain the owl means them no harm, regarding him suspiciously yet letting him have the chance to speak. 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     "Maker's breath," Dorian comments, seeing just how very tough to keep down these beasts are. Though finally they do die -- and quite violently -- and Dorian shakes his avian head. "Yes, I can see why you've been having so much trouble here," he notes to Fassad. "If three took this many Elites to take down comfortably, I can only imagine how a larger force would be problematic."     Suddenly there is an owl! Dorian hops a little closer to where the owl is, tilting his head. "Greetings," he offers the owl pleasantly, though there is some tension behind it. Because he doesn't know who the owl is either. He also assumes it's a transformed person, but that doesn't help. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel gets a goof bit of energy she was not expecting it, she tries to not think about it as he attempts to deal with the sudden influx of extra power. She's got some power from it at the very least. Soon the fight is over, she skitters away before the explode not wishing to be caught up in it. "I see, those things remains self destruct, a means to avoid being captured and studied? She glances up looking at the bit that's greeted them. "Greetings Avian!" 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     DOWN goes the creatures with an emphasis on brutality. Finna takes a few good blows from the creatures claws, leaving gashes in her flesh... but they heal to nothing in no time at all.     They all EXPLODE on her... and once she's had a moment to catch her breath...     Then looks up, spotting an Owl.     Her beastly features melt away, revealing the human form she'd originally adopted, complete with fox features... and wildly glowing tattoos. "Are you the guardian of these lands, great owl?" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The large owl speaks. His tone is gruff, but friendly. Wise. A bit old sounding. And, of course, /incredibly longwinded/.      "Allow me to introduce myself! I am the wise owl, Kaepora Gaebora! It is a pleasure to meet you all. How are you handling your animal forms? I know they are not your preferred forms, but alas, there is a curse upon this land. I am uncertain if any of you have heard of the curse, so I shall explain it."      "The Land of Hyrule used to be a beautiful land of peace. The King was fair and kind. No war has graced this land for quite a bit of time. There were occasionally skirmishes with the dwellers of the desert, the Gerudo. Truly, it was an era of peace for Hyrule. But, a peace such as that can not last forever, no matter how much the people of the land wished for it."      "There is a man, a man you might know the name of. The people of this land simply called him by his title. The Royal Shadow. The advisor to the King, and a long time supporter of the kingdom of Hyrule. A man simply known as Agahnim. To all, he seemed loyal. But, you have already likely heard: He now sits on the throne of Hyrule. He killed the King and Queen. In the confusion, Princess Zelda was able to escape. This overthrowing of the Royal Family of Hyrule seemed to come at the worst possible time. For, it was a this same time that the Twilight arrived at the land, preventing the Royal Guard from fighting back properly."      "I am here to tell you that this was not a coincidence."      "Agahnim has made a pact with the dark ruler of the Twilight Realm. The Twilight Realm is a place connected to Hyrule, but separate. In ancient times, the Twilight Realm was an empty place, devoid of all life. In times far past, a group of Dark Interlopers were banished there. They were banished there for an incredible crime against our world. They stepped into the Sacred Realm. A place created by the three Golden Goddesses. The place where a symbol of legend rests. The resting place of the Triforce. Their attempt to use the Triforce for their own gain lead the Dark Interlopers being sealed away, to the Twilight Realm. But now, countless ages past, they have returned. And they bring the Twilight with them."      "I know naught what the denizens of the Twilight Realm and Agahnim have to connect them. I know naught why they have allied together. But, as it stands, it seems that Agahnim has aided them in bringing the Twilight here. Letting them invade Hyrule. This is not something that should be possible, and yet it has happened. Certain divine beings within Hyrule have long kept the land safe, and these beings are also what prevent the Twilight from arriving."      "These beings are known as the Spirits of Light."      "There are four Spirits of Light, located in four springs across Hyrule. Or, more accurately, there were. Since times immemorial, these beings have protected Hyrule. But now, they have been lost. They are not completely dead, though. At least, there is a method by which they can be returned. All four of them have been broken up into multiple pieces. Each piece is called a Tear of Light."      "You must retrieve the Tears of Light. You must retrieve them, for each of the four Spirits."      "Faron, the spirit that protects Faron Woods."      "Eldin, the spirit that protects Death Mountain, Kakariko Village, and the Gerudo Desert."      "Ordona, the spirit that protects Ordona Woods and the Tribly Highlands."      "Lanaryu, the spirit that protects Zora's Domain." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      "The Twilight has cleared up in some of these regions, especially around towns. I suggest you find a map, and then travel out into Hyrule. Prepare. Dark forces have began to gather. It is more than just the Twilight now. Various bands of monsters are roaming the land. Causing chaos. Should Hyrule stay as it is now for much longer, it shall become covered in darkness permanently."      "But, even with the Spirits of Light returned, Agahnim's continued rule could easily lead to their second destruction. Agahnim must be defeated. And yet, you can not reach him yet. The castle of Hyrule is, currently, his base. It is protected by an incredibly powerful magical barrier. Only one thing can remove the Barrier: The power of the Master Sword."      "One of you, and one of you alone, must quest for the Master Sword. The Forest of the Kokiri. The Zora's Domain. The Goron Village on Death Mountain. Whichever of you sets out on this quest, whichever of you feels most ready to find the Master Sword? Whichever of you is worthy of its power? Take the trials in these locations, and gain the three Symbols. Head to the Lost Woods with them."      "There, you will take the Master Sword."      At /long last/ he pauses. And then says one more line.      "Did all of you catch all of that?"      This, of course, is where you can answer yes or no. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika just kinda...listens. Once the owl proves himself not a threat, she curls up at Finna's feet, listening to the Owl exposit things and stuff. For the most part this is pretty straightforward if dense in scope. Wiggling her ears, she then makes as much a frown as a fox can before asking, "How are we to determine which of us is worthy of this blade?" Not that she's coveting another magic sword, nope. She's got her own magic sword and world-saving bullshit to deal with. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' It's honestly a lot to take in on the first pass, but Yuna-cat nods to the owl, "Yes." Besides, anything she *did* miss, Elner should have caught and committed to memory. It doesn't sound that hard, though: retrieve the Tears of Light, rescue the Spirits of Light, and whomever is worthy to wield the Master Sword - wait, totally alone, not even an escort? Kirika's question is also pretty relevant to that subject, for that matter. As for Yuna ... well, once she isn't stuck in a cat's body, she has weapons of her own, and the Matrix Divider might well parallel the Master Sword as far as capabilities in the face of evil. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Um, okay." Staren listens to the owl. "So... this Agahnim was responsible for the Twilight, then? Or at least working with whoever was?" More exposition comes. The question is eventually answered.     "I'm pretty sure we can easily kill Agahnim... oh."     Staren looks around. "Well, is anyone here an actual swordsman? Or swordswoman?" Staren waves a hand at the owl, "Yeah, yeah, it's all in here." He taps the side of his head." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah looks surprised for a moment at the arrival of the giant owl, but recovers quickly. She can't let anyone see that, she's supposed to be the sassy jaded annoyance who is right just enough to keep people from punting her off the party roster. EXPOSITION HAPPENS. Sarah listens attentively, tail whipping back and forth almost in time to the owl's words. "Okay, so we need to get all these tears to restore the spirits so we can undo the evil curse , get the super sword, and go kill the evil wizard that took over the land. Sounds pretty straightforward." She looks around at the others. "I have no idea who would be able to use the super cool sword of evil-killing through." Yeah, that's some faith, all right. "My vote goes to the porcupine." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "I'm technically a swordswoman," Yuna admits, "when I'm ... you know. Not a cat." 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     Dorian senses this is going to be a long tale, and so settles in on his branch to listen. He's very good at not showing just how very bored he is. Right up until the part where the owl with the name he isn't even going to TRY to pronounce starts talking about the invasion of the Sacred Realm by smeon who made a pact with dark powers.     Those feathers visibly fluff up. But he doesn't speak just yet. Partially because he's listening, and partly because he's shocked into silence. The similarities are chilling...     But yes, Dorian is listening. He's invested now. The Four Spirits of Light, Tears of Light... he doesn't quite understand it. But if that's what it takes...     As for who should have the sword? Dorian speaks up, "Wouldn't it be better if someone from this world quested for the Master Sword?" he suggests. "We don't know how off-world magic would clash to mixwith this Master Sword's power. It would be a shame to send someone not of this world and then have their power negate the Master Sword but have them be the only one who could wield is."     He looks to the pink bunny. "Prince Fassad? Surely you would be worthy of such a blade. This /is/ your world, yes? With that sword, you could defintely protect your world." 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     The explanation was long-winded and kind of boring, but Frederica seems to get most of it. Just don't expect her to remember the odd names right off. She COULD ask for a repeat, but figures it might put her to sleep. She can do without the long droning repetition, and probably just rely on the others to fill in the details.     She does pay more attention to the bit about the sword. When Sarah nominates her, she looks suddenly flustered. "Hey! Not me, I don't use swords!" she complains. "Especially not like THIS!" she adds, looking down at her paws. No, swords are more of a muscle-brained manthing. Frederica's all about intellect, and occasionally charging into enemies. "I mean sure I'm a wonderful hero, but I use FIRE, not swords! Pick someone else!" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "You're a porcupine, you're full of spikes. A sword is like a really big spike." Sarah sasses back. "Just relax and roll with it. Besides, it probably won't matter anyway. Whoever the Chosen One is, will probably get yanked off to do it all without them getting any say in the matter anyway, because that's how these damn things work." 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Krezentia mentally takes notes. Royal Shadow, Agahnim, Twilight Realm, Sacred Realm, Four Spirits, Master Sword, barrier, evil domain. She makes no comments on the heroism needed here; she's already thought of something much more fun and interesting to do.     These people can have their magical sword of evil's bane or whatever it turns out to be. The Magi is going to seek out this dark ruler instead. Power is ever tempting, and in an evil sorcerer you'll find much more of use than in a holy sword.     No offense to sapient holy swords out there.     You're just lame.     "Nah, I can't swing a sword so well you'd call me a swordsman. Woman. Whatever. That word. I'm not the 'lift the sword from the stone' type anyway. There's a scale somewhere that determines how much a holy sword would laugh at you if you tried picking it up and I'm, like, an eight. Maybe a nine. Or a seven. Does not killing anyone in the last couple weeks make it marginally go down?" 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     "I'm a hedgehog, not a porcupine." Frederica complains pedantically. "There's a difference. And I use whips, not swords." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "You're not helping your case, you know." Sarah replies, pointing a paw. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Yes, Yuna, you can use a sword when you're not an adorable cat. Staren must resist the impulse to pet some of the other party members.     "Heheh. Roll with it." He chuckles despite himself at Sarah's words. 

:'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''     Frederica frowns, her pointy nose wrinkling. "Oh you didn't just..." she shakes her head. She sighs. "Look, it's kind of pointless for me to use the sword. Get someone else to do it. Someone who doesn't have another way of fighting."     She does NOT look at Fassad as she says this. You know, rabbit... kind of says something doesn't it? 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel listens to the owl and goes still for the moment she looks to the Owl again thinking. "This form is not something I enjoy. These creatures are .. seen as a menace and exterimated on sight in my world for good reason. They will prey upon my people." She tries to smile a bit but she just looks more like a doom mecha spider when she tries. She settles in to listen to the Owl's tale and there's quite a bit going on here as the Owel regales the tale this world and what lead to this situation. Also they seem to have been giving a quest. "I think I understnad and do not worry, I have perfect recall of my memories. It should not be an issue!" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     ... of all the things Archer expected, one of the least was this. Apparently the owl had in fact been the one flapping his wings - he was another one of the flamboyant types of people that announced his importance in advance.     Still, it didn't mean what he said wasn't of importance, though, as he learned that apparently the current reagent to the throne had murdered the prior king and queen, gotten the last of the royal family exiled and made a pact with some kind of dark god.     ... great. Perfect. Just what he needed - another Kotomine Kirei to deal with, complete with his own Angra Mainyu God of all Evil.      Continuing to listen - and wondering how someone who could give lectures longer then Rin's even /existed/ - Archer takes note of the fact that they are effectively being conscripted into what amounts to a Holy Grail hunt for the fragments of these four Spirits' essences... but what catches his attention the most is the request to search for a blade of prophecy.     Almost immediately, his thoughts go to the memory, glimpsed in a dream so very long ago, of a girl pulling a blade from a stone and being locked onto a destiny that ultimately claimed her entire existence.     The comparison is far too uncomfortable for him... but, in all honesty, it was starting to look, between the comments of everyone here, that either he or Fassad were the best choices... and ultimately, he agreed with the sentiment given by another in their group.     "Our resident mage" - he inclined to the peacock still in the tree - "is right. Someone from this world would be better suited to getting this blade. Probably more politically correct as well for a native to be the so-called hero in this case. The Union and Confederacy would likely clash enough over lands without needing an excuse - best bet is to have someone who's got a stronger tie to this land as opposed to some foreign power." He knows his words are harsh, but he doesn't see a reason to sugar-coat anything either. "Given the circumstances... that leaves you, Fassad." He pauses. "Still... you should keep in mind that accepting means you're willing to accept the price that comes with being a hero... and it tends to be a heavy one. Are you willing to do that?" His question is earnest and straightforward - he of all people has come to resent the idea of being forced into an unrewarding destiny. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     "So there's a princess in hiding, a jerk on the throne, big spirits that need a lot of help... and someone has to go find an old artifact..." Finna makes a dumbfounded face. This sounds almost too weird to be true. "Gotta help the spirits to drive off the Twilight, huh." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Everyone has several questions. The first of which is likely the easiest to answer: Who should handle the blade?      Fassad himself speaks up, smiling to the group. There is an excitement to his voice. Despite the fact he is in bunny form, he actually looks proud in his posture. He loosk towards Dorian, nodding at the suggestion. Smiling.      "I agree with sir Dorian. Everyone. This task? It is certainly meant for me. I have known for ages that I am destined to be the hero of this land. So... The Legendary Master Sword, that blade of legend? I will seek it out. I /will/ find it. And, I will weild it. I know, in my heart, that I can complete the tests."      "I am /completely/ willing to take on this burden."      His tone does not make it seem like he thinks it is a burden.      The owl smiles at the group. In a way, he is dissapointed that none of them have asked to hear it again. But, finally, youth who listen the first time around. He speaks to all of them again.      "Well, the Twilight in this area is clearing slowly. At least, temporarily. Soon, you will encounter one other person who might be able to aid you on your quest. A mapmaker. Take his help, and purchase a map of this land."      Suddenly, the Twilight in the area moves on, crawling across the land. Everyone will regain their human forms. The Owl, though? It remains an Owl. Kaepora Gaebora is a strange being. He flaps his wings, and takes off to the sky.      And, not long after, another figure is coming in, floating on the sky. Carried on red balloons. Wearing a full body green leotard. A scroll of parchment is in his hands, along with a quill.      Fassad, now in human form again, looks up towards this strange floating man.      "...Is that who we need help from?" 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "I don't know. He looks suspicious. We should kill him and steal his map when the body hits the ground," Krezentia helpfully advises.     What, did people forget she's that sort of person?     Then again, nobody here's really met her or interacted with her before besides Yuna, so that may be a very dumb question to ask. The Magi leans back, at least, against a tree, content her wolf features are gone. And her fairy is not a floating skull anymore.     "Say, why's the Twilight just waving around anyway? What kind of evil cursed realm behaves like the tide, arbitrarily spreading and retreating? Or does that fall under 'I dunno'?" she asks Fassad, idly. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Something about Fassad's tone doesn't quite ring right for Staren... He's always known he was the destined hero? But Fassad's not the only one who thinks it's a good idea. And he /is/ a successful, heroic elite. Staren doesn't say anything. Except:     "Woah, wait, you're /really/ a talking owl?" Oh, /now/ he leaves without exposition. Figures.     Staren looks at no-longer-wolfgirl. "The owl said 'take his help', not 'kill him and take his stuff'. He can't /help/ us if he's dead."     As he speaks, Staren ejects his pistol's current e-clip and slides in a new one, much like swapping a magazine in a lower-tech pistol, then holsters it again. "Maybe it's a delayed result of us killing those shadow monsters?" 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "You guys are kidding." Sarah says. "You're trying to nominate Prince 'adorable bunny' Charmin to go find the super evil killing sword and be the great hero? He looks like he belonged in toothpaste and hair conditioner commercials. How do we even know he's capable of being more than a blowhard?" After her rant, she looks over at the incoming floating map guy. "Is it just me or is that guy wearing green tights and floating on balloons?" She pauses. "Let's go with her idea." She says, indicating Krezentia. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "How would we know which of his maps is the right one, Krez?" Yuna asks - and lets out a sigh of relief as the dispersing Twilight lets her revert back to human form, her full Light Suit rematerializing. "Besides, we might need him to provide maps of other regions, so killing him would mean we don't *have* his help later when we might need it even more." She nods to Staren, "That's my guess ... Elner? Any theories?" "Nothing that hasn't already been suggested," Elner notes. "Also, Kaepora Gaebora said that the man is a 'map maker'. He may not have finished the other maps that will eventually be needed." 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika makes a confused noise as she spies the floating man, her body shifting back to her humanoid shape again. It feels good to be back on two legs again, that's for sure. That said, she arches her back as she gets used to walking like a human again, and she observes the floating man some more. "I do not trust this, something feels amiss regarding that fellow." Kirika muses warily> 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     "Well, the owl also didn't say 'DON'T kill him and DON'T take his stuff'. If we do that we are totally 'taking his help' though. By the letter of the giant owl's words we're still heroes," Krezentia says, with a malicious grin on her face. But it's not like she's acting, either. She's just being bad advice. 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     Dorian nods to Archer's words. Though he outright winces at the word 'hero'. Maker, he hated that word. Not because it had been applied to him. Oh no, he's been called everything in the book thanks to his lineage and origin. But the title 'hero' is so often bestowed posthumously that it's definitely not something he'd seek.     He doesn't get to say anything though, because... well, the Twilight moves on, as does the owl. Unfortunately Dorian is still perched in the tree when the Twilight moves on. Which means he's left crouching on a branch when he returns to his human form. "...Kaffas," Dorian mutters.     Thankfully he didn't fly too terribly high. So he jumps down from the branch, with a wince. He doesn't have the 'roll with the impact' training that a warrior might. ut at least he didn't break anything.     Looking between Krezentia and Sarah, "Both of you, do behave. We can't afford to go about randomly murdering the denizens of this realm." A pause. "I've a feeling there will be plenty of killing to come. Let's not start now." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel listens as the Owl tells them they might be able to get help from a local map maker. Also she feels her body starting to warp back into it's true form. She takes a moment to shake her head nd then peers at the man floting in. She has this, WHAT look just cemented on her face. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Archer looks at Fassad and his gaze narrows, seeming discontent by the way Fassad replied. However, he sighs and shakes his head - if he really wanted to go down the martyr's path, who was Archer to try and talk sense to him? Still, it comes down to one thing, which he promptly tells Sarah in his ever-present dryly-sarcastic way - "Does that mean /you're/ volunteering to do it? If you did at any point, I must have missed it." Of course, Archer hadn't volunteered himself, but he didn't have any need - this wasn't his problem and it wasn't his world to die for. If someone native to this world /really/ wanted to toss their life into saving it... well, who was he to stop them?     When Archer shifts back to his human form at last, he stands up, flexing his fingers idly to make sure everything is still responsive. He even summons Kanshou and Bakuya, his favored blades, to make sure his projection still works as before.     ... then he turns to face the direction Fassad is looking in... and he finds himself agreeing with the deadpan expression of the latter.     Just... just what the hell was he looking at?     After everything he'd seen in his life... this definitely had to be one of the strangest and most surreal things he had ever encountered. Not even learning King Arthur had been a slip of a girl who looked barely out of her teens was as jarring a concept as what he was seeing now as a man in green tights floated towards them on red balloons.     He finally drops back down to the ground from the tree, glancing at Krezenta and Sarah, giving a rather nonchalant shrug at the concept of just killing the man - "Maybe, but what if we need him again? We don't have any clue if there's some sort of catch - for all we know, he'll just give us a map to our immediate destinations and hand them out as we need them. It'd be a perfect way to ensure we don't outright kill him."      Archer then pauses a moment, regarding Dorian. "Plus, like the mage said, the last thing we need is to potentially anger the locals - this 'Agahnim' will make it hard enough for us /without/ butchering innocents and getting the common people angry. It'll turn everyone against us and give more authority to Agahnim when he inevitably declares us criminals - and he /will/ once he learns what we're doing." Even though Archer's encouraging them not to kill, his way of justifying it is all coldly logical and pragmatic - there's not one ounce of ethical consideration brought up... but maybe that's because he's figured Krezentia doesn't care about ethics as opposed to results. Hence why he uses logic alone. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "How can you people look at this guy and NOT think he's skeevy? Look at him. He probably wears that in the basement he lives in. That's gross. If you get close you'll probably find Cheetos stains." There is a pause, and then Sarah looks down at Krezentia, suddenly realizing she's a girl again. And sitting on top of Krezentia. "Well damn. You're a giant badass, aren't you?" She does give Krezentia the benefit of hopping off to hit the ground, crossing her arms. "Anyway, the guy trips like half of my Stranger Danger flags just looking at him. If he offers to show you a land of fairies and candy, run." She makes an exaggerated sigh as Yuna and Doran make good points. "Okay. Fine. You actually have a good point. Don't kill him. Yet." She looks over towards Archer, and tilts her head. "Do I /LOOK/ like I have a Swordkind Strife Modus, Chuckles? If I did, I would have used it." She completely disregards the rest of his argument since she already relented. Also, it lets her keep her Sass Combo Meter up. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika does find it rather petty to kill someone off so non-chalantly when they can be of such service, and she shoots Sarah and Krezentia a look. "Fair enough, but at the same time, we are better off relying on him if his maps /are/ useful after all. At the least, we can keep him at arm's length." She does have to agree at how creepy he is, getting the shivers just from LOOKING at the floating guy.     "You up there! Who are you?" She calls to the floating fellow. Gods help her if he /does/ get the wrong idea from the fetching foxy lady.     That said, Kirika does have her own sword now. "You are a cartographer, are you not? Can you assist us?" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad frowns firmly at Krezentia. "...We should not kill him." But, he has at least a bit to say on the Twilight thing. "...Well. Knowing that it is another realm, and knowing it is breaking into this one... I can at least make a /guess/. My best guess is that the border between the realms is breaking, and the places where it bursts through more change. But... It is moving faster than it used to. I am uncertain /why/."      A frown is given to Sarah. Fassad is, certainly, unhappy at that statement. It's not often he just flatout frowns. And yet this group is getting him to do so a bit more. "...If you do not believe I can do it, then you will be proven right if I fail. There is no reason I can not try. Should I fail? Someone else can simply go on the mission themselves."      And then Tingle floats in a bit closer. He really /can't/ control where he is going, but the eyes of this short pudgy man are looking towards the party. As he looks, there is a bit of a glimmer in his eyes. He gets a bit closer, by luck and by accident. And then, the balloons on his back pop, causing him to panic as he falls to the ground, screaming aloud just slightly.      He crashes on the path, but pulls himself up. He does a little bit of a dance, hitting his feet onto the ground multiple time. And then, he speaks.      "AHH! Amazing! All of you just turned into humans from animals... Is there any chance that the lot of you might be... Fairies?!" He dances a bit more, smiling at the whole group, "I, too, am a lost fairy! My name is TINGLE! My father says I'm not, but, still! I even have magic! And I cast my magic, as I go around, selling my wares! My maps of Hyrule! OH! WATCH!"      He holds out his hands, waving them, "TINGLE TINGLE KOOLOO LIMPAH!" Suddenly, a burst of mundane glitter and confetti. He is certainly not a fairy.      "...Do all of you want to buy a map, by the way? As fellow fairies, I will give you /quite/ a discount!" 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     And immediately Kirika regrets giving Tingle the benefit of a doubt. She tilts her head in confusion at Tingle, her lips curled in baffled disgust before she just tries to power through this.     "...yes. We are fairies." He's close enough, Kirika IS half-kitsune, after all. "I am affraid I've little money on me, however I am certain we could work out some sort of trade?" SHe glances at Fassad, hoping the prince has something of local currency on his person. Unless Tingle is willing to convert cash at the moment, Kirika is shit out of luck right now as far as money goes. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah watches Tingle do his speech and it is so disturbing that she actually fails to immediately retort to Fassad. YOU WIN THIS ROUND, MAYBELLINE MAN. However, she does basically cross her arms and emits the most powerful look of 'I told you so' that she can possibly manage. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna quickly comes to the decision that Krezentia and Sarah pose an extremely high threat to Tingle, and possibly (albeit less of one, maybe) to other locals, if they aren't carefully watched. Fortunately, they didn't do anything to pop those balloons (that she saw), so she sets that aside mentally for the time being. At least Tingle is back on his feet in short order. "We were told that you could provide maps for us," she greets him with a friendly smile (glitter and general weirdness notwithstanding). "I'm not sure - Fassad, do you have local money? I didn't think to get any local cash on the way ..." She neither confirms nor denies being a faerie. If letting him think that means he'll be more helpful than otherwise, then it's ... not like she NEEDS to correct the mistaken impression, right? ... Even if she doesn't like taking advantage of - "And we aren't actually fairies ourselves, but we were asked to help them. Is that close enough?" Why support a lie when the truth should work just about as well? What Yuna DOES know about Hyrule includes that some fairies are very important. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren watches... Tingle... approach and arrive.     He's /seen/ things, man. So he doesn't automatically assume Tingle is a crazy person. Maybe he really is a fairy. And even if he's not, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be one. Well. Depending on what he thinks a fairy is. Eldritch abominations are bad.     Staren shakes his head. "I am not a fairy. We were transformed into animals by the Twilight." he exposits, neutrally. "However, we would like to purchase one of your maps. A map of this land."     Staren blinks. "Oh, shit. I don't have any of the local money." He looks at Fassad. "Can you pay for the map? 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     Dorian looks to Fassad. "Consider me at your service, Prince Fassad. I'll offer my private radio frequency later, so you can call whenever you need me." But why? He offers a reason for that, too. "There were people in my world who tried to take the Golden City, the throne of the Maker, and it ruined my world. Our 'Twilight', we call the Blight." A frown, and he shakes his head. "I'll not stand idly by while another world suffers the same."     Though when he observes the... antics of the odd fellow in the green bodysuit. He waits until Tingle is done, and comments, "Maker's breath man, who is your tailor? You should fire him immediately. With actual fire."     Honestly he doesn't know anything about fairies. He's never really seen one, except for Krezentia's companion. Dorian is certainly not a tiny, winged, floating thing. But for all he knows, this fellow in green won't help them unless he thinks they are fairies. So he just keeps quiet on that. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna swiftly acts to stifle a burst of the giggles at Dorian's suggestion. She won't deny that Tingle's fashion sense is .... distressing, so the 'with actual fire' part amuses her more than it probably should. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel says "So it seems one file is trying to over write another and everything else? I think I understand this now." She's bsoding over tingle but that doesn't mean she shouldn't kill him or attack him. She looks the 'man' over for a moemnt tiling her head. "We would be very much in need of a map sir." Okay this is organic life just being pure chaos again, Deelel is trying to not freak out here. 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''     Hearing Sarah's quip, Archer gives a rather bemused smile - "That's my point. He /can/ wield a sword, you can't. So it makes it hard to judge, doesn't it?"     When 'Tingle', as he was called by the owl, hits the ground and starts dancing, Archer immediately feels a headache coming on. Even now he cringes inwardly, while outwardly he has a look of pure exasperation on his face.     He certainly could understand why someone would want to kill this man. Or at least render him unconscious. However, they do need him, and Archer was serious about the fact that killing people without cause wouldn't do wonders for their reputations.      When Staren speaks up, Archer curses to himself that someone in their group was actually fool enough to say that when they were being offered a discount - which they needed considering they had less then nothing to give in the first place so far. Giving an offhanded glance at him, Archer re-focuses his attention on Tingle. "Sorry - the change seems to have... disoriented some of us. Some of us are still recovering from it now that the Twilight has passed." And that wasn't even a lie, really. And in spite of himself, Archer found he couldn't resist a small smirk at Dorian's comment, seeing how true it was.     Now... how to get the map from him? As a spirit, Archer didn't carry money. He had his swords of course - a projected blade would only last a few hours, but it would be more then enough time to trick the man into giving up a map.     However, he does spare a glance to Dorian and Fassad - the ones who, by their apparel alone, ought to have at least /something/ of value they intend to trade. Therefore, trading a traced blade will be his backup plan - for now, he waits to see what Fassad intends. 

:'''{{#var:758|Krezentia Einjager (758)}} has posed:'''     Krezentia does not argue! Nor make a mess. She listens to Fassad's explanation, and reckons it makes sense. She also doesn't seem to have minded Sarah being on top of her, but since she was leaning on a tree for support, it doesn't say much for her strength. She's not THAT much stronger than a human.     As Tingle introduces himself, Krezentia burries her face in her hand. Kopie promptly retreats behind Krezentia's hair, because this guy seems to be a fairy fanatic.     "You know, my suggestion of how to deal with this is still on the table. Just saying. Never too late to fix a problem the easy way." 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah is by now looking angrily at Archer, flailing her hands and yelling, "CHECK YOUR SWORD PRIVLEDGE!" in the background. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren sighs at Krezentia. "I doubt that in this world, being a small man with... questionable taste in fashion is a crime. Besides, for all we know, maybe that's one of the local fashions." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Tingle immediately proves unhelpful. For, he looks away from all of those who claimed they weren't fairies. And instead focuses on the ones who said they are. Ignoring all others.      Meaning he is addressing Kirika, and only Kirika, her being the /only one/ who confirmed she is a fairy.      "AHHH! And what a lovely fairy you are! It is so nice to meet another of my kind! Well, in that case, since it is only you... You must be on a /great/ journey. I will /gladly/ give you a map of all of Hyrule... For two hundred rupees!"      Fassad chokes a little hearing that sum. He knows that is /way/ overpriced for a map. But, alas, he frowns. They were told they need a map, so... A sigh. He slips Kirika a couple of large gemstones behind her back. Rupees, worth 200 of them.      Fassad turns to Dorian, smiling. "Thank you for your aid. The more help in this matter, the better. And... If you ever need help dealing with this Blight in your world, I am more than willing to lend you my blade. Especially once I make claim to the Master Sword." 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika stares at the little man, befuddled and outright ashamed she even decided to indulge him. Sighing, she at least gives Fassad a nod when he provides some rupees, holding them up. "I suppose this will do, then?" She forces a smile, and were this more cartoony there would be creaking metal as she tries to grin and feign cheer.     Handing the money over in exchange for the map, Kirika /immediately/ moves back towards the mage and prince, content to hide behind the two men for a little bit. "Err...yes, and mine as well if you gentlemen so wish it." She offers. "My world has similar problems, to say I know how it is would be understating it." She remarks, thinking back to the attack on the summer festival a year ago by thralls, and the Nue they defeated in the process. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Tingle takes the money, smiling at Kirika. The map is handed over. And then, he bows, smiling, "Ah, thank you so much, lady fairy! I am so glad to have met you, and so glad to have your business! Please, buy maps again, or visit my father's store!"      He lifts a hand. To take Kirika's hand in his own.      And then he kisses the back of it. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Oh /god./     Kirika just stares at the hand, and then at the little man, and thne back at her hand again after /that/ happens. Utter /disgust/ cralws up her spine, in spite of the brave face she puts on. Right now, she's jjust going through the Hunter's Oath in her head over and over, trying /desperately/ to not snap.     It would be so /easy/, too, but damnit she has standards.     All she can do is sneakily slip the map over to Fassad, it's only fair the Prince has the thing. Plus it's less baggage connecting her with.../this guy./ 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:''' Hearing Sarah's comment, Archer gives another wry smirk at seeing her flail before projecting a nameless blade. He flourishes it once in a rather intricate pattern before holding it out to her, seemingly waiting for her to take it from his hand - as if wordlessly saying 'check away.'     However, his attention is shortly diverted back to the scene before him, staring blankly as Tingle takes Kirika's hand and kisses the back of it as if she were a maiden and he a prince... and wondering whether he should find the scene funny or disturbing.     However, the scene passes, and regardless or the surreality of it, Archer is satisfied that the issue is settled - meaning he won't have to fall back on deception this time. Now the only thing left was planning out how this hunt for the so-called Tears of Light.     ... but in the end, old habits die hard, and Archer ultimately can't help but bring up one single sardonic quip to Kirika - "You do realize we're going to have to have you on hand - literally it seems - to vouch for us if we need him again, right? 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna steps back and to the side, leans over a bit, and stagewhispers to Kirika, "Maybe he'll forget who's a fairy and who isn't out of our band and somebody else can take the hit in your place next time ... " Getting kissed on the hand isn't THAT bad, honestly. Now, if Tingle had gone for Kirika's lips ... well. Yuna still wouldn't want him DEAD but she might be more permissive of a few solid smacks. Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' Sarah doesn't take the sword. "Whad do you want me to do with that? I can't use swords. Do you even understand what I me-" She pauses, and looks over at Tingle kissing Kirika's hand. Two competing expressions appear on her face: Pure, unadulterated, delicious schadenfrude... And horror, as she tries to signal to Kirika 'ABORT, ABORT' She actually doesn't think Kirika deserves this horrible fate. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     All Kirika can muster now is a long-suffering sigh, as she just feels her skin crawl all over still, her ears drooping and her tail stiffer than a tree-limb. It's nothing short of humiliating right now for her, especially given Kasun's norms looking not too fondly on such brazen displays of affection for the most part, even in courting if you ask the traditionalists.     She is going to be in the shower all night at this rate. 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     Fassad gets a smirk. "I may hold you to that. Darkspawn are not exactly a task one takes on for a lark," he replies, as if it was a threat. But it's a teasing tone. Clearly he realizes it's a herculean task and wouldn't ask just anyone.     And then Kirika is hand-kissed! Dorian shakes his head, and raises a hand to pat Kirika on the shoulder comfortingly. Though he says nothing about that yet. He does however whisper to Yuna, "Note, I never said one way or the other whether I was." He's not, but he's saving that, in case he has to claim it. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad takes the map from Kirika. A smile is given to her. Along with a cloth, so that she might wipe her hand. A small favor, but something he feels needs to be done.      Tingle, meanwhile, smiles at the group as a whole. Even the non-fairies. "That map should sow most of Hyrule! But, again, if you ever need more help, seek me out! My father's shop is in the Castle Town near Hyrule Castle! We can most /certainly/ help you with needs! And so, to say farewell, I have but one thing to say..."      "TINGLE TINGLE KOOLOO LIMPAH!"      His hands lift up. Suddenl, flowers fly from his sleeves, and burst around. It isn't magic, he just kept them in his sleeves. He leans forward a bit, and balloons begin to inflate on his back. Slowly, he is floating up into the air, and being carried off onto the wind.      Let's hope he floats to the ocean.      Fassad lets out a sigh, relaxing a bit. He turns to the group, and smiles, "...Well. There is an inn, just ahead. I think we could head there, and rest for the evening. Prepare for adventure. ...But. Since I will be going on my own quest, it is there I will part with you. I /must/ thank you all for your help... And, I will stay in touch. If any of you need advice, I can give it, as possible."      "So, shall we head to the inn?" 

:'''{{#var:821|Archer (821)}} has posed:'''      If anything, Archer's smirk gets slightly bigger at Sarah's words - and he picks up where she left off; "If I recall... were saying we're born unequal? I got that part - hence why I'm asking how you can judge if you don't have a sword privilege of your own." He speaks this so casually that it could be mistaken for simple all-too-honest commentary of the kind his younger self was the victim of practically every day. However, the way he's going about it, it's all too clear Archer knows perfectly well that he's simply pressing her buttons.     Still, after a moment, he gives a sigh and looks Sarah dead in the eyes, becoming honest and serious as he moves out of earshot from Fassad. "You must have seen for yourself that I have doubts of my own - you saw that I asked him if he really wanted to go through with this. Truth be told, I don't blame you for being skeptical - in fact, I actually agree with you. He's far from what I call an ideal hero."     He glances back to where Fassad was with Dorian and Kirika were at this, seeming to gaze analytically at the blonde-haired self-proclaimed savior of this world. "It's true that he's definitely capable - his stance, calm in the midst of battle and the way he led us through this makes that clear - but he also eager, self-absorbed and self-assured that he's going to come out on top. All mistakes that I know for a fact will condemn anyone on the thankless road to being the nonexistence that is a 'hero.'"     With this, Archer sighs and shrugs. "But like I said before, this is his world - if he wants to throw himself into this task, who are we to stop him? It's not like you - or any of us for that matter - have a better option to suggest, now do we? If he succeeds, he succeeds. If he fails, he fails. But it's his choice in the end, and the only choice we have at that. So it's not like we have anything to lose by letting him try."     Relieved at Tingle's departure - and somewhat disturbed by how he left - Archer then raises his hand up in a semi-polite gesture of refusal. "Sadly, my Master likes keeping me on a short leash, so to speak-" he pointedly ignores any quips Sarah gives on the matter- "-but I can get around quickly. She's got... ways of keeping tabs on recent events, so to speak, and I'm good at tracking people. So if she sends me out here again, I'll find you quickly enough."     With that, he turns his back, raises his hand in farewell... and bounds into the sky higher then a normal person should be capable of, vanishing as he enters spirit form and leaves the forest behind him. 

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''     Dorian has one other thing to say. "Be careful on your quest, Your Majesty. The title 'hero' is too often bestowed posthumously. And seeking it doesn't make you invincible. If you ARE a hero, it's because of what you /do/, not because of what you /are/."     Oh yes. Also that exchange of private frequencies will happen too, if Fassad is keen. Dorian remains on-call in case Fassad needs help. Sure it's Fassad's quest... but a little help wouldn't be breaking the rules too much... 

:'''{{#var:789|Sarah Parsle (789)}} has posed:''' "That doesn't make you qualified to judge jack, you blade-wielding blowhard." Sarah stubbornly replies, folding her arms. "But what is true is that it doesn't actually matter what I think. No matter what any of us do here, we've already set into motion what's going to happen." She shakes her head. "You see what you want to see. You hear what you want to hear. So do I. It's a fact of life, and that's why we make the decisions we do. It's not like I can stop him." She pauses. "Or any of you, really. I'm just some kid." She sighs, then. "I'm tired. Let's go to the inn." This seems to be about as much as Fassad is going to get from her today. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has had a lot ot take in with Tingle she's creeped out but she's chalking it up to organics being just chaotic by their nature. She looks to Fassad and nods her head. "Sounds like a plan to me and ... I think I might need a drink." 

}}

2845/WMAT AQ1 The Desert Marvel, N'raha Tia vs Mokuba Kaiba

2015-08-19T03:22:12Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/19 |Location=WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes |Synopsis=Mokuba and N'raha fight, with N'raha winning. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=623, 819 |Tin..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/19
|Location=WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes
|Synopsis=Mokuba and N'raha fight, with N'raha winning.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=623, 819
|Tinyplot=WMAT 2015
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     If you were expecting a flighty, haggard, anxious catdude here today, that is not what you are getting.     After his victory the other night, his work with theScions and the Union and more and more practice, the young Miqo'te is at least getting used to this side of things, when it comes to being in the public eye.     He sits near to one of the sets of stands, red armor slightly dull in the passing clouds. There is a massive axe next to him along with his helmet, and he's calmly waiting for his opponent.     The crowds aren't that large today, at least on N'raha's side of the 'arena' 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Mokuba walks into the arena. The crowds aren't huge for him, either. He's not a huge name in the Multiverse. His brother? Sure, he'd bring in a crowd. But, at least, a handful of people are watching Mokuba. This group watching does not include his brother, though. Instead, it's mostly a handful of people in suits. Bodyguards, just in case.      Mokuba's duel disk is on his left arm. His deck is slotted. His left hand itself has five cards already draw. The right? Free to draw and place cards.      He smirks at N'raha, chuckling a bit. Mokuba actually looks a bit bratty and egotistical. Everything about this ten year old child with long black hair screams 'brat', really.      "Ah man, this is the Desert Marvel? You aren't all /that/ cool looking!" 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     The catman's tail swishes a bit, and he grins. "Well, we'll see at the end of this, now won't we?" He chuckles, slips up to his feet, and hefts his axe. "Right then, let's get this started! No sense in wastin' time."     The Marauder levels the axe to point right at Mokuba. "My name is N'raha of Eorzea, the Desert Marvel. LET THE FLAMES OF THANALAN TAKE YOU." And with that, he-     Well he's not fast by Multiversal standard, but he's sprinting in platemail, a trail of aetheric wind gusting behind him as he closes the distance. About 30 feet away, he whirls in his motion, huring a bolt of aggravating energy at the Card Kid, testing the waters. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Mokuba, for all of his ego, is still just a ten year old kid. Being hit dead on, right away? That would be bad for him. He has to act differently than most, summoning forth monsters to take the hits for him.      And so he acts fast, drawing a card. The fact that Mokuba had an early chance to look at his hand, and the fact that N'raha isn't supersonic fast, help give him a bit of time to act. He plays a card quickly.      "NIGHTMARE PENGUIN! IN DEFENSE MODE!"      A Penguin appears. A penguin wearing a tuxedo, vest, and tophat. It has a brilliant pair of yellow eyebrows as well. It stands in the path of the attack. Mokuba is a bit too slow, though. The burst grazes the penguin, but it still hits him. He stumbles back, frowning forward, "...Bah! You won't get so lucky twice! I made this deck /specifically/ to beat you. Going around, bragging about being used to the desert? I bet you've never even /seen/ a fish, let alone know what a penguin is! You're completely out of your element! AND TIME TO MAKE IT WORSE! TERRAFORMING!"      He slaps a card down on the Duel Disk. A card is pushed out of his deck by an automated function, and onto the field itself. A special slot, for 'Field Cards'. The entire battlefield suddenly /changes/. Holographic water, about a foot deep. It rolls and moves, making it look like the two are standing in the ocean. Various stone ruins appear around, with various platforms. Mokuba himself is lifted up onto a stone platform, mostly by chance.      "AND SEE IT NOW?! The Legendary Ocean! You won't even stand a chance! ATTACK, NIGHTMARE PENGUIN!"      Holograms appear in the air, showing the creature's attack and defense. It started as 900/1800, but the attack immediately shoots up to 1100. And then, once the ocean appears, both stats increase further. 1300/2000. These numbers mean little to Elties, though. Instead, the Penguin rushes forward, moving straight into N'raha. It moves along the water, swimming elegantly despite its suit. And then, it moves to tackle into the Desert Wonder. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     N'raha awks a bit as the place suddenly changes and... and now it's an ocean. He looks around confusedly a bit at 'why the crap am I in the water' when Penguin thing decks him in the face and he flops back on his ass with a splash.     A grunt of confusion. Wizards. Bluh. Astrologians even, weird ass astrologian. He spins in place and growls. Okay, we're summoning crap. He can't do that forever. He plants his feet, waiting for the thing to make its next pass and- The Miqo'te's axe raises up and he delivers a heavy lumbnerjack's swing at the critter, aiming to evaporate it or whatever is going to happen to Magically Appearing Fishbirds. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As the axe comes in against the Nightmare Penguin, it is split straight in half. It bursts into various shards of light, which rapidly dissipate into the air. Mokuba bites the side of his lip in anger, a scowl on his face. Last fight, he was willing to go ahead and fake being somewhat good of a kid. But, he already heard that his last opponent lost to N'raha. And his last opponent, as loathe as he is to admit it? She was as strong as him.      "You got lucky!" He draws his next card, grinning wildly. Yeaaah, this'll turn things around. He plays it, face up on his Duel Disk. "I PLAY ORCA MEGA-FORTRESS OF DARKNESS! ATTACK!"      An Orca appears. A rather /large/ orca. Its back is cvoerd by a metal sheet, and various spikes are on the front of htis platform. In fact, on closer inspection, it almost looks like it is actually a ship. It even has a crane, for sea salvage. This whale stays still, though. Right in front of Mokuba. The spike-like torpedoes on its head begin to fire out, flying through the air and aiming to hit N'raha Tia.      It's attack and defense, currently, are 2300/1400. If it even really matters. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     Now he's summoning Boatshipfish things. It's certainly not the Primal Leviathan, but it's a big fish. THough, there's a theme here that he's finally catching on to.     there's a fangy grin on the catman's face as he spots the frustration on Mokuba's face, and starts to charge across the stones.     He's spry, even for the armor, and makes dashing jumps to clear the distance. He takes one of the missles in the shoulder but there's a flash of aether and he barrels through it, to get up and on top of the fishboat, howling. "You realize, Mr. Kaiba, what this axe means, right?" He lifts up the fire branded axe and growls, as he heads for that crane. "It means YARRR I BE A PIRATE NOW." He once again plants his feet, and this time launches a series of strikes against the crane, aiming to bring it down off the orca. "ARRRRR ME HEARTIES!" Wait is he mocking the kid? 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The crane is chopped straight in half, slamming into the whale. It cries out in pain, somehow managing to still stay up despite that hard hit. A look of shock is on the boy's face now. He planned this! He planned this /so well/. How can this Desert Marvel be /so good/ with water, and sealife, and know what a pirate is? In fact, Mokuba even shouts out a bit, while drawing his next card, "...WHY IS THE DESERT MARVEL SO GOOD WITH WATER AND FISH?!"      He slams down his next card, swearing a bit under his breath. If the catman can hear him, he'll definitely hear a few f-bombs. Another creature forms. A large white fish, with plates over its entire body. It almost looks like a salmon, but more hardcore.      "TERRORKING SALMON! ORCA MEGA-FORTRESS OF DARKNESS! Keep it up! RELENTLESSLY ATTACK HIM! NO DEFENSE!"      The Orca tries to attack by swimming towards a stone holographic building, trying to slam N'raha into it. Even if N'raha isn't hit into the building, the building will still collapse. The Terrorking Salmon leaps out of the water, moving towards N'raha. Aiming to bite with his crushing mouth. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     "AH hells, did he really think..." Yes, yes he did, and the catman is not about to let the point of advantage go to waste. "Ya gotta know in the future, Mr. Kaiba...." He wheels in place and slams his axe down, unleashing an aetheric wave of heat and pain to buffet those missle launchers on the Orca. "That it's a good idea to get a fill idea of who yer gonna fight!"     Ah crap, demon salmon and ROCKS FALL. There's a flash of light, and then N'raha is swamped under the rubble...     The light builds and flashes over though, and the catman can be seen in the beak of the salmon axe raised his cross ways to block off the critter from biting all the way through. "AND NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A MIQO'TE!" He shoves off the fish and then launches into a flurry of strikes, aiming to harass and murder the armored fish.     Mmmmmmm, lox. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The Terrorking Salmon is struck into by that flurry of blades. It shifts and cries out, struggling as it is hit. At this point, Mokuba has realized. Oh /fuck/. He /completely/ messed up. This guy /is/ used to fighting fish! Though, with that axe, he highly doubts even his plant/reptile deck would hold up well.      There is only /one way/ he can win. Taking advantage of how /many/ fish he and penguins he can summon.      He draws his next card, smiling, "...Well. Even if you /are/ good with fish, and even if the idea that you being the Desert Marvel meant you sucked at ocean stuff is wrong... Well... I CAN STILL WIN THIS! With /this/ card!"      He sets a card in attack position. The Great Emperor Penguin. It looks much like a normal Emperor Penguin, except larger. And it has /teeth/. But, it's not there for long. "I USE ITS EFFECT! Tribute him, to summon /two more/ penguins from my deck!"      Two penguins appear on the battlefield. A new Nightmare Penguin, suit and all. The second is blue, with eyebrows that almost look like wings. The Flying Penguin.      And, because of the Nightmare Penguin, the Flying Penguin and the Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness are both stronger than before. This is in addition to the boost from the Legendary Ocean.      A biologist who focuses on artic animals is probably crying, as the penguins and orca work in tandem with eachtoher. The Orca moves in to tackle, while the two penguins dash through the water to leap and tackle into N'raha. The penguins are moving faster and faster, and trying to leap and hit N'raha multiple times.      "I'M GONNA SINK YOU NOW!" 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     And now this is where we are. Well, if N'raha really wanted to put his Pirate Chopmans skills to the test, this kid was doing it. He growls as the penguiny assault starts, dodging and weaving as best he can but to no avail. He staggers and shakes and that armor is tested pretty hard as he it buffetted by beaks and bulk.     And for a moment, he vanishes under the weight and waves of the ocean.     SLAM. There's a terrible noise as one of those stone pillars rumbles and falls against another one, and the Marauder comes barreling out of the water, howling mad and steaming from the force of his aether buring off the damp not-salt of the ocean. "THE SEA HASN'T SWALLOWED ALL YET, MOKUBA KAIBA!" That tail lashes furiously as he aims for the biggest thing here: The Orca. Not content with simply choping pieces of it away, he outright heads for a decapitation attack, axe lashing up and STRAIGHT DOWN at the front of the critter. Biggest threat first. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Mokuba is left speechless. His mouth simply hangs open as he watches the feat of strength performed by N'raha. He understands that the Elites of the Multiverse are impressive. But that axe, cutting into the neck of this whale? Bisecting it, right then and there? this is impressive. The whale's head flies off. Instead of gore, it bursts into shards like the other destroyed monsters.      Mokuba is in /way/ over his head. His big brother was probably right.      He pulls his next card. And immediately plays it. "MORAY OF GREED! Two of my water monsters go back from my hand to my deck! And then I draw a card!" He slots in two monsters. This is a risky manuever. But, there is a certain card he is looking for. A certain card that could help him turn this around. Maybe.      There is a glimmer in his eyes. And Mokuba smirks.      "This? This is where you /lose/. I tribute the Flying Penguin to summon the /most powerful/ monster in my deck! LEVIA-DRAGON, DAEDALUS!"      The Flying Penguin vanishes. The Nightmare Penguin moves back, to defend Mokuba. Where the Flying Penguin was, a new monster has appeared. It is a massive, serpentine sea creature. Its body is blue in color, and mostly played. A red fin trails along its back. It opens its mouth, letting out a massive roar. A sparkling is within its mouth, and it fires out a massive beam of energy, straight towards N'raha. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     WELL NOW. He called up a Primal, and the primal is trying to Temper him. Or at least roast him where he stands. He settles himself square on the pedistal, and calls out. "I HAVEN'T FALLEN YET, KAIBA. TAKE YOUR BE-"     Oh hey, that's a pretty good shot. The barf of energy engulfs N'raha, splintering the pedestal he's on and driving it into the 'ocean'. But in the ceter of the blast there's a wave of energy and a spark of light. A bubble, just enough to hold back the flames, protects the catman as he stand resolute.     That isn't to say he's not feeling it. There's pain and rage in those green eyes, as he swings that axe forward again. "I AIN'T LOST YET, MOKUBA. THIS HASN'T EVEN STARTED." Oh yeah, he's feeling it now as the fury builds up, and he simply charges again. This tanking business tires it out of a fellow, eventually. Not today though, he's running on spunk and Mad. That axe glows, his whole body shimmers red, as he starts taking shots at the bulk of the Levithan. That axe flares white-orange with aerther as he hurls himself into it, a spinning whirring dance of pain and murder. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Mokuba swears to himself. That didn't do it? How did that not do it! And now, N'raha is rushing in towards the leviathan. Full of power. There is only so much Mokuba can do in this situation. That axe will be hitting, no matter what. And Mokuba just swears out loud, towards N'raha. "FUCK YOU! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Mokuba is not a good sport.      "I TAKE UMI OFF THE FIELD TO ACTIVATE HIS ABILITY! HEY, GUESS WHAT? ROCK FALLS, EVERYONE DIES! Or... TIDAL WAVE FALLS!"      The ability activates. There is a surge within the ocean, caused by the Levia-Dragon. The waters rise up, forming into a massive tsunami. An all destroying tsunami. Were this the game itself, there would be a very simple effect right now: Destroy all cards on the field but Daedalus.      Unfortunately, Daedelus is burst in half the very moment the tidal wave coems crashing down at N'raha. The entire ocean vanishes, and Mokuba even falls to the ground. He is ready for this, at least, landing on his feet. But the holographic ocean is no longer present. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     Till the sea swallows all. It's something the Yellowjackets and the Maelstrom live by. Loyal until the very end. But now the sea is swallowing all. Everything the whole battlefield in fact. N'raha can do little here, save for just... he closes his eyes and lets it happen. Just plants his frame behind his axe, kneels down and leans into it, as best he can. This is what he's been training for.     and then there is only water, only ocean.. and him. He's slammed into the stone pillars as they vanish, as they too are swallowed by the card's effect...     But then there is nothing but the Spinach Plain again, placid and calm and idyl as ever... And there is him and Mokuba and that damnable penguin. He shakes water out of his ears that isn't there, plucks up his axe and starts stalking over towards the kid. "This ain't very sporting, I know, but you gotta understand that you can't plan for everything, you know. And now it's time to take your lumps, and be calm about it." He charges in, that axe whirls at the Penguin, once, twice three times, a full combo chain on the Defender, before N'raha takes the final strike at Mokuba himself, aiming for that holo-deck of his. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     And then he drops the sharp of his axe against the kid, and hisses. "NOW STAY DOWN." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The penguin tries to strike back as it is attacked. Without the Legendary Ocean, though? It's a lot weaker. It's cut into shreds, vanishing again. Mokuba's own life points are nearly depleted as well. Meaning, just a bit more, and he'll be defeated.      And then, the axe cuts forward. It breaks into the Duel Disk. The duel disk is destroyed. Mokuba is still concious, though. He's not out for the count yet. But really, what /can/ he do, at this point? Waht can he do rather than give up? He tries to look meek and innocent. It's a look that doesn't suit him. He reaches into his pocket, somewhat casually.      "...Well. I /guess/ you have a point...."      And then suddenly Mokuba pulls out a taser. He shoots it forward, straight for N'raha's face. An insane amount of electricity is being shot through it.      "OR I COULD DO THIS!"      Mokuba is laughing like a madman all the while. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     The electrical energy slashes through the catman, the prongs cutting into his skin and bleeding him. He just twitches for a few moments as the voltage shuts off his face mucles for a moment...     But there's another surge of aether, and the catman howls. No words, nothing, just a kick to the face. Metal boot on kidface. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Mokuba is kicked in the face hard. That metal boot bashes in his head, and his skull hits the ground behind him. What is left of his Duel Disk falls off his arms, and his deck scatters around the battlefield.      He'll definitely live, but he is currently in a puddle of his own blood. Unconcious. 

:'''{{#var:819|N'raha Tia (819)}} has posed:'''     And with that done, N'raha just plucks his axe out of the dirt, lifts it to the crowd... and stalks off towards medical. He's going to need it after this.     What a little shit. 

}}

2830/WMAT CQ1 Sakura Kinomoto vs Lute

2015-08-18T00:18:33Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/17 |Location=WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand |Synopsis=Lute vs. Sakura |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=172, 188, 446, 457, 648, 714 |Tinyplot=WMAT 2..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/17
|Location=WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand
|Synopsis=Lute vs. Sakura
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=172, 188, 446, 457, 648, 714
|Tinyplot=WMAT 2015
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura Kinomoto can fly. So the fact that she's arriving in a dune buggy - driven by her brother - is a bit confusing. Maybe she's conserving her magic for the fight? She steps out of the buggy, streeeetching, before picking up her wand. It is... quite a lot larger than normal. It's more of a staff than a wand, really!     She is wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled up. Its quite loose, in a way that makes it hang over her eyes, to better display the design on the front. It looks like the top half of a skull, pure white with empty sockets shaped like stars. Thus, it matches well with the bandana Sakura wears over her mouth! Its also black, with the bottom half of a skull in white on it.     The hood has a zipper down the front, partially opened to reveal the gray shirt underneath. On the chest is a red design, with the top half of a heart shape melded with a skull. Drips of blood seem to be coming from it, running down the shirt.     She wears a short, bone white pleated skirt over a pair of black tights. The tights have a design of the leg bones on them, running down each leg. Each one has several breaks in them. On her feet is a pair of platform shoes, making her seem a little taller. Theyre black with white toes, soles and laces, with white skull designs by the ankles.     As the buggy drives away, Sakura closes her eyes, exhaling softly - before starting to do stretches to warm herself up. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute arrives in style, as usual. Though he had intended to use Mr. Crabs for the majority of tournament fights, it has only been a short bit since his qualifier match with Maya. Mr. Crabs, sadly, took a fair amount of damage. Kaiju healing is long and difficult process. It's not like he isn't without numerous options, though. After all, as said. Style. He flies in, standing on Giratina's back. Arms crossed. He is wearing his dashing labcoat, blue jeans, hiking shoes, and no shirt. His labcoat flutters in the wind as he crosses his arms, smirking as he approaches.      He is also flanked by a horde of Unown. The Unown are flying behind him, in a V-pattern. Following at ground level is an I-Class Destroyer. Imima Puddleduck. The group converges at Devil's Hand, Giratina landing just right in front of Sakura.      Lute smirks, taking a moment to flip his hair a litle. He looks down towards the young magical girl, considering her. He has /never/ trusted her. She simply seems /too/ nice. There is absolutely no reason he should trust her, he feels. And, he expects an entirely tricky battle. He will not hold back for a single moment.      "I'm going to punch you in the face."      This is not a threat. This is a /promise/. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Is Sakura about to do a thing? Then you can bet on Tomoyo being there to catch it on film! She's as close as possible to the action, sitting in the front row of a row of seats constructed for the WMAT. Four bodyguards are with her, two on each side so no one will walk into her shot. The video camera she currently holds is brand new, cutting-edge tech. The incredible level of zoom is currently being employed to watch Sakura as she stretches.     The outfit is an unusual one, considering every other outfit Tomoyo has made for Sakura. But, the Cardcaptor had requested 'something scary' and who was she to say no to her? She had gone with a skeletal look over a spectral one in the end because... well, ideally, it should be something Sakura wasn't scared to actually wear.     "Sakura looks dashing as usual today~" she says, more to herself than anything as she fishes some popcorn from a bag one of the bodyguards is holding and munches on it. 

:'''{{#var:457|Neuroi Girl (457)}} has posed:'''      As the two near each other on the battlefield, the gentle whisper of Neuroi in flight might be heard. The Neuroi known as Evangeline floats down to land near Tomoyo, then headtilts as she looks at Sakura's outfit. "...she seems...very serious..." Evangeline comments. She then floats down into a chair, her long plane engine legs sticking out awkwardly.      She reaches into the scarf around her middle, then pulls out a little flag with the word 'Petals' on it. Evangeline proceeds to hold it up at full arm length and wave it back and forth. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura's expression is basically unreadable in her current getup. Heck, her EYES are barely visible at all, although she can see just fine - Tomoyo obviously took that into account. She tilts her head back to look up at Lute atop Gitatina's back, then just produces a handful of her violently pink Cards.     Her personal magic circle erupts into life at her feet, displaying her usual iconic imagery - a five-poiunted star flanked by a sun and a moon, similar to those at the end of her staff-wand. Chinese writing and western zodiac symbols fill the outer circle of the design, although anyone who can actually read Chinese characters will probably write it off as nonsense. "Fight." One card is tossed up above her, and she brings the wand up to meet it. The card vanishing in a blue flash, surrounding Sakura with a teal aura. "Power." Another card, and the same things happens - except this aura is pink. "Dash." Turquiose!     She then takes a half-step back. She is, as Evangeline noticed, acting quite serious right now! 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      While Lute makes his entrance, Princess Sarracenia makes her way down the stands' stairs to the front row. She takes a seat and smooths out her dress, then smirks lightly as she looks toward the battle. "Alright, Lute! Show that little brat who is boss!" she calls out. Sarracenia has so far had no good encounters with young union girls. So bratty and defiant and dress-ruining! 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary had been at quite a few of these fights before, but moreso as part of her volunteer duties as a healer. Today, however, she's dressed a little differently. Instead of her usual coat and pants combo, she's dressed in a rather flattering and low cut black dress. It's definitely not the sort of thing she'd normally wear, but today's also different.      Today, she'd actually be around to cheer someone participating in the tournament! Or she would be cheering if Lute wasn't so damn high in the air. She couldn't exactly follow them up without breaking into the arena herself, so she simply stayed on the ground as she was, watching the two combatants from the safety of the ground.      She could still try, at least. "You got this, Lute! Just aim low!" Even though she wasn't the largest person, Sanary still had quite a set of lungs on her. Spotting a few familiar faces in Sarracenia and Tomoyo, the healer gives the two a quick wave before smirking. "Hey, Sarracenia! Hey, Tomoy! We'll see who wins soon enough." Another curious glance is given towards the girl with the plane legs, and she's not all that subtle about staring for a short while before turning back to the fighters. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The moment Sakura starts to boost herself with support magic, Lute points forward. He stands as dramatically on Giratina as he can, with one food forward. Trying to make his entire pose dynamic. He shouts out a command as Sakura is casting her magic.      "IMIMA! FIRE!"      The I-Class Destroyer opens its mouth, a cannon barrel sticking out. The cannon fires, and an explosive shell flies straight in towards the young magical girl. While Imima is covering him wtih fire, the Unown move in. They fly to Lute, merging with his body. His body and his clothes become covered in a mass of blackness, and unblinking white eyes. Everything is covered but Lute's face. Lute just smirks some more. Chatting a bit while merging with the Unown.      "At least, it's about /time/ you showed your true colors. That sort of outfit just shows /exactly/ the kind of tricky, terrible person you /really/ are!" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Jump."     Two pairs of tiny wings appear on the heels of Sakura's shoes - and, just as the I-Destroyer is opening its mouth to fire that explosive shell, Sakura suddenly flickers and blurs, then seems to vanish! Did she just teleport-?!     No, she just jumped. REALLY FAST. She's soon sailing through the air towards Lute, staff held in one hand, while her other arm is held back. As she closes in, her right arm extends, hand open, to roughly SLAM her hand into Lute's face.     And then, her momentum tries to take her past Lute and either onto Giratina's back with him, or just... back to the ground. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks as Sanary appears wearing that dress. She smiles warmly and waves to the shorter girl. "Hello Sanary!" she calls out, then hees. "That is a rather flattering dress. Did Lute get it for you?" she says before looking back to see Sakura dodge Lute's attack and Lute get basically slapped. She sighs softly. "Not exactly a promising start." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo takes her eye off her camera for a moment to acknowledge Evangaline, smiling politely. "I know~ She actually /requested/ a new costume from me!" She delivers that statement with a restrained excitement, like it was the most earth-shattering thing that has happened in her life lately.     She glances towards Sanary, and only has a polite smile to offer. "It should be an exciting match~" she says, not wanting to pick a fight. But there's no doubt in her mind that Sakura will win this.     And, as if to prove her right, Sakura effortlessly dodges the first strike in the match, Tomoyo smoothly panning her camera up to track her rapid ascent and descent. "Go Sakura!" 

:'''{{#var:457|Neuroi Girl (457)}} has posed:'''      "...Sakura is not a terrible person..." comes the soft voice of Evangeline. Those close enough might notice the voice does not come from her face (such as it is), but from the watch around her arm. She keeps waving that flag until she feels a pair of eyes on her. She turns her head to face Sanary, and stares back. And with no facial features, it might be a bit unnerving. Then, just as it is getting uncomfortable, the strange dark girl raises a sleeve-like arm and waves it gently at Sanary in an obviously friendly fashion. Have they met? No, but Evangeline has found that a friendly greeting can overcome most uncomfortable first impressions.      Once she has greeted Sanary, Evangeline turns her head back to the battle and resumes waving that little flag. "...gooooo Sakuraaaaa..." Though she says it with the drawn out vowel sounds associated with cheering, her voice is so soft that it probably doesn't even reach Petals. When Tomoyo speaks up, Evangeline turns her head just slightly toward Tomoyo. "...she...requested it...?" Even Evangeline seems surprised. With a nickname like Petals, and her generally upbeat and friendly attitude, the costume just doesn't seem to match. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As Sakura comes in, Lute is ready. He lifts a hand, swinging it to block the punch. His forearm passes across his face, aiming to hit away Sakura's punch. Sadly, it only serves to redirect the punch to graze along the side of his face. With Sakura's strength, that's still nothing to scoff at, either. A bit of a bruise is on Lute's cheek.      But he's going to attack back immediately. His left fist moves in, upwards towards Sakura's own face. Aiming squarely at her chin. Trying to hit her as she tries dashing past Lute. Trying to use Sakura's own forward momentum against her, to make the fix impact even harder.      And once Sakura is behind him, Giratina takes off into the air. His massive black wings are spread out, and flapped hard. A massive burst of wind accompanies his takeoff. Lute is now circling the arena, on Giratina's back. Imima is placed near the center, preparing to aim and fire at Sakura as needed. Lute's own hands are reaching for his Pokeballs, preparing for the next attack. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Lute finds his fist connect squarely with Sakura's jaw. It feels almost like striking wood, rather than flesh and bone, as the strength of the Power hardens her jaw muscles to absorb some of the impact. The hit still knocks her off course, however, falling to the ground below.     The wings at her heels flare, and she suddenly flips back upright, landing in an easy three-point crouch. She glances around, up towards Lute and his legendary nightmare Pokemon. Then she looks at Lute's I-Destroyer.     Another card is produced, flipping through the air to the tip of her want. "Shot," she says, softly, while extending the index and middle fingers of her left hand - the oen still holding her wand - to point at Imima almost like a gun. Energy gathers at the tip of her wand, right in front of the sun ornament, before streaking off through the air towards the ghostly metal... thing. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      That slap draws just a bit of a snicker from Sanary. Definitely not the best start, as Sarracenia had said, but it /is/ just the start. "Ah, he'll recover. Might just make him angrier, even." Laughing softly, she watches their midair melee before turning to Sarracenia with a quick nod and fidgeting a bit. "Y-yeah, a while back. Uh.. Guessing that's the same case with yours, too?" She doesn't look too comfortable wearing it here despite how it looks. That, or it's because of how it looks that she's fidgeting so much.      "Whoa. You made that?" She blinks a few times while glancing from Sakura to Tomoyo, an impressed half-whistle escaping her lips. Not quite there yet, but she's improving at making the sound! "Huh... I gotta stop by your place again, then. N-not for that outfit, though! But... Erm." She trails off and says nothing else on that matter.      She'll probably want something similar, though.      Evangeline's appearance and lack of a face, strangely enough, doesn't seem to throw Sanary off to much. She's even grinning back, although her attention is mostly divided between the girl's upper and lower limbs. Just how does she walk? Or hold things? The healer's got enough sense not to actually ask about that, of course, but her staring might give it away. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia nods to Sanary's question. "Yes. I felt it would be appropriate to honor him by wearing the dress he gave me. He should see something lovely while he is getting pummeled, after all." Sarracenia says, giggling a bit at the end. She then gestures for Sanary to sit beside her. "It is a rather grown up dress. I am surprised you agreed to wear it after the incident with...oh what was her name...Summer, I believe." Sarracenia smirks lightly at Sanary. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Imima is hit dead-on. The impact of the energy causes some of the metal to peel from her frame, and causes her to tumble backwards before landing on the ground. She is slowly starting to lift herself into the air again. Lute can not let Sakura get another hit in immediately. Yes, this is just a tournament. He still doesn't like seeing his pets hurt.      "You are going /down/. GO! REGISTEEL! TYRANTRUM! And... TENTACRUEL!"      Lute opens the two Pokeballs he had pulled out earlier, while swwping near Sakura. Registeel and Tyrantrum appear right next to her. Giratina makes another sweep around, and Lute pulls out the third, containing his Tentacruel. His starter Pokemon. While Registeel and Giratina are strong and powerful legendary Pokemon, there is nothing quite like the bond between a person and his starter. Lute is going to be putting a large amount of trust into this Pokemon.      "STEALTH ROCK! STEALTH ROCK! TOXIC SPIKES!"      These are the orders given to the three Pokemon. Registeel and Tyrantrum both begin to shoot stones up into the air. These start to surround the battlefield. Specfiically, the sections that Sakura is in. Should Giratina move in? They will be moved out of the path. The Tentacruel then starts shooting out various spikes from its body. These look like caltrops, but they're covered in a purple poisonous sludge. They are aimed all over the battlefield, but a large number are pointed right at Sakura herself.      Lute smirks, "Yeah, you know what? I'm /going/ to win this! And I'm going to win this for my /friends/!" He gives a thumbs up towards Sanary and Sarracenia, looking at them as Giratina sweeps around the battlefield. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     A gasp slips from Tomoyo's lips as Sakura catches that punch in the jaw, but her three-point landing makes for a very cool shot! A part of her is starting to regret the face-concealing aspect of the outfit though. How is she going to get good footage of Sakura's 'serious face' like this?!     Again, she pulls her face from the camera lense to smile at Sanary. "I did. Before I opened my store, most of my tailoring experience came from making Sakura outfits to wear while catching the Clow Cards~ I'm always happy to dress her up!" She looks back, just in time to see The Shot land a solid hit on that creature. But now Lute is pulling out multiple giant monsters, and spamming area-controlling attacks!     "Sakura, watch out!" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura is just lining up for another shot at Imima when Lute reacts negatively to her shooting at his pet monster. Who knew?! She looks up just in time to see a bunch of FLOATING ROCKS and POISONED CALTROPS flying all over everywhere, including right at her. She dodges to one size, but a few of the Poison Spikes nick her anyway, tearing her clothes and cutting her skin. "Oh that's not good..." she murmurs to herself. She glances around for a moment, before taking out a card. "Fly," she calls, pink feathered wings erupting from her back and propelling her into the sky.     Where she promptly slams right into a couple of rocks. Pow! She 'staggers' back in the air, before pulling another card. "Earthy."     The green, crystalline form of the Earthy materialises before Sakura, gesturing in Lute and Giratina's direction - propelling about half a dozen of the floating rocks in an artillery barrage.     Meanwhile, Sakura is using the Bubbles card to clean out those cuts - hopefully getting rid of the poison before it can be drawn away into her bloodstream. Hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary snickers lightly and nods at Sarracenia, crossing her arms behind her head. There's another half-whistle as the fight starts moving to longer range, although she's not quite sure what she's looking at. Flying rocks, weird spikes, and... Magic bubbles! Oddly enough, the bubbles seem to be the most 'normal' thing coming out of this whole fight. "You, too? Well, great minds and... Whatever the rest of that saying is." Taking that seat next to Sarracenia, her cheeks flush slightly at being reminded of what had happened last time. "W-well... That was a lot smaller than this! And it probably wouldn't have been so incident...-al if you wore it, too." She's pouting a bit by the end of that, although there is a hint of a grin on her face.      "Sounds like a good way to practice, yeah... I'll ask about that Card thing another time." Was it related to Miko's thing? Or those magic girls? She'd definitely have to make a mental note to look into that when there wasn't something to watch. So much stuff to watch. So many... /Everything/ in the arena. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The rocks cut into Giratina, and Lute. Lute's wounds are kept somewhat closed by the Unown covering him. They help keep him a bit more together. Giratina itself is bleeding puffs of some gaseous smoke as its struck, stumbling a bit as it flies. The legendary Pokemon moves in towards Sakura's location. Lute frowning a bit.      "...Man, aren't you even going to verbally joust with me at /all/? FINE! BUBBLE BEAM! ZAP CANNON! SHADOW BALL!"      The orders are given, and Lute's team gets to it. The Tentacruel turns to face Sakura, firing a beam of bubbles. It is a large linear burst of them, more and more popping at her. The Registeel turns to Sakura as well. Its body sparks with electricity, and then a beam of it flies towards the hopefully soaking wet Sakura.      And then Giratina moves in. It flies straight towards the airborne Sakura. Its mouth opens up, a ball of Ghost energy forming in. It fires forward, sending the powerful burst right towards Sakura. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura ignores Lute's attempt to make her banter back at him, and instead focuses on the attacks heading her way. Her eyes widen a bit, and she throws her hands out in front of herself. "Shield!" she calls out. Her magic circle appears again. For a moment, a wing-shaped kite sheild appears in front of Sakura, before being replaced by a yellow, translucent sphere. The three attacks colide with the sphere - and the Shadow Ball just passes right through it, striking Sakura fully. As the Shield tends to convert attacks into momentum... The combined energy sends Sakura flying back.     The Earthy waves both hands, before bringing them together - gathering up a bunch of Stealth Rocks and fusing them together into a solid - floating - platform of rock, which Sakura promptly bounces into before coming to a stop. She gets to her feet.     "..." She glances between Tentacruel and Registeel. Giratina will probably be able to resist this... So... "Maze." she calls out, pointing her fingers at Tentacruel as she activates the spell. Suddenly, space around Tentacruel seems to warp inward, and... unless it escapes pretty sharpish, it vanishes!     "...Glow," she says, almost as an afterthought. A mote of yellow light appears just adjacent to where Tentacruel was. Why did she do that...? (So that she doesn't end up blundering into the entrance to the Maze by accident, that's why.) 

:'''{{#var:457|Neuroi Girl (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline unintentionally answers Sanary's wonderings when she floats up into the air with seemingly no effort. The little Neuroi doesn't go too far, but she does float up to where it is a bit easier to see. She keeps waving her Petals flag as she floats there, about 10 feet above the front row of the stands, possibly blocking the view of any of the people behind her. "...Sakura does not wish to talk today..." Evangeline says in her soft, demure voice, though those with radios might pick it up.      More barely audible cheering ensues while Evangeline floats there waving her flag. "...Sakura will win this...because you talk too much, Mr. Lute..." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     "Mmm, well~ Sometimes I feel as if the Boutique is how I practice for making outfits for Sakura," Tomoyo says in a vaguely dreamy kind of voice. Clearly, this particualr topic really makes her happy!     But you know what doesn't make her happy? Sakura getting blasted by three seperate attacks, one of which somehow goes right through The Shield! Another gasp, much louder this time, and tinged with horror. Thankfully, The Earthy helps to protect Sakura, and she's still going!     As the Tentacruel phases into an alternate world, Tomoyo cheers! "Good thinking Sakura~!" She looks to Evangaline and nods, smiling softly. "Whenever Sakura gets this focussed on something, she makes miracles happen!" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute blinks, spotting his Tentacruel just /dissapear/. He knows that he'll be fine. Sakura wouldn't just off one of his Pokemon right in the middle of a fight. Still, this is giving him quite a bit of reason to worry. He bites the side of his lip for a moment, considering his best options.      And he comes to a conclusion.      Just hit her more.      "BITE! LOCK ON! SLASH! CANNONFIRE!"      Again, Lute uses every resource he has. His Tyantrum is still out. It makes a massive leap into the air, its fangs trying to bite onto Sakura's leg. Registeel, meanwhile, just looks straight at Sakura. Trying to lock onto her. Preparing for its next attack. Giratina moves in after, the spiked claws on its wings trying to stab into Sakura.      Lute himself is beginning to glow with energy. The eyes of the Unown are emitting a soft light. He's planning something. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia hmphs at Sanary. "I would never wear such an outfit, except perhaps in the privacy of my personal quarters." she says, arms crossing over her chest. Then, she ponders a moment. "Perhaps...if a more modest outfit were made modeled after it. A tight-fitting garment designed to give the appearance that one is wearing a more revealing outfit than one actually is. Not only would it draw attention, but after the initial double-take, people would likely find it amusing and attractive."      The battle continues, and Sarracenia is confident that Lute will win. "Come on, Lute! I don't care how strong this little girl in the halloween costume is! You must win! Just imagine how unheroic it would be to lose to a skeleton!" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     The combined attacks from Giratina and Tyrantrum manage to momentarily breach the Shield - wasn't it supposed to be able to block any attack?! Stupid Elites, breaking the rules of magic...     Not that the Shield has ever really blocked -every- attack. Clow might have talked it up a little more than it deserved. Maybe he never tested it on anything but Un-Elite mages and swordsmen.     Regardless, the Shield is breached, if only for a moment, Giratina slicing through the arm of Sakura's outfit and drawing blood, while Tyrantrum manages to clamp onto her leg!     She quickly reacts, taking her staff in both hands. The staff makes a full rotation, before the bottom points right down at Tyrantrum's head. And then, the aura around Sakura flares pinker, and she slams the five-foot long practically-indestructible blunt instrument down at Tyrantrum's head.     The force of the blow promptly causes the platform to shatter. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The Tyrantrum is struck on the head, and hard. This powerful strike manages to send the Tyrantrum hard into the ground, knocking it out. This T-rex shaped Pokemon just lays on the ground now, unconcious.      Giratina is flying in fast during this. Lute gave the order as he saw Sakura moving in for Tyrantrum. It's not fast enough, sadly. With luck, Lute will be coming in from behind for this. He leaps at Sakura, trying to fling his own Unown empowered body straight at her. If he succeeds, he'll grab at her. Wrapping his arms around her waist. Smirking.      "You /really/ have a lot of tricks... But, you /are/ going down!"      And suddenly from each eye on Lute's Unown covered body, a burst of Hidden Power. Mysterious energy flying outwards in all directions. Hopefully, engulfing Sakura in the explosion.      Of course this is incredibly dangerous and puts Lute right at Sakura's range for a direct attack. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia is on the edge of her seat now. The battle has really heated up! And to her it looks like Lute is winning! Sure, that pokemon just got totally clobbered in one hit, but Lute just blasted Sakura with an explosion. And Sarracenia is a fan of explosions herself. "Take her down, Lute! You can do it!" she exclaims, hopping up out of her seat and bouncing in place a few times. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura is, unfortunately for her, caught completely by surprise by the... surprise attack from behind. Okay so maybe that was the point.     As the energy suddenly floods her, she screams, before going momentarily limp. She's even -smoking-. Her clothes are... actually still doing fairly well. Tomoyo made these for fighting Elites in, after all. They'll need some repairs, but...     Sakura suddenly rears back, aiming to slam the back of her head into Lute's face. Banking on the attack causing him to reel back even if she misses, she then aims to bring up her wand and smack him with the blunt end in the stomach, before turning, and pulling out another card. "Firey."     Exactly what you are expecting promptly happens. Copiously. In a very large jet.     Almost fifty violently pink, tarot-like cards promptly swarm out of Sakura's pockets and hover in the air behind her, almost like wings. As if she's saying 'yes, I do have a lot of tricks'. How smug. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The head attack and the wand hit Lute dead on. The explosion of flames covers Lute completely, burning at him. The Unown help shield him from some of the damage, but not completely. He goes flying back to the ground.      But this is the opening his Pokemon need. And, the opening that Imima needs. Giratina flies in towards Sakura again, just after the burst of flames. Its shadow stretches forward, almost as if it is a mass of its own. The shadow tries to strike at Sakura, to take her by surprise.      And at this point, Imima opens its mouth again. The cannon points forward. It sees its master, its own equivalent of the Fleet Daughter's 'Admiral' being struck. And it won't let this be. Despite being a wrought iron spirit of past battles, brought forth to take revenge on humans? It still views Lute as a member of the Abyssal Fleet. As an ally.      A large burst of cannonfire flies towards Sakura, as Imima tries to unload everything it has upon her. 

:'''{{#var:457|Neuroi Girl (457)}} has posed:'''      "...she does have a lot of tricks..." Evangeline says softly as she continues to watch. She was a bit concerned when Sakura went limp, but her natural stoicism made it impossible to tell. As things are heating up, Evangeline waves her flag more emphatically. "...you can do it Sakura..." she says as she continues to float there, silently thinking to herself she is glad she is not fighting Sakura.      She looks over as she hears Tomoyo. "...Sakura winning would not be a miracle...it would be expected...she is quite strong..." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo's camerawork remains steady, even as she squirms internally at the sound of Sakura's screaming, the sight of her smouldering slightly... the sheer affront to all that is good that is her being hugged from behind by some Confederate weirdo. She's standing now, one hand on the railing, the white of her knuckles shining through even her porcelain skin.     But, she's still going, and as long as she is, Tomoyo will keep cheering for her! "GO SAKURA!" she yells, as Lute reels from the headbutt and is blasted back by The Fiery! Also, the shot of her with the 52 Sakura cards fanned out as wings is so amazing that Tomoyo actually swoons a little. "That's going on my desktop~" she says to herself.     Evangaline's comment draws a significant look from Tomoyo, a quietly respectful one. Wordlessly, she takes the popcorn from her bodyguard and offers some to the Neuroi. "You're right~" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "..Oh, right, I forgot about that," Sakura manages to say, before a cry of "Shield!" erects that yellow barrier again. Imima's shot hits and detonates, throwing up dust and smoke that obscures Giratina's attack - which, again, just passes right through Sakura's shield, wracking her body with pain and weariness.     She stumbles back as the smoke clears - then glances towards Imima. "...Arrow." A card is activated, swooping down from those 'wings' - sending a flurry of arrows, materialising from nowhere, flying at the I-Destroyer. "And... Sword." Another card flits down, its activation swathing the staff in blue chains of energy. As the chains vanish, Sakura is holding a two-handed, European (possibly German?) longsword, already swinging it through the air to slice into Giratina and its shadow as the legendary Pokemon flies past. 

:'''{{#var:457|Neuroi Girl (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline headtilts slightly as Tomoyo offers the popcorn, then the little Neuroi floats back down to 'stand' beside Tomoyo. In quotations because she doesn't actually touch the ground. She floats a few inches above the ground beside Tomoyo. As the battle continues, Evangeline reaches a sleeve-like arm toward the popcorn, and slender fingers emerge from it, just as black and metallic as the rest of her. She carefully takes a single popped kernal and brings it toward her face. Then, a hole opens where a mouth should be, and she carefully places the popped corn kernal inside before the opening slowly closes.      No chewwing ensues. There is really no action at all after her 'mouth' closes. She just goes back to watching and waving her little 'Petals' flag. After a few moments of silence, Evangeline turns her head slightly toward Tomoyo again, as if she forgot something. "...thank you..." Then, back to watching. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Imima is hit by the arrows, the various bursts impacting into her. She falls down to the ground, unconcious. She at least fought bravely for her commander, even if she has fallen now. Giratina is cut across its body by the sword, a trail of gas leaking from its body. It lets out a cry of pain, roaring out as it does so. It keeps flying forward, before crashing into the ground.      Which leaves Registeel, and Lute.      Lute stands up tall, frowning at Sakura. He points forward, giving a command. It's a simple one, but it's one that many people know the weight of, just by the name alone. One of the most famous Pokemon attacks.      "Hyper Beam."      Registeel glows with an intense light. Its entire body fills with energy. A ball of light forms in front of it. Finally, the light is shot forward in a glorious beam, strong enough to push Registeel back along the ground a bit. The terrain near Registeel is blown apart a bit, while the powerful burst flies straight in for Sakura. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura lets out a sharp yelp as the glorious beam of energy is shot out at her. She dodges to the side, but it still clips her Shield - which promptly shatters, causing her to stumble. Even though it barely hit her, she's still somewhat charred all down her right side from the beam going past...     She glances at Registeel. But, after an attack like that... It should take a few seconds to recover, right? So instead she just fixes her eyes on Lute and charges.     "Thunder!" she cries out, another card activating, sending crackling blue lightning crackling over Lute - but it's aimed more at the Unown than at the trainer!     No, the trainer's getting a much more personal attack. Sakura keeps on charging, before leaping up slightly, her right knee coming up to SLAM into Lute's stomach, the remaining energy of the Power enhancing the blow as much as it can.     ...Oh Jesus, if that had been two inches lower... 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute is slammed straight into the stomach. He falls down, onto the ground, unconcious. It seems Sakura has managed to pull out a complete victory. 

}}

2812/WMAT CQ1 Maya vs Lute

2015-08-16T05:01:28Z

Cheeseman:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/15
|Location=WMAT Arena - Diablo Desert
|Synopsis=Lute vs. Maya at the WMAT, with Lute winning.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=19, 20, 188
|Tinyplot=WMAT 2015
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya entered tournaments like this for several reasons, one was to jut plain out test herself, another was? To keep reminding the polticla powers back home she was out there and just what she was able to do. It worked better than directly having to put heads with heads of state, nobles and other assorted powers. It was also just a chance to cut lose and not worry about much. So here she was clad in leather and metal as always, though Lute might find something's changed about her, maybe it's how she carried her self? Well also there were tribal like streak tattoos under her green eyes. She looked out over the sands and adjusted the desert cloak she had covering her body to provided some protection from the enviorment. She was going to fight Lute, this was going to be interesting, he's long since proven either he'd shaped up or he'd been playing everyone so hard they bought into his deception and he'd made everyone regret thinking he was a joke and then some. It would be good to get a measure of what he could do now. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute comes walking into the arena. And by 'walking', we mean, riding upon the back of a Kaiju. He stands on the back of Mr. Crabs, looking /waaaay/ down below at Maya. Lute is wearing a slightly different outfit than usual. Normally, he just wears jeans, shoes, and a labcoat. Today, he has decided to add a shirt to the ensemble. Specifically, a Team Lute T-shirt. Chibified pictures of him, Vegeta, and Toph appear on it.      Lute crosses his arms, looking down at Maya. He shouts, from the head of his 80 meter tall crab Kaiju.      "OH HEY IS THAT A LITTLE ANT DOWN THERE?!"      Unfortunately, at this distance, it is likely impossible for Maya to hear his taunting. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya had known Lute had some pretty heavy firepower in the forms of a Kaiju aka the infamous Mr. Crabs, how Lute tamed that thing not even Maya really knows. She looks up at the huge living creatu4re and Lute. If Maya were to here his taunt he'd get a very amused reaction out of it. Maya however throws off the cloak letting the wind take it for dramatic effect, it then vanishes in a burst of light afterwards. Maya then pulls a small amulet out from under her jacket. She focuses on it for a moment as blue fire bleeds from her into it, a second later large angelic like energy wings take shape and Maya takes flight above the burning sands. She knows it's time to start and she calls out. "So Lute let's see what you can do, now that your not hiding just what your able to do!" She's got her rifle ready and the core engine comes to life as Maya pulls the trigger she's firing off a burst of fire trying to keep Lute off balance and get a feel for what he's going to be able to do. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As the rifle is fired, Mr. Crabs lifts his massive claws in order to block the strikes from hitting Lute. Various injuries now line the claws, but Mr. Crabs can still keep fighting for a bit. More importantly, Lute is safe, for now.      "I've never really held back? I just have a /lot/ more tricks now. For example... UNOWN! REGISTEEL! GIRATINA!"      Yes, the fight has barely started, and Lute is already planning to flood the field with monsters. A horde of Unown fly out from under the back of Lute's labcoat. It's a huge number of them. They move to form a perimeter around the battlefield. Lute focuses, giving each of them orders. Namely, if they see Maya pull anything that Lute himself is unlikely to see? They'll relay vision of it to him.      And, Lute pulls out two Pokeballs. From one, the massive Registeel forms. It lands on front of Mr. Crabs, making a wall between him and Lute. The second opens, and out appears the ghostly dragon, Giratina. He starts to fly out, and circle the arena at an ever increasing speed.      But, the first real attack from Lute, that isn't just set up? It's a lot simpler.      "SPIT BUBBLES AT HER!"      Acidic bubbles shoot out from Mr. Crab's mouth, trying to shoot them towards Maya to engulf her. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya is aware Lute has a lot of monsters to fight, she has more experience fighting Pokemon than she does say Mr. Crabs so she takes note of the flying legendaries as they zip about likely planning to do some attack or even act as scouts. Then comes the acid bubbles, she attempts to evade them and she almost does but she's caught as one of them goes pop it's not an enjoyable experience. The chemical reaction is nasty but while it's injuring her her gear does hold out better than one might expect it to. She flies up trying to use the wind to get some of the acid off her and it works somewhat before she dives bombs down towards Lute but she's not quite going for him, she's more focused a card in her hand, as she casts a spell. Blue fire leeches from her body into the card and it starts glowing green. A moment later a massive burst of lightning arcs out from her and might just get Mr. Crabs and anything standing on him, or even near him! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      "PROTECT!"      This is a fairly simple command from Lute, but a generally rather effective one. As the bolt of lightning moves in, Registeel stomps forward to protect itself. Its large claws are lifted in front of it, and a barrier of energy forms in front of it. This helps minimize the damage, causing only a few sparks from the lightning bolt to hit the giant crab Kaiju.      Lute points forward, giving an order as he swings his arm to his side dramatically. "REGISTEEL! STEALTH ROCKS!" He feels he has this battle in the bag. Maya is already covered in some of the acid. Set up a little bit more, and then he's got it in the bag. /Especially/ if he can knock Maya out of the sky.      Registeel stomps upon Mr. Crab's head. From its body, a number of stones start shooting forward. They fly out in all directions, absolutely filling the sky. These Stealth Rocks are intended to make movement more difficult. One wrong move, and Maya will fly right into them.      Lute isn't done yet, though. He kneels on Mr. Crabs, smiling as he pets the top of the dapper crab.      "You got it, Mr. Crabs. You know what to do, now."      And, Mr. Crabs /does/ know what he is doing. More bubbles are spit out. These are a different mixture of chemicals. As the chemicals move forward, they'll burn at Maya. And, when they interract with the acid already on her? Explosion.      Lute is smirking like the jerk he is, standing tall with his hands on the side of his hips. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya okay she sees that Lute is on the ball and he's got a way to stop the lightning she's going to hae to mix it up even more. Wait stelath rocks? She wonders about that, but she's starting to move keeping flight and trying to not get knocked out of the air. She's doing pretty well to avoid this fate. She's caught by only a few drops of one bubbles as the others come she forms a barrier which takes the majority of it saving her from being exploded thankfully. She flits about trying to not get hit agian she doubts her barrier will work again. She does see Lute standing ther nd this time he gets another spell a massive colum of water fired right at him! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute isn't fast enough to order a Protect, this time. Maya is accurate as well. The column of water flies straight at Lute, striking into him. Luckily, he's managing to hold his footing. He's gotten used to riding various creatures of combat, and so it's very unlikely he'll be knocked off. Which is good for him.      Also useful for him? He still has the numbers advantage. Including Giratina. Giratina is also well trained. While Lute is dealing with attempting to dry off, and regain himself, Giratina can keep moving in to attack.      Giratina flies in from behind Maya, right as she is casting the spell. The Stealth Rocks are no trouble for him. He has a fairly gaseous body, which makes them little more than small roadbumps for him. It holds out its wings, massive spikes on them stretching out. As he flies forward, the spikes try to slash across Maya.      Lute, meanwhile, is standing up again finally. And his white T-shirt is somewhat soaked, clinging to his body. "HEY! This T-shirt cost me a /mint/ to get printed! Don't diss on my Team Lute T-shirt!" 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya does not stop to see if she hit Lute she knows that would be foolish, as it would give him time to launch a counter attack against her. The blue haired woman keeps going. She's very thankful she can fly right now or this would be very bad for her. Being so thankful doesn't last long as the Dragon Claw from behind she's caught pretty hard by the thing slashing into her and sending her into a bit of a dive. She fights to recover from it and yells back at Lute. "I never did, would you have liked it set on fire? I could do that." Maya's now flying high again, why? To buy her rifle time to charge a weapon at the apex she levels it at Mr. Crabs and perhaps Lute if he's not fast enough and fires a big bright white energy beam. She doesn't wait around, the moment the last blast has been fired she's moving again least she get hit again. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Up in the stands there's a choking sound as a certain earthbender gets some of her popcorn stuck in her throat. The person next to her tries to help by hitting her on the back, and eventually the girl manages to spit out the large handful of popcorn before her eyebrow twitches. He's actually /wearing/ a Team Lute t-shirt?!     "KICK HIS SORRY ASS, MAYA!" she calls out, sounding perhaps a bit too eager for her fellow Unionite to defeat the Pokemon researcher. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The beam strikes Mr. Crabs, torching the shell of the giant Kaiju. That beam attack is causing Lute a lot of pain. He really needs to figure otu a reliable way to counter it. For now, though, he'll focus entirely on his attack. No holding back anything. Neverending, relentless assault.      But it is at this point that Lute hears something from the stands, via his link with his Unown. Toph shouting.      A number of Braille-shaped Unown fly into the stands. Not from the Arena itself. Seems Lute kept a few on standby in case of mocking. But these Braille-Unown move themselves to sit on the floor infront of Toph, spelling something out in braille. Specifically, 'TRAITOR'.      As Maya tries to get away, Giratina follows after, quickly. The Stealth Rocks in the air start to follow it. It is using Ancient Power, a move that manipulates rocks, and throws them at the opponent. While chasing Maya, Giratina begins to start throwing Stealth Rocks at the girl. And Lute just grins a bit. Eyeing. Waiting. Plan is coming.      "You're just jealous of my STYLE!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     As the Unown land on the floor in front of her Toph blinks, looking confused at first. But familiar as she is with Braille, she 'reads' the word easily enough, frowning before she raises her foot... and kicks down into the ground with a disapproving grunt, sending the Unown flying up in the air. "Midbrain..."     With that she leans back in her seat, arms wrapped around her tub of popcorn, all while the people around her caaaarefully inch a little further away from the visibly annoyed earthbender. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya has long learned do not sit still, for the love of Kyra and Marduk, do not hold still in a fight. She does not this is all that saves from the attack that's coming at her. She knows pokemon are very powerful creatures when they are wild. They get even more so when they have someone to train them, there's no denying Lute's stkill there. She would find she's being hounded hard. The rocks come at her she's forced to dodge and evade the strikes. She's dancing about in the air putting on quite the show as she evades all but a few that were going so fast she just couldn't out pace them. She knows it could have been a lot worse and now she turns her attention to Lute again. Maya is holding another card at this point and she's casting something, soon her rifle is on her back and another card is in hand. One glows red the other blue and Maya seems to fade away as a ghostly looking knight appears glowing a pale blue much like the fire that comes from her body when she casts and then there's a shockwave...of physical force all around Maya, how far will it go? Not even she knows. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The physical force hits in all directions, and Giratina gets caught in it. He starts falling a bit, before righting himself. Mr. Crabs shakes and rumbles a bit. Registeel is struck, blocking Lute from being hit by the attack.      Lute grumbles a bit. This needs to be turned around. Time to up his assault. He starts shouting orders, once again. "Mr. Crabs, after her! Giratina, cut her off! And, Registeel... HYPER BEAM!"      Giratina flies forward to move in front Maya, cutting her off. Mr. Crabs runs in, from behind Maya. The Unown, meanwhile, are shrinking their perimeter. Moving in closer. Trying to give Maya less room to evade.      And then Registeel glows with power. A massive burst of energy gathers in him, and it flies out in a straight beam towards Maya. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' The fight's been a very close one, Lute's certainly gained a lot of power even on his own. She doesn't doubt his stand alone power, but he's also seeming quite good with the teamwork of his own creatures. Then comes the teamwork she's soon cut off by Giratina, and then comes Mr. Crabs. All that's left is for Registeel to catch her full force of the hyper beam and it catches her int he torso. She drops from the skies now with the force of that hit and she's heading rapidly to the ground. Maya's struggling to control the spell. She's heading towards the ground and it's rapidly getting closer even as she does so. She barely pulls out at the end but well he torso armour's smoking and Mayas more than a bit cooked from that last hit of Lute's. She keeps low for a moment and the rifle's weapons are charging again as she rises up rapidly and there's a bright blue glow coming from under the barrel of the rifle. A second later Maya fire sending a spread of energy discs that seek out Lute, Mr. Crabs and regi some of the unknown might end up getting caught by some of the spheres launched. They also will explode on impact if they managed to connect for additional are of effect damage. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The flying energy discs move in. Lute tris to duck out of the way of the first, only for it to graze along his arm as he moves down. The disc explodes, knocking him into the path of the others. Explosion after explosion rock him, leaving him a bit of a bloody mess. He does at least manuever his body so he still lands on Mr. Crabs, carefully shifting his weight and wind resistance as he falls. Unfortunately, he lands flat on his face, giving his Pokemon sometime where they'll need to act for themselves.      And, the Unown act. A few of them are caught in the explosions. The rest start to move in on Maya. With Lute somewhat down for the moment, recovering? The Unown don't need to give him constant sight. They fly towards Maya, all of them orbitting around her at different distances and directions. They start to work in unison, sending bursts of Hidden Power towards Maya, trying to blast into her with countless blasts of special energy.      Lute, for his part, presses at a Pokeball on his side. Yet another creature is released. His Gardevoir. This Psychic Pokmeon uses his powers to help lift Lute, helping maintain him in a bit more of a standing position. They can't have Lut ebe knocked out. Not yet!      Let's just hope it doesn't get a bit 'Weekend at Bernie's' in here. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya was not expecting to get Lute to be honest, he's got a lot of cover from his monsters. Who can take some serious hits after all, she expected it to keep his head down. To her shock he seems out of the fight for the moment. Not out of the battle but he's recovering from that last attack. She'll have to make the most of it but now the Unown are coming at her and they are smacking her about with the rocks quite well this time. Soon another Pokemon is in the action and Maya's not seen that one before, given the distanced? Also given the amount of hits she's taking she can't tell what's going on other than Lute's got up. She attempts to get some distance from the Unown and launches several chucks of rock back at them with a quickly casted Geo-strike. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The Unown are hit by the rocks. They drop like flies. While they're doing well enough not to die, they're still falling to the ground unconcious. Lute at least has enough time to regain himself, his Gardevoir giving him enough time to be stable. All of Lute's Pokemon have been taking significant injury. It's getting close to time to tip the scales.      "Psychic! Flash Cannon! Aura Sphere!"      And, Lute's 'mon go into action. Gardevoir tries to hold Maya in place with a Psychic burst of power. Registeel gathers power, firing first a beam of steel-type energy. And Gardevoir circles Maya, opening its mouth to shoot out a sphere of blue Fighting energy at Maya.      He really has to even the odds here. He /can't/ let himself lose! So many yeras has he competed. It's time for him to /really/ shine. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya has always had issues against Psychic powers, they are not something that are from her world, which makes it rather hard for her to deal with. Maya's caught in it's power which leaves her open as she tries to break free the beam slams into her and she lets out a scream as she's hit by another blast of energy theres an explosion and Maya's starting to fall again, this time she does slam into the sands below. It's a hard hit and Maya's about at the edge of what she's able to do. She rises up as the dust starts to settle the wings are the only part of her that's not battered and worn looking. Maya now looks up to the Pokemon and rises up briefly and she's got cards in hand again. She takes a moment to focus and she rapidly casts four spells causing a storm of elemental attacks to seek out Lute and his companions. Fire blast,s bursts of water, lightning and wind. Oh yes even chucks of the earth are all coming Team Lute's way. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The elemental assault hits Lute, and his Pokemon. The variety of element spreads wide. Each one of them, doing a fair amount of damage. Registeel in particular takes a fair amount of damage from the flames. Lute just stations himself behind the Shadow Pokemon's body, before lifting its Pokeball to recall it.      And Lute, and all of his Pokemon are left injured. Barely standing. Even Mr. Crabs is struggling.      But. They are not giving up. Not yet. Lute stands tall, just glaring at Maya. A cocky grin on his face. He crosses his arms in front of him, before flipping his hair back and returning them to said crossed position.      "...You're tough. But. You don't /understand/ who I am, do you? I am Logan FUCKING Trieste! Yeah, you've been around since before even /me/, fighting in this war. But, you know what? I've turned myself around from being a laughing /joke/ of the Multiverse! And this year? I'm going to win the WMAT!"      The cocky look remains on his face as he gives orders, "Gardevoir! Helping Hand! Giratina! Scary Face! Mr. Crabs... SHOW HIM THE STRENGTH OF THE CRAB WHO BEAT THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN!"      A burst of psychic energy fills Mr. Crabs, boosting his power. Giratina starts to circle Maya again. It glares towards her, menacing look on its face. An intense pressure comes from this look, filling the sky, making it harder to move.      And then, Mr. Crabs. He starts rushing in. With each step, his monocle bounces. His claws move, mimicking a runner somewhat. His silky tophat shines in the desert sun.      He lifts a claw. Swingining it in, straight at Maya. Hammering it down at the flying woman. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya Says "I do, you are Logan Trieste the man who fooled most of the multiverse about how strong you really are. You pulled it over on some of the most powerful beings in existance." Lute has pulled one over on everyone and then he hit the world so damn hard for it too later. He's one of the more major threats in the Confederate ranks as far as Maya sees it. She doesn't get to see more as she's trying to evade the incoming striles she's able to avoid most of them but then comes THE CLAW. Sadly it seems she has ben chosen as Maya's hammered hard she lets out a cry and goes crashing face first into the sands below, her armour now in tatters and she's not moving to get up. Logan has won this round. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      With that, Lute recalls his Pokemon. his body is injured, his clothes somewhat in tatters. His labcoat has completely fallen off, and his pants would be better off as cutoffs now.      But. He still stands. Proudly, over the battlefield.      Wearing his Team Lute T-Shirt.      He holds his hands, motioning up to the audience to cheer for him. Once the cheer eventually dies down? Mr. Crabs turns, and walks out of the arena. Lute is glad of one thing, though. Maya, unlike many others he has fought? She actually respects him. He'll have to keep that in mind in the future. It makes her more dangerous. 
}}

2812/WMAT CQ1 Maya vs Lute

2015-08-16T04:46:00Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/15 |Location=WMAT Arena - Diablo Desert |Synopsis=Lute vs. Maya at the WMAT, with Lute winning. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=19, 20, 188 |T..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/15
|Location=WMAT Arena - Diablo Desert
|Synopsis=Lute vs. Maya at the WMAT, with Lute winning.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=19, 20, 188
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya entered tournaments like this for several reasons, one was to jut plain out test herself, another was? To keep reminding the polticla powers back home she was out there and just what she was able to do. It worked better than directly having to put heads with heads of state, nobles and other assorted powers. It was also just a chance to cut lose and not worry about much. So here she was clad in leather and metal as always, though Lute might find something's changed about her, maybe it's how she carried her self? Well also there were tribal like streak tattoos under her green eyes. She looked out over the sands and adjusted the desert cloak she had covering her body to provided some protection from the enviorment. She was going to fight Lute, this was going to be interesting, he's long since proven either he'd shaped up or he'd been playing everyone so hard they bought into his deception and he'd made everyone regret thinking he was a joke and then some. It would be good to get a measure of what he could do now. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute comes walking into the arena. And by 'walking', we mean, riding upon the back of a Kaiju. He stands on the back of Mr. Crabs, looking /waaaay/ down below at Maya. Lute is wearing a slightly different outfit than usual. Normally, he just wears jeans, shoes, and a labcoat. Today, he has decided to add a shirt to the ensemble. Specifically, a Team Lute T-shirt. Chibified pictures of him, Vegeta, and Toph appear on it.      Lute crosses his arms, looking down at Maya. He shouts, from the head of his 80 meter tall crab Kaiju.      "OH HEY IS THAT A LITTLE ANT DOWN THERE?!"      Unfortunately, at this distance, it is likely impossible for Maya to hear his taunting. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya had known Lute had some pretty heavy firepower in the forms of a Kaiju aka the infamous Mr. Crabs, how Lute tamed that thing not even Maya really knows. She looks up at the huge living creatu4re and Lute. If Maya were to here his taunt he'd get a very amused reaction out of it. Maya however throws off the cloak letting the wind take it for dramatic effect, it then vanishes in a burst of light afterwards. Maya then pulls a small amulet out from under her jacket. She focuses on it for a moment as blue fire bleeds from her into it, a second later large angelic like energy wings take shape and Maya takes flight above the burning sands. She knows it's time to start and she calls out. "So Lute let's see what you can do, now that your not hiding just what your able to do!" She's got her rifle ready and the core engine comes to life as Maya pulls the trigger she's firing off a burst of fire trying to keep Lute off balance and get a feel for what he's going to be able to do. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      As the rifle is fired, Mr. Crabs lifts his massive claws in order to block the strikes from hitting Lute. Various injuries now line the claws, but Mr. Crabs can still keep fighting for a bit. More importantly, Lute is safe, for now.      "I've never really held back? I just have a /lot/ more tricks now. For example... UNOWN! REGISTEEL! GIRATINA!"      Yes, the fight has barely started, and Lute is already planning to flood the field with monsters. A horde of Unown fly out from under the back of Lute's labcoat. It's a huge number of them. They move to form a perimeter around the battlefield. Lute focuses, giving each of them orders. Namely, if they see Maya pull anything that Lute himself is unlikely to see? They'll relay vision of it to him.      And, Lute pulls out two Pokeballs. From one, the massive Registeel forms. It lands on front of Mr. Crabs, making a wall between him and Lute. The second opens, and out appears the ghostly dragon, Giratina. He starts to fly out, and circle the arena at an ever increasing speed.      But, the first real attack from Lute, that isn't just set up? It's a lot simpler.      "SPIT BUBBLES AT HER!"      Acidic bubbles shoot out from Mr. Crab's mouth, trying to shoot them towards Maya to engulf her. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya is aware Lute has a lot of monsters to fight, she has more experience fighting Pokemon than she does say Mr. Crabs so she takes note of the flying legendaries as they zip about likely planning to do some attack or even act as scouts. Then comes the acid bubbles, she attempts to evade them and she almost does but she's caught as one of them goes pop it's not an enjoyable experience. The chemical reaction is nasty but while it's injuring her her gear does hold out better than one might expect it to. She flies up trying to use the wind to get some of the acid off her and it works somewhat before she dives bombs down towards Lute but she's not quite going for him, she's more focused a card in her hand, as she casts a spell. Blue fire leeches from her body into the card and it starts glowing green. A moment later a massive burst of lightning arcs out from her and might just get Mr. Crabs and anything standing on him, or even near him! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      "PROTECT!"      This is a fairly simple command from Lute, but a generally rather effective one. As the bolt of lightning moves in, Registeel stomps forward to protect itself. Its large claws are lifted in front of it, and a barrier of energy forms in front of it. This helps minimize the damage, causing only a few sparks from the lightning bolt to hit the giant crab Kaiju.      Lute points forward, giving an order as he swings his arm to his side dramatically. "REGISTEEL! STEALTH ROCKS!" He feels he has this battle in the bag. Maya is already covered in some of the acid. Set up a little bit more, and then he's got it in the bag. /Especially/ if he can knock Maya out of the sky.      Registeel stomps upon Mr. Crab's head. From its body, a number of stones start shooting forward. They fly out in all directions, absolutely filling the sky. These Stealth Rocks are intended to make movement more difficult. One wrong move, and Maya will fly right into them.      Lute isn't done yet, though. He kneels on Mr. Crabs, smiling as he pets the top of the dapper crab.      "You got it, Mr. Crabs. You know what to do, now."      And, Mr. Crabs /does/ know what he is doing. More bubbles are spit out. These are a different mixture of chemicals. As the chemicals move forward, they'll burn at Maya. And, when they interract with the acid already on her? Explosion.      Lute is smirking like the jerk he is, standing tall with his hands on the side of his hips. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya okay she sees that Lute is on the ball and he's got a way to stop the lightning she's going to hae to mix it up even more. Wait stelath rocks? She wonders about that, but she's starting to move keeping flight and trying to not get knocked out of the air. She's doing pretty well to avoid this fate. She's caught by only a few drops of one bubbles as the others come she forms a barrier which takes the majority of it saving her from being exploded thankfully. She flits about trying to not get hit agian she doubts her barrier will work again. She does see Lute standing ther nd this time he gets another spell a massive colum of water fired right at him! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute isn't fast enough to order a Protect, this time. Maya is accurate as well. The column of water flies straight at Lute, striking into him. Luckily, he's managing to hold his footing. He's gotten used to riding various creatures of combat, and so it's very unlikely he'll be knocked off. Which is good for him.      Also useful for him? He still has the numbers advantage. Including Giratina. Giratina is also well trained. While Lute is dealing with attempting to dry off, and regain himself, Giratina can keep moving in to attack.      Giratina flies in from behind Maya, right as she is casting the spell. The Stealth Rocks are no trouble for him. He has a fairly gaseous body, which makes them little more than small roadbumps for him. It holds out its wings, massive spikes on them stretching out. As he flies forward, the spikes try to slash across Maya.      Lute, meanwhile, is standing up again finally. And his white T-shirt is somewhat soaked, clinging to his body. "HEY! This T-shirt cost me a /mint/ to get printed! Don't diss on my Team Lute T-shirt!" 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya does not stop to see if she hit Lute she knows that would be foolish, as it would give him time to launch a counter attack against her. The blue haired woman keeps going. She's very thankful she can fly right now or this would be very bad for her. Being so thankful doesn't last long as the Dragon Claw from behind she's caught pretty hard by the thing slashing into her and sending her into a bit of a dive. She fights to recover from it and yells back at Lute. "I never did, would you have liked it set on fire? I could do that." Maya's now flying high again, why? To buy her rifle time to charge a weapon at the apex she levels it at Mr. Crabs and perhaps Lute if he's not fast enough and fires a big bright white energy beam. She doesn't wait around, the moment the last blast has been fired she's moving again least she get hit again. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Up in the stands there's a choking sound as a certain earthbender gets some of her popcorn stuck in her throat. The person next to her tries to help by hitting her on the back, and eventually the girl manages to spit out the large handful of popcorn before her eyebrow twitches. He's actually /wearing/ a Team Lute t-shirt?!     "KICK HIS SORRY ASS, MAYA!" she calls out, sounding perhaps a bit too eager for her fellow Unionite to defeat the Pokemon researcher. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The beam strikes Mr. Crabs, torching the shell of the giant Kaiju. That beam attack is causing Lute a lot of pain. He really needs to figure otu a reliable way to counter it. For now, though, he'll focus entirely on his attack. No holding back anything. Neverending, relentless assault.      But it is at this point that Lute hears something from the stands, via his link with his Unown. Toph shouting.      A number of Braille-shaped Unown fly into the stands. Not from the Arena itself. Seems Lute kept a few on standby in case of mocking. But these Braille-Unown move themselves to sit on the floor infront of Toph, spelling something out in braille. Specifically, 'TRAITOR'.      As Maya tries to get away, Giratina follows after, quickly. The Stealth Rocks in the air start to follow it. It is using Ancient Power, a move that manipulates rocks, and throws them at the opponent. While chasing Maya, Giratina begins to start throwing Stealth Rocks at the girl. And Lute just grins a bit. Eyeing. Waiting. Plan is coming.      "You're just jealous of my STYLE!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     As the Unown land on the floor in front of her Toph blinks, looking confused at first. But familiar as she is with Braille, she 'reads' the word easily enough, frowning before she raises her foot... and kicks down into the ground with a disapproving grunt, sending the Unown flying up in the air. "Midbrain..."     With that she leans back in her seat, arms wrapped around her tub of popcorn, all while the people around her caaaarefully inch a little further away from the visibly annoyed earthbender. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya has long learned do not sit still, for the love of Kyra and Marduk, do not hold still in a fight. She does not this is all that saves from the attack that's coming at her. She knows pokemon are very powerful creatures when they are wild. They get even more so when they have someone to train them, there's no denying Lute's stkill there. She would find she's being hounded hard. The rocks come at her she's forced to dodge and evade the strikes. She's dancing about in the air putting on quite the show as she evades all but a few that were going so fast she just couldn't out pace them. She knows it could have been a lot worse and now she turns her attention to Lute again. Maya is holding another card at this point and she's casting something, soon her rifle is on her back and another card is in hand. One glows red the other blue and Maya seems to fade away as a ghostly looking knight appears glowing a pale blue much like the fire that comes from her body when she casts and then there's a shockwave...of physical force all around Maya, how far will it go? Not even she knows. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The physical force hits in all directions, and Giratina gets caught in it. He starts falling a bit, before righting himself. Mr. Crabs shakes and rumbles a bit. Registeel is struck, blocking Lute from being hit by the attack.      Lute grumbles a bit. This needs to be turned around. Time to up his assault. He starts shouting orders, once again. "Mr. Crabs, after her! Giratina, cut her off! And, Registeel... HYPER BEAM!"      Giratina flies forward to move in front Maya, cutting her off. Mr. Crabs runs in, from behind Maya. The Unown, meanwhile, are shrinking their perimeter. Moving in closer. Trying to give Maya less room to evade.      And then Registeel glows with power. A massive burst of energy gathers in him, and it flies out in a straight beam towards Maya. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' The fight's been a very close one, Lute's certainly gained a lot of power even on his own. She doesn't doubt his stand alone power, but he's also seeming quite good with the teamwork of his own creatures. Then comes the teamwork she's soon cut off by Giratina, and then comes Mr. Crabs. All that's left is for Registeel to catch her full force of the hyper beam and it catches her int he torso. She drops from the skies now with the force of that hit and she's heading rapidly to the ground. Maya's struggling to control the spell. She's heading towards the ground and it's rapidly getting closer even as she does so. She barely pulls out at the end but well he torso armour's smoking and Mayas more than a bit cooked from that last hit of Lute's. She keeps low for a moment and the rifle's weapons are charging again as she rises up rapidly and there's a bright blue glow coming from under the barrel of the rifle. A second later Maya fire sending a spread of energy discs that seek out Lute, Mr. Crabs and regi some of the unknown might end up getting caught by some of the spheres launched. They also will explode on impact if they managed to connect for additional are of effect damage. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The flying energy discs move in. Lute tris to duck out of the way of the first, only for it to graze along his arm as he moves down. The disc explodes, knocking him into the path of the others. Explosion after explosion rock him, leaving him a bit of a bloody mess. He does at least manuever his body so he still lands on Mr. Crabs, carefully shifting his weight and wind resistance as he falls. Unfortunately, he lands flat on his face, giving his Pokemon sometime where they'll need to act for themselves.      And, the Unown act. A few of them are caught in the explosions. The rest start to move in on Maya. With Lute somewhat down for the moment, recovering? The Unown don't need to give him constant sight. They fly towards Maya, all of them orbitting around her at different distances and directions. They start to work in unison, sending bursts of Hidden Power towards Maya, trying to blast into her with countless blasts of special energy.      Lute, for his part, presses at a Pokeball on his side. Yet another creature is released. His Gardevoir. This Psychic Pokmeon uses his powers to help lift Lute, helping maintain him in a bit more of a standing position. They can't have Lut ebe knocked out. Not yet!      Let's just hope it doesn't get a bit 'Weekend at Bernie's' in here. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya was not expecting to get Lute to be honest, he's got a lot of cover from his monsters. Who can take some serious hits after all, she expected it to keep his head down. To her shock he seems out of the fight for the moment. Not out of the battle but he's recovering from that last attack. She'll have to make the most of it but now the Unown are coming at her and they are smacking her about with the rocks quite well this time. Soon another Pokemon is in the action and Maya's not seen that one before, given the distanced? Also given the amount of hits she's taking she can't tell what's going on other than Lute's got up. She attempts to get some distance from the Unown and launches several chucks of rock back at them with a quickly casted Geo-strike. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The Unown are hit by the rocks. They drop like flies. While they're doing well enough not to die, they're still falling to the ground unconcious. Lute at least has enough time to regain himself, his Gardevoir giving him enough time to be stable. All of Lute's Pokemon have been taking significant injury. It's getting close to time to tip the scales.      "Psychic! Flash Cannon! Aura Sphere!"      And, Lute's 'mon go into action. Gardevoir tries to hold Maya in place with a Psychic burst of power. Registeel gathers power, firing first a beam of steel-type energy. And Gardevoir circles Maya, opening its mouth to shoot out a sphere of blue Fighting energy at Maya.      He really has to even the odds here. He /can't/ let himself lose! So many yeras has he competed. It's time for him to /really/ shine. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya has always had issues against Psychic powers, they are not something that are from her world, which makes it rather hard for her to deal with. Maya's caught in it's power which leaves her open as she tries to break free the beam slams into her and she lets out a scream as she's hit by another blast of energy theres an explosion and Maya's starting to fall again, this time she does slam into the sands below. It's a hard hit and Maya's about at the edge of what she's able to do. She rises up as the dust starts to settle the wings are the only part of her that's not battered and worn looking. Maya now looks up to the Pokemon and rises up briefly and she's got cards in hand again. She takes a moment to focus and she rapidly casts four spells causing a storm of elemental attacks to seek out Lute and his companions. Fire blast,s bursts of water, lightning and wind. Oh yes even chucks of the earth are all coming Team Lute's way. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      The elemental assault hits Lute, and his Pokemon. The variety of element spreads wide. Each one of them, doing a fair amount of damage. Registeel in particular takes a fair amount of damage from the flames. Lute just stations himself behind the Shadow Pokemon's body, before lifting its Pokeball to recall it.      And Lute, and all of his Pokemon are left injured. Barely standing. Even Mr. Crabs is struggling.      But. They are not giving up. Not yet. Lute stands tall, just glaring at Maya. A cocky grin on his face. He crosses his arms in front of him, before flipping his hair back and returning them to said crossed position.      "...You're tough. But. You don't /understand/ who I am, do you? I am Logan FUCKING Trieste! Yeah, you've been around since before even /me/, fighting in this war. But, you know what? I've turned myself around from being a laughing /joke/ of the Multiverse! And this year? I'm going to win the WMAT!"      The cocky look remains on his face as he gives orders, "Gardevoir! Helping Hand! Giratina! Scary Face! Mr. Crabs... SHOW HIM THE STRENGTH OF THE CRAB WHO BEAT THE WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN!"      A burst of psychic energy fills Mr. Crabs, boosting his power. Giratina starts to circle Maya again. It glares towards her, menacing look on its face. An intense pressure comes from this look, filling the sky, making it harder to move.      And then, Mr. Crabs. He starts rushing in. With each step, his monocle bounces. His claws move, mimicking a runner somewhat. His silky tophat shines in the desert sun.      He lifts a claw. Swingining it in, straight at Maya. Hammering it down at the flying woman. 

:'''{{#var:19|Maya (19)}} has posed:''' Maya Says "I do, you are Logan Trieste the man who fooled most of the multiverse about how strong you really are. You pulled it over on some of the most powerful beings in existance." Lute has pulled one over on everyone and then he hit the world so damn hard for it too later. He's one of the more major threats in the Confederate ranks as far as Maya sees it. She doesn't get to see more as she's trying to evade the incoming striles she's able to avoid most of them but then comes THE CLAW. Sadly it seems she has ben chosen as Maya's hammered hard she lets out a cry and goes crashing face first into the sands below, her armour now in tatters and she's not moving to get up. Logan has won this round. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      With that, Lute recalls his Pokemon. his body is injured, his clothes somewhat in tatters. His labcoat has completely fallen off, and his pants would be better off as cutoffs now.      But. He still stands. Proudly, over the battlefield.      Wearing his Team Lute T-Shirt.      He holds his hands, motioning up to the audience to cheer for him. Once the cheer eventually dies down? Mr. Crabs turns, and walks out of the arena. Lute is glad of one thing, though. Maya, unlike many others he has fought? She actually respects him. He'll have to keep that in mind in the future. It makes her more dangerous. 

}}

2729/WMAT BQ1 Mako Mankanshoku vs Fassad

2015-08-05T04:28:25Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/04 |Location=WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand |Synopsis=Qualifier match between Mako and Fassad, with Fassad winning. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/04
|Location=WMAT Arena - Devil's Hand
|Synopsis=Qualifier match between Mako and Fassad, with Fassad winning.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=191, 248
|Tinyplot=WMAT 2015
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:''' TWELVE HOURS AGO, MANKANSHOKU RESIDENCE     "I'm going out for my tournament match!" Mako announces, tapping her toes into her shoes, "Be sure to bring it when you come, okay?"     "Eh? Mako?" The Mankanshoku patriarch, Barazo, leans back from his meal, glancing door-wards, "Isn't that fight tomorrow? Why're you goin' now?"     "I don't wanna be late!" RIGHT NOW, DEVIL'S HAND     In the flat, grassy field set aside for the World Martial Arts Tournament stands a girl in a white an blue school uniform, her arms folded and her feet planted, producing a stern and dignified pose. Throwing it completely off, her head hangs to one side, eyes closed, and snoring.     Well, she's not late? 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad rides onto the battlefield, sitting atop his beautiful and noble steed, Excelsior. He is a stunning figure. His white cape flows behind him. His blonde hair sparkles in the sunlight. He opens his mouth, and there is a bright glimmer coming from his teeth. He waves to the audience in the stands, smiling as he looks all around. His sword and shield are out. His blade, a fake version of the Master Sword, is in his right hand. In his left, a mirror with an incredibly reflective surface.      And then he just stares blankly at the sleeping Mako. His jaw hangs slightly open for a second, before he regains himself.      "...Is... is she supposed to be asleep? ...Doesn't she know the match is starting soon?"      Suddenly there is the loud DING of the starting bell, and Fassad has no idea whether he should attack a sleeping opponent or not. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     In the stands, a voice sounds out, "Mako, time to go!" The source, a large, soft-framed man, hauls up from his seat and whirls a briefcase out. Planting his foot on the back of the seat in front of him, he hurls the luggage out in a shallow arc, "Here it is!"     The suitcase sails majestically, aimed perfectly, and strikes Mako square in the side of the head. With a shout, the girl goes down and the case snaps open. There's a crash, a cloud of dust thrown up from the impact.     There's a scuffle within the cloud until the girl hauls herself up with a shout, suddenly and differently equipped, "Hooooh! That's right, I'm here and I'm ready! Today you're facing the Honnouji Academy Fight Club President--" With a sweeping motion, she frames her eyes with the fingers of both hands, "--Mankanshoku Mako!"     From behind her erupt enormous crimson letters--     HONNOUJI ACADEMY FIGHT CLUB PRESIDENT     MANKANSHOKU MAKO     Hands dropping, she closes her eyes with a polite wave and a big smile, "Nice to meet you!" And immediately the red letters crumble into new words.     NICE TO MEET YOU     And then the lettering crumbles away. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad remains on the horse, his eyes locking forward. The briefcase, the red letters appearing. He is completely baffled. It's not often this self-proclaimed hero finds himself incapable of even formulating a reponse. And yet, today? That is what is happening. His mouth hangs open just slightly still.      He looks around, puzzled, staring at the audience, and at the people organizing the fight.      "...Is... is this a joke?" He knows she is Union, but... Still. He feels like she is pulling a FAST ONE on him. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "A joke? Nope!" Mako raises both hands and slams them together, the gold-plated knuckleduster smacking into her opposing palm with enough force to scatter dust around her in a fashion so very befitting the heroes of the world that originated the Tournament to begin with. "You can introduce yourself if you want, but these people are expectin' a show! I can't call myself president of the Fight Club if I don't deliver!"     The teeth of her geta dig in and then she kicks off, hurling up a spray of soil and sod behind her from the small crater her kickoff created, "Here I come, hope you and your pretty horse are ready!" The approach is, to put it lightly, like an out of control freight train. Every step she takes rips up the ground, and about two thirds of the way she drops forward and slams her fists down instead. This hurls Mako into a flip, turning herself into a projectile leading with the glowing crimson spikes that line the undersides of her wooden sandals.     "Let's go! Tournaments are s'posed to be fun!" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad is left completely defenseless as Mako moves in. It doesn't help that Mako is so skilled. Fassad does react at the last second, kicking at his horse, Excelsior. Excelsior moves forward a bit, but Fassad is still struck, some of the spikes stabbing into him. His chainmail stops some of it, but there is still a blunt force against him.      "...Apologies!" Fassad says, as he rides Excelsior forward, trying to circle around Mako constantly. Fassad smiles, looking at her, "I know of you, but allow me to introduce myself! I am Prince Fassad, of the land of Arcadia! The Hero of Light, and a hero who will /shine/ across this entire land!" He smiles again, a blinding flash of light coming off of his overly shiny teeth. Of course, it's really a magical effect.      He runs Excesior forward, towards Mako. He comes at her while trying to get behind her, with her on his right. He lifts his sword, and swings it down. "I apologize! I do not normally attack women unless they are vile villains, but such is the rules of the tournament!" 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "That's 'cuz they're villains!" Mako springs off from her kick, throwing herself into a flip such that she lands a few meters back, on her feet. Hands diving into her coat, she produces a gold-tinged bat with numerous nails sticking out of it, "But this isn't a fight to save the world, it's just for fun, so cut loose!"     When the horseman draws near and brings his blade down, Mako swings her bat to the side. Instead of blocking it with her weapon, Mako's coat sleeves move on their own. The left sleeve produces a large four-fingered white glove and ascends to meet the weapon, tearing and shedding red motes from damaged Life Fibers but keeping the blade from striking her much more vulnerable body.     "So you're like a real knight in shining armor, that's so cool! But isn't it hard to fight me while on a horse?" Her other sleeve winds back, producing its own glove, balled into a huge fist, "Let me help you out!"     Wrenching her damaged glove away, Mako twists her body while her coat's right sleeve swings forward in a right cross the size of a garbage can. Despite being an empty glove, it sure feels solid! 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad lifts his shield to counter. The Mirror Shield is the ultimate defense against magical attacks. Unfortunately, this is not a magical attack. It is a physical blast. His arm strains a bit as he braces to take the impact of the strike. Remaining on horseback, thankfully.      "Ah! Yes, I am much like the knights in stories! But, I am real, and I do not like to brag about how glorious and heroic of a knight I am! But! I shall cut loose... And, a Knight is /always/ stronger on his noble steed!" Which is, of course, somewhat true. It gives him a bit of a height advantage. Perhaps a speed advantage as well, though that is more questionable considering the Goku Uniform.      "BEHOLD! THE LIGHT THAT STOPS EVIL! AND... Wins tournaments and moves into legend!"      He's too used to fighting actual evils and not entering tournaments. He keeps Excelsior running forward, before turning. He points his sword forward, a bright light having gathered in it. The light shoots forward, a solitary beam trying to strike Mako. He keeps his horse running back towards her. He has a plan for a counterattack. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "Just like the stories!" Mako shouts excitedly. She doesn't even seem to care that her punch glanced off rather than unhorsing her opponent. Rather, she twirls to keep facing him, slamming her uniform's damaged hand into the ground to stabilize herself while she draws her bat up in both regular hands, "'course you're real, I only fight imaginary friends once in a while!"     Wait, what?     Wrenching her glove free, Mako rears back with her bat in preparation for something. The beam from Fassad's sword strikes her in the side, sending out a spray of crimson light from damaged Life Fibers and hitting solidly enough to knock the girl off her precarious one-legged about-to-swing stance. Mako goes for a tumble with a few amusing noises before she comes out in a sitting position, sleeves settling around her, "...Wow!"     Her sleeves rise up, then slam down and lift the girl to her feet without using her actual hands. The impact produces craters around either palm and also hurls her not just to her feet, but several meters straight up. Shifting her bat to one of the sleeve-glove hands, Mako digs into her coat with both regular hands, than hurls them outward, scattering fistfulls of gold-colored projectiles-- A hammer, a crowbar, several screwdrivers, two bricks, and a bent piece of metal pipe! 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad is continually impressed with Mako. She seems brave, if mentally challenged. He keeps his eyes locked on her, and watches the movement of her sleves. Her strange coat is something to watch out for. As it launches Mako into the sky, his plan to counterattack her next move is abandoned rapidly. Instead, he lifts his shield. The projectiles... He'll have to deal with them, first.      His shield lifts to meet all of them, blocking them one by one. His movements are surprisingly quick, and the shield is surprisingly sturdy. They just bounce off in all directions away from him, and Excelsior.      A plan is formed, though. With Mako in the sky, he can get her while her movement is limited. He has to work fast, for she'll land /soon/. He sheathes his sword. There is a flash of a movement. His hand reaches into a leather bag on his belt, and pulls something out. It is tossed into the air, the fuse lit. A blue bomb, that will explode after a few seconds, or upon impact with Mako. The explosion will be quite large. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     Oh, a ball?! Mako twists around in midair and reaches out to catch the round blue sphere thrown up at her, reaching with both her hands as well as the sleeves of her coat. It's her regular hands that make the catch, pushing Mako back a bit as she starts to descend, "Hey, I didn't know you wanted to play like this--" Turning it over, she finds the fuse. Blink. Before Mako can even process it (admittedly that'd take a while anyway), the bomb explodes in her hands, surrounding the girl with smoke and glowing red flakes.     From the bottom of the cloud, a smoldering mass drops, impacting solidly. A few feet away, her bat hits the ground beside her. Reaching for it, Mako collects her weapon and rises to her feet, smoking, "Kind of a dirty trick, but I fell for it, good one!" She bends her knees, then hurls herself forward, "I'm not very tricky, so this'll have to do!"     It's just about the definition of a head-on attack. Sleeves billowing in the wind, Mako draws her nail-laden back back behind one shoulder, than swings it forward as she gets closer to Fassad, shouting the entire time she's airborne. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad is too slow to react this time. He lifts his shield, but the bat hits him dead on. Finally, he is sent flying off of Excelsior. The horse simply keeps running forward, moving out of the way. It turns around, and just watches. It's a well trained horse. If ordered to get into the battle again? It will.      Fassad rolls along the ground as he falls off, using his cape to shield himself. Luckily, the grass is keeping him from getting dirty, or, gasp, muddy. But, he'd much rather be on Excelsior. That's not an easy task right now, though. Mako is in the way of him and his steed. He stands, frowning slightly.      "...Using a bomb is not a dirty trick! I assumed you would recognize it for what it is! I apologize!"      And so, he goes in for a more straightforward attack, to make up for his last one. He rushes in, pulling his sword back out. As he pulls it out, he makes a wide slash. An attack coming out /right/ from the sheath. AH! A legendary Iai Strike! ...Which really isn't that big of a deal because that's not something Fassad is specifically trained in. It's not like he is one who can cut a man in half more easily by doing it this way. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     After the impact, Mako whips her bat back and throws out her legs, digging her geta into the dirt to stop herself. This leaves her back open to the strike, which slashes across the black material of her uniform and slashes open a tear, revealing the glowing crimson Life Fibers of its inner layer. There's also some crimson in the scattering particles that doesn't glow, but splatters the grass instead.     Mako is a girl who relies on her Goku Uniform to fight, and losing it renders her mostly harmless, but getting actual blood drawn is a sign of the Iai attack's potency in capitalizing on the girl's open position. With a tense noise, she sweeps a leg around in a wide arc to whirl herself back on Fassad. Her bat is swung down, then hurled into the sky. This leaves her hands free.     "It's fine!" Mako shouts cheerfully, kicking off to get close again, "I fell for it, either way, right? Now let's try this!" Leading with her left hand, Mako throws two quick punchs, then follows it up with her right hand-- weilding a golden star-shaped knuckleduster with 'OKAM' standing out on it--in a powerful straight-arm punch, "Eey! Eey! Eeeey!"     Whether she strikes Fassad or not, that last shot scatters dust around the two and, several dozen meters away, a star imprint appears on a hillside, surrounding gigantic letters spelling out 'MAKO' 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      There are a number of things confusing Fassad about this fight. The fact that someone is actually out SFX'ing him is amongst the top of that list. He tries to parry with his shield, blocking here and there. He tries to block with the flat of his sword as well, but so many of those hits strike right on. And then the star imprint on the hillside...      This really just isn't fair, for publicity reasons. Fassad is the showboat!      But even as pummeled, he moves in. His shield bashes forward, surrounded by a slight bit of light. He smirks slightly, looking towards Mako, "Ah, truly, you are a powerful opponent! But, I am the HERO OF LIGHT! I shall not fall here, in just the qualification rounds!" The shield bashes in, aiming for Mako's head. It is empowered by Light magic. His hope is to shake the head, and throw off Mako's brain, making it harder for her to think and react for a bit.      ...He is uncertain this will work. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     CLONG     The impact is enough to send a fierce vibration through the Mirror Shield and possibly even into Fassad's arm. The sound it makes is not unlike if he had struck a coconut, a hollow sound accompanied by the ringing of metal courtesy of the shield. Mako herself staggers back, as if stunned, her distinctive bancho cap squashed down on her head until it covered her eyes like a blindfold.     Even with the shield still ringing, Mako reaches up and tugs on her hat from either side until it pops up off her head, and she gives it a shake, eyes squeezed shut, "Wooooow! What a noise!" One could almost hear the rattling, like a spraypaint can. But that can't possibly be real. Did the WMAT producers add sound effects to the broadcast?     "You might not lose, but I won't lose either..!" Mako's eyes snap open as she drops her hat back onto her head and dips forward, "I promised Ryuko we'd fight for real, and then I'd get to watch her fight Lady Satsuki! So if I'm gonna lose, you're gonna have to work for it!" She's not angry, there's a certain cheer in her voice that'd be hard for anyone to fake.     Following up on her words, Mako feints back. Her coat's sleeves billow forward, enormous gloves open-handed and closing together on Fassad from either side in an attempt to squash him in a huge clap. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The loud ringing noise confirms something Fassad had thought. He will not bring this up later, though. It is improper to say anything insulting about a woman. And while he will insult villains, Mako is definitely not such.      Fassad has no way to defend against the following attack, though. He tries to dodge back, but the two gloves strike against him, crushing him between them. Bruises and bleeding occur on both sides of him. But, he starts to skid back, smiling slightly as he tries to breath and regain himself.      He poses. Lifting his sword to the heavens. He stares Mako right in the eye. And, he smirks. "I apologize again. I do not want to hurt a woman as lovely as you. At the same time, I do not want to break your dreams. Stand as tall as you can against me. But... I AM FASSAD! OF ARCADIA! Future weilder of the Master Sword! A hero who will strike /all/ darkness down, and rid the land of evil! I must stand in this tournament, as a light to all who seek to do good!"      He steps forward, making a wreckless attack. Rushing forward, he spins his blade. A wide, circular attack. Best made for groups. But he /has/ to attack in a stunning and dramatic way! For his /fans/. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "Yeah! Yeah!" Mako snaps her sleeves back, giant gloved hands splaying their fingers out in a posture of readiness, mimicking her actual hands. "The Hero of Light, right? Win or lose, I'm glad we got to fight!" Even if she's dressed like some kind of delinquent bancho from a Japanese high school drama. Or a shounen hero. Depends on the perspective.     With the hero spinning his way towards her, the girl hunches down and braces herself, reaching a hand into her jacket. She turns her shoulder into the spin, taking the sword against her Life Fiber-reinforced uniform with a spray of crimson motes and a few hints of blood, with an impact solid enough to cause her to spin in place. The girl kicks off, throwing herself back a step and wrenching something gold-colored and rather large from inside her coat. Is it a sledgehammer?! A mallet?!     Fassad's sword strikes the metal handle before it can hit Mako again. Held in one hand and braced with one of her uniform sleeve-gloves, Mako holds a long golden rod with a large, equally golden mass on one end. The haft is not straight, but bent curiously in a few places. At this angle, it's hard to tell what it is, until she pushes back against the sword to give herself room and swings the weapon back.     It's a sink, weilded by a length of drain pipe.     "We both have good reasons to fight our hardest, so let's give it our all! This is the true spirit of the Fight Club! Win or lose, it's that you fight your hardest that matters!"     Shifting the pipe to her actual hands, Mako brings it up behind her, and then swings it down in an arc like a golf club, directing the sink itself at the center of Fassad's chest, "Eeeey~!" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad was prepared for everything but the kitchen sink, it seems. As the hammer-sink swings in, he goes flying across the battlefield, bouncing slightly. He lays flat on his back for just a moment. Finally, he rights himself, standing. Trying to find when he lost control of the situation.      Finally standing, he smiles, "Well! I'm glad either way. Because, no matter who wins? The winner has the HEART OF HERO!"      He starts running forward, leaping into the air. And suddenly, he shouts, "EXCELSIOR!" His white steed runs towards him, and he lands on its back. Then, he leaps off again, his blade coming in a downwards stab straight towards Mako.      This of course will leave him mostly off guard and in the air. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "The heart of a hero?" Mako straightens her posture, scratching the side of her head, "I like the sound of that!" But there's a fight going on, Mako, pay attention! Snapping back to her opponent, Mako drops the sink to the ground at her feet and raises her hands, mimicked by her uniform's sleeves. The left glove, damaged from before, raises defensively with the fingers spread wide for Fassad to strike against. The impact itself is solid enough that the blade stabs right through the back of the glove and pushes it down enough to bite into the girl's shoulder directly before she can push him back up.     Mako bares her teeth in a smile, the sprig of clover in her teeth jerking upward. Her coat's right sleeve balls its glove up into a fist and swings in an arc, aiming to catch Fassad from the side while his sword is jammed through the left glove. The left glove's fingers try to close around and trap him while the right glove just hammers down again and again, "If a hero loses, he just comes back stronger in the next episode..!" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad keeps a strong grip on his sword, even as the glove hammers at him and tries to smack him away. He winces, frowning. Finally, he manages to remove the sword, being hit into the air as he does so. He sheathes the sword, and grabs at his bomb bag again.      ...And he spills it.      Every single bomb falls out, about 29 of them. And they're lit.      "--Uhhh, that was more than I meant to!"      Still, he is flying back, and lands soon after. He's actually frustrated he just made an accidental attack      KABOOM. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "Hey!" Mako swings her sleeves back, the gloves disappearing into them while Fassad is airborne. She recognizes the blue spheres dropping down on her, the same bombs he'd used before, "You're doing it again!"     The girl hooks her toe under her discarded sink-and-pipe and yanks it back up into her hands. Throwing the sink out to one side, she doesn't release, and instead puts herself into a rapid spin of swirling sleeves and flashing gold plating. The swarm of bombs falls into this spinning Mako-Top and are summarily scattered in the rough direction of the man who'd dropped them, transforming a cascade of explosives into a shotgun of explosives.     She's not perfect, though. Near the end of the spin and the cascade, several of the bombs are close to the end of their fuse and go off right when her weapon hits them, sending the girl sailing aside, wreathed in smoke. Rather than land in a tumble, though, Mako slams her sink down to stop herself and bring her feet down, than swings the sink up to rest crookedly over her shoulder while she pats flames out on the edge of her skirt with her free hand, "Wow, I'm bad at baseball..!" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The bombs fly in towards Fassad. As he stares at them, he pauses, just slightly.      "...Oh dear."      The explosions blast at him, and he flies in the air. His body is torn, burnt, bruised, and bleeding. He looks hardly heroic, being right in the sky. Another sigh. This is embarrasing.      Finally he rights himself, holding his sword downards. He can be heard yelling. But, at his distance in the air, it is impossible to be made out. Likely he's ranting something about heroics, battle, and stuff like that. But his body starts glowing with a bright light.      Finally he says something that can be heard. "BARRAGE OF LIGHT!"      The light upon his body starts glowing brighter. It bursts off of him, into countless beams of light. They fly in all directions from him, before they start to arch straight down towards Mako. As the light flies down, it tries to pummel straight into Mako, with an intense light.      And then Fassad starts approaching the ground at an alarmingly fast rate, about right above Mako. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     The bancho President turns her gaze up, shielding her eyes from the sun as the explosions hurl Fassad into the sky. She's a thick sort, but doesn't assume she's won just yet. Those brown eyes narrow, squinting, until a glimmer causes them to widen, "Oooh~!" Immediately Mako snaps out her coat's sleeves and then curls them up over herself, forming a makeshift shield scant moments before bolts of light rain down on top of and around her. This hurls up a great big cloud of dust and soot, which as it fades reveals she hadn't weathered the attack as well as she might have hoped.     The damaged left sleeve is almost completely severed, full of hopes and tears. The right sleeve is only slightly better, still able to move while the left hangs limply now. Bits of fire and embers glow on her coat and the school uniform under it, highlighting the scuffs and burns and cuts.     Evidenced by the sprig of indomitable clover, Mako still wears a smile, "I knew that wouldn't do you in! Let's try this out!"     Casting her sink and pipe into her right sleeve's waiting glove, Mako pulls out her baseball bat once again and swings it up. There's an explosion from inside it, hurling the wooden bat apart in four pieces to reveal something nestled inside it-- A missile. Holding her hat down with one hand, Mako hauls this missile up into the sky and lets it fly, a streak of smoke trailing behind a projectile with a warhead painted to look like an angry version of its owner, "Go get 'em!" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      The missile comes up. Fassad winces. Can he /possibly/ stop it? For a moment, he completely loses hope. But then, he remembers. His dreams. His hopes. He wants to be the Hero of Time. The Hero of Light. He /will/ become that. A hero never loses. He will have to do everything he can to win.      He lifts the shield. The missile impacts. Due to a stroke of luck, the explosion bounces back, off the shield. Fassad flies down, his sword in hand. An eager look on his face. Even if he is going to lose, he /will/ go down with style. He lifts the blade above his head, holds the shield foward.      And like a comet, he comes crashing down, glowing with light. His shield leads the way, impacting /hopefully/ at Mako.      He is praying he doesn't hit the ground. That would be embarrasing. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     Mako sights the catastrophic explosion caused by her missile, sweeping the launcher back and discarding it, smoldering, to one side while shading her eyes with her other hand. "Did I get him..?" There's a brief moment where she squints, only to see the light-wreathed hero emerge from beneath the fireball. Just long enough for her eyes to widen with a little "Hii?!" sound before he impacts, enveloping both fighters in a burst of light.     When it subsides and the dust settles, Mako is still in motion, tumbling away head over heels until she slams into the grandstands and comes to a stop, upside-down. Her uniform cut, torn, and singed, her body battered, Mako doesn't move. Her eyes simply swirl, clearly she's out of the fight! But boy that girl could take a beating. 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      As Fassad bashes, he pushes back. He lands, softly on the ground. Stumbling. He has taken quite a beating himself, and his breathing is hard. His entire body looks torn apart, and his clothing is tattered. But, as he stands there, he simply lifts his sword for a moment, posing dramatically.      And then, he sheathes his sword. He walks towards Mako, smiling as he looks down at her. His hand holds out to hers, /trying/ to help her up. He'll lift her out of the arena and take her to medical, if need be. Because that's the kind of guy he is. 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "Back off!"     It's less an angry declaration and more a general warning, as a shadow appears from the stands mere seconds before the bulky shape of Barazo Mankanshoku drops down from the bleachers, landing on his butt with a ground-shaking impact. Bouncing up to his feet, he stoops down immediately to tend to Mako. Opposite him, a slinky woman in a pink nurse's costume drops down as well, toting a black handbag with a red cross on it.     "Don't mind us~," the woman states, "Her father is a doctor and I often assist, so we'll take care of Mako from here~." 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      Fassad stops in his tracks, staring at the doctor, and the woman. Fassad just blankly stares, surprised at this. But, he just shrugs, looking at the father, and the... slinky woman who he thinks might be a harlot.      "...Well. I shall leave her in your hands, good sir! You should be proud of your daughter, she fights well! Both of you, take good care of her!" 

:'''{{#var:191|Mako Mankanshoku (191)}} has posed:'''     "Sure thing!" Barazo turns just enough to flash Fassad a thumbs-up and a wink, "Mankanshoku Barazo, at your service! You sure did a number on her, my boy!"     "Mm~hmm~," the woman opens up the medical bag, "Mankanshoku Sukuyo~. If beating up my daughter helped you advance a level, please feel free to do it again some time~!"     Up in the stands, a kid's voice shouts down. The source is a brown-haired boy waving a camera, "Mom! Dad! I got great footage! Gonna put it up on Youtube an' make tons of advertising dough!" 

:'''{{#var:248|Fassad (248)}} has posed:'''      And Fassad is instantly embarrased that he called Mako's mother a harlot within his own head. He tries to keep his calm, looking at them both. The thumbs up is a strange gesture to him still. The youtube footage, the offer to beat up the daughter more, the contragulations...      He just stands there, staring blankly, his mouth hanging wordlessly open.      He may have won the battle, but in so many ways he has failed. Specifically at comprehending. 

}}

2686/The Time, Part 2

2015-07-28T01:28:06Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/27 |Location=Tomoeda-865 |Synopsis=Sakura and Kaiba have a Duel over The Time, while the rest try to save Tomoyo and take the card outside ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/27
|Location=Tomoeda-865
|Synopsis=Sakura and Kaiba have a Duel over The Time, while the rest try to save Tomoyo and take the card outside of Kaiba's challenge.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 42, 165, 172, 312, 317, 560, 623, 648, 707
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The arena is set. Countless people sit in the stands, ready to watch this epic battle. The audience is filled with cheering fans. Specifically, fans of the child billionaire Seto Kaiba. Sakura is not without her supporters as well, though. After all, this is Tomoeda. Sakura is a known Magical Girl who works with the Union. The announcement that such a hero will be playing a game of Duel Monster's is enough to draw a large number of people. There is even an area set off to one side, near Sakura's side of the arena. This area is designated for her friends and supporters. It is close enough to her stand that if people called to support her, she would be able to hear them.      The arena itself is a large white circle, filled with somewhat illuminated tiles. Two stands are set up opposite of eachother, for both Sakura and Kaiba to face eachother. These are about ten feet off of the ground, and they lack railing of any kind. Most likely, Kaiba has bribed away the issues of saftey compliance.      Above the arena there is a metal cage. It looks to be mostly for decoration. But, from where Sakura is, she can see someone within. Tomoyo. A gag is over the young girl's mouth, and ropes are wrapped around her wrists. Her arms are tied behind her back. It's not an insurmountable task to break out of the ropes, at least. Perhaps Tomoyo can find some method? The other Elites can likely spot her from their seating as well. It is laid out very carefully so that very few can tell this is going on. More noticable to the general public? The Time Card is strapped to the underside of the cage, within a golden holder of some kind. From it, various wires lead upwards into the ceiling, connecting it to other parts of the facility. It's through these wires and connections that The Time is used and controlled by Kaiba, connecting it to various computers and power sources throughout the place, to keep providing it the energy it needs to be used.      Kaiba stands tall across from Sakura. His face is smug, as usual. He is wearing his school uniform today, this simple and plain blue uniform cut to fit his lean body. On his left arm, his Duel Disk is at the ready. He shuffles his deck quickly, without even looking at it. A small grin is given towards Sakura as he slots his deck into the Duel Disk.      "Well. You and the others did well. Some /minor/ hiccups along the way. But. You do realize... This /is/ where you are going to lose. You stand /absolutely zero chance/ of winning. We are in /completely/ different leagues, and The Time will be mine forever." Kaiba draws five cards from the top of his deck, not even bothering to look at them. His eyes remained glued on Sakura.      "You go first. Let's duel!" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura flips down her hood and puts the hat Tomoyo made for her back onto her head when she realises there's a crowd. Crap. She hopes no one got a good look at it.     As she spots Tomoyo, her eyes widen for a moment, before narrowing into a scowl at Kaiba. She stands stock still for a few moments, before holding her left hand out to her side.     A bright pink door appears, just suspended in place with no door frame. Sakura opens it, and it visibly leads into some sort of foyer. She promptly heads through the door into the Other Space... and returns with a Duel Disk. Obviously retrieved from the box it came in. She prepared for this! She shuffles her own deck, methodically, with her eyes... closed for some reason.     In it goes. Five cards are drawn. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     Is Sakura REALLY going to take Kaiba on at his own game?! Shirou emerges into the chamber uncertain about this plan, especially with the gathering of onlookers around. "He's making this much of a spectacle out of it?"     This is utter madness. he's ASTOUNDED at Kaiba's willingness to show off and ego.     "He's putting on a hell of a show." The question is, how to put things in Sakura's favor?     He was right about Tomoyo though. And his sharp eyes lock onto the distant card.     Hmmm. What to do about this situation? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is half-surprised when he sees the arena. Seriously? Tomoyo and the magic card hanging in a cage? Does Kaiba seriously see himself as a supervillain or something? If so, how are people cheering for him? But he's not at all surprised that this ends with a card duel. Everyone knows cards are Serious Business.     A big public spectacle like this, though... means Kaiba /probably/ can't try anything with Tomoyo. It's not like she's hanging over a tank of sharks or anything. Kaiba will be ready for them to try to save her, of course. On the other hand, if Sakura can /win/ this card game, Kaiba will look bad in front of all his fans if he doesn't give her up. Any measures they can take to save her, can be taken after the game, if Sakura loses. So... Staren begins trying to think of a backup plan, and smiles at Sakura.     He wonders if he can hack the arena's speakers to play back the bomber's speech, if they need to buy time later. May as well check for wireless networks... 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo is still a little spooked after the sudden surge of violence Sakura turned against the terrorist-bomber in the other room. On the one hand, there was no doubt that this guy deserved nothing resembling mercy. On the other, well... that was still not really the ideal end to that problem in his eyes. Trust, though. Rather than sit and watch them play a(n inferior) card game for Tomoyo and The Time's fate, Theo focuses on trying to figure out what he can do about Kaiba's ability to control time. That is not a power a megalomaniac like him should be allowed to keep. He fishes around in his backpack for binoculars, and, crouched by the edge of the Elite spectator area (such as it is), tries to get a look at those wires. Where are they going? Maybe if they share a common wall, he can get Shirou to do his thing and they can find what's powering it and cut the line. 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' Some time earlier last week, the man named Ren Tanaka, very much unhappy with the behavior of child billionaire Seto Kaiba, decided to infiltrate Death-T to provide some preliminary intel on the quote unquote 'theme park'.     However, doing so is very difficult when you are dealing with someone who can manipulate time. He found his perception of time twisted, muddied, and occasionally frozen, and often he found himself outside of the theme park entirely.     But he never gave up and he never stopped going.     And now, he's managed to make his way very close to where everyone else is, having approached from the alternate angle while attention was being given to them. And he immediately doesn't like what he sees.     He lost his radio some time ago to a trap: hence no reporting in. He hopes no-one thought he died. Therefore, he cannot voice his ire at Tomoyo being captured on union channels. He should do something about the Time card. He should really, really do something about the Time card.     He decides to save Tomoyo, and he still doesn't know why.     The crowds of people really should question the fact that someone is explicitly being bound and held against their will, but he doesn't care that they're not paying attention to her, not really. After all, that makes things easier for him.     His goal is to make it from where he currently is, which is undefined because, hey, /you/ don't know where he is, and to where Tomoyo is. While everyone else is looking the other way. Should be easy. Nothing could possibly go wrong. This is going to be the best christmas Walford's ever had. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     One moment, Tomoyo is staring at a bomb about to go off at her feet, and the next? In a cage, bound and gagged. Terribly disconcerting, to be sure. For a while, she just sat there, hoping the others would find her. And also quietly fuming that Kaiba would turn one of Sakura's cards against them.     But now, things are happening below! Wiggling over to the edge of the cage, she peeks down and spots her friends! Oh thank goodness... right, she can't just stay up here and watch (though she will certainly watch, she has the best seat in the house to watch Sakura humiliate Kaiba in front of a crowd).     Lifting her knees up against her chest, she begins to pull her bound arms under herself, bringing them around to the front. If it hadn't been for all that training, no way she could have done this. Though still bound, this means that she can use her fingers to start working on the gag. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     After studying her cards for a moment, Sakura exhales slowly. "Okay. Draw." One more card! "First: I play Pot of Greed." She inserts the card into the Duel Disk. A hologram of a one-handed pot with a weird grinning face appears before Sakura, as she draws two cards. "And I set... this monster. Go."     She places a card face-down and at right angles on a segment of the Duel Disk. A hologram of a face-down card appears before her. MONSTERS: SET SPELLS: HAND: 6 GRAVEYARD: Pot of Greed 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      With the binoculars, Theo can see a number of elaborate magical runes upon the device. It also seems to be made of solid gold. It also does not look anywhere near modern or new. Glancing up, the wires seem to be connecting to the ceiling. The way the cords look bent, though? The various groups of cords are going to various sides of the building, to all four sides. There probably is some way to access the area in the ceiling where the cords reach, though.      Kaiba smiles, looking at the face down card. He will give Sakura some credit: She played Pot of Greed. That is, in fact, an incredibly useful card. No duelist worth their salt would play without it due to the basic utility of thinning the deck.      It's his turn, though. And so, he draws his card. His eyes idly glance down to his hand, though just for a second. With just that brief look, he knows exactly what he wants to do for his action.      "I set two cards face down in my spell and trap zone! And, for my own monster... I play La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, in Attack Mode! I'll just go ahead and destroy that face down Monster of yours!"      The holographic form of La Jinn appears, a giant green genie with gold bands and a long moustache. He rushes towards the card, punching straight at where it is. And all the while, Kaiba's face keeps the same arrogant smirk. It is, in fact, his poker face. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa has been pulled aloing by Shirou when things went down. This wasn't something he heneded to twist her arm for. Tomoyo had been good to her She was sulking about with him. She knew they had to do something to help Tomoyo as well. She had considered some options but unlike Many? Kaiba was actually good at keeping his cybersecruity at being top shelf or even custom in house systems to make it even harder for outsiders to play with them. She'd wisely avoided trying this all togehter as she moves to set a hand on Shirou's shoulder however. 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' So. A cage on the ceiling. A cage... on the ceiling. So, how are we going to do this?     Well, it would help if he could talk to the others on the radio, but, well... no radio. So it's going to be him operating entirely on his own assumptions- no guessing that this is staged, no assuming this is all silly games. He doesn't know that Sakura has already had to kill someone, but he would know already from his own investigation into Death-T that Seto Kaiba is a bad, mad man. And so he is taking no second chances, because he's that sort of man.     First, it's time to figure out the best angle to approach. If he does this from within Kaiba's field of vision... well, he'll be concentrating on the duel, but no margin of error is acceptable. So, from behind Kaiba. This means people who are sat WATCHING Kaiba may see him, but they might think he's a maintainance worker. So, he begins to climb. Any way he can. Maintainance duct? Elevator shaft? He has the ability to climb on sheer vertical surfaces if he really needs to. Don't question it, folks, I'm a maintainance worker. See? I'm carrying a tool, even. It's uh... a wrench. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     The face down card erupts into the form of a... ridiculously adorable sheep. With wings.     Which is immediately OBLITERATED because it has 1000 less DEF than the Jinn's ATK.     Sakura makes a face and draws a card. "Okay... I play... Pot of Duality!" Yes she already drew another goddamn pot. THis one has the same face as the Pot of Greed on one side, and a serene mask on the other...     Sakura draws three cards from her deck, studies them, then puts one into her hand and the other two back into her deck. Which gets shuffled.     "And... I play another Pot of Duality." Yep! SHE HAD THREE POTS. She goes through the same process!     "Right! I summon Arcana Force Six: The Lovers, in attack mode!" She plays a card, and a... weird, alien creature, vaguely humanoid, appears before her. Then, a holographic coin appears in front of it. It spins through the air... and comes up Tails. "Okay that means I can't tribute summon Arcana Force monsters while it's in play but who cares? One for One!" Another spell card! This one simple vaporises the Lovers, while Sakura searches through her deck for... "And I special summonArcana Force 0: The Fool, into defense mode!" Another weird alien monster appears, purple skinned, with tentacles for hair and wearing pants that make it look like a clown. And now another coin appears: this one comes up heads. "Which is immune to your card effects and destroys them, by the way. And NOW... I play Court of Justice!" A golden ring materialises above the playing field, flanked by a pair of golden orbs with cute little angel wings. "And now I use the Court of Justice's ability to special summon Tethys, Goddess of Light, in attack mode!"     A golden beam of light shoots up from from the Fool's extended hand, towards the Court of Justice. A moment later, it sends down a broader beam of light, within which materialises a beautiful angel woman with wings that don't seem to be attached to her body.     "Who, of course, immediately attacks your Jinn." Tethys forms a bow out of pure light, and shoots a silver arrow towards the green-skinned genie.     Sakura is kinda getting into this. MONSTERS: Arcana Force 0: The Fool (0/0 DEF), Tethys, Goddess of Light (2400/1800 ATK) SPELLS: Court of Justice HAND: 2 GRAVEYARD: Pot of Greed, Fluffal Sheep, Pot of Duality, Pot of Duality, Arcana Force VI: The Lovers, One for One 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     With Kotone walking in, Shirou exhaaaales to control his feelings. He's normally one for acting without thinking like a hotheaded maniac, but Bedivere's changed that. Somewhat. "We've got to make sure Sakura either wins this... or Kaiba doesn't pull anything if she doesn't. It's probably just reputation on the line... man, Kaiba's really pulled out all the stops here!" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "So we keep the game honest if we can, he plays hard. I gamed with him before, I think he's lost the nature of fun with games a long time ago. Still he did turn the company from being a death merchant into dealing in gaming and enterainment for the most part. I'm still trying to figure him out. He's so hardcore about games but doesn't want to profit off blood." She's really tyring to think this out it seems. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's not familiar with Duel Monsters, but he tries to follow along. Sakura's monster was defeated, but now she has /two/ on the field, one is an invincible blocker (he's learned enough about Magic to see the importance of that) and the other is... pretty strong? Maybe? He has no idea if 2400/1800 is a lot in this game.     Despite trying to think of how to save Tomoyo, he finds himself getting drawn in. "Goooo Sakura!" he cheers. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Traveller is forced to climb the sheer surface of a maintenence shaft. As he climbs, he gets to a wide area above the ceiling, a fairly short area. Various workers are in here, providing minor technical support. Making sure lighting and sound is working right, and similar. Some mechanisms near the middle of this upper area seem connected to Tomoyo's cage. As in, there is machinery to keep it together.      Of course, this machinery is highly guarded. There are four different bulky bodyguards surrounding it. Along with this, there is another figure. A long haired child, who looks a bit like a brat. Mokuba Kaiba. He's busy giving people orders, while also standing guard near Tomoyo's cage mechanisms.      Kaiba actually raises an eyebrow. Once again, he is impressed. Most newbies can't summon this many monsters so quickly. It's a fairly grand move. But, Kaiba's smirk never leaves his face. In fact, his poker face breaks a little bit as he smiles just /slightly/ wider.      "I activate my trap card! MIRROR FORCE!"      This, sadly, won't affect The Fool. Which annoys Kaiba. It still will destroy Tethys, at least. As she moves in to attack the Jinn, there is a burst of energy flying right back at her.      "You walked /right/ into that. So much effort, for so little gain. And now you just hide behind your little wall!"      He has to get rid of The Fool, and fast. He draws his card, his poker face back to normal. And a glare is given to Sakura. He plays a card, face up in his spell and trap zone. "FIRST. I play Photon Sanctuary! This creates two Photon tokens!" The two tokens appear on the field, looking more or less as just balls of lights, similar to Will-O-Wisps. And then Kaiba shouts out, dramatically holding a card up. "BUT. Those aren't going to remain for long! I tribute them, to summon forth my most powerful Monster! I CALL YOU FORTH! BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!"      He places the card on the field. The two tokens break apart and vanish. In their place, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon stands. It lets out a loud roar, and stares across the Battlefield at the Fool.      Kaiba wants to attack. But. It'd do no good. And so a slight frown. "...And. I end my turn." Monsters: La Jinn, Blue-Eyes White Dragon Spells/Traps: 1 Hand:2 Lifepoints: 8000 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      After fiddling with the knot of her gag, Tomoyo manages to get it undone! Spitting out the wadding, she's momentarily tempted to throw it down at Kaiba, but decides against it. Sakura will beat him no problem, after all~     So for now, she leans against the bars to look down at the duel, clapping quietly to herself as Sakura pulls off summoning three monsters in one turn~ She then proceeds to work on the bindings with her teeth, trying to loosen them some.     But then Kaiba plays his trap card! Oh no! Looking away for a moment, she's just in time to see Kaiba summon his favourite card. But Sakura has an invincible monster, and an invincible spell~ Still unconcerned, the tailor gets back to work on the bindings. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     A look of shock flickers across Sakura's face for a moment. She then drawns a card. "Okay. I play Cup of Ace." A golden chalice appears before Sakura, as another holographic coin appears. It flips through the air, as Sakura crosses her fingers... and it comes up heads! "That means I draw two cards." Which she does.     "And... I end my turn." She's focusing pretty heavily on this duel right now. MONSTERS: Arcana Force 0: The Fool (0/0 DEF) 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:''' SPELLS: Court of Justice HAND: 4 GRAVEYARD: Pot of Greed, Fluffal Sheep, Pot of Duality, Pot of Duality, Arcana Force VI: The Lovers, One for One, Tethys Goddess of Light, Cup of Ace 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' Ren thinks. Alright, that was not exactly strenuous- at least, not where it matters. And now he's up in the fly system, and we have the easy part over and done with and now it's time for the part where literally everything and quite possibly including lives because we can't discount the possibility that- is this a trap, actually? Is that cage trapped? Are Tomoyo's bindings trapped? Is that something else he's going to need to consider while he walks right up to these four security guards? Which is what he's doing? Just walking right up to them? Because that's what he's doing.     "My goodness, you fine gentlemen, I do applaud that you have some very strict security in place for people who aren't supposed to be here but it's almost as difficult to navigate for people who are supposed to be here am I right am I left because and you have to understand it's a darn pickle of fish to get anywhere here behind the scenes even if you do have the proper credentials because let me tell you first you drop them off at one office and they tell you it's fine but then someone else further along the line asks to see them and you say well I gave them to the person behind you and well I suppose Peter told Paul and something here is going on but I don't really know and I'm just trying to make my way up here and it's really quite exhausting, and I'll tell you who else is exhausted it'll be my employer here, yes, that's her over there, the one who's helping in the performance there or at least I certainly do hope that's what's going on because I'm not really very informed of these celebrity comings and goings and I'm just here to do the delivery but woah-ho I tell you that certainly does look quite unfortunate and more than a little strange but anyway enough about my opinions as I said I'm here because my employer Tomoyo Daidouji you see how pale she looks there right now well I know you do well she's a little more pale than usual and that's the result of the fact that when she came out here today she was in such a hurry and she's so excited well wouldn't you be I mean look at the crowds down there it's a big event but she went and entirely forgot her melanotan injections or her melatonin injections I don't quite know I'm just here to deliver them in a bit of a pinch and she's quite in need of her daily injections, you know how it is, it's medical, it's medicinal, let's not argue the semantics gentlemen if you could just do me an awfully big favour and give her the old winch out of the public eye and give me a little bit of a help yes ma'am don't worry I've got your medication right here if these fine gentlemen would help me out and get you out of that cage, get you unbound and out of your costume or what have you and I can hurry things up and give you your injections that you forgot to pick up when you left today please ok thank you sirs?"     And then he takes a breath, maybe. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Kaiba reaches to his Duel Disk, to draw another card. A glance is given to it. This card will not even make it into his hand. He places it down on the spell/trap zone. And, his eyes set on Sakura.      "...Really. Your strategy is commendable. Especially for such a new player. But. Yet again, I am turning this fight around. Your deck relies entirely on luck. Fifty-fifty chances. My deck will overpower you with its raw strength, the skills of one who has been playing this game for years. And let me tell you the name of the card that will destroy your pathetic wall."      Kaiba points forward, dramatically. The crowd shouts out in joy. Kaiba shouts out the name of the card, "BURST STREAM OF DESTRUCTION!"      The Blue-Eyes flies up. Its mouth opens, and a massive beam of plasma flies down. Kaiba smiles, explaining for Sakura and the audience, "This isn't an attack! This is a Spell Card! And, it destroys /all/ Monsters on the field, rather than targetting just one! The only downside is my Blue-Eyes can't attack this turn. But.... Let me add to the field! WHITE STONE OF LEGEND!"      He sets down another Monster Card, in attack mode. A rather strange monster. It looks like a wide rough orb. Kaiba smiles, pointing forward.      "And now! La Jinn, White Stone of Legend! ATTACK HER LIFE POINTS DIRECTLY!"      The Jinn moves forward towards Sakura's location, punching at her. The safeties are /partially/ enabled. She'll feel a force from the punch, but take no real damage from it.The White Stone of Legend simply sends bursts of mystical energy at her. 1800 damage from the La Jinn if it isn't stopped, and 300 from the White Stone of Legend.      ...But why did Kaiba play such a weak card? Monsters: La Jinn (1800/1000), Blue Eyes (3000/2500), White Stone (300/250) Spells/Traps: 1 Life Points: 8000 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The men up above just /stare/ at Traveller. Really, this is almost entirely unusual. They simply just stare /straight/ at him for a moment, absolutely bewildered and baffled at that long rambling rant. They just blankly turn towards Mokuba, looking to him for instructions.      Mokuba sighs, walking forward. "Alright, alright. You have medicine for her? Well. Give me the medicine, and we'll put it into her cage. But we can't let her out /unless/ Sakura wins the duel, right? She's /waaaay/ too valuable of a hostage!"      Mokuba lets out a wicked grin. And then he pulls out a switchblade. "...And, if you /do/ pull anything, I'm gunna cut you!"      Mokuba is /ten years old/, for reference. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     "Mn. I'll respect his determination and showmanship, but this is playing dirty in other ways. It's just meant to embarass Sakura. He'll profit either way. If he loses, he can say he went easy on a newbie. If he wins, he'll let Tomoyo go and impress the crowd by showing how magnanimous he is, or something like that. It's just the kind of guy he is." Shirou states this solidly, without either really damning him or praising him.     Shades of his future self, perhaps.     "I'm not sure if Tomoyo's really in danger. What do you think?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura winces a bit as the stream of destruction bathes her monsters! Or, well, her single monster anyway. The Fool lets out an inhuman shriek as it disintegrates! And then Sakura gets punched in the face. She winces and steps a few paces back... but she's not injured, even as her Life Points tick down to 5900. She glowers at Kaiba, and draws a card.     "...Right. I summon another Arcana Force 0: The Fool, in attack mode." She does just this! Why is she summoning a 0/0 into attack mode?     Because it's a level 1 fairy. "I activate Court of Justice's ability to summon... Arcana Force XII: The Hanged Man!" A coin appears in the air, and flips itself... "You don't understand Kaiba. This is Tomoeda." The coin lands on tails. "And here, Fate is my ally! Hanged Man, attack his Jinn!" The creature, which honestly resembles a weird tree with a hanging caccoon more than anything else, whips is 'caccoon' toward the green-skinned Jinn.     "I end my turn - which triggers the Hanged Man's ability. Your Blue-Eyes White Dragon is destroyed!" And Kaiba takes damage equal to is ATK. MONSTERS: Arcana Force 0: The Fool (0/0 ATK), Arcana Foce XII: The Hanged Man (2200/2200, ATK) SPELLS: Court of Justice HAND: 3 GRAVEYARD: Pot of Greed, Fluffal Sheep, Pot of Duality, Pot of Duality, Arcana Force VI: The Lovers, One for One, Tethys Goddess of Light, Cup of Ace, Arcana Force 0: The Fool 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      Tomoyo's bindings are completely ignored now, too entranced in the duel below to be working on them. Stupid Kaiba... oh, nothing to worry about, Sakura will totally win~     But now, she hears voices coming from above her cage! One of which sounds familiar... well, it certainly goes on long enough for her to figure out it's Ren. Wow, he's really just going and going, isn't he?     Ah, but it sounds like his plan worked! Frantically, Tomoyo begins to try and plan. Should she attack once the cage has opened? Make a run for it? 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa says "I get you, he's got it in personal for it. I'm still trying to figure out what makes him tick." She thinks there's something good in Kiba but something really has twisted him up. She has no idea about the nightmare that Kaiba's life has been in the slightest. She ponders for a moment. "I'm not sure eithere, he might just be trying to motivate, with this. Is he trying to teach Sakura a lesson? How did this get seemingly so personal? 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' And that's when something unusual happens. "Ah," the man says, and the voice has suddenly lost every single trace of everything it previously had in it. His posture changes, and as he walks forward, the light and shadow in the fly system from the various beams and cables crossing over his body, as he walks right past the security guards, it becomes clear that there is something amiss about this young man. Something very much amiss.     "Then I am going to have to assume, given the word 'hostage', that I was not just making my way though-" And then it can be clearly seen, this close, that the man is /injured/- that there are the faint signs of electrical burns, acid, specifically of /Death-T traps/- on his body, present but fading in a way that implies both unnatural resillience and recovery- "Halloween maze props, and that there is something very, very sinister here. But I suppose that brings me to my next question-" And he takes Mokuba's hand, the hand holding the knife and he--     SLAMS that knife directly into his open palm with force-     And almost nothing... happens... at all. "Would you like to find out which of us is worse, little chap?"     "Or are you going to just give her back to me without a fuss?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren winces as Sakura's monster is destroyed, and she's attacked. She might lose after all! This reminds him to get back to work on backup plans.     They could fly or teleport up to Tomoyo. But as long as Kaiba has control of Time, whatever they try can be stopped. He has to do something about that card...     Perhaps if he fired a tiny homing rocket at the wires running to the ceiling, he could break the connection without destroying the card? His hand reaches into the bag at his side, loosely grasping his micromissile pistol anxiously...     And then Sakura rallies, hard! Staren raises his fists and cheers, "YEEEEEEAH! GO SAKURA!" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      A frown on Kaiba's face. First his Jin is slaughtered and hit, breaking apart. Adn then his Blue-Eyes breaks apart due to the effect of the Hanged Man. His Blue-Eyes, destroyed? So easily? Sakura, taking fate into her own hand? No. This can't be. This will /not/ be. He remains calm, even as members of the audience cheer for Sakura. People of Tomoeda. He pauses for a moment. ...No. Not yet. Worst case, he can use The Time to win this duel. But not yet. His Ego won't let him. Even though he is almost /certain/ Sakura is using some sort of magic.      He will win this via his own skills.      A card is drawn, and placed face up. He speaks, a more commanding tone in his voice. This is probably one of the first times Kaiba has sounded outright /frustrated/. "I play Maiden with Eyes of Blue, in Attack Mode. I switch my White Stone of Legend in to Defense mode. ...Finally, I end my turn."      At the least, he has a plan. If /either/ of these monsters are attacked, he can shift the tables yet again. He has a plan, at least. Monsters: White Stone (350/200), Maiden with Eyes of Blue (0/0) Spells/Traps: 1 Life Points: 4600 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      And, Mokuba is now being threatened by a /really/ intimidating Elite who treats his knife as basically nothing. Mokuba just stares blankly straigt at The Traveller. And then, he looks towards the guards and workers, in a panic.      "GET HER UP HERE AND RELEASE HER NOW!"      The cage holding Tomoyo is lifted up. Only enough that she is above the ceiling now. The Time on the bottom of the cage is just against the ceiling.      And Kaiba brief looks up. He mutters under his breath so no one can hear, "...God damnit, Mokuba." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "YOU CAN DO IT, SAKURA!! FAI-TO FAI-TO!!" That particular burst of cheering comes from Xiaomu, still in the stands where the rest of Sakura's retinue who made it through the gauntlet were directed. The sage fox is currently decked out - as she has been since she got there, really - in what can only be a cheerleader's uniform, in red and black with silver trim, plus a pair of gold pom-poms. Seeing Sakura take out a Blue-Eyes White Dragon fair and square was the prompt for this latest exclamation of encouragement. She's mostly keeping her mouth shut when the players are thinking about their moves, so she hasn't had as much chance to express her support as she would clearly like to do. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo blinks a few times as she moves from the bright arena to the dim backstage area, to see Ren threatening a child with four goons around him. Her eyes adjust enough to see that said child is holding a knife though, so she'll forgive him for that~     "Hi Ren! Thanks for coming~" she says, clearly trying to act all nonchalant, but there is a bit of a tremor in her voice. Stepping out of the cage (assuming it was unlocked), she offers her bound wrists to the Exalted.     "Would you mind? I'm better with thread than I am with rope." 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura looks up as the cage holding Tomoyo rises up into the ceiling. Was that Kaiba's little brother she heard yelling...?     She shakes her head a bit and draws a card. She quirks her mouth at the card. "Okay, I summon Fluffel Leo, in attack mode! And, I activate Court of Justice to summon Arcana Force IV: The Emperor, also in attack mode!" The Emperor looks like some sort of... robot thing, with huge wings, and far too many eyes dotted all over it. A coin appears, flipping through the air - heads! Suddenly, the Emperor, the Hanged Man and the Fool suddenly all gain 500 ATK points.     "I'll attack your Stone with my Hanged Man!" She pauses for a moment. "And I'm not going anywhere near your Maiden. I end my turn." MONSTERS: Arcana Force 0: The Fool (500/0 ATK), Arcana Foce XII: The Hanged Man (2700/2200, ATK), Fluffel Leo (1600/1200, ATK), Arcana Force IV: The Emperor (1900/1400) SPELLS: Court of Justice HAND: 2 GRAVEYARD: Pot of Greed, Fluffal Sheep, Pot of Duality, Pot of Duality, Arcana Force VI: The Lovers, One for One, Tethys Goddess of Light, Cup of Ace, Arcana Force 0: The Fool 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     With an unexpeted INterrupt getting Tomoyo rescued, Shirou holds his breath. This is a turning point to say the least! "If we knew THAT..." Shirou can just shrug slightly at Kotone. He's not so happy about this entire THING really. "Looks like someone got to Tomoyo first." 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' I terrified a small boy, he thinks. I am probably not a very good person for doing that.     But on the other hand...     "Hello, Tomoyo," Ren says, and now his voice is something of a median point between the two ways he was before. Briefly checking to see that there are no last second tricks with the rope, he unties her, and then says-     "You're safe now." "Themepark Insider.com, Kaiba Land review: rides are run of the mill, I was sprayed with caustic acid and one of my fellow attendees was held hostage in a large cage. 0/10 would not recommend, stick to Hearthstone instead of Duel Monsters." He holds out his hand. "Tomoyo, for your safety, I'd like it if we left now, please."     And presuming she is willing, both of them will do so. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Once her hands are free, Tomoyo rubs her wrists to get rid of that vague sense of pins and needles she was starting to get. 'Hehe, pins and needles, and I'm a tailor.'     She might be a little delirious with relief.     Turning, she smiles and bows to Mokuba and his goons. "Thank you for having me~" she says in a voice that sounds absolutely sincere. "But, I think you should find a better habit than playing with knives, okay~?" she adds to Mokuba. Again, might be a bit delirious.     But all of that clears up instantly when Ren suggests they get out of here. "What? No, I'm not leaving. I want to watch Sakura beat that... that... /Kaiba!/" she says, her face becoming ponderous for a moment like she was trying to think of something unkind to say, then changing her mind. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Kaiba smirks. A small chuckle comes from his lips. And he points towards his White Stone of Legend. "It seems you /don't/ know the effect of the White Stone of Legend! After all, it's a card few people have a reason to use! BUT! Once it is destroyed... I can add a /very specific/ Monster to my hand! I'll give you one guess at /which one/."      His Duel Disk ejects a card. He holds it up, showing it towards Sakura. Though at this distance, it might be hard to make out? It very clearly is displayed on some jumbotron style monitors set up along the walls of the building. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He places it into his hand.      ...Where it is somewhat useless. He realizes this. Yes, he has the Maiden with Eyes of Blue on the field. Yes, he has one other Blue-Eyes in his hand. So, should the Maiden be attacked, he could pull the one from the Graveyard onto the Field, and then activate that Spell Card he placed on his first turn.      But right now? He has no way he can summon forth a Blue-Eyes. No way to protect himself. He /has/ to win this. Even if he lost his hostage, he /will/ win this.      A hand reaches towards his deck. His movements slow. Sakura is still fairly well defended. He places the hand on his card. He's reminded of something Yugi once mentioned. ...No, not Yugi. Yugi's Other Side. That all Cards have their own Hearts.      Such is ridiculous. He isn't going to win via such nonsense. He will win via his skill. He glares at Sakura. She, and all her friends... They remind him so much of that short high school student with the ridiculous hair. Perhaps that is part of why he is so enraged that she has been holding her own so far.      Finally, he brings himself to draw the card. He looks at it. There is a pause. The audience's talking and hollering quiets slightly. This silence from Kaiba is unusual. It's not often he pauses for so long in the middle of a duel.      He places the card, face up in his Spell/Trap Zone. And, he lets out a loud laugh. It's not pleasant. He is smiling, quite fully.      "THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS, KINOMOTO! I play Monster Reborn, to bring my Blue-Eyes White Dragon /back/ from the Graveyard! But, that's not all... Within my hand, I hold /two more/ Blue-Eyes White Dragons. And let me show you what I will do with them!"      He flips the card he had placed earlier. The Spell Card. Suddenly, a swirling burst of energy around the Blue-Eyes he just summoned to the field. Holographic illusions of the two Blue-Eyes from Kaiba's hand flow from his deck, into his Blue-Eyes on the field. They swirl, merging together.      Now, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon stands on the field. It's three heads lift upwards, roaring towards the sky. It flaps its giant wings, before turning its three heads towards Sakura's monsters.      "BLUE-EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON! DESTROY HER HANGED MAN!"      Their mouths open, and a set of three beams of burning hot plasma fly towards the upside down Duel Monster. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:''' Monsters: Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800), Maiden (0/0) Spells/Traps: None Life Points: 4600 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa takes note of the rescue at this point and looks over to Shirou for a moment she doesn't seem to move for a moment. It's clear she's not too happy either. "Still the imporant thing is she's out." Kotone turns her attention to the duel. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Mokuba is currently backing up. The guards are somewhat fearstricken too. Fighting an Elite one on one? It is /totally/ out of their league. Mokuba starts taking a few steps further back from The Traveller. And, he frowns at Tomoyo.      "--That girl has /no chance/ against my big brother! She's as good as lost! And The Time will be his forever! Seriously. We're even broadcasting this across the /entire Multiverse/ right now! Her loss will be /super public/." 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' The Traveller ... grimaces a little. "Please, Tomoyo. To paraphrase a very appropriate warning based on our circumstances, this is not a place of honor. What is here is dangerous and repulsive, and best shunned. Plus, it's entirely possible that more guards might just be coming to put you back in that cage and try to kill me, so there's that to think about as well."     His hand is still held out to her. There are bright, red burn marks on it.     "...come along." 

:'''{{#var:312|Kaede (312)}} has posed:'''     There's a voice that hasn't been heard before yet. It's a small voice, but being amplified by a... tiny... little megaphone? Kaede's on Xiaomu's shoulder, wearing a cheerleader Costume Armour. The Megaphone also transmits to the Radio.     "You can't give up yet Master! It isn't over until the last number ticks down! So while you have even one point left you can bring it back!" She waves a tiny pompom to emphasize. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu winces, less at Sakura's monster getting destroyed, and more at the fact that something three times worse than a Blue-Eyes White Dragon is now on the field. Well, technically Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon is only one and a half times as bad, if you go by attack/defense scores, but ... still, three of those things in one, and Xiaomu doesn't even know what can do more than 4500 points of damage at once. Except ... Suddenly there's a Shinki on her shoulder, and the sage fox grins. "She's right, Sakura! You have advantages that Kaiba doesn't have - that he can't even imagine! And we're all here rooting for you; who's in his corner that didn't pay to be here?" She has to be more careful now so she doesn't dislodge Kaede, but Xiaomu raises her pom-poms for a few vigorous shakes, "You can win this, Sakura! Show him YOU'RE the Mistress of Cards - TAKE HIM DOWN, FOR ALL OF US!" 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      Tomoyo stares hard at Ren, shaking her head stubbornly. "I know, bad things are happening. But we're in a position to help make them better! If I just walk away, I'm only helping to keep things that way."      Turning to stare at Mokuba, she shakes her head. "So what? Yeah, of course your big brother the pro player might be able to beat someone who only starting making a deck a month ago." She grins. "But if he loses, he lost to someone who only started playing a month ago."      He does have a point on The Time though... but Tomoyo just smiles. "Unfortunately, on that front, your big brother made the biggest rookie mistake in business: he didn't get it in writing~ You think the Union will just stand by and let him walk away with it?"     And now, it seems that Tomoyo has picked up a trick from Ren. In rambling at Mokuba, she's distracting him... so she can suddenly run past! Scrambling about the narrow corridors, until she finds a way out among the seats! Looking down at the game in progress, she takes a deep breath, and puts her voice to work, trained by years of singing.     "SAKURA! YOU CAN DO IT!" 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' The Traveller blinks. "...oh, she's a wily one, that girl." And then he's off right behind her! Just in case! So there he is, after some running through the corridors, standing behind Tomoyo and giving a wave to everyone. Also he seems to have pilfered a radio walkie-talkie from somewhere. The dog. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE DUEL Theo picked up his cards and wandered off. He apparently is so disgusted in the lack of comprehensive and all-encompassing rules that he packed up and went home. Right? SEVERAL ROUNDS AGO Theo finds himself back in one of the other rooms, now idle and lacking Kaiba's all-encompassing stare. He gestures at Kickotron, and the cameras. The myr gets to work disabling them. Theo draws a different deck. "Practice draw," he mutters. "Let's go." FEWER ROUND AGO "...Ancient Den, tap the second Sol Ring, Semblance Anvil, tap for colorless, tap both islands... Sharding Sphinx." There's a ripple of Aether in the empty, sightless room. A creature with a leonine body and a feminine upper portion, metallic-blue wings and a mask of gold and turquoise materializes. She's big. Theo looks up, smiling. JUST A ROUND OR TWO AGO Tap, tap, play, play. "Whispersilk Cloak. Chariot of Victory. Skinwing. Bladed Pinions..." The room is suddenly very crowded. RIGHT ABOUT NOW A shape moves across the sky. A shadow is cast, now and then, but nobody can tell by what. Maybe it's a cloud overhead. What is actually is is Theo and his monster. The Sphinx sails across the sky, a cloak thrown over her that ripples with silver and makes her nearly invisible. Behind her, lashed to her back, is a chariot -- one with two sets of wings, one leathery and another sharp and metallic. Unless you're above the level of the audience -- say, in the Elite box or /playing/ -- there's no chance you'll see it. Nor will you see what's /in/ it. Riding the chariot is none other than Theo, who is currently clinging to the front barrier for dear life. Kickotron stands on his shoulders, birdlike feet clinging to his shoulders and the added three feet of height giving them plenty of room for error. Kickotron is holding an enormous two-handed sword, one with a straight blade ending in a hook and draped with a pennon -- and they're rushing The Time and using it like a fishing hook. "THE GAME IS NEVER OVER," Theo half-yells, half-transmits, "UNTIL YOUR LIFE COUNT IS ZERO! /TOPDECK LIKE YOU MEAN IT/!" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura closes ehr eyes as her Hanged Man evaporates. Her Life Points drop down to 1700.     Well. This is it. There's no way she can win now. How does she fight something with an attack score of 4500? Nothing in her deck is that powerful! She has no chance at all. Next turn, he'll attack her Fool and completely wipe out her last remaining life points.     She's just about to give up when she hears a voice. Voices. Her friends! And... Tomoyo!     She looks across the battlefield at Kaiba. "...You haven't beaten me yet. My friends are supporting me! I can't let them down!"     She draws a card.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmjlWQn8mhI     "Fool! Attack his Maiden with Eyes of Blue!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     This is it. Sakura may be about to lose.     Staren holds up his tablet and starts programming a firing solution. Any second now...     And then, Theo.     Staren just stares in slack-jawed surprise at Theo coming out of nowhere.     Also he has /no/ idea what happens if the Fool attacks the Maiden. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Kaiba laughs out loud. Attacking the Maiden? This is not something he expected. He looks to her, holding his hands out to his sides. "Attacking my Maiden? With a pathetic monster like that? FINE. You should full well know what that does. Even though I've fused together my Dragons, they /still/ move to the Graveyard! And so... WELCOME BACK, MY BLUE-EYES!"      To the left of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appears. The Maiden with Eyes of Blue switches to defense mode, kneeling on the ground and putting her arms in front of herself.      And then Kaiba stares /blankly/ at the Time, as Theo /bursts in/. The sword catches on the metallic holder of The Time, and the card /and/ the holder fall straight to Theo.      Kaiba shouts out. His cool is now completely lost. His fists clench as he looks up towards Theo. He shouts, at the top of his lungs, "MORRISON!"      There /is/ some booing from the Audience. To their eyes, it looks like an interruption to a fun event. Many are likely assuming this is as real as wrestling.      But, it's still Sakura's turn. Kaiba can deal with the Planeswalker later. His next turn, he'll be able to finish Sakura off all the faster. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     When Sakura looks her way, Tomoyo smiles and waves frantically! As her best friend starts her turn, she begins to dash down the stairs to the railing, two at a time! At the bottom, she slams into the railing, using it to stop herself. Taking a long, slow breath to calm her heart... she starts to sing for Sakura. Clearly in Japanese, but thank goodness for the translation effect. "It's all right! Daijoubu daijoubu daijoubu (It's all right, it's all right, it's all right) Kiseki datte okoseru! (I can even make miracles happen!) Here we go! Ikouyo ikouyo ikouyo tsubasa hiroge! (Let's go, let's go, let's go, spreading our wings!) Kitto nanikaga nanikaga dokokade (I'm sure that something, something is waiting somewhere) Deaeru hi wo matteru (For the day that we can meet!)Do-do-do dreaming! Dreaming! Soshite tobira ga hiraku yo! (And then, the door will open!)" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura smirks.     "I activate Court of Justice to summon Arcana Force Seven: STRENGTH!" A massive armoured collosus appears. It... only has 1800 attack. But then the coin materialises in front of it. Sakura doesn't cross her finegrs this time.     Heads.     "Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! DESTROY HIS BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!"     The Strength holds up its arms. Countless tendrils shoot out, ensnaring the three-headed dragon, driving into its flesh, into its heads. Its eyes go from blue to white.     And it attacks.     "Emperor! Destroy the Maiden! And, Fluffal Leo and Strength... attack Kaiba's life points directly!" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The moment the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is taken? An attempt to cut the feed is made. But, some of the systems were built so that they were connected to the Time. And, the Time is no longer connected. System glitches abound.      As such, Kaiba's defeat is broadcast to the entire Multiverse. This is, without a doubt, his most spetacular defeat to date. He lost to a rank amature newbie. She had to hav cheated. There is no other way! And yet, she pulled the card she needed. She didn't even just beat the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. She took /control/ of it.      The audience begins to cheer. They came to see the famous Seto Kaiba win. To see him lose? It makes it all the more amazing. All the more unprecedented. PEople across the stadium are chanting Sakura's name, cheerfully.      Kaiba lets out a scream of anger. Rage. So few are even looking at him, instead they are staring at the winner. Ideas rush through his head. Blow this place up? No. Too many people. Launch a final trap at Sakura? No. Even his last option, freezing time to change her move? It wouldn't work. Anger continues to fill him.      He turns around, stumbling down the path out of the arena. He has been beaten, completely. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "WAY TO GO, SAKURA!!!!" Xiaomu shouts at the top of her lungs. (Hopefully Kaede's audio receptors can handle the near-overload.) On the other hand, Kaiba seems to be getting away ... Xiaomu vaults out of the box, poofing back into her usual outfit en route. "Kaede, tell Sakura I need to have a few words with the lunkhead who just lost to her, okay?" the sage fox asks the Shinki ... and then Xiaomu pours on the speed, sprinting across the arena towards the exit that Kaiba just left through. She really DOES need to have a few words with him, but they don't need to be public ones. 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' He listens to her sing. It is very, very wonderful. It is absolutely wonderful. /She/ is wonderful. She is... there is something special about her, something that hasn't appeared in his life in a very long time, a person who reminds him of what humans are like when you stop and spend some time to look, /really/ look at them... It makes him think.     "It's not that I doubt you," Ren says, to Tomoyo, quietly, once her song is finished. "Or your friend. I've just... been in a lot of situations. A lot of situations, threatening... similar to this one. And..."     Why do you stay connected to Tomoyo Daidouji?     "And, well..."     Why do you stay connected to Tomoyo Daidouji?     "I don't take second chances when the lives of people who are important to me are in danger." As the cheers begin and Kaiba storms off in a huff, there may be a moment, just for a little bit, where he catches the traveller's eye. And when he does, there is a message in the look that he gives him-     I've seen your true face, boy, and you've made an enemy today. Don't believe for a second that you're going to get away without me involving myself in any plans you have to hurt these people, and we will stop those plans, and I will make you know what it's like to lose even harder and more comprehensively than you did today. 

:'''{{#var:312|Kaede (312)}} has posed:'''     Kaede nods to Xiaomu as the foxwoman leaps over the railing, but the excitement can't be contained as she also leaps up from Xiaomu's shoulder, screaming at the top volume of her vocal processor. "SHE DID IT! SHE DID IT! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! SHE BEAT SETO KAIBA AT HIS OWN GAME!!" she does a little dance in mid-air, then flares her jetpack to glomphug at her Master. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      After all that running, Tomoyo only had enough breath to belt out the first verse. But it seems that that is all that was needed, as Sakura proceeds to take the duel! She's safe, The Time is safe and Kaiba lost! It really couldn't have wrapped up any more neatly~     Looking up at Ren, she catches her breath before saying, "I know, and I understand~ But I'm the same, you know? I wouldn't be much of a friend to Sakura if I left her here." Looking back out at her best friend, she just smiles and applauds politely, not engaging in the cheering. She always knew Sakura could do it, and Sakura knows that.     As Kaiba storms off, Tomoyo feels a bit of vindication, but also... a touch of pity. He went to all this trouble just to rub Sakura's nose in the dirt... why? He runs a massive business at so young an age... is he really so petty as to sink all that money like this? Or is something else going on with him?     Thoughts for another time maybe. For now, she's just proud of Sakura, expanding her domain to a new set of cards~ 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The Traveller already saved Tomoyo, Staren's chief concern. And now Theo got The Time AND Sakura won! It's a trifecta of victories! They're in the clear now, probably.     Of course, Staren knows the final play came down to luck. She would either draw the card she needed, or not. He's not applauding her for /drawing the perfect card/.     Tomoyo and The Time are safe, and that's what /really/ matters. Of course, from what little he can figure out about the game, Sakura must have put a lot of work into learning this game, building her deck, and making smart plays with the cards she drew. And here she always says she's bad at learning stuff!     "YEEEEEAH! GO SAKURA! YOU DID IT!" He grins, then looks between her and Tomoyo.     There's always the possibility of Kaiba pulling some last-minute stunt until they're all out of here. But right now, there's probably some value in Sakura sticking around to please the crowd instead of immediately leaving, so he doesn't, say, try to rush people out of there. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Just before Kaiba exits the room completely, he turns over. He feels the Traveller looking at him. And, despite the depression Kaiba is entering? He glares back. He isn't sure who this man is. But, his entire look is something Kaiba recognizes. He'll remembe this face.      Kaiba is down the hallway a little by the time Xiaomu arrives. His head turns back to her, glaring. His entire body is shaking. If looks could kill, this one would. He speaks, rather fiercly at Xiaomu.      "...And what do /you/ want?" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa Watches s the Duel comes to an end and gets the feeling she wasn't needed, not that she's not complaing about that. She's glad things seem to have worked out at this point as the duel comes ot an end and Sakura wins she takes a moment without thinking nad just hugs Shirou or tries to. She might need to watch her dread cyborg strenght. "SHE WON, SHIROU! SHE WON!" 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:'''     "You're right, of course," Ren says to Tomoyo, joining in the polite, subdued applause. "Thank you for helping me remember that."     Later, terrible things will surely come: they always do. But it's the moments of happiness and joy that happen between those that make things important... And so, for once, the traveller who always walked a long and lonesome road, always making his way out midway through the party, stays put, and joins in the adulation and the joy of celebrating Sakura Kinomoto's victory. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu slows to a walk as she gets line-of-sight on Kaiba - and he's not running, so she doesn't have to chase him down. "'What do you want'? That's the wrong question, Kaiba...." Not 'Kaiba-boy'; she's still ticked off at him but she doesn't need to insult him right now. And there's a seriousness, almost a solemnity, in her face that you might not expect when she's probably still giddy about Sakura turning the tables and trumping Kaiba's strongest monster. The sage fox of Shinra continues, "Reckless endangerment. Attempted murder. Assault, battery, we could probably make a case for conspiracy to commit murder, I'm pretty sure we can file a charge of depraved-heart murder even if nobody actually died ..." She comes to a halt, looking coolly at the young CEO. "That's quite a list of charges right there; the *right* question is what's going to happen about them." 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura looks down at the floor for a few moments, then turns. She waves her hand vaguely - the Time card floating away from Theo and into her hand. She kisses the card, then heads for the exit. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Xiaomu speaks. Kaiba turns, and looks at her. Finally, this is something that he can at least handle. He turns to face her. His face rather blank. He looks up Xiaomu, trying to judge how serious she is.      "Any criminal charges will be dealt with by Kaiba Corp's lawyers. Should you wish to file charges, you may, but it will be a waste of the court's time. I might have lost today. But. This is one angle you can /not/ beat me at."      "Besides. I deny all charges. And really, if we wanted to go down that route, I have Sakura's own murder on video too. ...Does Tomoyo look injured to you, by the way? After all. It's all just a game."      He continues walking down the path. He doesn't speak for a moment. But, finally, he speaks again while continuing on. "...Also. As a reminder. The law of the Union isn't the only law out there. If you seek this route, perhaps I can find allies in those who stand against it." 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo helpfully removes the case before releasing the Card back into the winds (of Sakura's possession). He'll hold onto that. He flies in a wide circle on the Sphinx, raising it up over his head like a trophy. He passes where Kaiba stood, and bellows the most insulting thing he can think of, given the circumstance: "GEE GEEEEEEE!" And then, everything he brought along disappears. He starts to fall -- and the leaf-like bracelet he got from Ravnica ages ago catches him, turning his terrible plummet into a gentle, gradual drop. Kickotron is still on his shoulders. He looks triumphant. If you squint. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu holds up a hand. "Hold it. I said 'what to do about those charges' was the question ... and there's more than one answer." She resumes walking, following Kaiba. "Sure, we COULD try taking it to the courts - that's the obvious answer, and the one you guessed. But I know you own a big company, you could afford to build this place - can you afford to keep it open?" she adds, her tone entirely too innocent. "- and you could probably hire a dozen lawyers who are already specialists in any jurisdiction and field you might find it necessary to hit the courts in. So yeah ... legal action is ONE choice. But it isn't the only one." She looks to see if Kaiba's still walking; she sort of hopes that got Kaiba to stop and face her again. 

:'''{{#var:165|The Traveller (165)}} has posed:''' The Traveller's ears prick just a little, as he overhears something. Sakura's... And there, that's where the joy and the celebration ends. He looks at Kaiba again, as the clapping continues, as the people cheer, and he looks at Sakura...     "Oh, Sakura," he says. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Kaiba stops at that. He's used to the general threats. This is a little different. He doesn't turn around fully to face Xiaomu, instead he just turns his head back slightly.      "...And what is the other choice you suggest?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Option two is that we don't even bring the courts into it, and seek retribution *outside* the law." Xiaomu still isn't smiling, or looking remotely playful. "You're probably not an idiot, Seto, but were you REALLY thinking clearly? Sakura, Tomoyo, Staren, Shirou, Staren and I are all members of the Union ... and we protect our allies. You went to all this trouble to try and poke *one* Elite with very sharp things, threatened the lives of the whole group that came in ... sure, we all came out the other side safe and sound in the end, but do you really think you can keep taking shots at Union Elites and not face reprisals?" She takes a breath. "Or ... there's one other option. Want to try and guess what it is, or should I just tell you?" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Kaiba just glares at Xiaomu. This sounds like a threat. No. It is /certainly/ a threat. He knows it can't be anything else but that. But, quietly, he turns around, looking straight at her. An offer is being made, and as a businessman, he has to listen. He has several guesses at what it could be. Instead, though, he wants to be certain, and not look like a fool again.      "...Just cut to the chase and tell me." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "The third possibility is to put a curse on you and see if you learn from it." Xiaomu looks levelly at Kaiba. "There are reasons why I don't like that option. Professional ones, personal ones ... ethical ones too, really. But for all that I personally don't like it ... it's the best choice, I think, for someone like you. A curse that you would *learn* from. Because for all that you are a torrential jerk of a seahorse, I don't think you WANT to be in the Confederacy." With that, Xiaomu turns to go back to the arena. "Do me a favor on that last one, and don't prove me wrong." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      A slight eyebrow is raised towards Xiaomu. Kaiba says no more. Instead, he simply walks away. Really, she has no right to tell him what to do. She has no clue about who he is, his life, and what he stands for. Instead he just keeps walking down the hallway, no longer looking back.      He has yet another person to send an assassin after. 

}}

2683/The Time Part 1

2015-07-28T01:26:30Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/26 |Location=Tomoeda-865 |Synopsis=The Union enters Death-T, in order to try and reclaim Sakura's card, The Time. |Thanks= |Cast of Charact..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/26
|Location=Tomoeda-865
|Synopsis=The Union enters Death-T, in order to try and reclaim Sakura's card, The Time.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=42, 172, 317, 560, 623, 648, 707
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Penguin Park was once one of the most cherished locations in Tomoeda, a popular park for the various children to play. And yet a shocking transformation occured here, overnight. The once beautiful park is no more. In its place is a tall tower. An amazing and wonderous amusement park.      This tower is incredibly large, taking up a fair amount of the park. It has a strange mixture of gothic and modern architecture. Sleek modern lines, yet various tall columns, pointed arches, and various designs. Statues in the shape of Duel Monsters line various location edges of the different floors, menacing like gargoyles.      Two parts of the design are most likely to stick out to everyone present, though: On each side, there are massive circular clocks with giant hands. Roman numerals in an elegant font are put in for the hour markers. The pointed roof has three statues facing away from eachother, looking down below. These statues are of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons.      There are large crowds around the entrance to the building. Long lines mark the starting day, it seems. Not all residents are those of Tomoeda, and some of them aren't even human. There are some notable Tomoeda residents around, though. Holding signs of protests. Of course, they're all off the actual property of Kaiba Land itself, on the edge of the themepark. Some security members of Kaiba Land are near them, making sure they don't get /too/ close.      A red carpet is rolled out, though. Most people are kept off of it via a velvet rope barrier. A guard at the end of the red carpet is waiting patiently. This man is a tall giant of a man. He wears sunglasses, and brown hair pointed upwards into a singular spike on his front. Next to him is a sign on the red carpet: 'MULTIVERSAL ELITE ENTRANCE'. He'll move aside for any known Elites, letting them walk down the red carpet. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     The crowd of protesters parts like a wave. Through the parted crowd walks one particularly notable resident - Sakura Kinomoto, currently flanked by two older boys. One of them bears a striking resemblance to Sakura herself, although his hair is a darker shade of brown. The other boy is slightly shorter than Sakura's brother, with silvery white hair and somewhat paler skin.     Sakura is dressed in another of Tomoyo's creations, of course.     She makes her way up to the red carpet, and then stops. She reaches to her wrists to check... something or other, but makes no move to actually enter. Just yet. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:''' Staren walks out from an alley nearby. He might stand out because of his labcoat... and, y'know, the cat ears. He looks over the park balefully. It's not that it's a /bad/ park. It looks like it could be a pretty cool amusement park! But clearly people don't want it /here/. Which means Kaiba didn't do this to make money. He's messing with Sakura for some reason. But why, what does he have against her? Is he pissed that her cards don't work by Duel Monsters rules? Yeah, that sounds about right. He sees the crowd parting and waves, "Hey, Sak--!" but it's already closing around her, so he walks around to where the red carpet entrance is and sighs at the sight of it. As he steps on, he comments 'We're... we're gonna go talk to Kaiba, see if we can resolve this, okay?" to anyone around, and walks up to Sakura. He gives her a smile tempered by the awkwardness of meeting in a 'some jerk from another universe took over part of your town' circumstance. "Hey, Sakura. It's been too long. Sorry we only seem to meet, well, at times like this." 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo got invited along for seemingly-mundane reasons, like hanging out with a couple friends of his at what, in any other circumstance, would be a totally sweet amusement park. However, several things keep that from being true in this case:     1) Kaiba clearly has one of Sakura's cards and is being a sassy dick about it.     2) Kaiba is a sassy dick.     3) Kaiba. Nevertheless, he's here, functioning as a sort of ace in the hole against wacky game-related death-challenges. He is very proficient at dealing with those, even if he also wants to punch Kaiba in the nose right after. Theo wonders if this is what it's like having a hated rival. Theo shoulders his way through the crowd, being the odd foreigner out (and lacking, say, cat ears and a lab coat to get him recognition enough to get through) and having a tough time getting to the carpet. He eventually manages it, stumbling a step and shooting a dirty look at the people behind him. He straightens out his favorite shirt, adjusts his cargo shorts and says, "C'mon," to what appears to be a short and adorable bird robot carrying a much-too-large backpack. This is Japan, so that probably isn't even weird for them. (He /did/ give Kickotron a baseball cap to blend in, though, for what little good it does.) "Hey," he greets. "Are we ready for the afternoon of our... weeks?" 'Lives' seems cliche and inaccurate, given the number of times he's fought for-real giant world-ending monsters. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Squeezing through the crowd with multiple polite requests and apologies...It's Tomoyo, and she looks uncharacteristically serious as she joins Sakura on the carpet! Today she's wearing a black long-sleeved shirt underneath a light orange dress with short sleeves ending in yellow cuffs and white fur along the neckline. On her legs, she wears black tights and running shoes, the dress the only splash of color on the whole ensemble.     As for the creation that Sakura has /volunteered/ to wear? Clearly based on the traditional image one thinks of when they picture a 'card sharp.' A black long-sleeved shirt with white pinstripes, along with cheery yellow suspenders that hold up a pair of white trousers with the four suites in a card deck swirling around the legs. The shoes look to be formal black leather shoes, but the soles are cushioned so they work well as running shoes. And to top it all off, a trilby atop her head, the same yellow as the suspenders with a white band. Sticking out from the band are the four aces from a deck of cards, arranged in a fan.     The dark-haired girl sticks with Sakura, staying a few steps behind as she hangs a small, flat video camera from a lanyard and slips it around her neck, lens facing out. She might need her hands free for what's coming up...     Looking up at the amusement park, she sighs softly. As good for the town it might be, bringing in tourists... Penguin Park holds a lot of memories, and she already misses it. And that this Kaiba... /person/ is using one of the Cards to open it so quickly? She is outraged! Quietly so, but... also, how did he even manage to use it? All these thoughts swirl around in the tailor's head as she joins up with everyone. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     About a year ago, Shirou in this position would've just gone barreling through the red carpet.     Having been stabbed, eviscerated, bowled over, trounced, and otherwise inconvenienced by such activity almost a dozen times, and trained by the cool-headed Bedivere... this time, he doesn't.     He's wearing his jacket with the hood up, making him hard to recognize in the crowd. Instead of barreling through he takes a calmer route through the crowd. He's AVOIDING the red carpet for the moment because of all those protesters.     If he steps up there, ALL EYES WILL BE ON HIM.     That's what he was planning originally, anyways, but then Sakura goes right through the crowd and all eyes are on her... can't leave all that pressure on her.     So a conscientious Shirou hurries out. "Excuse me, pardon me-" Rustling through the crowd, squeezing past gathered protesters... he finally emerges near Sakura and Staren, looking anxious.     But the approach wasn't an ENTIRE waste. He's had about a minute to survey the park with reinforced vision for anything weird. Though from only one angle, so that's probably not going to help AT ALL. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' There are a few reasons which could bring Xiaomu, agent of Shinra, to Tomoeda on a day like today. There's Tomoyo's boutique, of course, and the sage fox has an order that she really needs to pick up sometime. There are the usual manga and game stores; she seems to pay particularly close attention to Piffle Princess on her way past ... And then there's ... this. Kaiba Land Tomoeda. Xiaomu walks along the red carpet, the rings atop her monk staff jingling with each stride; she's clad in her normal black qipao (with silver filigree and massive zippers) and the red vest she normally wears over it, although the idea of doing cosplay for this event DID cross her mind ... well, she can cheat later if needed. She's largely here on business, though - which would explain why she doesn't look like she's having a prticularly good time. She's polite enough, though, nodding and/or bowing to most of the people she recognizes. Staren gets a slightly askance look, but the nod Xiaomu gives him is relatively cordial. Kaiba won't even get a nod if he happens to show up. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As Shirou works the crowds, he'll hear a lot of whispering and muttering. The vast majority of it is about who these people getting special treatment are. A handful of people /are/ talking about how sad it is that Penguin Park is gone. But it's almost certain, looking at this crowd? It's a lot of off worlders, or out of towners. Many of the citizens aren't happy about this.      As the group gets near the entrance, the door opens for them readily. Inside, they're railed off from the other patrons, the path leading straight forward. Everyone can at least see a bit of the park's interior and attractions, though. A large roller coaster goes through the whole first floor, with various loops and twists. Each cart on it is shaped like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Arcade machines line the walls. Other rides are about as well, including spinning teacups, go carts, and whatnot. Some signs point towards events like minigolf and laser tag.      The group, though? They're guided to the back of the room. A large vault door. A riddle is written upon the door. This Thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays kings, ruins town, And beats high mountain down.      And, a television screen turns on above the vault door. This monitor faces downwards, and makes Kaiba look humongous and intimidating. He smiles down at the group, speaking calmly.      "Mm. Welcome. Solve the riddle, and then you can step inside. Don't worry. I gave you an /easy/ one to start with."      A crowd is beginning to gather, watching the party.      It would be super embarrasing to screw up here in front of everyone, on the first puzzle. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura gives her friends faint smiles as they approach. Xiaomu... she doesn't really have any idea who Xiaomu is, so she just gets a polite nod. And then, inward they go!     Sakura remains staring forward all determined-like as they're guided to the vault door. She glowers at Kaiba's face as it appears on the screen.     Then, she looks at the riddle... and one can almost SEE the question mark appear above her head. Her older brother facepalms. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo is thusly ushered. He takes a look around at the interior -- kinda snazzy, he thinks -- but focuses more on the thug and their destination. The fact that there's an enormous vault with a well-known (well... for him) riddle on it gets Kaiba nerd cred points, but doesn't terribly impress him. Outwardly. Doesn't impress him /outwardly/. He expects Sakura to get it immediately, but doesn't think about the fact that it isn't in Japanese until he's already figured it out. He looks at her, sees the reaction, and narrowly keeps himself from facepalming, too. "Time. It's -- it's time. Can you even read it?" He looks to the TV screen. "Seriously, dude?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren takes in the park as they pass through it, but... it's not what he's here for, you know? They have business to get to.     Staren reads the riddle. "...Isn't it Time? I mean... plants and beasts die, metal rusts or is worn away, stone and mountains erode... 'my name is Ozymondias, king of kings' and all that..." He scratches his head. "Although, in the Multiverse we have stuff like forever-living gods that kind of break the pattern. Oh, I guess the answer could also be entropy." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      Tomoyo looks around as they are ushered in, politely greeting the others with a bow of the head and a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. She's too worried about the Card and Sakura to be cheerful right now!     When they enter, she looks around, turning her whole body so the camera around her neck can get a view of everything. It is a pretty nice park, all things considered... but it'll never be as good as Penguin Park to her. Also, what is with this guy and dragons? Honestly.     Looking up at the riddle... why is it in English? Sure, Tomoyo can read it pretty okay ('meal' confuses her for a moment, she's never encountered it in this context), but Sakura would have no chance, judging by her grades.     And yup, there it is. Suppressing a giggle, she just smiles and pats Sakura's shoulder. "It's okay Sakura, I'm sure the next games will be more your speed~" As she listens to the others give their answers, she can't help but roll her eyes. "Time, of course. The card he used, I bet... probably thinks he's being very clever."     Tomoyo does not have a high opinion of other heirs, clearly. Especially when they mess with Sakura! 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     At first Shirou's wide-eyed (in a negative way) at the GIANT KAIBA MONITOR. Then in a slightly consternated way at the presented riddle. ... Finally, in an 'are you serious?' way at Staren.     The boy sighs a bit, fidgets, but... "Yeah. Time fits."     He takes a few minutes to get a BETTER look at the park now that they're in here. Dragon-styled coaster cars... THAT dragon, in particular, really?     Does Kaiba have NO sense of modesty or humility?     The enormous waste of money is not going over well with him.     "You'll have to be better at this if you want to be a magus, Sakura." He gently points out. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "I can't say that joke is older than I am," Xiaomu says flatly, "but it really IS pretty old by human standards." She looks at the monitor again, re-reading, translating it mentally once again. "Yeah, time." She refrains - very carefully - from asking if Kaiba-boy is about done wasting theirs. She also refrains from making a certain well-known insulting gesture. In her mind, though, she's vigorously flipping the bird to Kaiba's monitor. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Kaiba smirks on the moniter. His eyes are focused mostly on Sakura. His hands clasp in front of him, under his chin. And overall, he looks incredibly smug. He doesn't even speak to the others. They know they got it right. This was, mostly, to make a point. To rub it in. In fact, probably the entire clocktower motif on the outside is to rub in that Kaiba has the Time Card.      Kaiba speaks, his tone full of authority. "Well. I suppose this was to be expected. Your grades in English aren't all that great, are they, Sakura? Perhaps you should study more. And perhaps this will be easier for me to win than I thought."      ...Did Kaiba just imply that he knows Sakura's grade in English?      But, there is a smirk on Kaiba's face as he looks towards Sakura's two companions. Her brother, and his friend. "...And. Your brother, and his friend? They can stay behind. The others are welcome. They can simply watch. Kaiba Corp representatives will escort them to a viewing area."      The vault door begins to open, revealing an incredibly tall stairway just behind it. Time to get walking. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren points at the monitor when Kaiba derides Sakura's English skills. "Hey! What business of that is yours? Nobody can be expected to study every frikkin' language in the Multiverse! Do you have /actual/ tests for us, or are you just gonna hand-pick stuff Sakura doesn't know and then act all smug about it?"     He'll proceed, though. They do need to get that Time card! 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Blink. Blink.     Sakura turns to Staren, then Theo. "...Hweh?" She looks completely baffled. Then, after a few moments. "...Oh! Oh, I get it." She rubs the back of her head. Aaaand then Kaiba is insinuating he knows her grades. "...Hweh?"     "What the HELL?!" shouts Toya, glaring balefully up at the screen. "How do you know that, you creepy little stalker?! Be thankful you're not here in front of me or I'd-"     Yukito puts a hand on his shoulder. "Toya," he says, softly. Apparently, that's all the slightly older boy needs to calm down. He sighs.     And off they go, Yukito cuddling up to Toya a little consolingly.     Wait, are they...? 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' "He's gonna hand-pick things Sakura doesn't know and then act all smug about it," Theo says in a low voice. "Don't worry about it," Theo adds in a normal tone. He glances back at the pair with Sakura for a second (huh!) and then gestures towards the stairs. "Rogues and fighters first, wizards in the middle, ranger in the back." He waits a second, letting Staren tromp on ahead of him in the event there /are/ traps, and then Kickotron for the exact same reason. /Then/ he starts towards the staircase. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     THAT triggers Shirou to quietly aside to Staren, "Actually English is taught in school..." Oh well, not like Staren could know that.     But he IS getting hot under the collar and he ends up facing the big monitor. "What kind of game are you pulling?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu looks at the stairs briefly, does some mental number-crunching against the height of the skyscraper from outside ... Then she gives Touya a reassuring (she hopes) grin. "It's okay, we'll make sure Sakura comes back safe and sound ... or that you have a chance to take restitution out of Kaiba's hide, if the worst happens, but I'm sure it won't come to THAT," she adds with a slightly more mischievous look. Theo gets stared at briefly after proposing the party order. "Uh, what about multi-class types?" she asks wryly. She's willing to settle on the 'border' between front and middle, though ... unless she's one that Theo was classifying as a 'ranger' .... Oh, whatever. Those stairs won't climb themselves, but Xiaomu will try and position herself within easy conversation distance of Sakura and Tomoyo. "Don't think we've met face-to-face yet, have we?" she asks Sakura with a more friendly smile (over her shoulder, if need be) as they start up the stairs. "Name's Xiaomu, I'm an operative for Shinra from another version of Tokyo, plus a member of the Union, and I commissioned a costume at Tomoyo's shop. Pleased to make your acquaintance~!" She relaxes into facing forwards again before too long, though ... she doesn't want a crick in her neck by the time we get to the next floor. That would be one among what are probably going to be many irritations before the day is out ... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods slightly to Theo, muttering what might be 'Yeah, probably.' Then he blinks. "Wait, which of those am I? I mean, we don't use those classifications on my world. I'm more of an Operator. I guess that makes me a wizard? Do you think he's prepped a dungeon or something?" Beat. "...Yeah, he probably has, hasn't he. Hmm." Staren scratches his chin. "I think I'd prefer to take wizard or ranger" he draws and then holsters his laser pistol "position then. I'm not really tough if we walk into a trap. ...Do you think deploying my armor here would be overkill?"     For now, he'll stay near the center of the party, though in front of Theo if the Deckmaster prefers. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo stares up at Kaiba's face on the television, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as her hands clench up, nails biting into her skin. That look of absolute arrogance, that smug attitude... she came to a more public school to get away from jerks like this, and now one is meddling in Tomoeda, into Sakura's life! Throwing around money and influence to learn her grades, to mock her...     A slow, deep breath through her nostrils, to calm herself. Another. And another. It takes five before she's fully calm. Looking around at everyone, she shakes her head. "Well that's just fine. He can throw out the few things that Sakura is bad at. Because she has us, to pick up the slack!"     Reaching out, she gives Sakura a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Don't worry Sakura, we can do this. We'll get The Time back, and shut him up!" Looking to the older boys as they leave, she smiles a little knowingly, before nodding to Theo and bringing up the rear!     "That outfit is ready, by the way~ In case you missed my message," she adds to Xiaomu. "But it's okay if you've been too busy. Elites must have a lot of stuff to deal with~" 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' "It was like fifty percent a joke," Theo adds sorta-helpfully. "I'm just saying, be prepared for anything." Kickotron proceeds ahead fearlessly, once Theo has divested him of his pack. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      At the top of the staircase, the group finds themselves in a long hallway. The walls are covered in cogs and gears. It looks like the inside of a clock. Here and there, the floors are actually covered in oversized cogs, meaning the group will have to walk across or leap over these. Don't move fast enough, and you might end up stuck in the gearwork on the walls. It's not the /hardest/ to avoid traps, though.      No, the hard to avoid traps will be a series of numbered tiles before the group. A grid of tiles with different numbers, each row a different color, appear before the group. The group is approaching from the south side, and so the various numerals are laid out as follows, with the group starting from the bottom and working up: 6 7 2 1 9 9 5 2 6 8 8 8 6 9 2 2 7 3 2 4 2 3 6 2 5 6 1 4 5 9      God only knows what happens if one walks on the wrong tile. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "I am /sure/ that is against some kind of safety regulation." Staren pulls a tablet out of his pocket and takes pictures of the exposed cogs. Still, avoiding them isn't hard. When at last he reaches the puzzle, he looks at it for a moment. "Maybe you have to step on the numbers in sequence?" He points, "1 2 3... uh..." his finger wobbles a bit as he looks further ahead at first, then sees it, "4 5 6 7 8 9!"     He doesn't actually step on the tiles, though. Someone else might have another plausible solution. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo stares out at the whirring gears and turning cogs, rolling her eyes. Get it, because it's like a clock. Because Time. She won't say it out loud though. Maybe it'll go over Sakura's head and she won't feel bad.      Looking down at the tiles on the floor... oh come on, this is easy. He's really just throwing childish games at them because he thinks Sakura wouldn't be able to solve them. The dark-haired girl starts chewing on the inside of her cheek out of frustration.     Following the numbers with her eyes, she nods along with Staren's explanation. "I think that's what it is too." But... she will wait for someone else to go first. Someone less likely to get hurt if it's wrong, maybe. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura sticks to the middle of the pack! Because she's a wizard. Or, well. Mage. She seems to have ignored Emiya's comment about her needing to be smarter to be a Magus! She's kinda not in the mood to talk about that.     As she reaches the tile puzzle, she kinda sighs. "Well, we should probably... send the most expendable one here out there. So, Kickotron." 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     ".. Step on them in sequence?" Shirou's vision is good. He can see everything. Moving gears and cogs are easy to dodge, but the floor... "For 'in sequence,' there's only one path across." He points towards the green one, then does a zigzap up and down towards the right, then straight up along the next-to-last row. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Having a staff can be handy; Xiaomu occasionally uses it for a mini-pole-vaulting implement if the gaps are big enough to need it, and if it's necessary to stop the machinery for anything (or at least to attempt it), Suiren's ice magic could come in handy. She doesn't want to try messing with the gears if it isn't necessary. "That would be the obvious solution, yeah," the sage fox agrees with Staren after taking a look at the tiles. She keeps considering them, though - that solution seems just a little bit TOO obvious. But then again, if Kaiba designed this course for an elementary-schooler, he's probably setting the bar extra-low for now. It's kind of a welcome relief from some of the diabolical masterminds and their evil lairs that she's encountered (in fiction and in reality alike). She glances at Theo, "How expendalble is Kickotron, anyway? I know you had him in the lead for a reason ..." 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Kickotron looks up at Sakura with a look of stark shock and betrayal. Except he doesn't have any expressions, so he just kind of looks up. Theo looks down at him, and then gestures. "Well, you heard her. Go forth and tile-hop." The myr turns to look at Theo, and then instead looks at Xiaomu. She looks athletic! Theo stares at him, frowning. He asides to Xiaomu, looking over at her, "I can summon more of him on command, and they put one another back together. So, it's not so much 'expending' him as temporarily disabling him." He looks back down, tapping his foot. Kickotron, apparently having exhausted his silent options, starts on the path Staren pointed out. Hop, hop, hop, hop... After handing Xiaomu his hat. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu solemnly accepts Kickotron's hat, and watches carefully as the myr hopscotches across the grid. If the obvious pattern is the wrong one, well, we'll find out momentarily. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The most expendable party member leads the way. As Kickotron walks across the tiles in the numerical order Staren suggested, there is a click with each step. Loud, heavy sounding clicking noises.      ...But. Kickotron is now across, and safely at that. It seems he hasn't been expended, just yet! 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' The sage fox goes next, careful NOT to hit any tiles with her staff as she follows the same route. Kickotron probably wants his hat back - and she should thank him for leading the way, too. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As Xiaomu steps on the 1 tile? There is a sudden burst of flames from the ceiling, shooting downwards towards her. Anyone else who tries to step on the 1 tile at the moment also gets fire shot at them.      ...Seems there is something else to this puzzle. Possibly due to Kickotron having already walked across. Also possibly Xiaomu is on fire. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren watches Kickotron cross. Well, that's that! He smiles. Others are in a greater hurry to cross than he, though, so he waits his turn.     Until, suddenly, fire! "Xiaoumu!" He reaches into his bag, pulls out a rod that extends into some kind of magitech-looking staff, the 'head' of which reconfigures into a nozzle as he points it at her. He presses a button. "Hydro Pump!"     Nothing happens. He shakes it. "Hydro Pump!"     Nothing. He shakes it some more. "Freaking..." 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     "Tomoyo! Xiaomu!" Shirou panics at the flames, rushing up close. He's not sure WHAT to do exactly, but Xiaomu's more capable than he is. Apparently the 'walk in sequence' wasn't the answer though! 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Kickotron, un-exploded, turns back around and observes the tiles. He seems... robotic. As usual. "Woah!" Theo jerks back away from the fire-jet. Lacking a water gun, he extends one hand. "Healing Salve!" There's a glimmer of white -- and he's got a small round tin of some kind, just in case Xiaomu (who won't be felled by a mere flaming jet, surely) is kind of... singed. "Okay! Uh, okay! There was a clicking, right? Maybe we've got to reset it, or alternate? Reverse order? Something logical..." 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "DAMMIT KAIBA!!" is the extremely angry screech which rises from the sage fox along with the flames engulfing her; she DOES draw Suiren now and stabs straight up at the flamethrower nozzle, trying to freeze it solid. Chill mist will help douse the flames on her, and the healing salve certainly helps as well. She attempts to fling Kickotron's hat across the puzzle tiles to the little robot-like critter, then - staying on tile 1, she studies the pattern again. "Not sure what else we CAN do," she comments to her friends. "The 9 doesn't lead to anything, the 2s are all at least one row in ..." She prods at the 2 in front of her with the butt of her staff, ready to leap back if another flamethrower goes off. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Release!" Sakura cries, as she summons her wand in response to the sudden flames! "What the hell! We saw Kickotron... argh!" She fumes. "Should we just trash it? Or fly over it?" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As the 2 is pressed by the staff, a column of flames come down yet again. Yes, it seems the path forward doesn't work anymore. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     "... This is RIDICULOUS..." Shirou's at maximum aggravation now. He bends down near the tiled floor and places his hand at the edge. "Trace...ON."     Those with enough magical sensitivity might pick up a flow of prana coming from his hand and spreading out through the materials. STRUCTURAL GRASP will show him the mechanisms involved beneath the tiles. If of course they're mostly mechanical and not utterly digital. It will at least show him which panels have FLAMETHROWER RELEASES... 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu promptly jumps back from the second column of flames, and glances at the flamethrower over tile 1 to see if it's trying to burn/melt through the ice. "Hey, Kickotron," she calls out. "Are there any controls on your side? Anything that might turn the flamethrowers off?" Hopefully the myr is smart enough to investigate that without hand-holding or direct commands. And if that fails, well ... nothing to stop her from freezing all of the flamethrowers, right? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Once Xiaomu's healed, Staren calms down a bit and thinks. "Reverse order? That doesn't work, though. Unless Kickotron has to come back the way it came, and we have someone keep carrying people across ebfore crossing themselves. Maybe you always have to step on a higher number? Or the same? But those paths all die out too..." 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "...Oh! Shirou can do that object sensing thing! I forgot about that!" She practically claps her hands. "Man that is a useful type of magic." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     When people look like they might break the puzzle, Staren looks over, "Come on, let's not give him the satisfaction of knowing we couldn't beat his stupid puzzle." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As Shirou uses his Trace to scan the mechanisms, he'll find that /every/ single panel has a flamethrower trigger underneath. But, the ones on the numerical path taken prior have extra triggers on them, to temporarily disable the panels. The 9 panel, near Kickotron? It's disabled at the moment. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu gives Staren a rather seared look, "We aren't cheating if he rigged the thing to kill us in the first place." 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Kickotron looks up and over at Xiaomu. He turns and starts to look around, apparently for things that might be like an off switch, or something he can disassemble to disable the flamethrowers' fuel supply. If Shirou points out a spot, he will even follow instructions. Myr Servitors are smart enough to fix one another, and Theo uses them to build all kinds of things, so this is right up their alley. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      There are no switches on the other side, simply a door to keep moving forward. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     "It's tricky, but no a trick." Shirou rises again, then points to the first 9 panel. "The flamethrower's disabled for that one. It looks like the path changes each time you step on something. There's probably a pattern." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren hmms. "I see. Have Kickotron step on the 9, then scan it again." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      Tomoyo had been following after Xiaomu to cross the numbers. But as the jet of flames shoots out, she flinches back in surprise! Thankfully, the fox spirit manages to only be singed, rather than cooked alive, and Tomoyo breathes a sigh of relief.      Looking as the 2 tiles also sets off a flamethrower, she starts to rub her chin and look again. Are there multiple paths? Can only one person go across? Hopefully they haven't messed the whole thing up...     And Sakura's mild cussing is only making Tomoyo frown! She never used to use language like that... stupid Kaiba. Unfortunately, she can't figure out a new path, but it looks like Shirou is taking care of that!     Listening to Shirou, she frowns and shakes her head. "What, so he put this here so only one person can advance? Probably thinks he's being smart, forcing us to only let Sakura go forward..." 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura just waves her hand. "...Look, just. I'm going to let the smart people handle this," she says with a grumble. "I'm totally stumped, guys. Sorry. I can help weigh down the tiles if you want, but other than that." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The path is revealed the moment Kickotron steps onto the nine. The eight he had stepped on earlier disengages. Should he step on that, the seven disengages. Yes, it is in fact designed so that, /in theory/, only one person can go forward. But, this is an incredibly resourceful group of heroes with plenty of resources.      Worst case scenario, they can just rid on eachother, piggyback, carrying one person across at a time. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren pats Sakura's shoulder. "Hey. You're not dumb. Just not used to puzzles. You invented a new Card once, remember?"     As soon as Shirou announces the next scan result, Staren pumps a fist in victory. "I knew it! You have to go back and forth over the path. I mean, someone has to carry everyone else across."     He's sure someone here can manage that, one way or another. For the sake of convenience, he is suddenly a housecat. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Now how are you going to rule the world if you let a few unsolvable problems stop you?" Xiaomu asks Sakura, drawing Suiren again. "Hey Shirou, what's it take for you to copy a sword? Just a good look at it? And what does it take to use those weapons' magics?" If she has to freeze the flamethrower grid solid herself, she can certainly do that. Splitting the burden would be better, though. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Kickotron turns around and starts walking back on the path in reverse order, now that Staren has posited a solution that sounds plausible. "Nobody's a scorpion, right," Theo asks lightly. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "...I'm not going to rule the world," Sakura responds to Xiaomu, peering at her incredulously. Then she shakes her head. "We all need to cross at once...? Okay, sure, that's easy." She pulls out one of her cards. "Everyone, um. Don't jump or anything." She tosses the card into the air, as her magic circle erupts around her. Suddenly, magic energy! Lots of it! "LITTLE!"     There's a teeny yellow mote of light... which promptly bounces around, bumping into everyone. Aaaand so Sakura goes about gathering up her now-tiny allies, setting them on the brim of her trilby, and heading along the path the Kickotron has helpfully un-dangered for them. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Or we can do it that way," Xiaomu says with a grin as she sees what Sakura's doing. She re-sheathes Suiren, then hops onto Sakura's hand when the cardmistress reaches down to pick her up. Riding Sakura's hat on the way across is apparently pretty fun for the sage fox. There may or may not be a tiny raspberry blown at the flamethrower grid on the other side, too. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     And then there was a tiny cat. "Well, that works." Staren returns to normal form, still tiny. "Woah, this is trippy." And then he's riding on the brim of a trilby of a giant Sakura. Taking it in and trying not to think about how this works. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      Tomoyo was not expecting that! Suddenly becoming so small and riding around on a normal-sized Sakura? Weird, but also oddly exciting~ She raises her littler camera to film as Sakura carries them all across.     In addition, she busies herself with checking up on the hat. She's never been this small, so she's never been able to examine her creations from so close! She carefully walks around the brim, making sure the band is tight, the four aces secure~ 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo momentarily wonders at the physics of all this, and then reminds himself that it's magic, and instead wonders at the /duration/. Well, Sakura's pretty much got it handled; this is kind of her thing, after all. So mostly makes a tiny, "wheeeee" and hopes the flamethrower doesn't cook all of them on the way back. That'd be awkward to explain later. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     Shirou keeps scanning the mechanisms. Going THAT far is a bit beyond what he's used to and the magic grows thin near the last rows, but... "That's it. Each time he steps on something the mechanisms change. Only one person can be on the grid at a time." Again he stands up, looks over at Xiaomu, glances at her sword...     "Trace, on!" With his hand outstretched, Shirou focuses. Power gathers in his palm. In a few moments the hilt forms from a cloud of prana. The rest of the blade congeals in sequence until the tip finishes forming, leaving an exact copy of Suiren in Shirou's grasp. "It's not as easy as it looks, but I'm just lucky your sword's not a Noble Phantasm. It's really nice though."     He manages to twirl the blade around expertly, casting off an aura of frost and dropping the temperatures around him briefly. A few flakes of snow drift away and melt. Yeah, he's got the elemental control, if probably not quite as potent.     Weirdly enough, Shirou was so focused during the tracing effort that only after he finishes twirling does he realize... oh hey, he's been shrunk. Which ends up with him being grabbed and riding on the hat.     His expression is a bit deflated and maybe just slightly anxious over the matter. "This got weird fast." 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura chirps: "'This got weird fast' can explain the past six years of my life pretty well." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The party has made it across. A spiral staircase is before them. It's a long walk up. Kaiba is simply not kind enough to give you all the luxury of an eleator, it seems. You can add this to the checklist of 'reasons Kaiba is a dick', later.      Once the staircase is ascended, the group finds themselves in another room. A large room, with various cogs across it. These cogs appear to be stationary platforms, unconnected to eachother. They are arranged in a circle. And, conveniently, there seem to be a cog for each party member. Plus one.      A strange man stands on one of the cog platforms. He is dressed in an incredibly unusual outfit. It's green, skintight, and looks to have a fair amount of plated bits to it. A pair of large red eyes are upon the helmet, very buglike. Upon his belt, there is a clock like design. Mantis-like blades are on his arms. There is something significantly /more/ disturbing than his near-plagirism lawsuit level outfit. Piles of round black objects surround him, each with clocks on them. The hands on all of them seem broken, though.      A monitor lowers from the ceiling. Kaiba is upon it, again. He smiles towards the group as a whole. "Welcome to the next game: Time Bomb Hot Potato. The man you see before you chose to remain unidentified... But. He's a man with a particular talent. He crafts bombs. Powerful ones. For a while he went on a bit of a spree with them, in fact. So. Have fun, and he'll explain the rules of the game."      The masked man poses dramatically, and speaks loudly, "ALRIGHT! So. Take a spot on a pedestal. Then, I throw you a bomb! You can hold onto it as long as you want. THEN, throw it to someone else! And you guys can't just keep throwing them at /me/, alright? Because that's /cheating/. YA READY?!"      He reaches down, picking up one of his bombs. Waiting for everyone to get in place. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura is not tired out at all by the climb up the stairs! Because she's a jock. Her more nerdly companions might be complaining by the time they reach the top though.     She just glowers as Kaiba speaks, but Bomb Thrower gets polite, attentative silence. After his explanation, she raises her hand. "Excuse me! Is it against the rules to pass to you at ALL, or just to focus on you?" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The man does a dramatic pose, standing on one leg with his other lifted. His hands make a Y formation.      "JUST DON'T FOCUS ONLY ON ME. You can pass to me, just not WAAAY more than the others!" 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo is muttering about the climb, but less so than he would have a year ago. Running away from monsters helps get you used to... well, running away from monsters, mostly. "How do we... win," Theo asks. "Do you have to get blown up, or what?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Okay!" Sakura promptly hops up onto one of the platforms, and waits for the others to join her. Wait, she's not -seriously- considering agreeing to this game...?     "Oh! One last thing. What happens if a player falls off?" 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''      Tomoyo follows everyone up the stairs! A while back, she would be totally exhausted before reaching halfway, but as she is now? Only slightly out of breath when they reach the next game. Listening to Kaiba's explanation, she gasps. "D-Did he seriously hire a wanted criminal?" Quickly, she checks her camera to make sure it caught that. That borderline admission might come in handy for... things.     However, back to the game. This is some dangerous stuff! But, Sakura seems to have something in mind... and if she thought of it, it must be a good plan! So, putting all her faith on her best friend, Tomoyo immediately goes to stand on another platform, smiling slightly. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren kind of wishes they'd stayed shrunk for the stairs. He does eventually return to cat form and bound-bound-bound-bound up the stairs all at once before changing back. He's still left panting at the top of the stairs for a bit. He considers the problem set before them... bit Theo and Sakura think of important questions before he can catch his breath. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "How many... hah... bombs are in play at once?" Staren immediately thinks of another question. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The !Rider maeks another pose, bending his knees and holding his arms to the side. He looks towards Theo first. "You have to knock me out, yes!"      And then a new pose. It looks like he is ready to do the crane kick as he looks towards Sakura.      "AND, if a player falls off... You'll SEE!"      And then, one more pose as he turns to Staren. "AND ONLY ONE AT A TIME!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren looks at Shirou. "Can your mage sight tell when the bomb is about to explode?" And then back at the man. "Is it against the rules to just knock you off without using the bomb?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "You have got to be kidding me," Xiaomu says at LEAST as flatly as her complaint about the old joke at the main door downstairs. Whether she's talking about the costume or about the game isn't immediately clear ... but she does climb up on one of the cogs. Then a poof of gold-hued smoke surrounds her, and her clothes ... change. Specifically, she's now wearing a skintight costume that bares her arms, shoulders, most of her back and all of her cleavage; the top is blue, turning red from the waist down, plus she's sporting yellow gloves and boots. She looks like a superheroine. Maybe a FAMILIAR superheroine, at that. She pointedly sticks her tongue out at Cricket Bomber, then plants her staff next to her and gets ready to catch. Or at least that's what it looks like she's doing ... she may have shenanigans up her sleeve. Or would, if she was WEARING sleeves now. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo approves of Xiaomu's costume choice. He probably doesn't get the reference, but he approves! "Outfit changes on-demand? That's pretty neat." He grins. And feels kind of under-dressed for the occasion. Who goes into a death-maze and brings /normal/ clothes? "Uhh, huh. Okay. Kickotron, you're up." Theo, ever the summoner, decides it is in his best interests not to actually endanger himself. He'll play support instead. The myr climbs onto a gear while Theo hums to himself some, and then gestures dramatically. "Myr Servitor!" There's a brief cloud of misty white Aether, and... an identical twin of Kickotron, sans hat, shows up. And waits. For the explosions. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     "... Wait, how do you even win this game..." Shirou sits down but he's looking skeptically at the both the man and Kaiba-monitor. This is, of course, after he's hopefully unshrunken.     He glances at Staren. "I've never tried that. How would I know?" He also doubts he'd have the TIME to analyze it if they're doing hot potato. Great. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The game begins. The !Rider throws the bomb, aiming it straight at Kickotron, to start. The bomb flies through the air, and a gentle ticking sound can be heard from it.      Kaiba, meanwhile, smirks with approval at Theo Morrison. He didn't know that gamer could be so smart with his minions. Use them, instead of himself. Kaiba approves, whole heartedly. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura raises her hand out towards the Kickotron. Obviously intending to get the bomb thrown her way! But she doesn't actually, you know, announce it. Because that might be cheating. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Kickotron catches the bomb in a full-body grab, holding it tightly in its little metal robot arms. With a second's pause, the myr turns and throws it towards Sakura, an unerring toss of what is probably a pretty high-yield explosive. But hey, when the mage wants the explosives, the mage gets the explosives. Theo, meanwhile, has Healing Salve and a robo-mechanic on standby. Juuust in case. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren watches. He approves of the idea of having kickotron face off against the bomber... but Sakura's stepping in too? What's she planning? He watches, a little uneasily. A mage as powerful; as she won't be hurt too badly by a bomb, right? 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura catches the bomb! She's... pretty good at ball games, so honestly it's not a big deal for her. She tosses it up into the air twice, to gauge its weight. "...How many people died?" she asks the 'host', in a low voice. Before tossing the bomb back to Kickotron after a second of getting a feel for its weight. "Before Kaiba... hired you. That is." 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Kickotron, not wanting to explode into a pile of parts and hats*, catches the bomb and immediately tosses it Xiaomu's way to mix it up. He probably assumes that she'll toss it back to Sakura once she's properly pumped up, or maybe he just picked at random. Who can say? *may only be the one hat 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The Rider turns and looks to Sakura. A small chuckle, "Ah, who says I killed anyone? I didn't. Not going to deny it either, though. Will leave your guess up to you. Won't tell you /too/ much on what all I blew up, but. Buildings. Bridges. Stuff like that. Clearing out the useless broken down wastes of society. Gotta get rid of some of those eyesores! Besides... Humanity has /lots/ of crap going on in it. Why should you care if anyone got hurt?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Xiaomu has been waiting and watching, and catches the bomb as it's tossed to her. She doesn't throw it right away, though; instead, she balances the explosive device in her right hand, left hand grasping Suiren ... and a shell of ice forms around the bomb, growing to an inch or so thick. That's going to affect the weight, but it should also help contain the explosion if someone's timing is off. Three seconds after she caught it, Xiaomu tosses the bomb towards Staren with a quick, "Heads up!" Who knows? Maybe she's figuring that Staren can capitalize somehow on the ice shell, or something. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Theo, I trust you," Sakura says completely out of the blue. Huh.     She takes a card out of her pocket. "Power." Tap! A pinkish aura surrounds her wand and her right hand. She reaches up to take off her hat.     All this while her allies toss around a LIVE BOMB. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     RAGE flickers in Shirou's gut at the Bomber's words, but he's staying focused on the task at hand. This just means that if the bomber gets blown up by his own handiwork, Shirou's not going to feel too bad about it. "Staren, you're recording everything being said here, right?!" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The shell of ice forms around the bomb. And then suddenly, the entire situation changes. People who are sensitive to it might note a /bit/ of magic in the air around them. But, it only lasts for a second.      Or more accurately, it only lasts for a split second to everyone's perception. In truth, who knows how long everyone is frozen in time.      The bomb, though? It is now sitting at Tomoyo's feet. The ice from it is gone. And, the bomb is pulsing.      There is a massive flash of light as the bomb goes off. A giant burst of flames. When it clears?      Tomoyo is no longer there.      Kaiba appears on the monitor again. He smiles, looking at the group. "Toying with the bomb is, of course, against the rules. No attempting to delay how long until it might explode." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     One moment, Tomoyo is standing ready, in case the bomb comes her way. The next? The bomb is right at her feet. She only has time to say "Eh?" before it goes off! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren blinks. "Hey, wait!" So much for the plan to one-on-one the bomber, seems that's completely shot now...     But he never recieves it. "What?" He looks around when it explodes... "Tomoyo!" He frowns. If she'd actrually been blown up, there'd be... something left. "Where is she?" He turns and glares at the bomber. Definately willing to forget the game and just blast through the park, now that this is a kidnapping. But he's not going to set out alone, either. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Tomoyo!" Sakura shouts out in horror - but as the smoke clears... She frowns a little bit. And suddenly she seems -abnormally- calm.     "...Next round, pass the bomb to me," she says, softly, to her teammates. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Kaaaaaaaaaibaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa .... booooooooooooooooooyyyy ... !!" There is very nearly an actual battleaura burning around Xiaomu as she glowers at the monitor. "The ice wasn't meant to slow the timer down, you insufferable prick," the sage fox snarls. "And you didn't say anything about what to do or not do with the bomb when we had it, so STOP MAKING UP NEW RULES ON US!!" She is oh so tempted to draw down and put some bullets into the monitor (never mind that her handguns are NOT in evidence right now), but she stifles that desire. Besides, shooting out the cameras would probably be more effective. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     "Tomoyo?!" Shirou stands up, but... ends up staring. Where is Tomoyo?! that is NOT how bombs behave. There would be.. blood. Shrapnel. Debris. Something. Instead Tomoyo's simply gone. "... What...?"     He's seen lots of explosions. That doesn't look right. The boy just sort of stares, but is frozen in place. Unfortunately he's not quite smart enough to analyze it too hard besides 'that just wasn't RIGHT.'     For now, his mind churns on this, trying to find an explanation. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo is sensitive to the particularly subtle forms of magic. Temporal manipulation in particular is something he employs, and has seen used by several other Elites. As a result, he feels a familiar sort of twinge... Tomoyo appears to be blown to hell. Theo flinches -- but isn't covered in Tomoyo-bits. There's a moment of confusion, and then, significantly less of it. He frowns, staring at the ground, and slowly sinks to a seated position away from the platforms. Theo slowly draws a deck of cards out of his pocket. He shuffles them up, draws a hand, and plays an idyllic-looking Island. It looks soothing. Maybe he's in shock. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The Bomb Rider looks upon the group, he just chuckles a bit. He just looks at the group. He answers none of the questions. Kaiba makes no more responses. He just looks down at the group, smirking, before the monitor turns off. The Bomb Rider then makes another heroic pose.      "JUSTICE HAS TRIUMPHED ONCE AGAIN! Which villain shall I blow up next?!"      And, he reaches for a bomb, tossing it to Shirou. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     Shirou's been TRYING to count how long the bomb lasted, but with all the hullaballoo he lost count. Oops. And suddenly the bomb's landing in his hands, ticking! He... [Pass it to Sakura?] [Pass it to the bomber?] [State how he really feels about Kaiba's game.]     It's an agonizing single second during which he does the only thing he can through pure gut instinct.     -> [Pass it to Sakura].     Because sometimes you just have to trust your allies.     "Hup!" A light toss and it's sent sailing Sakura's way, but Shirou's looking worried over this choice. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     The bomb is tossed Sakura's way! She pulls a card from her pocket as it's flying through the air. "Power!" Her wand glows with a bright pink light, until she just drops it to the platform. The glow shifts to Sakura's hand, as she catches the bomb!     She reaches to the back of her neck, and pulls a hood up and over her head. It's a pale pink, with two red lines down either side. The hood has a sort of 'beak', and is long enough that it casts the entire top half of Sakura's face into shadow.     "...This is for the Brotherhood." She holds the bomb in her glowing hand, turning her body sideways. She lifts up one leg, holding her hand back just like a baseball player...     And then she tosses the bomb at the Not-Rider with enough force to... Well, enough force to break bone. More than enough, really. She's kinda pissed.     There may be a sonic boom involved. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo, expecting something strange, continues to play. He draws another card, and idly places another Island on the floor. Then, he looks up, and watches, tense as a coiled spring. What he sees, he doesn't actually completely understand. What he understands is that Sakura is doing something completely against the spirit of the challenge, and that she's his friend. She trusts him, so he has to trust her. That's the way these things work. What he /knows/, though, is that he has an Arcane Denial in his hand, and that he is waiting for Kaiba to try another magic trick. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As the bomb flies forward, the bomber lifts his arms to catch. But, the strength of the force is far more than he can handle. Obviously this is cheating. Obviously it is, once again, Magic toying with the bombs.      Elsewhere, Kaiba sits watching. Various controls are next to him. He could, with just a flick of a finger, activate the time stopping device again. He can tell that Sakura is planning to do this. He can see the magic.      But he is /entirely/ willing to let Sakura kill this man. A smirk is on his face as he realizes /exactly/ how far Sakura has been pushed.      The Rider goes flying against the back wall. His armor is broken, pushed into him. There is a dent in his chest. It's hard to see how much damage he took from the ball, and from the impact against the wall. But as the man slides to the ground, his body is completely limp.      A small trickle of blood leaks from the man's suit.      The door to progress further opens. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     Sometimes you just have to trust your allies, right?     What unfolds leaves him stupefied. He thought there'd be some TRICK to what Sakura was planning...     For what might be a reason to others, he rushes over to the crumpled bomber and tries to establish whether he is in fact actually dead or just knocked out and injured!     WHY is Shirou doing that?! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren jumps a little in surprise at Sakura's power throw. Hey, he thinks that was actually a clever solution! She didn't alter the bomb, and she knocked the bomber off the platform /using/ the bomb. This is clearly a legit win!     After a moment he sees that the bomber sustained serious harm, though. Is that... was that supposed to happen? What game is Kaiba playing, here? Sure, /so far/ he's supposedly been a terrorist bomber, but he would not be surprised if Kaiba later said 'HA! I tricked you into killing an innocent actor!' and confronted them with proof.     Staren looks at the man. He looks at his bag. Then back at the man. Then back at the bag.     Staren sighs, pulling out a pair of glasses and looking through them at the bomber. Then after a slight shake of his head, he takes them off and puts them away, waiting to follow Sakura. "...Are you okay?" he asks her. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The guy does, in fact, appear to be dead. If taken out of the suit at all, or if his helmet is removed? He actually looks a lot more terrifying than the outfit showed. Tattoos are all across his face. Atop his forehead are numbers, his Prisoner numbers. Variations of the words 'Kill' and 'Murder' appear across his face, in different languages. He seems to have a lot of healed burn wounds as well. Without going into too much detail, odds of fixing him look nil, due to injuries taken by several key organs.      If anyone searches his prisoner number, they'll eventually be able to find that he is, in fact, a terrorist who originally worked as a demolitions expert. Despite having a prisoner number, they were never actually able to /prove/ it was him, and so he was released. So while there is a /lot/ of evidence that he might be a murderer, it's not confirmed. At the very least, after he was finally let out of prison, he hasn't committed any known crimes while working for Kaiba Corp.      Aside from possibly blowing up Tomoyo. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo looks back down, breathing a sigh. Kickotron hops off the platform, wandering over to the masked bomber. He stares at him for a moment, and then turns back and goes to Theo instead. Theo looks up from the floor at the bird-robot, and reaches out to pat it on the beak. "Good work, Kickotron." There isn't much feeling in it. He starts to stand up. Kickotron collects the deck and the islands, holding them on a little tray. He's now a waiter-myr. Theo starts to say something... but stops. He looks up at the monitor. Then, the door. "We should get going," he finally manages. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     Shirou pulls himself away from the downed bomber after establishing that the dude was in fact a criminal. All the tattoos are pretty grisly. "... Well, at least we know he really was..." Shirou's not happy, but this is much better than them killing someone who was just 'playing a role' to scare them all.     "Sakura. ... I don't think Tomoyo's gone. That explosion was weird." He keeps his voice down, hoping to not be overheard by Kaiba's microphones.     But his tone's awkward. He's really not sure how to address the girl who just flipped out and killed someone. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Just a sec," Xiaomu says, hopping off her cog-platform and poofing back into her normal outfit. She paces over to where Tomoyo was when the bomb apparently took her out, and kneels for a moment before she closes her eyes, and her lips move as she whispers a prayer. Perhaps for the safety of Tomoyo's soul ... you'd need to lip-read Chinese to know what she's saying. She rises back to her feet after completing her prayer, and looks briefly at Shirou - not saying anything, not visibly agreeing or disagreeing, but if those bombs were powerful enough to obliterate an unprotected human body, there should be FAR more damage to the guy's body, armor or no armor. On her way towards the door, Xiaomu lingers by Sakura, squeezing the girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect her too, Sakura," the sage fox says softly. She strictly blames Kaiba for causing Tomoyo's death - whether Xiaomu's "tampering" was the excuse for it or not, it was Kaiba who arranged the death-game, and Kaiba who made the bomb explode with Tomoyo right next to it - but Xiaomu can at least offer a bit of comfort to Sakura, rather than trying to pretend it didn't happen. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura just kinda stares at the door for a few moments. She responds to Staren: "N-" Crack. Cough. "No." She pauses for a few moments, then sighs. "...Let's get going. Tomoyo might be in danger." She's absolutely convinced Tomoyo isn't dead. Given there are no bits of Tomoyo strewn around, this is PROBABLY a logical call and not at all denial.     She heads for the door. Everyone else is apparently ignored! How rude. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The next room is rather unusual. It looks like a resteraunt. Fake windows are on the walls, and from the looks of things, the interior is set to be right around lunch. Tables are all around, each of them with things like hamburgers and fries on them.      There are three doorways out. Each one of them has a clock above. To the left, a clock that reads 9:00. Forward, a clock that reads 7:00. To the right, a clock that reads 12:00. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Rather than going to a door, Xiaomu checks one of the place settings, just to satisfy her curiosity whether the food is real. Looking, sniffing, and maybe poking lightly with a fingertip are as far as she's going to go in this investigation; she's not hungry enough to pick anything up to bite into it. Especially not at THIS point in the climb. She does have a guess as to which door is correct, looking at the door to the right, but she doesn't approach it, instead looking at the others. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren puts a hand on Sakura's shoulder, and nods. He hesitates a moment, unsure if he should say anything more... then just follows into the next room.     "...Hamburgers are a lunch or dinner time food, so it's probably not breakfast. Hmm, no, that doesn't really narrow it down enough though, does it." Staren muses to himself, then checks behind him to see if there's a clock over the door they came in. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo slides on into the room. He looks it over, and, with the trained eye of an American nerd, born and raised on beef and fried potatoes, he makes a keen and cunning judgment: This puzzle is impossible. Every time is hamburger time. Kickotron has no opinions, since he doesn't eat. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura barely stops to consider the puzzle. She certainly doesn't stop walking, and just heads straight for the 12:00 door. She is not in a very great mood right now, clearly!     At least she's listening to her allies' musing out loud though. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     INto a RESTAURANT NOW? Shirou cannot believe what he's seeing. The boy blinks in wonder, utterly confounded. "Wha... what now?" 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As Sakura just walks right through the door, it opens readily. Inside, is another room. It's actually a little bit strange, because it looks like Wall Street. There are numerous monitors listing stock prices, set up in various terminals. The American flag is hung from the wall. And, notably, the lights are fairly dim.      Three doors are in this room. One to the left reading 2:30. One to the front reading 4:30. And finally, one to the right reading 3:30. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Closing time at the stock exchange, huh?" Xiaomu asks (more or less rhetorically) as she surveys the next room. "Staren, Theo, you're closer to American than I am, do you remember when the market closes?" She's heading towards the 4:30 door in the meantime; if they don't have any ideas one way or the other, and if nobody else stops or pre-empts her, she'll open it. 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo follows along. He kind of wants a burger now, but he doesn't think he'll be able to get a decent one anywhere in Japan. It's something to think about that isn't so... grim, though. "I thought it was at four," Theo says, "so... four-thirty door?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "O-okay... Sakura?" He follows. "We don't have this sort of thing on my world..." Staren replies to Xiaomu. "But I'd guess sometime in the evening? 4:30 sounds most likely, I guess. Unless they close early in the morning instead...?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura has absolutely -no- way of getting this, being completely uninterested in finance and also being Japanese. So she just stops in the doorway and listens to the others talk, before heading for the 4:30 door. It seems to be the one they all agree on! 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      As the 4:30 door is opened, the next room is revealed. It's a bar. Specfically, for /some reason/, it is the bar from Cheers. The only addition is that there are three doors in the room that look completely out of place. One on the left that says 5:00, one ahead that says 3:00, and one on the right that reads 1:00. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "A bar?" Staren glances around. "People usually drink at night, right?" He glances out the window to see if it's evening or night. If it's evening, he points to the 5:00 door. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      Outside the window, it is definitely evening. It looks fairly dark outside, and the bar itself is lit only by its own lighting. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "If it's five and the sun's going down," Xiaomu remarks, "it must be winter ..." She looks over at Staren, "Hitting the bar after a day at work, probably? That wouldn't necessarily be as late as after supper." The 5 o'clock door sounds about right to her, in any case. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     This one is utterly beyond Shirou. He's not terribly good with puzzles to begin with. Being of only average intelligence (and some might debate that), and completely divested of whatever cultural references are being made here, he can only make a very unhappy face at the whole proceedings. "Sorry. I don't have a CLUE what this puzzle's getting at. Let's be thankful there aren't any bombs involved." 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura, once again, allows her smarter compatriots to do the thinking for her, and then heads for the 5:00 door. She's really glad she didn't have to leave any of them behind.     She's still trying not to think about what happened earlier. 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The 5:00 door is, in fact, correct. It opens readily.      The final room is entirely unlike all of the others in this set of puzzles. Holographic trickery makes the room appear to be outside. The horizon is visible in the distance, some mountains dotting the landscape. The sky looks yellow and cloudy. It actually feels a bit difficult to breath here. The group finds themselves standing amongst the ruins of some vast city. Rubble and destruction is all around, bits of melted steel all over the place. Looking further in the distance, one can see remains of other cities, along with numerous craters. Various remains of atomic bombs dot the landscape as well.      There are three doors. Each of them just tower in the wasteland. They are made of metal and steel. Elegant designs mark the frames. And, sitting on the top of each door frame is a clock.      To the left, 6:00. To the right, 9:00. Forward? 12:00.      There is an intense pressure in this room. It fills the air. Whether or not it is simply the foreboding feeling of realizing the enemy is so close, or an artificial stimulation to mimick that effect? It's hard to tell. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "See, /this/ looks more like my world." Staren comments to Xiaomu. "Hmm. Can't make out the sun's position at all... It's probably not 6AM or 6PM. It might be 9AM or 12 PM." 

:'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:''' Theo steps through the door again, and into a wasteland. He stops. He stares. Holograms? What is this one supposed to be mimicking? The others, the clue was the time of day; this one... well, it isn't quite so obvious. "This is a little trickier," he mutters. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Upon entering the last room - and she hopes it IS the last one - Xiaomu takes two steps to her right, clearing the doorway for the others, and ... reaches up to rub her eyes with her right hand, left hand gripping her staff tightly. "Damn it, Kaiba," she grumbles. What she's cursing him for is probably not entirely clear, but after a few more seconds, she lowers her hand and looks at the door frames. "Go with twelve o'clock this time," she suggests. 

:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''     Into the 5:00 door everyone goes. Shirou coughs and puts his sleeve over his mouth and nose. "What's THIS supposed to be?!" He doesn't like this room. Doesn't like it at all. Although a few glances around reveal the answers. "... this is just excessive..." Mutter mumble.     "YOUR WORLD looks like this?" He's looking right at Staren when saying that, hands once again in his jacket pockets. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura cringes a bit. She's kinda wishing she brought a mask to go with her hood. What kind of Japanese assassin IS she?!     Regardless, she tries not to waste time, and heads for the 12:00 door like Xiaomu suggested. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Well... the ruins, yes." Staren replies. "Though not so recently." 

:'''{{#var:623|Seto Kaiba (623)}} has posed:'''      The 12:00 door is opened. There is a blinding light from behind the door. It soon passes, though. There is along bridge of metal leading ahead. The bridge is blocked by a gate, and a sign: ONLY SAKURA KINOMOTO MAY PASS. A stairway leads off of the bridge, to a seperate area for those that are not Sakura.      This entire room is a massive stadium. A large amount of stadium seating is all around, and the stairway off the bridge will lead to a reserved area for Sakura's friends and companions. The seats throughout the stadium are quite fine quality, each having trays and drink holders, along with plush cushions.      The center of the arena is the true draw, though. Two pedestals stand high above it, where everyone in the audience can see them. These connect to bridges. One is, assumedly, for Sakura. The other is certainly for Kaiba. It's elevated /just/ slightly above Sakura's own. Obviously, he has a much higher opinion of himself than he has of her. Were he to be facing Yugi? The pedestals would be level with eachother.      Below the competitor stands is a wide arena. It is a circle of large white tiles. It's wide enough to be a fine arena for combat. Hanging above this circle is a small metal cage. From where the audience is sitting, they won't be able to see who is in it. But, Sakura can see easily. Most likely, the other Elites can too.      It's Tomoyo. And underneath on the bottom of the cage is a metal device made of gold. Within it? The Time Card. Various wires go from the cage to the ceiling, connecting to the various inner workings of this tower.      Before Sakura can have a chance to walk to her stand? Kaiba steps forward. He lifts his right hand, smiling and waving at the audience. And, the audience goes wild with cheering and hollering. After all, he is the child billionaire. The King of Games. He is about to have a match at the game he specializes most in. A game he has only lost at /once/ before.      His Duel Disk is on his left arm. And he smiles, looking forward towards Sakura. A glimmer of hatred in his eyes. 

}}

2658/Dress at the Beach

2015-07-21T07:01:46Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/21 |Location=Bayview |Synopsis=Sarracenia shows off her new dress to Lute. |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=188, 446 |Tinyplot= |Tinyplot2= |pr..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/21
|Location=Bayview
|Synopsis=Sarracenia shows off her new dress to Lute.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=188, 446
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      It's a rather beautiful day at the beach, the sun currently setting upon the ocean. A brilliant orange light covers the landscape, and the ocean shimmers beautifully. Lute himself stands on the second floor balcony of the beachhouse. The front door to the beachhouse is open, as is the balcony's sliding door. He smiles towards the ocean, relaxing and enjoying the view. He's wearing his standard beachwear. His labcoat, which is waterproofed. And, a black speedo. He can pull the look off somewhat, but no one can make a speedo look completely good.      He looks back on occasion, waiting for any little sound. He knows Sarracenia will be here soon, and he expects her to come in through the front door. Still, his eyes look out to the ocean on occasion. After all, Imima, his Destroyer, is out playing on the water. As is his Tentacruel. He sighs happily, always glad to see his pets getting along. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:''' It isn't long before Sarracenia arrives. She does indeed come in through the front door, but...she is wearing a -very- different outfit from her usual.      It starts with the dress: a cobalt blue thing with light red trim, Tomoyo having recalled Sarracenia's specifications. Straps cross over her upper arms, rather than her shoulder, and it shows quite a bit of cleavage, a black brooch with the Star of David in yellow right in the middle of her chest. The high skirts and small cape are also light red. Next comes the glove and boots. They match the dress, blue with light red trim. The gloves are fingerless opera gloves, coming up to her elbows with yellow gems sewn onto the backs of the palm and the hems.      The boots stop short of knee-length, with more of those yellow gems at the ankles. Next is the tiara! Based on the first tier of the Dark Magician Girl's unusual hat, it wraps around the forehead with a single point rising up at the middle. It has been embedded with more yellow and light red gems to make it seem more royal. The final touch is a light red necklace with another yellow gem. And to complete the outfit, a replica of the Dark Magician Girl staff! It is a small wand with the spiralling yellow head, blue shaft with light red trim and a spherical yellow gem at the base.      The princess stops just inside the door, then gives her staff a little twirl. "So, what do you think?" she asks, smirking confidently. She knows she looks great, and this dress just makes her look even better. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute hears Sarracenia, and turns to face her. His sharp brown eyes look up and down her form. His lips part just slightly. He is trying to speak, but he is at a loss for words. He supports himself upon the balcony, taken aback. After a moment, he takes a few steps forward. He continues to look her over, his gaze looking towards those spots that men are more likely to focus on. His hands move forward, to grab the back of Sarracenia's own hands, rubbing them softly.      "...You... You look stunning, Sarracenia. It really suits you."      His eyes finally move to her own, rather cheerfully. Lute is doing something he rarely does: He's /blushing/. He is that astounded right now. And, as usual in such a moment, he has a strong temptation. He wants to kiss her again, and his lips even press together for a second. He stops before actually moving forward. The temptation is obvious, though.      "I'm... I'm not sure what else to say. I just. I have no words." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks as Lute actually gets tongue-tied. It makes her blush a bit, and even more when he takes her hands and rubs them. "I..uh..." she gets a wide-eyed look as Lute says he has no words, and he has that look in his eyes. She swallows softly, and is quiet. She doesn't know what to say, either. She just looks back at Lute until her cheeks are burning red and her brain catches up to the situation. She pulls away quickly and turns to the side, fidgiting nervously.      "I...I knew it would. That is why I ordered this dress." she says timidly, tapping her index fingers together bashfully. "S-so...how are things at your pokemon ranch going?" 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute catches the the blushing from Sarracenia, and it's only now that he's realizing how overwhelmed he is. His brain is finally catching up to his reaction. He has to take more control of this situation, he feels. He doesn't like being caught off guard.      "...Well. The ranch is in the process of being purchased. Should be a couple of weeks, and then we can start actual construction. I'm... really looking forward to it. It will be a nice, beautiful place to raise my various pets. You'll have to visit when its finished. ...Though. Is there anything you'd like to see built there? I like it if there were things there that my girlfri--" A pause. "That my friends would like. ...Sorry. Slip of the tongue."      He realizes how little chance he has. But, still, he tries to stay close to her. And tries to make things less awkward. "...What have you been up to? Keeping busy on the war, and keeping busy with running your kingdom?" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blushes a bit more as Lute's tongue slips, then her expression hardens a bit. She doesn't push Lute away, but it is clear the moment has passed. "Honestly, I have done very little as of late. I have not even run one of my 'find a hero' campaigns. Things in the kingdom have gotten rather busy with the increased trade. Many people like our weapons and power-ups, so the revenue is pouring in." she says, still facing off to the side, her expression distant now. "I do not really participate in the war beyond trying to claim the Caverns of Prophecy every now and then. The war seems...useless to me." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      A small sigh escapes Lute's lips. Yeah, he fucked it up, and he realizes it. He just starts to smile softly at Sarracenia, trying not to leer at her body. Instead, he motions towards a couch in the living room of the beach house. Offering a seat to Sarracenia. Should she sit, he'll move to soon after.      "...Mm. Sorry it's been tough for you to get involved. ...Maybe I should offer some help on that. I know your main goal is to.... find your hero. But, I think just by fighting in the war more? It will give you more of a chance."      He hurts slightly as he says this. Despite his lecherousness, despite his multiple partners? He still treasures each individual woman he falls for. But he realizes more and more this might not work. At the least, he can provide support, he supposes. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia walks over to the couch as the seat is offered and takes a seat. "How do you figure?" she asks as she relaxes on the couch, suddenly feeling tired. "No hero wants to rescue a princess who attacks people. But...I am not good at being the kind of princess that heroes like to rescue."      She closes her eyes, then rests her head in her hands. "I am starting to think that I am not meant to be happy..." she says softly, her eyes barely opening again, staring off at nothing. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute smiles at Sarracenia. It's largely all he can think to do at the moment. But as her hands move to her face, as he begins to wonder if she might break out into tears? Lute has to do something. He scoots a bit closer, just speaking quietly.      "...There are lots of heroes in the Confederacy. A number of powerful fighters, who are bold and heroic. The sort who wold like one such as you, a princess who takes matters into her own hand. Trust me. You're meant to be happy. You'll find /someone/. I know it well. There is a lot to liek about you."      His hand lifts, to wrap around Sarracenia's back. His hand gently rests on her shoulder. And he moves to lean against her slightly. What else can he do?      A slight pause.      "...Would you like a drink?" He isn't sure if princesses drown their sorrow in booze. He thinks he has heard of them doing that before. But, he may as well offer. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      The princess sighs heavily and actually leans against Lute when he wraps his arm around her. "...a drink?" She considers a moment, then smiles just lightly. "Sure. Nothing heavy, though. I am still a princess." she says. She leans away from Lute again so he might get her a drink. Then, she actually looks him over. "...why are you wearing that ridiculous swimsuit?" she says, blushing again at seeing a man in such a thing. "There is a princess here. Please put on something a bit more appropriate." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute stands, slowly walking to the kitchen. The kitchen is more or less visible completely from the living area. Really, it's basically all one room. He grabs a bottle of wine, and opens it. Pouring a pair of glasses. It's not the /finest/ wine, but it's still not low class either. Lute glances back towards Sarracenia, as she comments on the outfit.      "...Well. I'd put on something else, but. I keep only beach outfits here, and the main beach outfit I'd wear is just a swimsuit. ...I'll get some normal clothes brought here if you want, though. ...Or wrap a towel around me? I dunno?"      He returns, handing Sarracenia her glass. He actually does take a moment to grab a towel at least, and wrap it around his waist. He shrugs again as he sits down, "Sorry again for not having another outfit." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia blinks a bit at Lute's explanation. "You do not own swim trunks?" she asks as she takes the glass. She smiles lightly as he apologizes. "It is alright. I suppose while in someone else's home I should respect their choice of clothing." She does seem more comfortable as he covers up a bit more. She takes a sip of her wine, then goes still, watching the liquid flow back and forth after she lowers her glass.      She can't think of anything she wants to talk about, so she just turns to watch the waves washing up on the beach. "This is a nice place." she says after a few more moments of silence. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute shrugs a bit, "These are higher end swimming trunks. Cover less, thus making you more flexible in the water. Labcoat is mostly just for show, and mostly because I like showing off that I've nearly reached my doctorate. Just to spite those who call me /completely/ stupid."      He sips from his wine, setting his glass on his table. A smile at Sarracenia, "...Well. It's nice, yeah. Fairly quiet a lot of the time too. Great place to relax." Lute feels a bit of awkwardness in the air. That sense of two people who have a complicated relationship, after a complicated moment, and the two trying to sort it out a bit.      And so he may as well make a move, just to break the awkwardness. At the least, she'll be set in her emotions to him, even if it's anger. He yawns, stretching his arms. And, one of them falls behind Sarracenia's back. He leans against her slightly. Yes he is using the oldest trick in the book. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia raises an eyebrow. "And...are you a competitive swimmer now?" she asks, a bit of her playful condescension returning. "You are kind of stupid, but...you are also kind of smart. It is a rather unusual combination." she says, watching Lute come back to sit beside her before she returns to looking out the window.      Distracted by her thoughts, she doesn't really take notice of it when Lute's arm lands behind her on the couch. "I need a place like this to relax. The kingdom is always busy, and outside the walls is no place to be safe and relaxed. Inside the castle is so...stifling." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute lets out a small bit of a chuckle, especially as he gets away with the arm behind Sarracenia. He looks towards her as opposed to towards the ocean. "...Well. Not a pro swimmer, but I've spent a lot of time practicing at sea. With Imima and Mr. Crabs, I have to be ready for naval combat on short notice. ...Though, I'm certain you look far better in a swimsuit than me at least."      Yeah, he's going for it. He leans a little closer to Sarracenia, speaking softly still, "...Yeah. A place like that must be stifling. And here, you don't have to worry about it. You can come here whenever you want to relax. It's safe, its comfortable. And it's wonderful. Wonderful, for so many reasons."      And he leans in, his lips moving to kiss Sarracenia's cheek. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Princess Sarracenia giggles softly. "Of course. But, you do not look so bad in a swimsuit. I am certain it is just the swimsuit that makes it look so silly." she says.      The princess blinks as she hears Lute much closer to her ear, and that sixth sense one has of someone getting close kicks in. She turns suddenly, and the cheek kiss...becomes a lip kiss.      Sarracenia blinks in surprise, and in her surprise she forgets to pull away. She just sits there, her eyes gaining a distant look for a few moments as her mind goes to where she wishes things in the real world would go, but they soon regain their spark, and she pushes Lute back. She doesn't actually seem angry like she usually is after he does something. Instead, she seems...sad.      She finally does something. Which is give Lute a half-hearted slap. "Stop doing that. We have already established that this cannot work." Still she doesn't move away from Lute. Instead, she actually snuggles in against him. "Idiot..." 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute takes the slap. A small chuckle. He can't help it, it's just so half hearted. He knows Sarracenia is strong. Stronger than him, unless perhaps he is merged with his Unown. But she doesn't really want to hurt him that much, and he can tell it. Plus, it's somewhat deserved. He knows the boundaries, and he's pushing them. Even if it was accidentally more than he wanted. t But as she cuddles against him, he places a hand in her hair. He softly strokes her hair, while his other hand reaches around her back. He holds her tightly, just smiling.      "...Sorry, yeah. I know. Hard to resist with such a beautiful woman in front of me." He wants to comment that her resistance is going down, but really, that can go unsaid. He sighs a little bit. Despite the sadness, he feels content as long as she is in his arms. He still just looks down at her as she cuddles him, smiling.      "...So. You wanna stay the night? I actually sort of made sure there would be a private room for more important guests. ...And yeah, the door locks from the inside, so you wouldn't have to worry about me trying anything." 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia closes her eyes as Lute's hand gently strokes her hair. "I suppose I could stay the night." she says softly, though she makes no move to leave the couch. It is nice to be held by someone who cares for you, even if you cannot be with that person. She might be wrong to let herself enjoy it, but she is so lonely most of the time. How could she pass up such an opportunity?      "If I am going to stay the night, I will need an overnight bag. Contact my kingdom and have them send one out." she says. She finishes off her wine, then sets the glass down and snuggles a bit closer. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:'''      Lute's hand continues to stroke Sarracenia's hair. He's not surprised she doesn't want to leave from laying on him. His other hand rubs at her back, rather casually. He starts to lay back a bit on the couch, against the armrest. This way, they can both lay down, and he can enjoy the cuddling a bit more.      "...Yeah, I'll make the call. I'll have them leave the goods downstairs, so they won't bother you. That sound good? And, like... Really? If you want? Just spend any night you want here."      He's mostly started neglecting his own wine. Sarracenia is more than intoxicating enough for him. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia nods lightly as Lute reiterates that she can stay anytime she wants. "Be silent." she says, snuggling in against him once again as he shifts. "I am sleepy." Seems she intends to use Lute as a pillow. Still in her Dark Magician Girl outfit, it is quite the sight, her snuggled against the labcoated and speedo-wearing Lute. If anyone other than perhaps Harp were to walk in, the assumption would be rather scandalous.      But, right now, the princess doesn't care. Her hero, even if he is not the hero she wanted, is holding her and isn't trying anything lecherous. 

}}

2657/Kyra's Continued Acne

2015-07-21T07:00:25Z

Cheeseman: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/20 |Location=Techno Urbania |Synopsis=Kyra confronts the Starbound Flotilla about their ties to Souji, and another monster bursts from her ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/20
|Location=Techno Urbania
|Synopsis=Kyra confronts the Starbound Flotilla about their ties to Souji, and another monster bursts from her head.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 626, 627, 672, 707, 792, 823, 830
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     The time seems to be slightly after rush hour in Techno Urbania and the sleek, levitating subway train of the Plaid Line pulls into the gleaming metal and glass Union Station 45. Amongst the passengers that exit just so happens to be the hooded form of Kyra Hyral. She's not moving very quickly at the moment, her body language betraying some form of extreme tiredness not just of body but of the mind.     Unlike the other passengers, she doesn't exit the station and opts to linger next to one of the steel pillars supporting the ceiling, waiting for the rest of the Starbound Flotilla to arrive. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     The STARBOUND FLOTILLA arrives, albeit with some chaos. All six of them chatter and banter amongst themselves in a friendly, almost family-like way as they approach. They've gotten over here quickly, but not with emergency sorts of urgency. They wander down into the station with purpose but not ex     "c#00dd00">Hi, heal friend! Floran not sssee sssince we go fight bad robot people. How hasss been? Good?" That's Biteblade speaking up first, bounding on up and going for a hug if possible.     "Yeah, what's up? Wanted to talk to us, kid?" The red-eyed man, George, is the next to wander by, apparently distractedly finishing up a game on his holophone or something like that. The rest of the Starbounders are sort of filling in gradually. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     Kyra can hear them coming before she sees them, Pavo's accent standing out the most of them all. Despite the subject she's about to bring up with them, she can't resist a hug from Biteblade and hugs back. If anything, it makes her even more upset about what she's about to bring up.     "Yeah...uh..." she draws in a breath, "I've been wondering if I really belong with you guys? We..that mission with the Glitch and Murasame..and then..."     Something inside her seems to snap and she can't hold it back. "Alan! You guys helped get that Alan guy in Denver. You were helping the Empire! What the hell! Why?! Was it the money? Was Vader paying you!? /Or was it the Zaibatsu/?"     She balls her fists, her agitation clear, volume rising. Bystanders look away in embarassment. "Just come out and say it, are you six /completely/ in Murasame's pocket now or what!?" 

:'''{{#var:792|Haruhara Haruko (792)}} has posed:'''      A sudden shift appears on Kyra's head once again, her hoodie being thrown back suddenly. A large block shape starts to come out of her head. It begins at the front, but starts to come out on top. It's like a giant, bizarre fleshy rectangle right on top of her forehead. It keeps getting larger, stretching out until the entire subway tunnel is filled. It remains looking fleshy as it comes out, until it finally breaks from Kyra's head. This giant wall of flesh suddenly turns to a thick slab of stone several feet wide, merged into the wall. This, of course, leaves the train cut in half. Luckily everyone around was able to get away.      Of course what gets more terrifying is the form that appears on it. It looks like a twisted skull is forming out of the wall, and a pair of horrible claws accompany it. It seems made of stone itself, and it lets out a /particularly/ loud roar. Luckily, the stairway into the subway system is still present, but it won't be for long. The creature is beginning to move forward, slowly. Towards Kyra. Towards the Starbound Flotilla. The Cursed Wall That Crushes Its Enemies DEMON WALL 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Meanwhile, Xiaomu has been blissfully unaware of any chance of trouble happening in the vicinity of Techno Urbania. Not that she isn't *prepared* for trouble - she's typically armed, and even if she'd left her handguns at home she would most likely have her staff, even for something as mundane as going shopping. (You spend enough years in a world where you're one of the few things standing between human civilization and the depredations of youkai, and you learn not to assume that ANY errand is going to be free of incident, even if it's just going downstairs to the vending machine.) She doesn't seem to hear the initial roar on her way down into the subway station, possibly due to the earphones plugged into her phone. On the other hand, it's nigh impossible not to SEE the Demon Wall - whereupon the sage fox removes her earphones and scowls. "I didn't see a 'Station Closed Due To Monster Infestation' sign, is something going on -" Oh hey, that giant thing is moving. And Xiaomu forgot to bring grenades this time. "- yeah something's going on, where *DID* that thing come from?" Xiaomu draws her sidearms and starts emptying her clips at the Demon Wall's face, her staff apparently sticking to her back while her hands are otherwise occupied. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao Li Yu was not here for any emergency, no.      ...It was actually pure, bad coincidence that she happened to be here in Techno Urbania this day. In her hand was a cell phone, held to her ear. "Yes. Yes, that's right. Make sure the preparations are made for when I return." She made her way down the station stairs having a casual conversation with what must have been staff at a FUJIN research facility. "I have plans to...yes. Uh-huh. Actually about that...Wh--hold a moment."      Stepping down the last step, the girl found herself witnessing a /very/ odd sight. She'd caught the tail end of DEMON WALL coming out of Kyra's...head? That /was/ Kyra, right? And over there are the Starbound Flotfilla she was rather familiar with. "...I will call you back later. I just happened upon a...situation." Xiao's tone was amused and slightly exasperated. Really, the things she happened to walk in on.      She cut the call the pocketed her phone, casually walking up as the monster took up space on the tracks, unfortunately destroying the train in the process. "And here I thought I would be able to go out without any shenanigans taking place today." She smirked, slowing to a stop by Kyra and the Flotilla, ignorant of the impending debate they were about to have. "You just can't stay out of trouble for two minutes, can you, Kyra?"      The Flotilla are given a look and a smile. "Hello, Biteblade, George, Seft, Albert, everyone? Fine day, isn't it?" Yes. Totally amazing day. We've only just got DEMON WALLS threatening to crush us flat and all! Xiaomu is given a look after all that upon her arrival. "Oh and the Sage Dog. Hello~"      She sighed after all of this. "...I don't suppose I could just turn around and pretend I saw nothing, huh?" Even as she asked, her hands went into her sleeves, retrieving her usual weapons. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa had been called down by Kyra with the rest of the Foltilla she knew it was to the core fleet and while she was keeping tabs on things she wasn't about to drop in. She had a feeling on what it might be about, yet? She was going to hold back out of respect for her friends. IF things went bad she'd try to keep it from getting worse. That's when the alarm and call for help goes out. It doesn't take long for the blink of Light and the stealth suited Kotone to drop in. She's now thinking looking at the demon wall. XCOM armour might have been the better idea. She is however going to act fast, she wasn't unarmed she'd hit hte weapons locker before she came. She had the missile launcher from the holo zombie station still, which she brings up. "We can chat later Xiao! Bite? George? Seft? Albert? Kyra? I got no idea what's up but that thing need to go up in smoke!" She levels the launcher and fires off a missile at the demon wall. She's also taken notice of Xiamou as she arrives as well she gets a feeling they are going to need all the help they can get. 

:'''{{#var:627|Souji Murasame (627)}} has posed:''' "Murasame. It is time to feed."     [SAMURAI]     [BUSHIDO]     > [1: FANG] There is a black and crimson line that shears across the grinning demon face upon the wall out of apparently nowhere. "This is an unusual situation, Kyra Hyral." That voice is unmistakable. Souji Murasame is just suddenly /there/, standing on the severed train and apparently facing down the implacable advance of the Demon Wall, the Murasasme Blade outstretched with killing intent. "It would not be suitable for you to be harmed here. Is everyone prepared?" 

:'''{{#var:830|Mamimi Samejima (830)}} has posed:''' The light is flickering again. Mamimi, placed underneath the levitating line in a place she most certainly should not be, looks up. Yeah. The train. The murmur of voices causes Mamimi to stir, throwing her bag over a fence marked clearly 'KEEP OUT' as she crawls up the other side of it. Eventually, she'll manage to sneak on. Maybe this time? Sliding through the wall of people, she makes it up to the place where they all would enter. Yet, there's a pause. A massive rectangle, a skull and claws. A demon. A devil? "Ah?" She asks, standing there as many of the civilians push and shove past her. She doesn't really move much though. Hands extend outwards again as she stands in the way of the wall, arms spread out like a hug. "Lord of inevitability! The slowly inevitable passage of time!" Though she would be crushed under it like all of humanity ... well, it's inevitable, right? Looking to the others as they rush in, Mamimi blinks, "Ah... but it's inevitable?" She may answer Souji, even as they chip away at it. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "..." George goes a bit silent and puts his phone away. It's clear, at least, that he's about to take this seriously. He looks about ready to start talking when a giant fleshwall begins to emerge from Kyra's head. "Hyral! Surviving now, talking later. Do you recognize this creature?" Albert calls out, immediately drawing his tremendous power-hammer and taking a ready stance, trying to shove Kyra back behind the rest of the Core Fleet "cxterm50">Ahhh, Ms. Yu. A pleasure, as always, but unfortunately you find us at an inopportune time." Moonfin says, drawing his own power-katana and approaching with intent to experimentally slice at the wall's protrusions. "Warning. Unidentified assailant. Hostile intent assumed." Seft is the one speaking up here, her eye-visor displaying a surprised "!_!" expression. She heads back, intending to link up with George to do something... "Augh! Floran thought, would be made of meat! Isss not! Why! Ssstone isss bad!" Biteblade doesn't have a very good time of this, having immediately wanted to bite into it and likely having failed. She backs off for now, drawing her tremendous RAILGUN BOW from her Matter Manipulator and trying to put several thick rods of durasteel through the creature's twisted skull. "...Lass, I think it's time we had a certain talk. George, matey, let's get to work on the back-lane business. We need tell Kyra what we're about." She then pulls out her MATTER MANIPULATOR, and begins digging extra space for the group to occupy through the opposite, normal wall of the subway, intended to buy extra time. "Ghhhhh... Alright kid, get to work on how you're gonna heal us up on this. Not like what I'm doing isn't something I can't still give you an answer while I do it." Seft joins him, and George gets to work on... Fortifications! Little metal walls with spikes, things like that, rapidly formed and constructed using his Matter Manipulator, intended to cause grievous harm to the Demon Wall if it tries to crush through them.     As each group gets to work, they each call out in immediate response to Souji. "Ready, bossman." "I am prepared." "Floran already on tasssk!" "Aye, cap'n!" "Status. Ready for combat." "Squad prepared, sir." 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     She seems like she's about to continue with the yelling when that /thing/ rips out of her head. Kyra falls forward onto her hands and knees, then tilts her head backwards as the enormous wall emerges. Her shock doesn't last long once she realizes what it is though by then, Albert has already hauled her behind the rest of the core fleet.     "Punch it, Xiao!!!" Kyra screeches, hurling herself back up to her feet and immediately grasping at the items she has hidden under her hoodie. "/Kill it Souji/!!!" She'll freak out over her classmates witnessing this later.     "It's a Demon Wall! I've only seen them on TV! Hit it! Hit it hard and hit it fast or else it'll crush us all flat!" Even as she speaks, she starts hurling her explosive liquid napalm-based mixtures at the monster, "Souji! Can you haste /everyone/? You should haste everyone!! George! It might stone you if you get close but I can fix that! Just throw yourselves at it and don't stop!" 

:'''{{#var:792|Haruhara Haruko (792)}} has posed:'''      The gunfire from Xiaomu does exactly what one would expect gunfire would do against a wall made of stone. Small holes are shot into it, only going a little bit deep. Stone is fairly tough to shoot through, and fairly defensive, after all. The rocket launcher from Kotone does a bit more damage, blasting off a chunk of the wall. It does less damage than likely expected. Again, a massively defensive monster. At the least, though? Souji manages to do a fair amount of damage. The Bushido attack leaves a wide cut across the face of the demonic face, the creature howling in pain due to it. This might also help narrow down where to attack, though: The face. Moonfin discovers similar, cutting more easily at one of its claws. Some rods now stick through the creatures skull, impaled into it. Even though it obviously takes so much damage there, it's still resilient even there.      The Demon Wall keeps its path forward. The metal fortifications slow it down, but eventually it manages to get past them. Small chips come out of its body due to the effort, though. It also slowly is causing the train to be pressed forward. Due to the irregular force of it, the train is likely to fall off the rails just slightly, and get stuck against a slight turn in the tracks. Eventually it will crumple up. It seems to take a lot to slow this thing down from moving forward. It doesn't just move forward though. Oh, no. Instead, it starts to chant, its claws clenching and moving around slightly.      Several white clocks appear, right around each party member if it works. The hands on them are moving at a normal pace, before they suddenly start to slow down rapidly. Yes, Slowga, cast on the entire group. But, this isn't the end of the chaos for everyone.      One of its hands lifts up, attacking those closest to it. Albert and Moonfin. If the claw makes contact, they'll find a strange magical condition /trying/ to affect their bodies. It won't necessarily work, and can be resisted via willpower. But, starting from the legs? A petrification attempt starts up. 

:'''{{#var:627|Souji Murasame (627)}} has posed:''' Souji simply looks over at Mamimi when he is addressed. "There are few things that are truly inevitable. Decide for yourself if this is one of them." The Flotilla then gives him responses. A momentary glance spared to them shows that they're already moving to engage in their individual specialties to counter the obvious tactics of the Wall. He smiles. Good. "Your initative is stellar as always." He compliments them. He does not reply to Kyra's assertion of said Demon Wall tactics. She is correct and he has no need to modify her assertions. In a stunning display of cooperation, Souji even pauses in his sword-based assault to gather energy to his hands, forming a complicated pattern of Time Magic. "Rivers of time, part and roar in fury... Haste-2!" It's probably for the best, as the orange flare of the spell settles in, more clocks appearing and speeding up as they clash with the deep purple Slow effect, creating a temporal lock. Neither spell can function properly while the two opposing forces are present over the team. At least they can maintain normal speed... 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "....Wonderful. A Demon Wall."      Xiao sighed again, her arms coming out from her sleeves, covered in black metal. She held her arms at her side and clenched her fists. "Very well. It would be a crying shame if we were all crushed here now, wouldn't it?" Smiling despite the sudden, dire situation, the scientist focused, causing a cold breeze to build up around her body.      "...Hm?" She could spy the telltale signs of SLOWGA spell being cast upon them all. Wow, not cool Demon Wall. Not cool at all. At least that was before Souji cast Hastega to counteract it. "Good job, Boss~" The cold got harsher around Xiao, and she reared back with a fist, punching the ground.      Upon impact, a large cluster of ice crystals burst upwards, and then more continued forward in the same manner, barreling into the Demon Wall with full force, and then attempting to spread frost over the surface. Matter tended to slow down when cooled! 

:'''{{#var:830|Mamimi Samejima (830)}} has posed:''' "It finally came!" It was inevitable after all. The game over screen for them all! "Well I guess it is a demon wall, but it's more like a Lord Of Time." Mamimi notes, responding to Kyra though she wasn't spoken to. Looking it up and down, Mamimi is forced to go down the stairs in order to continue appreciating, though there is a sudden LOCK OF TIME - though Mamimi may not be directly affected by Haste 2. Maybe not, at least. Looking back and forth at Souji and the wall, Mamimi responds. "Yeah. It looks pretty ineeeeeeeviiiiiiiiitaaaaablleeeeeee." Mamimi's voice, slower, remarks. She might be a teeny bit slower. At such a speed that the wall is going, Mamimi's slight 'haste' to not be crushed, ends up almost matching the wall's forward motion. The lord of time! Though we may ask for him to be quick about it, it is at his speed that he shall grind us down. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Get it wrong again in this fight," Xiaomu yells (unnecessarily loud, really) at Xiao Li Yu, "And I'll equip you for a blunt weapon before I try meleeing that thing! I'm a *FOX*, not a dog!!" Her guns click empty, and Xiaomu quickly swaps in two clips of anti-spirit rounds - hopefully they'll be more effective than standard-issue bullets. Particularly given that this is very decidedly a supernatural monster. She's REALLY wishing she were carrying grenades today, but she didn't expect a random boss encounter. Wandering mobs are one thing - she's geared for those on a day-to-day basis - but boss-class spawns are something else. The Slow effect starts to latch onto her, which comes as a spectacular annoyance - but before she has time to be REALLY annoyed, or worse, Souji's Haste-2 takes effect to balance it out, and she gives him a fast thumbs-up before - Running. Not up the stairs, of course; that WOULD be the smart move, if she could still get to them safely, but she's no longer here to be smart; she's here to kick a monster's flatly vertical ass until it ceases to be. Rather, she sprints parallel to the Demon Wall, focusing her fire on its face as she runs and guns, even doing a leaping cartwheel into a backflip before she comes down again at the other end of the party's 'line' ... and ejecting another pair of spent clips. The flips and twists weren't entirely unnecessary, either - she timed them to steer clear of her allies' own attacks, as well as trying to confuse the Demon Wall's aim if it has any ranged attacks. "So where did that thing come from, anyway?" Xiaomu asks Kyra, reloading once again as she catches her breath. The idiot sorceress's ice spell is noted with a quirked eyebrow; Xiaomu has ice magic as well, so if that turns out to be a weakness for this thing, she can certainly help hammer on it. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     "Xiamou! This boss has a timer on it! You need bigger ordinance! Also it just popped out of my head!" Kyra calls out from behind Albert after thoroughly exhausting her own supply of napalm. She's about to go for the acid mixtures even though she isn't confident that they'd have any effect on the massive stone slab. Dart guns would be right out of the question too-but more importantly, as Albert calls out, she knows that they're going to need certain types of support.     Dispell for one, though Kyra's is only single target. Thankfully, Souji's timely casting expertly negates the need to remove Slowga, "I didn't know they could do /that/." Kyra confides to Mamimi before gently tossing the girl one of her acid flasks. "Here, put this on it! I gotta do something!"     That 'something' turns out to be ensuna-or rather, one ensuna for Albert and a remedy-baring dart for Moonfin since those two are in the most danger of being petrified from the Demon Wall's claws. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' She's got a rocket launcher it's hurting the Demon wall but it's not enough still it's doing more than lighter weapons would so. So she levels the thing again and fires again. She keeps tabs onit's weapon loads out, how does this things make rockets? She's never checked. She'll have to bug the core fleet later. For now she's bounding about with inhuman agility and firing missiles. "I'm not complaining about any support." She is targing the more demon parts of the wall even as the spells an such start flying. "I don't know Xiaomu! Kyra? Mr. Mursame if you got any ideas how to better kill this?! Just yell at me where to shoot!" 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "Grrrrhhh!" Albert is sent tumbling back, his military uniform ripped up and his body bruised. With one quick motion, he brings a hand down to his Matter Manipulator and taps it, summoning his Durasteel armor, styled after a dystopian commando. "Biteblade!" He calls out, and obligingly, despite the petrification of his legs, the plant-girl rushes forward -- thankfully in Real Time due to Souji Murasame's generous application of Haste -- to yank Albert back and to the back lane.     "Floran got!" She calls out, putting away her bow and taking Albert's hammer from his hands. Rushing forward, she moves in to strike with that heavy hammer, intending to strike in such a way as to demolish a hole in the wall, and being EXTREMELY careful to dodge away from those hands if ever at all possible. Albert, for his part, follows the cue of Kotone; he retrieves and begins firing his rocket launcher at the wall, in areas where the explosive impact shouldn't cause too much issue for the rest of the team.     Meanwhile Moonfin can remain on his feet, and can exhaustingly block the impact of the claws with his sword, but that doesn't stop him from suffering the paralytical effect. Fortunately Kyra can handle that. While his shoulders and arms are jarred and exhausted by the strain of blocking, he can continue because of her, backing up slowly. "Fifth Sea Hylotl Style: The Flood and the Levee." He says. flaring his blade dramatically, and then moving to strike over the rest of the matters right at the neck of the creature, where the head joins the wall, bringing our a flood of slices. If the skull is separated from the body, maybe that will deal with this!     "Listen, kid." George starts, whipping up shaped charges as fast as humanly possible and handing them off to Seft to toss out. "I need you to think about it like we are right now. Look at Seft. Girl doesn't agree with the boss man at /all/ sometimes. She puts herself and everyone around her up against some pretty goddamn intense moral standards. But she's not... It's like..."     "Explaining. Souji Murasame is helping us right now. When his organization threatens something important in an ethical way, I will stand against it. I will vote for the Core Fleet to act against the Zaibatsu, and at times it will. But I will not defy him purely for the sake of defying him." Seft speaks up, lobbing another shaped charge at the wall and then getting back to constructing more spikes for it to impale itself on.     "You need to understand, lass. I think you deserve to properly know what we're about." Pavo speaks up, still urgently digging. Oddly, her piratey accent is a little more absent. "When we work with the Zaibatsu, or the Empire, or things like that, it's not because we're lacking principles. But what good's acting on those principles then? I think the Empire's wrong for how they betrayed Juno. Would it /do/ anything if I just fought them on every single other point, turning down jobs that have nothing to do with her? What we are is just people who don't hold grudges, lass. That's all it is." 

:'''{{#var:792|Haruhara Haruko (792)}} has posed:'''      The ice being tossed forward does slow down and damage the wall slightly. The gunfire towards its from Xiaomu hits right on, giving it a lot more damage. It roars out in pain as its head is filled with even more holes. Bits of its skull are also blown away by the rocket.      And depressingly enough its skull is beginning to /reform/ slightly. Most notably as its neck is attacked, the damage heals incredibly rapidly, preventing its head from falling straight off. Though, from this angle, it's impossible to see how it is healing itself. It's width is shrinking, the wall getting significantly smaller. It's using its own stone to recover. The downside to this, though? The Flotilla will be able to tell this. As Biteblade hits with the hammer, her own instinct as a digger might make her realize some signs of the wall getting thinner there. Minor cracking, different sounds. It will still take some effort to make a hole completely through, let alone one big enough for people to get through.      Also, there is one thing the Demon Wall is known for. Trapping Adventurers in. Sealing them in from both directions. It hasn't done that. Up until this point. Behind the group, there is a thundering sound. The ground shakes. A large flat wall appears.      There is a sudden red flash across the Demon Wall. A red clock apears across its body. Haste. It moves much faster, despite the objects in its way. The walls shake and shudder as it keeps moving forward.      Another spell is cast. Bio. Bursts of poison fill the room, trying to poison everyone within, while also trying to erode at their skin with the magical acid. The Demon Wall moves even faster, chanting yet another spell.      At this point, there is only about ten feet between the wall itself, and the back wall. It will only be a moment before the party finds itself crushed. If anyone is holding anything back, now is the time to do it. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao frowns at the space between the boss and the back wall, and the effect they were having on it. ....And now she suddenly felt a bit sick. Did it just cast Bio on them!? "...Hey, Sage Fox." The scientist called for Xiaomu, oddly not screwing up her name or race this time. "Do you have access to holy magic?" She glanced over at Kyra. "You too, Kyra. I have an idea." She clenched her fists.      "The name Demon Wall, implies that is is of a dark nature. Therefore, it should be especially weak to Holy magic of any sort." One last glance behind them, and she went on. "We haven't much time left, so I believe that coordinating our light magic against this creature would ensure maximum effectiveness."      Xiaomu and Kyra are spared glances again. "Can we agree on this?" 

:'''{{#var:830|Mamimi Samejima (830)}} has posed:''' "I knooooooow!" Mamimi proclaims! The Lord of Time is truly the end of them all! Unless someone stops time!? An acid flask is tossed towards Mamimi, and she 'catches it'. It more 'smacks her in the face' as she is still a tiny bit slower still, the girl grasping it finally before it falls and splatters down. As she is told to 'Put it on it', Mamimi turns around to see a giant WALL erupt from there. "Weeee're out of time already?" She exclaims, slow possibly wearing off from her - or perhaps she's so panicked, that's her speaking faster!? With Bio filling the room with poison, magical acid filling it all, Mamimi's eyes turn into spirals as she throws up her hands and topples forwards, the girl crashing to the ground as the acid tumbles slowly through the air towards the wall, Mamimi crashing to the ground, helpless, as the wall closes in! She even curls up a little, how helpful she is! 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa sees that Biteblade also is using high explosives. She's not sure how the weapon generates rockets but she keeps an eye on it's energy levels to not make it stall out. So she times her shots. She's never stopping moving and she now hears some of why Kyra called the fleet for talk to. Kyra seemed to share some of her own concerns. She's still using her roicket launcher to deal with the flesh. Kotone doesn't have to worry as much about the posion, right? Or does she she oesn't want to find out, but it sees that yes the acid is eating away at her exposed synth skin. She's not very happy about /that/ Also once it gets through that it can start doing damage to her innards it's eating away at the illusion of her still being flesh. IT's also eating into her armour as well which does not make Kotone /very happy/ the suit would cost more than synth skin repairs. She's firing her missiles a bit more often now too. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     Albert getting wounded is enough to spur Kyra into immediately murmuring up a Curaga spell for everyone. It's clearly doubly needed as the bio spell spreads throughout those fighting. In Kyra's case, her own healing overrides the bio on her, if only because she wasn't too injured beforehand. Despite the intense amount of magical particles the spell requires, she channels this need from her with ease. There are no signs of the Wild Magic tonight despite the ludicrous amounts of stress this encounter is generating.     Xiao proposes a triple team up with holy magic. In this case, as they nearly quite literally have their backs against the wall: "GREAT IDEA, LET'S DO IT!" she chirps.     The words of the Flotilla, as they explain how they operate, and why they would work with the Empire one day but oppose them the next, are not unheard by Kyra. She seems to be thinking of the response-but first she needs to get past coordinating DPS with Xiaomu and Xiao. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Some, yeah," Xiaomu replies to Xiao Li Yu as she finishes reloading again. "Binding, sealing -" She glances at the accelerating clocks, then the flat wall behind us - anvil to the Demon Wall's hammer, she's sure - and then gets Bio'd. Mental note: text Reiji and make sure he fully replenishes their supply of fried tofu. She's going to need more downtime at this rate. Still, triple-tech holy magic sounds like a good plan. "Haven't got any better ideas, so -" she begins again, and this time, she's interrupted by a transporter next to her: a case of grenades, straight from Shinra HQ. "- here's the heavy ordnance, they're enhanced with fire magic, use 'em if you need 'em!" She re-holsters her handguns, grabs a grenade from the box, pulls the pin, and tries to chuck it straight down the Demon Wall's throat, followed by a shout of "BYAKKOHOU!!" and a focused wave of light magic, ALSO directed down the monster's gullet. "XIAOMU WAAAAAAAAAAAVE!!!!" And her last contribution (for the round, anyway) is her mainstay binding spell. The Demon Wall is too big to fully enclose in the sphere of mystical force, but she's centering the effect on that ugly mug, digging in with her willpower to try and hold the monster in place. "Hit it now!" she shouts; then her voice drops to a more conversational volume as she begins chanting a sealing sutra. The 'barrier' she conjures, incidentally, is completely permeable to attacks directed against the monster within. Anyone who's seen her and Reiji double-teaming an enemy with Shinra Banshou would know this; anyone who hasn't ... well, it's not hard to figure out. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     Pavo hits the wall and swears. This will be way too tough to dig through easily. Her piratey accent comes through quick. "Ye had best be right about this, Xiao Li, matey, this is all goin' capsized in a flat way fast!" She calls out, drawing her own blade from the Matter Manipulator and rushing forward. She has a plan. "Get to work, we'll keep 'im off ye!" She gets a facefull of poison, of course, and is unable to stop that, but she's forcing herself through the pain to plunge her Power Cutlass into one of the arms, intending to pin it to the wall itself so it can't stop the triple holy tech. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "We shall strike such that you are not harmed. Take your actions quickly, and we will prevent interference." Moonfin says, flicking his blade back and forth over the neck until, suddenly, he backdashes out of a cloud of poison, coughing as he speaks calmly. "Second Sea Hylotl Style: Harpoon Upon Bones." And then he rushes in, alongside Pavo, trying to stab his blade through the same bone arm and pin it to the wall. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao nodded at both Kyra and Xiaomu, smiling. Pavo as well. "Either this works or we get crushed." Then she looked towards the Demon Wall.      "Holy."      Her body flared up with light magic, and she took a stance. "Haaaaah!" The energy gathered into her fists and she lurched forward, thrusting out with both arms. The light magic gathered in both of her hands fired forward, spiraling together and then taking on the form of a pure, white dragon.      The ethereal dragon opened it's maw wide and then mixed with Xiaomu's aptly named 'Xiaomu Wave', growing bigger and stronger. That was two out of three! Xiao gave Kyra a sidelong glance.      "Kyra, go!" 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     "Are we doing this? Let's do this!" Kyra lifts her right arm, pointing a finger at the Demon Wall. White light gathers at her fingertip, forming a small marble-sized orb that doesn't look too impressive to start. When she fires it, though, it suddenly expands into massive white laser-size. She might be cribbing a little bit of Marisa's style in that moment. But she's not here right now to give her crap about it so she'll gladly do so.     She fires it alongside Xiaomu and Xiao once they coordinate. "HOLY!"     "So what you guys are saying is, it's nothing personal, it's just business?" Kyra finally asks of Pavo. "I wish I had known to throw more money at you over that Denver guy, it would have saved my investigation a /lot/ of time." She seems to accept this explanation, if a little bit bitterly in light of what she and her friends later learned about the Denver stuff. "Did you guys even know we were there?" 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "You hit with biggessst ssstab, Floran make sssure wall not hit back!" Biteblade is poisoned, but her REGENERATION is at least working enough to deal with /some/ of the poison. She moves to crush the joint of the arm that Moonfin and Pavo aren't addressing with her heavy hammer, using her manic berserker style of combat to overwhelm the pain and pin the other arm, with help from... 

:'''{{#var:627|Souji Murasame (627)}} has posed:''' Time is not on anyone's side, as the Demon Wall quickly proves. "Tch." Souji emits with some asperity as he looks behind himself at the erupting back wall. "We have less time than I imagined. Focus on the head!" He does not have the time to prepare his best attack. They'll be crushed before he can unleash it. He can, however, prepare something else. He sets his stance, raising his blade as he gathers his focus to engage in a powerful sword attack. The air seethes with poison, running through his system, but he tries to remain intent. The pain of poison will be of little matter if they end up pulped. "This is not the end of my path." He states. "There is too much yet to be accomplished. Murasame Family Sword Arts..."     [SAMURAI] [MYSTIC KNIGHT]     [BUSHIDO] [SPELLBLADE]     > [4: FLURRY] [THUNDAGA BLADE] < "Four Judgements of Heaven!" Souji's blade erupts with a towering column of lightning as he suddenly blurs forward, lashing out with four incredibly quick strikes, leaving trails of blue-white crackling light that explode into fountains of lightning in their wake. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "Urgent. Moving to assist." Seft calls out, abandoning the shaped charges and drawing her POWER BATTLEAXE to rush forward alongside Biteblade, moving in perfect synch with the plant-girl to strike at the other arm. "Urgent. We will prevent its motions from striking back against you or protecting its head. Please initiate attack now." 

:'''{{#var:792|Haruhara Haruko (792)}} has posed:'''      The continued missiles from Kotone are getting a bit more dangerous in this close quarters, but at least she manages to avoid hitting anyone aside the Demon Wall. The creature's arms are bound now, as well. The combination of the Xiaomu Wave and the blades pressed against its arms are keeping it from moving, and slowing its progress a bit more.      And then, the dual Holys strike. The beast reels in pain at this, letting out a loud roar. It's head is mostly disintigrated now. Mostly being the key word.      The wall keeps moving forward. It is far too close for comfort. There is barely any room left to manuever, and in seconds, the wall /will/ crush the entire party.      If not for Souji.      The four strikes hit, blue trails of lightning slashing through the beast. The blue light stays in its skull for a few seconds. Everyone is now pressed fully against the back wall.      And then the beast's skull splits into multiple parts. It disintegrates, Souji's attack finishing it off.      In a way, Kyra now owes Souji her life. While there is a good chance the party could have pushed the wall back, and shot off a few more attacks to just barely finish it? It is, almost certainly, for the best that Souji finished the wall off. Of course, he didn't do it alone, at least. Everyone helped.      But, at a guess, Kyra isn't going to be happy about /who/ finished the Demon Wall off. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "It is absolutely personal, Hyral." Albert says, with a heavy, emotional grunt, as the head disintegrates. "But all that matters is results. We do not follow money. If money was all we were motivated by, we would each vote with Pavo and we would have given Juno up to the Confederacy. What matters is loyalty. It is what we care about more than anything else. We do not take actions that don't get us the results we want. There are times when that means following the Zaibatsu. There are times when that means fighting the Zaibatsu. All that matters is that we get our results."     "Kid, you need to understand." George says, making some placating gestures. "When it comes down to it... You have beef with things Souji does. And hey, you should act on that. 'Cause that's your choice, sure! I've got some beef with the bossman sometimes myself, and I act on that. But the way this works, when you're on the edge of surviving the way we were, you start learning, maybe it only really matters when it /matters/, you know? We had no idea you were there, and hell, if we had, it might'a swung the voting another way. But turning down a job to help the Empire wasn't gonna make the Empire chase Juno down any less. In the end, sometimes you just need to understand when to be principled, and when to go with the flow. We've all got our ethics, but they don't mean a damn thing if we don't keep 'em out of the way until it's time to bring 'em out properly. Get it?" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Thingss are gettinga bit closer now, but well what can she do? Her other weapons would do jack. She's gong to keep an eye on her allies and place her shots away. She has to keep it up or the thing's regeration will strt to overpower everyone. She hears the talk on Loyaly even as she fights. Being a cyborg has it's perks after all but she may end up listening to it again later. For now she's got to keep moving. She does hover shoulder the launcher? Why because this madness is over. She looks about to check on her friend and heads over to Kyra. Though she may not be as comforting as she likes portions of her face have been bruend away along with other parts showing the mechanic workings of her body. Thankfully it's mostly just a smooth metal micary of the human form baring some of the damage to her jaw. "Kyra are you okay...?" 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     No, Kyra is not happy about who finished the wall off-but in this moment, she's just glad that it /was/ finished off and everyone was not crushed to paste. Only now, as she starts hitting those still afflicted with the Poison status with ensuna spells, does the weight of what happened really hit her. Not only that, but those here that witnessed the event include a few people she'd rather not have know about this problem. Souji included.     Albert counters that they don't actually follow money, which confuses Kyra at first until they do bring up a good point about Juno being worth a hell of a lot of money. "You better tell that to Juno too because she's still moving and afraid to trust you." Kyra points out quietly, her shoulders sinking.     Kyra cringes a little when she hears George call Souji 'Bossman'. "Yeah I guess I get it. A little. I..." she trails off, looking kind of embarassed. Too embarassed to bring up her very personal reasons for not getting along with Souji. "What do you do, though, if you suddenly find yourself somewhere and nobody is getting along with you? Because I feel kind of alienated."     She pauses and looks at Kotone, "Whoah. You look awful. Hold still for a second-" she puts a hand on Kotone's face, "Heal! The scar of the glowing sun!" Technically a time spell taught to her by Orphen, the magic quickly reverses the damage done to Kotone's synthetic body. 

:'''{{#var:627|Souji Murasame (627)}} has posed:''' Moments before doom is assured, when the Demon Wall would crash down upon them all and obliterate them... The strikes land and the Demon Wall disintegrates. Souji turns away from the dissolving beast, sheathing his blade. "It is done." He states, with a finality to his tone. He leaps from the train, pulling a vial from his suit and drinking down the antidote so he can stop taking poison damage. He assumes Xiao carries her own. Or maybe she's one of those weird people who like being poisoned. It doesn't matter to him. As it stands now, he simply approaches the Flotilla proper. "You are all intact?" He looks about them all, considering, and nodding. "Good work, all of you." He looks back to Kyra, then, and simply watches her intently. "Why do you hate me?" Souji asks her, simply. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Once the damn thing finally went down, Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew. Okay. Alls well that ends well!"      Minus the whole being poisoned thing. She felt sick to her stomach. Well, a good adventurer always carries the proper items! She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a vial of antidote, drinking it in a single gulp.      That taken care of, Xiao deposited her weapons back into her sleeves and then smiled towards Xiaomu. "Well done, Sage Ferret! I knew you had it in you!" A pause followed. "...Xiaomu Wave though? Is that the best name you could come up with?"      And once the threat passes, it's immediately back to being a troll. 

:'''{{#var:830|Mamimi Samejima (830)}} has posed:''' With ensuna striking her soundly, the dizzy @'s about her eyes vanish. This is because Mamimi is no longer a non-elite suffering from a bio-spell. Just in time for the giant wall to crash down. In pieces, though. Mamimi is at the edge of the wall before she watches it tumble down, crashing before her in a massive terrifying mix of sound and vision, Mamimi either scared stiff or simply not scared. In reality, it is a combination of both and an understanding she couldn't escape the Lord of Time, anyhow - though they seemed to have managed it, somehow. "I guess it was his time, actually." Mamimi remarks, almost sad, as she places her hands before her - clasping them together as she looks up at the elites, talking to each other. A single cigarette is slipped out and put to her mouth as she sits cross-legged below them, listening in. Alienated and nobody gets along with you? "You get bullied." Mamimi responds, up at Kyra - answering as if it was a question, or intent to be helpful. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Thanks, Kyra," Xiaomu says with a worn-out but relieved look. She's not as badly off as she thought she'd be, all things considered, but a few days' rest would still go well. Then ... '... Sage Ferret' Just what act of self-control she engages in to avoid tossing fire-enhanced grenades at Xiao Li Yu will never be properly documented for posterity. What Xiaomu DOES do is close the box back up, heft it in both arms, and head for the stairs back to street level ... assuming they're still some form of climbable. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     So, the final tally: George is the only one who stayed in the back lane, suffering nothing but some minor poisoning. Seft's corroded, Pavo's more heavily poisoned, Moonfin's had his arms traumatized by the repeated blocking, Albert's got some wounds, and Biteblade's much more poisoned. But they're working on first aid already, and looking for heals from their support folk here.     Seft is the one who walks up to Kyra, grasping her hand a bit more firmly. "Warm. Kyra, you are only as isolated as you choose to be. The fact that I will be working against you at times is irrelevant, if you choose to let it be." Her expression goes to that "^_^" again. "Caring. I think you are a good person, Kyra. I want to be friends with you, and I want you to feel supported. The Core Fleet has obligations, but if you feel alone, or like you lack support, I want to know, and I want to know what you'd like to happen to feel less isolated."     "Miss Hyral, we may act against each other at times, but that is no cause for a feeling of animosity. Seft speaks accurately. Much of the Flotilla and all of the Core Fleet think highly of you. The fact that our actions put us, at times, in opposition, such matters should not interfere with the basic foundations of simple civility." Moonfin says, as he approaches, and then dramatically sheathes his blade in his Matter Manipulator and bows briefly. "Please accept my apologies for any times you have felt less respected or supported by the Core Fleet due to our work with Mr. Murasame and the Zaibatsu." 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     "Is that a serious question? Or something you're asking facetiously because of my strange, uncanny way of causing you copious amounts of trouble recently?" Kyra asks Souji bluntly, considering their interactions between the Glitch city up until now when her head just produced a Demon Wall.     "...well yeah." she says to Mamimi, "You get bullied. You get bullied if nothing changes and you do nothing."     Seft approaches and takes her hand. Kyra squeezes back though it may be an option seen more than felt. She looks at the ground. "Well...it'd be nice if my ideas got support. Even if I don't have Souji's business savvy. I did appreciate it when you and Biteblade and George came with me to help the Outcasts." As Moonfin approaches, she watches him and...eventually nods, "They do? I wasn't aware you guys felt that way. Um...thank you." 

:'''{{#var:627|Souji Murasame (627)}} has posed:''' "You appear to not understand the situation." Souji reaches up, apparently about to adjust his Moogle Glasses for a moment, before he simply removes then and closes them with a definitive SNAP noise, placing them in a suit pocket. "You have had a problem with me even before then, Kyra Hyral. Not even that sham of an arranged marriage would explain it. Am I simply a symbol for you to rebel against? Someone that gives your aimless rebellion against society purpose? Have you considered that you might be using me as a scapegoat as much as you might believe others use you, /Kyra Hyral/?" He goes quiet for a moment, the intensity of the situation allowed to die down in both the environment and his tone of voice. "Before you allow yourself to play the victim, consider that you might inflict the /very same/ wounds on others." 

:'''{{#var:830|Mamimi Samejima (830)}} has posed:''' There is a nod from Mamimi. She blows a smoke cloud outwards as she sits back. Yep, that's exactly what happens. She just continues to be a fly on the wall. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "And there she goes." Xiao quipped, watching her similarly named non-compatriot stalk up the stairs. "Bye Hermit Crab! We'll meet again!" She waved in a cute manner, belying her teasing of the other. But that soon ran it's course.      That left her with Souji, the Flotilla, and Kotone. They seemed to be having a SERIOUS DICUSSION. Something about ANIMOSITY and HATRED and all that good heavy stuff that drama was made of. ".....Eh." A shrug followed. They had serious talks to have, SHE had serious research to get back to.      "Alright then. I should be on my way. Later boss, Albert, Seft, Biteblade, George, Pavo, Moonfin, Smoking Lady, and my best friend, Kyra!" A pause followed. "...Do see a doctor though. That whole monsters coming out of your head thing is rather suspect. You just might have a condition. ...Well, beyond the ones you already have."      Another wave and then she bounded off up the stairs and out of sight. 

:'''{{#var:792|Haruhara Haruko (792)}} has posed:'''      The current situation is, obviously, not something that Kyra is liking. It's going to only get worse though. A bulge forms on her head. It looks incredibly red, almost like it is just an injury. But it starts to stretch out. It's a few inches long. Mostly flat, the line of it going vertically across Kyra's head. The underside is rounded slightly. And, of course, it looks very fleshy. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is now just trying to relax and she's really not trying to creep you out Kyra, she's really not trying to do so. She looks to Souji and the core fleet. She's got her own concerns about being in the Flotilla. She's not trying to be creepy here, she thinks about her own Behaviour during the Glitch busiiness she'd been trying to keep those she could alive. She looks to to Kyra now alone. "I consider you a friend Kyra, and I have no idea how badly I might have ended up if I hadn't fallen in with you and the rest of the Foltilla." She'll try to give Kyra a hug if she can if her frined will let her. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     "Oh so you /are/ being serious." Kyra drawls, suddenly quite irritated that Souji's bringing this up now in front of everyone. "Do you want to know why, Souji? Do you /really/ want to know why? Because you /became/ that symbol."     She spreads her hands out, "We both know you weren't always like this. Not before my sister died." She lets that hang in the air coupled with the implicit promise that she could bring out more details about that particular bit of unpleasant history. But she is not, instead electing to show some restraint.     She changes subjects just slightly, "Are you suggesting that you think I'm alienating you? Really? From /who/?"     Kyra cringes suddenly and puts a hand to her face, "Ugh-buh...what the?" She pokes at the 'horn'. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     Seft emits a gentle, bell-like tone of laughter. "Cheerful. Kyra, we would not have invited you to the Flotilla if we did not think well of you. Your candidacy as a person of high quality was universally endorsed and voted for. You are well liked. If it will assist, I am sure the Core Fleet captains can make their support of you more transparent when possible, even if it's not actionable."     Biteblade glances between Souji and Kyra, noticing the moment of tension between the two, and quietly sort of shoves the Core Fleet captains off to one side. "/Yikesss/, now is ssscary time for heal friend and money friend. Get between, maybe ssstruck by lightning." She mutters to her allies, but then she winds up a bit hypnotized by the emergence of the horn. "Heal friend growsss horn. Isss what human meat people do, normal? Floran not know." 

:'''{{#var:627|Souji Murasame (627)}} has posed:''' Unlike when Diabolos gutpunched him, he is ready for Kyra. "You bring it up all the time, Kyra. You put on these airs about how oppressed you are! How much you have suffered! Maybe I was a different person then, Kyra Hyral, but do you understand something?" He narrows his eyes, preparing to deliver what would probably be a murderous verbal retort, when he sees the horn grow. "... What..." He pauses, and looks around for a moment. "What is this?" He looks back to Kyra, and exhales. "This argument is not going to solve anything. Not here, not now. And especially not tf you apparently keep growing things out of your head every time we attempt to come to some form of an understanding. We need to correct this problem." He looks to Xiao and the Starbounders. "You have my support in finding a cure. Let me know if you require any Zaibatsu resources in your research. Once you have a lead, let me know, and we will put an end to this." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa looks to her firend with concern she's wonders about what's going on with Souji and Kyra. However the bit about friend's dead sister? That seems to clear up a bit of this. She recalls Kyra also bailing on things back home as well. "Its not an easy time and Biteblade? Seft umm?" She looks at the horn that Kyra's poking with great concern... 

:'''{{#var:830|Mamimi Samejima (830)}} has posed:''' A dead sister? That's pretty bad, actually. Mamimi doesn't speak up again though, letting them talk as she stays beneath them all. This wouldn't be the first time - though she didn't understand why they fought the Lord of Time, when his advance was almost inevitable. They /had/ stopped it though! With another breath of smoke, Mamimi laid out on the rocks, still looking up, still watching and listening. "It could be something good." Mamimi remarks, of the horn - when it's called a curse. 

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''     It really does look like lightning is going to strike between the two of them. Or maybe some kind of hurricane at this rate? There is a brief frustrated noise from Kyra but whatever she was going to say to that effect is gone. She prods the horn with a hand and quietly slips her hoodie down over it.     This act does not help conceal it much better. "You're right, this is going nowhere." Kyra says hastily, pulling away from Souji. "...why, though...why are you helping me?" she asks him with that typical Hyral bluntness. 

}}