Scene #8330: Smile and Wave

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	WINDSWEPT CONTINENT TOPSOIL COUNTY Entry is via a warpgate in one of the bigger towns in the area - a town only barely in name, really. Whatever system that's doling out warpgates to population centers must have taken pity on this one. There's a bored looking customs agent nearby, who sits up straight when someone actually comes through - Kale flashing his ID's is enough to get them to wave the party through without a second glance or inspection. "Right. Our ride's over this way. It's going to be a little less than luxurious, unfortunately. Aren't any personal craft to rent here, and the next closest place with a warpgate where we could get one is hours further away." 'Less than luxurious' turns out to mean 'back of a truck' - or, at least, the local version of a truck. It's sort of a miniature airship 'truck', with a cab up front and the open-air bed in the back, and six repulsor vents that skim it along the ground. It is at least a smooth ride, relative to what you'd expect from a wheeled truck. Instead of bumps as it goes over uneven ground, it dips and rises a bit - much more tolerable. It is, however, still the back of a truck. "Thanks for coming along," he says. "I know it was short notice, but I can't really say no to my old home, you know?" In theory, it's a simple little jaunt out for some goodwill stuff. That's just the cover story, though. In reality, the Paladins are going to meet an informant.
Futaba Nuki	Futaba's inwardly glad that Kale's handling the ID process. It's not because she doesn't have one (she totally does), but because identifying herself all formal-like is still something the tanuki ninja isn't particularly used to doing just yet. Part of her was already prepared to just hide on him as a hat or something, but that doesn't come to pass when the customs agent just waves them through. "That's fine! As long as it's not bumpy, right?" She really doesn't like bumpy rides, but she'll just have to tough it out if it turns out to be worse than expected. The open-air back means she'll have plenty of air, at least, and an easy way to bail out temporarily if she needs some air. "Anytime, Mister Hearthward! I can't blame you. I'd be doing the same if any trouble sprung up back home, too." She laughs lightly while leaning off from the side of the airtruck, enjoying the wind rushing by and opening her mouth every now and then to just get that hit of air-whipping in her face. Eventually, though, she settles back down long enough to scooch close enough to Kale that she can actually whisper to him. Or try to, anyway, since it's the back of a truck. "Hey. Hey. So what're we really here to do, anyway? Got some dirt on someone we gotta take care of?"
Kale Hearthward	"(That's what we're gonna find out. It's the West Wind that asked.)" "(Sorry, I mean - Anne. Old coworker. Back when we were the four winds.)" Kale stretches out, putting his arms on the sides of the truck to rest them there, and glances out at the scenery going by. There's a lot of farmland, and more farmland, as well as more farmland and, just to mix things up, the occasional patch of more farmland. "I'm remembering why I left..." he says. "There's basically nothing around here." "I mean why I left home, to head to the capital," he amends. "Back before I joined the Paladins."
Futaba Nuki	"(East... Oh. Like.. Got it.)" Futaba doesn't fully get it, but she does seem to get it enough! Leaning out the side of the truck again, she follows Kale's gaze towards the several types of farmland and lets out a lazy yawn, but stops short of just liquefying herself in the back of that truck. It'd probably be really comfortable to, but she'd regret it later if she did. "(I've been meaning to ask about that, actually... You said 'were', so is it just you that left, or did all of them go?)" A pause, and then she continues. "(Was that before or after you figured things out? You know... Like we talked about last time with heroics and stuff.)" Another beat, and then she grins suddenly while actually talking at normal volume. "Thanks for that talk last time, too. I figured a lot of stuff out since then. About... All of that, actually."
Kale Hearthward	"(I think I'm the only one who left the continent. North was a higher-up of the Royal Magic Academy back when the Four Winds Regalia formed, so she just returned to there. South... I don't know what happened to him. He hasn't popped up anywhere that I've seen. West has been running around doing things, like some sort of mercenary, I guess.)" "The heroics stuff... That was during, actually. We ran into a lot of people who thought they could do whatever the heck they wanted, and call it fighting for 'freedom'. It's hard to tell what was more annoying, the heroes or the pirates." Kale gazes out at the endless farmland... and then sits up as he apparently recognizes a certain patch of it. "Oh, we're here." He bangs on the side of the air truck to get the driver's attention. "Hey! Next right, look for the Freeberry sign." Indeed, approaching on the right... <FREEBERRY FARMS> With a painting of some grapes, blackberries, and other fruits on the sign.
Futaba Nuki	"Really? But you can all fly, and they must be real strong if they earned those tiles, so why would they...?" Futaba starts to ask like she's hearing about a foreign concept for the first time, goes silent for several moments, then furrows her brow. "... Mmn. I could never get comfortable like that." Kale explains the timing of things, and Futaba listens to him closely. The look on her face is clearly that of someone trying to learn from a wiser teacher, eventually tapping her chin slowly in thought. "I can see it... I mean, that's what a lot of the Watch is these days, right? Even if it's not like how we do it, some of them have their hearts in the right place." She considers those members she's actually met, and those she's heard (directly or of). "... Maybe." There's an awkawrd cough in there. Luckily, their destination is coming up soon-ish! Perking up when Kale hits that truck, Futaba too moves over to that side of the truck to peek at the sign for Freeberry Farms. "... We're visiting a fruit farm?" She looks somewhat confused at that, turning slowly to give Kale another clueless look. "Does this mean they're gonna have bananas, too?" She's getting more excited about things already, although it's probably got nothing to do with their reason for being here today.
Kale Hearthward	The truck pulls to a stop in front of a farmhouse with a couple people (mostly birds) milling about. "Well, it's more of an everything farm. It was more of a commune, at least when it started out... it was a long story, and-" "BRO!" Kale gets interrupted by someone literally jumping in the truck and hugging him. "He's here already? Lemme see!" "Cousin!" "Did you bring souvenirs? Tell me you brought snacks!" Kale's lost to Futaba's view as a pile of birds surrounds him. "Hey there," says a voice behind where Futaba's sitting, which turns out to be an older bird who looks quite a bit like Kale. "You're his friend he mentioned he was bringing along, right? Lemme help ya up."
Futaba Nuki	"Everything? Oh, cool! I haven't had really fresh fruit ever since I left home myself. And the last time I've ever been on a farm was..." Futaba takes long enough thinking about when that actually was that she doesn't even realize the truck has stopped, snapping out of it only when Kale gets swarmed. "... Huh." Blinking slowly at first, Futaba visibly holds back some amused giggles and scooches back slowly (without visibly moving her legs, even) until someone actually addresses her from her blind spot. Nearly jumping out of her skin, she turns around without moving her legs again and just sort of rotates in place to face the voice. She stares at the elder Kale for a few moments, then grins a few moments later as she starts piecing things together. "Hi! Yep, my name's Futaba. Pleased to meet you!" standing back up with a slightly leg-asleep wobble, she'll end up grabbing any limbs that are offered to get up properly. "And you're Mister Hearthward's...?" She's not actually sure if that's his mom or dad, so she just puts an upwards inflection at the end there. "Thanks for having us, by the way. I haven't gotten to see a farm like this in a long time, so it's pretty nice just seeing all of this." Indeed, she does look and sound quite relaxed just being here, even if her outfit is distinctly older teen/younger adult student-esque. "I didn't think about bringing any cool stuff, though... Hmm. Unless any of you wanted a big construction pipe from a quarry?"
Kale Hearthward	"I'm his pops," says Dad Kale. "Hyacinth Hearthward, but you can just call me Cinth. Welcome to Freeberry. Right pleased to have you here." Once she's out of the truck, Cinth slaps an arm over her shoulders and gestures with his free hand. "Y'all got the run of the farm - main farmhouse is right there, we got some more buildings down that way, the fruit orchard's over yonder if you feel like a stroll and a snack, and there's a lake about a click over yonder if you want a dip - though between you and me, I'd keep my clothes on, Taro says he saw some city folk peepin' with binoculars." "Don't you worry about not bringing anything, neither - you're our guests, not the other way around. The kids just don't get out much. Speaking of, can I get ya anything? Food, wine? Some drugs?"
Futaba Nuki	"Nice to meet ya, Cinth!" Taking in the energy of the area, Futaba slides out of the truck with the rest and glances around rapidly as the surrounding area is all pointed out to her. The temptation to get some snacks is high, as is the opportunity to mess with peepers, but recalling that there's a job to do lingers in the back of her mind. "I wouldn't mind checking out the orchard later if that's alright. Seeing one up close would be real new, and getting below all of it to see everything, maybe even... Ah, but later. Later." She really sounds like she wants to do that right now. "What do you usually eat around here, anyway? I didn't eat anything before coming here." Futaba admits with another chuckle, albeit a slightly more forced one as she tries not to dwell too much on that last part in an awkward way. A deep breath and a relaxed sigh later, she glances at Kale once before nonchalantly tilting her head at Cinth. "Whatcha got?" She doesn't specify THEDRUGS, of course, but she totally has that slightly smoother cadence in her voice that's not at all like how she sounded moments ago. She can't be too obvious, after all, and... Well. She'll figure out what to do about any of that information later.
Kale Hearthward	"We eat what we grow! That's been the Freeberry standard for decades. Not beholden to anyone besides ourselves for our food." Kale's still stuck in the bird pile. "Well, we've been planting some of that... marra ja wanna, that you have out there," says Cinth. "Just harvested our first crop a while back. Got some tob acko going, too, there's a market for that. Was trying to get some coca leaf goin', but that ain't ready yet. We've also got some thistle seed if you want something local, but not sure how well that'd work for you."
Futaba Nuki	"That's a good way to do it! Earn it with your own work instead of just living off other people's work... Everyone back home could learn a lot from this kind of stuff." Futaba replies with another amused laugh, pausing to look over at Kale before gesturing at him and turning to Cinth again. "Is he gonna be okay in there, Mister Cinth?" She's pretty sure he will be, but she has to make sure. Cinth mentions THEDRUGS, but all of it just kind of goes over her head. She's pretty sure she's heard of most of these already, and one of them just sounds like... Chocolate? "Huhuhu... Maybe later! I wanna get a taste of the food and stuff before all that." Grinning again, she takes another look around before turning back to Cinth. "And... Anyway, did Mister Hearthward tell you why we're here today? I know he was really looking forward to coming over, but..." She glances back at Kale again, then grins. "I don't wanna ruin any surprises in case there's a party, you know?"
Kale Hearthward	"Oh! Oh, yeah, the 'bandits'," says Cinth. "Mighty appreciative of you coming to take care of those for us." Kale manages to, gradually, free himself from the clot of family members that have surrounded him. "Afore you head out, let me get you two set up in the guest room here. There's two of them, you'll want to make sure you take the east door once you get upstairs, since there's already someone in the west guest room." "Okay, okay, I'll bring you some big city snacks next time, alright?" says Kale as he finally joins Futaba. "So, uh, what's the game plan?"
Futaba Nuki	They only know about the cover. Good. Not missing a beat, Futaba laughs confidently and nods while flexing an arm. "Yep! Don't worry, we'll get them taken care of real quick so everyone can get back to sleeping sound real soon." Her bicep inflates to a cartoonishly large size for emphasis. Cinth mentions a guest toom, and Futaba actually looks a little surprised at that being a thing. "Really? Cool! I've never slept out in a farm before. Does anything ever come out here to try and eat people?" She asks with that curious gleam in her eye. It's not until Kale rejoins them that she gets her head back on the work. "Right! I'm thinking we can track down the bandits, follow them to their hideout, then grab them all at once?" She opens her hands up like a literal net for emphasis. When it looks like Cinth isn't looking, meanwhile, she slides over to Kale to whisper once more. "(Hey. Hey. Do you know anything about the guest at the place?)"
Kale Hearthward	"Eat people... like cannibals? We haven't had any of those in years. I don't think that's too much of a worry." "(Guest at the place? No, not sure who that might be. There's been people coming by all the time, I think,)" whispers Kale. "(Tourists and stuff. Not that there's much all to see out here.)"
Futaba Nuki	"Whoa. Things sure are different out here, then." Futaba replies to Cinth with another nod, then flexes her other arm. The bicep grows even larger this time. "But if they do ever show up again, just let us know!" "(Maybe we can check them out, too. It's probably nothing, but it can't hurt, y'know?)" She whispers back, sliding over to Kale to keep the look casual. "So you really used to live out here, huh? Kinda hard to see..." She comments with another chuckle, then peers over towards the lake once that come back to mind. "You ever do any of that people-watching that your dad mentioned out there?" She's just messing with him at this point. That, and trying to keep the cover from their whispering.
Kale Hearthward	"... I mean, there's reasons I moved," says Kale. "There's nothing here, for one thing, unless you want to get into farming." He starts leading the way towards one of the farmhouses, leaving the gaggle of familial birds behind for now. "I wanted to get into theater, and, well, there wasn't a theater in... well, I don't remember how many hours away the closest one was, but it wasn't anywhere near here. Whereas Spire City has a whole street full of them." "... People-watching?" Pause, two, three... "Oh." Kale facepalms. "No, I didn't do... any of that. Jeez." Inside, and then up the stairs... doesn't seem like there's anyone on the first floor. The whole house is pretty quiet. Upstairs, there's two guest room doors... one to the east, and one to the west.
Futaba Nuki	"Mm... Nah, not really. I mean, it's neat to see, but." Futaba gestures at her big dumb scarf and her pouch of stuff, then whips out a shuriken out of nowhere. "Priorities, mhm. I get you." She nods, puts the sharp doohickey away, then resumes following Kale while listening to more details about his past. "... Ohhh. That explains a lot. You've got the-" She gestures vaguely with her hands going outwards from her chest, like she's pantomiming someone projecting their voice. "-sound for it. The big talking voice! Can't see that being too popular out here, though, nope. You gotta have people with money and time to kill for that, I bet. Lots of eyes, too, like.. Yeah! A city." Kale's delay in getting what she meant about the lake has Futaba bursting out into laughter. Thankfully, she doesn't push there any further. There's the guest rooms to head into, after all, and she remembers what Cinth mentioned about their room being the East door! Unfortunately, Futaba doesn't actually know if she's facing east or west by the time they get upstairs, just beelining for the door on the right. "East door!" She only pauses to whisper to Kale again. "(Someone's in the west door. We can check that out later when nobody's watching.)"
Kale Hearthward	Kale, who's almost always got his swords strapped to his back, nonetheless leans away a bit when Futaba produces the shuriken. "Like, I'm not sure this county could even fill a theater if you brought absolutely everybody into the audience..." Futaba goes for the right hand door. "No, wait, that's the west-" Kale says. "Good. You're here," says the small hooded figure, who's sitting at a small dining table just inside the room Futaba's opened. "Kale Hearthward, and Futaba Nuki, right? Were you followed?"
Futaba Nuki	"West?" Before Futaba realizes she's heading into the correct but wrong door, she hears a voice, and she turns to stare at the hooded figure blankly. That expression remains for a few moments as they're greeted by name, and Futaba's mind pieces things together rather quickly once again. They were supposed to meet an informant. This person already knows their names. It's probably the informant! Glancing back into the hallway, she makes sure nobody's actually standing around besides herself and Kale before looking back in. "That's right. No, just us out here. I mean, unless whoever owns the place counts." Stepping into the room, Futaba takes a seat and laces her fingers together as she rests her elbows on the table to try and look more smooth. "And you're our... Friend, yes? How's the weather treating you?" She waggles her eyebrows and gestures towards Kale with her head, as though she's signaling... Something. It might be her impression of what a secretive spy is supposed to be like.
Kale Hearthward	"The weather is... very windy. Very westernly winds, one might say," says the hooded figure. Kale, who's entered the room behind Futaba, frowns. "... Wait. I recognize that voice. West Wind? Anne?" The figure takes off her hood, revealing a hummingbird. "Anne - wait, you're the informant we're supposed to meet?" "The situation's changed. She was caught on her way here, and there wasn't time to find a trustworthy replacement," says Anne. "And there's only so much time before they'll be coming for me next, if she talks, so I had to make sure you all really get this." "The Windswept Continent is about to erupt into another war. I'd give it a couple months, at most. More likely only a few weeks."
Futaba Nuki	Futaba nods slowly at the hooded figure's response about the weather, looking backwards for a moment just to remind herself that this is, in fact, the western room despite being on the right side. She'll figure it out sooner or later. The reveal that their informant isn't, in fact, their informant does have Futaba almost standing up for a moment, but she settles back down once Kale confirms her identity. Listening closely, her eyes widen as expected when war is brought up, and then she claps her hands together once Anne finishes giving them the (probably) worst case scenario. "What kind of stuff is going on that a war might break out so fast? is there some kinda nutso dictator, or maybe a high-profile bounty? What about a... Big tech reveal that might blow the lid off a bunch of things out here?" She speculates with that curious glint in her eyes again. "And what do we gotta do to keep that from blowing up?"
Kale Hearthward	"Ah. Good. You've got the idea. That last one, actually." "The Gale Empire is about to finish their Breath Armor project, and put it into mass production. That'll give the Empire a decisive advantage, and it'll open up hostilities immediately." "... That's good, though, right?" says Kale. "Since we're on the Empire's side?" Anne gives Futaba a 'You get it at least, right?' type of look.
Futaba Nuki	"Breath Armor... Oh! Like-" Futaba gives a knowing look towards Kale, then goes wide-eyed as she turns right back to Anne. "-hey. Do you have one of those things, too? What kinda stuff can yours do?" Thankfully, she doesn't stay distracted for too long, and she even nods when Anne gives her that look. For perhaps the first time today, her expression actually shifts into something resembling serious. "It'll mean the Empire would win in a fight, yeah, but it'd suck for everyone that's actually gotta fight." Scrunching her face up a bit, Futaba takes a moment to let her thoughts settle before she speaks up again. "So what's the plan? Are we gonna... Break the way it's gonna get made? Eat the plans? Mess them up on purpose?" Each suggestion is followed up with Futaba transforming her hands into different shapes each time: A hammer for the first one, a frying pan for the second, and a paintbrush for the third.
Kale Hearthward	"Mine's a Breath Weapon. It's unique and only I can use mine. The Breath Armor project is supposed to be mass producible, and let anyone use one," says Kale. "I'd thought they were years away from getting it working, though... and besides..." "... I'm... not exactly fond of treason," says Kale, screwing up his face. "Deal with it," says Anne, giving Futaba her full attention instead. "That's the primary plan. The main production is taking place underneath Spire City, in one of the depleted mines. If you can get in and sabotage the plans, the production facilities, or the output, any of those would slow the Empire down. Ideally all three." "The Empire is keeping it under wraps just how close they are to finishing the project so they can use it as a surprise attack, and they're clamping down hard on leaks. I'd be careful who you talk to about it outside of this room."
Futaba Nuki	"Neat... Huh. So thatmeans even regular soldiers could get kitted out with that stuff if it's-oh. Ohhhh." Things start clicking faster for Futaba, and she strokes her chin as more information is provided. "Destroying the plans would probably be our best bet if they don't have backups of all of it. Breaking stuff would only slow them down until they can get all their stuff up and running again, anyway. Oooor..." Futaba's eyes light up. "... If the output doesn't work and ends up sucking, they might just ditch that entirely. Like if someone could get into their stuff and make it look like it's not working right..." She puts her arms together and starts wiggling around like a... Snake? And then she pantomimes something exploding. "They think it's worthless, and they scrap the plans." "It's only treason if /you/ get caught. Just don't get caught. Besides, /I'm/ not in this Empire." Futaba waggles her eyebrows at Kale, as if thinking she's particularly clever about coming up with that loophole. "We'll keep our mouths shut, don't worry. Not like anyone else needs to hear about this unless they're working with us, right?"
Kale Hearthward	"Yeah. You've got the right idea. I don't know what's up with your noodle arms but you've got the right idea, at least." Anne pulls out a floppy disc and slides it across the table. "Here's everything I've got on the production plant. I can't help you out any more than that, and I'll be in more trouble than I already am if anyone finds out I gave you that. If we're all clear on that I need to leave right away, otherwise I'll be in yet more trouble if I'm out of position when they come looking for me." "Good luck," she says as she gets up and puts her hood back on. "Good luck, and that's about as much else as I can offer you right now."