Guild Wars III Roleplay (Rated T)

[Kiddo]

"Layers upon layers upon layers," Kiddo muttered, drawing a spiral in the dirt with one finger. She pulled the kunai free and sheathed them in one fluid moment, then stood and turned her back to Kovaran. Whatever was going on in her head, it was apparent he was no longer important at the moment.

"It's strange," she said, looking around at the pillars at the edges of the courtyard, "We made all this out of mist. Then we hid it among mountains we also carved out of mist. And more and more was made... even the ocean, all made from mist. Why do you ask me to chase mist?"

Kiddo picked up the spear and it chimed again as she lifted it. She slouched to one side, resting it across one shoulder.

"Seems we'd best be chasing the person that dreamed up the mist into danger and is dreaming it still. But I'll follow you. Nothing else to do."

She yawned and a dull glassy look returned to her eyes.

[Angie]

[ Airborne Merc Choppa, toward Tabloid Town ]


Hawk climbed aboard the chopper with his fellow mercenaries and sat.

Getting into a sitting position as the aircraft steadied itself, Scar breathed a sigh of relief and held out a paw. "I don't know who most of you are but I'm Sergeant Scar. Pleasure meeting you lot." He nodded at Hawk.

Hawk shook his superior's proffered paw. "Hawk-Eye Gliere," he said, both to Scar and to the group at large. "Or Hawk. Or whatever." He suddenly realized he didn't actually care what they called him, which was a first, so he lingered uneasily on this disturbing thought before chalking it up to that unnerved feeling which had yet to quite leave him after the encounter with the darkness.

The man Wil, who'd seated himself by the window, added, "I'm Wilhem...Wilhelm Bennett. Though I'm new, so admittedly I don't know a lot of you that much."

Hawk gave him a reassuring smile; he himself had only recently declared his loyalties at last to the Merc Guild as well. Or at least what was left of it, he thought with a grimace as he glanced through the window at the crater they were leaving behind. Then Hawk squinted more closely. He thought he might've just seen a trio of figures dart along the edge of the charred land (upon which Merc Base had once stood), but the world was receding rapidly now, and perhaps that was a trick of the light.

Scar, meanwhile, appeared to have made a decision as to the Mercs' destination.

"And tell the pilot we'd best head to Tabloid Town," said the Sergeant. "Not sure if anyone will help us but we need supplies ... and answers."

Jernath spoke up. "Tabloid Town sounds good. And I'm Jernath... in case any of you don't know me already."

Clint nodded. "And I'm Clint, Clint Thunder. Nice to meet you all." Turning to Scar and Jernath, he abruptly switched subjects. "I disagree. Tabloid Town is a civvie area, we need to find more fighters. There's something going on here, and I sure don't want us to be all on our own in all of it. I suggest finding either the Knights or the Mages and see if we can come to some sort of pact or treaty."

"You raise a good point," said Hawk. "Though while I agree that six people is less than ideal, I think first we ought to determine what we're dealing with, and then determine our allies. I mean, we don't even know who our enemy is. And for now, as long as we stick together, I'd venture to say that our combined fighting skills could probably hold us out until we manage to figure out what's going on. Then after that," he added, mercenary instincts kicking in, "I say we start looking for work. Because something evidently has gone wrong, and I imagine - assuming the earthquake was not isolated to only the Merc Base - that whatever happened here happened elsewhere too."

But he was also semi-reluctant to go to the other guilds for now — particularly the Mages, though he wasn't entirely sure how wise it was to share this sentiment.

Then he realized it would be bothering him for the rest of the trip anyway.

"Also," he added with a bit of hesitation, "you know those flames that came from the dark chasm back there? Did it seem at all like fire-based magic?"

[Sq]

Mercs

Sytra hopped into the chopper with the rest of the mercs. It was really cramped; all of the men had her pinned at the front of the vehicle.

The first thing she noticed were the rows upon rows of shiny buttons and a control stick on the main panel.

"Oooooh...SHINIES." She mashed a giant red button gleefully. Then she saw a bunch of other shiny buttons, so she pushed those too.

Somehow, the Osprey took flight, but she didn't really notice. Sytra kept squashing the buttons as the other mercs chatted casually in the background. She ogled over the shinies until being snapped out of her trance by a giant BOOM.

The girl looked out of the window frantically. What used to be the merc base was now a giant inferno. It had been blasted to smithereens.

Sytra exploded with hysteric rage. "...WHAT?! You blew up the base?! Are you CRAZY?!" she screamed. She kind of liked having a home, thank you very much.

The chopper shook, taking a momentary dip, but luckily her rump was pushed up against the buttons and miraculously pressed the ones to keep the Osprey in flight.

Everyone seemed so calm. How could they be calm? She groaned as they introduced themselves like nothing had even happened. Um, hello? Their headquarters, their home, had just exploded into a giant fireball. To make matters worse, they were in a chopper that no one was even piloting.

“Tell the pilot to go to Tabloid Town!” the anthro cat apparently named Scar shouted.

Sytra rolled her eyes. Why didn’t he just pilot it, if he was so smart?

"W-wait..." She froze, her mind finally registering what exactly was happening.

......


"...WHO THE HELL PUT ME IN CHARGE OF THIS THING?!"

She poked the buttons like mad and wobbled the control stick around. As you probably figured out by now, Sytra had no idea how to pilot…anything. She couldn’t even drive a golf cart, her hand-eye coordination was so poor. She continued to cluelessly mash the buttons until a giant quake of turbulence shook the chopper.



They were going down.

[Draco]

<<The Sky>>

Gil had long since arrived, circled, and passed Castle Kestrel. He documented it like he had Mage Manor when he passed it earlier. "This is taking a while and I don't see anything special since I passed that castle." He flips a switch and a small hissing noise could be heard coming from the underside of Fantome. Within moments the small aircraft launches forward and great speed. This lasts for a whole five minutes until it stops. "I should really get the alchemists see if they can make that last longer."

Looking around he still doesn't see very much, that is until he can see a large shadow in the sky. A shadow that is somewhat falling from the sky as he gets closer to it. "What in the world can that be?" The shadow slowly begins to take on a clearer shape.

[Omni]

Mage Manor - near basement

Celestial had no idea how she got out of the Underdeep. ...That probably wasn't a good sign.

Still, it was ever-so-helpful when she created a wall of air to push the Underdeep back. (How that worked, Omni would likely never know.) "Now Omni, hurry!" Celestial shouted at the Zafara Chimera.

By that time, the vines had already begun to grow more quickly. Omni did her best to close the gap and thicken the wall of vines as well as she could. Just like before, she turned the vines to stone, but only on the outside, and only to a point - though still a deep one. Once she was done, she let go of the spell and sighed in relief. She definitely didn't want to do something that hard with magic again for awhile.

Once calmed down, she could focus on her surroundings again. Sure, she saw and heard things as she grew the vines, but there was a difference between hearing and listening. The same could be said for just about any other sense. This included Omni's aura-sense.

She could feel it to the side of her: worry and suspicion. She couldn't read thoughts, but she could only guess that the ones feeling this felt it for similar reasons as her. They didn't seem to be bringing it up, either. Probably for good reason. She made a mental note to bring it up when things weren't so crowded

*****

Spacefleet

I'm glad that's over...

Ethan, Siber, and Leoness had managed to get out of the medical bay sooner rather than later. They approached the docking bay, the more military one, which had several ships docked in it. Unfortunately, unless you had your own ship, were on a mission, or were in the middle of evacuation, you generally weren't allowed to take one without properly renting it first. Ethan considered hijacking one, but that would only look bad and lead to trouble. He decided to rent one, but he had to do it fast.

He walked up to the nearest person managing the bay. "I need to rent a ship, and make it snappy."

The person at the desk, beurocratic as always, gave him a look and calmly said "Purpose and duration of rental? Proof of flying competency?"

"Going planetside, unknown, and I can fly it," he said, with a note of annoyance in his voice.

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't allow-"

"I don't care about the official stuff. We need to get down there!"

"I'm sorry, but without legitimate-"

Ethan smacked the desk, somewhat lightly, but not too lightly. "Key members of Spacefleet could be in danger, including Fraze. We need to get down there ay-sap!"

It wasn't a lie. He had heard things over the radio, and he know Fraze was planetside. To be honest, Ethan didn't know exactly why Leoness wanted to get down there, but he figured he could probably help her in the meantime.

He had a stare-down with the person at the desk, hoping to show that he was serious. They were silent, both uncertain in some way.

The person raised an eyebrow, paused, and brought a document up on a screen. "Sign at the line."

Ethan looked over the document very quickly, absorbing the information. It wasn't the standard lease document; it was more strict and carried heavier consequences. Actually, he was surprised that the 'Fleet even had such a form, but it would get them on the ground. That was good enough. He scribbled his name at the line. Got a ship number, and ran off, signaling for the others to follow.

He quickly jumped into the pilot's seat and buckled up. He picked up the owner's manual and scanned it quickly, Johnny 5 style, just to be on the safe side. Once he was finished, and sure everyone else was in, he closed the door and prepared for take-off.

He hadn't really flown before. Never needed to. But he had seen it done before several times. That, plus the manual, was enough to get him going.

"Hold on tight!"

He hit the acceleration, and the ship lurched forward. It was a bit harder and faster than Ethan expected, but he quickly adjusted. He turned in an arc toward the planet, adjusting to the handling of the controls quickly.

Good old implants.

[Jina]

Tabloid Town, near Hospital
The adventurers were a few streets away from the hospital, inside a disused warehouse. The perfect location.

"Can we start now?" asked Sandra.

Halin nodded. "Yes. However, I think there should be a slight change of plan. Corenu and I shall not be joining you, I wish to scout future targets. We would not be much help anyway, you can manage on your own."

"Very well." Halin and Corenu exited, stage right.

Sandra waited a few minutes to give them a chance to leave. Then she turned to Patri. "Let us begin." The mage climbed on to her back. Then, she focused.

She started to grow, and to change. She grew white feathers. Her hands changed into wings.

A bystander on the opposite side of the street saw a giant bird burst through the roof of the warehouse. Sandra, in her Roc form. Sandra flapped her wings and took to the sky, with Patri still on her back, holding on to her feathers.

Sandra gave off a loud squawk. Operation Sesame Street was all about spectacle. She dived down, and grabbed on to a roof with her talons. Flying up, the roof came completely off. She dropped it on to the street. Patri started blasting the walls. Debris was flying everywhere.

The bystander who saw the Roc break through the roof got hit by a flying brick. He then came to his senses, and realised it was a good thing to run. Now.

He put a hand to his head, where the brick had hit him. He could feel blood. The hospital...

He ran, and managed to get to the hospital without being hit. He dashed inside the building. Shut his eyes, and took a deep breath.

A shadowy tentacle reached out and grabbed his legs. Before he knew it, he was being dragged off to the Underdeep.

Outside, more and more people were being injured. Somewhere in the Underdeep, something had a very wide, very evil grin.

[Tokala]

<<Brassport>>

Blackstone and Athar stepped aboard the Blackstone Wings. He'd always hated that name, but Athar insisted having a Zeppelin named Blackstone was important for the company image, and not a sign of vanity at all. Gazing up and down the 20 meter length of the suspended wooden ship, Athar was amazed as always. That this monstrosity could be held up by little but hot air and propellers always both awed and terrified him.

They took off into the air over the Aerodome, past a man hanging from one of the struts. After a few circles over what was once the landscape surrounding Brassport, an agitated Blackstone gave the order to land.

"Did you see any landmarks out there?" he asked Athar, but the Alchemist merely shook his head. "I took the spyglass out, but all I could see was maybe a castle in the distance? Maybe. Or a speck of another city, didn't look like Kingston to me." As they landed, the two hurried back to the Assembly Hall, Blackstone ignoring any questions shouted at him about what had happened, Athar merely telling them to come to the Hall to find out.

Blackstone practically threw open the huge double-doors leading to the Assembly Hall, and strode up to the slightly raised podium, past a couple hundred people, mostly still in work uniforms, some straight from the assembly lines. Although everyone was chattering at a dull roar, it was quieter than Blackstone ever liked to hear it. Not a single machine was running in a single factory in the city. It probably wouldn't be long until one of the smaller factories started back up, hoping to take advantage of the Blackstone facilities being shut down to get ahead in the numbers.

But the Blackstone factories would stay closed for at least a week, he was adamant about that. He was nothing if not fair to the people that worked for him, and they'd all need a while to recover, be with their families. Those that still had them. The thought sent a quick shudder down his back. Anyone who lived outside the city, or anyone who's family had been on Holiday. Gods above, this was horrible.

"Attention everyone!"

Blackstone's voice boomed at a level few would have thought possible, even coming from a man of his stature. The hall quieted down immediately. Those that had never heard Mr. Blackstone speak were quickly hushed by those who knew that every word to come was important, and would not be spoken above a normal conversational tone.

"In case anyone hasn't realized yet, we're not in Brigaia anymore. Brassport itself has moved, or else Brigaia moved out from under us." Honestly, Blackstone didn't even know if it existed at all anymore, but there was no reason to make it harder on those who'd lost family than it already was. "We've been patrolling from the skies, and surveying the landscape, but as you all know, there hasn't been much time."

A small mousy woman ran up and whispered something in Blackstone's ear. His eyes went wide for only a moment, and then he continued speaking. "Neither the King, nor the Mayor was here in Brassport when the... Incident occurred. Blackstone will be closing down for the next week. Go home, console those you can, help each other out."

He paused for a moment to collect himself. "And any of you that are willing to volunteer to find out what in the name of Progress is going on, please stay behind. No one will be forced into anything, and you can choose not to go at any point. The rest of you are dismissed."

Blackstone watched as about half the crowd meandered out of the building, hopefully to go comfort wives, husbands, children and parents.

In the back, Blackstone saw a wizened old man that he barely recognized. He'd done a job for them once, just once, to see if maybe changing out some of their boiler parts for clockwork machinery would be more cost-efficient. The results had been disastrous. Some parts of the city were still being cleaned up. The old man lived in the clock-tower, building day in and day out. There were clockwork things that scurried around that tower always, enough to creep anyone out. But for some reason the man stayed behind.

Probably doesn't have any family anyways, Blackstone thought.



When everyone who was going to leave had exited the hall, Blackstone looked around at who remained.

[Scar]

-The Mercenaries, The Sky-

Scar shook Hawk's hand and nodded to the rest, hearing the different opinions on their destination. He thought for a moment before opening his mouth to speak "Ah comrades in ar --"

"...WHAT?! You blew up the base?! Are you CRAZY?!"

The sharp voice of the pilot rose over the din of the engines, echoing off the walls of the tin can they were in (incidentally this reminded him of the cans of hard earned food, making him curse) and making the feline's ears ring. Grunting in annoyance, he stood up and stomped off towards the front of the aircraft. "Now you listen here!" he began with a snarl. "Do you think I had a choice? Besides I wasn't the one who pressed the button! Scrubby --"

"...WHO THE HELL PUT ME IN CHARGE OF THIS THING?!"

Scar could've sworn his heart skipped a beat. Did ... did the pilot even know how to fly this thing?

His question was answered when the Osprey shook violently and took a sharp dive, throwing him back to the floor, and hard.

He cursed loudly. No, no, no! Not VRS! He dug his claws uselessly into the metal floor plating and tried his best to crawl to the front of the craft. Already he could see the pilot, another Merc he didn't recognize, button mashing at the console and for once Scar gave a sigh of relief that he bought the Osprey with its weapons removed.

"Tilt the stick forward!" he shrieked, losing his balance again and slamming painfully into the wall. "STOP PUSHING BUTTONS AND GO FORWARD!"

- Brassport -

Through the haze of pain -- for the net did a better job entangling him than actually cushioning his fall -- Oscar, Gentleman Adventurer, could hear the strange woman's biting speech, taking great pains to hide a surprised look. We've only met less than five minutes!

Then again he had experience in women like this, some part of his roguish mind told him. After all there were two types of marks: saps and hard-sells. The lady before him was a hard-sell and a thorny one too. He grinned, which in his condition was more a painful grimace.

"Ah, milady let me explain!"

Getting unsteadily to his feet, he flashed the chuckling crowd an embarassed smile and held his palms out as if to quell the guffaws. Having done that he glanced about for the mysterious woman, only to see her disappearing around a corner. Oh drat! Better not lose her.

"Hah! Well now you know how an angel falls," he said loudly to muffled giggles.

"Fairy!"

"Yes fairy," Oscar, Gentleman Adventurer conceded willing to the grinning boy by his side, patting him gingerly on the head. "But alas for my fair maiden has need of my services and I must depart! You heard milady, I owe her, her life." At this point he winked. "And some gold too but I do think she'd value services rendered more.

"And so I --!" It was at this point that he noticed that his trousers had fallen and bunched up around his feet, revealing his knickers to the world. Of course, the world being mostly men it elicited more nonchalance than embarassment. The sad remanants of his ruined utility belt lying meekly beside them. With great flourish, he unclipped his whip and pulled his trousers up, wrapping the whip around as an impromptu belt.

"And so I --!" He would've strode confidently forward if not for the woman blocking his path, arms folded and tone anything but friendly.

"I'm Asta. Now, Sir Gentleman Adventurer, whence do you come and where do you aim to go? 'Cause if you expect to scamper away, I'm going to have a fun time playing with you."

He bowed. It was always a good move to be polite. "Ah but I do believe I have told you already, or did you perhaps miss it? No matter, I shall do so again for the benefit of one so charming." He bowed again. "Oscar Featherstone, Gentleman Adventurer and Explorer of Lands Unknown. I hail from many lands! Lands of danger and lands of beauty! Lands known only through dusty tomes and lands whispered among the gentlefolk!"

He started pacing back and forth before Asta, gesturing to emphasize every word. "And what, pray tell, is one of such caliber such as myself doing in Brassport? Why to see the most wondrous city in the world of course! I have heard tales of the magnificent Aerodome and its skilled artisans of iron!" This received approving mumbles from the engineers. "And who could forget the people, the culture. Most refined in the world they say!" More approving nods. He gave Asta a cheeky wink. "And course travellers have spun many tales of Brassport's strong-willed and independent women with fire in their hearts and hair."

He faced Asta and bowed again. "As for where I'm running off to ..." and with this he took a leap of faith. "... I do believe the fair lady and her consort has left us behind. Us, her loyal friends! Yes, we must be off to catch up with her lest she needs our assistance and good company. I'm sure we can both agree to that."

And then end with a winning smile. Yes, perfect. Oscar, Gentleman Adventurer, you have done it again. Regardless, a bead of sweat trailed down his forehead, the only sign of his nervousness.

Before she could reply, he stepped smartly past her and beckoned for her to follow before striding off as politely as he could, hoping to catch up with the mysterious woman who thought he had him figured out.

Hah!

[Amneiger]

((Tabloid Town))


As Amneiger approached Vyt with the lamp, he could see that Vyt was stabbing the creature in the eye with Shade's dagger. The creature gave a few weak flails under the dagger and lay still. With a sound like sand being spilled onto the floor, it crumbled into a pile of black dust.

The dust lay there for a moment before beginning to stir as if a wind was blowing. Amneiger looked around; there wasn't actually a wind blowing, so the dust was moving by itself. The dust began to move along the ground towards one of streets leading away from the area.

Amneiger tried to remember what was in that direction. "Why's it going that way? There's mostly shops and taverns there. Oh, and the Tabloid Town hospital...can we stop it from getting there? Or should we try to get ahead of it and warn the people at the hospital?"

[Deleted]

Ninja Dojo


If there had been any extended silence, it was broken when PFA spoke up. She took a different approach; telling the stranger that yes, they were indeed on a mission to investigate the evil - and suggesting that perhaps she could come along.

Kovaran's eyes went wide when he heard that. What--but is she--why--

And then, the stranger turned away from him. She spoke in more cryptic riddles that he couldn't understand, saying something about chasing mist or the one who created the mist. Only then did she agree to come along.

This was met with silence, which was unusual for the large reptile. After a few moments, he simply nodded twice.

"...very well."

This short response was followed by more almost uncharacteristic silence. However, he was clearly thinking about what the stranger had said.

What is mist? ... Like fog, but with less water.
How does this happen? ... Some water is taken away.
By what? ... The sun.

Yes, his logic was actually working like that. Kovaran had been called eccentric more than once, and with good reason. Finally he made a short, "Ah!"

"We go to Dunburrow!"

With that, the Screaming Dragon turned towards the gate, resuming his purposeful stride.

[Jason]

Ninja Dojo

It had taken a lot of running and stopping for breath, but Jasor finally made it out of the woods. It was then that he found himself at the foot of a small hill. Smiling to himself, he began to climb the hill, whilst thinking of what he would say.

"Seems we'd best be chasing the person that dreamed up the mist into danger and is dreaming it still. But I'll follow you. Nothing else to do."

"We go to Dunburrow!"

After hearing these words float down towards him from the courtyard, the young Mage pushed himself to move faster. After a few minutes, he found himself before PFA, Cital, and Kiddo. He recognized PFA instantly, but it was the others he wasn't sure of.

"Do any of you know what caused that earthquake awhile ago," he asked, approaching the Ninjas with caution. Stopping a few feet away, he grabbed his amulet, twisting it around his finger as he awaited a response.

[Celestial]

Mage Manor

Omni managed to erect a barrier of vines around the Underdeep, much to Celestial's relief. Having it out and about in Mage Manor would cause all sorts of problems for them. Like the creation of a new, wider hole which would leak out the Underdeep into the world and lack of clean towels. And if there were any more, wasn't it it the obligation of the mages to clean them up and try to seal them away? Firs they needed to be found.

"Listen, I know this might seem very odd after this...incident with the Underdeep but...I want to look around the NTWF, see if I can find any more. I just don't want anybody to go through what me and Rikku went through and that would involve being aware of where the rifts are," she said looking at the mages gathered around her.

"This would be something I'd rather do alone too," she said to those assembled. They didn't need to meddle in the affairs of the darkness. Whatever it wanted her to find, it was something which would cause plenty of problems between the guilds.

Celestial caught a glimpse down at her robes. They were covered in dust and some parts were torn. She didn't feel much better either. The dragon mage needed to clean herself up very quickly and get into shape. There was so much work to do but with her mistaking Chimera Omni for something called a Zafara, she could not hope to achieve it. A shower, coffee, some food and a cleaning up should do the trick nicely.

Celestial had finishe dealing with the Underdeep. She looked awful and certainly in no way fit to do that kind of work. But if she thought that she could manage it then Overlord had no choice but to support her. The dragon mage was a stubborn mule when she had to be and this seemed to be one of those times.

"Thank you so much. You are very kind," he said to the wolf-man and took off, landing on Celestial's shoulder and weewooing happily. Right now, the mindlink wasn't as important. As long as there was Celestial, he'd manage to restore it.

Who was this Weewoo? Celestial looked at him curiously for a brief moment. At any rate, she was certainly glad for the affection and if animals loved her, that had to show that she was good right? Knowing how genre-savvy the mages were, she wouldn't count on it.

In any case, Celestial was glad for the affection. Smiling gently at the Weewoo, she stroked its feathers softly. Some of them were gold.

[Deleted]

The Land of Dunburrow

[glow=blue,2,300]"Go on. You could tell her."[/glow]

"I don't even know what you're talking about."

[glow=blue,2,300]"That's because you entertain yourself with scrolls and mundane quests too often."[/glow]

"I confess slaying a horde of black weewoos wasn't that mundane."

Shino sat at a table outside the small cafe and gave a thoughtful glance at the people who would come and go. He had taken a respite in this small town after his last quest he had taken. Among the quests that were available he had taken this one as sort of a breather to the one previous. That had involved a nasty, abnormally-size boar that was pervading through entire houses among the town of Nyer. So when he saw "Quest available for any knight at arms: Dark, harmless looking creatures in large numbers have been sighted by Lady Ferion on the north ridge of the castlegrounds", he expected a restful shepherding of small sheep perhaps.

[glow=blue,2,300]"And who volunteers for a quest to 'contain a presence of harmless looking, dark creatures'?"[/glow] His friend Sir Leon asked the pale knight. [glow=blue,2,300]"Surely the Court and King recognize a black weewoo threat when they see one."[/glow] He huffed at his own words with a ridiculous air. Shino chuckled as he whipped his long hair to the side and out of his eyes. Sir Leon, the usually jovial Silver Knight, was one of his best friends and he had been surprised to see him here in this village. Usually he was competing for the ladies of the courts' attention. "Why don't you talk to her since you seem so interested in business that does not concern you?"

Leon smiled at this, his teeth gleaming in the sunlight. [glow=blue,2,300]"Had I not already tried for the hand of Lady Katherine, I would be obliged to take you up on your offer"[/glow] he said with a smugness even Shino smirked over, [glow=blue,2,300]"but alas, she condemned to the very pit of despair should I ever even touch the very tips of her fingers again."[/glow]

"Actually she prefers Kat..." Shino muttered under his breath as he raised his cup of tea to sip. [glow=blue,2,300]"See?!"[/glow] Leon declared a little too loudly , [glow=blue,2,300]"You know her better than most and you two were made for each other, mark my words."[/glow] Shino didn't know about being 'made for each other', but he had always had a special connection with her. But no...they were just friends and comrades, strictly.

"What are you doing out here anyways, Leon? I thought you were carrying messages for Lord Ghalord these days." Lately, each knight had been tasked with one quest or errand by the Court as to keep the commoners aware of the presence of justice, as per the knights. This was necessary even in peaceful times.

[glow=blue,2,300]"What do I look like? A monkey?"[/glow] Leon shot inquisitve eyes across the table, but before Shino had a chance to answer he spoke, [glow=blue,2,300]"Don't answer that. I'm not an errand boy is all I'm saying. And the lords and ladies have too much time on their hands if they have to occupy us."[/glow] Suddenly the Silver Knight's eyes turned white and he seemingly stared off into nothingness.

Shino was startled, but not exactly surprised at this. Leon Lockenhallow had always had a sixth sense, even when they were young boys. He could sense trouble before it happened, which came to use in many battles they had shared in. "What do you see?"

It was a long moment before Leon responded, but he finally slumped back into his chair and began to breathe heavily. He peered up at shino with his normally dark eyes. Leon brushed the equally dark hair out of his face and leaned over to his friend.

[glow=blue,2,300]"This isn't good."[/glow]

"What isn't good?"

[glow=blue,2,300]"Fear has struck my heart from the place I've just been."[/glow]

"Tell me what this is all about, Leon."

[glow=blue,2,300]"We're not alone, Shino. I feel a cold hand will soon grip this land and burn it into naught but ashes."[/glow]

[Zylaa]

((So I typed up most of this post already. Then some virus-like thing crashed my Firefox. And now I have to retype it in <20 min. I apologize in advance))

... Well, on the bright side, Rider had missed her!

On the other hand, the Underdeep was expanding. With that taken into account, the bright side looked more like a bright pixel.

"...Is that like saying "Hey, we found an island full of treasure!" or "Hey, we annoyed some dude with tentacles for a face and now we're being chased by a gigantic squid!"? 'Cause I'm kinda hoping it's the first one," Jina said.

"It's the latter. Worse than. The Underdeep... it makes your nightmares real," Zylaa summed up.

"It never ends, does it? Twenty shinies says an ancient evil has risen and it's up to us to restore relative peace and order to the land."[/i] Goosh paused for a moment. "We should be getting paid for this."

"I think I'd take an ancient evil over the Underdeep," Zylaa mused. "Ancient evils are nice and predictable. I mean, sure, a few people die, but that's what phoenix down is for. All we'd have to do is figure out which one of us is carrying an inconspicuous family heirloom, and problem solved..."

It was at this point that she realized that Rider was striding out of the bar. Zylaa followed, trying to recall what Rider had been saying before she stood up.

What was that about losing to Death?

((The White Weewoo))

Zylaa found Rider... hiding near the ship. She caught the tail end of the conversation as she came up, which meant of course that Hunty heard the conversation too, as she was well within earshot. Zylaa bent down towards the former Captain.

"Look, Rider, I have no idea what happened to you. And why it's made you want to start hiding from Hunty-- although, I mean, she can be somewhat scary at times. But regardless, the sooner you tell us what on earth happened, the quicker we can go about saving the world."

With that, Zylaa straightened up and proceeded to Hunty. "Cap'n, we have reports from a reliable if somewhat confused source that the Underdeep is expanding."

[Rikku]

Mage Manor

Everyone was all edgy. Which was understandable. And a cat fainted? Or something? Everything just seemed so confusing right now, and there was a slightly unreal tint to things, like the world was ever-so-slightly off-kilter.

And then Omni finished sealing the door, and Rikku had to fight not to slump to the ground in sheer relief. Finally. That horrible … thing? Place? That horrible whatever was gone.

Not gone, though. Just out of sight. Waiting. Fuelled by fear.

Rikku suddenly found that she was very cold.

Celestial spoke, breaking her out of her reverie. “Listen, I know this might seem very odd after this...incident with the Underdeep but...I want to look around the NTWF, see if I can find any more. I just don't want anybody to go through what me and Rikku went through and that would involve being aware of where the rifts are.” She looked around at the other Mages.

Rikku nodded. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “No one should have to go through that.” She paused. “Except maybe politicia—”

“This would be something I'd rather do alone too,” the Dragon Mage added, and suddenly Rikku was nowhere near as agreeable.

“Hells no!” she said angrily. “After what happened? Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie? Never split up! I’m coming with you.”

Besides which, she needed to … needed to … something to do with finding things out? Or …

Chaos. Something about chaos. Or something about pain. It was so hard to tell, and her mind – her thoughts weren’t –

Something wasn’t –

This wasn't right ...

Rikku dragged herself back to the present. What was she so upset about? She couldn’t remember. Didn’t matter, anyway. “And I want to find out more about that earthquake. I mean, come on. When’s the last time a natural disaster hit the NTWF? They’ve gotta be linked somehow. And if the earthquake caused this … opening, or vice versa, then it might have caused other things too.” Important things, she suddenly knew. Yes, she had to find …

A city of iron. A city of steam.

“I’m going to help you,” she said, with all the firmness that her thoughts lacked.

Oh yes? said her somewhat cynical inner voice. And how do you expect to help, exactly? You can barely stand.

Shut up, she snapped back. Internal monologues are irrelevant to the plot.