[IC] Granblue Fantasy: Rhapsody in Red

[Skyrte]

Arno Arrotyr

"Somehow... I don't think either of you are Zweite." The Erune boy concluded, "What the hell are you two doing with a stolen ship?" He asked, nearly a demand. Arno closed his eyes for a second, then looked over to Corday. She began to answer his question, explaining how the Zweite were bad, and how stealing an airship of theirs was validated because they were bad... not how Arno would have said it but she was leading the explanation. Arno turned around and looked through his cockpit, opening up a small compartment and pulling out a survival kit. It had rations, water, and a shortsword which in the hands of a Harvin, looked big. He strapped the sheath onto his back, leaving his waist for the pistol holster.

Then they heard a rustle from a bush. Arno looked over, suspicious. He noticed Corday looking as well, already at a combative stance. Arno hovered his hand over his sidearm. In the split of a second, a stone zipped over Corday's head, and she responded with an expertly thrown knife. She left to investigate, and Arno pulled his sidearm out, the large pistol looking more like a carbine in his hands. A moment later, Corday came running over, shouting about Goblins. She ran to the Erune boy and covered him, before asking if Arno could take some down with his gun.
Arno grunted, "If I was in the air with my Akula..." he muttered, "Yes, I can!" he shouted back to her. He was nowhere near as proficient with his sidearm, but he could hit a target, and that was good enough. Arno scanned the area, looking for any signs of movement, rustling leaves, disturbed branches. Then he spotted them. "There!" He pointed, "Right, three targets! Close!" he reported. The Erune boy was already on the move however, tossing small balls of ice towards the enemy. He leapt off the edge of the ship, and darted away into the woods. The three on the right side of the enemy group that threatened their flank left to chase the Erune boy. Arno clicked his tongue in annoyance, he recognized some of these tactics as older infantry tactics. The flanks were the most mobile, the 'cavalry', and they would skirmish and chase down targets, and flank when the opportunity came.

He leapt off his airship and darted towards the edge of the crashed vessel, he leaned over, seeing some goblins still in the open. He had elevation on them. He brought his sidearm to bear and fired off a shot, smacking a somewhat confused goblin in the chest, throwing it back onto the floor. The gunshot made the rest of the goblins look up at him. Arno quickly fired twice more, not bothering to check if the two other rounds found their mark. He took a step back, extending the bayonet on the end of his pistol, then flicked the breach open. He hastily took the spent cartridges out and put in new ones, just in time for several goblins to climb up onto the ledge. He fired at the first goblin to poke his head out, but the second wasn't far behind. The goblin tackled Arno to the deck, eliciting a grunt from the small Harvin pilot. The attacker brought down a small club, swinging it at Arno's head. He narrowly dodged it, the club smacking the wooden deck instead. Arno Brought his knee up and placed it on the chest of the goblin, trying to keep it at bay. He pointed the bayonet of his handgun to the gut of the goblin and stabbed it. He kicked the creature off, then sat up, shooting another goblin off the ledge.
"We need to finish here and help the others!" He shouted to Corday.

[Enkryption]

Marshall chuckled, as Amanita primped her achievements. “Are you now,” he asks. “At your age and tininess,” Marshall teased, both her and her hair with his left hand, “Well, color me impressed, Amanita. A alchemist with medical talent is something impressive.” Marshall smirked, and then waved back to Mucu; acknowledging the mushroom man with a suspicious, albeit subtle, study of whatever he’d sensed from the creature.

However, once Amanita asked if he was a Primal Beast, he frowned a bit. “That's a very complex,” Marshall says. “I suppose, you could assume such,” he says, as she worriedly sprayed him with disinfectant and such, “For now, don't stress such a pretty head about it. I’ve not --” Marshall’s attention snapped to the shriek, as did Amanita's, and he saw the woman running... and nothing more.

Impossible.

How could he have live so long, so damn long, and yet, the impossibly could still stun him near to inaction? It had to be impossible, and yet, he knew that face, that scar -- 'No! It’s been 1,904 years!’ Marshall couldn't move, and then, suddenly, he was. He’d just enough blood to sweep a thin beam through the swarm; anything else, he’d have to take from himself. “Amaya!” he shouted, swinging his right hand, projecting a high pressure beam of blood that could feasibly slice through the hornets. “It can’t be... She can’t be.”

Denial couldn’t stop him from racing forward, straight toward his past; foolishly into the path of the hornets that lucked out of being slice cleanly through, and beat Mucu into playing at meat-shield. He didn't even notice the impacts, as he looked back. “Amaya!” he gasped, before a hornet caught him in the neck. Poison circulated through him, and he redirected into the Touch of Virtue to be ejected. “Insect! You won’t touch her!” he snarled, grabbing a stinger, and ripping it clean out of himself and the hornet.

“Mushroom Man, Doctor Child, get her out of here! I'll handle this...” Marshall says, as the Touch of Virtue ceased being a jet-black, elegant evening gown in design, and became a bulky, armored slab of metal. “I won’t lose you again, Amaya,” he swears, as the Touch of Virtue encapsulated his shoulder, “Never again.”

---

@The Irish Tree

[The Irish Tree]

Verdant Woodlands: Goblin Siege

@Ammokkx,@Skyrte

Corday was stunned as the young erune boy just...ditched them to go fight some goblins. Seeing his magic in action however, the dagger wielding erune woman knew that, if he had the bravery for that, he probably had the skills to back it up. He definitely had an attitude problem though; After all, who swore at his age? Still, she respected his courage, and as soon as this was over, she was going to buy him a treat...probably on someone else's tab. Regardless, with Arno now springing into action, Corday flicked out two more of her hidden knives, seemingly having an endless supply of them up her sleeves as she dashed forward.

Most of Arno's shots were hitting their marks, but the crude armor the goblins had on was just enough to make some of the shots not fatal. The one he speared with his bayonet though, was definitely done for. Seeing a goblin rear its head up as well as a sling, Corday flicked her wrist and sent her knife flying just as the rock from the sling was loosed; In a clash of stone and steel, the knife stuck into the rock and caused it to fall limply to the ground, before Corday's other dagger became embedded within the goblin's skull.

Just when she was feeling good about herself however, another goblin that had snuck up from the side of the ship grabbed at her boot, seeking to pull her down with it. Falling, she scarcely managed to land her hands upon the railing before the goblin pulled itself up, trying to bash her fingers apart with its club. Scrambling, she shimmeyed along the railing just in time to get her fingers to not explode, before she grabbed the head of the goblin's club, tugging it to force the goblin to fall instead of her before climbing back up. Judging from the dull crunch that echoed, it sounded like he'd landed head first against a rock. Things were going good so far...at least they would be, before the horn sounded.

As if commanded by the meaningless music of that war horn, the goblins present and not already within the ship fled back towards the sound of the horn, before a larger figure emerged; His body was at least twice as large, and twice as hideous as the goblins preceeding him, dark gray skin with eerie yellow eyes. A Hobgoblin Chieftain had come out personally with this raid; A significantly greater challenge than any lone goblin. Riding forward on his wolf, he effortlessly leapt from it to land on the ship's deck, banging his crude metal club against his ramshackle wooden shield, bound with animal leather. "Smallfilth and Catfilth..." he grunted as he stepped forward, banging his club against the deck as he walked, a dull wooden thud echoing as he poked holes in the deck. "I'm gonna enjoy this..."

---

Cyll would certainly hear that horn, though his attention would soon be divided from that as a loud hissing erupted from one of the nearby bushes, a flash of teal scales slithered past before he would see it. Though he had only been here a short time, there were certainly tales of the infamous serpent of the island; At both times a predator and the guardian of the island, the beast worshiped as a Deity before him was none other than Apep. Though its presence was terrifying, as were its many teeth, the beast simply cast a glance at Cyll before slinking off further into the woods. It wouldn't be wise to follow it, but all the tales the local hunters told said that it never ventured this far inland, with large flying animals often being its preferred prey.

Then however Cyll would realize something; The direction it was heading towards was the ship. And the convicts that were still fighting aboard it.

---

Site of Remembrance

@Enkryption
bc8dbf

Marshall could feel the pain of the poison that could never kill him, the symptoms pass right through as the irritating blisters formed and then dissolved from his regenerative abilities. Enraged by the death of their hive member, the hornets buzzed furiously around Marshall, attempting to stab at him with their already cut numbers. His experience could tell him that these things were simply drones of some sort; It was likely that they had stumbled upon the woman in their search for food, and attempted to use her as a good supply for the day. The woman looked fearfully up at Marshall, tears welling in her eyes as she saw the wound he had just taken. Burying her face in her arms, she tried to scoot away but winced in pain as her twisted ankle throbbed.

Just as a less distracted hornet was about to swoop around Marshall and deliver a sting to her, it quickly found itself disintegrated by the force of Mucu's hands smashing together, releasing their lock to let the bits of wing and chitin fall to the ground before the mushroom man stood beside Marshall, the young girl on his back. "I don't leave my patients behind! Besides, I have just the thing for this!" the girl said before suddenly sitting up on top of Mucu's head, hurriedly opening up what appeared to be small holes in his head, before pulling out a noxious lime colored bottle. "Bombs away!" she yelled, hurling the cylindrical bottle before it smashed against the ground, about twenty feet before Marshall. The approaching swarm that was over the area suddenly started flying around erratically, smashing into one another as their wings slowed, before they fell to the ground, twitching and helpless.

There was still a swarm of workers and warriors approaching Mucu and Marshall however. With a silent gaze cast right into Marshall's eyes, the mushroom man stood back, to protect the two girls behind him from any that would evade Marshall's blasts. Meanwhile, Amanita provided some medicine and an antidote to the woman who had collapsed, softly stroking her shoulder. "Shh...its okay Ms. Rumaya, Mr. Marshall is strong. And Mucu's strong too!" she exclaimed, letting Marshall know for sure that she was counting on him.

[Guess Who]

Cayde Selmy

Seeing the sudden appearance of goblins on board their crashed transport, Cayde would attempt to defend their weakest party member, that being Perkeo. His heavy armor and distance would slow him down enough for the small monsters to get a few good licks into the draph with their slings, however the nutshot would be the best they could accomplish. The armor that had slowed his movements a moment earlier now worked in his favor as he became a human shield for their bard, rocks harmlessly bouncing off his body. The only part of him that was unguarded was his face, his helmet lacking a visor in order to obstruct as little of his vision as possible, but even this was easily corrected by lowering his head and shrinking their target.

Now in position, the nobleman charged his three opponents, sprinting toward the nearest of the wolf riders. The room was small, it's ceiling only a few feet above his head, so instead of using an overhead slash Cayde opted for a piercing attack, thrusting the end of his sword through one of the creature's mounts. The man let out a grunt of disappointment, having intended to stab the rider instead. The goblin had panicked though when it had saw it's heavily armored rival coming so close, directing the wolf beneath to turn and evade but instead putting it between itself and Cayde's sword.

With his sword embedded deep within the wolf's body and the three goblins reading to pounce upon him, Cayde released his hilt and let the canine slump to the floor, charging it's rider again with fists raised. The green bastard had no time to react before flaming knuckles collided with it's cheek. Teeth clattered to the floor as the goblin clutched the burned side of it's face. It could try and scamper away as best it could, but Cayde was too close, grabbing one of the rocks the goblins had been using as ammunition and smashing its skull in. The guards back at the prison were one thing, innocent men only doing a job and making a living, but these were monsters. They were incapable of kindness or mercy. So he would show them the same.

Rising up from the floor, Cayde kicked over the wolf's dead body and pulled his sword out from it's chest cavity. Free of its temporary sheath of flesh, the blade burst into flames and boiled away the blood which had been covering it. It's tip was now pointed toward the two remaining goblins. "Who's next?"

[Ammokkx]

_xx_x Cyll _xx_x

---

Cyll looked down at his blood-stained hand as he calmly walked through the forest, thinking things over. If not for those perked-up ears of his, you wouldn't be able to tell he still had his guard up in case of an ambush. Fighting those goblins cooled the boy's head somewhat, so he had some time to reflect on his weird encounter.

(They're convicts, but... she didn't try to hurt me. Even though she had the perfect shot.

...I wonder if they're alright?)

As if those thoughts jinxed it, Cyll's ears caught the faint noise of a war-horn in the distance, back from where he'd abandoned the duo.

(Oh shit. The green bastards have a leader!)

Cyll braced himself to take off in a sprint again despite his condition, only to stop himself and instinctively jump to the side upon hearing the hissing of a serpentile creature. Cyll narrowed his eyes and balled up his fist as he glared at the bush he'd heard it from, its leaves rustling as a scaled beast rummaged around next to it. He had his guard up while watching the form shift and crawl, making eye-contact with the figure once it had stopped. A small, white eye stared sideways at Cyll, the boy freezing in fear upon seeing the figure's massive scaly teeth and dual horns.

(A-Apep!)

Thinking he was going to have to fight again, Cyll started to freeze the ether around his left hand. The creature, however, didn't seem too interested in the boy. It slithered away, deeper into the forest, leaving the boy to breathe a sigh of relief.

That relief lasted a whole three seconds once he realised Apep started to race towards Arno and Corday.

"Oh like hell you do!" Cyll snapped as he braced himself again, running after the creature once he had realised just how much danger the other fellows were in. Cyll knew the forest, confident he could keep up with Apep. He just had to figure out a plan by the time he got there.

Cyll wasn't very good at planning ahead.

[Enkryption]

Exhausted of the foreign blood that had fueled its divinely sadistic bloodlust since Ziggurat, the Touch of Virtue tightened against the arm of its keeper, and millions upon millions of needles punched into every single skin cell; feasting with an almost living hunger, despite its automaton nature. Supping heartily, the evening gown glove sudden bulked up; becoming angular and sharp, a shadow of its own elegance nature. In bursts of progress, it bulked up from fingertip to shoulder blade, spreading over the shoulder, and wrapping halfway around his neck, as a section attempted to connect with nonexistence piece on Marshall’s chest.

‘Heh. Already at my limit, eh? Such a cruel mistress I’m incarcerated to.’ Marshall thoughts, trying to gauge the blood lost, as his senses floated. ‘Are you awake, you old hag?’ Marshall stepped forward, flexing his clawed fingertips, before balling a fist. ‘It only hurts when you are, therefore: you must be. Have you done this?’ he asked, displeased, ‘Arranged this? Surely, Fate is not so cruel as to put Amaya back into my life after so long?’ Marshall stood over the twitching form of the paralyzed hornet, and trust his finger into its core like a knife blade.

“It’s so impure...” Marshall says, as the creature stilled, and withered to a point from the complete removal of its blood. Tilting his head, Marshall looked back to Amanita, his eyes cast into an unnatural shadow, and tossed the hornet at the trio’s feet. “I drained it of all its impure insect blood,” he says, answering an unspoken question. “Did you know that insects have blood? It’s not like ours, pure,” Marshall says, before he sudden took a large step, and drove his fist into other, “It’s a mixture of things that could be called ‘blood’ for no better reason that operational similarities, but it’s missing a very vital thing...”

Marshall’s blood vessels were pulsing against his visible, pallid skin; devoid of the normalcy that was blue, unoxygenated blood, and replaced by a green, sickened color. “Hemoglobin,” he says, flinging the corpse aside like a discarded toy. “Hemolymph,” Marshall states, “that’s what insects have. It’s not perfect; impure and crude...” he flexed his fingers and claws, “...but, it’s still serviceable blood to this accursed armor of mine.” All too suddenly, Marshall rushed forward, ramming the Touch of Virtue through stunned hornet, like a shish kabob, and drained them at the same time.

“Amanita~...” Marshall singsonged, looking back to her -- his right cheek was dusted in chitinous scale -- as he flung the corpses before her, “I told you to leave, didn't I? You don’t wanna contest a Primal Beast, do you?”

Mucu could tell, much faster than Amanita, as he met Marshall’s inhuman gaze that he was, at the current moment, more Primal Beast than one might suspect -- not just because of his partial insect-ification, and the magic that was warping him. No, it wasn't surface, anymore, but ran to bone; a bestial amalgamation of Light and Dark, forcefully unified with Blood as the medium. Even if Amanita had ordered him to stay, instincts told him to take the youth and young woman away.

It wasn't safe with what felt like a Fledgeling Primal Beast waking up.

And, those instincts weren’t wrong, as Marshall turned his attention back to the incoming swarm, and, without a moment of flair, as he’d done with Selmia, unleashed a whirlwind stream of blood against the hornets that swallowed them whole in gale-force winds of blood; giving force and edge by their own Wind Ether, externalized, and turned as weapon against them by the Touch of Virtue. Swept away, they fell to the terra in messy, bloody chunks, alongside the forest in a path as wide as a house, and as far reaching as one could see.

Teeth grit, Marshall panted via heavy breaths through his nose, as he bit his tongue, and forced the pain to will his sanity back from the edge of no return. Exhausted, once again, the Touch of Virtue deflated in a sense, and returned to its pitch-black, yet elegant evening gown state of being; harboring just enough of the hornet’s blood that was circulating in Marshall’s own to sup, and sate its hunger... for now.

[Awesomoman64]

Sid Lofton

---

Hearing the bard’s thrilling tale of their exodus from prison brought a sly smirk to the pirate’s face. “My my, quite the adventure indeed. And all to escape Ziggurat? You’re either incredibly reckless, or stupidly brave; my favorite kind of criminals.” Believing the situation to be non hostile, Sid took his hand off his weapon and began to raise it so he could properly greet the fellow outlaws.

The introductions would have to be cut short, unfortunately, as a trio of goblin riders descended from the hatch above. Instinctively Sid dove out of the way before the first volley of rocks came towards him, leaving Cayde and Perkeo exposed instead. The poor bard pleaded for peace behind his instrument before his family jewels were shattered. Once negotiations were off the table, the soldier took his place front and center defending his ally with his body while advancing on the enemies.

Back on his feet after his tuck and roll, Sid quickly unhooked his kusarigama ready to join the crimson soldier. The human had already managed to burn out one of the goblins and it’s steed, now it was time to blow the rest away. Keeping his circles tight, Sid began spinning the weighted end of his weapon as he took off towards the goblins. Sprinting past Cayde it looked as though the Erune was going to run head first into the snarling wolves, only to drop down at the last second and slide under the gaping maw of one. As he slid, his chain wrapped around the wolf’s front legs while his sickle dug into its stomach. Once Sid emerged behind the monsters, he yanked the chain and gave a swift kick to the wolf’s hid quarters toppling the gutted animal on its face and tossing the goblin to the ground near Cayde.

With a quick whip and pull the chain came loose and flew back towards it wielder. Keeping the momentum, Sid pivoted and redirected the chain towards the other goblin’s head. A satisfying crunch could be heard as the weight collided with the green monster’s nose. Pulling the chain back to him yet again, the pirate this time decided to have a little fun and refrained from following up on his attack. “What do you think, mates? Should we finish these greens off or leave on alive to tell the tale?” He called out staring at the last mounted goblin with a devious grin.

@Guess Who@The Irish Tree

[Skyrte]

Arno Arrotyr

A horn was blown, and the remaining Goblins fell back. A retreat signal? Arno thought to himself. Maybe the people below decks were giving them more trouble than they were worth, since it was clearly that Arno and Corday were on the backfoot abovedeck. The small pilot got up and jogged to the edge of the ship, peering over the ledge to see where they were running to. It turned out they weren't retreating. They were making room for a larger goblin. The Hobgoblin, despite being below Arno, towered.
"Oh." He muttered at the revelation, then the Hobgoblin leapt from its mount. "Oh!" Arno said, he scrambled back, the Hobgoblin landing just a few feet away from him. Arno turned and ran, putting more distance between it and him. He glanced over to Corday, then at his airship. If only the Hobgoblin was... maybe 10 meters to the left.

The Hobgoblin towered over Arno, and he approached slowly, slamming his club against the deck. A way to intimidate them. And honestly it was sort of working for Arno. The small pilot side stepped over to Corday and whispered to her,
"Let's try to draw it over to the left, in front of my Akula's guns." Arno began to move to the left, towards his airship. He made no indication of his intentions, keeping himself facing towards the large Hobgoblin, doing his best not to make it react. He wanted to draw out that slow walk of his, the longer he did it, the closer Arno could get to his airship.

[The Irish Tree]

Verdant Woodlands: Goblin Siege

@Awesomoman64,@Guess Who
Being no fool, the goblin that had been facing off against Cayde and Sid backed away upon its steed, before the beast bolted away with its master in tow. With that one gone, now the twosome would have to turn their attentions to the deck up above. The other passengers aboard the ship were starting to come to, and panic was set in at the sound of the Hobgoblin's horn. Perkeo would...probably be fine. His future kids for certain wouldn't, but he was only in pain. Agonizing, humiliating pain. The two would need to be quick in their plans however, as the sound of fighting ensued above them. In addition, the resounding distant horns would tell the two that yet more trouble was on the horizon, the old saying: “We still hone the axe which slew your kin. Tis’ still sharp and ever-ready” coming to mind. Much like how the riders had fallen, more regular goblins wouldn't pose much threat to the two veterans of combat.

---

@Skyrte
Arno would find the Hob far more attentive than his fellow Gobs, given that even as he stared down Corday, he didn't once take his eyes off the small harvin. Aware that Arno was armed with some sort of firearm judging from the smell of gunpowder on his nose, the Hob's nostrils flared for a moment before it suddenly pounced towards Corday, club gripped tightly in its hands as it closed the distance. Corday knew Arno's plan, but...now it was getting hairy. The knife-wielding erune found herself hurriedly dodging the quick, almost assuredly fatal strikes and sweeps the Hobgoblin made with his solid club, noting that every time he repositioned, it put her between Arno and the Hobgoblin. The rumors were indeed true; Hobgoblins were far smarter than their smaller counterparts. A knife found some purchase, slicing into the monster's cheek as it dodged back, only for Corday to find a club smashing into her stomach as she was flung back. Reeling and resisting the urge to vomit once again, the blonde erune slowly rose to her feet as the Hobgoblin approached her, brandishing the dagger on its belt rather than the club. It had intent to kill, and was ready to act upon it.

Judging from the sound of distant horns, Arno could tell that backup was coming, and now might be his only chance to shoot down the Hobgoblin in his thirst for blood. Shakily standing, Corday held one hand over her gut, while the other did its best to line up a dagger between the monstrous humanoid's eyes as he lurched forward, right in the path of the Akula.

---

@floodtalon
Having initially arrived oblivious to the dangers of the woods, the white-scaled Dhirom inventor quickly found herself in a bad spot. Initially having spotted the crash, she had presumed it to likely be a great place to harvest some parts for her next prototype, only to find the place under attack by a siege of goblins of varying sizes. In addition, the Zweite colors flown by the various banners all over would tell her that most likely, anyone alive on that ship kind of had the power to putt her in jail. Of note however was the goblin riders closing in on the ship, and, after a moment, she would find that those aboard the ship flew no colors or symbols of the Zweite at all.

For the young inventor, time was crucial here; If she waited too long, the ship would either be at the pickings of the goblins, or sent completely up in flames by the ensuing fight that was going on. Zweite airships were known for having relatively upper crust engineering behind them, and what better ship would there be to pick parts from than the ones who very much wanted her locked behind bars?

---

@Ammokkx
The great snake deity Apep, worshipped for the power it held, was now stalking the forests with Cyll chasing after it, matching pace with the long, rather slow beast as it changed its downed prey, the airship stolen from Ziggurat. Now however the question of HOW to get it away was another thing entirely. As someone who had been actively hunting for some time, Cyll would already have heard the various folk tales surrounding the gargantuan serpent; In the days of the war, it snatched airships whole from the very air, over a mile above the forest's canopy. Griffons, Wyverns, and even powerful dragons were no match for the nightmarish and venomous maw the beast possessed. Now, all that stood between it and a ship full of people unable to defend themselves from such a thing was a young boy with spunk, and knowledge of the area.

However, another old wives tale and cautionary advice from the elder hunters of the hamlet would spring back to mind; A legenadrily ferocious forest Hydra resided not far from here within a cave, and was known to pick fights with Apep, having over twenty heads from the numerous failed skirmishes it had with the beast. While it likely couldn't defeat it, it would work as a sufficient distraction. Alternatively, drawing its attention by attacking would be foolish, but given the beast's relatively poor eye sight, Cyll might be able to hide after launching an attack. Simply warning the crew may also be effective, but with so many injured from the crash, there might be no telling how many casualties Apep's arrival would bring.

---

Site of Remembrance

@Enkryption
bc8dbf
At Marshall's question of whether his benefactor was listening, a bored affirmative of: "Ay, I am." before the primal beast added: "Though, frankly, your little lover is of no concern to me. Karma itself seems to despise you, Marshall, wretch that you are. Try not to burn this one MORE, if that's not too much to ask."

A chill ran up Amanita's spine as Marshall spoke, knees trembling before she quickly found herself swept off her feet by Mucu, along with Rumaya. Fearfully holding onto her mushroom man compatriot, she buried here face in his chest to try and forget just how...sinister Marshall had felt in that moment. He'd been so warm and friendly before, but now...now it was like he was possessed by something bereft of constraint. Mucu meanwhile simply stomped along with the two girls safely in his arms, now carrying a serious furl to his brow. Or, what was close enough to being his brow.

Left alone now, Marshall could FEEL the smug smile upon that primal woman's lips, satisfied in just how isolated her "champion" was. "You see? They run from you. And how quickly, too. You never belonged anywhere, Marshall. And you'll never find somewhere to belong either." she would whisper into his mind, before Marshall would suddenly feel a dull thud against his back, two tiny arms wrapped around him after a few minutes had passed. Pale and delicate, they were like twigs scarcely covered in snowy flesh as Amanita bit her lip. "D-Don't just bleed everywhere for me and then tell me to run, dummy! I said I was a doctor, and I'm not scared of any patient. E-Even if they do drink blood." the girl said, before releasing him from her hug and puffing her cheeks out. "Follow me. We need to get all those bug guts off of you." she said, turning to walk before clutching her left forearm with her opposite hand. "And um...thank you, for saving Rumaya. And me.

[Ammokkx]

_xx_x Cyll _xx_x

---

Cyll darted through the woods, keeping up relatively easily with Apep. The beast was not slowed down by the foliage like Cyll was, but its lackluster base movement speed worked to the boy's favor. Trailing the snake deity wasn't an issue, but coming up with a plan to stop it proved a little more difficult. Cyll couldn't just fight the damn thing, he'd die! Still, doing nothing but chasing after it would lead to the beast swallowing Corday and Arno, not to mention anyone else who might've been on that ship... and Cyll didn't hate any of them particularly bad enough to wish them that fate.

His breathing got heavier as exhaustion slowly creeped up on Cyll, the boy frantically looking around for any kind of clue as to what to do. He soon spotted a bug, a two-headed dragonfly-like creature, rapidly buzzing him by. It was only for a moment, but seeing that lit Cyll's eyes up with clarity.

(The hydra!)

Putting on a cocky grin, Cyll threw his attention back towards Apep. He jumped over a bush and rolled to grab a rock at his feet, wincing at the dirt which got into the wound on his cheek. Cyll slid a short distance and tried to freeze the ether around the rock, before stopping as he realised it wouldn't do him much good here.

(No, I've gotta stop relying on that...)

Cyll took aim and threw the rock straight against one of the small snake-heads on Apep, causing the creature to flinch and turn around. It was only a short distance removed from the erune boy, and a chill ran up his spine while he started to regret all the choices that got him to this point. His confident expression got traded in for a grimace. The two seconds these two took to stare each other down felt like eons. Then Cyll opened his big dumb mouth.

"...D-Damn, you're even uglier when I've got time to loo-HOOK!"

Cyll jumped out of the way mid-sentence as the snake deity lunged at him, the boy tumbling to recover from the sudden movement. Cyll started to bolt straight out of there while Apep chased him hot on the heels.

(Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck-!)

Cyll was beginning to question if sticking his neck out for those two at the airship was worth all this, but that contemplation came a little too late considering the giant monstrosity was ready for another pounce. Cyll barely managed to avoid getting scraped by jumping through a bush, giving the beast a moment to try and coil around him. It was starting to sink in just how stupid of an idea this was, and Cyll realised he wasn't getting away without another juice-up. This wasn't the time to joke around anymore.

(I-I can do this, it's only a short way from here...)

Cyll took a brief moment to let his pupils shrink and every hair on his body to stand upright, feeling his blood pumping harder and harder through his veins. He rushed forward and grabbed onto the rear end of Apep's tail, the beast swinging it powerfully to throw the boy off. It succeeded, with Cyll being flung upwards. Before it could catch him with its venomous bite, Cyll grabbed onto a tree branch and pulled himself back to narrowly escape for a third time, quickly releasing the branch again to drop him in front of the creature once more. He could make out the faint shape of the hydra's cave through the foliage, so all he had to do at this point was dash.

So he dashed like a mad erune.

Apep followed the boy as soon as it could, nearly losing track of him as its poor vision turned Cyll into a faint blur. It bought him enough time to bolt into the dark cave, making the local deity recoil just in front of it. A few seconds later, Cyll rolled out as a shot of venom hit the giant snake straight in the face.

While it hissed in both pain and anger, Cyll jumped into a bush. An angered twenty-headed, green-scaled monstrosity with wings the size of a small airship came stomping out of the cave he was in merely seconds ago. Apep lunged at the hydra in rage, for getting hit with the dragon-like creature's venomous spit angered it greatly. The fun thing about a poisonous hydra to Cyll was that it had the ability to shoot a projectile like that. It made it pretty easy to bait the thing into fighting Apep. The other boon was that even in a dim cave, you could easily spot a green-scale, toxic hydra by the green aura around it. And the smell of a lot of dead bugs around it.

The two giants seemed to have almost entirely forgotten Cyll as they lashed out against each other, smacking and biting away in a desperate bid for either to show dominance. Luring the snake to the nest seemed to have been the right call after all, but Cyll didn't want to give either of these two a reason to come look for him as an after-fight snack. Still high on adrenaline, the boy hauled ass and got out of there as quick as he could.

After a good minute of sprinting, Cyll came to a stop as he collapsed in the middle of a dirt road. Cramps shot through the erune's legs as the boy was left wincing in pain from all the energy he'd just exerted. His senses returned to normal and Cyll tried scrambling to his feet, only to keel over again while the contents of his stomach spilled out in front of him. The stress hit him hard, and he was not only left without any energy, but also reeling in fear. It only just started to dawn on him what he just did.

Cyll vowed to never do that again, and those two owed him big-time for this.

[Enkryption]

Marshall shook his right arm, and flexed his fingers. 'That's what the bandages are for, you walking, candle flame.’ he shot back. ‘In any case, friends, Karma and I shall never be. I'm a Thief, after all. Karma's always on the side of good.’ he looked up, 'Your side, last I checked. So, for the sake of my own personal victory, I can blame you.’ Marshall sighed, and then, tapped his head with her right hand. ‘Additionally, I feel I have to correct you, since, I’ll always have you. After all, you cast such a wonderfully hypocritical shadow for me to survive in.’ he returned her smugness with a broad grin of his own, and had another retort readied, before he was taken off guard, and sent to hand and knee.

There was a soft sheathing of knife in ground, as he root himself in placed with Selmia's Dagger, and angled his right hand to shoot a bullet through himself. If it weren't for the fact he'd remembered the exact weight and density of Amanita's blood, he would have shoot through himself, and through her; taken aback, as he was. Fortunately, he was aware of this, and the the almost ethereally dainty arms that surrounded him. ‘Is this truly a child? Have I been dealt two Jokers in one hand?’ Marshall asks, 'or, have I been so bereft of human contact, I've forgotten what a child truly is?’

Neither answer would please the ancient thief, of course, but, he drew himself, and thoughts, to the present, as Amanita slipped off him. “I don't drink blood,” Marshall says. “Not in any traditional sense, anyways. I am well adjusted to cooked meals, as any man, even if I am without need of them,” he says, looking at her, as she told him to follow her, and thanked him, “I told you... Hm, never mind.” Marshall sided the scolding for another day; perhaps. At this moment, her demeanor and posture were all too fragile, and her offer bespoke of lodgings; a bath, meal, and bed -- all warm.

So, he followed her in silence; determined to entertain neither his own curiosities nor those of his Benefactor. Surely, someone as engrossed in the corruption of light would have less than savory opinion; perverse assumptions to make, and use as taunt and sword against his personage, until she bored of it. His own thoughts conflicted, as well. He treated life as a black and white scenario; everything, everyone, all broken into a simple outcome of 1s and 0s -- “You make frighteningly binary decisions,” someone told him, long gone. And, he agreed, as it kept his mind from wandering, as it sought to do.

His mind had myriads of avenues to walk; simple questions and complex questions. What was Mucu? Was he a threat? He, if Marshall had to apply gender, was clearly smarter than another mushroom off the floor. He could withstand a fair degree of damage, and dish it out, as well. Yet, he seemed easy to placate. Then, there was Rumaya. Why? Why had she been dealt into his life; renew, his Amaya? His first and only victim. He didn't believe in victims, as they were too easy to intertwine with emotion, and sew doubt into his cause, or rashness into his form.

And yet, her she was, a perfect reflection down to the scar. A birthmark, now; if the simple offset of pigmentation was to be believed. Had his mere caress, a great 1,904 years ago, been enough to pervert her very blood, and force Amaya's descendants to bare an echo of his greatest mistake? It was so much to think on, but, insurmountable in comparison to the child that led him across the field encircling the ruined forest. Was she a child? Or, was she another Harvin, playing at being a child for some game or reason? Or, was she of the Nymphs, determined to be seen as more than a Spectre of Beauty?

No matter the answers, he knew they would all fail to please, and bring only more aching. Amanita had presented herself as a savior, and yet, truly, she was but a curse that brought damnation... one that stirred up what he'd buried beneath a protective seal of compassionless bluntness, controlled insanity, and bestial ferocity:

Genuine Affection.

By the Primals above and Astral before them, this just wasn't Marshall's day...

[Flood]

Zendrith

@Skyrte@The Irish Tree

---

"Oh man... This is the best day ever." Indeed, today was the best day ever. Not only had she found a sick airship to loot for parts, but everyone on said airship was way too busy dealing with goblins to try and arrest her! And even if they weren't, it looked like the guys on the ship didn't even want to arrest her as far as she knew. Meaning she could come in and save everyone, sweeping them off their feet like a hero! And of course, you have to reward heroes when they save you, meaning she could get free stuff! Best. Day. Ever.

She ran up to the side of the ship, scrambling up as quickly as a trained acrobat as she grabbed whatever loose boards, vague handholds, and slivers of rope she could see as she ascended. Twas not even a minute later that she vaulted over the railing of the top deck, to bare witness to a Hobgoblin attacking an Erune and her small child! Gasp! "Worry not! The hero has arrived!"

Zen landed on the deck of the ship in a dramatic pose, doing a little spin as she flourished her pistols with a twirl, light shining off her white scales as she smiled a hero's smile. Ok, time for shooting now. Zen took aim at the Hobgoblin's arms, shooting several blasts of highly pressurized water in an attempt to cripple the monster and give the Erune a chance to counterattack. Then she went for the legs, seeking to remove it's mobility as quickly as possible.

[Skyrte]

Arno Arrotyr

The Hobgoblin dashed forward with surprising speed, Arno drew his firearm, but it dashed towards Corday. Arno hesitated, losing the his chance at a clear shot. He grimaced, the attacker was using Corday as a barrier against his line of fire. But his plan wasn't to shoot the Hobgoblin with his handgun. He slid it back into his holster and made a beeline to his Akula, climbing onto the wing with practiced ease. He glanced back at Corday, seeing her locked in deadly combat against the Hobgoblin. Arno leapt into his Akula's cockpit and cranked the weapon convergence dial as far back as he could. He glanced up from the controls in time to see Corday hit by the Hobgoblin's club. He winced and inhaled sharply. The hobgoblin pressed his advantage, closing the distance quickly. Arno glanced at his gun sights, the hobgoblin, Corday, and placed his finger on the trigger. He only had a split second to hit his mark.

Then by a stroke of luck, someone interfered. "Worry not! The hero has arrived!" A woman shouted, Arno didn't look at her, what he was looking at was the Hobgoblin slowing to look at the new arrival. Slowing, giving him more time to aim. In his peripherals he saw the woman raise something, shooting beams of blue at the Hobgoblin's ankles. Arno's heart pounded, the gun convergence on the Akula didn't zero in that close. If he fired the guns when the Hobgoblin was right in his crosshairs, both of the cannon shells would just zip right by him, bracketing him instead of hitting him. He needed to guess his cannons path of travel. Arno's left eye twitched, then he squeezed the trigger. Two deafening thwacks echoed throughout the forest, rapidly followed by the sounds of wood splintering and shattering. The shell from the right side cannon missed, punching a hole through cabin wall, flying out from the other side of the cabin, exiting the airship and going through a tree. The left side cannon shell however found it's mark. The shell impacted the Hobgoblin in the left breast, as it turned to face the newcomer, passed through him, and found the same inanimate targets as the right side cannon shell. The Hobgoblin himself was thrown aside from the impact, a massive hole in his chest. From the cockpit, Arno saw the flash of his cannons, the two, cannon shells, lit by bright green tracers zipping into the Hobgoblin and the wall behind him with lightning fast speed. He watched this with grim satisfaction.

"Ah damn!" Arno shouted, his ears ringing in pain, he brought his right hand to rub his ear. He took a second, grim satisfaction quickly going away, replaced by the regret of not putting on his ear protection. He grit his teeth, then placed his left hand on the charging handle of his cannons. He racked the guns, two loud, metallic clanks. He sighed, then stood up from his cockpit, slowly got out, then jogged over to Corday. "I don't know how to patch people up! I'm pretty sure we need to get you to a real doctor!" Arno said, loudly. He turned to the newcomer, now getting a better look at her, she was a Dhirom. He saw her horns and scales. "Hey! Get over here and help me out!" He practically shouted at her.

[The Irish Tree]

Guess, Awesomoman, flood, and Skyrte

Verdant Woodlands: Goblin Siege

@Awesomoman64,@Guess Who
As the duo readied to fight the ensuing horde of goblins, the sound of cannonfire and the familiar smell of gunpowder permeated the air as the green skinned beastmen beat a hasty retreat. Thankfully with their efforts, the twosome had prevented any casualties among those still out cold or injured within the ship itself. With the area safe for now, they could go about business as they pleased. Perkeo was still passed out from the pain of six billion potential descendants dying out, but would likely be fine with a few hour's rest. However, the engine was still smoking and smoldering, and soon they would have a fire on their hands if they didn't work to put it out. Abandoning the ship was certainly one option, and evacuating everyone before the ship went up was definitely possible if they worked together. Above deck, they could also investigate what had happened, as whoever had fired the cannon shell clearly hadn't been a goblin either.

---

@Skyrte,@floodtalon
Corday was caught off guard as she heard the strange Dhirom call out that she was here, as well as the hobgoblin as his limbs were shot with pressurized water. He scarcely had time to scream before his body was torn asunder by the shells launched by Arno's vessel, his remains splattering against the ground and the wall as the shells even tracked some of their own shrapnel and his bones to the wall of the transport ship's cockpit, destroying it as if it were made of paper. The shell that had missed and penetrated the cabin of the transport vessel sailed on and detonated overhead of another goblin mounted upon a wolf, killing him instantly and sending a startling message to all the other goblins gathered. A war horn sounded a retreat, as the sound of wolves and monstrous cries filled the air, leaving the air ship alone.

With that out of the way, Corday slumped onto her rear and gasped in pain, clutching her side. She'd definitely at least cracked a rib...and she could feel a trickle of blood beneath her red jacket, the only thing concealing her injury. A momentary respite was available now that the hobgoblin and his cronies were dealt with and at the sound of the cannon shells the riders had fled, thinking that the ship still had functioning weapons to assault them with. She winced as she finally felt the adrenaline dissipate, leaving her with nothing but pain and the urge to scream. Looking up at the new arrival, Corday managed a faint smile. "Thanks Arno. You and Miss Hero here saved me.H-Hey there...know any doctors? Could use one right about now...mage or medicine is just fi-" she managed before a coughing fit overtook her, her body wracked with pain and shuddering as she slumped over, eyes squeezed shut as she tried to stop the coughs that only made the pain worse. She was certainly in bad shape. Even a hobgoblin with a good swing could do some serious damage, and he'd nailed her right in the stomach and ribs.

Zendrith no doubt had heard of the tales in town of the girl living in the forest that offered her medical services to anyone, money or not, and that she dwelled in the outskirts of the woods bordering the village, a decent ways away from the ship. It wasn't close, but neither was anywhere else on this overgrown island. It was better than nothing, at least, plus it wouldn't cost her anything to just drop Corday off there. Of course, the smell of smoke and fire also meant that what was supposed to be her "reward" was quickly going up in flames, literally. Starting at the most valuable part of the ship: The engine.

---

Ammo, Enk, 42nd Gecko

Road to Recovery

@Enkryption,@Ammokkx
bc8dbf

"Oh no! Mucu, someone's collapsed!" Amanita said as she crouched over an older Erune boy with silver hair, who was sprawled out on the road next to a pile of vomit. It stank like crazy, and he was clearly showing signs of overexertion. Before he could even protest, Cyll would find himself being hoisted up onto the shoulder of a large, burly and yet somehow very spongy and soft mushroom man. He hadn't the strength to protest or wriggle away, and as such Amanita would help both him, and Marshall. She seemed incredibly kindhearted, if not more than a tad naive as she picked up this total stranger to take care of, without even heeding protests or lack of permission.

---

@The 42nd Gecko,@Enkryption,@Ammokkx
Within Amanita's little abode were several beds where a living room traditionally would be, the whole building looking relatively squalid with several floorboards molded away and chipped, small mushrooms having grown in within the dark corners of the room. A draft blew in through the corner of the door that had worn away and splintered off, but other than the lack of maintenance it was a quaint little place. The beds that Cyll and Marhsall would be forced to lie on were a bit stiff, but the sheets were well-maintained and smelled like freshly dried laundry, the brown sheets bearing some small darker stains, but they had clearly been scrubbed with all the might such a small girl could muster. They would notice on the way in that there was a second floor, but that was mostly cut off by the staircase that was broken down near the middle, leaving whatever was up there a mystery needing agility to discover.

On another bed within the room was a Draph girl that appeared younger than Cyll, bearing silver hair that did nothing to hide her horns that was buried under her sheets, her massive blade resting against the wall beside her. "This is Mushi. She's been here a while after a run-in with a bunch of bandits. She was really cool and beat them all super quick, too!" Amanita introduced, letting them at least get an idea of why she was there. Thankfully, Mushi had already been there for a few days and had thus recovered almost completely from her wounds, almost being ready to venture out once again in search of more opponents to perfect her swordsmanship. What wounds she had sustained were from the bandits with guns having struck while her back was turned, before they were thoroughly trounced too. Amanita had come across her a few days prior, and nursed her back to health with her herbal remedies and potions.

Getting Marshall settled down, she got some water for Cyll and a proper place for Rumaya's unconscious body, returning and saying to Marshall: "There's a bath in the back of the house, third door on the right down that hall. Might wanna wash off the bug guts. I'll look after Ruma, so relax, okay?" the young girl said, moving back to tending to her patients with the hustle of an experienced nurse and doctor, while Mucu looked at Marshall, walking in the direction that Amanita had described to him, intending to guide the immortal man to his place of bathing. Judging by the tension visible on his back, Marshall could tell that Mucu was still wary about him, not exactly willing to trust him fully, especially after that nightmarish display of insect based vampirism. Still, when he looked back at Marhsall, there was a certain sadness to his eyes that was unmistakable. ...Something was on the mute myconid's mind, but Marshall might not manage to pick it apart, or even care to at the moment.

---

Suku

Crossing Fate: Krumatzi

@Suku

As an airship pulled into the busy dock of Krumatzi, a pink haired woman bearing the armor and clothing of a foreign frozen nation stepped off of the vessel she had rode upon, the first stop in what would become a lengthy adventure as she pursued the one who overshadowed her in life. Her first steps upon the cobbled stone streets would be her first outside of her home and a ship bound for parts unknown. The warmth and humidity of the area was no doubt in stark contrast to the dry and cold mountains she hailed from, but thankfully she was dressed as best she could be for the weather. Her investigation had lead her to learn that her sister had passed through this very island, before hitching a ride to another port on an airship. The details were sketchy, but if any were to know it would be the owner of this island's branch of the Tyragrande Airship Commissions Office. No ship could leave or arrive legally without an inspection of almost every passenger and their belongings, so there was bound to be some information about her sister.

On the way to meet with said owner, a rather rough looking, yet scrawny man with a thin hazel beard and hair obscured by a bandanna tied over his head would bump into Hilde, before bolting off in a hurry just as she would feel her pocket become lighter. In a flash however the thief was on the ground, writhing in pain as a small being in jet black armor smacked him right in the ankle with the flat of his (for his size) large blade, the harvin kicked the man in his stomach and forced him to roll over, before grabbing the sack of Rupees that had belonged to Hilde and offering it to her. "...Here. Its your's, isn't it?" he questioned, violet eyes meeting her's as he waited for her to accept, seeming a bit impatient as he bounced up and down on his heels, trying to push the sack into her hands as soon as possible. "Hanging onto money so blatantly brings trouble, ma'am." he would say, his great(for him)sword pointed into the ground and resting between two bricks of cobbled stone.

[Enkryption]

Marshall moved in mute silence, taking in the Myconid’s apprehensive judgement of him, and his forlorn expression. He was troubled; by what, Marshall couldn’t bring himself to question or be bothered by it. However, Marshall felt off-put. To be cared for, waited on, by what surmounted to a child? It wasn’t indignity, pride, or even a misplaced sense of masculinity that bothered him, but a whisper of paternal failure.

A father isn’t to be waited on hand and foot by his daughter...

Shaking the eerie thought off, Marshall entered the bathroom, and bade the Myconid thanks, before closing the door. As it shut, he turned the water on, disrobed, soaked himself and his clothing fairly clean, and set them back on. Sighing, he shook his hair once, twice, and turned his attention to the mirror -- driving a fist into his own reflection. Shards of the thick glass stuck, steadfast, in his left fist, unarmored, and blood dripped down into the sink.

Five faces glared back at him, as the mirror shattered like a star from impact...

[Thinking of running away already? That’s a record.] snickered a voice in his head; years upon decades upon centuries of playing host to blood from veritable gods to indomitable vermin had left him with a fragile mind, and voices of old demons, angels, and all between them taunted him. {That is what he’s best at; escaping.} Marshall shook his head, slapping his right cheek with his free hand. (You shouldn’t flee so soon. You’ll sadden her.) Marshall groaned, resisting the urge to look back at up at his reflections. <Do you think he cares? He’s a coward. A thief.> Marshall gasped, as he nearly slipped to a knee for a moment; blood settling, the previous traumatic loss catching up. ｢He’ll die on a cursed pyre. A nobody.｣

ALONE

“SHUT UP!” Marshall roared, banging his right fist into the sink. “Damned be you all... shut up...”

Shut up...

Just let me die...

Please...

But, Death was not to be his -- her cold, culling caress was but a phantom wisp upon his cheek; a memory; a wish; a curse. He could feel her fingertips, gracing his skin, and chilling him to the core of his being, as she supped his soul. Primals above, Astrals below, he wanted to see her perfection, and stay. But, he couldn’t -- not with his mistress clinging to his leash on life so tightly; the ugly spider-woman of blindly beautiful light casting him a everlasting shadow to do her bidding from within.

Perfection in the Darkness, Perfection in the Light, and he, Imperfection in their mingling Shade.

“I...” Marshall let the words die in his throat, as he drew his fist from the mirror, and set upon cleaning his mess; glass in the trash; blood in the water; misery in his silence. His damned life pressed on.

[The 42nd Gecko]

As Amanita introduced Mushi, she positively glowed, a smile creeping up and overtook her lips. While she didn't say anything, her body language was fairly easy to read, and it was saying 'no no, praise me more!'

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Mushi nodded as the introduction was finished. But, as she glanced back up, she got a better look at Marshal and hesitated on her follow up.

~Oof, that guy looks like he picked a fight with depression and lost.~ Mushi thought to herself as Marshal passed wordlessly onto the bath. Didn't look like much of one for conversation, and Mushi thought he looked like he would just spread an aura of sadness around himself, like a constant cloud of dreariness. So, she let him pass without any trouble. Cyll on the other hand, she looked keenly at, staring into his eyes.

"Are you wearing eyeliner or is that a natural marking?" Mushi asked to break the silence between herself and Cyll. She definitely didn't seem to have any concerns over whether her question was too pointed or personal.

@The Irish Tree@Ammokkx@Enkryption

[Guess Who]

Cayde Selmy

_{@The Irish Tree@Awesomoman64@Skyrte@floodtalon}

Watching as the last of the goblins retreated from the inside of the crashed ship, Cayde would give a friendly pat on the back to his newly found battle buddy. Hopefully this wasn't just a temporary alliance, since the nobleman could easily see this pirate knew how to fight. "Impressive work there. I've never seen footwork or weapon handling like that before in my life," he praised him, similar to how a commanding officer would congratulate the work of his auxiliary. While he certainly was no hard ass military commander, it would probably be clear to Sid that this man hung onto their upright and scrupulous nature.

With that, Cayde would finally direct his attention to the smoke which had been gathering above their heads for the past several minutes. He had noticed it earlier, but with the little mechanical knowledge he had and the goblin ambush he had pushed any thoughts about it aside until later. Now it was difficult to ignore. Cayde had never directly messed with a ship's engine before, but he knew that the thing was in a much worse state than it had been earlier.

"I don't suppose you know how to fix this thing, would you?" he asked, turning to Sid. His best guess would to just throw cold water on it in the hopes that it would cool it down, but he knew that was a temporary fix at best and something to further to break it at worst. "If not, I think we should check the top deck. Perhaps whoever was operating the cannons also knows how to fix this."

[Ammokkx]

_xx_x Cyll _xx_x

^{_{@The 42nd Gecko}}

---

Well. Here Cyll was.

The last thing he expected from lying face-down in the dirt was to get hoisted up in the air by some kind of giant mushroom creature. He'd tried to muster up the strength to kick himself away, but his muscles stung each time he tried to move them. He had noticed two people looking up at him as he was being hoisted over its shoulder, carried away further into the forest.

Ain't it a damn coincidence that it turned out to be the little doctor he'd heard so much about?

He was sitting there now, slumped against the edge of a bed, staring out blankly in front of him. Truth be told, he thought she'd been a myth. Just like Apep and the Hydra before her, Cyll only heard of the girl through second-hand rumors. The day had been completely surreal for the boy and he wondered what other rumors were going to ambush him. Well, at least he did up until the little doctor came back.

"I told you, I'm fine!"

Cyll had been protesting against all of Amanita's efforts for a while now, being the stubborn brat he was. Even though it felt like a knife slicing through his body each time he moved a muscle and his ankle was most definitely sprained badly enough to cripple him for two weeks, Cyll insisted he'd be able to handle it. Of course the good doctor seemed to be just as headstrong as him. She handed him some kind of brew, boiled mushrooms mixed with water, and told him to drink up. Cyll could already smell the horrible taste, but it didn't seem to bother him much. He didn't give himself any time to second-guess and downed it in one go, not even bothering to let his tastebuds register the liquid as it shot down his gullet. Once he was done, Cyll slammed down the cup next to him on the bed.

Then it all hit him at once.

"Oooh that's vile...!"

Cyll groaned as he felt his stomach twist and turn again from the taste of molten rubber mixed with fresh leather. He coughed a few times, partially for drinking it faster than any erune should've been able to, but also because it was just that disgusting.

Cyll weakly thanked Amanita as he handed the cup back to her, but twitched his ears when he heard a faint noise in the distance. The erune's face shot in the direction of that sound.

"Uh... I think something might've... happened to that other guy. I-I'll go and check it ou-ngh!"

Cyll tried to get up, but felt his ankle complain the moment he tried to move a muscle. Amanita scolded him and left to check it out herself, leaving Cyll as he leaned back again. He let out an exhausted sigh and glanced to the side. Cyll noticed the Draph female was staring back at him with curiosity in her eyes. Her name was Mushi, right?

"Are you wearing eyeliner or is that a natural marking?" she asked.
"Wha...?"

Cyll was taken aback by the sudden question, equal parts flustered and confused. Instinctively he touched the markings under his eyes, pausing for a brief bit.

"...Oh. You mean these, right?"

The erune traced the markings with his finger for a bit, noticing that his arms ached a lot less than compared to before. Did that medicine kick in already?!

"Neither, I guess. They're from back home..."

The erune paused and threw his hands behind his head, wincing a bit as he accidentally shifted his ankle while doing so, before continuing.

"It's kind of like a ritual. Proves I'm an adult, or something. You're asked to hunt something, and if you can do it, you get your markings. It helps distinguish those who hunt from those who don't."

He turned his head back to Mushi, a wry smile on his face.

"Oh, neat!" Mushi tilted her head a little as she nodded.

"I guess my culture doesn't really have anything similar. If I didn't have my sword, nothing would visually denote me as a warrior." She brought her hand up to her chin to think for a moment.

"Is it important on your island to know who can hunt? Like, are there monsters or something?" Mushi asked.

"Important? Well… yeah, I guess. It’s pretty cold where I’m from, and food’s scarce. We don’t really have anything we can gather, either… we need to rely on capturing animals to either sell them or make stuff for ourselves. So, hunters are kinda like the lifeblood of where I’m from."

Cyll’s face turned to a frown as he spoke, pulling his right hand from behind his head and staring at his open palm.

"I’m not sure I agree with our methods, though. I think I’m proud of my markings, but..."

Mushi frowned a bit, whether sympathetically with Cyll’s, or that she didn’t like what she was hearing, no one knew. Not even herself. ~He thinks he's proud of them? But wasn't sure? That was odd, it sounded for a bit like it was a badge of merit. Maybe there was a lot of responsibility or something else? I shouldn't automatically presume too much. It sounds like a hard place some hard ways of living.~ She tried to put her smile back on her face. ~It wouldn't be becoming to judge so soon. I have to be all enlightened and stuff! See with unclouded eyes and all that.~

”Um, sounds like a rough place. My place was kinda rough, but it-it was the boisterous, play fighting kinda rough, not the actual hard to live rough, you know. We had a kind enough island that lots of us could focus on the pursuit of being warriors, just for the sake of seeking excellence. It’s pretty warm and bright too.” Mushi stumbled a little as she tried to steer the conversation towards nicer topics, but she started to smile genuinely and pick up a little steam as she got onto familiar waters.

”Err! Not to brag and all that about how my island’s better or anything! I’m sure your island is cool too! Like, did it have snow? I’ve heard snow is fun!” Mushi then quickly backtracked again, thinking she might be misunderstood talking about how nice and warm her island was. The erune she was talking to looked up at her, one eyebrow raised as he struggled to keep a straight face. Her enthusiasm rubbed off on him.

"You kiddin’? It’s got loads of snow. Not in the city ‘course. That’d be a problem, but you can’t go five steps outside the border before you’re neck-deep. Used to sneak out with m’mates all the time just to fuck around n’d stuff each other’s clothes full of the stuff.”

The erune snickered and tossed his legs over the side of the bed so he could talk to Mushi a little easier. He still winced from moving his ankle, but the medicine he took was dulling the pain a little better now.

"Honestly, though? It’s real pretty. Few flowers we got have these really hard, blue leaves that melt and drink the snow that drops on ‘em. Shine a light on them and they glow in the night, how cool is that?”

”Woah? The snow got neck high? But like… Water never gets that high, and snow is frozen water, right?” Mushi blinked in amazement, before raising a hand to her horn tips and measuring across over to Cyll. They were both sitting, so it was an impressively inaccurate measurement, but she made it nonetheless.While Cyll might have had stunted growth, Mushi hadn’t finished growing, and was a Draph on the small side for Draphs to boot. Even measuring by her horns, which added a fair chunk thanks to their orientation, she didn’t quite measure up to him, and definitely not reaching to his eartips.

”Gosh, I’d have to swim in it or drown, wouldn’t I?” Mushi worried with a furrowed brow as she retracted her hand back to her horns and measured again, as though it would change anything. But, eventually she shrugged, ”At least it’s pretty though! I’d love to see a flower like that someday.”

Cyll was taken aback by Mushi. He hadn’t noticed it before, but those enthusiastic movements and sparkling eyes were cute. The erune felt like something got caught in his throat and his face started to redden from how flustered he got.

”A-ah, well, uh… I’m from Auricus, so like… if you ever find yourself there, you can see the flowers for yourself."

The boy realised he’d never introduced himself. He pulled his legs back over the side of the bed and pushed himself against the edge again.

"Anyway... I'm Cyll. Guess I forgot to tell you that."

”Sure thing! It’s been super great to meet you.” Mushi got the feeling that she was starting to disturb Cyll’s rest and recovery, so despite the fact that she wanted to say a few more things she decided to stop and lay back down on her bed herself. On the one hand, she was probably good to go. On the other hand… excuse to lie in a warm bed. Cyll’s reply wasn’t short after she nestled herself comfortably.

"Yeah. You’re pretty cool, too."

[Awesomoman64]

Sid Lofton

---

Sid coiled his weapon with a chuckle as his new ally came up and complimented him. “Thanks. You're not so bad yourself, private.” He replied with a thumbs up. “Glad to see you're not one of those knights afraid to get their armor scratched.” Though he jested with the soldier’s rank, he genuinely applauded Cayde for willingly putting himself in harm's way. It was a rare trait to see in people now a days.

With no other enemies coming for them, Sid too noticed the plumes of smoke slowly filling the room. He had assumed his fiery friend’s magic had been the source, but with none of those flames lingering and the dark clouds building it was all too obvious what was going on. Cayde was the first to assess the situation and inquired if Sid would be able to repair the unstable engine or see if someone above deck could. The soldier probably didn’t think their chances of evacuation looked good and the pirate had to agree.

“Sorry, mate.” Sid shook his head. “A leaking pipe or a broken belt I can do, but this? We need someone more experienced and fast.” As he heard his own words out loud, an idea popped in his head. “Actually, I think I can buy us some time.” Unfurling his kusarigama once more, Sid stepped in front of the smoking machine while twirling his chain to build up speed. Once it was going fast enough, he turned the swirling weapon towards the engine and unleashed a stream of wind onto the engine. With any luck his makeshift fan would be enough to snuff out the flames and regulate the temperature without cooling it too drastically. If not it would at least keep the heat from rising faster than it had been.

“I think I’ve got this.” He called to the soldier. “Now get up there and see who you can find!”

@The Irish Tree@Guess Who@Skyrte@floodtalon

[The 42nd Gecko]

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