GambolMuse

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Warped metal, it just so happened he had precisely the tool for the job. Having to fix numerous dents on both the hull of the ship and on the deck he'd brought along a magnetized clamp, and such a device was precisely what Cecil needed right now. Digging through the bags on the back of his vehicle Norman looked down at Amuné when she came over. He expected something when she adopted an uneasy stance yet not her claiming guilt for the Machina's condition. Wyth had done it then? He supposed that was probable, a moorcat had an awful lot of power behind its paws. "Of course I can fix him. I've fixed Machina in far worse condition than he is, he'll be fine. All of his wounds are on the outside it seems, plus he's a bit shaken. Things will be just fine, don't you worry."

"Yes, though... Maybe saying you'll feel a pinch is wrong. Pinch means skin... Come to think of it this is difficult to explain what you'll feel," Norman mused, tilting his head to the side in thought, seemingly deeply trouble by that. "A warping sensation? That makes no sense. Perhaps a tugging sensation? I suppose that works, though I'm not certain if your sensors react to that kind of feeling. Hm... I suppose we'll find out. All you need to know is it's painless and it'll fix that dent of yours in seconds." Adjusting the clamp itself to properly fit his skull Norman eased it over Cecil's hair, letting the pads settle down before starting to lower the magnet itself. Easing it into the dent he felt it snap to the piece of the Machina, slowly starting to turn the handle again to fix him.

Just like that Cecil's head was fixed, the metal of his skull popping back into place with a soft snap and settling right back as it was. Satisfied that it was finished Norman brushed a fingertip over it just once to check for any more damage, giving Cecil a pat on the shoulder. "See my friend? Good as new! Just a small dent, it seems it wasn't deep enough to come in contact with anything, just superficial as I said." Folding the clamp up he slipped the handle beneath the band of his tool belt, dusting off his hands on his already sodden shirt. "Something to show me? Well then let's see it, in just a second though." Amuné was back, and she looked like she was awfully nervous again. So she wanted to go over in detail what had brought this about, that was fair enough. It was best he hear about it anyways so he could figure out if Cecil needed further attention or not.

"Strange... So he seemed to just... Go blank, as you said? And he attacked those men?" That was unusual, and a very rare occurrence. It did happen, occasionally a Machina's programmed personality would shut down leaving a 'blank state' as Amuné had described it. Generally speaking though they went about their task regardless, rarely did they lash out as Cecil supposedly had. Considering he was a combat Machina it wasn't unreasonable to assume that was his job, yet something still tickled him the wrong way. "I can certainly try. Thank you Amuné, I'll be sure to do my best." He wasn't expected back in Orosi for a little while yet anyways, in fact he wasn't even expected at the ship for a few more hours. What was 20 minutes checking up on an old friend?

"So then Cecil, now that we both know everything that happened, why don't we try figuring out why it happened. Amuné said you went blank for a moment there, and in a way it almost sounds similar to how we lose consciousness." Sometimes a warrior on the battlefield could fight on despite that, running purely on adrenaline. Yet Cecil was a Machina, he didn't possess that quality. So what had brought it about? Taking a seat on the back of the cart beside Cecil, the engineer placed his hands in his lap and slouched down slightly. "My initial guess is you defaulted to your original programming. You're a combat model, so you did exactly what you were designed to do. Normally I'd like to leave it at that, but something doesn't quite add up." Norman frowned as he sat upright, looking up towards the sky as he rubbed at the back of his head. "Typically a Machina has to be shut down completely and rebooted to reinitialize their personality properly. By the sounds of it though you just kind of... Faded, which suggests there may have been a glitch. Can you recall what you experienced then? Describe it to me as best you can."

Nymira was glad to have her daggers back, it meant going on she'd be able to defend herself. And she supposed in some small way it was nice running into Norman again, even if his droning on about his toys bored her to tears. Pleasant as it all was she would prefer to keep moving however and only remained silent on the matter since Cecil required attention. She hardly hid her displeasure though, frowning as her fingers drummed on her arm rhythmically. Getting further away from town would be ideal, especially if guards were already coming after them. Seeing as Cecil and Norman were quite busy however she knew they had some time yet before they began moving, meaning sitting still was their only option. Considering their guide Geoffrey was waiting as well she couldn't quite forge ahead on her own.

"Geoffrey was it...? I still don't quite understand why you agreed to take us to our destination, but I suppose I should thank you," the Dimuran said, glancing over at him and Zander, "Name your price once we arrive and its yours. Considering my retainers' navigation leaves a lot to be desired there's something invaluable about someone who knows their way around." He'd already proven himself more capable than Zander, and far less bothersome even with that accent of his. If not perhaps for the healer's saving grace being just that, his ability to heal, she'd have argued to leave him be. Perhaps they still could leave him in the next town, that should keep him safe from vindictive guards. "I have to ask as well, that bow... You're a marksman? I've not seen any of your people wielding one yet," Nymira said thoughtfully as she looked down at her hand, listing off with fingers as she recalled, "I've seen swords, lances, spears. The strange weapons those men earlier used. But no bows. I was beginning to think Murans were incapable."

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

My turn again then xD

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Better late than never?" Vegeta offered lamely, sighing as he rubbed at his head, "I was wrong and I was ignorant. Nothing I do or say now will make up for that or change how you feel. All I'm doing is acknowledging it, hoping I can improve for you." It was a sorry excuse and it sounded like he was only trying to defend himself with that, he knew that much. Offering anything more now would only be excuses and making promises would fall on empty ears, the only way to make amends was through his actions. He could at least start with a hot meal for Viral, he figured, help replenish his brother's strength after the battle. "I'll see what her take is on this, after you eat. You know as well as I do that she'll probably say you did most of it," Vegeta retorted, smiling slightly, "If you don't wake then I'll refrigerate the food until later, that's all. For now though rest up." With that he went off to the kitchen to prepare the meal, figuring Viral might enjoy some kebabs for a change.

"F-Fight? You call this fighting?" Takeshi asked between laughs, rolling to try and get Shu off of him, "You're crazy buddy if you think this is fighting, you know!" Unable to just get Shu away outright he did the only thing he could at this point, grab him by the shirt and try to pry him off. While he managed to partially separate his brother his tail had a vice-like grip on his foot, and after some clambering he grabbed an arm again. "You don't wear shoes, so why wear shirts?" Takeshi teased, finding himself unable to free himself like this. Giving up promptly on that he rolled again and tried to pin Shu under him, using his free hand to try and tickle at his brother's sides. "I'm gonna make you regret holding onto me! You're gonna pee your pants!"

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Also I need to clarify something else. Kedo is the Air Saint, while Edos is the Luminous Saint, or the one associated with healing.

This is why we don't write/discuss ideas at 3 am children :P

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

I hate to be a stickler chukkle, but I slept on it and I think you do need to find a new image, if you're going to play a Divined. The description for them has them far different from that image, that looks more Muran or Ydran even.

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Sure can! All I ask is that you make a CS, and take a brief look at some stuff on the front page, so you know how things work. Feel free to ask me any questions :)

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

There, a second Adelon post today xD Suddenly we're chugging along!

And the next town we'll be stopping at is Warren :3

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Ethan wasn't much in the mood for arguments, though he was glad Amuné voiced her opinion on who to ride with. He was just as fine either way even if he knew she had something of a penchant for him, and her telling Geoffrey herself settled the matter. Chuckling as she took his hand he smiled down at her, nodding once in agreement. "Yeah, stupid plan. We won't lie to the guards." But then speaking the truth seemed even worse, there was absolutely no reason for them to believe what they were told. Best case scenario they could just avoid the topic altogether and not have to discuss it, and while their going back to find the massacre would look badly they couldn't help that.

Everyone's attention was stolen away by the roar of something up ahead, something not quite natural. When Norman appeared on some kind of metal steed everyone was confused by the contraption, and his explanation of the vehicle did little to alleviate that. Smiling in amusement as Nymira snapped at him the engineer brushed off her critique, putting up his hands and lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "You wound me, honestly. I thought you might be interested in trading with my company, once I get up and running," he began, looking away as the Dimuran adopted an abashed expression, "But I guess not. Perhaps some other clan would be interested..."

"Alright, you've made your point, grease-monkey..." Nymira snapped, folding her arms and scowling, "The details are wasted on us anyways, no one here has the expertise you do. Save yourself the trouble and spare us the headaches."

Norman nodded respectfully at that and let out a chuckle, taking his gloved hand to his cheek to wipe some grease from it. "All's fair I suppose, I won't argue with that," he responded, looking then to Geoffrey as he questioned the vehicle. The boy sure did seem intrigued, though he questioned how much knowledge he had about Demacite. "Nah, it's fire aspected actually. Unaspected Demacite generally doesn't hold any charge, I'm basically using it as a combustion system," Norman explained, leaning down and prodding the container, "Simply put, the Demacite discharges a burst of energy every now and then, and that energy us used to turn the wheels. I can use the throttles to pump out more energy and get more speed. That's the gist of it anywho, the actual mechanics behind it are a slight more complicated than that. As far as being stable... Well, unless you take a tight corner, yeah. And because I haven't gotten the balance just right, its barely keeping steady when it's just me..." he mused, frowning as he scratched at his head, "Darn thing teeters like a sunnuvagun, I need to figure out how to stabilize it..."

"You're doing it again Norman. Spare us the chatter," Nymira commented dryly, turning away as Geoffrey spoke up. It made sense to skip the ship now, there was nothing for them there and it may only lead to complications if faced with the guard. If Geoffrey knew where to go from here then she supposed leaving navigation to him wasn't so bad, so long as he did his job she didn't mind. "Yes, we'd best be going," the Dimuran added. Before that however Cecil did need attention, and with Norman bringing his condition into question the Machina seemed very uneasy about it. He appeared fine, what was the worry?

Norman cringed a bit when Cecil fell out of the cart, smiling sympathetically when he found himself in the dirt. "Hey now, these things happen. Everyone and everything gets a bump or a bruise now and again, I'd be constantly angry if I got mad any time that happened," he said in a dismissive fashion. Joining them at the back of the cart he eased Cecil down to sit on the tail end, lifting up the cap and inspecting the dent. "Hm... Well the good news is its a superficial wound, nothing more than a dent. I can't run diagnostics here but you seem to be operating fine, so I just need to pop that little ding out. One second."

Watching Norman return to his strange vehicle Ethan breathed a bit easier now knowing they were free from that mess. Not having to return to the ship was a huge weight off his shoulders and once Cecil was taken care of they could return on their journey. Wherever that was, Geoffrey was leading this leg and no one knew what the next town was even called, never mind where it was. "Boy... Sure has been one heck of a day, hasn't it kiddo?" he chuckled, looking at Amuné and placing a hand gingerly on her head, "But we all came out of it in one piece. Banged up, but no worse. Sorry we never had a chance to ask about your folks, I promise we'll do it in this next town, okay?" He'd wanted to get some information but that chance was long gone now, unless they wanted to risk being brought in by the guard. "How're you doing by the way...? You going to be okay?"

"Ah, here we are! This should help you out," Norman said as he returned, a small clamp in hand with a magnetized pad attached. "It might pinch a little bit Cecil, fair warning. All I'm going to do with this is put these on the side of your head," he explained, pointing to the two padded tips of the clamp itself, "And then lower that pad to the dent. It'll grab hold of the metal and I can pull it back out, slowly. Your skull's comprised of a very solid yet malleable metal alloy, getting a dent is perfectly reversible. So just sit tight while I do this, you'll be good as new in a second."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"I'm not saying some things don't matter, don't misconstrue my words. And having a mission or job doesn't change the fact you have needs and your health matters. You're not an inanimate object or a tool that can just be worn down. I know that now." He'd underestimated Viral's intelligence initially and then refused to accept responsibility for his father's work, whether out of reluctance or by being intimidated by it. Whatever the case he'd been neglectful, and then further ignorant in thinking that neglect would be excused. It was no small wonder why Viral didn't trust him. "Food? Yes of course, I'll go prepare something for us right away," Vegeta said, his voice monotone as he kept his eyes off of the Beastman, "Please just sit here and relax, I'm sure you're tired from today. Take a nap even if it helps, I'll be back when its done."

Takeshi tried pushing Shu off of his legs, laughing all the while. Like hell he was going to let his little brother get a hold of him that easy! "No you don't! I'll get away!" he retorted, feeling his hand slip off of Shu's head and miss him entirely. When his arm was grabbed and his foot wrapped up he became thoroughly caught, unable to do much other than squirm. "H-Hey, that's cheating you know! I can't even fight back now!" He could fly away with Ki but then where was the fun in that? Using his free arm he dragged himself a bit further, pushing himself and rolling to try and get Shu off of him. No matter how much he rolled though the younger boy's grip was firm, and after a while he stopped, laying on his back and laughing breathlessly. "Sheesh... You really aren't letting me go huh?" Takeshi asked, looking down with a smirk, "Fine, I'll not let go of you either!" Reaching down he grabbed the back of Shu's shirt, being unable to really reach anything else as he tried to pull his brother off of him, "Come on you little fuzzball, let go!"

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

"I doubt the guard will be hostile. Word shouldn't have spread out here yet," Ethan remarked tiredly, putting on a smile to try and hide it, "If worst comes to worst we can always try and lie. Say we finished in town and were coming to retrieve our things." He didn't much care for lying yet in this case it was far better than the truth; the mayor was dead, several of their comrades too and they were hoping all that would be ignored, so could they have their things back? Optimistic as he might be even he knew how poorly that would go over. Hearing a request to allow Amuné to ride with Geoffrey he turned to the latter, seeming to deliberate it if only for a second before shaking his head.

"No, that's alright. I don't want to be sleeping just yet and having her to mind keeps me attentive..." Ethan began before laughing breathlessly, "Well... Attentive-ish. Besides she's gone as far to name this horse, I think its fair she gets to ride the one she's named." He would sleep once they had camp established, once everyone was well and set in and the danger had passed. He could never forgive himself if he passed out now and something were to happen to anyone. Doubtless the others were in the same state as him anyways, if they could manage then so could he.

Nymira was fine to have someone act as her guide in these unknown lands. She was even fine with being given suggestions as to where to travel for her mission. Having someone speak on her behalf though? And to do so without her permission? Unallowable, and certainly not someone who carried themselves as commonfolk and who spoke in such tongues that she could scarcely understand him. "I think we'll be fine addressing the guards ourselves," the Dimuran added in with a frown, "We were there involved in the fighting, I think it best this comes from us anyway." It was their deeds and in turn it should be them that spoke of the issue, not Geoffrey. To do so showed a level of detachment and refusal of acceptance of their actions. Had things gone south on the ship? Perhaps, but it wasn't going to disappear if they tried distancing themselves, best to accept it now. Same could be said of the mayor's incident, but that was well out of their control: this they had a say in.

As the trees began to thin, signaling the shore up ahead, the group would be made aware of a dull droning noise up ahead. At first it sounded similar to a creature's growling, albeit oddly consistent and steady. The horses didn't appear to be terribly unnerved by the noise either if only confused, their ears perked and movements slowed somewhat as they no doubt were trying to place the sound themselves. The noise began to draw closer and increase in volume, and before anything became visible a cloud of dust could be seen up ahead on the road. Drawing the horses to a halt Ethan reflexively reached down to his hip for his sword, forgetting he no longer possessed it and instead trying to muster up whatever minute traces of magic he had left. Was it a beast? Some kind of known monster? They needed to be ready for anything, and the timing on this encounter couldn't be worse.

The situation wasn't confusing enough without seeing a man riding towards them, mounted on something unknown and traveling at a high speed. As the figure drew nearer they caught sight of a familiar cropping of blond hair, a worn duster jacket swaying in the wind. It was Norman approaching them, that much they now knew, but just what in the world was he riding? The mechanic must have spotted them as his mount slowed its pace to nearly a halt, the rumbling noise emanating from it dying down until it was all but silent. He was covered in dust and oil, his eyes hidden behind a thick pair of goggles and a bemused smile on his lips. The looks on some of their faces told him they had never seen anything like this before, though very few people had. It wasn't completely dissimilar to the reaction the guards had given him upon arriving either, no one knew what to make of it.

"Well, fancy meeting you kids all the way out here. Didn't expect to run into you here," Norman greeted, smirking as he pulled up the goggles to his forehead, his eyes cleaner than the rest of his caked face. "What's got you out here anyway? Going to inspect that ship?"

"Er... Actually we're heading back there. We were the ones who fought on it," Ethan admitted sheepishly as he continued to stare at the contraption beneath Norman, "It's uh... Well we left some things back there and we were hoping to get them back before we left. I don't suppose you saw any weapons or anything back there?" Hopefully he didn't ask about what happened, even if Ethan was confident Norman wouldn't think any lesser of them for it. Even Cecil's attack had been in self defense, they hadn't done anything on that ship out of cold blood.

Norman smiled knowingly as he swung a leg over his motorbike, nodding as he walked around to the back of it. "In fact I do, I even found them. Guards there mentioned they belonged to you, said I should bring them back to Orosi and hand them in. Whatever went on that ship sure must have been one hell of a fight, the poor things all beat up," he commented, unlatching a pack on the rear of his machine. From inside the pack he fetched Nymira's daggers, wrapped together in a cloth and bound by twine, handing them over to the Dimuran as she hurried down to fetch them. "Found this staff here as well on my way back, I'm assuming it belongs to one of you," Norman added as he glanced around, handing it over to Zander when he raised a hand, "I just got done repairing the engines on that ship, have to say you kids sure know how to make a scene."

"Well... To be fair it wasn't completely our doing," Ethan laughed, rubbing at his neck awkwardly as he tried to explain, "We uh... Well the thing is we were asked to get the ship back. There were just bandits at first, and then some men showed up and complicated things. Somehow we made it out of that mess in one piece." Considering how some of the men ended up in all the fighting they had gotten off remarkably easily, with little to show for the ideal aside from some minor cuts and fatigue. Seeing the others get their weapons back was of somewhat relief too, knowing that at least some of them were armed now.

"There's no honor among your people, Norman. They attack without reason and steal from one another like its nothing. I don't understand you Murans at all," Nymira said with a shake of her head. "Still... I suppose you were right before, not all of your kind are thieves or hopeless buffoons. Even Ethan has proven to have his worth." Ignoring the proverbial cloud she'd created over Ethan's head she unwrapped her daggers, inspecting them briefly before returning them to their homes at their sides. Then, knitting her brow together the Dimuran looked up to Norman expectantly, a hand going to her hip. "Since no one else has asked yet... What in the world are you riding on?"

The head of the vehicle, if it could be called a head, was crafted of some silver metal and shaped in the head of a horse. That aside nothing of the machine was recognizable. There were two wheels on it, one in the front and the other in the back, and long poles connecting the former to some kind of steering device. A leather seat sat between the wheels and some kind of mess of piping and a large, blocky object sat beneath that. She had never seen anything like it, and clearly neither had any of the others.

Norman smiled proudly as he was asked about his creation, his eyes shining with a certain delight as he was given a chance to explain. "This, my dear, is my latest invention. I call it a "motorbike", isn't she beautiful?" he mused, running a hand along the seat before gesturing to the assorted pipes. "It's a vehicle propelled completely on Demacite, and it travels even faster than a horse might. Beneath the seat here is a housing unit for a demacite crystal, and then circuits from that travel through the piping here, to both wheels through the undercarriage. By using the handles here," Norman explained, gripping the throttle on the front, "I can increase or decrease the flow of energy. It's quite ingenious if I say so myself. By using Demacite's energy properties I can convert the magic into raw power, making the vehicle capable of-"

"I asked what it was, not for a complete lesson on its parts," Nymira said exasperatedly, "I see that's how you managed to get this far so quickly though. I don't recall seeing this in your shop..."

"Because I had it hidden. It's not much of a secret project if it's out in plain view now is it?" Smiling at the cross look on Nymira's face the engineer looked past her to the rest of the group, noting how worn down everyone was. Whatever had happened on that ship certainly took its toll, some of them looked more than ready to pass out. A few new faces among the mix as well he noted, one of which had certainly seen better days. "Glad to see you're all well despite that battle, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been," Norman mused, looking then towards the cart and to Cecil, "Ah, how're you holding up there Cecil? Any problems since your last visit?"