2019-07-25: The Landing

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<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcJa5AOMoG0 )

A wide shot of a beautiful, eternal blue sphere up on the skies of Lunar.

Filgaia.

Filgaia is flickering.

A line crosses straight through Filgaia.

Filgaia is flickering. It's not Filgaia, but a reflection of Filgaia upon the water. The water's surface breaks;

A vessel is tearing through Spiran waters.

Kamui stands at the top of the vessel, a pensive and contemplative expression upon her face. She's dressed in a blue uniform that's not ARMs, with silver embroidery around the shoulders. The Reploid gazes up towards the setting skies, beautiful and clear.

She holds a photograph of Kilika in her hands... and then places a clear overlay with the mission objectives upon it.

Her expression narrows, stern and resolved.

The vessel hits the beach and ramps upwards--

(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMKYFKpJyM4 )

--and Kamui gets flung clear off the little rowboat they ride in on and lands head-first like an arrow into the patch of soil they were gardening in.

A villager couple looks absolutely /mortified/ at this development.

Kamui gives a quiet thumbs up from where her head is still planted in the sand.

Muission Start!

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

Acacia is the one at the oars. Of course she is. Kamui's busy posing and Marivel is Marivel, and there's a certain amount of resignation that fills the reporter's frame as she concentrates on pushing the boat through the water, flecks of etheric power sparking off her hands as she gets a little assistance.

Besides, it honestly doesn't feel that bad to just sit back and exert herself for a while; the exercise doesn't hurt, and the rhythmic back-and-forth of the paddles gives her time to mull over her meeting with the Veruni noble and the threats and clues she picked up from it, mentally sorting and comparing them as she tries to figure out what exactly to publish.

She's so zoned out in the end that the bump of the boat hitting sand takes her completely by surprise; she jolts up with a yelp, and then immediately twists in her seat. "Kamui?" she blurts, and then focuses in on the scene. "Oh, shit."

"It's okay, she's okay!" she calls to the poor villagers, scrambling out of the rowboat and up to where Kamui is possibly lodged at a forty-five degree angle. Prior experience tells her to keep a hand on Kamui's hair as she starts trying to dig the Reploid out. Last time she tried this there was a 'pop' and a decapitation, and she /really/ doesn't want to have to explain that while the Guard are around.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel is wearing a long orange dress, a completely extraneous belt that is strapped alongside it diagonally for no discernable reason, long purple sleeves ending in black gloves, and glasses. Her hair is a little too ridiculous to really do up in a bun but she has tidied it up with clips as best she could.

Marivel lands delicately on the sand, feet first because her brand of humor is more wordplay oriented than slapstick. She helps Acacia pull Kamui out of the sand (if her head ends up stuck in the sand she will also crouch to dig it out and screw it back on).

"Nevermind us." Marivel looks towards the couple with an overly serious tone that does not fit the situation at all. "We are (here to) garden."

She reaches behind her back and draws her weapon, spinning it around her body dramatically. It's also just a hoe. On her left shoulder is a bag that is no doubt holding all sorts of miscellaneous gardening supplies .

Luckily Acacia seemed to think a/Head/ here so they managed to avoid a hilariously poorly timed decapitation but Marivel has been doing this sort of nonsense in Kilika for a while now so that aspect, at least, is not abnormal.

"Arrival proceeding with minimal interference." Marivel uses her Empathite radio to send stupid messages to Brad who knows nothing about this mission or what she's talking about. "Advancing to designated mission markers."

She turns to look back to Acacia and Kamui. "Are you two ready?'

She looks Acacia oer, perhaps considering if she's 'incognito' enough for this adventure.

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui fortunately has her head stuck in the sand and can't hear Acacia /cuss/. That's minus ten points to your Evaluation score, Miss Future SeeD. Don't you want to start at a higher rank? Kamui will start at a higher rank because she's polite.

Acacia and Instructor Marivel Trepe spend some time digging Kamui out -- indeed her body first gets pulled out with a 'pwomp', then the head waggle-woggles and Marivel has to dig the rest of her out.

Pweh! Pweh!

Marivel has a hoe, but Kamui has a more specialised weapon for this role. She pulls out... a revolver!!! An evil Machina weapon!!!

Wait no it's a bright-orange toy revolver. To which she's stuffed a little trowel down the barrel. It's a Guntrowel.

"Mission parameters are uncompromised. Weapon locked and loaded. Clearing a path to the rendezvous...!"

She's incredibly excited about this like any kid playing Spies! would be.

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

Acacia's flat stare back towards Marivel pretty much says it all - that she currently considers herself the most incognito of any of them. The sleeveless vest and top underneath don't look Spiran but are sufficiently neutral, as are her jeans - and it's not like she needs a gardening 'weapon', instead tugging on her gloves as she makes sure they're still on securely.

A gust of wind spikes her hair up for a moment before she grimaces and double-checks her scrunchie.

"How about we clear a path /quietly/?" she grumbles as she throws the boat's rope around a stake set for that purpose. She's still feeling kind of jumpy from the other day, not to mention rather tired - she's not sure when she got back to bed, and the adrenaline was still running around her system.

But one look at Kamui and she smiles faintly, tugging on the collar of her vest to try to stave off the sea breeze. She knows full well at this point that she's biased, but it's still good to see the Reploid cheery and excited, and she's not about to be a party pooper.

So with a long-suffering but fond sigh, she nods, trying to suppress the smile. "Location confirmed," she notes, which means she's got Rin's Kilikan Primer open to the tourist map.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

"Don't worry Acacia, we'll get hot dogs after this." Marivel says but then pauses as she takes a longer lok at Acacia--then she smiles at her, more genuinely rather than through her usual attempts to lighten the mood or goof around. There's this look in this eyes that she is fondly remembering something that happened in her past though what, precisely, it is--well, despite her attitude she never really seems grouchy at Acacia's stubborness in playing along with these things. She just seems to enjoy her presence and, if anything, often finds her 'straight man' nature quite familiar.

Nevermind that she compared Acacia to Zell here despite her being more like the Squall here really?? They got all their outfits mixed up! But that's okay.

She jogs along the 'mission path' eventually stopping at an empty little garden trough.

"We will need to fill this one up and plant the seedlings here. Do you need a tutorial, Kamui, or do you remember how to do this?"

Marivel unshoulders her bag and works on emptying a fair chunk out from it. A lot o f this gardenfiltration is garden maintenance but this area is essentially starting at scratch so most of what she has brought along here is for this particular trough.

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui is literally humming some sort of fast-paced mission theme to herself as she waves to the villagers and walks up the path as if she was in a combat pose, holding her toy revolver over her shoulder despite it not being heavy or cumbersome enough. Don't break your toys, Kamui. Toybreaker.

(The real reason she's Squall today is because the Guntrowel is kid-safe where as a pair of nunchuks like Selphie's would end up with her smacking herself over the head.)

"Okay... quietly! Just like a silent leaf..." Kamui agrees with Master, as she paces up to... the garden.

"M-mmm... hmmm..." Kamui struggles with the question of whether she needs a tutorial or not.

She pauses for a moment as she kneels next to the seedlings they've planted, which is starting to sprout.

"Hello... did you miss us?" she tells the sprout in a voice that's a lot more sedate and lucid compared to the excited kid-voice. "I'm sorry we haven't been around more... it's getting harder to come here." She pats the spoil next to it.

A pause.

"I want a tutorial, Instructor Mari. I want to do it properly!"

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

"We'd better. You wouldn't believe the number of places I've had to sneak to lately," Acacia grumbles back to the vampire, but she does honestly seem in better spirits; she's able to put aside her worries around her trip to Luca for the time being and just let Kamui and Marivel have their fun. A glance over at the village seems to help; it's not like Kilika's turned overnight into a Holy See of Althena or anything.

She can't resist her own sense of curiosity, though, and every so often as they jog along to the first flower bank she peels off sideways, taking an extended look at a building or exchanging a few words with someone she recognizes from passing through earlier.

"... the place seems okay," she notes with muted surprise when she rejoins the pair. What she'd been expecting, she wasn't sure. She only really has Luca as a baseline when it comes to dealing with the Guard, and is fast learning that was something of a rather extreme case. Carefully, she sets down her own load - a collection of curved ceramic slates tied together on a long rope.

Working the first off the stack, she glances towards Kamui, watching as the girl gently speaks to her flowers. She can't resist a quiet chuckle under her breath as she carefully pushes the first of the plates into the edge of the earth, beginning to make a low ornamental fence around the plot.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel pauses at Acacia'ss answer. She laughs a little and admits, "On the contrary, I believe you wouldn't have it any other way. You have a habit of sneaking into places you aren't supposed to sneak into and I suspect, and pleasee tell me if I'm wrong, tis because you know that places you aren't supposed to be is where all the secrets are hidden away."

Case in point, Acacia breaking off periodically to inspect the town. Marivel glances over every time Acacia moves off as if to make sure she doesn't run straight into the Guard's hands. Indeed, she is even glancing aobut as if to make sure there isn't an incoming patrol. They may be here goofily working on gardens but some of the Guard may not be as amused as Kaguya might be or as relaxed (well maybe not /relaxed/) as Ivan was about it. Marivel has her trump card to escape (and saving energy for it may be why they took the boat) but increased patrols would hurt the townies more than it would hurt her.

"The Guard's excessive presence is a easonable deterrant against Fiend attacks but even with their presence, every so often, the restless dead will make a serious incursion into town if they continue to prevent Summoners from practicing in the area."

Marivel examines the trough. "It seems that this trough already has seedlings growing inside of it! I can feel the life growing stronger with every passing moment! But consistent care is important."

Sh looks to Kamui. "It looks like these seedlings need more water! To water the plant, take the watering can (with the X button) and sprinkle the seedlings with water. Be careful to not pass the Water Threshold because too MUCH water is unhealthy for seedlings too! And you know, Kamui, I am going to teach you a new secret today."

She turns to the seedlings. "Plants grow more effectively if you sing to them. So if you are so inclined... perhaps singing a little song (with the triangle button) will help improve your growth modifier...!"

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui looks to Acacia as she goes and makes her little fence, pumping her hands together as she says, "The fence will keep too much moisture from coming out all at once... good idea, Master!!"

She has no idea of that's true or not, but it sounds cool.

She trusts Marivel to keep an eye on Acacia because she has the ultimate Escape tool. What's that you ask?

It's the power of Esc Down.

"... the restless dead..." Kamui quietly muses. Is she thinking of herself? Or just zombies? But before she can think of more, Marivel begins her tutorial.

Marivel senses life... and Kamui can sense it too. "I don't want this little sapling... to fail. I'm cheering it on, as much as I can."

She has to press the X button... does that mean using the X-Buster? no kamui nooo--

"==== <Weapon Change.>"

But it seems to actually be the answer, because in a soft flash, Kamui's hair literally turns to strands of flowing water, which is a pretty rad and computationally expensive effect. She holds the Buster out to the plant's bedding and... a little flow of water comes out of it.

"Singing..."

A pause.

(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCJUoHNCe3w )

"WHY, are feelings of affection like sharp thorn? 

WHY, do they stick to me if I get too lost...?
Even if I seem like a blossoming rose
In truth I'm scared of the love trembling in my heart..."

k-kamui that's too dramatic for the flower surely...??

but ... she does have an unbeatable love ... (for gami)

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

"More like I'm constantly at war with myself. Part of me wants to go curl up under a blanket, part of me wants to chase down as many mysteries as possible," Acacia shoots back with a solid huff, and the deadpan with which she says it makes it hard to tell if she's actually kidding or not. It certainly sounds like it could be true, and the way she jams her hands briefly into the pockets might speak towards that.

"... you're making it sound like things here aren't good, but aren't bad either," she muses, sighing to herself a little as she considers Kilika's plight. "But I guess that's the way of these kinds of things, huh? I mean, on balance, I'm just glad the people seem to be more or less okay. I'll bet they're having to keep their prayers at a minimum right now, though."

She leaves it at that, not least because Kamui's asking for a tutorial and the vampire is more than happy to oblige. Even she listens along - she'd be the first to describe herself as 'not a gardener in any way, shape or form', especially given she grew up in Guild Galad, but it's important for her to look attentive to try to goad Kamui in that direction too.

"Plus," she notes with relish when Kamui compliments her plan, "It'll look nice. I mean, hopefully," the redhead adds as she starts layering piece of slate together at an angle. "And it'll tell people to be careful and not tread on the flowers." And she's pretty sure that she'd immediately drown the poor flowers given half a chance.

And, of course, when Kamui starts to sing, she falls silent. It's not hard to sense the weight behind the words, and she's not that much of a wisecracker that she'd meet it with anything but a quiet respect.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

"I understand the feeling," Marivel tells Acaica. "Sometimes I still feel similarly, though in my case I prefer a nice cozy coffin, but one day someone opened the door to adventure for me and ever since I've found that if you don't knock on the world's door, the world will come knocking. And while the world makes a lovely host, it makes a poor houseguest."

Wisdom of the Crimson Nobles Pg 62???

"Mm, I am not a journalist myself. I am trying to be accurate but if you got that impression from what I said, I feel I must have stumbled."

She focuses on Acacia. "Right now, yes, the situation may not seem all that bad. But we know how the Guard handles heretics and every villager here is a heretic. Even with the best intentions, the Guard can't be stationed in Kilika /forever/. Eventually they will leave and they will take their protection with them. It's just a small village, Acacia. Eventually they may leave a small outpost here and move on, or scarcely have one at all. Not enough to handle the fiend attacks that will besiege this town without the Sending and I suspect the Guard has little interest in adopting the Sending as part of their rituals."

Her fingers curl inward around her hoe. "I will not allow them to destroy this town. They have suffered enough. First Sin, then Mi'ihen," Marivel seems all too willing to shoulder her part of the blame for how that went despite being quite clear with her warnings. "Now this. And as ARMS has not officially picked any sort of 'side' in this war, tis hardly within my capacity to liberate this town."

She frowns thoughtfully. "At least, not until the Guard overextends their supply lines."

She realizes maybe she's talking serious shop too much and she abadnons that line of thinking to smile back to Acacia. "Anyway, ah, I have friends here. I would prefer they not have to live as a colony. Dealing with Althena, one way or another, could solve the problem in one fell swoop but--wrong continent. So the hard way it is."

Wait killing a god is the easy way??

Kamui starts singing. Marivel does not speak durin this (and indeed she tried to be relatively quiet about the politics) but you know how she is once you get her started. At the very least, she has stopped for now, smiling at the sad song. Those were always her favorite.

"You're doing great." She murmurs to Kamui. "I think that's enough water for now."

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui has some opinions about that strange lady who's dragging Master places and for some reason she's always napping when she plucks her away. Is she a lady from her dreams?? Is that how she does it? Tunneling through with her eels!! Grr-bah!!

But Kamui's song continues, and up until the end...

There's a quiet nod as she looks back towards Marivel with a shaft-tilt of her head, because she's kneeling and working with the flowers.

"... ... the world ... came knocking again," she quietly whispers. "But the world brought you and Master back to me ... so I should be grateful."

A pause.

"I want to go play with Dorca and Ranna before we go," Kamui urges Marivel. "They'll be soooo excited when I show them this guntrowel. Pew pew... it shoots shovels, pew."

<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.

Acacia has always been the sort to drive a solid line between 'working time' and 'relaxing time', and it shows in the way she behaves whenever she finishes up for the evening, more or less shutting down to curl up. It's a much smaller timeframe than any 'call to adventure' - but she can understand the impulse enough to snort quietly and nod towards Marivel's comments.

She concentrates on building her little wall, but the direction of her attention is towards the vampire's litany, paying it the attention it's due. Once or twice she hums lightly to herself, or there's an almost imperceptible nod to encourage the other woman onwards, but on the whole she's content to let Marivel get her feelings out in the open, recognizing the words as something she might need to get out.

Or until Sin does it for you, she appends to the talk of supply lines. She wouldn't put it past the Four Heroes to be able to get around it somehow, but the idea of a sea crossing definitely feels much too dangerous as far as she's concerned. "No, I get it. It's not like I enjoy what they're doing, either."

She marks the rest of Kamui's song with silence - then afterwards, rocks forward enough to give the girl a pat on her hair for the song. "Sometimes it's okay to tell the world to go away for a bit because you need some time to yourself," she advises gently. "I get being grateful, but it doesn't mean you have to be grateful /all/ the time. Just like I'm doing my best to look after you, but sometimes I'll just up and stick a big smudge of mud on your cheek."

She lets that hang in the air, then smirks as she does just that with a finger of her glove before instantly turning away to finish the small fence.

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

"Hmm...." Marivel considers. "Can we go see them? I wonder..." She taps her chin with an index finger. "I suppose if tis safe, then we may. But we'll have to be cautious. For their sake, Kamui. I imagine they are holed up at home."

She smiles gently. "Tis a generous world if you excel at searching for true treasure."

She smooths out the soil with her hoe as she mulls on that and she does not interfere with Acacia's own advice either. Indeed, she even nods along to it. "Everyone needs some time to themselves sometimes. But I'll spare you both the old sermons when Acacia put it so succinctly."

"Are you alright with that, Acacia? I imagine Dorca and Ranna would be very happy to see friendly faces right now. Considering the situation, we may be the only friendly faces they really get to see for the time being."

Those two may be not a small part of why Marivel is determined to do what she can for the people of Kilika.

<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.

Kamui gets blopped with dirt. She makes a flailing motion with her arms.

"N-no fair!! Critical damage! I was in Water-elemental mode, Acacia!! You know I'm weak to Earth when I am!"

pooooout.

She looks really eager to go see them, though, so she nods at Marivel when she says they have to be cautious. "I'll be extra, extra, extra cautious!"

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