2020-09-26: Wolves (and Others) at Home
- Log: Wolves (and Others) at Home
- Cast: Elhaym van Houten, Lily Keil, Citan Uzuki, Xantia
- Where: Home
- Date: September 26, 2020
- Summary: The Elw device has led the Black Wolves to just outside of of a mysterious structure... with armed forces of Yevon moving towards them. Forced again to flee, the Wolves hurry into the structure, but are soon forced to contend with its own mysteries and dangers.
DG: A party led by Elhaym van Houten is now entering The Battle of Home. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
===========================<* The Battle of Home *>=========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - ...and Into the Fire *>==================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The air around you shimmers. The lingering visual after effects of teleportation by Elw technology lingers, though the light blue runes and circles are hard to see because of how bright it is. You have found yourself standing in the desert, with the sun beating down on you and an overpowering dry heat taking effect. There is a mirage-like effect, making a rusty metal structure in the distance a little hard to look at. Then, there are explosions. A series of gunshots hurtles in your direction. Some bullets strike into the sand, puffs of it rising, but others may be truer to their mark. Cresting the dune behind you, you see a squadron of Warrior Monks rushing ahead. They are shouting -- and taking aim for another volley -- and followed by more of them, joined by squadrons of Guado Guardians. It seems that you have found yourself in the middle of a battle. With the Yevonite army coming your way, the safest route seems to be running towards that structure under attack. The front door has been burst open, already, and you can hear fighting inside... =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
ON FILGAIA
Elly all but sobs with relief as she sees others coming together. She clasps Xantia's hand. She smiles at Citan. She waves at Lily and approaches her.
That is a problem.
Because when the Elw technology fires up it becomes clear that they are in a slightly different quadrant. It's good that she wasn't one yard to the left, because otherwise she might see just how precise that teleporter field is!
BEYOND THE INFINITE
Journeying...
Longer than you think.
But not forever.
The beat of one heart... and...
ANOTHER WORLD
Heat. Sand. "-- Aveh? No -" Elly says as she is briefly and profoundly blinded by the fact that the sun is up, but the air smells wrong. Somehow it is vibrant. There's salt in the air, not the deep desert left only to the worms and the pirates in Aveh, and then there are also a series of gunshots, one of which tugs at Elly's hairstyle, sending some red strands into the wind.
Elly looks towards the gunfire.
Warrior Monks are cresting the ridges and reloading.
REMEMBER THAT MECHANICAL REEL ELLY WAS HANDING PARTS OF TO CITAN A MOMENT AGO, TRUE BELIEVERS? Elly does. She throws it at them. A portion of the line declares 'grenade!' and backflip away, putting a gap in the firing line.
"-RUN!!!!!-" Elly says in another language, thanks to fatigue.
The intention is probably pretty clear.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Fishing Gear toward her party's challenge, ...and Into the Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is relieved to see Elly, too. She starts to approach the other woman at much the sae time, and abrubtly the Elw technology fires up...
Lily never gets used to these teleporters. She never gets used to the fact that she can't seem to master it as a spell, either, unfortunately.
But here another world. Elly says Aveh, and as she realizes it isn't Lily also realizes, "Can't be." The salt air, the gunshots--well, gunshots don't narrow it down. Lily looks towards the gunfire too and her eyes widen to see Warrior Monks. "What, already?"
Elly throws something, and Lily thinks quickly. She's slower than the others, but... "Get moving! I'll be right behind you!"
She reaches up to her necklace, the strange gimballed pendant there hard under her fingers. Its ancient inscriptions do not glow as she channels power through it; it is not, itself, strictly magic.
It doesn't have to be. Abrubtly Lily as she moves splits into two, and four, and eight; a blue shell of magical power erupts around her, and Lilies continue onward. Each as it's hit disappears, but there are still more, and all of them are painful to look at in the moment, not quite 'real'.
"Structure,"
"There's,"
"A over there!"
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Impure Pendant toward her party's challenge, ...and Into the Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"...What in the world did you--"
One moment they're here. Fei has -- somehow -- gotten the machine to work. Still holding the reel in one hand, the doctor's gaze shifts from the young man to the machine.
There's enough time to blink an eye. There's enough space for a single heartbeat.
One moment later they're there.
Right on the edge of a battlefield. No, not quite the edge -- not anymore.
"What is... oh," Citan starts to say, his gaze fixing on the advancing Warrior Monks. If there was any doubt of where they were already, it's now gone.
Elly takes the reel back from him and for once, this is an action of which Citan Uzuki takes no notice. His attention is elsewhere. "'From the frying pan and into the fire'...! Hurry, we must not stand about!" he calls out, then glances about himself as if in search of someone who--
...isn't here. Not anymore. Shaking his head, his attention fixes instead on that distant structure. "--There! If we seek shelter, we may yet--"
Lily is already moving in that direction. At least, it seems like most of her are. Some fall. Others press on. Shaking his head, the doctor breaks for it himself. Fortunately, even when it comes to running across sand at a fair clip, his footwear can be relied upon...
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Step Shoes toward his party's challenge, ...and Into the Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
MERE MOMENTS AGO
As Elly guesses 'Aveh' and starts to correct herself, Xantia is already shaking her head. While she couldn't say exactly where they ended up following the teleportation, she is quite certain of one thing. "...Well, we know how this usually goes," she states, in a resigned tone of voice. "Wherever we are, we're not on Filgaia anymore."
Cue explosions in the distance! Xantia isn't particularly alarmed by those. Mainly because she's more distressed upon looking around, and discovering that Fei and Emeralda are no longer there. But they weren't that far away! How could...
Oh. Right. The first time they got sent to Lunar, she herself ended up miles removed from everyone else who were close by. Not much that can be done about that, unfortunately. "I hope everyone's okay..."
This is around when gunfire is getting a bit too uncomfortable close. Elly acts first, shouting something that Xantia isn't even parsing as being in a different language. She makes to react accordingly, but in a moment of concern, looks over to Lily. Who does something she can't quite make sense of, so her brain automatically interprets it as 'magic'. She presumes that whatever is happening, This Is Fine.
Which leaves getting the heck out of dodge herself. But before doing so, she slips the Blizzaga Claw over her knuckles, and slams it into the sand, directly in the path of the approaching Monks. A layer of ice forms rapidly, traveling forward, right up until Xantia abrupts raises her fist - causing a wall of ice to spring up abruptly. Hopefully that'll block the gunfire for a moment, while she turns and runs at full speed to catch up with the others.
"Warrior Monks!" she yells out, having recognized the Yevonite attire instantly. "We must be in Spira!"
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Blizzaga Claw toward her party's challenge, ...and Into the Fire.
===========================<* The Battle of Home *>=========================== ====================<* CHALLENGE - ...and Into the Fire *>==================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The air around you shimmers. The lingering visual after effects of teleportation by Elw technology lingers, though the light blue runes and circles are hard to see because of how bright it is. You have found yourself standing in the desert, with the sun beating down on you and an overpowering dry heat taking effect. There is a mirage-like effect, making a rusty metal structure in the distance a little hard to look at. Then, there are explosions. A series of gunshots hurtles in your direction. Some bullets strike into the sand, puffs of it rising, but others may be truer to their mark. Cresting the dune behind you, you see a squadron of Warrior Monks rushing ahead. They are shouting -- and taking aim for another volley -- and followed by more of them, joined by squadrons of Guado Guardians. It seems that you have found yourself in the middle of a battle. With the Yevonite army coming your way, the safest route seems to be running towards that structure under attack. The front door has been burst open, already, and you can hear fighting inside... =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Injure=========================================
======================<* The Battle of Home - Round 1 *>====================== ======================< Results - ...and Into the Fire >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Fishing Gear 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Blizzaga Claw 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Step Shoes 2 Agility Effects: Resilient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Impure Pendant 3 Agility Effects: Rally ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Elhaym van Houten 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Injure(2) Effects: Quicken(1)|Resilient(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Elhaym van Houten has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The warrior-monks are severely confused by this situation, although they swiftly realize - 'dud!' 'it's a dud' - that that wasn't an actual functional grenade. By the time they rally up, however, the polyfurication of Lily has given them many targets to aim at.
Sort of.
It's a confusion in a can. Between Citan's ability to run the hell away and the abrupt smashing ice-sand wave of Xantia's claw, they do not manage to reform their gunline, moving instead into the valley behind the group--
-- but the dune is a little sinuous --
And so while there is another volley it is mostly not in direct line with them, although one particularly clever gunman aims in a high parabola and produces a whiz-SPACK! of round against sand, lest the group think they're safe.
And are they safe?
Elly has her doubts. "... If we're in spira... where in Spira are we? This doesn't look like anywhere IN Spira," Elly continues, almost imploringly, looking back at Xantia and ahead towards Citan, as if hoping they have insight.
"... But I suppose we don't have any choice - we certainly can't go run into the desert like this. And we have to find the others!!"
DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Battle of Home *>============================ =======================<* CHALLENGE - Guado Guardians *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The tunnels of Home are easy to get lost in. The tunnels are narrow and twisting. Unfortunately, some of the attackers are expert tunnel fighters. Your team never quite sees the Guado Guardians coming; with practiced expertise, they manage to stay a couple of turns ahead of you, until they approach from both sides. They rush in, long swords drawn. Black Magic spells fly out -- blasts of water and lightning -- before they take long, low leaps to come at you with their blades. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Wound============================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
What Lily's doing is super fine. At least, it doesn't seem to have injured the Lily who remains after all that is done. She agrees though--not on Filgaia, must be on Spira. But where on Spira?
"I don't know," Lily admits as she looks up to the large structure before them, a mechanical flower in the wilderness. There's open doors, and battles ongoing; they manage to take advantage of a lull to get in, passing bodies in colorful clothes... mostly Al Bhed. Lily looks sober as she considers the walls.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNh-HWSdRyE (You'll have to imagine the warning noises)
The tunnels are narrow and twisting, easy to get lost in once they're here, but Lily frowns as she recognizes--"This language.. It's Al Bhed," she remarks, pointing out some signage, and gesturing to the alarm noises that repeat a strange foreign set of words over and over. "Something like.. Dangr, evacuate," Lily starts to say.
Which is the point at which a blast of water knocks Lily from her feet, and the ambush of the Guado Guardians begins. They fire lightning at the rest of the group, and begin to leap forward with the blades, approaching from both sides. Lily starts to get up. She's a little mad.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Guado Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Without question, we are in Spira," is Citan's statement once they're in the clear -- at least for the moment -- though as for the 'where' part...
"I do not know," he answers, shaking his head. "This does not match any place in Spira to which we had traveled. Therefore..." He hesitates a moment, as it considering whether to be clear about the situation, but ultimately actually completes his sentence, "...we are clearly in someplace new to us within Spira's borders."
It's a handful of minutes later as they press on, passing the fallen bodies of the Al Bhed, that he adds one thing more as they venture into the tunnels.
"If I were to hazard a guess, however... I would say that 'this' is the Al Bhed homeland."
Which is currently under attack by Yevon's forces.
The tunnels are messy, warren-like. "If we could but read these signs," Citan muses, before shooting a glance over at Lily. "...Do you mean that you can understand this, Lily? We--"
He flattens himself against the wall mere milliseconds before that water spell jets through the air to knock Lily flat, the action also serving to narrowly see him free of the electrical bolt that follows, though it comes within mere inches of his body. "There's no room to maneuver! You must rush them, now, and stop their spellcasting!" calls out the doctor, handing out tactical advice.
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Guado Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"... al Bhed? If it's their city, then they should remember us," Elly says. "We can get their help--"
In the background something distant goes 'thoom' in a very military way. Elly holds her peace after that. She lingers in the entrance, desperately scanning the sandline, but there is no joy to be found, and to stand here is to invite a last stand that Elly is not really positioned to do. In she goes.
Lily is struck down. It is only brief but it tenses Elly up, already sore and jazzed by the transit and the space beforehand. Her head snaps up to look towards the guardians with the dirt of another world still on her face, and there is a tensing in the air around her.
She swings up her metal staff...
The tension builds...
The air sucks in right next to the Guardians. It's like the room itself is taking a breath.
A moment later it erupts into enormous thermobaric force. The grenade was in Elly all along...!
From this point Elly advances without words to smash what still stands.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Iron Born Staff toward her party's challenge, Guado Guardians.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia doesn't have an answer for Elly. It's true - wherever in Spira this is, it doesn't look like any part of it they've been before. Xantia's pretty sure it has to be though. Knowing that the people of Spira don't generally go outside of Spira, she can only assume that if there's this many people from Spira here, it has to be Spira. But in actual response, she only gives a helpless shrug. Citan is already handling it, anyway.
Only as the group proceeds further in, she pieces together the more obvious fact that the place they ran to for cover is also the place that's being attacked. She also recognizes the Al Bhed language, even if she has no idea what's being said. "So... the Yevon people are attacking the Al Bhed people, is that's what's happening? So we're on the side of the Al Bhed then, right?" That makes the most sense to her, given that the Black Wolves used to be on their side.
There isn't any time for a proper response. Xantia never considered that this place could have already been breached, and is too late to spot the Guado Guardians before they attack. "Lily!" she yells as the initial magic blast strikes, instinctively activating an aura of lightning as a barrier against whatever may follow.
Lucky for her, the Guado pick the incorrect element - Xantia grits her teeth as lightning is fought with lightning, but is able to power through it, activating her ARM along the way. Rush them? Xantia's already on it - any blades brought to bear against her will have to contend with one made out of crackling red energy.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool ARM Blade toward her party's challenge, Guado Guardians.
============================<* The Battle of Home *>============================ =======================<* CHALLENGE - Guado Guardians *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The tunnels of Home are easy to get lost in. The tunnels are narrow and twisting. Unfortunately, some of the attackers are expert tunnel fighters. Your team never quite sees the Guado Guardians coming; with practiced expertise, they manage to stay a couple of turns ahead of you, until they approach from both sides. They rush in, long swords drawn. Black Magic spells fly out -- blasts of water and lightning -- before they take long, low leaps to come at you with their blades. =Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Wound============================================
=======================<* The Battle of Home - Round 2 *>======================= =========================< Results - Guado Guardians >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 8 --(8)--> 16 Pass Iron Born Staff 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 8 --(8)--> 16 Pass ARM Blade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 8 --(8)--> 16 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 8 --(8)--> 16 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Elhaym van Houten 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Hesitate(1)|Injure(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Elhaym van Houten has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Explosions rock the tunnels. At first, explosions of the Black Magic the Guado bring to bear, but then explosions of a different kind of magic, an eruption of force from Elly that buys more than enough time for Xantia to clear the gap and move into melee with her red energy blade. Their enemies focus particularly on Citan when they notice him handing out tactical advice, but in short order Lily is back up again passing out healing to the group while Elly and Xantia mop up. Once the battle is over...
"It seems like that. I'd be on the side of the Al Bhed against Yevon, for sure," Lily says, dusting herself off. "And I do read their language--I spent a lot of time salvaging with them when we were on Spira before, when I was... avoiding most other things."
"It could be their homeland. I've never heard of it, but..." That doesn't mean it isn't there.
DG: Xantia has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* The Battle of Home *>=========================== ==================<* CHALLENGE - No Power Tools in Sight *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Parts of Home have turned into a city, when the facility originally served some other use. This means that sometimes, when one might expect a straight path forward, you find something rather more complicated. A series of metal panels and pipes -- rusted through and nonfunctional -- make a rat's nest of metal that needs to be blasted through, before you can continue on through. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Exhaust=====================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia would be lying if she claimed she didn't enjoy that fight. After spending all that time running, she's glad to have something she can actively force her way through. She's almost sad that it's over even, grumbling a bit as she deactivates her arm and dismisses the lightning surrounding her. "Yevon. I don't like those guys." All other incidents aside, she still hasn't forgiven them for how they treated the Crusaders. She wasn't exactly closely affiliated with them, but having fought in Operation Mi'ihen, she saw enough to know that they didn't deserve that.
The moment quickly passes, and soon enough Xantia's attitude returns to the usual level of positivity. "Well, if this is where the Al Bhed live, we should find them! They have to still be here if this place is still being attacked, I'm sure we can help each other!" She pauses, then looks to Lily. "...You'd better do the talking if we do, I never have any idea what they're saying."
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this particular tunnel is the correct one, as it ends in a mass of twisted metal that might as well be a wall. It doesn't appear to be a result of the battle, the amount of rust indicates that it's been like this for quite a while. There is an exit, but that opening does look recent and leads back outside - the entry point for the Guado that the group just came across.
Xantia looks toward the exit, and scrunches up her nose. "...Don't want to go back out there. Don't want to go back either. Sooo..."
Figuring this is the only obvious option, she flips open the pouch hanging from her waist, replacing her claw with the contents: the head of the hammer she used to wield, now repurposed to be easily hand-held. That was Xantia's own idea - the better to smash things with. With she proceeds to do gleefully, hammering away at the metal mass to start clearing it out of the way, happily declaring, "Shortcut~"
She hasn't noticed it yet, but in removing the tool from its pouch, something else fell out: a piece of paper that looks like it was ripped out of a notebook, which slowly drifts to the ground...
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Mini-Megaton toward her party's challenge, No Power Tools in Sight.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Did Elly ENJOY that fight?
That's hard to say.
Is Elly going to regret about having brained members of a religious order with a stout weapon that mirrors that of ancient Earth's greatest warrior, Harry Mason?
That's a big no, chief.
She exhales, afterwards. "If they're fighting in these hallways..." Elly looks around then, and trails off, as if the parallels to - to where? Oh, Citan can guess - are sinking in. "... this is... their home? Their nation... but I thought Yevon hadn't attacked them for - for such a long and terrible time."
Before them is - wreckage? Elly hopes it's wreckage because she's getting something out of inside of her jacket. After unpacking a lattice that had gotten a little scrunched, Elly holds the object out in both hands. It begins to make a low humming noise as Elly breathes deeply.
The humming stabilizes as Elly's eyes track the falling paper. She breathes in and out several more times, before she bears downwards and the humming rises to a high pitched electronic whine. "Xantia, scoot over -"
What do you get when you cast an Ether?
A problem.
But what do you call two problems next to each other?
An opportu-- wait.
Elly produces something not too dissimilar to the fire burst she used on the Guado Guardians. This, though, comes one after another, a sharp one-two punch aimed at the wreckage!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Ether Doubler toward her party's challenge, No Power Tools in Sight.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Quite briefly, Citan is the target of choice of the Guado, as his advice draws their attention upon him. Fortunately, the others soon squelch the threat. But, well, with nowhere to maneuver himself at that point...
He's wringing out his ponytail as he follows after the others. Perhaps it could have been worse.
"No doubt, given their status among the Yevon faithful, they did not wish to speak of their homeland to any, even temporary allies. Should they reveal too much and you, even in error, were to speak of it to the faithful, then their safety here would be at risk," Citan supposes.
Of course, it seems that Yevon already knew that much -- or had found it out.
But the doctor frowns, bowing his head as he glances downwards in contemplation. "...It puzzles me, however... Yevon is already fighting against Althena's Guard. Whyever would they risk a war on two fronts? Unless, there was either something that necessitated this battle or they believed they would win it. ...Or perhaps both?" He shakes his head.
And glances over at Elly as she achieves a particular point of realization. The gaze he shares with her may be answer enough.
Xantia, meanwhile, proceeds forward, a small piece of paper fluttering free in her wake. "Ah, Xantia, it seems that you have..."
%THe starts forward, only to break off as Lily intercepts it. Problem resolved--
And another problem in waiting.
"Hmm... I believe these are nonfunctional. We will not be unduly harming their city should we break though. Now, let me think..." Where Xantia and even Elly direct their attentions more overtly thus, the doctor here pulls a book from his belongings and pages through it, glancing up at a particular spot and referencing it with the contents of the text.
Then, with a flourish, he closes the book and returns it to his bag.
"I believe that this," and he punctuates his sentence by a sudden singular strike rather to the left of where the girls are at work, "should suffice."
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, No Power Tools in Sight.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is not so sure that there's much they can do--but her bad feeling aside, she at least doesn't plan to stop looking yet. She wasn't in Operation Mi'ihen, but she saw the results--has seen enough.
"If we do, I will. All I did was salvage with them, but it was enough to pick up the language. Seeing this... I guess I know where they put a lot of their findings." She looks to ELly, then, shakes her head.
"I think you're right," Lily tells itan with a shake of her hea. "It must've been a secret location..." Though it obviously isn't now. But the matter of two fronts--
"I don't know. Maybe they wanted a victory to keep their people's morale up. ...It seems they don't mind using 'machina' theymselves."
Lily watches Xantia start hammering away at the mass of metal pipes, and Elly hammering away with Ether, proceeds to think better of her own approach. Rather than contributing directly to destruction, she pulls a metal plate from her jacket, reading it over and examining each party member in turn. Given size, distance...
A red aura begins at Lily, and begins to shine among all the group, healing wounds and washing away fatigue. As the light fades, Lily steps forward, kneeling down to pick up... the paper. And looks at it, while Citan is finding the right point to press.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Restoration Formula toward her party's challenge, No Power Tools in Sight.
===========================<* The Battle of Home *>=========================== ==================<* CHALLENGE - No Power Tools in Sight *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Parts of Home have turned into a city, when the facility originally served some other use. This means that sometimes, when one might expect a straight path forward, you find something rather more complicated. A series of metal panels and pipes -- rusted through and nonfunctional -- make a rat's nest of metal that needs to be blasted through, before you can continue on through. =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Exhaust=====================================
======================<* The Battle of Home - Round 3 *>====================== ====================< Results - No Power Tools in Sight >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 16 --(8)--> 24 Pass Ether Doubler 3 Brute Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 16 --(8)--> 24 Pass Mini-Megaton 3 Brute Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 16 --(8)--> 24 Pass Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 16 --(8)--> 24 Pass Restoration Formula 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Elhaym van Houten 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Fright(1)|Overzealous(2)|Wound(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Elhaym van Houten has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Citan Uzuki has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Battle of Home *>============================ ========================<* CHALLENGE - Saving the Day *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- While you have found yourself in the middle of a fight you did not expect, it is the Al Bhed that have their Home under attack. As you move through the tunnels, you find where a trio of Al Bhed -- armed with machina rifles -- are exchanging shots with a group of Yevonite Warrior Monks. They are armed with rifles, spears, and in one case, a flame thrower. The Warrior Monks do not, at the moment, notice your presence. They have the trio of Al Bhed pinned down behind a makeshift bunker, of steel beams piled up. The one with the flamethrower advances, preparing to put an end to the trio of Al Bhed... =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Treasure==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"It's been a while... maybe something changed with the war," is the best guess that Xantia has to offer in response to Citan's musings, vague though it may be. She doesn't usually worry about people's reasons for doing things too much, anyway. Especially not when it's causing her to get shot at, that makes the response pretty obvious either way.
Meanwhile, Xantia's 'blunt object' approach works well enough, especially on the more brittle parts of the rusted metal. But at this rate, it could take a while before a large enough hole is created. Cue Elly. Xantia gives her a look that says 'I don't understand', but she does listen, making room. Two big explosions later, much of the metal has been reduced to slag.
"...Oh." Xantia is silent for a moment, and looks at the hand-held fist-hammer she holds, considering something. Whatever it may be, she doesn't do it now, but... Xantia will remember this.
Still, clearing away the first section of the pile of junk just reveals more junk to get through behind it. Even with so much brute force, and Lily keeping them from getting too fatigued in working their way through this, this isn't proceeding as quickly as anyone would like. At times like this... one needs the gentle touch of a simple country doctor.
Upon Citan's strike, a domino effect occurs, one set of pipes crashing through the rest, all the way to the end of passage, creating a hole large enough to pass through. Xantia stares in open astonishment. "What did you DO?"
Meanwhile, Lily has retrieved the piece of paper that fell from Xantia's pouch. A short message is written on it.
"We can't meet yet. Don't look for me, I'll find you. And please, don't be so careless."
The handwriting is a similar cursive than Xantia's strangely neat handwriting, but not quite identical.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
"Perhaps so," is his answer to Xantia. "It has been a year. That, and there is much that is not known about Spira."
So he says, before the puzzle of the pipes stands in their path, requiring a more... direct approach to the problem.
Or somewhat indirect, in Citan's case. "It was simple," he answers Xantia, nodding the once. "After determining the interconnections of the pipes and making an educated guess regarding their likely durability, I merely had to break the one. The rest followed."
That's... an explanation that might not help Xantia much, though...
In any case the shortcut gives them passage to a place they could not not have easily reached before. Even at a distance, the shouts of a fight can be heard, only for that sound to cut off with a clang of metal just before they reach the bend.
At once, two things are immediately clear: one, that the Al Bhed are in mortal peril. And two, that the Warrior Monks do not see the Black Wolves (and supporters) enter this section of the tunnels. There are but seconds to intervene in any meaningful capacity.
Citan claps a hand on both Xantia and Elly's shoulders, imbuing them both with a brief pulse of empowering 'chi'.
"GO!!" he shouts, giving them a push forward in turn, because this is not a time for subtlety and carefully targetted strikes. This is a time for bold, direct and risky action.
Lily isn't left out. He turns to her after, his right hand resting on her shoulder. "You must back them up!" he tells her, granting her a burst of that same familiar force and similarly giving her that push forward.
...So he's just going to stay back there, then? Perhaps his talents lie more in other directions...
DG: Citan Uzuki has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Saving the Day.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
A secret city. A people who love machines. An artificial city under siege.
Something about this makes Elly feel foreboding beyond the obvious layer of 'war zone problems'. It keeps her quiet for a moment and she breathes out. As expected, Citan is able to finish a job. Then, THEN - THEN...
Those people are there. Trapped.
Citan charges them with both words and 'chi'. Elly looks to Xantia and tells her, "Lean forwards, breathe out, and stay loose," a moment before she turns her own attention forwards again. She tightens her grip on the iron staff as the air behind the two of them begins to turn and twist itself into knots.
Citan's doctoral studies and Lily's Etheric familiarity, of course, will tell them a little about what's about to happen.
There is a mushroom-headed BURST behind the two women then as Elly leans forwards. Xantia, hopefully, will also ride the sudden gale-force burst of concussively prepared superheated air, a hot burst that buoys forwards with the fury of a fire storm! ... at least, that's the intention; Elly had this idea, almost literally, half an hour ago.
But she leads with the iron staff before her, and with enough momentum, a staff can be a spear. A spear -- and something to pivot round and kick from!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Iron Born Staff toward her party's challenge, Saving the Day.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Something could have changed; Lily can't refute that idea. They were away from it for some time. And there is a lot they didn't know...
Lily frowns at the message. Similar, but not identical. Wht does it mean? ...The fact that Xantia didn't share this information itself--perhaps unusual. But whether she would like to respect Xantia's privacy or worry about a mysterious 'other', the choice has been made; Lily has seen the message.
Rising to go along with the group, she prepares to say something--but debates what it is she'll say. But first--there is danger ahead.
Lily takes the empowering force and--well actually she watches what Elly is doing first. She observes ELly's burst of Ether, the superheated cair that rushes them forward, and smirks grimly. "Kad tufh! Fa'na rana du ramb!"
She palms her knife, point-down, and rushes after, throwing up a shield of golden nuclear force to forestall the counterattack of the Yevonites.
Only after the battle dies down will Lily approach Xantia, and quietly hand her the paper as she looks to the Al Bhed they've hopefully saved.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Saving the Day.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"...Oh. That... makes sense? Probably?" Yeah that explanation wasn't much help, Xantia clearly still has very little idea how exactly Citan did any of that. She shrugs, however, and doesn't press the matter further. The way is clear, that's what's important.
It's not long until a new crisis unfold itself before the group's eyes. Things move very quickly from there. While Xantia is still taking in the situation, she feels a sudden surge of power and is told to 'GO', even given a physical push to do so. Probably more than she needed to motivate her to do just that, but it does help to speed things along. It's only Elly's words to cause her to pause a moment longer, giving her a very similar look as she gave Citan earlier.
No time to figure it out. Before she full well realizes it, an air blast happens behind Xantia, and she's flung forward... pretty haphazardly. Her 'Waaaaaah' probably can't be mistaken for a battle cry.
Thankfully, Xantia is good at improvisation. Clearly the best thing to do when you find yourself hurled bodily at a group of foes is to set yourself on fire. Like a living fireball, Xantia crashes into whoever wasn't smart enough to get out of the way, and rolls upon the eventual impact with the ground, springing back to her feet with her ARM at the ready to deal with anyone left standing.
After all the excitement is over, Xantia is handed a piece of paper by Lily. She looks at the words written on it with clear confusion. That much makes it clear enough already, given that she's never been able to hide her true emotions - Xantia hasn't actually seen it before. But she's piecing something together immediately, nothing the similarity to her own handwring. She frowns as she begins, "Where'd this come from? I don't..."
She freezes up, eyes widening as the events of the battle at the Main Gate replay in slow motion. It all happened so fast... but now she remembers. The flames surrounding her. Her consciousness fading. And, as her eyes were falling shut, the blurry image of a cloaked figure, rushing towards her.
That's all it takes. That image, combined with the words on that paper, the handwriting... it's enough to instantly realize who it must have been. The one who wrote that letter, the one who saved her back there. It must have been...
"...Xenia..."
DG: Xantia has used her Tool ARM Blade toward her party's challenge, Saving the Day.
============================<* The Battle of Home *>============================ ========================<* CHALLENGE - Saving the Day *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- While you have found yourself in the middle of a fight you did not expect, it is the Al Bhed that have their Home under attack. As you move through the tunnels, you find where a trio of Al Bhed -- armed with machina rifles -- are exchanging shots with a group of Yevonite Warrior Monks. They are armed with rifles, spears, and in one case, a flame thrower. The Warrior Monks do not, at the moment, notice your presence. They have the trio of Al Bhed pinned down behind a makeshift bunker, of steel beams piled up. The one with the flamethrower advances, preparing to put an end to the trio of Al Bhed... =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Treasure==========================================
=======================<* The Battle of Home - Round 4 *>======================= ==========================< Results - Saving the Day >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass Iron Born Staff 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 24 --(8)--> 32 Pass ARM Blade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Citan Uzuki 24 --(8)--> 32 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 24 --(8)--> 32 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Elhaym van Houten 60 --(25)--> 85 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Treasure(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Elhaym van Houten has passed this challenge! The party gained 25 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Perhaps it makes sense if you're used to seeking the inevitable breaking point in all things... and have an understanding of where to push.
Speaking of push--
"...Ah. So that is her plan," Citan muses aloud.
An air blast happens just behind Xantia and Elly, sending both forward like a missile to the Warrior Monks. Who, just moments before, have broken away from the Al Bhed they had cornered; the barrier Lily summons shields not only herself and Citan on the back lines, but also the Al Bhed from the explosive violence that is about to ensue.
Though it is taxing...
Once the dust has settled and everyone can be assured that the Monks aren't going to get up anytime soon (or ever?) and the Al Bhed have given their thank-yous and pointed the others in a helpful direction through the tunnels...
Citan watches as Lily delivers that scrap of paper to Xantia. As Xantia realizes--
How very interesting.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
===========================<* The Battle of Home *>=========================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Opening the Airship Hangar *>================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Your flight through Home has led to a large room, built in the lower levels of the structure. Before you can get through, though, you find a group of Al Bhed civilians and a few of their unlikely protectors gathered (for one, you spy Rin and... Guba?). They have gathered about a large set of doors, which have been closed automatically -- blast doors, to protect whatever is through. Yevonite forces are on the way, but you see Brother and other armed Al Bhed taking stock. Rin is the one who approaches you; the middle-aged Al Bhed jogs up, and then claps his hand. "Ah! My friends!" he calls out. "You have impeccable timing! You see, we have two airships through these doors--and we are ready to leave. But, these doors are too smart, and have closed on their own!" He smiles. "I trust you know what to do?" =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Overzealous======================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"... Xantia? Are you alright?" Elly says, even as the Al Bhed, clearly pleased at being rescued despite the language barrier, confer briefly. (To Lily they indicate, 'Come on, we gotta get to the hangar.' Everyone else gets eager gestures.)
Down they go...
Quick Time Event!
Elly feels a familiar tension and twists around to raise her iron staff at the last moment with a profound and durable PWONGGGG that sends her staggering back, hard enough to whack against Lily as her mouth opens and closes in shock, astonishment, and a certain sort of terror that doesn't come too often - it's one thing to be in a fight and another to have something so terribly, terribly familiar happen, because...
'Hey! I know you guys!' says
G U B A.
as he catches the blitzball out of the air from the rebound.
"afsasaskjhdlkhjadfsjkh" Elly gabbles for a moment. Guba dribbles off the wall as he leads others towards -
"Ah! My friends!" says an Al Bhed who speaks the general language. "What impeccable timing you must have. I see all of you are the Drifter sorts, yes? You see, we have two airships through these doors -"
Rin points two index fingers towards the looming twelve-foot tall blast doors.
"Airship?" Elly says.
"Yes! Two of them, ready to leave, but you see the doors are too smart and have closed on their own."
"Were they hacked?" Elly wonders.
"Hacked?" Rin echoes, looking at the others. "What is hacked, is that bad?"
Functional aircraft, Elly thinks. She also thinks of that vast desert, and a hand holding another hand, black hair near green. Alone. Fighting, perhaps. Struggling in a sea of -
Elly leans over and gets out the Ether Doubler again. "I'll soften it up," Elly says, and soon enough the Doubler is making that high pitched whine again. This doubler attack isn't just fire, though - Elly seems to be dropping ICE, and then FIRE immediately thereafter, in rapid succession. They aren't enormously powerful individually, despite the Doubler, despite the grimace of pain on her face.
But that door... it's just metal, Elly thinks. Metal that's between us and --
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Ether Doubler toward her party's challenge, Opening the Airship Hangar.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily doesn't have a lot of time to talk with the Al Bhed, but she can get directions anyway. After that, she turns back to look at Xantia again, noticing her realization. "Xenia," Lily repeats, thoughtful.
The monks will probably never get up. Not with this group, anyway. But Lily nods along, and as they go...
Ah. Lily finds herself glad, in the moment, that she didn't murder Guba that one time. She catches Elly, blinking a little as it all registers, and steadies her before letting go. Then she looks to Rin, who speaks the general language, and...
"Hacked is bad," Lily says, "And doors... Doors we can do."
She steps over behind Elly, and this time, she references her metal plate--and golden energy washes off of her as she pours power straight into Elly and her Ether.
"...Watch this one, Guba."
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Restoration Formula toward her party's challenge, Opening the Airship Hangar.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
He might not speak the language, but Citan can certainly understand the gist of the body language well on display here. They're to head in this particular direction, no doubt where the rest of the Al Bhed defense force are waiting--
Things happen. A number of things happen, in rapid succession. Fortunately, Elly's year-plus of devoting herself to the more physical aspects of her Jugend training have taught her well. She deflects the problem handily--
Though the rest of it may be a little harder to grapple with. He gives her a (comforting?) pat on the shoulder as he passes on by.
Rin explains the situation. The doors have locked, separating them thus from the skycraft beyond. With much to lose, there's nothing else for it but--
"Yes, we understand," says the doctor, nodding the once. There is then a pause. "Quite bad, I am afraid. No matter. We shall deal with your stuck doors presently!"
He stands back at first, pulling out his manual to turn to a particular page and then...
...waits, while Elly works to weaken the structure, and as Lily empowers her.
And then finally--
"--There," he declares, slamming his fist into the point Elly's Ether had struck first, each time.
DG: Citan Uzuki has used his Tool Acupressure Guide toward his party's challenge, Opening the Airship Hangar.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia gives a happy wave and says "Just fine!" in response to Elly's concern. It's hardly the first time she was bodily launched at a group of enemies, she's just normally better prepared for it. Still, she can't complain about how that went, the Warrior Monks sure didn't see it coming.
But, she soon has other concerns. That letter and the following realization hit her really hard. She can't help but keep staring at the letter for quite some time afterwards, even as the group is being led towards the hangar. She doesn't doubt her judgment, but... what does this mean? Why was Xenia there? Why just leave a letter and leave? Why can't they meet? ...How long has she been watching?
She can wonder all she likes, but there isn't anyone here who can answer these questions. That someone may not even be on the same planet anymore now. ...Elly and Citan may lack the whole context to understand what exactly is bothering her to begin with, but she isn't exactly thinking about who is and who isn't aware of the person she's been looking for.
Who would have thought that what would finally snap her out of it is a certain familiar face. As she enters the hangar, Xantia immediately spots Guba among the Al Bhed present, causing her to point in alarm.
"Ahh! It's you!" She interrupts any attempt at response with an immediate, reflexive, "No, this is not about an autograph!" Why'd she even point at the guy, she doesn't want his attention, bad things happen whenever that guy is around! This place is probably being attacked because of him, somehow!
With one last glance at the piece of paper, she stuffs it back into the pouch it fell from, as she holds onto the other object that's usually in there. Metal doors... no problem, especially when already weakened by Ether. Perhaps now she can employ the idea she had earlier.
By the time Xantia acts, the doors have already been significantly weakened. She only delivers a single strike, in the end. After taking a moment to funnel Ether through her hand, and into her 'Mini-Megaton', as she calls her blunt instrument of force. She strikes the metal with the now brightly glowing tool, unleashing a strike that causes an outward explosion of energy. Yep, looks like that effect works with things she's holding just as well as when she does it with her bare fists.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Mini-Megaton toward her party's challenge, Opening the Airship Hangar.
===========================<* The Battle of Home *>=========================== =================<* CHALLENGE - Opening the Airship Hangar *>================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Your flight through Home has led to a large room, built in the lower levels of the structure. Before you can get through, though, you find a group of Al Bhed civilians and a few of their unlikely protectors gathered (for one, you spy Rin and... Guba?). They have gathered about a large set of doors, which have been closed automatically -- blast doors, to protect whatever is through. Yevonite forces are on the way, but you see Brother and other armed Al Bhed taking stock. Rin is the one who approaches you; the middle-aged Al Bhed jogs up, and then claps his hand. "Ah! My friends!" he calls out. "You have impeccable timing! You see, we have two airships through these doors--and we are ready to leave. But, these doors are too smart, and have closed on their own!" He smiles. "I trust you know what to do?" =Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Overzealous======================================
======================<* The Battle of Home - Round 5 *>====================== ===================< Results - Opening the Airship Hangar >=================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 32 --(12)--> 44 Pass Ether Doubler 3 Brute Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 32 --(12)--> 44 Pass Mini-Megaton 3 Brute Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Citan Uzuki 32 --(12)--> 44 Pass Acupressure Guide 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 32 --(12)--> 44 Fail Restoration Formula 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Elhaym van Houten 85 --(35)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Weaken(2)|Wound(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Elhaym van Houten has successfully explored The Battle of Home!
===========================<* The Battle of Home *>=========================== ==================<* CHALLENGE - Flight on the Fahrenheit *>================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- The blast doors explode inward. There, you see a number of catwalks -- each leading to two docked ships. One is a sleek, white and gold machina airship with Al Bhed script on it. The other is a wooden sailing boat, but with ARMs and a dirigible balloon that has armored plating reminiscent of a dragon. On the side, Filgaian lettering marks it as the "Fereshte." Yours leads to the white-and-gold airship. Several Al Bhed are running ahead, but a middle-aged man with a bald head stands there, shouting orders: "Ku, ku, ku! Ajanouha uhpuynt huf!" He glances at Brother -- the mohawked Al Bhed charging, dropping his machina cannon -- and meets his eyes. "Brother, oui'na eh dra bemud'c cayd!" "Oayr! Kud ed!" Brother answers. The bald man looks at your group, thoughtful for a second -- and then he nods. "Name's Cid! Y'all have some real good timin'! Get onboard the Fahrenheit, we're takin' off right now!" Your escape awaits. =Dungeon Conditions: Secret===================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
INSERT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCJBXEu_95g
bam bam bam bam bam WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM
Elly gleams as Lily pours power into her. Fatigue leaves her. Her eyes seem to blaze with light, with vigor. The metal expands and contracts as aeon becomes instant and metal becomes brittle, changing phases too quickly for the metal to catch up with it. A hot rod smashes into the metal, beginning to deform it and crack it when it's hot and when it's cold. A single atemi strike and
CRASH
"Another unworthy door," Elly says, distantly.
A blitzball smashes into the remains!!
Guba immediately leaves before anyone can tell him anything. That's just how it is for him.
But why is Elly's mouth hanging open? Because... they're facing a sleek and glossy ship, shining and precious, but past it, old-fashioned and heavily armored is
the
"FERESHTE?? It's here?? It wasn't destroyed!!" Elly says.
And then: "Ah! Fei --!!!"
* Elly has left the party.
The bald man looks after Elly for a moment, distantly sees a man and a child, and seems to nod once, before looking at Xantia, Citan and Lily. "Y'all have some good timing. Get up here if that's not your kin over here! We're taking off RIGHT NOW!" And indeed the engines are already spinning up.
Escape is so close.
<Pose Tracker> Citan Uzuki has posed.
Three out of the four of them here in fact have met Guba at his finest (???) before!
...Suffice to say there's every reason for Xantia to clarify on the autograph front this time. Particularly after last time. Citan tries not to make eye contact, himself.
But then there's the matter of the obstacle in their path, so to speak.
A few good spells. A pair of well-timed strikes. There was a door there. It's gone now.
And beyond it is--
"Is that the--"
Elly is the quicker out of them all to break off and run, seeing someone that even Citan only recognizes a fraction of a second too late. "Fei! You--"
But there is not, as Cid makes clear, any time left to dither about it. He has to make a decision and he has to make it immediately. The Al Bhed are evacuating, and he has to trust both ships are headed in the same direction. "Elly! Look after Fei!"
Reaching for Xantia's hand, he moves to pull her aboard the Fahrenheit.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The door is super gone. The blitzball... Will be gone shortly. Is gone shortly. It's fine. Lily looks at the ship, surprised at its gleaming form--but past it she sees, too, the familiar--
"Well, there it is," Lily commnts, but doesn't go after Elly. Not immediately and then there's no chance as the man comes up--"So we're told," Lily says.
"Xantia! We need to talk later!"
Lily moves up to the Fahrenheit, too, climbing aboard after Xantia and Citan, though she smiles over at the Fereshte. "I'll have to make it over to it when I can," she comments to the others.
Decision made quickly--and Lily will be glad to get out of here. Though the matter of what next is definitely on her mind...
And someone waiting for her on the other airship.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Another unworthy door, indeed. Xantia has been brought along to deal with a particularly stubborn door before. She still has yet to see one that doesn't answer to her favorite type of knocking.
She barely dodges an incoming blitzball. She looks around for Guba, fuming, but of course that guy is already long gone. Ugh!! This is exactly why she didn't want to go back to Spira!
(Guba does not in fact rank in the top ten reasons why she didn't want to go back to Spira, but it's close)
Either way, the door is out of the way, and... well, Xantia can hardly not recognize the Fereshte there, as well as the shrinking form of Elly who's already well on the way there by the time Xantia gets over Guba's latest near miss.
It's obvious what Xantia is going to do, as soon as she realizes. She's going to want to go where Fei is. Citan predicts this perfectly, and grabs her hand before she can. "Wh-- but, Fei is...!" She regards Citan with clear confusion. She may not know a great deal about the doctor, but she would've guessed that he, too, would want to go to where Fei is. She also doesn't actually argue, because she also guesses that Citan has a clearer view of the situation than she does, that's generally a pretty safe bet.
In the end, she doesn't make a fuss of it, nodding slightly as she follows Citan. "...Yeah, okay," is all she says in response to Lily. She's a bit subdued after all this, but at least it looks like they're finally on their way to safety.