2021-02-23: Inflexible Determination
- Log: 2021-02-23: Inflexible Determination
- Cast: Gon Guado (his children), Lunata Croze, Zhang Xiumei, Seraph Boudicca, Jacqueline Barber, Eleanor Klein, Marivel Armitage, Colette
- Where: Thunder Plains
- Date: February 23, 2021
- Summary: Two young Guado find themselves far more invested in the well-being of their immediate neighbors than the older generation, and are not nearly as invested in working out the kinks of their passion-laden plans as they find themselves in mortal danger at the Thunder Plains. Then, several Drifters find them.
==============================<* Thunder Plains *>============================== The Thunder Plains, occasionally known as the Gandof Thunder Plains, are an open, barren landscape connecting Guadosalam to the Macalania region. It is an area that is constantly - yes, /constantly/ - bombarded by lightning and thunder. Crossing the plains was all but impossible due to the never-ending storm, until an Al Bhed named Bilghen set up several towering lightning rods to draw the storms' fury and provide travelers with a (comparatively) safe road. He was in the process of setting up the final tower when he was struck by lightning and killed, something which lesser minds would regard as irony, but which the faithful know is poetic justice for a blasphemer against Yevon. I mean, they'll still /use/ the road. Because Yevon wants them to. Clearly. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gea_xz-cJ8
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Things have been changing in Spira, on a smaller scale - but a scale only relevant to those who exist within the limitations and obligations of mortality. Sin still prowls the land, and the Thunder Plains continue to be an unbearable constant storm cell which has no hopes of ever abating. The tides of war appear to be shifting in favor of Yevon, and the drums of war have started to fade from the Thunder Plains. (In favor of the usual percussion of cracks of thunder and rain.)
A snarling Aerogue - a strange, flying red-winged(?) goblin-like Fiend - calls down Thundara next to a young green-haired Guado girl whose nice robes weigh heavy being as soaking wet as they are. She yelps, clutching a magician's staff of a size far too large for her for balance as she cowers.
"Pani!" Comes the voice of another, older Guado girl - a teenager, with darker blue hair. She's dressed in a Blitzballer's uniform, palming a ball between the large hands that all their kind have. "Pull it together! We have to make it to Bevelle!"
'Pani' quietly chants as the air grows colder in front of the older girl. "Blizzard!"
The blitzball is thrown into its path, coating it in ice as the older one palms it directly at the Aerogue. The ice explodes, its (re)dying screeches filling the air as it dissipates into pyreflies. Rather than go retrieve the ball, the older one goes before the kneeling younger one.
"Timu... this is hard," the younger one whines.
"I don't care that it's hard," the teenaged one says, their expression softening as she sees the other's fright. Quiet, solemn prayer turns the air around the younger much warmer, but much more soothing. "Cure..."
This tender moment between them comes to an end as more Fiends approach. At least four Melusines - blue quadrupedal lizards - start to surround them.
There is no amount of bravado between them that can get them out of this situation, but stubborn Guado pride stops anyone from yelling 'help!'
Spira has, if nothing else, been a land of surprising interventions as of late...
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"SEEEEEI--!"
comes the somewhat overdramatic cry as a diagonal line of lightning erupts across one of the Melusines, with a whitish pink-haired ex-waitress landing on the other side. She pauses and begins to sheath her katana, as if anticipating an explosion-- anytime-- anytime now--
*BOOM*
--NOW! *schink* Yesss keep it cool Lunata, don't look back at the explosion and just calmly strike a pose--
"HURF"
The ex-waitress is sent to the ground butt-up by the second Melusine, who realises that they're not in cutscene time.
"Ow ow ow...!" Lunata grumbles, looking towards the two Guado as she picks herself up. "You okay? We're here to help!"
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
There is, of course, a brilliant light blue-green FLASH as one of the Melusines is bisected. The flash strikes clean through them -- and the two halves of the fiend separate, drifting apart, and seem to hang there for a moment. Then, they puff away into so many pyreflies; they drift away in the blink of an eye.
Xiumei snaps her sword to one side, the Pulse Saber striking away, before she turns -- and she blinks at Lunata on the ground. Then, she looks with her bright -- glowing, in the Thunder Plains's gloom -- green eyes. She looks at the two guado children and nods.
A gust of wind blows her long purple hair out, behind her.
Then, she smiles at them. "It's okay," she says. "We're all here to help. Nora!" she cries out. "They should be in range!"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
War never changes, but the people do.
This is both more and less encouraging than it sounds.
But war never changes and here are laid the scars of conflict innumerable: souls Unsent spiralling into dumb madness, hopes and dreams drained to gnarled scales and twitch-too-quick! tails. Were they soldiers? Were they Guardians? Blitzballers, or questants, or children who left one day --
War never changes but it is not heard here; the thunder drowns it out, CRASH! pealing down, FLASH! bright in the dark
and reflected here,
not there,
It's light plate metal and it becomes blinding in its reflection, as the lightning finds the rod which is Boudicca from her horn-helms right down to her tippy-toe greaves, and crackle BANG it reverberates as her tonfa smack down on one of those Melusines, knocking it away from the youngsters, right into the path of--!!
She doesn't stop to look; she straightens up, and all her hair is all a-sticking up, frizzle-frazzle-dazzle as she smiles to Timu and Pani.
"Do not be afraid," she urges them. "You are not alone."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline has been making several supply deliveries to Bevelle, but an important part of that is actually sourcing those supplies. That sees her going to various locations throughout Spira.
Today sees her riding on her chocobo, Remedy - currently sporting a cute hat and a lightning-resistant Thunder Ring threaded onto a red ribbon around her neck for protection from the everpresent lightning storm - with her goal the Travel Agency... but, the sound of combat catches her attention and diverts her path.
She sees it right away - children under attack by Fiends. She's talented, but it'd be a difficult fight if she were alone...
...Fortunately, she isn't!
"Nice one, Lunata!" Jacqueline praises as Lunata takes one down. ...She winces slightly, though, as she immediately gets knocked to the ground. If Lunata asks... she'll claim she didn't see that.
With the others handling the Melusines, Jacqueline dismounts and moves toward the children, picking up the thrown blitzball as she moves and ready to put herself in between in any on-coming threats just in case any get through.
"Are either of you hurt?" She asks, looking the two of them over for sign of injury before holding out the Blitzball for the older of the pair, offering them a smile. "That was some nice teamwork, you two. Let them take care of it from here, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
"Fortress of the earth, shield us with burning light!"
Stony, fiery shields burst up into being around the two Guado to shield them from the iends, indeed in range for Eleanor's spell. She approaches with a gun on her shoulder, a Crest in her oustretched hand raised up and shining with elemental force.
She looks over Lunata for a moment but is satisfied she's okay for a moment, stepping up beside Xiumei after that moment and smiling briefly.
"I hope you don't mind our lending a hand," Eleanor says. "These things are terribly tricky to tackle in quantity."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel, a sleepy bat, is using Boudicca as cover and standing underneath her.
She's holding a tiiiiny umbrella in her mouth that hangs just above her head. frankly, she looks miserable. And wet. And miserable.
"Why did I come here again." Marivel doesn't really ask because she knows the answer (to be with her bestie bestie boudi).
But then...FOUR! FOUR FIENDS!
'Do not be afraid,' she urges them. 'You are not alone.'
Marivel's eyes widen considerably and she bares her BAT FANGS and says, "I vant to suck your blood...!"
Thunder crashes, lighting up her blood red eyes. "Be afraid, be very afraid...!!"
<Pose Tracker> Colette has posed.
"Whoa, boy!"
The crimson-clad blonde rider of a lone chocobo roving the road through the Thunder Plains grabs the reins of her mount as he starts to veer away from the safety of the lightning rods that mark the route, straining insistently against his companion's caution.
"What'd you hear, Comet?"
"Kweh!"
Colette looks up from the riled bird toward the shapes in the distance, raising a crimson leather gauntlet up to shield her eyes against the constant lightning in time to spot the glow of pyreflies.
"You're right, that does look bad! C'mon - but let's neither of us get turned into a roast dinner, kweh?"
With that, she reaches to the scabbard at her back and pulls out a steel blade, brandishing it in the air as she unstraps her shield and readies it.
"Let's go!"
Several seconds later - and with a number of the Fiends dispersed into pyreflies - the crimson-barded chocobo and its rider thunder onto the scene, dodging (or more likely being missed through sheer luck) by a couple of errant lightning strikes. Despite both hands being occupied and her chocobo appearing borderline feral whilst on the charge, Colette manages to stay in the saddle using just her knees. The chocobo rider interposes herself between the Guado and the remaining Fiends, turning to them.
"You all okay, here?" she asks the stone-encircled girls, presuming them not to be monsters themselves. "Don't worry, we - HEY!"
Colette suddenly finds herself yanked away as Comet takes it upon himself to attack the nearest beast directly, assaulting with a vicious kick of its taloned feet and a cry of 'WARK!'
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Help comes. Pani clutches her staff tight, but doesn't allow herself to hide behind Timu. Timu, unarmed and vulnerable, can only hold out a hand as the Melusines prepare to strike--
One goes down to a smooth katana strike, and Timu's eyes light up in familiarity - but not so much comfort. "...Isn't she the Maester's guest from--"
The second Melusine starts to strike, dealing with this new arrival. A tonfa strike from a large woman in armor, who sends them away into Lunata... but she's not alone. They are bisected immediately by another flash of light, the Pulse Saber doing the deed in a blink. They're all here to help, the first three more or less echo.
Jay walks up to them, holding a blitzball out to Timu. Jay may remember the character of this furrowed brow that meets her at first. Even though it belongs to someone much younger, much less wrinkled... it is a spitting image of the demeanor of another Guado she has crossed paths with.
"I'm... I'm capable of the power of prayers," Timu struggles with her innate cultural haughtiness and some deep-seated desire to say 'thank you' as she takes the blitzball back. ('Prayers' is how they refer to the White aspect of Althena's Blessing in these parts.)
Strange shields see Pani yelp in surprise because of the novelty of it, and just in time too, because that stops a third Melusine from ramming themselves into any one of them. The fourth continues to circle, awaiting their imminent disposal as a trash mob.
Marivel, true to her threats, has a blitzball hurled at her. (It rates at 0.24 Guba units, which is respectable 'oomph' if she chooses to measure this local unit of force with her face.)
Colette busts right the hell on in, and she takes care of those two Fiends that go unattended with style, grace, and panache all at once in a dramatic, timely entrance. (One just turns to pyreflies by the chocobo ramming into it. The other... they will find some way in their nature to regret not being that one, because they are now being kicked by a chocobo, which is a most pitiable existence and its dispersal to pyreflies should be a relief to all.)
The threat of Fiends clears away in that moment. Well, the native ones. Timu is looking ready to try and bean Marivel at any opportunity once/if the ball comes back to her, turning her gaze upon Colette. She does sort of remember seeing someone like her before...
Pani is much more diplomatic, greeting all of them with the Yevonite bow which is tricky to do in full while she's carrying a staff that is much too big for her. "...Th-thank you," see, Timu, saying 'thank you' isn't so hard, now is it?! "My sister and I need to get to Bevelle... everyone's suffering--"
"I don't understand why our people withdrew from there," Timu says, aggression rising in her tone of voice.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Dang, how are other people so much cooler...?! is the internal Malevolence-causing thought that probably won't be because being a Hellion is just too extra even for Lunata even at this point. She doesn't recognise Xiumei or Eleanor immediately, but Boudicca comes to assist too... and Jay! Right on time.
"Yeah!" Lunata chimes in with Jay, pumping her fist. "You need to go to Bevelle, you said? Well, we're going there too, so..."
Marivel and Colette both arrive a bit after, and she has to sag a bit at the former. "You're gonna scare 'em..."
Cute chocobo, though, she thinks of Colette's ride. ... even if it seems like the ride is in control of the rider...
Pani does the Yevonite bow, and Lunata -- perhaps a bit unusual for an otherworlder -- responds with a practiced one in turn.
"It's... complicated, but a lot of people trapped there still need help. Were you going to go assist them? I'm Lunata, by the way! And-- ah, yeah, I used to be in Maester Seymour's retinue..."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
*BONK*
Marivel flies off, spinning around the ball, plastered to it like Wily E Coyote. "Boudi! Heeeeeeelpp....!!! They're too strong...!!!!"
WILL YOU SAVE YOUR FRIEND BOUDICCA? OR LET HER TO SUFFER THIS COMEUPPANCE?!?!?!
The ball bounces around a bit with Marivel still stuck to it.
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
Xiumei looks over her shoulder. She flashes a smile at Eleanor, then a nod. There is a glance around -- and she blinks as she spots a girl on a chocobo approach. She blinks once, then she lifts a hand to wave at her. Clad in high tech armor, she -- to say the least -- stands out compared to Spira's normal. "Oh, I hope we didn't spook your bird!" she says to Colette.
She glances once at Marivel. She blinks. Then, she looks back at Pani. "We can help you get there. We heard a little about what was happening," she says. Xiumei hesitates, for a moment. "My name is Zhang Xiumei. You can call me Xiumei. And this is my very best friend--"
She motions to the elf that she came with.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
'My very best friend--' Xiumei gestures to Eleanor. Lunata gets a twinge in that specific part of her brain, as if things became more clear.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel gives Xiumei a deadpan look even while being destroyed by a blitzball when she uses the phrase 'my very best friend'.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"Marivel!" Boudicca chides her best bat buddy, as she immediately undermines her message. "You will recall we came here on account of the quiet rumours of children departing Guadosalam --"
BONK.
"This outcome was entirely predictable," says the Oracle, as the Blitzball bounces. Bounce, bounce, bounce.
Boudicca gives it three bounces before she figures Marivel is not going to stop messing about, and reaches up with her considerable heightness stat to catch the ball on the next bounce. She carefully lifts a Maribat from the ball's surface and places her on her shoulder, under a braid. This is not much protection from the rain, but it's the best she can do, okay.
The ball, of course, she passes back to Timu. "Please do not bounce my friend any further," she requests. "She is simply trying to redirect your attention." Here Boudicca pauses, and blinks, glancing down to Marivel. "Oh, no, does that mean now I am the one undermining your efforts..?"
She shakes her head. "... in any case! We all came to assist you. Ah - you are here to assist?" She asks, of Colette, who she doesn't know, but hope springs eternal.
"Still... it will be no easier from here," she adds, with a light frown, as she turns back to Timu and Pani. "Are you certain you wish to continue to Bevelle? You may... find much which defies understanding, in that place. I do not doubt your strength, only -- only... surely there are those who would worry for you, just as you two worry for their suffering?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Remedy lets out a 'kweh!' of greeting at the sight of another chocobo! Jacqueline, meanwhile, gives the chocobo-rider a nod of thanks. She doesn't know Colette, but she can appreciate the help. She looks back to Timu, then, as she accepts the blitzball. Jacqueline nods.
"Ah, you do? That's good - that's a remarkable power to have." She says with a smile... and notes, then, the look on her face. ...It's familiar. Too familiar.
...No, that couldn't be, could it? If these are really Gon's kids... well, she hopes they haven't heard about her previous disagreement with him.
Marivel, meanwhile, gets smacked by a blitzball, and goes flying! Jacqueline spares her a single glance... and then cruelly abandons her to her fate.
She nods, then, when Lunata says they're heading there as well.
"That's right. We've got a delivery of supplies headed for Bevelle." Jacqueline confirms. She meets the 'thanks' with a smile and a nod.
Still, though... a part of her feels like the smart thing to do might be to try and discourage them away from Bevelle while it's still dangerous. But on the other hand... if Timu is as headstrong as Gon, that might be difficult and might just encourage them further. Xiumei offers to help them both get there, though, so Jacqueline nods.
"Yes, would you like to join us? I imagine we'd all get there a lot quicker that way." She offers... and winces, as Timu says she doesn't understand why they withdrew.
Jacqueline... can hazard a guess. But should she really say it out loud? She spares Lunata a glance before looking back.
"...I'm sorry. I don't really know, either. I'm sure... they felt it was the right choice." Jacqueline says, trying to be diplomatic. She looks toward Boudicca, then, and nods.
"Yes... that's true, too." She says.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Help is here! Eleanor, a young elf who is not immediately recognizeable to everyone, but her shields seem to have been effective enough. Eleanor looks in appreciation to Colette and hr chocobo, and then smiles to the group as a whole--and to the two Guado.
She notices Marivel being spooky and also flying off from the ball. ...Eleanor does not laugh. She's good at not laughing. Instead, she steps up with Xiumei when she's motioned at, and introduces herself, "Eleanor Klein."
Then she looks in concern about the two of them, noticing the matter of going to Bevelle, and...
Eleanor bows in return, though it is not the Yevonite bow. "I admire your spirit," Eleanor says, "But..."
"..."
Eleanor hesitates, and then says, "...Yes, if we all travelled together it would be much safer."
"What do you hope to do in Bevelle?"
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel is completely read by Boudicca and Marivel smiles a little bat smile, wrapping a wing against Boudicca's neck. It doesn't really take a gaydar to recognize that Marivel is incredibly gay, but this is non-sexual affection.
"You know me so well, Boudicca. I suppose it does mean you've foiled my evil scheme! Or perhaps...my evil scheme has already come to fruition???"
She kind of just bat-leans against Boudicca's neck. She seems comfortable.
<Pose Tracker> Colette has posed.
Regaining her bearings as her chocobo rears, Colette brings her sword around in a flourish, shifting to a reverse grip and preparing to drive the blade dramatically into the mauled Melusine to punctuate the violent statement being made upon the Fiend's person by her feathered peer -
Only to find only the nothingness amidst the puff of pyreflies pierced by her upended weapon.
"You're such a glory hound, Comet," the blonde rider remarks, checking that the coast is clear (other than questionable blitz-balled bats?) before she slides her sword back into its sheath and straps her shield over it once more.
Comet, for his part, raises his head, presenting a proud profile to the ensorcelled Guado rescuees and their rescuers.
"Oh, don't worry. Comet doesn't spook easily, he just gets excited," she reassures Xiumei, reaching up to stroke the back of the chocobo's neck before attempting to incite him to turn around to face the others. For some reason, he doesn't budge.
Colette's head tilts, then she quirks an eyebrow. A look of realisation sweeps over her features.
"Really? With all these strangers...?"
When Comet remains stoic, she sighs and reaches into a long felt sheath next to her scabbard, pulling out a flute. She holds it up and plays a triumphant little series of nine notes that may seem strangely familiar.
'Kweh!'
The flute is slid back into its sheath as Comet turns around to face the others, its attention drawn to Remedy. Colette looks down from her winged steed.
"He always wants me to play that for him when he's feeling celebratory. I swear, it's like Gysahl greens to him..."
'Kweh?'
The chocobo cranes its neck toward Colette at the mention of Gysahl greens.
"When we get to town, good buddy," Colette cajoles the chocobo. Turning back to the others, she adds, "I'd offer a ride, but it sounds like company's going for free - and I wouldn't feel right charging for a trip to Bevelle, now of all times."
The smile that's crept naturally into her face since the passing of the danger fades a little at that.
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Lunata explains the situation about as well as she can, and the younger Pani's head tilts. "You're going there too...?" Something doesn't quite add up until she explains 'used to be,' a free hand up against the side of her head. Apparently having huge hands doesn't preclude rubbing them all over one's face sometimes.
Timu looks on unamused at Marivel's playful yelling, as if staring at her hard enough might have her turn into a bunch of colorful balls of light.
As Xiumei further elucidates on the situation at hand and what they're doing, it does strike the younger of the two that she is being very rude (in the handful of ways Guado aren't supposed to be rude to others, at least, almost everyone's experiences with them has been 'standoffish, rude, and entirely okay with being directed by an evil man who killed their previous leader').
"I'm sorry... I'm Pani Guado." She repeats the gesture as she bows to the lot of them the same way as before, as if a deeply ingrained thing.
Boudicca tosses back the ball as she speaks aloud of 'the rumors,' and now it is Boudicca's turn to suffer the Scowl Inherited of a Previous Generation as she deftly catches it. She's good at Blitzballing, but as that seems to be the only real cultural pursuit of Spira outside of collective moruning, the odds of any teenager being a capable player (and/or warrior) is... it's a high number.
"It's us," Timu replies bluntly, "and we're not going back--"
"Introduce yourself," the younger one scolds like she were her mother. Or at least very, very familiar with her scolding that she can replicate it.
"...Timu Guado. We're sisters," both of them at last clarify their names as several together ask as to the nature of whether they want to go and what consequences they might have... as Jay mentions 'they felt it was the right choice.'
Nooooooowww there's Timu glaring at her again, and if there was any doubt before whose child this must be... "Right choice? We guard the Farplane so," she clears her throat and makes a rather spirited and mean impression of a very familiar older male voice, "'the people of Spira may come visit their loved ones and find peace and strength.'"
"...But they're suffering in other ways," Pani chimes in. Timu is unamused by her sister interrupting her, but doesn't shush her. The younger one steps forward with her too-big staff. Lightning cracks nearby, causing her to flinch - but they're okay, they're not that far off from a tower. "We don't understand why everyone ran from Bevelle."
"The walls got knocked down," Timu has a bit more sophistication on this subject because she's older, "and all of a sudden no one among our people stays. Still, Eleanor asks a very, very good question about what they want to do, what they can do.
Pani is quiet, as if maybe, just maybe, the brains of the operation were--
"...Do something other than wait for everyone who survives to come to Guadosalam to mourn," Timu responds. "Beca--"
"We live in Spira too." Pani interrupts, as if catching on what was about to be said. "We don't want Spira to suffer because we don't know what's going on..."
Timu just bows her head and shakes it, as Colette talks about offering a ride, and... they could use a ride. Pani over there doesn't look any older than ten (...maybe? Guado height can throw visual estimates off) and these are the Thunder Plains.
"We're not going back to Guadosalam," Timu reiterates as she rummages for gil she has on hand, "the further you can take us away, the better. Even if... I don't understand what's in it for any of you." Almost like she wants to dismiss them, to find some excuse to keep up that haughtiness.
"I-It's all right," Pani says to Colette, "we borrowed the money from our family's store. We're family, so it's all right."
"...I told you not to repeat that..."
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
"Oh, I'm glad," Xiumei answers Colette. "He is a very cute bird."
She smiles. She doesn't quite register Lunata's or Marivel's looks. Instead, her green eyes go back to the chocobo. Then, she looks towards the two Guado. Sisters, she realizes; she blinks her eyes once, then she nods. "I have a couple of sisters," she says. "I understand. We can go with you to Bevelle. It's safer in numbers, right?"
She glances at the others.
"I know a lot's happening," she says. "But... I think it would be easy enough for us to go with you. There's safety in numbers."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata is a bit less animated and excited than you'd expect of the waitress as she stops to register everything Pani and Timu has to tell them.
In the back, Marivel gets beaned by a Bltizball, and Boudicca tosses it back; she looks to Jacqueline as she explains that they're delivering supplies to Bevelle.
Unlike Jacqueline, Lunata hasn't figured out these are Gon's children, it seems. But there is another similarity that brings to mind.
"Pani, Timu," the ex-waitress nods. When they say that they live in Spira too, and they don't want it to suffer just because they don't know what's going on...
"... if you need a reason for what's in it for me..."
Lunata scratches her cheek and says, "I was in your shoes just three... gosh, maybe four years ago now. My city fell, the walls fell, everyone was dying, everything's on fire, no one knew what was going on. I was just as confused as you probably are now..."
A pause. "So I get wanting to do something, not wanting to make Spira suffer even more. But... you're gonna need some help to stay safe, so you don't make your parents worry. Do something, but do it smart. It's smart to have numbers, right?"
A longer pause, as she rubs her chin. "That old rambling voice feels so familiar, though.... reminds me of when I was in the retinue...."
You're so clooose, Lunata! Glimmer it already.
You aren't carrying anything.
You have 12941 Pennies.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Pani and Timu introduce themselves, and Jacqueline nods.
"I'm Jacqueline. Pleased to meet you." She replies. She spares a glance for Comet and Colette as the latter plays a tune. Comet looks toward Remedy and Remedy trots over, giving a polite head bob of greeting.
Jacqueline listens to Colette, then... who earns several points of respect from her, as she says she wouldn't feel right charging. She looks back to Timu, then, as her response. That stern tone she mocks...
...Yeah. It can't be anyone else. She tries very hard to stifle a laugh. She's quiet, though, as they discuss what they can do. And as Timu remarks that she doesn't understand what's in it for them... Jacqueline considers how best to explain it.
But, fortunately, she doesn't have to.
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Jacqueline says, with a smile toward Lunata before looking back toward the Guado. "...I know what they must be going through, in Bevelle. I know how frightened they must be. That's why I want to do everything that I can to help them. If my deliveries give them even the slightest amount of comfort, help them through a terrible time, then... it's all worth it."
<Pose Tracker> Colette has posed.
Colette dips her head a little in agreement with Xiumei as she pats Comet's back.
"He's a good boy. Little temperamental, but - well, we understand each other," the blonde rider remarks, rolling her shoulders and straightening in her saddle. Her expression becomes business-like as she eyes the gil being drawn out by Timu.
"Looks like you've got enough..." Colette starts to say, the persuasive power of coin drawing her into temptation.
'Kweh!'
The chocobo rider's green eyes are drawn to Comet's face as he interjects, and she frowns, then looks back at Timu and Pani.
"...Comet wants me to ask, though - you said that money's from your family? Do your parents know that you're going to Bevelle on your own?"
Comet's attention, meanwhile, is drifting back to Remedy again, and it starts to shift from one foot to the other, bobbing its head in return of the greeting. It looks suspiciously like dancing. Is he really taking notice of the sisters' situation?
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
"It was a good scheme," Boudicca assures Marivel, smiling. And then a victory theme plays, and Boudicca brings her tonfa together, bowing to Colette in what must be... a victory animation.
(Then she puts her tonfa away, obviously.)
"I am the Seraph Boudicca," introduces the Seraph Boudicca, with a warm smile, "and though we may look little alike, this bat is much like a sister to me." That might explain how comfortable they seem with each other! Unlike certain other people who have certain other vibes, which Boudicca is not commenting on because she has heard Eleanor's story, after all.
Her smile fades to thoughtful concern, though, as Timu and Pani explain why they cannot go back. "How terrible," she says, quietly, "to ever stand at the gates of Death, with no capacity to block those souls from their entry..."
How long could they do such a thing, as a people, before...
"... I do not wish for Spira to suffer, either. Death is come too soon to this place, in habitude; the soldiers of Althena are endemic to my experience, and I feel responsibility, for what we have brought to your shores." She looks up, to the Blue Star. "There is a certain misfortune in our heart, which spreads across the sea and the sky. At all times, in all places... it comes when there is no more sorrow which can be contained in them. To layer, and layer, and layer..."
The breeze catches at her frizzy-frizzy braids, but luckily, something brings her back from her Deep Brooding Answers to the present day and time, where she is, in fact, still speaking to teenagers-or-getting-there.
"Oh! Forgive me." Boudicca looks back to them, and smiles. "I am old, and I do prattle on. Let us say... I wish to assist you because it is the right thing to do. You both seem to know this desire well, yes?"
She holds up one of her braids, with its ribbon-which-really-ought-to-be-a-sash. "You know," she adds, "I brought this ribbon from a Guadosalam store. It is the strangest thing, but I think it had laid on the shelf for some decades!" She's... trying to reach out to them, probably.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
"Pani and Timu Guado," Eleanor repeats. "It's good to meet you."
"Me, too," the elf says of sisters. Eleanor listens to their conversation with the others--but it's her question that stays on her mind for now, even more than wonderful chocobos and certain songs. ...Though she is distracted a little by that one, "Hmmm, if it's good for chocobos I'll remember that one..."
But--they don't know why the others ran, and they want to do... something.
They're not going back. And their family...
Does this one hope to play blitzball, maybe? The ball she's using as a weapon...
"Do we need a reason to travel together beyond it being safer that way?"
She doesn't... love it. What they might see. But she can hardly shield them from that now.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"You know," Marivel says. "Your father."
She pulls a wing back, flips off, and POUFS back into the form of Marivel Armitage, KIND OF ELF LIKE BUT DEFINITELY A VAMPIRE.
"I am absolutely certain he is a dunderhead, but he is not so much of a dunderhead that he isn't going to worry terribly about you if you run off to, say, a city in the middle of being seiged by the Guard. And I feel like a responsible adult, if there happened to be one here, would say something along the lines of 'We shouldn't be taking these children to Bevelle, a city presently under siege, because they could get hurt. And die. And yes, they defeated Marivel Armitage--and all powerful vampire--but that does not mean they are ready to help the people of Bevelle when they couldn't handle four fiends.'"
She thinks for a moment. "Yes, that is probably what a responsible adult would say."
"Of course, I suppose a responsible adult would also say that even if you could, for instance, handle four Fiends--you probably shouldn't involve yourselves with the Bevelle siege anyway."
She squares her eyes. "What is your plan, children? For once you reach Bevelle?"
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Safety in numbers, it is reiterated. Timu momentarily considers what it would like to have more than one sister, as Xiumei claims. She is not sure she would be strong enough to live in a reality where she has multiple sisters. The one is fine!!
Pani looks downcast as Lunata mentions about how not to make their parents worry. "That's... that's the point, though... they didn't care. They didn't worry for anything outside of Guadosalam." Then, in perfect maybe-single-digit-age-logic, Pani looks up. "So... it'll be okay. We're outside of Guadosalam too."
It really is not!! Pani looks up to Remedy and whatever else the chocobo may be carrying, as if quietly wondering what sorts of things Jay must deliver. "...Our mother runs a store to sell things to everyone who visits," Pani says, "I think it would be nice if she did so outside of Guadosalam, too..."
Colette asks a very responsible adult question. Timu responds with a very irresponsible teenager answer. "No, and they don't deserve to know that." She starts to look away, bringing her left hand up against her right arm. "I asked our father why he stopped fighting at Bevelle to take us back. He said it was the will of the Maester. Guado matters remain within the Guado, and... I couldn't tell him to his face those were excuses. So our matters remain with us, because we're Guado too."
Boudicca introduces herself as 'the Seraph,' they don't know what one is but they know she's different from the others in some ways. Pani nods with Boudicca's assertions, and if she is offering that ribbon... Pani's eyes light up. "Really? No one wanted that? It's so pretty..."
Eleanor raises a point that no matter what, it is safer going this way. They couldn't last against four Fiends at once (technically five!). There is no way the two of them could fight through the Thunder Plains. That they got as far as they did is worthy of song alone, and also so much scolding. Timu tries to come around to dial down the arrogance a bit. They're Otherworlders, but they're... acting nice, here to help. They haven't shouted about trying to defeat them in the name of Althena or whatever. "...We'd... accept your graces if you'll let us," her tone grows a bit more polite, as if moving towards the end of her emotional rope talking out a lot of her feelings.
Marivel then starts bringing it to something real, where most were meeting their desires with cautious optimism. Her taking a form at all beyond that of a bat surprises them. The words, though - those are wisdom. Those are grounded. Those are irrefutable. (Those are probably not far off from what their father or mother might say, give or take a few arrogant platitudes and reinforcement of how important it is the Guado act in solidarity with one another in all things.)
What is their plan?
Both of the girls are quiet. Pani looks to Timu insistently because she's the older sister and is easily the one who convinced Pani they'd be doing this. She spins a blitzball up and down between her hands as a nervous fidget. (The nervous fidgeting is an exact match for you-know-who when he gets flustered and taken off-guard.)
"...We want to see why our people didn't want to stay and fight. We want to see why our kind abandoned the rest of Spira. If... if that's the only way we'll see, it's..." She bows her head. "Please."
"Please!" Pani's head bowing game is heads and shoulders below her sister's! ...Which means it is well above. "We see and meet sad people all the time... it's... okay if what we see is sad."
But they don't have a plan.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Honestly, people have much clearer ideas of what's safe, but Lunata hasn't really been one to really deny someone's resolve when they're really wrapped up in it.
But honestly, if they were already at Bevelle and their father took them back...
Lunata figures the others've got the other stuff handled, like what they're going to do, what plan they have (or don't have), and how to stay safe, so she homes in on something Pani said...
"Hey... I know it feels that way right now. Adults are weird, right? Your mom's shutting you down and not making you feel heard when she says she doesn't care of things outside Guadosalam."
A pause, as she kneels down a bit to be more level.
"Adults are weird and complicated and they're bad at being honest. But... I know your parents care a whole lot about you. That's why your father took all that time to take you back, out of danger, right? And your mother might not be able to express it right now, but she wants to keep you safe, I know it."
She scratches her cheek quietly. "Just... keep that in mind, I guess. Parents are weird and they don't explain themselves well but... they usually do care." A pause. "Wow, I'm just projecting at this point, aren't I."
Maybe there's a reason the talking usually gets left to Jacqueline... ugh, random encounter help! Save her from this embarrassment!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.
Responsible adults would probably say something like, 'are you really sure you want to go to the active war zone?'
Well, Boudicca and Marivel did their best.
The taller looks aside to the older, as Pani and Timu explain themselves, and the warm smile she shared with Pani fades in her worry. If a picture says a thousand words, Boudicca -- brow drawn in tension, fingers quirked as if they would like to curl and are not quite, the slight tilt of her head which exposes her neck over its gorget -- she is a novel.
There is a silence to her, but for the breeze, until she looks back to the sisters again. "... even were we to say, 'do not do this,' I feel you would slip away and continue on your quest. This desire to know what is hidden away... I know it well, Pani, Timu."
Did she not slip from Abilene's advice to explore beyond the mountains? Did she not strive to know their stories, when hers were too sparse on the ground?
She bows her head, a hand to her chest. "... so, I will not keep you from seeing these things. Only, please, allow me to escort you. I promise... I will stay by your side, no matter what you wish to see."
With a wan smile, her gaze drifts to the side, for a moment. "... though... I cannot promise your father shall not be cross, to see me by your side."
'Cross' might be an understatement. Boudicca has rarely known Gon to be... reasonable.
... but, she can't let them do this alone.
<Pose Tracker> Colette has posed.
Colette's eyes lower as she turns the situation over in her head, her arm resting across her knee as her chin rests pensively in her palm. Something about the situation clearly doesn't sit well with her - perhaps it's being reminded what a 'responsible adult' would do.
Sensing his compatriot's bemusement, Comet twists his head around and headbutts her lightly in the cheek.
This causes her considerable annoyance.
"Hey!"
Colette rubs at the side of her face and shoots a momentary glower at her choco-companion before returning her eyes to the Guado children and allowing them to soften.
"Tell you what... Comet and I aren't heading anywhere in particular just now. IF you need a ride back home instead of carrying on toward Bevelle, we'd be happy to get you there safe! Ow!"
Comet has pecked at the blonde's knee for some reason.
"...Free of charge," she adds.
'Kweh!' Comet confirms.
"So you've got a choice."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel crouches a bit to meet the two in their eyes. She stares quietly, quirking her head faintly as she studies them carefully. Her eyes...searching.
"...Sometimes there is no good reason for why some are abandoned, and others escape. Sometimes the world that is--is just the world that is."
She cracks a small smile faintly at Lunata and adds, "But I know tis important to be allowed to go on adventures. If you don't allow something to happen to your children, then nothing will happen to them."
She stands herself up. "You will listen, if we say tis time to flee? To return? Or, if events are dire enough, to seek safe haven?"
She does not say that they would just slip away if she tried to stop them because she's an undeed queen and master of the arcane and she could damn well take them back home if she felt the need to. But that isn't where Marivel starts with the children, as a general rule. "If you can obey, then we can assist you."
She nods to Boudicca and adds, "Boudicca can ensure your safety. Or I, should it come to it. But I suggest we continue any further discussion outside of the rain."
She pauses a moment and adds, "For they might catch ill, you see."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Comet does a little dance, and Remedy returns it! Chocobo friendship...
Jacqueline looks toward Marivel as she makes... a very good point. It's true - is it the best idea to bring a pair of children into a potential warzone? Jacqueline frowns for a moment, thinking quietly. But as Marivel herself says, it's important to be allowed to go on adventures, too - and they have a protector, in the form of Boudicca!
With that said, Jacqueline kneels down to Pani and Timu's level.
"Would you two like to help me with the supplies when we get there? It's a lot to handle on my own, so having some extra pairs of hands around to help distribute everything would be a big help..." She says. If they don't have a plan of how to help, then she can at least give them an idea on how to get started.
<Pose Tracker> Gon Guado has posed.
Niether Jay nor Lunata have to bow down too far to get to their level. Guado are tall, proud, and - for the most part - stoic jerks. (Unless such a motion is a polite gesture to allow them to look down their noses at their newfound friends, as a bridge between cultures. Then that's sweet!)
Lunata gets on the level about the difficulty with complex adults and their difficulty in being level, about why they might have thought the way they did. There's that little twitch on Timu that's... well, there's no point in making jokes about what's obvious. She's his brat, and if Pani over there isn't sharing those tics, it's easy to see which of the parents she took from instead.
A random encounter does not save Lunata from this embarrassment.
"We... we accept humbly," Pani does the Yevonite bow to Boudicca and her cautious enabling behavior of this heartrending, difficult decision - because only emotional horror can possibly await on the battlefields, and these are children. Their father will be angry, at minimum. Neither have an answer for that.
(he might be very angry right now)
Colette offers them one last quick, free, easy out. At least one of them knows she's one of the best at what she does, when it comes to transporting others on chocobo. Both of them shake their heads in that slow, deliberate way that Colette may be used to seeing from Guado who are feeling especially snotty that day. (This day counts. So snotty.)
Marivel gets real with them again. It's important to go on adventures... but she - and the others - will be arbiters of when it's time to back off. None of them have any capacity to argue against the logic of someone that, not long ago, Timu 'vanquished' with a Blitzball. And so, it is the more rebellious teenage daughter of almost-everyone-knows-who, who says...
"...We'll do so. We'll listen." It is raining pretty hard, too. They've been standing out arguing with children in the rain! Because of course they are, there are no better places to argue with children other than in increasingly awkward and stressful locations! (Marivel's Mom experience shines through.)
"...I helped around my mother's store," Pani perks up as Jay talks about how they can assist, "I can help." Timu probably can too but she's going to shunt it off on her younger sister because that's what younger siblings are for.
But first! Out of this rain. And lightning. Lightning strikes by neither in support or opposition of what's going on. It's lightning, it weighs in on everything whether anyone likes it or not.
Timu Guado and Pani Guado have joined as Guests!
For a limited time upon OOC request, they can feature in relevant smaller scale scenes set on Spira!
While neither measure up to a Drifter unto themselves and still yet fall short of that measuring stick together, they are not helpless. Timu carries the gift of the White aspect of Fire and is handy enough with a Blitzball to hold her own against flying Fiends. Pani is a capable user of the Black aspect of Ice for her age, and her interest in becoming a Summoner has given her insight on how her kind can form Fiends for fleeting protection. (They will nonetheless politely stand aside in true Gunslinger combat.)
In order to prevent irrepairable damage to the teeth and pancreas, they should not be introduced to Janey or Mikaia. Just to be safe. (Spira probably doesn't have dentists.)