2024-06-14: Eastward
- Log: Eastward
- Cast: Kaguya, Dean Stark, Rebecca Streisand, Avril Vent Fleur
- Where: Old Petra
- Date: June 14, 2024
- Summary: After the battle with Amaterasu, the Vanguard lands for a time in Old Petra as they see to Cassini and their own next steps. Plans are made.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
The matter of planning looms large--but part of planning is consolidating their resources, and for Kaguya, that includes doing a proper check on Cassini now that they're out of Slayheim. She suggested Old Petra as a place to go, because it's very abandonedd but has a little machinery remaining.
Now, she's brooding a little as she looks it over, standing next to Cassini's great form and staring over the wasteland.
"...So," Kaguya says, "There's no Metal Demons here now, I think..."
"Anyway," she says, "Cassini seems OK. I want to look it over a little more, though. But it's drinking up healthy Ley and its self-repair mechanisms are working."
"...See anything, Dean?"
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean does see something! He sees Cassini, through sparkly heart-eyes.
"Huh wha?" he utters when Kaguya addresses him by name. He only barely glances her way. "Yeah sure that's great!"
Putting him on guard duty was probably not the best idea.
Seraph Lanval (Lanval) pages Lan Lilac, Loren Voss, Eleanor Klein, Rebecca Streisand, Dean Stark, Kaguya, and Avril Vent Fleur: mind a watcher?
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"So, no watch duty for Dean while Cassini is around."
Is in fact, what Rebecca notes instantly.
"Ever."
Rebecca as a result of this, takes a few acrobatic leaps, and bounds up - and up - and up clambering up Cassini until she's at the top.
"It's fine I'll handle it."
(She actually just wanted to climb the Golem. She will never admit to this.)
"So what do you think Avril?" She calls down, "Once Cassini's fueled up, any idea what our next step is? Other than... get far far away before Kaguya's sister finds us again?"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Once upon a time, they had visited here with Riesenlied. It feels so long ago now, Avril reflects, glancing at the ruins that yet remain. The destruction of the site of Old Petras had come even before their alliance with her, but...
"I do not think that they have been here in some time," she remarks, glancing about. "Even those who still believe in their old desire."
Most of the Hyadeans just wanted to live on Filgaia as any other. And so they had dispersed, the ones who hadn't departed to the Hyadean settlements scattered across Ignas and Elru, that is. But even if Mother's word was no longer law, and even if the Quarter Knights were no more, surely there were still some that clung to a dream of power and conquest.
"Yes, it seems that way," she remarks on the matter of Cassini. "It seems to be much better. I wonder if it would have awoken on its own someday had the Angel Halo not been used."
But what does she think they ought to do now?
"...Actually, I wonder if now might not be the best time to head east, as we planned. They would not be expecting it, I should think," she says to Rebecca. "Perhaps we could slip into the Control Zone while they search for us elsewhere."
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Yeah," Kaguya says. "...And there are some of those. Maybe a people devoted to conquest just can't entirely give it up..."
She has to force it, but Kaguya laughs at Dean. And to Rebecca, "Looks like."
Rebecca is even pretty cool climbing the Golem, not that Kaguya is going to tell her that right now. Instead, she looks to Avril, echoing the quesion without speakinng.
"Maybe," Kaguya says. "It wouldn't surprise me, nyway. Just needed a stimulus to get it going."
But... Hmm.
"That... makes a lot of sense," Kaguya says. "I mean, they do have other operatives, and they might see us. We'll need a plan to deal wih that." Pause. "But that's just details. I think you're right, Avril. Now or never."
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Rebecca leaping nimbly up Cassini at least distracts Dean. Sort of. It distracts him like this: "Awww! I wanna do that!" he complains, waving his arms over his head at her. "Rebeccaaaaa! Portal me up there!"
...So, it's basically a tangential distraction at best.
He blinks over at Avril when she suggests they head east. "Oh! Yeah, that's a great idea! We can all ride on Cassini!" he says. "And all the time was absolutely worth it for our new friend, but we really do gotta get on that!" He beams back at Cassini. "I can't wait to ride on Cassini!!"
Priorities! Just like how the Metal Demons *aren't* his priority. Why worry about people who aren't here when there *is* a Golem here??
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"East? You think?"
She had been surveying things, but now she's looking down at Avril, "Well... that's true. If I were Amaterasu, that's the last thing I'd expect."
Rebecca scratches the back of her head like she's a little uncertain though. Worried, but as Kaguya mentions it. "Sure. Why not? I'm on board."
Dean however...
She looks over the edge down at Dean, critically as he complains, "Alright! But don't just run around everywhere like a chicken with your head cut off, you'll fall!"
(It's a little too obvious who the Mom friend is here, isn't it?)
Rebecca fires down a portal near one of Cassini's leg joints, then another up near her. "Come on up! And be careful!"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
It's true. They need look no further than their own people to know that it is not so easy to simply let go of the culture that flows subconsciously in one's veins. A drastic shift is needed, and perhaps, they will succeed--
But the echoes will linger on for some time.
It may be so even longer for ones such as the Veruni or the Hyadeans, themselves long-lived people.
"I think it should be fine from here on," Avril remarks, gazing up at Cassini. "You will continue to help us, won't you?"
The last is, of course, directed at Cassini itself.
To Rebecca, she nods. "Yes, I do. We were planning to head there regardless. I think it would be best to keep to our plans while they are least expecting it." She smiles, ever so slightly. "Besides... I do not think we can continue to run. I do not wish to fight them, of course. Against all their might I do not think we could persevere." Especially if they were to field the Sentinels. "Yet, if there is a chance we could slip through, I should like to try."
And now is as good a time as any.
Rebecca relents, carving a path for Dean to reach Cassini's shoulder, prompting Avril to giggle.
"I actually had not thought about that," she remarks, of Dean's suggestion. "If we were to travel to New Arctica on Cassini, I wonder if we might be able to slip through undetected."
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"AFFIRMATIVE," Cassini vocalizes to Avril.
"...Yeah. Mat won't expect us to go right in," Kaguya says. "Especially not with me."
Kaguya scowls a that, but looking up at Dean is... Well, his excitement is almost infectious. Almost.
"Right. Running's for suckers," Kaguya agrees. "And..."
"I don't want to fight a Sentinel. It wouldn't go well." Kaguya doesn't say they'd lose. But that has to be what she means, isn't it?
"We should try. ...And you know, yeah--Cassini could make the trip for sure. And could probably do it quietly..."
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Oh man! This gonna be awesome!!" Dean enthuses as Rebecca does as he requests/demands. But since he is in fact a grown adult and no longer a boy, he does take care when he goes through the portals to eventually make it to Cassini's shoulder next to Rebecca.
But since he is a boy at heart still, he pumps both fists into the air at the vast vista before him from the height that the Golem offers him. "WHOOOOOO!!"
He grins down at Kaguya's assertion about running, and then at Avril when she giggles. That turns into a surprised blink at her admission, though. "You hadn't?? You weren't just gonna leave Cassini behind, were you? Not after we all fought together to keep Amaterasu from taking them away! Besides!" He rests a hand on the side of Cassini's head (neck?) and beams at them. "Friends stick together!"
He looks back at the others. "If we do go now, though... we're not gonna be able to come back for a while, are we? Is there anything we need to do first? Get supplies? See to any friends? Xantia had some big trouble lately, and I haven't had a chance to check in on her... Though there were a lot of other people there too, so I'm sure someone's seen to her already. Still!"
He at least has already seen to some last matters in the Slayheim Salt Flats, back when they were all packing up to leave after finishing the excavation, involving letting one Pokemon go only to welcome another... But that's a story for another day.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Well it's good at least that Cassini will be offering help, they'll need it.
Whereas Rebecca, there's certainly still worry, but- "It is the mature thing to do I guess, to go into their own territory and face them. Just, we gotta be smart and careful."
Kaguya gets a curious look, "Are you calling us suckers?" She asks but doesn't seem offended, just in good humor, as she puts a hand on her hip, "We were running for years in a sense. Even if we fought plenty along the way."
'I don't want to fight a Sentinel.'
"Yeah. Same." Her expression darkens, but-
As Dean comes up, Rebecca puts a hand on his shoulder as if to steady him because she has near perfect balance. "Heh." She smiles at his fist pump like display of exuberance, "Dean we are trying to keep a low profile."
She does say it but her heart obviously into scolding him. Especially when the real reason for coming up here is she just wanted to be up on the Golem.
"... Hm. Well I guess we should plan at least some." Rebecca calls down to Kaguya, "Hey Kaguya. Once we get there, where's the best place to lay low? Happen to have any maps?"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Thank you," she tells Cassini, smiling up at it.
Can she help the smile that comes to her face when Dean, lifted high above the world, revels the vista he can see? "Perhaps we shall see something greater yet when we travel east," she remarks.
She shakes her head at Dean's remark, though. "No, certainly not," she tells him. "I had thought we might travel by ship and meet Cassini there... but while it is not without its own risks, it would be faster to travel with Cassini." It would also run less of a risk of being caught by the Veruni in a position they could not evacuate from swiftly, such as 'on a boat'.
Even if they were spotted en route, they might be better able to defend themselves or escape with Cassini, and it would be unlikely for the Veruni to mobilize too many of their forces quickly enough... if they were lucky, of course.
"Nor I," she says, of fighting a Sentinel herself.
"It might be," she reflects, of his concerns that once they go, they won't be able to return so readily. "Perhaps we might consider things like that before we depart. It would not do to leave anything important undone," she finishes, glancing over at Rebecca and Kaguya alike. "There is one thing I should care to retrieve before we go."
But it is not here. She'll need to travel to New Wayside for that.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya nods to Rebecca. "Yeah. Let's not be stupid about it. That's for sure. ...But going at all is kind of stupid, so we've got to be a little dumb." Brave. Same thing, right?
She laughs at Rebecca. "We're all suckers if we're going for this. ...But it's cool. I did some running for a long time, too."
Low profile... Heh.
Kaguya nods along. "Yeah. It's faster and Cassini's pretty defensible, too." Cassini stands an otherwise silent vigil for the moment in the wake of Avril's thanks.
But Rebecca... "The truth is," Kaguya says with some trepidation, "I don't know the Elru control zone that well. Most of my time there was in a hospital. Then when I got out, I pretty much just hurried to Ignas to get started. I wanted to get as far away from my family as I could. I was mad over the whole 'leave me in cryosleep for a century' thing, and the 'waking up just to die of Planet Hates You disease.'"
Pause. "...The last one turned out more complicated than I imagined. But anyway, as for stuff to do out here... I don't have much. I'm fine. So we can do whatever you guys need to do."
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"We can start keeping a low profile *after* we leave! Who's around to hear us, anyway?" Dean argues cheerfully. He doesn't shake off her hand; she's one of his best friends, practically his sister, after all. As long as it's not romantic, a little casual touch is just fine. He brightens at Avril's suggestion that they might find something even *cooler* once they head east. "Ooh! That'd be so exciting!"
But when Avril explains her thoughts, he nods thoughtfully in turn. "That makes more sense! Sorry, Avril, I should've figured." Avril would definitely never abandon a friend! ...As for the Sentinels--well, there's no point in echoing what everyone else has said.
He laughs when Kaguya admits they need to be a little dumb. "That's what you call being brave!" His expression softens when she mentions her experiences when she first awoke from cryosleep. Too bad for the maps, but even worse that she had a rough time of it. Then he nods to Avril. "What d'you need to pick up? For me, I think I can send Xantia a message through Memory Cube or something if we have to--just to make sure she's all right."
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
"And how do you think Amaterasu found us in the first place?" Rebecca points out, to Dean, "Didn't we all go 'There's no way they can find us out here, so long as we don't bring our Gears.'"
Rebecca then with her opposite hand, points down at Cassini as if to say 'BIG AS A GEAR!' Her tone however isn't harsh it's just matter of fact. Dean's exuberance, meet Rebecca's pragmatism - it's at least a twenty year reunion.
Rebecca gives Avril a curious look at what she cares to retrieve, "Then yeah, let's head back to New Wayside first. Could use a resupply anyway." What is it? Well Avril has her mysteries - Avril is a mystery, and she respects it.
At Kaguya's comment on bravery, Rebecca does tap Dean on the shoulder she's holding. Which, indeed, is not a romantic gesture. If anything it's just keeping a 'hand' out for him, just in case, since her balance is near perfect, "Traveling with this guy I try to temper my expectations." As she drags her childhood friend affectionately, before- "Alright then, so long as you're one of us I can accept that."
Kaguya however explains, and Rebecca's brow furrows, "I remember you saying, didn't realize that they didn't let you out back then enough to even... learn your people's own territory." It doesn't sound like she's looking down on that, or anything, just- "Terrible."
She does consider, before- "Well Dean, while you're calling her, do you want to ask for her help?" Rebecca suggests, before she looks to the others, "Putting out a call to a few others we trust? Feels like a good idea. I think... Redi too. She'd probably want to search for answers in the Control Zone right?"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I suppose we shall see. At least once we are within the borders of the Control Zone we may find it easier to blend in." That will probably be the point where they'll have to part ways with Cassini for a time because, well... nothing says obvious like trekking around on a Golem in Veruni territory. If they're lucky, on the other hand, going on foot they might be able to fit in with the other humans.
"Yes, that is right," Avril says to Kaguya with a smile when the other says that 'going at all is kind of stupid'. And it is! But that's quite alright. Sometimes the cautious action, she's realized, is far more dangerous than the reverse. If they remain on the defensive...
A battle is not necessarily won by staying the course. It depends on what sort of battle it is, naturally. And in this case...
"It's quite alright, Dean," she tells him, shaking her head. "I did not explain what I meant at first. I think Cassini may be important for our exploration of Elru."
Hopefully it will just be for the expedition part, and not for, say, too much combat.
Even Avril doesn't think they'll be able to completely slip under the radar. But if they do get detected, they will need to ensure no one is able to report back about their motions.
...It is the sort of action her old self would have taken, she reflects.
"An old project of mine," she answers Dean. It had been left behind when they had been transported to Spira, and of course, they hadn't the opportunity to come back to Ignas in some time.
"Oh, I see... so we are equally in the dark. At least we have an understanding of the layout of northern Elru," she remarks after a moment's consideration. "Perhaps we might receive some information from the local residents."
"I think that might be wise," she says of Rebecca's suggestion for Dean. They had gotten far excavating Cassini with help from their friends. Perhaps their friends might once again be able to help them prepare -- and explore -- the Veruni lands.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Rebecca has a point, Kaguya thinks. But on the other hand, "Right. And blending in..." She considers. "I dunno if we can fake me being a human for long, or under much scrutiny. On the other hand, they're not as likely to trouble us if they know I'm with you. ...As long as I don't go throwing my weight around, it won't be anything weird."
Pause. "...Besides, I don't... want to make things worse for the people stuck there."
That's what Kaguya calls being brave! "Well," she says, "Yeah." Then Kaguy looks to Rebecca and laughs a little. "Yeah, yeah." Even Avril gets into it, and Kaguya grins. "Yeah."
But what she saw there... She shakes her head. "My parents were just like Mat. I wasn't to trouble myself with danger."
"They didn't like that I decided to leave."
New Wayside... Hm. "Interesting. Well, I'll look forward to seeing it."
But they are in the dark. "Yeah, we might. ...Asking friends is good. I've got some of those little guys from Nede, too, who might be useful. But definitely Redi and her friends." Pause. "Maybe not Hicalu. But I don't want to leave him out, either... Being mean to him is like kicking a puppy. But Yulie's reliable, too."
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Oh, okay," Dean says to Avril. He trusts her; there's no need to question it. He'll find out what that old project is once they retrieve it.
"Oh yeah." Dean rubs his head sheepishly at Rebecca until he realizes, "Hey, wait a minute! Amaterasu didn't find us because we were yelling a bit!" Probably. Still, it's fine. Dean's exuberance and Rebecca's pragmatism aren't reuniting; they've been together all this time, just like Dean and Rebecca themselves. He makes a face at her when she talks about tempered expectations, but he doesn't argue it.
"Yeah. That really sucks," he chimes in though, looking back at Kaguya. He gives Rebecca a thoughtful look when she suggests asking Xantia and the rest of their friends for help. "Huh! Yeah, I could try asking!" He smiles at Avril and Kaguya, the latter of whom makes a few more suggestions on who to ask (or maybe not ask). "Let's all try asking around, then! It worked great for Cassini!"
Of course, traveling with a huge group would probably undermine their goal of sneaking into Elru, but that's not something Dean thinks about. The more friends you have, the stronger you are: that's just science fact.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
An old project? Rebecca gives Avril a curious look, but doesn't press, after all, if she's not saying it outright - she has a good reason. Probably. Usually Avril doesn't say what a thing is until it's precisely the right time.
Rebecca gives Kaguya this look for a time, then- "I dunno, we might could figure out a good way to pull off a disguise. I can at least do some light stage makeup. And Avril..." Avril just always looks perfect. It was enough that she got jealous early on, and now she just...
"Either way we could look for professional help? You're..."
Don't say small don't say small don't say small.
"... more compact than the average Veruni, that helps."
Yeah like that's so much better.
"Good picks!" She says quickly of Kaguya's.
She does eye Dean with a smirk, "And you think yelling atop a Golem won't make it that much easier for her?" She challenges, lightly.
Eventually, she considers, "Local residents huh? Kinda wonder how well we'll be accepted. Doubt even their small towns are like Capo Bronco, but we still need to get the lay of the land..."
There's a tilt of her head, "... If we could flag down Captain Bartholomew too, maybe he could give us more information but, that might be tough on short notice."