2019-07-01: It's Hard to Stand on Both Feet
- Log: It's Hard to Stand on Both Feet
- Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline, Lydia Seren
- Where: Luca
- Date: 1st July 2019
- Summary: The Fereshte flees the Battle of Luca.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
War has erupted in Luca.
The two Guard Golems Cuchulainn and Hashmal have risen past the seawaters and breached the seawalls damming Luca's waters from the rest of its harbour; in turn, the Guard's fleet have largely made landings both on the city's shores and its ports both. A number of the merchant ships have already come under fire, and a particular Dragons-headed ship has been moored at the start of the battle--
The Fereshte.
The ensuing chaos has been fervent as the Fereshte desperately attempts to skirt away from the brunt of the artillery fire and Golem assault; Riesenlied has made the decision early to pull out. A cannon-less ship was not going to do anything, let alone if it had artillery in the first place, against an entire fleet of the former Ghaleon's Galleons (tm).
But Riesenlied is Riesenlied, and--
"Look for survivors in the water! Retrieve them and bring them onboard!" she calls from where she's grasping onto a rope on her wheelchair at the deck.
With her are a cadre of the most fired-up Outreach folks: the Azadians. A trio of sailors are throwing out the cargo bay dock in a daring attempt to grab several Lucan fishermen whose dinghy has been crushed in the wake of a galleon's forward stride.
But they're not getting away scot-free either; a nearby Guardship has taken notice and cannons are firing. Several large shots land clear in the water with geyser-like uplifts; there's a yelp as the impact throws Riesenlied off her chair and onto the ground. She's grimacing as several survivors try to climb onto the side of the ship--
"Help!"
"I--I'm coming..." Riesenlied starts crawling, though her eyes widen as she sees a flood of arrows loosed into the sky. She raises her hands as she summons forth a curtain of the Ley--
And the Medium flickers at her throat, and she slumps. Her power is wan, here in Lunar.
"N-no, please... not right now..." She lowers her head, wincing.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Riese!" blurts a familiar voice. The next moment there is a slab of wide, thick metal braced against the deck just in front of her, ready to deflect any arrows that fly in her direction. Noeline is knelt with her shoulder pressed against it, holding it in place as her free hand goes to clutch onto one of h's.
On pure instinct, she grasps for their link in a much more active fashion than usual, purposefully reaching for it to open herself to it and offer as much power as she can to bolster Riesenlied's shield. "You can do this," she promises at a whisper, her gaze held steady and confident, feeling the spark of Duras Drum flow through her. Though it's power is a little muted here in Spira, the Hades Guardian has called the moon home for a long time now.
She looks like she's had better days. Her hair is plastered around her face; the light dress she's taken to wearing under her armor is soaked against her skin. She's obviously been overboard at least once - and though she's said before that she's absolutely not a swimmer, she does at least have raw strength to fall back on if all else fails.
Her belongings, not so much. "Dva, we need you to slow them-- Dva?" she adds, frowning at the pops and stutters that signal a busted commlink.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia is leading a group of survivors towards one of the exit points only to find it blocked off. Swearing to herself, she turns to look for another route and ends up finding it in the Fereshte. It isn't towards Jay's route but that's fine. She whistles to her group and reaches for her Silver Medium, raising it into the sky as she channels its power--
--and her group of refugees get a double time in their step, rushing forward towards the Fereshte.
"Don't leave yet! Don't leave yet!" Lydia shouts. "Got more incomin'!"
She is going to be a moment though, friends, because she has to watch out for weaponsfire--both aimed at her and the refugees!
"Criiipes, these people need to learn how to run away better...!"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied closes her eyes and waits for the arrows... that don't come.
The familiar thick metal shadowing her is there, as is Noeline, as she reaches out with that free hand and holds hers in turn as their link bolsters her upwards from her prone position. She bites her lip and seizes the chance, empowered by Noeline's strength, to pull at the rope and bring the dangling man overboard with a wheezing huff.
"T-thank you," Riesenlied whispers, looking pale and harrowed. "We have to keep going. We can't stay here..."
She focuses her power again, grimacing and her lips trembling as she tries to seal the man's wounds; there's a fervent cough as some of the light of Life comes forth to bring him out of immediate danger, but it's a struggle.
"I--"
Don't leave yet! Don't leave yet!
Her eyes widen. A Star-powered group of refugees is running their way. "Lydia!" Riesenlied hoarsely calls.
Noeline's commlink squeaks for a moment as the response comes: "--way!"
And water erupts from over the docks Lydia and the refugees are standing on as a mermaid-like figure leaps in a little spiral, the wall of water she kicks up catching the weaponsfire and sending them astray.
Dva lands on the dock a moment later, her spear brandished. "Lydia! Glad to see you," she grins. "C'mon!" She grabs the most ailing of the refugees to do a big jump. "Last one on deck's a rotten egg!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline hasn't actually planted her sword into the deck as she normally would on land, because she'd much rather make sure the Fereshte still has an intact deck rather than punch holds in it every so often. It's why she can't lend her physical strength to Riesenlied right away - but the moment the clatter of arrows has stopped she pushes herself up to assist, hauling the man the rest of the way.
"I know," she mutters back to her partner. There's a bitter edge in her voice as her brow knits, as she glances to the ship that's harrying theirs. "So much for that offer of non-aggression. The Guard sinks ever lower. I have bandages--" she adds urgently, reaching for a pouch at her side. Apparently she'd picked it up later; it is thankfully dry as she hands it over.
She stiffens at the sound of Lydia's voice. She's happy to hear her daughter, of course, but it means the Fereshte now has to hold out that little bit longer, and she's damned if she's going to think of leaving Lydia behind to fend off the Guard. There's a moment where she searches frantically for a plan, glancing around the deck for any way to stall the guardship.
Dva's spinning wall of water is what offers her a chance; she's rising in the wake of it, grasping her sword on the way up. Two strikes take her to the edge of the Fereshte - then she sweeps the blade around, scoring a white line in the sky that rockets forwards to buffet against the ship. At this sort of range, it isn't about to sink or damage the ship severely - but she's not looking for either, wanting only to set the enemy ship rocking and off-target.
"Glad to see someone's enjoying themselves!" she adds, a chuckle laced through her puff of air as she quickly rejoins Riesenlied's side.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Dva you beautiful mermaid of victory!" Lydia shouts because at this point they've been atttacked on enough docks that the water-type Hyadean is confirmed op for this module.
As she ushers the soon-to-be refugees onto the Fereshte (they're gonna need a bigger boat at this rate, Lydia thinks), she turns to look back out into the town and her eyes widen, sliding forward briefly, to bodyblocka last volley of arrows with her body.
They don't seem to do significant body to her lets say 'exoskeleton' and be generous there. She jogs back onto the Fereshte shortly after, plucking arrows out of her body.
"ARe they allowed to be on this boat?" Lydia asks of Riesenlied because even though she evacuated these people and feels sorry for them that doesn't mean she likes anything about their life philosophy.
"Hey moms. Can we go to a town that won't be conquered by the Guard next?"
She flops over and lies on her back.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Let's not worry about that right now," Riesenlied whispers in turn. She glances to the far distance where she sees the Golems. Something about them has really caught her eye, but she's not certain why. Like a familiar feeling, but...
Noeline talks about bandages, and she gratefully accepts the pouch. The Hyadean wheezes again as she pops the cover open and wraps the bandages around the man to finish what her magic started -- but couldn't finish.
There's a faint wince as Noeline's power flares and that familiar white line erupts and strikes against the ship -- several of the sails rip and a mast teeters as it starts to turn to avoid damage. It looks like it's found other targets, as the fusillade of arrows ceases.
Dva lands with a, technically, two point landing (given it's currently 'mermaid tail' and 'hand') and lets the refugees off as she urges, "Hurry, belowdeck so you'll have cover!" with a beam at Lydia's compliment and a toothy grin at Noeline. "Finally, you see my true powers!" she says, even as her boss convinces a ship to leave with a sword arte.
Riesenlied drops next to Lydia to check for any wounds, wincing as she helps clean the arrow 'wounds' from her exoskeleton. "We can worry about that later. I do not want anyone to drown on my watch," she expresses with some firmness. "And..."
She thinks for a moment, and that old Riesenlied, a commander of a Hyadean force, is seen as she makes the decision:
"Cetiri, steer us away from the harbour and up the coast. We'll sail into Djose territory and land on its beaches."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline has little to no doubt that Dva could sink the ship if she wanted, but-- that would only be counterproductive to their stated mission. It's the same reason her cut strikes high; she doesn't want to sink the boat, only delay it long enough for them to get away. She's not about to let the Guard make a hypocrite out of her.
When the guardship chooses to turn away from them, she lets out an audible sigh of relief. Sword winking out of existence, she's quick to leave a hand on Riesenlied's shoulder, squeezing it slightly in support. "We'll make space somehow," she nods to Lydia - then lets out an aggravated sigh at the thought of the Guard. "And that will certainly be the plan. But I doubt we would be all that welcome at the Yevon Church , that's for sure."
When she looks to the mermaid Tainted, it's with a quiet but obviously amused smile. After everything, it's a pleasant sight to see one of the Ebony Wings find a place where she's comfortable. "If it weren't for you, there would have been a lot more injuries. And probably a lot less people aboard this ship," she adds rather plainly. "We appreciate it."
She nods solemnly in the wake of Riese's order, squeezing the Hyadean's shoulder again to signal her support. Lydia's question is a really good one, and one that she doesn't know the answer to. It isn't the time to dwell on it - but she dwells anyway, shaking her head.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia doesn't want people to drown either. She's nearly drowned enough to know it completely sucks. But this is a lot of Fereshte movements in a short time frame for her and that means more maintenance and more fire and arrows and sometimes bullets.
Lydia still has arrows sticking out of her but she is kinda haphazardly pulling them out. Riesenlied can fuss and clean them and Lydia smiles gratefully even though it's unclear whether this is even something she has to worry about.
She turns a bit though because she wants to see a dog-shaped individual spin a steering wheel and guide a ship away from harbor because
It never
Ever
Gets old.
She lays on the floor of the ship for a while.
She should tell them.
She should tell them about Krelian right now, right now right now right now!
Right. We're telling them. Lydia opens her mouth to share the secret she's been hiding for reasons she can't explain and--
"I think I like Ivan. I mean like like Ivan."
Lydia blinks a few times.
How did this happen????
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied just about drapes against Noeline's shoulder somewhat listlessly; she frowns quietly at the wrecked wheelchair again in the wake of the ship's assault, but perks up just a little bit as a helpful little 'chirp' heralds the presence of Strife bobbling along to give her a mobile seat to work off off.
Dva rubs at her nose with a slight cackle as her legs reform from her mermaid mode. Mermode? It's technically a fish tail but she gets mad if you point that out. "Heh heh heh, praise me more, I can certainly get more, I'm not used to it," she just about melts down.
Lydia turns. And indeed--
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb5aGAUYYUc )
Cetiri is going woobly woobly wooooo on her hind legs as she steers at the helm with her fore legs, grumbling, "Your mother... is not going to be defeated... by the notion of mere /legs/."
Riesenlied pauses as Lydia looks like she has something she needs to let out, but--
"I must discern the worthiness of this young man who has the heart of my daughter so enraptuuuuuuuured--" she nearly glides to one side as the Fereshte starts pitching.
"... why don't you just three-point with your tail, grandma," Janey points out from behind.
Silence.
Riesenlied hugs Lydia after regarding her for a moment longer. She gives her a look like she wants to give her time to articulate. "You can tell me anything, Lydia. Even if it's frightening..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline helps her partner up onto Strife's back, feeling another sigh bubble up at the sight of the wrecked wheelchair. The poor, tipped-over, broken thing seems to sum up the whole situation in Spira for her right now, and she feels her thoughts sinking a little as she considers the Guard's actions, and turns slightly to watch Luca still under attack as it slowly shifts towards the horizon.
Carefully, she sets that topic aside, knowing how much it's likely to affect Riesenlied right now, and lets out a breath instead, nudging the little orb forwards so that Riese can get into arm's length of her daughter. Cetiri's presence is a relief; as serious as their mother can be, she's quite capable of derailing worries when she needs to, if only by virtue of taking everything too seriously.
"Well," Noeline finds herself chuckling in Dva's direction. "You're certainly overdue for some, I suppose. We might need you to keep an eye out for pursuers for a while yet," she adds thoughtfully, and then hesitates as a frown flickers across her face. "And I might need you to... teach me how to swim," she adds, grumbling.
As Riesenlied hugs Lydia, Noeline finds herself gravitating a little towards Janey, offering the beastgirl a rather incongruous ... fistbump. "Are you both unhurt? Is everything alright below decks?" she wonders--
--before she turns to Lydia, eyebrows threatening to soar off her head. "... as Riese says... you can tell us anything. I /think/ the rules say I'm supposed to make Ivan's life hell at this point, though. At least, given we don't have any baby picture of you," she adds, purposefully light as she offers Lydia a way out of the topic.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia looks horrified at herself. She curls over to one side and covers her face.
WRONG SECRET LYDIA.
THAT WAS THE WRONG SECRET.
It's like her brain just went down to the next one on the list. "Noooo don't make his life a living hell. He's got enough problems. Wait--no! Don't make my life a living hell either!" She is horrified at the idea of baby picture of her being shown. It would be hard to get one without talking to her awful parents though! You don't want to do that do you??
Lydia is given a way out of the topic but let's be honest. She is too stupid to see it. It's lke someone threw a life preserver out to see but she's too busy splashing around to notice it's presence. R "Don't scare him!" Lydia begs Cetiri probably referring to torment rather than dog-shapedness.
Then Lydia is hugged by Riesenlied.
She can tell her anything. Even if it's frightening.
DESTROYED
Lydia goes boneless and lies on the floor limply.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... I'm not sure what I would do if I fell in water, so I need to figure something out too," Riesenlied admits, though she does look with a bit of surprise at Noeline in turn like she's mildly disappointed about something. "With all the stories you have about the Thames, I'm surprised you never learnt how to swim..."
O-oh no! Is her ideal image dented a bit??
Dva snort-giggles to say, "You'll get the hang of it in no time. Really, you're doing fine back there already, and uh-- rescuin' someone while swimming is a heck of a way to start learning too. And maybe we can find a cucco floatie for you, Riese..."
Cetiri pauses for a moment (now propped up in three-point form) as she relents to go, "Oh, very well. I can always torment Riesenlied and Noeline some more. When it comes to baby photos..."
Riesenlied's horns droop for a moment as she says, "I hope my momly never instincts never go that way..." as she looks to Lydia again with a soft smile and a hug. "I met him once, I remember. When Marivel tugged me away rather on a whim," she chuckles. "He seemed ever the nice young man. If you'd like to bring him around, you know he is welcome."
Janey is tiptoeing to give her mom a fistbump. "It's fine. Micky's making everyone drink her spare potions and hopefully it won't wind up with everyone getting afros. Maybe. It's still touch and go."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"That's good," Noeline nods to Janey first and foremost, letting out a quiet breath of relief. "I'm sure she'll do fine - if not, practice makes perfect, I suppose. Maybe the afros will help them float," she tries some deadpan humour that she wouldn't dare offer if it were Riese.
Speaking of which, she opens her mouth in Riesenlied's direction - and then closes it again as she folds her arms, letting out a light huff. "I mean, swim /properly/," she tries to save face, glancing off to one side. "At the time, I was too headstrong and overconfident to even consider it. Now, I would much rather be safe than sorry - especially when it comes to being able to look out for my loved ones and the people under our protection," she declares.
It's obviously meant genuinely by the time she finishes, and it helps her own mood to realize it - not to mention the way the sea calms a little as they leave immediate danger to follow the coast. She can even find it within herself to tease Riesenlied a little, stepping close to offer the other Hyadean a light embrace - just enough to avoid interrupting her partner hugging her daughter. "I'd just like to be careful. That's all. I appreciate it, Dva."
With a grumble, she glances at the dog-shaped mom with a huff of air. "We have had entire /visions/ of our childhoods shared with damn near all of Wayside at this point. I think we should be immune by now," she grouses - but doesn't examine that claim too closely, all too aware of how often she's been caught by surprise by some coincidence or realization from their shared past.
"... have you discussed it with Talia?" she adds to Riesenlied's encouragement as a thought strikes her. "She did want to try to look after her brother, after all."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia COULD tell Riesenlied all sorts of things about Ivan but she already accidentally ended up sharing more about Ivan than Ivan probably wanted and she's feeling really self concious about it right now as is. She wonders what Ivan would think if she told him her mom liked him. He'd probably say something about how he kills people.
Wait does Riesenlied know that he kills people? Probably not. Gahh, what would mom think if she knew she liked someone who killed people, someone who probably isn't going to stop??? At least not anytime soon???
This is why she hates killing. It's not just messy, it's metaphorically messy. It creates all sorts of complications. Why do people keep killing people when it just creates more problems!? Someone should tell this to Kaguya so she stops doing it too because she seems to have the wrong idea and think that murders stop problems instead of creating like 50 more problems.
She decides to not worry about murders right now so she can focus on the more important thing which is how much she's willing to tell her moms about the boy she likes who does, yes, kill people but more importantly acts super cute.
"A little yeah. I mean. It's weird to talk about with Talia." Lydia says. "But she is informed and educated." She sits back up. "I am not entirely sure but I am like 65 percent sure she's shipping us."
She tries to imagine bringing Ivan to meet her moms.
The face she immediately makes is indescribable but you are free to use your imagination.
"I should totally invite him over." Lydia says. "Wait he seemed nice to you?"
She looks up into the sky and imagines Riesenlied meeting Ivan. What she imagines must not be what happened because Riesenlied said nice young man.
"Hmmm.... but you are like a super empath so... I guess you'd know if someone was nice or not." She admits this thing thoughtfully.