Defend the (Sand)Castle!

Defend the (Sand)Castle!
Date of Scene:	20 January 2013
Location:	Traverse Area - Bodhum - Beach
Synopsis:	Reize returns to Traverse Town to play with the refugee kids. However, he visits the beach to mull over his time with the Shard Seekers and Fluorgis in general. However, he comes across a young lady and her sand castle.
Cast of Characters:	Reize Seatlan, Terra Branford

---

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The eternal night of Traverse Town leads to Bodium. It is the place that contains the wonderful beach that is often traveled upon. Hwever, joined with the eernal night that is Traverse Town, it undergoes its fair share of dangers.

It is often to remain peaceful, despite of the danger presented.

Nevertheles, one person braves the area, looking for a place to relax. The tribulations of Fluorgis heavy on his mind, Reize made the trip out to the beach to relax and maybe get some things out of his mind. He came back to Traverse Town to tell the kid about his adventures.

But as Fluorgis is questioned, he could only smile and reassure them that it will all be okay.

Reize is staring out towards the ocean, hoping that he is right

Terra Branford has posed:
Left to her own devices in Traverse Town for some time, Terra had decided on an expedition. She'd never experienced a beach before, and Traverse Town was supposed to have a lovely one. She hadn't been prepared for just how moving she would find the experience. To stand on ocean's edge was to stand on the edge of ageless power, sightless depth, fathomless volume. It was, Terra thought, a lot like calling upon magic.

When her awe had worn off, it was time for a sand castle. Terra had read about beaches, and she knew her duty. Her grainy architecture left much to be desired; the castle's keep was a slumped and misshapen thing, its crenellations mere blobs. Jasmine and Belle happened by, and they identified it, initially, as a dog, much to Terra's chagrin.

Now the princesses have passed on, after spending some time with Terra, and she's able to resume her work. However, a challenge has presented itself. Terra had not planned for the tide, and is alarmed to find the water lapping up closer and closer. Each lick of foam spills water into the moat, which grows softer and flatter each time, and threatens the keep itself. Terra scolds the water verbally, and starts building the keep taller and thicker, on the rationale that it will be able to withstand this assault if only it is reinforced.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
What slowly brings Reize out of the slump of his pondering is the fact that there is the sound of another person nearby. While he lifts his head up to the air, he blinks a couple of moments. Then, the boy drifts his head towards the sights of the small beachcastle. The castle's keep has been a slope that ha been threatened by the water edging closer.

"Eh...?"

His head tilts over, and then he moves to approach her. "Ooiiii!" As he gazes at the watery tide and back to the woman building the sand castle. "Need a hand?" He starts to kneel down next to her, positioned nearby the castle.

A pair of fingers rest along the sand, digging them to the earth to begin making a moat to hep fend off the water. Those gloved fingers run along the sandy earth, piercing the ground and making the hole.

Terra Branford has posed:
As Reize squats down, Terra scoots away defensively, keeping the castle between her and the stranger. Terra is a slight girl, not quite done growing yet, and even Reize is slightly taller than her. She's also very pale and fey-looking, with tumbling mint hair and a silken cape so thin it floats when the breeze picks up.

She regards him for a moment, then nods. "It isn't a dog, though," she says, inexplicably. "Please do not give it a tail or ears." Reaching down, she scoops sand in her hands and pats it onto the fortification. The Reize-deepened moat suffers the same problem as the shallow one, insofar as the water that flows into it softens it enough that it starts to slump and grow shallow again, but with its greater volume, this problem is mitigated somewhat, and the moat starts to turn into a sort of tidal pool.

Terra divested herself of her slippers, as even she knew not to get her feet wet, but her detached sleeves are dampened to the wrist and sprinkled with sugar-like grains of sand. She seems oblivious to this as she works, keeping a cautious eye on her new helper.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
When Terra makes the motions of scooting away from the younger boy, Reize regards the older girl, if shorter than him, with a bit of a sweatdrop. "Err..." He rubs the back of his head, offering her a smile, "Oi, Oi, I'm not here to harm you." He looks over towards the tide of the water.

"...Ooiiii! I know that!" His cheeks puff. Muttermutter. It's not a dog! It's not a cat! No ears. Got it. Reize's antenna hair flops low, then he eyes the tide of the water. "...Grrr..."

The boy slams three fingers to rake across the moat, making it a big wider and a lot deeper. Not just that, but he curves edges at the point around the moat to make sure that it does not break hrough the defenses.

"Ha! Let's see it get past that now!"

He brightens considerably, then he looks over towards Terra. "I'm Reize!" The hand extends her way, a tad oblivious ove the wary eye. "Pleased to meet you!"

Terra Branford has posed:
Terra's emerald eyes widen as she watches Reize plunge his hand deep into the moat and haul a great deal of sand to one side, making the defense considerably more formidable. Seeing his enthusiasm, she can't help but put a knuckle to her mouth and laugh.

"My name is Terra," she says, hesitantly reaching out a hand. She doesn't like to be touched. Her lips are sprinkled with some sand from her knuckle as she shakes Reize's hand gently, almost limp, then withdraws her arm quickly. "You seem to know a lot about sand castles. Do you live in Traverse Town?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize is NOT going to be outdone by the stupid water! His antenna hair flops, pointing deadily at the rushing waves. As the defenses become more formiable, Reize gives a beaming smile. "Yeeeaaaahh!" He thrusts a hand in the air, fistpumping.

When she hesiantly reaches her hand, Reize is careful to not do anything that would disturb her. As she withdraws her arms, however, Reize muses, "Not quite! I learned a bit while I was here. Some of the other kids taught me how to build a sandcastle while I was here when I first arrived." Pause. "...Trying to do the same thing in a desert is not as easy."

Terra Branford has posed:
Another wave sloshes into the enlarged moat, the trapped water rocking back and forth a moment before it stills. Reize might notice that the tide line is some yards behind Terra; a moat is only a short-term solution to the castle's upcoming doom.

Terra blinks a few times, rapidly, at the mention of the desert. "Agrabah?" she asks. "I know someone from there. There's also Figaro, but I'm not sure one can get there any longer... everything has become so strange."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"Not quite!" Reize replies to Terra. His gaze drifts towards the shore, watching the water rocking back and forth. He looks over towards the water that threatens to loom. "Uggghhh.." He grimaces, "It seems to be coming more and more."

Blink.

"Not quite! I haven't been there yet!" Then, he grins, "No, we're out in Fluorgis, the city where everyone comes togther. It's an airship port town where all of the adventurers gather!" The boy smiles slightly.

"I... lived in forest village all of my life, so I am getting used to the desert life, myself." Pause. "...Are you by yourself?"

Terra Branford has posed:
Terra's eyes look off to the side, and her head falls that way, as if her irises are something heavy that causes her head to tilt. "Yes," she agrees faintly. "Well, now I am. I do have one friend for sure. So maybe I'm not." Her eyes return to Reize, and so her head straightens again, the weight rolling back to the center.

"I thought Traverse Town was where everyone comes together. I've never heard of Fluorgis. Well... or maybe I have and I've forgotten that, too. But the desert seems like an unpleasant place to live."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"..." The boy frowns, realizing that Terra may be alone. A sigh exhales slightly, rubbing the back of his head. "...Ahhh..." He tries to figure out what he can do. She is alone, but, there are folks out at he town that can help her, right? The boy rubs his chin, "Oh! I know!"

However, the talk of the desert life has the boy grinning ear from ear. "Weeeellll..." Reize completely stands up, extending a hand to strike the nightly sky.

"The desert life is a rough one! It is full of the heat that is as hot as molten lava and bright as the rising sun! The animals are fierce, with giant monsters with fangs the size of the buildings here!" His hand shoots higher, "Yet, there is great adventure to be had!" His smile is a beaming one, proud to embellish a bit. It helps him consider what is on the other side that Fluorgis offers. It helps him focus on what he doesn't want to lose.

"I grew up in a village surrounded by nothing but forests, but the desert of Fluorgis is my second home since I came here."

Terra Branford has posed:
Terra lifts her eyes as Reize stands, and after a moment, pushes herself up as well. "That doesn't sound very fun to me," she says, a bit of a spoilsport. Her paleness is suggestive of how much she enjoys the sun. She's certainly able to endure, however; she's a soldier still.

"You're an adventurer, then. Why? What is it you want? Money?" Oddly, there's no judgement in her tone. She genuinely doesn't know. The person most closely fitting the description of "adventurer" she knows is Locke, and he was an unapologetic thief as well as a freedom fighter.

The waves have reached the moat, now, and fill it entirely, beginning to lap around the base of the castle. Terra clenches a slim fist, letting out a whine of frustration. The temptation to use her powers in defense of her fortifications is strong. It's just water, right? But Reize is right here... anything could go wrong.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize is feeling proud as he tells the tale. It is the tradition of the adventurer to embellish a bit about all of the sights to see. Who wouldn't be proud of such a thing?

...Terra, apparently.

'...doesn't sound very fun to me.'

The antenna hair flops low, the stream of comical tears rolling along his cheeks. "The adventurer's path is one that lies of new experiences... not for everyone." He exhales a sigh. Terra's question earns agrin, "Nope! My father was an adventurer who learned about the world around him. He was a knight who helped those in need, no matter where he was. He explored because he wanted to see the world and experience things himself. ...In a way, he felt more alive than before."

...While he has been sticking around Fluorgis. In a way, such a new home is a blessing and a curse. Maybe he should leave Fluorgis, once everything is said and done and let Ivo take over the Shard Seekers. Reize becomes considerably more wistful.

And when the moat is beaten by the waves, Reize yelps and he looks at Terra. "The castle!" The boy digs into his bag of tricks, pulling out a small pail and he starts trying to repel the water. "..Fortify the defenses, we shall not let the enemy pass!"

"You shall not pass, fiend!!"

Terra Branford has posed:
New experiences... that makes her pause. Terra could use some of those. Her life is a blank slate, and anything she remembers of her past is so dark it makes her want to forget it again.

Terra, oddly, doesn't intervene this time, but watches Reize valiantly draw forth his blade--well, his bucket--and assault the ocean itself, as if riding out from the keep to meet a siege. She looks behind her, finally understanding the significance of the tide line behind her. "It's no use," she says, deflated. "I should have known I can't build anything."

You're a WEAPON. And you know what weapons do, don't you?

Terra flinches visibly, lifting a hand as if to fend something from herself, then drops it weakly. "Just let it wash away," she says distantly. "Get it over with."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The bucket is readied for battle. Reize is staring towards the tide as it continues to fight against the castle. And yet, when he looks over towards Terra as she tells him it's no use, he pauses, listening to her. And then, he can visibly see her deflate. ...She is giving up.r
The boy places the bucket on the sandy ground, lowering his head.

Option:
> Let The Castle Get Washed Away
> Continue to Fight

*DING*

Reize chooses, 'Continue to Fight'

The boy, brimmed with determination, is now using the water covered sand to start taking it and fortifying th castle. Meanwhile, he utilizes that bucket of his to wash the water away and gather -MORE- of the sand around.

"No! Knight's Vow #31: No matter how mountainous the adversary, standing your ground is key! We will not give up this battle. If the castle falls, then we shall fall with it. To give up is it abandon what you like! You worked hard on this, Terra! I will help you see through that it survives the storm!"

He shouts, "To arms!" And Reize not only works on fortifying the fort, but he makes a path to scoop along the side to send the water flowing another path with that small bucket.

Terra Branford has posed:
Terra watches in amazement as Reize starts scurrying around, industrious as an ant, emptying the moat into a channel, laying on more sand. The doglike castle is getting considerably larger, now, even as the waves lick at its base, eroding some of the support in the front.

"You're a knight?" she asks. "You're a little..." Lightly armored? Young? Roguish looking? "Short." She looks away. "I'm a knight, too. But we don't have any code. We just hurt people."

Another wave rolls in, this one at the level of Reize's knees, if he's standing a bit in front of the castle, and breaks on the castle. Terra can see it just bit away a lot of the castle's support, and she hurries forward, using the base of both palms like a bulldozer to shove a huge amount of sand back under the front of the castle. The water-soaked sand seems to dissolve wherever they stand, letting their feet and hands sink into the warm wet muck about an inch. Kneeling, Terra has soaked her leggings, and she starts heaping sand in the weakened frontal section as best she can. The next wave takes another bite out, though much of it drains away into Reize's dike.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
As Terra witnesses Reize's determination, the boy continues to press onward. He shows no signs of giving up this battle. The boy grunts, yelpin as the lick the waves continue to beat down the defenses.

"...Well.. NOT YET! I will be!... Eventually! My father was one, however!" Reize grunts to Terra, "Then you shall establish your own code!" The boy smiles at Terra. "Don't you worry! We shalll tri--ACK!"

As the wave rolls over to his knees, Reize continues to bring his hands against the water, now taking a seating position to protect the castle. "We shall defend the castle! We shall defend our home!"

...We shall defend Fluorgis from all adversity.

To give up on a simple castle is to give up on a home. No, this is more than a sandcastle. This is a place that had ben constructed from the heart and through the woman's efforts. The shielded effort is added with the construction of the sand being positioned in front of the castle. As Terra is soaked, Reize too becomes wet. He laughs, turning towards Terra with a grin.

The boy even shifts his body to form into a barrier, "We can do this, Terra! We can protect the castle!"

Terra Branford has posed:
Terra, kneeling, looks up to Reize, astonished at his fervor. Why should he care what happens to her sandcastle? But all the pain of her resignation to losing this thing she built returns in the form of passion to preserve it. When the next wave comes, half-deflected by Reize's own body, it is much higher, the foam actually reaching around the castle entirely. The whole front of the castle slumps, a huge guttering chomp taking out of it, thin silt sliding away as the wave recedes. Terra gasps, and simply throws herself against the castle, hugging it, holding it in place as it slowly pushes her knees deeper into the sand, her thighs swallowed up entirely in the cloudy muck, her feet sticking out.

The next wave, unfortunately, is even worse, swallowing the base of the castle in a foot of water. Terra's feet are now entirely underwater, a permanent pool that remains even when the waves recede. This really is impossible. Another few waves will end this. No amount of canal-building can protect the castle when the water level is so high.

But Terra can't see that, with her cheek pressed into the warm sand, her hair gritty, her triumphant smile. "Look, Reize," she says. "I've got it, I'm holding it up. We can protect the castle!"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
As a boy who should not be the one to take the frontlines of defense, Reize has thrown himself into the fray of the rushing waters. As the ocean blasts him with its rage, Reize twists himself to deflect what he could from the wave.

...And then it sets in.

Reize can't swim.

Flail!

"Gack! Can't swim! But will protect the castle!" Flail. He turns his eyes t see that the front of the castle has fallen. "Ack! No good!" He turns his head to the water, tring to push against it.

Through the efforts, they show resolve. WHen the next wave comes forth, the base of the castle is now taken by the water. "Gah!" The boy shakes a fist at the cruel waves. A smile grows, however, when Terra gives a triumphant smile. She is now showing her resolve. That is good enough for him.

"We can, Terra! We can show the wave that no matter how strong it is, the castle will always persevere."

Terra Branford has posed:
Terra is alarmed by Reize's sputtering, and lets go of the castle, but when she does, it muddily slumps into her lap. Combined with Reize's utter determination (and the fact that it would be hard to drown in the water he's standing in), she reapplies herself to hugging the castle, scooping with her arms to try and reform the amorphous blob.

Another wave sets Terra's gossamer cape floating, and it tries to suck her out to sea when the water retreats. The castle is slouching heavily, its base truly sodden by this point. "No! Just a little longer!" She doesn't know what aid she thinks will come in that time. Turning hot eyes to the sea, she feels her hair lift with a familiar breeze. She can blast a deep trench, or raise a wall. She can force the water out to see with a typhoon wind. She could blast it to steam with a giant, roiling fireball, smell the stench of the villagers' flesh...

Terra closes her eyes tight, and the final wave hits, sloshing over her shoulders, soaking the castle. It's so close to liquid now that hugging it cannot help; it simply squelches down into a flattened little dune, the little sand that is still dry toppling into the water. The bulk of the castle is sucked into its own moat, and Terra is left, coated thickly in sand on the front side of her body and half of her dazed face. The red glass balls holding up her dripping ponytail clink sadly as she lets her hands fall down into her lap.

"It's gone," she says quietly, for a moment unaware of Reize. "I'm so stupid."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Logic that Reize will not drown does not work, okay! Reize is anti-logic! However, it is through sheer determination and protecting something worth protecting that he does not drown! Yeah, let's go with tht.

Nevertheles, as the wave contnues to beat both of them, Reize can see the base of the castle slowly fall. "Gack! Noo!" He glares at the raging waves, "We won't lose!" Having the determination, Reize is seeking to join Terra in the efforts, must protect the castle. And yet, those gasps become louder as Reize struggles against the water. He winces under his breath..

And the final wae hits, soaking the castle.

And yet, the castle has fallen. He looks over towards Terra as she laments over the fall of the castle. Inwardly, he feels bad. Through all of their hope and dreams to defend the place, it fell.

...What does Reize do?

Reize is walking past Terra, then he moves over to the parts of the castle that once fell and sucked into its own moat. The boy then trudges his way towards a further and of he castle.

"We can rebuild it." A smile grows, "Knight's Vow #09: Fall down seven times, stand up eight." He begins to work on fortifying the new part of the base, making sure that the distance is right so that the sea doesn't wash this one away. He looks over towards Terra, "...What we had just there... was an adventure." His smile grows."

Terra Branford has posed:
Terra's bare shoulders tremble as the waves slosh over her waist. Reize walks around in front of her, seeming to survey the damage. Slowly, she plants a hand into the water, pushes, rises. Her face looks wan. "There are a lot of vows," she observes, somewhat limply. She regards him, little chunks of sand peeling off her torso and plopping into the water. He's still so resolute. Didn't he see how fighting just made it worse in the end? That's always how it was for Terra... resistance only increased pain.

But he was still so cheerful, so undeterred. He actually seemed happier now than when they started. Terra didn't know what to make of that, but it made her smile a little. "...all right," she finally agreed, a little hoarsely. "We'll build it again another day." She trudges up the beach, standing next to Reize to look back at the water, the waves which are starting to erase any trace of the castle. "If that was an adventure..." She trails off, looking into the foam as if reading tea leaves. She's quiet for so long it seems she's forgotten she said anything, then finally...

"I really hate adventures."