Finding the Lost One

Finding the Lost One
Date of Scene:	15 January 2013
Location:	Damascan Sands
Synopsis:	Reize went to get groceries at Fluorgis, but got lost and ended up at Damascan Sands. It's up to Leida and Tom to find him.
Cast of Characters:	Reize Seatlan, Tom Magnusson, Leida

---

Reize Seatlan has posed:
EARLIER!

"Hey guys, I am going to get something from the market place. I got the list of things to grab. I should be back in about a couple of minutes."

SEVEN HOURS LATER!

The wind howls within Damasca. It's a hot, bright, and arid with desert sand. Holding onto the grocery bags, Reize is sweatng profusely. He grimaces for a moment, the comical tears rolling along his eyes.

"...I think I made a wrong turn at the corner of the market place."

How did he get lost from going to the market place in Fluorgis?

It's Reize.

Leida has posed:
It was getting late; very late. The sun had already made its daily trip from one horizon to the next and, though it was no more than an hour from setting below the shimmering edge of the distant sandy dunes, the heat and brilliant orange light still scoured the desert as if in defiance of its eventual surrender to the night.

Leida sat in the garden tending the flowers as she often did while the others were busy, though in truth most of the work had already been done. This was merely keeping her mind occupied. And it had been for the last two hours and the two hours before that had seen the interior of the Shard Seeker building swept completely free of sand atleast five times. Considering how easy it was for the stuff to get in through the cracks in the doors and windows, that was quite the feat.

However, now it was getting to be worrisome. Though Reize had a penchant for getting himself lost, this was worse than usual; atleast in the princess' short span of knowing the boy. As her self-appointed guardian, he spent a fair amount of time around and she had come to learn many of his odd quirks. But now it was time to worry. There was no one else around to help her search for him though.

Suddenly a thought popped into her head and the girl dashed off to her room to collect the strange communicator that they had given her upon being freed from the demon's influence. Though technology was still a mostly foreign concept to her fuedal mind, learning to work the thing had not been too troublesome a task. Leida picked it up and then paused; who could she call? There weren't a list of numbers for her to simple flip through and -- ah!

Imi had given her the number for the new office at the TDA incase Leida needed to get in contact for some reaosn. Swiftly, she dug the information out of the comm's database and sent the call through, relaying the necessary information to whoever might answer.

Tom Magnusson has posed:
'Whomever' turns out to be a spectacularly limited range of people, this evening. The only members of the TDA currently at their new office includes one Bartholomew Othario Xanderson and his fellow detective, Tom Magnusson. Unfortunately. B.O.X. is a box that may or may not be a toaster, and is known only for its unique trait of going bing, and as such, isn't too great at making conversation.

So it's Tom Magnusson on the other end when Leida calls, and it's Tom Magnusson who slips on his thick, heavy coat, and steps out to find his way to his mystery caller.

Other detectives might go and provide free service for dames with gams going all the way up to their eyeballs, but Tom provides works on the house for little girls who sound like they've lost someone important.

Which is why Tom is a bit surprised when he learns that it's a Shard Seeker who's gone missing. His surprise diminishes rapidly when he learns that the one missing is the kid who was couch surfing at the Manhattan Office for a couple of days.

But, whatever. Missing person's a missing person. And so they go out, combing the desert- possibly after Leida recieved a Tom Grade Hug for being a champ and coming to the right folks. Possibly.

One thing about the desert: it's cold at night. Horribly, awfully cold. It can drop to below freezing very rapidly because of the lack of heat-retaining humidity. This is why Tom is bundled up! Extra bundled up, in fact. He's got a scarf wrapped around his face in addition to his normally heavy trench coat and thick boots.

The latter, combined with his own weight, makes it sort of... Tough, to trudge through a desert. "So," Tom coughs into his muffler. "If you were this kid," he says to the small, adorable girl who dragged him into this mess, "Where would you be?"

Tom pauses. "Besides the desert. How do you manage to get yourself lost and end up in the desert?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Withdrawing his map, Reize unfolds it and begins walking towards a very steep, steep hill going downward. "Okay, if I keep going this way, I should be able to find something..." He squints over the image, thinking to himself.

With a frown forming, the young man is stepping into the gaping hole.

Underneath is an antlion waiting to snatch the boy up. It begins to open it's jaws and.....

The boy passes by it. The antlion blinks with confusion, and then it gives a surprised yelp when the sand is rolling downhill to bury it within the depths.

Sadly, throughout all of this time, Reize never noticed the impending danger at all. It is sometimes a good thing that ignorance is bliss.

"Okay, maybe if I make a left here. I shall arrive back at Fluorgis!"

....Or at Agrahbah. Someone better find him soon.

Leida has posed:
"U-um... well, Reize-san seems to have a knack for... getting lost..."

Unlike Tom, who is a hulking mountain of muscle and coat, Leida is a tiny little thing. Barely standing five feet tall, if she even manages that, the princess is wearing nothing more than an oversized shirt and a belt as they travel slowly across the darkening dunes. Despite the bone-chilling atmosphere, she doesn't seem to be the least bit affected by the weather.

Her corrupted yellow eyes scan the horizon again, trying to catch a glimpse of the wayward wanderer's silhouette in the distance. She wasn't even sure he was out here to begin with but after searching the Marketplace and following a few directions from some people who claimed to have seen him, this was the most likely spot he would turn up. Ofcourse, the desert was huge and there was only two of them. This was like looking for an ahoge in a sandpile.

Leida's gaze drifts back to the large man at her side, still marveling at his sheer size. She had seen plenty of gargoyles and other such creatures that the size wasn't surprising so much as the fact that he was merely human. Atleast, he looked human.

"I... I do not know... he could be anywhere..."

'Hey, why not check the map? There might be an oasis nearby or something!'

'Indeed, he could have stopped to refresh himself and decided it was best to stay for the night. It is unlikely the young sir was bundled up properly since he merely went out to visit the market.'

Over each of Leida's shoulders hovers a small ball of green fire, the vanquished spirits of those entrapped by the demon's foul touch and sealed away within her along with it. Their voices are easy to hear but only those in touch with death or the beyond are likely to do so. As such, the princess relays this information along.

"Maybe... we should check the oasis?"

Tom Magnusson has posed:
Tom is probably but a mere man. A human of incredible physical and psychological size, who towers above most lesser men like a... A tower. A tower of meat and bone.

It's a miracle he doesn't sink like an anchor into the sand, but that's life for you.

He glances down at the tiny, five-foot-barely-anything girl with eyes full of optimistic warmth. Not like Reize's, probably. They don't have much of the 'wide-eyed innocence' thing going for them. It's more of a 'Punch The World In The Face When It's Got You Down' sort of glow.

"Well," Tom rubs his chin, "That's a pretty good idea, actually. But while we're on the way, I've got one of my own." He smiles underneath his muffler and begins unbuttoning his overcoat.

If this were any other situation, something like this could be misconstrued as horribly creepy. But under Tom's overcoat is an undercoat, and attached to that undercoat is...

Stuff.

There is stuff in there.

The undercoat is a combat harness lined with all kinds of munitions. There's a small blue mouse sleeping in one of the pockets, as well- but this isn't the pocket Tom reaches into. He fishes out from somewhere near his belly a set of what appear to be little metal tubes. "Flares," he says, pointing one into the sky.

He depresses a button at one end. Into the sky, there shoots a single, terribly bright, green light.

It might attract predators! But that's fine. Tom is the most dangerous predator of all. A predator of /JUSTICE!/

"I'll set one off every so often. If he sees one, he'll probably follow it. Once we get to the oasis, I'll set 'em going more sporadically, but it should get his attention. Hopefully."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
 !!!!!

Getting tired. Getting sweaty. The boy's movement through the desert becomes sluggsh and his head lowers. Comical tears roll along his eyes, "...I am loooost." His antenna hair flops to the side. He looks at the groceries, already noticing them all going bad.

Comical tears dry up.

"...They gone bad." He tosses the goods aside, now fading to a crawl. But avast, there is something beautiful presented to him. It's an oasis. A glorious, glorious oasis.

"Wattteerrr!"

He crawls as fast as he can to the oasis, getting a drink of the water to quench his thirst. And when he lifts his head up...

The explosion of a bright green light.

"Oooooohh.... fireworks."

Leida has posed:
The sort to be easily startled and leap to conclusions, Leida's face turns bright red as she sees the strange man starting to unbutton his coat for seemingly no apparent reason. However, once she notices that he has more on and is reaching for some tool rather than disrobing to show off his mighty muscles she exhales softly, hoping he didn't notice her unusual reaction.

Flares are another new thing for the princess and her eyes travel upwards with the shimmering phosporescent burst as a small gasp of wonder escapes her open mouth. "Oh... how pretty...!

'Wooooah! Is that guy keeping spirits in little tubes?! THAT'S CRUEL AND UNUSUAL, YOU BIG JERK!'

'It's just a flare, you dolt.'

That would certainly be noticable if Reize were around. The fact that this might also draw things /besides/ Reize doesn't occur to Leida; she isn't programmed to think about that kind of stuff and is actually pretty average when it comes to the smarts area. The spirits are not much better.

Nodding in agreement with this plan, the small girl matches pace with her large companion and trudges towards the spot marked on their map, which Leida seems to be far better at using successfully than Reize. "Um... it is just a little further... this way..."

Tom Magnusson has posed:
Tom cannot hear little talking ghost spirits. He's also /just/ dense enough to not notice- or at least, not make sense of- Leida's reaction. After all, he was just pulling out a signal flare: a perfectly inoccuous little contraption. That said, there is some merit to keeping spirits in little tubes.

A certain other detective would attest to that. But he's also several thousand years dead and may or may not have existed.

Raidou Kuzunoha, God Rest His Soul.

But he is not here, and Tom is not him! The mighty man smiles and walks on, following Leida through the desert. "These things have a pretty great range. If he doesn't see 'em, then we might have to pull in some more help to search the place."

He scratches at his chin, peering at the little flickering orbs hanging over the little girl's shoulders. "So uh, I've been meaning to ask-- what's the deal with..." He gestures. It's terribly vague, "Y'know, all that stuff?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Water. Sweet. Glorious. Water. Reize is on his knees, scooping the contents up and lapping the water into his mouth. He can feel most of his energy returning. He sucks in more of the water. He finally relaxes, looking over towards the pth ahead from where the flare plumed. He cannot help but muse to himself.

"...I wonder who started the fireworks."

He tilts his head over, then he stands up to his feet. As the young boy begins walking along the path, Reize brings his arms up and he moves ahead with renewed vigor. As he exits the path...

Trip.

Reize yelps and he falls on his face, hitting against the sand pretty hard. "Oooff...." He starts to peel himself up, the he grumbles while he looks over at the object in question.

It's not an object. In fact, it is a Cactaur.

It stares at Reize.
and stares at Reize.
and stares at Reize.
and stares at Reize....

~ Quincy Jones: Ironside (Excerpt) ~

It remembers its last encounter with the boy, who, along with another boy, insulted their kind.

Cactaur's face: >:O*CLI-cLACK!*

Similar to that of cocking a gun, needles manifest and aim for the Eternally Lost Boy.

"ACK!" Reize immediately gets up and he runs away from the creature. "Ohgodwhy!"

Leida has posed:
Leida blinks at the gesture but after a moment she realizes that he is referring to Lefty and Pochi which causes the girl to turn her head away and stare down at her feet as they walk. How do you explain something like /that/ to a complete stranger. Though, Tom was a member of the TDA so he probably atleast already knew something about her from the others, especially Mercade and Will.

"W-well... when the demon was sealed inside of me... all of the people whose spirits it stole... also got trapped inside."

She holds her hands out and the little flames swirl out to rest in the princess' palms, seemingly giving off no heat or light. No matter how they move, the green trail of fire never seems to change direction, always rising straight up into the air in a constant state of swirling conflagration.

'Nice to meet ya, lunkhead.'

'Likewise, charmed.'

"Ah... this is Lefty-chan and this is Pochi-san. They both said hello."

Currently distracted with introductions, Leida isn't really paying attention to the surroundings anymore. Reize fleeing from an angry cactus is probably not going to register on her radar should he come barreling over the dunes.

Tom Magnusson has posed:
"Uh. Demon?"

That's the first sign that Tom has absolutely no idea who Leida is, what she's done, or who she may or may not have been responsible for mauling. The fact is that Tom had only fought his way out of The Darkness shortly before the fall of Manhattan, and then he was a bit /busy/ dealing with... That whole mess, to worry about things like 'Little Demon Girls.'

"W-well, uh. Hi. So each of these are spirits, or somethin'?" The little mouse in his pocket stirs from its nap, poking its tiny blue nose out the lip of the compartment. It twitches, peering at the two glowing orbs. Its ears, likewise, quiver.

But then, there is something wrong.

TOM SENSES are tingling. Tom senses are a thing, you see. They are composed of an incredibly intricate mechanism called 'The Mouse sees something dangerous and then claws the inside of Tom's pocket.'

It's enough to make him look up and see what appears to be a tiny dust cloud forming in the distance.

"Uh," Tom squints. He snaps another rod against one heel, setting the tip aflame with a bright, green glow. "What the heck is that?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
As Tom's senses grow stronger, he manages to look over to see the tiny dust cloud forming from the distance. The boy is running as fast as he can, trying to keep away from the cactaur. "...I think I lost it!"

Nope.

See, the cactaur is now riding on top of a chocobo. That's right. The cactaur and the chocobo have teamed up. Why? Well, the large bird in question had spotted Reize's antenna hair.

Chocobo: +o+
Cactaur: >:O

"AAAAAAACCKKKKKK!!!!!"

That cloud of dust picks up, growing larger as Reize screams, "Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy------" As he passes by Leida and Tom, "Oh hey Tom! Hey Leida!" And he passes by again.

"...What, Tom? Leida?"

Suddenly...

Rattatatatatatatataattattatataa comes from the Cactaur.

It's best not to look at Reize's path. Why? Well, the cactaur is showing Reize how much it loves the boy. It is being shown in a thousand ways.

And of course, there is Reize's scream to give an indication of that love.

Leida has posed:
"O-oh... you... you did not know...?" Leida looks surprised by his confusion. She was sure Mercade would have warned everyone off after the horrible things the demon made her do to him and Will. But that meant she could make a fresh impression, atleast. Hopefully he wouldn't get offended when they explained it to him later.

When the little blue mouse protrudes from his pocket the twin spirit flames move in closer to inspect it, as they too share the role of side-kick pets. However, as it is just a mouse and probably not a ghost mouse, they cannot speak to it and merely appear to be bobbing up and down in its general direction.

Reize's sudden drive-by draws the attention of the princess from this cute distraction, however, and a hand goes to her mouth as she takes note of who it is. "Oh! Reize-san! There you are, I was so wo--!"

'Easy, kitten!'

Lefty spins around to block her path as she starts to move after him, taking note of the unpleasant company tagging along. Her other hand goes to her mouth at this and she turns her gaze up to Tom.

"Ah...! What should we do?"

Tom Magnusson has posed:
Tom is no longer where Tom was a moment ago.

This is because Tom's job on the TDA is a very simple one, when they get together for operations, jobs, or simply diving into the belly of a giant whale. His job is twofold.

'Linebacker.'

And--

'Interceptor.'

There's a plume of sand where Tom Magnusson used to be as his arm reaches out to grab hold of the Chocobo's throat as it passes. He grits his teeth as he goes off into the distance, dragged against the sand by a bird with feet capable of disemboweling him with a single kick.

But he is not kicked in the bowels. He instead twists and hurls himself in front of the Cactuar and its storm of needles.

Tom takes 1000 damage from 1000 needles as 1000 needles pierce his back. Tom bleeds from 1000 needle holes as his arms spread to take each and every one. He hurts. But, you see, Tom will live.

Because, you see, Tom-- Tom has /1400/ HP.

He turns. A mouse hops ontop of his head. Tom reaches into his coat. There are two halves of one cylinder. Tom slams one into the other and lifts it onto his shoulder. The mouse has in its hands a large, roughly bell-shaped object, with fins at one end. It dumps it into the open end of the device. He levels the open end of the tube with the chocobo and the Cactuar.

Blood drips down his legs as he pulls the trigger.

Hey kids, you know what time it is!?

IT'S ROCKET LAUNCHER TIME.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
And Tom manages to get a hold of the chocobo's throat. However, it keeps running, chasing aer the boy. It wants that antenna hair. Yeees, the antenna hair shall be his. However, when the massive man intercepts it that it lunges forward, aiming to gnaw on his FACE! However, the needles get to Tom first. All of those needles pierce the man...

Angry Cactaur is angry.

And the, Tom manages to reach to his coat to pull out a rocket launcher.

The chocobo is essentially spinning around to turn tail. Screw this. And it, in fact, leaves the cactaur out in the dust.

Cactaur looks back at Tom, then it whips out yet anouher set of needles. Except... the explosion of the rocket levels the creature, leaving a crater in its wake.

Meanwhile, Reize is curled to a ball, shaking, "Needles... needles... god why..." Then, he pauses, realizing that he was not needled to death. "Buh?" He turns around, seeing Leida and Tom. He stops shivering, "...Leida? Tom?"

Leida has posed:
The massive explosion sends out a pressure wave that throws sand and needles flying in all directions, forcing the girl to protect herself with both arms raised. Her massive cloak of hair flutters dramatically in the momentary breeze, dust and grit working its way into her clothes and mouth.

Leida coughs a few times once the wind dies down, slowly peering out between the gaps in her fingers to take stock of the new situation. The chocobo is gone, still kicking up a plume of smoke in the distance as it tears off towards safety as the speedy birds are want to do. Only a rather sizable depression in the sand remains to indicate the fate of the cactuar, several plates of fused sand-glass creating a spider-web fracture pattern in the steaming crater.

The princess stares at this amazing display of destructive power for a few moments in awe but quickly remembers why they came out here in the first place and dashes over to her guardian's side in concern. She kneels down in the sand beside him and smiles in relief, her eyes tearing up abit.
"Oh... Reize-san! I was so worried! I thought you might be in trouble... so I asked the TDA for help..."

Tom Magnusson has posed:
No kill like overkill.

But being caught nearly point blank in an explosion that could level a cactuar doesn't do a body very much good when you're shot full of needles and bleeding out. The blast wave slams into Tom's chest, sending him skidding back across the sand. The little mouse on his head struggles to keep hold of the detective's collar.

Mercifully, the wave passes before the blue mouse is knocked free.

Still, Tom is forced to a knee, the front end of his rocket launcher buried in the sand. "Okay," he grunts. Moving makes the needles sting harder. "That wasn't the brightest plan in the world. Should've just... Tripped the damn thing, or something."

Fortunately, Tom did not end up enraging another overworld monster. This time. Perhaps King Cactuar will someday come to take revenge for the death of his subject, but not just now.

"Uh," he looks to Leida and the boy, "Hi." THere's a pause. "My back's kind of a mess."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Looking up towards Leida, Reize can see the tearful joy in her eyes as she stays beside him. Reize gives Leida a teary heartfelt look, "L--Leida!" The boy brightens, then he wipes his eyebrow, "You guys came for me!" He then looks sheepish, "...I think I took a wrong turn at the market."

And then, his attention draws towards Tom. The young adventurer gives a faint sound of laughter. "Oooi, Tom!" A hand waves his way, looking rather sheepish, "...Sorry that you guys had to come out here to find me." With the way he gets lost, it is pretty embarassing upon recollecion.

He finishes stretching and rubbing his head. Of course, his eyes widen to see that Tom is bleeding. "Tom!" He gasps, then he furrows his eyebrows, "We need to get you to Fluorgis, Lenn will be able to patch you up!"

Leida has posed:
Leida wipes her eyes with the back of her sleeves and nods back at him. "You... you need to be more careful, Reize-san! What will Lily think? And Lenn! You are going to be married, you cannot worry her so!"

As the princess chides him, the two spirits languidly float over to hover around Tom, peering at his injuries and the strange weapon.

'Quite the fireworks display that was. You don't look so good, dude.'

'I am rather amazed that he looks anything at all besides dead after that brazen display. The boy is right, he should receive some medical attention.'

Since Reize is alright, Leida turns her attention to the large man in the sand, shuffling over to kneel beside him. That is a lot of needles. It looks almost like he got a free acupuncture session only she bets it doesn't feel nearly as pleasant. A shame the chocobo bolted, that would have been a quick and easy way back.

"Um... Tom-san... are you going to be alright?" She glances back at Reize. "What should we do?"

Tom Magnusson has posed:
Needles fall from Tom's back where the little blue mouse pulls at the spines one by one. But cactuar spines are distinctively long and terribly sharp. Being stuck by a thousand of them is... Excruciating. And potentially life-threatening!

"It's alright," Tom grunts. His hand falls into a particularly damp, red patch of sand. "I'll be-- there's a bottle of something in one of my pockets. Its green. Smells pretty strong. It should keep me going for a bit."

Dating a healer has its perks.

"I can't just die out here," he grins through the pain. "That squirt ain't gettin' hitched before I do. I'll just need a sip of that stuff-- and maybe a nap-- and I should be okay."

Probably not.

You don't take a back full of cactuar needles, quaff a potion and be 'okay.'

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Sigh.

"We'll take him to the Shard Seeker HQ." He looks towards Tom. He examnes the burly man who managed to save him from getting the very very bad end of the needles. His eyes glance towards the spirits, offering a smile their way. "Hello Lefty and Pochi. Glad to see you guys." It takes a moment for Reize to look over towards Tom, then he considers.

"Come with us to Fluorgis. We'll be able to heal you up."

Unconsciously, his hand oves towards Leida's hand, idly intwining the fingers. He looks back at Tom. "Hopefully you'll be able to manage it along the way. I ran out of potions in my trip." He frowns slightly.

Leida has posed:
Fortunately, Tom mentioned something about having one himself. When Reize's fingers touch hers, the princess blushes for a moment and then pulls away, scooting over to the big man's side to open the flat of his coat. "A-ah, I think he said he has one, Reize-san. Um... excuse me..."

Leida bows her head to Tom before rifling through his pockets for the object in question. It takes her a few tries and she comes across several things that look completely foreign to her, including more of the flares, before the green vial is drawn out. There is little light left to see by at this point but the tiny fires still consuming the charred bits of cactuar provide enough illumination for her demonic sight to pick out the color of the vial.

"Oh... I think this is it!" She holds it up to him in the palm of her hands gently.

Tom Magnusson has posed:
When you're bleeding out, your thoughts tend to go to rather unfortunate places. Not all are unpleasant, but there's something to be said for the idea of 'having your life flash before your eyes.' Leida is a rather nice interruption to that line of thought, however. His eyes flit over to her hands. "That's the one," Tom smiles weakly. The rat on his back scampers over to take the vial by the neck, before slipping back.

It uncorks the bottle with its teeth, then presses the open neck into Tom's mouth. With a painful shudder, he leans back, swallowing the liquid inside the phial. It tastes like patchouli oil, Tom muses. Patchouli oil, lots of flowers, and a bit of something else.

What is it?

Oh yes. Tom used this bottle to keep spare bacon grease, once.

His entire body shudders. Renewed flesh pushes many of the needles out from particular vital locations- his spine, his kidneys, his heart and lungs. The exposed holes briefly glow with golden shafts of distinctly sun-like light before melting shut. At every other point on his back, it looks as though Tom had been crossbred with some kind of porcupine monster.

But it's enough for him to stand.

"Alright," Tom coughs, swaying a bit, "I should be okay." He pops the cork back into place and drops it into his pocket. "Until we get to the city, I should be okay."

A man who claimes to have taken A Thousand Needles and survives on naught but a potion is a liar. A man who claims instead to have had a Hi-Potion on hand, however, may just have lived to tell the proper truth.