Mark: Black Chocobo

Mark: Black Chocobo
Date of Scene:	24 December 2012
Location:	Dias Plains
Synopsis:	Luso Clemens of Clan Gully along with several others come together in order to take down the Black Chocobo once and for all!
Cast of Characters:	Luso Clemens, Avira, Sable, Reize Seatlan, Leida

---

Luso Clemens has posed:
ABOUT A WEEK BACK

"HEEEEEEEEEEY GET BACK HERE!" A certain game hunter cried, frantically waving Flametongue about in a rage as a black mass of feathers ran off ahead of him, leaving only a cloud of dust behind in it's wake.

"Gah! Ghk--!" Coughing at the dust cloud kicked up, Luso had to stop chasing in order to get a proper breath. "I'll get you some day! Just you waaaaaatch!"

CURRENTLY

That was about a week ago. Now, Luso stood on the edge of the Dias Plains, arms crossed as a heroic wind just convenient happened to blow by, making the bo look a fair bit more badass than he actually probably was.

"Today's the day!" He spoke confidently, grinning afterwards in anticipation of the epic battle that awaited him. "Today's the day I take down that damned Chocobo and end it's plague on this world forever!" And then the boy threw a fist to the air, cheering loudly to himself.

Of course, he HAD posted notices in various cities. He almost forgot. "...But before that, I guess I should wait and see if anyone shows up." A sigh was given then as Luso deflated, crossing his arms again.

Time to wait.

Sable has posed:
TIME FOR ADVENTURE

And totally not because hiding from authorities. (Honest)

Sable makes his way across the plains with a slow and hurried gait. He limps just a little bit but any injuries he may have sustained in moments of hilarity have mostly healed. He may or may not have had trouble getting here but now that he is, he quickly withdraws a camera and takes another few shots of the surrounding terrain, a backpack of supplies slung across his back.

He looks around, noticing Luso in the distance and treks towards him. "Hey!" he calls out. "Are you the guy who sent out the notices?" They did say to come here, didn't they? He looks around, trying to get his bearings.

Avira has posed:
High overhead, there's a large bird circling. At least...it sort of looks like a bird. It has the wings of a bird but the body looks strange and far too bulky to be one.

The bird seems to be 'waiting' as it slowly circles using the updrafts of the Dias Plains. That bird...

...also seems kind of /familiar/ to Sable.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Huh?"

Luso mumbled, glancing back at the sound of someone calling to him. A boy, about his age. Black hair, kind of intense too...especially those eyes. Not that he really spent that much time looking.

"Oh yeah! That was me! Luso Clemens, leader of Clan Gully!" He replied finally, giving the other boy a cheerful thumbs up. "Last I've heard, that Black Chocobo was seen here." He then grinned, patting one of his many blades. "And we're gonna take it out! Once and for all!"

And so Luso then turned his eyes upwards, spying a 'bird' in flight above. "...Huh." Well, whatever! We'll probably be enough to take it out! Let's get this show on the road, huh?"

Sable has posed:
Sable shades his eyes, squinting up at the 'bird' and raising his eyebrows. When Luso introduces himself and explains their purpose, he nods soberly.

"Alright. Let's get going." he gives Luso a cheerful smile that only looks a little forced, taking a deep breath and following Luso out onto the plains, every once in awhile peering upwards as that familiarity nags him about that bird.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Just a fair warning though, this thing is ridiculously fast! We'll probably have to catch it off guard if we want to keep it in place!" Luso began to speak, taking his eyes off the bird above, instead, focusing on the plains ahead.

"I know it's true, because I tried! Ahahaha!" With that said, the boy just laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he did so. "So anyway, I don't think I got your name! Who are you?"

Avira has posed:
That bird definitely seems to be following them as they walk. This happens for a little while as Luso and Sable exchange pleasantries. After some time passes, the bird begins to drop lower and lower in the sky, progressively becoming larger and larger.

Could this be it?! That dangerous black chocobo that has a mark upon it?! Hardly. The wings are too large to be that of a chocobo and the body too oddly shaped. The bird flies a little farther ahead, then dips down, landing with its back to the pair. It's easily the size of a man, maybe a little larger. It's head is not birdlike at all and has pointy ears. Sable will definitely recognize this creature.

Avira turns around. "...hello." she finally says when they're both in earshot. "Don't tell me you two are after this mark as well?"

Sable has posed:
"Well. Then I guess we'll have to be either be faster, or sneakier." Sable responds to Luso, blinking as he realizes that he hasn't introduced himself. "I'm Sable." he pauses, then continues. "Sable Owens. No particular affiliation." he smiles at that. "How did you run across this beast in the first place? Is it local to this area?"

He frowns slightly, leather and metal squeaking as he slowly clenches a fist. "The notice also rumored that-- Oh. Hey Lady Stormcloud, are you going to rain blows on me again or are we in this together this time?" he grins as he says this, brightening considerably as he recognizes her.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Faster or Sneakier...Well, it's an idea anyway!" Luso smiled and glanced back at Sable, nodding at the introduction. "Sable Owens then! Nice to meetcha! Let's make sure we get this done right!"

The boy then began to run his chin in thought as he considered the question afterward. "Hmn, I dunno actually. All I do know is that it's been causing problems all over the continent. And that it's apparently a heartless." Luso sighed at that and shook his head.

"I actually ran into it completely randomly before I knew it was even a Mark!" He was about to continue when suddenly, some...thing landed ahead of them. "Whoa! What the--!?"

He reached back for one of his swords in reflex. "Oh hey, it talks!" He commented lightly, glancing back at Sable again as it addressed him. "...You two know each other?"

Avira has posed:
"Well that depends." Avira gives Sable a wolfish grin, "Do you /want/ me to?" She wiggles her fingers a little, "I'm gonna assume not, that is, if you are here to hunt the black chocobo like I am." She slips closer to the pair, her tail waving behind her as she approaches them. "So this time we'll be working together instead of having a friendly spark. Good thing too, you hit pretty hard."

She's not going to blame Luso if he stares. The mutate is clearly not something that's been seen in Ivalice before though he might already be desensitized to weird sentinent beings by...being in Ivalice. Bangaa? Seeq? Yeah.

"/She/ talks." Avira emphasizes, leaning in towards Luso, "Yes, we've met before. My name is Avira."

Sable has posed:
"..Yeah.. SHE does." Sable emphasizes with a look to Avira of 'Oh, hey. Now I know what you are talking about' and an expression that would be rolling eyes if Luso wasn't so close. He asks instead. "Hey. What's with the swords Luso? --Why do you have so many?"

Sab;e grits his teeth slightly at the mention of the mark being a heartless, but he supposes it can't be helped now that he's out here. Maybe he should have looked at that bounty notice a little closer.

" Yeah. Maybe working together would be good." he grins. "Maybe even the best for my health. Hey Avira, maybe we can box it in somehow? Whatever it is, it's supposed to be pretty fast. We probably don't want to be chasing it all over the plains." he makes a gesture. "It's a big place."

Luso Clemens has posed:
Why yes, Luso was fairly used to strange things, considering Bangaa, Seeq, and Nu Mou were commonplace in Ivalice. Thus, Avira's appearance did not bother him for too long. "Avira, huh? Well, you look like you're pretty strong! Nice to have you with us!"

Hearing Sable's question, he grinned, rubbing the underside of his nose with a finger. "Why so many swords? Easy! The more swords you have, the stronger you are! Since I have five swords on me, that means I'm five times as powerful!"

....Ladies and gentlement, I present to you; Luso Clemens.

And it was at that exact moment that a pure black chocobo came trotting by, slowing down to a stop to graze on some grass.

"......." Pausing in his spiel, Luso just turned and stared, wide eyed. "...There it is! Right there! Right there!"

Avira has posed:
Avira gives Sable a little nod. See? Exactly what she meant. This condition really needs to be cured soon, such exchanges were getting to be really demoralizing.

A hand lifts to rub the scaled patch underneath her chin, perhaps in contemplation. Yeah, if we split up and corral it, we won't have to chase it. I don't think any of us can outrun a chocobo." She tilts her head upwards, "I was up there trying to spot it, but I didn't see anything."

Now the fell gaze of the beast of Ragnarok is upon Luso, watching him respond to that question about the swords and...ow. Oh ow. "You're kidding, right?" Oh no. Avira knew THESE types. "You're not kidding, are you? You love swords just that much."

The awkwardness is interrupted by what is probably their mark! "...that? Good." Avira moves one of her wings to the side and grips something behind her. Out slides the Spine, a weapon of which there is only one, though with good reason.

"Quick, we better spread out. Box it in!" Flanking time! Avira focuses on just moving around it and not attacking.

Sable has posed:
Sable looks at Luso Clemens, then closes his eyes and his shoulders shake and shake as if he's holding in some personal explosion of tragic laughter. He raises a hand to his face and the teenager seems to have enough control of himelf to just not burst out laughing.

He takes in a deep breath, coughing quietly into the back of one hand as he retains the rest of his amusement.

Dear Faram or whoever is listening. It's /another one/.

He looks towards the black chocobo as it slows down to a stop to graze. He goes very still, not looking at it directly but staring a little bit to the left of it. He slides quietly around to one side, mirroring Avira as he draws something from his pocket. A long silvery blade springs from the mechanism, the glaive held low as he tries to flank it.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso followed suit with the others, drawing both Kotetsu and the Kwigon Blade, one in each hand as he remained place, allowing the other two to circle around the chocobo. Avira would be able to spot a red heartless emblem on the bird's chest from where she was moving to.

Their gambit turned out to be...successful.

The chocobo is too busy grazing to take notice of the three circling around it until it was too late. "Kweh?" The chocobo chirped, looking up from the grass to find itself surrounded by three individuals. ".......Kweh!" Another chirp came as the creature reared back, it's eyes turning pure yellow, similat to other heartless.

"Look out! We've got it surrounded, but it's still gonna be dangerous! Brace yourselves for it!" Luso exclaimed, steeling himself for whatever was coming. He had already had more than his fair share of experience regarding this damned bird anyway!

And true to the boy's words, the Chocobo opened it's beak before breathing out a jet of flame, turning around in place to get all three of them!

Avira has posed:
From her angle, she can definitely see the Heartless emblem. In response, Avira's lips peel back and she shows her teeth at the thing, growling menacingly. It's a stark difference from the Avira that was fighting in a friendly coliseum bout earlier. Notably, earlier, her eyes were not glowing yellow, almost mirroring those of the chocobo.

Before she can advance, Avira is blasted with a gout of flame from the bird's mouth. This only deters her for a few seconds before she pushes through, her eyes blazing with fury, Spine held high. Some things certainly do not change for Avira in this form-she's still very capable of channeling ice magic through her weapon.

"RARRRR!!!" She snarls, blasting through and ramming the Spine deep at the chocobo's chest.

Sable has posed:
Fire.

Lots of Fire. WHY is there so much fire?!

Sable brings up his hands, but the armor becomes blazing hot and he has to shuck his jacket as the tough cloth catches fire. He squirms out of the burning jacket, kicking it and the backpack aside to smoulder in the grass as he staggers back a few steps.

He's pretty fortunate that his entire body didn't go up, digging a potion out of his pocket and downing it to numb the most immediate of the pain from the livid burns. "Okay. Now I know why that this is going to be a problem."

Sable gives Avira a glance of concern, but there isn't more than a moment before he decides to just plunge ahead to help subdue the flame spewing creature. He bolts forwards, slashing out at the chocobo with the silvery glaive before following it up with an armored punch straight to the beak.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"HOLY-" Luso didn't take the time to finish the rest of his swear, instead, he immediately took to the air, reflexes honed from battle kicking in. He vaults clear over the burst of flame and and then flips once before coming down hard with both swords.

The imapct with the ground creates a pillar of ice that forms and then shatters. "And then-!" Luso then steps into the next attack, spinning with both swords alight with flame. He finally tops off the combo by leaping into the air and coming down with both blades sparking with lightning.

In the meantime, the dark chocobo warks angrily as it takes flight into the air, landing on the ground shortly before running at Avira with a quick kick and peck combination.

Avira has posed:
Now if people thought she was scary /now/, Avira would understand. She seems to be getting into the fight a little too much, attacking the black chocobo with all the fervor of a hungry wolf.

Right after she lands her blow, Avira backs off and starts to take to the sky-right as the chocobo comes baring down on her. She doesn't rise and the pair suddenly get into a close-combat tussel of black feathers and claws. For a few seconds, it's difficult to tell what bodypart belongs to who. With a snarl of pain, Avira finally breaks away. There are clawmarks across her chest and up and down her arms now. "Ugh-"

Darkness moves within her. Unfortunately, Avira is just angry enough to seize ahold of it. Her jaws drop open and she hisses, suddenly spitting a glob of black, corrosive material at the chocobo.

Sable has posed:
Sable's attacks fail to meet the mark and he is left punching thin air with nothing to show for it but a handful of feathers. He scowls at his lack of purchase, wincing painfully from the burns inflicted on him by the startlingly powerful heartless.

Sable narrows his eyes, digging slightly into the terrain. "AVIRA." he calls out to her, trying to get attention perhaps or simply showing that moment of concern that is edging on fear as the black corrossive stuff is spat at the Chocobo. He chooses for now NOT to get into that tumble of limbs and flying feathers and teeth.

Luso Clemens has posed:
The Chocobo proves to be living up to the rumors of it's agility. Before that glob of black material even comes halfway near it, the chocobo is out of the way. "Kweh!" It caws angrily at Avira and the others, leaping aside to get them all within it's sight.

Following that, it begins to run forward at a high speed, attempting to tackle them all down without prejudice.

Luso meanwhile landed back to the ground and then leapt back to rejoin the others. "Guh...this thing hasn't gotten any weaker since I saw it last week!"

Having said that, the boy gripped his swords tightly, an organce aura enveloping him as he steeled himself for combat...

Avira has posed:
'Somebody is calling my name' is the thought that suddenly bursts through the darkness in Avira's mind. "Wha? Sable?" If he had been trying to get her attention, he has it now. She seems to struggle a little before adding a "What?" to that.

Her eyes still glow unnaturally.

Then the chocobo slams into her again, though this time she snarls and digs a claw deep into its throat, forcing some of her own darkness into the beast.

Avira's on the move again, trying to flank the chocobo so it doesn't manage to get them all lined up so it can attack them all at once like it just did. Even if that means she gets aggro...which it really seems she has quite a lot of thus far! She continues her growling as she circles around the Heartless.

Sable has posed:
Sable gets bowled over backwards by the continued assault as suddenly the Black Chocobo breaks off from attacking Avira exclusively to take a piece out of his own hide. He swings to the side an instant too late, but before he goes down in a thrashing, kicking heap of feathers he manages to bury a hand in it's thick coat of feathers and SLAM an armored gauntlet straight into the side of it's body.

Several bleeding gouges open up in his chest and shoulder as the creature kicks him away, sending him rolling several revolutions before he comes to a stop.

Sable gathers himself together, looking woozy and shaken as he tries to remain some of his former focus. The wind picks up as he takes in a few deep breaths, rubbing his face with a hand and twisting the pocketglaive into a new position.

"Alright." he says softly. "..Let's try this /again/ shall we?" saying this more to himself than to anyone else. He waits for an opening, trying to find some way to help Luso or Avira but he doesn't know them well enough to know what they will do. They must simply get along as best they can. "Come on, Avira. Luso. We can take this." he grins at her, then at Luso, though the expression is one of obscure pain. He steps forwards onto the attack, sliding across the terrain before springing into the air and bringing the glaive down at one of the Dark Chocobo's Wings.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Guh!" Luso all but gasped out as the wind was knocked out of him. Being between his companions, he took the full brunt of the attack. Getting bowled backwards and them trampled, once the dust cleared, Luso could be seen comically flattened on the ground and twitching occasionally. ".....Ow."

He pulled himself back up to his feet then, reaching into his pack and pulling out a green vial. "Okay, let's try that again!" The boy spoke, unintentionally parroting Sable as he downed the potion.

"Phew! Okay, time to cut this thing down to size!" Luso grinned sheathing Kotetsu and then drawing the burning blade; Flametongue. "Here I come!" With that said, he dashed off, following up on Sable's leaping action with a flurry fast slashes, ending in him raising both swords to the sky. They immediately began to radiate darkness as he then swung downwards! "Darkness devours!"

"The black chocobo in the meantime skid to a stop some ways away before whirling around. Sable's strike managed to hit it but it cawed angrily up at him and then at the oncoming Luso, opening it's beak to breath out another jet of flames at the both of them.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize was supposed to meet up with Luso for the mark at the Dias Plains. Given that Leida had not had an adventure before, Reize offered to take her on her first adventure. That adventure? Hunting a mark. However, considering that Reize is the leader and he generally follows his map, well...

Leida's going to learn about her leader/guardian.

Earlier

"This doesn't look like the place."

Reize opens up the door to what appears to be a creepy mansion. The designs are more French inspired. The lights are out. No one seems to be home. "Wait here, I'll check it out first..."

Lights come on, and several lively appliances are flying all around the next moment. Pots, pans, and chairs are dancing around.

o/` Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! o/`
o/` Get your worries off your chest o/`
o/` Let us say for your entree----

Suddenly, music stops and the appliances notice the boy.

A candle stares.

"NOPE!"

Candle arms become flamethrower.

"GACK!" And Reize flees. "Retreat, Leida! Retreat!"

NOW

"...Okay, so that trip was a bad idea." The boy is holding his map that is now right side up. "Okay! I think this is the place!" His eyes are glued to the map, not really paying attention to the ongoing battle.

His antenna hair wiggles, flopping over to the side.

Leida has posed:
After the trip through the horrifying tangled forests leading up to an even more disturbing dark mansion filled with nightmarish singing furniature, the timid little princess is pretty much ready to call it a day. However, Reize has managed to convince her to carry on, insisting that such missteps were a crucial piece of Adventure!(tm).

Clinging tightly to the young wanderer's arm, Leida looks around constantly like a frightened rabbit, just waiting for the next sign of their impending doom to come bounding out of the bushes. As such she is quick to pick up on the tangle of feathers, swords, and... whatever that other monstrous thing is.

"Ah...! R-Reize-san...! L-look..."

The girl takes a step behind him, placing Reize between herself and the scene of battle, while shyly peeking around his arm. "Is that... our adventure?"

Avira has posed:
Avira's given a little bit of a break at least. But at the same time, this means the chocobo turns its attention to Luso and, more importantly, Sable. Knowing what she did about this kid's origins and his clear lack of experience with magic, this immediately makes Avira worry, some of her anger being pushed aside, "Hey, look out, Sable!" She'd try to get in the way, but her flanking has pulled her too far out of range to make it in time.

"Alright everyone, stand back!" Avira calls out, suddenly jamming the spine into the ground. Dark shadow spills around her like smoke, quickly giving way to blue flames that blaze all around her. It's almost as if she's taken a page from Maira.

Wreathed in blue fire, Avira leaps forward, pouncing upon the chocobo and dragging it upwards. Her fire-encrusted wings beat furiously, sending flames licking outwards and threatening those that dare to get too close. The pair climb high into the air until reaching what Avira feels is a sufficient height to...

...explode, by the look of it. Seconds afterwards, a smoking, black feathered form is dropped to the ground roughly. With any luck...it will be the chocobo and not Avira.

Sable has posed:
Sable Dislike Smoke.

Another blast of fire without an armored jacket to take the brunt of the blaze leaves him smouldering and semi-ruined and-- surprisingly still standing. Sable very slowly lowers his smoking arms from his face, a yellow glimmer sparking across his eyes as he gasps in great lungfuls of air. The much cooler air as opposed to the air charged with heat sear his lungs with cold almost as much as his body is seared by fire.

The wind picks up, snaking around Sable as he reaches into his satchel very gingerly and staves off his wounds once more with the help of a potion. The wind pulls at the map, tugging at it fitfully as Sable stands there heaving for breath. His eyes track over to the sound of the voice-- and there is a definite sense of "..What did I do to deserve this?" and then a pause as he closes his eyes and shakes his head. Oh. Yeah. Right.

He doesn't seem to notice Leida quite yet.

Luso Clemens has posed:
A distraction!

As if 'sensing' it. The chocobo turned it's attentions towards Reize off in the distance. "....!" It seemed to be staring at something he had on his person. But there was no chance for it go running off as here came Avira! She grabbed the bird and drew it upwards into the sky before finally exploding gloriously!

"KWeeeeeeeh....!" Came the cry of the creature as it feel from the fky and landed roughly on the ground. Immediately, it stood back up, shaking itself off. But then...something strange began to happen. A green aura...emanating from the bird. It's wounds and burns slowly began to close up.

Did it just heal itself?

I think it did.

"............" Luso just stared. And stared. And then stared some more. "You have GOT to be kidding me! Seriously? It can HEAL!?" The boy cried, pointing indigantly at the dark chocobo. "No one told me anything about this! I want my money back!" And no, Luso had no noticed Reize and Leida either, in the heat of the battle. Literally. "Guh! No healing!" And so he ran forward, attacking with a flurry of quick slashes.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
While Leida is clinging onto his arm, the boy tilts his head to the side with a sigh, "I feel kind of bad. I let Luso down. Sure, he's from another clan, but he's my friend! I was supposed to be there for him to help him with this mark and---"

That is when Leida gets his attention. He turns his head over to see the commotion of the battle. It is a large, beastial creature that's unleashing a dark blaze towards the black feathered chocobo. Not only that, a black haired teenager... and Luso.

"Wow! We made it!" He turns to face Leida, grasping both of her hands, "We made it, Leida! Now, we can help Luso catch that mark!"

...Reize may want to pay attention to the chocobo.

Leida has posed:
Leida's eyes widen in surprise as her guide suddenly turns his back on the GIANT EXPLOSION and the incredibly nasty looking bird, staring back at him with his hands wrapped around hers. The blast of magical flame is strong enough that the shockwave hits them even out at the fringes of the fight, whipping the girl's hair about behind her like a cloak for a few moments.

"Uh um...... R-R-Reize-san... Why are you...?" She blushes and looks away but Luso's annoyed cries quickly snap the girl back to the more important issue at hand. "What should we do?"

Despite Reize's insistence that she tag along, Leida was still completely unarmed and had little in the way of combat related skills. Infact, they hadn't even gone shopping for proper adventuring gear yet and the girl was wearing what looked like an oversized shirt, belted about the waist to make it perform the function of a simple dress.

Avira has posed:
For the purpose of attacking the Chocobo, Avira had figured that going far enough upwards would prevent Sable and Luso from being caught up in that fire attack. Her body continues to 'smoke' off darkness and Avira lets out a long sigh. That felt...good.

She drops to the ground, landing in a crouched position. Her ears perk suddenly and she hears the approach of Reize of all people. And Leida too of course, but Avira has never met Leida before, only heard about her from other people. Funny, that.

"Hey." Avira murmurs, pulling the Spine out of the ground and sidestepping over to Sable. "How you holdin' up?" Funny, for a split second there it looked like Sable had a look of ultimate suffering on his face! Reaching out, Avira places a hand on her shoulder.

Sable can feel her magic, cold and dark, for a few seconds before Avira quickly pulls her hand back. A look of pain overcomes her face. "Sorry-" she apologises. "I shouldn't have." If he's anything like Mercade was, getting magic channeled into them might be traumatic.

Doubly so with her darkness-tinged essence.

Sable has posed:
Wait.

!?LEIDA?!

No.

...Leida?...

NO. I /FORBID/ IT.

Sable snaps his head towards Reize and past him towards the girl huddling behind him. As such, Avira's touch doesn't seem to effect him at all. He is in fact clenching his hands so tightly that the smouldering armored gauntlet creaks and smokes. His look of intense concentration turns to one of confusion as his eyes flick from Reize, then back to cowering Leida, then back to Reize.

His face is flat and expressionless, something angry and shocked and very afraid flashing across his eyes before he wrenches his attention back to the fight. "Come on." he says in a strained voice. "Let's finish this." He takes a steadying breath, bolting forwards to charge at the Dark Chocobo again. He leaps high into the air, bringing the glaive down at the monster again, then slashing across it Left and Right with giant arcs of flashing silvery steel.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Kweeeeeh!" The chocobo cawed in pain as Luso and Sable's combined assault struck true. Feeling desperation now, the creature's eyes began to glow brightly as a dark aura began to envelope it. It then raised it's head to the air, as if calling out for something.

...And there was nothing.

Wait a second. Did the flow of the wind change? It felt like...

...Like the wind was being pushed away by the sheer pressure of something falling. A casual glance upwards would reveal a massive flaming meteor falling from the sky! Apparently this is the Chocobo's doing.

It didn't stop there though! Once the meteor crashed into the ground, the bird followed it up with a mad rush, stampeding through the area in order to bowl over Luso, Sable, and Avira.

It was not going to check to see if it had managed to hit it's targets...

...Because it was heading straight for Reize. It's beak opening in anticipation. Once it got in range, it skid to a stop, and then...

It bit down on Reize's antenna hair.

What?

Meanwhile, Luso sheathed his swords, pulling out Ogun Blade and Kotetsu as he began to steel himself again. "We're gonna take it down! We're almost there!" It was at that point however that he noticed Reize and Leida off in the distance. "Whoa! Hey! When did you guys get here-"

And then came the meteor-

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Oh, right. The hand holding.

Reize slowly removes his hands from her own and he rubs the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry about that! I got a bit excited is all! I was sad at first because I thought I'd disappoint my friend!" Then, he thinks over to Leida's question, "Glad you ask!"

"We need to surprise attack that chocobo!"

Holding an index fnger up, Reize takes a lecturing stance with Leida, "You see, we got to maneuver around to be able to get on its back and surprise it, allowing our allies to take it down!"

Nope, unaware of the friends. Unaware of the chocobo runnng towards Reize.

"And then... we will earn our mark!" He beams towards Leida, "You see, Leida, it is the most brilliant plan that will not fai-..."

Pause. He squins towards Leida. "What's with that look?"

*CHOMP!*

...
...

o_o

...

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Q_Q

The antenna hair is nabbed by the chocobo. Reize is flailing his arms around and he's running around like an idiot. Wailing like one as well. "Getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" Comical tears run along his eyes as the arms flail madly at the chocobo.

Leida has posed:
"Uh um... R-Re-" Leida stares back at the boy, a worried look on her face as he lays out his master strategy to her, lecturing her like a teacher to student. She looks down shyly, nodding to him every few seconds in quiet acquiesence but then a shadow suddenly looms overhead.

The girl tilts her head up in confusion. She didn't remember there being any clouds in the sky but instead of thunder she is met with the angry face of the demon bird, towering behind her guardian like a gargoyle. Leida tries to warn him but her nothing comes out. Her eyes go wide as dinner plates instead, prompting a pause in the lecture followed by the terrible realization.

The princess screams and falls backwards into the grass as

Sable has posed:
"What. Come on-- seriously?" Sable exclaims.

He digs in, his arms jarring with force as he blocks the creature's slashing kicks, pecks and attacks. % And then suddenly Meteor. He turns on a heel, not even having enough time to see the chocobo GNAW determinedly on Reize after trying to knock him down and claw him to death. Fire. Lots of Fire. Fire is BAD, yo.

Sable grabs at his shoulder, teeth grit against the pain as he looks for Avira and Luso in the chaos caused by one /very/ tempermental Chocobo on a rampage.

Impulsively, and -- probably ignoring laws of physics and good sense, Sable lashes out a hand to grab the Mutate and slams into Avira moments later, trying to put them both rolling and dodging out of the way of the flaming debris. The sheer shockwave hits next and nearly knocks him right off his feet in the aftermath.

Avira has posed:
Looks like Avira was able to pull back her magic fast enough for Sable to not get harassed by it. This thought alone puts Avira at ease...but at the same time, she can't help but notice the teenager looks pretty intensely angry about something. Wait, was she wrong? Did it really slip through her fingers?!

Avira feels awful, "I'm sorry." she apologizes again, not comprehending why Leida's presnece is such an issue.

This completely serious moment of introspection and angst is interrupted by the black chocobo chomping down on Reize's ahoge. Then Reize runs around shrieking like an idiot. "...how on earth do the Shard Seekers get /anything/ done?" Avira drawls in a deadpan tone.

Easily, she's able to fend off a rampaging chocobo this time, parrying the strikes with the Spine. At one point she even grabs the chocobo's beak with a hand before shoving it backwards. Furious, she growls at it.

Suddenly the air changes and Avira's gaze snaps skywards. "METEOR!" She yells out as if she's experienced chocobos hurling meteors before. While she's on the cusp of panicking, Sable slams into her from behind. With an ungraceful-sounding noise, she falls to the ground, rolling along the ground in a tumble of fur and feathers. When she finally stops, she's lying face down on the ground. Sure, that hurt, whatever hit her, but it wasn't meteor-hurt.

"This thing is nasty." she mutters, picking herself up off the ground. "Let's put this thing down-"

Avira looks up and sees it's still biting Reize. A clawed hand reaches up and covers Avira's eyes. "...why."

Luso Clemens has posed:
Getting batted by Reize's random flailing, the Chocobo let go, stumbling backwards a ways. Regardless of how delicious Reize's hair was, the fact of the matter now was that there were MORE people about to try and either kill or capture it.

There was only one smart choice here.

RUN!

And with that, the black chocobo suddenly turned tail, bursting off into a run to try and leave the entire group in the dust!

"Oh crap! Not again!" Luso cried breaking off into a run after the bird. "After it! Don't let it get away! We can't lose it now!"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
As for what Leida can do?

"PLAN B! Getitoffgetitoffgetitoffffffff!!!!" Q_Q

Ladies and gentlemen, the leader of the Shard Seekers.

There we have it. Right now, Reize's master plan fell completely flat. Instead, it is mostly the matter of Plan B. But soon, he managed to get the black chocobo off of him. And soon, it turns tail to run away.

"Leida! Ever ridden a chocobo?"

Her guardian procures his hookshot from his pouch, then he winds the tool back. And then, he slings it forward. The hook's chain snaps from the compartment and it trails its way to the chocobo's waist.

...With the other hand, he grabs onto Leida's waist.

"Chaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggeeeeeee!!!!"

It's time for her experience of chocobo riding.

Up up, and awaaayyyyyyyy!!!

Leida has posed:
"W-what?!" She doesn't even know what a chocobo is, much less how to ride one! Before she can voice this concern back to him, however, his hand grips her wrist. She gives him a confused look for a split second before the wire of the hook-shot goes taut and the two of them are jerked bodily into the air.

"Eeeeeh?!"

Avira has posed:
Avira cannot match speed with a chocobo, not on land or in the sky. At this point, she's a little too far away to try to catch up with it-or even reach it with magic. Nevermind that she's kind of tired and injured from fighting the thing.

So she actually growls as she sees Reize of all people lasso onto the thing and 'ride' it (or get dragged, depending on how cruel fate is). "YOU DO KNOW THAT'S A HEARTLESS, RIIIIIGHT?" Avira calls after him.

With a sigh, her shoulders slump. The mutate gives Sable a helpless look as she returns the Spine to its sheath.

"The world is unkind to sensible people like us, Sable." Avira says in a resigned tone, "As you'll no doubt notice."

Sable has posed:
Sable shakes his head. "I think-- I think you are right." he looks at Reize disappearing with Leida into the horizon.

That was a story he would very much like to hear, but again he-- is sort of tired from keeping himself together. So instead he just stands there, asking Avira. "So this is adventuring, huh?" he grins wryly. "..I think I'll go back to breaking rules and being yelled at."

Luso Clemens has posed:
Much like Avira and Sable, Luso just did not have the foot speed to catch up with the fleeing chocobo. He eventually had to just give up and slow down to a stop. "...Oh maaaaaan! We were SO CLOSE too!" He grumbled, watching as Reize grabbed Leida and hookshot his way onto the chocobo's back.

%t "I REALLY have got to get me one of those things..." The boy mused, hunching overand resting his hands on his knees. "God, this had got to be the most troublesome Mark I've faced since Klesta!"

With a sigh, Luso then turned and made his way back to Avira and Sable, shrugging his shoulders. "It's almost impossible to do this on foot. If anything, I guess our hopes are with Reize and Leida now..."

In the meanwhile, the chocobo was given quite a shock as two kids wounds up landing on it's back. "Kweh!?" Came it's started cry. Panicked and not sure how to deal with this, it did the first thing wild animals usually did.

It began to try and buck the bth of them off.

They'd better hold on.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Hope is on Reize and Leida.

...Probably one of the biggest mistakes, but hey, maybe it will work out.

"Whoooooaa-aaaaaaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkkk!!!!!"

Or not.

Nevertheless, Reize is trying to hang onto to the chocobo, keeping an arm wrapped around Leida's waistline. The young man looks over towards his partner-in-crime(unfortunately wrung into the position).

The young boy finally manages to pull enough to where he can have Leida settle onto the chocobo's back. "This is how you ride a chocobo!"

'YOU DO KNOW THAT'S A HEARTLESS, RIIIIIGHT?'

Pause.

"Leida! Hang on!"

Blink. Reize reaches onto his pouch to procure something, likely a small drape with a metallic sheet. He immediately places it over the creature's head, and then he starts grabbing onto his boomerang and bang on its head like a drum.

Leida has posed:
The willowy girl clings to Reize for dear life, jamming her eyes shut as she flies through the air like a lure on a fishing line. This was not what she signed up for!

She quietly whimpers until her legs find purchase around the shadowy flanks of the Heartless chocobo, burying her face in the other rider's back when he grabs hold of her more firmly. Her eyes remain closed, however.

"I-I'm not sure I like adventuring so far!"

Luso Clemens has posed:
Reize's utterly stupid tactics actually worked. The blunt trauma to the heartless' head is enough to send the bird into unconsciousness. THat's a good thing, right? ...Right?

Wrong.

With the loss of consciousness, the chocobo goes plummeting to the ground, and as it goes down, Reize and Leida are...launched right into the air. It's actually a really high altitude in retrospect.

A testament to this bird's strength.

How were they going to get out of this one now?

Sable has posed:
Sable winces and attends to his injuries which were pretty various and specific. He picks up his armored jacket, hissing through his teeth as he shrugged it very carefully over his arms and shoulders.

"I am /NOT/ making enough money to pay for these potions." he grumbles to himself as he considers taking another one and passing on the idea. He turns back to Avira, asking quietly. "Are you alright?" he pauses, and then continues. "You seemed.. distracted a couple of times during the fight. Is something wrong?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
As the Heartless starts to fall unconscious, Reize turns to face Leida.

"Now you see, this is what we call victory!" He flashes her a grin with a thumbs up.

...NOPE!

"WHOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Reize is starting to soar pretty high. He looks towards Leida, "This was not part of the plan!" Then, he places the hookshot and he tucks it inside, then procures an umbrella.

"Leida! Hold on! PLAN Z!"

...Umbrella breaks.

"Uhhh... PANIC!"

And the boy starts dropping.

"Whhhhhhhhooooooaaaa!"

He plummets.

...Unfortunately, he is going to plummet right on top of Sable.

Sable has posed:
Part 2 of plan Z. Fall on someone reasonable and long suffering.

See also. Sable.

The older teenager simply crumples. Just a sound of pain and then him hitting the ground so hard that it knocks the wind out of him. He is /flattened/ beneath Leida and Reize. Splattered like so much teenager toast a little too well done scattered across the Dias Plains in a roughly defined lump.

Sable stays down because if he gives himself any leeway, any leeway at all-- he is just going to reach up, and slam Reize's head into the ground. He's just going to do it, despite his brain being made of some sort of Gelatin that will easily absorb the impact shock.

One hand twitches very slightly while the burns on his chest and shoulders and arms screech at him-- but he doesn't move. Not at all.

Leida has posed:
Leida's not going to open her eyes. Nope. As long as she keeps her eyes closed then the horrible things can't get her. Right?

The sensation of being weightless is a novel one and one that she has not experienced before. The feel of the wind whipping across her bare legs causes her to open her eyes just slightly, peeking out from Reize's back just in time to see the ground grow closer!

Immediately she closes them again. BAD DREAM, JUST A BAD DREAM.

Avira has posed:
"Well I..." Avira begins, hesitant to answer Sable's question. What kind of truth do you say to that? Yeah, I was distracted by the darkness inside me that wants to do horrible things to everyone? Never-this teenager had just extended the kindness of being nice to her and not afraid earlier.

Unfortunately, she hesitates a little too long. Just as she's about to say SOMETHING, Reize comes crashing down on top of Sable with his chocobo. "Sable!"

She's quick to crouch besides the buried team, "Are you alright..?" She sees that hand come up and grab for Reize's head, ready to slam it, "...okay...you're alive, that's good."

Sable has posed:
Sable mumbles something like. "mgoing tillyou GEOFF." into the dirt, the single hand flailing.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Ooof! Now, Leida is on the boy's back. It is like a totem in a way. Reize is on Sable's back and Leida's on his back.

Reize's current state: @_@

A hand raises in triumph! "WE DID IT!!!!"

Then, he looks over the teenager who he is on top of. "Ack!" The boy gets up, until he realizes that Leida's on his back. Slowly, the boy rolls over off, likely dragging Leida over with him.

....Only to likely roll on top of Leida.

"Okay we made it---buh--Errr...?" He turns his head over to the teenager, oh right! "Ooooi! You okay?!"
Then, he looks over to Leida, "You okay, Leida?"

Leida has posed:
Despite the soft pillow of doughy flesh that cushions their fall, Leida is still knocked insensate for several seconds by the impact. She drapes over the top of the two boys with stars in her eyes, dazed moans escaping from her bruised body.

When she is rolled over into the grass, the girl finally starts to get her breath back and blinks up at the sky, partially filled with Reize's goofy smile. Her gaze travels downwards to notice that he is currently straddling her in a rather compromising position. Blood immediately fills her face and she lowers her gaze, the bangs of her hair reaching down to cover her eyes shyly.

"U-u-uhm..."

Sable has posed:
Sable peels himself slowly off the ground. He grimaces at the younger adventurer as he staggers to his feet, groaning with almost incomprehensible fury. It doesn't reach his eyes though, oddly enough. He looks at Leida, piercingly-- ARMOR piercingly, but then looks at Reize again. There is a long pause.

Instead of saying anything he just lashes out a hand to whack Reize right upside the head, hobbling over to stand by Avira, grumbling direly under his breath. He drinks another (goose honking) potion, munny or not.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
This is a very awkward moment. At first, it hit Reize, but it quickly faded. However, given that Leida is now at the bottom and the two are in a compromising position. It starts to become more evident. As soon as Leida's cheeks are becoming beet red, Reize's eyes widen and his own become red.

And...

CONK!

Sable whacks reize upside the head. The stars spiral around Reize.

Then his head falls flat against Leida's chest.

Reize's status: x_x

Leida has posed:
"Kyaaa!"

As Reize's head lands squarely on her chest, the princess gives a girly shriek and shoves him. Hard. Way harder than she should be able to because he's now flying through the air.

Leida opens her eyes and blinks at the now empty space where the Shard Seeker leader had once occupied. She didn't think Reize was that fast. Sitting up timidly, she glances around and finally spots him, face down in the grass several feet away. How'd that happen?

Invisible to all, the tattoo on her shoulder shimmers faintly with dark light, fading away moments later.