Synthesis Crystal Convoy

Synthesis Crystal Convoy
Date of Scene:	25 November 2012
Location:	Targ Woods
Synopsis:	A convoy heading from Goug to Junon is looking for able warriors to guard it from danger as it transfers a rare item collected from the Heartless called a 'lucid crystal'. The route passes through the Chocobo plains to the Spooky Targ Woods and across the Mythril Mine marshlands. Join the wagon trail and keep danger off their backs (or out from underneath their feet)
Cast of Characters:	Tifa Lockhart, Navya, Auron, Seifer Almasy, Rinoa, Reize Reize Seatlan, Oriane Guado, Yuna, Valencia

---

Riku has posed:
Six covered wagons on a green hill. First they tramp, then they stamp, then they stand still.

The Chocobo fields stretches out in soothing waves of lush green. Wandering smers of yellow can be distuinguished in the middle to far distance, wandering herds of chocobos meandering about the idyllic landscape. Yet the tall grass holds danger as well, and from smaller dangers the Caravan is set to go into greater danger for each wagon holds supplies and an even more valuable cargo. Lucid crystals gathered from the heartless are making their way to Junon, where they will be further studied by Synthesis specialists before being given over to the shops.

This cargo will have to make a treacherous passage through the Targ woods, which is why every wagon as well as a driver as a moogle guard to watch over the goods while the call went out for others to help further bolster their defenses.

Riku is amongst the protectors, but he has agreed to stay with the rear wagon to make sure nothing sneaks up behind them. He also looks somewhat dreadful, as if the custard had been well and truely knocked out of him, although he cleans up and carries himself well.

The cargo, should it survive that long without falling prey to monsters or bandits will then have to carefully pass the marshlands surrounding the Mythril Mine area via a marked and prepared path by scouts that have gone ahead.

It's a long road that stretches ahead. Perhaps it is better to get these wagon wheels a moving.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart strolls down the road from Goug, stretching a bit. Well, there's likely to be lots of walking involved today, so she's stretching out ahead of time, just in case things happen. Even when someone is in good shape, you want to keep your muscles at ready.

There was some mercenary work assignment, something she could do. Protecting a convoy isn't too hard. Well, depends on whowould get interested in it of course, but we'll see when we get there.

She's a bit ahead of time it seems, looking around the appointed place with a hand sliding through her hair, that has been picked up by the breeze over the plains. Her gaze moves over to the chocobos in the distance. Well, nothing weird there. She does remember when Reize was getting pecked on though. Poor Reize. She crosses her arms, awaiting the other arrivals, and the convoy itself.

Which arrives just about now. She walks over to meet up with the others among the carriage, looking for the leading head "Need more help?" She leans to the side a bit, looking at the massed mercenaries. "Well lots of people already, but I'm used to the path to Junon too, so I think I can be of help."

Yuna has posed:
The times they are a-changing.

Yuna probably would have helped this poor needy caravan because She Is A Ray Of Hope Who Protects The People, but she knows quite well that they're almost totally out of money. Lulu had the party's purse, fat with sidequests on the way to Zanarkand, and she's still nowhere to be found. And they have to have at least some money, for food and shelter. Thus summoner transitions into mercenary reasonably gracefully.

Mostly, she just stands alongside Auron and lets him do the talking. And the glaring. She's a bit too sweet-looking to have much of a rough, tough fighter presence. Clasping her rather ceremonial-looking rod in one hand, she doesn't seem like someone who will add much firepower to the coming battles.

Heh heh heh.

Navya has posed:
Navya is one of those 'extra defenses' the wagon apparently rates.

Navya doesn't know much about synthesis. Anything, really, aside from the obvious - you combine stuff to get other stuff out. She's used to bazaars doing the work for her. But she /does/ know about guarding caravans, and that's probably enough for her today. They're moving rare items from the Heartless around; why not guard it?

Navya is pretty obvious, if only because she has spent the last ten minutes walking around the caravan. She's escorted them before, but rarely, and none from around here. She actually has never been to Goug more than once; she heard about the job on her first trip. And never to Junon.

Her tail lashes as she walks around the last wagon, giving a big thumbs-up to the driver. "Okay!" she says. "Though man, I kind of hope nothing /does/ jump out or whatever." They must be expecting it, or they wouldn't have so many guards.

Auron has posed:
Auron, of course, knows better than to underestimate Yuna. He's seen the resolve she possesses, probably inherited from her father. And he also knows better than to get in her way. He knows she'd have agreed to do this anyway. Getting paid for it is just an extra bit of incentive.

Plus? He wouldn't ever admit it? But he would probably have done this without getting paid for it too. Can't let anyone know he actually has a heart, right? Would totally ruin the image.

Speaking of his image, it's true that he's doing a fair bit of glaring from his place beside Yuna. But he's also one of the more visible types, and his presence could be counted amongst those who might just get a potential attacker to reconsider that course of action.

He's... wherever he's been told is a good place for him to be! Somewhere near enough the caravan that he can easily get to either side when and if defense is needed, wherever it may be needed. And also near enough to Yuna that he can protect her.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
This caro protection looked like a job for the Shard Seekers. With the cargo passing through the chocobo fields and through Targ Woods, it is no wonder why everyone has to be on the defense. Luckily, they have one individual who has ventured through the field and through the woods.

The Fearless Leader of the Shard Seekers, Reize Seatlan, is taking the side. He cannot help but to look over Riku at the rear. "I remember Shiki and I went through here trying to catch up with Ivo and Lily through Fluorgis." He brightens to a grin.

Sneak sneak.

A chocobo creeps over by Reize.

"Oiiii! Tifa!" He brightens as she arrives, "More help is always grand!" A glance is given towards the other adventurers tasked for this. Yuna is given a glance over, and then Navya next. As she gives the thumbs up, Reize brightens.

"We're good to go! Don't worry, nothing will get past these eyes."

Remember that chocobo? It looms over the boy.

*CHOMP*

...

Reize twitches as he finds a beak chomping down his antenna hair. The chocobo looks pretty cheerful. Then it tugs and yanks Reize around, who is flailing. "Arghgetemoffgetemoff!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Before you can subjugate, you must... discoverate?

I don't know, you find a word that rhymes with subjugate and means roughly the same thing!

A tall man in a long, grey coat has been working rear guard alongside Riku. Sour and unsocial, he has offered Riku little more than a nod of acknowledgment the entire trip, his gaze seeming to be everywhere and nowhere. Maybe he is keeping a vigilent watch, maybe he is simply surveying the land. One way or another, he has a eye out. He remains mounted for this breif rest, on hand wrapped in the reigns, the other resting across the protusion of a pistol at his waist.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart rolls her eyes a bit at Reize "Nothing gets past you, except a Chocobo." Well not that she's surprised, but its Reize. She can't help him today though "I don't have any greens with me today Reize, sorry!" She watches Reize getting yanked around, but still tries to mvoe to the chcoobo's side, petting its head "Now now, don't eat his hair, its not gyshal even with the color." Maybe the chocobo just likes Reize too.

There's a few of those people that seem a bit too quiet. She gives a wave to everyone present, Yuna and Navya mostly because they seem friendly enough. Most of the guys with then just seem... too serious maybe?

"Aren't we all a quiet bunch."

Oriane Guado has posed:
Goug was a terrible place. Their penchant for technology was loathsome enough, but their science based approach to Oriane's own research was infuriating. How dare they lecture -her- on what can and cannot be done! The laws of this world are ever-changing thanks to the incursion of Heartless and Oriane is intent on completing her task no matter how 'fanciful' it may seem to the uneducated mind.

The Guado Priestess' escort was even less helpful during this foray into Goug. They would not stop praising Yevon and praying for protection against the horrible Al-Bhed machina that the people of Goug have adopted. Oriane thought to correct them on their imbecile assumption, but it would be purely a waste of time on her part. Her two guards did seem to calm down when Oriane consented to taking a mundane wagon to travel back to Junon. Wagons were slow, dirty, and prone to be overloaded with vast quantities of animal meat. And yet, the priestess should at least keep the airs that she cares for her minions as they were volunteers afterall.

The trio (Oriane and her two guards) descend from their wagon of choice and venture to where everyone is gathering. The group of assembled vagabonds and scoundrels get a scrutinizing look from Oriane. There are few unfamiliar faces, the street acrobat from Luca, some urchin who is being eaten by a chocobo, and my, oh, my. What do we have here?

Oriane swiftly makes her way over towards Yuna and her faithful (heh) guardian with her own minions in tow. "Lady Summoner Yuna, what a -pleasant- surprise." Sniff, sniff. "And greetings to you, Legendary Guardian Auron." Sniff, sniff. It seems that Oriane's allergies are acting up or perhaps she merely smells something that does not suit her, that does not suit her at all.

Valencia has posed:
Valencia is sitting on the wagon, along with the others, currently keeping an eye on the area around them. Looking over at the chocobo chomping on Reize, she giggles and jumps down as she strokes the chocobo's feathers and says, "Come on now... Let him go, alright?" with a gentle smile, "Be a good bird, you can't go around eating the people that work with you OK?" she then looks up at Tifa and says, "Tifa!" as she jogs over and says, "I didn't know you were going to be involved in this job. Good to see someone I recognize." with a smile.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna is quietly friendly as the other guardians make their appearances; a little... shy isn't quite the right word, and neither is aloof, but both traits could explain her gentle, reserved attitude for those who don't know her well. She does take the time to introduce herself to each and every other mercenary, listening intently to their names with a soft smile. She herself is apparently 'the summoner Yuna, of the isle of Besaid', the phrase always accompanied by a rather formal and very graceful bow, blue skirts and petal-pink sleeves swirling with the motion.

Oriane, who recognizes her directly, gets a longer look. "Madam Guado," she murmurs, drawing from one of the many honorifics appropriate for a female Spiran priestess. "It is always pleasant to see another from our homeland. May I ask your name?"

The sniffing doesn't bother her, but she's accustomed to politely ignoring the idiosyncracies of others. Especially Guado -- compared to Seymour, the rest of them are QUITE mundane.

Riku has posed:
"We'll need every hand we can get if the rumors are true, kupo. They say something has stirred up the monsters in the Targ woods. We'll be in for at least one fight this trip, kupo." The moogle notices the commotion behind him, turning from Tifa briefly and letting out a sharp, piercing whistle. "Kweston, stop bothering the help, kupo." the chocobo looks defiant, then somewhat chagrined and lets Reize off the hook so to speak, tapping his head twice in a sort of 'there there' pat while another moogle assistant leads him away to one of the middle harnesses that he has again slipped.

Troublesome Chocobos. The bane of any caravan voyage. Tupo turns again to Tifa and nods brusquely before returning to his work, herding chocobos and moogles if not cats.

The caravan leader and his bodyguard are all moogles. They actually manage to look somewhat surly in their armor and weapons. Tupo is blunt and somewhat sardonic, red ball bobbing back and forth as the fluffy leader and assistants direct the distribution of goods and get the chocobos ready and moving across the landscape.

The steady clop clop of claws on the worn trail that snakes across the plains falls in with the creaking of wheels as they get underway.

Riku seems more than willing to let a nod of acknowledgement be enough as he appears to be absorbed in his own thoughts. He notices Reize getting gnawed on, and some of the others he recognizes from other ventures but right now he only wishes to sit-- and have some time to think.

He is more than given that time, as the rolling hills swallow Goug behind them and they make their way out onto the open plains. It is still some distance to the Targ woods and the weather looks to be turning sour, clouds rolling in from the west in a stately manner that roll across the sky in a wave of grey.

Navya has posed:
Navya stays /well/ out of the way of Reize. And the chocobo. Navya has been kicked by one of them before, and once was enough for her. They don't frighten her, really... she's just careful around them.

Tifa waves at her. Navya raises one hand in greeting. "I didn't have much to say yet," she says. "But there isn't really any point in being sour about it, right? Plus, traveling is fun! Especially when you do it in a group. I'm Navya, by the way." The short gria looks from Tifa to some of her other friends, or at least acquaintances; Valencia, for one, who's coming over.

When the caravan starts to move, Navya keeps up with it on foot, giving a quick wave at the caravan master. "Right, boss!" The point of a caravan is not to go fast, it's to carry a lot of stuff. Plus, if she has to, she can run (or fly) so it's not much of an imposition. The fact that she is carrying a frickin' giant hammer that weighs her down is pretty much ignored.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Comical tears swell on the adventurer's eyes as the creature keeps tugging and yanking him. Why, why is it always the antenna hair tha they go after! His misery drowns out the remark by Tifa, but when she and Velencia come to his aid, everything seems to settle. Especially after the moogle whistles for 'Kweston' to stop.

Everything is calm again. A hand rests on his antenna hair, looking crumpled and bent. After setting his antenna hair right, he notices the caravan moving. Things are going underway.

A glance is given towards Valencia and Tifa, giving them a smile. "Thanks, you two!" And once Navya introduces herself, the young adventurer brightens to a smile. "Oiii! I'm Reize! It's great to meet all of the people that we'll be working with! Knight's Vow #06: Forge allies whereever you go. The bond is stronger than an empire. We'll make sure this mission is a success!"

He is keeping his eyes around the side, giving visual sweeps while keeping a hand near his pouch. Ahh, his bag of tricks.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart pats Reize's head a bit, shaking her head at the boy's misfortunes "Your hair is still okay." She nods to the Moogle. She's never seen those around, but she's not surprised at anything anymore. Well, not 'anything', but they seem friendly, no reason to be alarmed. Plus they are the one asking for help.

She nods to Navya, smiling "Nice to meet you. The others seem kinda quiet though. Most of them are just staring people away from them." She moves alongside the caravan, looking around the fields "How many Knight Vows do you have anyway?" She has to wonder since he brings those up pretty often.

Auron has posed:
Reize's shouting gets Auron's attention. And once it's done, Auron speaks up. "...If you keep doing that, you'll draw fiends," he says quietly. Though Oriane's presence seems to cause an all but imperceptible tension to appear along the line of his shoulders. He knows /exactly/ why her nose seems to be giving her trouble. But he's not going to say a word about it. That would be admitting something he wasn't ready to admit to Yuna just yet. With luck, he'd never have to.

However, Oriane's greeting draws his attention, and he nods once, respectfully. Even if the whole 'Legendary Guardian' thing makes him want to twitch. But he doesn't speak. He seems concerned about the moving of the caravan. Looks like if she wants more than that nod of greeting, Oriane is going to need to be a little more forceful.

Yuna may want to ride on one of the wagons. So he will look to her and ask. "...Would you prefer to ride? It's going to be a long trip. It won't do for you to be tired if we should be attacked." He knows she's used to walking long distances.

And then Reize starts with the Knight's Oath and the 'bond is stronger than an empire'. Auron gives a 'hmf' that's at least a partially amused sound. "...Worry more about keeping your head attached," he says flatly.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Driving his heels into the Chocobo's sides, the man in the long, grey coat spurrs the yellow chocobo into a idle trot, leaving Seifer to rock in the saddle absently. He continues his vigil , eyes like clear sky sweeping this way and that before turning upwards and frowning at the sky. He scowls at the heavens, chiding them for whatever inconvenience they are about to heap onto his head. The heavens seem to care little for his displeasure, however.

'UMBRELLA.' she had pronounced it so keenly and with such emphasis. His cyclopean companion who had decided on a different means of transport to Junon. She was likely trundling along on some locomotive, a boot kicking out into Raijin's shin whenever he acts up... He should have taken that umbrella.

Now, he could only pull his coat a bit more tightly around him and hope for the best.

Oriane Guado has posed:
Oriane always hated how her people commonly kept Guado as their surname. It implied an equality within their society that this particular Guado never felt existed in the first place. The green-eyed, green-haired, and green-veined Guado Priestess is smiling as she converses with the pardoned summoner. But it was shade of a smile with her teeth being fully concealed. Her lips to part to respond to Yuna. "Priestess Oriane Guado," replies Oriane with a gesture towards her robed self. Her escorts are not introduced, but it would be very clear to Yuna, Auron, and those who know about the Church of Yevon that they are rank and file Crusaders and not the more elite Warrior Monks. "You have been quite the talk around Bevelle as of late. And even I cannot keep track of how many commoners have expressed their utmost wish of Lady Summoner Yuna completing her pilgrimmage." Oriane attempts to smile sweetly, but this faux gesture may or may not be noticed as untrue by Yuna and Auron.

The Legendary Guardian gets a polite return nod of her head from Oriane. "Guadian Auron, I always found it odd that..." But before Oriane can finish her own snarky sentence, Guard 1 rushes up to Auron. Guard Two diligently remains at Oriane's side. "You are -the- Legendary Guardian?!" Guard 1 gushes out to Auron. "Praise be to Yevon, this is SUCH an honor. They used to tell stories about you when I was just a kid." The enthusiastic Crusader then goes on to drone on and on to Auron like the fanboy he is. Oriane, on the other hand, merely rolls her eyes at Guard 1's antics and returns to her wagon with Guard 2 in tow. Her other guard can ride with Yuna and Auron for all she cares.

Any other traveller would be free to ride with Oriane and Guard Two should they be able to withstand the immient looks of disapproval.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa had heard of the convoy and a call for guards, shortly after leaving Traverse Town. Since it was on the way, and she was still searching for information about this bizarre new world, she decided to stop on the way and offer a helping hand. Arriving upon the back of a rented chocobo herself with Angelo running at her side the freedom fighter is quite surprised to see such a large gathering of mostly unfamiliar faces here.

Tifa is spotted right away however, and she quickly breaks out into a smile, waving towards her as she urges her Chocobo to meet her. "Tifa! Hey..Wow, look at all the people!" Angelo barks excitedly as he reaches her first, seeking scritches..

Yuna has posed:
"Sir Auron," Yuna responds softly in the precise manner he expects -- they know each other so well that it's practically ritual, "I have walked the length and breadth of Spira." Her traveling boots, by far the most practical part of her wardrobe, have picked up dust from more places than she can count. It's a miracle they haven't worn out completely... or perhaps they have, and she's been too shy to complain. "And beyond, in my journey to reunite our company. A day's travel at a caravan's pace is no burden to me."

She nods, the beaded strand woven into her hair clicking quietly around her neck, as various people give her names in return. "A pleasure to meet you," she says to them. Others seem to ignore her, and this doesn't especially trouble the young woman.

Simply doing her job quietly, she keeps a wary eye out for fiends, or worse, desperate people fool enough to tangle with their group. The impending rain brings a shadow of a smile across her lips, drawn forth like the setting sun, as she remembers other storms, and lost friends.

Oriane's commentary draws her back into the present. "I will do my utmost to perform my duty as a summoner, and bring joy to the people through Sin's defeat, Priestess Oriane," she murmurs with complete honesty, while also completely avoiding the greater issues that dominate her thoughts of late. If she wasn't being hired to work, she might try to engage in a theological discussion of the terrible lies she discovered coiled at the heart of Yevon's teachings, but now isn't really the time. And if she notices the darkness lingering behind the woman's expression, she gives no sign of it. Her own is quite earnest.

She seems to enjoy all the attention Auron gets from the Crusaders, beaming at them, and at him. It's always nice to not be the biggest celebrity in the room, so to speak. However, she gently remands him to his own duties, after a while. "You are very kind, but perhaps you should look to your priestess. This is said to be a dangerous road, after all."

The newly arrived Rinoa gets yet another sweeping bow and quiet intonation of her standard introduction, summoner yuna, isle of besaid, yadda yadda yadda. "Welcome," she adds, afterwards, with an extra bit of warmth for the dog.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart giggles, leaning down to scritch Angelo as she runs straight to her "Good girl, have you been taking good care of Rinoa now?" She smiles. She doesn't have doggy treats either, but not much she can do that about, at least the dog gets some pettings. She stands up to meet with Rinoa afterwards "Nice of you to join in. We just started to move as you can see." Goug isn't far behind yet. "Not like we don't know the way there, with the amount of times we went to Traverse and Manhattan, hm?"

She blinks as she notices someone in the back as well, and leans to talk a bit more lowly to Rinoa "Your old friend is there, in the back. I'm not sure what he's doing with us, but I'm guessing he has interest in getting the convoy to destination at least." She nudges her with a smile "Good occasion to rebond, you're not getting in his way today after all."

She looks up to the cloudy sky, and sighs a bit "I should have thought about an umbrella, it doesn't look like its going to get any better." And considering her clothes, it'll soak quickly.

Navya has posed:
Navya will worry about weather when it gets here. Clouds in the future are meaningless! If the chill in the air bothers her, it doesn't show.

Navya's brow furrows slightly when Reize lets out a Knight's Vow. Where did those come from? /How does she not know them/? She may have to try to dig them out. "Yeah," she agrees. "I mean, that's the whole point of clans, right?"

She trots along with the caravan, perfectly willing to keep up a conversation with Tifa (and Valencia, if she joins in). Her ears aren't sharp enough to hear everything said to Auron and the others. "I guess they don't like to talk much. What's your name?" she asks, before -

"Hey, a dog!"

Valencia has posed:
Valencia sighs and says, "Well, I would make you an umbrella but I don't have the materials. I may be a sorceress, but I'm not -that- good at conjuring up things. Even the best of us have to work with something to begin with." then looks up at the rain and shakes her head saying, "Well, that's not good. Should have brought an umbrella myself..."

Riku has posed:
The looming clouds, heavy with rain, roll across the plains as the wind picks up. A roll of distance thunder echoes hollowly across the plains. The caravan has been well secured against the winds that blow across the plains. A few moogles move about, checking fastenings and securing tarps and preparing for the rains to come.

There is a zone of silence that the caravan enters that puts the moogles on edge. The smears of yellow of far away chocobo herds can no longer be seen. The wind whipped long grass undulates like a sea of green, but nothing can be heard of the lands outside but the clop of chocobo claws and the creaking of wagons. No animal noises. No sound of insects and life.

This continues for many minutes before Tupo manages to sound commanding in a more or less squeaky voice. "FULL STOP. WEAPONS UP." the order carried out down the line as each caravan subleader passes the command to the next wagon in line. Each moogle and their bodyguards unsheaths their weapons or readies them.

Riku is jarred from his thoughts, frowning as he looks up and peers around. He glances at Seifer, then peers around the edge of the caravan he is sitting on to look back up the line. The caravan draws to a stop, the sounds fading away to highlight that eerie lack of sound in what should be a normal patch of countryside.

Then the portals start to appear.

A dozen or more dark portals open simultaniously both on the ground and in the air. From them pour the heartless. Flying fiends, stickfigure men with wings and goofy looking hats. Pirates with their swirly bandanas and flailing swords in their flailing, rum-addled limbs. Wild eyed dogs are probably the worst of the lot however, as these swirly eyed dogs in black and magenta and sickly green go immediately after the chocobos of each caravan, little caring for the people whom the pirates and the flying pirates assault.

Battle Situation:

Twelve Pirates on the ground. Six flying pirates. Six dogs. The dogs are aimed at the chocobos of the caravan. The flying pirates are making swooping attacks at the middle of the caravan while the pirates on the ground are harassing the head of the train.

Brace yourselves. (Random Encounter: Caravan Pirates. Go!)

Reize Seatlan has posed:
That is an interesting question. As Tifa asks the boy a loaded question, he rests his hand underneah his chin as he reflects. "Well, uhh..." He muses, "I remember long ago... I think about 200!" And even Navya get a nod from the boy

Auron bursts his bubble twice. One about the drawing of the fiends and the next one is regarding worrying about his head. *TTTTHHPPPT!* His cheeks puff as he turns to face the sour samurai, "Oooi, my head will remain attached!" He glances back towards the outside, his eyes sweeping about.

What interrupts his sweeps is a familiar presence running towards Tifa. Oh! Rinoa! "Ooiii! Rinoa!" Then, he sees Angelo running as well, "Ooi Angelo!"

...Suddenly, full stop, weapons up is ordered. Reize quickly takes out his boomerangs and steps into his fighting stance. As the dark portals manifest around, Reize's eyes widen. "....Gah!" As the boy lowers his head, he mentally prepares himself.

"Everyone, we can do this! We won't let them pass!" There is that ability that Reize has to inspire others. Perhaps it is that infectious exuberant nature of his.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
The quiet sank in over the chatter, over the creaks and grinds, it was the kind of quiet that makes your heart beat faster. Anticipation.

Seifer unwound the reigns from his right hand and transfered them to his left, freeing his main hand to dip down to the weapon dangling about at his hip. He thumbed the safety and frew the weapon a inch free of it's sheath, readying it.

He's a heartbeat too late to trade knowing glances with Riku... Of course, Riku's glance might have been more knowing than Seifers. See, Seifer's knowing glance was more along the lines of bandits, monsters, monster bandits. Something like that. Not Heartless

But it is Heartless, it so is Heartless.

To make matters worse... His ex had just ridden up to join the caravan... and he's pretty sure that one girl had spotted him... and he didn't bring a umbrella.

"HAH!" Seifer barks to his chocobo, kicking his heels into it's ribs, spurring the creature into a charging run. It was no war-bird however, he would have to keep a good, firm hand on it. He set his sights on a charging hound, steering his charge to intercept the hound and bowl it over beneath the chocobo's pouding, taloned fet before he would swing back around and finish the job, Hyperion leaping from it's sheath and lunging down at the end of his arm to put a end to the creature.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa had actualy thought to bring an umbrella before heading out here. Angelo doesnt seem to mind the rain much, nor does her bird. Angelo just barks happily at Tifa, enjoying scritches. Rinoa meanwhile, addresses Yuna first when she speaks. Wow, what intricate clothes. And did someone call her a summoner? How strange, was she some special SeeD then?

"Thanks! Nice to meet you too. My name is Rinoa. Are you some sort of SeeD then? You said you can summon..I've never seen a SeeD dressed like that before though.."

She glances around at the others, nodding and smilng but doesn't know them really. Except maybe Riku and Reize. Had she met them briefly at some art show or something..?"

Finally, she looks to Tifa when she speaks of a certain someone and she peers at Seifer quietly, smile fading a bit. So Seifer's here too, but whose side is he on? "I dunno, but we'd better keep an eye on him.." Angelo whines when she sees him, looking like she wants to go meet him, but not wanting to leave Rinoa's side..Then things suddenly change with the arrival of the heartless.

"Oh no..I guess they're here!" she braces herself, calling Angelo to her side, loading her blaster edge and preparing to aim the heartless nearest her.

Auron has posed:
Auron has a way of bursting people's bubbles. It's how he helps them stay alive. They may not /like/ him afterwards, but they're still alive to dislike him, and that's what's important to him. Maybe sometime down the road, the idealistic young knight would realize he did it to help, not to be a meanie-face. Of course... he suddenly has something else to worry about.

...Oh Fayth. Fanboys.

Seems this trip will test more than just Auron's mettle. It's going to test his patience! Refraining from the urge to sigh -- since he has a sneaking suspicion that whatever Oriane had been about to say, it would have been something that would have been a pointed note to his, er, current life-challenged state. So in a way, he's sort of thankful for the fanboy-ing.

And then he turns his attention to his task again -- being a Guardian! Yuna's words are acknowledged with a nod. "...As you wish," he acquiesces easily. However, he will caution her, "Don't push yourself too hard." Something her father needed reminding of on occasion, too.

And also, he agrees with Yuna about the fanboy guard's actions here, too. He'll put up with it for a while, though. Even if he just wants to reach out and /smack/ the guard. He will, of course, refrain from doing so; the guard is keeping him from having to deal with Oriane's questions. "...The Lady Yuna makes a good point. This road is dangerous. You wouldn't want to be known as the guard who let his priestess get eaten by fiends."

Once he's left to his thoughts, he'll position himself where Oriane can't easily talk to him, yet he's still near Yuna. Sneaky Guardian! But it looks like there will be some other things to distract from Oriane's questions, as the order for weapons up comes, and portals start to appear all over the place. He gets into a place where he can protect Yuna -- she's going to be fighting the Heartless, he assumes, so he's going to be protecting her, too.

Aerial enemies are going to be hard for him to deal with. So he brings his attention to the things on the ground, hoping they're not too terribly fast for him. If they are, he's going to be reduced to the role of glorified meatshield out here.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't need to draw up weapons. She nods to Valencia, who's standing nearby "We got lots of company here. I'm better on the ground, you think you can take care of the air force?" She asks to Valencia and Rinoa both, knowing Rinoa has some ranged weaponry.

As soon as she offers her bit of strategy advice, she rushes in toward the closest dog-like creature. These are not Angelo that's for sure. She's not scared of even feral beasts like that, she can take them on. When an open maw jumps toward her, its met with a feet, a powerful roundhouse kick that sends it flying sideways, throwing it off course from attacking the nearby chocobos. Its certainly not out for the count though, but she's just making sure the chocobos go unharmed right now.

She slides her feet apart, reeling a fist back as she takes her fighting stance.

Navya has posed:
Two hundred is a lot of oaths. Navya doesn't know so many. She drops into thought for a good five seconds, which for her is an eternity.

It does mean she's distracted from Angelo, though. The dog gets off easy.

Navya is interrupted in her thoughts by the sudden appearance of portals. There's a lot of them and they all open more or less at once; Navya goes from shocked to responding in instants. She unhooks the gigantic hammer she carries from its cross-body strap, grabbing the long haft with both hands.

And then she leaps into the air. Navya's wings aren't as big as those of an aegyl's, but they're strong; they beat hard and lift her up into the air, propelling her directly at one of the strange-looking flying Heartless. She puts her entire body into the swing, swnding her literally spinning through an entire three hundred sixty degree ark, gigantic maul angled to smash one of the Heartless and send it flying...

...well, an awfully long way. She's a lot stronger than she looks, apparently. "Watch out!" she calls, down to the others.

Yuna has posed:
"I'm sorry, I don't know what a SeeD is," Yuna explains to Rinoa, when asked. Then battle strikes, Auron's request that she not overdo acknowledged simply with a nod.

Summoner? Apparently not, but the maiden is, by all appearances, a massively skilled white mage; she creates a bastion of support, standing strong in the center of the maelstrom of battle, becoming the eye of the storm. Quiet, firm prayers and gentle blessings embrace the fighters, the merchants, even the chocobos themselves, mending wounds, intercepting attacks with shimmering shields of Protection, and generally being a gigantic pain in the butt to the pirates' overall objective of doing serious or lasting damage to the caravan.

Now and then she shifts forward or back, lending the considerable aegis of her holy magics to a piece of the battlefield most sorely beset by attackers. She seems to be highly skilled at moving in concert with Auron, helping him more easily do his job by doing her own in such a manner that requires the least amount of effort or unexpected movement on his part.

Oriane Guado has posed:
Sorry Yuna, but that is just the breaks when it comes to internal church fandom. Acolytes, summoners, and other personnel go gaga over Yuna and Warrior Monks, Crusaders, and Guardians tend to go more crazy over Auron. But that is not to say they wouldn't still celebrity crush over the other group, but it is merely a manner of priorities today. Also, Auron was Guard One's childhood hero. It is quite hard to top that!

Guard One is perfectly understanding when Auron goes back to his duties. That's what -he- should have been doing anyways. And just in time as Heartless appear to harass the caravan. Oriane cocks her head skyward to afford the Heartless a look of disdain from the back of her wagon. She merely motions for Guard Two and Guard One to come near. "Take care of this rabble. I shall be fine here." Her guards know better than to question Oriane and merely take up fighting positions with the others with one wielding a sword and the other a halberd.

Valencia has posed:
Valencia nods and says, "I'll take care of that." before she starts floating on top of the cart and draws her rapier before saying, "Well... Time to see if I can't do anything about these buzzing pests." as she takes up a fighting stance.

Riku has posed:
The dogs start to panic the well trained Caravan Chocobos as they viciously snap and lunge at the harnessed creatures. Shrill birdlike screams and chaos fill the air as the birds surge and twist against their harnesses.

One chocobo goes down, a dog hanging onto it's neck before a bodyguard moogle stabs the offending heartless through the side with an impressive metal spear. The chocobo goes down before healing magics are able to reach it.

The guard pitches the dog away from the chocobo like a bale of hay where it explodes into a harmless mass of shadowy vapor. Kweston slams a massive clawed foot into the face of a charging dog, the heartless battered away as the chocobo raises its wings and squawks menacingly at the attacker.

Riku slides down from the rear wagon, joining the moogle guards in fending off the pirates. He exchanges a glance with Seifer, but it turns out to be more of a weary smirk than anything else. A sort of momentary 'Great. Here we go again' as he ducks underneath the swoop of an air pirate, grimacing in pain as he loses his footing and has to lean hard against the caravan to remain standing. Perhaps he is not as battle ready as it first appeared, but he appears to be holding his own.

So do the moogle guards, after a momentary panic Tupo and his subleaders get the caravan under control. The caravan begins to curl into a protective circle as assistants calm chocobos and fight off the dogs, presenting a less vulnerable target as the pirates are rebuffed.

Sword and spear and bow rebuffs their advance. Shielding and healing magics bolster defenses. Another peal of thunder rolls out from the landscape as the heartless regroup themselves, and then surge again to the attack in a wave of darkness.

Battle Situation: Second wave.

Four dogs. Five flying pirates. Twelve Pirates. Concerted Assault -Everyone rolls- Caravans Shielded and in Protective circle.

Damage report: One Chocobo lost. (Caravan four: Middle)

Reize Seatlan has posed:
And the wave arrive. There are pirates and flying pirates coming their way. Reize grits his teeth as he shifts to his fighting stance. As the Heartless start swarming, Reize charges into the fray.

As the pirates move forward, Reize already springs up and lifts both hands over the shoulders of one of the pirates to use him as a platform. With the other pirates around, Reize swings his feet out to kick each and every single one of them.

He can see that many of the Heartless are overwhelming his Tifa and his new allies! Reize shouts, "I got you guys!" He attempts to shift over to throw the pirate off until...

The pirate catches Reize and slams him down. And all of the other pirates spring in and dog pile Reize.

Oof.

Navya has posed:
PRO TIP: Just because you are capable of carrying a gigantic weapon that can do immense damage does not mean it is always the best choice.

Navya manages a single very impressive swing in midair that hits absolutely nothing, because her hammer is frankly so heavy that everything she does with it is telegraphed. It literally drags her through the full arc since she can't brace her feet against the ground while she's flying. Then she gets to find out why it's generally a bad idea to split away from the group.

As the only proper flier, she is pretty much a magnet for the remaining flying pirate Heartless. They don't /all/ swarm her, but a couple get in so close that Navya can't actually hit them with the hammer very easily. "Hey!" she yells, startled, as one of them swings a Heartless sword so close to her face that the wind from its passing blows her bangs out of her eyes.

Navya begins to be forced back downward to avoid getting shredded, overwhelmed by numbers and agility. She headbutts at least once on her way down, though, and given she has rather spiky horns that's really more effective than it ought to be... if she can hit with it. "Where do they all /come/ from??"

Oriane Guado has posed:
Oriane Guado merely folds her hands together into her lap has her loyal guards go off to either die a horrible a death or become big damn heroes. The priestess herself is fine with either outcome really as they are both highly replaceable even if she has gotten used to Guard One's constant child-like abandon. It merely made her want to choke instead of outright vomit.

And yet, it seems that her guards have decided to be troublesomely competent which causes a look of confusion to appear on Oriane face. Guard Two, the serious one, merely uses the long reach of his halberd to swat at the flying enemies who dare approach the duo. Guard One, after first looking back to see if Auron is watching, yells out his best battle-cry and charges any Heartless that approaches by ground with his sword a-swinging. The two guards work together in near perfect tandem which catches the attacking Heartless off guard nearly as much as it does Oriane.

Could Guard One's bungling nature and Guard Two's stoic silence be false fronts to hide their true natures? Perish the thought, they merely got lucky; Oriane soon decides.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
The dog wasn't down from the barmaid's kick, rolling off the ground, it jumps back right away at its agressor. Tifa was ready for it, but not for its speed. Suddenly enraged, it looks like it gained in speed, and the barmaid gets surprised at the sudden burst, getting headbutted into the caravan behind her. Her back hits hard against the convoy, her head ringing a bit with the impact. She doesn't have much time to shake her head free that her hands come up in front, catching the dog's maw with her gloved hands, keeping it from closing on her neck.

The barmaid grrs back at the snarling its making "Oh no you don't." Sliding herself down, and using both legs to push the dog mightly away, back into the field, giving her a few seconds to get back up.

Valencia has posed:
The air soldiers charge Valencia, as she swipes at them with her rapier, taking out a few before they regroup in the air several feet from her. Grinning, she sheathes her rapier and gestures with her hands as gravity magic surrounds them and a black hole appears in the middle, sucking them into it. Finally, one air soldier breaks away from the group and tries to charge her face, just -barely- tussling her hair as she leans back in a matrix-esque manner then pokes the air soldier on the forehead as a small disc of black appears she smiles and waves before it gets sucked into the disc like a piece of cloth in a vacuum cleaner's hose as she stands back up and says, "Well, I suppose I could have cut that a bit closer."

Seifer Almasy has posed:
A Knights charge is a glorious thing to behold, two mortal forms bent together, hearts hammering against rib cages, the thunder of footfalls as distance is torn apart, a long, grey coat billowing behind him. His features grind into a harder scowl, something far more keen than that of someone soon to be caught out in the rain without a umbrella.

A beast breaks towards a team of chocobos, slathering and mad-eyed, Seifer finds his prey. Heels pound against feathered flanks and drumstick increase their fevered tempo as man and bird come barreling down upon a horrid creature of the nether.

The beast never found it's prey, for Seifer Almasy, Knight of the Sorceress Edea, found his first! Bodies collide, bird and man crashing into and trampling the beast sending it sprawling to the ground before making a sharop turn, Knight wheeling around upon his steed and bringing Hyperion to bare, the long, gleaming blade brandished in gloom of the approaching storm. It rose and fell, a sweeping stroke that whistled through the air until it found the beast's inky flesh... and with a crack of thunder, tore through it! A well-timed pull of the trigger setting off a thunder crack, the slide kicking back as the blade rent free of the hound, discarding the spent casing and quickly chambering another.

Auron has posed:
Auron working with well Yuna at least, is probably no surprise to those who know them both -- he has been Yuna's Guardian since just before she left Luca, just before Spira fell to Darkness. And he guarded another Summoner before her, too.

For now he's content to have Yuna casting her protective magics on the fighters -- and hopefully on herself, too, because when the Heartless realize she's the one making things harder for them to dispose of the defenders, they're almost certainly going to attack her. It's a sound battle strategy, after all... one he'd employ in their place. So she's going to need the extra protection too.

Sword drawn and left arm pulled from his coat, Auron's doing his best to fend the Heartless off as they near the caravan -- and Yuna as well. Fortunately, he seems to be managing to keep them off of Yuna for the most part. Unfortunately he's... not able to keep up with them. Heartless teeth and claws may be made of nothing but Darkness, but man do they /hurt/!

At this point, there's not a lot Auron can do but try to knock the Heartless off of him. Possibly at the other fighters who are faster. Flat of his blade, free hand, foot -- anything he can manage! But at least if they're going after him, there's fewer of them for his allies to have to worry about.

Sadly for Guard One, Auron is rather too concerned about the Heartless trying to eat him to look at the antics of his fanboy. If he was, he'd probably tell him to quit being so darn reckless and fight like he's got a brain in his head. So maybe it's good that Auron isn't able to concentrate on him right now....

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa nods and smiles to Tifa. "Already on it!" she is about to loose her sawblade upon the wave of flying heartless, but suddenly several earthbound heartless leap and slam into her, tackling her off the chocobo and violently hurling her to the ground.

"No!" She struggles, trying to kick them off, but close combat isn't really her strength. She tries to summon a spell, but she can hardly concentrate as they tear and slash and bite at her. Angelo barks angrily, trying to rush at the heartless and drag them away from her mistress..But there are so many..

Yuna has posed:
Yuna frowns as the battle begins to go ill, on the whole. She summons up... larger healing magics, Curas and Curagas, that she sends fearlessly swirling within the crowds of Heartless to enfold those rapidly buried beneath the tide -- Reize and Rinoa and of course, especially Auron. Such spells cannot free them from their tight spots in battle, but they /can/ buy them time to free themselves, or have another do so.

She starts loading them up with further protections and enhancements, for good measure, layering Shells and Protects, a sparkling NulSpark orb here and there in case that lightning starts getting drawn down with a vengeance, and perhaps more usefully, Bravery and Faith, which fill hearts and minds and the very veins of the fighters with power to help them not only withstand the tide of darkness, but turn it.

Riku has posed:
The oncoming tide of darkness takes it's toll on the moogle guards. They are tough and seasoned fighters but their weapons can do no better than the will that wields them and suddenly things are looking very bleak.

The defenders that have been hired to bolster defenses seem to be having troubles simply holding on but Tupo and his subleaders bolster the group and keep them fighting. One guard from the front of the caravan goes down under heartless teeth and claws but is saved by his subleader who pounds a great hammer into the skull of a heartless pirate, destroying it in a single massive swipe.

They help eachother up but the caravan guards look rattled. The Chocobos begin to thrash in their harnesses, Kweston slipping free of his again to charge straight at the heartless surrounding Reize. It kicks and bites and screams and stomps. Chocobo on a rampage. The other Caravan chocobos seem to take heart from the fighting and start biting and kicking any dogs that get close, easing the pressure a little on the shaken guards.

Riku slashes into a pirate heartless, growling something bitter to himself as he slams the sword through the heartless and then another, staggering slightly as he stays close to the rear wagon. Battle Conditions: Three dogs. Two flying pirates. Six Pirates. Desperate Rally (All Overwhelmed last turn Roll Again. All others no roll this round. Overwhelmed: Rinoa, Auron, Nayva, Tifa, Reize) Caravans Shielded and in Protective circle.

Damage Report: Guard injured (2nd caravan) Healed. Out of danger. Morale Check: Fail. FEAR status nullified by Yuna casting Bravery and Faith. Guard status: Normal Chocobo status: RALLY (not in immediate danger)

Reize Seatlan has posed:
In retrospect, it is a good thing that Yuna is performing benedictions towards the fighting party. Those will be proven useful for the time of the battle. For a brief moment, Reize brings his hands up to erupt over the Heartless.

He lunges out to kick and strike the pirates off of him. "ARGH!" He sweeps his foot out to strike one of the pirates off and then he springs forward to slam a knee at their face. Even Kweston lunges forward to save him. When they dislodge from him, Reize smiles at the chocobo, "...Thanks, Kweston."

Upon landing Reize feels a glow imbue him as layers of hexagonal shapes surround him. He is layered with the shell to ward off magic, and then the more crystal clear protection layers around him.

He gives a call towards the chosen, "Ooooiii! Thanks!" He brightens a smile towards Yuna.

However, one of the pirates latch onto Reize from behind. "Eh?!" And it lunges for a suplex on the boy. "OOOF!" And the Heartless begin swarming on the boy like vultures. "Argh!"

Oriane Guado has posed:
Oriane is continuing to merely sit there on the wagon for she is only a priestess and not a battle hardened warrior nor a summoner. But it seems that the Heartless are pressing their attack ruthlessly regardless of this. And it also seems that Auron could use some timely assistance. It is noticing that both Oriane and Auron have drawn the attention of the Heartless that her guards make a potentially fatal mistake. They split up. Guard 1 goes to fight his way to Auron's side and is completely overwhelmed. Guard Two rushes to Oriane's aid and is overwhelmed as well. It appears that things are looking bleak all of a sudden thanks to both her guards forgetting what their primary task is. How delightful.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart isn't getting the upper hand on that dog it seems. Normally she'd have made it into apunching bag, but something is off. Maybe she can't get decent footing in the plains here, maybe its the rain and thunder that is bothering her, hard to say. But she can barely evade the next lunge, ending up rolling under the carriage in an attempt to get back on top next try. She grumbles a bit at herself. She really isn't happy about how its turning out. At least she's keeping that one from the chocobos, and there's backup behind her taking care of the rest.

She runs back around the convoy toward the one she was attacking, and finds an opening to kick it away from the nearby chocobo again. She's not winning, but she hasn't lost yet.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
A voice rings out, familier and known. Seifer's focus wavers. Without thought or care, Seifer wheels his mount into a charge. He would be valient and brave. Daring and fierce...

Or he would have, had it not been for a gargoyle stooping from the sky, diving down and crashing into the knight and his mount. They all go down, a tangle of limbs and dead weight. The bird panics without Seifer to bully it into obedience, it kicks and flails, scrambling to it's feet before darting into the tall grass.

Seifer is left behind, sore but unwounded. He drags himself up to his feet just in time to be caught by another swooping strike, the knight sent sprawling once more. With a curse and a sneer, he flings fire into the skies, trying to regain his footing and keep the beast at bay.

Auron has posed:
Blast it! These Heartless just won't stop showing up. And he's not making any headway this way. His arms are getting too heavy to move with these things biting and clinging to them, his sword all but pinned to the ground. He just can't get loose from these blasted Heartless, and they're starting to pull him down. But he's still fighting, to note.

Also to note... despite the attacks of the Heartless being pretty much being nonstop, he's not bleeding. Or bruised. Nor is there a single bead of sweat on his face. Doesn't mean he's not /hurting/ mind. There's a scowl on his face that is so rarely there, unless things are getting far worse than he had anticipated....

Navya has posed:
Navya continues to descend in a cluster of flying pirates. It looks like she's getting horribly swarmed.

It clears up about five seconds later when one of them goes flying because she's punched it as hard as she can. Navya ends up landing anyway, but she's a little less crowded. Not enough that she can go somewhere else, or she'd run off to give Auron or Reize or someone a boost, but enough that she can manage to use the hammer again.

"Hiyaaaah!" Navya winds up with the hammer, raising it far back and over her shoulder, twisting her body now that she's got her feet on the ground again. And then she swings it forward, overhead and aimed not at the Heartless. Not quite.

Instead Navya smashes the ground. It causes a veritable earthquake, if a very localized one; fragments of rock fly up in a circle around her, the ground shifting as it shatters and sprays stone. Even if it doesn't hurt the Heartless that have been bothering her badly, it certainly interferes with them, and the follow-up backswing with the wedge-shaped head on the maul probably /does/ take them out if they stay put for it.

"Who's next?" she yells, when she has a moment's respite. It's a short moment.

Valencia has posed:
Valencia continues to stab through the air heartless before she notices some of the other heartless ganging up on the grounded fighters as she says, "Alright, fine!" before placing her hand near the tip of the rapier and saying, "Starlight..." as a double-helix of starlight swirls around the rapier several times, a chain of starlike lights appearing on the length of the rapier. She then holds it up to the sky as the lights fly into the sky and position themselves in a constellation that would be unrecognized by those around her, before finally the constellation breaks into -many- different shards of starlight that strike into the heartless on the ground in an attempt to help the guards out a bit.

Yuna has posed:
Things are not getting better, but worse. Yuna is surrounded by pain and suffering, Darkness incarnate, and yet in such a situation, she does not panic, does not frown.

She smiles, and turns her face to the sky. It's such an incongruous thing to do that it can't help but draw attention, and as a thousand raindrops paint her face like diamonds, sliding off her eyelashes and down her cheeks, soaking her hair, the feeling of hope, of strength, and of impending change... is palpable.

"CURAJA!" she yells first, a blinding white light erupting from the tip of her staff as it sweeps through the air, dancelike, to explode with healing power across the battlefield. AoEs are hax.

But wait, there's more: her staff comes to an abrupt stop, her arm wrapped around it in a sort of curling spiral. And then she whirls into action, poetry in motion, blue and white and pink and brown and gold and white... increasingly white, as dozens of radiant sparks, the remnants of her other holy magics, rise from the ground, attracted back towards her.

They gather in swirling streamers around her, gradually forming an ominously large white ball above her head.

"HOLY!!!"

It explodes with delicious anti-Heartless power, seeking to drive back the darkness, and give the others the breathing room they need to finish it off.

"Fight on, everyone!"

Riku has posed:
The moogle guards rally, bolstered by the healing and buffing magics that lend strength to their strikes. Tupo headbutts a flying pirate that gets too close, skewering it and sending it reeling to THUMP into the ground and explode in a puff of smoke.

The remaining heartless seem to be focusing their attacks on the champions which allows the guards some breathing space to recuperate and steady themselves. The dogs leap at the chocobos but are rebuffed by the IRE of CHOCOBO which can be great indeed.

The heartless are aftershocked by the sudden surge of earth by Navy'a swing, shards of rock piercing them as their moment of imbalance makes them vulnerable to attack. Several of them explode while the rest are unbalanced and stunned for a moment. Valencia's attacking shards of starlight pepper the remaining pirates and dogs as they swarm Reize and the others. They go out like dying stars, one after the other. Then the HOLY beams sweep everything clear. Heartless dogs howl as they are incinerated by the blaze.

Finally, as the storm breaks in truth, there are no more heartless left to claim the lives of others. Rain beats down on the plains as the guards and the moogle assistants try to calm the chocobos and get everything back into order again.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Here he is. He is in peril. The edges of defeat and death clear ahead for Reize. He has been tackled down twice and the Heartless are edging towards him. It's no that he is afraid of failing for himself. However, it is the matter of failing for the others. There are people depending on him...

And that pendant starts to glow ominously.

However, before things can get any worse...

A flash of light stops it all from getting any worse. Before his very eyes, as the heartless edges close to him, they vanish into nothingness as the light purges their presence.

On his back, Reize stares, sweating. He rolls up to his feet, then he turns toards Yuna. A bright cheer exclaims from the boy, "You did it! That was amazing!"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart phews as Valencia's attack wipes out the dog before it gets back up. She shakes her head, walking toward the others, seeing that all of them got wiped out by Yuna's and Valencia's attacks. Ferself, she's not seriously wounded, just a few scratches, Yuna's magic just wipes them out on its own after a few moments. She smiles, sliding a hand through her wet hair, turning to Yuna "Thanks for your support, it was really needed." She's completly drenched now, not like she had the chance of using any protection against the rain falling down. "I hope there's nothing else now..." she looks back toward Valencia with a thankful nod, and then to the field. "You okay Reize?"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer's chest rises and falls in time with heavy breaths. With a sweep of his arm, he clears Hyperion's blade of clinging shadow-stuff, it's automatic, he's half way through the process of doing a magazine check when he realizes he cannot see. Not blind, just dazzled, sun spots clouding his vision. They flee after a few moments, allowing him to count the remaining rounds before sliding it back into the pistol grip.

A glance assures that she is okay. Tugging his lapels, Seifer draws his coat tight around him and marches back to assume his position at the rear of the caravan, trudging along through the increasingly muddy trail.

Auron has posed:
Too many. There are just too many. Auron's getting dragged down by their sheer numbers. Arms, legs, torso -- he doesn't even know where the pain's coming from now. It's just too much for his body to take. There's a growl as he tries to get his bearings, tries to make a last effort to at least stand... but it's not enough. It looks like he's about to exit these conjoined worlds in a very nasty way, doesn't it...?

Thankfully, the magic from those who do use it seems to take care of the Heartless for those of them who were getting pummelled into the ground. The destruction of the Heartless leaves Auron down on the ground, on one knee, his sword planted in the ground before him, his hand on the handle, remaining eye closed. There's still a scowl on his face, though by now it's light. He is /extremely annoyed/ now.

A moment later, he stands, pulling his sword from the ground, turning to see if there are any injuries they'll need to stop and see to. All that noise is bound to attract more Heartless, and the scent of blood might attract fiends on top of that.

Navya has posed:
Navya swings the hammer back. She rests it against her shoulder, breathing a little heavily -

Just as rain starts to fall, plastering her hair to her head and dripping off her still half-spread wings and tail. She groans. Between that and being sore from that whole fuss, she's not very happy with the environment right now.

"That was amazing!" Navya agrees, trying to pull her wings in so they stop catching the rain and dripping it down her back. "Is everyone okay...?" She shakes more off her hammer, which is pretty pointless given it's still raining. She's going to have to change her everything later...

You'd think this might teach her to plan for weather in the future. You would be wrong.

Oriane Guado has posed:
Oriane was threatened, Guard 2 was pinned, and Guard 1's dreams of saving his hero were crushed before his very eyes. But it is thanks to the once heretical summoner and this other girl that they are all saved. Hurrah. Oriane gracefully descends from her wagon and stands over the fallen Guard Two. She gives him a disappointed shake of her head before she moves on to the wounded Guard One. "I hope you learned your lesson in the futility of pursuing one's own vanity." The priestess chastises before raising the hood of her robe due to the incoming rain. Her eyes now turn towards Yuna. "Praise be to Yevon for the Lady Summoner Yuna and for this..." A glance is levied towards Valencia. There is a slight pause as Oriane thinks of something nice to say. "...spirited youth for saving our lives." The priestess performs the gestures that our the prayer of Yevon and then heads back for her wagon, her priestly duties complete. Guard One and Two follow after Oriane sullenly, but it is Guard One who turns around and flexes. "When we get to Junon, I'll get ice-cream for everyone! We all did it!" It seems that even the near-death experience won't damper his spirits. The Guado priestess shoots a daggerinto Guard One's back with a steely gaze of hers before ascending to her seat on the wagon with the assistance of Guard Two.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
A grin is given towards Tifa, a thumbs up, "I'm alive, thanks to Yuna!"
 !!!
Guard one gets his attention. The boy has a cheerful smile on his face, "Yay, ice cream!" However, Reize is starting to undergo a flashback in his first experience of ice cream.

Chibified Flashback</span>

Chibi Reize: *chomps on the seasalt ice cream*
Reize's brain: *becomes Antarctica in a blizzard*
Chibi Reize: dahdljsahdadsajdahskdjhask
Chibi Riku: ...This is what happens when you don't listen, Fearless Leader. :|

"....Or maybe not.."

Yuna has posed:
After the battle, Yuna's energy seems to only increase; she is everywhere at once, urging people back onto their feet, flitting from wounded chocobo to wounded moogle to wounded companions in exactly that order. Part of her yearns to see to Auron first, but she's both professional about her duty today, and compassionate for the feathery beasts, drawn into a conflict they'd have none of if not for their service. Her revival magics are potent, phoenixlike feathers of prayerful energy embracing the fallen and both sheltering and bolstering them back to full strength; it seems there will be no need for a Sending today. Not yet, at least.

Anyone who needed a heal and would accept her quiet help can be assumed to have received one, freely given without commentary or expectation of any favor in return.

"Thank you," she murmurs rather shyly, accepting Reize, Oriane and Nayva's compliments, only barely keeping the stammer out of her voice after her silly outburst a few minutes ago, "And you're welcome," she adds, bowing politely in response to Tifa's gratitude, and again, with extra respect, towards the mighty Valencia. "We all did it. This victory belongs to everyone." That's more than token words; she really means it, her tone ringing with honest appreciation of the people around her. Concern leaks in, as some begin to plan celebrations. "But... the day is not over."

Auron's sharp eye will have noticed by now that his charge is a bit paler than usual, and starting to sway, very slightly, on her feet. Her beaded strand draws tiny circles of instability above her slender shoulders. Someone has /not/ been holding herself back the way she promised to. Soaked to the bone, her white, kimono-wrapped top becomes rather translucent, revealing the strappy black chemise beneath. It isn't improper, but she's probably getting cold, that island garb of hers not standing up well to this storm.

Riku has posed:
The storm does nothing to aid the caravan getting back on track. It's a cold and miserable affair, a frozen slurry that is just this side of snow that only abates when they reach the borders of the Targ Woods sometime later. Kweston goes back to caravan hauling duties reluctantly, as it is a chocobo of /adventure/ after all.

Riku has returned to the rear wagon after checking to see if Reize is alright. He passes by Auron on his way back, nodding to him as he goes to retake his position. "Smooth moves." Riku says to Seifer, and it's not exactly known whether it is a compliment or not as he huddles within his jacket and bears out the freezing rain.

The path into the Targ Wood is treacherous for other reasons than monsters. Twice one of the caravans gets a wheel stuck in a particularly sticky patch of brackish mud. The sheltering, close packed forest creates a canopy overhead that shields partially from the rain but not from the mournful whistling wind that blows through the territory.

A winding path diverts from the well worn caravan trail, an ominous and eerie blue light pulsing faintly from deep within. Tupo scowls at the winding track, grumbling. "That's not on the route." and alerting the guards to possible danger coming from that new pathway through the woods until they are safely past it.

Of course, this would be the perfect time to get stuck in the mud. While they pull the second to last caravan from the muck and Riku goes to help the guards and assistants with that, Tupo gives the order to his subleaders and the subleaders pass the word along. Stay close and don't stray too far from the caravan. It never boded well in this changed world when things that are not supposed to be there suddenly make themselves known.

There is that eerie silence again in this part of the Targ wood, where no birds or beast dare to speak aloud as the caravan deals with it's difficulties.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart walks along side the carriage, noddig to Valencia with a smile "Well, we'll have time, its a couple of hours until Junon, I travel this road oten. Usually not in these numbers though." She looks back to make sure everyone has been following around. Its not use for her getting to a dry place right now, she's soaked anyway, so might as well endure it and leave the space for others to stay dry.

And then its the forest. She looks back to the moogles "I told you to take a right at the last intersection." Of course, Tifa didn't notice that the path was blocked off by a fall tree, courtesy of the thunderstorm, but that doesn't mean she was wrong either. She was following the moogle's guidance, since he said there was another way around. Apparently, not so easy of a path. She frowns a bit as people seem to be getting ready for another fight.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer takes it as a insult. Seifer takes almost everything as a insult from most everybody. His lip curls into a aggrieved twist as he glowers in Riku's general direction, "Get a haircut, chump."he jeers impotently. He should have been paying attention so that he could laugh at Riku's failings more keenly. He was so good at that back in the Garden.

Without a hood, Seifer seeks some shelter within the trailing wagon as well, keeping close to one opening or another, not liking the idea of simply huddling himself away blind.

Navya has posed:
Navya is generally a little more miserable through this part of the trip. She wishes she had an umbrella or a jacket. Or a shirt that covered her stomach. She's pretty open at this point.

Navya /is/ perfectly happy to help out by unsticking wagons from mud, though. This is something that her strength is helpful for, and she's not likely to accidentally break something when she does it (though she comes close when she gets a little too excited pushing things around the first time they get stuck).

Which is why she's not actually helping the second time, though she'd like to. She looks at the path instead. Honestly, it looks like every other path in here to her. It's a forest, there are routes, what's different about it? She's never come this way before.

Navya pokes a tree root with a long stick. It fails to attack her. "There's nothing /on/ this road," she says, though she can't see very far along it and could be entirely wrong.

Oriane Guado has posed:
Machina be damned, Oriane is suddenly wishing she had taken an airship. Thankfully, she had been wearing her hooded robe along with her normal vestments. It helps a little, but she is still getting quite damp thanks to the terrible weather. The gloomy nature of the woods also does not do much to raise Oriane's bright demeanor. But then again, these woods are awfully secluded. If she ever need privacy to conduct a few experiments, she now knows where to go.

When the wagons get stuck again, Oriane orders her two guards to go help while the priestess herself wanders among the caravan in her hooded blue Yevonite robes. Hmmm. Now where did the Lady Yuna and Sir Auron get to. She has some more antagonizing to do. The pulsating blue light soon draws the Guado's attention. Whatever could that be? Naturally curious of strange mystical powers, Oriane takes a few steps closer to see if she can discern or maybe even smell anything amiss.

Auron has posed:
"...We should get moving again," Auron notes as the group starts congratulating itself. There will be time for that later. "...There may be more of them. And the commotion may attract fiends." He also returns Riku's nod of greeting. Yup, he remembers you, kid!

Auron has als noticed Yuna's wobbling on her feet. And he's also noticed that it's bloody cold. So as the caravan moves out after the battle, he starts shifting around, to get out of his coat. Once he's out of it, he turns to Yuna, aiming to put it over her shoulders and around her. It should keep her warm, at least. Besides, he's dead... he's already filled with a chill no warmth can reach.

So he follows the caravan, at Yuna's side, until the wagon gets stuck. Then he starts trying to help get it unstuck. He's a pretty strong guy, despite his horrible performance earlier. And to the mention of the winding trail, and the blue light? "...We have to stick to the path as much as possible. If exploration is wanted, do that later, after the caravan's safe." There's no telling what's down there, after all. And either way -- leaving the caravan to explore or taking the caravan down that path -- would expose it to unnecessary danger.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
As the caravan begins going back on track, Reize can feel the chill getting worse. He shivers, walking along the path. Reize is actually moving beside Kweston, reaching over into his pouch to procure a gysahl green. He hands it to the creature, patting it on the head.

Riku gets a sheepish smile from Reize, a bit embarassed over his performance. He is grateful to have survived that. "I'm alright. Thanks, Riku." It's a sincere, subdued smile.

When he walks along the Targ Woods, Reize says, "The place is like a jungle." He warns, "When Shiki and I explored it long ago, we dealt with the dangers of the area. We managed to camp out, but the next day, we had issues of running into...." He trails off as the memory comes back.

To make matters worse, there is a glowing light that pulsates. It is an ominous feeling that he can't help but clutch his pendant on. With it flickering its glow, Reize is a bit more on edge.

Reize moves to assist many of the guards and Riku to pull the wheel out of the mud.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna can be appallingly stubborn. When Auron starts to shelter her, she mutters something along the lines of 'This is her Very First Mercenary Job, and She Will Not Be A Burden On The Very Caravan She's Being Paid To Guard, By Yevon!'

(She doesn't know how to swear. She is the worst at it. Even 'oh, poopsie!', Rikku-style, is still more than she can handle. That is likely to change in time. If Orenia's paying sharp attention, though, she might notice that when the lady summoner reflexively says 'by Yevon,' it's followed by a tiny wince. Then again, she was declared a heretic and hunted across half of Spira, for a while; it's not unreasonable for there to be a few hard feelings there. Perhaps it's nothing more than that. Perhaps not...)

As the storm intensifies, the winds catch in her skirt, and in Auron's coat, which is far longer than she is tall and quite heavy to keep out of the mud, but she's doing her best. It blows her about the path, and she only narrowly avoids bumping into whoever's in front of her, when the caravan calls a halt.

Where the others move to the wheel, she plants herself at the intersection of the main path and that blue-lit cave, rod at the ready. If unexpected trouble comes from that direction, she'll sound the call.

Riku has posed:
The subleader of that caravan grumbles to Tifa. "Only if you want to be hauling trees until tomorrow, kupo. We don't want to be here when it gets dark." Riku raises an eyebrow at Seifer and fires back. "Maybe you should trade in that blade for a walking stick. Sharp objects are dangerous for children." in a dry voice that doesn't seem all that concerned with the byplay. He nods to Reize, grateful for the help as his back and side are somewhat more than aching at the moment.

Kweston seems to be mollifed by the green, although it gives sad, longing chocobo eyes at Reize's hair as he passes by. It remains a good chocobo though and doesn't succumb to the urge to Gnaw. Anybody who progresses even a few steps down the blue lit path can feel it. It's a pressure-- almost an oppressive weight down that pathway.

As though the air hangs so heavy that it would have to be waded through like thin syrup. The 'silence' even a few steps down the path causes a numbing, muffling ringing in the ears. The ringing fades in and out with the pulsing of the light, snatches of incoherant whispers occasionally heard in time with a flicker of shadow These vague shapes dart and sway at the far periphery of vision.

The caravan finally comes unstuck with more than a little elbow grease and effort. The caravan leaders check on their charges, the guards looking more than a little unsettled when nothing lunges out at them from the dark.

Tupo gives the command for then to keep moving after a long waiting silence, and the caravan start to creak and groan into life again.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart walks up the path with the leaders. If only to give them shielding and support should it come down to it. She frowns a bit, but follows with the silence...

Couldn't they just get a nice, quiet ride? Instead, heartless and rain to top it off, and no umbrella around. She's going to soak in a bath for 3 hours after all. Minimum.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Riku lifts Seifer's spirits with that spade-full of trash talk. It rekindles the flame that the chill rain and the oppressive attitude of the intense quiet had tried to extinquish.

"That right?" he wonders jaw lifting upwards as he fixes the youth with a sneer, "I might take you up on that. Tell you what, pull the one you have crammed al the way up your butt and I'll trade you!" he banters, maing some slight, descriptive motions with his hands as he's talking.

His snappy rejoinder delivered, Seifer lets his wrist lay across the slide of Hyperion once more. Eitherway you look at it, he's posturing.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Inwardly, Reize is very thankful of the fact that the chocobo isn't aiming for his hair. It's been tangled enough as is! With the subleader's appoving nod, Reize smiles towards the guard. "We're in this together."

As silence offering its ringing draws a wince from the boy. As they finally get the cart going, Reize reaches onto his pouch to procure a small object. It's a smoke bomb. It will be difficult, but he feels that this may come in handy.

The awkward, gnawing silence has Reize back on edge. Nevertheless, he keeps calm. "This is odd." He adds, his eyes performing sweeps. "But... we're making good timing, right?" He looks back to the ring-leader.

Navya has posed:
Navya gives one last look at that blue light. It's kind of worrisome, but - well, she's not being paid to stick her head in. And it doesn't /look/ special, except for the light. Don't these things occasionally happen in forests?

Maybe she'll come back on her own time to take a look. That's the kind of thing adventurers do, right?

Either way, Navya returns to the caravan when nothing seems likely to come out. "You - oh, hurray, it's moving again!" Navya hustles to catch back up. She's still dripping, but apparently she's forgotten her dampness for at least the moment.

Valencia has posed:
"Hey, aren't you cold?" Valencia says, "My offer of clothing modifications extends to anyone who needs some extra covering in this weather. Speaking of which..." she says before grabbing the collar of her jacket and pulling it up over her head as it stretches into a hood and she says, "Much better. Sorcery is incredibly convenient, I must say."

Auron has posed:
It's definitely a good thing Auron didn't go down that path, isn't it? He had remained with the caravan, and done what he could to help it get unstuck. As for the weather, Auron didn't seem to be much affected by it. Or if he was, he wasn't saying much about it.

He's just going to follow along with the caravan as it starts moving again, though not before making sure Yuna's moving, too. Auron will be keeping near to Yuna as they get moving again. At Valencia's offer he shakes his head. "...I'm fine," he says quietly. "...But thank you."

Oriane Guado has posed:
It looks like Oriane will have to explore the mysterious cave another day. What a shame as there could have been any countless wonders located within there. Perhaps a tome full of dark knowledge, some trinkets of power, or there could have simply been more monsters looking for a tasty snack. She instead heads back to her wagon and rejoins her guards after they finish help getting the caravan unstuck. The priestess frowns when she notices that the bottom of her robes are muddied. Pshaw. Just what she needed. Oh well. She will have to take care of that once they get back to civilization. Now is merely the time to enjoy a lovely ride through a dark and treacherous woods.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna stands against the oppressive light, in the oppressive silence. Help, help, she's being oppressed. Her smile is absolutely unwavering, but starts to look a little bit strained, as time elapses.

Finally the caravan starts to move, and she, in turn, moves up to its head. Raising her staff, she draws radiance into it, both to light the way and to challenge the darkness. It makes a giant target out of her, but one grows accustomed. Glancing silently at Auron, her eyes make her smile slightly ironic, as though she's aware of her position and probably his feelings about it.

Riku has posed:
"That, kupo. We will have to see." Tupo still seems concerned and the reason why becomes more obvious when they reach the final stretch of their journey. The marshlands. This is the last stretch between the caravan and the port of Junon and perhaps the most dangerous. Riku snorts, grinning and also indulging in the insults without particular rancor. It gives him something to think about than aches and pains and freezing rain. " Shouldn't you be using your grown up voice? Besides. I don't think you merit even a stick. Someone might figure out you make a better scarecrow than a fighter and stick you out in a field somewhere."

Moogles seem to be prepared for this part of the journey as well. Temporary and low powered Mute spells are cast by the moogle assistants, stealing the voices of the chocobos and the creak of the wagons. Muffling the sounds if not completely muting them.

Tupo and the subleaders strongly advise that the guardians stay within the field of effect as much as possible, or to speak very sparingly outside of it. They were passing through dangerous territory in which sound was as great of an enemy as motion.

The easiest way to go through it was to be as swift and quiet as possible while they prepared a decoy to distract the Midgar Zolom from their passage. They would let the spells lapse after the decoy was fired but not before.

Tupo and the front of the caravan stop at the edge of the marshlands to assemble the decoy, asking that when the decoy is fired, every spellcaster, every guardian who could provide the aid step out of the range of the silence and add their own contribution to making the decoy as loud and compelling as possible.

The Decoyabo happens to be a semi-mechanical, semi-sorcerous bird with many wings and multiple pairs of feet being quickly assembled by the caravan team. It looks vaguely like a chocobo in brilliant, eye searing red and orange that contrasts with the dull greens and greys and brown colors of the marshland.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart tilts her head at the mechanical monstrosity. Well, that's the best she can describe it. It might vaguely look like a chocobo, but she'd need to be blind to mistake it for one. Well, if the point is making noise to attract the nearby monster, it will surely do the job. She was taking a different path when coming through, so she never had to worry about the Zolom. She had heard about it though, which is enough to make her worry. Let's hope it works.

She looks toward Reize, motioning to stay quiet as well. She shakes her head to Valencia, politely declining the coat for now. It would hinder her movements. It is a bit cold, but she's okay for now. She keeps moving, so it keeps her warm through the rain, which isn't as strong amidst the tree at least. Not enough to dry out though.

Navya has posed:
"I'll live," Navya says to Valencia, mostly because she doesn't really want her clothes magicked. What happens if they vanish entirely? She's not okay with that! Instead she kind of curls her wings around her back, which doesn't actually help much. It just means her wings are cold.

Mostly she tromps along in the silence. Not talking is an effort for Navya - she wants to talk to someone, anyone. She in fact starts a couple times, about to say something to Reize or Tifa or Valencia before intentionally holding herself back with a displeased look on her face.

She is much happier to watch the construction of the Decoyabo. There is nothing she can provide, magically, to help it. Maybe she'll smash up a tree or a shrub or something with her hammer when it's time to help out, though - and it's unique enough to keep her satisfied in the meantime.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
'We'll have to see.'

The ringleader brings a good point. Reize is uncertain.

However, as they start going through the marshlands, they are making their way to the last stretch. As the moogles are prepared for the journey, Reize blinks as they arrive to the path.

Annnnnd this is the issue.

Midgar Zolom is around here. Reize mentally winces but moves into the area of effect field. And then, he can see that they ae firing out a decoy. Whoaaa.....

The Decoyabo! Reize opens his mouth to say something but he quietly shuts it.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer flashes a smile in answer to Riku, "I'll save my 'grownup voice for-" begins Seifer, a flip of his wrist dismissing the issue off hand before he readies to launch a barb of his own back at Riku. He is interrupted by a little Moogle, pom pom bobbing into sight before the little creature relayed orders. He acquiesced with a simple nod, gathering himself up and suring Hyperion in it's sheath. "Alright Nancy, enough chitchat. Time to get back to work." he yammered away, making good use of what time he has before he has to shut his fat yap.

Seifer is more sword slinger than spellslinger... but he has a few tricks, a few, flashy tricks. He trudges out in the rain,, flipping his lapels to shield his face. He stands and waits, hands rubbing together occasionally to keep the chil at bay.

Oriane Guado has posed:
Guard One has fallen fast asleep on the wagon in which Oriane rides. He snore, snore, snores his way along. This slowly gets on the priestess' nerves until she is just about smack the loafing idiot awake. Before she can do this, the caravan stops. Hrmph. What could it be this time? She was already muddy so getting a little dirtier really didn't matter. Oriane hops down and wanders over with the others when they see what the moogles were making. A decoyabo? The green-haired woman purses her lips together as the finishing touches are made. This seems like a longshot, but the results should be entertaining regardless of the actual outcome.

Auron has posed:
Auron's remaining near Yuna, but also as they enter the area of the marshlands, trying to stay within the area of the Silence spells. He's pretty quiet himself, but better safe than splattered, right? His boots tended to be, if not a loud sound, a distinctive one.

Like the others, he will wait as the construction of the Decoyabo begins. Unlike a good many non-Al Bhed, he doesn't dislike machina. Not after his ten years in Dream Zanarkand. So he too stands quietly as the decoy is assembled. The configuration gets a raised-brow look, but nothing else is offered.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna's smile turns into more of a wicked grin at the request for a major decoy, and one, two, three, four, in rapid succession, balls of red, blue, yellow and white swirl around the Decoyabo, both perfectly able to intercept the first hit of almost any element, and flashy as heck. If she has any problems with this piece of machina, it isn't obvious. Maybe she really IS a heretic.

Other than that, she's very serious and silent, without even knowing what a Midgar Zolom is. She recognizes the fear in the merchants' eyes -- echoes of it in the eyes of every Spiran, when they discuss a major Sinspawn.

Riku has posed:
Flight of the Decoyabo!

Well. At least Scuttle of the same. The Decoy shoots across the marshland with an uneathly clattering racket of recorded chocobo noises and the sounds of machinery that seems so much louder as fireworks hiss and BANG and throw streams of sparklers as it weaves and wobbles crazily across the marsh. Almost the very instant the decoy is released, Tupo and the rest of the caravan leaders lurch the caravan into the high flying speed of a crawling trot, still having to navigate the sticky marsh and follow the safe passage markers.

Riku smirks at Seifer ands gives him a nod, climbing onto the top of the wagon train to watch the fireworks show. About half way through the marshlands they discover the reason for the Decoyabo. The Midgar Zolom /bursts/ from the deceptively deeper depths only a little way into the marshlands, another reason the safe markers are in place. It surges upwards, a titanic and hulk shape that knocks the Decoyabo sprawling.

Incredibly the marsh serpent did not score a hit. The relatively little machine clatters back onto it's many feet by sheer chance, continuing to flap around and vex the Zolom which snaps at it sullenly, occupied by the machine and ignoring the wagon train.. for now.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Sucking in a breath, Reize is noticing that the serpent going after the chocobo. Thankfully, he is on the other side of the wagon to avoid eye contact. With the markers in place and the decoyabo deployed to vex the Midgar Zolom, Reize is content with making sure the caravan go through the marsh and prevent it from getting stuck on anything.

A huge part of him is elated that the decoy is working!

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart phews a bit. She looks toward the Moogle. She doesn't want to talk up, but she has those eyes that say 'can we move now?' She rather not stick around to wait for it to come back for the rest of the caravan right now. She looks at Reize, feeling just as relieved as he is in a way... although she never got eaten by one either.

Navya has posed:
Navya has found her own contribution!

She has a rock. It is a remarkably large rock; it looks like she pulled it out of the marsh judging by the fact that half of it is muddy and dripping (but so is she, so she figured it was no big loss). She flies up high and chucks it some time before the Decoyabo falls over, having it land about ten feet away from the machine, helping it makes a lot of noise.

It was worth the show, she decides.

Navya remains in the air. She's not actually very good at extended flights, but she can stay up for a while at least; she keeps pace with the caravan, which coincidentally means she isn't making any tremors the Zolom can sense. But she keeps her mouth shut, just in case it can hear her too.

Auron has posed:
Auron's ready to make whatever ruckus he needs to make once the decoy is deployed. But he doesn't immediately start, and there's not much he can do besides throw things, because he has no long-range abilities. If they /do/ want him to throw things, though, he's pretty good at that. So he can and will do that.

Aside from that, he'll just... well, stay with the caravan. Unless he's told to do otherwise. The plan is for them to go while the Zolom is distracted by that decoy, right?

Oriane Guado has posed:
So that is what the Midgar Zolom is. Oriane had heard idle talk of the creature before but she had never actually encountered the beast before. And with how powerful it looks, that was a very good thing. Hopefully Navya's rock helps out because they definitely do not want that thing attacking them.

Oriane retreats to the relative safety of the wagon and has Guard 2 awake Guard 1. He can nap later in Junon...or when he is dead. Whichever comes first really. But Oriane thinks that the caravan is going to need as many eyes peeled as they are able to manage. Hopefully this way they can spot the giant snake before it makes a snack out of one of them.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna gapes at the Zolom, while smiling hard enough to make her teeth hurt. It's often the most challenging part of her job. She remains at the fore of the caravan, muting her light so that it won't attract the wrong kind of attention, while still trying her best to show whatever clear paths through the swamp that she can.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Fireworks. Seifer's oplan of setting the thing on fire is forestalled. He wouldn't want the thing to go off and blow up before it's job was done.

Not that he couldn't take the over-grown worm.

He tyotally could...

It's just everyone else he feels a little hesitant about.

Not that he is overly fond of any of you either.

Seifer gawks for a moment, making sure to wear a stoney face while he watches the beast writhe free of the soft earth. He digs up another plan, extending his hand toward the mechanical bird thing. It wells up inside him, the desire to perservere, to strive and bcome triumphant. He projects it outwards, attempting to wreath the bird in a vibrant light. "aura." he grunts out from behind his teeth before trotting after the caravan.

Riku has posed:
Tupo and the other caravan leaders are not looking at the Zolom pointedly. They are keeping control on the chocobos who while well trained, are liable to panic now that they can smell and see the Midgar Zolom.

So they have their hands full even as they begin to creep past the half way mark. There is still marshland to tread but the safe makers begin to come closer together, winding perilously through a short maze of passages choked by debris. Then-- abruptly-- the markers stop coming. Tupo frowns, swearing in moogle as they are faced with a dilemma.

The caravan leader beckons Yuna over and asks her to help his moogles pick their way through the marsh. They are going to have to remake the path. The Zolom surges and snaps at both rocks and Decoyabo. The machine whistles and warbles, turning around in merry, merry circles while the marsh serpent tries to destroy it. It knocks it over several times, ripping a leg free or tearing at a wing but not getting a killing purchase.

The vibrant aura confuses the Zolom as the chocobo runs around and around, now dripping machine oil over the marsh.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
And this turns out to go from good to bad. Considering that the markers are gone, Reize's eyes widen when he sees the reaction from Tupo. And Reize looks back from the interaction between the Zolom and the Decoyabo. He winces, shaking his head before moving on ahead.

They got to make it.

He holds onto the caravan, ready to deploy at a moment's notice.

Navya has posed:
Navya's wings are starting to get tired.

Which is why she lands, ever so delicately, on one of the wagons. It barely shifts, she's delicate enough on touching down (this is probably the only time she is going to manage to be delicate all day).

She opens her mouth, then closes it again. Instead she points at the Zolom (which she keeps staring at because /come on/, it is a giant snake) and the caravan. Are they safe? Probably not, but... she just wants to know how far it's likely to follow them!

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hopped on top of the caravan, taking a good look at what's going on. It allows for less noise as well, so its a good perching point for now. She watches as the Decoycabo getting demolished piece by piece. She'd feel sorry for the thing if it wasn't mechanical, but seeing the chocobo happily fluttering around still makes a little heart pang. Oh well.

She looks ahead at the markers, frowning a bit. She guesses that's not a good thing. She wonders what could have taken those of. Well, not in general, its probably someone wanting to slow people down, or just be pests. Heartless comes to mind. Since they weren't attacked yet, its not bandits at least. But she keeps at ready for what's coming up.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Trudgery and drudgery find Seifer back at the Wagons. They weren't moving fast enough for his liking, they should be moving faster, why weren't they moving faster, why weren't they using vans, trucks, trains, for the love of the gods that may be, why can't the be in a zepplin?! He catches up easily to the trailing wagon, a muddy boot finding a step as his left hand finds a hand hold to anchor him in place.

Oriane Guado has posed:
The wagons stop again and it does not take long for Oriane to discern why. Oh dear, this could be bad. Her guards are of a similar mind as they grip onto their respective weapons tightly. The priestess remains on the wagon, but looks out around the caravan for signs of any creatures besides the big nasty one who is having a mechanical appetizer to the caravan's main course. Normally, as a Guado, she likes woods. But these woods she is starting to like less and less by the second.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna does her absolute best to help, but it's an unfamiliar swamp and all she can do is really hold the flashlight for them, while giving them the benefit of her experience with similar terrain, which is mostly instinctual. She looks over her shoulders at the mayhem of the Zolom many times, and finally realizes the inevitable. She stops and gestures for the caravan leaders to go on without her -- surely they have torches.

She herself turns around, drawing herself up to her full, slender height -- not a terribly impressive sight physically, though there's something about her bearing that bespeaks grim competence -- and nods at Auron. The decoy is about to go down; soon it will be their turn.

She waits for the Zolom... but takes strength from the knowledge that she won't be waiting alone.

Auron has posed:
Markers have stopped, and there's need for someone to help them pick through the marsh. Sorry kupo-boy, but the Lady Yuna comes with an accessory -- one surly old man that goes by the name 'Auron'! His steps are light enough here at least, that he shouldn't cause /too/ much trouble as he follows Yuna closely.

He returns Yuna's nod with one of his own. If the giant snake-fiend turns and decides it wants a meal that's a bit more appetizing -- say, one rather young and tender Summoner -- it's going to find itself with a mouthful of ticked-off Samurai with a pointy sword instead! Getting Dragon Fang'd from the inside probably hurts more.

Riku has posed:
The Decoyabo finally squawks its last, falling into a sinkhole and tilting crazily sideways, legs still kicking as the Zolom comes down at it for a final time. /CRUNCH/

The zolom noses around the twitching pieces, letting the inedible shards fall out as it growls a long, wailing call of annoyance and frustration. It's then that it notices another source of movement, tremors in the marsh that it turns towards the caravan. Riku murmurs 'Here we go' to the moogle guards, glowering at the marsh serpent and swallowing as he slides down from the wagon to walk next to it, sword appearing in his hand as he keeps a hand on the wagon to steady himself.

The Midgar Zolom lets out another piercing wail as it advances, Tupo and the leaders directing the assembled guardians to keep the Zolom occupied until they could pick their way out of the marsh. To his mind, a toe to toe confrontation was not on the menu. They might not have a choice for the serpent is coming on fast. That giant maw opens, wider-- then wider and impossibly wide, an aura of menace extruding from the creature as a wave of force preludes the marsh serpent tearing down into the group in a biting, snapping frenzy of activity.

Valencia has posed:
Looking up at the Zolom, Valencia sighs and dodges out of the way as it comes down and strikes at everyone before saying, "Pity... It would have been nice if we could have avoided this." then draws her rapier as she slashes upwards at the air multiple times as geysers of white fire spring out of the ground attempting to hit the Zolom as it flies by. "BURN!" she calls out, a bit ferociously.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The eyes become wide. The Decoyabo is crunched. As the Zolom finds that the creature was only a mere decoy, the surprising look turns when it notices them. Reize can see that the creature is now charging their way.

It was only a matter of time.

Sucking in a breath, Reize starts charging from the wagon. He knows that he can try to divert its attention from the others, especially as it's charging towards /all/ of them.

As the wave of force rumbles, Reize is running straight towards the large creature, then he springs over towards the air. And as he takes of from the ground, he begins flipping over the Zolom.

Hi again, Zolom.

And then, Reize is sliding over to grasp towards its head.

As his boomerang drives deep at its core, Reize is seeking to tear against its skin. Then, he reaches into his pouch to grab a vial. He tosses it towards the creature's mouth.

It's hang time.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't get much get to move out of the way. Its not really her day when it comes to evasion it seems. She jumps off the carriage, getting batted off by the gigantic head of the monster. Ugh. She doesn't know what's worse, heartless or this. Either way...

While she's airborne, she flips around, a good control over herself while in the air, she rolls on herself to catch a dead tree that was tossed up with the attack. This she can do something with. She grabs the tree with her arms, and uses the momentum to supplex the tree. No, not quite what you'd think, the piledrive motions brings the large dead wood right on top of the giant serpent, seeking to impale it down. Take that, monstrosity.

Oriane Guado has posed:
Oriane, Guard One, and Guard Two all look at the rearing and angry Zolom at the same time. This gives them a great view as a concussive force flips the wagon the trio are on and sends all three flying. Guard 1 and 2 are both very much KOed from the blast which leaves Oriane to crawl out from underneath the over turned wagon. The Priestess looks most perturbed at what this overgrown garden snake just did.

The Priestess walks forward and summons a pulsating orb of green and black which floats over her shoulder idly. She then summons a number of smaller wisps which surround the much larger orb. "This bothersome creature needs to be banished posthaste. " A pale hand is raised which sends the slow orb and the much quicker wisps straight towards the creature. "Away with you!"

Navya has posed:
That would be a 'no, they're not safe' then.

Navya is dragged off the caravan with a startled yell by the wave of force moments before it attacks. "No! No, bad snake! You're not supposed to eat me! I am not for eating!!" she yells, managing to squirm away - but not before it's smashed into her a few times. That was decidedly unpleasant. She spits out marsh mud from where she got her face shoved into it.

Navya takes back off, wings pushing hard as she pushes off the squishy marsh with a squelch. "Ugh!" Unshouldering her hammer, Navya ascends further, trying to get over the Midgar Zolom, actually smashing her hammer at its head a couple times to shove her further up faster.

Then she momentarily hovers, mostly so she can wipe mud out of her eyes. "Eew, it's in my hair!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
The trepidation that Almasy had been feeling bled away the moment the serpent turned it's gaze upon them. Conflict was certain, the beast came crashing towards them. His worry fled, there was now only this monster, a giant beast... and he a Knight.

Hyperion flew from it';s sheath and became one with his arm once more, the long, gleaming blade singing it's song of new found freedom once more. He drove forward to meet the serpant, closing ground and perhaps catching it unprepaired byb the time it had turned it's sights on him. Unphased by the roar and far too nimble for it's ungainly thrashings, he rolled in the muck to avoid on snapping bite and deftly stepped away from another. He struck, almost chiding the beast for daring to attack him. Bang, Bang, Bang! Hyperion barked out, it's edge seeming to do little against the monster's hide.

He stooped into a squat, muscles enhanced by the horrible secrets of Junction sent him sailing skywards, rocketing him into a higher altitude where he could strike at the creature. He twisted, dancing in midair. Again he struck, once, twice, thrice! Hyperion barked off the count, spending shells eagerly and casting empty brass into the marsh. One last bullet, Seifer swept the blade up and brought it down in a hard, determined stroke, Bang!

Auron has posed:
Auron gets away from the caravan, and makes to shield as many as he can, holding his sword up in front of him at the wave of force from the approach of the giant serpent-fiend. Though the taste of steel must be undesirable to the Zolom, as the blade seems to turns its direction. All the better, Auron didn't want to have to chop his way out of this thing's gullet anyway.

Something this big, it's a given that it's going to be powerful. So the first thing he's going to do is try to make it /less/ so. He pauses a moment, channeling energy into his blade. And then he aims a strike at the Zolom, a red gleam sliding down the blade as he swings....

Yuna has posed:
Yuna frowns, for the first time, as people start charging the Zolom. She's so accustomed to the smooth, well-oiled machine of her group that dealing with the unexpected tactics of others takes her off-guard.

The expression only lasts a moment, however, quickly subsumed into a far more familiar expression: determination.

"Please... heal them!"

Spreading her arms, she spins in place with her rod, calling down the grace of the fayth onto the first round of wounded... everyone but herself. Shimmering silver energies fly to cover Nayva, Oriane, and Tifa.

Valencia has posed:
Valencia is knocked back by the strikes from the Zolom, but not before she gets off a few geysers that seem to hit the serpent quite seriously. "Oh, come now." she says, "Beasts are beasts, unfocused in spite of their power. So very easy for the disciplined to strike down."

Riku has posed:
The moogle assistants barely manage to keep control of the chocobos. Kweston bites another chocobo that is flailing around in panic, headbutting it with a distinct 'KWEH' of command that quiets the frantic bird, or at least makes it angry at Kweston rather than scared that the Zolom is about to eat them all.

The Midgar Zolom smashes into one of the wagons, rocking it dangerously to one side but not tipping it over. The moogle guards stay with the wagons, lashing out with spears, javelins and bows from a distance as Tupo and the subleaders are out there personally checking the path they need to follow and pooling their knowledge in order to get aross this last stretch intact.

They trust their defense entirely to the guardians, even their bodyguards going to keep the chocobos calm and secure the wagons. A critical breakdown or a sinkhole could possibly spell doom and they are taking every precaution to keep this engagement as short as possible. Riku tries to help Guard 1 and Guard 2, who are pretty much @__@ at this juncture by the knocking over of their wagon.

YOU.

The Midgar Zolom sees Reize. It growls and snaps, flailing as the substance in the vial cracks open and splatters a cloud of ink straight into it's clouded eyes. The boomerang drives home with a THUMP that makes the marsh serpent shudder slightly. It twists around, contorting to snap Reize in half when abruptly--TREE'D. The wood sticks into the flesh of the serpent, sticking out like a Titan's splinter but not penetrating very far into the general mass of the beast. The sudden pain makes the beast flail and thrash, it's attention focused on a new target when Seifer opens up with his dance of steel and gunplay. Small rents open in the marsh serpents flesh from each volley of bullets and each slash. The gleaming red slash of Auron drives home, the Zolom becoming sluggish and angry but it's power sapped as a fae red glow surrounds its titanic bulk.

And.. now it looks like this last thing is the very, very last straw for the marsh serpent. It throws the monster equivalent of a hissy fit, lunging forwards blindly to SMASH into one of the wagons, sending it and google guards flying as it curls around, launching a swarm of shards in all directions by breathing a stream of poisonous needles at the group before continuing a Pac Man impression and attempting to devour them all.

Valencia has posed:
Valencia braces herself against the swarm of projectiles as she lets out an, "Nngh!.." attempting to keep herself from getting hit too hard. She then looks up at the Zolom and says, "You think I'm letting up?!" before she withdraws a small blue cube and throws it into the air which then breaks up into magical energy and absorbs into her body. She then gestures with her rapier as more geysers of flame arc out across the path of the Zolom's movement in an attempt to press it down for at least a few moments.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart jumped back as soon as she stuck the dead tree into the giant serpent, landing back down near the caravan... just in time for it to go berserk and crash into the convey, biting in every direction. "Damn Snakes in a swamp." She mutters up, and moves in for another series of blows, jumping and using her leg strength to climb up the body of it. She's quicte fast, and she's looking for a spot that is a bit more soft to kick into. When she finds it, she strikes into it with all of her strength. Its a good thing she has allies in this fight.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna gets smashed backwards by the serpent's tantrum-flung coils, but turns what could have been a mortal blow -- she's dreadfully small, after all -- into something survivable by seeming to slide on top of the marshwater she's flung into. She literally rides the wave, dancing on top of it, gradually forcing it to obey her with every passing footstep.

Spinning in place, she uses the battlefield view afforded by her newfound height to spot the two most heavily beset. "Esuna!" she calls down, soothing Tifa and Auron's hurts, solidifying their weak spots and purging the poison.

"Everyone, we must draw him away from the caravan! Fight him towards the east!"

Navya has posed:
Navya manages to give Yuna a grin and a yelled, "Thanks!" before the Midgar Zolom apparently takes offense to her making noise, or perhaps just beating on it.

Navya gets pulled straight down by it, forced down by the cluster of needles before it tries to /eat/ her. "Agh! No, no! I'm still not for eating!" Navya pulls herself away, but this is getting progressively less comfortable - closer every time, and that's worrying her.

But now she's down on the ground again, next to the Midgar Zolom, which is trying to get to the wagons. "Oh, no," she says, spitting on her hands one after another before gripping the hammer. "You don't - get to go - past me!"

Navya does a practice swing, once, before putting her entire weight into a single gigantic blow with the blunt side of the maul. If it hits, she intends to literally throw the Midgar Zolom with it, launching it further away from the caravan in a brutal display of strength, if not accuracy. The blow /is/ a little wild. Okay, a lot wild.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
There is a moment of clarity. However, that clarity could likely be through fear. There is a big sinking moment of fear as the boy starts to realize something very important.

"Looks like he remembers me!"

As it attempts to snap over towards him, the boy immediately springs off of the Midgar Zolom when it crashes into the tree slammed down by Tifa.

A look of relief washes over the boy, "Good job, Tifa!" He brightens cheerfully. Upon his descent, Reize reaches for his side to procure a hookshot. Reize rolls along the marshy plains, then he recovers to his feet.

That poisonous needle starts piercing towards the boy, his eyes widen as it penetrates his arm. Reize manages to guar against it, preventing the worse of it from penetrating past his arm brace. Instead, he falls prey to it trying to chomp him down.

"ACK!"

As it nearly completely bite him down... "Bad breath, no thanks!"

Reize fires the hookshot out of it's mouth, letting the electrical device strike to another section of the area. With the hookshot in hand, the nail lands on the groud and it yanks Reize ahead.

And then, Reize moves downward and twists about, throwing his boomerang at the creature. As the boomerang swing out, it starts arcing to hit the ground. Then, it moves to its head. Back to to the ground, head again. It ricochets off of all about. "Chew on that!"

Oriane Guado has posed:
Yuna's prayers causes Oriane to glance her way and offer the summoner a nod. How nice of her to assist Oriane with holy magic. The magic seems to work as normal on her despite her...predisposition towards certain types of magic. Oriane's green eyes follow the snake as it twists around to attack her. In preparation Oriane raises a hand and begins to gather some energy into. Dark tendrils begins to swirl together in a dance of magical energy, but the priestess does not strike yet.

She waits for snake to attack her and then counters by letting loose a large beam of raw magical energy towards the pesky snake. Oriane is not completely unscathed as the snake blow offers her a superficial wound that still lets the dehabilitating magic in. It seems that they will be exchanging status effects back and forth. That is just fine with her. Oriane drops to a knee and reaches out with her arms, gathering even more energy to her. She can feel the Farplane even here and calls out to it, hoping to draw more energy to herself. Her counter attack given earlier, Oriane is fine with mere resting for the time being.

Auron has posed:
Augh. Auron can feel the poison setting in. Not only that, he can feel himself getting weaker. This has really /not/ been his day either. Grrr.... Ah well. He'll deal. He's dead, there's not a lot /more/ dead he can get. Still, he knows there's a danger. Yuna can't be left unguarded. And if he ends up getting defeated too badly, it'll force him out of cohesion. Not only that... but she'll /know/.

That's something Auron wouldn't be able to bear, seeing her face at knowing he was Unsent -- one of the things she'd been trying to prevent from happening in the madness of Sin. He scowls. He won't have much in him with that Poison sapping his energy. He has to step things up here.

Yuna also gives him the strength to do so, as he feels the familiar sensation of Esuna. He looks back to the Summoner and offers a nod of thanks. And then he turns his attention back to the Zolom! Yuna's words register, and he nods once more. Big tough thing this is, so let's trying to soften it up a little! He makes another swing, this time with a yellow gleam from his blade. Regardless of hit or miss, he's trying to get the thing away form the wagons, heading for the direction Yuna specificed -- east.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Still sailing through the air for that blessedly breif but vulnerable moment, Seifer can do little to avoid the stream of poisioned barbs that riddle him, He flings his arms infront of his face, bending Hyperion's flat to shield him from some, but far from all. They pepper him, piercing through his britches and coat, tiny holes dotting him al over. He is furtunate enough to not succumb, however.

His luck is quick to fail.

Caught by a snapping jaw, Seifer is brought down, hard and viciously, the wet earth absrobing some of the impact, but far from all!

He looses a rush of fire into the creatures face when it comes again, maybe he'll prove a bit more spicey than it likes!

He scrambles to his feet, trying to shake off the impact as he works up into a light jog to the east. Lead it away? Very well. He'll just have to earn a bit of it's attention first.

Waiting for a clear moment, Seifer thrusts his left hand towards the creature and somehow causes the air around it to erupt into a brillient wash of fire, intense heat and flames bathe the beast for a moment before they die away, leaving it ready for a follow up, Hyperion already spinning at the end of Seifer's finger, the blade trailing a green aurura in it's wake, his very heart and soul infusing the weapon with magic.

With a stroke of Hyperion, a whirling, scything vacuum rushes towards the serpent.

Riku has posed:
The Zolom catches a dark flare straight in the muzzle, the serpent flailing in pain as it tries to throw off the magic. The zolom's hide is supple and slippery, difficult to get footing on but she manages to POUND into several soft spots behind the skull that send the beast reeling.

Zolom Dislike Smoke.

The marsh serpent is set smouldering and ablaze by arcs of flame from multiple sources. The magical fire burns through scale into flesh, causing a massive cloud of reeking odor, the smell of cooking serpent. Navya's blow connects but the serpent is simply too large to be moved. It is too busy trying to make a delicious Snack out of Reize, and the attendant Boomerang and Shocks thereof as the hookshot fries the marsh serpent a little more thoroughly. Several things CRACK and snap as the hammer drives home and the serpent collapses, sinking back into the marshland until nothing but it's head can be seen.

It endues a whirling, cutting, burning vaccum without moving or even seeming to breathe. There is an deadly, chilling silence as the wagoneers and the chocobos stand waiting-- holding their breath-- and again diving for cover as the serpent BURSTS from the marshland a second time.

It rears up, glaring down at them all and streamers of poison and blood leaking from broken fangs as while it rears up again on one side-- it's tail, at the other end of this part of the marshland, slams from the other side and the creature thrashes and flails with both ends, slapping out with Tail and broken fang in a frenzy of pain fueled rage.

Valencia has posed:
Valencia deftly dodges in and out of the flailing Zolom as she laughs and says, "Oh, come now. Rage is a weakness, not a strength." as she weaves in and out of the Zolom's coils as she makes rapid stabs at its sides, some made of magical starlight and others made of simple cold steel.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart lands back down after her own attack. She would thank people around her for the support and magic, but she's a bit too focus. She's a frontliner after all, all she has to do is punch things out to protect people behind her.

She launches herself at the giant serpent, her focus reaching its zenith, as her body glows with a burst of energy. She dashes right through the attacks, ignoring all of them, and whatever damage it might do to her. In fact, all that burning energy is almost feeling good considering she was so wet (from the rain, yes).

Not even going for anything fancy, she rushes right through to its stomach, and starts punching. One, two three!

And then still glowing with energy, she moves around and grabs the serpent's tail. DON'T CARE ABOUT ITS SIZE, she just lifts it up like a whip and slams it downward behind her, into the marshes' dead tree. And the impact and momentum brings her up right over the downed serpant... as her fist glows with pure, yellow, sun-like energy as she flies over it... and slams down an explosive first into the center of it.

Navya has posed:
Navya has never hit something and /not/ had it move before. Well, it moved; it was a solid hit and it had to roll with the blow. But it didn't go anywhere else, which was the entire point of it.

She's kind of worried.

And she is proven right moments later when the thing comes back out of the water. Navya does her best to cover herself; she wraps arms and wings around her body to roll with the blow, hunkering down.

Navya ends up buried in the muck and pretty much entirely invisible as anything except a muddy lumpy ball for a moment. But the chunk of mud shifts, rising to its full height (5'2; Navya isn't very tall), her eyes visible through the glop on her face.

"You're a big monster," she says, pained, "but I'm not going to give up! A proper guard never surrenders!" Navya's wings begin to beat.

She doesn't take off. It makes the mud slough off her as well as start to kick up a small windstorm... which rapidly becomes a bigger windstorm as her wings go so fast they blur. It's tiring work for Navya, but she does it anyway, slowing down only when she can't do it anymore. It leaves her, if not clean, at least not buried.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Speed, it welled up from within him as the beast attacked. His feet quickedned across the muck and mire. He is a blurr, a streak, barely even leaving foot prints behind him as he simply zips out of the creatures reach!

He rushes back, a long, lazy, arc of a turn as he wheels around to charge the creature. He will, he will-!

He will get shown up by a girl wearing a white tank top in a rain storm!

Seifer slows to a trot, nearly stumbling when the ripple of impact that the massive piledriver caused swept beneath his feet. So he is left... all dressed up with nowhere to go.

His coat whips in the wind, flailing this way and that as he approaches the wagon in what was meant to be a idle stride... but turns out to be something more of a brisk jog. He even reloads and sheathes Hyperion at rediculous speeds!

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The young boy had managed to distance himself enough to get out of its vicinity. After the boomerang ricochets all over, it returns in an arc to the boy's hand. As everyone draw upon their combine efforts to dish out the pain to the beast.

"We're doing it, everyone! Let's get ready to send it fleeing!"

Oh hey, he looks extremely angry. ///Reeaaally/// angry. Oh boy. Reize's eyes widen as the tail slms from he other side and the poison fangs are seeking him. There is a incredelous impact that shudders the earth that tears against it.

Reize is slammed pretty hard into the ground. This leaves a Reize imprint of the earth. Reize is pretty broken. However, as he starts to roll along to his knees, Reize is staggering to get up to his feet.

Just as Tifa slams the creature into the ground in its explosive energy...

Reize is charging towards the beast, now appearing as a huge blur. Reize immediately moves up into the air to start releasing spinning mid-air roundhouse kicks against the creature's face. "HA!" Then, Reize, in mid-air, descends towards the ground with a diving kick to the creature's head.

However, something happens.

Those that are very attune to the flow of magic will feel that there is a huge peak of magic resonating from the young boy. Normally, he never seemed like much, but the rise of magic is picking up pretty qucikly. As the flow of the mana resonates around him...

His green pendant glows as bright as the star.

He lifts his hand to his side, manifesting that glow of the energy in the form of a small tarot. That glimmering tarot spirals around him. As that spiritual energy rises into the air, well...

To make sure it's down for the count...

"Flickering flame, burn!"

He tosses the tarot into the air. And it breaks and shatters.

"FIREBALL!"

Three small flaming orbs spiral around him, then it soon comes forth into a large fireball, moving as fast as a meteor to impact the ground.
Why the ground?
The explosion will strike the ground and will launch several moments of the rocks and debris into the sky. All of those rocks will cave in and bury the beast inside.
"And think about what you have done!"

Oriane Guado has posed:
Oriane is not a very quick individual. Her full length dress and robes also do not help when it comes to mobility. She does see the creature known as Midgar Zolom preparing to strike, but there is little for her to avoid a snake that is much quicker and larger than her. When the snake creature strikes, Oriane responds by using her magic to put up a protective barrier around herself which the snake just smashes through.

It is probably only thanks to her magic that Oriane is still alive to begin with if not a little smushed into the ground. The priestess picks herself back up just in time to see Tifa give it the old one, two, MEGA-PAUNCH. That is certainly one way to skin a snake even if it is a rather brutish manuever. Apparently, sometimes a situation does indeed call for such power.

The priestess releases the powers that she has summoned to her and walks over to where Guard 1 and Guard 2 are sleeping. A few quick slaps later and both of the louts are roused enough to stagger to their feet. They take one look at Oriane's condition to know that there will indeed be reprecussions later. "Go and assist," she orders with a motion to those who need help after such a short, but brutal assault. As for Oriane, she takes a moment to regain her breath and let her heart slow back down. What an exciting rush.

Auron has posed:
Auron can see the flailing attack coming, the thrashing tail. And something else, but he isn't quite sure what. But instead of defending, he runs forward. And in return is quite /thoroughly/ battered by both tail and horrible firestorm of nuclear proportions. Of course, he wouldn't describe it that way himself... mainly because he has no idea what 'nuclear' means.

He does, however, manage to collect his energy through that horrible storm of lashing tail and burny-hatey fire, in time to run up to the Zolom and just WHACK THE UNHOLY CRAP out of it with the flat! His attack, along with the others', also seems to give Tifa enough time to run up and PILEDRIVE the monstrosity! Good. Now /he/ has time to deal with his own injuries. Which he does as he searches through the right side of his coat, close to his obi. Potions? Yup, he's got a couple. One of which he uses.

He will look to Yuna then. "Are you all right?" His voice lacks the usual hesitation and 'trailing in' to his words here. PErhaps because he's actually concerned about her, even if he's trying not to seem so affected by it.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna just kind of hangs back, busily Esuna'ing and Curaga'ing peoples' wounds, once it's clear that the incredible might of Tifa and Reize is going to end this battle practically before it even began. Yes, she just took a huge hit to her everything, with tail and fang, but the water itself seemed to shield her from the worst of it, deflecting away, and in the splash afterwards, she emerges both relatively unscathed and, amazingly, drier than before.

Magic is awesome that way.

Perhaps unfairly, she mentally writes off the Midgar Zolom as a pushover.

Just in case it isn't, she starts raising more tangible protections around their employers, and heads in the general direction of the caravan to see if she can't help any injured. They did suffer a few hits from the snake, after all.

"I'm fine," she murmurs quietly in response to Auron's question. "Please bring this Reize and Tifa to me, once they're ready to be treated. Just in case there's more to come."

In Spira, there's /always/ a bigger Serpent.

Riku has posed:
And that's it. Zolom Meat Skewers for everyone.

The serpent, lifted and snapped by the impossibly strong suplexing energy of an annoyed Tifa is just too much for the guardian of the Mythril Mines area. It reels, sinking back into the marsh one section at a time, gigantic SWIRLY marks where it's eyes should be which would be comical if the thing had not just tried to eat an entire caravan. Tupo and the other leaders look at the guardians, and one of the subleaders says bluntly. "Pay up, kupo." Tupo glares at his subordinate and curses in moogle again, looking at the defeated Zolom, then at the relatively undamaged wagon train, and forks over some munny to the appropriate subordinate who gives a cheery, chipper grin.

The worst part is probably the waiting. It takes an hour or more to get everything re-established and a hoard of biting flies and insects, dredged up by the windstorm, comes hunting the blood and sweat of the victors as the caravan slowly pulls itself together again.

One wagon has cracked a wheel so badly that it has to be replaced from stores, so the chocobos are given a feeding time and the guards posted to relief the guardians briefly to attend to their wounds.

The way is clear now-- barring monster attack, it is a short trip to Junon and through populated and patrolled territory. This part of the adventure has come to a close. But is it truly over? ..Somewhere in the marshlands.. a scaled flank twitches.. (Adventure End. End round of poses and then fade out for the night)

Navya has posed:
Navya would apologize for the bugs if she realized it was even partially her fault.

She doesn't, though, which means she gets to be on helper's duty; in her case, the wagon wheel, because though she's bruised and sore she is reasonably functional. Though her back is killing her, and her wings are /exhausted/, and one of her legs aches from where she twisted it on a landing.

Still, for a first job out here, it wasn't that bad. Was it?

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart phews as she finally reaches Junon. She's going to need a good shower, but she's going to wait to be back home first. She takes her pay with a smile. She's not as greedy as to go and ask it upfront like the guardmen, but she waits for her turn at least. At least they got through, it coudl have been much worse without the guardians around.

She turns around to salute Yuna, Oriane and Auron as well "Thanks for the support as well. Pleasure of fighting with you miss." A frontliner like her can always use someone to watch her back, and looks like Yuna is dependable on that side.

She looks over to Reize "Are you alright? Looks like you got tossed around a bit back there." At least he's still in one piece and not burnt to crisp by his own explostion this time. So he'll be fine.

Oriane Guado has posed:
Oriane climbs up on top of one of the intact wagons and overlooks everyone as they celebrate their victory in their own ways. Some wearily drag themselves back to the caravan proper, others celebrate, and some tirelessly continue to help others. The priestess herself makes the traditional Yevon prayer motion at Tifa's salute before she sits down on the wagon. Phew, who knew that using the Dark Arts in battle would be so taxing. Oriane is absolutely exhausted, but she never really had the constitution to begin with. By the time her guards make their way back from helping the others (and belatedly thanking Riku for dragging them out when the moogles tell them about it), the Guado priestess is fast asleep in her robes.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
Seifer has survived largely unscathed. Breaking into his supply of potions puts him back in top shape with just a few sips.

He found his way into the rear wagon once more.

He'll almost forget his pay by Junon, already planning ways to try and circumvent that swamp if... well, if he and a larger number needed to make their way across.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
When they finally reach Junon, Reize is quite thankful. He is totally unaware of the be against him and his comrades.

Nevertheless, Reize is brightly cheerful. "We did it! #07: Pure intentions will always triumph over evil!" He raises both hands in the air in jubilee.

Reize soon joins Tifa in the approach of the others. "We all did it!" At Tifa's question, Reize smiles, "Yeah! I'm still alive! I'll live through!" Hopefully, Shiki and the other Shard Seekers won't chastize him though.

Auron has posed:
Auron nods to Yuna's response, and looks to Tifa and Reize, intending to bring them to Yuna for treatment of their wounds. As well as anyone else who got hurt and doesn't have any magic to heal themselves with. He also turns his attention to Tifa's thanks, offering a nod of thanks. "...You did well. Thank you." And then to Tifa and Reize, "...If you need healing, Lady Yuna has offered to do so." The last part is not necessarily aimed just at Tifa and Reize, mind. Auron can share some of his Potion stock, too. And he'll probably be handing a couple Ethers to Yuna to help her finish healing people.

Strangely he seems mostly untouched by the battle. That wouldn't be the first time Yuna's seen him do this. He seems to come out of battle without seeming to get any serious wounds, or to bruise. It's always been able to be passed off in the past, though; Auron's covered from nose to toes, with all his layers of clothing. Now, without the coat, his arms bare... it's noticeable.

Pointing Yuna's healing talents to someone else besides him should be nothing new to Yuna either. That's no different here -- he's fine, look. And the biting insects? Most merely swarm around him, almost as if confused about something, before moving on to a tastier target. Those that do bite don't stay there long. Either because Auron swats them or because... well, being Unsent, he has nothing for them.

Auron's coat /may/ provide some protection for Yuna, since it carries his scent, too.

Aside from that, Auron will just be assisting in getting the caravan together again, picking up strewn cargo, assisting in the fixing of the broken wagon, and whatever else needs to be done to get them on their way to Junon again.

Yuna has posed:
Yuna dispenses much healing to all those who need it, accepts her payment, tucking it away into her flowery yellow obi, and bows again to her new companions. "Well struck," she compliments both Tifa and Reize, quiet and solemn, as is so often her wont.

The fact that she didn't get the chance to ever truly engage in this battle doesn't bother her at all. The reverse is true: any situation controllable by Guardians and their fighter ilk, without necessitating the intervention of the aeons, is a good one. It's not that she doesn't enjoy doing her part, nor does she fear revealing her power, but invoking the fayth is never something she chooses to do lightly. They are best saved for their true purpose, her holy duty.

Speaking of which... "Sir Auron, perhaps we should depart," she suggests. If she's troubled by the bugs, or his lack of wounds, she says nothing about it.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles to Auron "I'm fine, these are nothing." she waves as she departs back to Goug, her current home. She has a bar to take care of, she has helpers, but its still her home.