Taking Flight

Taking Flight
Date of Scene:	08 March 2013
Location:	Petrified Forest
Synopsis:	Shiki and a group of her allies go looking for some macaws, and find themselves in a quarrel with a goddess and a lost world...
Cast of Characters:	Tifa Lockhart, Shiki Misaki, Leida, Evja, Myla Mason, Ramza Beoulve
Tinyplot:	Under New Management

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Shiki Misaki has posed:
Waves crash against an island beach, in a tropical place quite far from reach. Everything was smiles and celebrations, with a happy tiki congregation. But it all went sour when night rolled in, when we met those shadowy guys with eyes so gold'n...

Anyway! It's time for some treasure hunting in the World of Ruin. Shiki Misaki's going on another adventure, searching for a mark in the shadowy petrified forest on the Southern Continent. Supposedly, some strange birds that have never been seen before have taken roost here, and just in case something strange is going on, it's best to investigate.

Of course, this spooky old wood is a prime haunt for all sorts of frightening fellows, so there are all sorts of reasons you could be here...

Just don't jump out of the bushes and surprise anyone!

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart is atop a strange bird, but one of a more known kind. A bright red chocobo. Nothing to worry about here though. She paces along the small group, almost as a guardian, looking around the place "This place is eerie. I heard about it before, but I had never seen it. What happened to this place, you think?" She wonders outloud.

She decides not to subject her chocobo to this much longer though, and hops off, sending her off with a pat on the mane "You go wait outside, Premium. I don't think you can get much further in here anyway." The chocobo 'kweh~~' understandingly, or so it appears, and trots off in the other direction, exiting from the forest some safe distance away.

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
Their treasury had been depleted by recent events. And by treasury, it was more akin to the New Zodiac Braves all turning out their purses and finding nothing but lint.

While the women of the group had volunteered that Marlowe should be solely responsible for replenishing it; Ramza Beoulve had other ideas. A treasure hunt would be a fine diversion away from paths barred by Templar swords. They had protested that he should go alone with strangers who might recognize him, and in the end he made the concession that Theodore should come along. The man knew the value of stealth and could take care of himself. Even now followed the group at a safe distance in the brush, unnoticed.

Ramza himself was walking alongside Boco with the rest of the group to give his mount some rest. The bird was reined and saddled, but he was not leading Boco by it for the loyal fowl knew well enough to stay with his friend. "The blood curdles, Lady Lockhart. It would be ill luck to chance upon fiends in this wood." His eyes sweep the brush. "And yet I feel eyes upon us which makes it like that we shall."

While he wanted to do the same as Lady Lockhart, he knew that Boco would have none of it.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason had been out on one bit of mapping or another and got herself a bit on the lost side. She didn't like this part of the world of ruin. She wasn't alone a mechanical four legged thing was stalking along beside her. She didn't like this place at all it was dead it didn't feel right another part of an alien world. Her manner of dress and the visable tattoos on her face and boy might be quite strange really. She'd fallen in with group for prehaps a distraction or more likely to find her way around this patch work world with a little more skill.

"I have to agree the woods are likely crawling with predators."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shrugs "All the more the reason for me. I can't fight well atop of a chocobo after all, and it would just put Premium Heart in the line of fire if she stayed around." She might not be able to mvoe as fast, but its still preferable for her in these conditions.

Evja has posed:
Evja had actually come in separate from the group, having insisted upon this for 'reasons' that he wouldn't disclose to Tifa. Mostly because of his fear that if he 'lost his mind' again due to the mist like what happened around the time of Alanze, well, he didn't want to cause them troubles. As such, he's not currently with the group, though he was hopping along near the tops of the trees where he had bounded up to finally to try and keep himself 'above' the problem for the time being.

As far as the Viera's attire today - no armor, simply the (now clean) white cloak he almost always wore and a heavy wrap around the head and face to try extra hard to keep any mist out. Even if it wasn't simply breathing it that caused it, as all Viera would know, it exasterbated any such situations. So, yeah.
Bunny's watching from above, mostly trying to make sure nothing terribly dangerous goes towards them, or vice versa.

Leida has posed:
Fortunately for the heretical knight there is another person who has tagged along this time who tends to draw most of the strange looks. Leida stalks quietly through the dense undergrowth at the rear of the group, doing her best to act normal in the presence of these strangers. Ofcourse, when you're a young girl with serpentine eyes and a quartet of crimson horns protruding from your skull, normal is a high mark to aim for.

The bright pink of the princess' frilly dress stands out rather loudly against the dull colors of the stone trees. Yet despite this she seems to vanish from view when people look away, only to reappear in the corner of their eyes a few moments later like the shadows themselves were hiding her away.

This isn't particulary far from the truth. With the continously expanding access to the powers of her dark legacy, Leida has begun to experiment to find out just what it is she can accomplish. Better learning to control herself is the entire focus of her existence at the moment but currently she's using that as an excuse to play tricks on the other members of their little party, wrapping the shadows about her like a cloak every time they glance off at some distraction or another.

Only the faint smirk on her face gives any indication that this weird phenomenon is happening on purpose. Both of the girl's hands clasp behind her head as she fades back into view near Tifa and she gives their surroundings a bored survey. "Well, that just means we shant be lacking for entertainment, does it not? Or did you plan to turn back now that the thought of danger has occured to you?"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki Misaki thinks a bit. "I think someone held a basilisk, medusa and cockatrice convention here."

Entirely incorrect, but amusing nonetheless. There's just something about life here that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, doesn't it? Maybe it's that gigantic tree right in the middle which towers above the rest.

Or maybe...

Mr. Mew is dressed entirely inappropriately for the location, as he has a pith helmet and a machete. Wrong tree-filled location, Mew. Shiki meanwhile just... is wearing similar stuff to usual. Perhaps she wasn't very inspired in her choice of wardrobe today. Still, it could be worse- she could be Leida, and stuck in the position of really needing a hat to finish her ensemble off but just not being able to because of... horns.

However, as a show of solidarity, Mr. Mew graciously takes point with said machete to deter the potential predators! Nobody wants to eat a plush cat, unless they don't have much fibre in their diet.

There isn't much mist around today, but there IS a little something unusual in the air. There's an odd sort of pressure... something like a predator, but a more looming, powerful presence. The thunder in the air and the sound of things in the distance doesn't help, either. What could it be? Where is it coming from? Could it be coming from...

THAT BUSH OVER THERE?!

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
Even if the the Young Man noticed Leida's little antics, pranks, and tests of her newfound powers, he pretended not to. There were many strange folk in this land, and strange demihumans whether they appeared demonic or not tended not to trouble him overmuch.

Not so for Theodore, he was getting annoyed watching her from afar. He'd been tempted three times already to purposefully miss with a kunai at the point where she'd reappear in the shadows, or pranked Ramza by having shadows encircle or sidle up his cloak. He held his throw every time. None of the gestures were particularly threatening and he didn't want to call attention to himself, yet.

"Entertainment is one thing, M'lady, reckless abandon is another. I'd prefer fiends in a wood to a dull watch upon a castle garret myself, but our nescience should give you some pause." He was content to follow their host and her animated plush cat with a smile of good cheer until the sound of rolling thunder calls attention to the bush.

Patting Boco idly upon his neck, he calls out to the bush. "Be you friend, or foe?" He didn't really expect an answer as he thought it like to be a predator but with the question asked it cleared his conscience should any of his company act more violently.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't like moving bushes! Petrified forest, bushes should be of stone, not moving! Tifa pre-emptive strikes on the offending bush!

No, not really, but the thought does cross her mind as she turns toward it, feeling something from it. She inches toawrd it carefully, keeping her fists up at ready for anything that might jump out of it. She's not scared. Just worried. She doesn't mind getting hurt as much as letting others get hurt in the process.

Evja has posed:
Being a Viera, one tends to hear things. Though that might just be the big ears bit. Evja winds up looking around from up high... that thundering bit... was there a storm approaching? Was he simply blind to the truths of things? Or was it something else entirely? Though his attention did settle after a moment on the giant tree in the distance. Creepy thing.
Back to the situation below, though, Evja simply watches the bush they seem to be checking out. Tifa was capable of things and he knew this from personal experience.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason says "Or it could simply be that old." She doesn't like it either way and she looks abotu Swimmer is scanning abotu looking for any active magical ignatires while Myla contiunes her eyes daring about.

"Must be an interesting world if castles are still used as forifications." She now looks at the bush she doesn't go for her pistols yet but Swimmer is growling but then again her cretion as over protective at times.

Leida has posed:
Leida's smirk evolves into a full fledged mischievous grin at being called reckless. She has no intention of barreling into the woods unprepared - that was what the grunts were for, after all. However she has no problems poking fun at their hesitation when they are unlikely to test her own courage. Who asks a small girl in a frilly dress to go first into danger? She almost wished someone would just for the laugh it would give her.

The ominous nature of the thunder and the rustling brush is not lost upon the demon girl, however. Her grin quickly turns into an annoyed glare which is leveled at the offending shrubbery and the shadows rise up to engulf her once more, allowing her to fade back several steps from the front lines.

The massive greatbow slung over her shoulders is unlimbered and planted on the ground. She plucks the string a few times testily, sending an twanging ping echoing through the forest. Leida's eyes stay focused on the bush as a nasty looking arrow is drawn from the quiver strapped across the small of her back, her demeanor solemn with the prospect of battle upon them.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Personally, if we go looking for birds, I'd prefer doing it in somewhere bright... shorter trees... less damp... y'know what I mean?" Shiki says, who has firmly decided what she does and doesn't like when it comes to non-concrete vistas in the connected worlds.

"Aye!"

Shiki blinks. "Who said that?"

Tifa and Evja are closing in on that one bush over there! It looks like a rather non-petrified one, and not very magical either. No teeth or eyes in there.

"Is petrified wood a real thing?" Shiki asks conversationally. "Like, I thought when wood gets really old it just get really dry... or really rotten... but never that it turns into, y'know, rocks."

"I theenk we are being watched, you know?"
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well, they're much, much bigger than us."
"Also, there's two of them."
"Hey, they don't look that bad. One of them looks like a kaninchen I used to know back in the eighties..."

"Hey, guys, what's going on over there?" Shiki asks warily, stepping over... as four bundles of beaks and differently-coloured feathers poke their heads out of the bush.

It's her rather than them that squawk.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks at the voices, but even more at the bird heads poking out of the bush. She lifts an eyebrow inquisitively, staying on her guard... but she doesn't think these are any real danger right now. But better safe than sorry really. "What are you doing there, in the middle of this forest?"

She's not paying attention to Leida's bow practice right now, there is life in this forest, who would've THUNK.

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
Ramza Beoulve belts out a light-hearted guffaw as the four beaked figures peak their heads out of a bush. Not because of their appearance or demeanour but just because his companions were readying themselves to attack the creatures that obviously meant them no harm. "Friend it is. I think we need not feather them any further than they already are, nor brandish any naked steel."

The youngest son of the Beoulve man approaches closer, with Boco in tow. Tifa asks the questions that he was like to ask, so he's content just to introduce himself. "Good sers, my name is Barbaneth Lugria. Might you come out of the bush, so that we might be better acquainted?"

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason is looking about for a moment "No it can, it's just rare. There's a few examples of such on my workld or were..." She frowns a little bit "Basically fosslized if you know the term." She follows After Shiki to see what she's found. "Just what do we have here?"

Swimmer's still looking about buit hasn't really found something of intrest just yet.

Leida has posed:
Unlike the others, who seem to have instinctively let their guards down at the sight of these bizarre feathered creatures, Leida remains keyed up and wary. Appearances can be deceiving, she of all people knows the truth of that. The serrated metal head of the arrow glints dangerously in the light as she nocks it to her bow and wraps her fingers about the end of the shaft, fixing it firmly in place with her grip.

The strange sensation she was feeling hadn't lessened upon the avians revealing themselves. Either there was more to them than their comical first impression was letting on or something else entirely was going on here. Her enhanced vision sweeps through the dank recesses of the stony trees, searching the shadows for signs of movement or anything out of the ordinary - well besides trees made of stone.

"Perhaps once you are all finished conversing with the feathered bushes, you may wish to pay attention to our surroundings. I feel an unnatural presence."

Shiki Misaki has posed:
It's OK! Mr. Mew broke Shiki's fall.

The four birds- macaws, to be precise- answer in unison to Tifa. "/Hiding!/"

They look at one another briefly, as Ramza speaks up. Well, bigger people to hide behind MIGHT be better, right? The four of them tenatively hop out of the bush and onto Tifa's shoulders, one after another. Congratulations! You're our new perch.

Swimmer better not swim too far away from the fleet, eh? There's certainly something lurking out there in the mist. Shiki, who is oblivious to it, picks herself and Mr. Mew up. "Yeah, we can watch your backs. Hey, you look pretty out of place."

"Well, senorita, the same could be said for you!" says the red, white and green bird. "Anyway, my name's Jose!"
"Pierre from Paree- that would be me!" adds the blue, white and red one.
"Call me Fritz: from Germany, see?" says the red, black and yellow bird.
"And I'm Michael, child, from the emerald isle!" says the green and white bird.

"Well," Shiki says, hands in her pockets. "I guess we found the birds that we were supposed to."

But then Leida pipes up, and it really gets the macaws' feathers ruffled. They look at her, then all of them scatter and hide behind one human respectively.
"A presence is no present!"
"Oh dear... oh no-a!"
"Do you think it could be-"
"If it's her... Uh-oa!"

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
The antics of the macaws lighten the young man's mood as they introduce themselves in kind. "You're a colorful bunch. I'm glad to have met you."

At the insistence of Leida, he does take stock of his surroundings, but he doesn't prepare himself otherwise. He didn't need to after all. Noticing nor feeling nothing, he turns his attention back to the birds. "Good sers, you speak in nothings. How are we to protect you if we remain nescient of the threat? Details would be welcome."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks at the four birds. Now she's a perch ~_~ Well, there are worse face. But how is she supposed to fight like this? o_o She's been a ChocoGirl before too, maybe that's what is attracting the birds to her ~_~.

And that's about when trouble seems to bring its ugly face out. Well, not in visible range yet, but she shares the slight worry moment with the birds, as they scatter. She turns toward Leida...

... Its just Leida.

"... we wouldn't be lucky enough that its Leida you're feeling, right? Because I'd be totally cool with leaving with the birds before anything else more dangerous comes out of hiding."

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason does not know of the places they speak of, they might as well be from the bottom of the sear. Still she listens but Swimmer is still opn guard he's keeping to the fleet acting like a dog sniffing about. She's not so sure abotu these strange birds but they are not hostile right? Then Leida brings up there's something else about here. She does fo for one of her pistols and looks about. "So just what is she, information could be helpful."

Evja has posed:
Suddenly, a heavy thud!

Evja lands from up high before looking towards the group, cloaked and wrapped up like someone who was about to endure a journey into a place with lots of sand that likes to find rest in lots of cracks. "I suggest going up, or back. Something feels unnatural here." though looking up... up might not be the easiest things for those besides himself.
"Besides the forest itself." a pause, then towards the four feathered ones, "Or them. I shall try to draw whatever it is away." and fwoosh, he's gone again in a moment, quite literally vanishing from sight and flickering in and out of sight as he hops here and there up and away from the group before landing and trying to make enough noise when passing through leaves and the likes that whatever is there will lock onto him instead.

Leida has posed:
As the birds scatter in a flurry of feathers and squawks, the small girl narrows her eyes in annoyance at the ruckus they make. Usually when something nasty is lurking around you want to be quiet so it doesn't find you. And then the strange demi-human judge drops into their midst. Leida whirls around, drawing back the string on her towering bow with an ease that defies the lack of muscle on her slender frame. The arrow trains on Evja for a moment before she realizes who it is.

"Tch. I thought I felt someone following us. I would advise you not make a habit of dropping into the midst of an armed party who is currently on edge and watching for unknown dangers." She turns away as he leaps off into the forest, keeping her eyes open. If he wanted to dangle himself like a worm on a hook, she wasn't going to stop him. Maybe they'd atleast get a glimpse of what was out there when it went after him first.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Hey, Leida, wait-"

Shiki says, taking a step towards the girl-

And at that exact moment, there's a massive crack of thunder and lightning. It casts the silhouette of a humanoid figure into relief, who- if Leida doesn't stop in time- she might find herself standing in the shadow of.

The birds once again shy behind Ramza and the others' backs, one of them pointing directly in her direction. The woman- for it is a woman- has glowing eyes and a stark, wood-like body. Although she is dressed colourfully, and wears a lei around her shoulders, with a headdress almost like a basket of flowers on her head, she seems terribly imposing and malicious. She is the source of that frightening pressure.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/5344587503_a0a6ef1cf4.jpg

Worse still, as Evja dives into the background to see what he can find, he'll find himself staring face-to-face with a rather unwelcome pair of glowing yellow eyes. He's looking right at a Powerwild, much like the multiple monkeys bristling in the branches. Mr. Mew's got his machete out.

"It's not just an expression! That's her name!" Fritz explains.
All four of them announce in unison: "Uh-Oa! The tiki goddess of disaster!"

"WHAT an unpleasant place to find you four! And what unfortunate company you're keeping! Your standards have really fallen!" she shouts.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart stares for a moment that what crawls out of the woods. Why couldn't that thing be petrified with the rest, she wonders. Definitely something straight out of nightmares, she she's seen many heartless to compare!

She slides a foot back, getting into position. "... It can never be easy, can it? It always has to be the not so easy way out." She grumbles just a bit. She's usually cheerful and upbeat, but not when it comes to having to fight her way out.

And apparently she's not alone, she can feel the monkey-heartless in the branches. "Well the goddess of disaster just had an accident of her own, running into us. Shiki, you can pair up with someone else today, I can handle a few monkeys." She lets her friend know, as she charges up her spell, opening up with something to bolster her defenses before the fight starts, and draping the sheet of magical energues over her friends at the same time.

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
Ramza Beoulve remained calm as the giant Tiki goddess of destruction had her thunderous reveal. Sizing up Uh-Oa, he surveys their surroundings for some ideas on how they might battle a threat such as her. Climbing atop Boco to mount in the saddle, he trots up beside Tifa, leaning down to place a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. The gesture carried more weight in it than mere reassurance, as he began an incantation for two well known spells of white magic. "Precious Light, be our armor. Silent light, shield us from iniquity."

Once he was finished, he unsheathed his Cinqueda, and set Boco to pace just out of range of the wooden monstrosity's fists. He had no knowledge of the being, and he wanted to see what it was capable of before he tried to give any sort of direction to strangers.

BSM Music Start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waB8BDjXyV4

Evja has posed:
"..."

o.o

Evja stares right back for a few moments, almost looking like a strange version of a Bandit Heartless with the head and face wrapped up like they were, just no twin swords. Nor is he fat. Thus he stood with one foot upon the edge of a branch before he quite simply spun around and pulled a large translucent sword out of nowhere, slashing through where the heartless were when he last was staring at them before leaping away and back towards the closest heartless-looking creature he could find,.
His sword had since been replaced by a large spear. While he wouldn't have attacked this 'Goddess' on sight, he certainly had /no issue/ with attacking Heartless.

Evja has posed:
Not to mention Tifa was so kind to Haste the Viera up, now glowing faintly red from that brief moment he'd hopped away.

Leida has posed:
"Aaaaah," Leida allows herself to smirk once more as the strange wooden creature comes bustling out of the forest. "So that is what I sensed." It would seem that she was beginning to be able to feel out the Heartless with some sort of extra-sensory perception. Perhaps the Shadow Lord from the reactor had been right; she might very well be able to command these creatures at some point. However, even as she reaches out to them through the shadows she can feel their resentment of her intrusion. Looks like they'll have to do this the hard way.

The creaking of wood accompanies the bending of the girl's bow as she draws the arrow back once more, turning it upon the woman - if she was even that. The shadows shift and churn about her feet and a faint nimbus of purple light dances into existence about the edges of her body. The corrupted blood in her veins begins to seeth with power as she gears up for the coming fight.

"Shall we take bets on who kills the most? Perhaps I shall grant you all a handicap to make it fair." Maybe that would get them motivated.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason oh dears at what she sees comming it's huge it's mean and it's looking to rip them apart. She stares for a moment before as she has both pistols out.

"You'll find a child of first flood will not go go quietly."

She starts to raise chant for a moment and then water seems to rise up trying to catch the thing that is becore them in the power of the depths and lay curse upon it.

"Swimmer get ready!"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Wow, Leida, thinks Shiki. When did you get so confident?

"Oh, this is so awkward. Fancy running into you in a place like this!" squawks Michael.
"Explanations might be in order, n'est-ce pas?" asks Pierre.
"Later!" insists Pierre.

Uh-Oa crosses her arms and looks thoroughly displeased at all this nonsense. "Hey, now! You all really shouldn't get in the way. I'm trying to cage some birds who flew the coop, you know? We've only just met and you're all up in arms!"

"Anyone who makes a party with the Heartless is bad news," Shiki says, holding her player pin out to Leida (since Tifa's declining). And there are indeed plenty of Heartless to go around. They're aiming to ruffle some feathers and cause serious monkey business.

As the Powerwilds go flying from the tree branches, the four macaws are going to fly into a panic and do their best to hide behind, under or inside the clothes of whoever's closest and most defensible. They're willing to throw themselves in front of the wooden woman- whose eyes glow just the same colour as theirs- and start flinging rocks and one another at our heroes when Myla and Evja make their attack!

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't make contests about who can defeat more, all that matters is getting out of it in one piece. The birds, unfortunatly for them, won't find any space to crawl up her leather dress, most probably. And its better for them as she jumps up, using her agility to move from tree to petrified tree to launch herself at the monkeys, with enhanced speed helping. The extra layer of protection from Ramza is appreciated too, considering she's moving straight into the fray. Definitely not afraid of a few monkeys.

The first one gets met with the flat of her foot, straight into the head. Then her feet moves under it before it falls, kicking it up, and punching it straight ahead, aiming to projectile it into a clutter of Powerwilds before it dissipates. Tifa is always as bone crunching as ever. Unfortunatly, they have no bones.

Evja has posed:
For his part, Evja seems to be ignoring the tiki-woman in favor of simply avoiding the Power Wilds! Evja's billowing and rather spacious cloak that can wrap around his body and then some does offer some semblance of protection for any who choose to seek there. It also seems quite thick, so it may afford some decent amount!
That, and the owner of it was dancing through the attacks, countering here and there with swift kicks from metal boots.

He was preparing himself, getting ready to actually go after them. Plus, he wanted to wait a moment more to see just what that wooden-like woman was planning on doing.

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
Leida's taunts had literally no effect on Ramza Beoulve. Glory didn't motivate him, and while he had pride, it was always smothered by his desire to see everyone out of the battle alive. He'd learned the hard way that poor command decisions always arose from that.

The Tiki goddess attempting to treat with them gave him momentary pause. "And just what did our fowl friends do to deserve a cage? No, I think I prefer their liberty than to give them up to one who consorts with heartless fiends."

Ramza spurred Boco onward, and with a /Wark!/ of pride his mount complied. Reaching inside a pouch on his belt, he produced a large blue orb. As the mount pressed closer, he threw it at the legs of Uh-Oa. Should his aim be true, the orb would shatter, releasing an explosion of cold amongst her and the Powerwilds. Rime would begin to encroach upward on the Powerwilds and goddess legs. While that wouldn't be more than an annoyance, it wasn't his intention to do more than to weaken the wood that makes up her legs. Putting two fingers to his mouth, he whistles, and several Kunai tear into the ranks of the monkey heartless and land into Uh-Oa's legs from a hidden thrower. While in the short term this distracted the ranks to give him more of a clear path, it was more setup for a later plan. Closing in on the Tiki goddess, the young man nearly lost his seat upon Boco as a well-thrown rock nearly jarred him off of it.

Once they are close enough, he pulls back on the reins and braces himself. On the signal, Boco would put stop short and fast enough that he would slide a few meters before bending down ludicrously low to allow his rider to touch the ground. It was a simple Geomancer's trick to coax the Earth upwards, while he focused his Chi downwards into the soil. This erupted into a shockwave of rock and soil that travelled forward and would batter the legs of the enemy ranks, giving them scarce footing that wasn't treacherous.

Leida has posed:
The young princess' haughty confidence is something of a recent development and one that she is still trying to get under control herself. Beneath the surface, the quiet, timid girl that many people have come to know still lurks but instead of cowering at every threat and danger, she hides her fear behind bold words. The demonic appearance of her manifesting darkness made few people willing to challenge her bravado thus far.

Heartless, on the other hand, were not intimidated by... well anything that she has seen. She isn't even sure they can feel fear. A lump begins to form in her throat and she swallows nervously when she thinks no one else is looking. She wishes she shared that particular trait right now.

There is no time to focus on what-ifs. The powerwilds burst from the trees in a wild frenzy and Leida flinches, unleashing the arrow into the trees before she has a proper bead on the agile creatures. The shot goes wide and buries itself into one of the stone trees with a great crash. Shards of petrified wood shear off and fly in all directions upon impact and the projectile vanishes nearly halfway into the surface.

The girl quickly reaches for another arrow but the rushing monkies plow into her from several directions, forcing her to abandon such thoughts to avoid taking a punishing direct hit. Leida's frilly pink skirt flutters as she leaps away but one of the wily Heartless manages to intercept her mid-leap with a powerful strike to the side that sends the slender girl tumbling back the way she came and she lands in a messy heap at Shiki's feet.

"Ngggh... you little devils better not mess up my dress! This was a gift!" She pushes quickly back up and her bow sings several times in rapid succession. Arrows wreathed in flickering black flames streak across the air like comets, carrying the demonic corruption flowing through her to their targets.

Turning to Shiki once she has a moment, Leida swipes the pin from her extended palm and peers at it with a curious glance. "What is this for, Shiki-chan?" She's never had the chance to properly sit down and talk about the game that fuels her powers.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason does not seem so put off bt thing but at the mention of the Heartless she doesn't seem too happy about it. "The heartless?" She narrows her eyes, and her pistols come up even as she now caught with several rocks and she's hit pretty hard but? She's still in and opens fire sening a barrage of elemental shots at the heartless fire and seemingly energy blasts that almost hit like a high pressure stream of water are the order od the day as she aims to cut them down without much mercy.

"Swimmer SICK EM!"

The mechanical creation howls and barrlwes towards some of the power wilds. While Myla keeps trying to thin their numbers.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"It's-"

Shiki raises her finger to point at the pin then gets monkeytackled. Her hat, with Michael underneath it, hangs in the air for a minute before dropping down onto Mr. Mew. Those Powerwilds are relentless! Mr. Mew is going to have to man up and protect the macaw with his machete, because Shiki's so busy trying not to get pelted with broken bits of tree that she's too busy to make a pact!

And there are plenty of bits of tree to throw, because Leida's arrow packs a punch. So do all of the others, for that matter, but does darkness really fare well against darkness? It seems not, at least initially, as the Heartless are able to shy aside from each and every one of them.

Tifa fights monkey with monkey, responding to the Powerwilds' tossing one another at her by tossing one back at them herself. It's simian-gly effective, causing one or two of them to pop into darkness, but look out for those tails! You wouldn't want to trip and fall when you're playing in the trees!

Evja and the tiki goddess Uh-Oa play the staredown game. Just by looking into her eyes, the guy'll be able to see the lightning crackling in her eyes just like it's doing in the sky above. She doesn't seem to be in a mood to do any fighting herself, though, taking a defensive position instead. And while you're staring at her, a monkey might just bash you in the head.

She's willing to talk to Ramza, though. "These birds and I have a history!"
Well, to a point, that's talking, I guess. She's also got a flaming torch in her hands to both bat away the blue orb and even maybe melt it like ice. Batter up! She's also got more than a few Soldiers to throw in front of Ramza to keep the not-heat off herself... which will give her time to get those sharp things out of her legs. Ow!

Thankfully, Swimmer's there to help Ramza out and launch into the fray. Uh-Oa's better step back and step off or she'll find her headdress getting blasted by Myla. More and more bits of branch and wood go flying from the scathing barrage.

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
The mounted young man was impressed by the Tiki Goddess' fortitude. Boco rose from his position and set to pace away from any imminent attacks from the powerwild crew. This time, Ramza manages to deflect their thrown riposte with a quick parry from the Cinqueda he was wielding, while Boco batted a leaping Powerwild out of the way with his wing.

Circling the field, he would move in close to Tifa, and briefly brush a hand over her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't react by turning to deck him like she was with the heartless on the field. This brief contact had purpose, as he coaxed the Chakra point closest to both their hearts to open, accelerating their bodies own capability to heal themselves. Raising a hand, he would summon forth a heavenly wind with another simple white mage spell. This divine breeze would flow through the two of them, bringing a cleansing sensation with it.

Well Uh-Oa was continuing to try and parley. Ramza thought it best to respond in kind. "Even if you speak true, what sort of history gives you such quarrel that you think it justified to treat them as penned chattel?"

Leida has posed:
Leida stares at the pin for a moment, then looks back up when Shiki starts to explain its purpose. However, all she finds is a hat floating in the air which quickly turns out to be bird-powered. Fortunately, Mr. Mew seems to be quick on the uptake as the colorful fowl's new guardian. That still leaves the small princess standing around looking confused, however.

"It... what? It is quite rude to stop mid-sentence, Shiki-chan!" The smirk on her face is a pretty clear indication that she's having a poke at the other girl's monkey troubles but the fact that her own barrage is seeming to have little effect grates on her. These Heartless were spry little things, she had to give them that. No matter, they cannot dodge forever. She hopes.

Another wave of the capering monsters comes flying at her not long after Shiki goes down. Narrowing her eyes at the aggressors, Leida bends the shadows to make herself vanish for a few moments and narrowly side-steps the powerful swings. An arrow is drawn and nocked as she fades back into view and this time she makes an effort to focus on taking proper aim.

Black fire lances through her hands into the projectile and it tears into the crowd, exploding violently upon impact with the ground in a shower of dark magic. A simple gesture of her hand afterward brings several floating orbs of eldritch green flame into existance over her shoulders and she sends the fallen souls spiralling after the bouncing simians to unleash a variety of curses upon them.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods calmly to Ramza as a thank. She has good senses on the field, she wouldn't slug one of her teammates. Heartlesss have a definite presence and feeling either way, they are easier to track because of that. She can't get away from all of the attacks either, as she bounces between the trees. That last attack knocked out some wind out of her too, hitting her square in the stomach, more impact than she anticipated. She oofs painfully, but grabbing the monkey by the tail before it can escape, she SLAMS it down into the ground. That's one that won't do that again.

She winces a bit, getting her breath back, as she launches up at a group again, this time grabbing one and flipping it upside down, bringing it down head first into its kin in her own piledriver.

She's actually fought these monkeys more often than she'd like to admit.

Evja has posed:
Indeed, when the Power Wilds came at Evja, the Viera was lost in watching the Tiki Woman. So much so he got smacked on the back of the head and sent tumbling. "Damn..."
And for a moment, doubt filled him, that he was going to wind up doing something stupid, failing... or somehow putting the others there in danger. It went away after a moments steadying though and Evja pulled out two spears before launching against the Power Wilds. "Call the Heartless off, if you can, and let us all talk about this like civilized people!"

Myla Mason has posed:
:notices Swimmer has taken a bot of a likeing to Razma from the looks of it and that speaks well to her. Still any other comments or thoughts are well? Off table for the moment as she's still being attacked and this time she throws as random deice at the tiki being. It kinda explode and she makes a face "Err I didn't mean for it to do that..."

She's also caugh by anotehr attack and she's not feeling too good from it's effects either but she'll press on focusing in on the larger threat for now, what seems to be crossbow well it's more an auto harpoon launcher from the looks of things and she fires a burst of the large metal bolts at the creature.

"LEt's see how you like this and your the one came in here looking for a fight!"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki takes a look to see if the macaws are doing alright- and ends up having to fend a Soldier off who's going right for Fritz. Then more of them start ganging up on her, monkeys and metalheads alike with their claws out, and things are beginning to look dangerous. Still no time to talk, Leida! Sorry!

Mr. Mew, meanwhile, is going to climb one of the Powerwilds, machete under his chin, and attempt to stab it right in the stitches.

"Hmm, call it a relationship between gods and lesser beings, and that precludes talking about it like 'people'," Uh-Oa says, twirling her torch idly. "I always thought that I should take a little more control..."
"Why, that's not true at all!" Michael shouts back.

"I came here to turn these macaws into Heartless. It's your fault for getting in the way of that!"

Leida clearly just had to put a little more colour into her efforts. The green fire's no less disturbing than the demonic arrows, but it's green, which is something at least. The ground is ripped up just as the Heartless are set alite, so it even deals with itself. Don't want to set the entire forest on green fire. Wait, it's petrified anyway, never mind...

The explosion- and the explosion of Myla's devices- causes the Powerwilds around Tifa to quickly scatter, though, worming their way out of her attempted attack. They just scatter onto everyone else doing the fighting, though, flailing and scratching, as the Soldiers try to knock her down with their swords. Evja's there to clash spear against saber, but with metal bolts flying and this fight turning chaotic, who can tell how quickly you'll be able to react?

Evja has posed:
"Bad move."

That's all Evja says, even as the metal flies through the air to do things like knick his ears and bounce heavily off his wrap. "I will not allow any to fall to the Heartless if I can so help it!" and suddenly the entire area begins to look darker and darker, the Bunny glowing only to vanish and reappear right in front of Uh-oa.
Despite being wrapped up facially, one could tell from looking at his eyes he seemed angered by this, especially since he had both spears out and began to dance around where she was, leaping into the air and pouncing, vanishing, reappearing, stabbing, a combination and flurry of acrobatic strikes.

Ultimately, this was followed up by him leaping high into the air before peppering downwards with his spears, one after another after another golden 'holy'-aligned things only to have them all vanish and trail towards him into a large spear which he slams right down towards the 'Heartless Maker'. He had never truly met one who could make these things, but he would sooner be damned than let one walk away willingly.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart isn't quite happy with these monkeys scattering like that. Her attempt at a piledriver are effectively evaded so easily. Well, they ARE monkeys, but that only make sher monre angry. And and angry barmaid is never a good thing to witness. Especially when they are usually as nice as Tifa is.

She gets knocked down the tree by the counterattack, and it looks like she's heading for a crash landing. But instead, she flips around, and kicks the closest tree, rebounding herself toward a branch, using the momentum to polecault herself back up. But this time, the monkeys are met with a double dose of glowing fists, something that you could dub 'DOUBLE HAMMER' as she releases the explosive energy at point blank range into a group of the monkeys.

Leida has posed:
A satisfied look crosses the princess' face as her demonic assault finally manages to find purchase in the gaggle of powerwilds. The green fireballs bounce wantonly back and forth like pingpongs, slamming into the flying monkies and setting them alight with the mere power of their mournful hatred for all things living. Angry souls tend to go overboard with their grudges.

Since Shiki is too busy to explain what the deal is with this little pin, Leida takes a moment to tuck it safely into the fanny sack on her belt. This momentary distraction is almost costly as the remaining Heartless launch a renewed assault and she only barely manages to throw herself to the side to avoid getting a giant punch to the face. The attack clips her shoulder instead and sends the small girl spinning away.

Instead of hitting the ground, however, shadows surge up from the dead stony ground to catch her. Leida regains her footing, bringing her hands up to draw her bow once more - except it isn't there. A quick glance around reveals that the last strike managed to disarm her handily, so instead she improvises.

Holding her arms out to each side as if inviting the Heartless to attack her, Leida draws the shadows into her body. A blob-ish mass of blackness crawls up her legs and pools upon her back like a pit of tar before a pair of tenebreous shadowy arms erupt from her shoulder blades. Wicked formless talons clutch and menace at the air for several moments as the dark magic takes shape but it isn't long before Leida rushes into the fray, swinging her new deadly appendages like bladed whips into the trees.

"Hahaha! Did you think me so helpless?!"

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason is not a happy Levitani she's not a happy Levitani at all. When she hears what the tiki thing wants to do to the birds any chance of a miss understanding in hev view is over. She calls Swimmer back and she holders her strange pistols she then starts almost singing as she chants and one might get the feeling of ocean breeze passing over the party and those near it. She contiunes to chant and she starts to focus on water, there's water almost anywhere there is life one just needs to look for it and look for it she does. She brings forth watter more water than one might expect as he attemps to just down the tiki goddess or whatever it is with the fury of the tides.

Ramza Beoulve has posed:
Shiki was hurting, that was plain to see. Directing Boco over to her they interposed themselves between her and the powerwilds. The powerwilds would proceed to brutally batter the youngest son of the Beoulve family before he dislodged them.

Ramza would turn and stare at the Tiki Goddess. His expression darkening "That was ill done. It would be enough that you think of them as lesser beings. What flaw do you hold within them? That they were born in a different form? But to seek to turn them into heartless demons? There can be no recourse other than your destruction." Spurring Boco forward, he would sheath his Cinqueda, and rip at the peacknot upon his Katana's saya. With one hand, he would summon forth glittering blades of lightning from the clouds above. If his aim were true, then the lightning would arc around to strike any Kunai still lodged within her legs.

Normally his conscience weighed heavily upon him each time he did this, for it felt like half a war crime if used upon the living. As Boco closes in on Uh-Oa, he would draw the Katana in one smooth arc while concentrating upon a single word. "Chirijiraden." The spirit of the sword would erupt into blue flames, which if it connected with the Tiki goddess would spread them over her form instantly, burning not unlike Greek Fire.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
This is getting pretty scary!

Whether it's Soldiers or Powerwilds you're concentrating on, violence, explosions and severe beatings is the order of the day. This part of the petrified forest might never be the same again as big collateral damage shakes the trees, knocking out Heartless by the score in overwhelming displays of overkill.

However, when it comes to the tiki goddess, it's a different story, maybe because she's... well, a goddess. Although that combined attack is mighty powerful, her torch clashes against Evja's spears again and again. Perhaps fortunately, combining greek fire with ocean waters is a little counter-intuitive, but she's still going to take it like a champion. When all's said and done, Uh-Oa might be making you say the same as she doesn't look all that broken or even bowed.

Fortunately, she's out of party-cipants. "This is hotter than a volcano! I won't forget this, but if I keep going it'll be a disaster for /me/. I'm going to try another bird-brained scheme some other time. You haven't heard the last of me, my MCs!"

With that, she disappears into a corridor of darkness.

Shiki whistles at her helpful allies- particularly Boco, who protected her when she needed it. She gathers up her hat and her player pin, the four macaws perching on her shoulders now.

"Wow. So what was all that about?" she asks, looking at her fine feathered friends.

"We used to all hail from another world," Jose replies.
"Until the Heartless turned her bad," adds Pierre.
"Now she's going to try and do the same to us... and all of the other friends we used to work with," says Michael glumly.

"Other friends?" Shiki asks.

"Yeah. There were a hundred and fifty of us all together..." Fritz finishes. "They must all be lost somewhere, too. We were all staff and performers..."

"In an Enchanted Tiki Room."


TO BE CONTINUED...