VALKYRI VS Shard Seekers: Racing the Dawn

VALKYRI VS Shard Seekers: Racing the Dawn
Date of Scene:	12 January 2013
Location:	Eastern Continent - Bare Desert
Synopsis:	Desert madness! VALKYRI and the Shard Seekers go head to head as they rush through an ancient ruins to secure valuable artifact not only within the time limit, but before the other adventurers get to the final chamber as well. The object? A Desert Rose, a magical crystal rose, a living artifact, that blooms only for one night once every 100 years. Inscribed on the petals themselves are shapes that form a map to an even greater treasure. What awaits the two teams as they race for the goal?!
Thanks to:	To everyone for a fantastic scene. Desert madness, indeed.
Cast of Characters:	Ivo Galvan, Reize Seatlan, Faruja Senra, Skoll Ulfang, Sabin Rene Figaro, Katyna, Avira, Maira, Lenn, Minerva, Leida, Navya, Emi Dennou
Tinyplot:	Shadows Over Fluorgis

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Ivo Galvan has posed:
This time, Ivo's plan is foolproof.

The Shard Seekers, despite the supposedly successful invention of their prototype shard-seeking device, have still not yet been able to achieve the status of a legitimate Clan in Fluorgis. Even as darkness begins to assail the city, the disconnect between these adventurers and the city complicates their efforts to mount a concerted defense. Being affirmed once and for all as the real deal, and not just a motley crew, has been one of their initial goals for a while, but obstacles keep being strewn in their path. At this point, the Shard Seekers have no choice but to complete some 'extraordinary task' of benefit to the city. But chasing myths and rumors, that possibility has at last arisen.

The Desert Rose, a blossom of living crystal, said to bloom only once a century. The last was recovered five-hundred years ago, but shattered in a great war, and its history forgotten amidst the chaos of the fusion of worlds. It dwells deep within a sand-blasted ruin, its entrance supposedly inaccessible until that fateful day. But the blossom itself wilts once the sun goes down; only if it is plucked is its magnificent radiance preserved. Legend tells that the rose itself hides some greater secret, but none know of what the last rose told.

The Shard Seekers intend to find out.

The underground ruins had been blocked by a boulder inscribed with strange sigils, but when the first orange rays of the setting sun struck it, painting it in vibrant burning hues, the stone shifted of its own accord, revealing a stairway down into the depths, hewn from the living rock. The Shard Seekers descended into a great round cavern, its ancient cave paintings and carvings -- all seeming to detail, upon closer inspection, rather forbidding imagery of curses and traps -- illuminated by glowing moss. Before them stretches a long hallway.

"We'll have to advance carefully," Ivo says, the light in his eyes and his slight smile betraying much intrigue and little fear, "but we don't have much time. If the sun sinks beyond the horizon, the stone is said to cover the entrance of its own accord. As long as we move at a steady pace and don't rush," he adds to his friends with a smile, "I think we'll be alright."

Yes... why rush? Who could come to bother them now?

Faruja Senra has posed:
Faruja turns from studying one of the engravings that promise horrible, horrible death and disfigurement. A light frown seems stuck on his muzzle, and he's smiled little since the initial assault on Fluorgis. An astute observer would notice a few grey furs here and there, testament to the stress the news of Cleyra's troubles have caused him.

"Ser Galvan, did you not say something similar prior to our being pinned down by goblin archers, our bodies saved being made to pincushions by a few scraps of wood?" The rat points out, hefting his spear as he checks out the surroundings.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
How did he get himself into this mess /now/ - Skoll wonders. Perhaps it had to do with Shard Seekers money spent on those extra packets of bacon. Or maybe it had to do with that note left beneath that picture of Reize. Or maybe it's just that he's interested in that Rose. With Skoll, you never know.

Although it's probably somehow bacon related.

"I brought rope." Skoll points out, just as he ties a thick piece of rope around a rock, and starts walking along with Ivo into the first halls of the cave. "I figured, that way - we'll be able to easily find our way back." Expect Skoll to be the more experienced adventurer... or just the secret brains of the operation. Not that he'll take credit for it. "I think it was like... Knight's Vow number 36 or something. Always bring a rope to guide your way into a cave." He's just making this up as he comes along.

But then, he's under the impression that Reize does too.

Avira has posed:
Becoming a legit clan is difficult enough, Avira would know. She actually belongs to one...one that is not the VALKYRI, in fact. Today it would not be Clan Dagda that seeks the challenge presented by this legendary treasure, but of the association of adventurous ladies (and guys) she had formed over the past few months.

"So this Desert Rose blooms only once a century..." Avira had explained while in transit to the rest of those accompanying her. For the sake of expediency, she has encouraged the use of chocobo transport. It was simply faster and Avira knew just how much that Maira enjoyed riding. Missions like this weren't all just work, work, work. No sense in not finding a way to have a little fun too.

As they approach the ancient ruins that Avira had to query many an old man to find the location of, she squints, making out many shapes standing before the Boulder That Blocks. "Looks like we're not alone. Ha!" she urges her chocobo on faster to catch up, irritated by the thought of someone else scooping VALKYRI treasure!

The irritation only increases as she starts to actually recognize some of those present at the entrance of these ruins. A scowl falls upon her face as she sees THAT SCOUNDREL. "You've got to be kidding me!" The VALKYRI urges the chocobo right up to the entrance, halting it and remaining mounted so she can LOOM over those present on foot. "What on earth are you Shard Seekers doing here? Last I heard, there was not a shard." Ironic, really, because Avira did have her hands on a shard yesterday.

Navya has posed:
Navya doesn't actually like chocobo riding.

More accurately, chocobos don't like her; she has nothing against them. She has a tendency to pull too hard when steering, and though she's not actually all that heavy, they don't really like carrying her.

She manages, though. "That's a weird flower," Navya comments, though she seems pretty eager to rush up and go for it. And rushing is what they need to do. Avira pulls ahead of her when she charges for the entrance and the Shard Seekers.

About half a minute later, Navya and her chocobo trot up, too. She looks a little perplexed to see so many people here.

Maira has posed:
Even if they failed to get the rose, Avira had already made Maira's day by letting her ride a chocobo! Having sprinted in circles with the bird about a dozen times doing the giant riding bird version of donuts in a parking lot, Maira found that she might be able to resist going as fast as possible. The others had to keep up after all!

Maira is outfitted for adventure! Which, oddly enough, translates into a fairly short pink skirt/bodysuit combo with considerable ruffles and matching boots. "A rose that blooms only once in a hundred years...huh! It must be very pretty!" she comments.

Her brow furrows as Avira spots company up ahead, so Maira nudges her chocobo forward as well. Unlike Avira however, Maira's immediate reaction is a huge smile, followed by enthusiastic waving. "Oh hi everyone! What are you doing here!?" she asks. He smile grows some when she looks to Faruja, then a little embarrassed when she looks to Ivo. Eheh...she hadn't seen him since they had their date--cue furious blushing.

Katyna has posed:
Werp werp, why'd she always end up in the middle of some weird desert, anyway? as if Katyna wasn't having enough trouble differentiating one desert from the other (they all looked the same!), not that she minded the heat and sun, but..They're so large and expansive, and she has a habit of getting lost in them!

Even so, the promise of treasure is enough for Kat to go to the ends of the earth to grab it first. Hopefully some other annoying group of treasure seekers wont interfere, right, right?

She walks alongside Avira on her own chocobo, glancing at the ancient ruins in wide-eyed wonder. "Wow, who'd have imagined this was hidden here, under the desert floor? D'you have a map or anything? I wonder what this flower do....Errr...?!"

And then, amidst all her rambling, Kat does indeed notice some familiar faces up ahead. Ahh, there's that flirt Ivo, he was kinda fun, and...Ugh, that irritating Skoll! Grr...She'd like to rip his head off, but alas, she made a promise not to hurt him, thanks to his sister..

"Ahh, well we'll just have to beat 'em to it, then!" She smiles brightly.

Emi Dennou has posed:
A plan is made.

"Yes sir," Imi says, smiling broadly at Ivo. "This is all very exciting isn't it? The Network is happy to look for this flower." Actually it's probably just Imi who is interested in flowers, right? She's the one who likes this sort of thing and, really the only one that seems particularly interested in plantlife. So she's probably the only one here, right? WRONG. But for the moment she's the only one visible. She doesn't mention 'why not move the boulder ourselves' because that would be against the point of this exercise. And would only be a day delay anyway? And okay Sabin is in the room really. But beyond all that, she seems to understand what's going on. "This is going to be such a thrilling adventure, the Network is excited!"

MEANWHILE, Legion Member #6--also known as Shida--has actually offered her own assistance to the VALKYRI. Shida may be assuming that since her name ends with 'A' that she is VALKYRI material. She is considerably quieter than Imi and instead keeps her visor over her head. She does not comment on the presence of Imi and, indeed, and they don't even say anything to each other and, honestly, she may not have even come with VALKYRI so much as the same time as VALKYRI? It's a great mystery.

"Blushing detected." Shida says. She has a hip holster carrying a bullwhip, as well as white and blue outfit that has way too many zippers. It's an awesome well illustrated outfit.

Leida has posed:
The neon phosphorescent glow of the mossy carpeting on the walls mixes together with the flickering orange and yellows of a small fire as Leida follows along behind her fearless leaders. A thick bundle of sticks is held with both hands, wrapped with strips of pitch-soaked cloth at the top into a makeshift torch. Though her slitted demonic eyes can penetrate easily though the hazy darkness of the dusty old cavern, not everyone is so 'fortunate'.

The casual garb which she has become accustomed to wearing serves well for this particular adventure, the loose shirt belted down at her waist preventing the desert heat from becoming too stifling. She has on her metal boots today, the sole surviving remnant of the armor she brought with her from her homeworld, to keep from getting her feet and shins bangs up by the rocky terrain. A massive bow, easily as big as the girl is slung over her back at an angle, though how useful archery is going to be in these confined spaces is debatable.

The princess does not appear to be comfortable here, especially not after the casual commentary insinuating that they might be stuck down here if they delayed too long. The discovery of the ancient wall murals had painted a less than pleasant picture of what awaited them in addition to the looming threat of time-sensitive peril and the girl's normally pale complexion had been completely drained of color by a few of the overly graphic depictions.

On top of all of this, the recent discovery of yet another of her demonic traits continued to haunt her, quite literally, in the form of two ghostly balls of green fire that hovered lazily about in the air, transitioning from inspecting the walls in mild interest at the various gruesome pictures to dancing languidly about the girl's head and shoulders. Leida does her best to avoid the withering gaze of their resident religious zealot, who had already done a thorough job of intimidating her upon their first short meeting.

'Hey, kitten, take a look at this one! You think this guy's arms were always sticking out of his chest like this? Hahaha!'
'My word, this one is completely missing his hea... no wait, I think I found it on this other picture.'

Leida stares at the floor, pointedly trying to ignore the voices that only she can hear until the sound of another source of fresh commotion draws her attention. Ducking behind Skoll, who happens to be the nearest person to her at the moment, the princess peers shyly out at the new comers. "Do you know these people, Ivo-sama?"

Minerva has posed:
Minerva has head about Clan statuys before it's a bit well different to her but it all works out in the end. "So humm a rose that blooms only once every other life time." She's also riding a chocobo from the looks of it with a good bit of skill. Far better than her motor cycle skills, far far better. She wa up to totally show up another groul.

"I suspect my friend they are after the Rose as well. We can't let them just beat us to the prize now can we?"

Sabin Rene Figaro has posed:
The prince of Figaro - his cloak drawn up over his face and hair, bleached white by sun and blowing sand - crests a dune overlooking the ruins, and is a bit surprised to see them crawling with people. He rubs his chin thoughtfully and then shrugs. "Got to have a look," he mutters. "Might be people who need help." The big man reaches carefully behind him, and then pulls out his hip flask. He'd run out of water a dozen miles back. But that was hardly a problem.

While the territory of Figaro stretches across a great deal of land - mountains, plains, even a port - at its heart it is a desert kingdom. No more so than in the palace, a titan of steel rising over winds and dunes. Survival on the burning sands was a fact of life for the royal household, and the King ensured his sons were trained by the finest trackers and rangers. Taught not just how to survive, but to thrive - where to find water. Or shade. Or food. It has been many years since then, and Sabin has not forgotten those lessons.

Mostly.

He uncorks the flask and sniffs at it, his nose crinkling. "I'm.../pretty/ sure that was the right kind," he mutters thoughtfully. After a while, he shrugs and drains the cactus juice. What's the worst that could happen? he thinks as he jogs down the side of the dune.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"WAAAAAHOOOOOOO!!!!"

Of the group, thereis one Shard Seeker who is extremely excited over the whole deal. It is none other than the leader, who had been doing the desert exploration on a new board that he was allowed to test for a developer. It is a red board that doesn't have any sort of engines up, but it does seem to glow with a strange energy, the air around it blowing heavily.

There is the boy, gliding along the board while extending a hand up high. "This a greaaat way to adventure!" The boy spins around on the board, then he is skidding along to meet with the rest of the Shard Seekers. However, Reize is not alone, as there is someone else who is on the board with him. It's Lenn, who may likely be hanging onto Reize for dear life. Given the way he's riding the thing, it is for the best.

And when he glides over and hovers on his board, the boy turns to face. As he skids across to both Ivo and the group, the boy is hanging off. Both hands extend into the air to stretch, but then he turns over to the other side to see Avira and the couple of VALKYRI on their chocobo.

"Ooooooooiiiiii!" The boy waves a hand their way. Of course, the entrance of the area is catching his attention, especially when the boulder moves on its own accord.

"Ooooh..."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll looks behind himself when Leida ends up parking herself there in fear of the other visitors. "It's okay Leida. They're not enemies." He whispers to her, while puffing up his chest a little. "Besides, none of us would let any harm come to you." He adds to that, before looking over to Ivo, who apparently is now Leida's 'master'? Or maybe it's just that he fits the form of the guild-leader better than Reize does.

The wolfish youth then turns his attention to Avira and Maira coming into the mixture, ignoring Imi for now merely because... well, he doesn't really know her. That'll probably get fixed during this little adventure of theirs. "Hey, Avira. I think we're here to find some flower or something. We took up a job for it." He informs her, before looking over to Katyna. He recognizes Katyna as... well... being Katyna. He doesn't know that she is Ember. But he also doesn't really /know/ Katyna. He'd just met her once or twice... vaguely. "Yo." He greets her, raising one hand lazily, before turning his focus elsewhere.

"We should probab~..." And then Reize goes on shouting 'oiii'. The werewolf is momentarily interrupted, glancing at the board he'd been flying around on. Crystal Chronicles is a thing here now? Or did we just go Back to the Future?

Skoll shrugs. "We should get going. We can't stand around here introducing ourselves." He reminds Ivo.

Faruja Senra has posed:
One ear perks. Slowly, Faruja turns, un-burnt brow twitching. His single, red eye narrows, practically glowing in the torch-fed light of the underground area. He clears his throat, looking up to the adventurer woman.

"I do believe, M'Lady Avira..." His tone is tired, concerned, and now more than a touch irritated.

"That the proper greeting in this situation, would be 'Hail, Shard Seekers, and good 'eve! Why do you intrude upon this cavern?' If you would be so kind, dear, wonderful Dame, PLEASE do so next time. I am QUITE fed up with humans as of late! Thank you, and Lord bless, my friend." Yup, the rat's clearly had a bad week. Much alcohol is swigged as he tries to relax some. grumble, grumble, humans!

So many familiar faces! The Valkyri in general get bows, followed by a smile that's only slightly forced. "Lady Maira, Dame Katyna, Lady...Shida was it not? And dear Valkyri that I have yet to gain the great honor of meeting, well met, and 'tis a pleasure to see you all. Seeking the same prize as we, hmm?" Really, the Templar doesn't seem all too perturbed or surprised. The Valkyri have proven resourceful, if te rumors hold true. As well as possessing an odd love for maid dresses.

Leida green floaty energy balls certainly catches the Knight's attention, poor girl. As always, he seems somewhat oblivious to the level of intimidation he's instilled into the girl. He hasn't even really been /trying/, either!

"A curious spell, M'Lady Leida." He comments simply.

A hovering, floating board soon arrives with crystal-mages and Glorious Leaders! Smirk. "My, my, my, what /is/ that device, Ser Seatlan, Lady Lenn?"

Ahem! "Yes, I do believe Ser Ulfang has a point. Shall we?" Ever the Knight, the ratling helpfully summons up a good dose of Holy Light around his weapon to light his way, moving deeper in.

Katyna has posed:
Oooh, is that Leida too? Again? Hmm, Kat will have to discuss this with Seith when they have their little meeting. They're still calling her princess and she's acting all goody good n' stuff. She smirks, filing this away for future reference. When Maira and Minerva joins them and another winged girl she does not recognize, Kat smiles and nods to the fellow VALKs, and arches a brow at Navya. "You must be the latest recruit, Navyra, right? Nice to meet you!"

However, back to the matter at hand..As they near the cavern, she grins and waves at the various shard seekers. Ahh, there's Faruja. She'd always been meaning to ask him if he'd found that rosary of hers. "Heya Faru! Been a while! Did you ever find that necklace of mine? I still haven't found it.."

Leida is simply given a wordless nod and Ivo is given a grin and wink. "Hey again, Ivo, stayin' outta trouble, I hope?" Emi, who is emi? Never met her...Skoll greets her and she struggles not to punch him in the face. Good thing he doesn't recognize her in this form. "Hello Skoll..So you're Hati's sister, eh? who'd have known?" She smirks a rather mysterious smirk as she says that but says not more on the subject.

Of course, her face lights up as she sees Reize. "Oi!" She teases and tosses a flirty grin and wink his way. "Hey you, how you been?"

Finally however, she looks over to Avira. "Alright, where do we start then?"

Lenn has posed:
Lenn is, indeed, hanging onto Reize for dear life. She's not an adventurer, she's a jeweler for crying out loud! But... she *IS* trying to learn... She brought her staff, and a rather large pouchful of gems... knowing Reize, she'll need them.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"I thought we handled that fairly well, Ser Senra," Ivo says lightly, his smile broadening into a grin as he glances toward Faruja. While Leida seems to shy away from the templar and Ivo has sensed a change in Faruja's opinion toward him after the admission of Priel to the group, he's still quite fond of the Burmecian, and -- for someone who dislikes violence in general -- has been looking forward to fighting side-by-side with him again. "But if we have to jump out of harm's way, just take me with you, hey?" Still, Faruja seems stressed out recently. Ivo's heard news of the conflict brewing in Cleyra, but hasn't quite put two and two together yet, not understanding enough of the political situation. Hopefully, if Faru needs their help, he'll ask for it.

Skoll making a Knight's Vow crack visibly amuses Ivo. "Sure, why not?" he replies as to the reference number. Making those up is always diverting. "But thanks, Skoll. Good idea." Ever since Skoll protected Lily so heroically outside the gate of Rabanastre, Ivo's had a lot of respect for the wolfman, even if his motives are still somewhat impenetrable. The blue-cloaked swordsman still carries a tennis ball around, just in case. "I'm gonna look back up the staircase and make sure that Reize hasn't--"

And there, crowded around the entrance to the ruin, is VALKYRI.

Also, there's Reize in the background, hover-boarding around like a lunatic.

"We've met," Ivo murmurs to Leida (trying not to stare at her weird ghostly lights), as he deadpans up at the ladies above, the Shard Seekers erstwhile rivals. Not that the two groups have actually fought over much of anything yet. But with various teasing and playful insults hurled here and there, suffice to say there's a dash of spice added to their professional rivalry. Soon, Ivo, who had instinctively hid his emotions to mask his surprise, realizes what this situation means, and the knight-errant begins to grin all over again. "Who is to say what secrets the Desert Rose holds? The real question is," Ivo replies to Avira, eyes sparkling, "what are VALKYRI doing here? The ruins are dusty, to be sure, but I don't think there's anyone to pay you for your services." Four seconds before a maid joke, ladies and gentlemen, that may be a record.

Actually, the group is a bit larger than he realized, though he recognizes Katyna with quirk of his smile -- considering what she caught him during, he can only be amused -- and then, of course, his smile widens at the sight of Maira, assisted by Shida's helpful report. (Another Legion?) Actually, for a brief moment, Ivo's expression softens, remembering the pleasant surprise with which their date concluded. But it can only last a moment. "I'm here for you, of course, Maira," Ivo says, gallantly preposterous. "With the Desert Rose, I intend to win your heart." Needless to say, this is news to everyone. So much for staying out of trouble.

Ivo's gaze shifts back to Avira. He's not unfriendly -- something seems to have happened between them recently -- but his arch expression suggests nothing fundamental has changed about his attitude. "So now you know," he concludes. "The Shard Seekers have this covered. There's only one Rose, and the reward is ours." He sounds like he's teasing, but honestly, the Seekers need this. "Sorry you wasted your time, Avira. But what else is new?"

Grinning at her, he begins to descend back down into the cavern and toward the sinister hallway. "Come on, Reize!" he shouts up at their young leader, who seems to be taking this even less seriously than Ivo. "We've got a Rose to pluck before the sun goes down."

Is... is that it?

Avira has posed:
Avira pauses to stare at Faruja, this being the first time the Burmecian has ever been this short with her. "...uh..." She looks shocked, like someone just slapped her in the face. Shaking the surprise off, she looks at each in turn. Reize gets a special look of consternation.

Thank goodness for random Legions! Avira will happily accept Shida's help, even if she hasn't met this particular one before. Well, she's met some of the others and did help put Cronus to bed. They were a network, after all, so they probably already knew everything that Emi experienced.

"Hello Skoll." Avira half-smiles at the werewolf. "Funny you should mention that, we're here for the same thing. A crystal rose that will wilt once the sun has finished setting." Casually, Avira hops off of her chocobo. "Which DOESN'T GIVE US A LOT OF TIME." Avira says, raising her voice.

Avira lifts her head a little, trying to give off the impression that she's looking down her nose at Ivo...in spite of being much shorter. "Hello Ivo." she bristles just a little at the obvious maid reference before snorting, walking past him, and giving him a little shove. "Oh, we're here to clean up much more than /dust/."

His blatant flirting with Maira earns an eyeroll. Really? He's going to give Maira this crystal rose as a present? Sure.

She stops with her back to him, standing before the stairs descending into the ruins. "Oh really. Well..." she shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, "I guess they have this covered, ladies, so we should go home, right?"

There's a pause and Avira whirls around, suddenly gutpunching Ivo in the stomach.

"NO. Because we came here for this rose and we are NOT letting the likes of you swipe this quest from us!!! VALKYRI! LET'S GO!!!" With that, she takes off down the stairway into the ruins, calling after her. "AND SPEAKING OF DUST I HOPE YOU ENJOY EATING OURS!!!"

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Sheesh, Faruja has it coming hard. "Come on, Faruja. Don't be such a grouch. It may not have been a proper greetings, but they're still ladies. Honor dictates one still treats them well." The youth is just about to walk up to the Burmecian when Katyna speaks. This actually freezes him in place for a moment. He gives her an odd look. "I'm her brother, yes." He points out. "You know Hati?" Wait, does this mean that Hati has /friends/? Well... that was promising. "Small world." Of course, he immediately registers this along with the fact that Hati hangs with the Shadow Lords.

Distracted for a moment by Ivo talking, Skoll continues to walk a little further into the cave. "Careful about the rope please." He does glance at Leida's little green hovery things. But honestly, one must keep in mind the crowd he hangs out with. A walking mushroom who smokes, a plant-woman, a little kid emperor with some serious issues... a back-side-front starfish with an attitude... and whatever the *GOOSEHONK* Oscha is. Yeah, it's not that weird to him.

And that's when the werewolf finally gets his butt over to Faruja and tries to grab at the flask. "Hey rat. Gimme that. No drunken fighting - especially not around the kids. You might poke an eye out, and nobody wants that." That's right folk! No Drunken Fighting. DUI (Duking Under Influence) is a really bad thing to have on your record. "Well, none of our eyes anyhow." Of course, he might just make the rat more grouchy with that.

Wether the Burmecian gives it up or not, Skoll starts to head further in. Grab onto his tail! ADVENTURE!

And then, to Ivo, not moments after Avira punches the guy. "Just so you know... you kinda had that one coming." Before he rushes after Avira, unwinding the rope along the way.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Stuff starts happening. Crazy stuff starts happening. Other stuff starts happening. But beyond all that, one notable thing happens between the two members of Legion, now members of Dennou. The two pause and look at one another. At first the argument(?) happens silently, between the two of them and none others through their mental uplink. 'We should help the shard seekers' 'we should help VALKYRI'. They try to get a vote for consensus, BUT BECAUSE OF ISAAC HANLON, there are now 6 votes, not 5, and a tie naturally happens. Emi could tiebreak but she elects not to because seriously, everybody should get along? So a strange thing happens--the argument starts becoming a volumous argument.

"Shard Seekers!" Imi yells.

"The VALKYRI deserve it more," Shida counts.

"The Shard Seekers are reckless and fall on each other and end up doing this and that with each other all the time!, The Network submits this evidence to suport her claim!"

"I accept this evidence and use it as support for my initial argument, you have stepped onto my trap card. You have gone too deep, Imi, you have become one of them. You were supposed to spy on them, network with them--not become them. Return to us now before it is too late. The Network says?"

The two glower at one another before suddenly Shida grabs her bullwhip and snaps it forward--OH NO--snagging one of the hoverboard's wheels (why does a hoverboard need wheels? So it can perform SICK GRINDS that's why) and tugging it free right from underneath Reize Seatlan's feet.

"Surprise Attack." Shida says, hopping onto the board herself. "It is time we repaid Avira for her kindness. Goodbye, Imi... you could have been a winner, but instead..." She snaps her bullwhip back. "You will be stuck cleaning. Oh ho ho ho."

"Cheater! The Network accuses!" Imi shouts.

Maira has posed:
For someone she considers a close friend, Faruja's greeting is a little cold! Maira looks stung, but tries to shrug it off. Perhaps her friend is just having a bad day. Surely she didn't offend him somehow? She didn't forget a birthday did she?

"Uh oh," she says in response to learning they are here for the same reason as they are. Maira doesn't suppose either team is going to decide the leave and let the other try their luck. No no, it is going to be a competition. Maira only hopes that it will remain a friendly one. The young lady looks toward Avira, chewing her lip a little at the way Avira looked at Ivo. Nothing friendly there! Oh dear. If they get into a scuffle, there are likely to be some bruises or worse involved. This could be incredibly awkward. Maira turns her gaze to her fellow VALKYRI to judge where they stand, and find most of the expressions to be resolute.

If they were not already determined, Ivo's flippant insults and thinly veiled challenge would have sealed the deal. Maira sighs heavily.

Of course, when Ivo says he's going to use the Rose to win her heart, Maira turns about the color of boiled lobster. Indeed, her skin seems to let off steam for a few moments before she gets her magic under control. "You spread those rumors, Ivo?" she asks, turning her gaze to him. Her wide amber eyes look genuinely hurt and disappointed. No matter his professions, and whatever has happened between them, she's pretty turned off by his behavior toward her best friend.

"We are going to get that rose."

Uist, by her side but unseen as always, crosses his arms and growls to Maira, "Let him get the Rose, then I'll take it from his corpse." Maira gives her companion a stern glance to show her disapproval.

Watching Avira dismount, Maira does likewise and follows behind, only to stop and gawk in shock as Avira punches Ivo in the gut! She winces, but oh goodness...Ivo did kind of deserve it.

Uist LAUGHS in monumental approval of Avira's actions and pats her on the back....which is really just a sudden cold pressure, but maybe she'll understand.

Navya has posed:
"That's me!" Navya jabs a thumb at herself. "Navya. Nice to meet you - I'd shake your hand but I'd have to get off the chocobo. And then back on the chocobo. And I don't think it likes me very much."

The chocobo does not deign to reply. Its tuft of feathers near the back of the head twitches once.

Navya is about to say something more, but Reize is there - and then he's gone, flying wildly through a turn. Navya kind of follows it with her eyes for a few moments. She's not /quite/ staring. And then her eyes snap back to Ivo some moments later. "What? Hey, no! We came to get it - "

Avira does the punching for her. "Hey, wait for me!" Navya vaults off her chocobo (hopefully it stays put (it won't)) and practically scrambles after Avira, the gigantic maul on her back not really slowing her down. "This is like my first dungeon, don't leave me behind!" She looks apologetically at Ivo as she runs past.

She doesn't slow down though, so she must not be /that/ apologetic.

Katyna has posed:
Katyna smirks, folding her arms as she regards Ivo and snorts at his attempt at charm. "Seriously, dont you ever learn? Sorry, but we dont need your help to get the rose, and as far as we're concerned, it's up for grabs! First come, first served!"

She simply smirks at Skoll, eyes darkenning a tad. "Yes, it is a small world, isnt it?" More than you know! Grinning at Avira, Kat waves at the Shardies as she darts after her. "Well cant sit around chatting all day, see you losers later!!"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Instinctively, Reize flinches when he sees Faruja. He hasn't forgotten about the morning discipline! However, he regains himself.

"It's called the Duneboard!"

Helping Lenn off, Reize hefts the board up and he proudly proclaims, "A guy at Fluorgis developed it! Since we helped him when the heartless attempted to storm the place, he allowed me to test it out He said that it'll be the next big thing in the Dune Games. Or something." He scratches his head. THen he lifts his shoulders with a shrug.

And then, Katyna's flirty grin and wink earns him flushed cheeks. The boy cannot help but remember back to the night that they spoke. He coughs, "Katyna..."

Suddenly, the hoverboard is stolen.

"Ooiii! Give that back! Grrrrr..."

However, Ivo calls him to move onward towards the sinister hallway. Reize, excited for the adventure, runs over and actually springs up over Ivo's head to glide down the hallway.

"Adventure!!!!"

...Look, it's been a while since Reize had an adventure. Someone may want to keep him ou of trouble
---and the commotion starts. "Oh no you don't!" Reize is now no longer running on patience. He is also going to spring over Avira as well, "FOR THE DESERT ROSE!"

Sabin Rene Figaro has posed:
Suddenly, a wall explodes. And things were going so well.

Ancient stone blasts outward, undoubtedly proving awkward for people nearby, and the hulking figure of Sabin Rene Figaro stomps out from the shadows. He looks as massive as ever - six feet and a handful of inches, and built like a truck made out of smaller, heavier trucks. His chest, face and hair are a little white with sand, and he seems none the worse for wear for having walked through a building. His eyes are not normally spinning, however. "Ugh," he grunts, rubbing at his scuplted abdomen. "Cactus juice...so quenchy...but ain't sitting well." Sabin blinks owlishly, his eyes scanning the area. "Hey, uh....any of you guys got anything to eat? I can..."

His eyes rest on Minerva. Or, more specifically, Minerva's chocobo.

The big man smiles, and wipes a trickle of drool from his lips. "Winner winner, chicken dinner~" he sing-songs as he starts stepping forward.

Leida has posed:
"O-oh..." Despite her soft acceptance of the wolf spirit's assurances, the girl still seems to be quite on edge at this entire situation. The tension is practically humming. This needs to be handled gently and...

The swirling balls of green fire continue to drift about, their attention drawn by the arrival of fresh faces just as much as everyone else. After some introductions pass back and forth, they dart over to inspect some of Valkyri members more closely, languidly hovering infront of Minerva and Maira.

"Woooah, we got a whole crew of beauties that just rolled in! Raaaawr! Since when did women start to dress like this?!'

The spirit flame that Leida has dubbed Lefty dives towards the ground where it can get a better view. Ofcourse, to everyone else, this is just some weird bobbing light but the princess' pallid skin manages to regain some color as she blushes fiercely at the lewd behavior.

'Are... are they pink...?'

"S-Stop doing that!" The small girl shouts suddenly, her wispy voice magnified by the caves domed interior. Surprised by her own outburst, Leida turns even brighter red and whirls about, ducking behind Skoll completely this time. This prevents her from replying to any of the greetings, verbal and non tossed her way, as she seems far more interested in appearing as small as possible to avoid notice at this point.

That is until Avira /sucker-punches/ her guild mate! A hand goes to her mouth in surprise and concern and the princess scuttles over to Ivo, holding the torch up so he can see properly in the dim light. "I-Ivo-sama...! Are you alright?"

'Aww, you scared the ladies off...'

"Be quiet!"

Faruja Senra has posed:
Really, Faruja likes Ivo, even respects the man. Indeed, for all of the suave and Lady-chasing he does, the man's shown remarkable loyalty, bravery, and even leadership when the chips are down. Faruja has simply come to realize he doesn't understand the man, and given so many events as of late, hasn't had the time to settle the matter with Priel. Ahh, well. Hopefully Ivo's at least heard about the little incident involving Priel, a car, and the wyvern-shaped imprint left within it. The man would likely appreciate it.

"...Somehow, dear Ser, this does not fill me with hope. Ahh, well. Mayhap the Lord has placed me beside you to ensure I never grow bored." A hint of a smile. He's at least trying to show a sense of humor, the rat.

Ear-perk. Faruja touches a tail-tip to his chin thoughtfully. Stopping amid the start of dungeon-crawling, he rifles through his robes. "Ahh, by the Lord, where is it!? Yours indeed, M'Lady? I had not taken you for a fellow devout." He pauses, comprehension dawning. "Or...mayhap not. 'Tis back at Headquarters, I am afraid. I have kept it properly, with all due rites as a holy object of Ajora. I shall ensure it is returned to you personally, once we finish here." It's a solemn promise, given the cross likely belonged to a fellow Templar!

Sigh. Oh, Ivo, why did you antagonize her? Still, Skoll has a point. "Ahem. Apologies, Lady Avira, Lady Maira. I have been under duress as of late. Ser Ulfang has the right of it, 'tis no way to speak to Ladies, and more importantly, friends." At least the rat knows when to apologize, offering a bow.

By the time he straightens up, not only is he missing his drink flask, but Ivo has been smartly punched!

"S...Ser Ulfang! That...sentimental value, Ser! Damnit, just please be careful!" Blast it!

Blink. Oh, Ivo. "...It seems we both deserve a good smack. At least yours has come early, Ser Galvan." Rat, away!

Maira has posed:
AND SUDDENLY! Rocks fall and everyone dies. Wait, no. Sabin shows up. That's not /quite/ the same thing.

Maira's eyes widen as she runs by the insanely muscular man, her neck turning to look behind her as she goes. Once her eyes make it up to her face, there is something familiar about him...huh...

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Everything is going according to plAUUGKK

Ivo's grin broadens as Maira turns bright red, though the pleasure of teasing her has changed somewhat. He certainly liked her before, and never would have wished her harm, but his flirtations were always from an amused distance. Now, seeing her embarrassed threatens to embarrass him somehow, which is a strange feeling -- but not a bad one. He doesn't quite understand what it is, and it does sometimes make him a little uneasy, as closeness to others often does. But it's just as he's in the middle of reflecting on this that Maira's expression changes, and the question she asks blindsides him. "The rumors...? Those were..." He falters. Is Maira personally offended by that? He thinks of a joke, and then thinks better of it. No, the idiot finally realizes, Maira's most likely sad because /Avira/ was offended. Momentarily speechless -- a rare occurrence indeed -- Ivo turns toward Avira, who has actually turned away. Distracted, his lips twist. This is important, but-- "Look, it's because--"

He never saw it coming.

"--gnnghh," he finishes as he slumps to his knees, eyes widened, the wind knocked out of him as Avira dashes past. Skoll has some helpful words to which Ivo cannot currently retort, and he is pretty sure he even hears some strange ghostly laughter. Katyna is snarky as usual, which normally Ivo would find endearing, but, argh, ow, argh.

"Traps!!" is what he finally manages to shout, once he gets his breath back. "There are traps!! You--" And then, the first trap: Sabin exploding out of the wall like a lunatic. Ivo spends a moment just staring, until he actually /recognizes/ the man as the beach brawler that one day long ago. "Heh." Still with one eye squinted shut, Ivo cracks a smile. What's that saying about well-laid plans? He looks up at Leida and rises to his feet. "I'm alright. Thanks, Leida. Come on, we've got to get that Rose before they do -- and try to make sure no one gets seriously hurt!"

Reize is already chasing after Avira. It's time to cut loose. Ivo breaks into a run, dashing boldly into the hallway, and initiates Brilliant Contingency Plan Alpha. "Fine, then, the race is on," he calls, "but the losers... have to wear maid outfits for a full day!" And he turns to glance at Maira as he runs by, grinning again. "Especially Maira." Especially? What does that even mean, 'especially'?

Needless to say, this is an attempt to both confound his rivals and even further up the ante, as though that were necessary. Ivo Galvan, master strategist.

Lenn has posed:
Lenn may be recognizable to Sabin as the white mage that supported him in the defense of Fluorgis... She's bouncing (both literally and figuratively, as she runs along behind Reize... Which actually may be the safest route to take, since with Reize's luck, he's liable to hit every last trap.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"It's in good hands, Faruja. I promise you." Skoll answers to Faruja upon having 'stolen' the canister of booze. "I'll give it back to you after this mess." He adds to that promise, before hanging it onto one of the chains that hangs from his pants, and then tucking the tin into his pockets. They're deep and big pockets. And it's now keychained! So no way anyone will manage to get away with that thing.

Aaand that's where things start to get weird. Skoll halts as Leida ducks behind him and starts yelling to... nobody in particular. "I'm sorry, did I say something to offend you?" He inquires in a most confused manner. The first comment about 'stop doing that', he figured was aimed at Ivo being a 'player'. But the comment about being Quiet... well, it's hard not to think it may have been you who said too much.

And to make things worse, there is suddenly Sabin. Skoll doesn't really like that /look/ on his face. He touches a hand to Leida's shoulder to get her to stay closely behind him this time. "You.... better stay away from that man. I don't like the way he's looking at that Chocobo." And then he hears Ivo's comment about maid uniforms. "I will not be wearing a maid uniform for your sake of some foolish bet, sir Ivo!" Skoll reminds him. "Make Reize do my side!"

He then glances back to Faruja. "And if we make Faruja wear a Maid Uniform, make sure we give him a ribbon for his tail. So he doesn't seem 'naked'." He adds, grinning widely at the Burmecian. Aaaand, then he just kind of just stands there, trying to protect Leida from weirdness, while staring at Emi and her alternate just... bickering with eachother. It's kind of unnerving to watch.

So much so, that he just kind of starts to scootch sideways in the direction Ivo went, playing a hand to Leida's back to nudge her along. Away from the crazy: bringing the crazy.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Shida sees that Navya is having trouble keeping up. She slows down, just so, in order to offer her a hand up. "Hello there dragon woman," Shida says. "Would you like a ride?" She smiles down at Navya, not actually knowing her name--or species--or anything about her, though she seems nice. HOWEVER!! Despite all this, the smile is remarkably genuine. It is basically canon that Shida has an amazing smile. It's not just nice, but has this incredible love of life behind it that is just unescapable. Don't look directly at it, Navya! It counts as an eldricht horror.

"GIANT MUSCLE MAN!" Imi shouts.

"Careful!" Shida says, swooping around on the hoverboard to try and avoid any danger. "This one will support you... INstruct as you feel neccessary..."

"Me too!" Imi shouts. "I'm going to help Leida-Chan!" ANd indeed, the two summon their electrical powers and give them a bit of ... enhancement!? Getting close there to Leida now Imi...could she be up to ... something else?!

Navya has posed:
A wall explodes.

Navya staggers back. She is totally fine - but she's covered in rock dust and it stopped her flat-out sprint for a moment. "Ugh!" she growls. "That itches!!" And she can't exactly fish all the dust out in public. She's pretty sure it went down the gap in her shirt where her wings are.

"Don't break through walls!" she yells at Sabin. "It's a rule! Never cause collateral damage if you can avoid it!" It's yelling that keeps her behind, and thus - hey, she's been given an offer of a ride.

"Thanks!" she says, more quietly, once she's on board. She smiles back. It is less terrifyingly eldritch. "Follow Avira!"

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is very much with Avira it'as a contest one she totally plans to win out in. She grins at Avira "Then shall we? Ah even Ser Faruja is here." No she doesn't know his last name or she'd used. "I'm afraid we will be the ones going for it!" Then comes Sabin is coming after her bird. Wait he wants to eat her mount?! This is a riding bird not a meat bird. She's just shocked suprised and at a loss for what to do. She leaps off heer biord and stares at the man. "You are not having my beast as your dinner you knave!" She seems to be dropping into a martial arts ready stance of some sort. The chocobo is going wark this noise and trying to run.

Avira has posed:
"Quick! We need to move fast because that rose is going to disappear when the sun sets!" Avira calls to Navya. And more importantly, Avira thinks, they had to beat the Shard Seekers to the rose. She doesn't want to leave anyone behind no doubt, but the situation demanded swiftness!

Ivo shouts out about traps at, perhaps, just the right second for a moment later, Avira hesitates when she hears that word. In the very chamber she is in the middle of crossing, the floor is made from glass-looking tiles of many colors.

Just the slightest pressure on a blue crystal tile ahead of her makes it crumble beneath her foot. Fortunately, she doesn't plunge into the pit left behind due to her hesitation. "Tch! On your guard, everyone! The blue tiles are unstable!" OH NO THE WALL IS EXPLODING IT IS CLEARLY ANOTHER TRAP.

Hey wait a second. Avira RECOGNIZES Sabin. "What's that guy doing-"

Ivo calls out to her again and Avira almost doesn't stop. But his challenge does definitely get her attention, but it doesn't slow her as she leaps over the pit left behind by the crumbling tile.

"I accept your terms! But know this, when you lose, you too will have to wear a maid outfit, Ivo Galvan!!"

Avira smirks and darts forward, avoiding the blue panels and darting ahead at ominously increasing speeds.

Maira has posed:
Indeed, something is different, and it is all her fault! Is Ivo going to make her regret trusting him? Perhaps...she'll see. She doesn't want to think Avira and Uist are right.

Maira is already growing winded as she runs, chest heaving with the effort of breathing. A runner she is not! She is already far behind Avira and most of the other VALKYRI members. She doesn't even make it to the room with blue panels.

Now, when Ivo runs by her (because lets face it, she is not going to win any races) Maira hears his comment, loses her focus, and promptly trips, falling onto a floor sensor. There is a clicking sound, an extremely ominous noise in a dungeon, and suddenly Maira is falling! A sloped pit has opened beneath her and she is quickly sliding down, trying in vain to get purchase with her hands and feet on the slippery slope--as beneath her is, of course, spikes!

Will you go on Ivo, or will you stop and to help Maira and lose precious time!?

Reize Seatlan has posed:
...

Trap #1 activates!

As Reize is about to run through the treacherous caverns, he steps on a platform.

"Eh...?" suddenly, arrows are flung all over the place, piercing along the air with a whistle. "ACK!" The boy is yelping and rolling away from the set of arrows. And of course, one of those arrows stick out and it pierces the boy.

*DOINK!*

Right in the rear.

"GAAAAAHHH!!!!" And then, Reize is flailing, rolling along the way.

Trap #2!

A giant boulder-looking creature TWHOMPS towards the ground, slamming right in front of Reize. "Geeeecckk?!" It looks like some Golem creature. Maybe it's some form of a Wall Demon. However, the figure is rising into the air once more.

As Reize stands up andhe staggers, he accidentally steps on another device.

TRAP #3: HOOOOOOO!!!!

Reize is finally sticking the arrow off of his butt.

*WHAM!*

Reize meets the wall as the wrecking ball of a trap activates. He is smashed against the wall pretty hard.

All of this clears the way for Lenn.

Katyna has posed:
Katyna grins at Ivo and winks. "Maid outfits for the losers eh? Does that mean you guys gotta wear outfits too? Sounds like a deal! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" She nods to Faruja, a bit disappointed when he says he left it back at HQ. "Ahh..Too bad. Guess I'll have to get it then. Also...It'd be nice to catch up on stuff with you sometime, Faru. I have questions that maybe only you can answer for me..."

Her thoughtful look is only there for a second before she continues to dart down the hall, pausing only briefly to peer curiously at Leida's flame spirit friend things...What the? That's definitely new. "What are those, Leida? Where'd you get them from?" And suddenly the wall explodes and a big bodybuilder guy suddenly appears out of nowher.

"Woah, what the heck!? Where'd you come from?" She makes a face, having drawn her sword, but he doesnt seem to be a monster. "Phew, careful, I coulda poked yer eye out!"

She glances around to make sure the other Valks are with her. "everyone here? Let's go! Avira, which way?" But it seems she's already darting down some path and so Kat follows, having already enough faith in Avira to know she's good at leading them to victory. "See you guys in those maid suits soon!"

Lenn has posed:
All these traps slowing and injuring Reize only buy Lenn enough time to keep up with the seasoned adventurer. She *IS* starting to tire, though, as she starts pulling crystals out and healing Reize to keep him on his wrecking-ball course. She won't be able to keep this pace forever, though.

Sabin Rene Figaro has posed:
Sabin Rene Figaro does not recognize Lenn. On a related note, he is not certain why Reize Seatlan is being followed by a tiny purple spider plushy, or why the plushy is bouncing everywhere. Then again, he is not sure why Reize Seatlan's nose has been replaced by an elephant's trunk, either, or why everyone is able to run so fast even though the ground is made entirely of molasses. There are many things he is not sure of.

There is one that he is sure of, though: cactus juice is the /quenchiest/.

He waves at Maira - what a friendly little mushroom - and then looks up as someone calls his name. Or, at least, someone calls him Giant Muscle Man, which is something that a people call him sometimes. But then that person is being replaced by a floating upside-down house that is telling him not to break through walls. It is very confusing! "Okay, I won't, mister house person!" Sabin shouts back at Navya, mistaking her gender, species, genus, family, order, class, phylum and kingdom all in one go. "I've always wondered - do doors hurt you?"

The question will remain unanswered, however, as Minerva has leaped forth to confront him. The giant martial artist blinks at her, and scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Uh, I don't think you should call that nice young lady a beast," Sabin says confidentially, waving a hand at the chocobo he was, until a moment ago, trying to consume. "That's pretty unchiva...nonch...bad." He folds his arms over his chest. "Hmm...what'm I supposed to do about this? Those lessons on court crap were boring, but...I think I have to challenge you to a duel or something?" After a moment, he nods. "Right. That's what I'm supposed to do. Okay, uh...J'ACCUSE YOU!" he shouts, pointing at Minerva. "You...bad...anthropomorphic...hot dog man..." He drops into a combat stance, his arms and legs wavering. "Okay! Here I come!" he shouts, grinning foolishly.

A second later, he is streaking forward, snapping his hands in a series of rapid punches at Minerva's face, which he follows up by leaping upward and spinning, snapping a whirlwind kick at her body.

Faruja Senra has posed:
SUDDENLY, SABIN! Where once there was rat, there is suddenly rat smacked into rock wall by the man's sudden bursting through of walls. "...Ow. Knew I should have saved that drink. Good eve, Ser." Picking himself up, he's leaping, running, and generally trying to catch up with the rast.

"Do be careful, Lady Maira, Lady Avira!" Stuff blowing up. This can't be good!

"It seems the engraving do not lie!" Wait a minute. Faruja frows, mid-leap.

"...Wait. What exactly are you proposing Ser Galv..." Squeak! Spears rain down as the ratling triggers a pressure plate. Dodge, duck, spin, deflect!

Ear-perk. Faruja pauses, just after dodging the last spear.

"Wh...I know /nothing/ of what you speak, Ser Ulfang! I...I would not /think/ of ribbons! Particularly not upon beautiful, winged, alabaster Ladies, with souls of fire and eyes that the sky itself cannot compare to in lovelin..." Someone needs to shut up now. Leap!

"I would be delighted to do so, Lady Katyna!" Turning mid-air, the Burmecian gets to see poor Maira fall to a trap! "NO! MAIRA!" Terror floods his voice. And in the air as he is, even a talented Dragoon like him can't sharpen his descent enough to help her. Even worse, when he lands, it's on one of the /wrong/ tiles.

It crumbles, and Faruja finds himself falling! At the last moment, he grabs onto the adjacent tile, which happens to be solid.

Enter grouchy rat. "Lord in heaven, what have I done to deserve all of this!? Maira, fare you well? Ser Galvan, help the Lady!"

Leida has posed:
Taking a step back to make room as everyone takes off into the caverns, Leida's hand remains hovering over her mouth, this entire situation quickly spirally out of control. First there was time-locked boulders and traps and dark wet caves, now there's other people she has to worry about whom she barely knows? And is that Imi and Shida here too?

Upon being covered by Skoll and scooted towards the exit, the princess looks embarrassed and shakes her head vehemently. "N-no, I am sorry! I was not referring to you Skoll-san! It was--"

'Hey, atleast we still have a cute girl to keep us company!'

'I... I like green too...'

The two souls whisk back across the space now that their scantily clad distractions are gone and begin to hover around Imi, even as her electrical display lights up the area for a moment. The static build up lances into the smaller girl and she gives a girlish yelp as several strands of her hair suddenly stand on end. "You two stop that! O-oh and t-thank you, Imi-chan!"

Now protected by a big strong wolf and her affable but overly affectionate friend, Leida feels slightly more secure and ventures a look past their protective wall to peer at Sabin and his incredible muscles. She can't help but tilt her head sideways at the sheer physique. Why would anyone even NEED that many muscles? Did his body just make some of those bulges up?

"What... should we do? He sounds really... strange..." She pauses as something she hear finally makes its way through to her brain. "...what is a maid's outfit?"

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo runs like the wind.

There's a grin plastered on his face as, for once, the swordsman pursues the huntress, his eyes bright with merriment at her response to his offer. Needless to say, the thought of he and his groupmates being forced to wear maid outfits doesn't dismay him in the slightest. His heart races at just how, well, /interesting/ this venture has become, and even the traps can't defeat him. It helps, of course, that in his wake Reize sets off a series of triggers. "Good job, Reize!" Ivo calls encouragingly, even as the boy scrambles to avoid a spray of arrows. "Take one for the team!" He and Lenn seem to have come to similar conclusions, in their own way.

He sees Avira rush onward into a panel room, twisting as he feels the floor shift beneath him and narrowly, but gracefully, avoiding a spray of ancient arrows of his own. He turns as he does so -- and the grin falls from his features as he sees Maira, fatigued and falling behind, suddenly plunge into a pit, her hands slipping down the edge.

Bad as he is, it's not surprising that he doesn't hesitate.

"Maira!"

What /is/ surprising is that he manages to look so cool.

Leaping toward a suspicious looking patch of rock, Ivo drops into a slide as a spear trap engages and snaps right over him, just barely avoiding it without losing any momentum, and twisting along the ground with his own inertia to reach out just as Maira's hand threatens to slip. Smiling widely, he braces himself and hefts the fire mage up. "Don't worry," he says warmly. "I know which flower is the most precious to me."

He's mentally patting himself on the back so hard right now.

Obviously on a roll, he doesn't just stop at pulling Maira out of the pit. Before she's regained her bearings, he'll attempt to, assuming she doesn't wish otherwise, lift her up into his arms, cradling her just as he did when she fell out of the sky. "I was just thinking I needed a handicap," he says lightly, before he begins to run again, literally carrying one of his own rivals with him, pursuing Avira as he evades the blue tiles behind. As chaos ensues behind them, he reaches out a gloved hand, propping Maira against his shoulder. "If you get carried away, you'll leave your friends behind!" he taunts, as his hand begins to pulse with a rare display: the raw gravitational energy he uses to manipulate Hauteclare. "Why don't you... come down to earth!?"

The spontaneous gravity well will attempt to drag Avira down and trip her up, giving Ivo a little bit of time to catch up. He's so cool right now, Maira feels practically weightless. Yup. No problem.

In about three seconds, he's starting to breathe heavily.

"...everything's... fine..." he wheezily reassures the woman in his arms.

He is way too proud to put her down.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll raises an eyebrow at Leida, who starts to profusely appologize, and shakes his head. "Don't worry about it." He points out, "Stick with the two... strange girls." They semeed to be using magic to protect Leida. "I need to make sure the guys don't get themselves into trouble. I can't rely on Lenn keeping Reize alive - and I don't know if he brought my hookshot or not to keep him out of his early grave." Because, as far as Avira apparently was concerned, that was the only thing that kept Reize /alive/.

He pats Leida's head and smiles at her kindly. "Hang in there." He tells her, just before rushing off and letting his speed show, rushing after Faruja. With all these people triggering the traps ahead of himself, he has a fairly clear path. It's quite lovely really. While truly, if anyone strategically thought about this - he should be leading. Somewhat immortal and all that. Not that this is something he just goes around telling everyone.

By the time he gets to the room with the panels, he starts to move as required, jumping to the good tiles while shouting at Faruja - who babbles too much; "Dude, you are totally crushing on her, aren't you?" He calls out to Faruja. Squint. "You have been thinking of /other/ things haven't you? Not JUST ribbons on her tail, but the rest of that 'alabaster' skin." Skoll comments, before bouncing past Faruja in an attempt to catch up with Avira at least. But not before...

Not before attempting to 'push off' on Muscle-man. "DON'T CALL ME HOTDOG GUY!" On his face to be precise. "I am a noble wolf!"

Minerva has posed:
Minerva isn't sure what to think of Sabin he wanted to eat her mount and well? He's kinda distracted her from the loot rush that the VALKYRI are on also she senses something about him. A Feeling she got about her own master. She's got to wonder a she stares him down. "...Wait you speak in tongues." he shifts th block his incoming strukes with herr right arm and launmches into a series of rapid counter attacks. That punchw as good, very good...who is this guy?

She counter attacks and as she does so her fist catches fire, it just freaking bursts into flames. The kick it avoiding just barely, as Sabin proves just how good he is. Minerva is not used to runing into others like her that could very well be her better. It was ... exciteng to say the least!

Emi Dennou has posed:
Green is an awesome color.

Imi smiles over towards Leida, apparently oblivious to the spirits. Indeed, her expression only becomes puzzled when they are referred to--she looks around a bit and then shrugs her shoulders lightly. Leida says strange things a lot of the time. And then, all of a sudden, a command comes over The Network, she raises her hand to her hair, brushing some of it back as she looks on over to Skoll. Looks like he's about to rush off. Heh heh heh... Just as planned. Skoll has fallen for the Dennous' nefarious scheme!

BUT IN THE MEANWHILE

Shida rides on her (Reize's) awesome hoverboard. She is, however, briefly distracted when a swinging log trap springs and sends one spiraling for her body. Quickly, she pushes Navya off. "Hurry!" She manages to shout before she's knocked back and off the board by the trap--resulting in the hoverboard spiraling out of control!

BACK TO IMI

"Leida-Chan..." Imi says. "A maid outfit is something someone wears in order to do cleaning, it's something of a fetish for those of strange tastes." She chuckles lightly. "Oh my--it's a bit of a thing isn't it...?"

She walks on closer to Leida and rests a hand on her shoulder, intending to spin Leida around to look right at her. "Unfortunately..." Her eyes gleam. "I cannot allow you to risk this opportunity, Leida-Chan. It's a pity...but in this one..." Sparkles. "I was never on your side."

How else is she going to get to see The Shard Seekers dressed up as maids?! Quickly, Imi makes a move intending to disable Leida.

She lifts up her chin and activates the shoujo bubbles, staring soulfully into her eyes before she aims to plant a smacker right on her lips.

Secret Imi Shard Seeker Disabling Technique #1. She'll dip Leida as if imitating some sort of high romance if she gets the opportunity.

Avira has posed:
Things were looking good! For now, Avira had managed to lead and springs down a narrow corridor about as wide as two people. Were there traps here too? Likely, so Avira remains on her guard, keeping a special eye on the ceiling and walls, which are all shiny mirrored surfaces. Only...she becomes distracted suddenly by the yelling behind her. She didn't witness Maira fall into the pit and nearly slide to her doom, but between Faruja and Ivo's yelling, she has a darn good idea of what may be happening.

Immediately, guilt fills her. Focusing on the goal like this put her far ahead of her best friend-and her other VALKYRI friends, leaving her unable to help them. Ivo's follow-up shouting illustrates just that as well and she mutters something.

Was that a greatful look she just gave Ivo for saving Maira? M..maybe. No. She'd never give her rival such a look!

Suddenly Avira faceplants into the ground, the gravity spell dragging her to the floor. "Arrrgh..." she struggles and squirms, fighting against the spell that keeps her held down until she manages to overcome it with sheer willpower.

Though by now she is behind. Behind and faced with a dilemma...if she continued to take shots at Ivo, then Maira might get hit or hurt too! "That isn't a handicap at all!" Avira calls after Ivo. "Don't tell me you're going to carry her the whole way!" For now, she just runs, struggling to catch up again.

She's sweating profusely. There was something about this mirrored hallway. Was it getting hotter?

Maira has posed:
Maira hears Faruja calling for her as she slips, but she cannot respond. All her effort goes toward not becoming skewered by the spikes in that pit, desperately trying to hold on. Uist is a hair's breath from manifesting to save Maira just as Ivo goes into action-hero mode and slides beneath ancient spears to grab Maira's hand and haul her out of the pit.

Maira, fairly terrified of spikey doom, clings to Ivo as he lifts her out and into his arms. His oh-so-charming response would have taken her breath away if she wasn't already having a bloody hard time at the usually simple task of respiration. She gulps, looking into his eyes for a moment as if she had something to say--before he starts to run. "Eeee!" she manages to squeak.

When he stops and casts a gravity spell on Avira, the spell is somewhat broken and Maira begins to try to struggle out of his grasp. "P-please let me down!" she asks, hoping that would have come out a little more demanding! "I know I have a potion here that will help..." she says, trying to reach back and get her hand into the pouch at her side.

Luckily (?) Uist is too impatient to wait for Ivo to listen to Maira and thus intends to give him a bit on incentive via a sudden, semi-incorporeal fist to the jaw. "Unhand her," he growls, and perhaps Ivo may even hear it.

Navya has posed:
Navya surreptiously scratches as far up her back as she can and beats her wings while riding with Shida, which does manage to dislodge a tiny bit of rock dust but only makes the rest of it itch worse. Blast Sabin and his Kool-Aid impersonations. She's going to have to clean that out later!

She manages to regain her balance about half a second before she's shoved off. "Hey - be careful!" she yells, thinking it was a mistake at first - but nope, it wasn't, and now she - like the board - is falling out of control.

Navya hits something. It might be a wall. It might not be. She isn't really sure because she kind of hip-checked it and at that speed everything feels the same.

Faruja Senra has posed:
Ears fold back, the rat's nose suddenly sporting a blood drip, and his fur is tinged pink. Faruja waves his spear from half-way out of the hole he'd nearly tumbled into. "I know naught of what you speak Ser Ulfang! I do not /crush/ upon visions of winged, angelic beauty!" Seriously rat, shut your trap!

A sigh of relief, comes, as he finally hears and then sees Maira rescued by Ivo. Shoo! "Oh thank Faram! We must all be careful"

Pause. He glances to the rest of the crystal floor. "Oh, frack it!" An incantation later, and..."Warp!"

Faruja winds up somewhere in the middle of the group. Generic trap sounds. "...Come now." He deadpans! Sploosh! Suddenly a black, sticky substance drops down from the ceiling. The rat dodges, his burnt arm coated instead of his entire body. Sniff sniff. How strange! What a silly tra..."...Oil?"

A torch falls. Cue screaming, flailing rat with his arm on fire.

Sabin Rene Figaro has posed:
"Augh, punches!" Sabin yelps. "My only weakness!" Minerva's fists thunk into the big man's side, and he steps backward, covering up as best he can. "NOOOO! NOOooooh wait, I'm totally okay," he mutters, almost to himself, lifting his arms to look at the bruises. And then he freezes in place, staring wide-eyed at his hand. He wiggles his fingers slowly back and forth. "You guys," he whispers. "No, you guys - I can /see/ /time/. I can---OH MAN A TALKING WOLF! Hey, can you see time too with your wolf pow--"

*KER-BLAMMO*

"Now I can't!" Sabin snaps as Skoll crashes into him, holding a hand to his left eyebrow, where blood is leaking from a swelling cut. The big man lowers his hand again, frowning at it, and snaps his fist downward. The martial artist's eyes seem to clear, chest and shoulders swelling as he takes a step forward, rocks and sand grains rolling slowly away from him. "You may not be a hot dog," Sabin snarls, "But I think it's safe to say your...uh...your..."

He stops, and then starts patting himself. "Your...damn it, where'd I..." Pat, pat, pat. "Oh, here!" he says, brightening. "Right, uh...where was I. Okay." Sabin clears his throat, and then points at Skoll. "You may not be a /hot dog/," he growls, "But it's safe to say your goose..."

B|

".../is cooked./"

Sabin stands there, sunglasses over his eyes, for at least four seconds. FInally, he starts looking around. "Where...where's the scream?" he asks, sounding confused. He then turns toward Minerva and Skoll. "It's your fault!" he roars, surging forward, hands grabbing for their chests. "DO THE AWESOME YEAH THING!" he shouts as he tries to slam them into the ground. "STOP RUINING MY /AWESOME JOKES/!" Another slam.

Leida has posed:
"Something you wear while cleaning? Oh like an apron...?" The princess' head tilts to look at her shoulder as Imi's hand comes to rest lightly upon it, a quizzical noise escaping from the small girl. That quickly turns into wide-eyed surprise as she is suddenly spun about, coming face to face with her best friend.

"I-Imi-chan...?" Leida's voice is timid and confused as she stares back at the other girl. A blush instinctively rushes to her cheeks at the subtle glint in the Legion's eye almost as if some part of her knows what is about to happen. "What do you mea...?"

The gentle touch on her chin as her head is tilted up to accomodate Imi's superior height causes the princess' voice to die out as if a silence spell had been cast in that moment. Her large eyes waver with uncertainty, her heart beginning to beat rapidly. Cherry blossoms start to fall in the background amid the bubbles, whirling lightly about in an unfelt breeze that rustles their hair and somehow only seems to affect the two of them.

And then the their lips meet, Imi's betrayal completed. Leida gasps softly her entire face turning red but she has no power to fight back against such a dastardly surprise attack. Social awkwardness, her one (okay more like one of MANY) weakness! The flickering torch in her hands falls to the ground with crackle of embers and sparks from insensate hands, her weak fingers unable to contend with the burning passion that has in turn gripped her!

'What... I... how...?'

'Shut up and let it happen.'

Faruja Senra has posed:
"THAT IS INAPPROPRIATE, LADY IMI! AND DO BE CAREFUL, CHERRY BLOSSOMS ARE DANGEROUS!" Comes the indignant yell of Faruja back to the pair.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"/Visions of Winged Angelic Beauty/ huh?" Skoll repeats after Skoll. "I'm not sure she's into the religious types though. It was a Priest that made her wear those bandages." He warns him, just staring at the rat getting a bloody nose and starts blushing. Of course, it's not for long that Skoll can continue to taunt Faruja, for the crazy muscle-man is... 'talking' again.

Skoll actually has to pause and stand still just to get what the man is talking about... he's trying to 'understand' him, and it's just not working. "My goose is cooked?" He just /stares/ at him. What's with the sunglasses.

"Yeah!?" Skoll shouts rather lazily, before jumping back dramatically in order to get away from the muscle-man, with this disgusted look on his face. "Dude, like, don't touch me." That's around the time the werewolf just throws his rope towards the man and shouts; "LOOK OUT! SNAKES! SNAKES ALL OVER YOUR BODY! THEY WON'T COME OFF!"

That should keep him busy. He's dealt with the effects of opiates enough. I mean, come on. Helba's on his team.

And off he goes again, following behind Faruja, jumping on him while taking off his jacket and starting to put out the figure by trying to snuff out the fire. Hey, he's helping!

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"Well," Ivo gasps, "if... you insist... I suppose I'll... have to..."

The next stage of the hallway does indeed seem to be getting hotter -- no thanks to a certain ratman running around screaming and ablaze -- which isn't any help for Ivo's current fatigued condition. Still, as Maira asks to be released and he slows to a stop -- not that he needs to catch his breath or anything -- the softness of the fire mage's body registers on him, and he smiles down at her, a hint of mischief returning to his eyes as his brow glistens with beads of sweat. "Say, we haven't been this close since I took your measurements," he notes playfully. "It's getting a bit warm in here. Maybe we should put this race on hold and have another swimmi--"

CRITICAL HIT.

The invisible right hook snaps Ivo's head to the side, promptly eliminating all accrued cool points, the knight-errant going cross-eyed as he half-drops the young woman already freeing herself from his grasp and goes tumbling across the stone. An onimous click follows, and a block drops from the ceiling -- just narrowly missing Ivo's head, exploding against the ground. He stares vacantly up at the ceiling for some time, traumatized.

"Who... who keeps doing that?" he finally says aloud.

Ghost Dad, Ivo. It's Ghost Dad.

Grunting, he struggles to his feet. "Maira," he says to the fire mage, dazed into being mildly serious, "can you help Faruja?" So much for their rivalry. "He looks a little... indisposed. I've got to chase Avira." He pauses for a bit, and this time, his smile is neither delighted nor playful, but soft and somehow actually apologetic. "I'm sorry we're on opposite sides today," he adds. "But don't worry. She and I aren't enemies."

He turns on his heel, and offers one last grin.

"Just rivals."

He dashes after Avira, down the mirrored hall, tragically thereby missing out on the girl-on-girl making out and Sabin's delirious joke, which Ivo definitely would have gone 'YEAH' to, if it helps. To no one's surprise, this whole venture has all gone haywire, but the battle for the Desert Rose is still on. "Avira!" Ivo shouts, even as he finds the heat almost choking, drawing Hauteclare from its sheathe. It's go time. "I hope you've gotten better since our last match!"

He didn't think about it as he was saying it. But as the blade detaches from its hilt, summoning a pulse of energy, and hurtles toward the huntress, aiming to smack its flat about her legs to trip her up and then whip about to bang her over the head--

"Heh!"

--he realizes that he actually means it.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize had been in pain after the wall is imprinted with his form thanks to the wrecking ball. When the boy manages to peel himself from the walls, he staggers around until Lenn actually heals him using her crystal. The boy leans against her, hugging his fiancee close. "Guhhh...."

Ouch, pain.

Of course, with Lenn healing him. The boy is already staggering up. "Okay, Lenn! Let's continue the way!"

As the boy is starting to run down the stairs...

Suddenly, Navya lands RIGHT on Reize. "WHA--ACK!" And the boy is now being used as a board. Not just any board, but a surf board.

~Surfs up, Navya!~

That's right, surfing music plays in the background as the stairs now leads to be a passageway of hell. The stairs suddenly slides over to become a smooth platform that travels all the way down to a more single path.

Trap #1:

At each side of the path are two massive statues with an axe. As the boy is passing down, those axes soon slam down at the boy simultanously.

"GACK!!!"

It is by PURE LUCK that it misses him. It totally slams against the ground, passing him without worry.

"OI! GET OFF OF ME!" The boy would flail, but he's busy being a surf board!!!!

Trap #2:

Then, this comes the sound of screeching birds that release some sonic blast. This disorients the boy. With the screeching disorienting him,this leads to...

Trap #3:

A ramp. This ramp leads to the other side. Bed of spikes are nearby. That's right, the bed of spikes are at the bottom. However, as Reize slides onto the ramp...

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" His hands wave around. Soon, he lands on the other side. "Okay, that's it!" Reize is irritated with having a person on his back! The boy reaches over to his rider, moving to buck her off of him pretty hard.

Maira has posed:
"Uist! That was not very nice!" Maira scolds as Ivo is socked very cleanly in the face by her ghostly protector.

She nearly screams when a block from above falls and nearly crushes his head! Her hearts skips a beat, then she scrambles forward to try to help Ivo up, her hands shaking with fear or an adrenaline overdose. They are sort of the same, are they not?

At his request, Maira nods emphatically. "Of course! D-don't you hurt Avira, Ivo!" she calls after him. She supposes even she can't interfere with a destined rematch.

Besides, there is a rat on fire.

Following the sound of screaming and the smell of burning fur, Maira rushes toward Faruja. As soon as she has him in her sights she sees his arm covered in oil and burning. Oil fire. Water will not do the trick.

The young mage bites down on her lip hard as she sets her sights and her Will upon the fire that is consuming Faruja's arm and ....pulls. She opens herself, attunes herself with the flame, and draws the heat right out of it and into herself. The flames should simply extinguish, as if deprived of oxygen.

Maira reaches him then, and casts a quick cure on the poor Burmecian knight. "Are you alright Faruja!?" she asks, now keenly aware that this place is /horrible/ and filled with painful death.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Shida was trying to get Navya out of danger but instead--something terrible has happened--she has put her out of danger, perhaps, but she has put her on reize! And that's a very dangerous place to be. Shida rushes in an attempt to catch up and help and sees Navya riding a Reizeboard. She raises her hands as Reize tries to fight back and then--

--then just lowers her hands again as she sees that Navya seems to be handling the Reize board just fine. Instead, Shida uses this opportunity to get back her hoverboard. "Hang in there, dragon woman friend, The Network swears to help."

MEANWHILE AT THE IMPORTANT PART

Imi can't respond to Faruja! HER MOUTH IS BUSY. However, a /deadly cherry blossom/ manages to land on her nose. Wrinkling her brow, Imi's nose twitches a few times. A pair of cherubs drop down from the air and blow trumpets for a few seconds before Imi swats them lightly out of the air, grinding her heel on one absentmindedly before kicking it away.

"Leida-Chan..." She whispers, pulling back as she gazes lovingly into Leida's eyes. "When you make that face...I cannot help myself." She strokes the sides of Leida's face with her hands. "It's so cute...~"

And then she guides her arms down to Leda's sides, lowering her own body in kind and then lets go with one hand, reaching down to...

....

...tie Leida's shoelaces together!!

Navya has posed:
Navya actually doesn't have a damn clue how to surf.

She manages. Keeping her body weight low, Navya spreads her wings reflexively; it gives her some control that a human wouldn't. She starts to grin. Even if she is riding on some guy, who she feels a little guilty about.

Navya actually seems to be doing okay, though - though perhaps not at first. Reize is going through all the low traps, but Navya has to deal with the upper ones. The first is a small flamethrower; Navya yelps and ducks low, and it doesn't do much more than scorch her extended wings, but it stung!

Ducking low means she goes straight under a tripwire without ever knowing it's there. Popping back up, Navya banks to the side, swerving around an extended spear from a wall. It doesn't quite touch her either, but it's a lot closer.

Reize grabs at her. Navya feels a hand on her ankle. She screams in a decidedly non-adventurer-y way and stomps down, hard. "Oh, geez, sorry!" she says afterwards, still trying to steer. Reize. By leaning to the side. "I thought you were... ugh! Just keep going! I need to get the rose!"

Avira has posed:
Well that is fortunate, Maira did manage to 'free' herself from her paramour! "Keep yourself moving and you won't get hit!" Avira calls out to Maira in an encouraging manner. Now that she's fallen behind a little due to the gravity spell, she does keep a better eye on her friendly fire mage. Speaking of friendly fire...

...it would be a good ideal to not remain in the crystal hallway for too long, lest they risk being set on fire. The whole chamber is heating up significantly, the mirror surfaces somehow magnifying the heat. Noticing this, Avira grabs ahold of Maira's hand and pulls her along, kicking down the door to the next room.

The next room is pretty roomy! Apparently the perfect place for Ivo to make his move against his bitter rival. No sooner than she steps in the room, she hears Ivo call out for her. In a flash, she has the Spine in her hand and is quickly able to whip around and deflect the detached blade as it goes for her legs.

Taking a step backwards, with both hands she swings the Spine upwards to parry that blow as well. "I'll have you know...!" In a flash, Avira bursts in, coming at Ivo at an angle to strike with her own blade. Of the three serrated sides, she chooses the flattest and less dangerous one to strike with as she blows past him.

She stops at his flank, striking from there with an overhand blow to /his/ head. "That I most certainly have!"

Avira steps away, satisfied, when...

Click.

Holes suddenly slip open on all walls in that particular chamber, unleashing a torrent of short thorny spears, criss-crossing the room. Avira is completely blindsided by this and, unlike the blows from Ivo, she does not manage to parry any of them. In an instant, she is pinned to the wall like a bug, though mostly through her clothing. Her arms and legs are scraped and her armor has protected anything vital from being hit.

"Urggh-" she groans and painfully starts to wrench herself free.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva seems to be able to hit him, but whoever this man is? He's got a heck of a sense of humor he really does have a very good sense of humor it's strange however. Skoll is getting a look at for a moment as she more just enjoying this brawl than being that serious. It's not like she's punching elemental attacks all the time, the fire sure but that was just once normally it's a storm of the elements. She's clearly enjoying it and she looks at Skoll

"You afraid of another man? I see! I see!" She laughs and pauses as he's starting to move to help as for Sabin she spins right back at him seems she knows how to do it too.

"Your humor is strange ser!"

Leida has posed:
The princess' eyes slide to a half-open position, her vision going hazy with a dreamlike quality as the kiss lingers for several moments and wavy distortion filters get applied to the camera to make it look all romantic and stuff. She stares back at Imi with a blank look, her mind going numb from the overload of embarrassment and emotions that surged forth like a tidal wave much like the last time this happened. Clearly, the Network had been gathering this data for nefarious purposes!

When at last the two seperate, Leida remains in a dazed state, merely responding to the gentle touch upon her face with soft noises of appreciation. Further words from her friend send fresh waves of awkward shame rippling through her body and she completely loses herself in the other girl's enchanting spell.

When Imi begins to bend down before the princess the two spirits begin to visibly quiver in sheer uncontrolled excitement. 'Is... is she about to do what I think...?'

'Unbelieveable... just... unbelievable! MY DEATH WAS NOT IN VAIN.'

And then she goes for the shoelaces? Leida herself is still too lost in the moment to notice this strange turn of events but the souls are most definately paying close attention.

'What... what is she doing that for? Is this what kids are doing these day?!'

'That or this was all an elaborate trap and she's about to make a run for it.'

'No! We can't let that happen! You! You know what we must do!'

'Naturally.'

The two balls of green fire float into the air, swirling around behind Imi ominously. Their flames flicker brightly as they charge, spiralling together into a ghostly hammer of JUSTICE to try and knock her forward and into Leida.

Faruja Senra has posed:
Even while ON FIRE Skoll's reminder of a certain winged being's troubles has him scowling and squeak-snarling. "Hmph! Any person that would do something so terrible to a wonderful person such as Lady....the dear Lady is not worthy of the title! I prefer 'Butcher'! Or better, 'Heret...Oomph!" Cue wolf-on-rat Jumping. Somehow, this feels backwards. At least there's less religious ranting and more not being on fire.

"Much obliged Ser Ulfang."

Unfortunately, fire spreads, worryingly close to the rest of him. It'd be a simple thing to put it out, really. But terrors grips the rat, old fears coming back. It's only when Maira sets to work, drawing the flame's very essence away that he finally stops with the screams and slowly calms down. The cure certainly helps!

Gasping, the ratling gets to his feet. "...No. To put it bluntly, I do believe this place would be best described as a /Faram forsaken pit/. Thank you Maira. I shall be fine if I can go through the week without being set aflame for the /fourth/ time from here on out. Well, let us see if we can keep our companions alive, hmm? What say you, truce?" Arms offered, and he'll lift the woman up if she'll let him!

"Allow me. No more falling into pits!" Leap! Rat and magess away! Thankfully, the immediate traps are alerted to thanks to Reize's efforts. Cue much acrobatics, and both the Dragoon and Maira come out of things okay!

Faruja looks back to the chamber that's heated up. Oh, thank Faram he's away from there! Avira's triggering of the trap has him at least realizing the danger involved. His turn! Twirling his spear, he knocks falling, shooting short-spear thorns. Most are utterly deflected, but many others bounce off of his well-made armor beneath the robes. One, however, hits his hand hard enough to send the spear flying past the trap itself. Frown.

Grabbing Maira by the waist, like a proper gentlerat, he begins to put a famous Burmecian skill to use. Dancing! Deftly ballroom dancing her across the trap, he bends, dips, twirls, spins, and generally makes one heck of a show for anyone watching. Hopefully Maira can dance as well! The rat's sure to show all of the steps. They generally involve 'not being in the way of sharp stabby spears'. Once they're at the end of the trap and out of danger? Lean in! A chaste, honorable peck to the hand.

"Always a pleasure to dance with you, my friend!" Smile! 5r

Sabin Rene Figaro has posed:
"What snakes?" Sabin asks. "There aren't any snakes on me. And this..." He catches the rope in his left hand. "See? It's no snake. It's just a piece of...hang on." He takes off his glasses. "OH MY MAGI!" he screams, recoiling from the rope. "It's a snake! SNAKES EVERYWHERE! AIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" he squeals, cowering as Minerva comes in. Her blow smashes into his belly, driving his bulk upward. Sabin's mind drifts through the cactus fog, reaching into his memories. Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? What would Master Duncan do if he was in this situation?

//zomgflashback//

"Master?"

"Yes, my student?"

"Do you think you should teach me about elemental weaknesses or anything? I mean, what if I'm fighting a snake or something? What should I use?"

"Punches."

"...Master, that's what you say to use on everything."

"Because it's the /only element you will ever need/."

//flashbacktimeisovernow//

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!"

The cry of the prince of Figaro rips across the ruins, shivering air and sand, sending a few of the walls tumbling down upon themselves. Chi blazes out from the giant man as he begins to fall, raw power blazing out of every pore. "That is it!" he screams. "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I HAVE /HAD IT/ WITH THESE MONKEY-FIGHTING SNAKES ON THIS MONDAY-TO-FRIDAY PLANE!"

"You're not on a plane, sir," a passing vulture notes.

"Oh right, thank you," Sabin asides, politely, and then concentrates on driving his massive fist down into Minerva or, say, anything breakable that happens to be around her at the time. Like the ruins. Or the desert. Or, given the amount of power he is giving off, the continental shelf.

Lenn has posed:
Lenn frowns as Navya begins Reize-surfing. She pulls out a few crystals, eyes narrowing, as her energy gathers. She then levels her staff at the dragon-girl. "Get. Off. My. HUSBAND!" Fire and Ice both lance out, as Lenn tries to unseat that rider.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
At last, blade meets blade -- and it does not disappoint.

Ivo's floating sword is neatly deflected by Avira's parry, and its flight path knocked askew, leaving him with nothing but a hilt in his hands as she blurs toward him. Immediately the smile on his face melts away, his underlying seriousness revealing itself as he senses the improvement in her fighting technique. He's been training with Raiya, it's true, but Avira has grown exponentially in the same amount of time. As someone who has never thought of himself as a natural at combat, who can't enjoy it in and of itself, and who indeed has some lingering doubts about his own worthiness to wield Hauteclare, he can't deny a twinge of uncertainty. She wastes movement and is too straightforward in her approach, as always, but perhaps unlike him--

"Hmph!"

Avira may have natural talent.

You'd think that with Ivo's public personality, he'd be some gifted slacker who never practices, but anything he knows about the sword he learned by dint of diligence. All that training shows itself now. As Hauteclare's blade whirls back, summoned to him, Ivo deftly weaves aside, his shoulder slipping as Avira's fierce counterslash passes narrowly by him. The tightness of his almost dancelike movements and how he retains his poise suggests that it is technique, not speed, that is his ally. "Not bad," he murmurs, his smile returning slightly. "But--"

Now pulsing with energy, the floating blade that has missed her continues to flip back to his hilt-- and Avira is right on its flight path. If she's forgotten about it, it'll thump her right on the back of the head and shock her as it goes.

"You know you can't win, right? I--"

He's rendered briefly speechless by the crisscrossing spears that Avira triggers, tearing her clothes and momentarily pinning her against the wall. Needless to say, Ivo's eyebrows shoot up. "Oho, you look much better like that," he taunts, lowering his sword and sauntering forward, beginning to grin again. "Too bad about your clothes. If you need a replacement, may I suggest a maid--"

Stepping foot, his foot hits the stone floor with a click.

"--hm?"

Whereupon an identical trap triggers, spears lancing out to pin Ivo against the /opposite/ wall, his eyes widening. "Aw," he mutters, after a moment of silence. "I liked this outfit." At least you're alive!! With a sigh, he begins to tear himself free-- then seeing Avira wriggling away, begins to pull harder, ripping at his own shirt to do so. He looks down at the damage with a grimace, then hesitates, and then with a little smile just casually pulls off his own shirt, discarding it and his cloak. So many distraction tactics, so many. "It was getting hot in here anyway," he asides to Avira, amused mere moments after his brush with death.

It is now! Woot woot!

And then he's off again. "Well danced, Ser Senra!" he complements his fellow knight (and/or the actual knight) as he rushes on. There's a little light flickering in the distance, and they seem to be reaching the end of the hallway. Could they be approaching-- the final chamber?

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize is a ride that is very disobedient about being put in his current situation. Given that Lenn is likely far beind him curently, Reize is continuing to act as the board. It is perhaps the most humilating situation to be in. Nevertheless, Reize continues in stride.

However, it is then that Navya stomps down on his head pretty hard. "Ooof!" The pain is brought on as his head reel back and he is pulling himself back up. He continues that long, slippery slope.

...In fact, the slope is where Reize is BUCKING back to try to knock Navya off of him. Next, the slope along the Desert Dungeon goes into a slippery slide.

That's right, a slippery slide.

WELCOME TO TRAP #1!

"AAAACKKKKK!!!!!"

Now, this isn't too bad of a trap, right? Just a little slide, nothing to go wrong.

Enter Trap #2

There is a trail of liquid pouring on the slide. Behind them, something ignites. When it ignites, it catches on fire and the flames are rolling along the spiraling slide, threatening to scorch the two.

Enter Trap #3:

...At the very end of the slide is a ring of fire.

That ring of fire is going to be very scorching.

And Reize passes through that ring, roasting completely. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" The boy is caught on fire, rolling around in his attempt to extinguish the flames.

And thus, Reize reaches into his bag of tricks and he tosses something out, hoping to spray it at Navya's face while trying to throw her off for the last time. Then, he spins around in an attempt to break free and give the adventurer a spinning kick.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Shida, who is a lot less insane than Imi, gets her SURFS UP board and hops on top of it, TOTALLY WICKED JIVING IT after Navya. "Dragon girl. Tasty elf." She says neutrally, the smile gone because this is serious business for serious time. She raises her hand, summoning a ball of LIGHTNING-DA and sends it flashing down for Navya's body. The electricity, upon connecting, ENERGIZES HER BODY WITH THUNDER ENERGY which is good for you you know!!

Of course the buffs just end up going on her because ... one good deed deserves another?

MEANWHILE AT THE IMPORTANT PART

Imi may be a spymaster but she can't account for ghosts that she can't account for. Instead, she is easily konked upside the head, and she flops forward onto Leida's body. Probably in a hilarious way too, for that matter. "Oof...!" She says and, irregardless of where her hands ended up she says.

"Oh my." Pause. "Was that you? I didn't know you to be so forward, Leida-Chan..."

Navya has posed:
Whoops. "Oh man, you're /married/??" Navya seems honestly surprised by this. "I didn't mean anything, he was just - there! And I'm riding, and - "

WHUMP

Navya can't dodge magic while she's steering, apparently. Reize gets some relief - he's no longer being directly ridden, because Navya has fallen off. (He helps.) The boot sends her rolling - right into a pit trap!

There's another trap inside the pit trap, judging by the yell from the bottom. Trap designers are all jerks.

Navya pulls herself out. She looks like she's covered in rime, and she's definitely shivering; the frost trap at the bottom coated her. When she flexes her wings, there's a constant chiming of little broken-off pieces of ice as they hit the ground.

And then she charges. Navya has actually pulled out her hammer, and energized by Emi's thunderbolt, Navya goes into a wild spinning attack! This takes out at least one wall; gigantic chunks of rock go flying everywhere and may hit both of them!

"I'll still get there first! Rule nineteen - if there's no way there, make one!" This may explain why Navya is swinging at the wall again - and she's /strong/. "Plus you threw me into a trap, and that's not cool!!"

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"You try telling her that." Faruja growls at Faruja when he claims the 'Priest' were a 'Butcher'. He then gets off of him when the fire spreads - Maira approaching. He knows little of Maira - but he does know that she's somehow attributed to the word 'Fire'. To see her draw the fire away from the mouse is something he mentally notes, and actually finds both surprising and... intrigueing. Such control of fire isn't something he often sees.

Skoll continues to stand back, glancing back Emi and Leida's way, and gives the both of them a bit of a look. Youngsters. Whatever.

And off goes Faruja with his acrobatics, leaving Skoll in the dust. The youth lets out a long sigh, before hearing the clashing of blades. Avira and Ivo going at it. Honestly, he has a hard time at this moment, figuring out what to do. The youth continues to watch a little longer, staring at the two of them going at it... when the werewolf decides to go for the dramatic twist.

Skoll Ulfang dips down, and then makes for a huge leap forwards and breaks out the chains, and flings himself forwards in an attack to drive himself between the two of them. From there, he spins around and swings his chains out to both of their blades in an attack to capture them, while standing right between the two. Both of them are given a bit of a glare by him, before he jerks on his chains and lets dark magical lightning rip through them in an attempt to wrest the blades from them at least momentarily.

"Can you two love-birds concentrate for a moment? Time is running out." He reminds them. His tail is bristled, and his ears are flat to his head. Who knows what is going on in the werewolf's head at the moment.

Maira has posed:
Maira smiles and waves a little to Skoll. "Heyyy..." she greets, then turns back to Faruja, smiling brightly as she hops into his offered arms. "Of course Sir Faruja!" This is starting to become a comfortable routine for them after all. Plus, being jumped around is /fun/. Faruja sure is strong from his size, goodness, Maira thinks as they leap over traps, enjoying the momentary wind on her face and the feeling of giddy weightlessness that comes from being airborn.

Before she can really even register what is happening, another trap has been sprung and Faruja is grabbing her by the waist and twirling her into....a dance!? Surely she is dreaming. Surely they are not literally waltzing through a dungeon. This is not happening.

As Maira doesn't think too hard about it because she it too busy being absolutely stupefied, Maira's body simply follows Faruja's lead, the two of them dancing gracefully in sweeping movements of perfect synchronicity.

Huh. She's had dreams like this. Generally, she is wearing a ball gown and is surrounded by glittering chandelier, flowers, and amazing, never-ending food--not flying spears, knives, pits of acid, etc.

Well, at least the gallant knight part was right?

When she's done being whirled, dipped and swept off her feet, Maira looks around to try to figure out what is going on. Avira and Ivo are fighting. This is not a surprise. What is a surprise is that both of their clothes are torn and Ivo is suddenly shirtless!? And Skoll is calling them lovebirds!? Maira gapes, her heart twisting.

Maira looks away, and down the hallway toward that shining light. The rose. She's going for it.

Her expression changing to one of determination, Maira casts an aero spell behind herself and launches herself like a human cannonball down the hallway to bring herself closer to the rose!

Avira has posed:
There was hardly much natural talent for Avira to go on. The amount of practice Avira endures is nearly monsterous. Given who she has taken on as 'teachers' as of late, it's probably no wonder she's managing to keep pace. Still, her style was crude and wild, lacking the refinement that comes from years of practice. Because she didn't HAVE years of practice. She had months of practice. What was lacking in skill was almost made up for in sheer effort.

Easily recalling their last 'duel', she knows very well the perils of having the detatched blade of Ivo's sword floating around. As it comes back to tag her, she suddenly leans out of the way and the weapon passes by, shearing off a thick lock of her brown hair. This impressive dodging comes in stark contrast to the complete lack of such against the trap she inadvertantly triggers.

Ivo's taunt is met with a scowl. Working a hand free, she pulls a spear out and glowers at Ivo. "Tch, my clothing is still perfectly servicable I'll have you know!" At least she looks mostly decent! Sure, she is showing a little more skin and fortunately, her metal breastplate isn't exactly tearable easily.

Avira pulls herself free and gives Ivo an arch stare as he tears off his shirt. "I will not be returning the favor." she says huffily. She's about to attack him again when...

SKOLL INTERRUPT!

His chains entangle the VALKYRI leader and wrench the Spine from her grasp. In that moment, she actually looks kind of distressed at being DISARMED. "H-hey!" Avira stares at Skoll for a moment, then starts to wiggle. "Fine! Just let me go, okay?! And we're not LOVE BIRDS! Ugh!"

Assuming she's freed, Avira makes a break for the flickering light. That must be the final room! Where the rose is!

In short order, she is neck and neck, racing with Ivo.

Faruja Senra has posed:
Faruja gives a long, properly knightly sigh. "Thank you Ser Galvan. Here. Do be careful!" Glancing to the people most injured, he frowns, applying various cure spells even as he's following along! LIGHT!

To Skoll, there's a hmph! "I would hardly wish to insult her, nor do I enjoy having my throat removed, Ser Ulfang!"

There is a zooming fireball, and it is Maira. As the woman rockets away, and Skoll applies chains to the pair of Ivo and Avira, Faruja does his best Max Payne impression, bullet-time Jumping away into the final room! To the Rose!

Leida has posed:
The impact of the spirits easily sends the two girls tumbling to the ground with a soft thud as their limbs tangle together from the unusual angle. The impact jolts Leida out of her trance and she gives a pained wince, reaching up to rub the side of her head. Fortunately, the rocks are covered almost completely with the moss and the spongy material provides an adequate cushion to prevent any real injuries.

And the princess in turn provides that service for Imi. Blinking in surprise as the feel of hands in INAPPROPRIATE PLACES finally registers in her mind, Leida tilts her head up to peer at her friend. The playful teasing is magnified several fold against the innocent young girl and a fresh explosion of crimson colors her face. "A-ah.. it...I... but..."

'Hmm. Hand placement - excellent. Pose - suggestive. Reaction - enticing. I believe we can call this a success.'

'If I still had arms I would be hugging you right now.'

'In a manly platonic way, right?'

'...'

'...dude.'

'...sorry.'

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"Favor?" Ivo quips. "Taking off your shirt would be your ultimate attac--"

ZORCH.

In unison with Avira, Ivo's sword is ensnared by Skoll and torn from his grasp, the Shard Seeker swordsman flinching back -- and much like his adversary, a rare look of distress reveals itself on his features, his eyes widening as he snaps his head in the direction that his sword has gone. "Hey, Skoll, what--!" For a moment, the knight-errant looks genuinely agitated, disturbed at having lost hold of Hauteclare, his father's blade. But he seems to remember it's the werewolf he's dealing with, and composes himself, even if he's smoking slightly from the shock still. "Love-birds? She wishes," he replies with an insouciant shrug. "Take care of my sword, alright?" he adds, given that Hauteclare is still enchained, his tone a little more serious as he turns to pursue Avira. Skoll's right, after all. It's the rose that counts.

And then Maira shoots by him with a startling expression of resolution (and maybe a little frustration), causing Ivo to blink with surprise. "Wait, Maira, be careful--!" Yeah, look who's talking.

But before them dawns the final chamber, Ivo and Avira racing side by side with Maira having launched herself ahead, Skoll no doubt with them and Faruja leaping forward. Had they time to appreciate it, there is a certain breathtaking beauty to the sight: amidst the cavern, a pyramid hewn from the rock, steps leading up to its peak, where a shaft of radiant light piercing through a crack in the rock above falls directly upon a single, lovely, crystalline rose in full bloom. But even before their eyes, the light is thinning, and a rumbling can be heard in the distance.

"Damn--!"

Who will reach the rose first!?

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll's eye twitches a little as he glares at Ivo, before letting out a sigh and lashing his chain towards Avira, letting it come undone so she might freely move - ensuring the gets control of her Spine once more. That's when he turns himself towards Ivo while the others run towards the final room, raising his head a little to try and stand taller than the swordsman. "What are you honestly trying to prove, Ivo? You're like a more obvious version of Priel." Skoll barks at the young man - just before he manages to run off along with Avira. This results in Skoll just lobbing the Hauteclaire right after Ivo with a howling call of; "Catch!"

Skoll Serious Moment: Evaded.

Emi Dennou has posed:
MEANWHILE IN THE IMPORTANT AREA

"Oh Leida-Chan..." Imi whispers. "You're so much more experienced than me. I have only done this once before, The Network admits bashfully... but she will do her best. Just stay down there, alright? I apologize if my inexperienced nature fails to provide you with an adequate experience..."

And then she crawls on top of Leida and tries to fall asleep on her. Unfortunately her head is still kind of hurting so she's not sure this is really going to happen.

"Uhm..." She adds. "Actually can we shift positions a little, my head is hurting a little..." She shifts a little, lying her head down again. "Hmm...is this okay?" She closes her eyes. "Nhh..the fire..." She kicks the torch away with her feet. And then she tries closing her eyes again.

"Nighty night." She says.

Maira has posed:
The blond mage casts another aero spell just as she is about to land to soften her fall, stumbling to her knees but managing to get back up again without much trouble. The coveted rose lies only a few feet away from her now, in all its delicate beauty. It is there, all she has to do it reach out and take it and VALKYRI wins.

In just a moment Faruja lands beside her. She graces him with a warm, brilliant smile. She is fairly sure they are on the same page here. "On the count of three?" she asks.

Faruja Senra has posed:
These cool, dramatic leaps always work better in the movies. Thud! Roll roll tumble, stop! A clawed hand is poised above the Rose! Slowly, the rat stands. Grin!

"On the count of three!"

A chuckle, and he hovers that hand, winking. "One!"

Minerva has posed:
Minerva unawre of Sabin's flash back she's not evne sure what's going on with Sabin is her playing at it? Is this a tatic of his school? Or is he just like this normally. She's not even sure whats happening but he's coming right at her, she attempts to defend herslef but if she had a scouter? This is the part where it would EXPLODE and explode violently to boot Sabin's hit ios brutal she's hurt she's shocked and part of her is going. How the heck do I LEARN FROM THIS MAN!

"It seems I'll have tyo show you just what I can do."

her right hadn fills with a power it's like the entire night is envloping her arm. She doesn't unealsh this yet as sh slams her fists into the ground causing a massive shockwave to head towards SAbin then she follow sit uip leapin at him to punch him with the darkness charge fist and unealsh all of it's power in a single strike.

Maira has posed:
Maira's smile grows, nodding to Faruja. Luckily, their friends are all going to be rather frustrated with this turn of events. "Two," she says next.

Minerva has posed:
It's however too late, she pauses for a momenn stares and looks around. "Saint's bones, where did he go?" She looks about for a moment wondering just where Sabin had gone, all that's clear is he is gone. "..."

Faruja Senra has posed:
"Two!" Comes the rat's voice alongside her, tail swaying behind him!

A return nod. "Three! Well fought, M'Lady Maira, and congratulations!"

Down goes the hand, in time with his friend's!"

Maira has posed:
Maira laughs lightly, "Congratulations to you too Sir Faruja! I hope we can dance again someday. You know. When there are less things trying to kill us," she says, reaching for the rose with him.

"Three."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"Not married yet!" Reize adds, "Just engaged!" He had to make that important clarification. Given the fact that the two are engaged to be married, Reize is finding himelf in the situation to where relief comes. After knocking Navya off the boy had managed to catch his rhythm once more. And that rhythm is something that manages to save him from certain death.

And of course, Reize looks down to see that Navya manages to fal int a trap. Reize 'winces'. The young man shakes his head after he manages to get himself up. Once he straightens up, he sees Lenn, who has shown her fury should harm come to him.

And then... Navya charges and pulls out that giant hammer.

When she swings that gigantic hammer with the chunk of rocks flowing, Reize turns to see that Lenn is in the mix.

"Lenn!"

With a cry, Reize snaps his head over and he attempts to spring over to tackle Lenn out of the way of the incoming hammer. As the young man springs forward, he extends both of his hands out and he pushes his way against his fiancee. Body collide once more, the hammer that swings over towards his head... grazes along a single strand. That single strand twitchs from the heer force of the hammer.

And then, the two lovebirds end up on the ground.

Reize is on a compromising position with Lenn. He is on top of her, his eyes gazing over towards her. "...Uhhh..." He blinks for a moment. "Lenn..."

---No time to celebrate. Why? While Navya messed the /both/ of them, she hits something far worse: The structure of the dungeon walls. This creates a ripple effect against the area, shuddering the integrity of the structure. This would make a very ominous signal that resonates with the entire area.

"...Uh..."

Debris collapses, a few rocks rolling over in front of Lenn and Reize.

 !!!!

Reize immediately lifts up to bring both of his hands over and he pushes Lenn to a distance, "Get back!" And then...

Trap #1:

Reize looks up to see a giant boulder fall on the boy. "Ack!" The boy attempts to move out of the way, but the first rock pins him down.

Trap #2:

Daggers come from the ceiling. They are descending towards the ground. Straight towards Reize.

"AAAAACCKKKKK!!!"

The daggers pierce the ground repeatedly, each of them landing right beside the boy. It is as if they are forming a Reize shape from the way that they land. As they pierce the ground beside the boy, it reveals that Reiz is relatively unharmed.

"AHA!"

Trap #3:

And then... a small baseball sized rock collapses, beaning him in the face.

"OW!"

"Knight's Vow #68: Whatever obstacle that comes your way, never back down!" He calls out to Navya.

...
...

"...If I can up and out of this situation."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo is probably the only person in the Shard Seekers who /wouldn't/ be insulted to be compared to Priel, but Skoll's irritation catches him a little bit off-guard. It's not as though the two rivals were fighting for no reason. For a while there, they were both in the lead. "If now's not the time to be fighting," he replies to the wolfman, his tone mild, "is now really the time to be criticizing me?" But he looks relieved when Skoll tosses his sword back to him, catching it mid-dash with a slight smile, turning to see--

"...Heh."

Maira and Faruja, together at the top, standing under the ray of light.

"Well..."

He slows to a halt, and watches as the two of them count down. Seeing the brilliance of Maira's smile, and the warmth in the eyes of his often-indignant nezumi friend, Ivo can't help but smile softly again. Maybe Skoll's right, and he's got this all wrong, making all Priel's mistakes. Stirring up trouble, trying to make things 'fun' -- what could be better than seeing two supposed rivals work together.

"Let's call this one a draw, Avira."

He stands there for a moment, gazing at the sparkling rose illuminating the smiles of his two friends, forgetting all their differences for the moment.

"...uh..."

Then he freezes, and his smile slowly twists.

"...so... who has to wear the maid outfits?"

Oh, right. /That/ was why they were competing.

You'd think there could be no more pressing concern, but the cavern begins to rumble again, and the dwindling of the light above makes it clear that the sun is setting, and the cavern door must surely be closing.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
TRAP #4!

That one last dagger is shooting from the sky. It descends and descends..... SINK!

...An inch from between his legs.

Reize's eyes widen, comical tears rolling as he sees the dagger before him despite his pinned position.

Q_Q

x_X

Leida has posed:
"Ah... but... you..." Leida merely continues to stammer incoherent fragments of words, the surge of blood flooding her face making her too dizzy to react properly. At this point the poor princess really has no idea what is going on. The 'once before' in question was also in reference to the last time Imi put her in this same awkward position but that particular fact also only manages to manifest as little more than muttered whispers.

Leida's body jolts in surprise as she is climbed upon but she quickly settles down, unable to push the larger girl off even if she wanted to. Her hands timidly reach up to rest on Imi's back and she settles into the moss with a confused stare aimed at the ceiling. How exactly did they get to this? Wasn't this supposed to be an adventure? Why did things always turn out this way for her?

With an exasperated sigh, she closes her eyes and just lies there for now. The spirits hover about in the air, drifting overhead and giving amused whistles towards the two of them but a rare intense glare from the princess silences them instantly. Well, she supposes it can't hurt to just wait here... the others will be back... soon... right?

Avira has posed:
"I DO NOT WISH!!!" Avira blurts out angrily. "I have no interest in Ivo whatsoever! I would sooner kiss a judge magister than place my lips upon that scoundrel! My heart holds no place for him! He is-" The ranting continues for nearly a solid minute, her tone indignant and defensive. Seriously, she didn't need another man seriously complicating things, did she?! NO.

As she runs, she seems to calm a little, "He only says such things to get me frustrated and distracted."

Much to Avira's surprise, Maira has gotten ahead of her with Faruja. Damn, if only she hadn't spent so much effort trying to fight Ivo. At last, she sees the rose. And with that, she sees the light starting to dim.

"Quick! We're almost out of time!!"

Faruja AND Maira grab it at the same time. Avira stops where she is, watching the pair serenely holding the rose together. There was something...symbolic about this. About how, through unity, the Shard Seekers and VALKYRI could accomplish anything.

After a long moment of considering Ivo's question, Avira smiles and lifts a finger.

"Everybody."

Maira has posed:
Maira looks up toward Faruja as the cavern begins to rumble, the light dimming considerably. Her eyes widen. "Oh...we still need to get OUT," she cries, just now remembering that little detail.

Maira takes the rose, moment of serenity over, and leaps into Faruja's arms again.

Up up and AWAAAAAY!

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"Is there ever a better time, than at the moment you are making the mistake? Or do you want me to tell you /after/ the fact?" Skoll calls back to Ivo, before he turns back - not really caring who is getting the Rose. Not caring, UNTIL suddenly, it gets decided that everybody has to wear the Maid Uniform!

"Oh no, there is no way you are getting me to wear a Maid Uniform!"

He crosses his arms.

"There is no way."

"Never."

"There's just no way I am ever going to be wearing a..."

<< CUT TO THE NEXT DAY >>

"... maid uniform."

Skoll is wearing a maid uniform, his ears are flat down, his tail is between his legs, and he's making bacon.

He has the most indignant look on his face ever.

Faruja Senra has posed:
Touch-u! Claws and fingers drum against the rose, swiftly to no doubt be jointly snagged by the pair.

"Why, I would /love/ to Lady Maira. You've talent for the arts, if I am any judge! I know a good dance hall or two."

The rat beams his smile. After what he's been through as of late, he's needed this, bathed in light, beside one of his best friends. To think that he would have grown so close to a human!

As Avira and Ivo land, Ivo asks the question of the day. His smile turns to a smirk.

"Ahh, but I do think I have a few tail ribbons left. Certainly Lady Misaki shall be willing to help us all with measurements."

Oh, right, Load Bearing Rose. "Quite! Let us be gone!" Leap for great rat justice, with Lady in arms!

As he passes by Skoll? "I do hope you like /pink/, Ser Ulfang!"

Navya has posed:
Navya is kind of wild with that maul. That is probably a bad thing, judging by the shaking. Which gets worse as time gets closer.

"...whoops." Definitely a bad thing.

Navya points at Reize. "You can't fool me with fake Knight's Vows! Everybody knows they don't go to sixty-eight! And - I think maybe you should get out of here," she suggests. "Like, uh, seriously. Right now. Run!"

Hopefully Reize can free himself (with the aid of his wife/fiancee/whatever) because Navya is on her way out. She kicks the rock as she passes, which might move it enough for Reize to do so.

If she passes Imi or Leida on the way out, she grabs them, no questions asked (until they get out). "Go go go!"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Through the likely help of his fiancee, Reize has mananged to escape.



<< CUT TO THE NEXT DAY >>

Reize, in a bright red maid uniform, is tugging at it. His normally scruffy hair is down and done in a way that it retains its normal look, but it's loosen up to where he is looking like a girl.

Unfortunately, it is kind of hard to tell that he is supposed to be a boy like this.

"I don't know Skoll!" He looks at himself, "A deal is a deal! And we shall be the best maids ever!" He gives a thumbs up!

"We are the SHARD SEEKER VALKRYI MAIDS!"

Then, he forms a V-sign with his fingers.

Faruja Senra has posed:
-NEXT DAY-

Whistle whistle! Whistle whistle! Standing before a vase in Valkyri Headquarters, Fara Senrietta, Maid-Knight extraordinare demurely dusts away the slightest speck of imperfection. He'd been up and down the hallways for several hours, one arm daintily holding up his maid dress as he walks, occasionally bending over and flicking his tail when sweeping. Long hair untied, cascading down his back, he passes by a window. Bend. Tail ribbon fluttering in the light breeze, there's a gasp outside the window.

-A DAY AFTER THAT-

Back at the Shard Seeker headquarters, a pile of flowers awaits the Burmecian. He tilts his head. "Where /did/ all of these flowers come from? And /whom/ is Fara Senrietta?"

Maira has posed:
--NEXT DAY TRANSITION WHY NOT-- Maira is actually happily wearing a maid uniform and admiring herself in a mirror. "I don't know Avira, I think it is actually really cute! Maybe I'll keep it around..." she says, turning to admire the bow at the back of the apron with a giggle.

"Now...to find Ivo..."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo looks at Avira for a moment after her response -- and slowly smiles. The look in his eyes isn't the typical amused or teasing light the leader of VALKYRI has become all too familiar with. If anything, he looks pleased, and even--

"Are you sure?"

--impressed.

"I wouldn't want to outdo you as a maid, too."

Yes, Avira. Next time, our rivalry will continue: in a /maid battle/.

But until then, let's run as fast as we can and get the heck out of this cave before the boulder narrowly closes behind us.

* * *

"I underestimated you..."

Ivolina, his slender figure accentuated by his maid outfit's corset and his long legs sheathed in black stockings beneath the hem of his frilly dress, crosses his arms in their black and white sleeves and pauses in his feather dusting, gaze aimed across the hall.

"...Ser Senrietta."

To think his true maid rival would not be Avira at all!

Sure enough, Faruja gets the most flowers.

Lenn has posed:
Lenn steps out to beside Reize. She is, herself, wearing a very flattering maid outfit, over her own figure, blushing out to the tips of her ears as she looks to the young boy. "Wh... what do you think?"

Avira has posed:
"Oh I'm sure." Avira smirks a little. There was something else going on. Something brewing in the back of her mind.

THE NEXT DAY...

Ivo may be hard-pressed to find Avira for this day. Perhaps she's taken to hiding in the VALKYRI headquarters. Or maybe...

"I'm glad you think it's cute." Avira says pleasantly, holding up a camera. "Do you think a calendar of this would sell well?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Antenna hair....

*DOIING!!*

"Uhh... uhh... you look great, Lenn!" The cheeks of the leader of the Shard Seekers turn red. The boy's eyes remain wide, gazing at his fiancee.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is tired but it's been a heck of a good day.

Avira and Maira are not alone she too is hiding in the hq, she's in a french maid outfit hersled and is seemingly not too bothered. She turns to Avira for a moment and says "You know it coule be quite the success..."

Leida has posed:
-NEXT DAY-

Cleaning is a completely normal activity for the princess to be engaging in; it's what she spends most of her days doing while the rest of the Seekers are out taking care of Marks and other clan business (even if they aren't technically one yet). The bustle of 'maids' inside the headquarters has relieved her of that duty for the day. However, seeing an opportunity to make a little profit out of this turn of events, the group has set up a small shop to sell the only thing their maid-chef is willing to cook.

Leida, unlike the others, is not wearing a maid outfit. No, her fate is far more terrible. The small girl stands outside the rented stall clad in what can only be properly described as a Bacon-Suit. While not composed of real bacon (ew) the costume makes her look like a tall strip of delicious crisp brown meat in an effort to entice would be customers to the cafe.

Completely embarrassed by this but having no spine with which to fight back with, Leida stands in the street, bowing to potential customers as they walk by. Unfortunately, the suit is top heavy and every time she does so the girl teeters over and falls flat on her face. A few feet away the two spirits flames hover behind her. If they still had faces, they would look incredibly amused.

'How long do you think she's going to keep falling over like that before she gets the hang of it?'

'I think the more appropriate question is 'How long will it take her to figure out she didn't properly fasten the back of that costume?'.'

'Let us watch and find out.'

'For science.'