felldenlogs | (OPEN) The Gathering Storm

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(OPEN) The Gathering Storm

WHO: Lightning and anyone!
WHAT: Trying to salvage what can be salvaged, and gathering what can be gathered.
WHERE: Kyst, farms in Moon territory, and forests anywhere.
WHEN: Oct.8th - Oct.21st
WARNINGS: Rotten food and likely animal death (hunting context).

Kyst
[Kyst is bedecked in orange and green, red and black. Banners hang from doorways and balconies, the deep colors of All Hallow's Eve having changed the city's look entirely. The mood in the streets is festive, children celebrating and the adults in high spirits as they prepare for the colder months to come.

"No, no, no! This is all wrong!"

At least, so long as one stays out of the east markets. The normal hustle and bustle has been replaced by something a little more frantic, every seller that once sold fruits and vegetables scrambling through their stalls, their voices pitched high as they call back and forth between one another. It's at one of these stalls that Lightning can be found, knife in one hand and what was once a firm apple in the other. The merchant who owns the stall, hands on his head, stares at it.

"How can this be happening?! How many apples is this?!]

Fifteen. They're all like this.

["Try another! You--" Grabbing another apple and a knife, he forces them into the hands of anyone unlucky enough to be walking near enough to grab. "Help us! Sort through anything that's not rotten and--Em!" He turns, calling after his teenage helper, "Bring out the other barrel! We have to sort through all of it!"

And then he's gone, darting off to go deal with something else. Lightning's still frowning at the apple in her hands, the once firm cream flesh turned to brown mush. Food doesn't rot this fast, does it? If the apple in the newcomer's hand is anything like hers, anything like the rest of the poor merchant's stall, then that's the norm here.

This...isn't good.]

Moon
[As the days go by, the situation only gets worse. What was left of the harvest has all but rotted by now, but what's left in the fields is no better. The farms within Moon territory are scrambling, trying to save what they can, and it's all hands on deck. Lightning has been here before, helped to protect this farm before the Harvest, so the owner knows her. It's why he's fine with leaving her giving orders to a group of farmhands, and anyone unlucky enough to have come by this way.]

Rotten wheat over there, good wheat towards the silos!

[Over there being in a big pile left in a large patch of freshly turned mud. Lightning's got her hair tied back, a red scarf wound around her mouth and nose. The farmhands, their masks and gloves tied tight around their own faces and hands, dump once golden and now blackened wheat into the pile before they scramble back. Lightning holds up a hand, flames dancing to life in her palm before she lets it fly and--

The whole pile goes up in flames. It does nothing for the smell, smoke mixing with rot, and Lightning tucks her scarf up a little higher on her face. Her eyes are hard as she turns to the nearest farmhand.]

Bring the next batch!

[Help out or stay out of the way. She's going to be busy for a while.]

Wilds
[The situation is getting worse by the day. As the farm workers and merchants scramble to salvage what they can, as the cooks and bakers hurry to preserve what they can, Lightning is taking a different approach. Putting her in a kitchen would be a pure disaster, plain and simple, but hunting? Hunting she can do. Not as well as Fang, and she's not the most subtle woman in this world, but meat is meat. It's the best option they've got.

It's why she's out here, probably lost and definitely not where she started, crouched in a copse of trees with her deep blue cloak drawn tight around her and her sword in hand. Across the way? A deer nosing through the undergrowth for choice morsels to eat. It hasn't seemed to notice Lightning's presence, but the approach of another person will certainly set it off. As it is, any rustle of brush or snap of twig will turn three heads towards the noise; the deer, Lightning, and Lightning's accompanying spirit, though the latter is clearly the most relaxed of the three. Join them in the hunt? Spook the deer off to save it from the wrong side of the dinner table? Totally your call.]

(ooc: Lightning will be on patrol in Kyst and various locations in Moon for Week 2, so feel free to hit her up anywhere there, or hit me on Plurk (

saratogaroad) and we can work out a custom starter!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The chaos over the past week tempers down at night, people generally needing some repreieve from the fear and scramble of saving their food. What little there is to spare for the campfire is passed around, and while Syrlya is inclined to abstain and leave it for someone else he does need to eat to sustain himself as well--especially when he's running around trying to help salvage what they can and find a source and solution to what's happening.

He breaks off a piece to put in his mouth as one of the moon temple's farmers starts first, telling the eerie story of the three-fingered man that haunts the northern streets of Kyst. A pretty typical ghost story of unexplained sensations and someone disappearing in the night. Syrlya's half attentive, though he also spares Lightning a glance.]

[This is nothing new to Lightning, hunting for a solution and running desperately low on time to find one. Even the low supplies aren't really new as she chews her way through a piece of tough jerky, more of her attention on the surroundings than on their companions.

Always on watch, this one, and as the first farmer finishes his story her attention lingers on the shadows that surround them. It's only when another of the farmers speaks up that she turns back to their little group.

"We've got two Otherworlders with us tonight, lads," The old man says, his beard a little scraggly after all the chaos but his eyes still shimmering brightly. "What do you say we tell 'em the story of the Empress' Revenge?"]

The what?

[In answer? A grin that is more concerning than anything else. The old farmer's got a good story, it seems! Oh, dear.]

[Syrlya also sits up to attention, raising his brows.] You mean the Emperor's wife?

[One of the other farmers nods. There's no one else they'd be calling by that name.]

Is she supposed to mean something to us?

["Well, she ought to! This could be her doing, you see," The old farmer leans in, grabbing a branch to poke at the fire. "A long, long time ago, long before any of you folk were even a twinkle in your granparents eyes, the Emperor and their wife were livin' the dream. A happy home, great subjects, the whole lot of a fairytale."

One of the other farmers scoffs. No love lost between him and the Court, it seems, but their storyteller keeps going.

"But it didn't stay that good forever. See, one night, the Empress was killed. Murdered by her guard, who the Emperor had given her personally." He leans in towards the fire, pitching his voice low. "That guard was one of us, a Moon Temple man through and through. Did us all a great deed, he did, but things started goin' weird not too long after. People spooked to death in their own beds, screamin' in the streets for no reason, whispers in the woods at night. People started seein' this ghostly lady, cryin' with rage, all across the Temple Lands. Wasn't long 'fore they realized the ghost of the Empress had come back to get her revenge on all of us for bein' betrayed."

"That was hundreds of years ago!" One of the other farmers chimes in, but he looks around the dark all the same. "It can't still be her!"

Shrug goes the old farmer, still grinning. "Who says it can't? Ghost sure don't care about time, lad."]

So the ghost of the Empress is haunting the Temple lands and screwing everything up. [Frown, and a look in Syr's direction. Can you believe this crock?] Right.

If it ws the Empress, would she not have a stronger presence?

[The old man scoffs, like these two can't enjoy a good ghost story.

Syrlya looks back with interest, although not the kind the farmer was probably looking for.] The Empress... she died after the war started, correct? Was she a god as wekll, like the Emperor, or only mortal?

[Definitely not the kind of interest the farmer was looking for. The glimmer in his eye fades away, most of amusement vanishing with the chill wind.

"What's it matter?" Not to mention, how should they know? Do they look courtly to you, Otherworlders? "Whatever she was, she's dead."]

It matters because gods don't die quietly. Might not be her ghost causing all of this.

[The idea the the ghost story may not be so ghostly after all? That gets them to shut up real quick. Lightning crosses her arms over her chest, waiting for an answer, but the farmers exchange a glance and are slow to respond, turning her words over in their heads before the youngest scratches sheepishly at his cheek.

"We don't really know, Miss. We stay out of business with the Court. Doubt somebody as high as the Emperor would wed a mortal, though. They'd never stoop that low."

Wouldn't they? The fal'Cie needed humans. Why wouldn't the Emperor?]

[Syrlya doesn't know of any gods leaving behind spirits the way the other mortal races do, either. Would she attack her own people and Kyst, however?

Syrlya's gaze drifts to the fire, thoughtful, before he looks up.] Nothing like this has happened before, has it? That's why you would blame the Empress.

[The younger farmer looks to the older one in deference, while the old man lets out a sigh. "Ghosts are always coming around this time of year, but everything rotting like it is is new."

"There's more than last year, too."] More spirits? Like the connection to the afterlife is stronger, or the spirits are more restless than times before?

["Both," the young farmer says with an awkward shrug, "There's usually some hauntings, some screaming, the graveyards feel weird, but this is...different. It's almost like all the spirits want out or something. Like, they all want vengeance or..." He trails off, shaking his head. "I don't know. They've just never been like this before."

Vengeance. Lightning glances in Syr's direction, a half-grimace on her otherwise carefully neutral face. If is is vengeance they're after, that would explain why all sides are under threat. The Branded came from everywhere, after all.]

How did you stop them before?

["We don't," Chimes in the last farmer, quieter than his companions. "They always go back after All Hallows." He adds a log to the fire. "Always did, at least."]

[It stands to see if they'll return after All Hallows, too... joy.]

Disruptions to the magic of a world can cause all sort of strange phenomenon. Perhaps the loss of it is hitting a breaking point and it can no longer maintain its realms properly at their waning point.

[The younger farmer just about chokes on his drink. The only topic worse than vengeful ghosts is the impending end of the world, though Syrlya looks only thoughtful like the possibility of reality caving on itself isn't a bother to him. He's used to it.

The old man waves a hand. "Don't folks like you have any ghost stories from wherever you're from?"]

[There's no beating around this bush, but he's got a point. Magic can screw just about everything up, so why not this too? Ghosts and spells and hauntings and blegh. It honestly makes her miss the fal'Cie. At least those she understood.]

My world doesn't have ghosts. The dead stay dead.

[The Cie'th are another story, but one that she's not about to get into tonight. Leaning back on her hands, she turns to Syrlya.]

How about you? Are hauntings a thing back home for you?

Hm? [Syrlya blinks slowly before quickly devouring the little of his ration he has left.] Oh, well--yes, spirits not quite ready to pass on or called back from the Mists often find their way in Tyria again. There's an entire army of vengeful ghosts that were cursed by their king to fight for their homeland for eternity.

[Things have escalated from 'no ghosts' to 'murderous army of ghosts'.] At the moment it's impossible to get any of them to pass on.

[In the silence that follows that admission, any of them could hear a pin drop. The farmers stare across the fire at him, drinks forgotten halfway to mouths or fire-stoking paused halfway through the motion. Even Lightning stares at him for a few seconds before slowly shaking her head.]

An army of vengeful ghosts. Right. [And she thought things were bad here. Wow.] Better hope we don't end up with that same problem here.

["Aye...aye," The old farmer shakes off his surprise, "That'd be something we don't rightly need. Gods, lad. What sort of mess is your world to have that sort of thing running around?"]

[Should he mention the ghosts came around as a last ditch effort not to lose a war?

... Maybe not for now.]

That really isn't the biggest mess we have to clean up. [He shakes his head with a wry smile.] It's really a beautiful place though, Tyria. Worth fighting all the trouble for it.

["Aye," the farmer nods, "That much we can agree on. Our homes...they're always worth fighting for." He smiles at them both in turn, though it's tinged with a bit of sadness all the same. "Things are a right mess right now, but we're all glad you're here, Otherworlders. Thank you."

At that, Lightning looks down into the fire. It's so easy to get lost in the big, god-betrayal side of things sometimes. So easy to forget that, at the end of the day, these people need help, too.]

Thank us when the fighting's done. We've got a long way to go.

["You sure do. You can start by hunting down the Empress' ghost!" The younger farmer chimes in with a grin. "Get her to stop rotting our food and we'll cook you all a feast!"]

[Syrlya snorts.] I'll do what I can for the rotting, so long as you make sure our current supplies keep making it.

["Deal." At least the mood is lightening up a little--there's not much they can do in this moment, so they should take the respite while they can.]

You're right, everything I've come across too.

( they're all like this. just as she says.
he'd been in kyst hoping to run into familiar faces— ones that were also concerned about whatever seemed to be going wrong with the food supplies.

something that looked like a melted cucumber slopped out of his hand and onto the ground, prompting a cringe from noct. he had no love for vegetables but not even the green guys deserved a fate like this. not to mention the impact it was sure to have on the population... )

This is... gross. ( you know, to put it lightly.
there's a sympathetic glance towards the shopkeep as he looks over. ) Sorry, it't not looking good. When did you say this shipment came in?

[The shopkeep is a little too busy trying not to tear his hair out to answer Noct's question, but Em the teenage shop-helper shakes her head from where she's rolled out another barrel. The sweet scent of rot and fermentation fills the air as she cracks the lid. This looks...no better than the last one. Damn.

"Nothing here is older than three days. Miss Helda's squash is six days old," A gesture down the road, where the shouts are growing more and more frantic as the shopkeeps and stall owners realize just how fast and deep this is spreading, "But that should have lasted six weeks before it started to do this. I don't understand..."]

If it's all like this, it's a problem with the produce.

[Said as she slops the rotten apple into a nearby waste barrel. Is there really any point to continue cutting these open? Fifteen out of fifteen is bad odds. She glances at Noctis, a familiar frown on her face.]

Have you heard anything from the farms? We didn't harvest everything before the feast.

[This could be happening there, too. Is the Court having the same problems?]

( his attention is on em, then down the pathways at the commotion starting to stir, and finally back down onto the goods in front of them all. honestly, it almost seemed like he could see the difference in rot just from glancing away to try and make sense of the situation. )

Hadn't heard anything until now. Came here hoping to find out if it was happening all over.

( and sorry to say, that seemed to be the case.
then, he's back to em— )

Are there any near-by? ( farms, he means. ) Maybe we could check it out. ( he motions to lightning with an incline of his head. )

[That answers her unspoken question, then. Kyst, the Court, and the Temple, all affected by something no one can explain or stop, apparently. This is bad. Really bad.

"There's, um," Em squeezes her eyes shut in thought, rubbing the space between her brows, "There's three farms about three hours walk towards Lureri, and an orchard if you go the other way, but they should have harvested everything days ago...]

We can still check. Maybe the farmers have heard something. [Better odds than panicked merchants, at any rate.] I'll come back and let you know if we find anything.

[A nod, and a wan smile. This is bad, really bad. Leaving the knife behind, Lightning turns to leave, gesturing for Noctis to fall in with her. Come on, you. Time to get moving.]

Right, what she said. ( noct can't help but feel kind of bad for em, especially with the hysterics that seemed to be quickly on the rise all around. ) We'll bring back anything we can, too. Just... hang tight.

( it's a few hurried steps before he catches up to light's heels, leaning in slightly and lowering his voice. ) This could get ugly quick if something's wrong with the entire food supply.

( and then, even quieter still. ) How long do you figure until one side starts accusing the other...

Days. Hungry people make for angry people.

[And angry people make for desperate people. Pushed too far, the civilian populace of either side, or the soldiers still barracked in the Temple or Court...they could move on their own.

Or worse, they could be given the order to march whilst the "enemy" is weakened. Forget that both sides are probably equally weakened after the Harvest Feast, if either side sees an opportunity...she shakes her head, speaking equally as quietly.]

And it's going to get ugly anyway. With how much has already rotted? I don't know if there'll be enough food for everyone until the next harvest.

[The merchants wouldn't be so panicked if this was survivable. They're going to lose people. She's sure of that.]

( there was a lot about the emperor noctis didn't understand, and he knew even less about the priestess. but if there was one thing that hit too close to home, it was the concern for the everyday folks— the ones that didn't have a say in how things were run or who would have to pay for the failures.

and those were the people that would suffer the most, in times like this. )

Guess that means we can't come back empty-handed, one way or the other.

( he's quiet when he says it; maybe even pensive. )

Lureri... that should be north-west of here, right? ( someone's been studying his map. )

Edited 2019-10-18 03:37 (UTC)

Right.

[They can't do much about the fruit and vegetables. Whatever's doing that is beyond her meager comprehension of how plants work. It could be magic, something in the ground or water, or something else entirely. She can't do a thing about that.

But if she's reading Noctis' intention right? He means meat. That she can do something about. Farms first, though.]

Yeah. There's a road that heads in that direction. Should be easy to spot the farms once we get some height.

[Good thing there's some hills on the way there, and that it's not far enough to need transport. Trying to get horses in this chaos would be...problematic. Already they're having to press through the throng of harried people. This could escalate in a hurry.]

( meat seems like the viable option; he'd been riding the same wavelength thinking it may have something to do with the soil... noct did have experience with harvesting veggies... mostly carrots. but it was something, right? )

First that feast from hell now this... ( it was getting harder and harder to believe that the war was the #1 people killer around these parts. )

These guys can't catch a break. ( the everyday folks, at least. )

They won't catch a break until the people in charge are dead.

[She says it just loud enough to be heard, but not overheard. In charge of who is the real question, given that everything they've seen points to there being no real war. The Emperor has their plans, the Priestess hers--and from what Lightning's heard there's only one of those worth letting happen--but the Branded...someone had to give them the order to strike like that. Who, what, and why?]

There's nothing stopping those Branded from striking again, or something worse from happening later on. The only way to stop this starts at the top, but... [A sigh.] We don't have time to chase that down with all this going on.

( well that was blunt. noct does his best not to cringe with how clearly she says it, tempering it into a frown. the further they advanced along the path there were at least fewer people to hear their treacherous observations.

and, for a moment— he couldn't help but wonder if the people of insomnia had felt that way too, after the fall... )

Yeah... ( there's a far-away tone to his voice at first, which has him clearing his throat before continuing— ) Speaking of chasing... you do much hunting, Lightning?

[Sorry, Noctis. She doesn't do subtle. Never has, probably never will. Lowering her voice is really the best she can do. At least she's not screaming it from the rooftops.

But she can tell when someone wants off a topic, at least, so she inclines her head as they near the gates leading out of the city.]

Some. Hunted down a Behemoth a couple of times. [And Flans, and Gorgonopsids, and Imps. Anything can be food if you're hungry enough.] Be great if we could find one of those here. That'd feed three blocks.

[But will they get that lucky? Probably not.]

Wait, a Behemoth?! ( now that's something that catches his ear. enough for him to skip a hurried step forward, just to make sure he can see her face when she confirms or denies that it's the beast noct's thinking of. )

Huge guys? Usually purple, teeth for days and horns for even longer?

( he seems worked up about it, now imaging her taking down one of them on her own. )

Where I come from they're anywhere upwards of fifty feet...

( again, she's not wrong though. that'd feed a family for days. weeks, preserved right!! )

[He steps forward and she slows her stride so as to not crash into him; well, that sure got his attention! And for good reason, as his words sink home. He has Behemoths where he comes from. This is more than just a shared set of behaviors between those in charge. This is two monsters, remarkably similar from the sounds of things, in two different worlds.]

They weren't purple, but fifty feet of teeth and claws is about right. [A tilt of her head, then:] Did yours pull a sword out of their horns and stand on their back legs when they were hurt enough?

[That. May actually be worse! If it's any comfort, she never took one of those things alone?]

Yeah, they— wait, what?

( what the f—————
as if the things weren't terrifying enough?! you'll forgive him while he seems to blank for a second, the mental image of what she described enough to have him recoil both in expression and body. )

No, nothing like—... a sword, seriously? ( it's not that he minds having something in common, but there there's another cringe before he turns to start walking again, muttering: )

Why couldn't it have been something fun like chocobos, instead?

Seriously.

[And boy, was that a...fun fight the first time around. None of them walked away unscathed from that battle, but they still managed to walk away in the end. That's what matters. At least, up until that muttered comment. Wait. Wait, hold up a second!]

We have chocobos, too. [There's something odd in her tone, confused and curious and wary at the same time. Behemoths and chocobos between two distinct worlds, minor differences aside. That can't be a coincidence.] Yellow birds big enough to ride, loves Gysahl greens?

Yeah, that's right! ( right down to the greens, even. finally, something to get genuinely pumped about! )

Back home there's a couple farms where you can rent them even, but, uh— ( there's a slight curl of his lip as he hesitates... ) You're not going to tell me they pull daggers out from behind their wings or something, are you?

[She can't help it; between the twist of his expression and the incredulousness of that question, Lightning laughs. It's really more of a cross between a snort and a bark of laughter, but it's still a laugh.]

No, no daggers. Their beaks were all the weapon they needed. [A second, then:] They would throw us if they got too upset, but they weren't hiding any secrets under their feathers.

[Not like this world. What're the odds to have two worlds share so much. Her brow furrows, and grabbing the first thing she can think of, she tosses out a question of her own.]

Do the names Odin, Shiva, or Bahamut mean anything to you?

( honestly, it felt pretty good to hear her laugh like that, even if it was half-concealed by a snort. she usually seemed quite serious so seeing her loosen up made noct feel more at ease, too.
at least, for all of five seconds as he listened to her next question. )

Shiva... yeah— Bahamut too. They're— sort of like gods, I guess you could say. ( of all the places that prophecies might have followed him to... ) First time I've heard of an Odin, though.

But there are Six of them. Sometimes we call them Astrals... ( there's some hesitation in his tone, as he casts her a sidelong glance, wondering what they meant to her. )

[Gods. How does it always keep coming back to that? The faction leaders share behavior with the fal'Cie, and now the Eidolons have become the Astrals. This many shared things between two worlds can't be just a coincidence. There has to be something else behind it.]

My world calls them Eidolons. They're summons who come to help l'Cie who can't make up their minds.

[Murder masquerading as mercy. Fight or die. The l'Cie way. She doesn't bother explaining what a l'Cie is, sidestepping around a harried merchant rushing back the way they'd come.]

I used to be able to summon Odin. Two people I know can summon Shiva and Bahamut. [She turns to face him, eyes shrewd. Is there another similarity here?] Could people in your world summon the Astrals?

["There are no gods with miracles to save us, no matter where you look." As false as the voice had been, it hadn't been a lie. Just how godlike are these Astrals of his anyway?]

Eidolons, huh... ( 'help make up their minds?' noct wasn't entirely sure what that could mean but... he supposed it could go either way. it was a little hard to imagine titan being helpful though, unless a giant foot to the face was what a 'l'Cie' needed at the time... )

Some people could, yeah. ( seemed he was doing a little side-stepping of his own with that answer. following it up after a brief pause with a little more information... ) Really just— the Oracle or someone from the royal bloodline, though. Not just anyone... They had to be able to convene with them, form a covenant— something like that.

( but moving on, coughcough— )

Never heard of a l'Cie though. That something similar?

Edited 2019-11-12 07:24 (UTC)

[Not just anyone, huh? Well, there is that to consider, but only royals or an Oracle, huh? There's a big difference. Lightning shakes her head as they pass through the gate and out into the wilds. There's less people out here, at least.]

Not really. l'Cie could be anyone.

[Your neighbor, the little kid from another city, even your nearest and dearest family member.]

They were people chosen by the fal'Cie, the ones who ruled my world, and given a mission to complete. The Eidolons came when we had a choice we couldn't make.

[We. She closes her eyes as she realizes what she just said. How easy it's gotten to admit to being a l'Cie in a world that just...doesn't care about that sort of thing. Magic is so commonplace here that no one cares how others got it. Still...it can be hard to shake off the past.]

Guess you could call fighting them to earn the right to summon them a covenant. A pact sworn in blood.

( being out in the open now, noctis takes the chance to do a sweep of the area, just to make sure there's nothing looming in the immediate area. months on the open road had sort of... ingrained it into him, you could say. what draws his gaze back to lightning is that quick "we" that he catches, however. )

A pact sworn in blood, sure.

( but there's something slightly bitter in tone as he repeats her choice of words. )

The blood of whoever's lucky enough for them to be testing, I guess.

( the blood of his friends, his own... maybe even luna's... )

So those friends of yours— ( the ones that could apparently summon the glacian and the draconian— ) they were uh, l'Cie then, right?

( and there's just something about the way he asks, or maybe it's the look that he gives her while he says it... that almost seems to tack on a 'and you, too?'
someone chosen by a 'fal'Cie'... gods, perhaps? )

Yeah. They are.

[They've both got pasts to be bitter about it, it seems. She eyes him as they walk, catching his eye and his question in the same moment. She turns over her answer for a few long strides, lingering paranoia and distrust warring with the need to build trust, the understanding that, if they're going to stand any chance of survival, they need allies.

It's not about sides, it's about surviving. And Noctis has a decent head on his shoulders...Hell with it.]

There were six of us before I was brought here. Our mission was to destroy our home. We chose a different path. We chose to destroy the fal'Cie and give Cocoon back to the people.

[Jury's still out on if they'd succeed or die trying, but just saying it should make her stance plenty clear: she's not here to take orders from the faction leads. Never has been, never will.]

( six, was it? figures.
noct squints just slightly at her unfamiliar terms, but thinks he just might have it figured out enough to ask— )

So wait, are the fal'Cie like gods? Are you saying you guys chose to punch gods in the face instead of just bending to their will?

( he lets that hang in the air for a little while to digest. eventually following it up with what seems to be almost an afterthought... )

Because that's a plan I could get behind.

( not to mention it seemed to play all too well off of their current situation... )

You could call them that. My world doesn't have gods, but they were close enough. Powerful enough. [A sidelong look at him.] Like the faction leaders.

[Let him make of that what he will, but her history--and the choices she made in it--are plenty obvious by now. Between choosing to destroy the fal'Cie back home and her barely repressed rebellious words, her path is clear. The only question left is when she chooses to walk it.

And if she'll be walking it alone. Judging by his words, that's becoming less and less of a thing already.]

They all needed a few punches. Pretty sure it's the same here.

( like the faction leaders... right. those guys. no wonder she seemed to be able to approach all of this with the practiced patience of a veteran— it apparently wasn't a far cry off of the bullshit she'd already faced, from the sounds of it. )

Not just here— sounds like it's that way in a lot of places. ( back on eos, too. oh, was that blasphemous? whoops. ) I don't remember Titan being too happy when he invited my friends and I to come down and visit with him. Though he asked for those hits...

( at least, he thinks titan did.
wait, did he just...? eyes widening like he'd just let a cat out of the proverbial bag, he could only think to follow up his sudden revelation with a— ) Uh...

[Not far off at all. A little too close for comfort, actually, and in all the wrong ways. A little bit like the pieces coming together from Noctis' world, too; there's way too many things the same for it to be a coincidence. Both eyebrows make a leap for her hairline.]

Titan? Taller than a skyscraper, makes your bones rattle when he talks Titan?

[Noctis gets an appraising look, but it's one that's free of reproach or concern. She's the last person to be bothered by someone choosing to fight their gods. Really, she's more impressed the scrawny guy chose to take on something that size!]

How'd you walk away from that one?

Yeah... brains, bones— and just about everything in between.

( the headache had been especially bad, at the time.
but hey, at least she wasn't calling him out on his ties to the six. yet, at least. noctis seems happy to keep the conversation rolling along to avoid further explanation there though...
there just may have been a slight skip in his step at that appraising look she cast his way, though. )

Wouldn't have been able to come out in one piece if it hadn't been for the guys. ( the empire had played its part too mind you but... well, minor details. )

Funny how even a two-handed sword can look like a toothpick when you're using it against a foot the size of a trailer truck. His way of "testing" us— ( which is complete with air quotes and all— ) less about helping us make up our minds, and leaning more towards "proving your worth" I guess.

( and just a brief pause, before he tacks on a curious— ) So you knew him too, eh?

[Yet. It's not really relevant here anyway, and she's not about to go calling him "Your Highness" anytime soon. As far as she's concerned, here they're just soldiers. Conscripted, sure, but everything else got left behind in their home worlds.

Well. Almost everything else. She scoffs at his question, her eyes rolling skyward.]

Yeah. We've met. The Titan I knew sounds a lot more like yours. Had us run through these stupid trials to prove how strong we were.

[Ending with one hell of a battle against an Undying. That had been a fun afternoon. Not. It's less important than the pieces slotting into place in her mind. She shakes her head, looks back to him.]

That's five things our worlds share, you know. Think we're past coincidences here.

[Is it possible, somehow, that they're from the same world, just wildly different times? Wouldn't be the first time.]

( being addressed like that in a place like this might just have him blowing a gasket anyway— and there was no hammerhead in this world to roll him into for a quick fix. )

Sounds about right, yeah.

( his cogs don't quite turn as quickly as hers do, and when she voices that last part, noct's head tilts to the head just slightly as though he's trying to piece together the an answer for her. but unfortunately— )

I'm not sure what it could mean but, maybe its no coincidence that the two of us wound up in this situation, either, then.

( truth be told, he hadn't asked anyone about chocobos yet... or divine tests, for that matter.
ah, but more importantly, at the top of a small incline he looks ahead. )

Oh, hey— isn't that...? ( the farm they'd set out for? )

[It's starting to look like there's no such thing as coincidences. Between the connections they share and the seeming connections between this world and her own...the pieces are falling together a little too perfectly.

But it's something to set aside because now they have a different problem.]

It is.

[And it's a wreck. Even from this far the spread of the rot is evident in the fields with spreading patches of purplish-black, the trees once hearty now streaked with white. The farm hands are running around like headless chocobos, trying to save what they can, but the damage is plentiful and spreading fast. Lightning sucks in a breath through her teeth.]

I don't think there's anything we can do for them now.

( he had more questions. plenty more, but the state of the land they arrived on smacked him back into their grim reality. )

So much for the plan to help replenish their stock...

( there wasn't even much point in announcing their presence, with the state the workers were in. noctis cringed— the smell of rot finding him even all the way out here. ) No going back empty-handed, right?

( so, plan b it was. there's a glance in lightning's direction before he tilts his head in the towards the treeline on the opposite side of the land— )

Figure that's as good a place as any to start?

[That's thankfully not the Gods Wood, but the trees are still covered in shadows. Deep and dark, they offer plenty of cover and rich undergrowth still unaffected by whatever's ripped through the farms and stocks. The forest is still healthy, and what's inside should be, too. It's their best shot.]

Yeah. Should be something hiding in there.

[Small game if nothing else. Probably not a Behemoth, but still...something. She glances in Noct's direction.]

Keep as quiet as you can. We don't want to scare off anything that's still in there.

[Then they'd really go back empty-handed!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(OPEN) The Gathering Storm

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kyst + leading into wilds? if you think that can work!

I think it'll work wonderfully!

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yikes, so sorry i fell off the face of the earth for awhile......

no worries!

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