Final Fantasy - Dissidia Infinity

[MoFo]

Ein

As the journey across the land towards the gate ensured, there was the gnawing in the pit of his stomach, sure it wasn't immediately drawing his attention. He felt that it was best to trek on wards. However as he, Tifa and Rikku journeyed the sound of his stomach came about, and he tried his best to hide the fact he was actually feeling hunger setting in.

He tried to avoid being a burden they were already more likely to be protecting him during the journey, he didn't want them thinking he was going to pinch food off of them. Soon the howl of wolves echoed around and he carefully reached for the hammer and held it in his hand, the hammer would be good for hitting harder with then the hoe but it would be over all slower.

"I don't like the sound of that, wolves are not fun..." He said almost ironically, as they reached the gate area there was some manikins far off they looked totally in-human floating around and the like, he shook his head and would look from behind Tifa as she was about 3 inchs taller then him, weather it be by shoe sole difference or him being a rather stout young man. "And I don't particularly like the look of them truth be told...."


Thrice X

Thrice would find himself now in trouble, his presence had been given away, it was her and him against the boy and his puppets. "Well poppy cock.... seems they've got some guts." He said as he switched his rifle from sniper mode to assult mode, and set to rapid fire module, soon he would be matching with the pink haired woman and firing large amounts of rounds into the large number of crystalized men.

The boy with the funny sword though would likely not be standing by for long, as it didn't appear that the magitech shot would be keeping him out of the fight, as he had the high ground or so he believe. Thrice began to move along the upper ridge he was away from the sword fighting at least but it wouldn't be hard for someone to use the rocky sides of the valley as foot holds to leap up to catch him, and really ruin his day.

 

[Mike the Bloodwolf]

Mike began to growl annoyed at this figure which was starting to become a nightmare. He sorted out his hair and horns before he said "If your going to keep playing this game, at least prove your real and not a figment of my lonely mind" he then looked around and found his path again which he walked on.

 

[Lillythelez]

Zwei began to enjoy herself pressing herself agaisnt the red mages mouth. Moaning lewdly she may well have been no match for the red mage head to head in combat. But it wasn't about combat strength here at all, in fact she wagered even if she was stronger at fighting, the one between her legs was weaker then her as a woman, and it made her feel delightfully empowered, she groaned and soon found her thighs dripping with her sweet honey likeness. The sounds outside proved they had been in the shower for some time. "Tell me does the time seem distorted... -mmmm- in these lands, I could have sworn the time was late when we started say a few minutes ago but now it seems the sun is coming up." She groans and feels the way things were going she was going to be rewarding the red mage.

 

[Kaybee]

[u

Ein Kebia[/u]]
[Cornelia Plains - SnowBound Castle]

Tifa grew more and more alarmed as the howls of the wolves come closer and closer, seeming somewhat frightened almost by their closing in. Perhaps it made a degree of sense, given she seemed to carry no weapons. Fists and feet were excellent if you knew how to use them, but they were all to easy to damage against teeth and claws...

Still, she almost perked up when she saw the manikins floating ahead of them, drifting back and forth in front of the gate, and cracked her knuckles with a businesslike expression on her face. "Lets break through them, the gate's not far after all." There were only two manikins as well, so technically the trio had a numbers advantage in that fight, but without necessarily knowing the capabilities of these manikins...

Then again, if the wolves found them, they could end up drawing the attention of the things anyways, which would be something of a worst-case scenario...

[u

Zwei Kebia[/u]]
[Bahamut Isles - Elayne's Camp]

Elayne almost didn't hear the last question, and she was loathe to pull away to reply, but she did eventually, leaving her fingers to continue pumping in and out of Zwei as she spoke. "I-I've never noticed such Mistress, but it's hard to say... Sometimes it does seem like things are warped, but I've never seen it happening..." Quickly she bent her head back to her task as soon as she was done speaking, determined to bring the lady knight off, unwilling to let progress be lost while she answered questions...

[u

Thrice X[/u]]
[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]

From so high up, Rapid fire was less than perfectly accurate. But the storm of fire Thrice laid down was at least able to do some damage to the multitude below, scattering chips of stone and crystal across the valley floor in equal measure. He struck no telling hits with this barrage, but the girl below him was firing with considerably greater accuracy, and one of the manikins closing with her went down as Trhice watched, crystal head blown into a multitude of tiny pieces.

Now the enemy's forces were split, as a trio of manikins were bounding up the side of the mountain towards Thrice while the remaining pair were closing on the pink-haired girl. Their master on the other hand was nowhere to be seen, possibly having retreated after that wound.

Given that he likely would have proven a challenge, that was probably for the better, as even now Thrice realized he was coming under fire. Two of the Manikins charging up the slope had gunblades of some sort, inaccurate things, but threatening nonetheless as they were able to fire at a fairly decent rate, and their shots seemed powerful judging by the holes that were being blasted in the rock around him.

[u

Michael Fertar[/u]]
[Melmond Fens - Western Shore]

"Oh very well then..."

The voice comes from in front of Michael as he finishes shouting to the sky. The woman -for indeed it is a woman's voice- is white haired, and her face is marked by crimson tattoos. A long robe flows down, and a pair of black feathered wings seem to sprout from her back. "I was mostly curious as to your nature... You don't really seem like anyone normally found in these lands..."

 

[MoFo]

Ein

Carefully, Ein took a look at the Manikins guarding the gateway, and then listened. The wolves continued to howl, and it was very clear to him that if they wanted to get away with their lives. They would have to pick their battles, sure the manikins did look and sound easier, but something told him, that the wolves were going to need to be dealt with....

"I think, seeing as I'm certain if we engage the manikins that we just go for taking down one of them, and leave the other for the wolves to deal with, if all goes well, we can slip through the gate, before the wolves reach us.... does this sound like a solid plan." His stomach growled again this time much more loudly, and he tried to not let it show that it was throwing him off, his gaze upon the manikin's guarding the gates proved that if anything, he'd likely stand a better chance against the wolves, but they would likely come in greater numbers.

"If worse comes to worse and the wolves come I will handle the wolves and you two make a break for it.... I don't want anyone getting killed out here, and I don't want to be the cause of someone getting themselves killed..." He said as he reached for the fighters crystal and sighs it was now or never he soon took it and activated it, upon his form was adorned leather armor and his weapons or tools seemed to lose their rusty look and get a more cleaned and polished look to them. "If all goes well, then no one need to be seperated..."


Thrice X

The blast and ricochet of rocks and debris had him ducking away from their firing, the impact of their shots sending the rubble flying everywhere, he ducked under his poncho a few times and used his hat to block the scratch and denting the damage would do. He switched away from using his rifle and swapped for a more close ranged weapon a pair of 6 shot, automatic magitech revolvers.

The two small hand guns packed a bigger punch at closer range, and thus he resolved himself to using them, he would carefully move and would find himself with a great degree of luck dodging and keeping away from their shots as he moved in close and would fire two non-elemental rounds into the two advancing gunblade manikins the magitech-droid was in trouble if more of them actually came up his way.

Over all the lack of the leader of the manikin's had him a little happier. "Looks like your leader, skedadled on away, if yer looking fro more holes in your shiny butts I'm glad to oblige." He said as he pops out a few more rounds while he can at them ducking for cover each time they charged up to fire again.

 

[Mike the Bloodwolf]

Mike chuckled as the woman finally reviled herself. "I knew you were a female when I first caught glimpss of you, during that time you were watching me" he said to her though when she made that stament it made Mike laugh. "Aye that is true, Au Ru are extremely rare to find because of our connections to dragons made hunters want to hunt us down" Mike told her his hands resting on both his blades. Mike took her appearance into account as he immediately began to write what his scan had reviled in his mind about her. She was powerful there was no question about that but he could not tell if she wad good or evil which annoyed him a little.

 

[Kaybee]

[u

Ein Kebia[/u]]
[Cornelia Plains - Midland Gate Approach]

Tifa frowned, but it was thoughtful rather than disapproving. "Set them against each other?" It was a notion with merit to it, but at the same time, the notion of waiting for the wolves to begin closing was unnerving to say the least. "Rikku."

"Hm?" The blonde glanced over, rocking back and forth from the heels to the balls of her feet, a pair of wicked-looking knives that appeared to have been crossed with some sort of punching daggers in her hands.

"Think we can take them out quickly if we team up?" Tifa asked, before looking to Ein as he activated the crystal, squinting slightly at the light that crawled over him as he absorbed the knowledge and skill contained within.

[Job Learned - Fighter!]

"Do you think you can keep the other one off of us for a minute or two with that? We shouldn't need long before we can come help you..." Tifa looked at him worriedly. "That crystal should give you the resilience to at least stand up in a fight with one of those..." Ein did realize that not only was he somewhat armored and his 'weapons' -such as they were- looked much sturdier and better suited to battle but he was also invigorated. His hunger seemed to affect him somewhat less now, and his legs merely felt warmed up rather than how they'd been aching before from the long march.

"A few minutes?" Rikku scoffed. "You keep it distracted, and I bet I can get it in less than one." Tifa shook her head at that, but kept looking seriously at Ein. "Can you do it?" She repeated once more, worry creeping into her voice. It was a bold plan, but maybe he could pull it off... Just for a minute or two...

Then again, they could wait instead...

[u

Thrice X[/u]]
[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]

The two manikins spread apart as Thrice opened fire, weaving from side to side in their bounding progress towards him, causing his first shot to go wide. His second shot impacted the right manikin's torso with a sound like smashing glass however, and the force of it punched the crystalline thing backwards, flailing as it fell until the trauma of the fall combined with the shot to shatter it as it struck the valley floor. The second one was drawing closer even as the first fell though, a mere handful of meters away now, and...

Hang on, hadn't there been a third?

It was right about then that Thrice realized that something was moving in from his right, the side opposite the second gunblade wielder who was just now readying another barrage! The third one must have circled around, flanking him in a pincer attack!

If nothing else, it showed that these creatures were still capable of basic tactical sense on their own.

Or perhaps that leader was still lurking around somewhere, directing the battle from hiding...

[u

Michael Fertar[/u]]
[Melmond Fens - Western Shore]

The woman gave a 'hmph' that sounded suspiciously like a concealed snort. "Hardly... I was referring to something a little less physical than your mutations." She watched him carefully, seemingly gauging his reaction. "You are quite curiously blank, allied to neither side." She raised an eyebrow.

"You don't even know where you are do you..." She finally said with the tone of someone coming to a realization of some sort, her words not so much a question as a simple statement, slight amazement slipping into her voice and one eyebrow rising. "Curious that a creature like you could have a place in this world... Or perhaps you don't, and that's why you know not..." She smiles at him, and it is an almost predatory expression. "Curiouser and curiouser..."

[u

Gauthiant Nadeau[/u]]
[Elven Snowfields - Southern Shore]

The sound of battle is what awakens Gauthiant. No great conflict mind you, but a clash of forces nonetheless. Two voices shouting indistinctly at each other, interspersed with a ring of what sounds like metal on stone.

A snowfield greets him as he opens his eyes, and he can feel cold sand beneath him. A desert? No... A beach is what it seems to be as he sits up, for he can see frozen waves behind him, sea ice clinging to the shore in great bergs.

The sky is dark and star spotted, but for a single beacon of light, almost straight ahead of him. Looking lower, mountains rise towards the sky in a small range, and lower still, a dark and snowbound forest greets his vision, within which he can now see flares and flashes of light from the combat within.

Left or right, along the coastline, or forwards, towards the light. Those were the only landmarks he had for now...

Of course, the light would also lead to the battle ahead...

 

[Mike the Bloodwolf]

Mike chuckled as he picked up some dirt in his hand and said in a calm tone. "I know I'm in a place where time and Space have no pull, I know that every step I take feels like I'm getting further and further from the truth, I know that the ground I stand on has had much blood spilled including my own somehow. But all that pale to the real truth".
He walked up to Ultimeca (I think cause that's the only female with black wings I can think of, who has a red cloak), staring her in the eyes as he said "The real truth is are you good or evil, and which path are you trying to lead me on"

 

[Azecreth]

"Ugh, my head," Gauthiant groaned to himself as the first feelings of pain registered, as he woke from his sleep. The second thing to hit was cold, a chill running through him that was most unwelcome. It was easy to determine the cause though, as his eyes opened to reveal himself on some kind of beach. Sitting up, he glanced around to see ice and snow all around, with no end in sight.

Rising to his feet, he was quick to check his person, locating his rapier and the clothes on his back, with precious little else. "Where am I," he muttered to himself once he had done that, having another look around the place. He...didn't know this place. In fact, he didn't remember how he had gotten here either. Well, actually, he couldn't remember much of anything at the moment. Certainly nothing useful.

Still, his searching did get results. Besides the giant frozen sea next to him, which he quickly ignored lest he feel himself freeze in place just looking at it, he could see a range of mountains of some kind in the distance, and before that a snow covered forest. Well that was good, since it meant he hadn't wound up in the afterlife or something like that. So, he'd take what he could get.

He frowned though, taking a step forward as he saw the flares and flashes of light nearby, caught with his keen eye. That was...interesting, and the way that it emanated and faded indicated to him, at least, that it was combat going on. Who was fighting all the way out here, and why?

Well, there was no point in ignoring it, he supposed. The fastest way to getting back to civilization and out of this cold was to find people, and he knew where they wee. So, hand brushing against the pommel of his rapier, he stepped forward and headed towards the ongoing fight. Once close enough though he would shift slightly, moving at a slower pace and attempting to hide his presence, so he could see what was going on without immediately getting involved. There was nothing wrong with a little caution, was there?

So Gauthiant would watch, and try to see what was out there. He had the feeling that it would be interesting.

 

[Lillythelez]

Ein

Ein felt, different after the warm glow of the crystal flickered off of him. He took a moment to look at himself, over his tunic was a leather breastplate, sturdy and likely to protect him enough at this rate. He twists and turns getting a better look at himself, and listened as they spoke with each other. Ein grabs out the boomerang he picked up, thanks to the crystal this shoddy piece of wood had gotten a bit more practical looking, the light wooden throwing tool wasn't the most effective weapon, but from the looks of what he'd be up against it prove effective enough. He gave the boomerang a few test throws upwards and catches it, with ease. "I feel stronger, and much lighter.... strange... is this also because of the crystal...?" He looked to Rikku who was all to ready to get in and fight he looked at the two manikins they were identical, and over all, they had a feminine look to them slightly. He shook his head "Sure I'll keep one busy, you two make quick work of the other one we should be able to hammer the 2nd one as a team, I'll keep the second one busy, and you two take the other.... alright....ready, set.... and..." He would throw the boomerang the instrument flew with surprising force cutting through the air and aimed right straight at one of the manikins.


Thrice

"Dang your a squirrelly bunch of carbon..." The crystal men were being controlled, to even he who was a creation of man was all to aware of what a puppet was. He would be focused to much on taking down one of them and firing on the other, that he had only managed to realize within a split second a third one had snuck around to his side and was ultimately gunning for him. He moved his foot back a bit and just barely managed to avoid a blade through his systems, the magitech-droid would get off with just his poncho getting sliced slightly. He tisked at the damage, and looked at it. "Damn I like this poncho." Then suddenly as he moved his weight back he felt his foot locomotion stopped and then he looked back "Ah, crap...." He had moved to far back to dodge the hit, sending him tumbling down the side of the valley, and right smack down in the thick of it. "Damn...." He said as he pulled himself up after the fall, he was overall surprisingly well off save for a few scratches and dings from hitting the ground, but his alloy frame looked like it handled the shcok of the fall without to much damage.

 

[Kaybee]

[u

Ein Kebia[/u]]
[Cornelia Plains - Midland Gate Approach]

Rikku nodded approvingly, and winked, though whether that was an answer to Ein's question or simply an appreciation of his more armored and better-armed state was entirely up to debate. Unfortunately, no clarification was to be forthcoming, as a moment later she vanished between one blink and the next. Surprisingly stealthy for a girl who wears such bright colors...

Tifa on the other hand was focused on the manikin, and as Ein engaged it's partner she charged, fists blazing briefly as she hurled herself at the floating crystalline creature with a yell. Then Ein was in the midst of his own dance of death and was barely able to pay attention to the fight happening next to him as the manikin seemed to sprout a pair of extra limbs out of nowhere that lashed out at him, crude pincer-like appendages on their ends snapping eagerly as their owner floated serenely towards him.

Now that he was up close, 'She' was in much better shape than the manikin he'd fought previously, and it showed, as her attacks were quicker, pushing his heightened reflexes and instilled training to the limit already just to get him out of their way in time!

[u

Thrice X[/u]]
[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]

For the minimal damage the fall did, Thrice had actually made a surprisingly good tradeoff as his long tumble down the mountainside had gotten him away from the trio of manikins again, who were now forced to come back down the mountain to get him. Of course, there were still two manikins down in the valley to deal with, and if the man who'd been controlling them was hiding anywhere nearby it would be down here, but both manikins seemed firmly engaged with their original target, especially as she switched her gun into a wicked-looking blade of some sort and lunged at one of them, driving the shifted weapon straight through the creature's crystalline chest with a battlecry before pivoting and slamming the still-impaled manikin into it's partner who'd been trying to sneak up on her, leaving both of them quite a bit worse for wear though neither had fallen yet...

She wasn't doing all well though, as Thrice could see her flagging slightly now, and she was clearly favoring her right leg now that he could see her more closely. She might be more than a match for any one of these things, but her injuries seemed to be catching up with her, and five-on-one wasn't the best odds to say the least...

[u

Michael Fertar[/u]]
[Melmond Fens - Western Shore]

"Time?!" The woman gave a barking laugh. "I know time better than any besides perhaps that puppet of Chaos'." She narrowed her eyes at Mike. "And good and evil is such a black and white view of the world after all... Why should I lead you down either of two so frustratingly disparate paths, it would be a disservice if you ask me... Especially when you stand so uniquely positioned to do something else, to walk the middle if you so choose..."

She sighed, and her expression became momentarily thoughtful, only to harden again as she looked back to the man standing before her. "I will not answer your question that you call a truth, even if I refuse to do so only out of a misguided attempt to do a service for such a foolish creature as stands before me."

[u

Gauthiant Nadeau[/u]]
[Elven Snowfields - Southern Shore]

The fighting lulled as Gauthiant approached, then started again with renewed vigor, only to lull again as he drew closer still. At first, he might wonder if the fight was reacting to him, but as he drew close enough to see the battle itself, he realized it was the nature of the combatants that was creating this stop-start struggle.

One was easily visible, a pale woman in green who Gauthiant was sure would have been shivering from the cold given how little her outfit covered were it not for the glow of magic surrounding her. Had he not heard two voices he might have thought her on a destructive rampage of some sort as she hurled fire at the trees and her shield sputtered and flickered occasionally as though she lacked a certain amount of control over it. However, a careful watcher would see black arrows falling to the snow before the mage moments after every flicker of her shield, and Gauthiant realized that the girl's opponent was stalking through the trees around her, firing arrows towards her or calling taunts at various opportunities.

A moment later, he also realized that this mysterious woman was going to run across him sooner or later as she danced the edges of the mage's fire. Or if the mage spotted him she might toast him by accident thinking him her opponent... Now that he had seen the fight, he would need to either get involved on one side or the other or back off.

 

[MoFo]

Ein

Ein, had been watching Rikku and Tifa bolt after their target, as soon as his attempt to draw his target in bore fruit, the sprouting of the attacking limbs on the mankin brought a surprise from him he pulls the sledgehammer and Hoe out and attempted to spread them in a manner to have the attacking limbs strike the tools instead of his body, however they were surprisingly faster then his limbs could react resulting in him getting smacked this way and that for a bit. He recovered once the creature had to retract its other limbs and would hop to his feet, "That was quite the whipping... but I can follow up.." He grabs for the boomerange as it had returned finally and would switch to the sledgehammer, and would charge in leaping straight for it and bringing his full weight with the hammer down upon the recovering manikin. If all turned to his advantage the creature would still be in process of pulling back its limbs.

Thrice

The magitech-droid saw that the woman was in trouble and looked to the other manikins, for now they would take a while to get down here, he turns his focus on the Manikins pestering the woman and aimed his revolvers popping shots off at the manikins after her. "You look like you been kicked by a chocobo, let me offer my help, free of charge." He said as he spins the chamber of one revolver and charged up a strong projectile attack, aiming it at the second of her dealings, the shot would fire, sending a massive shot straight for the head of the manikin.

 

[Azecreth]

Nearing the fight, there was a bit of worry as it seemed to lull, only to burst into open combat again as he drew near. It began to resolve itself now, as he got the chance to see what was going on. It was full on combat, with what looked like a mage of some kind fighting it out with an archer. At least he wasn't the only one having trouble with the cold, though he couldn't imagine what that was doing to her at the moment with the fight going on. It was probably not fun, that much was for sure.

Still he could tell that things weren't going all that well. Her shield seemed to be flickering, and he also noticed that they were headed his way. Which would have been fine if it weren't for the storm of arrows going one way, and the bolts of fire that went the other. He really didn't want to get caught in the crossfire of that, he was fairly certain. Self preservation was a wonderful thing.

Well then, he was in a bit of a situation wasn't he? Go against the archer, or go against the mage. Or he supposed he could run away, but who knew how far he would get trying that, so it probably wasn't a viable option. Well, thinking on it, he did enjoy the thought of swooping in to save the day, which seemed like a viable solution given the taunting going on on the part of the archer.

So, drawing his rapier, he began to move towards the archer, drawing on what stealth he could muster to get as close as possible without her noticing, doing what he could to dodge any errant fireballs in the process. Time to throw in on this fight then.

 

[Mike the Bloodwolf]

"Then we are in agreement witch of Chaos" Mike said as he turned from the woman and said "You know, the path in the middle sounds the most inviting. So are you going to follow me or are you planning to fight me here?" Mike then walked off in the direction he was heading in the first place. The path under the light where he wanted to be.

 

[Kaybee]

[u

Ein Kebia[/u]]
[Cornelia Plains - Midland Gate Approach]

The hits had been hard, but the crystal hadn't simply given Ein armor with nothing else. He felt less pain, dull aches where sharp bruising agonies should have been, and for all that his defense had failed, he had managed to follow the first rule of battle, an echo of an echo of a voice in his mind. Never drop your weapon.

Then he was on the attack, and the manikin was just a little bit too slow. One of it's extra limbs shattered under the force of the blow, and the second wobbled unsteadily as the swing clipped it, breaking a handful of shards off and sending cracks spiderwebbing along it's length. Giving a strange resonant hiss of anger, purple energy gathered around the more human hands, and was brought forwards suddenly with a scream that seemed to reverberate within the manikin itself, and while Ein might still be a farmer at heart, he could easily recognize some sort of spell being aimed at him!

[u

Thrice X[/u]]
[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]

The pink-haired woman looked relieved as she realized where the shots were coming from, though she only looked up at Thrice long enough to acknowledge his presence with a quick nod before launching herself at the nearest manikin, blade transforming mid-leap to strike where Thrice' shot blew a part of it's torso away mere moments ago, finishing the job he started. For a moment, she eyed the other manikin, but -seeing it turn to Thrice and register him as the greater threat for the moment- turned to look up the mountainside, transforming her weapon again and cracking off carefully placed shots.

She was hardly using a rifle, and her injuries could not be doing her aim any good, but she was forcing the manikins to descend more slowly as they twisted this way and that to evade her bullets. Buying Thrice time to finish off the last threat down here so he could bring his precision weaponry into play. Clearly she's been trained, military, though clearly an unconventional variety of such if her uniform is anything to go by...

[u

Michael Fertar[/u]]
[Melmond Fens - Western Shore]

"More the fool you are then, hypocrite and fool both I say." The woman speaks from behind Mike as he turns to walk away, but should he look back once her words are concluded, he finds her vanished as quickly as she appeared. Perhaps she has lost interest in him, or perhaps she left out of annoyance, for she certainly seemed rather irritated by the end of that...

In any case, the rolling hills carry on and on, occasionally dotted by small copses of scrubby trees here and there until they begin to slope down again. There is a chill in the air, partially brought on by sunset to be sure, but also in part from the wind, which has stiffened, nipping through Michael's clothing to sink into his scales and skin. Ahead, he can see the sea, and as he crests one hill, he realizes that he can see the source of the white sky, an island that just barely peers over the horizon, far off in the distance.

[u

Gauthiant Nadeau[/u]]
[Elven Snowfields - Southern Shore]

The archer was staying a fairly specific distance from her opponent, and as Gauthiant watched he began to realize that she was pushing herself to remain at an absolute minimum range to avoid the fireballs that came hurtling towards her. The crackling of burning trees was all around him now, and he was forced to dodge several times himself as the archer -and in turn, the fire- came too close, scorching him slightly once or twice.

However, all of the focus the archer had was on the mage, and so, while she never came close enough for him to grab her before she leapt away again, she never noticed him either.

At least, until she landed a little bit too close, and caught sight of Gauthiant out of the corner of her eye... She whirled, "How did you-!" And for a moment, he might have thought she was going to loose her nocked arrow at him instead, only for her eyes to widen in surprise before she leaped backwards, out of the path of a fresh wave of fireballs that boiled the air between them for a moment, skidding to a halt in the snow as suddenly, the three of them formed a triangle, the two women looking warily between each other and Gauthiant, as though unsure what to expect from him.

In that brief moment, he might have a chance to get a word in edgewise before arrows and spells start flying again at least...

 

[MoFo]

Ein

Ein had succeeded in not only crushing one of the tendrils, but clearly it just seemed to piss off the main body. The fact that the blows hadn't hurt nearly as bad as he had expected clearly showed that the crystal seemed to have strengthened his over all resolve. "Darned things arn't so bad...." He saw the main body looking to be getting ready to launch some sort of magic his way, he gulped and shook his head, "Stay calm Ein...." He said and would make for a mad dash towards the creature getting ready to dodge out of the way should the spell be aimed towards him. Ein had switched to the Hoe this time, as it would be much quicker to close the gap with, soon as he started running he had made his choice, his eyes drift for a milisecond over towards Tifa and Rikku's fight before he turned his attention back to his own problem at hand.

Thrice

Thrice saw the woman wasn't doing well, and he would have to deal with that later, as another of the crystal men falls, he took aim and readied his rifle this time taking close aim and firing a precise shot for the head. Then followed up by aiming behind him and up towards the ones the lass was fighting, firing off a few rounds straight for the ones having to come down and mixed some of his shots in with her own. Resulting in him likely gaining more of the crystal mens focus, but if his metal exterior was anything to go by, he was clearly made with taking hits better in mind. The magitech droid returned to fire upon the remaining low ground enemy by holding a revolver past his hip and just firing away behind him while using the rifle to fire a couple more rounds at the high ground enemies. "Yer gonna need some first aid when we are done with this, if yer aim is swaying so much..." He retorts with a kind of respect but over all he was trying to keep some semblance of moral in the works.

 

[Mike the Bloodwolf]

Mike watched her vanish from the corner of his eye. "At least, I did not surrender my soul for power or a sex slave" he said to himself before he noticed the island in the distance and though back to where he needed to go. "Maybe I should of asked that woman for directions, at least I would still not be wandering lost" he thought to himself as he looked around before heading towards the island his hand on his Sword just in case.

 

[Azecreth]

Gauthiant dodged and weaved through the forest, grateful for the quick reflexes that kept him from being torched by fireballs that came his way. In hindsight maybe this hadn't been the best idea, but it was a bit too late now. It was just a pity that he could never get close enough to hit the mysterious archer, at least with all the chaos that was currently ongoing. This was why he wasn't the biggest fan of straight up fights, at least against ranged units.

So close, he got so close! But sadly it was not to be as the archer spotted him, and fortunately for him she didn't immediately shoot him. But it brought the conflict to a standstill for the moment as both combatants shifted to account for his presence, leaving him to react to it. Well then, this was a fine situation wasn't it? Time to put what talents he might have to use, if only to ensure they didn't gang up on him for whatever reason.

"Ladies," he said with a flourish of his rapier. "Forgive me for intruding but this seems awfully far from civilization to be having a full on brawl. Care to explain what's going on to a poor, lost soul?" Perhaps not the best that he could have said, but maybe one of them would be willing to humor him. He could hope.

 

[Kaybee]

[u

Ein Kebia[/u]]
[Cornelia Plains - Midland Gate Approach]

Tifa is punching at the manikin from the front, fists a blaming blur as she forces it to defend itself with all it's limbs, Rikku seems nowhere to be seen at first, but just as Ein looks back, he catches her out of the corner of his eye, lunging at the Manikin from behind in ambush.

Then the spell comes, and Ein's dodge is just a little to slow as a massive wave of lightning-streaked purple energy blasts forth, catching him head on. It hurts, like fire all over, and Ein can hear himself screaming even over the roar of power washing over him.

Then, as quickly as it came, it recedes, and Ein falls to the ground, aching all over but not quite dead, not yet... The Manikin looks him over for a moment, as though deciding whether to finish him off, and then, it begins to charge a spell, taking longer this time. Clearly the thing doesn't think he'll be getting up again, and Tifa and Rikku are still finishing their own manikin off...

[u

Thrice X[/u]]
[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]

The woman's only response was to narrow her eyes and grit her teeth as she sent another flurry of fire uphill, succeeding in tagging two of the descending manikins in the process. Taking one of the more heavily wounded ones out of the fight entirely as her smaller calibre assault stressed it's weakened body to the point of shattering. She kept it up, causing the manikins further slowdowns as she seemingly willed greater accuracy from her battered body, but they were drawing closer, and the final ground-bound manikin seemed at least moderately capable, dodging left and right, advancing only from cover as it fired away with a gunblade. The weapon was inaccurate by nature, but sooner or later Thrice would need to either take the manikin out or take some cover of his own to keep from getting hit...

[u

Michael Fertar[/u]]
[Melmond Fens - Western Shore]

Heading towards the island works for a little while, but it isn't long before Mike comes to the shore, and is left looking across the waves to the light-sky'd land. It seems small from here, and quite low to the waters, but in any case, he cannot get much closer now, unless he plans to swim the whole way of course...

Right, or left... Those are the choices he is left with. Hopefully if he circles around the water there might be a crossing point somewhere?

[u

Gauthiant Nadeau[/u]]
[Elven Snowfields - Southern Shore]

The two women exchanged glances again, confusion writ large on the green-clad mage's face while present -if to a lesser degree- on the lapine archer's face as well (For Gauthiant could see clearly now that two rabbit-like ears poked from the white hair that ran down her back from beneath her helm). "Isn't he..?" The mage begins uncertainly, only for the archer to shake her head. "I thought he was with you... Does that mean?"

The Archer's eyes narrow, and she levels her bow at Gauthiant, though given he can see the attack coming, he can at least be fairly sure he could dodge it if he's quick. "What do you know of Cosmos and Chaos?" She asked, tentative skepticism in her tone. the mage looked alarmed at the bow being aimed, re-summoning her shield, but she looked curious too, glancing towards Gauthiant attentively to hear his answer...

 

[MoFo]

Ein

Ein took a nasty hit from the scorching energy like blast. His body scathed all over and it was excruciating as well, the pain of the magic blast coursing its way through his body. He fell to the ground for a short while, and pants readily as he hears the thing readying to blast him again, hopefully he could buy just a little more time, while he was on the ground he pulled out a potion from his pocket and downed it and tossed the bottle, and waits for the right moment, the thing was still charging its attack, allowing him to quickly rise up from his downed position, he kept low as he dashed forward, and while the manikin had still been charging up for its bigger attack, he swings the hoe straight on upwards trying to clip the manikin with the hoes blade. "You, are not going to beat me, I am not falling in this place." He said gritting his teeth and swinging with all his might.


Thrice

All of his shots had missed, which just seemed to agitate his pride more then anything. Then the magitech droid turned away from the ones on the hill turning to face the one that was still on the ground with them, it would seem he would have to deal with this one. Drawing his rifle out he would begin to fire at the manikin while the manikin itself opened fire, he braced a few of the shots from the gunblade, the metal body of his taking the hits, not that being made of metal made him invincible, but a lot more of the shots would be more likely to do less damage to him then an average person, sure some of his wires and stuff would be in bad shape, but it was a sacrifice to be made. Over all, the gunner magitech droid followed the spray of shots from the gunblade user down here and fires off a few rounds while bracing his opponents hits.

 

[Azecreth]

Gauthiant still wasn't sure what was going on, but it was obvious that he had confused both combatants with his statement. They were definitely on opposite sides, and he only noticed now that the Archer had rabbit ears, somewhat drawing close to the Migo'te, and yet still different in a way that he hadn't seen before. It increased the oddity of the situation at hand, and he wasn't entirely sure where to go with it, if he were to be honest.

Then the question was aimed his way, as well as that bow that had been used before. He was fairly certain that he could dodge it, but he would prefer to not have to at all, preferably by not getting shot at. In turn, he did what he could to answer after a momentary hum of thought. "The Cosmos are heaven or the stars above, depending on who you talk to, and Chaos is the lack of Order." He glanced between the two warriors, rapier still held if needed. "Judging by what I stumbled into though, I'm going to assume there's a bit more to it than that."

 

[Kaybee]

[u

Ein Kebia[/u]]
[Cornelia Plains - Midland Gate Approach]

The thing's 'eyes' widen as it catches sight of the bottle, but it seems as though it's committed to the attack, and can't stop it's charge. He dashes low as it fires high, purple energy searing the air above his head as he twists around it and swings the hoe with all his strength!

Before, it would have been a solid hit, but now, against a manikin unable to defend itself in the aftermath of it's attack, it is a telling one. The hoe smashes crystal, shearing one of the manikin's arms off in a spray of glittering shards and reducing most of it's shoulder to jagged edges. Amazingly, the thing seems undeterred, and for a moment, Ein sees hate in those lifeless eyes as energy charges in the thing's remaining hand but then it staggers, tumbles, and falls to the ground at last, shattering as Rikku bears it down. He hadn't even seen her start her run up...

Then Tifa arrives on his other side, "Ein! How did you-... Are you alright?!" To say she seems concerned would be an understatement...

[u

Thrice X[/u]]
[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]

Thrice can feel his chassis resonate with the power as the manikin draws closer and become more accurate, but while the shots leave deep dents and mangled components where they strike, he can sustain the damage. It is a brutal war of attrition, his rifle chipping away at the manikin with a veritable storm of fire as it charges him, but it is a war the manikin cannot win, and after long seconds of nothing but the rage and fury and pain of shot after shot, it falls and shatters on the ground, while Thrice remains standing, sparking in places where the shots tore even his metal skin, but alive.

There is a glow among the remains of the manikin, and as Thrice looks up, he can see Lightning finishing the last two stragglers descending the mountainside as they draw close. She sags as the last one falls, breathing heavily, wincing as she inadvertently leans too hard on her injured leg before making her slow way over to him. "Are you alright..?" she asks after a moment, taking in the heavy dents and tears in Thrice' chassis.

[u

Gauthiant Nadeau[/u]]
[Elven Snowfields - Southern Shore]

Both of them looked intrigued at that more than anything else. "A right answer, but not a full one..." The mage speaks first. "Do you speak truly? You know of nothing other than those?" The Viera looks more skeptical, but after a moment her face softens slightly. "Hmph, this world was made by Cosmos and Chaos, goddess and god respectively, and they fight over it, choosing champions to represent them. Until one or the other is victor, the world cannot meet it's destiny, and neither will allow the other to be sole ruler..."

"Cosmos is order, and light. Chaos is darkness, and would turn this world to a wasteland." The mage glares at the archer as she says that, and the archer glares back, raising her bow threateningly again. "Chaos will bring a world where change can occur! Cosmos will do nothing but create a neat and ordered land of eternal apathy!"

So close, and yet so far, since the two already look ready to come to blows again... Both still seem to be paying some attention to Gauthiant at least though... If perhaps only to see which side he'll take...

 

[MoFo]

Ein

Ein had over exerted himself in the whole fight, and as the thing nearly used its remaining arm to hammer him with whatever magic it could muster. Rikku ended the Manikin, and his body felt worn out. The potion was not a substitute for a rest, and unfortunately, his hunger was returning. He looked to Tifa who was showing great concern for him. The young man flashed his best smile while dusting himself off and settling away the hoe, "Yeah, I'm fine, I think I tried way to hard during that though." He flashed Tifa an assuring little smile that, he would be fine, but he was worn out. Slowly though he looks to Rikku, "Did either of them drop anything useful?" He asked noticing a white crystal shard roll out from the mess of shards left from his manikin... He knelt down picked it up and looked at it.... He calmly looks to the two of them, and then the howl of wolves returned to their ear shot, "Well, shall we get in that gate then? Before the wolves show up and finish what the manikins started?"

Thrice

Thrice gave the pink haired woman a look, as his eyes scanned over her. Sure he looked a little bad right now, but thankfully the damage wasn't in places that hindered him much, the sparks of broken wires and the steam of a broken cooling unit was about the most of which showed his damage. The machine chuckled seeing her favoring her leg, "Funny, I should ask you the same thing..." He unlike her would need to get patched up, as a potion wouldn't do much in the way for him, still he rummaged around the remains of the crystal men. There was 2 potions, and 3 odd looking crystal shards amongst them. He tosses her one of the potions, "Here this should get your leg to feeling better...." He said calmly

 

[Azecreth]

Gauthient looked between the mage and the archer as they explained the situation, or some form of it. In the end it wasn't actually that complex, with the two of them belonging to opposite factions that were fighting to defeat the other and control this world so they could enforce their own vision upon it. "So, Cosmos is Order and Light, while Chaos is darkness and change," he said, more to himself than to them as he mused over that revelation. Interesting, very interesting indeed.

Of course, while he had been puzzling that out it seemed as though the Archer and the Mage were ready to start shooting at each other again, and with them so close to him it probably wouldn't end well for him in the process, if he had to guess. that left him to once more make a decision, which side he should support if he should even support a side.

Well, in the end he didn't know the situation at hand, or which one was telling the truth. Then again, if he found something he didn't like then defecting was always an option. But for now he had the feeling that he would prefer the side of Order. It just seemed to be a more preferable situation. So, with rapier at the ready he turned towards the archer, adopting a combat oriented stance. "No hard feelings," he told her. "This just seems like the reasonable option right now." With that he would strike with his rapier, quick and precise, if given the opportunity to do so.

 

[Kaybee]

[u

Ein Kebia[/u]]
[Cornelia Plains - Midland Gate Approach]

Tifa stayed close, trying to help Ein to his feet until it seemed apparent he could stand on his own. "We thought you were done for!" Rikku didn't sound half distressed as well. "Fighter or not... Taking a hit like that, after that beating..." Tifa choked on a laugh at his question. "That's all you can think about?" She chuckled.

"Come on." Ein couldn't be sure, but he swore that Rikku's face flashed disappointment for a moment as Tifa ducked under his arm and slung it over her shoulders, supporting his with surprising steadiness despite her own apparent stiffness. Doesn't look like she got through the fight unscathed either, though he's pretty sure he's definitely the worst off of the three of them.

Unwilling to let him slip away from her support. Tifa guides him towards the gate, and the world flashes blue-white as they step into the portal. On the other side an aurora of soft colours swirls around a large landing upon which is perched a structure that looks very much like a large and well kept wayhouse or inn. It becomes rapidly apparent that the place is devoid of staff or servants or even an innkeeper as would typically be found in any normal counterpart to this place but despite all that the chillbox and larder seem well stocked with fresh food and a roaring fire crackles merrily in the hearth at the centre of the common room.

"This is one of the nicer gates..." Rikku explained as they explored the place. "No manikins inside yet, and all these lovely amenities. But even the most infested and dilapidated gates have safe and plentiful places to stay..." She clapped her hands together, eyed Tifa and Ein, and grinned. "I'll get some food together! You two just take some time to relax, you both took some pretty nasty hits in that fight after all!" she retreated towards the kitchen with a wink, and Tifa promptly flushed, opening her mouth as though to shout after the Al-Bhed girl only to close it again as Rikku disappeared around a corner before the brawler could get so much as a word out, leaving Ein and Tifa alone in the room together.

[u

Thrice X[/u]]
[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]

Lightning caught the potion on pure reflex, nearly fumbling the awkwardly shaped bottle for a moment before she managed to catch it properly. Grimly she took a swig, lines of pain on her face smoothing almost immediately as the semi-magical tonic went to work on her wounds before she dumped some of it into her palm carefully and pressed it to the gash in her leg, hissing in pain as the direct contact rapidly repaired the damage.

She repeated this twice, draining the rest of the potion bottle in the process and reducing the wound to a jagged pink patch of shiny new skin. If it hurt to put weight on it any more, she certainly didn't show it now.

Finally, she stepped up to thrice, and looked him up and down. "Thank you, for your help, and the potion. A pity I can't do the same for you, unless white magic can fix you?" She glowed as she spoke, angry red flaring around her, then a cool green, and she raised one hand that glowed with curative power. "Do you have a designation? Or a Name?" she asked, almost as an afterthought. "I am called Lightning."

[u

Gauthiant Nadeau[/u]]
[Elven Snowfields - Southern Woodlands]

Disappointment crossed the Lapine woman's face at Gauthiant's choice, and she sighed as she hefted her bow once more only to halt suddenly, as though something had occurred to her. "Are you sure you're making the right choice?" She stepped towards Gauthiant slightly, putting in a provocative little swing of her hips as she did and bending forwards slightly, clearly trying to show off a little. "I think if you just give me a chance, I can make Chaos' Side a much more worthwhile option for you..."

The Mage flushed visibly at that, sputtering in anger. "What?! You can't just..." She gritted her teeth, then looked at Gauthiant. "You can't possibly be considering that, can you?!" She swallowed visibly. "I'm sure whatever she can do for you, I can do better anyways!" A bold statement as she glared at the other woman considering she seemed quite a bit less comfortable with what was being proposed, not to mention uncertain as the archer smirked and taunted. "Care to back that up?"