426 replies to this topic

[BlackLightning]

Ryuuji slowly opens his eyes before following it with a groan as he cursed, "Why do I feel like I've been run over by a bull stampede?" his entire body feel like its been put through the mincer and he's sporting a pounding headache on top of it. Taking a few more minutes to steady his bearing, he looks around and realize that he is currently in a very much unfamiliar room with near to nothing in it other than the bed he apparently slept in, there isn't even a window to peer outside and the only way to get in and out is a door located on the other side of the room.

As he recollects his memory of what happened before he passed out, Ryuuji also check his person for any sign of tampering which fortunately is none other than that his sword is missing, 'Assuming that I'm taken to be interrogated, I guess it makes sense that they takes out my weapon too.'

[shadow_Uzumaki]

"Well, whoever's not too tired for a two to three hour watch can take this light stone. I'm going to bed." Balian stretched and yawn before putting the light stone to a surface next to him and walked towards his room across from their prisoner/new companion's room. He nodded at Zerva before closing his door, unsheathing his lance and laying it next to him before lying down on his bed. Within a few minutes, he was out and snoring.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

It has been months since our heroic band of ragtag misfits crashed through the docks of the city of Albret and flying out of the city guards' reach with their airship. Progress has been smooth....well at least after they figured out how to fly the damn airship. With Julien temporarily out of commission due to a bizarre encounter with a poisonous flying reptile that got entangled on the sails, it took a few weeks for everyone to learn how to properly crew a giant, floating ship, slowing them down a bit. Once everyone (sans the recovering Julien) learned their part, their quest finally made some progress.

As the ship moved through the air, Balian, who surveyed the skies in front of them with a binocular, opened a covering to a tube leading to the Crow's Nest where he had Skadi keep a look out after the reptile incident.

"Hey girly, see anything? I can see that we're slowing down a little. I reckon the ship's autopilot is bringing us closer to the Sky City." He zoomed in on a little dot after speaking and finally cheered, "F_ yeah! This damn trip's gonna end soon!"

[Yoko]

Skadi snatches the binoculars from Balian with little warning, hopping up onto the railing around the crows nest and peering through them. Her lips from a grin as she tosses them back to the bartender. Not that he's tended any bars in AGES.

" 'Bout damn time, too!" It had been months and for the most part, everyone's seemed to mellow out a bit. Zerva even seemed a little less depressed! It was just short of a miracle. It was a good thing the city was so close, because their food supply was running low. There was more than enough to trade after exploring the ship properly, as well.

And honestly, at this point, she just wanted a drink. Skadi missed drinking.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

"Ulp." Balian struggled a bit, juggling the binoculars before catching it. "Watch it, I only got one set of these!" He growled a bit before smirking as he placed the binoculars back into the little satchel hanging from his shoulder.

He turned towards the hallways where the others had taken their rooms and yelled, "ALL HANDS ON DECK! We're about to reach the sky city that rich boy and the brat keep goin' on 'bout! Just like we practiced, everyone! And Zerva, watch your timing with the propellers! We don't wanna scrape off the paint on this thing like we did on that mountain a few months back!" He yelled throughout the hallway as he walked, knocking on the doors to wake everyone up as he briefly went in his room to grab his lance. "This is it, fellas! As one journey ends, another must begin! A wise man told me that....well, before I threw my lance at his head." He stopped and scratched his cheek at where the idiom went wrong before shrugging it off and turned back to the cockpit to grab at the wheel. "All right...sky temple, here we come." He smirked to himself as the Sky City finally came to view.

[BlackLightning]

Ryuuji scratch the back of his head as he got up from his bed due to Balian's screaming while thinking, 'Since when is he taking role of the captain?' he takes his time as he put on his usual attire minus the sword which lays next to his bed before walking out his room. Few months since he was "captured" he somehow ends up joining the pirates due to several reason. Some because he's still pissed that his client had double-crossed him and as it stands, him and the pirates has a common enemy. Some of them is also the fact that they are 25000 feet above land and he doesn't fancy becoming the first human pavement pancake of the century. Last and most importantly however, is that he is flat out bored and curious of this sky city that had came up in several of the conversation between the crews. One way or another, he ended up being part of the crew after not-so-few squabble with the others, 'That old man REALLY know how to hold a grudge....' and his prison room ended up being his designated bedroom instead. Thanks to his extensive experience doing odd jobs on land, he had become the handyman of the ship from repair to maintenance of the machinery.

As he made his way to the deck, he look straight to Balian, "So.... where is this Sky city? I'll be honest with you, all I see are clouds."

[Fyuria'sLeo]

Walking out from the rooms and onto the deck he was blinded for a moment from the sunlight. It was a few months since the beginning of there journey and Zerva got to know the band of rag tag fighter's a little better. Walking out onto the deck a little bit further he looked up at the cockpit.

"Boss lighten up it's not like I meant to hit the mountains!" Zerva yelled to him.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

Balian barked out a laugh at Zerva's retort, "Hah! You were not the one who had to sit on a wooden plank tied to the railways trying to clean off that scrape." He turned back to the view in front of him as the small dot that was their goal grew larger.

"There's that sky city we're heading for." He pointed to answer Ryuuji's question before gripping the wheel tightly. "Looks like the auto-pilot's slowing down, I think we might have to dock this hunk of junk ourselves."

(OOC: Yes, I did kinda hi-jack this from Bushi.... hope you guys don't mind.... )

Edited by shadow_Uzumaki, 27 January 2012 - 08:04 PM.

[Miss Soupy]

Her fingers ran over the thick parchment. She read the letter again, just to make sure she caught every detail, and then folded it neatly. Moving towards her bed, she pulled out a small metal box from underneath and opened it, putting the letter inside before carefully locking it up again. With a sigh, she stashed the box back under her bed and stood to stretch.

“Was the trip too difficult?” she implored, looking up at the tiny owl that sat perched on her dresser.

“It’s getting easier to find landmarks once I’m close, but the travel time is always getting longer,” the owl said, his voice a usual soothing calm.

She quirked her lips up at him. “I’m sure you don’t mind a reason to get off this ship for awhile. I’m going stir crazy on this thing!”

Noctua’s red-orange eyes took a more humorous glint as he fluffed his metallic feathers. “I can’t say I mind too much, most of the time. This ship has gotten fairly dull; there are no more mysteries about it besides the destination it flies towards.”

At that, there was a commotion through the loud speakers as they heard the booming voice of Balian.

Twills eyebrow ticked a fraction. “He’s enjoying his position a little bit too much.”

Noctua made a soft chuckle in her head as he took his usual spot on her shoulder. She had found some scraps of leather and had fastened a special shoulder padding to wear under her clothing so that his talons would no longer dig into her so painfully. As soon as they made it back to civilization, she had every intention of buying some better body armor and more arrows. She had run out days before, and she felt almost naked without having a quiver full to call on.

Finding the others looking pointedly at the sky, she too turned to look. There was some sort of dark spot in the distance which she supposed could be something. Or, it could be a bird, another false alarm. Either way, she felt hope spring within her at the thought of possibly getting off the ship finally.

“Better not lose sights on that speck, if there is any possibility it could be land,” she said, shading her eyes with her hand as she looked into the sky.

[BlackLightning]

Ryuuji rolls his eyes at Balian's retort to Zerva, "Should I mention that it wasn't you either? though it was your idea to have me sitting 25000 feet above ground held only by a plank under my butt and a rope after I mention that I MIGHT be able to do it?"

He then turned to the miniscule dot that the older dragoon mentioned and sighs, "that still look like at least another day away from our position, dude.... I'm going back to my room."

Edited by BlackLightning, 29 January 2012 - 04:19 AM.

[Fyuria'sLeo]

Zerva looked at the tiny spec in the cloudy sky. "You guys have a feeling somethings terrible is going to happen? Or is that just me?" He said turning to the group.

"I mean come on now these people that are at this place could be hostile! And I'm really not in the mood to fight." Zerva said swinging his scythe.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

Balian slapped a hand on Zerva's mouth, "What're you sayin'?! That's as bad as 'It's quiet, too quiet!' or 'What could possibly go wrong?'" Zerva's words would prove to be true as whirring was heard outside and shadows loomed on the deck. "You see!" Balian rushed out onto the deck, lance in hand as he looked up to the sky to see mechanical flying contraptions hovering using propellers.

"Why...in all my years, I've never seen those things before."

Three of the five flying machines descended, each were small enough to house one pilot and landed on the deck. The pilots dismounted and removed their googles. The one in the middle began to speak, "Well, well, well.... Visitors from the land down under. It's something we've not had for a great many years.... State your business and see if we can't show you a lil' Fortisian hospitality, eh?" The leader none-too subtly placed a hand on his gun holster hanging from his belt.

Balian sighed, lowering his Lance as a gesture of peace, "We're not here to cause trouble. We just want to go to the sky city.... Will you help us?" The three pilots looked at each other and nodded to themselves. "Fine, we're curious as to why you and your group will break your own laws and how you got this....antique airship." The leader turned to his subordinates and with a nod, the two returned to their machines and flew up to escort the ship. "Show me to your cockpit, we noticed some damage on the side of your ship while we tailed you inside our cloud covers." He scratched his chin in thought, "I wager you guys don't know how to fly this thing, do ya?" The pilot started walking towards the open door to the cockpit.

"You thought right, my name's Balian." Balian followed the pilot as he introduced himself.

"Mine's Keith.... Bandit Squad Leader of Fortis's Roving Copter Scouts. Pleased to meet you."

[Yoko]

"Well, this has gotten off to a fantastic start..." The thief murmurs, watching the not-so-friendly newcomers with a careful eye. This 'Kieth' seemed to be working on the assumption that they were all the type to follow their laws. Skadi has been known to break quite a few, so when Julien came to her with this job, there wasn't really any moral issues on her end.

Of course, the kid now lies in a coma, poisoned because he couldn't deal with a giant bug.

Back to the matter at hand, she follows the one pilot left on the ship into the cockpit, leaning against the doorframe. Her stance is relaxed and casual, though her green-gold eyes reveal the slightest amount of suspicion in them. At the very least, she was definitely curious.

[Fyuria'sLeo]

Zerva walked over to one of the copters and whistled.

"Well will you look at this thing!" He yelled to no one in particular.

"I wonder how fast this thing can go?" He asked.

Edited by Fyuria'sLeo, 29 January 2012 - 06:01 AM.

[Miss Soupy]

As Zerva examined the copter nearby, one of the two remaining patrol members answered him, “These babies can usually get up to around 500 km/h, but they can go a little faster if you do some of your own tinkering, if you know what I mean.” He exchanged a humorous look with his companion and they both chuckled.

Twill glanced up into the sky, seeing the glittering metal machines floating in the air above the ship. Off in the distance the sun glinted off of several more coming from the direction of, what now they knew to be, the sky city Fortis.

They had all suspected that there would be an uproar over people from the ground making it into the air. From here on they would probably be escorted to the floating city, and from there she guessed a lot of questions would need to be asked. These people would be friendly only as long as they felt in control of the situation.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

"Hmm...." Keith of Bandit Squad inspected the controls, trying to determine make and model of the ship. "Well, it's a fairly old model, but I think I can still drive you guys to the city. Wonder if this model has an Overdrive system...." Keith continued mumbling to himself about minor details, "I think I see a 12 switch speed control..... Hmm, one of the engines looks worn out....." He looked at some of the gauges and continued muttering.

"Erm, overdrive?" Balian interjected, catching the pilot's attention.

"Oh, it's a somewhat new magitek. It cranks the ship's power crystals and makes the ship fly faster."

"Ah," Balian scratched the back of his head, "Well, I think the crystals were kinda overloading with energy, so we didn't risk anything else and left it all for the autopilot."

"Hmm, good decision, may've overloaded the ship and then BOOM. Bye bye airship." Keith nodded, not noticing Balian's shocked expression, and walked to the wheel. "Well, then...Let's get this baby docked eh?" He expertly pulled levers and switches before grabbing the wheel. The ship, which had been moving to a crawl, suddenly picked up speed. It moved faster than their current speed, however a few cranking sounds were heard from the pipes.

"Needs some maintenance, but I think we'll be fine."


"Finally.... I thought we'd never get to our destination." Balian let out a sigh of relief as they began entering the city docks with no trouble thanks to their temporary pilot.

[BlackLightning]

Ryuuji felt the ship rocked slightly with a bang as it docks on the bridge and woke up from his nap, 'Guess we're here finally....' he got up from his bed while grabbing his sword before putting it at its usual place on his back. As he walks out of his room, he saw some unfamiliar faces on board but paid them no heed since he doesn't feel any threatening feeling from them though he can tell they are experienced fighters.

He walks up to Balian and asked bluntly, "So, what next?"

Edited by BlackLightning, 30 January 2012 - 12:21 PM.

[shadow_Uzumaki]

He turned to their former prisoner and sighed at the question. "I have no idea.... This is all the thief and the rich boy's mission. I'm here for two other reasons, but they can be dealt with later." He leaned against the wall as he watched Keith pull and press buttons and switches to shut down the ship when it stabilized, memorizing the other man's movements in case he needed to activate the ship again.

"Well," Keith turned to look at Ryuuji and Balian, "I insist that you and your little group head on down to the Customs Officer waiting outside by the docks. He will lead you to the guard station where you will all be briefed in on Fortis's rules, regulations, and other info you need to know about the city. After that, you are all free to wander, stay indefinitely, whatever." Keith's smile didn't exactly reach his eyes and his tone brooked no argument. "Have a good day." The pilot turned and left, returning to his helicopter and rejoining his squad.

The Customs officer was standing ramrod with a small cadre of guards on the boardwalk, awaiting the ship's inhabitants. Balian looked out of the window then turned back to Ryuuji and Skadi, "Well, as one city passes, another city awaits in front. What're we waitin' for?" He smirked as he grabbed his Lance, sheathed it on its strap and walked out to meet with the Customs officer, passing by Zerva and Twill. " 'Ey kids, let's go!" He told them.

However, right before he got off, he paused and turned at Skadi, "....Er, what about the rich kid?"

Edited by shadow_Uzumaki, 30 January 2012 - 07:05 PM.

[Fyuria'sLeo]

Zerva looked at the city amazed by the beauty of it hearing his boss he looked towards him.

"Yeah, yeah" He said picking up some bags and nodding towards Twill telling her to go ahead of him.

"After you Twill." Zerva finished.

Edited by Fyuria'sLeo, 30 January 2012 - 07:15 PM.

[Yoko]

The Customs officer was standing ramrod with a small cadre of guards on the boardwalk, awaiting the ship's inhabitants. Balian looked out of the window then turned back to Ryuuji and Skadi, "Well, as one city passes, another city awaits in front. What're we waitin' for?" He smirked as he grabbed his Lance, sheathed it on its strap and walked out to meet with the Customs officer, passing by Zerva and Twill. " 'Ey kids, let's go!" He told them.

However, right before he got off, he paused and turned at Skadi, "....Er, what about the rich kid?"

"Julien's still out." She sighs, the poison was like one she hadn't seen before, and Skadi, well.. She as fond of her poisons. "Was hoping to get him to some kind of clinic or a hospital or something. Maybe they have an antidote or can at least tell us something about the poison in his system."

It bothered her that she didn't have an answer for this particular problem, more than she'd like to admit. "Anyway, it's the best we can do for him right now, I think." She'd always told the kid to get proper armor, but no, he had to be fashionable. It was just stupid.

With that, in mind, she walks past Balian and onto the boardwalk, grinning at the guards who just sortof... Glowered down at her with the blankest expression she'd ever seen. "Hello, boys!"