driftfleet | Goldstone Mingle!

Closed to Crowley

It was dangerous to leave the ship, but Felix had to face the fact that he had little choice in the matter if the Goldstone stood any chance of getting off the planet on it's own power. If Zhade's warnings proved genuine they were running out of time to prepare. Most of the crew was often elsewhere, gathering supplies they needed, fighting off the Vieziri, or going after guns and shield generators that needed to be dealt with to ensure their escape.

Which meant that he was alone when it happened. One moment he'd been at the rear of the ship attempting some repairs on the engine, and then trees around him rustled and lurched. He caught a glimpse of masked faces and tried to turn to run...before the world skewed sideways and went dark.

When Felix wakes up again, it's to the feeling of his toes digging a small trench through the dirt as he nears the wooden post set in the middle of the clearing. His forehead feels sticky with blood and his eyes take a moment to focus on what is happening. The clearing isn't just a clearing it's a ritual circle, and with that knowledge every part of him goes cold to the marrow. He doesn't need to know the symbols etched into the ground to know what's happening. The trappings of blood magic are clear in nearly any culture, alien or otherwise, it seems. The Vieziri lingring in the center with the very long blade tells him everything he needs to know.

He would rather die before being used for another ritual, but sadly that's probably the point. The circle is surrounded by dozens of the cannibals, watching impassively with their dull masked faces and he knows he doesn't have a chance of escaping on his own. But he fights anyway, ripping one arm free through desperate chance even as they pull him backwards. He doesn't even have time to try a spell before they have him again, wrenching his arm back so hard something tears. The Vieziri conducting the ritual raises the knife which flashes in the dull red light.

"Crowley!" Felix screams, panicked, and reaches desperately through the bond.

A. Final Repairs

[It may have been noticed that Felix was briefly missing from the Goldstone when people return but he's back now, and with Crowley in tow. While he's injured and shaken it's only served to strengthen his stubborn resolve in getting the ship back into the air. Together they may actually make that happen. Whether much sleep happens remains to be seen.

Find him anywhere inside or outside the ship leading up the final battle]

B. Post space battle

[The repairs weren't perfect - they hardly could be what with his lackluster skills and shoddy materials - but it had done the job. They'd made it through, though at times it seemed like just barely. Felix had had to baby the engines every step of the way as the nearby ward nexus pulsed and flashed.

But now everything is quiet. Mostly. The engine sound unhealthy, rattling softly from time to time along with it's usual hum, and he hopes they'll be able to make it to a real station of find a more capable engineer later. So much more needs to be done but he cannot bring himself to do it. He merely sits on a crate, sore and tired and greasy, and sighs as he closes his eyes.]

It had taken Crowley a while to get down to the planet, longer than he would have liked to admit. For all his power, it was more often than not that he came up against brick walls- something he was sure Atroma had some kind of hand in. Still, even when he finally managed to get planet side, finding Felix was a little harder than it should have been. Whatever the Viezri were using, they were being crafty. Fortunately not crafty enough- for that call, he heard loud and clear.

The first sign of trouble coming was probably from the distant screams of Vizeri in the perimeter of the ritual site. The few fleeing for the centre was probably a good clue, too. A feeling of horrible, crippling dread drops on the area like a shroud. There's a rustle of undergrowth as something dark, ancient and awful slithers towards the clearing. The Vizeri stop...quite literally. They stand still as statues as the awful thing makes it to the edge of the forest and suddenly reforms into a man-shaped thing.

"I leave you alone for ten minutes and you get abducted into a blood ritual," remarks Crowley drily as he crosses over to Felix, completely ignoring the stilled Vizeri. "Honestly. I can't take my eyes off you."

[At some point, everyone's favourite (worst) demon arrives. He's had a tricky time getting down here, and he certainly doesn't seem that impressed by the ship in general. Or the fact it had been crashed on the ground. But hey, at least he's here now. He might not be able to manifest anything all that helpful, but he can still warp reality, so he might actually deign to be vaguely helpful while he's here. ]

You lot are officially grounded. For at least a month. I'm just putting that down right now. If I can't trust you guys to not crash our ship on a cannibal planet while I'm at the bar, then I think you need to take a good, long hard look at your lives and your decisions.

Edited 2017-11-12 01:05 (UTC)

[I. searching for survivors]

[Alphinaud's been on the planet long enough that he's helped establish the Goldstone as a safe place. Anyone who needs healing, he offers what supplies they have and healing magic. He can fight, too, though-- which is why he's out and about in the general vicinity of the ship, searching for scouts or anyone who might need help. This is also a great time to gather medicinal plants and scrape off tree bark as reagents, though those might look weird to an outsider.

He looks unarmed, but that isn't completely true. He has Adelphoi, at the very least, and he isn't afraid to keep his hand on the strangely-shaped tome just in case.]

[II. strayed too far]

[Alphinaud refuses to count on his shipmates for everything. He has to give his all, too, so he ends up making a trip to the comms tower to salvage supplies. This is when he runs into trouble: on his way back, carrying a box of medicine dropped from the ships above, he finds a Vieziri patrol.

There's no way around them. Either he attacks now, or he watches as they attack the Goldstone without warning. Well, he certainly can't let that stand. The Elezen steps into view and raises his voice as loudly as possible. His tome lies open in his hand, which he channels briefly to bring a cute fuzzy critter into existence.]

How exceedingly impolite of you to drop by uninvited. Come, Carbuncle! Let us show them what we are made of!

[III. wildcard]

[Whatever you'd like!]

[Alphinaud is simultaneously relieved to see Crowley's okay and also really, really annoyed that he's being blamed.]

We scarcely had time to react.

[Alphinaud may refuse to count on his shipmates for everything, but Rose isn't technically his shipmate. He's her friend, regardless of whether or not he remembers her. When he's late getting back from his supply mission, she goes out looking.]

[It's not too far from camp when she catches sight of him (and a Vieziri patrol). As much as she didn't want to fight, she could understand his logic; even if they could avoid the Vieziri now, it wouldn't be long before the patrol attacked the Goldstone.]

[She waits until he grabs their attention before stepping out. Whoever this Vieziri patrol is, it isn't their lucky day.]

Now now, Alphinaud, you weren't planning on taking this on alone, were you?

[Such is life with Crowley, really. He waves a hand, a piece of metal sliding back into place on the ship - he can't do anything TECHNICAL- he has no idea how the damn ship works, but hey. Helping.]

Yes, I could see that much when you went crashing into the planet.

[Ugh. He knows Crowley cares in his own way, but--]

Anyway, are you all right? The journey could not have been easy...

[oh, Crowley . . . while she's glad that he's all right, and even more glad that he's decided to come down there to join us, sometimes her sense of humor is questionable]

It was not our fault, why would we want to crash?

[or lacking entirely]

Until he knows for sure, Felix is momentarily caught up in that miasma of terror that grips the Vieziri, unsure if he can really count as friend something that so clearly frightens his attackers. The enemy of your enemy is sometimes just as bad if not worse. If it weren't for being held immobile he might be following their escape.

As Crowley reforms at the edge of the circle his terror doesn't quite give way entirely but does at least swirl with a conflicting wave of relief. His knees go slightly weak in response and he nearly topples over, his heart racing so fast it feels like it might rip itself into pieces.

"Normally I'd take that as a compliment," he says with an edge of mad laughter, but despite the casual tone it's far too shaky, too pinched, to be truly calm, "and it was more than ten minutes."

He twists, trying to move, but the damned Vieziri had frozen with his right wrist caught in it's grip and he can't quite seem to summon the coordination necessary to unwrench himself.

"Do you mind?" he asks, twisting shoulder and trying to keep his tears in place.

Edited 2017-11-14 01:39 (UTC)

Crowley is genuinely worried about him- has been seen the Goldstone went down. He's had that terrible, churning, helpless panic in him he hasn't really felt since Earth was facing the end. He snaps his fingers and the Vieziri holding Felix very suddenly blinks out of existence. Sent...somewhere, Crowley isn't exactly sure where they go on this other planet- he's never really sure when he sends them on Earth, either.

He crosses over, not touching Felix- not yet, waiting to see if it's okay first. He understands all of this would have likely triggered very unpleasant memories for him. Still, he moves near, looking him over, his usual smirk replaced with a thin, worried frown.

"...They hurt you?"

[He cares so much. Probably. ]

It wasn't, it was a pain in the arse. They just keep shooting at you and the planet is weird. But hey, I'm here now. Counts for something.

[He flashes her a wan smile, because of course he does. ]

I don't know, I consider it just a poor life choice in general. The crashing.

[He says it like they're all teenagers who got caught running a rave from the house. ]

( He's not the only one keeping Adelphoi within hand's reach. Alisaie hasn't been on the planet long herself, but she's managed to recover enough of her senses to get moving. The thirst she has for adventure has built up over the suns spent in a bed recovering and without her brother here to pin her down in said bed, she exercises her newly regained freedom.

Unfortunately, said freedom comes at a cost to her stamina as she finds herself stopping frequently to catch her breath. Her staggered gasps of air remind her of her brother's lack of vigor and in turn, causes her an entirely different pain altogether. Wandering around in a new area would be exciting if it weren't a completely different world from her own―a concept that she's none too thrilled by. There were too many people who relied on her in her own world and to be swept away from all of that suddenly...

It makes her want to cry and scream. The girl maintains enough sense to not do either, but she'll kick at a tree in mild frustration over and over. It causes her legs to ache in turn, but that's an easier pain to focus on than the emotional pang of being ripped apart from her home. She sure showed that tree though... good luck finding any bark that doesn't have an Elezen footprint over it. )

Felix is somewhere in the vicinity of okay in the sense that he can see it...looking over at like a man glancing over a tall fence that he can't quite get to. The first clue is that the second the Vieziri disappears all the strength goes out of his legs and collapses to his knees on the soil, the thought of what fate may have befallen the creature not at all in his thoughts. Part of that might be the head injury, clearly evidenced by the bloody bruise on his left temple, but part of it is also the stubborn panic that refuses to subside entirely.

His mind is a confusion of flashes to dark basements and cavernous halls and he actively reminds himself that Crowley is not Malkar or Edwin Beckett but he is a monster. A fact that Felix has known for a very long time but never seen up close, and that's shaken him.

But he'd called for that monster. Asked for it. And facing that is still less terrible than giving up his life to these other monsters for a purpose he still can't quite discern. It was true, as well, that not all things that looked monstrous where the definition of such. The Kalliphorne and her kin were proof of that.

If Crowley was a monster in form the real one lurked deep inside himself. Quiet for a long time, true, but perhaps never truly gone.

"They caught me on my blind side," he admits, by way of an answer to the positive, his voice dazed but moving slightly towards calm.

Crowley moves to crouch beside him, brow furrowing deeper. One hand automatically moves to Felix's temple, healing the bruise, trying to fix the physical damage left behind. Normally, he'd ask permission first, but he likes to think he and Felix are beyond such things. Besides, this...this is something he can do. Something he can mend.

The mental damage, though, that is something he can't mend, and he really hopes that it's not irreparable. That they haven't broken what Felix has spent so long trying to make at least a little more stable- not completely healed, never that, but...something. The fact he will have added to that never really occurs to him. He forgets too easily what he is can be a little...much for mortal minds.

"They are sneaky buggers. Took me ages to get down here," he tries to keep his tone airy and nonplussed- but the strain is there, sneaking in through the cracks. "...Felix, talk to me. You holding up okay?"

[Alphinaud isn't expecting backup, though it wasn't as if he had plans to die here. Yelling loudly until someone like Jayden appeared was kind of part of the plan? Not a very good plan, but at the very least, the Vieziri aren't getting a jump on them.]

Rose! [He's surprised, certainly, but it's followed by a brief look of relief. And then he finds a more confident smile. Rose is more than capable of handling a few armed warriors by herself.] T'is a relief to--

[One of the tougher-looking Vieziri, a hulked seven foot tall humanoid, cocks his rifle and takes aim. Seems he's done with talking. The other Vieziri follow his lead, machetes raised; they give a horrible screeching warcry as they descend upon Alphinaud and Rose both.]

-- talk later! Carbuncle, now!

[His familiar launches straight at the gunman like a torpedo and disarms him, which Alphinaud follows with a well-aimed Ruin spell. Another Vieziri with a machete charges him, which he tries to block with Adelphoi before he drops back, trying to keep his distance.

A fine mess this is.]

[The last thing Alphinaud expects is to run into his twin. There's a pause where it just doesn't quite register-- her, kicking a tree. Him, carrying a backpack stuffed full of medical supplies. He's never been scared of his own reflection, but with everything that's happened recently, he's wary of believing.]

A-- Alisaie?!

[It's been months since he saw her, which is way too long when the last long absence ended with her nearly dying.

He rushes forward after a moment, hoping to take her hand. He isn't usually touchy but with Alisaie it's different. He wants to make sure she's really here.]

( His voice and his alone pulls her from her childish tantrum. By time he's physically closed the distance, she's mentally sorted out that he's really there, and that he wasn't some figment of her stressed imagination. )

Alphinaud! ( Her own voice is a pitch or two higher than his in her excitement as she calls out his name with more certainty than he had called her own. Why, she's so caught up in joy at seeing a familiar face (even if it is just Alphinaud) that she'll let him have her hand. His touch is both real and familiar enough to calm her temper. )

I have no desire to see you swept up in the same predicament as myself, but there's hardly any use in expressing my ire over it. ( For now... She'll probably be angry that her brother's time is being wasted as well as her own in a few weeks from now. )

Of course it bloody is. Anyone with common sense knows that.

[my god, it's the tone she used to use on her teammates]

[He'll take that tone and file it away for his great amusement. ]

But none of you died, which is a worse life choice, so good job.

Yes, I am aware. [she's done the dying thing more than once; she'll pass on another go 'round, thanks]

So where have you been, while we have been down here?

[A fine mess is right. The meteor had been one thing, but this cannibal murder planet? She's not a fan. Thankfully, it's just a few Vieziri this time, and between the two of them, this should be manageable.]

[Once the gunman is off his feet, she sets her target on the Vieziri that had just swung at Alphinaud, sending a quick Aero his way. It's enough to send him stumbling, but not enough to bring him down. As talented a fighter as Rose might be, she's not trained for close combat.]

[Unless...]

Alphinaud, can you cover me?

[She really must avoid that more. ]

Trying to get down here. There was a lot of magical interference.

Goldstone Mingle!

Closed to Crowley

Felix Harrowgate

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Anthony Crowley OTA

open to visitors!

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time for some green deeps (let me know if this needs changed!)

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i. probably? MAYBE ii?? who knows, alisaie is just being alisaie pls do ur logic thing

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