driftfleet | It's Party Time [ Open ]

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It's Party Time [ Open ]

Who: Jim Kirk & You!
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Yes, Planet-side @ Alloy Lake
When: Sometime in the evening

While it wasn't broadcasted, between how many people were told and the fact it wasn't exactly a private affair on a very public beach, anyone was welcome to come to this little shindig. Kirk's feelings were mostly that they all could use a break and a chance to relax together as friends, family, teammates, or any other word you chose to assign to the relationships you had on the Fleet. It was a nice break from working in projects too. It was nice to have something to occupy yourself in a creative and useful way, but it was always a good idea to take a break and refresh the brain now and then.

Which was how he came to the idea of a party on Alloy Lake.

He scouted a scrap of land near the water to set up on - beach towels, a cooler with drinks, a mocked up grill to cook some food. He went out later in the afternoon to start with more than enough light to enjoy some swimming, though it would be dark soon enough for certain members to join without being uncomfortable. At which point, a bonfire was built. What? A lack of sunlight is never a reason to stop partying! Especially not with such good company.

_{[ ooc: It's a party on the beach! Make your own starters and have some fun! There's drinks - alcoholic and non - food, a couple of games or make your own, a bonfire later in the night with of course means some kind of smore, swimming, and more. In terms of invite, you can assume you were directly told by Kirk, or told by someone else, or the grapevine. It's open to all, so don't worry to much about it. Have fun! ]}

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[She might be able to excuse it away later - it's just an octopus, after all, can't have that much life to drain away - but Taako's lack of reaction makes any concern she might have had to vanish from her mind. She does make a mental note to maybe go through her spellbook and see if she'd stolen any more of Barry's lower level spells, though. Necromancy isn't her style - lich stuff notwithstanding - but it was made for this type of situation.

Regardless, the octopus issue's resolved, so she wraps it up around itself as best as she can and tucks it under her arm, gesturing around and glancing at Taako before swimming over to her spot on his back again. Keep going, or was octodoom enough for him?]

[His whale brain is just glad that he's no longer in danger of suffocating to death. His elf brain is also glad for this, but it's also turning over the spell he just felt vibrating through his skull. She'd used it to help him though so he can't really complain so much as just be wary for the future. It has quite the build-up so at the very least, he knows he has a bare minimum of time to get away if necessary.

With the octopus vanquished and Lup back on his back, he continues his rolling dive away from the tower. There are a lot of other things they can search for, but the spell components are the most important. Could they find another one maybe? Does he really want to wrestle another freaking octopus?

He corrects his dive and starts climbing. Whales can stay under for a long time, but they're still mammals. He needs a breath of air after all that struggling.]

[Lup holds on tightly as they rise, both to Taako's fin and to the octopus. With all eight limbs intact, they could get a fair number of casts out of this one, and if they dry it out properly it'll last a good long time, too. There's bound to be plenty of other interesting things to be found under the surface, and Taako's got this shape for a while yet before Polymorph wears off. If she hadn't just blown her 9th level slot she'd offer to trade with him once it's finished, but she didn't prep the lower level version today. Oh well, this is plenty for her.]

What's the plan? Do you want to go back?

[As he rises to the surface, he concentrates on forming a single word in his mind. It isn't easy to use speech, even telepathic speech, when your mind isn't made for Common or Elvish or anything other than animal chitters and whale song. But while the silence stretches between them, he manages to get a single word out to her just before they get to the surface.]

Air.

[He breaches and lets out a relieved breath from his blowhole, spewing a light spray of water into the air. He coasts along the surface until he goes beyond the towers of junk they'd just explored. He goes a little further and then slaps his tail against the water.]

Down?

[She lifts the octopus over her head as a makeshift umbrella to spare herself from the spray of his blowhole, with mixed results, before giving his back another pat.]

Down! Let's see if we can find something with less tentacles and more fun.

[In retrospect maybe it would have been more helpful to cast Water Breathing on him when she'd used it on herself, but oh well. The lake isn't so deep that he can't make it back up in time when he needs to.]

[At her response, he arcs his back and dives. The water grows dark around them again as he heads toward the bottom where any of the interesting looking creatures or leftover salvage might be. As they go, they pass by schools of brightly colored fish and sea grass covered mounds that gradually begin to grow in height the deeper they swim.

He's counting on her to cast Dancing Lights again as the light gets dimmer down here. He can make out hulking shapes, skeletons of old ships and tall towers of trash. It'd be beautiful and haunting if it wasn't actually trash. It's much of the same here for a long stint - colored fish, empty husks, sea grass, weird looking creatures with two heads, things unrecognizable to him - and then he notices several undulating lights deeper below them swimming lazily along undisturbed by his giant shape passing overhead.]

[Dancing Lights peppers their path downwards, revealing more and more of the scenery, mostly scraps and vessels or creatures of little interest or use to them. She can't help but be reminded of their journey to the lower levels of the world with the broken civilization, and all the robots, nearly a century ago. Taako doesn't remember, of course, but that had been such a turning point for all of them. The secrets those depths had revealed... she can't help wondering what else people might think to bury under the deep waters.

The bobbing lights beneath them doesn't catch her attention immediately - she'd caught them in her peripheral as just a reflection of her own - but Taako's movement makes her look twice, and with a gesture she sends her cantrip downwards to light it up. The two hover next to one another for a long moment, the magic orb revealing some kind of bioluminescent bob on a string- until abruptly a pair of jaws rise up out of the dark and clamp down around the Dancing Light with surprising quickness. It makes Lup jerk backwards, twisting her wrist to set the remaining lights spinning around the creature just out of range.]

What the hell was that?

[Whoa, holy shit. Taako tilts slightly so he can see the display a little better and is equally as surprised when jaws snap up out of the gloom. It's ugly as sin with rows of jagged teeth poking up over its top lip. Giant, milky eyes are staring out into the darkness and the light bob is still flicking in front of it. The Dancing Lights show mottled gray skin, the color blending into that of the water.

That's a nasty looking predator and it's nearly as big as Taako himself. It turns its head toward the Dancing Lights, snapping at them in turn, then turns its head upwards toward them.

....Well fuck.]

[......ah.

Should've saved that spell, maybe.

Lup gives Taako's back a frantic couple of pats, shifting position so she can face backwards instead of front.]

Go, go! Lead it around, but keep your distance! I've got your back.

[It looks hefty and dangerous, and she doesn't want Taako anywhere near those big teeth, but they've definitely faced more dangerous creatures than this. That giant purple worm comes to mind. She weaves her hand through the water and clenches down into a fist, catching liquid and silt stirred up by the creature's movement, and uses it to cast Storm Sphere around the sea monster, trapping it momentarily and searing its back with a bolt of lightning. It won't hold it for long, but it ought to give Taako enough time to get up to speed.]

[He doesn't need to be told to move - when he sees the head swivel up their way, he's already flipping his tail to take a sharp turn away. He can feel a spell form behind him and fire off, but he's ignoring everything in favor of escape. He really hopes that Lup is holding on because he's going to try and get to top speed to put as much distance between them and the creature as possible.

Down below the sea creature thrashes inside the sphere, smashing against the sides as lightning scores its back. The Sphere doesn't last long though and with pain in its hide, the giant fish puts on a burst of speed and lunges for them from the depths, jaws open.]

[Okay, cool, that just made it angry. It's not like she'd expected it to drop dead, but she'd sort of hoped it would at least have second thoughts about chasing them.

That suits her just fine, though; she bares her teeth right back at it, returning its challenging snarl in kind. It's not intimidated yet, but she'll make sure it regrets this before day's end.

It hadn't much liked the lightning, but she lacks the components to fire off a more specific bolt, so instead she points her spoon downwards and casts Scorching Ray. Her aim isn't helped any by the fact that Taako's bouncing her around with every stroke of his tail; one of the blasts bounces harmlessly off its armored hide, another sheers through the string of flesh keeping the glowing orb attached without causing much damage, but the third goes where she'd intended it to go- right down the monster's throat. And that makes it pause, pace slowing down as it thrashes in anger and pain, and they've successfully fended it off for another round.

She laughs noiselessly, punching her spoon-wielding hand above her head. This is fun.]

[How she can be enjoying herself when a fanged horror beast is chasing them through the water is beyond him. Taako can't cast magic so he's basically defenseless right now, which means his only recourse is to flee. His teeth are sharp, but nowhere near as big as that thing's teeth and he is not going to test them to find out who wins.

Another spell fires off behind him and Taako veers around a tower of trash, sending the fish swimming around it into a panic. They flee and Taako zips on by.

The fish thrashes below, the orb cut from its face, and disappears into the depths again. Without the light, it's hard to see where it is, but a flurry of fish fleeing toward the surface might give her a good idea. It's still chasing them, but slower and from behind and below now.]

[Time to get creative. Her eyes scan the terrain, taking note of how the fish veer out of the way, keeping close watch for when the creature gets too close. What little light the ball had offered, alongside her Dancing Lights, showed that it was some kind of weird combination of snake and whale, longer than Taako's form but not as wide. Based on its size she'd probably have made a more appealing morsel than Taako, but now it's just angry and out to kill them both.

Works for her- they're better as a team, anyway.

Once she gets a good enough eye on the worm, she adjusts her grip on Taako's fin and hangs off the side, hand bent in a throwing position, her focus between her teeth. The creature is catching up to them, getting closer... closer... its teeth are barely a foot away from Taako's tail... there!

She flings her hand out, channeling her power, her aim far more precise at this close range, and a blade of ice tears right through the creature's tongue. It falters with a bubbly shriek, giving them just enough time to put some distance between them and it before there's an abrupt explosion inside of its mouth, tearing off bits of flesh, the dark water around it growing clouded with blood and ichor.

Lup climbs back up onto Taako and glances over her shoulder. Still coming, huh? The damn thing is persistent, she'll give it that- even with a corner of its jaw hanging loose.]

[The shriek is clear to him through the water and he risks a curve around another leaning tower of overgrown trash to see what's going on behind them. The creature has its jaw hanging off in one corner, but it's still freaking coming and it's way too close for comfort. He wishes he had access to his spells now, but no hands and no vocal cords really puts a damper on that.

He starts weaving through the towers of trash and the fish follows, but much more clumsily. The blood and ichor clouds its view and its eyesight isn't as keen as Taako's at this depth. He zips to the right and the monster crashes into the pillar, slowing it down. Bits of dislodged salvage rain down and he pushes forward, trying to get it to hit more and more towers as they go.]

[Lup tries to assist with the pillars, firing off a few more low-level Ice Knife spells at the more study-looking ones to make their support structure explode and fall on top of the worm, but it has mostly mixed results, and it's too inaccurate for her liking. What she also doesn't like is how long this is taking; if this goes on like this, either Taako's going to get tired or the Polymorph is going to wear off, and then they'll both be sitting ducks (with Taako unable to breathe underwater, besides). They need something better. The broken wreckage is slowing the creature down, so maybe they can try a more risky maneuver.

She flicks her wrist and tosses Dancing Lights out again instead of an aggressive spell, lighting up a path just ahead of them: a circle of wreckage on the edge of an underwater cavern, stones and the bend of a sunken ship creating something of a precarious roof. She pats his back and makes the lights flicker, drawing attention to the route where she wants him to go.]

Lead it inside and circle around- we'll bury it there on the way out. Just watch your tail!

[Son of a bitch.

This thing is relentless. Even with Lup helping and slowing it down, it's apparently pissed enough that it doesn't care about the falling debris or the pain. He takes a sharp turn around another tower and feels the slaps on his back. For a brief moment he panics, thinking that the debris or the monster has somehow caught him. But then her Message comes through and he gives a positive response, peeling off toward the flickering lights.

Between the overhang and the towers is a long stretch of clear water. Taako bursts out into it, scattering fish every direction. A few moments later, the monster is hot on his tail, pushing towers of trash over as it goes, uncaring about the damage its causing to itself. He's getting tired, but the pure adrenaline rush of "I don't want to die as a fucking whale" is enough to keep him going.

He dives toward the lights, dodging to the side as the monster follows, and slides into the cavern.

Do it!]

[Lup already has a spell prepped, leaning out as far as she can reach towards Taako's tail without falling off, her nails digging into his dorsal as she channels her magic. Her timing has to be precise, her aim as exact as she can make it, else they both be caught in the destruction. And this is gonna be a lot of destruction, so she really doesn't want that. Taako plays his part perfectly, guiding the worm inside their trap, skirting around, ducking away from those clamping jaws as they pass each other in the confines of the cavern. As they cross the threshold of the only exit, Lup lifts her hand towards the cave ceiling, towards the mast holding it all upright, towards the creature bearing down on them with one huge, hungry mouth.

And then she casts Prismatic Spray.

It all happens very quickly. A beam of searing red energy cuts through the stone ceiling, causing it to crack. A beam of orange hits a pillar of scrap and it melts like heated butter. A beam of green passes harmlessly through the water, but it leaves an acrid plume of poison in its wake. A beam of blue strikes the mast and it freezes solid, cracking under the pressure of the falling rocks above.

A beam of indigo strikes the worm and it stops in place, sparks of purple light coiling around its body, slowly petrifying it. It thrashes and fights but a second beam strikes it - green again, this time hitting its mark, the poison sinking into its flesh - and it doesn't have time to flee before the whole ceiling crashes down and buries it.

There's a handful of bubbles, a few jostling rocks, and then the wreckage falls still and silent.]

[The burst of power that explodes from her sends vibrations through the water. It all happens so fast that Taako barely has time to register what does she just fired off before it's over. The cavern crumbles, and he zips free, gliding to a stop as silence descends in the sea floor.

Holy shit, that was both terrifying and awesome at the same time.

But they survived! Hurray for them! Or really hurray for Lup because he just ran as fast as he could. When he's certain the fish-worm-beheamoth isn't going to rear it's ugly head, he heads for the surface. All that exertion has depleted his air and his lungs are burning something fierce.

Awesome.]

[Lup grins wildly at the destruction they leave behind, and at their well-earned victory. She only has enough time to tuck the octopus carcass back under her arm - and really, it's a miracle they didn't lose that in the chase - before Taako is rocketing for the surface. She'd sort of forgotten that he had to do that.

She has the sense not to interrupt his climb, and once they breach the water spectacularly she flops backwards, lying against him, content to breathe the open air, and she just starts laughing. Even with the spell that lets her breathe regardless, air is nice.]

Nice swimming, Willy. Think that's enough adventuring for one day? Because I'm gonna need a nap before I can cast anything like that again.

[The surface's light and that first breath of air is sweeter than anything he's had in awhile. He hangs out there, swimming along the top, listening to her laugh. There's something uplifting about hearing that, the joy in her at the brush with death aside, she's happy.

It's weird that he cares about that.

He lets her sit up there for a bit, giving her time to relax. He's also done with the adventuring because he nearly freaking died and he's never down with that. Other than the octopus, they don't have much "treasure" per say from this thing. The tentacles on that thing better be fine or he'll have a fit.]

I'm good.

[Also Polymorph is fading and he can feel it. Which means he has just one last chance. When she's relaxed up there, he suddenly spins in the water, trying to dump her off his back.]

[Lup considers herself always on her toes, ready for anything, difficult to surprise. She's always been a force to be reckoned with, and the century of space travel, of death and rebirth, only made her more dangerous.

Which is why the indignant squawk she makes is that much more embarrassing as Taako's body flips around and sends her flying off, landing with an inelegant bellyflop and sinking under.

Immediately she flails and rolls over underwater, coming up with a coughing splutter and spitting lakewater in his dumb face.]

Yooouuuuu!!

[She throws the octopus at him for good measure.]

[Now today is a good day. That yelp and the sound of her smacking into the water are music to his ears and he laughs internally as the Polymorph spell wears off. He sinks into the water as his form shrinks and changes back. The whale's squeaking laughter turning into his - until he gets an octopus launched at his face.

He has to think fast to catch it; three of the tentacles wrapping loose and smacking him across the face and chest. But he catches it! And even wet gross octopus can't crash his mood.]

You should have heard the noise you made!

I don't know what you're talking about.

[She splashes water at him again and sticks her tongue out. There's no one else out here, and that means no witnesses!]

[He scoots the octopus under one arm and treads water with the other, turning his face to the side to avoid the splash.]

I do and I'll never forget the sound as you gracefully smashed the water your face.

[Lup sinks down a bit, exhaling and blowing bubbles as she glowers at him. Then her lips curve and she lets herself sink fully, dropping down into the darkness below, her hand lifting to wave as she falls.

She can breathe under there. She'll wait.]

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