paixaorpg | Where's the crash? Not that I'm complaining... [active]

Entry tags:

Where's the crash? Not that I'm complaining... [active]

Character(s): Balthier, Fran, Fox, Carpet
Content: Arrival in Paixao
Setting: Niflheim Gate
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: None

"Come on... Just a little further," Balthier murmured, his ship shuddering violently. He'd never experienced turbulence like this before. The heavy mists of jagd would simply bring airships down: a little too far in and a tumbling you would go, so this was definitely not their doing. Not to mention the skystone powering the Strahl allowed it to fly over jagd with little difficulty in the first place. He hadn't been hit by anything, at least as far as he knew, and the airship usually provided a smooth ride. Balthier just couldn't figure it out.

But the time for wondering was over. With a last great rumble, the nose of the Strahl pointed towards the ground and the ship was sent spiraling downwards. Her pilot grit his teeth and shut his eyes, waiting for impact. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Even though his eyes were shut, Balthier was still able to "see" the brilliant flash of light. He wasn't sure how long he was out, afterwards, but the next thing he knew, he was waking up to blue sky and strangely uncomfortable grass. Slowly he got to his feet, looking himself over. "Not a scratch on me..." he whispered to himself with some amazement before straightening his sleeves and getting a better look at the place. He couldn't help but let out a low whistle.

Riches. Everywhere. As far as the eye could see. Gil, apparently, really did grow on trees. And silver in grass. And yet... he was disappointed. It wasn't any fun to steal something so easily attained. There was no challenge, no adventure. The inflation here must be absolutely phenomenal, he couldn't help but think to himself. It was then that he noticed a long line not too far away. Whether or not he was dead, it was a place to start.

Balthier was rather surprised at the speed at which he reached the gate. He admired its design for a bit--ice; creative--before he looked over to its keeper.

"Hello, sir, and welcome to Paixao? May I have your name?" the blond man asked.

Paixao, hm? "Balthier," he replied, the gatekeeper handing over a small gold device and pamphlet before the sky pirate was ushered through the gate. Seemed it was time to see what this place had to offer...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Fox had spent some time wandering, getting used to the city's layout. Mostly, he had walked the perimiter of the dome, getting a handle on where the exits (entrances; people didn't seem to leave) were. The gate of ice had given him pause--why make a gate out of such a thing?

He was also aware of just how many primates there were here. Whatever kind of world this was, it was obviously the norm. Fox felt rather exposed here. It was funny--a world where nobody knew who he was, but one in which he still stuck out.

Primate or not, the man who had just entered the gate caught Fox's eye. It might have been the clothes--he was definitely not from Paixao. Maybe the general way he was looking at things. Either way, Fox decided there was no harm in approaching and seeing how the man reacted.

There were many things that were easy to miss; a bipedal fox was not one of them.

Balthier wasn't all that shocked. He came from a world with what could only be described as lizard-people and bunny-people. Fox-people didn't take too much of a stretch in imagination. He couldn't help but give in to curiosity, however, looking the fox-man over. If the blonds in line and the gatekeeper were any indication, this would definitely fall in the category of out-of-the-norm. Not that this place was normal to begin with.

"So, any place like this where you're from, or am I the only one in the dark?" Balthier asked conversationally. He only had a name for this place so far; he might as well see what kind of information he could get from the fox-man.

"Definitely not like any place I've seen," Fox said, looking the man over more closely now that he was closer.

Indeed, he looked very much like all the other primates here, but there was something different between him and the blond-haired, blue-eyed ones he assumed were native to Paixao for the most part. People who lived in Paixao seemed not all there... Flat somehow.

"The name's Fox," Fox said with a little shrug in regards to his name being rather... Unoriginal. "I take it you just got here?"

Balthier nodded. "Not sure of the exact time, but at least within the hour," he replied. He continued on, though his next sentence was murmured, "Though I seem to be missing my ship."

Where was it, anyway? When he had looked around before getting in line he hadn't even seen a single bolt. Was the Strahl in pieces? Was it intact? Was it still in Ivalice? And what of Fran? Fran...

It looked as though he had a lot more to do around here than he had first thought. But first... "So, what do you know of this place?"

Fox's ears caught the muttered sentence, and he brightened just a bit, although kept his outward reaction in check. "You have a ship? I was taken right off of mine when I came here."

Of course, he could have meant a boat, but Fox was hoping it was the kind that flew. The outfit didn't make him think military, although it was elegant--merchant, mercenary, or pirate, perhaps?

A bit of a smile, now. "I don't believe I got your name?" Unspoken but hanging in his tone was that he would only give information if he got a bit in return. No need for Fox to leave this conversation knowing nothing more than he had before, right?

"I did. I'm not sure where she is now, or even if she's in pieces." Balthier frowned at that thought. Sky pirate without a sky... Now that was a disturbing thought. He looked up in thought and his frown deepened. He didn't even have a real sky above him. Apparently the gods enjoyed mocking him.

He then looked back over to Fox, letting the frown fall away. "Sorry about that. Not having the best day. My name's Balthier. You said you had a ship as well? Sea vessel or air?"

Fox couldn't help but feel sympathy--Great Fox had been destroyed once, and it had torn him apart.

"Air and space," Fox said--it seemed Balthier was from a place that didn't have space travel, but at any ship at all was good; it was something familiar even if it was different. "Not the best day for me, either. I haven't been here much longer than you, but I've heard enough to think we didn't just show up here by chance."

Mostly from what he'd gathered through studying the journals, really. A mysterious organization, kidnappings, strange sicknesses... Fox didn't like any of it.

Space? Under normal circumstances Balthier would've dismissed the idea completely. But he was in a land made of treasure and was speaking to a fox-man whose name was Fox. Normalcy went out the window the second he'd woken up.

"Really, now? What makes you say that?" he asked, intrigued. Now he was getting somewhere.

New places were nothing new to Fran. After all, she'd wandered for many a year before 'settling down' as a sky pirate. She could have done without the stares her ears were drawing, however. It would seem that viera were not so common out here. But she had had long years of practice in ignoring the stares directed her way and keeping her growing impatience off her face as she moved as quietly as she could through the crowds surrounding the gates.

Or at least until she spotted a familiar - and quite welcome - head of hair in the crowd. At least she wouldn't have to be alone in this place.

"I see that you have arrived here as well," she commented once she drew near.

"Apparently there's some organization in charge of all this," Fox said, deciding to keep things vague for now--and not just because all he knew were very general details. "And this place hardly seems normal even without them."

Fox's attention was then drawn to another one who stuck out of the crowd, and not just because of the rabbit ears atop her head. Aside from that, she looked rather similar to Balthier, at least species-wise. Was everything primate-based here?

So this woman knew Balthier. Lucky for them to come across each other so quickly. He decided to remain quiet for the moment, aside from what had been spoken already.

"An organization, hm? And you're certainly right about that. Don't think I've ever seen a place quite like this," Balthier said, "At least not anywhere I've been."

He had been fiddling with the odd device that had been handed to him during the conversation, deciding to try and find his partner and see if he could get a hint as to where his ship might be, but was distracted as he recognized one of the subjects of his post's voice. The sky pirate made a quick edit to his post before snapping the journal shut and turning toward Fran with a wide grin.

"Good to see a familiar face!" he said, giving her a quick once-over. She didn't seem hurt, a definite plus, and it seemed all he had to do now was find one last thing. "You wouldn't have happened to catch a glimpse of the Strahl on the way in would you?"

It was then that he remembered his companion. "Ah, that's right... Fran, this is Fox. Fox, Fran."

"Safe in Ivalice." And it was quite possibly for the better that way - she doubted they'd get much use out of her here even if there hadn't been any domes. Skystones ran on Mist after all, and this place seemed all but devoid of Mist.

A polite nod was all she offered to other party in the conversation. She'd never been terribly talkative after all, and there seemed to be no need to at the moment.

Fox returned Fran's nod with one of his own. Fox couldn't help but wonder if anyone from Lylat was here, and he simply hadn't found them yet. But surely the comm-link would have picked up on any Lylatian frequency? Unless they didn't have one on them. But it would have been good to have someone he knew he could trust with him.

"I've never seen a place like this either, and I'd like to think I'm well-traveled," Fox said--Fox had been to planets and galaxies and really, there wasn't anything like this, although he was vaguely reminded of some of the domed cities that existed on planets that weren't terraformed, although those domes were clear and taken down once a livable atmosphere was established.

"The Strahl is your ship?" Fox asked, with perhaps a bit more interest than he normally would have shown on his face--what could he say, he was a pilot at heart.

"Wonderful. Wouldn't do to have her in pieces. I'd prefer her here, but there's not that much use for an airship in a place without a sky," he said, shaking his head.

That was another problem with this place: no sky. They could paint a ceiling all they wanted and make the light as close to as it would be naturally as they could, but it was still a ceiling. All the more reason to find a way out of here as soon as possible.

A proud look spread across Balthier's face in response to Fox's question. "That she is," he said, "Finest ship to ever fly in my opinion, but I suppose that's a little biased." He'd leave out the details of how he managed to come into possession of the airship for now. That kind of information tended to be a bit... alienating.

"First the Mist and now the sky. It seems this place enjoys taking things from us." And she didn't have any desire to see what else would be next along the line if they stayed here overlong. She could deal with the lack of a sky if she had to, but the lack of Mist would likely not be so easy to ignore.

A slight nod at Balthier's assessment of the Strahl. "Then it is a bias we share."

"I can't say a dome makes much sense, but this place hardly seems logical," Fox said, although he had to agree entirely that being under a dome like this made him feel boxed in. He wanted to be able to see the stars--the real ones. Of course, some good that would do when he was lacking in a ship, but still, it would be an improvement.

"I can understand the bias," Fox said with a grin. "I'd say the same of my own ship. Just what kind of ship is it--just the air, or space travel, too?"

Fox wouldn't have minded either way, but he couldn't help but hope he would get even luckier and find someone who knew about space travel. Still, any pilot was good company--though Fox knew that they weren't necessarily entirely trustworthy. Fox was hardly entirely trustworthy himself to those who weren't close friends.

Balthier looked over at Fran and rose an eyebrow. "Mist as well? Explains why the Strahl started to fall. Thought something seemed a little off-kilter about this place." More than he had originally thought, anyway.

"Just air. Not quite as far along as you are in that regard, I'm afraid," Balthier said, "Although I wouldn't mind seeing what's out there. There's only so much the night sky can do for the imagination." He couldn't help but wonder what it was like. Was it anything like the skies? Was it more like sailing in the ocean? How similar to a clear, starry night was it?

But, as curious as he was, the magic would probably wear off quickly once he got there. There really wasn't all that much to steal in space as far as he knew.

A nod at the question. "There was a strangeness in the Mist shortly before you vanished and again before I came here. No doubt it was caused by that which brought us here in the first place."

As for the question of space travel however, she didn't share Balthier's enthusiasm. For all that she had left the Wood of her own accord and was therefore no longer bound by the laws of her kind she had little interest in what might lie beyond the sky. It was better that way, after all. Sky pirates belonged in the skies and not in space.

Carpet was lost.

He was not lost in the literal sense, no--he couldn't be that way, not when it was his gift to rise high into the sky, skimming along the great dome's belly and seeing the entire city spread out beneath him; he had long since memorized this place, and could navigate the twists and turns as well as he pleased.

No, he was lost and adrift in a metaphorical sense, a restless wanderer with no purpose. Not even a lack of purpose, really, but a lack of ability to fulfill it.... He hadn't even posted again in his journal, simply because he had doubted any good would come of it. Without his Master Balthier, Carpet had nothing to do and nowhere to go, no Master to guide and command him, to be served as was his duty. What else could he do? He had left Ivan and his friends at the festival, because there seemed to be nothing more he could do for them; they had found Laharl and gotten him into good health again, and so Carpet was once again of no real use, though Ivan's mind reading ability had been appreciated.

A very familiar sight had been spotted though, and Carpet could have leaped for joy in midair as he saw a head of swept-back blond hair and a princely set of clothes. His Master Balthier! And two people he'd never met! Both of whom seemed to be at least animalistic and possibly magical in nature, just like he was. Rather than celebrate, he opted for moving quickly lest his Master should disappear again; the magic carpet streaked down from the sky, fully intent on wrapping himself around Balthier in a gesture as close to an enthusiastically adoring hug as a rug could manage.

Fox grinned a bit at the thought of space travel. It really was brilliant--asolutely surrounded by stars, able to go anywhere in an instant, and as for stealing things in space, maybe not, but it did open up a lot of different planets with some interesting items. Not that Fox was a thief... Usually.

"Mist?" Fox inquired--must have been something specific to their world, because Fox had never known mist on any of the worlds he visited to do much of anything, except occasionally be poisonous on planets that had yet to be terraformed.

Fox noted movement in the air and looked up. A flying carpet? Really, in this place, why not? Still, he regarded it with curiosity and a bit of confusion as it seemed to head directly for Balthier. Was this magical rug from the sky pirate's world, too?

Something strange in the mist. Sounded about right. Something had to have changed for the Strahl to suddenly stop flying like that. And their sudden appearance in this place... Well, things like this were hardly coincidental. "Too bad whatever brought us here can't seem to give us a reason." Or even deign to say hello.

"To put it simply, Mist is condensed magic. It's found all over Ivalice. It has its uses, like powering the skystones that power airships, but a little too much can end up causing quite a bit of damage," Balthier explained, "Mutated wildlife, areas of barren landscape, that sort of thing."

Airships... Skystones... Damn, he wanted his ship back. This place was all well and good (and apparently quite rich), but he had no access to the sky. There wasn't as much freedom here; he felt trapped. And, from the description of this place so far, that seemed to be what it was. One big trap to hold them all in for reasons unknown. Irritating would be describing it kindly. If only he had something that could give him the freedom he had back.

Apparently, the gods had decided to be good to him for once, as something with similar ideas headed straight toward him. Balthier couldn't believe what he was seeing. A rug had just flown straight to him and seemed to be... embracing him? It seemed so, though Balthier couldn't say he understood why, and the confusion was written all over his face. No, there wasn't anything like this on Ivalice. However...

He met eyes with Fran. This could be just what they needed.

"The gods never deign to tell their schemes to those the play with." The Occuria hadn't after all, why should the gods of this places do otherwise? Not that finding out that the gods were using you as their plaything was any better, truth be told. Far too easy to get drawn into something you'd rather not be that way.

The arrival of what appeared to be a flying carpet was met with surprisingly little comment - this was a strange place, and who was to say what was normal here. But if it could fly...

She nodded slightly in response to Balthier's glance. This could indeed be exactly what they needed.

Carpet unwound from around Balthier and hovered obediently beside him like a trained dog, maintaining his position at roughly chest-height. The exchange of glances was noticed, and the front edge of the carpet quirked a bit, rising in almost a serpentine fashion to consider Fran. Jealousy was something that failed even to register in the construct's mind--his purpose was to serve. As much as he enjoyed attention, he would not demand it unless it was vital, and he would not resent any who took Master's attention from him; he was a patient creature, content to wait hours, days, years, even millenia to fulfill his purpose, should he be required to. Rather, he simply committed Fran to memory to ensure that he knew her place. Master Balthier likes her. This is a friend. Treat her well.

The fox was regarded next, with less conclusive results; there was less to go on, here. They seemed to have been talking, all three of them.... that shed fairly little light on the matter. Anyone can talk, and they didn't always have to be on good terms, even if they were speaking civilly. They seemed relaxed enough though, and if not happy to see each other, then at least content to remain peacefully conversing. Without anything else to go on, Carpet decided to consider him a neutral party until further notice.

Not that that mattered. His opinions meant very little to anything, after all. He would simply wait until he was commanded, and follow and comply as needed.

"If it was that organization I've heard about, maybe they can," Fox said. "Though they'd hardly be willing to waltz up and explain themselves, I'd bet." Though it really would be nice if they did. That sort of thing only happened in movies, though, unless this organization was particularly incompetent.

Hm, magical mist... It wasn't beyond the scope of what could be possible--with what Fox had seen, very little was. After all, he was talking to a hairless primate, a primate-rabbit, and there was a flying carpet hovering near Balthier.

Fox noted the look that passed between Fran and Balthier. The carpet did seem to like the sky pirate. The carpet really was interesting, though--was it magic or technology? It appeared to have some level of sentience, at least. But an AI could replicate that... And it flew.

Fox arrived entirely alone. Balthier arrives and gets a partner and a flying pet rug. Some guys have all the luck.

He nodded at Fran's comment. No, they didn't. Life would be far easier if they did. Balthier wouldn't be running around, getting himself entangled in wars, and ending up in different worlds if they did. Even an option to refuse would be nice. But, as it was, he had no such option and would just have to take things as they came like he always did.

"Most organizations like that don't tend to." If this group actually did, Balthier wouldn't know how to respond. Either they would be incompetent, as Fox believed they would be, or they would have something up their sleeves that meant you didn't have a chance. Or at least they would think you didn't. It was too much of a gamble no matter what way Balthier looked at it.

And he was brought to a bit of a standstill in his thought process. He wondered whether to ask Fox more about this organization or testing the flight capabilities of the flying rug. The information would be useful for the future, but to get back to flight (even if it was on such an unorthodox mode of transport) would at least inject a sense of normalcy back into his life. Despite himself, he kept glancing back over to the carpet. Flight was beginning to win out.

Balthier wouldn't have been the only one taken by surprise should this organization simply up and announce themselves, should they be the ones to rule over this strange Mistless world. It would show either a great deal of incompetence or worse, a great deal of security in their position - and she had seen too much of the latter from the Archadians to trust anyone who did so now.

True, an anonymous faction ruling over the city would be no better, especially given that their motives were, most likely, unknown. But this could be dealt with later - there was always the sky, and that would be a welcome comfort in a place such as this.

Carpet listened. He wasn't sure what this organization they were talking about was, but they didn't seem to know much about it, nor did they seem to like it too much. Another mental note was made, this one briefer than the last two, The Organization is bad. Exactly what organization, he wasn't sure, but he supposed he would find out in time, as they talked more or discovered more about it.

Carpet was purely a creature of magic, and not only sentient, but in fact extremely intelligent; he understood on a human level everything he was told and that was said around him, even if he didn't know about it for lack of knowledge or experience, and could make use of context and emotions as easily as any human could. As such, Balthier's repeated glances towards him were correctly interpreted, even if he had yet to issue a command--serving well was sometimes anticipating your master's needs before they had to be voiced, after all. And Carpet existed to serve.

So with a quiet rustle, Carpet glided down to the ground, spreading himself out before Balthier and the rest in silent invitation. He proved to have a beautiful, eyecatching pattern and luxurious weave, full of sweeping curves and abstract designs, mingled with the more images of roaring lions in the corners, with leaping flames on either end. Stretched out in full, one could also easily see just how big he was; two people could easily have lain on it, if they were willing to be a bit cozy, and it could very likely seat four before things began to get too crowded. Also of note was the gleaming gold journal curled in one tassel; he had hung onto it, even if it had gone largely unused since he'd been struck with amnesia.

Fox was surprised by the carpet's actions. It seemed to be quite intelligent indeed; able to guess at the moods of humans. So it must have been capable of sight somehow. Fox again immediately thought of some sort of AI, but in a place like this, you couldn't be sure.

Fox wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous. When he'd next get into the air, he had no idea. Fox did take note of the journal; was the thing capable of writing, or just carrying it around?

This place had thousands of questions and no answers. It was frustrating. Being boxed in wasn't helping either.

Balthier couldn't help but raise an interested eyebrow at the carpet. Interesting... So it had a good idea what he was thinking, too? This was going to be quite handy indeed. Damn, it was tempting, and getting more and more so by the second. Hopefully Fox wouldn't mind if he and Fran made off with Carpet into the city.

And if he did... Well, Fox could take it.

He took a hesitant step onto the carpet, surprised to find it quite stable. That was good. And there was enough space for Fran to ride as well. Another bonus. After sharing a glance with Fran, Balthier looked back over at Fox again. "Well, I think we've taken up enough of your time. I think it's high time we went to see just what this place has to offer."

"We had best be off then," Fran commented with a slight smile. "It wouldn't do to keep the skies waiting."

The fact that they'd be leaving someone behind didn't really phase her much - she'd been leaving people since she'd first left the wood some 50 years ago. To do so again was little different, to say nothing of the fact that it would be far easier given that she had only just recently met Fox. Besides, for all she might claim otherwise, she did miss the Strahl even if not quite so much as Balthier. Strange as the carpet may be, it would at least manage to get them off the ground.

"Shall we fly then?" This last was directed towards Balthier as she likewise stepped onto the carpet. With any luck the high heels that were a necessity for all viera wouldn't cause too much damage.

If either Fran or Balthier--or both, for that matter--were sensitive to detecting magic in the environment, they might have sensed the powerful, ancient magic that encircled them the moment they stepped onto Carpet. Spells of invulnerability, speed, protection, animation.... all of it was firmly woven into the very fabric of his existence. Something as innocuous as high heels could hardly hope to damage him--for that matter, very little could, or his passengers as long as they remained safely upon him. Not that it was likely they would fall or be knocked off by anything he did, with these enchantments....

Intelligent as he was, Carpet certainly didn't need a cue directed at him in particular. He waved to Fox with one tassel, and took off straight up with a burst of speed, steady as a rock despite the motion. Within a minute or two, they were at a comfortable height above the tallest buildings in the area, far enough up that they could see a good ways out, low enough to still recognize landmarks. He flipped open his journal and brought it to the map, before pointing at the screen and back at his passengers. He hoped the message was coming across reasonably clearly: where did they want to go?

Fox had expected it; he would have wanted to get up in the air himself, and they had no real connection, other than chance meeting and perhaps a similar occupation. "Good luck. Maybe we'll cross paths again."

He would do some more exploring himself; albeit on foot. Slower, but what could he do? He wondered again if any of his teammates were in this strange city; it would be easier on him if he had someone to travel with.

He watched the carpet fly up into the sky for a moment, and then continued on his way.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Where's the crash? Not that I'm complaining... [active]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject