World Tree MUSH

    Winter has hit this part of Blue Earth, and an unforgiving chill lingers in the valley of Mist. Aptly named, a thin and pervasive fog hangs low to the ground almost everywhere in the valley, leaving an almost permanent dew on the lush green grass. That is, if you can see that the grass is even green anyway.
    Rydia of Mist, the last Summoner of the destroyed village rides hard, ignoring the familiar paths and trails that lead back to a home that no longer exists, pushing her faithful steed, Chocobo, an aptly named yellow chocobo down one path or another before the bird suddenly comes to a jarring halt.
    "Kweh!"
    Rydia is almost hurled from her saddle, the only thing that prevents this is her intimate knowledge of the bird's manners and tells. Still, the fact that he even halted so abruptly was a shock, and the green-haired girl brings a hand up to stroke along the bird's graceful neck.
    "What? What is it boy? Don't tell me whatever it is is spooking you, too?"
    "WARK! WARK! KWEH!"
    The answer is not a pleasant one as she hops off the saddle and checks her equipment. "Alright, fine get out of here. Just come back when I call you." She says to the bird, which happily' turns right back around and bolts. Leaving the girl alone to wait.
    Rydia had reached out as soon as she found out what was happening... Something was spooking and damaging the natural chocobo population of the region close to Mist and Kaipo. Board posts were ade, job listings set up, and now here she is, at the entrance of a dark forest as the sun sets, waiting to see who will take up the call.
    Because if no one shows up, she's going to have to go in there alone.

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> JOB REQUEST: Something is hurting the chocobos of Mist/Kaipo. A local has requested a party investigate immediately and determine the source. Meeting place? This creepy as hell dark forest.

    A rather incongruous noise breaks the chatterings of nature - the sound of a supercharged four stroke internal combustion engine, to be exact. The high-pitched buzzing roar is easy to hear as it gets closer and closer, the person responsible clearly not caring about being stealthy!

    Said responsible person soon reveals herself to be a woman astride a pink and white dirt bike, zipping along the valley's pathways. The woman is wearing a pink and white body suit, which is padded against the cold but still hugs against her body in a manner not entirely befitting of a princess. Her head is concealed by a pink motorcycle helmet.

    Peach comes to a skidding halt as she passes Chocobo running in the opposite direction, spotting Rydia in the distance. She leaps off her bike, hoisting it up onto its kickstand before running over towards Rydia. Her helmet is pulled off, and she ducks down to scoop Rydia up off the ground and into a spinning hug, the princess's golden hair splaying out everywhere. "Rydia!" Peach squeals. "Oh gosh it's been AGES." It's only been like a month, max.

    David's been wandering the Vines, exploring worlds at a random pick. And now he has ended up here, and boy is he cold. He's dressed properly, having ended up in an area where he could buy some proper winter cothes. All he knows is that some of the local riding birds in the area are in trouble, and someone is asking for help. And as such he is willing to head on out there. Riding a Chocobo out here only gets him so far. Because when he gets too close to the area the bird throws him making him land in a snow before heading back the way it came.

"When I get back You.... YOU!" And he stops short of any threat before picking himself up and out of the snow drift.

Heading on to the meeting place he has a Katana that is fairly ornate over his back dressed for cold winter. An outfit that is fairly form fitting.

David could Bioboost and be protected from the Cold, why hasn't he? Simple he is planning conquest, and this is a way to examine himself. Is it the Guyver that makes him who he is, or does he make the Guyver?

Upon seeing Rydia and the flashy arroval of someone who calls out to her by name David smiles trudging through the snow in his snow shoes. "You the one who put the call for help out? I'm David."

"So let me get this straight? Something is disturbing the horsebirds and you need help investigating?" Temulin's question comes from above, she hits the ground as her bird flies off, not even havung bothered to land. She looks at Peach and asks a single question of the princess. "How's Raven doing?" Then she goes quiet to observe the others.

    Oh, contractors very much do show up.
    Two figures stroll into the clearing from the mist-wreathed path beyond, presumably from the direction of the nearest vine. One wears a classy black overcoat, over a white shirt, gold-embroidered vest, and black leggings. Resting casually over a shoulder is an antiquated, ornamented rifle. His eyes are hazel; his short hair somewhere between blonde and brown and combed back. Hanging through his left ear is an odd twist of silver. Clutched in his hand is the rolled-up bill posted for the job.
    His companion is a little more exotic. She's a tall woman, taller than him by a few inches. The most immediately obvious feature is a pair of hare's ears at the crown of her head, stark white like her hair, marbled in brown and black at the tips. They flick and swivel this way and that, presumably listening. Her hair is stark white, falling down her back in a cascade barely held back by the ponytail it's been tied into. Her skin is a dusky chocolate; her eyes red-brown, her mouth unsmiling. Slung over her shoulder is a greatbow, a quiver at her hip, and she wears a soft grey overcoat against the chill.
    They both stick around the periphery of the group; her with her weight to one side and a hand resting on her hip, him with his arms folded casually. Neither says a word. Not just yet.
    In fact, it's not even clear how long they've been here. They might well have been here the whole time, since Rydia sent Chocobo off to escape. Their eyes flick among the different responders, studying each individual with deceptively sleepy-eyed regard.

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> Enter the leading man and his leading lady. Or have they been there the whole time?? There is, hopefully, treasure involved in this.

"Operator," Ordis's voice echoed through Ash's ship. "I realize your training with Raven has improved your skill, but do you really think this is the best time and place to test?"

Ash looked at the message he had gotten through... well Ordis was vague on details on how the thing had gotten into his hands. It had supplimentery notes on what this Blue Earth was technologically and magically, what Chocobo were, and where he was needed.

He pulled a pistol out of the arsenal as well as a disc that strapped to the inside of his left wrist. "No i'm frankly not sure, but you'll be close by cloaked to pull me ack to swap out right?"

"Yes Operator, But you know as well as anyone how chaotic battle can be and-" Ordis sounded doubtful as Ash made his way up the ramp into the lander's compartment.

Ash's lander would descend, appearing first as a shimmer in the mist before briefly showing a metallic underside as a compartment swivled revealing Ash, who then dropped to the ground in a classic 'hero' pose knee bent, two hands to the ground. For this Ash wore a dark brown tunic and thigh high boots as well as a pair of gold rimmed half-glasses. He was definitely from 'elsewhere.'

Ash seemed... unaffected by the chill. Maybe his clothes were simply warmer than they looked? He waved cheerfully to Temulin then to David before falling in line behind the mercenary woman, deciding to let her do the speaking and not confuse this green haired... child? Maybe that was just how big these people were. Temulin herself was rather short after all.

>> SUMMARY[Ash] >> After a bit of arguing with Ordis Ash decides to leave the Warframe at home. Perhaps this is stupid, perhaps not. He lets Temulin ask the questions.

    For some reason, Dolce is here. She just looks like a small girl with black hair and an expensive necklace. She walks up to the gathering, yes, on-foot as if this were a completely normal thing to do, and reaches up to brush her bangs out of her face and smile at the forest. Then she looks at the others, and lifts one of her pale hands to wave at all of them, and proceeds into the forest without waiting for any information. She just hums a weird little song, and starts skipping, her hands clasped behind her back.

    And vanishes into the dark in short order, her song abruptly halting when she gets out of eyesight.

>> SUMMARY[Dolce] >> A creepy girl arrives... and leaves?

    "It's no use yelling at him. He's scared, and he's not going to listen when het thinks there's something bigger and nastier than you waiting in these woods." Rydia comments to David, as the youth picks himself up and seethes at his spooked mount. In her hand is a dagger, and she's killing time waiting by sharpening the edge on a whetstone, slowly working the stone along the blade in smooth and practiced motions. "I'm the one that made the request, yes."
    She's not much more than a child. No older than seven or eight, but that doesn't seem to deter her on attending the very quest she reached out to others for.
    "That's exactly it." She replies to the Dark Knight, when Temulin arrives, though Rydia's lips purse. "I haven't seen Raven since we parted ways at that inn, in Hyrule." She does admit. Before Balthier and Fran arrive; Rydia's attention lingers on the Viera longer than on the Leading Man himself, but the two are given a polite nod, but before she can open her mouth--
    The girl lets out a squeak. See it's just too easy for Peach to hoist her up and twirl her about. "Dssfsfdfgdf!" Is Rydia's initial reply. Though naturally she squirms to free herself enough that her feet are back on the ground, there is a hesitant squeeze back once she has her footing. It's brief though and the girl clears her throat to make herself presentable again once she's regained her composure. Ash seems to be the last to arrive so, Rydia is about to speak when...
    That girl walks up to the group-- and then walks right into the forest without a word and with a tune on her lips.
    Needless to say Rydia is left staring.
    "That's not seriously dangerous at all." Muttered before she clears her throat. "Alright, whatever is scaring the chocobos is in this forest, so let's find out what it is and be quick about it. The sun is setting and we shouldn't be out in the forest in the dark for too long. Try to not get separated." The Summoner says, bundling into the white fur of her Wolfos cloak as she produces... A flashlight. She flicks it on, taps it against her palm, and starts heading into the darkness.
    There's still some sunlight, but the dense foliage blots it out, darkening the path, every tree seeming more menacing and unwelcoming than the last as a chill wind whispers through the leaves and brush, as the forest night life begins to come to life with chitters and hoots.

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> Responses. Entering the spooky dark forest.

    Peach can't help but giggle a little at Rydia's response to her affections - and beams with delight when they're returned, even if in a much more subdued manner than they were given in the first place. "Ah, Raven?" Peach glances to Temulin, giving a little finger-wave to her and Ash. "Oh, she's fine. Spending most of her time at the library, as usual. She's asked me if she can decorate her room at the Castle - she seems to be starting to consider it a home of sorts~" Peach has basically adopted the girl, after all.

    "Ah, one second, I need to get my-" Peach starts, and then trails off as she spies Dolce... wandering her way into the forest. A chill runs up Peach's spine. "Ummm, you guys saw her too right...?" she asks, quietly, while wandering over to her dirt bike.

    She opens a side-mounted plastic case on the bike - and pulls out a rather alarmingly large hammer. The head of it must be as tall as Rydia, and about twice as wide besides. It seems to be made of solid iron, but Peach is just handling it casually as though it were made of styrofoam. She lays it across one shoulder. "...You know, just in case we need to hit a monster or something~" she clarifies in a casual tone, before following along into the forest.

>> SUMMARY[Peach] >> That is a VERY big hammer. o.o

Ash closes his eyes and flexes the fingers of his left hand, causing his palm to emit a soft steady white light. He looked to his hand for a moment, as if confirming that trick worked, before looking around the group before looking to the others. "Ordis," His voice is soft. "I need communications gear."

"Certantly Operator." Ordis's voice spoke in his ear right before a small box seemed to drop from on high beside Ash's feet and ... somehow... not disentegrate. 

"Alright folk. I've got radios for anyone that wants them." He held up an ear piece. "I know a few of you have gear of your own but Ordis can't interface with link pearls and it'd better serve our needs if all of us are able to coordnate." The earpiece he held up was a small speaker and a loop that would fit over the ear lobe to holdit in place. That one he tossed to david. "Ordis is the guy running my ship and he's going to route traffic." 

He offered Temulin a second radio before looking to Peach, "Good thinking princess."

As David listens to Rydia he lifts an eyebrow when guesses her age but doesn't say anything. Yeah he knows the Chocobo is scared. Still pulling that Blade out he sighs out shivering a bit. Ash he smiles to. "ASh good to see you again. Not out with the frame?"

Balthier of course also gets a long look at him. Clearly he remembers the Pirate from the Gold mine. David is debating having some fun at the expence of the Pirate.

He's not here to cause trouble, But when the girl who was singing vanishes he holds his blade tighter at that. He hates magic already.

The Girl Peach when she Draws the Hammer make him shake his head. David pulls out a Flashlight as well, and with a smile he says to Balthier. "Seems we have met in a much more open and friendly situation. Sorry about the... hostility in that mine. I really wasn't in the mood for a fight then." David could have simply left that unsppoken but sooner or later Balthier would find out what he is. And didn't want the Pirate to think he was jerking him around.

David taks the Radio from Ash, "Thanks Ash."

>> SUMMARY[David] >> Attempts to make peace with the Pirate.

    The sky pirates are remarkably quiet and well-behaved. They do nothing, say nothing, that might otherwise draw attention to themselves. Their greetings, where they give them, are bland and forgettable. These are just two mercenaries. Right?
    Calmly, Balthier shrugs his rifle down from his shoulder, checking the mechanisms despite the gloves on his hands. His hazel eyes are hooded and unconcerned, but he's listening.
    Dolce's entrance and exit do earn a bit of a funny look from both sky pirates.
    His partner is a little more obvious in her observation. Those mottled ears swivel and flick at the slightest sound, and whenever there's interesting conversation to be had, at least one of them turns that way. Her attention rests on Rydia for a long moment, though. Both of those ears swivel straight at the girl from Mist Village, and her red-brown eyes stare with the singular intensity of a hawk.
    There is a slight motion of her head. It would be awfully charitable to call it a nod, although that's what it would be in any one else. Balthier quirks a brow at her, follows her gaze, and lifts the other brow, studying Rydia in some curiosity.
    "Well, then, let's be off," he offers, shouldering his rifle again. "While we've still daylight. Oh, don't worry yourself about us," he tells the green-haired girl, all affable cheer. "Fran and I can take care of ourselves, thank you very much. For the moment, however, we'll accompany you."
    And that they do, following the green-haired Summoner in affable cheer. Well, silent observation, in Fran's case. But that's okay. Balthier has enough affable cheer for the both of them.
    Neither of them seem to notice David staring at the hume of the pair. That might be for the best... oh, but he's being talked at. The pirate turns to look at the boy, frowning, eyes flicking over him dismissively. Is he someone he knows? No, not in particular. In a mine?
    "Come again?" The question is spoken to the arch of a brow, and he shakes his head, trailing after Rydia. "You must have me confused with someone else." He's been in a number of mineshafts over the past week or two, as fate would have it, and perhaps he's not thinking of the exact one.
    ...Or perhaps he's messing with the boy. Hard to say.
    Ash's offer is considered for a moment, and Balthier shakes his head. "That's appreciated, but there's no need, not for Fran and I."

    As the group starts getting deeper into the forest, the last light of the sun winks out, and they're left only with the sources of illumination they came with. Rydia carries her flashlight in one hand, but the child makes no illusions about the dagger held at the ready in her other hand. "I saw her." She replies to Peach simply, and shows no display of surprise in the least at the sight of that massive mallet.
    "What am I supposed to do with this?" Rydia asks on the topic of the earpiece.
    She's a traumatized orphan hick from a burned down backwater village. Expectations about technology should not be high.
    "So what are you?"
    That question is point blank at Fran.
    But the journey into the forest isn't without incident. Soon enough the scent of blood can be traced on the chill mists, and the thin mist surroundign Rydia swirls as though agitated. But the girl shows no sign of fear as she crouches at the source.
    It's a dead chocobo. The kill is gruesomely fresh. It looks like something took a huge chunk out of the poor bird's side. Her fingers rest on the edge of the 'wound'.
    "It's still warm. Whatever did this is nearby."

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> A fresh kill.

David almost intends to rib Balthier as he puts the ear peice in his left ear, and says, "Seven an a half foot tall. Emerald green insectoid armor mining gold? No, Must have been someone else then." he says. At this point David lets it go as well he isn't here to cause trouble. He offered his peace if the pirate wants to pretend it didn't happen so be it. David tests his Communication to Ordis, "Ordis this is David, testing commection, confirm signal please, over." David decides to stay beside Ash asking about his Warframe. "Tell me about this Warframe you called it?"

Moving to Follow Rydia and the others David is looking around as he gives a shiver of the cold. "I wouldn't mindd getting a closer look at it. Had some interesting energy readings about it. Similar to a Bio-booster..."

He does give Peach a once over thinking she's very good looking. The body suit looks good. And he has to of course Ask Peach, "Exactly were were you hiding that thing? Hammerspace?" he asks pointing to her hammer! Bad joke he knows.

"So Any theory on what might be spooking the birds? Local monster, poacher, natural predator? Or are we going in absolutely blind?" David is asking Rydia a genuine question. But when he sees the dead Bird he comes over and start to inspect the body looking to see the details of the kill. He kneels down sword at the ready... Looking around ready to lunge to attack or avoid an attack every muscle on edge. Looking around he is also looking for tracks, "Look around for tracks."

"Suit yourselves," Ash gave the Leading Man and Veria a curt nod. He was not in charge of this barbeque and he wasn't going to press the matter. Instead he whistled, which got ORdis to make a small chime in each earpiece.

"All units responding within acceptible paramiters." 

He'dthen look around at the rest of the group. "Anyone have background in search and rescue or tracking?" As David was already aware he was not a tracker of any sort. "Else the only idea I have is pair off and each go search in diffrent directions." Yes he was seriously advocatign splitting the party up. A fact that hadn't been lost on him, and judging by his uneasy expression he wasn't happy with the notion. "Just.. tossing ideas out. If anyone's got better I'm all ears."

At Rydia's question Ash gently looped the earpiece of the radio over Rydia's ear lobe then made sure it was secure before looking at the green haired child. "I also don't know what would cause these birds to spook so-"

Ash was cut off something. He sniffed, frowning at the dead chocobo. "If whatever it is is close then I retract my earlier suggestion of splitting up," He said firmly.

    Peach takes a radio from Ash and hooks it up to her ears - after all, SHE knows what these are for. She gives David a confused look for a second, tilting her head to one side. "I, um. ... I got it out of my bike's luggage rack. On the side of my bike. What's 'hammer space'?"

    She's baffled!

    Once the party stumble on the dead chocobo, Peach's demeanor immediately changes - she shrugs her hammer off of her shoulder and grips it in both hands, adopting a wide, heavy stance as she darts her vision back and forth. If the kill is recent then whatever killed it will be close, like Rydia said - and if it doesn't JUST eat chocobos, then they could be in some serious trouble!

    It may be a little incongruous for some to see a princess acting like this. And for others, not incongruous at all!

    When asked point blank what she is, the viera slowly drops her gaze to the green-haired Summoner, one ear flicking indifferently. What a terribly-mannered hume child... but... that child has instincts, and there is more than a whiff of magick about her.
    Rather than answer, Fran merely arches a brow, as though a silent inquiry of, '...really?'
    "What's the matter?" It's Balthier who answers, cheerfully. "Never seen a viera before? It seems passing odd to me, that you would have chocobos in your world, but no viera."
    "And so, no Wood." There is such a faint thread of sorrow to that observation from Fran, but so subtle. Balthier's eyes flick her way -- he caught it -- but he offers no comment.
    "We've chocobos in our world, too. They look a bit different than yours, though. Bit stocker, mayhap, but adherents claim them smart as a whip and protective of their hume masters." Balthier shrugs. "I've not ridden for some months. I daresay I'd be a bit rusty at it."
    Her eyes drop to the slaughtered chocobo, though, sinking into a crouch beside Rydia; how she manages it in those stiletto-clawed heels she wears beneath the coat, it's hard to say. Her nostrils flare at hte scnet of blood, and she touches two fingers to the blood, lifting it to her eyes.
    "Just so. 'Tis still fresh." Her eyes slide to Balthier; the sky pirates share a brief look.
    "This seems awfully wasteful." There comes the harsh, clacking sound of Balthier chambering a round into his rifle, looking out to the woods. "We must be close. There aren't even any scavengers, yet."
    Oh. Insectoid armour. Balthier folds his arms, but he does so in a way that he manages to keep his rifle at the ready. "So that was you. Did you actually want something from me? Now is hardly the time, boy. Your sense of timing is almost as bad as Vaan's," he muses, half under his breath.
    Fran actually snorts, however quiet the sound is.

The Au Ra takes a good look at the earpiece she's been given and stares at Ash. "Where am I supposed to put this?" She asks, flat stare at the fellow while she follows the group around. She's got her hand on her sword, just in case, and approaches the dead chocobo, trying to look for tracks of any kind. "What eats horsebirds anyway?"

    A strange warbling voice sings through the forest. "Aww, the poor beast is still hungry... I'm sorry, beasty, you need to go finish your dinner over there, we can't have you leaving carcasses all over the place~" It sounds Wrong somehow, like a voice spoken through a filter of concentrated evil. It also sounds intentionally boosted to be spooky to the party at large. "Wait...! Wait, those heroes are over there, they aren't food...! No no no, bad monster!" And it sounds like something is coming toward them. Whether it heard the party or just got fed up with the owner of the voice is probably unclear.

>> SUMMARY[Dolce] >> ?????

    "Never seen a viera." Rydia replies, once Ash has her helped out with the earpiece. "Never heard of a viera." Added after the fact while she and Fran inspect the carcass.
    "This is a bite." Rydia says, motioning for the entirety of the gouged out chunk missing from the bird's side. "So it looks like a predator. ... Not one that's local to Mist though. It could be... Something I've heard of before. But I've never actually seen one before. I just have the description my mother gave me to frighten me into behaving, when Chocobo-- my chocobo- and I were younger... 'Don't stay out too late or the Chocobo Eater will get you', she used to say..." The girl answers David and Temulin in one fell swoop.
    It's the warbling voice that makes Rydia snap her attention upwards from the dead bird. And the sound of something on the approach that has her gripping that dagger much more tightly.
    Perhaps it's a good thing David is looking up. The leaves rustle. Branches sway and creak under a heavy weight, as it swings from tree to tree on talon-like hands.
    The beast is more MOUTH than anything else. A wide gaping maw with sharp teeth, the lower jaw is split down the middle, revealing two flailing tongues as the gorilla-like slab of grey muscle and chitinous plated shoulders slams down to the ground.
    Its breath reeks of blood as it lets out a howling roar- powerful enough for the sheer force of sound alone to knock Rydia back on her ass and send her scrabbling towards the back row of the group.
    "Ch... Chocobo Eater! Chocobo Eater, kill it!" She shouts as it lunges forth, snarling and swiping those massive talons at anyone in range, in search of its next meal. Looks like it's being a bad bad monster after all.

"Magical storage space. Bigger on the inside. That's hammerspace." He explains to Peach.

Looking around as he narrows his eyes listening to his surroundings as well for sounds, inhaling through his nose. He's not a blood hound but...

To Balthier he says, "Trying to bury the hatchet so to speak my good sir. If I am forced to summon my armor, didn't want you to take a shot at me in accident if I need to attack something behind you. But you are right, now is not the time. We can discuss the issue over drinks. My treat." The final words on the matter, are said for now.

Looking around David also uses his flashlight to look up into the tree tops looking for signs of movement, or anything out of the Ordinary.

David is as tense as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. And the Voice makes his skin crawl. Barring his teeth David's aggression is coming to the front. And right now animal or not David will fight and kill to protect those here. The Idea that voice may be trying to help has crossed his mind, but just the same as it is the cause also is there. He will see.

"Fuck There!" and David uses his Flashlight to shine a light on it. Holding his sword at the Ready for when it comes down he is right now just trying to Track the creature to keep it in sight.

>> SUMMARY[Rydia] >> The reveal. Also possibly triggering Dolce.

>> SUMMARY[David] >> attempting to keep a Light on the monster.

    The monster appears!

    Peach has no time to consider that girl's voice from the woods with a few tons of muscle and maw bearing down on the group. Instead, she takes a single step to the side - putting herself between the monster and Rydia in an action that seems to almost be automatic - and takes a wide wind-up swing with her hammer. It's more like a golf swing than anything else!

    But, well, if she can swing that hammer around so casually, a golf swing is going to do some serious damage if it connects..!

>> SUMMARY[Peach] >> FORE!

Ash glanced over to Temulin and managed to look sheepish, "Sorry I... uh... thought you had the same kind of ears ..." Yea that made ash feel...

And then the light his hand was making went out. Yay for power that needed calm or at least clarity of thought to use.

Deep breath as he re-centered himself. The light from his left hand flickered back to life. 

Then strange voice on the wind. "Show yourself please." Ash seemed to skip up the tree he was standing closest to, not exactly climing so much as making a series of hops. Sharp eyed folk would see his feet hadn't actually touched anything during any of these hops and yet he was now resting on a branch above everyone trying to look for the source of the noise. "Well, I can't talk for anyone else but I'd rather hear you out if possible. Maybe help relocate you where your feeding isn't hurting the local's livestock?" He sincerely hoped there wouldn't be fighting right now. Not that he hated fighting, but he liked peace more than war if he had any options. "Think you could do that? none of the usual bang and noise and all that?" It was worth a shot wasn't it?

And then Ash realized he effectivly jumped into the same general plane the mostly mouth creature was attacking from. Ash's right hand moved, almost as if it were rotating clockwise as his arm thrust out i nfront. 

As that motion was made there was a low inhuman sound of inhaling.

"Be." Ash's voice carried far more than it should with that word.

Anyone sensetive to the flows of energy ordimensions may feel a ripping of rather fundimental fabrics between here and elsewhere People sensetive to Chi might feel something flowing through Ash and out of his now open right hand.

"GONE!"

This command given as a white beam of energy loosed in the direction of the monster.

Well technically it was more 'shifting prismatic all colors flicking' but to most people it just looked white.

>> SUMMARY[Ash] >> To the Trees! Oh crap monster! Firin mah (void) Lazor!

    To their credit, neither sky pirate jumps at the sound of something rustling through the underbrush. Balthier smoothly lifts his rifle to his shoulder. Fran shrugs her bow from her shoulder, and in the span of one breath and the next, she has an arrow fitted to the string and drawn back to her cheekbone.
    They glance at each other briefly, weapons drawn; subtle expressions flickering across both their faces that are easy to miss in the dim lighting. Telepathy? No. Just years of association, and understanding; proposing and dismissing possible strategies.
    In the end, they settle for backing away from the beast, very slowly, and /not/ firing right away.
    "Not now. Less talking, more shooting," he grates between his teeth, to David.
    Both he and his companion screw their eyes shut, blown back by the force of the thing's roar; Fran's ears swivel straight back, tilting until they're flat against her head, and the viera grunts as though the force of the sound caused her pain.
    Between one breath and the next, the sky pirates are there, and then they are not. Both of them ease back into the shadows, firing on the beast -- Balthier seems intent on trying to curtail those ham-fisted plated hands, while Fran is aiming her arrows for its eyes.
    "Fran, do you could--?"
    "No. Too risky."
    "Then what about--"
    "It is too fast."
    "Damn."
    They must be really well-established partners to understand each other on so little.
    "You there, with the hammer," Balthier calls, to Peach and her ludicrously large hammer. "If you can keep its attention off us, we'll go for the eyes from here."

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> That is one ugly son of a bleeeeeep. Bang bang. Hey Peachy, can you tank for the squishy ranged DPS?

    "Hey! Stop attacking him! He's only hungry! What's the big deal!?" calls the weird voice, from... somewhere? The direction is being actively masked, so it's impossible to tell. And then literally dozens of tiny demon-like imps made of swirling black and light 'scribbles' of sheet music come out of every direction and fall on the group, interfering in one way or another. They crowd in front of people, they block shots, they generally interfere in a really annoying manner... but they can't do any real harm to the party. They make horrific, discordant noises as they mob the party from all directions, housecat sized imps of magic.

    "Do you just go around killing whatever animals you like!? Weirdos!!"

>> SUMMARY[Dolce] >> Magical imps appear and flutter around everyone, while Dolce loudly criticizes a classic murderhobo passtime: Recreational wildlife slaughter

    Rydia rallies and regains her composure fast. Lurching up to her feet, the dagger goes away. She's not going to be helpful with that at all. Especially when the beast lunges forward with a surge of speed that belies its grotesque size.
    One taloned, monstrous, hand lashes out, snatching up Temulin as she steps forward in the path to face it, in its grasp. The Dark Knight's armor is sturdy though, even as it takes several vicious bites at her, it can't quite pierce that dark armor. But the blunt trauma is a form of abuse unto itself. Thusly it shows its strength. It shows what everyone is contending with, and Rydia opts to not cross that path.
    Rydia does her best to keep her flashlight trained on the Chocobo Eater from the back, pointedly staying behind Peach as Ash's beam strikes true. The beast flinches, lurching away from the prismatic ray and the perfectly synched fire from the sky pirates as they try to coordinate a more tactical solution, but it is not deterred. Even as Peach's hammer batters into its side with that immense golf swing. The Mushroom Princess' strength is stunningly insane- enough to make the creature jerk aside and stagger from the impact.
    "Who are you calling a weirdo!?" Rydia shouts into the darkness. She can't tell where that voice is coming from. "It's not local-- it preys on chocobos!" She counters, while trying to bat a musical note or two away with her flashlight.

With the Monster on the Ground David can lunge and attack. That Katana he on while magical he has no idea how useful it will be. He knows a Katana of similar power, not only breached his armor, but also hindered his regeneration.

David's skills are laughible at best with that sword. But he has greater than normal human strength and speed and just as he is about to close the Distance he will suddenly have interferance?

The Musical notes of course he attacks, attempting to slash out at the little imps.

"It's a danger to the Domestic birds of the area!" David shouts out, even he understands the entire need to get rid of a predator that would prey on your sheep, cattle, chickens horses. Either by driving it away, relocating it, or if needed killing it. "You don't want it killed, then help us subdue it for relocation!"

Of course David does need to pause for a brief moment to get a good look at these imps, as it allows more than a couple to get a couple of decent cuts on him. "Do these things look like musical notes to anyone else?" That is not lost on him....

Then Someone goes down. David's eyes go wide. And then the Gloves Come off.

Throwing the sword down David Screams out...

"GUYVER!"

Instantly in the blink of an eye as an energy dome explodes with thunder around David. Lightning arces and surrounds him, instantly a suit of armor forms behind him, opens up and snaps around him. One more armored up David stands there as the snow has been blasted away as the Dome of Energy he summoned.

As the swarm of scribbles descended Ash tried dashing to another branch, his left hand swingingto swat one away as the disc at his left wrist slid into palm and expanded, then grew three sharp long bladed spines. "Big giant hungry thing starts snarling while bull rushing at a big group of people!" Ash shouted into the wind. Again somehow his voice carried as if he were shouting in spite of his normal, albeit adgitated, tone. "That is not normal from a predator. Makes no sense even if it's just trying to drive us off from a kill!"

He huffed as he swung again at the scribbles, this time with the bladed disc in his hand. "If it's yours i"m sorry but it's eating local livestock." His legs hurt. Even if the majority of the energy involved came from elsewhere his body acted as the conduit, hence why he could only do short hops. "It's like being angry at someone because your kubrow got shot because it tried to take a bite out of their face."

His eyes closed and the blades of the disc retracted as he took a deep breath. then another. If the voice could have sent more it would have, but these squiggle... things were a swarm of mosquitoes rather than a hornet's nest. He tried to shut out the distractions. He needed focus and all the buzzing and roaring wasn't helping. 

He was calm. He was the still point in the middle of all the chaos.

Again there would be the feeling of space between Here and There opening and Ash's chi reacting to the influxof power. He was waiting. Letting it build. Unfortunately this made him an easy target if the thing, or whatever made the voice decided he was a threat.

>> SUMMARY[Ash] >> Lecturing the Darkness. ALso, now charging Void Strike ;)

    Temulin is down! "Damnit, Rydia, once you get a chance make sure Dotharl is still breathing!" the princess says, putting on her Authority Voice in an effort to head off any argument - while she continues to maneuver in an attempt to keep herself between the beast and, well, everyone else who's behind her!

    The imps are... well, annoying, but given she's swinging around a rather impressive hammer she's not too bothered by them getting in the way. She's surprisingly agile with that thing, leaping up into the air and spinning around to aim a wide, sweeping strike at the Chocobo Eater and any imps that happen to be in the way. "I wouldn't expect a child to understand the concept of culling," she says, winding up another swing, "an invasive species that's overstepping its ecological niche!" Slam goes her hammer again.

    "It's the duty of thinking beings to make sure ecologies don't collapse due to cross-contamination!" Peach reads books, y'know.

>> SUMMARY[Peach] >> Peach is tanking! And also talking about ecological niches. What a nerd.

    The sky pirates are not deterred when it seems their shots aren't having as much effect as they might like. Balthier squints toward the monstrous thing, trying to gauge how fast it's moving. Fran is watching it like a hawk, every so often snapping off an arrow at its approximate centre of mass. Or an eye, if she has the opportunity.
    Their progress is interrupted by tiny, capering imps that manage to get in the way, roughly reminiscent of sheet music, if sheet music were drawn by a child with a shaky hand.
    Balthier snarls and kicks at one or two, trying to keep his rifle aimed in the same breath. Fran kicks at them, too, but her clawed heels are probably much better at actually being a threat.
    "Quite a valuable commodity, chocobos," Balthier comments over the general din, to back up Rydia's comments on the nature of the friendly birds. "Why, I once knew of an Archadian parade courser that was supposedly worth an entire consulate."
    "Begone," Fran snaps, whipping her bow down and sidelong to try and knock several of the imps out of her immediate vicinity.
    To the rest, Balthier calls, "Does it really matter? At this particular juncture in time, the beastly thing in question is trying to eat us. It's in our best interest to see that that does not happen."

>> SUMMARY[Balthier] >> Bunny & Clyde kick at imps and shoot at monsters. Ew, imps.

    Something among all of them convinced her. She can't really fight all of them at once, and they're going to kill the thing, so she does the only thing that she sees as an option.

    Something like an iridescent anthropomorphic velociraptor drops down, feathers flowing, from the trees without a sound, and lands right atop the Chocobo Eater's head. Her black, flowing clothing doesn't even make a noise, and if you weren't looking at her you might not even realize she was there. It was utterly silent, in direct contrast to the vibrant and gaudy appearance of the being. When she lands -- not lightly, either, by the look of things -- she waves to the group just the once, smiling, her big, colorful rainbow-like eyes staring at the group while her long bowtie of bright red flows in the breeze.

    Then she lowers one hand down to hip level, and snaps her fingers. What happens next is deafening.

    Trees get blown off their branches. A wall of concussive sound blows out in all directions from in front of the Chocobo-Eater, like a grenade going off. The explosion doesn't seem to affect the strange monster person at all, it doesn't even ruffle her clothing. She hops in exact time so she doesn't get caught in case it blows the Chocobo-Eater back. Of course, the force of it was a shockwave that is only dampened enough that it won't kill the party... it's still a painful wall of force.

    "Did that work?" she asks aloud, her voice cutting clearly through the ambient noise from the blast knocking branches off and trees over in an unnatural layering effect. Her head turns as she lands to inspect the Chocobo-Eater's physical state. "Sleep time, beasty~"

    The Notes flutter away from the party and cluster in the air around Dolce, fluttering around and chiming at her happily.

>> SUMMARY[Dolce] >> Dolce appears. Might want to duck and cover. She's gonna try to knock out the Chocobo Eater.

    This is some kind of chaotic nightmare. Rydia drops her flashlight for the sake of skidding to her knees at Temulin's side, she need not be told twice and was already in the process hastily rummaging through her gear for potions to tend to the downed Au Ra as Peach raised the very valid course of action. The Summoner curses her lack of Phoenix Downs, but works with what she has.
    While the others have to work with a Chocobo Eater.
    David transforms, and the musical scribbles are a harassing force to be reckoned with. But Peach lands another mighty blow, making the monster howl as it's opened up to start taking Fran's arrows in some very sensitive places upon its face before those notes are in the way again.
    And then Dolce reveals herself.
    The sheer concussive force of that explosive fingersnap is more than enough to bowl Rydia to the ground all over again, hell the ground beneath the Chocobo Eater craters as it's slammed downwards and shifts with a groan. Between the accumulated beating it took and that big kaboom, it looks somewhere between stunned and losing consciousness.
    Rydia slowly sits up, hands covering her ears in a vain attempt to stop the ringing.
    "WHAT. THE. HELL?!"
    It takes her a moment to wobble to her feet and when she pulls her hands away from her ears, she doesn't seem to notice that they're bleeding.
    "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW COMPLETELY OUT OF PLACE THIS THING IS?! IT COULD CHASE AWAY ALL THE CHOCOBOS FOR MILES AND THEN THEY WON'T COME BACK. AND-- AND-- AND--..."
    "... DID SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING?"

    Peach is JUST about to take another swing at the beast when suddenly EXPLOSION.

    The princess, despite her strength, doesn't actually weigh that much. So, when the shockwave hits, she's lifted off her feet - and loses her grip on her weapon, going flying and tumbling and smacking right into a tree.

    She's up on her feet in moments, though - white sparkles washing across her body automatically to wipe away the dirt and grime and the blood from her ears. Dolce - a being of corruption and such - might consider that magical aura of purity around Peach to be... dangerous.

    "What is WRONG with you?!" the princess shouts at this new monster even as she's scrambling over to Rydia to make sure she's okay. Oh gosh please don't be permanently deafened healing magic go go

Ash hadn't seen Dolce as he was focusing on his connection to the Void and drawing and coiling that power within himself. He started to levetate silently, unaware of what was going to happen. His hands moved, one fingers pointed skyward, the other palm open. Then another gesture. Then another. The motions having no inherent power to them other than to aid in his concentration. There was a low noise, a great inrush of breath as before, except it continued to build. 

And then, at the point where his body could hold all that it safely could. Dolce hit him, along with everyone else, with the bass cannon.

His mind flashed back to the time the banshee's FoF systes got scrambled with radiation on an all hands sortie on an irradiated asteroid base the grineer had. The banshee was well meaning, but new and hadn't realized what using her powers when her suit had no way of differentiating ally and enemy would do.

As had happened then Ash was subbected to something that was not so much 'sound' as a pressure wave comming from the thing with the gargantuine mouth. Except unlike before this was Ash's body rather than his warframe that was rudely scrambled about. Maybe it was the internal pressure or mere presence of all that Void energy within him or maybe it was luck or some other reason his eardrums didn't instantly rupture as he fell to the ground, instinctivly curling into the fetal position, hands covering his head.

Then the noise ended. Actually all sound had stopped, replaced by this high pitched buzzing in side his skull. Ash wobbled to his feet and took a wide stance. He coudlnt' hear Ordis screaming in his ear, or anyone or anything else. He could not pool more void energy safely into himself, and his stance wobbled as his right hand moved slowly from pointing groundward to pointing palm forward at the chocobo eater.

"LEAVE!" He coudlnt' even hear himself speak as his eyes focused on the monster and the thing perched on top of it. "THAT IS ALL I ASK. LEAVE. NOW!" His lack of hearing bothered him, but he was confident Ordis could fix this.

He was halfway bluffing. It ws taking everything he had to stand much less aim. He held power within him still, but there was no gurentee on what would happen if he tried to use it. Yet he could not appear weak in front of an enemy.

David lunges jumping up and over the battefield, to land infront of the thing. Still he's not actively trying to Kill it, if they can subdue it he could fly it out of here. Assuming this interferance doesn't cause him to openly change that. "I'm all up for Relocation, if it can be subdued!"

When that Raptor thing appears and the Burst of sound, he was distracted enough in his lunge he is knocked and pushed back several twenty-five or more feet but he is still standing despite some very serious recoil, he is ready to attack again. Subduing the creature may still be an option. The sound attacks, yes she can use sound as an attack. And he considers the girl a very very dangerous threat if she goes on the offensive. And that has him very cautious, David's gotten a large force blast from that blast wave. He is ready to attack it again if it doesn't go down.

When the thing is clearly ready to pass out David narrows his eyes and then approaching it he will unleash a sonic attack from his Sonic buster at the fornt of his face from those orbs. attempting homing in on the inner ear trying to make it loose all sense of balance and succumb His soundwaves hone in very carefully. and only when it looses all consiousness will he stop. "I can get it out of here, and Relocate it to a much more remote area." The fact that Rydia is screaming means her ability to hear is damaged....

    Before either of the sky pirates can react, someone or something drops down onto the Chocobo-Eater's head, a scintillating velociraptor-person that bears a passing resemblance to a bangaa. Balthier and Fran exchange a puzzled look. Who--?
    The shockwave flattens trees and shatters boughs, leaving splintered ruin in its wake. It sends both sky pirates sprawling; Balthier with a curse barked in his annoyance and pain; Fran with a cry of actual pain.
    Balthier is back on his feet first, rifle trained on the beast, but he doesn't fire. Instead he flicks a glance back down at Fran, displeasure masking his concern. That had to be painful.
    Striding forward, he positions himself between the viera -- still reeling and trying to reorient herself -- and the Chocobo-Eater, cocking his rifle and squinting an eye down its ironsights. Still the sky pirate doesn't fire.
    "Fran!" He shouts, because he can't hear, either.
    No answer.
    "Fran?"
    Nothing.
    He glances over his shoulder. The viera is still pulling herself to her feet, ears swivelling and twitching this way and that, almost manic, trying to seek order from chaos -- to pick out some kind of noise amidst the deafening silence. She can't. The almost frantic swivelling of her ears only bares the blood that flecks the white fur.
    "I suppose I've got to do everything around here," Balthier mutters, although he can't hear his own statement, and most likely neither can anyone else. He frowns, rifle lowering just a moment to reach up and dab a forefinger near an ear. Blood? No blood? No blood. Good. Wait. No. There's blood. The sky pirate's face twists into a sour expression. The viera must be in /bad/ shape, then.
    He shakes his head to try and clear it, but it doesn't do any good. His grimace cuts even deeper into his features. Just perfect. Rydia's mouth is moving, but he can't hear anything. So he settles for reaching up, swiping a dab of nice visible blood onto his fingertip, and points at his own ear for Rydia's benefit.
    "/Can't hear a thing, lass!/" The sky pirate bellows, because he can't actually hear anything at all. "/You're going to have to -- speak -- up!/"
    It won't help. Balthier shakes his head. "...Bah."
    Having established he can't hear anything, at all, or anyone speaking, he trudges over to Fran, dropping into a kneel at her side. "Fran!"
    She startles at his touch, but lets him help her to her feet, dusting off her knees as she rises.
    With a shrug, the two turn to leave, shouldering their weapons. Nothing more to do here. The culprit has been contained, and it's no longer their problem. They'll hassle Rydia later for payment of services rendered. And they can socialize later, when they can actually, you know. Hear.
    "Exit stage right," the sky pirate mutters under his breath, glancing over his shoulder on their way out. He eventually shakes his head. Nope. Nothing but a very persistent ringing.

    Dolce clasps her hands in front of herself, and then draws them apart, her Conductor's Wand materializing from vibrating black shapes. She waves it about a couple of times while everyone recovers, and peers at them quietly. Their assessments of the situation spawn all sorts of expressions on her face, and she has some bright surprise when she realizes she deafened pretty much everyone. She taps her nose with the Wand in thought, turning to face the Chocobo-Eater as David's sonic blast blows past her. She holds out the wand to deflect the brunt of it and calmly sidesteps out of the way, totally unperturbed by it. David wasn't even aiming at her, so she wouldn't be in much danger anyways.

    Then she reaches over, and tries to rap her knuckles into the core of the creature's mass. The blow is a lot more forceful than a normal love tap, with a loud meaty THWACK that, uh, they may not hear over all the ringing. And then, when it's clearly keeling over to pass out, she would reach out to grab it by the core of its mass, along the edge of its mouth, rather rudely... and then crouches and leaps.

    And tries to just carry the big thing like a shopping bag, presumably to somewhere miles and miles away from here.

>> SUMMARY[Dolce] >> Dolce kidnaps the stunned Chocobo-Eater to relocate it. It doesn't look fun.

    That handles the job. Rydia sure doesn't hear the blow, but she winces anyway when the Chocobo Eater is rendered unconscious. And then Dolce absconds, with the unsightly beast in tow.
    "--HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" It's hard to tell if that's an angry shout after her, or if it's in reply to Balthier and Fran as they take their leave without even seeking payment. ... Yet.
    So that... Handles it...?
    But the next thing Rydia knows is that she has Peach in her face, mouth moving, but no sound coming out.
    "WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! SPEAK UP PEACH!"
    Yeah. ... Yeah this is going to last a little while.
    "WHAAAAAAT?"