never mind

Taejin Mission 040|| Good Tidings in Bad Times

“Can’t think of anyone, no.” Sure Zack was a flirt in his Shin-Ra years, but that’s all it was harmless flirting. He never had the time to make anything happen beyond that and he hadn’t had too much time or want to of late, though he chalked it off to him growing up if anything.

Zack shifted the jug so he was holding it more comfortably. “How about you? Have that special someone waiting for you to pop the question?” They had reached the spring and Zack knelt down and started filling his jug with water.

#Taejin Mission 040 #zacktaejin #lunethtaejin #Good Tidings in Bad Times #still on vacation #huehuehue

For whatever reason, Luneth was rather unrefined in the realm of romantic love. Clearly any knowledge of gentlemanly etiquette and wooing impressed upon him had failed to take root successfully.

"Not quite," he laughed.

But what a perfect place to gather supplies for a wedding, he thought. The waterfalls hummed as the soft honey-glow of evening wandered into the grotto, and the sum of spring-life responded in kind to the golden light, diurnal creatures drinking in the last few drops of that sweet nectar before scurrying off to their burrows and families, fearful of the tenebral custodians that blinked and shuffled forth to revel in the shadows as their daylight shackles slowly slackened. Ripples formed over the water and the muted neon of the local fungi left the springs' surface cloaked in swirling tie-dye as Luneth knelt down to quench the thirst of his jug.

As his unpracticed mind attempted to digest the subtle beauty that whorled around him, he was struck with visions of lovers from all walks of life: children, innocent and playful, too engrossed in each other's laughter to be bothered with anything else; the couple in Oerba who were on fire beneath their skin, for whom Zack and Luneth were currently fetching tinder, as to bring the flames to bear; tender, wrinkled pairs of lovebirds whose journey to the stars never quite came to a close, billing and cooing more softly and sweetly than ever before as the sun sets on their youth. It left him strangely unsettled, but for what reason?

OOC: (vacation~)

I've been on vacation the past few days, staying with some extended family, enjoying the beach and the sun and whatnot, so I probably won't be doing much work for Taejin until the 25th, as I hope you'll understand. As far as replies go, I have, however, written some drafts and will be ready to post those almost immediately after I get back from vacation, so I won't fall too far behind by then.

Thanks for reading, guys, hopefully you're all enjoying your summers as well! :)

#ooc #activity #gone fishing

OOC: (threads)

cloudtaejin

For the Sake of the Living Room Pt. II | Cloud and Luneth

The spook skipped around next to Cloud as the two made their way towards HQ. Cloud, confident in the scientists’ intelligence, knew that they would have a way to help him, but the only thing keeping him on edge was the fact that their research wasn’t exactly safe.

The ravager then looked down at the little monster and told it, “you’ll be lucky if you come out of this place in one piece, you know that right?” A smirk and chuckle followed Cloud’s statement and the spook only stopped for a second and shot fire at the sky. The two arrived at the front doors of the building and Cloud picked up his pet before entering.

“Try to not burn anything or anyone here, it won’t be easy to get out of trouble here.” He gave the spook a serious face and it only looked around at the other soldiers and people in the offices. Not trusting the spook very much, Cloud’s pace was faster than normal to avoid any accidents and he was able to make it towards where most of the scientists usually gather.

“Hmm, how exactly will I know who can help us here?” Cloud said to himself in a low tone. There wasn’t anyone but a young soldier there. Maybe he knows where I can find the scientists, he thought to himself and walked up towards the young man.

“Hey there, uhh do you have any idea where the scientists went? I need to talk with them about something kind of important.” He said while showing the spook to let him know what the important thing was about.

#lunethtaejin #cloudtaejin #casual narrative #for the sake of the living room pt ii

Luneth was appalled-disgusted-by the plain-and-utter mockery of scientific progress from which he had presently departed. He knew how science was supposed to look; he had talked at length about science with reputable purveyors of scientific tinctures and gizmos in the court of Erol. The workplace of a scientist had been likened by the peddlers to a three-ring circus show of technological wizardry and spontaneous combustion, and if you couldn't trust a salesman to provide accurate descriptions, then who could you trust? The dazzling mental picture of the Science Wing that Luneth had previously envisaged, saturated with the grinding bzz-crash! of cage-fighting automatons and marvellously incensed with the bittersweet musk of chemical explosion, had faded into nothingness after he had smuggled himself into the research labs for an exclusive hands-on tour.

"You call this science!? You're nothing but paper-pushing test-tube tinkers!" Pristine sets of beakers, flasks, and goggle/masks assorted themselves sparsely among precariously stacked mounds of research papers and observation journals. Every now and then, a scientist would fasten his goggles and introduce a few drops of chemical A into flask B via dropper, and as the liquids in the vial exchanged greetings with one another and made living arrangements for their guests, the other scientists were scribbling furiously on their clipboards, loathe to squander such an enriching scientific opportunity. It was mockery indeed; a shameless phantom of what true science should have looked like to Luneth's discerning eyes.

It was for this reason that Luneth felt nominal danger in slipping from cover to lecture every scientist present on the merits of approving military-grade airships for personal ownership and the immediate mass-production of robotic behemoths as pets. Charming though he was in terms of lectural style, some of the scientists nonetheless seemed to have felt threatened by Luneth's creative use of visual aids, which included the systematic cremation of countless research papers over a chemical burner and the use of a volunteer's clipboard in the reduction of miscellaneous items of glassware.

In any event, the majority of the scientists working in the labs were so deeply moved by Luneth's words that they began to let out numinous and tearful cries of joy and set out at once for a heavy steel door marked "SHELTER-IN-PLACE" behind which Luneth could only theorize they were entering crucial phases of cognitive reinvention after being so profoundly changed by his inspiring words. Curiously, a red light had begun flashing in the corner of the room just before the migration after one of Luneth's more sweat-glossed listeners reached down suspiciously to fiddle with something or other under the table. Failing to discover any particular significance associated with the ominous strobe, Luneth had just closed the door to the slightly less pristine research labs when he was approached by a serious-looking blonde man who wished to know where all the researchers had gone.

"Sorry, pal, you just missed 'em. Though, I don't know why you would be trusting something so important with those layabouts in the first place." His eyes flashed down to the little creature in the man's arms as it sneezed fleeting tendrils of fire and stared up at Luneth expectantly. The singed aroma that presently wafted towards him reminded him of something... Ah, yes, the bittersweet musk of chemical explosion! Luneth beamed with excitement as he stepped back and gave the blonde man and the little creature another once-over before being struck with a brilliant idea.

"Hey! You know what? I'm actually an intern here in the Science Wing, something of a prodigy if you don't mind my bragging; I'd be able to serve you just as well as any of those other louts could, seeing as how they're too deep in scientific deliberation right now to come help." He reached out to pet the creature.

"Three questions before we start: one; what is this thing? Two; does it have a name? Three; what seems to be the problem?"

Taejin Mission 040|| Good Tidings in Bad Times

He took a moment to think. Before, Zack would have just answered with a ‘nothing better to do’, but after the trip to Midgar and the mission with Faris, he was beginning to remember why he had first joined Shin-Ra, and what made him walk into the doors of HQ. “I wanted to protect people I guess.” He smiled. “Where I grew up, monsters were kind of a thing and fighting those things could only get you so far.” Monsters could be tough, but they didn’t have the skill of bandits or the occasional terrorist group trying to take Shin-Ra down one Mako Reactor at a time.

“Eventually, I was old enough to join the army that was in my area. It was perfect, I got to make people’s lives easier, get stronger, and protect people. I even reached the highest rank they had!” at this, Zack had a faint smile before the next memory swiped if off his face. “Unfortunately, some people who were high up didn’t really care too much about us and this and that happened before I left.” If only I hadn’t just blindly followed orders, maybe I could’ve seen what was happening. He was probably never going to let that go no matter how much time passed.

“Anyways, I moved around looking for something else to use my skills, and I found this place. I even got to see my best friend again! So things have been going good for me here.”

#Taejin Mission 040 #Good Tidings In Bad Times #lunethtaejin #zacktaejin

Memories of Luneth's time as an adventurer in Erol floated in and out of his mind. After abandoning royal life, he had joined a militia of sorts that protected the town of Ur. He had been the oldest of the juniors there, and many times he took it upon himself to protect the younger children from the rowdier kids his age who seemed to have nothing better to do than pick on young orphans. When Zack mentioned his best friend from back home, Luneth couldn't help but visualize the brown-haired bookworm from Ur with whom he had once been inseparable. Where was he now? Luneth wondered.

"I know how it feels to leave home on bad terms. I let everyone back home down in a big sort of way... Guess we've both got a chance to make up for things here." Luneth flashed the blue-eyed soldier a smile. There was talk of monsters inhabiting the waters of Sulyya Springs, unheard of back home where springs were hallowed ground used for healing and meditation. That some ragtag band of spring monsters would pose a threat to two trained Army soldiers, however, was doubtful.

The tunnels were giving way to the mouth of a cave-like structure. There was a faint roar in the distance coupled with a drip-drop-drip that reinforced the notion that the springs were close. "Hey, Zack," Luneth called. "They're using this spring water for a wedding ceremony, right? Got anyone you'd wanna douse in it?"

Mining Your Business | Ingus and Luneth

ingustaejin

It wasn’t long before Ingus was met with three poorly lit passage ways branching off from the main shaft. Ingus immediately headed for the trail without tracks, having recognized voices and movements down along the way. Soon enough, Luneth’s figure came into view. “Lunet-“ His call was cut off by a wave of small and hunched creatures, sprinting like ants from a flame. Ingus drew his blade anticipating an attack of some sort from the creatures, while attending no notice to the violent shaking. Before Ingus could advance any further towards Luneth, a huge tremor raged through the earth, bringing Ingus to his knees. Once the chaos faded, the source of the earthquakes became abundantly clear. Charging from the far side of the tunnel was a massive robot monster. “L-L-LUNETH!”

#lunethtaejin #ingustaejin #miningyourbusiness #sorry it took so long #more drafts finished soon

Luneth's eardrums nearly burst as the ground shook and the air was choked with the scream of a raging steam whistle. For a moment he stood eyes wide, in awe of the giant metal beast in front of him. It was a machine of industry, a simple mining tool if one really wanted to classify it as such, but the floodlights resting atop its dusted chassis glared down at Luneth like the eyes of a cold-blooded predator, and the bass roar of its engine Luneth likened to the soft, rumbling purr of a coeurl poised to strike. He did not even realize he had fallen to his knees when the earth had tremored. "L-L-LUNETH!" Ingus snapped him out of shock, and unfortunately, the juggernaut had also heard the call. The clinking mass began shuffling forward with slow, albeit gargantuan, steps. Luneth was about to turn tail and run when the injured miner gave a shout. "HELP!" To think that Luneth had almost left an injured man to die! He sprinted towards the man and desperately tried to think of an escape. The juggernaut was still stamping towards them, and its heavy iron feet were just meters away from where the miner lay sprawled. Luneth simply could not run with the weight of a grown man on his shoulders... He panicked and thrust his arms forward in exasperation. "Ruinga!" he shouted with a cracking voice. He could feel the silver-black energy surging out of his palm in the form of a crackling wisp. The sphere of energy gave off a ringing that drowned out the juggernaut's gate as it whistled through the air. Terror as the projectile went on whistling right past the 'shoulder' of the beast. It merely continued its advance until a loud crack caught its attention. A shower of dust and debris slowly made its way down and bounced off the chassis of the metal beast like rainwater. Then, larger rocks came, slowing the beast down as it tried to shrug off. Luneth turned to Ingus. "Now's our only chance!" The Juggernaut was pushing its way through the boulders and would soon be cleared of the block. One of them would have to slow it down while the other led the miner to the exit. The whole room began to shake and the air to shudder. Dust and debris began to cloud the way back. The ceiling of the mine had been broken by the spell and the dig was collapsing!

OOC

lightningtaejin-deactivated2013

Blowing Off Steam | Lightning and Luneth

lightningtaejin-deactivated2013

She was certain the male would leave. After all, he did voice out that it would be detrimental to their status and rank as soldiers if they were to engage in foolish combat. But being so blinded by rage and have a strong need to prove herself to others—especially through actions—she would not submit to such honor code. She can be reckless in that sense—delving into the spur of the moment. The pink haired soldier felt so passionately for doing things on her own and showing everyone that she was strong enough…and capable! Capable of fending for herself.

But the male didn’t leave. Instead, he surprised her by giving one of the male’s a good, unexpected blow to one of the males at the side. Lightning watched as all three of them stared at the male in disbelief, certainly the same expression painted Lightning’s features as well. They perhaps were having the same thought process as she was: that he would leave to avoid the trouble. But it seemed that he was itching for a fight as well.

Did everyone want to blow off some steam?

Hearing the stranger soldier express that she wasn’t going to do this alone, she only scoffed. She was a little upset that she was going to receive aid. After all, she specifically wanted to show them all that she can do this by herself. That she did not need anyone. That she could take care of herself. But it looked like he would not listen to her protest if she tried.

“Tch…whatever,” was her perturbed response as she raised her fists a bit higher, calculating who to charge at first. Even with him by her side, she would try to act solo. The male can do whatever he wants, so long as he does not get in her way. Without further hesitation, she sprung forward, delivering a swfit, rapid punch on the leader’s jaw, sending the male staggering backwards a bit. However, he rebound and tried to deliver a back kick, upon which the female lifted her arms to block her head. She dexterously took the male’s leg and twisted it, causing the leader to flip around twice or three times over before falling flat on his face. She grinned to herself, but noticed the male to her left coming at her with a punch of his own. She easily side stepped, making the male stumble forward and thus, grabbing ahold of his arm at the side, she pulled it behind his back, kneeing him on the back of his knee which would subdue him to the ground. She felt someone’s foot beginning to knock her over, which did briefly make the female lose her balance but she gracefully flipped backwards twice to give herself distance from the perpetrator. Veering upwards as she rested on one knee, it was the punched leader who had just retaliated. She huffed, standing on her feet again.

“I’ll admit…” the leader said, rubbing his jaw. “You’re pretty fast.”

Lightning smirked. “You’ve no idea what I’m capable of.”

She can see that the other male she attacked by the back of his knee was still sore on the ground while the third seemed concentrated on the stranger. She didn’t mind anymore. She was focused on the man who started it all with her. And she is determined to bring him down.

Beside him the woman sprang into action like a flash of lightning and quickly embroiled herself in the brawl. Luneth felt that she was more fit to take point as she savaged the leader of the soldiers; this was her fight to win, and she sure as hell seemed determined to see that through. The sentiment hardly made three-on-one any fairer, however; she was handling her two charges well enough, but Mister Three, the goon that Luneth had assaulted before loomed in the background, his upper lip stained red with blood from his nose. His gaze was intent on following the woman; Luneth made it his job to cut her some slack.

Luneth shouted a challenge at the third wheel and dove forward, stepping into another one-two, but the soldier was wise this time around and raised his arms solidly to absorb the shock. Luneth feinted to the right but the soldier shuffled forward and laid into him with a strong elbow. Luneth coughed and gasped for air, unable to empty his lungs quickly enough on impact, but as the soldier leaned in to continue his assault Luneth caught his arm, using it as leverage as he swept at the soldier's ankle; Mister Three fell flat, disadvantaged and slightly emaciated.

Catching his breath, Luneth hasted to hinder his foe's attempts to right himself. Luneth crouched down, still holding the arm of Three, and forced his knee onto the man's chest, pushing him back to the ground. Mister Three struggled and grabbed at Luneth's leg, but after some literal twisting of the arms, Luneth found his charge quite docile. Without exactly knowing what to do with his catch, Luneth merely leaned down and whispered, "quit picking on girls" before reaching a hand inside of the soldier's helmet to grip him by the hair and smash his head against the ground.

His charge went limp.

Luneth's nerves almost settled before he remembered the woman and turned to see how her end of the fight was being kept up.

Mining Your Business | Ingus and Luneth

ingustaejin

Clinking metal echoed throughout the mines, ringing out every time Ingus took a stride. Luneth was admittedly much faster than he could keep up with, especially with his haul of equipment. By the time the silver haired soldier came into view, he had already boarded an elevator of sorts and descended out of view. “Son of a took…” Ingus grumbled, mumbling some curses that he had recalled his father saying. He picked his stride up into a sprint at an attempt to reach the lift, ignoring the various vacant barracks that passed on his left and right. Once there, Ingus found himself presented with yet another road block. Technology. It was just a simple lever, yet it proposed many different outcomes. Ingus crossed his fingers and pulled it back. To his relief, the lift began to slowly move. Then it began to drop; fast. Ingus immediately fell to his knee, and held on for dear life, as the elevator shot downwards into the mines. Finally, the lift came to a gradual stop, and opened access to a poorly lit hall. From the lift, stumbled a horribly crippled Ingus, whom fell to all fours and kissed the steady ground. After a minute of gathering his quaking bowels, Ingus stood to his feet and drew his blade. Dimly lit area, closed off, and high tension in the air. It briefly reminded him of the training he undertook with Faris, which granted him some courage. “Luneth!” He shouted, while advancing forth into the depths of the mines.

#lunethtaejin #ingustaejin #miningyourbusiness #took a while

Th brown rock glowed orange under the incandescence of the passage lamps. It was noticeably colder in the shadowed areas outside of the glow, an eerie feeling as Luneth made his way through. Soon, he came upon a junction where the path split in three; there were two paths lined with rails to cart ore towards the elevators, and one without.

Luneth stopped suddenly as a low moan rang out from the depths of the un-railed path. That was the trouble surely...

He drew his sword and charged down the passage, barely stopping for breath as he went. In the mellow lighting, he could see the form of an imp crouched over a human-sized body that was lying in a heap near the wall of the pit. It seemed as if this area had been discovered quite recently as there were indentures in the walls and the huge rock face up ahead glittered with a vascular network of metals.

Despite his noisy running, the imp had not yet taken notice of him, and Luneth used this opportunity to slide into a two-handed stroke across the back of the creature, which fell slumped on top of the human body. As he removed the imp, Luneth was earnestly surprised as the body underneath it stirred and heaved a mighty cough.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, guy. I got him for you already." Luneth didn't want the miner straining himself after whatever had occurred between him and the monster. Even so, the man struggled still to bring his dusty form to stand, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head as he hacked and wheezed before sputtering a response.

"Not... imp..." the man said. What's that supposed to mean...? As far as Luneth could tell, the imp had been gawking at the body of its victim when Luneth happened upon it. If the imp wasn't responsible for the trouble, then what was? Suddenly, a loud screech similar to the whistling of a steaming kettle broke Luneth's concentration. One of the nearby indentures burst open and dozens of imps raced out, but they charged at neither Luneth nor the miner. The imps whined as they flew down the passage Luneth had just traversed. For monsters, they sure do scare easily, Luneth thought. The miner gripped Luneth's arm abruptly and choked out another sound from his dusty lips.

"Run..." he said.

OOC;

Sorry about all the inactivity, like a lot of people I've been kinda busy irl. I'm hoping to put out responses for Cecil, Ingus, and Lightning in the next few days, but I've also got some work that will be hogging my attention. Also, to Noctis-mun, so sorry about not contacting you so far, I hope you can bear with me.

Thanks!

Taejin Mission 040|| Good Tidings in Bad Times

It had been about five minuets into their trip and for a while, nothing had been said between himself and his partner. It was mostly because Zack was busy running through the mission in his head. He had originally shown up a little late on the mission briefing and only had time to glance at the report before they were off.

From what he remembered, they had to go get water from some spring an hour away from HQ and make sure not to break the pots. He wished he could have remembered what monsters they were facing, but since he hadn’t been warned about them, Zack assumed they weren’t too big of a threat.

He looked to his partner, he wasn’t sure what his name was, something with an L. Whoever he was, Zack knew he was a new recruit, he had seen the notice a little while before the briefing. “So, how do you feel about your first mission? I’m Zack by the way.” he said moving his chocobo a bit closer to the other

#zacktaejin #lunethtaejin #Taejin Mission 040

Finally, a real mission, Luneth had first thought upon receiving the briefing. The events of the week or so that had passed since his joining had been docile except for a certain trip to the mines. Luneth didn't quite like docile, and it was difficult to keep himself occupied in the protected town of Oerba. Soldiers weren't supposed to leave base for extended periods of time without a good reason, and "adventuring" didn't quite justify being away from one's duties for days.

Apparently, there was a wedding to be celebrated in Oerba, and Luneth and his mission partner were to fetch supplies from a spring source to use in the ceremony. The wedding was big news and served as a beacon of humanity in the midst of the monster attacks. Getting the urns of spring water back to Oerba in one piece was an important job; maybe a little mundane, Luneth thought, but important nonetheless for the wedding to go on without a hitch.

On their chocobos, Luneth and his partner (a more experienced soldier with black hair and striking sky-blue eyes) were making their way to the Sulyya Springs to carry out their mission when the black-haired soldier leaned in to ask Luneth a question.

"My name's Luneth. This whole deal doesn't seem too exciting, but it's good work. I signed up hoping to help people, so I guess this job is a perfect start," he said. Green fields soared around them. It was only Luneth's second time riding into the wilderness on choco-back, and he was still rather entranced by the scenery.

"How 'bout you? Why'd you join up with the Army, I mean?"

Breaking Through | Luneth et Cecil

He said nothing, but the tiniest of smiles settled itself upon his lips. He had not agreed for he was fully intent on holding back and not fighting. If he had to, he would try to draw him back with blows at times, but he would not chance himself to doing such a thing. His fingers flexed as his grip on his polearm tightened and he adjusted his stance. When Luneth’s choice of weapon was unsheathed, he had to stop a bit and admire the craftsmanship on it. True, he had not seen such a blade before but he was not one to deny the beauty in weaponry. Having grown up and being taught by a mentor that was a weapons maniac had made him a grow a fondness for weapons of any sort; even the supposed unconventional ones perked his interest. He was not sure where the weapon was forged and he noted that should Luneth forgive him after the spar that the Lunarian should more than likely question him about his origins and try to gain the courage to poke him even more about the weapon.

The decoy had already decided that the male was some sort of royalty (had to be) and he would not be surprised if the male was from somewhere prestigious. This would be interesting and he had to make sure to try and keep tabs on every subtle movement of the other; if they were to somehow end up on a mission together at one point or another, Cecil would rather be more familiar with how he fought. There really was no reason for it other than the fact that the more knowledge that Cecil was able to accumulate, the more he would be able to be lax around the other and place his trust upon him. It might even help him read his movements more, though he doubted it heavily.

The polearm, so simply made with nothing but a few engravings upon the wood, was then pointed towards Luneth as Cecil tensed, the male unmoving and rather, he waited patiently for the other to do the first strike. For Cecil, not clothed in the most appropriate of battle wear he was, it would be foolish to rush in and initiate the first move; especially when he did not know how fast and cunning the other could be. This would be tedious, he could already tell, but he wanted to be prepared and would rather have the silver-haired male before him have the honours; he did initiate the battle, after all. In quiescence that they both were, Cecil mentally murmured a prayer to the God and Goddess above as an attempt to ease the anxiety that he held.

#lunethtaejin #ceciltaejin #Breaking Through

Luneth slowly formulated a plan of attack as he advanced. The polearm was balanced towards him, and its reach ensured that Luneth wouldn't be able to strike without first making some attempt to divert it. It was a highly defensive weapon when used correctly, and could bring sword-wielders to heel with little effort if they were not careful. In some tougher encounters in his travels, Luneth had learned that having a valid opening gambit would ensure a strong entrance and possibly an edge in battle while still allowing for flexibility once the battle unfolded.

He drew the scene in his mind: advance, right beat, right slash, disengage, change guard, left feint, right thrust. These opening strokes would put him in a position of offense while hopefully allowing some room in Cecil's defense for said offensive to succeed. Luneth put his plan into action.

Reaching Cecil's position, he left the Tyrfing in a mid-guard while the Royal Sword flew towards the polearm to search for balance. After the beat, he slashed towards the end of the polearm to hopefully knock it away before changing his guard and putting the Tyrfing towards the polearm. He feinted a moulinet with the Tyrfing, trying to confuse the direction of Cecil's defense before changing guards again and lunging with the Royal Sword.

Breaking Through | Luneth et Cecil

His eyes barely wondered off from the front, though he did glance at the clock that seemed to loom over them and he frowned. Though there were hours many, he wished not for them to pass. The night was a comforting time for him; it was at that time where Cecil used to hide within his old clan’s village and write within the heavy notebook that he had kept. He regretted not bringing it with him, but he had wished to cast it aside for it would certainly bring up memories alongside nostalgia and homesickness that would only make him a burden rather than a help, and it was the last thing he wanted even if he was too nerve-stricken to speak to most of the people within his new ‘home’.

His gaze returned back to the way before them, though he chanced a glance over to Luneth and he furrowed his brow when he noticed the other looking him over but he shrugged it off. He was a tactician, maybe? Smart men were; Baigan was one of them. A smart man that was a great tactician- he was respect, even father Odin respected him, and Odin was very hard to read more often than not. His hand came up and he grasped at the necklace that his father had parted him with, his grip tightening so much so that his knuckles shook a little and he dropped his arm to the side after a while. Though he brought not his notebook, he was not going to leave the necklace behind. He was never going to leave the only memory of father he had left behind, even if they upset him and made him wish to weep. Even Baigan was not held in the same regard as Odin; though, he had always suspected that Baigan disliked him.

Leaving his thoughts to rot, he nearly missed the signalling that the silver-haired male (temporary sparring partner) had given him and he almost skidded to a halt and fell forward, though he had managed to keep his balance and at least not make a fool of himself in front of the other. He looked away and up, gazing at the moon that glowed with its luminescence and he smiled. It was beautiful, and he remembered climbing up some of the trees surrounding Lunaria territory and squatting on the branches when he was younger and just admiring the stars. He used to think of them as little creatures in the sky that loved humans and wished to give them their beauty. Though he had grown over that notion (childish as it was, to be expected from his age really), he still believed them to be beautiful. Naively, he reached up to try and grab at one star but he was immediately stopped by a noise that called to his attention.

His head turned towards the source of the noise, noticing the parting doorway and he hastily fell back into step with Luneth that had pranced on in. He did not ponder over it much, going over to the other side of the square as the male had done so; his face expressionless and he balled his hands into fists and pressed them together in front of him, one foot going back and upon the apex and he knelt into a respectful bow before getting up and reaching behind to grab at his polearm.

He was not going to be using Ragnarok; this was not a case of ‘distract and avert’, nor did he want to hurt the other. His polearm was made of sturdy wood, and he was going to be using it as a defensive weapon. “Shall we begin, Luneth?” ‘Be light on your feet, Cecil, and try to take him in as quickly as possible.’

"Of course. Don't hold back now!"

Luneth drew the Royal Sword from its sheath at his waist and reached for the horizontal sling of Tyrfing behind his back. The double-edged blade of the Royal Sword gleamed in the moonlight, and he enjoyed the familiarity of the sword's weight in his hand. He had trained with a rapier in classical fencing before moving on to edged weapons, but his personal rapier had been forged and decorated similarly to the King's, and Luneth had adjusted well both to the appearance and design of the weapon. His Majesty's (Luneth's father's) sword was ornate and encrusted with gold trimmings that elongated the crossguard. The sword was beautiful, but it was not created to rust on a mantle, as King Amaut had well proved. The weapon's blade was strong and of an average reach, ending in a sharp point to facilitate thrusts as well as slashes, but balanced well at the base above the gilt chappe. The numerous scratches and chips that adorned the flat of the sword just outside the fuller attested to its wealth of experience in combat. Luneth felt at home every time he found it in his grasp.

The Tyrfing had taken a lot of getting used to, on the literal other hand. It possessed one honed edge that sloped gently into a more drastic curve at the tip of the blade, and as such was suited more to slashing and cutting than thrusting. Luneth had used only the Royal Sword at first in combat situations while he wandered Gran Pulse, but gradually found an interest in the use of a sword in his left hand. Each night before turning in, he had gone over his sword exercises using both hands, switching the Royal Sword from his right to his left and vice versa. Once his left arm had become strong enough, he began training with the Tyrfing. The weapon's balance was radically different from the Royal Sword, and it had taken almost all of the time he spent traveling to become equally proficient with either hand, let alone the differing weights of each sword. Eventually, Luneth could manage wielding both swords at once (rather shakily), but it wasn't until he worked out a system of one blade being ready to attack and the other firmly rooted in defense that he truly excelled in the art.

Cecil made no move towards the vicious-looking blade at his own hip, but seemed as if he were going to use his polearm solely as a weapon. This was excellent news for Luneth, as he had never faced a human wielder of long weapons before. Cecil was rather scantily clad and this fact combined with his choice of weapon would allow Luneth to utilize a two-sword combination quite effectively. Remembering the dominant tactic in two-sword fighting, Luneth held the Tyrfing forwards from his hip and the Royal Sword pointed towards the enemy from his shoulder and closed in to deliver some opening strikes.

Mining Your Business | Ingus and Luneth

ingustaejin

Shrill growls sounded from behind Ingus, which were soon followed by a few unwanted guests taking a steady pace at his side. About five or so beasts, some that Ingus could not recognize, trained their gluttonous eyes on him and his chocobo.

“Luneth!”

Ingus shouted in an attempt to contact the soldier up ahead, though to no evident avail. Between the rushing winds, and Luneth’s laughing stupor, reinforced aid did not seem like an option. Ingus wrapped the reins around his left hand, and prepared to fend off the slowly enclosing pack.

“Begone curs!”

A blast of ice shot from his free palm, and collided with one of the closer beasts. To Ingus’ utter dismay, the fowl creature was unaffected. It didn’t even slow down, or trip up- which was a rather impressive feat at this speed.

These monsters are beyond my skill. I must resort to drastic measures.

From within his robes, Ingus withdrew a clouded flask about the size of his palm, and uncorked the top. This vial contained several mixtures, compounded with magic, that his father had often created and used in battle. Antarctic Wind, or also known as South Wind. It wasn’t an easy item to make, nor was Ingus ever successful when attempting it, but alas he still had an extra from his childhood days.

Father….

It was never his intention to use this, though it seemed beyond his choosing in this situation. Without a second thought, Ingus tossed the flask over his shoulder, gripped the reins with both hands, and speed off after Luneth.

“…………”

An eruption of ice engulfed the unsuspecting monsters, either killing them or rendering them incapable of pursuing. In the distance, Luneth was still laughing his head off- which would account for why he hadn’t heard nor taken notice to the previous dangers.

At this rate, we won’t make it back to camp alive. Though no more beasts chase us, it worries me to think of what trapped the miner. If I can’t keep a good eye on Luneth, he’ll certainly perish… And I too will soon follow.

Ingus scanned the horizon with keen eyes, taking note of any potential dangers in the distance. Luneth was still a decent ways ahead, though Ingus felt comfortable with the ever closing gap.

It wasn’t long before their goal came into sight. Soon after arriving, Luneth dismounted, and raced into the mines while shouting some kind of challenge. Ingus dismounted as well, and tied his chocobo to a nearby tree. He took all of his equipment out of the carrying bags, and re-equipped them to himself.

These mines will surely bring about many dangers. I must work with speed, while taking great caution, while venturing this unsafe environment.

“Do not haste Luneth!”

Ingus cried out in reply, and ran after his companion in the depths of the mines.

His partner called out from behind him and another set of footsteps echoed through the mine. So it's a deal, then, Luneth thought. There was nobody in sight on the top level; the offices stood empty and there was no movement coming from the direction of the barracks. Perhaps this was the first sign that something was quite wrong in the mine. Luneth doubted he would find anything of use here on the top level. He wasn't the sort to scrounge for evidence before jumping into action, and besides, valuable time would be wasted if he decided to mill about the top level while Ingus searched elsewhere. He decided he would be the one to search elsewhere and blaze a trail for his partner to follow.

There were two sets of crude metal-framed elevators near the administrative offices, one quite large and the other more medium-sized. Luneth guessed that the large elevators were something of giant pulleys used to cart ore and larger mechanisms from the depths of the subterra to the surface where it could be stored and shipped off to who-knows-where. The other elevators seemed to act on a smaller scale, most likely to transport personnel and smaller machinery into the mines.

He did not have much experience with mechanical technology, but he didn't have too much trouble figuring out how these machines were supposed to operate. Their bare frames left all of the technological magic exposed to his searching eyes, remarkably similar to lever and pulley systems that he had seen in Castle Erol. Most machinery, he found, had roots in simpler mechanisms, and even though Erol hadn't been very technologically advanced, he guessed that they might've developed or at least understood some of the systems used in these mechanical tools eventually had they been given time. Electronic equipment, however, was something he found far more confusing. While the systems seen in the mine were more auxiliary in nature, helping humans to accomplish things that would be very difficult in the absence of the machines, the more sophisticated technologies at Taejin's headquarters filled him with awe at their myriad uses. He had even heard tell of a 'computer simulation' that could turn a small room into any locale the user desired in a fully-functioning way, even without the use of magic. Frightening, he thought, that humankind should brandish such power in such a tiny format. Technology was, perhaps, on the opposite end of the spectrum in which the magical stones of his kingdom had stood: incredible sources of progress that gave their users power, but whereas the stones were an anomaly in the world of humanity, technology was born of it.

Future shock aside, he reached the lower-level access hub where stairs, platforms, and elevators crowded against each other and he boarded the last remaining elevator. There were no buttons or knobs as there were in the HQ's elevators, but there was a single lever that Luneth pulled back with some effort. The machinery in the elevator whirred and made a humming sound before slowly descending into the mine, and he caught a glimpse of Ingus's face rushing after him before the top-level frame slipped out of view. Odd... there had been slight panic on Ingus's face, but he was probably just frustrated that Luneth was so far ahead. The elevator did not stay slow for long.

It was exhilarating after the first seconds. The elevator platform gained speed until Luneth felt he was going to fly out of it as if his body couldn't keep up with the ground. He could see various levels of scaffolding, probably connected to the stairs on the top floor, rushing past him in a blur and he felt lighter than air, as if gravity had released its grip on his body. Just as the pit of his stomach began knotting itself, Luneth could have sworn he heard a distant growl or maybe a roar coming from the caves below, but before he could ponder the sound or what might have made it, the elevator came to a screeching halt and his stomach turned over completely. The lever returned to its original position.

Slowly, he rose from his slump, still clutching his midsection, and walked out of the elevator. This level of the mine was far gloomier than the first; the lighting was merely a soft glow that illuminated the sienna cave walls and many of the fixtures seemed to be malfunctioning. What was more, the interspersed bubbles of visibility slowly blended in with the blackness of the rest of the caves as he tried to focus on one spot. Another sound growled through the cave, bouncing from the walls to his ears. Luneth walked forward into the belly of the mines and slowly lost his sense of adventure. He tried to focus his eyes once more, and reached a hand to the hilt of his sword as he ventured deeper.

Breaking Through | Luneth et Cecil

The quiet was welcome even if it was for a while, and he continued to gaze at the slighter man as he waited for the silver-haired male’s response. He was odd and very much energetic despite it being so late- weren’t people usually so tired this time of night? Yet he seemed very much awake to put it blankly, and he even requested a fight from him. He had to wonder if like him, he was a bit nocturnal. The question did not even find itself upon the tip of his tongue as the tribesman was not too keen on engaging in conversation for long. When the male spoke finally, his arms dropped to his side and he once more nodded in response. “That sounds better than here.” His voice was meek, barely being carried through by the mild wind in the air.

He had not bothered exploring the sector of his recruitment place, really attempting to mostly stay away from anyone that would try to train with him as he had not really gotten used to this area yet. The Lunarian had really been hoping to wonder around and learn more, take it all in and become comfortable. “Please, lead the way.” Politeness was a must, he repeated to himself. Be polite, he was also being polite and kind as to not cause their duel of offences to become worse. It was best they keep it quick and not exert themselves too much and it would be easier to heal any injuries should they get any.

He doubted that he would be able to do much damage upon the other, and his attention was brought back to him when he spoke again and had extended his hand. Rather awkwardly, he reached out and jerkily and curtly shook his hand, quickly retreating it and he rubbed at his opposing arm with the hand that he shook with. “I’m Cecil Harvey, from the Lunarian clan.” His response was mechanic, sounding practised as he had reiterated it to many people while signing up for the Taejin’s Army. Rather needlessly, he noted that Luneth’s name sounded fancier and elegant; he had to wonder if he was someone important with that name, and he felt something plummet into his stomach. Sometimes, he despised his looks.

The introductions were done and over with, and Cecil did not relax- no, rather, he felt even more tense as he quietly followed after the male that had begun to take the lead- something that he was grateful for. He had fallen beside him, not much ideas for conversation hitting his head as the ivory-haired male kept looking around with a distracted gaze, though it was not really what he meant to do. He just merely wanted to take in his surroundings. Maybe when he had the time (And hopefully the wealth for it), he would find something to write with and into.