Fandom Final Fantasy X: Sin Reborn

[Obsidianserpent]

Narrator:"Slay them...make it quick" the five men (normal enemies) came rushing toward Yuna, Rowan and Shival, wielding various blades that they twirled in their hands. One began to throw a flurry of daggers in Rowan's direction. Another pulled out a ball and chain with a bladed end, and attempted to ensnare Shival.

 

[Zilvmay]

Interrupted by the bone shaking sound of air ship cannons going off, and the disorienting shake of their ship, starring that they had suffered a hit, Shival's battle field instincts kicked in. She turned to help in any way she could but didn't know where to go until Yuna's voice boomed over the intercom, saying for her to report to the roof platform. It took her a moment to find it, until she spotted the small signs in AlBhed telling her where to fund it.


[ Dub muytehk talg]


Once she found her way around the ship and up to the large flat platform in the free air she felt idly relieved. She had thought it would be somewhat frightening to be up there, not feathered to the ship in any way and fully capable of falling off. But instead the fresh air was a relief to her and she felt empowered by it. After taking a moment to relish in the sun on her face, she took in the sight of the intruders.


Garbed in dark and originless clothing they had sharp unusual weapons that made Shival tense up with nerves and excitement. She noticed one had a heavy chain with a shot bade attached to one end of it just before he hurtled it at her.

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Rauthius: Rauthius bolted to the front of the ship in the navigation room. The enemy airship began to fire bullets at the windshield causing several large cracks to form in the middle. With one more shot, the windshield shattered, blowing small shards of glass around the navigation room and inflicting small cut wounds upon Rauthius's skin. He ground his teeth in pain, and approached the front of the airship. He stretched out his hands and spread his fingers. His eyes turned a pale white as they always did when weaving magic. He began to recite various incantations in his mind, manipulating green energy between his fingers. He spread his hands wide and plunged them toward the enemy airship. Above the cannon (normal enemy), a small vortex opened, releasing a stream of green acid which rained down upon the piece of machinery. The acid corroded the nuts and bolts of the cannon, causing the circuits to short. The cannon exploded, causing pieces of metal to fly in every direction, and causing minor damage to the enemy airship.

 

[Silent Howling]

Sierra ran down the halls, remembering the way to some guns that the ship had. She didn't look around as she closed her eyes and used a mind map to find her way to her destination. Soon she arrived and jumped into the seat of one and began to fire at the enemy airship who were also firing back at her.

 

[Vizriel]

Ark woke up suddenly getting up off the ground, having been knocked unconscious during the first wave of attacks.


"Ahh! My ship! Those bastards are trying to destroy my ship."


Ark grabbed the controls putting the ship into low powered hover mode and reverting all of the Travelers excess power into the ships energy shields bring them back up to nearly eight percent. Lastly he put the ship into auto target lock using the other ships energy signature as the lock on. "Computer. Initiate battle sequence and fire on the enemy ship. Monitor enemy shield levels and disengage when under 15 percent power. Lady Yuna may not want us to destroy the ship completely, in case she wants to question our mysterious attackers. Not to mention i can use their ship for spare parts to repair the traveler."


The computer responded accordingly. "Battle sequence initiated. Will disengage when enemy shield level goes beneath 15 percent shield power."


Ark jumped up from the seat head throbbing from a small cut above his eye.


"Somebody is gonna pay for attacking my ship!" He yelled while making his way up to the roof.


After reaching it he saw that the rest of the crew was way ahead of him crossing blades with mysterious adversaries.


Yuna seemed to be fighting the leader. A tall, mysterious man with a long white ponytail, clad in black robes, and wearing a pair of iron gauntlets. Ark assumed that if he was in charge, he must be the one responsible for hurting his beautiful flying machina. He pulled out his dual handguns and pointed it in the mans direction waiting for an opening since Lady Yuna was currently involved in a head on battle with the man. As soon as Yuna was in the clear he was gonna make that bastard eat lead.

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Narrator: Ark's bullet sped through the air toward the mysterious man. He glanced at it, and stretched out his hand, as a triangular glowing rune appeared in front of the bullet. The bullet bounced off the magic barrier. Shival and Rowan had managed to defeat the five henchmen that had attempted to infiltrate the traveler, and Rauthius and Sierra had managed to take out the cannons. "You underestimate us" Yuna said as she reloaded her gun blade. The man began to laugh maniacally. "Is that so?" He flipped backwards high into the air, bouncing off the cable and flipping onto his ship. He signaled to his men, as four of them carried a massive cubical piece of machina toward the edge of the ship. "This is the end. The sweet release of death awaits you" the mysterious man said as he placed his hand on a large panel on the outside of the cube. It began to light up, releasing a bright blue light from its creases before opening up and revealing a blinding orb of light. Suddenly, with an enormous pulse of energy, the orb sped through the air toward the traveler, breaching the remaining shields and crashing into the main engine, causing it to explode.


The Traveler began to rapidly lose altitudes as huge plumes of smoke rose from the burning engine. "Hold on!" Yuna shouted as the airship descended. The enemy airship disappeared from view as it sped away. The massive moonflow could be seen below. The Traveler continued to lose altitude, before plummeting into the moonflow river. The airship created an enormous splash, as thousands of pyreflies sprung from the water into the air. As the water settled, what was left of the airship floated toward the surface of the river, and drifted toward a shallow bank. The crew was alive, but just barely....


Yuna pulled herself from the water. She'd fractured her left arm and damaged her leg, but at least she had survived. She quickly pushed through the water, looking for the remaining crew. "Rauthius! Shival! Rowan! Sierra! Ark!" Yuna screamed as she attempted to wake them up and direct them to shore.

 

[Vizriel]

Ark saw the orb of light and couldn't believe it. "No..." he whispered underneath his breath when it exploded.


The shock wave knocked him off of the Traveler high into the air over the bank of the river but he had managed to stay conscious. He used his grapple and chain to latch on to a tree during his fall but falling from that height caused his shoulder to be pulled out of its socket. He screamed as his grapple was ripped from the wood and he fell the rest of the way breaking through a couple branches then hit the ground hard knocking the wind out of him. He laid there for a minute when he heard a load crash and the sound of a tidal wave of water from a distance away. After that he heard Yuna calling out the crews name. "Ark!" Heard her yell out his name as well.


"Yu-Yuna..." he whispered struggling to catch his breath.

 

[Silent Howling]

Sierra felt the airship beginning to lose altitude and quickly abandoned the gun she was firing at the enemy ship with and ran down some corridors. She looked out the nearby window and gazed downward to see what lay in store for the quickly descending airship and raced off again to find a safer place and suddenly felt the airship crash into the river and heard glass shatter before she felt a searing pain and fell unconscious.


Blinking slowly and opening her red eyes to slits, Sierra let her eyes focus on the light and grimaced at the thundering pain against her skull. Carefully she opened her eyes fully and blinked away the brightness before turning her head and ending up with a faceful of water. Spluttering and rapidly turning onto her stomach, Sierra found she wasn't tall enough to stand up and swam closer to shore, eventually touching the bottom. As soon as her right leg touched the soft terrain, sharp pain shot up the entire limb and she winced before taking weight off of it. She heard Yuna calling the others name and when hers was called she spoke, "Right here."

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Rauthius: Rauthius cracked his eyes open. He felt a throbbing pain in his left knee and had a gash on the upper right side of his head. He could hear Yuna calling his name in the near distance. He struggled to get to his feet and limped toward Yuna. "I'm okay..." he uttered as he cringed his face in pain. Most of the crew was awake and conscious and sitting around a small camp fire roughly 30 feet from the shoreline of the moonflow. The sky was gloomy as always, with pyreflies twirling to and fro in every direction. "Rauthius! lie down" Yuna exclaimed, motioning him toward makeshift blanket assembled from the remains of the ship. She placed her hands roughly 1 foot above Rauthius's body. She closed her eyes, and began to mutter silent spells to herself. Suddenly, millions of tiny blue particles of energy began to sprout from her fingertips and seep into Rauthius's wounds. He noticed the pain began to lessen considerably. The enormous gashes on his knee and forehead began to slowly close, leaving behind nothing but scars. Rauthius was filled with amazement. Studying black magic exclusively beneath the sands of Bikanel, Rauthius was fascinated by these healing powers he'd heard about only in books. "Thank you" Rauthius said with a slight bow. Yuna knodded "I'm setting up some protective spells to keep us safe and hidden for the time being. A few curses might serve us well. Ark, salvage what machina from the ship you can as well as any food and supplies, and set up some defenses on ground. I don't know who that mysterious man was, perhaps an air pirate, or perhaps he was aligned with the renegade guado...regardless, we cannot afford another run in like that...we're fortunate to have survived. Set up our defenses. We're roughly a half day away from the Djose encampment. We need to plan." Yuna walked roughly 50 feet from the campfire and began weaving powerful white magic. She surrounded the area in a dome of translucent white energy, which then vanished from sight; creating and invisible shell around their campsite.


Rauthius brought himself to his feet. The pain and lacerations on his leg and face had mostly healed over, but a dull pain remained. He walked toward the edge of Yuna's enchantment and began to cast one of his own. His eyes turned white as he moved his hands in the air weaving the hex. He spread his hands over the ground. Runes were scorched into the soil, releasing a wall of smoke into the air before vanishing. The hex would dim the senses of any intruders, and make it difficult to detect their camp.

 

[BloodThunder27]

Unaware that Djose had been taken over by the Guado, travelling swordsman Blackheart had just left and was on his way there. While walking, he began thinking about the Guado's Attack on the Ronso Tribe, painfully remembering the deaths of Biran, Yenke and Kelk Ronso. His hatred towards the Guado grew stronger every passing day. He was able to keep his hatred hidden because he didn't want to be seen as a threat to the people of Spira. The last time he had visited the farplane was a year ago, where he was visiting the Ronso who raised him. While walking by the Moonflow, he noticed smoke coming from the river. Thinking that Al Bhed might of launched a Search and Destroy mission to hunt down the Guado, he decided to go and investigate. "What in Spira is going on?" he asked himself. He then made his way towards the river, his curiosity getting the best of him.

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Narrator: Before Yuna and Rauthius finished weaving their enchantments and hexes, a man could be seen in the distance wielding dual swords, trudging through the swampy waters toward the campsite. Yuna quickly reached for her rifle and aimed for the strangers head. "Identify yourself!" Yuna shouted as she prepared to fire at a moments notice.

 

[BloodThunder27]

Blackheart quickly put his hands up. "My name is Blackheart. I come in peace." He quickly recognized the woman as Yuna, but didn't speak further in fear of his life. Despite being a well-trained Swordsman, even he was not good enough to block or counter a bullet. Even he knew that a single trigger finger can outdo years of swordsmanship training within seconds. The best thing for him to do was avoid battle and to make peace with Yuna and Company. "I was just on my way to Djose Temple, to pray to High Summoner Braska. But...I saw smoke during my ride on the Shoopuf. I was worried that some of the Al Bhed could be in trouble, so I came by to see what I can do to help."

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Narrator: Yuna's face filled with suspicion, she lowered her gun slightly and took a couple steps toward him. The man seemed sincere, but Yuna had to make sure. "The temple has been over-run..." Yuna moved in closer to get a better look. He wasn't wearing the characteristic black robes of their attackers. "Where do you hail from Blackheart?" Yuna inquired.

 

[BloodThunder27]

Blackheart relaxed himself as Yuna lowered her gun. He was saddened to hear that Djose had been over-run. "It may not seem likely, but...I hail from Mount Gagazet." He figured that he might as well be honest with her, but it wasn't like she was there to listen to his life's story. Unless she was going to ask first, he was going to keep his mouth shut. Because Yuna had a gun in her hand, he was still weary of the fact that she might still shoot if he makes any sudden moves.

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Narrator: "Could it be?" Yuna whispered. Yuna had heard of this young human warrior, who had adopted the customs of the Ronso. "I see..." Yuna paused and recalled what had happened to her guardian Kimahri's kin; massacred mercilessly by the forces of Guadosalam. Was this why he'd traveled so far from home? Did he too seek these renegade Guado in Djose? How would Blackheart react to the half Guado Rauthius? She would need to proceed carefully, but for now this Blackheart had earned her trust. She lowered her gun. "I see. I'm sorry to startle you. Our airship was recently attacked mid-air, and we're a little on the defensive. My name is Yuna. If you'd like to help us salvage some supplies from our ship you'd be welcome to travel to the Djose encampment with us. The moonflow is a fiend-ridden place these days. Perhaps we could help one another".

 

[BloodThunder27]

"Of course. Anything I can do to help." Blackheart was quick to offer Yuna and her group a hand. "But please forgive me, I do not know...very much about Machina. Even less about the Al Bhed." This was his first encounter with Machina in a long time, let alone travelling. Before the unexpected return of Sin, Blackheart did annually travel around Spira and knew his way around. Although he wasn't a Summoner, he would often come to the Temples to pray to the High Summoners, most notably Braska, Yuna's Father, despite letting go of Yevon's Teachings. Because he had just met Yuna, he was wondering if she would ask him to become her Guardian. However, that was in the back burner. He had no clear path or goal and was just a wondering swordsman in search of a purpose in life.

 

[Silent Howling]

Sierra watched the conversation between Blackheart and Yuna with distrust. She had no intention of trusting someone that Yuna had just met no matter who they were. Giving a grunt, she rolled over to face the river and just gazed over the water flowing past at it's normal pace.

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Narrator:"There are some supplies that I believed can be salvaged from the wreckage. The Djose Encampment is already struggling with a shortage of supplies. A key objective of this mission was to deliver relief supplies to the Djose encampment. That we were attacked is most unfortunate..." Yuna said anxiously. Though exhausting, Yuna continued to use her white magic to heal the crew, while those able sorted through the remains of the Traveler, or dove into the river to search of intact supplies.


Yuna walked over to Sierra. Her back was turned away, expressing her obvious disapproval of their new-found guest. "I know you don't approve and I can appreciate your hesitation. But I don't belief he's affiliated with the nefarious force which assaulted our ship. I remember hearing briefly about Blackheart while in Bevelle, and thus far, I don't have a reason to consider him an enemy" Yuna expressed as she slowly moved her hands across her injured leg, pouring healing energy into the damaged cells and fibers of her wounds.


The crew wrested for several hours, eating what dried meat and vegetables could be salvaged from the wreckage, while Yuna wrested on a makeshift hammock, recovering from the hours of healing magic she'd just performed. 
Rauthius: Rauthius had finished casting the various hexes that would hide their encampment. The air had become sweet and dense, and storm clouds be seen in the skies. He walked toward the shore of the lake and gazed upon a small island in the distance that stood in the center of the river. Rauthius could feel the first drops of rain upon his skin as the wind and rain began to rapidly increase. As he squinted his eyes to get a closer look, he noticed a flock of enormous bird-like fiends on the island circling a strange statuesque object below. Their shrieks grew louder, causing Yuna to take notice. As Yuna stood up, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky and struck the statue, causing it to light up and shoot a beam of vibrant energy into the clouds. Rauthius turned to Yuna; it was obvious by the look on her face that she was as clueless as he was as to what was going on.


Another stroke of lightning tore up the sky, immediately followed by a deafening roar. Rauthius had never been so close to a lightning strike in his life; the strike was roughly 500 feet from their campsite. It tore into the ground, tearing away the overgrowth that was covering a similar statuesque object. It likewise lit up with energy, and emitted a powerful beam into the sky. Yuna motioned Blackheart and the crew to follow her in order to investigate. "Let's check it out!" Yuna shouted against the now torrential wind and rain. As Rauthius moved closer to the object. He noticed it has similarly attracted a flock of large bird like fiends covered in sharp quills. Their talons were large and sharp, as their long tongues were covered in a pungent smelling purple saliva. They shrieked before charging for the crew.

Rauthius quickly responded. His eyes turned white as he recited a quick spell in his mind and stretched forth his hands toward one of the enormous birds that was speeding directly toward him. A glowing green rune appeared upon the birds chest branding the skin. Rauthius closed his fist, and with a small boom, the rune exploded with a plume of acid, ripping off the creature's wing and causing the bird to spiral into the dirt. It writhed on the ground for a moment before releasing a wave of small quills, several of which punctured Rauthius in the arm. Rauthius ground his teeth in pain as he watched the feathered fiend kill over on the soaking wet ground, pyreflies rising from its corpse.

 

[MemoriesUnknown]

The wind was starting to really pick up now. The ocean waves were rocking the boat significantly, threatening to capsize it. Unnatural storm clouds had already rolled in, and the rain that came with it felt like razor bits against the crew's skin. "The monster is approaching the ship, Captain! We're not gonna make it!!" one of the crew members shouted. The Captain grimaced, glancing back and forth between the small boy and the impending doom that awaited the crew. Another one of the crew mates shouted at the man, taking him out of his trance. Balling his hands into fists, the Captain finally stood up and turned to his crew. Not an ounce of fear could be seen in the man's eyes. "Listen up!! We will defend this ship with every ounce of strength we have left! We will not left this fiend bring us down to our knees and beg for mercy! If there are those you who are too frightened to take on such a creature, do what you want to make your end quick and painless. As for I, if I am to die now, I'd rather die a warrior than be known as some coward!! Now who's with me!!?" Almost all of the crew-mates shouted in agreement. Then they grabbed whatever makeshift weapons they could find, and prepared for what could be their final battle. Before the Captain followed his crew to battle, he ran over the small frightened boy and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the safest and most secure part of the boat. The boy was too confused and scared to fight back. What monster were they talking about? Why does everyone look so scared? What's going to happen to the man pulling him to the safe-room? So many questions ran through the kid's mind, yet there was no time to answer them. When they got to the room, the man gave the boy a small push inside before turning to leave, but before he walked through the doorway, a pair of small hands grasped onto his larger one. The Captain slowly turned to look down at the boy. "...Don't go," the little boy pleaded, shaking his head. He squeezed his hands harder around the man's hand, hoping they could stick together forever so the man couldn't leave. The Captain bit his lip, as if reconsidering his options before giving the boy a melancholy smile. "Don't come out of this room, no matter what you hear. I'll come back for you when the coast is clear." He ruffled the kid's hair before shaking off his grip and exiting the room.


"Wait! Dad, NOOO!!!" the boy managed to yell before the door slammed in his face.

---

​

Rowan woke up with a start, immediately grasping his head from the pain that was pulsating through it. When the pain calmed down enough to where he could think straight again, he noticed something warm and sticky on the hand that was against his head. Rowan slowly pulled it off, only to find a certain crimson liquid smeared all over it. He cringed in disgust before rinsing it off in the river water. Rowan attempted to push up to a sit, but a seething pain shot up his right arm, causing him to collapse on his stomach. Probably a fracture if he had to guess. He eventually resorted to just using his good arm to roll himself over to his back. He took in a deep breath, trying to figure out how he got here. Soon all the memories came flooding back in: the ambush, the mysterious man, the final blow that took out the Traveler. Rowan didn't have enough time to take cover before the blast of energy exploded, and then the next thing he knew, he woke up on this shore with his whole body in pain. It was a miracle that he was still alive after taking a fall like that.


And then that dream. Everything felt too real, like it already happened before. Rowan couldn't recall ever being on a boat like that, or seeing any of those people. But what about the one I called Dad? Could it really be... He pondered this for little bit, but the more he thought about it, the worse his headache became. Never mind that, I can think about it later. Right now, I gotta find Lady Yuna and the rest of the crew. Careful not to move his broken arm, Rowan tried to stand up, but a sharp pain shot through his left ankle and he fell down again. He frowned and looked down to see his foot already freakishly swollen. A sprain perhaps? He glanced around the area before reaching out and grabbing the nearest large stick and using it to help push him up to a stand. A column of smoke could be seen not too far in the distance. It wouldn't be too long of a walk, if both of his feet were working properly. Using the stick as a makeshift cane, Rowan began to hobble away from the shore in the direction of the smoke. Hopefully to where Lady Yuna and the others are.

 

[BloodThunder27]

In his first battle after a few days, Blackheart has never seen such fiends before. He said nothing before yanking out both his swords. Like a Ronso, Blackheart just jumped head first into battle. Looking to knock one out of the air, he powered up the sword in his right hand and went for a jump slash attack. The attack proved successful as it was not one of the smaller aerial fiends. Finally, he powered up both swords to see if he could finish it off. Both blades started glowing before he launched a



towards the fiend, possibly hitting a few others. Because he was focused on the one right in front him, he did not know if his attacks reached the ones nearby, because this particular attack was only meant to finish off one enemy at a time. At the final lunge, at least three dissolved into pyreflies.

 

[Obsidianserpent]

Rauthius: Rauthius watched as Bloodheart tore apart three of the bird fiends. This statue was clearly attracting these creatures, but why? They'd managed to subdue the fiends for the moment, and the rain had settled down slightly. Rauthius approached the glowing crystalline monolith, taking notice of the ornate details. Rathius placed his hands over the glowing conglomeration of crystal and noticed that it steadily emitted heat. He observed a series of chords, cables, and root like appendages spreading from the crystal, extending throughout the Moonflow into the horizon. The object smelled of pyreflies; being part Guado, Rauthius was especially keen to the smell of the Farplane. The crystal appeared to be made of pyracite, the same material used to create spheres. Whoever crafted this bizarre object, used a complex combination of both magic and machina. Rauthius examined the area surrounding the object and noticed that the cables and roots were collecting energy from the moonflow, and transporting it to the crystalline mass. "I think it's a...power source of some sort. It seems to be collecting spiritual energy from the moonflow; which would explain why it's attracting fiends. But for what purpose would one need to amass such immense power?" Rauthius inquired, continuing to examine the bizarre glowing object.


Crystalline Statue

Narrator: Yuna approached the crystal and stared into its glowing surface. "How odd...." Yuna said in a perplexed tone. Suddenly, the image of a woman's face began to form within the crystal. She had pale white skin and long, pitch black hair, and a tattoo of Yevon's insignia across her back. "Rauthius, I'd like you to make a quick sketch of this. We may have need of it later." Rauthius grabbed his sketchpad, thankful it had only taken minor damage from the crash, and sketched the crystalline object and the mysterious woman within. "We must report this to the encampment immediately...this strange sorcery is likely the cultists' doing...I have an unsettling feeling about this. Perhaps the Djose priest will be able to shed light on this. Let's head out!" Yuna exclaimed as she made her way back to their small camp. They'd yet to find Rowan or Shival since the crash, and Yuna could only hope that they had found their way to the encampment separately. She picked up what salvaged supplies she could and led the crew into the vast plains toward the Djose encampment.


The crew arrived in the early evening, after traveling for miles across vast expanses of grass and shrubbery. The encampment was constructed of a series of walls constructed from large logs, manned by a dozen or so armed warrior priests. Hungry and exhausted, the encampment welcomed the weary crew, using their limited rations to provide them with a meal, and a safe place to rest. Later that evening, Silo, the Head Priest of Djose, requested a meeting with the crew to brief them on the recent troubles. The old withered priest, clad in the Djose ceremonial garb and carrying a cane, slowly made his way into the crew's tent quarters. "Thank you for coming to our aid...although the hour is late. I understand you had some difficulties in getting here...?" The decrepit man asked. "Yes High Priest Silo. Our airship was attacked mid air by a group of mysterious air pirates. Silo, do you have any idea who could have attacked us?" Yuna asked anxiously. "Those were no air pirates m'lady. You came face to face with the Shizuka." "Who?" Yuna inquired. "The Shizuka are a powerful group of some of the deadliest criminals and assassins throughout Spira. Each member was banished from his or her homeland, and now lives in exile. Their true intentions remain a mystery, but they're rumored to be collecting Sin Spawn. Whatever their motives, they showed up roughly the same time as the cultists. We do not yet know whether or not they are in league with one another" Silo explained with sorrow in his voice. Yuna remembered seeing gangs in Bevelle that had pledged themselves to the Shizuka, but she'd always assumed they were a sort of urban legend; never had she suspected that they'd prove to be such formidable foes. "Tell me of this illusion hex...we have a Black Mage who may be able to help us dispel it" Yuna said turning toward Rauthius. "It's truly unlike anything I've ever seen before. After the guardians and I were forced from the temple, we gathered our forces and prepared a counterattack to retake the temple! Our efforts proved unsuccessful however. In our absence the cultists constructed some sort of bizarre spell that prevents us from even approaching the area. If we try, we lose ourselves for days in an endless maze of trees, that eventually leads us to exactly where we started" the old man explained placing his head in his hands. "Have faith Silo. I chose wisely in recruiting these guardians. They've proven both resourceful and capable in battle. We shall retake the temple my priest. We've brought what supplies we managed to salvage from the wreckage, take what you need and feed your tenants. " Yuna exclaimed. "Thank you milady! We'll help in whatever way we can!" The old man began to make his way from the tent.


"One more question Priest. Do you know this woman?" Yuna showed the Priest Rauthius's sketch of the image in the crystalline structure. "By the gods! That's our greatest guardian, and my beloved daughter, Suyasa! Have you seen her?! She resisted the cultists bravely, ultimately sacrificing herself to allow the rest of us to retreat form the temple" The man explained. "We saw her image in a bizarre crystal we believe to be a power source of some sort." " Suyasa...I've failed you my daughter...This madness must end!" The man shouted, nearly collapsing into tears. "We will find the cultists good priest! There's a chance Suyasa is still alive. If she is, we'll ensure she returns safely" Yuna said attempting to comfort the old man.


The rain had largely subsided, and the brilliant orange sunset could be seen through the crevices of the storm clouds above. So many questions remained unanswered. Who exactly were the Shizuka? Who'd constructed the Moonflow Crystals and why had they found the image of the Guardian Suyasa within? Yuna had resolved to provide answers, but for now, she and the crew needed to eat, rest and prepare. The crew would embark on their dangerous quest to Djose Temple the following morning...

 

[BloodThunder27]

When Blackheart had found out about the what the Guado had done, he was furious. The anger from his heart grew stronger by the hour. He wanted to make the Guado pay for taking Biran, Yenke and Kelk from him. Although it was not in his best interest at the moment, he decided to accompany Yuna and her companions. However, he felt most uneasy about Rauthius. Was this man half-guado? Does he share a connection to Seymour? Did he have a hand in the massacre against the Ronso? Now was not the time to fret. Blackheart resolved to focus on the task at hand and that he would deal with the matter later. The Guado Traits within Rauthius were very apparent to him, but he didn't say a word, not wanting to upset Yuna and her companions. He had his swords ready at all times because who knew what could attack them.


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[Obsidianserpent]

Narrator: Relaxing in their quarters Yuna approached Blackheart. "Blackheart...I know we've just met. But I want to ask you to join us, at least until we are able to restore Djose temple. Not only did you help us recover from our crash, you've demonstrated skill in battle. We could use your aid in this fight" Yuna asked with a sternness in her voice.

 

[Silent Howling]

Sierra watched as Yuna asked Blackheart to join them and pulled her hood over her head and sat on the ground, scanning their surroundings before pulling out her gunblade and looking at it to make sure that it would be in working order for future fights.

 

[Zilvmay]

Shival managed to dodge the blade, her battle reflexes kicking in. As it shot past her, she noticed it had been shot from a brace on the man's arm and was there fore attached to him. She reached up with her left arm and grabbed the chain the blade was attached to. This would not only deter another attack from her opponent, but could cut his range down to her own. Shival started to slowly wrap the chain around her arm, pulling in the man as she did, resulting in a deadly game of tug-of-war.


As luck would have it, she was much stronger than her adversary, he seemed to be built for speed and if he had had the chance to get his blade swinging around, Shival and the others would have been in trouble. Though she doubted he knew what to do with an opponent who was capable to stop him dead in his tracks like she had. Flexing her arm, she pulled the chain the remaining was with her free hand, bringing him ever closer.


As they played this battle of strength, the others fought their own scuffles, of which Shival was only vaguely aware, until a bright light distracted them all. The light was very shortly followed by a loud boom, and a sudden halt of the ship. Shival turned her head in the direction of the noise, and swore to her self. She may not be very good with technology, but she had enough knowledge of them from afar. She knew that blow had hit something major and that they were going down, even moments before the ship jerked from its hover and started to loose altitudes.


She glanced around in those few moments, trying to find some kind of solution-someway to keep from falling off the top deck of the ship. She didn't have time to retreat inside, the ship descended towards the earth much faster than she anticipated it would. She and her opponent fell slower than the ship-almost hoovering above it-but still falling. Shival stared down at the Moonflow beneath them trying to come up with some plan to save her self. Her sword was still strapped to her back, and her opponet's chain still wrapped around her arm meaning she had slightly limited mobility.


Unless...


Releasing the grip of her off hand on the chain, leaving it wrapped on the other but giving it slack and ultimately some distance between her and the man in black, she reached back and flipped open the buckles on the apparatus at the small of her back that held her sword in place. Her fingers wrapped around the second grip lower on the forte, where she could get a solid control even in this odd angle. A smirk played across her lips and she swung the large blade around, and drove it into the ship. Then she used part of the slack from the chain and wrapped it around the sword, using it as an anchor. He looked at her with terror and confusion in his dull eyes.


“Ev E vymm oui'na kuehk tufh fedr sa! Ruf 'puid dras uttc?” She taunted, and laughed when his face screwed in confusion. “You aren't going anywhere.”


When the ship came crashing into the water the chain proved to be of great quality as it held both their weight. In fact, the sword slipped more than the chain, causing their anchor to less than stable. As parts of the ships crashed in around them, Shival clenched on to her sword for dear life.


When all the water settled, she opened her eyes to see that she had somehow ripped into the hull of the ship. She was laying on the floor of the main command room, the windows were all shattered, and there was a huge hole in the ceiling that she guessed was where she fell in. She shifted her weight to sit up and came face to face with a grizzly sight. Even with her training, and experience in fending off fiends, her stomach lurched and it was mear will power that kept it in line.


There, hanging less than a foot from her, was her attacker, still linked to her via the chain. He had slammed into a fallen support beam and was hanging in an unnatural manner, proof of how lucky Shival was to still be in one piece. As she tried to gain control of her stomach and her throbbing head, she thought she heard Yuna's voice calling out. It was a bit off, but not too far. She freed her arm from the chain, rubbing at the sore bruises it had left behind her and stumbled her way out of the ship, dragging her sword be hind her. The ship was damaged enough that it was firly dificult to find her way out. She struggled with untangiling cords, and mooving bits of scrap metal.


When she finally made her way to shore, most everyone had left, but the fire and camp were still intact. She plopped herself down by the fire the others had already started, quietly staring at the flames, trying to make her eyes focus.


'She collects people wherever she goes, doesn't she?' She mused to her self, 'I heard tales about that when she was on her pilgrimage, but now I'm seeing it first hand. It's uncanny.' She smiled a bit until she saw a flash of lightning in the distance that startled her. Her hand flew to the hilt of her sword, but quickly her grip relaxed. She hadn’t seen where it hit, but could feel it in her bones. More attentive as the second bolt came whirling in towards the earth, she noticed it hit some kind of figure. As she was trying to make out what the figure was in the dark, she noticed large, ugly bird-beasts swooping in, horrible screeches alerting any who were not already watching.


(sorry had to edit out somethings to keep it inline with story progression)