Fantasy Howl's Flying Castle (Finished! ---Whoo! (*＾▽＾)／)

[Zer0]

- Leviathan -
" Into the Belly of the Beast "​

Johnny found Echo as he dashed out on to the upper deck that was wet and slippery with rain. The warship jerked violently then tilted forward as it struggled to keep steady. A great thrashing worm coiled and uncoiled beneath them in the tossing sea as together, it was slowly dragged by the fleet towards the shadow of Leviathan.

"I'll catch up, Echo! I'm with the last cannon shots, my company's to help with baiting, good luck love, I'll see you in Leviathan's belly!" he slipped, kissed her chin instead of cheek, then scrambled to the edge of the deck with the rest of the oriental soldiers he's come to call his brothers and sisters for the past two months they trained together in water combat.

Strapping on harnesses, they roped down the bottom of the warships at Kenren's command, then hooked themselves to the side of the hulls. As one, they roared their summoning spells and giant pillars of water burst up from the ocean. The water elementals crossed the waters in waves and gathered around the thrashing worm, seeping around and over it until they formed a water giant that locked the worm's thrashing coils, preventing it from tiling down the ships further.

The warships creaked as they tilted back straight up again.

Meanwhile James was with Lydia. He gritted his teeth as their ball with them inside was loaded into the mouth of a giant cannon with a loud jarring clang of metal. They were tightly strapped into seats, built and enchanted to prevent them from getting hurt from the impact when the shot hits something hard. There were five other people with them, all calmly anxious, terrified, or determined, refusing to look at the four small portholes that were their only windows to the outside. Right now the outside was all dark, except for the one directly in front of Lydia and James that revealed the long opening of the cannon pointed straight down into the violent ocean where the thrashing worm

"Junbi ga dekite iru!" yelled the cannon man; James immediately put on his ear plugs that blocked out sound entirely.

Suddenly, a black shadow emerged from the depths and a great maw rose up to snap the worm.

"Iku!"

BOOOM!

The jarring sensation of falling at lightning speed. Rolling around not knowing where up and down is. Darkness. Dropping. Tossed into vast waters. Then endless shoving and bumping.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Urazek Aio
OOC || Characters || Moments in Time
​

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

All Lydia could really do when Seifer and Renee went back to their coupling was sigh and shake her head. She didn't see how they could be so brazen. She thought that they might settle for hand holding but it seemed that wasn't enough. It just made her work harder though because she wanted to get away from them as quickly as possible.

* * * *
​

Leading up to actually passing the Storm Wall, Lydia found it increasingly hard to work. She tended to just pace back and forth in the cabin. Kenren's information didn't help her any either. She hadn't read any of the letters her family had sent her, she had them bundled neatly away and had decided to read them after everything was said and done. She didn't want her mother to plead with her not to go because she felt like she wouldn't be able to if her mother asked her not to. So outside of pacing, there was a lot of fidgeting and muttering things to herself, she really looked like a crazy person.

When Leviathan was finally spotted and the dragon soul carriers rejoined the rest of the group, Lydia couldn't help but worry. It was a gamble that they would all make it safely to the other side. How were they even going to get out of Leviathan once they were inside? What would happen if they missed? Lydia shivered and reached for James hand as they sat inside of the steel ball that was going to be launched at Leviathan. If he let her catch it, she squeezed it tightly, her gaze staring straight ahead.

There wasn't any turning back now and for better or worse, at least she was with James. Her jaw clenched slightly and she swallowed dryly, trying to remain poised like the others that were with them inside the ball. As soon as the man yelled, she did the same as James and braced herself, muttering softly, "que sera sera," she then clenched her eyes shut and hoped for the best.

Zer0 Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

The floor is very slippery, worse even when the water splattered on the wooden boards as her hooves couldn't get a grip on them. Echo could barely hold herself up while running to where the cannons will be shooting when Johnny found her. The red head nodded and kisses his forehead when he kissed her chin.

"Stay safe, Love!" Worrying but followed what she needed to do, the fawn ran into the cannon ball with a wide eyed Serena, gripping tightly on her violin case in her arms. Around her neck is an innocent looking necklace with a very familiar red ruby gem that's wrapped in gold wires with tiny seals engraved on it, making it look decorative.

"Come on, Echo!" The violinist yelled to the fawn and as soon she went in, the pair of girls buckled themselves up, breathing heavily as they are terrified for several different reasons. They can hear the other five people also breathing hard, some praying to the gods while others are shaking noisily. Which made them more nervous than before.

"...Echo?"

"Hm?"

"If we make it out of this alive, remind me to never do this again."

"...Of course. I'll even slap you silly if you suggest it." Echo can hear her blonde friend laughing with a twinge of dark humor as their cannon ball got ready to be shot out. The girls took a deep breathe, put on their plugs and prepared themselves; Serena gripped onto Hisaya as she didn't want to lose him if they ever crash into something.

In the meanwhile, Renee stayed together with Seifer, squeezing his hand as they prepared themselves to be shot out as well. She made sure to keep Seifer calm as she can by giving him kisses anywhere she can reach, but even she showed her fear. With her eyes wide, skin turning pale with sweat dripping down and her hands were cold from her anxiety spiking up. It's really terrifying, she could hope that everyone will be alright by the end of this-! and that scared her the most. This is really happening and they are all insane for actually doing this-!

Then again, she was the one who told Prince Kenren to do this. All because a magical tree told her so. Nothing can be anymore insane than this...

The Pendragon teen couldn't hold back her gasp when she heard the cannon driver and quickly put on the plugs in her ears before gripping tightly to Seifer's hand again. Her whole body shook from the adrenaline rush; trembling wings tucked in tight.

BOOOM~!

Nothing made sense anymore as the cannon shot out. Gravity didn't exist as up is left and down is right. Renee could only see darkness as she shut her eyes closed, her only stability is the hand that she's holding onto like it was a lifeline.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Leviathan's Belly -​

James did not let go of Lydia's hand for a long time. When the shoving and bumping of whatever's outside became more gentle, one of their five companions in the ball summoned a will-o-wisp where they saw a reddish pink wall of flesh outside one window.

"Yokkata. Yatta ---" he said, but James suddenly dispelled it with his wand.

"Fool, you'll burn up all the oxygen!" he hissed. Stomach gases cannot be breathed in as they were made of a poisonous and flammable ratio of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and methane. And it smelled sulfuric. Fart, basically.

Each ball only had up to six hours worth of oxygen; after that they were to breathe into oxygen masks connected into tanks in their seats that can last them four days. Once Leviathan stopped moving, they were to carry their supply through some premade packs and exit with the water combatants who made it, who were going to make Leviathan hurl to throw them up outside. If that wasn't going to work, they were to find a way to kill it from the inside.

Now all that six hours of air was almost gone and they didn't know if Leviathan will stop moving in four days.

Roleplay Skittle

- Storm Wall -​

Johnny's eyes widened in fear. "ECHO!" he gasped, his voice drowned out by the thunder of Leviathan's roars.

Echo and Serena's cannon shot missed along with many others. It ricocheted off the sea titan's thick hide when it turned its head away from the cannon fire. Their shot flew far, far away across the rough ocean and disappeared into the thundering mist; without a second thought, Johnny unhooked his harness and dove into the tossing waters, ignoring the startled exclamations of his comrades. He was lost from view as the roaring Leviathan sent a tidal wave over where he broke the surface of the water. The sea titan twisted and sank into the deep, dragging its thrashing meal and the air ships down with it.

* * * *​

Before their view was obscured by fog and violent waves, last Echo and Serena could make out as their ball spun wildly out of control was of the fleet having an epic tug-of-war with the beast; a couple of airship's were brought down and sent crashing into Leviathan's back. Then all was darkness --- a heavy splash --- then their ball bounced up a little. Ceaseless tumbling, and the sound of lapping water.

They didn't know how long they stayed that way, Echo and Serena's five other companions, who were all Orientals, were panicking and cursing asking each other what to do now. Their cannon shots can float the right way up, but with the way things are, they can hardly expect a rescue immediately and would likely either be eaten or sucked into a whirlpool soon. Opening the hatch from which they entered was dangerous as water will get in, and all around them were sea monsters.

Suddenly their ball was yanked down into the deep and the Orientals exclaimed in fear yelling that they've been eaten, but it seemed that they have caught some kind of current, because they were speeding along the deep. It's just that there was no light to see what was going on outside.

A flash of lightning from above and Echo and Serena made out for just a moment, the murky silhouette of the back of someone motionless in the front of the ball as they were dragged by some invisible force deeper and deeper into the dark. It had Johnny's backpack.

Katsuya

Spoiler: Johnny Conjuration

Johnny (success 1-8) = 4

​

 

[Katsuya]

Echo could hear Serena screaming as their cannon ball ricocheted, feeling sick from the wild spinning and the ball moving in around in the crazy currents. She had her eyes closed when it spun around before landing in the murky waters so she didn't know if they were in or not, but once she felt the cannon ball lightly tumbling around, the fawn squinted her eyes open. Then she silently gasped as all she can see is the water.

They missed.

What's worse is that they don't know how long they have been like that either. The fawn can hear the oriental soldiers with them panicking and Serena mumbling apologies to Hisaya as she honestly wanted to show him an unknown open sky. The red head wondered absentmindedly when her friendship started with the angry stone but at least he isn't screaming bloody murder at the moment.

She can feel dread pooling in her gut as she realizes that no one would come rescue them and she doubted Johnny noticed as there were many cannon balls that shot out at the same time so...

'Please be okay, love.' Echo prayed as she stared out at the window. Then suddenly their cannon ball was yanked down and she can hear the soldiers screaming about being eaten by something else, but she didn't think so. They would have seen a giant maw if it was another monster that ate them so what-?

Then a flash of lightening help light up the murky waters and Echo squinted her eyes at the window, unable to believe that there's someone outsi-

"Echo! That's Johnny!" Serena exclaimed, pointing at the backpack that's on the motionless figure. Echo took off her harness like she was ripping a band-aid off, jogging closer to the window to have a better look of the backpack, pressing her hands against the glass lightly. Serena can see from the reflection of the glass that Echo's calm face twisted into a blind panic as her green eyes widened, staring at the figure.

"Johnny!? JOHNNY!?"

Serena never heard Echo yell like that, sounding like it was the end of the world as her tan skin paled in horror. She can see that Johnny isn't moving and obviously Echo isn't thinking right because she's about to punch the glass-!

"Wait! Echo, don't!"

Serena quickly unbuckled herself to grab the panicking Echo's fist and pulling uselessly as she yelled her idea.

"We can save him!" The blonde looked at the other soldiers, her azure eyes looked sharp as she asked them to help open the hatchet. Of course they protested at first until she pointed out that she can keep the water out and besides they owe Johnny their lives since he saved theirs too.

Echo never looked away until Serena tapped her shoulder with a violin bow and the fawn's watery green eyes looked into blue determined ones. "Come on. You swim and get him in while I hold the water, but be quick about it okay?" The fawn nodded. The soldiers prepared themselves, hands on the hatchet and once Serena started to play, her violin turning into water, the door opened. Water did gush in only for Serena's spell pushed it back out, creating a watery wall that's outside of the cannon ball's entrance.

Echo didn't wait for anyone's direction as she jumped out of the door, gripping onto the cannon ball to go around it while swimming against the harsh currents. Once she spotted Johnny's motionless body that's in front of the cannon ball, she swam up to him without any hesitation and grabbed his backpack, pulling him in her arms. Then she kicked hard while swimming to the open door and came inside. The soldiers closed the door, Serena stopped playing, and Echo laid Johnny on the floor, panting hard and heavy.

Her heart raced as she lightly tapped his cheek and placing her head on his chest to see if he's breathing.

"Johnny? Marshmallow? Love? Please be alive. Please." Echo pleaded as she looked back up to his face to see his reaction.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle

 

[Zer0]

- Under the Storm Wall -​

A flame shone bright in the dark. One of the Orientals was holding a ball of purple flames in his hand.

Johnny was unconscious. His heart was beating and he was breathing, though his lungs were gurgling slightly, one leg was bent at a strange angle, and there was a protrusion at the side of his knee that seemed as though it had been dislocated.

He had underwater breathing gear, but the small oxygen tank was dented badly and felt light, testing it would reveal that it had no more oxygen inside. He was still wearing that rope harness he donned earlier. The invisible force still pulled the ball deeper into the water. It was dim in the little ball as there weren't any lights inside the cannon, though all were given magic lanterns in their packs.

Their ball suddenly bumped into something outside and whoever wasn't strapped on to the seat was knocked around silly like rattling stones in a can. Through the light of the flames, they can see from one porthole the edge of a giant blue scale; they felt the current even stronger now as their ball slowly moved up against it; they passed great red walls --- or were they giant spikes, until finally with a jerk their ball fell back from the strength of the waters and hit something behind them that wedged them in place.

Katsuya

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Lydia had thought that James would let go of her hand once the shot was fired, but when he continued to hold it, she was grateful. Her heart fluttering, which it was hard to say whether or not it was caused by the fact that James was holding her hand or that they had just been launched in the air inside a giant steel ball towards an even larger creature with the hopes of landing inside.

Lydia had a bad habit of holding her breath and along with squeezing her eyes shut, her breath was held up until the ride became less bumpy. She then dared a look around only to find pure darkness, up until one of the soldiers with them summoned a wisp. She held her breath and grimaced slightly, shaking her head as James dispelled it. While it wasn't the smartest thing to do under the circumstances, at least they were certain they had made it. Though Lydia couldn't help but smirk slightly when it occurred to her that they would have known that anyway since it was so dark and that was good because it hid her mildly amused expression.

Now her mind jumped to thinking about the whole concept of getting out of there, "James... when Leviathan stops, how will we know he is on the other side?" could they really try again if they left Leviathan only to find that they were still on the same side? Lydia chewed her lip nervously and squeezed James' hand, it was an interesting concept to muse on, the whole idea of the venture they were currently pursuing, but actually pursuing it put it in a whole new light.

Zer0

 

[Katsuya]

Serena sighed in relief when Echo confirmed that he's alive, putting her violin away in it's protective case as Echo took care of her unconscious boyfriend. That was too close for comfort as she hears one of the oriental soldiers telling them about his equipment and the blonde wondered if Echo and her should share their air tanks to Johnny while being stuck in this ball.

Echo, on the other hand, thanked every god and goddess out there as she looked over Johnny and winced at the dislocated leg. She turned him to the side as she looked for something to wrap and hold the leg in place but then they were tossed around suddenly. The fawn held onto her boyfriend, pressed against her bosom as she was knocked around silly and blindly looked for something to grab onto. She found an empty chair and quickly pulled herself on it, placing Johnny in the chair and she sat on top to hold onto the chair tight with Johnny safely in between. Well...that's one way to get water out of his lungs, Echo suppose.

The violinist was glad that she was close to her chair when the cannon ball tumbled around, planting her bottom on the chair and buckling herself up in time before a violent jolt started on them. She grabbed onto a soldier who was unfortunate to not go back to his seat and pulled him in so he can hold on to her. Serena looked at the porthole to see something blue...A scale? and then a red wall...spike maybe before the cannon ball stopped tossing them all over the place. Then she sighed and looked at everyone in the ball.

"Is everyone okay?"

She can hear the soldiers' confirmations and smiling wide at the one she helped. Echo responded back as she found the belts she ripped off and used them to tie Serena's rectangular violin case to Johnny's leg as a makeshift splint after setting his knee right. Then the fawn buckled Johnny down in case they bounced around again.

"Yea...We're okay here..." Echo said before looking over at Serena and smiled gratefully. "Thank you Serena..."

The blonde puffed up her chest in pride. "What are friends for?" The fawn giggled and gently thanked everyone else too for helping before asking that the purple fire be shut out for now as to not waste the air they have left.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle

 

[Zer0]

- Leviathan's Belly -​

"We don't. But I think we'd hear waves from outside or not hear water anymore. The belly would probably be lit up dimly too because of daylight." said James. He let out a shaky breath as he calmed himself down, squeezing Lydia's hand again for comfort. "Lydia, Leviathan . . . from outside he didn't have any gills, maybe he's like a crocodile and he rests on land, though I've read crocodiles can stay underwater for two hours."

Whatever it was it seemed they had a long wait ahead of them. Minutes later they started to feel dizzy and woozy. That lack of oxygen seemed to be affecting them already and James pulled out his mask to breathe into them; some of the Orientals loosened the straps of their seats and tried to get a look outside with their arcane lanterns; suddenly a rush of water buffeted the ball and one of them collided their head with the porthole glass and passed out.

The ball was swirling again and getting bumped violently; through the light they could see something in the distance --- a fleshy hole opening and closing. It opened to let in a flood of blood and an avalanche of flesh as big as icebergs that looked familiarly like the thrashing worm earlier. Leviathan was eating. James wondered how many cannon shots made it inside; wood and airship debris entered too and to his horror, corpses of men.

They had radio in their packs, but the thickness of the ball's walls and magical enchantments made the signal scratchy with so much static. These walls were made to endure the acidity of the stomach, so they were very thick and enchanted with shielding spells.

The man who hit his head was patched up by his friends who also placed a mask over his head. Among the five there was one lady soldier who didn't carry herself like a soldier. The rest were men. They introduced themselves as Po, Pi, Jao, the unconscious one was Iro, and the lady was Ymir, who spoke the common tongue very fluently and seemed to share Johnny's accent for some reason.

Roleplay Skittle

- Under the Storm Wall -​

A few minutes later after the Orientals exchanged you-are-welome's and arigatou's , Echo, Serena, and the rest of the five inside started to feel dizzy. And as they took out their breathing masks, a problem presented itself: Johnny didn't have oxygen.

Someone could get one of the tanks in the seat meant to supply oxygen for one day and hook it to his underwater breathing gear. But this means someone was going to have lesser oxygen than the rest, and if that runs out before Leviathan stops, the two were going to die first.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

Getting dizzy, Echo breathed out her idea: she's giving Johnny her oxygen tank. Until he wakes up, she'll rotate and take turns from everyone's air supply too so it would less dangerous and have a surviving chance for everyone. After promising that she wouldn't take more then she needed, the fawn took in a relaxed breathe of air before placing the mask on Johnny's face. The fawn took this as another martial arts lesson with breathing in and out to stay calm and collected.

Serena looked worried, but agreed along with the other men as they were a bit touched that she'll willing to go so far for Johnny. The blonde just hopes that Echo can hold on until they reach the surface...Same with everyone else.

Zer0

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Lydia nodded, which was a wasted gesture in the dark, but she did it anyway. She wondered if they would be able to hear the water outside given that they were inside a steel ball that had to absorb sound in some way otherwise they likely would have gone deaf with or without the ear plugs when the ball was shot from the cannon, then there was also the fact that Leviathan was a huge beast. Of course she had never been on a boat before so she thought that maybe the sound inside of a hull might be similar but she just took James word for it, the smile on her face reflecting in the sound of her voice, "you're so smart, James."

She honestly meant what she said, there was nothing condescending about it. She didn't know anything about crocodiles and she hadn't really noticed Leviathan's lack of gills so it was interesting information to have.

The combined feeling of being woozy and dizzy started making her feel faint, so as calmly as possible, she put her oxygen mask on too, but didn't unfasten her straps. She didn't think it was a very good idea to do so, especially in the dark, but when the arcane lanterns lit up and she saw the soldiers out of their seats, she began to advise them to sit back down because it wasn't safe, but it was too late as one of them just hit his head. All she could do was grimace as the ball was set in motion again. At the sight of the blood, Lydia shook her head and looked away. This whole ordeal was gruesome and relatively deadly and she didn't need to see anymore to know that she didn't want to see.

While she was eager to know who else had made it, had their friends made it too? It upset her in a way that they weren't all in the same ball because then she would know that they had made it as well. But she could see the benefit in being separate because if none of them made it... that would have been just as bad. She just hoped they were all okay.

"It's... nice to meet you all..." it was a bit difficult to greet them so calmly considering the circumstances and she wondered why they hadn't all met before this dangerous excursion, and she didn't mean to be curt but after their exchange of greetings, she suggested that even though it would be rather boring, maybe everyone should talk as little as possible to avoid using up more of their air.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- James Pendragon -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

"It's lucky that it's dark, I haven't blushed this much since I was eight and a girl told me she liked my new earmuffs." chuckled James.

It was boring not to talk, but some handled it better than others. Those who were used to spending long quiet hours took to reading or playing board games --- Po brought a foldable "pai sho" board, which was a form of Orietal chess with pretty circular tiles that squirted ink at the loser, he also had the chess board Lydia and James would be familiar with, where the pieces came to life and wrestled with each other whenever one was defeated. The ties and pieces magically stuck to the board like magnet, so as long as a hand didn't deliberately swipe the pieces they stayed in place; Ymir wore a thimble and took to embroidering a scarf which looked familiarly like the patterns and colors of the wolves in Winslow; while James decided to engross himself in the mystery novel, 'Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth'.

He communicated with Lydia through writing using his wand to write glowing words on a parchment. The letters shone in a light similar to when he'd draw spell circles. He wrote in magic runes they both knew, switching to the common language if he didn't know the correct word and asking Lydia what the correct rune translation for it was.

He commented about the story if she didn't mind spoilers and sometimes drew funny faces or cheesy romantic lines with hearts just to make her laugh, such as:

' Lydia, me without you is like sashimi that's tasteless,
shoes without laces,
asentencewithoutspaces '​

or

' Hey, beautiful. (squiggly winking face ~ ) '​

and

' Hey, Lydia, what kind of shorts do clouds wear? . . . Thunderwear. '
​

Meanwhile, Jao wasn't very good at not doing anything and kept bouncing his knee restlessly, looking outside the portholes often to try and find someone and see if Leviathan stopped moving. He was the one who kept on talking to everyone and got annoyed when most declined to save air, throwing Lydia a look as though it was her fault. It seemed that he wasn't doing too well with his fear compared to the others and kept moving around the ball to check if there were leaks or cracks.

On the second day most of their companions were getting annoyed at him. It seemed that all of them were not friends, just acquaintances who glimpsed each other during training as they belonged in different companies. Jao was an airship gunner and engineer, used to the open skies. Po was a spearman who was part of a light cavalry unit of lancers, Pi was a summoner trained in underwater combat who couldn't quite control his water elemental, while Ymir was part of the kabuki troupe who could cast illusions.

Roleplay Skittle

- Johnny Caprice -
- Under the Storm Wall -
​

Johnny came to a few hours later coughing out some sea water and wrenching the breathing mask off his face. He winced as he felt his injured knee. He looked around, dazed, then, eyes falling on Echo, he reached out for her. "Echo. I thought I died." he said, and then began gasping for breath not understanding why he couldn't breathe. He seemed a bit out of it.

Katsuya

- Seifer Rathmore -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

Meanwhile, in another ball rolling with the contents of Leviathan's stomach, Seifer kept nervously looking in the direction of every thump and scratch that bumped into the walls of their ball. No one among their companions foolishly lit a fire, so they still weren't wearing their breathing masks.

He was one of those people who didn't do well not doing anything. Reading bored him, and he wasn't fond of strategy games. He wasn't interested in talking to 'commoners', and so most of his conversations were with Renee who had passed out earlier.

He was alarmed for a moment when she didn't answer him when he called in the dark, but after one of their companions checked her pulse and breathing and said she merely fainted, he was relived that she was alright. He held her hand and often rubbed her cheeks comfortingly or caressed her face . . . sometimes he'd murmur something in her ear and he kept on doing all that as he waited for her to wake up.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

-Echo Muses-​

When Johnny came to, Echo perked up and looked over to where he is as she is sitting next to Serena's tank, waiting for the next breathe of air to take. Her relieved smile changed into a concerned frown when he reached out for her. Looks like he's confused...She stood up, walked over to where he was seating at, grabbed the air mask and gently placed it back on his face.

"...Don't take this off, love. You need it." She decided it's worth losing her air to tell him something, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"Once we reach the surface, I promise to tell you what happened. So don't take this off, love." Echo comforted him as much as she could with caring caresses and kisses on his face where the mask didn't cover. Then she walked over to Serena to share the air supply before walking back to Johnny. She would do this every so often with the other soldiers' air tanks before walking back to comfort a very confused Johnny, relieved that he's okay-ish now.

However she didn't talk most of the time.

***

-Renee Pendragon-​

Renee fainted in relief when they entered the sea monster's mouth, her head lopped forward as her wings went limp and open. So when she came to dazedly, she let out a barely audible whimper, feeling someone touching her face and muttering something in her ear...

At first it sort of freaked her out as she didn't remember what was going on until she realized it's Seifer's voice. Her tensed up wings relaxed as she immediately calmed down. It's seriously weird how she calms down after hearing him nearby. Renee weakly nuzzled the hand that's rubbing on her cheek, wanting to know what he is saying at the moment...

"Hm..."

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Seifer Rathmore -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

"You're safe, Renee, you're alright, you're alright." he whispered, tucking her wings. When she came to, Seifer kissed her cheek comfortingly while he continued to caress the other and he stayed that way for a long time. He reached across his fastened waist to hold her hand and rubbed it consolingly too.

"We're inside the belly, we made it." he murmured, keeping his lips on her cheek after he kissed her again.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

Letting out a sigh, Renee calmed down even more as she felt his kisses and him tucking her wings, comforted and safe. She fluttered her eyes open, noticing how pitch black it is, but...

If Seifer said that they made it...so...they are on their way to the other side of the storm wall...

With a light hum, Renee moved her head to the side to kiss him back and tightened her grip on his hand. Though her grip wasn't tight, it was firm but he could let go of it easily if he wanted to.

"..W-we did?" She muttered weakly as she nuzzled into his hand and left little kisses on his palm.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Seifer Rathmore -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

"Yes, we did." he squeezed Renee's nose playfully. Someone cleared their throat awkwardly, and when he ignored it to continue kissing her, the person cleared his throat louder. "Nani?" said Seifer, annoyed.

An arcane lamp shone in the dark and one of the five soldiers with them said something that probably meant he was feeling uncomfortable around them. Seifer responded in a drawling tone as if he didn't care. They talked longer, but it ended with the oriental just looking away from them as if he got insulted. Seifer looked on haughtily.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

Her wings fluttered a bit when squeezed her nose and she smiled warmly before kissing back. She didn't pay attention to her surrounding at first as she was distracted by Seifer, but when he broke the kiss, Renee blinked widely. Then she looked over to the soldier who cleared his throat.

Watching the two talk, she could tell that soldier was uncomfortable about something and Seifer seems like he didn't care of what the soldier said. So when the soldier looked like he was insulted and Seifer looked on haughtily, Renee tilted her head for a moment, gears turning as she came up with an answer.

"...Um...e-eto.." Renee started nervously to catch the soldier's attention. When she did, she bowed her head a bit, still a bit dazed but she managed to remember some words from hearing it so many times. Her wings fluttered a bit. "Sumimasen, watashi wa...eto...kare wa watashi o chinsei-ka sa remashita..." She looked up at the soldier with wide eyes that showed her honesty, her accent is light and sounded shy to anyone who's listening.

"So...I'm really sorry for making you uncomfortable..." Renee apologized in English. "I'm sure he was just worried about me. So I'm sorry for being the cause of you being uncomfortable."

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Seifer Rathmore -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

"You, I forgive," he nodded at Renee," but not you." he glared at Seifer. "A soldier is not a peasant or commoner as you say, our cause is worthy, giving our lives to our emperor. It is a great honor worthy of respect."

It seemed that the cause of the soldier's sourness was being called a 'commoner'. "Bah." he waved a hand at Seifer as if he was just a waste of time and turned to speak with his companion who looked like he didn't like Seifer too.

The archer became affronted that someone would just wave him away. He was a Rathmore. Rathmores do not get waved away like that, it was rude and he opened his mouth to probably start snidely retorting.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

Renee blinked again as she listened to the soldier before sighing. Seifer called the soldier a peasant. That's...not good. As much as she likes and care for him (which is a lot considering of what she has done for him), she knew that Seifer's view on people in general is...really bad. So when she realized that Seifer is about to start something, she cupped his cheeks and leaned in to kiss him lovingly. Then she leaned back as she gazed into Seifer's grey eyes, a small frown placed on her face as she looked sad.

"Sweetheart, I'm a soldier too." Renee told him, her wings wilting at the thought that Seifer might look down on her again for being a 'commoner' in his eyes. It made her eyes water a bit as she felt a little hurt. "I give my life to keep the people I care and love safe, Prince Kenren swore to me that he will do the same for me should something happens to me...and I know he isn't the type to go back on his word."

"Please, I know we're raised in different backgrounds, but right now, we're not Howl Pendragon's daughter and the Heir to the Rathmore family; We're Renee and Seifer, two teenagers who barely have any sort of training or experience and to these men and women who trained for years, we're nothing more then possible liabilities. We have to trust them just as they have to trust us too, Sweetheart...so...I know you don't normally do this but..."

Renee made sure to be firm about this. "Seifer, please...apologize to them." She asked quietly, anyone could hear her sad tone ringing in her voice as her wings wilted further down. She looked away from him.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Seifer Rathmore -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

"Wha --- no, you're not a commoner, Renee." said Seifer immediately, still a little dazed from the kiss. He was anxious that he had hurt her unwillingly and rubbed her hands earnestly. He looked like he didn't understand how he was not a Rathmore at this moment, and when she asked him to apologize he became indignant. "I'm not going to apologize to him."

Seifer was torn, on one hand Renee was sad and he didn't want to make her sad ever, yet on the other he can't bend for the oriental chihuahua. It was embarrassing and a weakly thing to do. His father and mother have always taught him that nobles never apologize to anyone lower than their status because that means you are lowering yourself to their level, which must never be, because it is a taint to your nobility --- but Renee is sad.

"Look, Renee, he's deciding not to care, so there's no need to apologize, baby." he reasoned softly.

"I want an apology." said the soldier, crossing his arms.

"You are not part of this conversation." said Seifer irritably without looking at him.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

Renee sighed, now hunching as she hears his indignation, feeling his hands rubbing on hers in earnest. Her wings limped.

"...Sounds like he cares, Sweetheart." She responded back, her eyes went a bit dim.

"When I said that we're not Pendragon and Rathmore anymore, I mean that no one in the army will care about our status. Here, we're equal to each other. So if you say that I'm not a commoner, then he's not a commoner either." She explained calmly though her tone didn't change, that pang in her heart hurt.

"...Did you know that you can gain respect by admitting that you're wrong about something?" Renee asked him as she peeked at him through her hair that veiled her eyes. "I learned that early on...when we fought each other at school. It's considered to be really honorable to admit your faults." She told him.

"It's an admirable trait. Something people look up to and respect." Then she looked away again. "...It's not a sign of weakness; It's a sign of strength, something that I saw in you a couple of times when we were traveling to Holt..." She sniffed a bit as her tone at the end sounded like she's about to cry but trying to hold it in.

It really did hurt that Seifer would make fun of the soldier for his cause when his cause could be very similar to hers. To her, Seifer just made fun of her whole reason why she made such an effort of keeping him and everyone else alive as someone who cares about them dearly and as her pride in part of the medical field.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Seifer Rathmore -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

Seifer panicked when Renee sniffed. " But, baby, we're not born equal. If we were everyone would be just as smart, talented, handsome --- ", he pointed at himself, "--- and rich. And I care about my bloodline even if they don't, I'm proud of the Rathmore name and all my ancestors have accomplished. Look at all the gold and power my family has acquired. What are you going to take pride of if not where you come from? I can't just throw that away and say I'm equal to someone whose family didn't do as much.

"And I'm not wrong. Yeah, I'll say sorry if I'm wrong and the other person deserves it, but I'm not wrong and he disturbed us. He is a commoner, just look at the way he behaves, all meek like an herbivore."

"What was that?" said the Oriental in a low whisper his hands balling into fists. "Are you saying I'm a cow?!"

"What? I didn't say that, are you deaf? And I'm not talking to you."

The oriental pulled up his sleeves and removed his straps, but his companions held him back. He was yelling a tirade of smack downs in his native tongue angrily and trying to snatch at Seifer, but then the ball started rolling again because of the uneven distribution of weight.

"Quiet you!" said another soldier at Seifer. "We can't fight here!"

"Lady Stormcleaver, please make your jerk --- I mean, boyfriend, shut his mouth or I'll punch him."

Seifer opened his big mouth again and was about to probably make the oriental and his friends angrier.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

"URASAI!!" Renee yelled angrily as she sends a disappointed glare at everyone of them, including her boyfriend.

"Stop fighting. You're soldiers, people with better experience at handling difficult situations than the both of us combined. Act like it!" However her glare is softened up by the tears that are streaming down her cheeks, making the soldiers freeze. Then she looked over at Seifer, catching his attention, hopefully.

"I know that no one is born equally, Sweetheart. I wasn't talking about family histories, but since you brought that up, then let me ask you this," Renee narrowed her wet eyes a bit, looking oddly familiar as this was the same look she gave to Seifer when they made that bet long ago only she wasn't smiling; her lips were set in a straight line.

"Don't you want to known as someone to be proud of in your family too? I know I do. I'm proud of the title that people has given to me because it's proof that I did something to gain their respect. So much so that it's humbling that they even gave me a title to begin with. It sets me apart from my own brothers who are clever and extremely smart. It sets me apart from my own father who's famous from being Madam Suliman's student." Renee explained, her voice lowered down as she didn't want anymore trouble.

"You are wrong on calling him a commoner when you don't know him. He isn't meek; he's trained to fight and wouldn't use unnecessary force when it's obviously not called for." At this moment, she looked back at the soldier with a deadpanned look. He should be feeling silly for acting the way he did because of a comment.

"...Sweetheart, if you really want to be proud of something, then be proud of the actions you, yourself, take. Prove your worth instead of depending on your family's name. It's like when you come back from working hard with repairing the ships. Don't you feel proud of what you did to help? Don't you feel like you accomplished something that no one else in your family did? It's something that you set yourself apart from your family, to be remembered by." Renee wants Seifer to understand the difference between being proud of your family's history to being proud of your own achievements.

"Don't you want to be acknowledged later on as someone who made a difference from your own family and stand out even more? Be the first Rathmore who gained the respect of others without insults. Without prejudice against others and their backgrounds if there wasn't anyone like that in your family." Renee wanted Seifer to be proud of himself and be truly confident that he doesn't need to rely on his family's name to gain respect.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Seifer Rathmore -
" Leviathan's Belly "​

"I did feel proud repairing the ships . . ." said Seifer slowly. "But he was the one who disturbed us," he grumbled insistently, "and started the whole thing . . ." he took a deep breath. "No Renee, I will not apologize and that's that." he said in a tone of finality, crossing his arms. He wouldn't budge no matter what her arguments were, though he looked put out every time he glanced and saw her tears.

Needless to say, the rest of the day was spent in Seifer pretending the orientals did not exist and them ignoring him even though they looked like they wanted to wipe the arrogant smirk off his face. They kept themselves in check for Renee whom they respected.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

"He only disturbed and bothered us because we," she gestured to the both of them, "bothered him first. People are not used to watching people kiss in public, Sweetheart, but it wasn't necessary to call him a commoner because of that."

When he decided to not apologize, Renee's wings did not pick themselves up; they stayed limp. She sniffed and wiped her tears away, feeling embarrassed for crying again and in front of the soldiers too-! Aughhhh~! How immature can she get-! She can already feel the blush creeping up in her face.

"Okay...okay..." Renee sighed, grabbing onto the Skarn necklace that's always around her neck, already knowing that nothing in the world would change his mind now unless something incredible happens and they start to work together. Don't get her wrong: she's happy that Seifer would want to defend their cuddly moments ('He cares~' Renee thought.) , it's the insult part that got her to be really defensive for the soldier's behalf.

She did appreciate what the soldiers were doing though, so every now and then she would look over to their side and bowed in thanks. It's her way of showing and paying respects back to the soldiers who put up with Seifer's smug look. Renee was curious about something and asked quietly as to not grab the soldiers' attention.

"Why am I not a commoner, Sweetheart?" She tilted her head a bit to look up, her eyes glowed curiously.

Zer0