thebastion | Event: Day 278 [open]

[Ever since that bone-slicing scream, Zulf has been rushing to help. Moon's presence is a relief- that takes care of one person. There's one other, now, and he shoves Ryu to Vee and Aoi's arms. Just one word hisses out past his lips-]

Move! Now, hurry!

[With that taken care of, there's no doubt in his steps as he goes over to Colin. Danger? Sorry, he's out of fucks to give. One hand reaches beneath his shirt and vest, pulling out a familiar charm of his own that's the only of its kind in the Bastion- a brilliant gleaming gear. With the necklace wrapped tight around one hand, he begins to make small gestures with it while the other stays free just in case.]

[Under his breath, he begins to murmur frantically in what Colin should be able to identify as Ura. Only he's not praying to Pyth.]

[A circle of his fingers around one wrist.]

Acobi, eldest sister mine and to us all, oath-forger and bond-breaker, I put myself before you, Chastened Maiden, and call on the strength of your chains. Tis you who is your brother's keeper and you who delayed him during the beginning of all. Do so now again so that we might right what has been wrong, tether me to this life for I cannot abandon what oaths I have broken just yet...

[Rushed taps against one eye then the other with his knuckles, charm pressing against his cheeks.]

Garmuth, wisest brother of your kin, your steps full of purpose and your pale eyes knowing all folly, I bow my head and seek your counsel. Not to me although I have done such foolish things but for that of your brother. You who holds most of our Mother's blood in your veins, I beseech you use her calming touch and pacify your wrathful sibling. Have him see that we wish only to lend our use to him, take pity on us who cannot spare to lose either tool or friends...

[Now, a series of lines over his heart like a star and his palm seems to clutch the charm in his hand all the tighter.]

Micia, Lorn Mother, it is in your hands that I have laid my life in trust many times before since I have been but a child and this is not the first calamity I have suffered. Still not do I understand your cruel kindness, still not do I understand why you reignite my life's light when even my own kin would demand it extinguished. Your gifts I merely accept, never have I demanded, but I plead, Mother, I plead now before you that you lay your sweet palms against the forehead of your eldest and first son as you did in the beginning of all. Shield me with your hands once more and if not me than the man besides me for he has the talents of the brothers bold and the kindness of your clever blinded duke. Please, Mother, hear me and grant what of my request you can and I will come to you when you finally wish, I will follow the wind and the glow of your star, and I will hold your hand, Mother...

[It takes Aoi a moment to catch her bearings after the bizarre reptilian stranger scoops Crona out of her lap and just leaves. Everything processes as Colin makes it to the bull and Zulf shoves Ryu at her, and of course, it's not safe, they have to get going!]

R-right! Let's go, c'mon! [If he's standing, he can run, at least for now; she grabs Ryu's wrist in one hand (and the healing light sparks at her fingers again, washing over his wounds, too, while the opportunity's there) and Vee's in the other, needing to be sure they don't linger, and sprints after Moon.]

[Ryu's still hurt, but he struggles out of Aoi and Vee's arms, raising a hand towards Colin to cast a barrier around him. It won't protect him from physical damage, only magical, but it can't hurt.]

[He's breathing heavily, and he's moving slowly, but he's still alive. And as long as he's alive, he'll do what he can. He doesn't pray out loud - and it feels somewhat silly for an Endless to pray in the first place - but he does send a mental cry for anyone, any Endless, any god, any power out there, to help.]

[For a moment, the mechanical bull sputters, and it looks like the shaking and smoking is getting worse. Most of the people are out of the way, but Colin and Zulf are right in the blast zone, and if things go wrong they could easily not be going home today.

But then the bull's gears grind loudly for a couple seconds, and all goes silent. Whether Colin and Zulf's prayers were answered, or if it was just a matter of timing and the bull was going to stop on its own anyway, it is impossible to tell. But all that is left is an unmoving husk of a robotic bull and a familiar glow coming from the cracks in the bull's shell.]

[Guess which one Zulf is choosing to believe?]

[He heaves a sigh of relief, making the gesture for Micia again.]

Thank the Mother and all her children...

[ Well that's all lovely.

Moon is just going to stand here awkwardly with limp Crona in his arms. ]

Anyone willing to spare a coat? I can fly back to the Bastion, and it would be cold if I went as fast as I can.

[ Because if that sparking thing is done, next step is injured people. ]

[The danger's gone. Good. Ryu touches down to the ground again and there's another blue flash as he transforms back into his usual form.]

[... And then sways, falling over and groaning faintly. He's alive, just... very tired and a little burnt and he could use a nap.]

[Aoi's eyes go wide, and for a moment she's still and stiff and silent until it hits her that it's stopped, they're safe. She sighs and slumps, letting go of Vee's wrist as her arm drops to her side.

She turns to Moon when he speaks and raises an eyebrow—he has wings, nobody's jacket is gonna...oh. Oh, Crona. Riiiight.]

Mm... Here. [Off goes her red sweatshirt, and she walks over and gently drapes it over Crona—and then she catches blue out of the corner of her eye and sees Ryu hit the ground.]

Ryu! [And she's running again! She kneels beside him, grabs his shoulders and tries her healing touch one more time. Nobody get injured again, all right; that was her last use for the day.] He-hey, Ryu, c'mon! D-don't...

[He just cracks open an eye to stare at Aoi.]

'll be okay... worry about the others...

[Sleepy time seems good right now.]

C'mon, I think between the two of us we can carry him.

[Vee moves to slip an arm under one of Ryu's, so Aoi can take the other side. Then he looks back to Colin and Zulf.]

You guys coming?

I'm going to need a few.

This thing here... I need to study it.

[He glances over at Vee.]

I'm going to need to debrief you and your friend later on. This isn't typical behavior for one of these things.

[He glances at Zulf, then motions with his eye to the glowing in the cracks. He doesn't think these things are NORMALLY in here...]

[ Wings, and all these spines around his head and down his back? Yeah, he's not meant for clothing.

Awkwardly tucking Crona into that sweatshirt, and then further up against him.. ]

If you aren't back by the time I've been to the hospital, I'll come back.

[ And now he's just going to run for the edge and go flying. ]

Edited 2015-02-10 04:56 (UTC)

Th-they're already bringing back the others... And y-you're gonna be okay, just...

[She trails off, and she can feel her hands start to shake with worry again before Vee comes over.]

...Yeah. On three! [Her determination renewed, she grabs Ryu's other arm.] One! Two! Three! [And up he goes!] That's fine, but we better go. Zulf? You coming back with us or do you wanna stick with Colin?

[No, it certainly isn't supposed to be in there, and Zulf has a dark thoughtful look in his eyes as he stares down at the machine. At Aoi's voice, however, he gives a small start and turns to look at her.]

Ah- I'll come back later, with Colin, alright? Please don't worry about me. I've survived out here on my own before.

[There's a pause, and then he gives the most disappointed and scolding look he possibly can to Vee. ~~He already accidentally has two kids, he is a pro at it~~]

And then your friend, yourself, and I shall all have a discussion about aggravating the Gods, are we clear?

'kay, if you're sure. [Being told not to worry does not make her look any less worried, but she trusts Zulf.] Come back safe, all right?

[She glances sympathetically over to Vee, lips pursed. That scolding look has been trained on her more than once; she gets him.] Yeah, yeah. C'mon, we better hurry up and get Ryu back... [And she starts hustling right along.]

Thanks for the help, Zulf... I like to think Pyth would have heard me, but hearing from you was probably a lot more convincing.

[He gives Zulf a grateful smile, and then starts setting out tools so he can remove the core. He waits until the others are out of earshot before he brings up his next point. Plus, he's aware that they'll have to move quickly when he does, so he wants to be ready...]

... So what do you think? Sabotage? I can't think of any reason why this thing would be in here that isn't malicious... Short of massive stupidity.

[Vee goes with Aoi, helping Ryu along. Thus leaving Colin and Zulf alone with the broken down bull.

If either of them care to investigate, a panel on the bull's stomach appears to have been opened at some point, and when it was closed it was not put back properly.]

[Investigation is absolutely the name of what Colin's doing here... he licks his upper lip as he spots the paneling, and he glances at Zulf. He's going to open it, but he wants Zulf at a safe distance first.]

I don't anticipate any problems, but you may want to step back just the same. This bull was definitely tampered with...

[What else is there to do but agree? He remembers Pyth at the Harvest Festival and this certainly isn't how he looked then.]

[At the warning, however, he steps back with his hands held up in front of him.]

In the event of your untimely death, I will be certain to give very emotional words at your funeral.

Nah, you can go ahead and call me an annoying little shit. I don't want anyone lying about me after I've kicked the bucket.

[He smirks back at Zulf, then he goes to work stripping open the paneling to inspect it. And yes, he's preparing to run just in case, or jump on a grenade if it looks like running won't do any good.]

[After all that hype, all that happens is that the panel easily pops off, revealing what is going on inside.

The mechanical Pyth appears to run on a power source, most likely a core or a large shard. It also appears that someone opened what is essentially the battery panel and placed the core in to make the thing run. The core is not a perfect fit, however: it is too big, and parts of the containment area had to be removed (via very messy prying and pulling, even) to make it fit. And with the holes in the protective covering, more juice than usual got into the Pyth's workings, which probably is why the bull went haywire.

It's also worth noting that the core itself looks different than most cores. The parts that were sticking out of the battery area are a deep, dark, nearly black-in-color purple color, and wisps of the same color are swirled throughout the core.

If anyone searches the nearby area, they will find a large shard, which would have been a perfect fit for the battery opening, except it is completely drained of power.]

[Colin frowns, setting aside the paneling. He looks around briefly, before looking back to the core.]

It's clear. I don't... someone either didn't know what they were doing, or they were in a hurry.

I... can fix the bull, and I intend to, but this is a lot of damage. This was a slipshod job.

[He exhales, and then a string of very unflattering curses referencing base elements, poor breeding, unnatural hell-scapes, and various forms of bodily waste spill forth from his mouth. He picks up several tools even as he continues to curse, and he starts to separate the damaged elements and clear away the battery alcove so he can remove the core. But he's not going to do that yet.]

I don't know if this will be of use to us. It's damaged too, I think.

Whoever did this has a lot to answer for. From the Ura, from the Gods, and from this poor bull...

Don't worry, I'll add in all your negative qualities in the part after when I've had a few moments with my pipe.

[The only thing better than insults are the kind of insults you make while stoned, after all.]

[He watches as Colin inspects Pyth's avatar, grateful that it's all understandable and nodding along.]

It doesn't look so much damaged as simply... discolored. There are some large shards- not quite cores but close enough- that often come out bright pink before they mature. Perhaps it's the same? [His tone is more than a little unsure, however, and he quickly adds-] I am, of course, speaking from a place of ignorance. I do not know much about them beyond what anyone else does in Caelondia or the Terminals.

Do you want to bring them both back to the Bastion or not?

The crystal, be it core or shard, is disconcerting. But I'm not an expert on it, I think we should get it back to Nathan and see what he has to say. I don't know enough to say whether or not it will be of any further use after this.

It's the bull I'm worried about. The power system has been rather badly brutalized... and that's not even factoring in the damage that Crona, Ragnarok, and Ryu did.

I think I'm going to need to have Paar come and pick this up. I could fix it out here, but my workshop would be much better suited to the task.

[He reaches up, dragging his dirty hand down his face with a look of annoyance manifesting.]

Those kids have no idea how lucky they were... I hope the bull doesn't have a good memory, or bringing it back to the Bastion for repairs may give it a chance at round two.

[He pauses, then he looks back at Zulf.]

Of course, the question of whether or not it's a core will definitely be answered once I pull it out. We're going to have to run like the hounds of hell are after us once I do, if it is a core.

Possibly for the best... I don't believe you've encountered anything that a dragon wouldn't be able to scare away.

[He's pretty sure of that. At any rate, he's pretty sure he'd die of a heart attack if he didn't live with Paarthurnax.]

Do you want to risk it? [A dry smile.] I believe we've already tried our luck courting death just by staying so near when it threatened to explode, so we may as well try to use every bit we've been given. I'm quick on my feet, besides.

Event: Day 278 [open]

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