(Untitled)

[feathered_earth]

Characters: Cara (feathered_earth), Renae (artistic_spaz), and Helios (firacrux)
Date/Time: June 15th, morning
Location: Crystala, mainly
Rating: PG (maybe 13 depending on a CERTAIN SOMEONE'S foul mouth)
Summary: Cara enlists some help in searching for Tatsu.

Comments

[artistic_spaz]

"Off his bed! You know he'll just sneeze himself all night." Renae lifted the whining kitten and deposited the bundle of fur onto her own bed before reaching for the door.

"Hey, Cara! Come on in." She almost thought to ask if Tatsu had returned, but if she was here on schedule for Crystala...well, that answer was evident. "I just need to grab my stuff, and then I can go. I'll be quick--oh, and that's my new kitten--who won't stay off Helios' bed. Bad kitty!" More kitten protests, as Renae moved her away from the bed yet again.

[firacrux]

"Ah Hyne, again?" Came the irritable grumble from the other side of the house. Every time he went to sleep he got a nose full of cat hair, and woke up unable to breathe. It was starting to get really annoying.

Helios came lumbering up behind Renae, looking a little red-eyed and irritable about the sneezing. He was otherwise prepared, though. Sword swung up to balance lightly on his shoulder and a confident smirk placed on his face, of course they'd find Tatsu. Tatsu just liked to get mauled or chase people around as a dragon, that was all.

"Never been to Crystala before, what're we expectin'?"

[feathered_earth]

"Hi there," said Cara, unable to help grinning at the kitten's antics. Poor Helios--it was a cute little thing, though. Speaking of, here was Helios now, looking entirely un-worried. Cara was starting to feel slightly silly over last night... except that Tatsu hadn't come home and hadn't written in the journals.

"It's mostly a big, crystallized forest," she said. "There are some monsters that roam around there, but it shouldn't be too much for the three of us to handle." Certainly Tatsu ought to have been more than a match for them. He'd managed to get away from Lezard...

...and that had crossed her mind, too. As far as Cara knew he was still being law-abiding, but that wouldn't stop her from asking him questions (or getting someone with more authority to ask him questions) but she'd rather check the more open possibilities first.

"Just keep your eyes peeled for them, and a boy with blue hair... or a dragon, too."

[artistic_spaz]

Giving up on the kitten for now, Renae turned her attention to other matters. She grabbed her staff and backpack, swinging the later over one shoulder. A moment to glance around revealed nothing forgotten and so she turned her attention back to Cara, perking up. It wasn't as though she had visited the place before now, either.

"Well, let's go! We're all ready now, right? Pfft, I'm not worried about any monsters either." She headed towards the door as the kitten padded over and whined a little more before bumping up against Helios' leg.

[firacrux]

"Speakin' of dragon, you asked the guy he chased around if he's seen him?" Helios hadn't been nosy enough to read through all the responses to Cara's entry. Eventually he'd gotten distracted with a kitten determined to make him sneeze.

Helios waited for Renae to double check, then paused as the kitten insisted on rubbing against his leg. He sighed and bent down to pick it up. "You're more sinister than any monster," He mumbled in an almost affectionate tone to the kitten, giving it a pat on the head as he deposited it back on his bed.

What? That seemed like the only way to keep her from trying to follow them! That was his story and he was sticking to it.

[feathered_earth]

Cara shook her head. "Brood is still in the hospital." And she knew for a fact that Tatsu hated anything medical, so it was extremely unlikely that he would have ended up there for any reason.

She watched as Helios managed to get the kitten to leave him alone at last. It was cute, but she really wanted to get started on seeing if there was any sign of Tatsu on Crystala. "We ready to go?" she asked, managing a smile as she turned to head to the elevator.

[artistic_spaz]

Renae smirked as Helios spoke to the kitten. The little furball won this round and she knew it. However, she noted Cara's impatience and held off from commenting, at least for now. Tatsu needed them.

"Yep! C'mon!" Leading the way because she could, Renae walked out the door and pressed the button for the elevator upon reaching it. There was a moment of impatient pacing, but fortunately, they weren't kept waiting for long. The elevator doors opened and she darted inside, pressing the button for the needed floor.

[firacrux]

"Hm." If brood was in the hospital it was unlikely that Tatsu would be hiding out there and not talking to anyone. Unless he was just that weird but somehow Helios doubted that. When Cara asked about his readiness, he simply gestured for the two to lead the way. Of course he was ready, he just didn't want a kitten attacking his ankles the whole way there.

Helios appeared nothing but calm while he waited for the elevator, perhaps a little bored but not concerned. They'd find him, he had confidence in that. Granted he was over-confident all the time. Once the elevator stopped he stepped out first, but paused waiting for the girls. "Ain't sure which way it is." They'd have to lead for now.

[feathered_earth]

"I've been there before," said Cara. "It's a bit of a hike." She was content to let Renae stride ahead to the elevator, but she took the lead when they got out, heading for the paper factory... from there they had to cross the bridge to the workshops and then a very long, not-extremely-stable bridge to Crystala itself.

She was fairly quiet on the way over there... the fact that Renae and Helios didn't seem very worried was a little reassuring, as her conversation with Thing had been last night. But simply losing a journal didn't mean that Tatsu himself ought to disappear. If he was on Crystala... she hoped he was all right, or at least all right enough that they could get him to the medical center. And if he wasn't there, well... she'd keep looking somewhere else.

[artistic_spaz]

Renae was fine with Cara leading the way, since she had only a vague notion as to the location of the place. She hung back with Helios, perhaps surprisingly not that talkative on the trek to Crystala. Upon crossing over, her attention was focused on taking in their new surroundings -sparkling crystal trees were very eye-catching-, both memorizing to paint later and to get her bearings in order to help find Tatsu. If he was still here, they would find him.

"So, you said it was mostly forest. Is there anything else here, aside from trees and monsters?" Anything that might explain why Tatsu might visit the island would be of some use to them, not to mention that she was immensely curious about the place in general.

[firacrux]

Normally Helios would have insisted on being in the lead, but in this case he didn't know where he was going so he was forced to follow along behind Renae and Cara. The hike itself didn't bother him, he was apparently fit enough to handle that with little effort as he wasn't even tired at all when they'd finally arrived.

Well, it certainly explained the name very quickly. Trees of crystal everywhere, Seifer had heard rumors of some other more questionable things as well but decided against bringing them up. Somehow he doubted that Tatsu was there for naked statues. "What kinda monsters we talkin' about here?" He strode forward now that they were at their destination to begin the search. If anything was going to jump out and try to maul them, he was the best equipped to take the blow.

[feathered_earth]

Cara shook her head. "There isn't a lot... some people used to live here, and it can be a good spot for training." There was also Lezard's hideout, but Cara wasn't going to involve the two of them in that whole mess--she hadn't put him above suspicion, but she was confident that Tatsu would have been able to break out on his own by now if he'd done anything with him. He had last time, after all.

"Monsters like--this," said Cara, whirling as what looked like a large spider on crystalline legs with matching fangs came rushing towards them. She thrust her spear towards its eyes quickly, forcing it to draw back for a brief spacce. "Look out!"

[artistic_spaz]

Eh, she didn't need another training spot. Renae was a little disappointed that there wasn't anything else particularly exciting--though a forest made out of crystal was notable enough. She peered at the trees, memorizing their shape while Cara spoke and--what?

Upon hearing that last part, Renae whirled around and gripped her staff. When it rushed forward again, she gave it a good whack, only to be knocked down a moment later. Ow. Stupid spider.

[firacrux]

Renae and Helios' house was just right for sketch training, Helios annoys her and she sketches him. That was how it worked.

Helios spotted the movement even as Cara alerted them to the spider's presence. He charged as the spider approached, slashing into its side viciously with his sword, noting to himself that he still wished the thing was heavier. If he laid into it hard enough he hoped to hold the spider's attention so Renae could manage a sketch or something.

[feathered_earth]

Cara glanced back quickly as Renae was knocked back by the spider. Then she rushed in, dragging her spear in a long gash on the opposite flank that Helios had attacked... that ought to keep it confused and off-balance at least for a little bit. Not to mention give it a nice hurt to think about too.

She jumped out of the way as it brought down one of its pointed legs in an attempt to squash her, hoping that Renae had had time to recover now.

[artistic_spaz]

Annoyed, Renae left her staff where it was and got to her feet. Cara and Helios were better at being the heavy-hitters, and she might as well do what she was best at; sketching. As quickly as possible, she created a fresh sketch and sent a mirror spider after the original.