Fighting! Monsters! [OPEN]

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone on the Amestris
Content: Monsters are running all over the ship! Where did they come from?
Setting: All over the Amestris
Time: Late at night
Warnings: Monsters and fighting

Comments

Hallway, near the grand ballroom

[thewayfindsyou]

In the several minutes that had passed following the alert, Komamura had put together a better idea of what the ship was encountering. "Monsters" was an ambiguous word, but he was doubtful that it should apply here. Not conventionally, at least. While these creatures physically resembled those that could be found in the badlands, they were something else entirely.

He met one of them near his quarters. It had him attacked on sight, and after he cut it down it...changed, somehow. What should have been a body was a framed painting. Not unlike those on exhibit in the ballroom. Inconclusive as the single incident might have been, it was for that reason that the demihuman made his way towards the ballroom now.

[thisismiikun]

Mii was out the door and into the hallway the moment he heard the alert, leaving behind a mess of oily cloths and worn cogs on the bed he had been performing his routine maintenance on.

Ears listening for anyone shouting for help and running, he stopped when he saw the painting. What was a painting doing here? It should have been in the ballroom, right? As part of the exhibit.

Looking away from the painting and down the hallway, he saw a really tall figure making its way towards the ballroom.

"Hey!"

[thewayfindsyou]

Hm? The demihuman arched his neck. At first he saw nothing, but after a moment he noticed the smaller creature, further down the hall. There were any number of citizens and dignitaries entering and leaving the ship for the event, but this did not look necessarily like one of them. However, it did not appear to be a monster either. At least, not like the one Komamura had faced before, or any that he had seen featured in the exhibit.

He went still. "Who are you?" he asked, plainly.

[thisismiikun]

Up close, the figure was even taller. It didn't seem to want to attack and didn't resemble any monster he had seen before, but Mii didn't let down his guard, just in case.

"I'm Mii," he explained, "The new cook."

[thewayfindsyou]

Ah, so it was part of the crew. Odd, perhaps, but not impossible. In any case, he did not have time to sort this out now.

"Return to your quarters, Mii" Komamura told him. Having civilians and noncombatants about would only make this more complicated to resolve.

[thisismiikun]

Mii tilted his head to one side, before telling Komamura very politely, "No. There are kids on this ship, I need to make sure they're safe first."

[thewayfindsyou]

The reluctance was understandable, particularly if he was concerned about someone. However, Komamura needed Mii to understand that unauthorized persons wandering the halls would only cause problems. To say nothing of how dangerous it could be.

Furthermore, he was losing time here. "The safety of the crew and passengers is being seen to," he patiently explained. "You will be most helpful if you see yourself to safety as well."

[thisismiikun]

And Mii needed Komamura to understand that he could take care of himself. He wouldn't be a hindrance, but before he had the chance a high-pitched shriek came from further down the hall.

The panel in his chest opened up and he drew out a long sword, "Where is that coming from?"

[thewayfindsyou]

He snapped in the direction of the sound, and put a hand to his own weapon. That way led to the grand ballroom. It was impossible to know for certain what the source was, but for now this furthered his suspicions.

Regarding Mii, Komamura remained unconvinced, but delaying here would hurt more than it would help. Hopefully, owning a sword would mean that creature was capable of wielding it. Even so...

"Stay behind me," he barked as a precaution, taking hurried steps in the direction of the noise.

[thisismiikun]

Mii didn't mind staying behind Komamura, for the moment, although he stayed alert in case anything happened.

At the end of the hall was a set of huge doors, ragged with scratch marks. They were wide open and something was shuffling around beyond them.

[thewayfindsyou]

There was obviously something beyond the doorway. It bothered Komamura that he could not sense what. For the time being, his eyes and ears told him all that he needed to know. But what did it mean that they had no other sort of presence? The creature from the hall had been the same, though the encounter had happened to quickly for him to be absolutely sure, at the time.

He gave a backward glance at Mii, with a touch of warning in his eyes, before rounding the wall. The sight in the room was just as the demihuman had expected.

[thisismiikun]

Being much smaller than Komamura, Mii had to walk to one side and peek out from behind Komamura's legs to actually see into the room.

He didn't know what he had been expecting, since he didn't even know what kind of room it was.

A large snake-like monster lay coiled up in the room, and there was the sound of something crunching and snapping at the center of the coils. It paused, before it turned towards the door, all four heads coming into view, hissing.

It lunged for them, abandoning and rolling over its prey, now a severely damaged canvas, with the sound of splintering wood.

[thewayfindsyou]

Komamura would have ordered Mii away from the opening, had the creature given him any time to speak. He drew his sword at the first sign of movement, and was barely able to raise it in time to guard against the foremost head, each side of the fanged mouth meeting either end of the weapon. He heaved the head away with a push and a wide swing, and used his fist to bat away another from the side.

He had lost track of his companion for the seconds that this took, and set to relocating him, scanning the edges of his vision without taking his eyes from the snake.

For a moment the beast recoiled, but only to return to a striking position. It was eying them just as carefully.

[thisismiikun]

Mii had already drawn his weapon prior to entering the room and when the creature lunged for them he had jumped over the first head that had headed for him and aimed an upwards swing at the open mouth of the one behind it. He had succeeded in hitting his target, but the wound was shallow and it had recoiled with a hiss.

Holding his sword steadily in front of him and not taking his eyes from the snake-creature he said, "Are you okay?"

[thewayfindsyou]

"Fine," he responded.

It appeared that Mii had managed to wound one of the heads. To say nothing of surviving its attacks. Perhaps he did have some skill. Fortunate, then, as he would have difficulty utilizing Tengen in this room. They would need another approach.

"Were I to distract it," Komamura started, speaking lowly, "would you be able to approach its side?"

[thisismiikun]

"I'm glad."

Occupied with two heads, Mii really hadn't had the leisure of watching Komamura, but was glad now that he need not have worried.

Mii shifted his grip so his sword now pointed downwards in case he needed to block, "Yes, leave it to me."