[Warning, incoming game. Warning, incoming game.] [Date: Wednesday, Ramuh 11th, 1360 AI] [Hey, the Experts. That bunch of people that nobody can QUITE figure out what to do with, because they do so much stuff. And stuff. Well, today, they're going to get a crash course in training, from our own resident pickp-, err, thie-, Sorry. Treasure Hunter, Ran Dom! Which sucks to be them, honestly, but who cares!] (>_<) [No, really, who DOES care? I guess they do... Ran Dom sure doesn't. The day is a calm and the sun is high in the sky. You're meeting where note said to, which is a training area off to the side of the village. A few abandoned houses are nearby, as well as some targets and dummies (NPCs not included in the count), as well as a small section of woodland.] [If you didn't eat yet, well TOO BAD, because this is gonna be a bit later before you can again.] [Session Start!] * Sai_Link did eat! He's still eating, actually, finishing off a striped apple which is impaled on a knife. * Mona might have eaten. You can't tell, because she somehow managed not to get it all over her. Go figure. [Ran Dom, your teacher, isn't anywhere to be seen. Go fig.] * Ne_Rina may or may not have eaten, but if she did, she had to have done it beforehand, as she's just arriving now. She looks slightly out of breath, and tucks a few loose strands of blond hair behind her left ear as she approaches. * Sai_Link waves at Mona, with the hand that has the knife in the apple on it. * Mona looks over and up at Ne Rina, before saying, "And now I get to meet the second to last person I don't know, eh, Sai Link?" Fancy that. * Ne_Rina exhales and stands there, looking nervous. You probably met her in a past life, and just don't remember her yet. * Mona rolls her eyes, then looks right at Ne Rina. "Don't worry, you can't be late. The instructor's either not here or hiding." [Listen checks, please.] * Ne_Rina blushes slightly. "I'm sorry," she says in a very deep, somewhat hoarse voice. * Sai_Link shakes his head ruefully. "Don't be sorry for something that's not your fault." He peers at her a bit closer. "Unless you're the reason he's not here." * Ne_Rina looks slightly uncomfortable under the scrutiny. "I don't *think* I am..." * Mona chuckles a little, then glances over to some bushes. "Oh, be quiet, Sai Link. Of course you're not..." she looks back up at the new Selkie with the nice clothes. "Ne Rina?" * Sai_Link blinks, then stands up and sighs. "What is it with all the selkie gals I've been meeting lateley? They're all shy..." * Ne_Rina nods. "Yes. And you're... Mona?" Then she looks over at Sai Link. "And Sai Link? And what was that?" * Sai_Link nods. "Sai Link." * Ne_Rina looks back at Mona. "Wait... haven't I seen you before in the library?" And what was what? * Mona looks at Ne Rina more carefully, and blinks. "... Yes. Yes, you're always in the atlases." * Ne_Rina nods to Mona and smiles a little. Then she looks back at Sai Link. It's like a tennis match. "About Selkie girls." * Mona chuckles. "It really is a small town." She frowns at the bushes she glanced at earlier, and starts to walk over toward them. * Sai_Link shakes his head, and momentarilly covers his eyes, laughing to himself. "Oh, it's nothing." * Ne_Rina looks uncertain. "If you say so..." She looks over at Mona and the bushes. * Mona reaches the bushes and peers in. * Ardweden is now known as Ardle * Sai_Link looks at Mona looking at the bushes. [The bushes reveal a tunnel of some kind. There's a snorring sound comming from underneath, and the tunnel is big enough for even the stoutest of lilties to manage to squeeze through.] * Mona reaches her hand back and warp-pulls her ranseur. * Sai_Link flicks the apple off his knife, and goes to see what Mona's up to. * Ne_Rina heads over as well. * Mona gestures at the tunnel. "Guess something wanted to take a nap." [The tunnel is more like a slide. If you go down, it might be difficult to get back up.] * Ne_Rina peers down and into it. "What do you think is down there?" I have no idea. * Sai_Link looks down. "Should we let the councilman take care of it, or should we take care of it, assuming this is a test of the councilmans?" Maybe it *is* the councilman. In that case... * Sai_Link glances at the other two. "Someone should go look." * Ne_Rina unshoulders her pack. "I have a rope with me." Although I didn't bring a light source... * Mona mms, then says, "Well, then, one of you will have to go." * Sai_Link nods. "Hand me one end of the rope, if you please?" He extends a hand to Ne Rina. * Ne_Rina pulls out her rope and hands one end to Sai Link. * Sai_Link makes sure he gots a good grip on it, ties it around his wrist, and then jumps in. * Ne_Rina holds tightly to the other end. She looks around for a tree or something to tie it to. * Mona puts down her spear and grabs onto the rope as well, with both hands. "I've got it, Ne Rina. Sai Link likes jumping into things." So I see. Is he always like this? He's... * Mona smiles a little, as if amused. "Enthusiastic." [The rope moves faster as the weight gets heavier. Something must have grabbed him or he lost his footing or something.] * Mona continues holding the rope tightly, and uhfs. "Not always all there, but enthusiastic. Oh, I should have said. Congratulations for making it on." * Ne_Rina stumbles slightly as the rope shifts. "I hope he's okay... oh, thank you! Congratulations to you, too." [The rope slips out of your hands, giving you ropeburn from the speed if you held it without gloves. Even if you were, it heats the metal/leather/cloth with the friction.] (Slips out completely?) [The rope goes for a good 25 ft. before it slows down and stops. Nothing else happens, really.] * Mona yells out, "Yow!" and gets ropeburn. * Ne_Rina winces as the rope slides through her hands, then tries to grab it with her sore palms. "Sai Link! Are you all right?" * Sai_Link calls back up, "I"m fine! Do you still have the rope?" * Mona readjusts her hands, wincing slightly, and mutters things about Sai. Yes! Though you're not helping with whatever's happened down there... can you see, at least? Yeah! So what is down there? Someone. They're amused at my slip-up, so it's most likely the councilman. * Mona says in a disbelieving tone, ".. He was at your interview. Are you sure you can see? Or did you hit your head?" * Ne_Rina chuckles very softly. * Mona says more quietly, to Ne Rina, "Did I mention the 'not always all there' part of his enthusiasm?" You did, yes. Just checking. So you know what you've gotten yourself into. I should be afraid, shouldn't I? * Mona shakes her head. "Not that afraid." She pauses for a second, readjusts her hurt hands, then says, "So, you like geography?" * Ne_Rina nods. "I like finding out all about new places. And now we'll get to see them for real!" I hope, anyway. * Mona chuckles a little and says, "You sound like Selik. A little." She mms. "It'll be interesting to see some of the places I've read about." Who's Selik? Oh? A Clavat I know... He really wants to see the Kerstantch Woods. * Ran Dom walks out of one of the buildings, finally. "Hello. One, two... Where's the boy?" * Mona looks at the cave. "He thinks everyone's got an ulterior motive for getting on the caravan..." Ahhh... * Ne_Rina frowns, then looks back at Ran Dom. "Oh! Um... he's down the hole?" * Mona says, without looking, "We're fishing for selkie." Figures he'd go down and ruin the surprise. Catch any yet? * Mona looks back at Rand Dom. "The surprise was snoring." And now it's laughing, he says. Or at least amused. * Ran Dom snickers. "Must have heard something all right. But it's not me down there." * Ne_Rina looks slightly worried again. "Then what is it?" Why don't you go check? It'll make my job easier. * Ne_Rina looks at Mona. Depends if there's a way back up. Oh, there is. If you get lost I'll even help you find it. Maybe. * Mona looks back at Ne Rina. "Well, since this is probably part of the class, we'd better." * Ne_Rina nods. "Okay." She heads over to the hole and peers in again. "Sai Link, we're coming down!" * Sai_Link calls back, "Be careful of the trap near the bottom! It missed me, but there's bound to be more!" * RobinGone is now known as Robin ... traps. Oh dear. * Ne_Rina looks hesitant. * Mona chuckles. "I knew I should have gone to the spellcaster training." She takes a breath, then says, "I'll hold the rope for you, Ne Rina. Hopefully it'll do you some good." * Ran Dom walks over to the hole and goes down himself. "If you want to stand around all day, feel free. But you don't learn anything without trying." Okay. Thank you. * Ne_Rina waits for Ran Dom to go down before getting a good grip on the rope and slowly easing herself into the hole. I'm going to try and find any ones still active. I'll be waiting! * Mona holds the rope! [The sides are slippery, but not TOO much trouble now that someone has gone down and made some holds. There's a location where there's a slipup in the sides though.] [Going down completly, you're in a room with Ran Dom and Sai Link. A triggered trap is down there at the fall: a shackle encasing nobody's feet.] * Ne_Rina slowly and carefully works her way down, using the rope as a guide, and hopefully manages not to hit the trap on the way down. First rule of adventuring. Don't split up unless absolutely necessary. * Sai_Link is still looking around for anything else at all. Just becuase Ran Dom's there doesn't mean the heats off, probably just means he's set another one when noone was looking. Second, if you're overparanoid, you won't find a thing. * Ne_Rina calls back up. "Okay, I've reached the bottom!" ... * Mona calls back down, "Right. Okay, out of the way, I'm coming down." * Ne_Rina nervously rubs the back of her neck and then gets out of the way. * Sai_Link sighs, and flops his arms to his sides. Any other words of wisdom you'd like to impart, or would you rather wait until the opportune moment to rub them in? * Mona climbs her way down, ropeless. I'm waiting for everyone else to come down first. * Mona reaches bottom. She remembered to tack her spear back on before she left, at least. * Sai_Link waves. "Welcome to the party, Mona." * Ran Dom reaches behind him and pulls out some magicite orbs. He throws one to each person. Sai Link gets Poison, Ne Rina gets Cure, and Mona ends up with a Blizzard magicite. "You'll need these." * Sai_Link catches it, tosses it to his left hand, right, left, and slots it on the bell on his right wrist. * Sai_Link focuses on the magicite, equipping it. * Mona catches the magicite and puts it in the silver bracelet on her right arm. It joins another blue-ish one there. * Ne_Rina catches hers in a far less flashy manner, then looks uncertain as to where to put it. She just holds onto it for now. First thing's first. You'll need to know how to fight, and how to cast magic. You'll also need to know how to do both at the same time. * Mona looks over at Ne Rina's not slotting it, and side-says to her,"... do you not have any materia slots?" * Ne_Rina looks at it appraisingly. It's shiny. "Oh! Errr... in my sword, but it's taken." * Sai_Link glances at Ne Rina. "... I've got a spare wristband, if you want to borrow that." * Ne_Rina nods. "Thank you." Then she looks slightly embarassed. "I think I made a mistake." * Sai_Link takes off the left wristband. It's green, and it's got a bell that's not jingling on it, because it has a bar through it, and the bell also has magicite slots on it. * Sai_Link holds it out to Ne Rina,. * Ne_Rina takes the wristband, puts it on her wrist, and slips the magicite into it. She smiles. * Sai_Link smiles back. * Ne_Rina pulls out two other materia and puts them into the wristband as well. "I'll have to get something like this after class is done." (magicite. sorry.) * Mona chuckles and says, "I could give you a discount." (Magicite and Materia are synonomous.) Come by the shop afterwards. We've got some stock of personalized magicite holders. * Sai_Link winks at Mona. "And I'll give you a bigger discount." * Mona looks over at Sai Link and rolls her eyes. "You merchants." * Ne_Rina chuckles again. "Thank you both." Okay, I'm ready, I think. * Ne_Rina adjusts the wristband. * Sai_Link just shakes his head and chuckles. "You say merchant like it's a bad thing." * Mona rubs her hands together and looks around to get the exit listing. You kids finally done? I'm ready. * Ne_Rina nods. Good. Now, show me how you swing a sword. * Ran Dom pulls out his own paddle, which is one of the large 2-handed variety. "Try and hit me." * Sai_Link looks flatly at Ran Dom. "You've seen how I swing a sword." Yeah. At nothing. * Sai_Link hmphs, bringing a shortsword out to fill the other hand. * Sai_Link crosses the shortsword and dagger, and watches Ran Dom silently, waiting. * Ran Dom waits impatiently. * Ne_Rina looks at Sai Link's twin weapons. "Maybe I should be using something else?" * Mona rubs her neck and looks up slightly at Ran Dom, then over at Ne Rina. "Why?" * Sai_Link lets out a huff. "Fine, then I'll go first." Maybe it's better to have more variety of weapons. * Mona says with a slightly teasing tone, "Don't tell a lilty fighter that. They'd feel insulted." * Sai_Link walks at Ran Dom, suddenly breaking into a spin on one foot about two feet away from him, blades and arms outstretched at full length, trying to slice and dice the councilman. * Ne_Rina watches Ran Dom and Sai Link. "Oh?" * Ran Dom smiles and easily avoids the first attack as well as the second lead-up. "You're accurate enough for your age. How hard can you hit?" * Mona , a tall lilty-looking woman, nods. "Yep. You ever seen a lilty without a spear?" Stand still and find out! * Ne_Rina thinks about it for a second. * Ran Dom calmly stands still and brings his racket up to guard. "Sure." Not... really ever, no. Exactly. * Mona mms and adds, "They'd tell you there's all sorts of types of spears and... well, I think you get the point." * Sai_Link drops down to his knees, and springs upwards at him in an uppercut. * Ne_Rina nods. "Right, but I could use something else. I'm not a Lilty. No offense to Lilties, of course." * Mona chuckles a little, and says with.. well, mainly disinterest. "Don't worry. I'm only half lilty, so if I cared, I'd only be half-insulted." * Ne_Rina smiles a bit. "I suppose that's better than being fully insulted." * Ran Dom stands there and watches the first attack hit him solid... In Ran Dom's racket, after which it just slips out easy. The other one didn't even come close to making contact. ... You really need to work on that. * Sai_Link lands in a crouch. "... I'm not the strongest. I'm just the fastest." * Ran Dom holds out one of Sai_Link's bangles. "Really?" He must have swiped it while Sai was doing his 'demonstration'. * Mona can't help but chuckle very slightly. For a little bit. Not much. Really. ... * Ne_Rina grins slightly. * Sai_Link deflates, looks at the ground, and puts out an open hand. "... okay, you've made your point. Can I have it back?" * Ran Dom throws it to him. "I don't see why not. Next?" * Mona looks up at Ne Rina. "I don't have a sword, so I guess you're next." * Sai_Link catches it, and puts it back on, muttering something about humility and patience. * Ran Dom glances at Mona. "You really don't have anything to prove if you don't want to." * Ne_Rina looks at Mona. "I'm still debating keeping them." Ne Rina, was it? Do your own thing. There's gonna be eight of us on the caravan, don't worry about variety. * Ne_Rina looks at Ran Dom. "Do you have any other weapons?" Like claws? * Sai_Link puts the dagger and sword away. Claws, claws... * Ran Dom pulls out two pieces of magicite and hands them to Ne Rina. "Those should work." Thank you! * Ne_Rina takes them, swaps them out for the two others she had, then concentrates. * The claws appear armed and ready! They're of rather fine craftsmanship, and while not magical, are still quite effective. * Ne_Rina takes a few short practice swings. "These feel more natural, really. I just thought swords might be more impressive... but I should go for comfortable over impressive." Well, let's see what you've got. Okay! Here I go! * Ne_Rina dashes up to Ran Dom, and swings first at his chin with her left hand, then at his midsection with her right. * Ran Dom dodges the first by a backstep, but the second attack simply goes wide. "... Maybe you should try again." * Sai_Link watches. * Mona is smiling with a little amusement to herself. ... you think he'll do the same to you, Mona? * Ne_Rina takes a step back, then tries another left-right combo. * Mona shakes her head. "He already said I don't have to go. Guess that means he was paying attention in the interview." Well, it'd be satisfying to see -someone- take that grin off his face. * Ran Dom doesn't have to dodge for the first one, but does sidestep the last strike. "I can hear you, you know." Let's see how hard you can hit something, now. * Ran Dom brings up his paddle in a guard. * Sai_Link rolls his eyes. "I"m sure." * Ne_Rina concentrates and swings both fists again. * Ran Dom's armor comes into play this time, as one of the claws hits and, while it doesn't manage to get through it, does make a nice dent in the leather he wears underneath his clothing. "Better. Much better than Sai Link over there." * Ne_Rina grins slightly. "I think switching weapons was a good thing." * Ran Dom nods, then thinks for a few. "Keep'em then. From the council and me." Really? Thank you so much! * Ne_Rina beams. * Mona rubs her neck. "You're all very generous." Well, the rest of the council's paying for it, so why shouldn't I be? * Mona nods slightly and says, "Well, if you're passing on making me prove myself... what next?" Let's see you cast a spell, then. Not on me, no. Over there or something. * Ran Dom waves his hand dismissivly in a direction and watches. * Sai_Link looks over there. * Mona looks over in the direction and, since she's not holding her spear, just starts to make soft nonsense sounds and stare off in that direction, as the magical energy builds around her materia. * Ne_Rina watches with great interest. * Sai_Link watches, glancing at his wristband. * Mona finishes her charge, continuing in the gibberish speak right until the magical energy discharges in a cold blast! [The spell formulates and a quick blast of cold encases the area Mona targeted! It dissipates as soon as it came.] Next? * Ne_Rina looks over at Sai Link. She seems just fine with hanging back and waiting. * Sai_Link looks at the area with nothing in it, then back at his wristband. Alright. [The poison orb, since it hasn't been really described, is a dark-green orb of magicite. It's almost sickly in appearance, with bubbles 'popping' beneath it in what looks like a glob of acidic juices.] * Sai_Link murmers softly to himself in Ancient Selkic, as little points of green light appear around his wrist, thicker and denser. They build up and coalesce, until he gestures, and then shoot out as one at the area Mona blasted. [The area he etargets gets a small explosino of poison and acid. Since it had no target, it didn't affect anything, but it does look rather nasty.] And you? * Ran Dom looks at Ne Rina. Do you need healing? Does it matter? Just cast it at something. Okay! * Ne_Rina chants something very softly (it might be, "please let this work") as light energy surrounds her. She points at Ran Dom. [The green and blue glow envelopes Sai Link and heals him of whatever he was hurt with before. No, it doesn't heal his pride.] * Sai_Link blinks at Ran Dom. "Reflect." * Ne_Rina blinks as well. "Ah?" How perceptive of you. Not taking any chances, I see. Now, let's get the rest of this over with. * Ran Dom starts walking in the direction Sai Link adventured in earlier. Coming? * Ne_Rina looks at Sai Link, shrugs, then follows Ran Dom. * Mona follows too! * Sai_Link pads along, following silently. He flicks out a dagger, and flips that around in his hand. * Ran Dom comes across a pit that's pretty deep, and a hole above that really isn't good climbing. The hole leads to the surface from the little light that comes down. The pit is 10 ft. across, square, and takes up the entire hallway. "Looks like someone already tripped this one." He glances at Sai Link. * Sai_Link doesn't react to that, nope. He just keeps playing with the dagger. Okay. How would you get across this gap? * Ne_Rina looks for a place to tie a rope to. The best idea I came up with was trying the rope to my knife, and keep throwing that until it caught something. * There is such a place, and it looks like it's even been used before for that purpose. * Ne_Rina points. "Or we could tie the rope there." How about getting the rope across, though? Right, if we tie it there and swing across, then it stays on this side... * Ne_Rina thinks. * Mona looks at the pit, and says, "Well, I could jump it." I probably could, too. I might be able to... * Ran Dom leans against the wall and whistles. "People have got to get across some other way than jumping, you know." Climb the rope down, climb up the pit on the other side. That might work. Any other ideas? * Ne_Rina looks slightly embarassed again. "I can't think of any." * Sai_Link hmms. What about you Sai. You seem like an intellegent lad. If we could wieght down the rope enough and get the weight across the gap... but we don't... * Ran Dom smirks. * Mona mms, and shakes her head. "Ice won't hold up." Ice won't last long enough. If we could get some Gravity, we could float the rope up to the cieling there... If we have a summoner, maybe we could get one of their summons to carry it across. But that only works if we have one. * Ran Dom shakes his head. "I'll give you a hint. The key to get across is on this side." * Sai_Link looks around on 'this side' for anything he might have missed before. * Ne_Rina takes a better look, too. * Ran Dom looks bored. * Ne_Rina keeps looking! * Mona lets the selkies do their search, and in the meantime looks around the pit. * Ne_Rina looks and looks and looks for quite a while. * Sai_Link keeps looking... [Insert minutes of searching here.] * Ne_Rina walks over to the place where you could tie a rope. "Hmmm..." * Ne_Rina takes her rope and ties it to the hole, then turns the mechanism. Hmm? [The mechanism doesn't budge easily. Coiling it around and starting it like a lawn mower might work, though...] Take a look at this. If I wrap the rope around it and pull... Oh? * Sai_Link looks! * Mona looks at Ne Rina and her not-a-lawnmower. "Huh..." Well, then, pull. * Ne_Rina pulls several times. Like starting a lawnmower, not that she'd know what it is. ;p * Sai_Link lets Ne Rina do her thing, keeping an eye out in general. * Ne Rina lets it rip! SHE IS MUSCLE GIRL! The pit's 'doors' close up and latch with a click. Ran Dom walks across the pit, not triggering the trap that is probably in place by now. Right... Trap machinery. * Ne_Rina points to one spot. "There's a pressure switch right there." * Sai_Link walks across, -- then stops dead as Ne Rina says that. [Good thing too. Sai's foot was just about to hit it.] * Sai_Link looks down. "Where?" He's not moving a muscle. * Ne_Rina walks over, though not on it of course. "Right there." She points directly at the spot. * Mona looks at it and mms. "Is that the only one?" * Sai_Link adjusts his balance, and jumps past it. * Ne_Rina takes another look. "I think so, but let me double-check." * Ne_Rina nods after a bit of checking. "Yes, that's the only one." * Mona nods and walks her heavy clunky self around the pressure switch. [Down a ways and around the corner is a winding staircase! Do you go up? (Y/N)] * Ne_Rina walks back and unties her rope after Mona is across, then walks across the former pit, taking care not the step on the switch. * Ran Dom selects Y. He starts up it! * Sai_Link stops a short distance from the stairs. * Ne_Rina catches up to Sai Link and Mona. "What's wrong?" Sai's being paranoid. Which is probably smart, since Ran Dom knows where all the tricks are. Something like that. * Sai_Link glances around. * Ne_Rina looks around, too. * Sai_Link cautiously starts up the stairs. * Mona frowns. "And I don't see anything. Why is that not comforting?" She gives Sai a bit of a lead and then follows. * Ne_Rina doesn't see anything, so she slowly follows behind Mona. "I don't, either." [The stairs... ATTACK! No, not really. They're stairs. Normal stairs. In fact, they don't even look like they could turn into a flat surface to make you fall on your lutz. Nope.] That makes three. [After a good fifteen feet of going up, Sai hits his head on a door becuase he's looking down.] * Mona would normally laugh at that, but this dungeon is annoying her, so she doesn't. She DOES look at the gazebo. Er. Door. * Sai_Link ducks, and goes through the door. * Ne_Rina winces slightly when Sai Link bumps his head. [The door is a bland wooden door, looks very new in fact. There's a door handle there, and, um, that's about it. It's just a door.] * Sai_Link ... looks at the door, then forces himself to relax, and gives it a once-over. Are you okay? ... yeah. * Mona shakes her head. "Let's go." [The door glares at you menacingly. Raaaar.] ... * Sai_Link ... OPENS THE DOOR. [The door is locked! Duh.] ... ... it's locked. Locked? * Sai_Link smacks himself on the forehead. Is it just me, or are we all starting to get annoyed with him? I think it's pretty much like this in some of the dungeons... well, according to the journals. Well, he gave me these neat new weapons... but this is a little annoying. I guess we have to get used to encountering this sort of thing, though. But I don't have anything I can use to unlock a door. I do. Give me a bit of room. * Ne_Rina steps back a bit. * Sai_Link digs a small box out of his bag, sets the bag aside, and sets about ... OPENING THE DOOR. * Mona gives him a bit of room. * Sai_Link repacks the box into the bag and.... OPENS THE DOOR. [The door is open. OMFG!] * Sai_Link GOES THROUGH THE DOOR. [Sai Link hears a 'click' just before he gets covered in water for walking through. Doesn't he feel lucky. Don't forget the bucket too, which lands on his head bottom-up.] * Sai_Link continues walking. -_-; [Sai Link also can't see.] * Ne_Rina stifles a laugh. Poor Sai Link. [Bucket on head. you know.] * Sai_Link takes off the helmet, then looks around. * Mona exhales noisily, and follows Sai after he gets bucketed. [The room is actually the inside of one of the 'abandoned' buildings that were nearby. Ran Dom is leaning back in a chair and eating some round corn on the cob. "Hey, you finally got up here."] Did you like the surprise? * Sai_Link grips the bucket with a death-grip, but aside from that, is perfectly calm. Well, that and the clenched teeth. Yeah, all that suspense and paranoia was making me pretty thirsty. That's why you need to relax. Get all strung up and every little bat will make you go crazy. Any questions about the lesson so far, anything you think I should go over? * Sai_Link closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath, forcibly exhaling after that. No, I think you've rubbed in every point so far. * Ne_Rina shakes her head. "I think I understand." * Mona nods very slightly. I think I understand that I'm never walking first. * Sai_Link nods enthusiastically. "Same here." * Ran Dom grins. "You're learning fast. Good. Now, let's go outside. We have a little more to take care of." * Ran Dom gets out of his chair and walks outside. ... I would say this next part can't possibly be as annoying as what we just went through, but I'm not going to curse myself. * Sai_Link follows, forcing himself to breathe and calm down. * Mona licks her lips and chuckles. "Well, outside. It's harder to make traps outside." ... don't say that where he can hear us. Are you *that* paranoid? No, there aren't any traps outside. Let's go see what's waiting. * Mona snickers and walk walk walks. * Ne_Rina heads out as well. * Sai_Link continues walking. Walkity walkity walk. [It's outside! With Ran Dom! He glances over you.] Do you know how to combine attacks, or chain attacks? * Ne_Rina shakes her head. * Sai_Link nods. "I know of it. I haven't tried it personally, though." Well, now it's time for you to try. Sai Link, Ne Rina. Try combining two attacks on the dummy... If you know how to pull a Strike Past, try that. * Sai_Link changes the dagger to a shortsword. * Mona hangs back. She nodded slightly at his statement. Okay. Okay... * Ne_Rina gets her claws again, then looks over at Sai Link. "Ready?" * Sai_Link nods. "Let's do this." * Sai_Link tenses, focusing... * Ne_Rina gets into a ready position and focuses her energy. Selkie Storm. [X-Strike] [Sai Link and Ne Rina go simultaneously at the dummy. Sai takes his sword and beheads the dummy, while Ne Rina goes from the other direction and slashes it a huge gash in the side. After the two are done and on the other side, the dummy causes a nice fluffy explosion of stuffing, as the full weight of the attacks affect it.] Good work, on your first try too. Now, Mona, you want to try adding a third part to that combination? Or you could try chaining a spell in, instead. * Ne_Rina looks fairly pleased with her ability to deal damage to stuffed things. * Sai_Link looks at his sword treasonously, then shakes his head and sighs. * Mona looks thoughtful, then says. "Jump would probably be a better match than Ice." * Sai_Link hmms. "These aren't sponteanous things. We should come up with ... callnames for the different combinations." Yes, we should. * Mona reaches back and warp-draws her spear. "Maybe after we get this one working." * Sai_Link nods. * Mona gestures at another bag and moves a bit towards it. "Ready?" * Ran Dom waits. * Mona doesn't actually bother waiting for them to respond, already beginning to obviously focus and tense her legs. * Ne_Rina gets into a ready position again and begins focusing. * Sai_Link points his sword at the one Mona's gesturing at, just to be sure he's on the same target, focusing... [Sai Link jumps the gun, and Mona just isn't ready, both losing their focus. Sai goes forward and makes a slash at the lone dummy, while Mona just kinda stands there. Ne Rina is probably going to look at both of you funny.] * Sai_Link stops hastilly, spinning on a heel to face the others. Um, oops? Maybe we ought to count to three and then go. * Mona closes her eyes and stands normally. ... try it with magic. Go ahead and try again. Magic this time? * Sai_Link tilts his head, thinking. "Selkie Storm Blizzard." We attack and Mona casts a spell, then? You know how silly that sounds? * Mona frowns at Sai and shakes her head. "Fine. Magic." Easy to remember. It may be silly, but if it gets us to remember... * Ne_Rina looks over at Sai Link and grins for a second. * Sai_Link cracks a grin. "And if they laugh at us, that just means it'll hurt more when it hits." So let's try it. * Sai_Link points at the lucky dummy. "Ne Rina, Mona, Selkie Storm Blizzard!" He doesn't waste a moment before focusing... * Mona nods and starts that weird chanting. * Ne_Rina nods and focuses. One... Two... Three! [Icestrike! Ne Rina and Mona launch into action on cue, Mona casting the ice spell on the dummy while Ne Rina smashes it to pieces with her claws, hitting a shattering point of the ice. Sai Link is... Not so lucky and just stands there.] * Ne_Rina grins, then looks over at Sai Link. "What happened?" * Mona looks at the shards of target and brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes. "... Well, that went much better." * Sai_Link frowns. Didn't catch it... Sorry. Did I count too fast? * Ran Dom nods. "Hard, isn't it? Okay, I think that's enough. Unless you want to try one last trick." * Sai_Link shakes his head. "Well have plenty of time to practice later." * Ne_Rina nods. "Okay." Then she looks at Ran Dom. "What trick?" * Mona looks between them. "They said they'd never chained before... that's sorta important." Chaining with yourself, of course. It's a bit easier than chaining with others. Oh? You can do that? Yup. In fact, Mona was kind enough to give us a demonstration durring her audition. * Mona smiles a little and nods. * Ne_Rina looks over at Mona. "Oh! Neat! Can you show us?" * Mona nods slightly. "Always thought lightning was more Jump's style, but blizzard would work." She focuses on another target. "Here it goes. " She does the jump-tense... but also chants and causes the magical energy gathering around her bracelet... * Mona takes a bouncing step and the materia glow gets more intense as she jumps and sails high through the air! [Icestrike again! Mona jumps WAY up and land, her weapon's tip glowing an icy blue when she cast the spell in mid-air. Upon impact the spell discharges, slashing through the dummy as a wake of ice follows, freezing the dummy in place before it falls to the ground and shatters.] * Ne_Rina looks amazed. "Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice." * Sai_Link eyes widen. See why I didn't want to bother testing her strength? I think I do. * Mona lands in a crouch and chuckles. "Mom cheated, too." I don't blame her. * Mona stands up and brushes a few more bits of hair out of her eyes. "It's her fault for standing there." She seemed rather proud of you when all was done, though. *Ran Dom looks back and forth a bit and grins.* Don't tell her I told you that, though. * Sai_Link hmms, and starts up a Poison spell, the little sickly green orbs forming, but not coalescing. * Mona looks around and takes some slightly shaky steps away. At Ran Dom's statement she get a sad little smile on her face. "Don't worry, she won't hear it from me." She turns back to them. "So, your turns. It's tricky, but you can both probably do it. It'll be slow, though, with the magic..." Cast and hold... * Sai_Link shifts his focus to the sword. "And then Strike and release the spell?" * Mona nods slightly. Yeah. * Sai_Link closes his eyes, still holding the Poison spell, then opening them, tensing for a moment, then dashing at insane speeds past- and through- a surviving dummy. [Poisonstrike! Sai's sword sails into the dummy, but not out. Stupid thing didn't want to follow-through. Still, the poison seeps into the dummy following the sword and causes the entire thing to soak in a rather-disgusting greenish purple liquid substance.] ... * Ran Dom shakes his head. "You need to build some muscle." * Sai_Link yanks the sword out, and steps back. * Sai_Link sighs, like he's heard that before. "Sorry I'm not my brother..." * Ne_Rina looks slightly confused. You willing to try, Ne Rina? Try hitting the dummy that Sai's already smacked. * Mona looks down slightly at Sai's statement, then looks up, saying, "Good job for your first try, Sai Link." Sure. * Sai_Link sits down at the sidelines, arms around his knees. * Mona shoots Ran Dom a look, and goes over to sit near Sai. * Sai_Link watches Ne Rina. * Ran Dom doesn't notice Mona shooting looks. Those might hurt. * Ne_Rina chants softly and the blue-green glow forms around her fist. She then rushes forward and punches at the dummy. * Mona says quietly, "Don't worry about him." I suppose it's needed. The only 'nice' people on the council were Cid and Mog... (And Darell ;_; All he wants is for you to have friends!) Must be one of the reasons I still got even even though I know at least Gwesus didn't like me. Ability over preference? [Curestrike! Ne Rina's glowing fist of doom goes through the dummy! The poison seems to vanish as it does, and the body pretty much 'mends' itself back together. Ne Rina's attack didn't do damage, but instead recovered it.] * Mona says in the semi-quiet voice, "They're people, but they're not dumb." Yeah... Oh! * Ne_Rina looks surprised. * Sai_Link blinks at the recovered dummy. * Mona hums thoughtfully at the healing. * Ran Dom nods. "My work is done. If you really want to talk when I'm not on the job, come fishing with me some time. Which I'm going to do now." He picks up a tackle box and a fishing pole and starts to the beach. "Keep the magicite. You'll need it." Thank you! * Mona nods at the man slightly. "Goodbye." Speaking of magicite... * Sai_Link hops to his feet, and walks over to Ne Rina. "I beleive you were interested in something to hold yours in?" Yes, please! * Ne_Rina takes hers out of Sai Link's borrowed armband and holds it out to him. * Sai_Link accepts it back, with a slight bow. "Thank you." No, thank you. * Mona stands up slowly. * Sai_Link grins. "Okay. You're welcome then." * Mona chuckles slightly. "Going to go sell her a quantity produced piece of metal then, Sai Link?" Well... I could look at what you both have and then decide for myself, you know. * Ne_Rina grins a little. No, there's some name-brand pieces there. But... yeah, she beat me to it. * Mona laughs and waves her hand. "If you want to come by the Claytons later, I am a fair hand at jewelry. I'm sure we could make something that went with your outfit if the Greens don't." ( name-brand--> designer pieces ) Okay! Err, that is, if you don't mind. * Mona stretches and puts her ranseur away. * Sai_Link gestures Ne Rina to follow. "Are you up for it now?" Sure. * Mona mms, then puts her hand to her stomach. "Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you for real, but I'd better eat and get back to work. I'll see you both around, I'm sure." * Sai_Link waves at Mona. "I'll see you again, surely." Yes. Can I come by later, or is that a bad time? * Mona smiles faintly. "No, it's not a bad time, but you've got Sai Link's merchandise to look through, so you two go ahead and enjoy that." All right. Then I'll see you later. It was nice actually meeting you. * Mona snickers. "Yes, it was." * Mona waves and walks away, back towards the normal part of town. * Ne_Rina waves back. [Session End!]