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Training Cat & Bird

Scene details

Setting: As the team prepare for their next trip back to the volcano, its the matter of training the two pets to get along.

Log



  It's slowly approaching the afternoon time; the sun shimmers in the air while the wind bellows. A few overcast clouds appear, but it does not appear to be bear impending rain.

  It had been a while since the traveling party were forced to retreat from the manifesting toxic elemental. The overbearing smell plus the liveliness of the elemenal spelled significant detrimental chances for the party to deal with the threat for now.

  Reize is currently gathered out at the shoreline away from their camp with a few of the animal friends. Why? Well, it's to help train the shadowcat and the Doom Chicken to get along, or at least improve the hostile relationship. The explorer is left in a sleeveless shirt and his gauntlets, headband removed. He is still, of course missing his signature scarf. What is more important is that the boy appears quite sooted, as if he's still recovering...

EARLIER (Day Before)
Shadow Cat: *eyes Doom Chicken and pounces for food!*
Doom Chicken: *evades and becomes angry, manifesting big nuke*
Shadow Cat: *swoops to Reize and vanishes in his shadow*
Reize: Hey little gu--buh?
Doom Chicken: *ALL OF THE METEORS*
Reize: !!!!!!!

***** BIG MUSHROOM CLOUD FOR THOSE IN VICINITY *****

Reize: *down*
Doom Chicken: . o O ( One out of two ain't bad )
Tortoise: *nods approvingly*

 It is very likely that many of the current residence witnessed a meteor followed by a pillar of flames at a concentrated location off the coast.

NOW

  Reize is glaring at the Doom Chicken, who currently has a sign attached to it: 'I am a bad chicken. I dropped a meteor on my master's fiance'. Of course, the chicken does not appear remorseful. ...In fact, it's wearing it like a badge of honor.

  "... You know, you could at least -act- like you're ashamed."

Ruidosa La Crima is here and saw everything. She was wide eyed the whole time as she gasped.

"That was amazing. WHO'S A GOOD KITTEN. Who's a good Sombra, yes you are, yes you are!" she says scritching the shadowcat. Then the doom chicken. "Who's a good chicky who's a good chicky!" she goes, stroking the chicken under the beak despite it's sign.

"Aren't they so smart!" she says to Reize, proudly.

"They knew you could take the hits! and live!" she says clasping a hand on Reize's shoulder.


 With access, however brief, to ore for smelting, lumber for carving, and coal to fuel a forge in the absence of aetheric fuel, Ivo has leapt at the chance to progress their little stranded band to a new era of civilization. Granted, their home base looks as it ever did, a reinforced and charmingly curtained hull of a shipwreck. But a couple of the surrounding volcanic boulders have been notably repurposed. One is blackened with soot from cracks in its top and base, the rocky outcrop opportunistically turned into a makeshift furnace. Another towering gibber has a natural sort of cavern, doubtless formed by years of shifting tides, in which the magitechnician has arranged all manner of delicate glasswork. Yes: he can now blow glass again, which means proper (non-coconut) potions, elespheres, and more. Much more.
 "Magificient... but to what end first?..."
 The dilettante's visage is reflected back at him by the shimmering gem in his hand, which looks like the most vivid amethyst laced with fiery streaks akin to abelone shell. His and Fabroxo's experiments with the aetheric residue left by the corrupted elemental they had confronted at the far edge of the Cactus Forest have yielded a treasure. It seems that the lengthy confrontation between the highly evolved wind elementals Wuther and Scirocco produced a complex interweaving of Wind element and Destruction domain that would otherwise be nigh impossible to acccomplish. The result is a wind-aspected aether gem with the mild Destruction-themed quality of contraction: a "vacuum" aether, of sorts.
 The only question is to how these could best be used under the circumstances. Thus has Ivo been in deep Fabroxo-style scientific contemplation, undisturbed by petty matters like something or someone blowing up in the vicinity recently. Nevertheless, he does poke his head out as he hears Ruidosa praising her questionably amicable companions.
 "You know," he offers, "we distilled some of the essence of Destruction from elemental remains." The young man blithely lifts a hand palm up, where a perfect sphere of black floats like a mote of starless night, suspended some inches up from his fingers. Like a miniature black hole, it seems to infinitely draw in upon itself, repulsed from all matter and so suspended in the air. "Perhaps your cat or chicken could draw on its power somehow."
 Because what's missing here are bigger meteors.


  There is an exasperated sigh that exhales from Reize as Ruidosa tries to convince him that both of her acquired pets are well-behaved. He glances at her, "We should try to train them to get along so that they're not hostile towards each other." After all, the cat did use him as a shield to take the brunt of the chicken's wrath. Upon Ivo's interjection, a frown grows, "... While that would be suitable for a power enhancement, I'd like for us to be able to get them to get along first, rather than Chic---" He pauses, glancing back at the Doom Chicken cutting its direction towards Reize.

  "---ken, getting enhanced enough for more meteors." He grimaces.

  He does give a thoughtful look before he adds, "Ivo, have you came up with anything for regarding the certain guardian that forced us to retreat?" He rubs the back of his head, "Don't think we'll be able to face it in our current state... Or at least, not without anything to put it at a disadvantage." He cannot help but glance over at their base of operations. "At the very least, our base has changed to look nicer!"
 

Ruidosa La Crima is drawn to the starless orb of destruction energy and 'ooohhhsss' at it. She wants to touch it and she tries to, but draws her hands away as not to ruin it. "I want to shove it into my mouth!" she says. She then looks up to Ivo. "DESTRUCTION INFUSED CRABS." she says darkly.

She shakes Ivo a moment. Maybe ''she' has Ocean Madness.

No. No she's just Ruidosa.

She looks back to Reize. "We need better gear." she says gravely.

"Maybe there's something on this island for me." she says. "Besides a cute bikini." she says, eyeing the crafting menu items.


 "I'm still working on that," Ivo replies to Reize, the magitechnician reaching up to tap his chin with a soot-blackened finger. His typical ironical air is absent, and very uncharacteristically, he hardly seems to notice the absurdity of Reize and Ruidosa cavorting with cats and chickens. The Cosmopolitan is utterly absorbed in the extraordinary magitech discovery they've made. Perhaps Fabroxo and friends are rubbing off on him, or perhaps this scholarly curiosity has always dwelt within him, even if he was never a specialist in socketing gems. "I've managed to reconstitute some earth element elespheres for that purpose. But the earth element is weak here and I can't create especially powerful ones -- and even then, I have to strike at the elemental's core to dissipate them in one stroke, so there's a question of how to approach the adversary. Piercing the winds even with Hauteclare is no mean feat at a distance."
 Having moved his hands away, the veritable Orb of Destruction he was showing off floats lazily in the air, as though it were as harmless as a bubble blown by a child.
 "Frankly, given the means available to us," the Cosmopolitan is saying, "if the Shadowcat could work with Reize to move him suddenly into the opponent's shadow, even if one cannot 'blindside' an elemental, the abruptness of the approach might create an opponent for quickly dispatching them before the toxic gas has any effect. Otherwise--"
 Then Ruidosa mentions, in all caps, Destruction-infused crabs. Alright, at the very least, Ivo has to make fun of this.
 "It just might work," he replies in complete seriousness, nodding slowly to Ruidosa, furrowing his brow in contemplation. "If Fabroxo can instill a human consciousness into a capybara, he might know how to absorb a sphere of pure darkness into a crab. He did once say that all organisms have a tendency to become crabs... though I didn't grasp his meaning."
 They're actually going to try to do it, aren't they.
 "The Shadowcat Bikini Set should increase one's compatibility and teamwork with the Shadowcat," Ivo helpfully observes. Sure, why not. "But Rui's right. We should think in terms of new gear, especially that which might protect us and preserve or enhance our maneuverability. After all, closing in quickly would involve--"
 Suddenly, his eyes snap wide.
 "That's it!!"
 Ivo, swept away by a Eureka moment, darts back into the cavern. The precious and precarious Orb of Destruction, forgotten, continues to just hover around, drifting about slowly via unseen and unknowable eddies in space and time, even the wind seeming to avoid it.


  As Ruidosa brings up the fact that they need new gear, Reize offers a faint smile, "We could do some hunting for some components and see about having Raiy---" He pauses, then he frowns, "...Ah." The boy looks quite reflective as he remembers his time at Cosmopolis during their first adventure. Even though it was very late in their travels, Raiya was a huge boon given that she was a blacksmith. He looks slightly nervous and he runs his hand over to the back of his head.

  "Well, it maybe between Iris or Iv--" And Ivo is darting off at a burst of inspriation, "--vooo..." He trails off with a large sweatbead over the back of his head. "Well, I guess the orb that he has is yours." He wouldn't be able to make use of it, himself. In fact, he steels himself for what may come next. He remembers the last time that Ruidosa took in and devoured as source of Destruction, he -felt- everything running through his body.

  "... At least Ivo found some sort of inspiration." He glances back at the two pets, still mentally steeling himself. He has not forgotten about the reason for the gathering, "Alright you two! It's time for us to do some team building! We'll have you two the best of friends in no time."
 

Ruidosa La Crima makes a face. "I'm not attacking a kill beast in a bikini!" yes she is.

She eyes the mote of energy and then grabs it and shoves entirely into her mouth. Don't look. This works. Somehow.

This probably makes Reize tingle a bit as she licks her lips and she looks back to the two creatures. "Behave, now~" she says.


 Ivo is blessedly not present to witness Ruidosa eating the Orb of Destruction. On the one hand, it would surely be an event that would go down in the history of magitechnical science and Vampire Studies if observed. On the other hand, the SAN damage likely to accrue in the process of observation might render the effort moot.
 But one can anticipate at least some likely effects:

PRO: Greatly empowered mana reserves for Destruction magic. Enhanced compatibility with monsters that wield Destruction magic. Increased damage and critical hit power for Destruction magic.
CON: Increased interest from Destruction-aspected eidola. Occasional strong impulses to conquer and/or destroy the world. Tummy ache.

 Regardless, this is likely to create the conditions both for the Doom Chicken to have a lot of ammunition, as it were, and for Reize to be in a pretty bad state. The cons may be looking stronger than the pros, at least in the immediate future. Until, dramatically--
 "I've done it!!"
 Ivo emerges, both hands upraised, grasping a small and gleaming metal contraption studded with a vibrant purple gem. It practically glows in the sun, as though it were not an invention but a gift from the heavens, nay, from destiny itself. What could he have created that would perfect in application the power of wind and Destruction, of 'vacuum' or drawing close? What manner of gear embodying this power would improve their maneuverability to such an extent to warrant such celebration?
 "I call it... the Hook Shot, Exceed!"

> Ivo has crafted the Hook Shot EX.
> An extended victory/artifact-discovery fanfare plays.

 He stands there, glorying in this creation, for some time.
 And then a stray Doom Chicken meteor lands on him.

> The Hook Shot EX has been destroyed.


  Reize furrows his eyebrows at Ruidosa's remark about the fighting in a bikini. Then, he looks a bit nervous, "Well..." He rubs the back of his head. "You don't have to... your usual form is fine, too."

 ... And there she goes. As expected, as Ruidosa takes the whole orb into her mouth, his eyes shut tightly as he feels a tingling feeling from their bond. "Guhh...!"

 He grimaces, turning away and then he eyes both the Doom Chicken and the shadow cat. "Okay, you two. We're going to go through some team building exercises to get you two to get along."

 At the same time, the two detect something.

> Potential hope for Reize in development.

 The chicken glances back at the cat, who then returns the glance back. A paw meets a wing for a hand shake.

 "BA-CAW!!!!"

 The Doom Chicken spins around and spreads its wings. The sky becomes overcast with a blanket of darkness. A malevolent eye manifests from the sky, and then out comes a meteor descending down towards workshop.

 CRASH!

 "Buh?!" Reize's eyes widen and then he springs into action, running towards the workshop. "Ivo! Are you okay?!"

 ... And then he sees it.

 His hopes and dreams shattered.

 "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

 As the shadowcat and the ebony-feathered chicken shake, they are met with the foot of another creather, a reptilian one. The grumpy tortoise look down at the two smaller creatures. He gives an approving nod.

 You both have done well.
 

> The bond between Doom Chicken and Shadow Cat has increased!