[center][h3]Ms Fortune[/h3]
Location: Deep Blue Seaside - Kanzuki Beach Estate
Level 8 Nadia (71/80)
Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Blazermate’s [@Archmage MC], Hat Kid’s [@Dawnrider], Geralt’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN], Ace Cadet’s [@Yankee], Sakura's [@Zoey Boey], Link’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1366[/center]

As wonderful as her adventure through the shallows of Heaven’s Edge had been, with all the amazing wildlife that enriched every colorful nook and coral-filled cranny of its incredible natural labyrinth of sand, Nadia knew that it was past time she packed it in. She’d been running on empty for a while now in fact, tempted ever onward by the exciting prospect of what might lay just beyond the next shoal. A four-course feast of volleyball plus what felt like a solid hour of semi-aquatic off-shore exploration was a lot even for someone as athletic as her, and by now she wanted nothing more than to collapse back in her beach chair and doze the day away.

After bidding farewell to Ace for now, Nadia made her way back toward the beach at a leisurely pace, floating along on her back with just the gentlest flicks of her fishtail wherever possible. Despite all the time she’d spent in and under it, the beautifully clear water had yet to lose its charm, its embrace every bit as delightful and reinvigorating as when the feral first jumped in. Its coolness perfectly complemented the warmth of the afternoon sun soaked up by the skin of her arms, legs, and face. Another long, happy sigh welled up within her as she drifted closed to the beach, across a sunken area where the rocky bottom lay hidden beneath a miniature canopy of tentacled anemones with all the colors of the rainbow. All too soon her back came to rest against a slope of sand, and Nadia opened her eyes to find that she’d washed up on terra firma. Leaning back with her arms planted against the ground, she cast one last long, slow look across Heaven’s Edge. This place truly was a paradise–the kind of place that helped remind poor souls that there was more to life than pain and suffering, and what the peace and happiness they fought so bitterly for actually looked like.

A hint of melancholy coursed through Nadia as she picked herself up and trudged across the sand toward her beach chair. If only, she thought, Mirage, Sakura, Brineybeard, and the others were around to enjoy it too. They’d more than earned such a rich reward. She hoped that wherever they might be right now, they too were enjoying their shares of happiness. Would that those who’d paid the ultimate price to safeguard such happiness had lived to see it, too. Frog, Mr. L, Delsin, each and every shipgirl who sunk on Blackwater Bay, and in every naval battle before…Nadia wasn’t about to stop living her life out of guilt or sorrow for the departed, but she didn’t plan to forget them, either. Her heart went out to Mirage in particular. In the brief and, all things considered, pretty traumatic time she’d known him, he’d proved himself a real nice guy. But after everything that happened, she couldn’t blame him if he ended up thinking that he’d jumped on the wrong boat. Would she even see him again? Only time would tell, but Nadia sure hoped so.

Before she knew it, the feral had reached her chair. At some point a beach towel had been thoughtfully laid across its back, so Nadia took it, moved the clothes she’d left behind, and spread it over the chair to lay upon. While her first instinct was to plop down right that instant, she realized that she also felt pretty dehydrated, and so with the last of her stamina she made her way to the bar. As nice as another stiff drink sounded, she felt pretty relaxed already, so a misty glass of ice-cold water suited her far better. Once she got a hold of it Nadia gulped it down so fast that a good amount splashed across her cheeks and her front, but she neither noticed nor cared. In a few seconds the water was all gone. “Ahh!” she gasped with relish. As she set down the cup with a [i]clink[/i] and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, she flashed the bartender a smile. “Thanks!”

Feeling mighty fine, Nadia made her way back to her beach chair. On the way she glanced over at the bubble pit again, still curious. Even more people were milling in and around it, grooving to the music. As fun as it looked, she didn’t want any more detours right now. Maybe she could check it out later, preferably with Ace. If she was going to make a fool of herself trying to dance for the first time, might as well make the memory with him. Then again, she didn’t exactly want to monopolize the dude’s time or anything. Well, whatever. Right now she needed to rest; everything else could wait. Nadia parked herself on her chair in the warmth of the sun, her shorts and tank top balled up together to serve as a pillow, and dozed right off.

[hr]

About an hour of tossing, turning, and light snoring later, Nadia awoke with a sudden start and a loud snort. Her jerk upright left her blinking and mildly bewildered as she took in the scenery again. “Nngh…” When she swallowed she discovered that her throat was as dry as a bone. [i]Ahh man, was I sleeping with my mouth open the whole time?[/i] In addition to parched and a little embarrassed when she considered how many people must have passed by and seen her just snoozing there, she felt bleary and disheveled, as if she hadn’t rested well. She let out a groan as she plopped back down, her eyes squeezed shut. Without enough alcohol to pollute her ever-replenishing bloodstream to the point where she actually blacked out, her rest had been riddled with bits and pieces of last night’s horrors. Snippets of hideous monstrosities and gruesome vistas hung around her like flies on a corpse. She massaged her eyes with the palms of her hands, dashing the images with blotches of phantasmal color. A good mai tai, she reasoned, would solve both her issues at once.

Once Nadia enjoyed a luxurious catlike stretch, she got to her feet. Her seaside nap had left her skin totally dry and, against all odds, not burnt, so she pulled her clothes on without issue before she made her way to the bar to wait her turn. The sun still shone bright overhead, just not quite as high as she remembered it. It looked like the bubble pit was still around, but both the music and the crowd had subsided, so while a few beachgoers still frequented it Nadia guessed it wouldn’t be around much longer. A section of beach not far from the volleyball courts north of the Kanzuki estate appeared to be littered with colorful scraps of rubber, indicating a large-scale water balloon fight that Nadia had been unlucky enough to miss. “Rats,” she hissed. While not the best judge of time, she figured that it must be around four o’ clock or so. A little too early for round two with Miss Karin’s altogether-too-generous buffett, although the feral didn’t really know if her host planned to cater both meals. Maybe dinner somewhere else in Limsa would be a nice change of pace…the Bismarck, maybe? It could still be under repair from the fight with Cia and her clones, but the view that Nadia happened to catch off the dining area when her head got knocked into someone’s noodle bowl had been pretty awesome, and the noodles weren’t bad at all, either. If not that, then maybe another tavern. Drowning Wench had been pretty good after all. Maybe Missing Member? But with a name like that, who knew what she might be in for. Nadia resolved to do a little city exploring once the sun got a good bit lower. Until then though, this lovely beach had plenty more to offer her.

In short order she got her drink, then leaned on one of the standing tables while she sipped it, her tail casually swishing back and forth. She kept an eye out for any of her friends, interested to see if anyone was up to something interesting.

[center][h3]The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, and the Skullgirl[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Snowdin Outskirts
Linkle’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy], Frisk’s [@Majoras End][/center]

As Albedo expected, the prospect of butchery wouldn’t leave a battlefield veteran like Linkle feeling squeamish. She didn’t even hesitate to call out and hail the company down below. Now that the furious din of their skirmish had given way to the silence of the snowy woods, the hunters could hear her loud and clear, and turned toward the source to see the girl waving. While Albedo wouldn’t have put it past anyone to be trigger-happy when it came to uninvited guests, especially in such an ominous place where any manner of peril could lurk behind the next copse of trees, the leaders of the clerics neither took up arms nor lost neither composure as they sized up the trio on the tree-lined bluff. No doubt the numbers advantage in their corner gave them confidence, and more than likely they supposed -correctly- that these strangers had borne witness to what they’d just achieved. As anyone could see from the creature’s sheer size and destructive power, felling a Gammoth was no mean feat. Reasonably speaking, one would have to be a fool to challenge this well-armed congregation out of hand, and Linkle certainly wasn’t one.

She greeted them as cordially as the distance between them would allow, making the obvious connection between these wielders of holy magic and the cold monastery she explored that morning. For a moment their leaders glanced between one another. They gave no reply, but the knight gave a brisk wave back, indicating some degree of friendliness, and the priestess waved with both hands and a smile. Once the clerics’ lack of outward hostility seemed clear, Linkle proceeded to drop down from the edge of the cliff. She slid, skidded, and hopped down the incline, breaking into a light jog when the slope evened out. All the while she kept her hands well clear of her weapons, a characteristically pleasant look on her face–a diplomatic choice.. Albedo followed right behind her, grateful for the fact that his weapon dematerialized when not in use. The last thing he wanted or needed right now was to get on the wrong side of a force like this, whether or not the Skullgirl could actually take them on with her newfound power. As he and Linkle drew close the knight and the priestess turned their way, leaving the more taciturn two in reserve.

“Greetings!” the priestess told them. “I never would have expected to see friendly faces all the way out here, especially ones so young! My name is Tatiana, a saint tasked with holy healing.”

“I’m known as D.” As he stood, speaking in a low, steady voice, the knight cradled the head that protruded from his breastplate with his off hand. The other held a [url=https://i.imgur.com/uV0nu5S.png]beautiful gold-silver greatsword[/url], the broad tip of its inseparable blade still embedded in the ground to convey his lack of hostility. “We are not affiliated with the Monastery, make no mistake. Though we have cause to work with them on occasion, we cannot condone the corruption allowed by their excessive permissiveness.”

The mention of work left Albedo curious. “Are you all game hunters? I would not have expected men and women of the cloth to engage in such activity.”

“It is for precisely that reason that we engage in such activity,” D told him. “Because corpses turn to ash mere moments after death takes hold, meat is scarce, and many want for food. When treated to the Litany of Proper Death, however, death takes its natural course. So it is that we make our coin as we travel the land, in pursuit of Those Who Live in Death.”

Both unfamiliar terms, spoken with weight and import, fascinated the alchemist. It did not escape him that the man called D referred to Those Who Live in Death with venom in his words, suggestive of a profound enmity. Albedo made sure he did not instinctively glance Linkle’s way. “Forgive me, but I have not heard those words before. Could I trouble you for an explanation?”

D sniffed. “The Litany of Proper Death is an incantation, a recitation of faith. It is nothing more, and nothing less, than a re-establishment of proper order over aberration in the world. And none more so than Those Who Live in Death.” Though he kept his tone even, he could not keep the severity out of his voice. “Such creations fall outside the principles of the Golden Order. Their mere existence sullies the guidance of gold. Tainting its truth. And so it is the vermin must be exterminated...down to the very last."

“I see,” Albedo said, nodding. “And are you on the hunt now?”

“Always.” D’s eyes couldn’t be seen inside the darkness of his helmet, but their weight could be felt. “For now however, we are gathering meat. If you wish to purchase some, by all means. Otherwise, you should be on your way. And steer well clear of Those Who Live in Death, unless you too would set this crooked land to rights, and weed from them their Deathroot.”

Tatiana offered the newcomers a warm smile despite the cold, huddled in her sash. “And if you should need healing, I would be happy to oblige you. Be well!”