[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230204/4845b153b0aa5194f883010594dee61c.png[/img][/center]
[center][color=659EC7][b]MENTIONS:[/b][/color] [color=DCDCDC]Everyone[/color][/center]
[color=DCDCDC]They woke early the next morning, when the light from the sun hardly broke through the stormy mists and permeated the dew on the grass.  As always, they clustered together as they traveled. Goug’s wagon stayed in the center, and from her position on chocobo-back, Neve noticed that the poor moogle’s bobble jerked at any violent rustle of grass. The previous night’s attack must have jarred him– then again, she wouldn’t be surprised if they all had been bothered by the apparition of the Blightbeasts. She clutched her reins and moved on. 

Neve was fully awake and refreshed by the time they departed the Stormseas. What was once a seemingly endless field of emerald had withered away to dirt paths and massive quarries. Her eyes widened as she drank in the sight of the pale stone walls that encompassed the deep pits. Men and women in dark blue uniforms darted back and forth at the very bottom of the quarries, crying out orders as heavy, four-wheeled machina helped haul coal from the depths of the mines. Acrid smells of oil and dirt and coal assaulted her senses, and she wrinkled her nose as they remained steadfast on the narrow paths. How could people tolerate the stench? It had to burn the throat and scorch the lungs… she wondered if they ever became ill from spending so much time in the quarries. 

Luckily for the party, they only had to loop around a small handful of them and the powerful smell vanished from Neve’s nose as the mountains towered above their heads. The buildings of Midgar rose along with them; tall, yet staunch things that were crafted from wood and hefty stone alike. Yet, their size didn’t compare to the backdrop of the snow-capped mountains not far from the city’s farthest borders. Silvery peaks seemed to scrape the sky itself, and no matter how far Neve tipped her head back, she just couldn’t pinpoint their summits against the dark gray skies. 

Midgar itself appeared to be an impressive city, at the very least. Besides the large buildings, dirt roads unraveled in front of them and chocobo were neatly tied to steel hitching posts. Civilians of all kinds meandered back and forth– they called out from storefronts, sipped coffee together as they lingered around cafes, and rushed back and forth on chocobo-back with packages hooked onto their saddles. Bright, colorful neon signs flickered from their perches at windows and large store-signs.  It was different than Balmung, but also similar in a way. It seemed that all of Edren’s cities and towns bore the same amount of urgency and unrest. 

Neve sniffed and rubbed her nose as their lot headed for the closest unoccupied hitching post. Wind gusted about them again and nagged at her hair and flooded her ears. She rubbed the side of her head in complaint as she cast a confused glance up at the turbulent skies above. [color=659EC7][b]”It’s going to storm… and bad, looks like,”[/b][/color] she mumbled to no one in particular. 

[b]”Thank the Mother we made it here before it did, kupo. Midgar’ll provide us with shelter,”[/b] Goug said as his stubby paws deftly helped tie hers. His glittering eyes flicked across their number and gave them a twitch of his nose. [b]”Which means you’ll have time for leisure here, kupo. Go on, hurry off. I’ll take care of everything here.”[/b][/color]