Altered Tundra

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

The blonde had wondered if maybe her attack was too close for Emiri's comfort. Maybe she did. It had seemed, at least to Savayna, that her aim was a little off. However, that being in mind, the path ahead had become better illuminated so the two women could see exactly what awaited them. To Savayna's surprise, coming from the darkness in his trademark lax style and a too-casual wave, Keiran came out with speaking to the two as if his presence here wasn't questionable at best. Truly, she didn't know why Emiri was here in the first place. Henne Mines, of all places, was a bit odd to venture to, especially at night, but it was even more peculiar when Keiran was here. She didn't know what to make of it, but as always, Savayna had her guard up, ready and willing to do anything should he try anything.

As he spoke, the ice queen thought maybe he was directing it at one of them. He seemed genuine, but as it would turn out, it wasn't Savayna nor Emiri that he was directing those words towards. A few, short moments later, from the darkness, came an all-too-familiar woman with a bust that wasn't nearly as unbelievable as Shion's, but it did cut it pretty close. That aside, however, the blonde had a few questions about her sudden appearance was why was she even here? Moreover, why the hell was she here with Keiran? It didn't make any sense. He was a Spawn of that false Zodiark, so why, of all people, was he teaming up with Lola, that crazed psycho who had this master-slave fetish for Emiri? It just didn't make any sense.

Agreed, but you would do well to keep your guard up.

Yeah, thanks for the reminder. The thought never would've crossed my mind on account of what I know about her. She scoffed towards Mateus, not exactly taking his captain obvious-like comment too kindly; though, he was right about one thing: lowering your guard against an opponent like Lola meant certain defeat.

She remained poised as Lola started talking. First, it was to Keiran about how he dragged her into some plan of his and how it gave her an opportunity to play with Emiri. Yeah, like that's going to happen. Savayna wasn't about to let that crazed Looney Lola near Emiri, not as long as she had the power of the Corrupt at her disposal. Though, as a surprise to her, Emiri was going with Keiran. "What are you doing!?" Savayna called out to Emiri, stepping forward as if to stop the brunette. However, the moment she did, Lola put up a wall of earth that rose up from the ground, stopping Savayna in her tracks. Apparently she thought a fight was appropriate right now.

Savayna spat at Lola's comments, but if a battle was the only thing that was going to allow her free passage, then she would happily oblige her. "It wouldn't be like how it was before." She'd gotten a lot stronger and Lola would find that out sooner rather than later. Going forward, ice beckoned at her feet, sending her on an ice slide much how she did when she fought those elementals in Giz; which allowed her to easily close the gap between them. As she was a brief foot away from the wall of earth, she did two things one second after the other. First, she extended out her arm and it touched the wall, freezing it upon contact. This allowed her to burst through the wall of earth. And secondly, she had brought her sword down from its overhead position and aimed to slice right through Lola, an arc of semi-solidified mist not far behind.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Savayna had walked and walked through the twists and turns of the abandoned mines of Henne. She had memorized the paths and shortcuts long ago when she had done several scouting missions back when she was a soldier for the Archadian Imperial Army. So, unlike those two buffoons who got themselves lost in record-breaking time, Savayna kept to the paths she knew. Unlike them, she didn’t get lost. Though, she wondered exactly how they could get lost. She was leading them. Unless something else was at play that led to them taking the wrong turn. There had been a slew of turns that she took whereas they probably went the wrong way.

As she let out a sigh, she continued through the Staging Shaft, which had a teleportation crystal. That would come in handy for when she was done here. As she entered the Ore Separation, Savayna knew she had to heed a right turn. The left would bring her back to the beginning of the mines, which she didn’t want.

The right turn brought her to the beginning of the Phase Two Dig. However, when she entered it, she heard voices - one she recognized as Emiri’s, but the other was unknown to her. She hugged the walls she listened in and something about Emiri’s awakening was mentioned. “Awakening? Maybe it had to do something with the Word.” Savayna mused, making sure not to speak too much. She wanted to hear the rest of this; though, her plan would be cut short as she heard a cry from Emiri as she called out to whomever she was speaking with.

And as if on impulse, Savayna jumped into action, brandishing her sword in one hand and blizzaga in the other. She hurled the wave of ice forward. It flew past Emiri’s left ear, sending a cold shiver of wind throughout the brunette’s body. Just three inches more to the right and Emiri would’ve lost that ear to frostbite. The wave itself, however, would briefly illuminate a path for them, freezing a straight line of Redmaws where they had been. A few seconds later, as Savayna would snap her fingers, the ice they were encased it cracked and splattered their limbs, as well as blood, all over the cold steel and dirt of the mine ground.

She turned around, seeing Emiri’s petrified expression. “My bad. I heard you cry out for help. Or someone - I don’t know, I couldn’t hear all of it.” The blonde Archadian looked at Emiri, noticing that wasn’t why she looked like she almost died - it was because she did almost die. “Oh, right,” She just remembered. “Why you cryin’? I barely touched you!” She scowled, huffing into a pout.

After the moment passed, Savayna looked towards the direction Emiri was. “So, who was that other voice I heard?”

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Though Jaakuna didn't particularly agree with everything that Emiri felt about the lack of any monsters - even the bat ones - he did find it strange none of them had greeted them upon entering the mines. With as much mist that was in plain view for Jaakuna, it was awfully peculiar. The likely case was they weren't relatively deep into the mines themselves, which meant no monster or fiend would be present. An alternate theory was that all of the monsters have been dealt away for some unknown reason. Maybe the mist reacted to the hostility and killed them all in one fell swoop. Maybe someone came in and cleaned house. Jaakuna didn't know which was the more likely scenario. Henne Mines was a popular hunting ground. It's as ancient as Ivalice herself. Maybe one of the Garif came and tried to improve their skills by challenging the various, powerful monsters that dwelled within the deep within.

"It's strange, I agree, but--" Before Jaakuna could finish his sentence, Emiri took off. He didn't know why, but that honestly was of any importance. With her newfound height and leg reach, Emiri ran faster than she did before. She was almsot as fast as Savayna was when she ran at full-speed. Because of that, Jaakuna would have to take off at three-thirds of his full speed just to catch up to her.

They rounded a few corners, going into the first shaft that led them to another series of turns. It eventually brought them to a three-way crossroads, to which Emiri randomly chose one; though Jaakuna had a feeling it wasn't so random. She seemed content on going deeper intot he mines, which proved one thing to Jaakuna: she had a lot more stamina than he originally gave her credit for. He underestimated her speed, too. This proved to be his downfall when he appeared to lose sight of her. As in, he lost her.

"Fuck."

And just as Jaakuna was cursing himself for being unprepared for Emiri's sudden burst of speed, he sensed something approach him from behind. Immediately, he turned around his arms to the side. His hands started to flicker with red and black mist, forming the sight of a black hilt in each hand and quickly spread about thirteen inches after it, mist forming a red blade. "Who goes there?" Jaakuna called out, readying the pair of twin swords that was the form the Belias Sigil took as it had bonded to his soul.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

"You stole her tome?"

Jaakuna's concerned expression soon faded into a neutral one, then went in the other direction with only a cheek-to-cheek grin that remained. To think that she had done something Jaakuna had thought about doing many times before. That tome of Nadeline's was huge and apparently was pricy. He recalled hearing those talk about how valuable it was and on the black market, it went for millions of gil. Jaakuna had no idea why but during his times of trying to get enough money to keep the maintenance of his Ifrit from going below his expectations, he heard about it from time to time and it always seemed like a dream come true. But now, as he no longer has a need for gil, he didn't even think twice - just like Emiri didn't when she swiped it from Nadeline.

"She's going to be livid with you when she finds out." Jaakuna chuckled, giving her an approving grin. "Well, then I guess we shouldn't waste any more time since you're sure." Jaakuna led the charge into Henne Mines. As soon as they would enter, however, chills went down his body. He didn't know if it was the wind or something else, but he knew it just from that moment alone...

Something wicked this way comes.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

"I bet you taste oh-so-yummy with a bit of tomato sauce over you!" Jaakuna slowly approached the Chocobo. Each step he took, the bird would ready itself to attack. If it was going to die by the hands of the Flaming Sky Pirate, then he would go down with a fight.

In the midst of his rage and unsatiable hunger for tasty, delicious Chocobo flesh, Jaakuna, as if the flick of a switch, was reminded about why they were at Henne Mines: the search for the Zodiark Statue. That had settled him down to the point his hands were no longer set aflame and he gave the Chocobo an apologetic look, to which the bird responded with a huff and would start to walk away, back to Jahara to be teleported back to Rabanastre.

The two were apparently ready for their adventure into the mines, though Jaakuna had briefly glanced to Emiri. "Are you absolutely sure about this? I mean, we can turn back now if you want." Jaakuna wanted to make sure that she was absolutely certain about going into Henne Mines. Once they went in, there was no telling what awaited them. It could be all for nothing and the dream was just that. Alternatively, it could be a trap, and they would be walking right into whoever's hands had sent Emiri that vision/dream.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

"Traitor," Jaakuna commented angrily towards Emiri as she seemed oh-so-cozy with the Chocobo. Why was she giving into its facade of cuteness? It was an evil bastard that would make a fine roast.

You're not seriously thinking about frying that Chocobo, are you?

Jaakuna heard Belias suddenly chime in. He let out a mental scowl. Why not? I'm hungry and I have the means.

But it's a Chocobo.

Yeah. And?

Jaakuna heard Belias give him a disapproving sigh, which Jaakuna knew was Belias telling him not to do it. As he contemplated that option, he heard Emiri say how they'd be able to walk the remainder of the way. Good thing Emiri said that or else the item on tonight's menu would've been Fried Chocobo. It's a shame, really. JAakuna was actually curious how Chocobo would taste. He's had cockatrice before, but he's never had Chocobo before. There was never a chance, unlike this one. He could do it and the Chocobo wouldn't feel a thing.

And then suddenly Jaakuna's mind became corrupted by the unthinkable act of eating the Chocobo that smugly looked at him, unaware that he had been cackling evilly out loud, hands aflame and the light from said flame making Jaakuna appear demented.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

"The only thing I feel is this Chocobo's fur rubbing in places it shouldn't be." Jaakuna itched inside his dark green pants, trying to find that spot that felt the itchiest.

The Chocobo heard Jaakuna's comment and made its trademark kweh noise that Jaakuna had to assume was its way of scowling at him. It huffed as it jumped the gap between the cliff of Ozmone to the entrance to Henne Mines. As it landed, however, it became evident to Jaakuna that the Chocobo was a vengeful creature; for the moment its skinny feet made contact with the ground, it popped up its behind, which sent Jaakuna flying off and landing face-first on the cold grass.

Jaakuna caught himself about a few moments of being on the ground. He saw the Chocobo looking at him with an ever-present smug-like expression. He scowled as the Chocobo denied Jaakuna's attempts to getting on his back. "Emiri, tell this dumb bird to let me on!" Jaakuna demanded, glaring at the Chocobo.

Shuffle your music player and post the first 10 songs

DNA — Kendrick Lamar — DAMN.
Wash it All Away — Five Finger Death Punch — Got Your Six (Deluxe Edition)
Sea of Fate — Rhapsody of Fire — The Frozen Tears of Angels
Vertigo — Eyeshine — Gone Tomorrow
What I've Done — Linkin Park — Minutes to Midnight
I Will Follow You In the Dark — Death Cab for Cutie — Plans
Sleep Tight — Kisum feat. Gilgu Bonggu — The Sun, The Moon
Exodus 04' — Utada Hikaru — Exodus
Welcome Home — Coheed and Cambria — Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
Heavy — Linkin Park feat. Kiiara — One More Light

What's your favorite stupid movie?

Just to name a few...

• White Chicks - any self-respecting 2000s teen has to love this movie no matter what and this because of one special line: WE'RE GONNA GO SHOPPIIIIIIING!
• Kung-Fu Hustle/Shaolin Soccer - I pair these two together because they are equally awesome, stupid, and absolutely hilarious.
• Superbad - need I even say anything?
• Napoleon Dynamite - I got some sweet skills.
• Austin Powers - Shall we shag now or shag later?
• Machete - now available in space.
• Spy Kids - okay, despite the nostalgia, it's still stupid as fuck.
• Kick Ass - features a kickass superhero who kicks ass and because of that, names himself Kick Ass.
• Kick Ass 2 - now featuring a new superhero by the name of Ass-Kicker.

That's it for the first wave. Second wave coming shortly.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Throughout the day, Jaakuna and Emiri, though they actually had gone to bed for a few hours, had spent the entirety of the evening until nightfall came planning how they would sneak out and what they would bring with him. They both agreed that the best thing for Jaakuna to bring was his new, fancy sword that ended up becoming less of a burden than he thought it would. Originally, it was a large sword, but it bent to his will to become lighter to accommodate his fighting style. After that was settled, they simply would feign unconsciousness until they were certain that everyone had gone to sleep.

And then they would execute their plan, which was a simple one. Once everyone had retired for the night, they would wake up and sneak past the guard patrol through the halls of the royal palace; which seemed a lot easier than it should’ve been. The next step would use the secret entrance to Lowtown that was on the west wing of the palace and down a flight of stairs. Emiri so happily lets Jaakuna in on this secret during their preliminary planning stages. Going through there was easy enough. No one knew about it, so it wasn’t guarded.

The pair would make their way into Lowtown and after they met with Old Dalan, explaining where they were going, he gave them his blessing. From that point on, it was to the teleporting crystal and setting a path to Jahara. It only took a few moments for them to spawn in the secret village of the Garif. The crystal alerted the Garif, to which Jaakuna and Emiri quickly evaded due to their vitality being better than them. Plus, as soon as they had set foot on the land, a cloaking spell was placed on them, hiding them from the view of the Garif patrolmen.

And with swift running, Jaakuna and Emiri ran out of Jahara, the cloaking spell ending just as they ran into the night, heading towards Henne Mines, unaware that they were found out…

Jaakuna stopped briefly, hearing the musings from Emiri. “Oh it’s nothing, I thought I heard something. Probably was just the wind.” He gave her a smile as they continued forth.

---

Savayna could have sworn that Lorenzo was just like Jaakuna when he went to work on whatever invention that he was working on. Just like Jaakuna was during the time he spent in his own respective garage as he built some of the many weapons that Archadia used, Lorenzo was as serious as her ex-husband was. He fit the magcite into the contraption that would go around Grant’s neck. He tripped some of the magicite off to make it fit and after a few moments of tweaking with it, he approached his brother, clicking it on his neck.

The suspense was so thick you could cut it with a knife and still not trim it down at all. She waited, giving Grant all of her undivided attention, eager to hear him speak. And as he opened up his mouth, though she heard sound coming from his mouth, it was not what she expected. Unlike his deep, eloquent voice that was pristine and what royalty sounded like, he had a whiny, complaining, completely befitting of all of the whining and complaining he did. The voice was so high, it made most teenage girls sound like a guy.

And as Grant would question why it was so high, Savayna couldn’t help it: she fell to her knees, bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, coughing because of the severity of her cackling. “Come on, say something else, Granella.” Savayna teased him, looking to Lorenzo. “Larry, forgive me, I didn’t think you’d be able to do it, but you’ve truly given Grant the voice that matches his moping.” She gave him a thumbs up as she went back to Grant’s gaze, who seemed to be pouting. “Oh, come on, you got your voice back. It might not be what you’re expecting, but as he said, it’s only a temporary solution until you figure out what is actually wrong with you.”

After a few more moments of getting it out of her system, Savayna would lead the two brothers back through the way they came. Going of a ridge within the caverns, they came up from the entrance of Zertinan to Ozmone, and it had gotten pitch black.

“Just as Grant feared.” Savayna expressed her disappointment, looking directly at Lorenzo. “This is all your fault. Had you not forgotten about the Speartongue’s snot bubble side effects, we would’ve made it in time to Jahara before it was nightfall.” She scowled, bonking him over the head. Savayna made a huff forward. There was still enough light for them to see a path to Jahara. “Come on. Perhaps we can plead with the Garif to give us sanctuary for the remainder of the night. We can suggest it’s a matter of diplomatic urgency..” She mischievously cackled, starting to walk forward, huffing and puffing herself to leadership once again. Thankfully, there was a light coming from Jahara that made it just a little easier for her.

The light remained active long enough for the trio to make it to Jahara. They were about to enter the sacred village, but Savayna heard the stomping noise of one or two pairs of footsteps originating from Jahara, but it came for Savayna and the boys. As if to hide from it, she pulled the boys behind a mountain formation but sneakily glanced at who or what it was. To her surprise, she saw familiar golden hair and a recognizable red jacket.

“What the fuck?” She stated, irate. What on Ivalice were these two doing here? “We’re following them.” Savayna suggested, though it was more of an order. The blonde, instead of going towards Jahara like they originally planned, went to follow Jaakuna and Emiri. Whatever they were up to, she wanted to know.