lifenet | A call for help~

[The axe is less about a weapon and more about a tool but y'know if you wanna hit something with it, Tim, more power to you.

He sees that reaction and he tilts his head.]

More bodies mean more stuff. Kid's eager enough to help so... yeah?

It’s your call.

[He’s fine with letting the survivalist warrior guy taking point here. Maybe he’s got a handle on what Shion is capable of and what he’s not, and maybe he’s just not in a position to care too much about that sort of thing. Either way, Tim won’t fight him on it. He doesn’t have the mental fortitude to pick half the fights he probably should, let alone this one.]

When’s he getting here?

[No worries, Tim. He will protect you. When he knows he's going into a fight and isn't getting sneakily stabbed in the belly he's a very good Shield.]

Should be here any minute.

[Sure enough here is Shion now. He's gathered things that would be helpful and made sure Aster knows where he is going. He smiles at them both, though his smile to Tim is both nervous and apologetic.]

Hi, um sorry if I'm late.

[Tim, for his part, merely lifts one hand in a lazy sort of wave. If he has further misgivings, he doesn't voice them when Shion's in earshot.]

You're fine. You got a weapon, anything like that? [They are, after all, essentially surrounded by very terrified Ziziphus creatures that might be more than a little willing to lash out at foreign invaders on their territory.]

Only just got here myself. You're fine.

[There really isn't much that he's particularly worried about here but gosh Tim sure seems on edge.]

Okay main thing we're after are building components, yeah? Large stones, let me worry about the trees... and there's so many vines here we can use for rope once they're dried properly. Try to wind them up and cut them off in as long a section as you can.

I have my knife. [It's more a tool than a weapon but it can definitely be used as one if he has to fight anything.

He nodded at Gladio. Large stones, vines in long lengths that could be wound up.] Alright, do we know where abouts we are headed or are we staying close to the mana pool?

[To be fair, Tim is seldom if ever not on edge.]

Trees are gonna be near the center of the island, so we’re gonna need to move inland if we wanna get at them. Far end of the island might have stuff no one’s had a chance to look at yet.

Edited 2018-06-07 22:19 (UTC)

I wanna head back up the way we took to get to Bliss. We were moving so fast to get in and get shit done there's a lot we missed, I'm sure.

May as well hit up the coast from there. Move straight North then follow the coastline. Maybe we'll be lucky and there'll be some stuff that's washed up that might be useful. We're gonna make as many trips as we have to to get a decent haul and if you see any animals in a bad way, we'll do what we can.

Sound like a plan?

That's a good plan. [It was quite a distance to where they had fought Bliss but he was pretty sure they would find a lot on the way as well as up past the forest.]

Sounds like a plan.

[Tim is frankly just pleased to not be leading this whole expedition, seeing as the last one he attempted to spearhead back on Chol ended with everyone floundering in quicksand for a time. So he shoulders the axe, adjusts the strap of his bag, and starts moving out in the path indicated.]

[Hopefully it won’t take long for them to run into something.]

[It shouldn't take long, at all.

But Tim takes the lead and Gladio is quick to move ahead of him, summoning his Shield from the armiger in a flash of blue light and the sound of shattering glass. It's a large shield on Gladio but if Shion comes close he'll realize that this thing is taller than him.]

If anything comes at us, stay behind me.

[He's not really expecting either of these boys to fight.]

[That is a huge shield. Shion moves so he is stood slightly to the side of Gladio and behind him.] Okay

[He nods and begins looking around for anything of note, animals, monsters, useful plants, building supplies.

The land is cracked with vines, the remnants of Bliss. A reminder of their... victory he guesses. Even if it doesn't feel like a victory at all.]

[Tim hums softly as they draw even with the carnage; less in response to the withered husks of the vines, and more to the crushed tree trunks and bushes heavy with glistening red berries, a little further down.]

Guess Bliss did a lotta the tree-cutting for us, huh? [Free lumber, and potentially edible berries. Not bad, for an ex-god.]

Might mean some work chopping it all free of the vines but shit that's a nice haul.

[And he hesitates here, looking back over his shoulder. They could just stop here and start hauling stuff out but...]

We'll at least head up to hit the coast and make sure nothing's going to get the jump on us while we're working.

[That was going to make it easier, the trees were already down. Vines were a lot easier to cut through than trees were.

He nodded at Gladio's words, it seemed sensible. To make sure there wasn't anything that might rush this way, escaping the destruction. It also made sense to start at the furthest most point and work backwards, as to not have to retread ground.] Sure. The land seems most stable near the mana pool anyways, we don't know how much time we will have to collect things from the areas further north.

[There's a part of him that wants to seize on this now, to just grab what they can and go before anything else decides it wants to try its luck with them. But Gladio's easily the expert here, and if that's his call, then that's his call.]

Fair enough, I guess.

[Most shit here burns, anyway.]

[Fusterclucks, however, do not, which is why breaching the woodland and coming out at the other side might be a shade problematic.]

[If they do that they're going to be doubling their work, trekking back and forth that much. And they'd be sitting ducks for-]

The fuck is that!?

[The moment they come out of the treeline Gladio drops into a crouch and motions for the others to stop behind him, watching the... thing moving up the beach.]

[Shion's eyes widened when he saw the fustercluck. What was it? He stopped behind Gladio, crouching down as well as he watched the... It wasn't even a creature. It looked like nothing Shion had seen before.]

I don't know... But I doubt it's friendly.

[Ah. Fuck.]

[Tim has never been so unfortunate as to encounter one of them directly, but he's heard talk of them enough to know what he's looking at. There aren't very many other creatures that resemble a rolling mass of cannibalized limbs.]

Nope. Run. Run, run, run, run, run - [It's alarmingly measured, flat-toned and even, as though they haven't just come face to face something horrifyingly eldritch that will consume them without a moment's notice.]

Hey, hey. No.

[He turns back to look at Tim, hissing the words out.]

You want to give it an excuse to chase us? [It's not easy, he knows. But they need to stay low, in the treeline but able to see just enough in case it came at them. He didn't want to be caught unaware by something like that. But they should be able to skate around it. Running would only draw more attention. Slow, quiet, tight to cover. And Gladio takes a moment to dip into the brush, pulling up handfuls of moist soil and plant matter to smear over the face of his shield so it wouldn't reflect the beach sunlight and give them away.]

Low, quiet... I'll keep an eye on it, you two just focus on not being seen.

[Lets go boys.]

[Tim's telling them to run but he sounds very calm, eerily calm and Shion glanced at him in worry before his eyes went back to the thing on the beach.

It's monstrous looking, he's not even sure if it is one creature or some horrific mess of more than one. He's not sure he wants to know and he looks at Gladio, agreeing with him. Running might give it the idea that they could be toyed with. Best they weren't seen at all, they either haven't been or it is ignoring them.

He's not naive enough to think it's just ignoring them. He crouches low, nodding wordlessly to Gladio as he focusses on making himself as small as possible.

You know what that thing is?

[His tone shoots up in volume and pitch, the sole indication that Tim is, in fact, exceptionally spooked over fusterclucks and their seeming indestructibility.]

That’s not something you fight. That’s not something you hunt. If it gets you, you’re done.

I'm sturdier than I look... If it looks like it's not going to go down with the island I'll get Noct and the guys. We'll handle it.

[Creeping along sounds like a good enough idea for now, though.]

We're just going to avoid it for now though, yeah?

[Shion notes that if Gladio is sturdier than he looks then he must be incredibly strong. Because he doesn't exactly look weak. He glances at Tim and grips onto his own sleeve cuff to stop himself from reaching out to hold his hand. He sounds scared, even though Shion knows how brave he is, there's no shame in being scared of awful monstrous things that would probably kill them without even trying.

But he is good and keeps his hands to himself, still concentrating on being small.] Avoiding it sounds smart.

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