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"Well uncle, I don't really know much about grandmother and what she's done, but my concern is not about her, it's about my homeland and my people. That's what I care about. If I can save my homeland without grandmother, I'm willing to do that. However, at the moment, grandmother seems the best chance at saving Irrisen and honestly, I wouldn't mind finding out more about what she has been doing along the way if I can. If you've got other options for me to save my people, because however much you have a problem with her, destroying a nation is never about just one person, I am open to listening."
Quasit sucks her teeth as she listens to Selena's extraordinary attempt at appeasing Rasputin.
She'd known people like him most of her life. Arrogant, cruel, selfish schemers -- the streets of Cassomir were full of them. This man who had betrayed and imprisoned his mother could make no promise that anyone could trust. His deals were meaningless. And Queen Elvanna would honor no bargain he offered.
But Quasit says nothing for the moment. She knew that a maniac like this was most likely to contemptuously dismiss any offer they made, so the problem would take care of itself. Most likely in a flurry of insults and perhaps with some new magical attack.
She begins to slide away from Rasptuin's form, stepping gingerly through the snow away from the bonfire.
"Yes... you know nothing, child, and you will die in your ignorance," Rasputin sneers at Selena. Sweeping his gaze across all of you, he says, "You have nothing I need, and I have no reason to give you anything you want. You were most foolish to come. You will die here, no better than these poor peasants."
He gestures at the burning pile of corpses... which starts to move...
"So, you are a blind old fool that can't see past your own ambitions. You'll find you are truly the foolish one here." Selena remarks as she drops a black tentacles on the forming undead as she falls back into the snow becoming indistinguishable from the real snow.
The question of why there had been a funeral pyre had been at the back of Maka's mind. Why kill the people and destroy their homes just to give them the honor of a funeral? The answer to the question filled her with horror and rage. A part of her begged to be let loose, to let the anger take hold and purify the desecration with flame. And Maka wanted to listen to that part of her, but years of monastic discipline kept hold. The corpses were already on fire, had been for some time. They were as likely to be empowered by Maka's flames as they were to ignore it.
With a jet of flame, Maka glided across the snow to Quasit. "They're already dead and on fire. Leave it to Fin and Saki, let's find the real Rasputin!"
Delay. I'm assuming that the Haste spell is no longer active?
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"They're already dead and on fire. Leave it to Fin and Saki, let's find the real Rasputin!"
"Saki is all right too? You saw her?" says Quasit eagerly. Then she nods. "Yes....Yes, all right, let's go. We've been in the woods to the north--he's most likely south of us, or west of here along that road."
Bulvi calls out to reassure Saki. "I think she went invisible. I wasn't far from her when I lost track and it wasn't just after a cannon blast. I was drawing fire while she was in the trees, staying bunched up was going poorly. I'll try to come back ye up when ye find something. For now I'll make Fin look good and use my bow."
Bulvi let loose a few arrows. He was competent but lacked the grace and specialization of Fin.
Bulvi's arrows don't seem to cause any damage, but Fin's do considerable amounts, knocking flaming bodies out of the mass which lay unmoving on the ground after they land.
Rasputin glares at Fin. "I grow tired of your archery skills. Die."
Rasputin then fades out of sight.
The mass of flaming corpses moves through the tentacles with only the slightest of delays, heading towards Fin if he still lives, or Bulvi if not.
Quasit and Maka see no sign of a 'real' Rasputin.
The corpse-creature falls into the pit with a hideous multi-part splat, followed by a choking cloud of vaporized acid rising from the pit. It can still be heard moving around at the bottom.
"Saki is all right too? You saw her?" says Quasit eagerly. Then she nods. "Yes....Yes, all right, let's go. We've been in the woods to the north--he's most likely south of us, or west of here along that road."
"Wait...did you think we were all dead!? Oh I'm gonna hug you so hard later!" Maka replied as the flaming horror ripped free of Selena's magic and began shambling towards them. Making sure Quasit was secure, Maka sent the pair soaring into the sky and, hopefully, out of reach of the horror.
"Look, see, there's everyone. Well I don't see Saki..." No sooner than stated, the horror fell into a giant pit of acid. Well that had to be her. She's probably just invisible, so don't worry!"
"Good job Saki! Fin, it looks like its still moving in the hole!" Maka shouted at the others before the jets of flame at Maka's feet roared as she began to head west, her glowing eyes open wide and on the lookout for their foe.
The burning corpses stop moving.
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"Wait...did you think we were all dead!? Oh I'm gonna hug you so hard later!" Maka replied as the flaming horror ripped free of Selena's magic and began shambling towards them. Making sure Quasit was secure, Maka sent the pair soaring into the sky and, hopefully, out of reach of the horror.
"I didn't know..." is about all Quasit can manage before Maka takes her rocketing off the ground. At this point she'd had several experiences with flying, but magical flying was sort of like swimming, whereas this -- ripping through the air propelled by Maka's explosive feet -- this was another thing altogether. Although the goal was to search for Rasputin, she can't help but shut her eyes for several seconds. Maka was plenty strong enough to carry someone like her, but nonetheless Quasit clutches Maka's arms tightly.
"Those explosions... and all those bullets... I don't know, I think I panicked. The Coffin Guy was right, these weapons are terrifying. There was one explosion that nearly got me -- and it just seemed like no matter how hard I ran there wasn't any safe place I could get to. And then I couldn't see anyone but Chest Thumper and I just assumed the worst. Never mind, I was stupid."
She opens her eyes and looks around. "I don't see him anywhere."
"Those explosions... and all those bullets... I don't know, I think I panicked. The Coffin Guy was right, these weapons are terrifying. There was one explosion that nearly got me -- and it just seemed like no matter how hard I ran there wasn't any safe place I could get to. And then I couldn't see anyone but Chest Thumper and I just assumed the worst. Never mind, I was stupid."
"You weren't stupid!" Maka said a bit defensively. "You were worried because you love us is all. You've really gotta talk nicer about yourself. And besides, the weapons are loud and scary. Way faster and stronger than I expected. A bullet went straight through my chest. I didn't have to dig it out or anything. Don't worry though! I seared the hole shut."
She opens her eyes and looks around. "I don't see him anywhere."
"Yeah I don't either." Maka replied, disappointment heavy in her voice. "And it looks like Fin and Saki finished of the bodies." With another burst of fire, Maka sent them hurtling to the south before another explosion sent them circling back towards the others.
-----
Maka circled around back to the town and landed near the others as gently as she could. Setting Quasit down, Maka gave Quasit a hug tight enough to cause her back to pop. "Everyone check in and confirm your already then give Quasit a hug!" Maka yelled to the others as she released her death grip on Quasit.
Taking out her magic jug, Maka concentrated on turning the water inside into a strong plum liquor. Taking a large swig, Maka loudly gargled the liquid before spitting it out. "Sorry, I had a bunch of blood and throw up in my mouth." She said with embarrassment before handing the jug to Quasit.
"It looked clear from the air, you still seeing any trouble 'Master of Arrows'?" Maka called to Fin.
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After making sure the undead conglomeration thingy was no longer moving, breathing heavily, Fin looks around for other signs of danger…
Providing he finds nothing, Fin takes a deep sigh and plops down into the snow on his butt, shaking his head, knowing he was lucky to have survived his encounter with Rasputin…and knowing there’d be another one…and realizing he wasn’t looking forward to it…
”It looked clear from the air, you still seeing any trouble 'Master of Arrows'?" Maka called to Fin.
A somber Fin silently shakes his head to Maka…
There's no sign of Rasputin... but you notice the Hut acting strangely. It runs around in a tight circle for a moment, and then takes off to the west, heedlessly crashing through the trees in its way.
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Seeing Cluckers run off, Fin wonders aloud, murmuring, ”What now?”
He rises as he looks to his friends. ”That’s never happened before…maybe it’s detected its mistress…should be easy to track…I need to try to reclaim some arrows first though…”
Knowing even his durable arrows couldn’t withstand the fire of the abomination, he goes to the huts where he launched his first two volleys to collect what he can…
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"You weren't stupid!" Maka said a bit defensively. "You were worried because you love us is all."
Quasit stops and takes a moment to register this, then nods. "I never really thought of it like that. But you're right. I can't bear the thought of anything happening to any of you. Well, except maybe Selena. Isn't it odd -- we are all going through this horrible ordeal, and yet we've all been given something so wonderful. We might never have met if it weren't for all this catastrophe. I'd most likely be in a prison somewhere. Or drunk and passed out in a closet in a tavern. For the past day I've been angry about being stuck here on this confounded mission of ours, when I should have been looking after my father. But the truth is I probably wouldn't have been back in Cassomir anyway. And I wouldn't have all of you. I can hardly imagine that now."
"You've really gotta talk nicer about yourself. And besides, the weapons are loud and scary. Way faster and stronger than I expected. A bullet went straight through my chest. I didn't have to dig it out or anything. Don't worry though! I seared the hole shut."
"What?! And you're carrying me around when you've got a hole blown through you?! Desna's t##* Maka!"
"Everyone check in and confirm you're all right then give Quasit a hug!" Maka yelled to the others as she released her death grip on Quasit.
"It's all right, you don't have to --URP!" says Quasit as the monk crushes her in a viselike embrace. "Thanks Tiger." she manages to squeeze out, and gives Maka a couple firm pats, like a wrestler does when conceding the other's hold. "Hey, where's Kal, Maka had a hole blown through her!"
"Sorry, I had a bunch of blood and throw up in my mouth." She said with embarrassment before handing the jug to Quasit....
Quasit lifts the jug in a toast. "To blood and vomit." she says, then takes a long drink.
And then she watches as the Hut goes running off, smashing through the trees.
"Look at that! It's caught the scent! Rasputin must have somehow been blocking it when he was here! We should follow it."
"But first, we're gonna collect up about a dozen of those fancy guns and all the ammunition we can carry. If we're walking into this world's war, then we can at least take advantage of their weapons. If nothing else, we should figure out how they work."
The living pile of snow decides to puddle around Quasit's feet with a bunch of pouting faces when Quasit says Selena doesn't count.
Reforming back into halfling shape (I don't say normal because at this point I don't think Selena has a normal form), "Okay heartless, I'm going to clean out that big gun on wheels and see what I can learn from it, maybe even get it running for us. Maka, any survivors left in that thing?"
Selena will investigate the machine with an eye towards recreating it back home at some point and figuring out the logistics of the big gun. She'll obviously be looking at it from a magic weiling mage view.
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"But first, we're gonna collect up about a dozen of those fancy guns and all the ammunition we can carry. If we're walking into this world's war, then we can at least take advantage of their weapons. If nothing else, we should figure out how they work."
Fin nods enthusiastically. ”Aye, Q, great idea…while I’ll stick with my bow, we should get great trade value for the guns and ammo with Zilvaazarat. I’ll grab some while gathering my arrows…”
Isn't it odd -- we are all going through this horrible ordeal, and yet we've all been given something so wonderful. We might never have met if it weren't for all this catastrophe.
"I feel like I only meet people I love through some sort of horrible ordeal, but I guess I'm not normal huh?" Maka replied with a laugh.
And I wouldn't have all of you. I can hardly imagine that now."
Maka smiled and clutched Quasit a little tighter. "Me either."
"What?! And you're carrying me around when you've got a hole blown through you?! Desna's t#@~ Maka!"
"I said don't worry! It's not even as big as all the holes from when Yrax bit me."
"It's all right, you don't have to --URP!" says Quasit as the monk crushes her in a viselike embrace. "Thanks Tiger." she manages to squeeze out, and gives Maka a couple firm pats, like a wrestler does when conceding the other's hold.
"Anytime!" Maka said with a toothy grin.
"Hey, where's Kal, Maka had a hole blown through her!"
"No! Stop worrying!"
but you notice the Hut acting strangely. It runs around in a tight circle for a moment, and then takes off to the west, heedlessly crashing through the trees in its way.
"Come back Cluckers!" Maka yelled at the fleeing hut in a panic.
And then she watches as the Hut goes running off, smashing through the trees.
"Look at that! It's caught the scent! Rasputin must have somehow been blocking it when he was here! We should follow it."
"But first, we're gonna collect up about a dozen of those fancy guns and all the ammunition we can carry. If we're walking into this world's war, then we can at least take advantage of their weapons. If nothing else, we should figure out how they work."
"Oh but what if Cluckers gets in trouble!?" Maka eyes were wide and beginning to fill with tears. "Although I guess he is invincible. And it's not like the trail will be hard to follow." Maka looked at the house size damage to the treeline. "Yeah okay let's get you some new weapons!" Maka's mood improved as quickly as it had soured.
I'm going to clean out that big gun on wheels and see what I can learn from it, maybe even get it running for us. Maka, any survivors left in that thing?"
"Well there might be a few. Let us sweep it before you go poking around."
As Bulvi rejoined the group, Maka pulled him into a passionate embrace. "Come on, we need to make sure the wagon is empty." Maka said once she came up for air.
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Sakitu floats to the ground near the others just as the invisibility wears off. She walks up to Fin and gives him a big hug. "You're safe! I'm so happy." Then she grabs his head and gives him a huge kiss.
As she lets go of him, she winces. Her arms are covered with many cuts and there are numerous burn holes in her clothes.
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When Sakitu reappears, Quasit feels an urge to run over and embrace her from relief. But Sakitu at that moment goes straight to Findurel to hug and kiss him, which stops Quasit in her tracks. Unconsciously she hugs herself and smiles, heaving a heavy sigh.
Kalchine being the only one who hadn't appeared, Quasit looks around for fuzzy aliens.
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After this close encounter, Fin returns Sakitu’s kiss even more fervently than usual, especially in front of their friends…
Noticing her wounds, he becomes alarmed and quickly examines her…
”You’re hurt, Hlao-roo, and your wounds are beyond my meager skills. Kalchine, can you come over here, please? Sakitu needs healing…”
Kalchine had spent some time musing over the bodies of the slain soldiers. The explosions had stopped and he couldn't feel Chest Thumper being injured any longer, so he assumed the battle was over.
His ears were low and he shook his head once before finally moving away from the arrow riddled and spell damaged corpses.
"I don't know whether it's reassuring or tragic that there is war here and that it's so vicious. It either means that my people are no worse than any others or that there aren't any that are any better," he says, thoughtfully as he approaches.
He shakes his head again to dismiss the philosophical thoughts. "Well, let's get everyone healed up, shall we?" he says.
"One more should do it...not quite as powerful...but I can only do that one once."
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After Kalchine dies his mass healing, Fin smiles and nods his head in appreciation.
”Thank you, Kal; have I ever told you, you’re handy to have around. We’d have never made it this far without you, my friend, much appreciated…”
When Sakitu reappears, Quasit feels an urge to run over and embrace her from relief. But Sakitu at that moment goes straight to Findurel to hug and kiss him, which stops Quasit in her tracks. Unconsciously she hugs herself and smiles, heaving a heavy sigh.
Having noticed that Quasit was keeping her distance from them, he looks to Sakitu and whispers…
”Glad you’re all healed up, Hlao-roo, you were very brave; and quick thinking with that pit, you saved me some pain there, much obliged,” he says with a fond smile before brushing his lips against hers, more lightly this time. ”I think Q misses her ‘foxy’ confidante; you two haven’t talked in a while, you should go to her. No worries, I’ll get with you later, m’lady…”
Chest Thumper glares at Kalchine the whole time the Triaxian is healing everyone.
"What? You're the one who went running off, not me," Kalchine says to his brother.
The big frost ape huffs loudly then goes and sits next to Quasit, patting her on the shoulder and, occasionally, throwing accusatory glances back at Kalchine.
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"What? You're the one who went running off, not me," Kalchine says to his brother.
Quasit steps in to speak for Chest Thumper. "Be nice. He was scared. There's nothing rational about being scared. He just wants some comfort, don't ya big guy?" she says, patting and stroking the big ape. "Don't mind him, Thumper. He doesn't mean it." she consoles in a motherly voice.
"I don't know whether it's reassuring or tragic that there is war here and that it's so vicious. It either means that my people are no worse than any others or that there aren't any that are any better," he says, thoughtfully as he approaches.
"I've been all over my planet and on at least 2 others now, and the people have all pretty much just been people. Some people are good, some people are bad, and lots of them need help."
He shakes his head again to dismiss the philosophical thoughts. "Well, let's get everyone healed up, shall we?" he says.
Maka let out a small moan of satisfaction as Kal's magic spread through her. Healing magic typically felt better than the injury, but most had their own sort of pain. Not Kalchine's though. "Kal your magic always feels so nice! It's all warm and good, makes me feel like I have a belly full of hot chocolate." Maka wrapped Kal in a back breaking hug as thanks for his healing.
Kalchine groans as his feet leave the ground. He's glad that he's wearing a breast plate because he can hear some creaking and it's better that it's his armor than his ribs.
"You're welcome. It's probably because it's just your natural healing accelerated," he answers.
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”I think Q misses her ‘foxy’ confidante; you two haven’t talked in a while, you should go to her. No worries, I’ll get with you later, m’lady…”
"What? Really?" Sakitu replies back quietly while stealing a glance at Quasit. She does look a little more sad than normal. She pats Fin on the forearm. "Ok. I'll go cheer her up." She bounces over to Quasit and wraps her arms around her, squeezing as hard as she can.
"Quasit. I am so glad you are safe too. I mean, like you were so brave. I was floating way up there in the sky and I saw you running right up to that Rasputin guy like it was nothing. He's lucky that he didn't get a knife in his side."
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You see the survivors from the tank got out while you were busy with the flaming corpses and are currently running into the forest.
It seems like the fleeing survivors of the soldiers must have taken most of the ammunition with them as you find only nine metal cartridges for them, but you do retrieve nine of the long guns they were using. You also find an odd metal stick thing that's thicker on one end, but too small to be a usable club. You also retrieve something that seems like a small cannon with an adjustable stand, along with seven giant metal cartridges that you suppose can be fired from it.
The dead soldiers in the metal wagon, should you search them as well, have a total of eighty metal cartridges, eight odd masks, six more of the strange metal stick things, and eight smaller guns.
You see no further signs of Rasputin. The Hut continues crashing through the forest to the west, leaving a very broad trail for you to follow.
After spending time examining everything, "I figure these masks must be protective gear of some sort, almost certainly against cloud attacks as they cover the whole face and not just eyes and seem to press tightly around the whole border. We should probably each keep one with us till we know more about what kind of attack they protect from and can arrange other protections. We have enough if the big and little guns for any of us to use. I like these smaller ones in this form so if no minds I'll take two. That'll be much easier for me to carry around than the long ones. The big gun I think must work differently. It doesn't seem to be made for holding while firing. Not sure about the little club. Might be a weapon though so be careful."
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She bounces over to Quasit and wraps her arms around her, squeezing as hard as she can.
Wordlessly, Quasit hugs Sakitu back just as hard, as if there were nothing else she could do. She sniffles a little in spite of herself.
"Quasit. I am so glad you are safe too. I mean, like you were so brave. I was floating way up there in the sky and I saw you running right up to that Rasputin guy like it was nothing. He's lucky that he didn't get a knife in his side."
"No, not brave. More like temporary madness, really." says Quasit, blushing. "Probably just as well for me he wasn't actually here. I'm just glad it all worked out and nobody died."
•••••
On finding the weapons, Quasit picks up one of the rifles and a dozen cartridges, shoving them in a belt pouch. She looks over the weapon -- the basics were clear enough. Point and pull the trigger. But the other little levers and knobs puzzle her at first.
"How do you load it? I don't see a ramrod or anything." she says in confusion. She sniffs it cautiously. "It smells funny. Kinda oily."
"Anyway, we're taking it all. Let's pack it up and bring it along, we don't want the Hut to get too far ahead of us."
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She bounces over to Quasit and wraps her arms around her, squeezing as hard as she can.Wordlessly, Quasit hugs Sakitu back just as hard, as if there were nothing else she could do. She sniffles a little in spite of herself.
Careful not to stare, Fin subtly glances over at the two women as he gathers his arrows and collects what guns/weapons they can store in their handy haversacks and bags of holding…
…he turns back to his work after seeing them hug, smiling…the last thing he wants to do is get between their friendship as Saki and Q have been so close throughout the entire time they’ve been on this journey…
Bulvi clears out the remains of the tank with Maka, no doubt with some light canoodling before returning to the group.
Once they were back with the rest of the group he helped round up the various weapons. After a bit of messing around with the long guns he pulls a level and a small metal box falls out. Looking inside he sees tightly packed bullets. "It's like a magazine for a repeating crossbow but it's on the bottom rather than the top. Maybe it makes it easier to aim with. I suppose if you don't have as many people to magically enhance your weapons you start getting very clever just at enhancing the weapons. They're too loud for being stealthy but that aside they hurt."
Sibling rivalry is a thing. Even when those siblings are from two different species.
Kalchine glares at Chest Thumper where the frost ape continues aid in comforting Quasit.
He helps gather up the gear that they found, though none of it makes any sense to him and he's not one to depend on weapons in a fight.
Chest Thumper is also not particularly interested in the weapons as weapons, though he picks up one of the tiny clubs and starts swinging it around and whacking it on things to hear what kind of noise it makes.
"Hey! Put that down! You don't even know what it is!" Kalchine snaps.
Which just makes Chest Thumper even more interested in it. He stares straight at the Triaxian and taps the club on a piece of charred wood.
"Hey! Don't. Doooon't." Kalchine says and then Chest Thumper does again, harder.
"That's it! I'm taking it away!"
But Chest Thumper just holds it up over his head and there's no way for Kalchine to reach it. The frost ape swings it around hooting with glee as his little brother proves unable to do anything about it.
Then, he pulls out a little ring. Surprised, he stares at the ring and the club.
"See! Now you broke it!" Kalchine yells. He punches Chest Thumper in a spot that makes the ape drop both the club and the ring.
Kalchine mutters to himself as he picks them both up. "Oh...ok, this part goes here," he says as he sticks the pin back into the club.
"You better be glad I could fix it," he chides his brother before adding the club to the rest.
A few moments after Kalchine puts the pin back where it came from, the object explodes.