Walking With The Ghosts [Relm/Sabin]

[Celes Chere]

She'd not seen a panic take hold to a town so strongly since that madman Kefka walked the earth.

Celes could hear them - them being the screeched calls of the distant creatures laying waste to the edge of town, whatever they might have been. Clearly, they were not threats anyone planned to take lightly. The townspeople were all fleeing, some of them more in a panic than others, a few even sporting injuries. Celes even stopped to cast cure on a stumbling woman's leg wound who seemed to be panicking over it. "It's healed! Run and don't look back!" What was going on? What could be bad enough that they seemed to be assembling the entirety of the town's considerable militia, whom Celes could see rushing from their houses as they continued to try and fit on their armor, to combat it?

Realizing she had left her sword inside the former Returner hideout in her rush to get outside and determine what was happening, Celes grumbled quietly to herself and dodged back inside, side-hopping through a pair of doors until she reached her cot and plucked the sword from its rack, having to yank a couple of times to free it from the rickety thing. She already had it unsheathed to make a quick check of it, as she always did, by the time she'd cut her way through the same doors in the same manner and made her way back outside. More of the howling reached her ears...it sounded horrible, as if...something was in some sort of pain. She hoped, as she took off behind the militiamen advancing down the street, that it was not pained human beings she'd heard. Kefka had produced his fair share of such people.

Outrunning all of the militia from her section of the town, Celes emerged in the town's center courtyard, immediately coming to a stop to let a father and child pass in front of her. Two more citizens rushed up and tried to push her back, apparently thinking her to be just another one of them. She slid in between them, before turning her head to them for a short exchange of glances. Apparently, that was all they needed to be ensured that Celes hadn't lost her mind - they rushed on immediately, leaving Celes by herself.

It was when she turned back to see what the approaching militia troops were gunning for that she saw the first of the city's attackers, and she felt her mouth drop open slightly. What she saw was human in form, though highly deformed - it had a face, arms, hands, legs and feet, all at grotesque angles and a few bulbous in shape. It looked like a crystal, in a way, though a few smatterings of darker or lighter shades protruded from the "neck", shoulders, waist and feet. It lumbered. It wailed. And Celes could not remember seeing something so tragically horrible since Kefka's play for power turned him into a monster. "What...are they?", Celes asked fervently of those militia troops around her. They all mumbled incoherently as proof none of them knew. Celes couldn't take her eyes off of it, even to look at a small group of similar creatures - some in the air, some grounded - that followed in behind it. It was...it was casting magic...and that shouldn't have made any sense for anyone or anything that wasn't Celes herself or magitek.

She ducked just in time to let an offensive spell she didn't recognize pass over her head, letting out a light yelp as it crashed against the building behind her, essentially taking out a wide chunk of the wall and sending her flying forward, right towards the lumbering, crystalline humanoid that had produced it. Clinching her teeth anxiously, she brought her sword up and propped on a knee in a defensive stance. Runic was quickly cast. She realized it was a good thing she'd been quick with it. The humanoid moved its hand to cast as it had the last time, but all that resulted was the glowing aura departing from it and stretching out until it reached Celes. From there, it covered her and disappeared. Good, good, she could absorb the magic from these monsters as she'd been able to absorb magitek and esper magic. Could she cast it back at them? Finding out as soon as possible would be necessary, because as of right now, Celes' prospects of defending these people seemed slim.

Tagged - Relm and Sabin; other VI who want to join
Words - 750-some
Muse - It was good when I wrote the audition?
Place - A rebuilding Narshe
Outfit - Pants-and-jacket attire
Notes - Just so we can get a little something started to spark them all maybe getting back together![/size]

[Relm Arrowny]

Screeches echoed and rebounded. It snapped Relm out of her reverie, and made her hand tighten around her paintbrush. It was rather early, and she was only up because she was painting. However, whatever they were, they didn't sound like a very happy alarm clock. She stood up, wiping some paint from her hands and she moved to the window. Relm pushed it open, and looked outside. "What are they?' She whispered. They were monsters. Unlike things she had ever seen. She had an urge to paint, but they were hostile, most likely.

Relm looked down. She was pretty confident she could take them, but she wasn't entirely sure the odds were with her. Luck didn't seem to be on side very much. Not recently anyway. Her eyes flickered, and she swallowed. Was that... was that Celes? She looked at her brushes, and grabbed them along with her paper. Celes was a friend. She needed to help her friends whenever they needed help. It was the right thing to do. A little bit of fighting never hurt, not if you were careful, anyway. She rushed down the stairs, clutching her paintbrush and paper to her chest.

When Relm had dashed outside, she looked a little hurt. She had never really seen a town panic so much. She straightened her posture, and spotted Celes. The best thing she could do was attack in a way, that would aid Celes, and maybe divert part of their attention. She fired a few offensive spells, before sprinting behind a building. She prayed a little of the attention had changed, but then she scolded herself. What are you doing, Relm? Hiding like a child. Although she was a child, she didn't want to appear weak at all.

She took a breath, and stood in the open. Relm was not only showing bravery, but also foolishness. Wasn't doing this going to put herself in lots of danger? She might be good at magic, but at physical fighting, she wasn't good at all. She was only a small girl, and magic was easy for a pictomancer like herself. She fired a few more offensive spells, before trying to Sketch the monsters. They were complicated, and they wouldn't stop moving. Her eyes flicked up and down, occasionally looking at Celes. "Be careful! Don't do anything foolish, ok?" She would definitely have a few choice words at Celes if something happened to her. She didn't want any of them getting hurt. Any of them, no matter what the reason! She directed her attention back to her sketch, before pausing to shoot another spell. So far, the monsters were winning. Townspeople scurried away, and she bit he flip slightly. She needed to hurry up with this sketch.

After completing it, she looked at it. She decided, since they were very hard to draw, she would save it for the right moment. That seemed the best thing to do, right? She fired once last spell, before tapping her paintbrush against her forehead. Relm released a breath, and looked. She would need something a little stronger than her spells to be rid of these monsters, wouldn't she? her gripped tightened. Her and Celes couldn't handle these things by themselves. They were outnumbered, ad outsized. Relm switched her paintbrush, and smiled with a smug look. She had an idea, but it couldn't be put in effect just yet. Her fingers traced her sketch, and her smile widened. Relm was confident, and that was sometimes the best way to be. Especially in a battle. If you weren't, it could be your downfall. Leading to a slippery slope, going down and never stopping.

Relm looked at Celes once again, feeling a little confident, but also worried. She aimed her next spell on the one near Celes, and fired. The spell hit the monster, and she smiled. That seemed to distract it for a second. Maybe that would be a enough time for her to make a shot. She aimed another, and fired. Maybe... they had a bigger chance after all. Maybe, they could finish what they were there to do, and kick some butt while they were at it.

[/size]

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Words:; 725
Muse:; Excellent!
Tagged:; Celes, Sabin, VI
Outfit:; Usual, but paint splattered a little more ^_^
Location:; Narshe
Listening To:; Paradise by Coldplay
Notes:; See! I tried for you guys. I tried hard when my muse isn't feeling well XD

[Sabin Rene Figaro]

Life.

Where there lay memories, buried in the past, there was always the ability for life to regain itself, to flourish under the hands of a patient worker.

Sabin was on his way to help that process right now. Though he had been spending time with Edgar and Figaro lately, protecting his brother, just as he had set out to do ten years previous, Sabin was now going to aid those that were looking to rebuild Narshe. Yawning once and patting the neck of the chocobo he was riding on, Sabin shifted, hearing the annoyed 'wark' that was let out. "Sorry, sorry, I told him I needed the biggest chocobo the guy had. Tough luck it turned out to be you," he said, chuckling a bit. He couldn't help being the 'bear' of a man that he was. Really, he didn't even think about it, except when others made comments about his physical strength or appearance. Even those comments he had simply gotten used to. Not like it hurt him to have a few shocked people make a few comments anyway.

Still, when he had heard that Narshe was in the process of trying to rebuild, Sabin had grabbed the first chocobo he could find that was big enough to carry him and start making his way toward the previously leveled city. The last time he himself had been to the town, it had just been filled with monsters, most of the humans having been killed or had left. He hadn't thought there was much point in rebuilding, but if they were trying, then he would lend a hand! Or two...or just one. Either way. He wasn't much of an engineer, no, it had always been Edgar that had been the mechanical genius of the family, but his brute strength had helped out plenty of people in the past, he didn't see why it couldn't help in this situation. If nothing else, he could do all the heavy lifting and assist the more experienced builders in that area. He thought that it was an alright plan, and it would keep him busy. The last thing Sabin wanted was to get soft. Though he hardly thought he could get soft when he practiced his techniques for hours daily. When you had saved the world, there wasn't much to do anymore. Well...that was a lie, maybe he just needed to be looking for things to do more rigorously! It was then that he could see Narshe, or what was being rebuilt.

It was at that moment, lazily sitting on the back of the trotting chocobo, that Sabin was jerked awake at the sounds of blood curdling screams. "What the hell," he muttered out, blue eyes snapping open completely as he peered in front of him. He couldn't make out what was happening, but as he was looking, it looked like he was watching a disrupted nest of ants. "Geddup!", he called, urging the chocobo to get a move on. Reluctantly the yellow bird obeyed, clucking out it's disprovable at not only the large man on its back, but what he was forcing him to do. Go toward the screeching sound. Still, training overtook it's displeasure and the next moment they were galloping toward the city of Narshe.

It didn't seem to take any time to get there. As he burst into the town, the chocobo finally decided it had had enough. Putting on the breaks, it skidded to a stop, before jerking back and jumping to the side, squawking it's displeasure. Reining it in, Sabin patted it's neck, trying to calm it as he took a stock of the situation. The screeching had only intensified as he saw the-...well what the hell were those things anyway? He hadn't seen anything quite like it. But that wasn't going to stop him! Kicking the sides of the chocobo - perhaps a tab bit zealously to get it to actually go -, Sabin felt it jerk forward, still unwillingly, to go toward the creatures making all the racket. Still, it obeyed.

A little closer...

A little closer...

Now! Sabin made a jump for one of the beasts as it wildly tried swinging at him. Using his body weight, Sabin forced it backwards. Getting his feet planted underneath him, the large man picked up the beast, jumped into the air, and bodily slammed it back down to the ground. "Oh hoooo yeah!", he called out victoriously, pumping a fist into the air, before it decided to try and get back up, it's limbs waving grotesquely. "Oh you've gotta be kiddin' me!", he said, before a punch sent it back to the ground. "And," picking it up from off the ground, Sabin wound his arm back. "You," he continued, "Stay down!", he finally ended with, throwing the beast into the ruined foundation of a building that had not yet started to be rebuilt. Hitting the shaky beams, it shuddered and tried to get to its feet, before the ruined building collapsed on top of it. That, was taking care of business!

Taking care of a few more, Sabin continued to make his way further into the town, trying to make it to the center, or find out from somebody what the hell was happening here!-...eventually anyway. For now, he was content to just smash a few baddies! Like thos-..."Woah!", he cried out when he noticed two of the figures that were there alongside the monsters. "Celes?! Relm?!", he shouted out, before becoming distracted with ducking the swinging arm of a monster. Grunting, Sabin ran into the monster, wrapping his arms around it and slamming it - along with himself - into the ground. Rolling away from the monster like he had his master Duncan in wrestling so many times, Sabin waited for it to slowly start trying to get up before he pounded it back down. A right hook to the 'face', a few good jabs to the 'body', he finally ended it by once more picking it up and bodyslamming it into the ground, where it relaxed as the life went out of it.

Sometimes, he had to admit, he missed this!

But only sometimes of course.

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Words:; 1242
Muse:; Great!
Location:; Narshe
Outfit:; The normal baggy pants and tight shirt
Tagged:; Celes and Reeelm
Notes:; Hopefully this didn't turn out as bad as my tired mind is telling me it is XD
Listening To:; --
Setting FULL OF CHAAAOS

[Celes Chere]

Popping up from out of her crouch, Celes took a gathering spin to prepare a Blizzard spell in her free hand before planting her foot and sending it crashing into the crystalline monster's chest to good effect, though it only stumbled backwards and unleashed another pained wail. Celes continued with her assault, taking another gathering step before she took both hands and drove the blade in towards the lower torso of the creatures she could now clearly judge as at least twice her size. The blade met the odd crystal skin, and Celes both heard a horrible scraping and felt the forward momentum of her arms shift painfully as the blow deflected off to the side of the beast, leaving her to nearly stumble forward. She caught herself, though, and pulled back upwards, slicing underneath the humanoid's massive arm to more effect than the initial blow. Still, she was forced to pull back as the wobbling creature angrily garbled some more sounds and sent both arms swinging forward to apparently grab a hold of Celes' comparatively tiny form. She hopped backwards, out of its range, and let go of a disappointed breath while rubbing lightly on the wrist that had been bent by the unsuccessful sword strike before continuing her retreat, eating up a few dozen feet to get behind a line of militia. Here she was, struggling to take down a grand total of one of these things when there looked to be a small army of them. Frustration was going to start mounting soon, on top of the fear.

The utterly unmistakeable voice of Relm Arrowny drew a quick shift in Celes' gaze to the young blond's form. She would never get used to seeing someone so tiny and dolled-up being on a battlefield, but Celes supposed once she had been that small, fighting Imperial troops for her training. The difference was, Relm had the choice to put herself in the line of fire. Celes hadn't. That was why she never wished to discourage the Returners' youngest member from doing what she chose to do though she constantly worried for her. Apparently, the feeling was mutual. "I'm supposed to be telling you that," Celes said in a troubled tone, only loud enough for the youngster to hear her as her eyes shifted back to the waddling giant trying to scrape its way towards them. It would get the idea for another magic spell soon enough, despite the fact that a militiaman with a bow was doing a fine job of annyoing it. "Magic will work, but I haven't found a weak spot," the general in her said aloud, before she drew a hand to her chest to cast Haste in preparation for assaulting the monster again. "The smaller ones are easy targets until we figure out how to face this one."

Celes had already started forward, slicing through the waist of a particularly thin and spastic version of the creatures, when a booming voice almost alarmed her. Her head whirled, then eyes widened. "Sabin!" His choice of days to visit could not be lauded, but obviously, having a man his size on the battlefield never hurt. Oh, and of course, it was good to "see" him too. Celes couldn't provide him much more than a few glances as she watched as he acted a caveman in his usual manner, simply bashing the strange beasts until they didn't have the strength to move. He seemed to be having better success than anyone here with bringing the humanoids down. Right, three Returners against any number of foes were good odds in Celes' mind.

Now, the centerpiece of this attack needed to be handled. Celes made it back to the towering abomination just in time to have it launch a member of the militia into the air with an upwards swipe. Celes watched him crumple into the ground, clearly feeling his pain. The monster then decided she was of more interest. Haste assisted her in evading the same fate as the unfortunate member of the militia as she ducked underneath and put herself closer to the monster - in fact, she was right on level with its hips. With grunts of her effort, she swung left and right, connecting with arms that were as resilient as the stomach had been. Then, she tried the legs, cutting a gash in one before adding strength to her swing and slicing half-through the opposite leg. Good to discover the legs were softer than the rest of its body, but now she was caught in a trap, between the beast's legs and arms. She'd been in this situation before, though. Casting Vanish just before the creatures arms would have begun mashing down on her, she simply phased through its arms and stepped back, now having the creature's face in range for any strikes she might make.

She immediately started up the attack as she felt Vanish dissipate, hopping up on to the monster's arms which would serve as a ramp for the time being, so long as she kept her balance. Her body froze and her breath caught, though, when she stared into the creature's face and got her first good look at the eyes. They seemed so...human. Her sword arm faltered, and she temporarily payed the price, being tossed up and backwards and only barely succeeding in landing on her feet. She could do nothing but stand there and look at it as it tried to straighten itself up, weakened enough around the legs that it was forced to stay bent over as it was. She almost felt sorry for it. "Sabin, look at the eyes!"

Words - 982
Muse - Excellente!
Notes - Pfft, woman up, Celes.[/size]

[Relm Arrowny]

Relm jumped back, narrowly missing an attack. These things had too much energy. Almost like they had no end, and not matter what spells she used, they didn't seem to have much of an effect as she hoped. But with three Returners, maybe if they kept their attacks up, they might have a chance. Or there was a possibility, anyway. She rubbed her eyes, before jumping back at again. They kept swiping at her, and she was barely dodging as it was. They couldn't play this game of cat and mouse forever. They had to run out of energy sometime. She cast a Thunder spell, watching as it hit the monster, and it froze for a moment. Then, if possible, it looked even angrier. How did they even get here? Relm had wandered around when she first came, and there wasn't any sign of these guys. Either she hadn't looked properly, or they had travelled. Looking at them, she couldn't help but stare for a short while. Relm had never seen anything like these before. It made her think about where they had come from, and things like that. However, she was quickly reminded now wasn't the time, as another swipe came. This time, Relm hadn't been on her guard and she was pushed back by the swipe, a bit of blood flowing from her arm.

Relm quickly cast a Cure, and glared at the monster. Had these things have no limits? A weak spot. They had to find a weak spot. Everything had a weak spot, right? Pressure points, old wounds, something! Her eyes scanned it's body. She couldn't see something that at least looked a little bit like one. Still, the things wouldn't stop moving, so Relm couldn't see them well. "I can't see one, Celes!" She called out, before debating whether or not to use Sketch. Use it later. She decided, before she spotted a smaller one. Relm fired Blizzard and Thunder again, before pausing, and then firing a Fire. Even if it managed to dodge one, it might not be able to dodge the rest, right? Relm released a deep breath. She cast a look at Sabin. There were more now. All three of them had fought before, so they were at least skilled. However. Relm couldn't help but bit her lip. "They aren't getting tired!" She called out, before firing another spell.

These things seemed so strange, she didn't understand much about them. But then, you didn't need to know everything about everything. Knowledge might be power, but skill was too. Relm's grip tightened. She had to think of there weak spot. If she found the weak spot, then it would make it easier. But was there even a weak spot? She couldn't see one anywhere. Maybe Celes or Sabin knew where one was. But then, wouldn't they have told her? She couldn't throw spells. The monsters kept swiping and attacking her. Eventually, they would corner her, and then what would she do? Run? Attack? She saw an opening, and fired a quick Stun, before dashing away from it. Her eyes never left it's figure.

When Relm heard Celes tell Sabin to look at the eyes, she looked too, to see what the fuss was about. She regretted it immediately. She couldn't look away, and her body froze for a second. They looked human, and almost like they told a story. They seemed sad, and also full of anger. Like something had happened, and they weren't always like this. They... they look human. How can....? Another attack, and she didn't have enough time to move. She couldn't move. It was like she was hypnotised but she tried to. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she was thrown back. Relm landed on her stomach, and she shakily put her arms up, trying to get up. Her head hurt, and she touched it. Relm removed her fingers, and winced at hat she saw. It was only a little bit of blood, and she looked for her paintbrush. Where is it? Her eyes caught it, and she gripped it, casting another Cure. "C-celes! They l-l-look..." She trailed off.

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Words:; 748
Muse:; Pretty Good
Tagged:; Celes and Sabin
Outfit:; Usual
Location:; Narshe
Listening To:; --
Notes:; This feels short compared to yours XD

[Sabin Rene Figaro]

What had started the chaos that was happening in the city of Narshe anyway? Sabin spared moments to glance around while he continued his bashing routine. He heard his voice called from the woman he had spent plenty of time with over the course of their previous ‘adventures’, but he didn’t have time to talk to her any more than that. They were both busy trying to stay alive. And of course, Sabin needed to be mindful of Relm. She’d proven herself when it came to her abilities, but Sabin still felt a bit of reluctance to allow such a small child to be out there with the adults, duking it out.

Having just body slammed one of the walking abominations, of which Sabin just called 'Ugly, ugly, and another ugly,' he hesitated for a second. Before this he had been so centered on the ground creatures that the next moment he felt something clasp at his arm. "What the-", he started in surprise, feeling air beating at his body and as if something was trying to drag him from the earth. Whipping his head to the side, Sabin instantly saw the odd flying creature trying to claw him apart, obviously trying to take him up into the air. "Pft," he scoffed, clenching a hand into a fist and slamming it into the body of the whatever this thing was. Squealing in pain, it came back for more, crazed with trying to destroy him. Balancing on the balls of his feet, Sabin sprang to the left as it tried to claw at his arm once again, his hand snapping out to tighten around the leg - or arm or whatever appendage you wanted to call this -.

And then he was in for a bit of a ride. Screeching, it took off, managing to drag him a few feet off the ground. "Woooooah, confound it all!", he shouted out, grunting to center himself back on the ground as it sank back, unable to take to flight with his weight attached and unable to get away with his hand grasping it. With another grunt Sabin jerked his arm in an arc, slamming it into the ground before reversing the direction and dragging it in a half arc over his head to slam it into the other side next to him. Repeating the process a few times, Sabin finally let it lay limply on the ground and finished it off by jumping in the air and slamming down, catching it in the 'heart' with the claw on his hand. One final screech and it fell back. Rolling back to his feet, Sabin shook his head like a dog ridding itself of water and glanced over at his arm. Blood spattered his muscled forearm, and on inspection, he could see slashes where the claws had done some work, slight puncture wounds from where it had latched on and tried to drag him. Well sheesh, it had tried to do a number. "Try another time Ugly."

But as soon as he looked up he had other things on his mind, forgetting the one flying beast when he saw Celes get caught between the arms and legs. "Celes!!!", he shouted, settling into a dead run to get to her before it crushed her. He shouldn't have been so worried about her though. He knew from his time with her that she could handle herself, and he could breathe easier when she phased through the limbs to stand there. In that moment he turned his gaze to see how Relm was doing. That girl was a trooper, and knew her stuff, but Sabin couldn't help but be concerned about how the little tyke was doing. He'd feel the same way if Gau was here, that was what happened when you had a heart as big as you were. She seemed to be doing fine, casting spells to help them with the fighting. He appreciated it.

Unfortunately, in the moment he had taken his eyes off her, Celes had seemed to decide she should attack the thing by herself. He kicked running into high gear again when he saw it throw her back, but was relieved when she managed to land on her feet -if just barely.- Skidding to a stop beside her right as she yelled at him, Sabin rested a hand on her shoulder, almost in a 'Just hold your horses' sort of gesture, taking a moment to register what it was that she was exactly she was trying to say. The eyes? It seemed to regrow it's strength then, getting to its feet and pausing a moment, before advancing angrily, pain spurring the beast on. Sabin had no time to look at the eyes before it swiped its arms down to crush them. One connected with Relm, throwing her back. "Relm!" Taking a running step toward it, Sabin grasped its arm with both hands as it swung downward, set himself, summoned all his strength and threw it down. Panting, he stepped back and should have expected it to get back up. Still, it surprised him. Not much came back for more after he body slammed it into the ground. But this did, with zeal. "Confound it all," he muttered, before glancing at Relm to check her. She seemed alright. His arm stung from where it was still oozing blood, but he ignored it. Okay, now to pay attention to the eyes. As it got up, he finally could see what Celes was talking about. When he did finally look he recoiled in surprise, unable to believe what he was seeing. "It's...what is it!?"

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Words:; 1104
Muse:; Great!
Location:; Narshe
Outfit:; Normal!
Tagged:; Celes and Relm
Notes:; :3
Listening To:; --
Setting YOU KNOW

[Celes Chere]

The worst thing about Relm saying she didn't see a weak spot? Celes didn't either, and she was trained to be able to spot such advantages. The red cylinder that stood out against their bodies seemed to be the obvious place, but it was on a different span of each creature's body. The one before her had the red area on its chest. One further down the roadway, on its shoulder. The one in the rear, right thigh. That gave Celes nothing to base off of whatsoever, and hitting a specific spot on one of the larger creatures was going to be an immense challenge. They were too well-armored for any sort of spell to hit just the right area. So, the plan was to continue fighting on and hope they eventually fell after being put under enough duress. Celes took Relm's mention that they weren't tiring out as a sign that the girl herself was tired, though, and it reminded her that they couldn't be here fighting all day long. Within her own range of vision she could see at least three dozen of the creatures, and who knew how many more were closing in from other sides of the city? They needed a quick way to bring down the beasts. At the very least, Celes was going to ensure she took the one before her down.

Her plan of attack from legs to head seemed effective, even with the creature managing to counter her and, had she not possessed a magic it didn't expect, having a chance to put her out of the fight for good. That plan was all but forgotten, though, witnessing what the creature's face looked like up close. When it had been towering over her, little more than swinging arms and aggression, it hadn't seemed like anything more than the common dangerous animal, though smarter and more magically powerful. The face, though...Celes might as well have been looking into the face of a citizen of Maranda as she led the attack against them. The eyes had expression, and it was one of the saddest ones she believed she'd ever seen in her life. They were the eyes of someone who couldn't stop themselves from doing something they loathed, as if someone else were pulling the strings and they were merely a puppet. Celes was sure that she and Terra both had flashed those eyes at least once in their time with the Empire...and that made it all the more difficult to see the creature before her attempting to stand and continue on.

Fortunately, Sabin's steady hand pulled her out of her trance, and she finally straightened just as the creature managed to do the same. Her eyes turned up to the tower of a man. "I-", she started to tell him, before the creatu- no it wasn't a creature... Before the being hit its second wind and renewed its attack against them. Two arms swiped down and Celes had no choice but to sidestep one and use her sword to keep it from crashing into her. Nonetheless, her evasion ended up a stumble as its strength won out over hers. Relm, however, didn't fare as well. Celes sent a Blizzard spell crashing into the creature's chest to throw it off-balance, and like the efficient unit the Returners had turned into over their months and months of warring with Kefka, Sabin stepped in to follow-up on the assault with his hands-on approach. Celes took the moment to step back and crouch over Relm, taking her lightly by the temple to check for the wound. It was only a scratch, across the top of her head, but surely the wind had been knocked out of her...or perhaps Relm's first good look at the eyes Celes had been speaking of had shocked her as much as it had Celes.

"I know...", she told the girl, before making the slow effort to lift her to her feet. Apparently, Sabin was beginning to notice it, too, as his booming voice reached her ears once she had Relm upright again. She turned to face the...being again. "No common monster should look so...human. It-" Celes wanted to rattle off some sort of long-winded explanation of what it could be and how they should deal with it and whatever else...but she didn't actually know any of those things. The composed nature won out, and she only reached forward to heal a bloody gash on Sabin's arm. They couldn't just let them rampage their way through the streets, though. They were harming innocents. There was no way around it - they had to stop these beings, even if they didn't kill them. "We have to slow them from entering the city...feeling sorry for them won't help the people they're harming."

She brought her sword up again. "Sabin, the legs are shaky," she told him, knowing he'd know what to do with even that simple tidbit of information. Looking down at Relm, though, she wasn't sure what to tell the younger girl. Attacking other...beings with feelings and emotions, even if there was a chance they were merely painted-on emotions, was probably not something Relm was accustomed to. She decided on the simplest statement possible. "Cover us, Relm." With that, a pat on the shoulder and a nod, Celes prepped herself to attack again, trying to return her mind to a point where she knew she was fighting a monster, not a helpless thing.

Words - 974
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Not thrilled with this one. ><[/size]

[Relm Arrowny]

The more Relm looked at them, the more she contemplated over them. Sure enough, they were completely new to her, and she wanted to know things about them, in case they returned. It would never hurt to know a bit about an enemy, right? Well, that's what she liked to think, anyway. But the ten-year-old knew one thing for sure... she did not like these things. They had disrupted an awful lot of things. Relm just hoped that nothing would get damaged during this attack. The town, and her paintings. She couldn't just easily recreate a masterpiece as a town could be while rebuilding. However, at the moment, they weren't going to get very far. Relm didn't have a plan of attack, and she doubted that the others did too. Was it just attack and hope for the best? Because... that was a sure plan for failure. And that was what they really needed right now. They needed a fool-proof plan. One with no flaws. But that was rather difficult to get.

Relm shook her head, while still in thought. Nothing could be fool-proof. Nothing could be flawless. That was slightly annoying. What they couldn't have was exactly what they needed. Relm creased her eyebrows in thought. Now, she decided she would have to be a tactician. Only for the moment. Then she would go back to being an artist. That was her favourite occupation after all... if it could be counted as an occupation at her age. But now she was getting distracted! Relm just needed to figure the best and quickest way to get them down. Maybe if they attacked the only thing that was keeping them upright... then they would get on the ground. That would at least stun them for enough time to get in a good hit. Well, she hoped anyway. She couldn't really ask them nicely to go along with her plan. That was just being silly. And then there was the whole problem of running it through with Celes and Sabin. Relm looked at them, and frowned. Soon enough, she dodged a swipe and shot a Blizzard at it's foot.

Relm jumped backwards, and scowled. Honestly, it was like these things just didn't care who or what they hit. It was beginning to get annoying. Ok, that was a lie. It had been annoying since the beginning. Each time Relm thought they were slowing down, they can back with a lot more bite. Everytime they fell a little, they came back, alive and kicking. Did these things have immortality, or something? Because, she would really like to know where they get it from. It would be very useful in this situation, that's for sure. But then again, all great artists die a historic death. Sometimes. "Celes! Sabin!" She said, wincing as a few more attacks came directed at them all. These things had a lot of stamina. Relm was being to get a little bit tired...but only a little bit! She was only a kid, and there was usually a lot more Returners to equal out the enemy. She dodged again, and lost her footing. She fell back on her butt with an 'oof!' sound, before quickly shuffling out of the way. Soon enough she stood up again, and frowned.

Relm had to keep on avoiding it's eyes, or else she would keep on getting locked on them. Last time that happened, she ended up getting hurt. Her eyes felt curious though, and she had to keep on mentally screaming at herself not to look. It wouldn't help the other two if she was looking at them all the time. It would not help at all. That's why she had to keep on looking away. "I.. can't...they look." She shook her head. Looking human or not, they were dangerous. Too dangerous, for her liking. "They are just to..." Human. It was a little bit... unnerving. It made shivers go up her spine. They hadn't always been like that, she could say that much. They just seemed to be... sad... and angry, but Relm couldn't say how they became like this. "Do you think... they were... human...?" She muttered to the other two. She then shuddered visibly. It made her skin crawl.

Relm looked at Celes, whom was addressing her. At the thought of covering her and Sabin, and not being directly in did not appeal to her. She huffed, her shoulders drooping slightly, before frowning. She didn't want to just cover people! However, she knew she had no choice in the matter. She could resist all she wanted, but it would only end up with a no. Relm looked between Sabin and Celes. "But....!" She stopped, then crossing her arms. "Fine." She muttered. She didn't fancy covering, and she gripped her paintbrush tightly. Well, if Relm was going to cover them, she would, and she would do a good job. "I just need to remember it's a monster." She whispered to herself, before standing up, ready. She didn't want those two getting hurt. Cure could only do so much. Her eyes looked at the monsters, and she glared slightly at them. They were gonna get it.

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Words:; 1034
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Sabin and Celes
Outfit:; Usual but paint-y
Location:; Narshe
Listening To:; --
Notes:; Didn't like the end of this post, but I hope it's better then I think XD

[Sabin Rene Figaro]

Sabin didn’t know what to make of the things attacking them anymore. What had happened to the good old days of actually knowing what you were actually attacking? Because as of right now, it sure seemed like this thing was just…well, not exactly, oh shoot! He hated the confusion. Still, as the creature seemed to partially recover from Celes’ assault, Sabin got himself set, unable to, at that moment, see just what it was that Celes was trying to tell him about the eyes. It would have to wait until later for him to be able to tell what she meant. Right now, they were the heat of the moment, and Sabin was looking for a way to get in there and put that thing down to where it wouldn’t get back up. Dancing back and forth lightly on his feet – even with his large body size, like a boss – he raised his fists in front of him, jabbing at the air slightly as he looked for an opening. Celes supplied it herself, casting some blizzard into its chest to get it off center. Instead of focusing on Relm, Sabin fulfilled his normal role of just attack and beat something upside the head until it dropped and didn’t get back up.

Quickly he took his opportunity, rushing up toward the beast. As he did so, he found a place he could grab with his large hands, bodily throwing it up and slamming it down to the ground, landing on his feet with his knees bent slightly, before rising to his full height and backing up, panting lightly. He glanced back toward woman and the girl to see how they were doing. Thankfully, they seemed to be alright. Perhaps Relm was a bit shaken, but Sabin didn’t doubt that she would shake it off. She was a tough kid. She’d be fine! Especially with Celes right there helping her along! Placing his hands on his hips, Sabin finally focused on the eyes, trying to see exactly what it was that Celes was getting at in regards to something unusual. At first he thought she must just be being a girl and overreacting about something, but as soon as he saw what she meant, he recoiled in surprise, unsure of what he was seeing himself. Blankly staring at the eyes, so full of…so full of…something living, that he couldn’t hardly take his gaze away. Relm and Celes were both right. It looked human. Had they all looked like this and he had just not noticed? He thought of the way he had slammed them around and got a bit funky feeling inside.

But he tried not to think about it. He had been ignoring the sting on his arm, simply unable to pry his eyes away, when he felt the cure spreading through his arm and knitting the flesh back together. Glancing down at the wound that was now healing up, he patted Celes on the shoulder again. “Thanks.” And she was right. No matter what they were, or what they had been, they weren’t that now, and they were harming innocent people, real people. They had to be stopped. Hardening himself again and pulling his shoulders back, Sabin slapped a fist into his open hand. “Let’s do it!” He couldn’t help but be affected by what he had seen, as he was sure the other two was feeling as well. Still, he couldn’t allow those thoughts to keep him from his duty, which of course, was to keep safe those that couldn’t defend themselves. And there seemed to be plenty of those around here.

And thankfully, Celes had spoken to Relm. It was bad enough two adults, trained for this very thing to have to deal with it. It was completely another for a kid to have to deal with this. She would buck up if need be, he was sure, but he’d rather her not have to worry about the thoughts haunting her. “Yeah! Let us big kids take care of it,” he said with a grin. Raising his fists again, he heard the one bit of information and nodded seriously. She didn’t need to go into a big long explanation of just what she meant by their legs being weak. He could work with that! And did. Lunging forward, Sabin slid underneath the appendage that had been going to crush him and flipped to his feet, whirling around to punch at the leg with as much strength as he could muster. He was sure Celes would take advantage of the few moments opening she had while it stumbled to the side and landed on its knees.

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Words:; 935
Muse:; Great!
Location:; Narshe
Outfit:; Normaly?
Tagged:; Celes and Relm
Notes:; --
Listening To:; It's been Awhile - Staind

[Celes Chere]

Celes was sure this would all sicken her deeply yet again once the fight was over, but at least the distraction of keeping the town intact and its people alive would serve to ease her mind for now. Relm couldn't be guaranteed to handle it as well as someone of Celes' age and experience, though, which made the blond very glad that the younger girl reluctantly agreed to be their cover and not more involved in the actual physical fighting. Celes gave her a nod of appreciation, giving a light twirl of her own sword in her hand as she watch Sabin bound off like a bear released from a cage to make good use of her tactical advice. She gave him a second to get a head start on the staggering of the beast, taking short but detailed glances at the situation to the right and left of them, where the militia was still very much active and very much pressed by the attacks. Celes had barely noticed she'd toned out their yelling, something she'd become accustomed to as a general. It made her remember that they weren't isolated in this fight. "And watch your own back, Relm. We'll be fine. Don't let the lines break down,", she concluded, to the girl before she was off again, drawing herself up towards their primary foe, now staggered by Sabin's assault.

One of the flying monsters tried to cut her off, but Celes need only set her feet and drive it to the ground with a Blizzard spell for it to give up and pull back in retreat. There were no other distractions...only the largest now rumbling to the right slightly and ending up on both knees, propped up by one of its arms. Right, it only had two ways it could attack her now...the one free arm and magic, and she could counter the magic. So Celes took to the attack fully, taking her sword backhanded and slicing through the nearest leg to her to make sure the monster wasn't going to get up. As she gave a yank to free the sword, she summoned up another spell, this one heavy enough to free the opposite leg in place. The blade crashed again with the crystal-seeming torso again, Celes this time not making the mistake of thinking it was as defenseless as human flesh, and then once the second arm fell with the creature's foolish attempt to sweep at her, she positioned herself right underneath the face.

"Don't look at it this time," she said audibly, to herself, before stabbing her sword directly up above her head and feeling it impale through the monster's jaw. The creature bellowed angrily...but wasn't dead. Okay, another way she could separate it from a real human being...no human being would survive a stab through the bottom of the head. She pulled the sword down, realizing that she was again in a precarious position and thus, ducking and backtracking out from underneath its broad frame to give Sabin a chance to follow up - making sure he knew to do so by sharing a glance with him - as she swung around and tried to focus on cleaving down a few of the quickly-approaching smaller ones. Even those were fairly formidable foes, rejoined by the flyer from earlier, and one even managed to knock Celes down to the ground before she kicked the legs out from under it and held up her sword for it to fall on.

She noticed something as it did. The blade pierced through the odd red mark that was prominent on the creature, causing it to wail especially loudly and wobble several times before it went completely limp and essentially seemed to crumble. Alright...that was new. She kicked the next in the knee, then rolled to her feet in an effort to stab it through the same red splotch. The result mirrored the first. A small smile almost crossed the blond's face. There, they'd found their weakness.

Making short work of the flyer by relieving it of its wings and driving her foot into the apparent weak spot once it was on the ground, Celes looked up to Sabin, immediately casting Berserk on him so he could perform the task she was about to ask of him. "Sabin! Angle it so I can hit the red mark on its chest!"

Words - 766
Muse - Excellente!
Notes - Aww yeah.[/size]

[Relm Arrowny]

The blonde wasn’t sure about these monsters. They were annoying, and why couldn’t they just mind their own business and be on their way?! Or why couldn’t they be so much easier to fight? Still, Relm was still rather young, and even Celes and Sabin seemed worried about this situation. Their predicament was rather strange. Neither of them had seen these monsters before, and they chilled Relm out down to the core. How come they looked so… so… humane! Human monsters were the worst. You had to kill them, but you couldn’t. You just never knew who they could be. A mother, a son, a father, a daughter. Somewhere, they where, wasn’t this monster somebody to something? Somebody important. Relm huffed, and nodded to both of the adults. She didn’t really have a choice in the matter, anyway. She didn’t like this one bit. Maybe she could ask Strago to ask travellers about this. Maybe they would know.

Relm looked up at Sabin. ”I guess…. But I’m a big kid too!” She partly whined, but she knew it would not make a difference. Watching the grown-up start attacking, her eyes darted left to right, looking for anything that would sneak up on either of them. She blinked, and Relm rubbed her eyes slightly. No matter how many times she rubbed her eyes, the eyes just burned into her. They freaked her out, and made her freeze everytime she looked at them. Looking them in the eyes was a bad idea. She didn’t get scared! But, she just froze… temporarily. Relm looked over at Celes, before stretching her hands forward, just in case she needed to fire a quick spell. It would save time, would it not? She evened out her breathing, and remained calm, avoiding the monsters. Celes and Sabin were relying on her… weren’t they?

As a flying monster swung at her, she ducked down to the ground, and locked her arms over her head. Relm could feel the air swoop above her. Looking up, she quickly fired a Fire spell before standing on her feet. She brushed down her trousers, before hearing Celes say how to kill them. She would have to keep that in mind, in case she needed to quickly fire. Her eyes kept flicking back to the people she was covering, but she wanted to try and fight by herself. Relm groaned slightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Fight and possibly get told off by both Sabin and Celes, or do as she was told and possibly let monsters get away and attack innocent people. Maybe, the second option was better. She bit her lip. Which one should she do? Relm snapped her fingers. If she did it quietly, maybe they wouldn’t even notice. She turned her back to them for a second, trying to avoid stepping on anything. She stretched out her hands, and aimed for the red mark. Aim, set, and FIRE! Relm felt the spell leave her fingertips, but it just missed the red mark. However it didn’t miss making the monster’s attention turn on all three of them. ”Oh dear…” She whispered. Relm looked back at Celes and Sabin. Just pretend you didn’t do anything… She thought to herself. She saw Celes use Beserk on Sabin, and nodded slightly. Maybe that would be good…

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Words:; 716
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Sabin and Celes
Outfit:; Usual but paint-y
Location:; Narshe
Listening To:; Read All ABout It - Emilie Sande
Notes:; Nada

[Sabin Rene Figaro]

Sabin didn’t really like leaving Relm to go attack it themselves, but he liked the thought of her being up close and personal with them even less, so he settled for her staying back. They would be able to keep an eye on her and help if she needed any help. It helped that she was a tough kid too though, so she should be alright. Her whining was natural, and he could understand. It was hard not getting to be a part of the action and excitement, but Sabin didn’t want her to be there, even for the possibility that he might somehow hurt her without meaning to. She was a tiny little thing, so he could easily harm her. Reaching a hand up, he ruffled her hair affectionately before sending her a wink. “You’ve just gotta keep things running smooth over here Girly.”

They were off a second later. Sabin bounced around on his toes and watched while Celes went more on the offensive side and continued to attack it with her sword, waiting for his opportunity.As it was, she seemed to be able to handle the beast by herself, but he had to just sit back and wait a few seconds for her to finish her attack so he could get in on it as well. She really could use that sword of hers like a master, something he admired her for, even if he didn’t need to do be able to use a sword himself. His fists worked for him just fine! A moment later one of the flying ones attacked his head. Muttering to himself, Sabin reached up to snag a leg. “Annoying imp,” he muttered, before arcing his arm over his head and slamming it down into the ground. Glancing back at Celes, he watched her another moment.

And he was up! As she backed up, Sabin sprinted forward until he was past her and nearing the monstrosity. While it flailed and tried to paw at its mouth, Sabin set himself easily, got his hand into a fist and slammed it back into the monstrosity, following it up to another jab with his left hand. For a few seconds he was here and there, punching while ducking any attack, before he backed up and launched himself into the air, coming down with a fist to the body and pummeling it to the ground. Flipping back, he landed on one knee and then straightened back up.

Snapping his head around when he felt the magic fusing with his body, he heard what Celes said even while he felt the uncontrollable urge to move. With his body and eyes twitching a few times, Sabin itched to move, and did just that. Avoiding a limb sent downward to smash him, Sabin slapped a second attempt away on his way toward the beast. Dodging around it, Sabin ran up the backside, before wrapping his arms around it’s ‘head’ and jerking it back to expose the red mark on its chest. “NOW CELES!”, he shouted while it bucked and writhed in his arms.

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Words:; 667
Muse:; x.x
Location:; Narshe
Outfit:; That one!
Tagged:; Celes and Relm
Notes:; This is so bad...
Listening To:; Colors of the Wind - Disney OST