final fantasy//endless abyss

[Captain Glomps]

Seph smirked giving Itaka a light nudge "Well Felina does open a few extra doors for us though without her I think most people would find it very hard to believe someone as rough looking as you could be associated with such a delicate and gentle flower like of an elven princess" she teased checking the signpost birefly as she passed. "You never know though some of us might want to leave at some point. But I am sure we would pick more up in their place. Though if I were to out my money on who would leave first I would say Satoshi or Mari."

Alpha grunted lifting up one of the barriers intended to keep the performers and the spectators apart in terms of space "At this time in the morning. Still in bed no doubt. She's always been more of a night person given the choice and they worked hard for last nights performence" he shrugged gesturing for them to follow him. "Which means to her carriage we go"

Hebal tutted "well she's missing out on a big day so we better wake her up and tell her to go to bed earlier" she insisted bouncing through seeing the few members of staff nearby not too bothered about their tresspass after spotting Alpha. "Its not just Zadina she's lucky to have. Her friend Ardie is getting pretty good with a sword and she's really brave just like Seph and Mari.. probably more towards Seph but not as cocky for now"

The cat demon paused scratching his ears while he swung on the bars "Hmm... well when I headed to work 20mins ago Runi was still getting washed so if your quick you might catch her getting breakfastwith her mum. Might be able to catch her before she runs of so will need to go in.....meow that direction. We've taken a liking to the palm trees."

Amane tilted her head watching him balence himself while pointing to their direction while reaching for his tools "Thanks Mr Cat Demon!" she called to them before grabbing Zadina's hand encouraging him to hurry forward now Merric had recovered a little."I am guessing thats her dad though wonder what she has for breakfast. Fish maybe" she laughed.  

[lack-of-originality]

Felina smiled unsure whether or not to take the squirrel from the centuar "Thank you for the meal though would you be so kind as to share it with us. Truth be told none of us are fantastic cooks so a little help would be appreciated" she requested hoping to maintain the centuar's attemtion as she seemed one of the few who could understand them. She then smiled and whispered to Oassu while the centuar led them to a seat by an unoccupied fire "I dont think Corella has seen meat looking so raw before but right this second... I dont know except that a good portion of them will be discussing their odd looking guests"

Corella nodded "Maybe a little but I bet they are also complaining about how its really cold and wet here and I am guessing some are hungry too if they are cooking" she guessed sitting herself down keeping a safe distence from their friendly aquaintence. "So umm... whats your name and what do you do around here?" she asked trying to be.

The centuar paused lying down on her front while she thought over the question. "You mean like for work? I do nothing special. I just gather herbs and berries. Things we can use or eat. As for my name. My name is Entia. It means.. in fact forget that" she sighed not knowing the right word. "Nice to meet you"

Satoshi squeezed Gil's hand watching the last few late dragons trying to slip into place unnoticed "Just be careful with your tail not to swing too much into them or someone might flip over. These large one man dragons only downside is their lack of tail control." she warned. "Now then dear look tall and proud and give us the best roars because the parade starts in 5 once the band has finished tuning."  

[Pierre42]

Oassu barely stifled a snicker at Corella's awkward attempt to talk to the centaur "Sometimes I feel for all your royal upbringing it's made socialising more difficult rather than better" he whispered to Felina through a smile "Pleasure to meet you Entia, where is your tribe heading after the forest?" he asked her taking a seat on the ground

Gil nodded hearing the murmur of the people not participating as excitement began to build in the crowd "Well I reckon with all the roaring and the band it'll be drowned out anyway but sure I'll try" he said trying to keep Enkidu under the costume sensing his discomfort at the noise.

Itaka shook his head "I doubt Mari would she's such good friends with the other girls I wonder if she'll ever want to leave, Satoshi sure but it may not be her choice, she's like Gilgamesh in a way cept she doesn't get to pick and choose her missions much" he said

Jeckhart paused wondering if Mu would pounce on her father like yesterday "Well yes I'm sure she'll do fine and it'll be a wonderful adventure for them, though the wilds can be dangerous out there I think she'll be perfectly protected with the likes of Zadina and Ardie about" he said

Zadina giggled as Amane tugged him away reminding him strongly of the way Hebal did "Ok ok I'm coming Amane" he said happily hurrying after her "Well she'd sure love that and it is a special day so lets hope so, bet her family likes the trees because cats love napping in shade" he speculated.  

[Captain Glomps]

"If you put it that way. I dunno I just always thought that Mari seemed a bit more homesick than the rest of the group from talking to her" Seph shrugged before lauging at the random kweh made by Chobi now wondering why she wasn't being petted more. Though I guess when you put it that way Hayate and Satoshi are both more likely to leave since they both get less of a choice about where they end up though I think Alpha let slip he was given permission to leave weeks ago. So I guess eveyone for the time being is happy or very good at hiding things though god knows where we'll be this time in 3 days from now"

Hebal let out a loud yawn caused by her witnessing some form of bat demon similar looking to Seph sleeping in the shade "Oh yeah theres no worries, all summoners go out on a set course already decided for them. Those tend to be made so they go to temples known to be less dangerous or with weaker fiends near by and then over time they travel to the more dangerous areas when experienced. The one time I am glad all the elders are always so dull and planning things all day"

Amane mumbled a small aww sound forming what she thought was a cute image in her head "Maybe they are or could be on a big fluffy pillow somewhere though what do you think they give eachother on days like this? Fish, catnip and balls of string?" she pindered with a giggle. "I wish we had catnip to give Runide"  

[lack-of-originality]

Felina nodded her head somewhat "Yes and no. More social for people in power and high society but thats a whole different place than the rest of the world and having to talk with the more common people. And even so Corella is inexperienced and not expected by our people to do much more than smile and wave since the third child of any noble family tends to have no power or influence on others outside the main family" she whispered back then smiled back at Entia "Well nice to meet you too Entia and I am glad you came over.. It's nice to be able to interact with people. And gathering food is a pretty useful role Im sure when travelling"

Corella nodded "Well what do you think of the food that out forest has? If you haven't already I would really recommend trying the apples we get here as those are particularly nice and... " she trailed off watching what the centuar was doing to prepare the squirrel for roasting.

Entia turned her head giving Corella a puzzled look confused as to why her squirrel was receiving such a look from her "Tried the apples I have but meat better for keeping strength up. Not sure quite where we're going. The chief just says we will all feel it when we reach our price. She is secret like but we trust her"

Satoshi took a step back from Gil allowing an uncomfortable Terrato to coil himself around her shoulder "You might hear some of the band though theres enough vibrations made by the band to stir my incredibly lazy pet in need of some training. And if you like being anonymous try not to wave your arms too much or they will spot you... and off we go" she added starting to shuffle with the group as part of the sudden chain reaction of movement.  

[Pierre42]

Oassu nodded wrapping his arms around himself so they would be warmed by the fire "Well I suppose that's ok then if you trust her" he sighed happily with the fire "Still I don't suppose centaur's celebrate the dragon festival do they?" he asked.

Gil nodded not too worried about being recognised or bothered in the costume as he shuffled along after Satoshi in the costume with Enkidu keeping close to his heels.

Jeckhart nodded "Well that sounds smart but fiends movements have been unusual lately still it's nice to know your daughter is going to be properly taken care of when she sets out on her own adventure" he said

Zadina pondered it a little as well as they ran "Well perhaps but I imagine that's awfully rude for the cat demons as if it works on them as it'd be tantamount to drugging them and they'd be cross afterwards" he said.

Itaka nodded "Yeah you're right, this little vacation gives the group a chance to see what life could be like not adventuring once again, for you and me that's been a bit of time, some might not like to leave that again if they get too used to the comfort, especially the likes of Felina with all her royal life" he added.  

[Captain Glomps]

Seph snickered "I think Oassu will keep Felina about and on her towes. An I mean its been what... nearly 2 years since we first, well I first joined up with those two. Whats two years against 200. I've never been one to settle in one place for long at theres work to be had moving about with them. I haven't not been adventuring for well over a century so settling down would drive me crazy at first. But enough about me, what about you? Missing the high life in the underworld of Agralia?"

Hebal turned around surprised "The fiends are moving around again? Well thats kinda weird and perhaps a but disturbing depending on various patterns not that I am an expert on fiends.I just know how to learn a few cool tricks from them. Whats so odd about them?"

Alpha quietly made a shh noise at Hebal and Jeckhart trying to get them to talk a bit quieter "Guys just something to note, some of these demons are nocturnal or just didnt sleep well last night so lets not accidentally wake one up" he advised indicating to all the trailers nearby.

Amane hesitated "I guess so or it might not work and they just think that we are weird for waving random plants at them. I dunno I know they are meant to be demons but.... theres nothing the slightest bit demonic about them which makes me wonder if they are really demons if you get me? Anyway I think we're getting close because I can smell...kippers. Ewww wouldnt want to smell of those all day thats really icky" she groaned.  

[lack-of-originality]

Entia glanced blankly at Oassu for a moment "Dragon... festival. Why would we hold a festival for dangerous creatures that can kill many when attack or is this an elf thing I just don't know of" she asked managing to stop herself from describing the whole concept as stupid.

Felina frowned shaking her head "No no its around the world that its celebrated though mostly by elves, humans and gria, bangaa and viera too. Its basically a festival dedicated to the great dragon bahamut who in all cultures is a high profile figure" she explained.

"Its also a time for gifts and dancing and relaxing with families oh and fireworks. There will be lots of those later" Corella added on failing to see Entia's doscomfort at the mention of fireworks.

Satoshi smiled managing within her little space to shake her costumes head and mane vigorously to the crowd before easily talking to Gil unnoticed for all the roaring and the band "Try to strut more rather than shuffle. You do have a little space if you watch your tail when swishing"  

[Pierre42]

Oassu chuckled "Well I think it's biggest in Gria communities seeing as they are supposed descendants of dragons but yeah it's a time of goodwill really and everyone gives gifts to one another" he said not surprised the Centaur didn't celebrate it.

Gil nodded though he could hardly hear Satoshi over the band and crowd and other dragons roaring "Sure thing Nadira" he said putting in a bit more effort to wiggle his tail "Do they judge the best dragon costume during the parade?" he asked using his extra arms to make sure his dragon was extra swishy and shaky.

Itaka laughed before shaking his head "Like I said I avoid the Agralian underworld, I'm rich enough I don't really need it anyway, spent most of my time at the farm really corrosponding with Barbaros, he'll do a fine job running a guild himself he did all the work after all" he said slowing down as they crested aa hill pointing along the road which led to a modest sized snowy town "That's us, most of the celebrations won't have started quite yet." he said "We can see them and then get a proper Dragon meal for the day!" he added eager to eat a luxury meal.

Jeckhart shrugged "Who knows why fiends do anything really, but if your elders are as wise as they seem they'll already be aware of this when sending Amane out, I'm aware the summoning temples send out good communication with each other" he said hushing as Alpha silenced them mumbling a swift apology.

Zadina scratched his ear somewhat grateful he didn't have Amane's sense of smell "You mean just like cat-people? Well it all depends on what you consider demonic, I hear we used to have a race similar to them physically a long time ago but they were really short and didn't have any of the behavioural traits of actual cats," he said wondering on Amane's words before eventually they got close enough he could smell the kippers "hehe Runide must be so happy having fish for her breakfast" he added to Amane.  

[Captain Glomps]

Seph paused gazing down upon the town "Not a bad looking sleepy town you have there. Looks nice but bet theres little action to be had in the area. Not sure if thats a good or a bad thing. Though did you not ever get bored being on the farm all day. Country life just seems a little slow to me sometimes" she asked patting a stomach "Still a good meal I will never turn down for you never know when your next going to get good food when adventuring"

Hebal shrugged "I wouldnt know really. I have only ever visited one temple outside that of my village and that one was in Yithra and we didn't hang about. Though the temples are so pretty looking I bet the elders spend all their time just looking at it when not planning stuff" she whispered trying not to laugh at the bright pink trailer with some kind of enchantment upon it to make it sparkle.

Amane giggled to herself listening to the faint meowing from at least two different cat demons "I see demonic as big and scary and basically a smart usually oversized fiend but I guess that stereotype back home couldn't be more wrong. Never heard of this race you speak of though look over there" she smied pointing out a small makeshift table with guests sitting around it including the kippers. "Must be some little gathering"  

[lack-of-originality]

Enita blinked thens hook her head thinking it would be something she would never understand "Well if you give gifts and goodwill every day or at random times of the year then maybe it be more special than a day where everyone gives? We don't have many things like that except when a new chief is chosen or the festival of the hunt. Do you do that one? Where everyone in tribe takes part in big hunting contest and the best hunter wins big riches and fame?"

Felina shook her head "I guess you have a point but not everyone is creative when it comes to gifts. But no we elves have no hunt festival like you do. We just hunt for food or combat training but don't make a big deal about it. A lot of elves would get mad if they saw you hunting certain creatures that live in this forest also"

Corella paused "Well yeah but we have endangered species in this forest so thats why the rangers would get mad if they caught you hunting some of them. But we do celebrate the coronation of a new king and have jubilee celebrations every year on that day afterwards"

Satoshi nodded "Yes they do. When we go around the fountain you'll notice you'll be able to spread out more because thats when the judging takes place. Can't miss it, we only have one fountain and we'll slow down a lot when approaching so the dragons give eachother more space to perform. And hopefully none of us will trip over and fall into the fountain like one person did last year"  

[Pierre42]

Oassu nodded "Yeah I imagine Hayate is probably talking over hunting rules right now with your chief" he said "Would probably get your tribe in trouble if they went around hunting anything in sight" he said "Still there are other days to give gifts but we certainly couldn't afford to do it every day" he said with a smile watching the squirrel cook.

Gil nodded worrying slightly "Well I've never participated in a contest like this before I'll try and er...look...dragony" he said making a note to stand on the outside of the group so as not to fall into the fountain "I'd thought they'd judge the costumes elsewhere rather than all here" he admitted feeling the added pressure knowing they'd be judged.

Itaka shrugged "I don't really get involved in much anyway, occasionally I'll go to Agralia for thieves business or something" he said gently moving down the hill to the road to the town "But hey I like my privacy so slow life is often comfortable enough most of the time" he said.

Zadina paused a small distance away from the table frowning as he saw the folks gathering around "Are you sure we should interrupt? They could be having a family moment back there" he said moving behind the nearest caravan in an attempt to be stealthy "But not all demons are big oversized fiends, Miss Seph is a demon and she doesn't look anything like Alpha at all" he added peeking around at the Cat demons breakfast.  

[Captain Glomps]

Seph snickered a little surprised "Well there was me not realising just how much of a country person who actually were though didn't you ever get lonely being here all the time. As much as I like chocobos I couldnt go that long just talking to them" she told him giving Chobi a good tug to stop her charging blindly down the hill having seen it as a speedy opportunity. "Still at least it gives you a good location to train"

Amane gasped standing by herself a moment unsure of what to do until she spotted Zadina and hurried after him. "I guess your right though mum always tells me Seph is bad for not wearing clothes cause her features make viera feel uncomfortable and nervous so even the lesser demons can be scary" she replied following Zadina's gaze. "I dunno what they are doing but no harm in saying hi is there and..." she trailed off releasing a small squeal realising someone had crept up behind her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Hi... whatcha doing" muffled Runide bouncing beside Amane with a kipped tightly being held within her mouth "So are any of you guys hungry" she asked removing her food from her jaws"  

[lack-of-originality]

Felina nodded her head in agreement "No even royals cant gift everybody with things everyday though its probably Nares who would be talking over the rules. Thoughh god help anyone here that gets caught by her hunting the wrong creatures. I wouldn't recommend you guys ever using Yithra as a place for your hunting festival" she advised.

Entia sighed turing the meat over above the flame "Well that is a shame because your forest has so much wild life it would be perfect for festical to take place but I think chief knows how insulting it would be to hunt too much here. Already told us not to shoot the horned things and I am guessing not to hunt white rabbit you have there as your friend... been long time since saw that breed. Thought they were wiped out" she added almost staring at Cid.

Satoshi smiled under her costume and gave Gil's costumed hand a squeeze "Is that the great Gilgamesh getting worried about being a dragon? Just relax and have fun, its not like anyone will see your face if you start making a fool of yourself. Take advantage of being annonymous for once. Who knows when youll next have the opportunity" she assured him managing a graceful twirl in the space she had earning a cheer from the crowd.  

[Pierre42]

Oassu raised an eyebrow "Oh? You know more about Cid? We think he's kind of a little mystery to us" he said petting the bunny who was shivering nervously "What more do you know about his breed?" he asked eager to get more knowledge about the nature of Cid.

Gil smiled slightly reassured in spite of Satoshi's jibes "Hey I'm not used to being judged in a beauty pageant much less one like this" he said not feeling confident enough with the costume to attempt to imitate Satoshi's movement and continuing his snaky wiggle along the path "Besides no one wants to feel foolish, anonymity or not" he said.

Itaka smirked "Well Agralia is hardly a day trip away, when I do go I'm gone for like a good few weeks if not months doing business there, though my penthouse in Agralia is probably confiscated because of Alex and since the guild moved I have no more business there" he sighed

Zadina nodded "Miss Seph makes a lot of people uncomfortable that way not just Viera, it's why some places forbid demons from being naked like that, Kunec the Gria capital we just came from had a law like that" he said peeking around the corner to look at the little gathering before turning around sharply when he heard Amane squeal "Oh....it's only you Runide, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that" he scolded her lightly letting the firaga spell dissipate in his hand and smiling as he realised he'd found her "I'm not hungry thank you, but we were actually just looking for you to say hi before we leave today" he said.