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The voices are too much, fear runs deep. Many Sandpainters are taking shelter in the Great Hall, a large dome carved into the earth, the entrance protected by Kitxoone's magics.

For those wishing to simply wait things out, its the safest place to go.

Willa didn't like the voices that had been coming into her head at all, and she wasn't too good at fighting either which is why she flew quickly to the Great Hall. She would wait this out patiently and hope the other's would be ok, and if need be she would stay here and maybe she could help with the wounded if that time came. But she hoped that time would never come at all as she sighed. When she landed finally she noticed one other Sand Painter here and she nodded her head to her.

The evil voices and rumbling earth were enough for Lelouch, who simply wanted to find his sister and live a normal life with her. Not wanting to get involved with anything that wasn't a part of his agenda, he made his way to the Great Hall, where he sat alone in a dark corner by himself. He didn't want to speak to anyone here and if anyone dared to approach, he would simply glare back at them with his glowing left eye. He didn't dare use the Geass on innocent refugees, but allowed it to be activated to warn them.

Lelouch pulled his dark cloak closer to his body and stared off at the other Painters in the hall. Two females and a male. Not too many...good. He didn't want to be noticed and it seemed that no one had taken any notice of the dark figure hiding in the shadows. Sighing to himself, he closed his eyes and thought about his sister once again.

Kedge had been alright to keep to himself, curling his hulking frame next to the water and allowing his tail to sway and create ripples. But then things seemed to enclose around him as a loud and screeching voice sent a shiver across his blubbery hide. He raised his long neck and glared at the loud female, not being in the mood for flirting. Besides, this one looked too annoying.

"We've ALL heard it, so why don't you just shut up and take a seat like the rest of us?" The merdrac grumbled.

Returning the nod of the second Painter to arrive, Sayuri kept track of the arriving Painters. The flirtatious male had arrived, a clothed male who seemed to desire to be left undisturbed, and of course, the vocal newcomer. Wincing slightly as the raised voiced assuaged her ears, Sayuri considered how to best go about diffusing the situation.

“ Those that are assembled here have done so because they do not wish to be in the front line. There are, however, those that have volunteered to risk their lives in upcoming fight and as such need to be trained. A sturdy cave with strong protective magic has been afforded to us and I for one shall not complain. Would you prefer that those willing to fight go unprepared so that we may soothed?”

{{ In case you can't tell, I personally have no people-skills. Hopefully that was Geisha-y enough. x.x }}

"So... we've got a bunch of untrained volunteers versus Scary McPsychicPants, I'm so comforted." Now that someone had pointed out that she was cowering as far behind the lines as she could get, and had no real right to complain, Pixie decided she'd settle for spreading her feelings of fear. Misery, after all, loved company, and panic wasn't going to say no to a few visitors either. "I wonder if the creepy thing will eat us all right after he wins, or save us for later." She settled herself down on the ground to mope, but her voice wasn't getting much quieter even though she'd stopped yelling.

"Hello? Don't worry, I'm coming, it just took me a while..." A large merdrac slid smoothly through the entrance of the Fortress, then lifted her head, clicking softly as she swung her head side to side, low to the ground. After a few seconds, the brightly colored female flopped away from the other Merdrac, following a path of smooth, rounded rocks, until she suddenly vanished into a dip in the floor with a splash, sloshing up water over the lip and across the floor.



With another flop, she lifted herself half way out of the water, swinging her head to and fro, squeaking the familiar sound of a Merdrac echolocating as she paused at each sandpainter, her bright blue eyes blank and pupilless and unseeing despite their Cheerful glow, "Ah, there you all are - Our future little problem could have been much worse - that makes the evacuation easier, there's only a few of you here. Though still more of you Landwalkers then I am used to handling at on-Oh My, what are you doing over there?"

Her attention was on Kedge at this point, "Didn't anyone tell you of the pool? No, I guess not -- the Fortress is large enough to hold a thousand sandpainters during a time of crisis, and they had to put this out of the way so the young ones wouldn't fall in and drown..."

The Merdrac slapped her tail against the water, creating large waves splashing against the wall around the large pool, "Usually we merdracs don't require to be here, anyway, It's mostly made for me.. What was I talking abou- Ah, yes.'

"I am Alohuaki, and I appologise for not being here earlier -- I was kindly alerted to the fact all of you are having a problem with that Abomination and have come to be a guide.. However, Please brace yourselfs -- we're about to have a little... Problem"

As she spoke, while at first it was not noticable, there was a low rumble and vibration to the giant cavern of a room, lose rocks rattling across the floor. The Merdrac waves her paws, dipping into the water and bobbing as she stopped supporting herself on the ground, "Please move deeper into the Fortress and.. You might.."

Alohua frowned, lifting her head as the rumble continued to grow, the noise making it hard to hear her, "how rude... YOU MIGHT WANT TO COVER YOUR EYES AND MOUTHS. AND DO NOT TRY TO LEAVE THROUGH THAT EXIT -- YOU'LL GET CRUSHED. AND STAY CALM!"

With a quick shout to Duck and cover, almost lost to the roar, she dove into the water just as rocks and dirt exploded through the entrance of the fortress, the light blotted out as a rockslide, weakened from the earlier earthquake and only just broken loose.

As the rumble slowed into a painful silence, the blind Merdrac lifts her head, her voice still as cheerful as it was when she first arrived, "Now, the important thing to remember now is not to panic... We're all safe here..."


You didn't really think it would be that easy to escape from the situation now, did you?

Alohuaki chuckled softly, turning her head and squeaking softly to locate Kedge's face, her voice still cheerful, "That was a "Rock Slide".. Likely has gone and filled up the entrance under twenty tons of rock. Some of them likely bigger then you on their own."

She dove into the water, swimming away from the entrance into the water and then lifts herself over the ledge of rocks on the edge, her long neck craning over to try and locate the others, "However... There is nothing to worry about. Now, if all of you would follow me into the water. You'll get wet, yes, and it might be slugish travels, but don't worry about breathing. As Guests of a Merdrac as well traveled as myself you should have no problems with the little journey ahead of us."


"Also, please gather the light crystals -- you seeing people without echolocation will definately be needing them. Now, we should get going." She laughed joyously, "And really, what other choice do you have? Try to dig through the miles and miles of rock above us to widen one of the airshafts? Come come, landwalkers, there is a journey ahead of us."