songerein | closed ⚡🌠 where the pulse of the land offers no respite

[There's another quick, soft smile before he looks back towards the cave.

And with nothing else for them to do, he'll stand and lead them back to the entrance. Once there, he'll take a careful listen, but fortunately nothing has changed. Same quiet sounds, and he'll even take the small risk of quietly stepping into the entrance and letting a dim lighting orb float through. It's enough to cast a shadow of a nearby bat, and looking up he can see the outline of more.

Glancing at Tifa, he will slowly enter further, and at least there will be plenty of space for them to move and maneuver when they inevitably have to fight the remnants. He'll wait for Tifa to join him, and with them still close enough to the entrance in case they really do have to retreat, he places a hand on the wall and closes his eyes as he gathers his dreamotion.

Were this a year ago, he wouldn't have the confidence he could control his dreamotion to this extent. But after two years and working with nightmare energy, this will come easier. Still a "high level" attempt, but one he can achieve.

Especially when he has his partner right next to him.

By now some of the bats may have sensed their presence, the sound of wings rustling as they begin to rouse. As if that's his cue, Eustace focuses everything into his hand against the wall. Immediately a thick layer of ice erupts and spreads out throughout the cave, arcs of lightning flashing from within to briefly give them a glimpse of the scale and scope they're really dealing with.

It's a large cave, larger than he expected, but at least it's not a huge cavern. And as the ice spreads like a tidal wave to capture the unsuspecting bats, it can be seen the ceiling is covered with them. Not hundreds, fortunately, but perhaps twenty or so are briefly illuminated. Over half will be caught completely unaware, immediately encased and speared through by his ice, the electricity serving as a final jolt to finish them off. Those that are farther away will be jolted awake. Some will still be struck by the lightning that jumps from the ice as if to catch their quarry while a small handful screech loudly as they escape completely.]

[Tifa is, as she promised, not far behind him. A step or two as she cautiously tiptoes into the cave after Eustace. It's dark, but she can already hear the telltale chirps that she had heard back then with Alisaie, and it sends a shiver running up her spine. At first, they seem unaware of their presence, but she knows that won't last long, and as soon as they do, they're both going to have to be quick on their feet with their magic.

When there's the flapping and rustling of wings, Tifa feels herself stiffen, fearing the worst, but the lightning and ice that suddenly surge forth through the cave is Tifa's own cue to get things moving. There's a loud CRACK that echoes as the rocky walls and floors open up, thick, flowery vines erupting from them to cover up the entrance that they'd just come through.

They manage to keep those that escape his ice in the cave, the vines not letting their wingspans through, but she knows that his ice hadn't gotten all of them. She can hear the "whoosh of their wings, and Tifa erects a wall of flames around Eustace to keep them at bay, giving him both the light and the barrier that he might need to take down the ones that remain.

And in the light, they are just as big as Tifa remembers them... some even bigger. Large enough that, if they get too close, could certainly pick her up and carry her away with their claws.]

Heads up!

[She calls out from behind when she spots the shadow of one diving for him, and a flame whizzes past Eustace, only nearly missing him to land a hit. It sends the bat teetering on its wings and it circles around, screeching at all the others.

Yeah. They've made them mad...]

Edited 2023-10-06 16:19 (UTC)

[He leaves it to Tifa to cover him as he continues to focus on controlling the ice and lightning to catch the ones that were straggling, lightning exploding throughout the cave as the bolts weave through to catch its target. Once two more fall, there's the sound of Flamek activating as he whips it out of his holster and aims up and behind them, a beam of lightning piercing through a bat that had tried to attack them.]

Light the walls.

[That's all Eustace says to her as he twists his body around to fire yet another shot.

There were two reasons for the quick command. One, to drive the bats towards the center of the cave. Two, to provide more light. His lighting and ice have provided some dime lighting, but with the bats being as black as they are, they need every light and shadow they can get.]

[He needn't say a word more than that because she understands exactly what he means to accomplish with it. It takes a moment for her to focus back up, centering all of it into her chest, and letting the heat spread out to her fingertips...

...

Before there's a sudden surge of both heat and light as the flames spill out from under her feet and whip about, licking the ground first before it moves up the walls, flitting about like a rabbit would dart over the rocks. They light the whole cavern from ground to ceiling, casting the shadows of the bats over them as they all converge into the middle up near the rocks at the top, away from the heat.]

[As it works as intended, Eustace aims Flamek towards the cluster and fires a concentrated shot of lightning which bursts to spread out to strike at several of the bats once. Staggering in the air, they're left open for Eustace to fire one more large blast, this one powered more by his own dreamotion than Flamek itself.

Not only does the bright flash of light further disorient them, the sound of the blast confuses them further, allowing them to be caught in it as they screech and fall.]

[Well, she can't make him do all the work, can she?

While her fists remain mostly useless against the bats, she can still work her magic. The bats being disoriented have them darting about, moving this way and that, and she watches their shadows carefully, waiting for the right moment for—

CRACK!

Another loud snap and smaller vines whip around the angry creatures, grabbing hold of whatever they can reach to hold them still, giving Eustace a moment to fire off another shot as she knocks down another with her fire, its wing bursting into flames and sending it fluttering to the ground when it can no longer fly.]

[Between the two of them, it takes no time at all until the last bat finally falls, only the sounds of the crackling ice, the buzz of electricity still in the air, and the whips of flame remain.

Eustace will scan his eyes around, but he'll slowly relax his stance.]

...I think we got them all.

[Tifa, too, gives the cave one last scan before her eyes fall to the pile of large bats on the ground. It's crazy sometimes to think about how quickly the pair of them can make work of anything, and this is no exception. She allows most of the flames to die down, but the vines remain firmly in place until they are ready to leave, and she slowly approaches his side, a flicker of fire following her to help light them up.]

Looks like...

[Up her gaze goes to the ones that remain struck by the ice spikes above, then down to the ones that lay lifeless on the ground all around them.]

What do you wanna do with them now...?

[He had said he wanted to investigate them, but... how, exactly?]

[...Hm.

He glances at Tifa for a moment before he walks towards the nearest one on the ground. Crouching down to one knee, he holds up a lightning orb to more carefully examine it.]

...Strange.

[His brows furrow as a frown sets, a hand reaching out to touch the hide of the dead creature.]

I feel nightmare energy from them, but it's not as concentrated as a noctaere. Given how long their corpses are remaining, I can conclude these are just creatures who have adapted to living in this area.

[But he's still concerned.]

[And she can hear that concern laced in his voice, and as she steps up and kneels beside him, she sees that frown there, too.]

So then... why so aggressive about the crystals? You think they need them for something, too?

You would...or at the very least not bother with them. Not to mention the destruction of the crystals seem recent. If they have always felt threatened by them, they would have had this issue long before now.

[It's then that Eustace notices something on the bat's leg, and he frowns as he moves more of the fur to reveal...

...?]

This...

[He reaches out and yanks off something that was attached it. Opening it in his palm, there is a metal black circle with what looks like numbers engraved on them.]

...A tag?

[She shuffles a little closer, her hand coming up with flaming fingertips to help light the thing in his palm a little more. That is most definitely a tag... but for what?

With her free hand, she searches around for the leg of another bat, wincing slightly as she pulls back the fur on its leg to reveal another, the numbers different from the one that Eustace is holding.]

Were the Orkilins keeping track of them? Using them for something...?

No... They were as confused about the bats behavior as anyone else. However, that doesn't mean someone else could have been without their knowledge.

[He looks again at the bodies.]

Let's take a few more... And we should hold onto at least two ourselves. Just in case.

[In case there really is someone on the inside sabotaging things. Having had such a thing happen back in his world, he is much more sensitive about the prospect, no matter how long it's been.

If they can have the team at the Observatory launch an investigation as well, that should help cover bases. And they can hold onto the last as the final safekeeping.]

[...

....

Tifa watches him look over the bodies before—]

Wait. Take the bats!?

[What—]

No, the tags!

Edited 2023-10-06 23:12 (UTC)

[A terrible, embarrassing misunderstanding, and there's just the tiniest, flustered 'oh' from Tifa before she's hurriedly tearing off one of the tags from the bat's leg.......]

Er... right... the tags.

[She hands it to him, hiding the way her cheeks have coloured.]

Wonder what this has to do with the crystals, though... It's not totally impossible that these are chipped with something, but I guess there's only one way to find out.

[Her imagination is probably running away from her, but if the behaviour was new and surprising to even the people who worked down in the mines, then there must have been something to set them off?]

[Wife what were you thinking... But her words make him look up in some confusion.]

Chipped?

[Help, he's still from ye olden medieval fantasy with just some sci-fi things so he doesn't know that terminology.]

[Oh. Right. It's so easy to forget these days that they both come from completely different worlds.]

Yeah.

[A heavy shadow falls over her expression as she remembers some of the experiments that she had seen first-hand... It's sort of the same thing, and she shudders to think that this could be what happened here. It's unlikely, but not impossible.]

I saw it a lot with Shinra. Experiments and that sort of thing. A chip, or a tag, or something that was either implanted or around them that could control something. An animal, or...a monster. Could be something with sound, or sight, or in this case, magic.

[There's a drawn-out pause, her eyes going distant, before she returns.]

... I mean, I doubt that's what's happening here, but...

[The first place her mind had gone was, naturally, the thing she was most familiar with.]

Edited 2023-10-07 00:26 (UTC)

[He thinks for a moment...]

Control... Implants... I think something similar happened in my world somewhere. Only crystals were used... Regardless, I think I understand.

[Another frown as he looks at the corpses.]

In that case, it would be better if we could take one back to be examined.

[Now her nose crinkles.]

I guess we could... Maybe freeze one in ice before we do.

[To... preserve it... or something.]

You think the researchers at the Observatory could do something with it?

I think so.

[Now which one to freeze... The least damaged one...]

Just a matter of transporting it.

[Although large, they are still small enough to carry, so after picking out one he extends his hand to encase it in ice.]

Edited 2023-10-07 02:07 (UTC)

[She just gives a nod, but she knows that it isn't going to be as simple as just getting the bat out of here. There were other things, too...]

And what about the crystals? All the dust that we found outside... We can't just leave that, can we?

No. We should be able to leave this with some others instead...

In fact I think there are some researchers from the Observatory here who wanted to study the city and their technology. We can leave our findings with them and return to continue our own search.

Could maybe use a break...

[They have been walking a long time, and she hasn't used her dreamotion that much in months that maybe a breather might do them both some good before they journey any further into the mines.

Though, now that he mentions it—]

They're not all the way back up at the surface, are they?

[A small nod. While he's feeling less winded, a break after this discovery wouldn't be a bad idea, especially as the noise could have either attracted or scared off additional attention.

With the bat now hefted over his shoulder and a few more tags collected, he'll make for the entrance.]

No, I believe some arrived a few days ago so they should still be here.

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