melodiesofeternity | Creepy Kupos

For a few days now, there'd been complaints of an old moogle wandering one of the beaches near Myste Aura, a grotesque skeletal bird hanging from its neck. No one's been brave enough to approach the man to tell him off, so one of the watchers have asked for help.

Fine. Telling people off was one of Ena's talents, and she gladly agreed to do it. It wasn't too far away from her house, anyway. She stands, arms crossed, by the steps leading down to the beach as the sun sets, waiting for her partner in the quest.

Yotsuyu is good at many things, and chief among them is telling people what to do. When she noticed the quest, she almost immediately signed up. Given all of the horrors she had seen in the world, what would scare her about an old moogle and a dead bird?

Unfortunately for her, the quest required two people, which is why she reluctantly agreed to have a partner. A partner who managed to make it here before her.

"I take it you're the one I'm supposed to be working with? I am called Yotsuyu. Do not forget my name."

"If you're here to shoo the old moogle away, then yes, we'll be working together." Ena folds her arms and studies her new partner - articulate, well put together, a sharp air around her. This is fine. Ena straightens her posture. "I am Ena. It's a pleasure, Yotsuyu. I won't forget."

The stone stairs lead down from the elevated streets to the beach - deserted, of course, since it's a chilly October evening. The sand is smooth and without tracks, except for the faint prints of seabirds here and there. There's a dark line towards the water indicating where high tide had been earlier that day, but the water was now receded at low tide.

The streetlamps placed at intervals atop the wall lining the street, the lighthouse in the distance, and the glittering lights of the city even beyond that were the only sources of light here on the beach. The sun was setting, and it was getting dark fast.

"Are you local to the area?" Ena asks, trying to get a feel of who they might be meeting tonight. "Have you seen him before?"

Yotsuyu takes a long huff from her pipe, blowing smoke into the nearby air. She tries her best to keep her expression unreadable; is she impressed? Looking down on Ena? Bored? It could be any of those above, and her cheerful moogle isn't doing much to help solve the problem.

Eventually, she turns her gaze towards the surrounding area, and then back towards Ena.

"I am not from around here, no. But I am sure this will not prove too much of a challenge. I can't imagine that the old geezer will pose much of a threat to me."

Me, not us. Me. Yotsuyu knows who she's here for, and Ena has done nothing so far to earn her trust.

"Certainly," Ena doesn't think so either, but the wording throws her off a little. Just her? Why would he pose a threat to just Ena? Her brows furrow in thought. "I just don't see why any of the locals or the guard have done this already themselves."

She pulls her coat around her tighter as they venture down to the sand. It's not often she feels cold enough to shiver - in fact, it feels significantly colder than it did just a few minutes before, more than it should after the sun set.

The sound of the ocean lapping up on the beach is growing louder. A careful watch shows that it almost seems like it's rising again. ...Again?

Yotsuyu shrugs her shoulders. She could feel it getting colder, but not so much that she thinks to bring it up. The great Yotsuyu, afraid of a little cold, hah!

"It's likely they're too scared. Cowards do always like to have others do their work for them."

The tactician takes another look around the area. The sea is high, the air is cold. Something is wrong.

"Be on guard."

Yotsuyu gives her warning before Ena can respond to her first statement, so she nods, a frown crossing her face.

There's a crackling sound filling the air, and Ena's breath turns white just as she turns to see the ocean slowly freezing over, the waves lapping up against the beach desperately trying to escape the icy grasp.

And just as they notice the temperature drop even further, a heavy clinking and clanking of a chain and a man's deep groan echoes around them. Ena whirls around, prompted by the sudden appearance of the sound, and there is the moginer himself - slowly trailing behind them.

Edited 2018-10-30 20:04 (UTC)

While piracy hasn't really been Bonnie's motif, she feels a responsibility to follow up on anything potentially seafaring since Mary isn't here to do so herself. Hearing about the rumors, she set out to lend some aid, though she was worried she was a bit too late thanks to her misreading the airship schedule. She was happy instead to find Ena on the path to the beach.

"Ah...hey...kupo...*huff*...are you investigating the rumors about the old moogle too, kupo?"

"Yes, I am," Ena turns when she hears the voice, and is pleasantly surprised to find the moogle she'd met a little while ago. A little bright spot on this otherwise gloomy beach. "Well, it's lovely to see you. I'm sorry, could you remind me of your name?"

"Ah, yes I'm Bonnie, kupo." She isn't put off by the question, and she was polite about it anyway.

"Anyway, I think people were saying they were seeing him out on the water? So I guess we'll need a boat, kupo."

"And I am Ena. It's a pleasure, Bonnie." She nods politely.

Her gaze turns out over the water, the light of the distant lighthouse barely penetrating the looming darkness on the ocean. She shivers a little - it sure is getting dark fast. "Either on the water, disregarding ship routes, or disturbing the locals by walking on the beach. I guess we'll find out which when we get started."

She points to a small shed on the beach, sitting snugly against the wall and a few meters away from the bottom of the steps. "The watcher left me a key if we need a boat. They're in there."

(ooc: sorry for the delay, life had a sudden Drama infusion)

Bonnie looks to the water as Ena does, trying to see what she sees. She notes the waning light as well, recalling Mary's concern about it, but for a ghostly hunt like this it's the only time they really can do it, right?

"Kupo! Let's get to it then!" She starts fluttering towards the shed. As nervous as she is about this she knows there's nothing to be gained by hesitating. The best way is through~ "I have a little training with boats, so you can count on me, kupo."

By which she means she closely watched Mary show off her own sailor skills, but enthusiasm has to count for something, right?

[ That's all right! I got pretty busy myself ]

Ena appreciates the enthusiasm nonetheless and follows the moogle down the steps with a small smile. "That's a relief to hear," she comments. "Because I don't really know my way around boats." Nor can she swim. But she won't mention that.

She pulls the key from her pouch when she nears the shed and unlocks it. Inside are various canoes and other small wooden boats. She picks one that seems to be the right size for the both of them, and with surprising strength she pulls it out from the shed and out into the open, barely disturbing any of the other boats around it.

"Well," she stands up straight, puts her hands on her hips and eyes the small boat. "Is this all right?"

Bonnie's eyes go a little wide at how easily Ena pulls the boat free. She's certainly impressed. Mary's skill was in being faster and more agile than she appeared, but the little fluff is just as happy to see a woman with hidden physical strength. So many cool women for her to look up to!

"Ah! Yes, that should do just fine, kupo." Ena's strength also perhaps means that she won't have to worry about her own diminutive size and power causing a problem with piloting this canoe. But even with that in her mind she settles down onto the sand, tugging on the front of it to help steer it to the water...she's obviously not going to get far by herself.

Ena seems to hide her surprise at her own strength. "Great," she says, satisfied.

Without much prompting, Ena leans down to help push the boat towards the sea. This time, she seems to struggle against the boat's friction with the sand, but with Bonnie's help they manage to get it to the edge of the water.

"I hope we find who this is without going out too far to sea," she remarks as she settles into her side of the small boat. She shivers, pulling her coat tighter around her. That's odd - it feels much colder than it did earlier.

Bonnie lets out a little whoop as the canoe begins to move, stumbling and being dragged along with it for a moment before she rights herself again. While she doesn't offer much strength for pushing and pulling, her own buffs from her asterisk powers do help her to properly steer it to the water, hopping in up front as they make the shoreline.

"I don't think we'll have to, kupo. It sounds like he's just in a small boat himself? It's not like we're hunting a ghost pirate ship, kupo." The moogle shivers and fluffs up a bit herself. She definitely feels the cold, but she's not sold on it being supernatural just yet. Maybe it's because of the cold weather around the Dragoon's guild.

Ena's not one to be too affected by the cold, but the temperature is starting to drop rapidly and she clearly regrets not bringing a heavier coat. She doesn't question it, though, especially since the temperature during this time of year can get unpredictable.

She sighs, a slight shiver in her voice. "All right then. Let's get this over with." She grabs one of the oars and pushes off the sand, sliding onto the water. She sticks her oar haphazardly into the water, clearly not really knowing what she's doing.

Bonnie holds on tight as the boat gets into motion. Resolved to help, she picks up one of the paddles and...perhaps due to her Dragoon training she actually does help contribute to effort. If an oar can be used by a legendary samurai as a sword, why not the same for spear training?

In any case, it's not very long at all before Bonnie spots a shadow out in the thickening mists, "Over there, kupo. I think I see something!"

When Bonnie points out the shadow, Ena immediately spots it and she feels her heart sink into her stomach. That was a bad feeling if she ever had one.

Though she'd stopped rowing, the boat was still gliding along the surface of the water, either because Bonnie was still going or simply from the momentum. But after a moment, there's a deep crunch sound and the boat almost comes to a sudden halt. Ena peeks over to see the sea literally freezing over rapidly before her eyes. She tries to break apart the ice clinging to the boat, but any water exposed to the air just immediately freezes over again. How were they going to get away like this?

The larger ship was now clearer in the mist, and was heading slowly towards them. The ice is no problem for it, as it just breaks apart as it moves through. Ena leans forward towards Bonnie, hoping the ship wouldn't crash into them.

Bonnie kept up a few more strokes after Ena stopped, but she was observant enough to notice the change. She stopped as well but really at that point it was hard to say whether it was momentum or something else that kept them going. She winced at the crunch and held on tight to the side of the boat.

"Oh I hope we didn't hit someone, kupo." She slowly peered up over the edge and then blinked in shock at all the ice. "How strange...I wonder if..." The sound of the ice breaking pulled her from her musings. She turned around in time to see the ship looming towards them but her shriek was muffled by her own lunge meeting Ena's movement towards her.

Creepy Kupos

Rime of the Ancient Moginer - open

Let me know if anything needs changed!

Looks great to me!

:D!

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sorry for the delay!

no worries!

Lemme know if you'd rather one thread or if two are fine

two is fine!

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