Rika is leaning against a tree in the fields south of Truce, watching the sky, a
faint smile on her face.

Atolla would be walking south of the city casually, Seina on his back as usual,
trying to explain what various things were... he'd decided to go a step down
from the forest he'd promised.

Prometheus sighs as he walks out of Truce, breaking open his shotgun and
replacing the birdshot rounds with slugs.

A light breeze flows through as a shadowy figure walks south, smiling...
(Bahamut/Tumahab)

Nocturne is seen walking out of Truce's southern entrance and towards the
fields.

Bahamut stops and looks over at Rika and smiles. "So we meet again, Miss Rika."

Seina sits ontop of Atolla facinated by everything he's teaching to her. Every
now and then, she'd lean down and cuddle against Atolla's furryness.

Rika looks up at Bahamut, blinking. "Oh, Tunahab, right? Hello."

Bahamut laughs.

Bahamut says 'No, it's Tumahab. It's okay.'

Nocturne spots Rika and a figure off in the distance... and a familiar Lion and
Girl. It seems to be paying no attention to the lion, but starts heading
towards Rika and the tuna.

Atolla doesn't really bother with the two that are talking, going on with his
lessons. "That's grass... it's something that smaller, vegetable-eating animals
tend to favor as a meal. Another plant."

Rika looks away. "So, what can I be doing?"

Bahamut looks a little puzzled at Rika... "Um, was it true that path through
the caves has been cleared?"

Seina looks down, "So I can eat it?"

Prometheus hums a little tune and smiles to himself, walking back to his nesting
grounds of the hay fields, before seeing people gather into an area. Shrugging,
he decides there is nothing better to do and hangs around a few feet away from
the farthest person.

Rika nods. "I believe so."

Rika seems slightly annoyed by the conversation.

Bahamut smiles "That's good, those poor moogles..."

Atolla says 'I suppose you -could.- But I wouldn't recommend it...'

Atolla says 'No real taste to it, I've found.'

Rika says '...If there's nothing I can do for you, I'd rather you leave.'

Seina says 'But if it's food, will it taste like that "candy" from yesterday?'

Nocturne walks closer to Rika and Bahamut. A quick glance to Bahamut is given,
but it quickly looks back at Rika and waves. "Hey Rika! Sorry, was I
interrupting anything?"

Atolla says 'Absolutely not. Try a single bl...piece of it. I think you'll
learn your lesson after that.'

Rika smiles at Nocturne. "Hello! No, nothing."

Bahamut says 'Hrm, so we meet again... ah I can't remember your name...'

Bahamut looks over at Nocturne then Rika. "Well, perhaps another time we can
talk?"

Seina leans downward to pick off a piece of grass, she whispers lightly to
Atolla, "Who are these people..." She looks up and sees Nocturne, her eyes
widen, "He..."

Atolla says '...Is there a problem, Seina?'

Her grip on Atolla's fur tightening, Seina looks at Nocturne in fear, "He... he
wanted to take me away..."

Bahamut's eyes look over to Seina. "Interesting..."

Rika looks at Bahamut, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have anything to say to me?"

Nocturne quietly watches Bahamut and Rika before facing Rika. "Oh yes, I got
that letter to a mailman. It should be on its way."

Atolla looks at Seina, and then at Nocturne, and then back to Seina. "Really
now? Should we go now?"

Prometheus walks beside Atolla and squats down. "You have any idea what's going
on here?"

Bahamut says 'Oh yes, I heard you were a engineer of sorts. I heard that a
while back they used... stones to power reploids...'

Rika nods. "I know. Vice came. Thank you, Nocturne."

Rika says 'And I wouldn't know about that, Tunahab. All my reploids are
electrical or nuclear.'

Bahamut says 'I see.'

Bahamut says 'That really is too bad... who are those people over there?'

Nocturne just nods to Rika then watches Bahamut quietly...

Atolla answers Prometheus after a bit. "Not a thing. I believe we'll be
leaving now, however."

Rika says 'I have no idea. Why don't you go away to talk to them?'

Rika is talking through faintly gritted teeth.

Seina freezes as she just gazes at Nocturne, shaking in fear.

Prometheus shrugs and nods to Atolla "Be seein' you then."

Bahamut looks at Nocturne and smiles. "I think I will." /Hrm... I can't
afford to start a fight here.../

Bahamut turns his back toward Nocturne and starts to walk away. /But he'll
pay.../

Atolla quickly turns around and begins walking back to the town, Seina on his
back... he'd be trying to calm her with a few meaningless words in a calm tone.
"It'll be alright, Seina... I won't let them hurt you."

Seina quickly puts on a hooded cloak covering her face and her left arm's
gauntlet.

Bahamut places his hand on Atolla's shoulder and smiles. 'Hello.'

Nocturne watches Bahamut walk off expressionlessly. /Hmm... Tumahab, wasn't
it? Heh, Bahamut I'll take it, if my little Serah's ear's heard right./ "Rika,
are you alright?"

Atolla calmly answers, "I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to talk right now.
I'd rather take Seina back into town."

Seina sits there quietly, her grip on Atolla's fur slowly loosens from the
tightened state.

Bahamut says 'That is really too bad, perhaps we could arrange to talk another
time.'

Prometheus sighs and shakes his head. "Well, no action here. Back to the
fields, then."

Nocturne says 'He did seem a little odd... Ah well, how are you today?'

Atolla says 'Perhaps. Now, if you'll release my shoulder? I'd prefer to not
have to bite off your hand.'

Prometheus stands up and holsters his shotgun, deciding it best to just walk
away.

Bahamut says 'Rather aggressive one aren't you? But if you wish to leave, I
can't stop you... However, I'm intersted in what the girl knows... about that
man over there...'

Seina tightens her grip against Atolla's fur. (Dang, that must hurt quite alot,
huh?)

Seina says weakly, "Atolla, I don't feel too good..."

Atolla grits his teeth, saying, "That can wait quite a while. I'm taking her to
the healers, if you'll excuse me..."

Atolla trots off to the town, making a beeline for his home and not the healer.
Not yet, anyway.

Nocturne gently runs a finger against two rough slits on its helmet as it
glances over its shoulder at Tuma. "Ah, Rika, would you happen to have a hammer
with you?"

Bahamut releases Atolla, but doing so his hand glows a gentle silver... and he
looks away. /Errr... I can't let this lead get away... how do I stop him.../

Seina sits there on top of Atolla as he trots away. She turns and glances at
Tumahab and Nocturne, then turns back and leans down to Atolla's ear. "Thank
you..."

Bahamut looks around quietly... and smiles. /Well I guess there is more than
one way to skin a cat./

Bahamut opens his hand and a fireball is released and strikes burning flames in
front of the two escaping.

Prometheus blinks from his position of lying in the grass and looks up.

Prometheus comes to see flames erupting around Atolla, who veers around and
continues his sprint to town.

Prometheus says 'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Why is it that people -ALWAYS- start
fighting?'

Prometheus growls and charges up to Bahamut, pulling out his rapier and then
pointing his shotgun to the back of Bahamut's head. "Do that again, and die."

Bahamut smiles. "Well, I can see this isn't going to end well..."

Seina hugs onto Atolla's back, "I'm really scared..."

Prometheus says 'No. It isn't. So get on your knees with your hands palms-down
on the ground.'

Nocturne draws a revolver and fires 3 shots at Bahamut. /Heh, this shall be
interesting./

Bahamut's body glows black as two huge wings escape from his back and a long
tail grows out.

Prometheus blinks at the growths and sighs. "God damnit. Why is it always me?"

Atolla is, well, hauling arse. Just trying to get to town. "Seina, tell me
where the spells are coming from! I can't turn around right now!"

Seina nods lightly as she turns to look, "There was only one from behind, but...
the man... he... became a dragon."

Bahamut is hit by the revolver as he transforms.

Bahamut winces in pain as the bullets pass through his left wing.

Nocturne fires 3 more -carefully aimed shots- at Bahamut before putting away the
revolver and holds his shield up front.

Prometheus growls and plugs Bahamut with the slugs in his back before jumping
away.

Bahamut is missed by the second flurry of revolver shots, but is likely hit by
the slugs.

Atolla says 'Oh lovely... hang on tight Seina, and just keep an eye on anything
deadly...'

Her eyes open widely in fear and Seina shrieks, "He's coming our way!"

Bahamut stumbles and holds himself from falling over. Then his talon glows, and
his wounds start to heal.

Prometheus breaks open his shotgun and starts running after Bahamut, loading
buckshot into his gun this time.

Atolla swears under his breath, hauling tail... and he lets out a -loud- roar.
Everyone in the southern garrison is very likely to hear him, and if they see a
dragon coming towards town, well...

Nocturne slowly draws its dainslaif blade and chuckles. With shield in front,
it starts running in Bahamut's direction.

Bahamut looks over at Atolla and growls. /I guess I have to end it here...
there is no time.../ And with that he takes flight and starts too glow with
energy.

Bahamut has holes in his wings and probably can't really fly well.

Prometheus takes aim at Bahamut's wings and lets him have both barrels of
buckshot.

Rika begins to flee south at this point.

The buckshot mostly misses, although a few shards strike the dragon.

Bahamut looks down at the two... /I only need it to hit one... well time to
test out my aim./

Prometheus breaks open his shotgun again and loads in birdshot, firing that at
Bahamut as well.

Bahamut feels the pain of the bullet's holes in his wings.

Seina holds onto Atolla tighter, "He's doing something in the sky... He's
glowing...!" She moves closer to Atolla to increase aerodynamic speed. "I'm
scared..."

Bahamut would be flying badly, as mentioned before, which makes it harder to
aim. However, the slight oddness of his flight patterns also help him dodge the
worst of the birdshot.

Atolla nods a bit, wondering how to work this...

Prometheus says 'GOD DAMNIT JUST FALL DOWN ALREADY!'

Atolla decides to simply... turn around. Rapidly. It's easier to do that on
the ground than in the air, after all.

Bahamut breaths out a huge blue beam down on the two.

Due to the problems with aiming and Atolla's sudden directional change, the beam
misses by a few feet.

Nocturne skids to a halt and stabs the dainslaif into the ground before
crouching and reloading the revolver. All while humming to itself.

Prometheus breaks open his shotgun again and finds out he ran outta shells.
Cussing, he tries to jump up to Bahamut and fails.

Bahamut growls as he watches Megaflare miss only by a few feet and the beam
explodes on impact.

Atolla is still running, mind you. A threatened lion can really zoom.

Prometheus says 'Anyone got some more shotgun shells?!?'

Thanks to the running, the only major effect of the explosion that hits Atolla
is the shockwave. Which might well send him flying.

Atolla is hit... and yes, he goes flying. Fortunately for Seina, he still stays
horizontal, though he lands with a rather heavy thud and a groan.

Prometheus sighs and shakes his head, trying to jump up to Bahamut again.

Bahamut looks down at Nocturne... /Stuff it. I'll end it here and now./

Nocturne gets up and puts the revolver away before yanking the dainslaif out of
the ground. "Tceh, too bad extinction never got to that thing..." it says as it
starts running again. Towards Atolla.

Prometheus says 'GOD DAMNIT WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE -FLYING-.'

Bahamut lands in front of Nocturne and the two stare each other down. Gusts of
winds blow through.

Bahamut's whole body glows a bright silver, and its numerous wounds start to
lessen, though not vanish.

Prometheus charges at the now landed Bahamut and jumps over Nocturne, shouting
randomly as he kicks at Bahamut's face.

Bahamut says 'So then... let's stop with this... and use our real power...'

Bahamut glares at Atolla.

Atolla starts to stand up... -starts- to. Pity, it looks like he's sprained an
ankle. "Seina. Run towards town... I'll try to hold him off."

Prometheus hits Bahamut with his kick, but doesn't do much damage to the scaled
beast.

Nocturne lets Prometheus deal with Bahamut as it shifts running direction
(shield facing Bahamut) and goes a round-about-way towards Atolla.

Bahamut growls as he thorws a return kick with his talon.

Bahamut says 'Damn it...'

Prometheus rebounds off of Bahamut's taloned foot and screams, landing down in
pain.

Prometheus says '-That- hurt.'

Because Prometheus was flying away from Bahamut, the taloned kick didn't do too
much damage. Still hurts like hell.

Bahamut looks over to Atolla. /Grr. He's too hurt. What can... I know./
Bahamut smiles and raises his talon, and Atolla's body glows silver.

Seina looks at Atolla as her eyes widen, "No..." She crawls over to Atolla.
"I'm not leaving without you..."

Bahamut looks over and smiles. /With any luck this will give me time to gather
more mana./

Nocturne keeps a watch on Bahamut as it runs at Atolla. Blade down. "Hey lion
boy, get your pretty fur off the ground and get a moving back ta Truce!"

Seina glares up at Nocturne, not caring who he is at the moment. "He's hurt you
idiot!"

Atolla is... apparently healed. By the bloody dragon. Ho-kay... let's not look
a gift horse in the mouth YET.

Bahamut growls... /Hrm... this could be a problem... however he's interested in
her... hrm.*/

Seina looks back at Atolla, "Atolla...?"

Atolla says '...Right then. Seina, on my back. Now.'

Seina nods immediately as she jumps onto his back.

Atolla RUNS back to town, and doesn't spare the horses. Or his legs. Ever seen
a lion run for sweet mercy?

Bahamut looks over at Seina. /Hrm, what to do... I know.../ Bahamut starts to
glow silver...

Nocturne follows after Atolla, running as fast as it can.

Bahamut's huge talon is lifted as a streak of gray energy... misses by a few
feet. Running lion. Hard to hit.

Prometheus groans some and gets up slowly, shaking his head to clear it.
"What's happening now?"

Meanwhile, the sound of many feet can be heard throughout the city.

Nocturne glances over his shoulder at Bahamut but continues running after
Atolla. And Seina.

Bahamut sighs. /One last chance./ Bahamut raises his hand once more...

Prometheus grips his rapier and glares at Bahamut. "YO! Still Here!"

Atolla runs. Runs like all get-out. SURELY he'd at least be near the city by
this point...

Seina holds onto Atolla scared with her eyes closed, the crystal on her gauntlet
starts to shine yellow.

And then the garrison arrives. It begins to fire lots of arrows, busters,
magical bolts, and anything else. A lot of these shots hit.

Bahamut starts another fire on the fields causing think smoke to rise, making it
impossible to see.

All this does is make the arrows more likely to hit Prometheus too.

Nocturne runs for Truce, holding the shield high and up front. Fire ain't gonna
hurt too much for a reploid.

Atolla jumps over the smaller flames and skirts around some larger ones, still
refusing to stop.

Bahamut winces as arrows pierce his scales. /Damn them... I'll take my leave
this time... or maybe not.../

Prometheus blinks some and gacks at the arrows' newfound home in his back, and
then he falls down.

Prometheus says 'Man down! Gimmie an E-tank or something man! Friendly fire!'

Bahamut growls. 'I'll leave this time... next time you won't be so lucky...'
He looks over to Prometheus.

Prometheus says 'GOD DAMNIT I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!'

Atolla doesn't hear a bloody thing... he's going for the home stretch! He's on
the one yard line! Safe!

Bahamut's body glows silver as it shrinks and reshapes into human form. 'Well
then... you're going to help me whether you like it or not...'

Nocturne reaches the Truce area too... or hopefully does.

Prometheus says 'What? Uhh, Houston? We have a fucking PROBLEM here!'

Bahamut stands over Prometheus as more arrows fire through the mist...

Prometheus says 'Someone get these arrows outta my ass! And get me away from
this fuckhead!'

The guards open the gates for Atolla, but quickly block it again as Nocturne
tries to follow. "Who are you?"

Her crystal shines brightly, and then dims away to nothing as Seina still
remains concious. She holds onto Atolla, "We're going to be okay... right?"

Bahamut says 'Well that's too bad... you can die here or help me.'

Prometheus says 'Oh fuck off you!'

Atolla says 'Yes, Seina... I think you're going to have to stay in the city
while I help take care of things.'

Bahamut says 'By now the guards think I've left or died... stupid creatures.'

The guards seem to disagree, as arrows are still raining down.

Prometheus says 'Stop molesting me or I'll bite your kneecaps off!'

Nocturne slows down to a jog before coming to a halt near the guards. Sheathing
its blade, it replies "A friend of Rika. I want to take refuge from that thing
out there."

Seina nods her head, "I understand... Please be careful."

Bahamut says 'I see. That is too bad...'

Prometheus says 'Fuck off ye huge bugger!'

Prometheus says 'YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER, AND YOUR FATHER SMELT OF
ELDERBERRIES!'

The guard looks at Nocturne. "Who's Rika?" The rest are still firing at the
mysterious new figure. Best to be safe.

Bahamut picks up Prometheus and smiles. "Too bad. I had such high hopes for
you..." Bahamut rears his left hand back.

Atolla lets Seina down, and then goes back to the gate... just in time to see
Nocturne being questioned by a random guardsman. "If that man comes in, it'll
be in chains. I have reason to suspect him of attempted kidnapping."

Prometheus grins to himself and rolls over, jabbing his rapier into Baha's
no-sun-zone.

Prometheus says 'Surprise surprise dickhead.'

Nocturne waves its hand at the guard. "Bah, nevermind. Just let me get into
Truce."

Bahamut winces for a second. He reaches out his hand to grab Prometheus's head.

The rain of arrows stops, and a few of the guards go after Bahamut, while
another one grabs Nocturne from behind.

Prometheus pulls his rapier out and starts jabbing at soft bits on Baha's face.

Prometheus says 'Leggo damnit!'

Atolla says 'One I regard as highly as if she were my own daughter. Her
testimony is reason enough.'

Bahamut's body glows silver for a brief moment and he drops Prometheus on the
ground.

Seina looks down at the crystal and sighs, "I wish there was something to
help..."

Prometheus lands on some arrows and winces as they get droven in more. "Ahh
motherfucker."

One of the guards grabs Bahamut.

Bahamut glows silver, has 6 huge wings spring from his body and takes flight at
a fantastic speed, straight up.

Prometheus says 'Help. I've fallen and I can't get up.'

The guards who were trying to grab Bahamut scatter. Another guard picks up
Nocturne and begins to drag him into Truce.

Prometheus sighs and shakes his head. "Don't be a hater y'all."

Bahamut looks down. 'Well at least it wasn't a total waste...'

Nocturne is pretty heavy to be dragged. It digs its heels into the ground.
"Ahem, where are you taking me?"

"We have a few questions to ask." The guard continues to drag.

Nocturne resists and shakes the guard's grip on it. "For what? I have done
nothing."

"Talk to the lion." More dragging.

Prometheus says 'Umm, hello?'

Nocturne grabs the man's arm. TIGHTLY. "I won't be, thank you very much."

Atolla says 'As I said. Her word's quite trustworthy to me.'

Prometheus says 'Anyone? This isn't space. I -KNOW- you can hear me scream.'

Atolla grabs Nocturne's arm as he does -that.- With -teeth.-

Atolla doesn't bite down yet... but he's definitely in a position to.

A guard goes to pick up Prometheus, carrying him off to Selan's.

Prometheus says 'Thank the inventor! Rescue!'

Bahamut looks down and smiles. 'Well, they rained on my show... best to return
it...' Bahamut's huge wings flap forming ice crystals falling down on the field
below, putting out the fires.

Nocturne shakes its arm at Atolla's bite and thwaps him with its other arm. "Do
not attack me!"

Atolla winces as he is thwapped... but spits out the arm. "Then you'll do as
the nice guard says. If I wanted to, I could've ripped that arm off."

Nocturne shakes its head. "I will not follow that guard and be detained for
doing nothing. If you want to talk to me, do so here." It shakes its arm HARD
against the grasp of the guard.

Atolla says 'Put the reploid in chains then, for resisting arrest. As I said...
there's an eye-witness. And I REALLY don't need more trouble today, so just go
with it.'

The guard puts a sword to Nocturne's throat. "We don't need to give you a
trial, you realize. Right now we're nice."

Nocturne grabs the blade and pushes it away slightly. "Eye witness to what? I
am being framed here!"

Atolla makes a mental note to give that man a medal. Or something.

Atolla says 'To an attempted kidnapping. If you're innocent, you'll walk free.
Now just do as we say before I bite off a leg, kay pumkin? I'm not having a
good day.'

The guard finally gives up and begins to whack Nocturne in the head with the
flat of his blade. A lot.

Prometheus hums to himself while he is being dragged off

Nocturne hisses at the thwaping guard. "Fine, I'll follow. But I won't be
chained."

Atolla says 'GOOD boy. Now come along...'

Nocturne follows after the guard, while Atolla is behind him... keeping an eye
on him.

Seina stands next to a building as Atolla is seen walking back. She moves
foward to run to him, but freezes to see Nocturne with him.

Prometheus says '*Sigh* No love for the heroes.'

The guard hums slightly.

Nocturne glances at Seina but follows after the guard.

A ways off, Bahamut smiles as he sits down back in human form, now with a
different color cloak, and looks over himself. 'Well, I needed to work on it
anyway... I like the colour silver more than black...'

Atolla follows Noc... and sees you-know-who. "Is this the man that tried to
kidnap you, Seina?"

Seina says 'He and another person were fighting to take possession of me...'

Atolla says 'That's testimony enough for me. Chains, boys.'

Nocturne shrugs at that. "I don't recall doing such a thing. I'm mistaken for
someone else!"

Bahamut smirks as he walks along the fields. /Interesting... I just have to
separate them... but first things first./ He walks up to the guard and smiles.
"May I be let through, please?"

The guard shakes his head. "Not at the moment. We have a security problem."

Atolla quite happily refuses to let Nocturne make his case, instead motioning
for another guard or two to take Noc. "Put him somewhere secure, please."

Bahamut smiles. 'Well when will you allow people through? I have important
business to attend to."

Nocturne crosses its arms. "I DEMAND open court here! I will not be a
scapegoat to this witchtrial!"

Atolla says 'That's definitely enough to have him held overnight. I'm going to
see what I can do about putting the Militia back in order.'

The guard pauses to think while the others drag off Nocturne. "Tommorrow?"

Atolla says 'Failing that, knock him out. He can demand all he wants, but he'll
have to wait for a judge.'

Bahamut says 'Thank you kind sir. I think I'll help the residents a little.'

Seina says 'Atolla?'

Prometheus waves at Atolla and Seina in passing.

Nocturne follows after the guards, oddly chuckling a little.

Prometheus says 'Hey, you guys don't happen to have shotgun shells handy do ya?'

Bahamut walks off. /Great, now I just have too start the story that Truce
Militia chased an esper out of town.../

Atolla shakes his head at Seina. "Go home Seina... I'll be along in a minute.
Duty calls and all that."

Seina glances over at Nocturne and then looks at Atolla. "I... understand.
But... can I ask for a favor?"

Atolla says '...Alright. But can you make it fast? Things are going to get
messier the longer I wait.'

Seina says 'He... He did try to help us...'

Bahamut walks over to some of the farmers and starts to help. 'How'd this
happen?'

Seina says 'Don't be too hard on him...'

The farmers look at Bahamut. "Fire from the sky?"

Atolla nods.

Bahamut says 'Ah so it was true... the Militia chased an esper from the town...
some people never learn. Need a hand?'

Seina smiles at Atolla as she starts to head home. "Don't be too late, ok?
I'll be waiting for you at home."

The farmers shrug and let Bahamut work.

Atolla rushes off to the southern garrison to give his assistance in putting
things back together. Too late to rip out Tuna's throat, but fairly quickly.

Bahamut walks along the path, his cloak seems to glow and move about with an
eery silver light.

Bahamut stops and wonders. /I still don't know why he chose to run... I didn't
mean to harm them.../