In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

[thalassino]

Wednesday. 7pm. A calm, normal day in Vatheon. Nothing betrays what is coming. And yet the signs were there, if only someone had been able to see them for what they were

Comments

SQUALL + WHOEVER RUNS INTO HIM

[requiem_griever]

What. The. Hell.

Yes, it was just Squall's luck that he'd arrive in some new interdimensional place only to have it attacked by some gigantic monster the second he was just starting to get used to the city's layout. And then he felt his energy being drained and damage to the city being repaired. So that was what everyone meant when they said they were needed. Making his way to the nearest window, he could see the gigantic tentacles flailing about.

Shit. People were in trouble. Maybe even some of the people he met. Picking up his Gunblade, he's out the door and heading towards the carnage. As he approached, a tentacle swipes at him and Squall rolled forward to avoid being hit. Keeping his attention on the appendage, he continued to run, looking for an opening to attack it.

[not_for_cooking]

Onion Knight had had a rather rude awakening. He had no idea that he'd been asleep for almost a month, so after he'd heard noise that he could only describe as chaotic, Onion Knight was out on the streets, sword in hand.

... those were really big tentacles.

But he didn't have time to admire the scenery; those tentacles were lashing out. Keeping his eyes on the massive appendages and dodging easily, he didn't have time to gloat over how easy it was to evade the tentacles; Onion Knight thudded solidly into someone's back.

[requiem_griever]

Squall nearly fell over when something collided into him. Something that was fortunately not a tentacle. He turned around with the full intention of yelling at whoever it was to move and get to safety but stopped when he saw who it was.

This kid...seeing him was even more surprising than seeing Selphie! Squall was stunned silent for a few seconds, but he snapped out of it once he noticed a tentacle coming their way.

"Onion Knight, move!" he yelled, grabbing the kid by the collar and pulling him away just as it came crashing down on their spot.

[not_for_cooking]

asdf;lkj Onion Knight couldn't help but yell when he felt himself getting yanked back. He had a working pair of legs, you know!

But the voice sounded so familiar...

Onion Knight craned his neck to see who had pulled him out of harm's way. Oh, it was Squall! Sure, he was glad to see Squall and all (and he wished he was meeting Squall under better circumstances), and he was thankful for the save, but...

Onion Knight squirmed in Squall's grip. "Could you let go of me? I can move on my own."

[requiem_griever]

...

Of all the things Squall expected to hear, that was not one of them. Without a reply, he promptly granted Onion Knight's request and let go of him right away. He would have liked to say something else, but now exactly wasn't the time for catching up and he instead moved to attack the tentacle, pulling the Revolver's trigger as he slashed at it.

Onion Knight was free to join him if he so chose.

[not_for_cooking]

Onion Knight staggered slightly when he was suddenly released, but quickly regained his bearings. When did Squall arrive? What time was it, anyway? Why were there tentacles? The last thing he remembered was fish monsters. So many questions, but no good time to ask them!

Onion Knight really didn't want to get all that close to the tentacle (he'd had enough of that from the Cloud of Darkness), so he followed Squall's attack with a Thundaga spell, bolts of electricity striking the same area after Squall was out of the way.

But did their attacks effect the tentacle at all? Nnnnnope.

[requiem_griever]

Squall hopped backwards when it appeared that all they did was annoy the thing. This was not a good sign. The tentacle thrashed around, not quite able to reach them. So if blades (accompanied by explosions) didn't work and magic didn't work...

"Got any ideas?" he asked Onion Knight. The kid sometimes had his bouts of creative brilliance.

[not_for_cooking]

Onion Knight had many ideas. Maybe figuring out what got the creature the tentacles belonged to so angry in the first place. Maybe someone had removed a gem in a statue or something. They knew too little about the creature they were fighting.

He shook his head. "I don't think we can beat this thing with just us." He wasn't sure how strong the other people on the Volunteer Defence Force were, but maybe if they grouped up... "I know there are other fighters in Vatheon." But then he thought of some of the people (people like Fuuka) who he'd met who weren't, and looked a little unsure. "But there's also a lot of people who'll probably need help getting to safety..."

At this point, he was just thinking aloud.

[requiem_griever]

That was the answer Squall was expecting, but it didn't hurt to hope that there was something else. Sadly, it looked that his hopes would amount to nothing today.

He didn't know which of the people he met could do something to defend themselves. Selphie was a trained fighter and even though he worried about her, knew she could take care of herself. Most of the other people, however, he didn't really know about.

"...then we should go make ourselves useful," he said. There was no point in fighting something they couldn't defeat. From Onion Knight's words, it sounded like the kid had been there for a while. Longer than he has, at any rate. "Are you coming with me, or is there somewhere else you need to be?"

[not_for_cooking]

Onion Knight paused for a brief moment, thinking quickly while he kept an eye on the lashing tentacle, before he shook his head.

"I'll find other members of the defence force." At least he knew where they were supposed to be stationed. Barring that, he could find other fighters to join. Onion Knight only had a pittance of his magic in Vatheon, and none of it was white magic. He thought he'd be more useful fighting, and while he didn't want to admit it, Onion Knight had been itching for a fight, for something he could put his sword and magic to use against. If Squall was going to help the stragglers, Onion Knight was sure Squall could manage on his own.

Onion Knight said confidently (because he believed they would pull through this), "I'll meet up with you after this is over!" before he turned to run off.

[runsyoudown]

What an inconvenience. Rider would rather not have to fight the beast; Vatheon was the one that disturbed it, it deserved the attack. Yet still she had to prioritize the safety of her Master over it.

As Squall looked for an opening, three chains with deadly nails attached to the end flew down from the rooftops. They dug into the hard flesh of the tentacle, yanking it to the side and away from him. Rider stood on the roof of the nearest building, holding the chains in her hand and pulling with all her strength.

[requiem_griever]

An opening he had looked for, and an opening he got. He didn't even care what was up with the chains and nails or where they came from. The first priority was taking out that damn tentacle.

Gripping his weapon with both arms, Squall rushed forward, and swung with all his might, pulling the trigger as the blade cut flesh. The tentacle writhed in pain, but definitely still had fight in it. Retreating to a safe distance, it was only then he looked up to see where the mysterious chains had come from.

He'd thank the woman later. There was no time for trivial talk until that thing stopped moving.

[runsyoudown]

The man certainly looked like a capable fighter. He didn't waste his openings or stop to chat in the middle of a battle.

Jumping down, Rider flipped around in midair to avoid the flailing limb, only to land on the ground next to it. A few more spikes were jammed into the monster's flesh. The only difference between these weapons and the others were that they had spikes on both ends of the chain, so while the stakes on one end held the Kraken's flesh, the other ends were stabbed into the wall. It wasn't much, but it would keep it from moving around too much for the meantime.

[requiem_griever]

It was kind of brutal to watch, but Squall was no stranger to witnessing brutality. In fact, he himself knew what it was like to be stabbed by a spike. Still, he felt no empathy or sympathy for the tentacle. It was merely a limb of a monster that needed to be stopped.

This new ally had given him an opportunity, and he'd be a fool not to take it. Holding out his hand, he rapid fired a volley of spells, alternating between bursts of fire and ice before finishing by raising his arm and pulling it down. A lightning bolt struck the tentacle as a last strike and the tentacle twitched and fell down. Squall watched it intently to see if it would get back up or not.

[runsyoudown]

It was almost fascinating to watch him attack. His skill with both weapons and magic was something that any magus should fear. Perhaps he'd even be enough to take on a Servant.

Still, she didn't take any chances. The Kraken was old, perhaps as old as she was, and with that came power. Keeping her guard up, Rider walked over and stomped down on one of the spikes, digging it in deeper with an unpleasant squishing noise. This was both to assure herself that the tentacle had no more fight left in it, and if it did, that her weapon would not suddenly come loose.

[requiem_griever]

A decisive strike, if he ever saw one. If it was not done for, it wasn't going to do any more damage today. Even if it did manage to get itself loose, it was so damaged and feeble it posed almost no threat at all to anyone.

While Squall couldn't say he liked it, Vatheon was an interesting place and the people in it even more so. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen before, a place where a large amount of the population could fight and fight well. Back at home, only those who studied and dedicated their lives to Garden life could even hope to reach such levels of skill.

He was not social, but he knew to give appreciation and respect when it was due. "Thank you," he said to the woman.