Fighting the Clockwork Invasion (Job/Ruvel & Adalinda)

1/2 Lacrima Milk

Job Info


The notice had come in the usual way from the magic council to perform a job for them; this was nothing new to Luna as she had already performed many services for the council - including destroying a meteor summoned by Hera which would have outright destroyed Crocus otherwise should she had never been there and destroy the meteor completely with the sheer firepower of Behemoth. Taking the time to read the missive thoroughly, she learned that she wasn't alone on this job and that she would have a partner. No problem, she quickly prepared her traveling kit in a satchel and left nearby tree-line at the edge of the small fishing village close to the entrance into the Lycan Woods. Reading through the notice, it seemed that reports were recent with folks in the area spotting strange, mechanical beings around the villages in the area. word was that these clockwork beings ranged from the small in size to the colossal in size, and so this was a great way for Luna to get a work out or so it seemed. Having recently become even more powerful, the female mage sought a true test of her new strength - and while it might not come with this new job, chances were that she would get the chance she was seeking.

The melody of chirping caught her ears as she stepped upon the cobblestone path, a light clatter echoing from the steps upon the path. It was strange to see fowl this close to such a haunted area, but a quick look told her that they were flitting away from the woods. Perhaps the area was a familiar one to them, but it held it’s own dangers after all. The woman seemed to be of an inquisitive sort, stopping to take mental notes whenever it provided prudent to do so. She listened to the sounds of the planet with interest, not only for her own purposes but also to simply understand the way of nature, as was her way. Observing the aperture now, the woman gained data from the trees and the nature of the ground underneath; all information that may seem mundane but information that would give her a clearer picture of the environment and possibly provide an advantage when forming a battle plan in the future.

Darkness shrouded the eaves of the wooded aperture leading to within the Lycan Woods, trees casting odd shadows this way and the other different way, taking an apprehensive cautionary approach before releasing a rippling force of air that would soon settle and sweep through the area around her. She did not fear illusions and shadow, in truth the woman didn’t fear much if anything at all. Luna quickly spiked through the forest - the tight-nit copse of trees not seeming to even affect her as the cloaked female passed right through them. Her legs picked up and she took to flight and passed through a large swath of the opening copses and right into the thick of the woods. As she neared the object which seemed to thrumm with magical energy, the woman’s speed slowed until it halted altogether and her feet lightly touched the ground. Luna adjusted the cloak and hood that obscured most of her appearance, awaiting the ones who would be coming with on this particular job. While waiting, she took to a close examination of the portal itself without directly intervening with it. Luna's senses and sensory curtain of air kept her alert should anyone approach her.

Words: 589 / 6000

Ruvel had just gotten back from the decimated village by the port that had been infiltrated thanks to whatever that seal had been, he wasn't happy as though continent of Tolgalen had strong defences, an army that was quite sizeable at two million plus strong, some pretty strong mages, back up plans for no no matter the occasion and quite a few secrets no one knew about. Those who did either remained quiet or went missing never to be seen again, either way their secrets were never revealed. It couldn't be afforded especially at the moment, a dark guild had framed the guild Onyx Moon for the deaths of several rune knights when one of their ships had been taken out. Even if they where to go to Era, get an audience with the magic council it wasn't like they where gonna be listened to; if anything they would be thrown into anti-magic cells and left to rot. After that happened the trading company and so their home would crumble in the scandal, it was the reason not everyone knew the truth... the legal trading company like guild wasn't as it seemed it was one part of the two sided guild that made Onyx Moon.

He had just made it to the top of the white marble steps when he heard a bit of a ruckus from within the reception area of the company making him groan. "This is the last thing I need right now." he grumbled walking in but stopped seeing someone wearing the symbol of the rune knights, this had him more than a little confused but then he could have been there checking up on the status of the seals that had turned up not to long ago. He doubted this however as the only time these guys turned up was to try throw their weight around which didn't fly in Tolgalen, yes they listened to the magic council but in truth the magic council held no real authority on the continent much to their dismay. This however suited the guild just fine as it allowed them to govern themselves as they seen fit. After a moment he moved to the front desk a smile on his face as he looked to the one behind it and the man beside him who easily towered over him "Is there something going on Miss Oiwa?" he asked concern heard in his voice, this startled the woman and made the man glance over to Ruvel suspiciously. "No sir, well not here." she explained to him before looking to the rune knight "This is Vice President Ruvel Mizune, I'm sure he will be able to help you." she said politely only to be met with a slight grunt.

"There's no need to be like that sir, Miss Oiwa is merely doing her job and correctly I may add." a warm smile and nod to the young white haired woman put her at peace "She directed you to one of the four people who may be able to help, so... how can I help?" he asked crossing his arms, he hated when people disrespected others and wouldn't stand for the employees to me mistreated by idiots with a superiority complex. "And what could you seriously do? You look like you'd break in two if someone coughed to hard." Ruvel took a deep breath seriously wanting to clock the arrogant son of a bitch in front of him but that wasn't the right course of action, well at least not while his face could be seen anyway. "Sir, one doesn't get to my position by merely doing paperwork and I am pretty sure I am good friends with several of your superiors." he said calmly dropping his arms, his words made the taller man look nervous "We could even go to the training hall if you would like to spar with me but I doubt your fragile ego could take being defeated by someone like me. Now unless you have business with the company I suggest you leave. We have a festival coming up and so we are busier than normal especially with all the repairs needing done." he didn't have the time or patience to deal with this guy but he chuckled internally as the man's mouth hung open at Ruvel's retort.

After a moment he gained composure "We've been gaining reports from the cursed lands known as the Lycan Woods, that have been describing mechanical things being seen. As there have been so many reports here we are having to investigate...." he said watching as Ruvel rubbed his temple "And this is where we come in I'm guessing." he said his dual coloured eyes going to the nodding man "Very well, I'll go and take someone with me." he said with a shrug not waiting for a reply as he headed back towards the dock knowing at least one member of the guild was there. Seeing Ada he sighed grabbing her collar as he walked passed her bringing her onto the ship borrowing Barthenz's strength "We're going to the Lycan woods to investigate an infestation or machinery." he said letting her know what was going on as the boat took off, it would take days for it to reach Rose Garden but when it did he got off knowing Ada would be all to happy to get off the boat given dragon slayers and their motion sickness. Once situated he managed to barter passage in a carriage heading for the woods knowing they'd be their quicker than if they walked but was worried for Ada as it was even more transportation.

As the ride went on he noticed that the lush green scenery started to change as they got into the woods, it was his first time here and it didn't seem all that pleasant to him. It wasn't to long before the carriage stopped and Ruvel poked his head out to see and hear startled horses, it didn't take a genius to realise that they would go no further. "Miss Ortinbras, we walk from here." he explained getting out of the carriage waiting for the other before he started walking deeper into the forest. The one thing that was odd about Ruvel was his magical signature, it naturally suppressed itself so it almost seemed like he possessed no magic at all. In reality it was because of how his magic worked, though he didn't understand it, to be honest he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He stopped eventually at the end of the dirt path 'It would have been nice if that idiot rune knight told me we'd be working with someone.' he thought to himself but at this moment he wasn't even sure if that was the case. "Hello?" he called out to the other his eyes going to the portal getting a bad feeling in his gut about this entire situation.

Word count: 1'155

Adalinda came walking off a boat after spending bit of time out of Tolgalen after helping out in Peace village. It wasn't fun taking care of thousands of rats and some flame things. The whole ordeal was terrible to her. She was a little untidy as she usually was when walking off the boat, but she could get cleaned up fast. Her shirt was unbuttoned, exposing her white tank top underneath it. Her hair was also in a sloppy ponytail from her sleeping on it when she was napping on the boat. "I want to go home... see my babies... and cuddle with Yuu..." She mumbles to herself before she senses someone coming towards her at the boat. She blinks as she sees Ruvel, then gags some as he grabbed her collar and managed to choke her slightly. "I just got off the boat!" She whines as she was pulled right back onto the boat. Where did he get this strength from?! She was appalled as Tamaria quickly ran to get on the boat with Ruvel and Ada.

"Oh? So we get double pay. Sweet. Maybe Ada can just eat these things since they're made of metal?" Hearing the purple exceed mention eating the metal, Adalinda softly snorts. She was already feeling the motion sickness. "Could have let her refill her alcohol before dragging her on the boat..." She watches as her dragon slayer lays over the rail of the boat, keeping her head down as she felt the heavy wave of queasiness engulf her. Tamaria rubs Ada's back as she sighs and looks to Ruvel. "You said Lycan woods? We've been planning to go there soon with Yuudai... Guess this might help with knowing slightly where we're going so we're not letting Ada seem like a fool when she meets his family." She snorts as she highly doubted that would be the case. Adalinda spent most of the boat ride hanging over the boat trying to keep her innards in. Occasionally Tamaria and Shellton would help her out by providing a brief period of time off the boat to gain composure of herself. When they docked, Tamaria had quickly gone to have Adalinda buy a bottle of alcohol to let her focus, and not die while on the carriage.

In the carriage, Ruvel would see Ada carefully filling up her hilt of Talizar carefully while occasionally taking a small sip of the alcohol. Even if she was a tad woozy from the ride. The alcohol wasn't even that strong in her opinion, about 40 proof, but it was enough to sate her for now. Ada had been to the Lycan woods once before, so she knew how the environment looked slightly, and she wasn't even phased by it. When they stopped and Ruvel told her that they walk from there, she was a tad relieved. "We should be careful of feral werewolves." She mutters to him while quickly hopping out of the carriage and stretching. She walks by Ruvel, and sighs. "I'm taking some time off to stay with my babies since you've dragged me on this." She grumbles and stretches once again. When they made it to the portal, she pauses at the sight of this new person, and was getting her hand ready for a spell. She puts a hand on her hip as Tamaria had scrambled up onto her back and clung to her a bit. The exceed peered over her mage's shoulder and at the other person. She was also preparing to whisk her slayer off if that portal did anything that could endanger them. "Yo?"

Words: 601

The slightest breeze of wind pushed past both of them as they made their ways through the forest and towards where the three would finally meet up, the faintest pinprick of cool air seemingly innocent enough and yet this was not quite as simple as it appeared. Everything within a certain radius within the forest was reported directly to her, the slayer who sat in wait for Ruvel and Adalinda. With only this ability the slayer could already discern much about the two of them from their movements to the body language that they used, all data stored within the slayer's eidetic memory and utilized whenever the situation required it. Unfortunately, not everything could be discerned about the two of them until the slayer had personally met with them, it was the only shortcoming of Allsehendes Auge truth be told when otherwise the ability acted as a near-infallible sixth sense that was keened much sharper than her existing ones. And so, the slayer decided to simply wait for the two to make their appearance at the portal's location when she finally revealed herself.

Silken curls of black hue frames the beautiful woman's countenance and fell to the mid of her back, crimson-hued irises focusing intently at the point of her short curved nose. Luna stood at a trimmed and lithe build with a height of five feet and eight inches, thin shoulders paired with vivacious curves and well-endowed physical assets. Luna wore a matching outfit of loose-fitting martial arts gi and short skirt down to just below her knees, both hued in the colors black and red. A brown leather corset provides some protection to the maiden along with a satchel strapped to dangle off one side. Finally, black lace stockings rise high paired with long black leather heeled boots. Once the two got a closer look at Luna, they would also notice the small cat-like exceed riding on her shoulder. Wasting no time, the woman replied with an italian accent as a smile pressed her lips.

"It's good to see that I will not be going it alone, though it's not exactly like that would stop me. Why don't we introduce each other? My name is Luna Jager and I am a wizard of Sabertooth, and this is my friend Aevishe. I can assure you that I can hold my own against whatever we may find within the portal, however that wouldn't be very conducive to teamwork so I believe we should work together."

"I can introduce myself you know, I don't need you to babysit me all the time." spoke the pet, a feminine cat creature of white and blue fur with long ears, a tuft of blue fur atop her head, a scarf-like swath of blue fur, and a pair of tails with matching blue and white fur. Her pair of golden eyes focused on the purple-furred exceed across from her as a pair of blue wings folded neatly behind her. "I'm Aevishe and I'm the companion of Luna, pleased to meet you all. I hope that we can all find a way to get along, fighting with other wizards doesn't tend to sit well with me truth be told."

Luna could respect her companions wishes when it came to fighting other wizards whether verbally or physically, that was precisely why she didn't necessarily bring Aevishe along with her though it might have also been out of some sort of protective instinct. There were few ways to truly get under the God Slayer's skin but harming her exceed was one of those few ways. Luna had to admit that she didn't know much if anything about her two companions, however the woman wouldn't allow that to stop her from completing the job at hand. As far as the actions and speech of the others, Luna easily discerned that the first of the two seemed more the refined and studying figure whereas the latter was just about ready to cast magic at Luna from the moment they met. When it came to the woman's battle forecasts in the future of this particular job, this information would serve well. Luna would allow the other two to speak their piece and have the time to ask Luna herself any questions they wished, then it would be time to head through the portal and deal with this particular job. She only hoped the other two could hold up their own.

Words: 739, 1'328 total

Ruvel paid little attention to Ada's complaining about having just got off the boat, the company had been requested by the magic council to tend to this issue. Cirven had told him that for good relations with Fiore if they they requested a job to accept it and give it to the mages best suited for it, Ruvel himself was a Swiss army knife thanks to the summons he had so he would go. The fact that he just happened to cross the slayer that could eat the things was just a miraculous turn of events, as she was the best suited to go on this job as a partner. It hadn't even crossed his mind that the other would need to restock he alcohol for the trip on the boat, a fact that became very clear almost immediately as they where on the ship and the iron dragon slayer was over the ships side spewing chunks as they moved towards their destination. He was glad to see her companions gave her brief relief for her motion sickness, it astounded him how they were the only slayers whom seemed to get motion sickness and that she wasn't getting sick when she was on Shelton's back or carried by Tamaria. It was something he would have to ask her about at a later date.

"I know I gave you little chance to say no but I appreciate your company Miss Ortinbras." his words ernest as he spoke to the other "It is the magic council who requested so the pay should be good and awaiting upon return." he said to the purple exceed that brought up the topic of payment, in honesty it wasn't something that he himself asked about as he trusted that the client wouldn't stiff them on such a thing; after all public relations was a two way street. "In honesty I forgot that she was a dragon slayer and that they had such a ridiculous weakness to motion. I'm glad she has found a way to tend to it and I will get her the best alcohol when we're on solid ground again." he commented as he tried to figure out why they were the only ones with such a weakness given their parents would fly, swim, burrow ectra depending on their dragonic forms and elements from what he understood anyway.

Hearing what the other said he nodded "That's what the rune knight said, he had so much of an ego I wonder how it even got into the building given it had it's own gravity to it." he hate those egotistical asses but knew he had to play nice, he also knew they weren't all like that. "Ada, you realise the boat has alcohol on it right?" There was always a stock on board so that sailors who were off duty could have a little with their meals, new sailors were always told up front that there was alcohol on board but if even one person got rowdy because of it then everyone suffered as it was locked away for the rest of the journey. It worked well because they had only had one incident were a new sailor thought that they were fooling around and so got drunk, only to find that for the next six weeks no one on board bar the officers were allowed the stuff. News travelled quickly and since that day no one had dared try push their luck again. When they docked he had expected Ada or Tamaria to go get some alcohol while he secured the transport needed to get near where they needed to be. To be honest his mind wasn't on the job but more on the work that was still needing to be done at home, well that and wondering if Masha had found somewhere to settle and call home yet. He would contact her to do a job when they got back, he hoped that would make the fiery redhead happy.

Ruvel remained quiet as the raven haired woman introduced herself and her companion, he sighed silently at their quick bicker before the exceed seemed to introduce themselves. Soon he realised it was their turn to put their cards on the table "My name is Ruvel Mizune, I am one of three vice presidents within the West Fiore Trading Company." his voice was somewhat stoic as he spoke, he stood five foot two inches tall and looked like he couldn't take a punch to save his life. This wouldn't be to far from the truth when it came to the fragile youth. "We were given this task by a rune knight, he however forgot to mention that we would be meeting someone else." He hadn't introduced Ada or Tamaria as they had mouths of their own and he'd rather avoid the bickering their partners for this job had just done "I'm glad you can hold your own in battle Miss Jager, when my colleagues introduce themselves we should get started." he said his dual coloured eyes looking to the portal taking in the details, he had never been one for small talk unless it was a social function for a client and it was expected of him. He found himself wondering what was going on with this portal, were they going to have to use it to get to the task or was it more a red herring to get them to go the wrong way. It was then he heard one of his summons reminding him he gave off no magical signature so he may want to put the Sabertooth mage at ease in his abilities. "Forgive my manners. Even though I may not look or feel like it, I am in fact able to hold my own against anything we may come across." he said constantly having Rasparov's and Cirven's voices going through his head telling him things, he really hated this world at times due to the advice but it made sense considering how things were.

Word Count: 1'004
Total Word Count: 2'159

Tamaria chuckles to Ruvel a bit as she nods. "Yeah, her drinking all the time helps her out thankfully. Bet she'll love having more alcohol." Adalinda groans a bit in response to Ruvel as well. Of course she would love it, meant less she had to buy and could save money. "And Ada doesn't like taking the alcohol from the crew. She feels she's stealing from them since it's meant for them. I've told her time and time again she can asked for a bit, to keep herself sane when she doesn't take the alcohol, but she doesn't listen." Ada had moved her foot enough to attempt to kick Tammy, but it missed and the cat just laughed at her.

When they made it to the portal, Adalinda raised an eyebrow to the other woman. "Wow! I never expected to hear someone who cockier than Ada used to be when it comes to strength and working with a team." The purple exceed snickers. Tammy look towards the other cat creature and gasps as she jumps off of her slayers shoulders and smiles. Till Aevishe spoke at least. "Wow... you two sounds like you two are perfect matches... I'm Tamaria. Ada's companion. Guess I hope we get along too I suppose." She crosses her arms a bit and takes a deep breath. It was clear on the exceeds face that she was wondering why the other was here with them if they had to work together, but Ada just tapped her side with her foot to keep her from doing anything.

The other mage waited till Ruvel was done introducing himself before she clears her throat and forces a bit of a smile. She wasn't fond of people who acted mightier than others either, but she had been learning to hold her tongue sometimes. "My boyfriend's in Sabertooth as well. I'm Adalinda Ortinbras. An underling to Ruvel at the company. I hope we work well and get this job done fast." She gave a peace sign to the other female, then glanced down to herself. She never did button up her white and blue shirt. And she knew pretty much nothing looked feminine about her, from her lightly toned muscles, to the pants and boots she wore, to the sword she carried on her hip. She even barely kept her hair neat, but at least it stayed behind her enough while she did jobs.

After Ada looked up again, she noticed something flying above them. She couldn't tell what it was, but it flew right into the portal. "Was that... a mechanical reaver?" Tammy questions and looks up at her slayer. "You want to eat it already, don't you?" She asked, rather annoyed. Ada simply grins to her exceed, and nods as she licks her lips. In her mind, that was a tasty meal she could consume. Hopefully she would be able to eat a few if them things before they were destroyed to bits. And maybe save a few for Yuudai too. She bet he'd like that snack as a souvenir from her. Ada glances to Ruvel. She wanted to jump into the portal after it, but she wanted to have him be sure he'd be okay with her doing so. Her eyes then flashed over to Luna, wondering what she'd do as well.

Words: 554
Total: 1,155