[Event] Beach Party!!!!!

Telira wasn't really planning on doing anything exceptionally dramatic with her day. She just... felt like having a day at the beach. Of course, her destination was chosen purely for the benefit of having a beach handy, and there was a beach right next door to the island city of Balamb.

White sands, gorgeous waters... she could have stayed on her home world and visited the pure holy waters of Crescent Lake... but this was perfect.

Soren was nearby, fussing with something he called a "beach umbrella". Obviously he intended it to keep the sun off them, especially since Telira had found a suimsuit in a nearby shop that just seemed too perfect not to wear. Soren wasn't sure what he thought of it himself, though.

Still, the weather was great, and the water was better.

Maybe they wouldn't be alone on this beach for long, who knew?

Crucent and SinSiew had decided to take a day off, so using the Multiplex they had gone to a new world and found a beach to get some tanning done along with some bathing to possibly.

When they got there however they noticed there were already a few others there, but it was a nice big beach so they weren't too worried. Instead they found a spot a little way apart from the others and started unpacking their beachtowels, tanlotions and beverages, some a little more alcoholic then others.

Having gotten it all set up how they wanted it, they then laid down and got comfortable in the warm sun, Crucent in her babypink bikini and SinSiew in one of her dancers outfits, as they were skimpy enough to start with.

Mairi squeeled loudly as she took off running for the water. The beach! She was going to have fun at the beach!! She didn't even wait for Martika to get the Skywing landed properly, she just jumped off the bow and landed on both feet and her hands, tail waving in the wind before standing and making a mad dash for the water.

Okay, so cats aren't known for enjoying the water, but some are exceptions and under the right conditions Mairi was one of them, particularly when she was in full control of her entry into said waters. It's not the same when you're falling headlong into water over your head as a vulnerable kitty cat.

On the deck of the Skywing, Ilserun merely sighed and shook her head. This cat-child was going to be the death of her, of that she was certain... but the way she'd impulsively declared herself to be her daughter... well, there wasn't much Ilserun could say against the girl. She was no dwarf-child, but she was a child and that was more than she though was possible for her.

Once the Skywing was landed, Ilserun walked calmly down the gangplank and carried a bag over her shoulder towards the beach to find Mairi already pulling out a full sound-system from her belt pouch and setting it up to play music... or what she claimed was music anyway. The girl favored the oddest melodies sung by some songstress named "Katy Perry".

Ilserun shook her head and settled herself on a towel and set to making sure that Mairi neither drowned, nor electrocuted herself.

Watching as a mithran child jumped off the airship and straight into the water, Sin nudged Cru and said quietly "Hey Crrru, Look! a mithran girl. Perrrhaps those otherrr guys arrre from Vana'dIel as well?"

Tilting her head in their direction Crucent opened her eyes and watched them for a little bit before she replied "Nooo.... I don't think they are. I have never seen anybody that was from Vana'diel that looked like her" pointing discreetly, she indicated the very short woman with the long black hair that was now playing the oddest music Crucent had ever heard, but she enjoyed it all the same.

Telira was stunned by the sudden interruption of music into what was initially a peaceful day at the beach. She'd actually closed her eyes for a moment, while Soren muttered something about "blasted contraptions". When she opened them again, suddenly they weren't the only ones on the beach.

There was a very tall, very broad-shouldered blonde woman with... with elven ears standing with a cat-woman of sorts, complete with tail and ears. The one thing Telira was certain of, though, was that the woman was not an elf... no subject of Elfheim was ever that tall, nor that broad...

And a distance away, racing back into the water after setting up the machinery that was making the music, was another cat-female... only this one was much younger than the other, with strangely pink and blonde hair... and she seemed to have brought a friend along. Telira blinked.

"Soren? Do your people ever have dark skin?"

Soren blinked and looked at Telira in surprise. "Not unless they've been out in the sun for a very long time... we can tan like any other people. I just tend to burn more than most, I guess." It was true, he'd slathered some ointment all over his skin to protect himself from burning. "Why?"

"Because I believe that woman over there is a dwarf..."

Soren felt his heart leap into his throat as he looked up to see the woman with bronzed skin and long black hair sitting on a beach towel, watching as the little cat-girl went leaping into the water, screaming with laughter. He was silent, his eyes going round. "Is... is it possible?" He let the umbrella fall where it would, not caring that the uncooperative thing chose right then to land perfectly as he'd been unable to make it do. "Forgive me... I have to find out..."

He started walking over to her, more certain as he saw the lines of her face, even though it had been years. He took a chance and shouted. "Ilserun!"

BANG...BANG....

A solemn sound, endlessly repeating itself, almost a melody. Yet it was nothing like music. It was on the Aeon's Refuge...high in the sky, hovering above Spira. It was no repeating melody...It was the sound of a hammer clattering upon metal, echoed through the entire Workship.

It was Emblem. Emblem had been experiencing troubling visions, and in a spur of the moment, was forging a new weapon for himself. His fight with Raven had shown him forces from outside worlds – Outsiders – might be able to best him in the field of combat. His Aeon had almost made him lose control, but it also urged him to present himself with more option in battle. The most versatile of opponents were easily the hardest ones to beat.

BANG...BANG...

As the great Darksteel Halls on the massive Workship of Legends were filled from moment to moment with sounds of craftsmanship, Emblem felt at peace. He took a moment to put the newly smelted ore into the cold purified water to cool off. He inspected it, and with a small smirk, swiped the sweat off his brow. It was just as he had wanted.

A small sound echoed through the halls, and it could only be one. Aeon-Emblem, the entity who roams free on the Workship. It was not the Aeon's Refuge for nothing. As it came closer, Emblem showed his newest creation.

''..Think it's time for your part?''

The Aeon inspected it with his pupil-less eyes, before touching it, sending blue sparks through the alloy. The metal seemed to light up slightly in a magical blue before dimming again to it's regular dark and gritty form.

''Your craftsmanship is promising. Yet it needs some more work. Darksteel is not easily forged properly.''

Emblem nodded and layed the sword back on the anvil, raised his hammer, before promptly lowering it as his Aeon spoke.

''..but that was not what I came to see you for.''

Emblem looked at him, laying down the hammer and the sword. It had to be important for his Aeon to disturb him in his almost meditative crafting procedure. The tone of his companion certainly sounded like it. More then a new trick his Aeon had mastered for sure. Emblem followed the beckoning Aeon and went outside. The skies were clear, but they always were as they were high up in the sky.

''Don't tell me the Workship hovered too far? I though that was not possible?''
''Possibilities aside, this happened during a meditative session. Our energies affected the Darksteel as usual, but it did something rather unexpected this time.''
''Then what is it? I see nothing odd or off with the Refuge.''
''It is not the Refuge. It is another World below it.''

Emblem shivered. He had rather not heard that. His Aeon knew, and understood. Emblem of Besaid was Spiran, and would thrive best in Spira. His powers were only recently evolving again, and unknown territory would not help him in this process. The Calm would. Then again, if they were here, it could not be helped.

''If it is how we came, it is how we can go...but I know. Not enough energy. We'll have to rest. Heh. Being forced to rest. Troublesome.''

Emblem looked at his Aeon, and they merged again. He took out his axes, and descended from the Workship, the same way he always did. Leaping off it.

As the wind rushed through his head, Emblem held the axes wide. The red gems, one in each axe, lit up as he plummeted through the few clouds there actually were. The adrenaline rush was unbelievable, and as always, his heart was racing, but the Aeon's Refuge lit up, and magically slowed his fall. As he observed the world below, he saw many but only a few details came through. It was too much information coming in at once.

Emblem aimed for a little beach next to a town. Maybe he could rest there, and if not, the Town would offer him ways to resupply with some rations. It almost made him think of the cool evening on Besaid, with some nice foods on the campfire. Alas, he was not home.

The beach came closer and closer as Emblem's fall proceeded. He would almost imagine others seeing him right now. A little tiny speck high in the clouds, forming into a guy and landing in their beach water. If only it was somewhat deep, as he still was going fast. Luckily his body was used to sturdy water crashes, but if too undeep, it might come back to bite him.

Emblem crashed into the Beach waters, and immediately sank to the bottom. His axes were not made for this. He held his breath while sheathing his axes to his belt. Step by step, Emblem walked towards the undeep regions of the beach. He would hope not much people had seen him. He was glad there was no fiend to be seen, as he was able to hold his breath quite a long time...but it was best to get out of the water fast.

Emblem slowly emerged from the beach, stepping out of the water. He was going to find a nice shady spot to lay down, and no one was going to be a pain. Music filled the air, quite something Emblem had never heard before. He looked around and saw more feline humans. It remembered him of that one little Mithran who visited him in Luca. Was this her World?

Emblem took slow steps, as the fall had drained him somewhat more then he had expected. No anklebiting duel to the death today...a nap would be better.

As Cru and Sin was half asleep on their beachtowels as they were soaking up the sun, they suddenly both heard a loud splash. Opening their eyes, they watched the ocean, trying to see what had made the noise. After a few minutes Sin said "Soo... on this worrrld, d'you think it's norrrmal forrr people to divebomb out of aircrafts into the waterrr when they arrre going to the beach forrr a day?"

Watching the soaked man that was walking out of the water like some ancient water god, Cru replied "nooo.... I don't think that's normal on any world. Maybe he just really wanted to go for a swim... with his weapons. You know, in case of really big fish or something..." Shrugging a little she laid back down and closed her eyes, humming along to the music, wich actually was very upbeat and happy.

Ilserun had started to turn her head when she heard the shout. Who was calling her name? Who in this strange world would even know her name? Unfortunately, that was exactly the point when the stranger made a splash of an arrival and the sheer dramatic effect of someone falling out of the sky to land in the water distracted everyone.

She was standing up and stepping towards the water, completely focused on that, concerned for the size of the splash and the depth of the water into which the person had landed. When the man emerged from the water, she took a breath of relief, though she was still concerned about the nature of anyone who would choose that sort of entrance to a beach party.

Mairi, on the other hand, screamed with laughter when she saw Emblem rise up out of the water and splashed over to hug him. "I remember you!!! You're the one I met in Luca! That was COOL!!!! You fell outta the sky and the water went SPLOOSH!! and you just walked up like it was nuthin!!!"

She was obviously beside herself with delight, splashing forward to try to wrap herself around him in a hug.

He felt the sand between his toes, it felt warm. It was also a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. It was hot, but he didn't mind, for once, he was dressed for the occasion. His black board shorts stood out against his barely tanned complexion, as did the green "hawaiian style" shirt he wore. The only familiar thing about him on this special trip, was his spear. That he had many a plan for... and no fish would ever expect.

He wandered closer to where he heard the music, as he expected thats where everybody was, and eventually was able to see a few familiar faces, but alot of new ones as well. Lar smiled as he got closer, spotting Mairi making a full blown run over to a man, probably from one of her previous adventures, and again Crucent and her mithran friend.. he noticed them too.. although it was hard not to.

He decided to make a silent entrance, so he wouldn't interrupt any of the goings on, and found a place nearby in sight that he would set up his lounging spot, just incase anyone did want to come see him. He stuck his spear into the sand and dropped his bag of belongings, eventually opening the bag up and laying out a large beach towel for lying on, and a big bottle of water. He sat peacefully on the towel watching everyone and quickly spun the cap off the bottle and took a big long drink, before almost as quickly twisting the cap back on. Everything seemed pleasant, except Lar, personally, would have selected different music.. but hey.. can't win em all..

He sat up to his knees, and for a short time debated going over to say hello to Crucent, but after a few moments, and a short mental conversation with himself, decided against it. She looked relaxed and figured if she felt like talking to him, it might be better if she came to see him, as to not look like he was following her around. He just wanted to do the same, relax in the sun and have some beach fun... and spearfish of course. Hopefully, Lar thought, she would come say hi though.

After about thirty minutes of more sunbathing, Crucent sat up and adjusted her bikini top before she nudged Sin. "Hey, kitty! Do you wanna go get your feet wet? I'm gonna go for a little swim, it's so hot in the sun right now."

Opening her green eyes Sin made a face at Cru as she sat up and looked at the sea. it was perfectly still, and just enough of a breeze to keep insects away. "You do rrrealize that just cause I'm Mithrrran, it doesn't make me a cat, I happen to *like* waterrr."

Cru just giggled at her friends comment as she knew Sin was a very good swimmer, allthough just looking at the mithran you'd never think so. Getting up she looked around to see if she knew any of the others at the beach. And as it turned out she knew a few of them. There was Mairi talking to the guy who had stooped into the ocean upon arrival, and a little further along was Lar as well. Smiling too herself, she ran down into the water, with Sin following the longlegged Elvaan easily.

Diving in the water felt just right and it was crystalclear, allowing the both of them to look down to the bottom where there were corals and small colorful fish darting about busy doing the things fish felt worth doing. Breaking the surface again, they both gasped for air and laughed happily, splashing water at eachother.

Soren could have screamed in frustration. Just as he was almost to the dwarven woman he was absolutely certain was Ilserun, then a mass of complications landed in the way. One man fell right out of the sky and into the water, and she went off to investigate that, and then there was that loud noise-like music... it wouldn't be so bad, but he just found the songs to be highly inappropriate.

And right then, naturally, everyone decided to make for the water.

He had to know. He had to really know that it was her and that she was alright. He shouted again, in a language she would know. "Ilserun! T'her kor vath!"

Telira heard Soren's shouting and blinked in surprise. She'd known that he had something going on, but he'd never spoken much about it. From the sound of his voice, though, he thought that the dwarven woman was someone he knew... possibly a lost friend...

The thought made her whole body ache because she'd not seen any sign of her friends, and she really didn't know if she dared to hope that she ever would. But now she was curious and looked over to watch the situation as it developed. She hoped for Soren's sake that this was the friend he thought she was.

The disappointment if she wasn't... well, she wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Before he even knew what was going on, some people advances on Emblem. Logically, he did drop a good deal, and all he could was cough. Once, twice....all the air was knocked out of him. Emblem fetched his shirt and took it off, it was way too hot for this much clothes, even while in the water. His shoulder tattoo's gleaming in the sunlight as he rubbed his shoulders and stomach. He was gonna be alright, which was to be expected. All the scars he had were old ones, so it looked worse then it was.

Then, Emblem heard shouts as he was twisting the water out of his shirt. It could only mean one thing. Someone knew him. He looked around and all the while hearing a barrage of words, he got hugged by Mairi. All he could do was raise his arms to accept it, and stroke her hair a little. She was still fairly smaller then he was.

''Hello you. Fancy meeting you here....and a...Don't you ever jump outta airships.''

His voice was a bit softer as usual. His goal was to rest, but Mairi wasn't one for that. All he did want to know was one thing.

''Where am I this time? I swear I don't even know where the Universal Multiplex is, and I get tossed around to other worlds quite a lot...Is this your world, Mairi?''

Emblem slowly waded for the shore while hearing her answer, he was going to drop a rather heavy load.

Vacations are normally what a person does to unwind and help relax and become calm and happy once more, sad to say though that for some reason while the Vacation itself is quite enjoyable getting ready and getting to the place is quite stressful. The whole Vacation idea was brought up by none other than leader of a small group made up of three males of different age groups, said leader being the one that is not the oldest or youngest but by far the strongest of the trio. His reasoning for this was that they been busy and working too much and needed a break, and while the other two were doubtful of such an idea they none the less agreed if only to give it a try.

Too bad they learned to regret it when the leader known as Zidane then said "Great so well head to the beach!" ".....Vhat?" "Damn it all I knew he was up to something......" "What do you mean Repede I just trying to get us some down time =w=" "....Zidane ve are not ztupid.......you vish to vatch girlz in the bikiniz ja...." "Ja nothing we know it for a fact........" "Sooooooo isn't the whole point of a vacation is to enjoy yourself?" replied Zidane with a smirk before telling the Genome crew to head toward the world designated World 8 on the inter-dimensional maps. When asked the thief simply shrugged and said he picked it randomly, this was met with groans of disbelief and annoyance by the other two members.

It didn't take too long for the trio to be in the new world thanks to the magical portals that the Invincible could project on its own, one of the many wonders the now extinct Terran people had created with their magitech. As the airship burst into the new realm Zidane looked at the map of the world and saw that their were many beaches to pick from, but as he looked over the map some more he noticed that most would be crawling with fiends but one seemed to have been cleared out and protected to allow the planet's population to enjoy and relax at. Making note of where the place was Zidane then said "Okay you two grumps pack your items and come with me, we taking Iki to the place while the Invincible makes it way there at a slower pace. That portal machine drains the power quite a bit till the upgrades are put in ya know."

The other two looked at one another and simply stared at Zidane as if he was crazy before he said "What you two not bringing any swim trunks or anything?" "I have no vish to zwim today." "You know I don't enjoy being in very bright places......" "Oh fine guess we'll take three part vacations so this is my part, then we'll go to places you two want deal?" asked Zidane before the two members nodded their heads as they found that to be acceptable and walked off to the hanger where Iki was kept. Zidane though stopped long enough to get his swim trunks, a few towels, and some other small items as he would get the bigger stuff from the Invincible once it arrives at the beach later on.

Rushing into the hanger area he had seen the two others were already upon the Silver Dragon's back and thus he climbed up onto Iki's back as well after giving the dragoness a warm hug around her neck, after that the airship teleported the group out of its hanger the maximum distance away. Which was only half a yard but more than enough to prevent the Airship from smashing into the dragon by accident if something was to go wrong, with a roar Iki shot ahead of the slow moving airship with her passengers and would reach the place long before the machine at its current pace.

As the group neared the beach that Zidane had picked they saw that there were already quite a few people there which caused Repede to grumble in annoyance as he hated crowds, but Victor though was more nervous as his keen eyes had spotted a certain female feline that was overly friendly toward him. Zidane though got a evil little idea and whispered it to Iki while the other two were not paying attention, when the dragon flew over the beach goers' heads and toward the ocean she started to corkscrew. Zidane knowing this was going to happen clung to Iki tightly while pinning his items between his chest and Iki's back, but for the other two they were caught by surprise and flung off yet not harmed just startled.

As they fell toward the ocean the two screamed to the high heavens "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ZIDANE!!!!" their screams of rage were ended by the splosh and splash of their bodies hitting the water, Iki flew back over to the beach as Zidane held his sides and laughed as the two's expressions when it happened were just too funny. Iki landed a few yards away from everyone else while Zidane gathered his items before using a bit of standard non-combat magic to switch out of his magically powered clothes and into just normal ones. Too bad it wouldn't work the other way around but he didn't mind, standing in his deep sea blue swim trunks that had strange black Terran symbols on it his tail swished around as he looked to see who was all here. Taking note of Crucent he noticed some cat woman was with her and while said cat was sexy, he was focused on the Elvaan he then turned to look a bit more and saw Lar of all people was here and figured the guy wasn't all gloom and doom as he thought.

The others he didn't know but they all seemed like okay people though the one with all the scars must have some interesting stories to tell, shrugging a bit at the thought he walked to a spot and set up his beach towel as Iki followed over to the spot and laid down next to it. She was going to rest for now and Zidane rubbed her head in thanks for flying them here, he then headed toward the ocean and waved at Crucent as he said "Hey Crucent, didn't expect to see you here when I picked this world for a mini vacation."

While that went on the two poor saps that got caught in Zidane's prank had worked their way out of the ocean and looked as pissed off as could be or at least one did as the other was trying to keep his temper in check, Repede though was not that controlled and seethed as his hair stuck to his face while water dripped off his body as he said under his breath "I'm going to tear his tail off.......and wring his neck with it......I swear I will...." He spat out some water and noticed he had come ashore a bit away from where Victor and Zidane were and was nearer to where Mairi and Co were at.

Victor though was not too far away from Zidane's area and looked rather silly with his clothing dripping wet and while he was a man who enjoyed water he didn't like being dunked in the drink, he thus had silently made an agreement to 'accidentally' step on Zidane's tail at some point in the future......ya Zidane just made himself a good amount of trouble but still......was funny as hell.

Still playing in the ocean Cru and Sin didnt spot the dragon before they suddenly heard loud yelling, rapidly becoming two big splashes in the water. Then they saw two persons emerging, coughing up water and cursing. Sin grinned happily when she saw that one of them were Victor, the cute guy with the accent. She didn't recognize the other one tho, wich was a younger child. Just as she was about to swim out to Victor and greet him, someone shouted to Cru from the beach.

They both turned to look, and Sin was intrigued when she saw that the young man had a tail like herself. "Crrru, is that guy on the beach with the tail a mlae Mithrrra?"

Cru herself was very pleased to see Zidane again and waved back as she said to Sin "No, he is a Genome. Not from Vana'diel. Very funny and a bit of a flirt." "oh rrreally?"

"Yeah. I met him when i went to a world called Gaia, it was a ...pleasant trip" Grinning a little, she blushed a bit as she thought back to her holiday. Giving her friend a look, Sin noticed and smirked "is therrre anything you want to tell me about that trrrip?"

"No, so you can stop with the teasing now!"
Making a face at Sin wich made her laugh in delight at beeing right in her suspicions, Crucent splashed water at her as they waded to shore, first grabbing their towels to dry off a little before going towards Zidane.

Smiling as they approached him Crucent said quietly to Sin "just please behave okay?" in her normal voice she continued "Hi Zidane, good to see you. how have you been?" Looking over at the dragon, she waved a little, not sure if Iki was stil huffed at her or not.

Mairi giggled at Emblem's cautionary warning about jumping out of airships. It was so funny. "Silly! I already did that! Didn't you know that cats land on their feet and I'm a catgirl!" She tilted her head to the side, curious. "Why'd you jump out of an airship? You're not a Mithra, you're not a catboy..." She paused, "Unless you are and you're hiding things!" She scrambled around him to check the back of his pants, completely unaware that someone might find it invasive.

She didn't, though, find a tail hiding there and she pouted slightly. "Awww, I kinda hoped that you'd be hiding a tail... tails are fun! You can do all sorts of things with them!" Then she shook her head at his other question. "No, this isn't Vana'diel. This is Balamb. There's a school here for mercenaries. My airship is just on the other side of the beach. You wanna see it?"

Meanwhile, on the beach itself, Ilserun turned suddenly, completely in shock when she heard the dwarven words shouted out so loudly. Ilserun, I'll find you! Those were the words that her old friend had shouted across the gap in the land bridge created by Nerrick's explosion. How many years had it been since that day? She wasn't sure anymore.

She looked around, her heart racing. "Soren? Soren, is that you? Kor vya s'eye?" Where are you?

After so long... impossible hope made it difficult to breathe.

Zidane enjoyed watching Crucent and her friend make their way toward him after drying themselves off a bit as hey he isn't one to say no to seeing women in bikinis, after they reached him and Crucent said hello he responded "I'm doing pretty well even more so after I caused the two grumps I travel with to fall into the drink, hehehehe the look on their faces were priceless.....though I better watch myself for a while. Still worth it though, how about you have you been doing well too I heard from Victor that you and him and a few others hunted down some dragon at one point though he never gave me details about it." Zidane looks over at Sin a few moments later and says "Don't think I forgot about you, so what is your name and umm would I be right to guess you are a Mithran right? You look way to different to be a genome anyway, not that I'm complaining." Zidane was in a happy place at the moment as his tail swished to and fro slowly.

Victor though was far less happy as he was forced to remove his overcoat, shirt, and gloves to wring them out and move them to a place to dry out, this left his toned yet scarred chest visible to anyone showing he is physically fit but has been through some rough times in his life. Making his way to the trees that were not too far away from the beach he hung his upper clothing out to dry as he would not be taking his lower clothing off for anything even if they were uncomfortable. He moved himself over to where Iki and the beach towel was and sat down on the towel as he looked rather broody at the moment, Iki simply looked at Victor then let out a slightly snickering croon before seeing Crucent wave at her and thus waved her tail slightly in return.

Repede though was not as calm as when he came out of the water fully he spat out some water and shook himself as he looked rather pitiful at the moment, but that thought was killed when a black shadowy shape reached out across the ground and into the sand. The shadowy tendril started to work the sand and flattened it fully before Repede walked over to it and blast it with fire to turn it into glass, waiting for it to cool he had the shadow move to form a bit of a covering over his body to block out the sun as his fair complexion was not meant for heavy sunlight. After the slab of glass was cool he got onto it and sat down to dry as he didn't want any more sand sticking to him than he already had.

''I assure you, I am not a catboy. I am a human catapult! Lemme throw you to your airship!''

When Mairi heard his rather emphasised fun-sounding words, Emblem had quickly turned around and hoisted Mairi up in the air with both hands. He held her high in suspence, then, as if throwing a Blitzball, he threw her away, making her dive into the water about eight feet away. He continues to talk when she came back up laughing. He'd used to throw the little Besaid kids around, they even climb him like a mountain to playfight in the water and other fun stuff! Emblem versus all the other kids truly was fun to watch, even from a distance! And if Wakka joined in, they'd double the fun as a tag team!

''Vana'Diel, Balamb?...sounds like jibberish to me. I'd love to see yer airship soon Mairi, but I got to drop off some things. Ya know, it's hard to swim with the crimson haori around the waist, metal boots around the feet, two axes at your beck and call, and heavy cloth pants. Yes I got somethin' resembling swimming gear!''

Emblem waded out of the water slowly as his gear was truly weighing him down. He went to a nearby tree only to see another entity removing his top gear. His body was similar to Emblem. Toned and scarred. Emblem respected such a thing, and not covering it up. He simply nodded to the entity in kind before sitting down in the shade and removing his boots, red haori, axes, and sturdy cloth pants. Under it were shorts much resembling swimming pants. It could be though this was Emblem's under-armor, but it seemed to be more of a sparring gear at times. Emblem almost needed a second to get used to being this unencumbered by heavy clothing.

Emblem sat there quietly, looking around. It was getting more active by the minute. He laid back in the lush grassy part next to the tree to almost slumber away for a moment at the coolness of shade and the pleasantness of sunshine. Too bad he could not as this was not his world, but hey, it was relaxing. He'd go back to propel Mairi even further in a minute. He had all the time he'd need.

Mairi screamed with laughter as Emblem threw her into the water. This was such FUN!! She was still laughing as she came back up from the water, spitting it out in her hurry to keep talking.

"Vana'diel is my world. It's cool. I live in a city called Windurst and there are lots of other Mithra there and lots of Tarutaru! The Taru are cute but they talk funny!" She splashed over to where Emblem was divesting himself of the extraeneous gear and tilted her head to the side. "Why do you carry all that stuff with you all the time? It looks heavy. I just carry a little pouch and it can hold anything I need but it's not heavy."

She giggled again. "You're strange but fun, you know that?"

The music changed tune again and, a distance away in the sand, Ilserun desperately scanned the growing crowd for the person who had called out to her in dwarven. Was it possible that her old friend was here? of all places?

Soren had to duck around a person, he wasn't sure who it was, who suddenly walked through his field of vision and glanced around looking for Ilserun. He heard her voice calling out in dwarven, responding to his shout. Dear Crystals, it really was her...

His feet weren't as fast as he would have liked, the sand was too difficult to run on, but in a moment he was around the blocking person and spotted Ilserun's black hair and silver suit again, running towards her. He didn't stop until he could reach out and take her face in his hands, astonished that he'd found her again as he'd sworn to do.

"I found you," he murmured. "I left the mountain after..." he paused at the memory of the day when she'd been separated from the rest of them. "After you were gone. Told them I'd find you no matter what. I've been looking for you for years." He swallowed carefully. "How... how have you been? You... you're so dark now..."

He grimaced at how awkward that sounded to his ears. She must think him to be an idiot.

Telira smiled softly as she turned her attention back to the rest of the impromptu beach party. Soren could take care of himself, of that she was certain. She was glad for him, glad he'd found his old friend.

She didn't know if she'd ever find her friends, so she chose to take comfort in knowing that he had.

Mairi kept chatting to Emblem as he disposed of his gear. Quite frankly, he always kept it on because the more accustomed he was to his armor, the less he'd be encumbered by it. It'd make him stronger, unknowingly. Seeing he'd not get away from all of this for sure, Emblem, of all things, had a rather weird idea. He conversed with his Aeon, but only he could hear the replies.

''Aeon...you there?''
''Always.''
''I need a Blitzball.''
''You do not.''
''Help me conjure up one. Just do it... and loosen up will ya?''

Emblem could almost hear his Aeon sigh as he slowly held his hands in front of him. Blue and red lightning shot from his palms, and slowly, a normal blue and white Blitzball formed.

''I hardly knew you were able to do this.''
''We can't currently. You had one lying around on the Refuge.''
''Ah, I thought I had lost that one...thanks anyway. Hey Mairi, can you do this?''

Emblem slowly got up with the Blizball in his right hand, before throwing it up high in the air. Mairi must have spotted the more familiar ball, but did she see this? Emblem had always played a little Blitzball here and there. He dashed forward, placed his palms on the ground, cartwheeled over once on his legs, then shot up in the bright sky, spinning around his own axis and somersaulting at the same time. When his head was pointing at the ground, the Blitzball came in reach and Emblem shot out his leg, kicking the ball with blinding speeds, making it shoot over the heads of everyone, over the sands, and into the water.

''Time to blitz ya?'' Said Emblem as he ran back to the water. The fast Spiran was going to be there first if he had anything to say about it.

As Zidane spoke about the dragon Crucent nodded. Sin was however intrigued by the tailed young man, even though she could eaily see that he was no Mithran All the same, he was cute as well. As he spoke to her she looked at him and replied "Yourrr assumption is corrrect, I am a Mithrrran, and my name is SinSiew, but my frrriends call me Sin. I see Victorrr is with you as well. What a *lovely* surrrprrrise, I hadn't thought he'd be a beach kind of perrrson."

Waving to Victor she grinned at Zid and said "It's a pleasurrre meeting you, if you'll excuse me, i'll go over to Victorrr and leave you two kids alone, don't flirrrt too much with Crrru or she'll have to spend the rrrest of the day cooling down in the ocean." Laughing quietly to herself, Sin then hurriedly walked over to Victor before Cru had time to smack her.

"sorry about Sin's last comment, she likes to tease whenever she can." Growling a little she shot her friend who was still watching them a dirty look "and some day i'll get her back for it too. Spotting Lar sitting a little further away, she continued "Are you guys gonna stay here long? cause if so, maybe we can catch up a little later but right now i see a frined i haven't talked to for some time. Please excuse me a little bit, i'll see you later. Giving Zidane a quick hug (and effectively burying his face in her cleavage) she then headed on over to Lar. Stopping in front of him she smiled and tilted her head a little "Hi Stranger. Nice to see you again. May I join you?"

Taking another quick sip of his water, he watched all the people around him. He watched Mairi playing with a man, and chuckled as he launched her into the water. The lightning show the man did was neat.. a little over the top for a beach ball though, he thought. He dug around din his bag some more, relaxing more into his towel, and removed a pair of sunglasses that he put on, some cord to tie to himself and his spear, so he didn't lose it in the water, and a book. One he'd been meaning to read for a long time, but had never had, or allowed himself to have the time to read it. Now since his... retirement... he had found that he had more free time than he knew what to do with. Not that that was a bad thing.

He only got through a couple of pages when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Crucent walking up over to him. He smiled pleasantly and politely closed his book, tucking a finger in the page as to not lose it. She asked if she could join him, and he was not one to turn down the company of a friend, especially one as beautiful as Crucent. "No no, please have a seat.", he said as he squirmed himself over making room on his towel for her as well. He tried his best not to stare at her in her bikini, and was mostly successful, but it was hard not to look. "It's really nice to see you again, here on some R and R as well?", he asked with a gentle calmness in his voice. He was very impressed with himself being able to stay in a calm demeanor when he spoke to her, in actuality, he was very excited to have Crucent visiting him.

Suddenly, Lar had an idea. Why not invite the lovely lady on his little adventure he had planned later. "Hey, think you'd be interested in joining me for some spear fishing later? It'll be a lot of fun... well not for the fish, but you get the idea... Your mithran friend can join us too, or is that a bit too cliche?", he said cracking a smile. He picked up his bottle and unscrewed the cap, and held it out towards Crucent in the motion that she could help herself if she could use a drink. Ocean water was fun, but didn't make for good drinking, it was always good to bring some fresh.

Zidane took notice of Sin's speech pattern and smirked a slight bit as it was sort of cute yet sexy at the same time, he took note of her name and was pleased to hear he was correct in his guess before hearing the Victor part and said "Ya Victors the gunner of my group as well as kinda the field medic at times, as for a beach person..........well he likes the ocean but mostly he just enjoys looking across the ocean in deep thought not swimming around in it." Zidane noticed all the attention Victor was getting from Sin and snickered a bit before hearing her comments about him and Crucent before running off.

Zidane then called out to her "Here's a tip, Victor likes girls with glasses! Do what you want with that information!" Zidane quickly had to drop down into the water as two bullets flew over his head, on the beach standing with his rifle aimed at the genome was Victor who's face looked a bit redder now due to how he heard the glasses comment. He grumbled a slight bit and put his rifle away as Sin drew closer and then said "Hello again Sin.....I zee you met my friend Zidane Ja.......zuch an......fun boy to be around.....*breaths calmly* Zo vhat do I owe the pleasure of your company thiz day?" Victor was obviously nervous while annoyed toward his so called friend Zidane.

Zidane though snickered a bit as he watched that and then said "She seems like a fun person to hang around with, wanna trade I'll give you Repede in exchange for her." Zidane was obviously joking as he then heard Crucent was going to check on someone and Zidane faked being emotionally hurt as he said "Oh how sad, you've grown bored with me haven't you? *smirks* Na I understand have fun with your friend." Zidane happily returned the hug Crucent gave him and was even more happy to get a face full of bewbs, so when Crucent walked off his tail lashed out and gave her a spank on the rump before she got away. With a playful chuckle he walked back to where Victor, Sin, and Iki where and gave a slight wave to Victor and Sin before placing his hand on Iki's head, he then said "Okay Iki time for you to play some too since you carried us here alright?"

Iki's eyes opened and nodded her head slightly before countless neon red Terran runes covered her body, soon her body glowed brightly as her form changed drastically. Where once laid a good sized dragon was a little girl with feathery wings sitting on her bottom, she looked around a bit nervously before standing up and clinging to Zidane's left arm. Zidane looked over at Sin and said "Ancient Terran secret, you two behave now I don't want to have to cover any of the children's eyes here." Zidane quickly ran off with little Iki before Victor could try and kill the genome. Zidane lead Iki over to the ocean but as soon as he got only a few feet from it Iki started to fly, she was trying to avoid touching the water as she wasn't sure about it and Zidane smiled "Now Iki it just ocean water it not going to hurt you." Zidane was now focused on trying to teach Iki to be less nervous and shy in her humanoid form.

Repede currently though was watching Mairi and Emblem interact and wondered what a blitz ball was for and what kind of game required such a thing, he was curious but not curious enough to get up and look at the momemnt.

Sitting down next to Lar on the towel, Crucent accepted the bottle gratefully and took a small sip before she returned it. "Thanks, that was just what i needed. Yeah, me and Sin wanted to just relax for the day, so we came here and it's good we did, this seems to be a very popular beach." Leaning back on her elbows, she looked over on Sin and Victor, Sin seemed tickled pink to find him here, Victor however looked a little more uncomfortable. Laughing a little she replied "Spear fishing? I have no idea how to do it, also, I'm not good at holding my breath under water over time, so I think i'll pass on that one. And Sin is clearly busy flirting up that poor man." Smiling she watched as Sin was now getting awfully up close and personal with Victor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, I'm just herrre for some rrrelaxation and fun with my frrriend Crrucent. I must say tho, I'm verrry glad we came, I didn't know therrre would be so many cute guys arrround. Makes it alot morrre... pleasurrrable to be herrre." Her tail curling and uncurling playfully causing her already amazingly short skirt to move as she leaned in closer to Victor's face, she continued "But it's such a shame that yourrr in yourrr pants on the beach, you can't go swimming orrr tan then, you should have brrrought yourrr shorrrts instead." Looking up into his eyes she let her fingers walk up his chest for emphasis, purring softly before she leaned back again, then sat herself down next to him and patted the ground next to her as an invitation for him to sit down as well.

Repede and Viktor weren't the only ones at a beach against their will.

A small floating orb appeared from seemingly nowhere, and projected a scene onto the cliff face.

---

Simon, on the tail end of one of his Swishers, sat in what looked like a dining car booth. A woman, dressed in the manner of a cyberpunk waitress, approached, and addressed him in an overly-cheerful voice.

"We're nearly to the Eighth Gaia. Would you like any beverages to go?"

---

As the two spoke, one of the Interdimensional Rails manifested as a high-set trestle bridge, about thirty yards off shore. As the train eased to a stop along the suddenly-generated rails, one had to wonder why it was so high up.

---

"No, Naomi, but, thank you; you've been very kind."

Pushing the cigarillo out against his metallic hand, he got up, and made for the door. The elderly gentleman in the tweed suit, the man Simon had come to know simply as "Owner", followed him as he opened the door.

As it opened, Simon looked confused. ...Balamb Garden wasn't on a beach. Not that he ever knew of, anyway.

"Um... Owner?" Simon asked, still looking over the coastal landscape. "I don't think we're in the right place."

Owner smiled, as he shook out his right leg.

"Oh, no, Simon, we're exactly where you need to be. ...Owner Kick."

...Now, that put a confused expression on Simon's face, one that the beachgoers could see, as it was projected.

"...Owner kick?" Simon, not expecting what was coming next, turned. "What're y-"

As Simon was busy being confused, Owner leaped into the air, at Simon, with an agility belying his age. As Simon faced him, Owner unleashed a flying side kick into Simon's chest, sending him out of the train at high speed.

---

Simon fell uncontrollably, before splashing into the sea in a BRUTAL belly flop. Owner, standing in the door, then chucked a suitcase out of the train, which landed in the sand, with force enough to make a slight crater. As Simon surfaced, the train was already gone, back into the Rift, and its rails with it. With no small amount of disgust, Simon groaned as he swam toward shore.

What the hell had just happened? And why was he stranded in the middle of what looked like a beach party? He had more important things to do!

...When he reached shore, and opened the suitcase, hoping Owner was at least kind enough to send dry clothes, it proceeded to explode.

In the aftermath, a large, open-air bungalow suddenly manifested, well above the tide line. Among the suddenly-generated supplies was a rather large refrigerator, and a decidedly large, perhaps even restaurant-grade, charcoal grill.

Simon himself had been caught in the blast as well. In place of his normal attire, he was now wearing swim trunks, and a button-up tee, both in the "Hawaiian" style, his normal clothes slung over the top of one of the bungalow walls. Simon saw himself, and made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan.

"I am going to knock that crazy old man into the ninth century, I swear it..."

Other than Shade, Simon was the worst person, in his current state, to bring to a party.

...What WAS Owner thinking?