Slaying Nidhogg (Raven, Zidane, Cru, Lar. Fighting monster, others PM me to join)

"HEY CRRRU! Guess what?"

Slamming the front door open so hard that Mooglian the Moogle winced and sighed, knowing this would mean yet another wall reparation, again, Sinsiew; the Mithran friend of Crucent came bursting into Crucent's house, all happy and excited as usual, holding a piece of paper in her hand.

Looking at her friend from over the local newspaper, Crucent smiled at SinSiew and said "What?"

Sitting down at the breakfast table, Sin handed Cru the paper "I found us something to do that's what. it seems therrre's a Drrragon over at the Boyahda Trrree thats causing trrrouble, so now the local authorrrities have posted up notices all overrr asking forrr help to take it down. Whaddya say?" With a satisfied grin on her face, Sin sat back and made herself a cup of Tea and some toast as Cru read the paper.

"Wanted: anyone who deem themselves capable of taking down Nidhogg the Wyrm. If you succeed, you'll be handsomely rewarded, if you fail, you die. Contact Guslam in Upper Jeuno for more information."

Finishing up her tea, Cru said "Allright, so... you want the two of us to try and kill Nidhogg? the Wyrm, wich is the biggest, baddest kind of dragon there is, in all of Vana'diel? by ourselves? that doesn't seem a tad too optimistic, even for you?"

Blowing a raspberry at Cru Sin replied "Of courrrse I don't expect just the two of us to manage it. But i'm cerrrtain otherrrs will see this note as well. We just have to get to Jeuno and find this Guslam, then we wait therrre forrr anybody else who wants to kill a drrragon and join up with them. It surrre beats staying herrre doing nothing."

Laughing Cru said "fine, I give. let's go find some help then we slay ourselves a dragon. Let me just grab some things then we'll fly to Jeuno on my airship. It's quicker then commercial airships, and we dont have to put up with others on board." She then got up and went to find her Claws and put on her armor.

As Cru was getting ready, so was Sin, but beeing a dancer, she went to find her daggers and slip into something highly revealing,wich allowed for greater movement (or so she claimed). After a few minutes however they were both ready to leave, and made their way down to the docks where Crus airship, Skibladner was ready and waiting. Quickly boarding it, Crucent told Tiupiu, the ship's Captain to head for Jeuno, and within very short time indeed, the ship glided effortlessly out of the harbor before it rose up into the air with its course set for Jeuno.

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An hour or so later, the Airship docked in Port Jeuno, and the two women, one tall Elvaan and one shorter Mithra made their way in unison to Upper Jeuno and Guslam.

After a short conversation with the big Galka where they learned that so far, noone else had shown their intrest in the mission, Crucent and Sin agreed to do it, but first they would wait for others to join in, so the pair simply sat down on the ground, their backs resting against the all of a building as the wait began.

OOC: We following the turn rule right? Or is it just post frenzy?

IC:
While the two young women had just arrived in Port Jeuno another being who was an off worlder has been in the area for a day or so by now, this off worlder stood at a modest height of five foot nine inches and was of a lean build with a fair complexion though not too fair of course. His brown hair was fixed up in a rather interesting way that must of taken a while to get like that but seemed to look pretty good on him, as he walked around his brown eyes looked at the people in the area and wondered how they were able to live as they did. The technology they had was not as advance as he was use to yet their lives had a rather charming quality to it, as he walked he figured he would listen to some music and had Beethoven's Ninth Symphony play on a small machine that used magic and technology to work.

As he music played the words were sung in German which the young male gently sang in tune to during the non chorus parts, as he made his way toward Upper Jeuno and Guslam he was nearing the end of the musical piece as he gently sang
"Festen Mut in schwerem Leiden,
Hilfe, wo die Unschuld weint,
Ewigkeit geschwornen Eiden,
Wahrheit gegen Freund und Feind,
Männerstolz vor Königsthronen, --
Brüder, gält' es Gut und Blut--
Dem Verdienste seine Kronen,
Untergang der Lügenbrut. "

After the ending chorus piece was finished he turned the device off and looked toward a building to see two women leaning against a wall and figured he see what they are up to, walking toward them with his trusty gun-scythe on his back he smiled at them gently. When he reached them he then said "Greetingz and Zalutationz liebchens, zorry if thiz iz not proper of me but vhy are you two beautiez laying against thiz vall. Are you vaiting for zomething or zomeone.......blast forgive me for my rudenezz I forgot my mannerz. My name iz Victor Dunkelheit, may I ask vhat your namez are if asking isn't too bold."

Emerald heard about a dragon creating trouble in Boyahda Tree so Emerald had took an airship from San Doria to travel to Jeuno. An hour passed as she rode the ship across in the air. As soon as the air ship had stopped in the docks of Port Jeuno she made her way to Upper Jeuno where she was told to go about this dragon. Everyone seemed happy as kids ran across the paths of Jeuno. She could see adventurers trying to buy items in the AH as she smiled, it seemed to be a good way to start her who path to create a name for herself by slaying this dragon. As she walked she notice a familiar face who was a tall elvaan women by the name Crucent. An old friend of hers, "I'm guessing I'm in the right place huh?" She spoke sarcastically toward Crucent as she waved at her.

(Sorry short....and crucent....I'd say this happen after my plot but we dont talk about it because lets just say we were told not to bring up that past. Since we don't know what will happen since it hasnt happen yet lol)

He read the piece of paper he had found, "A Nidhogg, eh?" he said quietly to himself. Lar was already in Jeuno to take in more of this worlds sights, so if he did intend to help out, he hadn't need to travel far. His only concern was that he didn't really understand what they wanted killed, or where this Boyahda Tree was.. He sat and debated the pros and cons of the very dangerous sounding mission. Only a few minutes later, he stood from the bench, with a determined look on his face, he made his way to the meeting point. As he approached he saw one familiar face. "Hmm... That's Crucent...", as he looked around at the others with her, a mithra woman, a man with a very impressive gun weapon, and another woman, most likely a human. He paused before getting too close and making his appearance known. His last meeting with Crucent didn't go very smoothly, but he was used to people reacting poorly to his presence lately. But now that he no longer wore his SOLDIER uniform, he felt more confident that their reaction would be more positive. Sighing with a slight smile on his face, but realizing the serious of this mission, he approached the group. He stood tall and proud, not letting any past experiences bother him, although he was excited to see her again. He looked at the group that had gathered, and gave them all a nod. "Hey everyone. You guys here for the Nidhogg as well?", he said as he held up the paper in his hand. He liked the look of everyone. Everyone looked fairly friendly. THe mithra woman looked more... friendly... than the others though. He couldn't help but notice the revealing outfit she had chose for the mission.

As Victor approached them Sin gave Cru a little nudge to let her know someone was coming. Standing up Crucent watched the young man closely, trying to figure out what he was. "Hello Victor, I am Crucent and this" waving to the mithra "is my friend, SinSiew. Sin and Cru for short. We are here because..." but before she could finish speaking she spotted a familiar woman approaching as well "Hi Emerald, good to see you. And yes, if your here to slay the dragon, your in the right place"

No sooner had she finished talking before a young black-haired man came up too "Lar! Hi again, good to see you. Yes, we are all here for Nidhogg. Me and Sin decided to try and kill it, but since it belongs to the biggest kinds of dragons we have here on Vana'diel, I thought it would be better if we waited to see if anybody else wanted to join us first, Not even me and Sin can take on a dragon alone. So, do would you mind helping us?"

It hadn't gone unnoticed that she now had a person who looked alot like a gunner of some sort, a knight and one Dragoon. With herself beeing a Monk and Sin a Dancer, they now had alot more power and stood a much bigger chanse of not becoming toast at first sight.

As Sin stood up, she had also noticed both the rather attractive cute black-haired guy, but since it seemed that Cru knew him, she wasn't gonna try flirting with him. Instead, she focused on the the man with the funny accent.
"It's a pleasurrre meeting you all, I forrr one would rrreally apprrreciate any help you can give us. Nidhogg is not a drrragon to be trrrifled with." Extending her hand, Sin shook hands with all of them as she gave them a big friendly smile.

Raven touched down in the Kestrel within the walls of Jeuno. He again was looking to gain a little cash on the side and considering the last job paid so well, Raven thought it would be a good idea to return. He wasn't there five minutes and he got smacked in the face by a piece of paper. He pulled the piece of paper off his face, mumored a few curses about litterers, and read it. He smiled and decided that he should be coming to this world more often, for he already found himself a job. He was going to slay a dragon.

He walked towards the meeting place and saw that there were already others waiting around. He didn't recognize most of them, but he did recognize Crucent and her ex-SOLDIER stalker. He almost laughed out loud at the scene, but decided that wasn't probably the best idea. Instead, he walked up to the group and said to Crucent, "Nice to see you again, Ma'am. I guess we are going to get to see those Wyrms that you talked about last time." Raven shot Lar a glance and a smile and then glanced around at the rest. Yeah, this was going to be an interesting fight.

"Raven, hi. What brings you to our world?" Smiling at him Crucent introduced everybody, and as she came to Lar said jokingly "Him you already know, but this time you don't have to chase him off since your not my bodyguard anymore" Looking at them all she said "Right, I dont think anybody else is gonna come along, so if you need any provisions such as food, medicines or weapons of any sort, now is the time to get them cause I think we'll be leaving shortly."

Taking out a picture she held it up for all to see and said "This is the dragon we are out to kill, Nidhogg."



"It is known to be weak against Water and Thunder magic, and strong against Fire and Ice. It's very Agressive, and as we get closer to it, there is no point in any cloaking clothing or magic as it can see through all of it. Normally it takes a group of 20 to 25 persons to kill it, but we will only be trying to do it with the six of us, our main advantage beeing that we now have some weaponry that people attacking it before haven't had. Now, Nidhogg can fly. It has teeth and talons and *knows* how to use them, so be careful okay? Not to mention, his hide is ridiculously strong, so it'll take time to wound him. If there is anything else, just ask me." She then nodded to them all and headed off towards a huge stone stairwell that lead down to the other levels of Jeuno. When she and Sin got to the lowest level, she made her way to the Chocobo Stables and waited for the rest to join them again.

Victor was pleased that the young woman who looked Elf like was so polite and smiled at her a bit more if only out of gratitude for being so civil, it was then that she introduced herself and her friend who looked a lot like a genome just having some extra cat parts. This caused Victor to thank the stars that Zidane didn't tag along with him this time, it was then that another woman in a exotic outfit walked to the group and mentioned killing a dragon. Before long the number of people in the area rapidly grew with one after another coming with the Crucent lady knowing most of them, Victor laughed slightly to himself and said "Vell thiz haz become quite the little party and I zeem to be the only true ztranger here Ja? Ha ha ha, oh vell I vill help you in your endeavor to kill thiz dragon though I have zome reservationz due to how a good friend of mine haz a pet dragon."

Victor was honest in how it would be odd to go hunt down and kill a dragon with him knowing Zidane's pet dragon Iki but he figured it would be okay since it was extremely unlikely this dragon was of the same race, but soon Victor realized something and thought 'Nidhogg......hmm is that not the Norse Dragon that gnawz on the world tree'z rootz in Norse Mythology......it zeemz I'll be able to kill a legend thiz day...' After the last of the hunters arrived Victor took note of what they had to work with and figured that he would be the one providing fire support for the mission, it was then that Sin started to shake everyone's hand but when she tried to shake Victor's he held her hand in his gloved hand and kissed the top of it gently before letting go.

He then said "The pleasure iz all mine liebchen, az for thiz dragon I have no intention of taking it lightly, I've zeen vhat a young one can do to a creature. Vhat a grown up one can do iz going to be obviously a lot vorse." Victor turned his attention to the other three members and with a gentlemanly bow said "If my name vaz not heard by you three vhen you came, it is Victor Dunkelheit and it iz good to meet you all." Victor knew their names or at least their first name due to Crucent saying them so he figured it only fair they know his. After that he listened closely to what Crucent said as his soldier mentality started to kick in, hearing and seeing what they were up against he said in a more controlled and less friendly voice "So the target for thiz mission iz heavily armed and armored, highly zkilled, and haz good mobility......wunderbar.......Vell then if I might zuggest zomething.....base on vhat I have learned from fighting the zmaller veaker dragonz on Gaia the creaturez become more manageable if one can keep it grounded. That and it bad enough to have a large creature than can bite or clav you, having one that can take off and dive bomb you iz much vorse........zo vhen ve attack vouldn't it be prudent to try and mangle one of itz vingz to limit itz movement? Excuse me if that vaz out of line, zimply trying to use vhat I knov to help in the mission Kommandant.......I mean Crucent...."

Victor inwardly swore at his slip up for reverting to his military mentality so much that he called Crucent a kommandant *aka Commander* instead of her real name, he simply hopes that doesn't alienate him from the group.

"Actually Victor, thats a very good idea. But please, just call me Cru instead" Giving him a quick smile, she didn't react to beeing called Kommandant, mainly cause she had no idea what it meant. Instead she started talking to the Chocobo owner about renting some birds to get to Dragons Aery as fast as possible.

"Parrrdon me forr asking Victorrr, but you have a verrry intrrresting dialect, may I ask wherrre you arre frrrom?" SinSinew was fascinated by the man, She had never seen anyone like him before, and now she was determined to find out more about him. Obviously he was a soldier of some sort, both his behaviour and speech suggested as much, also, he was kinda cute.

Swishing her tail lazily she looked at him more closely "I'm sorrry, I don't mean to prrry, but I can't help it, it's in my naturrre. If you'd rrrather not say, that's fine too" Giving him her most charming smile she walked up to him and said "hmm... you seems like yourrr an off worrrrlderrr, but I don't mind. It just makes you morrre intrrrresting."

Lar liked Victor's plan. It was a dangerous one, but if they could strike first somehow, it could work. He studied the photo Cru showed them all. He had fought dragons before, and always with fewer numbers than what anyone would deem safe, back in his days with SOLDIER. But it had been quite some time since Lar had fought anything really. His major concern was not for himself, but for his teammates.

He decided to speak up, hoping to add in an effective method of battle, one he had done several times. "If I can get close enough, fast enough, I can exa jump and strike at one of the wings. Anyone with a good shot or spell, target the same wing. If we strike simultaneously, I'm sure we can cripple one wing at least. That should keep our friend on the ground..". Lar's tactic was a risky one that required exact timing. But he had done it before in the past... with a fairly high success rate... so what was one more attempt at it.. Victor and Raven both looked like good shots, and he was sure Crucent and the other two wouldn't have any problems adding to the attack. He trusted them completely... well the Mithra seemed slightly distracted.. but that SHOULD pass he thought... Right?

After making a few preparations and adjustments to his equipment, he eventually made his way down to the lower level where Crucent was currently speaking to the chocobo owner. He smiled slightly, as he thought about the coming battle, and the fact that he was going to get to ride a chocobo again,and well that was always a good time. He looked over at Crucent, and gave another smile and a nod to her. Today was going to be a good day.

Watching more people make their way to the group it seemed there were a good solid 6 people for the job. They were very brave 6 people that will have the shot to take down this dragon. "I'm best at using fire and ice and a little wind. So i'm no use but I do have one spell that has lightning in it and a weapon attack that has a finishing move of lightning. If Victors dragon can help me get on the wind with Lar I could easily do my attack which could do minor damage since it has fire and ice, wind, and lightning....I'm pretty much ready to go, got my potions and food. Lets do this!" She spoke to the group. This would be her first dragon ambush she has done. From what she heard from citizens this dragon is real tough and dangerous. Emerald laughs at danger and will sink her teeth in this fight. Smiling she grabbed her sword and raised it in the air, "To the death of Nidhogg!" She shouted to the group.

Victor was relived that his slight slip up didn't cause any weird questions or looks from Crucent and he watched her walk off to get some chocobos for them, as he watched her he thought for a moment *Vell...maybe Zidane vould be best vith thiz one........I zhall try to push them closer together.......at least zhe vill be the one ztuck vatching him if it vorkz out...* Victor's train of thought was ruined though when the cat like female named SinSinew started to talk to him. Thus his attention focused on her if only to be polite and kind, listening to her he slightly wished she didn't ask that one question but it wasn't like she was trying to be mean.

Thus with a bit of caution he then said "You have a interesting zpeech pattern az vell Sin, az for vhere I am from....I came from Gaia though that iz not my vorld of birth. Mine iz a planet called Earth and I vaz born in a country called Germany, thus I am a German and zpeak as zuch. English iz not my original language zo my vordz are zometimez a bit messed up." When the girl tried to explain that she wasn't trying to pry he chuckled a bit and said "If you vasn't curious then I vould be vorried and there iz no harm in asking vhere a person iz from if only to knov........*gets walked up to* Ummm......uhhh....interesting......hov?" Victor was sweating bullets by now as well he wasn't used to THIS much attention and the feline woman was.......well how would Zidane put it........one smoking hot babe.

Thankfully for Victor his attention was dragged away by Lar and Emerald talking about his suggestion and thus he said "Vell my elemental specialties are vater and thunder zo if I can keep from being mauled by it I can deal a good amount of damage, hence the other reason taking itz vingz out iz a good idea. Vill keep it from being able to catch the fev of uz that use the elementz it hates, az for pet you misunderstood Emerald. I do not have a pet Dragon only my friend Zidane doez, it iz through interactionz vith hiz pet and from fighting vild dragonz near Burmecia that I knov vhat I knov. My pet would actually be helpful for thiz fight.......but zhe iz a bit behind me due to having to ztay behind to handle zome bodily issuez. Zhe zhould be better zoon though and vill track me down and could help uz, zince her element iz lighting as vell."

Grinning at Victor's awkwardness, SinSiew just flicked her tail in a way that, if you knew her meant that she had found herself a new challenge and would not let go so easily. Instead she turned and walked back to Crucent who had seen the little show of SinSiews and merely said quietly "I think you'd best tread softly around him my dear. I don't think he is used to women like you" Smiling at SinSiew she then focused on what the others were talking about and after listening to them all said "Well, yes, an aerial attack would help turn the favor in our direction by a great deal, but as far as I know, we don't have any dragons ourselves. And risking it all on Lar's jumps seems a little risky, what do we do if he gets hurt? But...if nobody knows anybody who can help, we have no other option I guess, so let's mount these birds and get going!"

Grabbing the pommel of her own bird, she easily jumped up nto the saddle, grabbed it's reins and headed off through the City Gates, waiting for the others to catch up.
SinSiew effortlessly swung herself into the saddle, grinned at the others and said "Let's Go everrryone, time to kill ourrrselves a Drrragon!" then ushered on her Chocobo to follow Crucent out onto Sauromugue Champain.

In a shocking face Emerald made, she forgot she had her own pet that was a base of lightning. "Forget to mention that I have a tiger pet that has a lightning attack that can be helpful during battle. She is waiting outside for me. Also my friend and body guard of me Angel is a Paladin and said he will meet us there he had to do a few things before joining us." She spoke to Crucent feeling a little silly. Emerald had her own chocobo and was named Jade. She was a green chocobo and was a rare site to see in most cities. Jade gave off a small squeek as it saw Emerald. Jade always was exicted to see Jade. "Here you go girl!" Emerald gave her some Sharug greens. Sharug greens were a sweet leafy greens that were always favored for chocobos. Emerald hoped onto her own bird and followed Crucent out into Sauromugue Champain. Once they arrived outside Crystal was waiting for Emerald outside chomping on a large bee that was near the entrance to the city. "Okay Crystal follow me!" Emerald spoke to her pet that was a large white tiger with light purple stripes all around her body. Though the purple could be seen as a light blue as well but it was more a violet color then anything.

Lar threw himself over the saddle of his chocobo. It was really quite easy for him, for he had learned to ride a chocobo quite well durrng his time in SOLDIER, he handled the massive bird like a pro. He caught up with the group quickly and continued to think of the best way to approach the situation. He rode up beside Crucent and gave her a nod. "Don't worry.. I won't get hurt.", he said to her with a smirk. "Although.... after I hit and land, I'm gunna be vulnerable to an attack. Hopefully, between the spells and bullets, I'll be able to get clear easily and ready for another attack.". Lar's voice had a concerned tone to it, for he had good reason to be concerned, his plan could fail horribly and end up being hit by friendly fire. It's happened before. Memories filled Lar's head, but he shook them off quickly and regained his focus, looking back at Crucent and giving her another smile.

As he rode along with them, he began to look around at the scenery. It was all very new to him. Almost all of the new worlds he had visited were so unlike his own. A part of him figured to just buy a map and figure it out so you don't have to keep asking the same question everytime you go somewhere. But, sadly he hadn't done that, and again had to ask the question. He spoke to Cru, but also loud enough that everyone in the group could hear him. "So... Uhh.. where are we going anyway? I'm still not very familiar with all these other worlds.. sorry...". He felt a bit childish asking such a silly question. But if anything happened and he fell behind, some directions would never hurt. After all he noticed he was the only one who didn't bring a friend or pet, but that just wasn't his style. Lowering his voice to just above a whisper he looked at Crucent again, "It's really nice to see you again...", was all he was able to mutter out. He didn't want to seem pushy to her, but he was happy to see her again.

Victor let out a sigh of relief when the female mithran gave him some space by going back to Crucent, he then listened to Crucent's concerns and then said "Vell if vorse comez to vorse and Lar iz harmed I do have zome medical knowledge to help patch him up." With that he saw the group jump onto Chocobos but he simply shrugged and walked over to a strange metal machine, it had a motorcycle front end but the back end was more armored and had tracks on it. It was Victor's Kettenkrad and after jumping onto the vehicle he started it up, it roared to life before he put it into drive and drove after the others the sound of the engine easy to hear with it not in stealth mode. After catching up with the others he slowed down to a more manageable speed that the chocobos were going at before listening to the others talk, after hearing it was mostly Lar trying to assure Crucent he would be okay he tuned them out.

He pulled a small radio like device from a side panel on the inside part of his machine and turned it on, it played 'Ride of the Valkyries' at a low volume so only Victor could fully hear it though the ones with stronger hearing could listen if they wanted to as well. He planned to turn it off when they drew nearer to where the dragon is but for now there was no reason they can't have some road music along the way.

As they all gathered outside the city gates on the plains of Sauromugue Champaign, Crucent urged her chocobo into a swift gallop along the dirt road, metres turning quickly into kilometres as they made their way towards Meriphataud Mountains in the distance. After a few hours however the evening was coming fast. As the air was getting very chilly by now, Crucent trotted up to a cave she knew of that was large enough to hold them all safe overnight and signalled a stop.

“Ok, this is a good a place as anywhere else to camp for the night, I’ve used it before with Sin, there should be firewood in the back of the cave so we can keep comfortably warm tonight., and it’s large enough for the chocobos as well so they aren’t at risk to monsters.”

Jumping off, she lead her chocobo inside the large cave and headed off to the back where she took off it’s harness, then found some wood and lit a fire about midway towards the mouth of the cave. After making sure it would not go out anytime soon, she then grabbed her things and made ready a place to sleep, then found some food in her sack and went over to the fire and sat down next to Sin.

“Let’s just relax and sleep here then tomorrow we make our way to The Boyhada Tree and Dragon’s Aery tomorrow where Nidhogg lives. We should be there by midday then we stick to the plan and kill it. Lar: just be careful of it‘s mouth when you jump okay? We can‘t afford to loose anybody.”

Raven stayed to himself while thhe others went over plans. He really didn't like groups, but they were his best shot at this, so he took them. He knew exactly what he was going to do when they reached the dragon, but he didnMt want to voice his opinion until everyone was finished. Voices tend to get lost when everyone is talking. Before he could say anything,though, they were at the stables andd most were mounting Chocobos. Raven had seen Chocobos before and even ridden them on Pulse a few times, but he was never very good at it. He could never get over the fact that he was trusting his life in the talons of an overgrown chicken. Instead, he had Cowboy fly over his motorcycle outside the gates. He mounted up and followed Crucent and Sinsew out of the city and into the mountain.

That evening, he approached Lar and said, "I know you are already set on jumping straight at the thing, but I got a plan that may increase you chance of not becoming a grilled SOLDIER-on-a-stick. I have a grappling hook on my gun, I can launch it at the opposite wing that you are attacking and then use it to drag me to it so I can attack it up close. If we attack at the same time, the dragon will be confused and will probably hesitate too long before choosing which of us he wants to try and swallow whole. If we take both wings out quickly, it will mean less danger for the others, especially the ones that would be rushing in..."
Raven glanced to Crucent, he knew Lar had a soft spot for her and was hoping that soft spot wouldn't get in the way when the fighting started. But that same soft spot worked very well in getting Raven's point across.

After that, Raven went off by himself again and made a fire. He dismantled and cleaned all of his guns while his dinner cooked. Tomorrow he was going to kill a childhood legend. He was so excited.

Lar liked the sound of Raven's plan very much. It took a lot of the pressure of himself, and a lot of the danger as well. He knew Raven had his doubts about his abilities, but this dragon was killing people. No time for jokes, or inappropriate behaviors, such should be saved for the victory party. "Timing will be the key. I trust you though, We'll get this big bastard. And don't worry, I have a very clear mind for this battle, we cant afford for any one member not to.", he said softly to Raven, giving him a nod and setting up his sleeping arrangements with the majority of the group.

He took out his rations, taking a big bite out of a piece of jerky. and chewed it as he looked over his spears. Running his finger over the blade to ensure it's quality and sharpness. Finding a small burr, he pulled out a whetstone and began to sharpen the edge. The imperfection, was minor, but Lar would take no chances. Tomorrow had to be perfect, so he expected the same from his weapons. He was very excited though. Fighting a dragon really made his adrenaline pump. Looking around the encampment, he saw the others appeared to be preparing as well. A small smile crept on his face as he sharpened his blade.

It only took a short while to fix the barb on the spear, and he placed it down next to his bedroll. He got up and relocated his seat next to the fire. He would enjoy it while it was lit. He gave a nod to Cru and Sin, and took another bite of his jerky. It was always nice to have time to relax before a battle.

Emerald followed Crucent as she was just right behind her on her own green CHocobo. Jade squeek as she flapped her wings and slowed down into the cave. Emerald gave her some more greens for her dinner as she quickly sat down and rested for the long jounrey ahead tomorrow morning.

Crystal sat down at the beginning of the cave watching out for any intruders or monsters that would be curious to stop by. Emerald walked over to crystal and sat next to her as she watched the sun quickly set downward as the night sky began to set. The sunset was a beautiful site to see when they were in these mountains. The colors of the sun went very well with the orange desert colors of these mountain terrans.

Victor switched his radio off when he heard Crucent speak up and tell them they were going to rest in a cave, by the time they did so he did notice how late it was getting and figured it would be best for them to rest as well. Thus after driving after them till they reached the cave he found a spot not too far away from it and parked his machine, getting off it he took a few of his provisions out and then followed the rest into the cave. He figured no monster would mess with his mount as it was just a machine, so after setting up a small spot in the cave for himself he started to work on his gunscythe to ensure that it was clean of any dirt and grime while also well oiled.

After that he got some food out of his containers and put them into a metal pot he brought along, the mixture was sauerkraut mixed with diced bratwurst. Walking over to the fire he had the pot placed over the flame using some wood to fashion a holder, Victor soon waited for the food to cook up to the right temp while minding his own business due to how well he was a stranger to all that was here at the moment. During this all a figure was closing in on the cave with very little sound being made from it, the figure was feline like in structure and was just as stealthy. After it drew closer to the cave though it stopped and stared at Crystal and Emerald near the entrance, it then let out a loud female sounding yowl which caused Victor to stop watching his food and shake his head.

He then said "That vould be the pet I zpoke of, guezz zhe finally heeded my varning about not rushing toward groupz that have people that don't knov her." Victor stood up and dusted his pants off before walking over to where Emerald and Crystal was, he then used his fingers to whistle and soon enough a streak was seen rushing toward them before Victor was tackled into. He bared the blow and looked down at a nekomata that was now cuddling his chest as he sighed deeply and scratched the female behind her ears he then said "Shurelia vhat are you doing.........*hears a few mews*.......ah missed me Ja.....Vell okay just behave nov. Ve are vith otherz and they have no time for your zhenaniganz." The female cat pouted before nodding her head and sitting down on the ground, Victor walked back to the food to make sure it didn't burn while Shurelia looked around at who else was here.

The next morning Cru and Sin woke early. Rousing the others as Sin made a fire once more so they could have breakfast, Crucent then packed their things so they'd be ready to leave as soon as possible.

"Ok, so, we'll reach the Dragon's Aery easily today. Should only take us a couple of hours ride to get there. Then we make our way to the Boyhada Tree and through that, we get to Dragon's Aery and Nidhogg. "

Sitting down to eat her meal, she continued "Nidhogg is huge, but, he is weak to magic like Water and Thunder, however he is strong against Fire and Ice. He also has one special ability that enhances Nidhogg's attack, defense, and magic defense drastically for about 30 seconds. Apart from that his attacks are the Hurricane Wing wich can cause a severe but short-duration Blind effect, the Dragon Breath wich is a frontal attack that does a lot of damage but the good news is it can be avoided by standing to either side of Nidhogg's head."

Looking at the others, she asked dryly "Sounds like fun doesn't it?"

Raven had awoken early, too. He had been up maybe a half an hour before Crucent and Sinsew, trying to get himself ready for the day ahead. He did his usual work out of running two miles and then doing a few sets of cruches and push-ups. By the time he was done with that, Crucent was waking the others. While they awoke, he slipped out of his clothes and bathed in the river he had found while on his run. By the time everyone was moving to their full speed, Raven was reclothed and ready to grab a bite to eat.

He returned to the cave and grabbed one of the pre-packaged meals he had brought with him. The thing tasted like cardboard, but it filled him and contained vital vitamins and minerals to help him through the day. He sat down near Crucent and ate his meal in silence as he listened to her warning. "That does sound fun."

Raven fingered the necklace around his neck in anticipation. That's when he remembered George. The summon was basically made to kill dragons. Heck he had dragonslayer in his name! "If I may, I think I may have a friend that will be a huge help to us...." Raven stood up and tossed the necklace outside the cave. The cross grew into a larger version and emitted a blinding light. After the split second of light, George the dragonslayer galloped up out of the cross and stopped just before the mouth of the cave. "Everyone, meet George, a real dragonslayer."

George nodded to the crowd, but did not say anything. He never did.

Emerald had told her friend Angel to meet her at the Boyhada Tree but she was hoping he would some how appear right in front of the group. Smiling she found herself outside the cave fallen alseep on her own chocobo. Waking up she yawned and made her way to the rest of the group. Crystal and Jade was still sleeping and She would let them sleep in untll they were about to leave.

Emerald caught up with crucent as she began to explain more about the dragon. Sitting down Emerald ate her breakfast and listened to crucent talk about the dragon. "It seems that this dragon is like a god. If we all follow what were suppose to do, we should be fine." She spoke as she responded to crucent description of attacks of the dragon.

Emerald notice Raven bring a real dragonslayer to help the fight, which ment more people. She was okay with it but the whole label of dragonslayer was a bit annoying and maybe a bit cocky but would not act on her first impressions. "Emerald.....hmmmph seems he doesn't like to talk." She spoke as she was trying to be nice but turned around and headed back to her chocobo and her pet.

Crystal shook itself and gave a small growl, like a yawn and was ready to move. Jade stretched its legs and flapped its wings and was now ready to travel. "We ready? My friend is waiting for us at the Boyhada tree." She spoke a bit loud to get the attention of the others.

Grabbing their things, Cru and Sin both mounted their chocobos then waited fro everybody else to get ready as well, before they set off in a swift and smooth gallop hading towards The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah. about a hour later after an easy trip through the lightly treed area they came to a halt in front of The Boyahda Tree, the largest tree in all of Zi'Tah, The tunnels and massive cave inside where Nidhogg lived was made by its decaying roots . Everything within the rootsystem is wrapped in light by the shining moss growing on the cave walls.

Dismounting, and watching as their rental birds ran off back home to Jeuno, Cru and Sin made sure they still had all they needed, as the rest of the group also dismounted and got ready to enter the Tree.