Exploration - Rabanastre

[Monty]

Through the city the little Moogle walked He saw many imperials around here, though he knew not the reason behind everything that was going on. He took in everything possible, creating and mixing up odd ideas for puppets in his mind. As he rounded the corner, he came to a sort of bridge. Many people were crossing the bridge and a few were just standing on it, chatting with some friends. Monty had been walking all day, so he decided to take a rest here. He jumped up to the railing, sitting on it to take in the scenery of the city.

Minutes turned to hours as he sat there, merely observing. It was now late in the evening, but there were still a great many people here, out and about in the city. The guards were all over, crossing over the span of the bridge ever hour or so. There had been no commotion all day, Monty had assumed that it was because people were smart enough to not steal something with the guards about, but he had realized quickly that people had learned to do so discretely, and many shop owners and citizens refused to call the guards.

Late in the day, there was a bit of shouting below, followed by a small boy running, and some guards chasing. Monty watched until they were out of sight, then very interested, he jumped from the bridge to the floor below, his wings cushioning his fall. He moved quickly towards the place where the shouts were now coming from. He finally arrived after many moments.

The boy had been trapped in a narrow alley, his back pressed against the wall. The guards closed in on him, shouting insults at him. The boy dropped down and began to cry, all the while Monty watched. Slowly he inched into the alley as to hide his actions, the streets seemed to be empty here. He slowly dropped Tujin to the ground, giving orders to sneak around the guards in the shadows.

A long whistle filled the area, the piercing shrill attracting the guards attention. Monty stopped, smiling he said," Hey there boys, what is going on here? The boy, what was he caught for?" Tujin went over to the boy, lifting him to his feet, then standing in front of him, between he and the guards. One of the guards smirked behind his helmet and said,"What business is it to you, you have no right to knows why the empire does as it does. Criminals will be punished for their wrongdoings, there is no exception."

Monty winced for a second, then retorted,"I'm guessing that someone told you this boy did something wrong, correct? Well, how long have you been stationed here?", he asked. "I've been here for a few weeks, why do you ask?", the guard stated, the other nodded at hearing this. Monty smiled plainly,"You've not been here long enough to know the true economic status of this town. Cutthroat tactics are a necessity to survive. I've heard there is a reward for turning in a wrongdoer. Maybe that person made up to story for this reward."

The guard seemed to be taken aback by the statement, then responded,"Regardless, this boy is to be captured and taken back to our commander, that or we are the ones to be punished. Now, get out of here." Monty smirked, then made some slight hand movements. While he still had the guards attention, the had Tujin move to a door and start picking the lock. The door slid silently open, then Tujin grabbed the boy, guiding him into the room, locking the door behind him. Monty smiled, then said,"I guess that is fine, but you shouldn't have taken your eyes off of the boy, he seems to be talented with magick..", Monty said laughing, then jumped around the corner to the street, hiding in some shrubbery.

The guards ran out into the street, looking around. They then ran off into the direction he seemed to have disappeared in. After a few moments Monty stepped out, laughing, then walked around the corner, Tujin had just reopened the door, leading the boy out. "Good job Tujin, I guess picking those locks really helped us out!" The boy looked around, noticing that the guards were gone. He looked at the puppet,"Thank you so much, I owe you!", he said expecting a reply.

"He doesn't talk, he is my puppet", Monty said proudly. The little boy walked over to him, searching his pockets. He removed a small pouch, opened it, and removed some coins. Holding them out for Monty to take, he said,"I've never seen you around town, where've you be hiding at? Here, take these, they are for saving me, the guards would've killed me", he said while Monty took the coins," I really did steal the coins though, I-", He said interrupted by Monty.

"I assumed you did, I've watched people steal all day, but they weren't caught and were older looking than you. I decided to give you a chance you live so you can learn. Besides, I don't like seeing grown men pick on small boys. Now, go learn, and use the money as you need. The better you steal, the more likely you will be hired later on for some very interesting, very profitable work. Now go", he said, smiling at the boy.

[Monty]

Monty had saved the boy, but what had his reasons been? The boy was a thief, he had stolen the money, even admitting to it. Never-the-less, he was let go. Monty walked down the street with a smirk crossing his face, which he now hid underneath a hood. The guards had seen him and he would have to find a safe place, they were after him after all. Tujin stayed by his side, walking at Monty's pace.

Monty kept observant through the city, knowing that their may be more guards showing up at any moment. They had likely gone back to the station and told the other guards about the Moogle who aided a criminal. The thought kept creeping into his mind, 'What will you do if they surround you? You've not killed anyone before, do you even know how to fight effectively with the puppet not built for combat?', a little voice would ask. Monty thought hard at this, unsure of what path to take.

Suddenly there was a noise, his Moogle ears perked up. Tujin froze; Monty had let his guard down. There were guards up ahead, hiding from sight, but they couldn't escape from his keen hearing. It was a long way back to the nearest cross-street, if he went back they'd notice and immediately block him in again. There was no escape from this. Monty took down his hood, his eyes shining in the dim streetlight. Immediately, Tujin was sent toward a wall, hiding in shrubbery, and Monty began to walk forward again. As he neared the end of the street, the guards came around the corner, blocking him.

"Moogle, it seems we have found you again. You are under arrest for aiding a criminal's escape. You will go peacefully or we will have no other choice than to use force", the lead guard said. Monty said nothing and the guards approached him. As soon as one reached to grab him, he pipped up loudly,"I am sorry officers, but I am afraid I will not be joining you tonight. I have, you see, other plans...", then he fell back, rolling away. Tujin flew out of the shrubs, knocking the guards closest to their knees.

From the guards there issued a load of yells, bound to have woken up every person on the street. Several guards raced toward him, encircling him amidst them. Monty looked around; He had no weapon to aid him, no magicks to fight with, simply a mere puppet with no combat skill. He had to think quickly to escape this mess, but even then it didn't look to good.

The guards closed rank, approaching him with weapons bared. It was over, Monty could combat them. No weapon was near him on the ground, the ground around him was clear, except from a steel grate leading into the sewer. Monty wasn't strong enough to open it, and the guards came ever closer. Tujin acted on its own, without the words of Monty, lifting the grate and throwing Monty in. As he leapt in, the grate above his head, a sword from a guard sliced cleanly through his leg, throwing him back to the street. Tujin struggled to replace the grate before the guards could investigate.

He through the grate on top of the opening, then through himself over it to guard it, allowing Monty the chance to escape. Below, Monty could hear the sharp clanking of weapons onto the grate. He slowly stood, then ran anywhere he could to escape. He found a great door, going through it to find a bustling city underneath the ground. He replaced his hood, covering his saddened eyes, unsure of how it had all happened, then walked the underground city in search of a puppet he could use.

[Darkmage]

( Wow, is this your RP?)

[Monty]

(Yip)

Monty walked through the bustling underground city. Sounds could be heard from all over, not like the city above. Many children could be seen running, finding something to do. He was searching for any materials he could use to craft a Puppet from, but, to his dismay, found very little. He decided to return to the area he had entered at. He sat his back against the door, withdrawing something from his cloak. He held in his hands an unfinished puppet, smaller than Tujin. He had been working on it, trying to find some legs for it, but he had failed in his search for materials.

Tujin was destroyed, gone. He had given his own life, though only a puppet, to save his master. This perplexed Monty, but he tried not to think too much of it. Tujin was his first puppet, the only he had that he could control. Looking around to ensure that no one was watching, he decided to attempt something. He placed the flat bottom of the puppet on the floor, then began to slowly move his hands around. Nothing appeared to be happening, and Monty was discouraged. He lowered his eyes, leaving the puppet sitting there. He had failed.

After a few moments, he heard some faint clicking sounds, looking over he discovered his puppets disappearance. He had thought that maybe a kid had taken it, but, as he looked, he noticed it over by a crate. His eyes widened as his excitement grew. The small puppet was floating a few inches off the ground, grabbing at something inside the crate, his hands barely small enough to fit inside the cracks. Monty slowly made his way over, peering inside the crate.

A slight glint had caught his eye. Monty opened the crate and grabbed it, revealing it to be a tiny dagger. The puppet floated up a little higher, grabbing at the dagger. Monty gave it over, he'd not need it. Something strange began to happen. The puppet began to take it's right arm apart, placing the dagger into it, then reconstructing it around it. A concealed weapon. Monty smirked as the puppet looked back up to him. All that went through his head was this, What exactly allows me to bring these puppets to life?, but the thought passed. He had now gotten a new puppet, naming it Tujin II. The smaller size may just be an improvement on the original model, combat wise.

[Darkmage]

(Wow, I kinda like it to keep one post, as introductions to rp's like this one is way to long, makes it hard for some one to join in.)

[Vexzel]

(( Longest intro ever......... but I'm joining anyway. ))

Aeris had found her way to the underground Rabanastre as well, the only place without those wretched imperials. Down here it would be far easier to devour someone in secret. Yet Aeris resisted that urge, she didn't want to accept that monstrous part of herself.

Then she saw something strange, a moogle standing over what seemed to be an incomplete puppet of some kind. Aeris was even more surprised to see the puppet come to life...... this was somewhat disturbing. But if a corpse like herself could be given life why not a puppet?

Aeris could hardly keep her eyes of the strange Tujin II. Even more so as the puppet reconstructed it's arm into a concealed weapon. She wanted to know more, but it was better to keep to herself. If Aeris remembered correctly moogles had a sharper sense of smell than humans; Aeris wouldn't want to risk Monty finding the scent of decay upon her.

[Monty]

Monty stood, he wanted to go find out what happened to Tujin, to see if anything was left of him. He turned and began to walk away, towards a stairway he had seen on his wandering. He passed by a woman who seemed a trifle out of place. He payed her no mind as he kept walking, his puppet following. He hadn't exactly remembered how he had gotten down into the strange part of the city, but he thought that guards might have been positioned at the exits. He would take his chances.

Monty walked around a corner without noticing that the puppet was no longer with him. He turned and looked,"Where did it go?", he asked himself. He heard a slight clanking and ran back around the corner. He found his puppet. It was jumping up and down in front of the woman.

Monty walked up to her,"Tujin, get back here", he said, "I am sorry about that, it sorta has a mind of it's own...", he said merrily. A smile crossed his face as he awaited a responce from the woman. "My name is Monty"

[Vexzel]

Aeris was surprised at the puppets odd behavior, though her face didn't show it. Though when Monty approached she became more interested.

What the little moogle said was more interesting still. She had heard of magic bringing inanimate things to life, but never expect to see such a thing. "My name is Aeris............ just what is this thing?" As she spoke Areis bent down on one knee to get a closer look and both Monty and Tujin.

[Monty]

Monty looked down at the puppet," I am not quite sure how to explain it. I have a special ability that allows me to bring the puppets to life. Well, maybe not all of the puppets, it took a while to work on this one, and this is only my second puppet... I made him myself, never found any legs for him...", he said, stopping. The puppet scurried around, floating inches above the floor. "This one seems to have a personality... Seems to be playful."

Monty looked back up at her,"I am a little new here, how exactly would I get back up to the surface?", he said," I saw some stairs, but I don't know where they lead..."

[Vexzel]

Aeris wondered jsut where this power came form, but then came the moogle's question. "Well I just got here as well......... I do remeber the way back up though." Then a rather distasteful memory came to mind.

"Of course if the imperails are looking for you it is best to stay down here a while........" Then she paused. "Though this gift of yours would catch alot unwelcome attention."

[Monty]

Monty smiled, this was the first real time he had conversed with someone in a long time, though he couldn't say he missed it. He often felt an odd urge to keep to himself most of the time, doing just that. Monty looked down at Tujin II,"I gotta take that chance though... I can't stay here for too long, they know I am down here, so If I don't come up, they'll look for me. I figure that I can find a way around them, if not go through them if I have to..."

He looked back up at Aeris,"It was nice to meet you, but I must be going. Until we meet again, which will probably happen many times...", he said, the grabbed the puppet and walked off. There was an odd stench to her... Something ain't right about her..., he thought silently.

[Vexzel]

Oh I've got a feeling we'll be meeting again sooner than you think. Aeris thought. Those imperials wouldn't come down here unless it was urgent, so they probably had the exists blocked already; or at least a few guards had been posted.

Aeris knew her way around here better than Monty, so finding the nearest exit was easy. Sure enough peeking up the stairs Aeris saw two imperial soldiers watching the door leading to the surface. "Typical soldiers." Aeris muttered staying in position. She had another way of getting past imperials, and it never ended well for them.

Yet there were too many people watching, Aeris wouldn't want to risk using that kind of magick when it could just as easily attack an innocent person.

[Monty]

((OMG I am so sorry for my disappearance! I didn't mean to be gone so long, but I reformated my computer and I lost the link to the site. The point is, I am back now. I'll post later on today, I gotta get ready for school. Yes, at 4:30 in the morning... I gotta walk to school...))