Flight of Fancy: IC (Mature) {Currently Closed}

[Shax]

With a long sigh, the cabbit's headwings flapped, thinking about the situation. "Excuse me miss?" He directed at the officer. "Does the police have a plan to try and evac the civilians on this ship at all? Because it sounds like the crew is trying to fire up the engines... It would be best to prevent that before the ship becomes airborne..."

Heya. Looked over at the others crawling out of the vent, and gave a small wave in greeting. This must be quite the sight for them, seeing Shax on the floor and bloodied from the gunshot wound.

The young incubus gave a twitch, and his eyes glowed for a moment. He felt the anti-magic field start to weaken and die out, his magic slowly starting to return, but not enough for him to heal himself quite yet... "Jakob... Did you feel that as well?" He asked, giving a worried look to his friend.

[Tapewolf]

"Shit, shit, shit!" Jakob said, lighting a small fire on one of his fingers as a test.  "The anti-magic field is collapsing.  That means we'll have our full powers back.  But so will the crew, and I think they're all full-blooded Demons..."

'The dragon..." he whimpered.  "What will the dragon do now that she's unrestrained?!"

[justacritic]

The fennec cheerfully but with a bit of haste made his way back to his room, snatching his bag and his other puppets back into storage. When he finally came out, his ears and headwings flexed as the feel of magic, dampened down on the ship suddenly began to slowly increase. That's odd, maybe there's more trouble than people are telling me. Noticing that there was another door across from his, the incubus wondered, he did catch a sight of what seemed to be a wolf with lots of sharp pointy objects in there. A rather nice sort. He hoped. "Officers? Maybe you should check on that door? Just like a few hard knocks on it? There might be somebody in there, at least he'll know there's trouble."

[techmaster-glitch]

Not far from the boarding lobby of the Flame of Freedom

Despite the police officer's reassurance, Xephelon continued to retreat slowly, one step at a time. Which, in his mind, was entirely the smart thing to do as the demon suddenly burst his manacles effortlessly to taunt the bobcat. Xephelon's quick deductive mind understood what this meant a split-second before he felt it; the antimagic field had gone down. The green lines etched onto Xephelon's exoshell brightened as all his enchantments on the exoshell began returning to full power. Namely, this included him being able to once again control his exoshell with perfect dexterity as if it were his real body, and he no longer felt resistance when trying to channel the 'scaffolding' of pseudo-spells into the crystals in two of his palms. The other things brought back up to full speed were the exoshell's (rather low-grade) structural reinforcement, several sensory enchantments that such as one that gave Xephelon a weak echolocation-like "blindsense" of his surroundings, his exoshell's auditory enhancements that let him hear greater ranges than most, several enhancements on the optical system that allowed him to see into additional spectrums, as well as his arcane-sight.

That last one was important, as he saw a sudden collection of magic-energy being drawn into the demon's hand. Mostly out of not wanting the Being officer to die to the demon and have a chance herself at fleeing, at the same moment as the bobcat activated her amulets, Xephelon unleashed the charged minor-shockray and minor-frostray, both aimed straight at the demon. Certainly not enough to particularly hurt him even if the antimagic field had still been suppressing the demon's supernatural toughness, but likely enough to critically distract him. Xephelon immediately turned, preparing to scuttle away into the maze of corridors as fast as he could...when Jeremiah suddenly tripped over him, sending the eight-limbed exoshell into a tangled sprawl with the frog as the bobcat's gun rang out. "Ahh! No! Get off me! Don't hurt me! Let me go!" One of Xephelon's four spindly, multi-jointed arms pressed against any skin of Jeremiah it could reach...and it so happened to be the same arm that had just projected a shockray through the embedded channeling-crystal. Xephelon slap-dashed together another tiny pseudospell into it, somewhat using off the residual charge and structure of the shockray to produce a contact-spark. To Jeremiah, it would feel like a very strong static shock. Nothing harmful, but certainly discouraging. The rest of Xephelon's seven limbs flailed wildly, trying to disentangle from Jeremiah and propel the mobile-suit-wearing Mythos to the safety of the corridors. "Get away from meeee!" Xephelon's only priority at this point was to find maybe other neutral passengers, since he could sense the thrum of the ship's engines powering up. Getting off at this point was unlikely, he had no time to get through all the obstacles between him and the ramp.

[Angel]

"They were stopping the magic? There is a dragon on the ship?!" Kenyan's ears folded back and his fur bristled. He only knew a little of dragons; one flew over the forest once in a while, a large white beast with black eyes. He had never bothered to talk to it; it had always been busy. But he knew what they were capable of, from gossip he had heard in the forest from loggers and hikers.

"Skt-kee, this is bad. What if the men who caught us have magic too? They stopped some of us from using it, some special bind, but I do not know how it worked ... I wonder if they have found out and gotten free?" He began to pace, and then winced as tiny claws dug into his neck.

<Sorry, my friend,> he squeaked to his little passenger, removing the rat from inside his shirt collar and placing him on his shoulder. Then he remembered the Beings in the room, and pulled a bit of an awkward face as he turned back to them. "Oh, and please do not kill this rat. He is the last of the pack of rats that lived on the ship; he was helping me find my way on the ship when I left the slave room. I call him Tsi'kin. It means 'friend'." He tried to reassure himself that one of the people there was part prey animal, and that all of these people were raised as Beings and not starved in the slavehold, so there was no risk of Tsi'kin being eaten. But he had never had to explain his talent or his upbringing to any Being besides Kray-Zee, and he wasn't sure what reaction it would get.

[Tapewolf]

Jakob stared at the rat in surprise for a moment, his wings fanning out briefly.

"You can talk to rats...?   That's... unusual.  Either way, you should try to get your... pet... off the ship.  This is no place for him.  Others may not be so understanding, and there are more practical problems like him inadvertently spreading disease and the crew trying to kill him."

[Kirrin_Shadowclaw]

Kirrin inched his way to the door whilst the two officers seem distracted. The tiger gives a grin after ephereal left and after a moment, he too moves to slip out the door. "'Scuse me, gotta make sure a friend's okay!" He lied, though was using the ruckous going on outside of the room to try and get away from the three. If he managed to get out the door he would sprint down the walkway towards his room. Though he must hace gotten turned around as he was heading for the bar instead. 

[Kafzeil]

A Firm hand, Eden's snatched him and held Kirrim close, shoving the incubus back against the wall, hard.

The demon smiled at her, and a  saccharine voice left her lips.

"Make one wrong move and I'll cut you open from arse to eyeball, then hang you from the bow of this ship by your own entrails." She shot glance at the guards. "Good to see you two know to do your job." She sighed as Kaf scooped up his dented flask, wondering how it got their, before opening a cabinet and scooping up a pair of weapons; his hammer and her legendary piece of shit. "At the very least are we allowed to hobble him?" Kaf asked drily.

[Angel]

Kenyan blinked in confusion. "Tsi'kin will be leaving the ship with me, when I know for sure that I can go home. I am sure my family will not turn him away, if he wants to stay with us. But I cannot let him go here. You just said why; the ship's crew killed his family, and they might kill him too. He is good at hiding. They will not see him with me if I tell him to stay hidden."

He pondered the other thing Jakob had said. <Disease... People say Kranutis has one... do they mean that Tsi'kin might be sick? He seems perfectly healthy.> "I do not think he is sick, either. This ship is very clean, and he never entered the slave room until I asked him, so he should be clean too. I would worry more about your friend; too much blood will bring more people here, and they may not want to help him."

With that, the lynx-lion looked at the iguana woman. He couldn't ignore her any longer, not when she was wearing the same uniform as the people shooting earlier (and the rhino with the frightening voice). "Why are you and the others attacking the ship? Are you going to save us, or kill us all? Many people seem to be after us, the crew most of all, but you are the ones with guns." He twitched his tail and waited patiently for an answer. He was tired of himself and the other slaves being treated as chattel. If he could meet just one uniformed person who treated the slaves as people, there might be hope.

[Tapewolf]

"Rats can carry diseases which affect us but not them," Jakob said.  "That's why the crew have been killing them... having them run over the food can make the guests sick.  As long as he's prevented from doing that there shouldn't be a problem.  Though rats can also have fleas," he added, and shuddered slightly.

"But you're right," he said, turning back to Shax.  Jakob only had fairly basic healing magics, the kind that were taught in SAIA.  They weren't significantly more powerful than the kind an adventuring group might know.  On the other hand, the iguana seemed to be taking care of him and interfering with magic that may or may not be working properly could be a bad idea.

[Inumo]

((Sorry about the delay, I was overseas for a few weeks there.))

Awe spread over Xyrtia's face as Jake's magic spread over his arms, his words going unheard. Among her people, there was rarely more than one person who could use magic at any time, making them respected, feared, and most of all, valuable. There was no hesitation in the blue jay's stride as she followed Jake's charge, leaping at the first guard she saw with a warrior's shriek. Unfortunately, that first leap fell short. She'd forgotten: without half her wings, nor the heavy decorations which could be used to fight, much of her techniques would have to change. Gods protect me, she prayed as she finally met her first opponent.

[Boog]

The Slaveholds of the Flame of Freedom.

Demon combat supremacy is a funny thing. While their skin is capable of hardening like steel, having it in such a state constantly would hinder motion and thus become more impediment than boon. Evolution has seen fit to rectify this with a latticework of consciously controlled subdermal silicous fibers that, upon a reflexive charge of magic, hardens into a mildly pliant exoskeleton. It really was evolutionarily fascinating.
It also made for a demons biggest weakness. Their strength and endurance are superior, but their brains work as fast as anyone elses. Once you had the drop on them, these juggernauts were only flesh, and unused to thinking of themselves as such.

The head jailer saw the look of dawning comprehension on Wallards face and blanched. "Bastard forgot to tell me... CASTER! THERE ARE CASTERS AMONG THE PRODUCT! PUT EM DOWN, PUT EM-!"
Jakes charge turned half the guards attention toward him, and that split second was all it took. The assembled slaves began unleashing a hail of magefire, the random amalgam of spells taking half the guards out of the fight before their training could take hold. The Jailer stepped forward into Jake and Xyrtias path as havoc erupted around him, muzzle curled in a snarl.
"You again you dumb BASTARD. Do you have any idea what you've done you little shit?" He drew his truncheon and swung in one smooth motion, wildly but with power. Not a trained fighter, but an experienced one. "And you, the one that got caught! We're all going to DIE on this ship because of you!" He swung again, lumbering forward, skin noticably more rigid, "All because you had to get fucking IMPATIENT!"

A ways away, in the bowls of the ship

A massive cacophony erupted and echoed through the steel halls. Either a brawl had broken out, or two dragons made entirely of fireworks were having a HORRIBLE disagreement.
"All because you had to get fucking IMPATIENT!"
It was coming from down the left corridor.

Edens Suite, or, Land Of The Dithering Guards

What sounded like a series of explosions rocked the ship, and the guards looked at each other.
"I didn't sign on for this." He stated it remarkably matter of fact; to Kirrin it was pretty clear the man was in shock. Whatever was happening was far beyond the staff of the ships actual training.
"Calm down-"
"I didn't sign on for this and I'm not waiting for this." Strike that, we'd gone from shock to the verge of a panic attack. "Nobodys carrying him and we can't leave passengers in danger. Hobble him later for all I goddamn care just will you please come to the front of the ship before the cops storm in and murder us!"

Staff Only

Locked. Paladin jiggled the handle to be sure. Very locked. But something behind it whimpered. He also heard a few firm knocks from down the hallway he'd just come from... Wait, was someone at the door to his cabin?

Ephys room

It was a testament to the chaos aboard the ship that she'd managed to get by with a minimum of notice, but Ephrael was soon equipped and ready to head back out into the fray. Just in time too- she heard shouting and the advance of booted feet down the hall. Police.

The Cockpit
"Sir, with the dampeners down they're moving the undead in!" Aides swarmed around the Captain like bees on their queen, leaving Milia only able to see the back of the man's head in brief glimpses and flashes.
"Not for long. Start taking off."
"Sir? We... We're still moored...."
"I promise you, if you start the engines that wont last long either."
With some trepitition, the aide scrambled off to put his orders into effect...

The Kitchens
The iguana clicked her tongue, twice, as she worked on Shax, "The Commanders a brutal man, but he has a brutal job. Say what you will about his methods, but just this week our city alone has had threats from terrorists, seperatists, organized crime... I understand your distrust, but if you want out of this, he's the man you'll have to talk to. I can escort you to your room, I think the authorities have managed to take the upper class crew compartments, but I'll need to inspect this bag. The cubi thing shouldn't be a problem, long as he doesn't talk overmuch about what other folks are thinking..." She tightened the bandage on Shax thoughtfully; a lot of her earlier dithering was gone, work seemed to be calming her down...
Kenyan's appearace surprised her though, and brought on a whole new rush of concern, "Oh dear gods you poor thing what have they FED you oh god we have to get you some proper clothes-"

Near the Boarding Ramp of the Flame of Freedom
Xephelon's beams landed smartly at their intended targets, delaying the demon, and ruining his spell when the shooting started. The undead were clomping down the hall, the policewoman's gun was shaking...
Unfortunately that was where our intrepid heroes left the situation, rather than see the end. The gunshots already had Jeremiah panicking. The shock turned him into a blind, screaming mess.
"MOTHER OF GOD I'M HIT!" The frog staggered too his feet and sprinted off at a flailing run, coincidentially the same way that Xephelon was running. In a sort of primitive way it made sense; this was the way everyone else was running, after all. Both scrambled down the hallway at speed, no concern for direction as long as it was away from the sounds of combat and gunfire. They sprinted through the coach-class rooms, to the high end rooms, near the crew quarters, towards the stairs down to the kitchens...
Xephelon's panic didn't do his multilegged mech much good on the stairwell, however.
Tumbling pincers over eye-glowies, the poor mythos left his now rather stunned cowardice companion in the dust as his shell slipped on the third step and rolled down into the kitchens, crashing at the bottom of the stairs and slowly rolling to a stop by a counter. Canned mythos, shaken not stirred.
This interrupted a very important conversation between a foundling, a diplomat, a policewoman, and a healer, and made the soft "pap pap pap" of Jeremiah, hyperventilating and following more cautiously down the stairs all the more self-conscious and uncomfortable for all involved, barely audible over the muffled gunfire behind them.
"Um...hahh Potentially stupid question, hahh, is everyone all right in here?"


(OOC: Sorry about the delay, was moving into my new place! Let me know if it needs any changes folks)

[Paladin Sheppard]

Paladin had taken a few steps back in preparation for talking a kick at the door, when he saw what looked like a pair of police officers and a civilian down the hall at his room. Casting another look at the door, he decided to delay his assault for a moment to see what was up.

Walking down the hall he hung Cobalt on his back as not to spook the Officers and pulled out one of his forms of identification. "Paladin Sheppard, Adventurer and Bounty Hunter. That's my door you're knocking on, can I assist you?"



************************

Ephrael meanwhile was tucking the last of her blades away when she heard the commotion the police where making in the hall. While she normally had a small aversion to the cops due to her former occupation, she knew they'd probably try to detain her rather than let her get back to Eden and her boyfriend, so being caught was low on her list of things to do right now.

She looked about for a way get past the officers.

[Tapewolf]

"It looks like we'll have to put our trust in you, Madam," Jakob said.  "Being escorted to my room is fine.  Now that I can renew the wards upon it, searching the bag for contrabands or such is also acceptable.  However, the sealed envelope within is legally privileged."

Jakob leaned against the nearest wall idly.  "I suppose you could open it if you like, but Lord Daryil will be greatly angered with anyone tampering it with, and I would not recommend being that person..."

The wolf jumped as yet more gunshots rang out, wings fluffing wildly.  "STOP FUCKING SHOOTING PEOPLE!" he screamed.

Once, long ago, Jakob had run into a young succubus named Keaton, who had delighted in killing people for no obvious reason.  It had taken more than a bit of patience to try and stop her doing that, and he was coming close to achieving the same anger he had felt then.

"If I am killed, my master will be very, very angry," the wolf said with forced calm that slowly broke down into stark fear. "That is not a threat, it is a fact.  Maybe you don't think Lord Daryil matters.  That is less important than what Daryil thinks of you..
"He is actively looking to expand his territory and an island in the middle of nowhere that treats visiting diplomats like ducks on a fucking shooting gallery is one that shall not be mourned should its government be overthrown."

Around this point a frog and some strange artifact fell through the door - but caught up in a wave of anger and fear, Jakob scarcely noticed.

"Brutal job or not, your commander is exceeding his authority to the point of treason," he wailed.  "Do you think I'm the only person here whose death will spark reprisals against the Empress?!  If the shooting doesn't stop soon, it's going to stop your nation from existing!"

[Angel]

Kenyan was a patient young man. He had learned to be in the forest, dealing with people like Kray-Zee and other predators who wanted to treat him as a rival. But he was better at being patient with animals than Beings.

When the iguana reacted to him with concern, he was confused and a little apprehensive. He was quite unaccustomed to being fussed over by anyone but his family, who were much smaller than the policewoman and talked a bit less. When the frog and the small metal creature noisily entered, he was alarmed, and worried for the group's safety if they turned out to be unfriendly. And as Jakob continued to lose his temper and gunfire continued in the hall, Kenyan found his own patience growing thinner and thinner still, until ...

"GRRROWWWRRRRR!"

It wasn't a full-blown roar – just a loud growl. But it was enough to get the point across. Tsi'kin scurried under Kenyan's shirt collar, and the lion-lynx glared at the others in frustrated anger before taking a few deep breaths, feeling his fur flatten again and his tail lash.

"Can everyone - PLEASE - be quiet?" he hissed, feeling more than a bit hypocritical. "One of us is hurt, most of us are tired, and all of us are scared. Noise does not help anyone think!" He breathed again, slowly, and Tsi'kin poked his head out again.

"Now," Kenyan said, turning to the frog and the metal creature. "Before we say hello and all run, who are you?"

[techmaster-glitch]

Stairwell to the kitchens

*clang* "Gk!" *clang* "Hrk!" *clang* "Guh!" *clang-clatter*

Xephelon only had time to feel a single moment of utter panic when he felt his leg slip off a step of the stairs, before he was occupied with the sensation of being jolted around inside his own exoshell as he tumbled down the stairs. Maybe his mental-link with his exoshell was still shaking off some residual effects of the antimagic field...fortunately for him, being a boneless creature, he was more resistant to such abuse than most. While someone else might have gotten a concussion or broken something on the way down, his world still became pain.

His exoshell, looking like a spider tangled in its own legs, came to a rest just a ways from the foot of the kitchen stairwell, with the glowing-green arcane designs etched across the surface sputtering and flickering. A quiet keening emitted from it, as well as a small voice, "I swear...I didn't...blow up...the pond..." The keening sound continued for a few moments before petering out, and the green glows strengthened. "Ow...where--ow...I--ow ow...where am...ow!" As the exoshell's spindly arms and legs began untangling themselves, Xephelon caught on that someone was practically shouting in a near-panicked voice. "Ow...commander? ow...what empress...ow...what nation babble--ow, stop--ow--yelling...bruises, think I'm...ow...don't, ow, hurt me..." Very unsteadily and shakily, the exoshell tried and failed to get its legs under it several times, before seeming to give up and instead use the hand-tipped arms to crawl its way to the nearest thing to hide under. "Don't hurt me, don't hurt--ow--me...I didn't pay for this--ow..."

[Tapewolf]

The prisoner's angry outburst and the fact that the weird thing was moving around and rambling to itself was enough to snap Jakob out of what might have turned into a full-fledged emotional runaway.

He muttered a gruff apology and went over to examine the thing, which appeared to be hiding under a preparation table.  Jakob stared at it in wonder, and while his emotion and thought senses were still too weak to use reliably, he could still tell that whatever the creature was, it had a soul and was sentient.

"What are you...?" he asked it.  "Do you need help?"

[techmaster-glitch]

Kitchens

Xephelon had managed to get underneath a table, where he finally was able to pull his exoshell's legs beneath him properly and fold them up in a sort of 'sitting' position. The exoshell turned in place until the front of the torso with the three large green lights arranged in a sideways-triangle was facing towards Jakob.

"Mythos...I am ow Mythos...from far away ow..." He managed to respond with that slightly buzzing magically-synthesized voice of his exoshell, still smarting from what he's pretty sure are bruises on his body, not helped by the fact he was pressed on all sides--something he normally never consciously felt--by being completely contained in the exoshell's interior metal cocoon. "And help...yes, help would ow be good...everyone needs help...crazy ship...I just wanted to ow study the ship...but slavers...and police with guns...ow." The metal contraption remained still and was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Who are all of you? What do you ow all want? I just just want to live...I don't suppose ow anyone here knows any healing magic? I...I am sure I will survive, but ow my current state will not be pleasant to move around in...You...you look like other passengers...I could ow maybe help you..."

[Shax]

Shax looked over at Kenyan, smiling slightly through his pain. "I don't think there is a need to worry, I don't think any of us will try to kill your little friend." chuckled the Cubi, his headwings giving a small wave to the little rodent. He looked over at the officer once more. "So all crew and passengers are suspects in this case then?" He asked, head tilting to the side, hoping his full powers return soon. This pain was unbearable. He had been shot at in the past, but he was always able to heal himself quickly, but never before had the young cabbit had to put up with it for so long. Maybe this was a lesson that he should not rely on his healing magic so much when out on the field.

Those large ears perked up, hearing loud clanging coming from outside the hallway of the kitchens. He could hear something coming, and when that something came into view, those eye's went wide, seeing Xephelon. Never before had he'd seen such a mythos, so he could not help but emit a tiny squeak. But it was obvious that the creature was in more pain than himself. "Erm..." He tried to speak, still somewhat shocked by the Mythos' appearance "I-I do, but I cannot use it yet... M-my magic is still slowly returning n-now that the anti-magic field was shut off..."

[Tapewolf]

"How easy is it going to be," Jakob asked Shax, "To heal up something as alien as this creature?"

To Xephelon, he asked "How much of you flesh and how much is construct?  Are we going to have to open you up for healing?"

[techmaster-glitch]

Kitchens

Xephelon rotated in place so that his light-eyes are facing towards Shax as the cubi spoke. So someone was capable of healing! But Xephelon then had to consider what being healed would mean...he hoped dearly that the usual stereotype that he had heard of healing-capable individuals being reluctant to do harm held true for this one, he did not want to trust any of the strangers, but he would have no choice with the healer. Xephelon would have to make himself completely vulnerable to be healed, something he could barely work up the courage to do at the best of times...but for now, he ached and stung inside his exoshell, an untenable long-term prospect. "You are the healer then? But your magic is still disrupted...how long ow until you think your magic will return to acceptable levels? I...may be able to put together an amplifier for you, if you think it will take ow too long..."

The exoshell then rotated in place back to Jakob as he began to speak, and Xephelon began to volunteer somewhat of an answer to his initial question. "I am affected by healing magic normally, but I...must be alone with the--" He managed to get out before Jakob finished speaking. To the poor Mythos' horror, Jakob had just said about one of the worst things possible, much like that demon had when the police officer arrested him; Jakob hit upon his racially-ingrained fear of being vulnerable to strangers. The exoshell's arms began flailing as the legs made the body scootch further under the desk, away from Jakob. "No! Don't open me, don't hurt me, don't shuck me, you are dangerous, no no no!" The voice of the exoshell buzzed out in a panic.

[Tapewolf]

"Everyone is dangerous," Jakob said.  "I am, and so are you.  But I don't go around hurting people for no good reason.  If I did, I could easily have done that already.  What I mean is... does your shell need to be repaired as well?"

[Shax]

With a look at the officer, he sighed. He could heal him now but then Shax would have to wait till later to heal himself of the bullet wound. But the mythos seemed to be in more pain than the Cubi. With a painful grunt and wince, he forced himself to his feet, his injured arm useless right now. He staggered over to the one hiding under the desk, kneeling down. "I can heal you, and don't worry, none of us here will hurt you, we are all trying to get to safety..." If the mythos looked, he would see Shax's injured and wrapped up arm, his fur stained slightly red with blood along the limb. The young Cabbit slowly held out his good arm. "I swear on my clan, Jin Clan, that I will not hurt you." The clan mark on the back of his right ear was visible, he truly did belong to the clan of renowned healers. Shax knew from years of experience on how to deal with frightened and injured individuals.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha had grinned at Kaela's remarks, holding words of sympathy on her tongue about her conditions.  The panthress knew that when she herself grew older, she'd still be doing the same thing she was doing now.  Hell, she even knew she'd die doing it.  The tigress was as respectable an adventurer as she remembered, when it came down to holding her own in a crazy magical world.  Aisha wouldn't have taken pity, nor would she.

"Glad you're still up and about at least..."

Then, Aisha's sentence was halted, as were their footsteps, by the immediate noises in the corridors.  They echoed all around in the vibrating metal, making her ears fold back against the cacophony.  There, surely, was the trouble that they were looking for.  What would it be?  The police against the demons that ran the ship, perhaps?  It was hard to tell from or to whom the shout was directed.  Well, if there were demons to fight, and slaves to free...but especially demons to fight...

"Madre de Dios, that's loud," Aisha growled and raised her voice so that Kaela could hear, "We should probably investigate that!  C'mon!"

Then, she drew her boomerang and started off down the corridor, though only at a trot instead of a run so that she could see anything coming.  She could barely feel the fact that the light magic in her weapon had thrummed to life in her hand, and that her tail ring had started giving off a strong glow...

*     *     *

Jake couldn't remember the last time a fight was like this.  He barely had time to think between any movements of his body as soon as he had broken into the charge.  The makeshift staff snapped one guard in the muzzle.  His flaming talon took another's eye.  Though he did have to be careful to avoid hitting any fleeing slaves, of which there were plenty.  He hoped that at least a few of them would make it out of the ship alive, and that they knew where they could go from here.  The Knight grinned inwardly when he saw some of them using his unarmed fighting techniques, and fairly well, although he had to turn his head when one was driven into the ground.

Then, the jailor stepped into his and Xyrtia's way, his blunt weapon flashing left and right against his staff, his words as scathing as his attacks.

"We were..." CLACK.  "Going to die..." CLACK.  "ANYWAY, you monster," the black Gryphon growled in reply, attempting to parry the truncheon's blows and wincing when it managed to hit his talon and knock the staff out of his claws.  Ignoring the pain as well as he could, he leaped back with the help of his beating wings.  "This wasn't our land to fight for, not our cause to die for.  It wouldn't even be our honor to receive.  If anyone on this ship is going to die..."

Then, his words were cut off by a sudden swath of pain as he was caught off-guard by another of the jailor's blows, first to his leg to trip him up, and then to his jaw.  As Jake reeled back, another blow was to come down on his head, only to have it blocked by another body.  Wallard had not fled with the other slaves.  He stood between the demon and the younger Gryphon, holding the slightly-surprised Creature back with a grunt, his shoulder holding the quivering truncheon.

"Yer fight's with me, ya rat bastard!" he roared as he leaped back, and faced Jake.  "Git outta here with the others, yer job's done!"

"But...the guards...!"

"GIT, ya brain-dead pigeon!"

Jake's will wanted to argue, but his body was bruised and screaming otherwise.  As Wallard was distracting the jailor, the Knight tried to get up, only to tumble to the ground again, grappling with another crazed demon guard, flaming fist to flaming talon.  I can't leave...this fight won't end until we're free.

And then, with a flash, an angled blade had come out of nowhere, embedding itself in the demon's forehead.  When the weapon was called back, forced out of the Creature's skull by the sheer will of its owner, Jake rolled up on his feet and swerved around with pure shock on his features.

"Aisha?!"

"Jake?!"

Having come into the tail end of the fight from a back corridor, the panthress didn't stop and stare for long.  There were demons in uniform and other Beings and Creatures in rags fleeing or fighting.

"Fight now, catch up later!" she hastily said as she passed her friend, most likely with Kaela in tow, to target another of the demons.

"...Right!" said Jake after only a second of hesitation.

And so, down in the bowels, the battle turned even nastier.

[techmaster-glitch]

Kitchens

Xephelon started calming down a bit as Jakob calmly remained in place and explained his question to him. The light-eyes focused back on Jakob. "I...my exoshell is not damaged, no. And if it was damaged, I am capable of repairing it myself...I just cannot heal myself..." Xephelon replied. Jakob did have a good point about himself, and Xephelon wanted to believe him, but....life back in his predator-filled homeland had long taught Xephelon and the rest of his kind to never trust others with their safety except without any other choice, like with the healer now.

Speaking of which, Xephelon's exoshell rotated in place once more to look at Shax as he approached. Xephelon did note how he seemed to have a bandaged up shoulder, and realized the healer's magic hadn't yet even returned enough to heal himself. "You are injured yourself...how long do you estimate you need for your magic to return without the suppression field enough to mend your own injury? I can wait, if I do not move..." At his promise, Xephelon did feel a little better. "Jin clan...I have heard of these cubi...sworn healers, yes? I...I will trust you, yes, but...I still must insist we be alone when you heal me. It is... a sensitive subject for my kind." Xephelon explained in a somewhat apologetic tone.

[Tapewolf]

"Oh nonono," Jakob said.  "Leave an injured member of one of the rarest 'Cubi clans all alone with a.. thing we don't know what it is...?  You must be mental!  For all we know you've been sent to assassinate him.  Hell, you could be some kind of living bomb!  And leaving all that aside, the police are arresting the passengers - including us.  You'll have to convince them to let you out of their sight."

The wolf thought for a moment.

"Dammit," he said, as much to the officer as to Shax and the mythos, "This is like the child's problem with the wolf and the goat and the lettuce.  Look - I really want to get my bag.  If you have any backup nearby, why don't you take me, whatsisname and the frog to to my room so I can get it.  Then you can leave one officer behind to guard Shax and the... can mythos..." he stuttered, having nearly said 'bomb mythos', "...and that should be satisfactory, right?  Or as near as we can get in the circumstances."

He peered under the desk again.  "Oh.  One more thing.  If I come back and find Shax is dead...  Well, there are worse ways to die than being opened up, and I suspect his grandmother knows them all.  Do I make myself clear?"

It was a bit mean, especially since the creature was already skittish.  But better a little cruelty than to have Jin lose yet another child.

[Shax]

"Jakob that's enough." He snapped "I know you're looking out for my well being but I am not going to leave someone injured. Just wait outside the door. He's already frightened and I think your message got through." He looked over at the wolf with a sharp gaze. "I put a patients prioity over my own... He's more injured than I am."

He sighed, regretting taking this trip now. Who knew it would still turn out so bad. "I normally detest fighting but if something happens, well the magic field is going down, powers are returning and I'm in a kitchen where there is an arsenal of knives all over the place I can use, but I doubt he will hurt me. His fear is genuine, you should be able to feel that." He young Cubi kept his hand held out toward the Mythos, smiling back to it. "I would never hurt another unless it was critical, otherwise, I cannot stand bloodshed through violence. Heck I already lost enough of my own due to it."

The Cabbit gave a laugh. "Heh, my Grandmother, oh boy is she going to be cross with me, I bet she already knows that's going on. I am never going to hear the end of this. Would not be surprised if she has Fa'Lina keep tabs on me at all times now or lock me inside of the Academy. Ah well, the freedom was nice while it lasted. Least I can be with my cousin, Mink, again."

[Tapewolf]

"What can I say?" Jakob shrugged guiltily, a cheesy grin on his face.  "Fear clan..."

[techmaster-glitch]

Kitchens

Xephelon was certainly not expecting Jakob's sudden outburst, and practically sputtered in flustered confusion. "What? But I--a bomb?! But I'm not...I don't--!" Xephelon fell silent and speechless as Jakob started up with his plan of immediate action. At the quip of 'can mythos', however, Xephelon responded with a muttered "I'm not a can Mythos, I'm a Green Imbuer..." But after Jakob peeked under the desk to deliver his last threat, there was only a moment of stunned silence in response at first, before a quiet but high-pitched keening sound escaped from the Mythos, much like the sound he had made after his tumble down the stairs, while all of the exoshell's limbs began retracting and folding up tightly against the main body.

As Shax began speaking of his own lack of defense aside from what he could improvise nearby, Xephelon began to quietly speak again, though he didn't unfold any of his limbs. "I could...make things for you...things to protect yourself, if you need..." When Shax leaned down to extend a hand towards Xephelon, he was a little unsure of what to do, but quickly remembered seeing the bipeds frequently use hand contact as a greeting or familiarity. Xephelon unfolded one of his four spindly arms, with several segmented fingers on the end, towards Shax and tapped their hands together. "I thank you for being willing to assist me. I will wait here until you are ready to proceed." Meanwhile, Xephelon took stock of the nearby area, looking for any side-rooms he and Shax could move to for a minute when Shax's magic had fully returned to him.

[Inumo]

The jailor was gibbering at Jake, and Jake was gibbering right back, and they were fighting, and Xyrtia didn't have much time to focus on them as she took on her guard. Feather tips brushed at the guard's body and face moments before elbows followed. Circling kicks that fell short had a way of turning into spinning kicks. With all the delays, the tribal bluejay found herself a bit more sore than usual when she finally clipped her opponent in the jaw, knocking him out just in time to see the cat-woman save Jake's life. The old man was now wrestling with the jailor, so Xyrtia leapt with another battle shriek and planted her clawed foot into the jailor's cheek. With a beat of her winged arms, she started to backpedal... but of course, trimmed feathers don't exactly propel the way they should; she fell into a pile on top of the jailor, and on top of Wallard. Kraak, she thought, right before trying to roll backwards onto her feet. This fight sucks.