[Thread, Closed]

[captain-rusty.livejournal.com]

Characters: Zidane, Garnet, Steiner
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: The three adventurers try and find a way to Terra. Just like old times.
Location: On the Invincible, flying to the Shimmering Island
Date: March, 1804
Warnings: None

"Almost there!" Erin called. "Brace yourselves."

On the deck of the Invincible, three companions peered into the sky, waiting for their first glimpse of the Shimmering Island. Though it had been a long time since their last trip, Steiner remembered it well. The day they had flown into another world. There they had found the village of Bran Bal, where the Genomes lived, waiting for the day when Terra would merge into Gaia. Kuja had destroyed that world, and yet both he and Garland had reappeared. So the Shimmering Island was certainly worth investigating.

Steiner glanced at Zidane and Garnet. "Your Majesty, are you ready?"

Comments

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Zidane was standing nearby, though he didn't seem to notice what Rusty had said, his attention split between the Shimmering Island and Erin piloting the ship. The Invincible. His ship, blast it.

"You know, I could probably fly this part..." He offered, stepping up near Erin. "I did fly the ship through this before."

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Dagger was distracted as well; She'd been standing near large window,facing forward of the ship. From her position, she could see the water below, the islands, everything. Standing there, looking at that, she couldn't help remembering when they'd been here nearly four years ago, the uncertainty of what they were going to find...

It was like that all over again; the butterflies in her belly, her nerves on end, wondering if there was anything left of Terra, if Garland truly did have more tricks up his sleeve than any of them had ever imagined...

It was a delayed response, but Dagger eventually turned to Steiner, still gripping the railing. "As ready as I was when we departed," she said, smiling.

And then, her ears caught on Zidane's words, his attempts to wrestle the wheel verbally from Erin's capable hands. Dagger sighed. He really was insistent about this ship...

"Aren't there more important things to be thinking about than who is flying the ship?"

[captain-rusty.livejournal.com]

Erin shook her head, tightening her grip on the wheel. "Sorry, Zidane. Regent's orders."

As for Steiner, he didn't particularly care who flew the airship as long as they were competent. And on that score he trusted Erin more than he trusted Zidane. Besides, Zidane ought to be near the Queen, ready to catch her if she stumbled. Steiner would have to fulfil that duty.

He nodded back at Garnet, then his stomach flipped as the Invincible lurched.

"Here we go!" Erin cried. "Hold on!"

The light of the Shimmering Island suddenly filled the deck, and Steiner instinctively threw his arm over his eyes, half-blinded. At the same time, the ship hit an invisible barrier - it was flung back - the world was spinning-

"Princess!" In his haste to make sure that the Queen was all right, Steiner had failed to grab onto the railing himself, and he tumbled over, the breath knocked out of him. He scrabbled to his feet, looking around desperately for Garnet, and was foiled again by the ship taking a sharp right turn.

While Steiner was rolling around the deck like a bowling pin in tin armour, Erin fought to get the Invincible back under control.

"It threw us right back!" she gasped.

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

"Of course it's important, it was my ship until you gave it away," Zidane didn't need to hide his feelings here, Garnet and Steiner and Erin were all in on the secret, as it were.

Any other objections were stifled by heading into the rift, and he found himself bracing instinctively. He'd done this before, he knew how it worked, and yet...still, it made him extremely nervous.

Espcially when a moment later, the entire ship went reeling on its axis and he found himself knocked bodily off his feet, bouncing twice before he caught himself on...was this a wall?

He barely had time to care though, as he watched Dagger getting hurled past him, and he shoved himself off the 'wall', catching her around the waist and then hitting the floor hard as the ship righted itself. He managed to cushion her by having his own body smack into the ground. How lucky.

For a few moments he saw stars, and thought he heard Rusty and Erin talking but couldn't make out the words, just laying there. "...What happened?"

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Dagger was about to counter the fact that it was never his ship a point they had gently argued over more than once, but never got the chance. Seconds later their little world inside the Invincible was thrown to chaos. Her grip on the railing was loose at best, and she let out a cry of alarm as she tummbled backwards; a short fall through the air, ending in a sudeen jerking motion, her body tensing as she colided with Zidane, and then the floor.

Slowly, she cracked open one eye, letting the room right itself in her vision.

"That... wasn't what happened before," she mused, feeling the floor with her palm, gently testing it's stability, and sitting up.

[captain-rusty.livejournal.com]

The airship steadied itself, and Steiner got to his feet, immediately hurrying over to the Queen.

"Your Majesty, are you all right?"

Meanwhile, Erin steered the Invincible so that they circled the Shimmering Island.

"There's some kind of barrier," she said. "Blocking our way... What do we do now, Your Majesty?"

[tantalus-born.livejournal.com]

Once Garnet had shifted her weight off of him Zidane climbed sorely to his feet, gently placing his arms on her shoulders to steady the queen.

"A barrier..." He frowned. "Wasn't there something like that last time?"

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

"A barrier...?" Dagger repeated to herself. Reaching a hand to cover Zidane's on her shoulder, she paused. All at once, it seemed to dawn on her, and realization quickly turned to flustered shame.

"Of course! How could I have been so stupid!" she scolded herself, stepping out of Zidane's grip.

"It's the mirrors! There have been Sky People discovering the mirrors of the elemental shrines, and returning them to my care. Of course we can't get through! Without the mirrors in the shrines, the barrier must be in place again!"

[captain-rusty.livejournal.com]

Steiner nodded. "Of course! I believe you have worked it out, Your Majesty! We must return the mirrors to the shrines before we can reach Terra."

Steiner had taken it upon himself to ensure that the rediscovered mirrors had found their way back into Garnet's hands, and now he was relieved that he had. "How many do you have, Your Majesty?" he asked. "Do we have all four?"

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

"I have--" she began, and then stopped short. She had three. Her face fell. "Only three. Fire, Water, and Wind. To my knowledge, the Earth Mirror hasn't turned up."

Disappointment and frustration evident in her face, the queen took to chewing on the inside of her lip. "So, is there really nothing we can do?"