The Mana-Verse

[Sapphire Knight]

[... What else did I miss? o.o;; ]

[Sakura Leic]

(I think that's about it, also you should have a Red, Green, and Blue potion as well as a Gossip Charm or, as I used to call them, a Walkie Talkie Stone in your inventory now.   

Red Potion is for HP recovery, Green is MP recovery, and Blue is both.)

[Sapphire Knight]

[Okay. Then I need to come up with another excuse for his absence/tardiness. >.>]

[Phi]

(Shuu is the group alcoholic and had a rough hangover.

Problem solved.)

[Sapphire Knight]

[Not sure I like the idea of Shuu being the group's alcoholic, but I think I can work with something branching from that idea.]

Shuu groaned and staggered from his room, feeling very sore, somewhat disoriented, and seeing double. He was wearing a long-sleeved, bright blue shirt, white wool trousers, and his dull-blue hide shoes. "This... This ain't worth takin' a sleeping potion f'r a good night's sleep..." He grumbled to himself, heading off to join the others while simply carrying his chestplate rather than wearing it.

[Sakura Leic]

(Hmm I feel like posting a small bit of mini filler while me and Fxeni wait for the others, should it be Sakura doing something weird or that ridiculous hilarious thing that has to do with the fact that Sakura smells like mushrooms I was hinting at.)

[Phi]

(That's what he wears during a blizzard?)

[Sapphire Knight]

(That's what he wears during a blizzard?)

[Well, his head's a bit fuzzy from waking up from a sleeping potion too soon, and his armor is fairly well-insulated (once he's got it all on).]

[Sakura Leic]

(No one answered my question.)

[Quickman]

((I had laid down for a nap and woke up JUST NOW.))

Riagan tossed a fur cloak to both Aya and Shuu. "Suit up!  I will not be having people die from the cold on my watch!"

Around this point. the Professor had made his way to the hatch and went outside, clearing a path of snow along the deck and off the ladder.  He climbed down part of the way, but slipped and vanished into a snowbank higher than he was tall.

((As for the mushrooms, go a head.  Prof might want to eat one.  They smell good to him.))

[Sakura Leic]

(No she doesn't have Mushrooms on her but smells like Mushrooms, as in something weird will happen because she smells like them.

[spoiler]As in she'll attract something.[/spoiler])

[Quickman]

((Well... if the wildlife is hungry enough... then yes.  Bring on the attraction!))

((Meanwhile, I should get Prof out of that snow drift...))

[Sakura Leic]

(Okay then I'll have Calien attempt to get him out, and fail.)

"Oh dear Professor are you okay?" Calien asked as he attempted to find a body part of the Prof to grab.

"Ummm Daddy......?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"Sakura is something....wrong?" Calien asked as he noticed what his daughter was worried about.

Sakura was surrounded by a Tepig, a Spoink, and a Swinub who were sniffing her intently.

"Uh I think these pigs are Pokemon." Sakura stated a bit nervously  "Ones we haven't seen before......."

"Yeah....looks like it......" Calien sweat dropped.

(So yeah Sakura has been confronted by Pigs, which she's not sure how to handle since they kind of aren't her favorite animals.  Though it doesn't exactly make sense for a Spoink to be there it's there too.)

[Sapphire Knight]

Shuu yawned as the coat was tossed to him, it landing on his face. "... It's cold out there... Huh?" He mumbled, putting the coat on with his chest plate over it. "Gimme a sec to get better shoes on..."

After taking a second to sleepily rub his eyes, he set a hand on the red jewel on his chestplate, a set of boots made out of the same hide as his shoes appeared in a flicker of red light and swapped his footwear.

[Fxeni]

Fxeni looked at the pigs, a tad confused as to why they would come out in this weather. The winds were strong, carrying the snow that was heavily falling from the sky. The snow on the ground was taller than they were. Yet here they were, sniffing Sakura's clothes intently.

"... Those mushrooms must be really strong to bring them out in these conditions," Fxeni said as he looked at them. He looked over at Calien, who was trying to dig the Prof out.

"Ah... let me help with getting him out," Fxeni said as he straddled over to the snowbank and started digging in to find the Prof.

[Blue Valkyrie]

As the fur landed in Aya's hand she looked down at it. "I appreciate the concern but I won't freeze I promise, besides it kinda uncomfortable when my wings are covered up."

[Sakura Leic]

"Thanks, to be honest I have very little experience finding people lost in the snow." Calien sighed as he continued to help look for the Prof seeing as Sakura was not in danger.

"The Pokemon say they're hungry." Sakura stated as suddenly a Piloswine joined them doing the same as the little ones "They're having a difficult time finding food, it's been like that for days.   The Grey one with the Pink Pearl on its head sounds like he's crying......"

"Sounds like the conditions from the weather has made it difficult for them to find food. It's especially disturbing since most of those Pokemon look perfectly capable of digging.  Maybe the ground became even harder to dig through or the snow is just too thick.  If we needed more proof this weather was unnatural this is it, we need to find the source and fast.  I don't even want to think about how long this storm has been going." Calien stated.

(Keep in mind Tepig is a fire type.......)

[Quickman]

((I was picturing a dangerous wild encounter, but whatever.))

The Professor eventually tunneled his way out of the snow drift and emerged on the other side.  He turned and saw Calien looking for him.  Waving, he yelled to be heard over the howling winds. "Over here!  Calienté!  Over here!"

[Sakura Leic]

(Nah we already have too much [parasitic bomb] to deal with, these guys are more pitiful and weakened.  The Tepig and maybe the Piloswine has a trainer, though maybe I can have some of them act aggressive to Aya.  Maybe they encountered some of the Joes and would think Aya's one of them.  Are Albertus' Precursor creations similar to Aya, without the ability to let Gods interact with the physical world?)

"Oh thank goodness." Calien sighed with relief. "You had me worried Prof."

"I-I'm sorry guys." Sakura said with regret "I don't have food on me, and I can't stay too long, but I promise we'll find out how to fix this."

[Sapphire Knight]

As he stepped out into the snow, he pulled the collar of the coat up to his ears. "Good gods, it's cold! When the hell did this storm hit?" He asked, looking around. "I take it we didn't make it to where we were headed?"

[Sakura Leic]

"No though we are somewhat close, Fxeni said we still have a bit of a trek but it's where those lights are." Calien stated "Some of the wild Pokemon have also been attracted by the smell of Mushrooms on Sakura, but they don't seem aggressive."

"They seem....weak.....and scared...." Sakura stated "It's sad to see pigs like this...."

[Quickman]

((And suddenly... shrinkage.))

Riagan had jumped down into the snow with a thump, the wind whipping him in the face, and the snow up to his waist.  He trudged forward a few feet and then backed up, taking his snowshoes off the strap on his back and securing them to his boots.  A few more wobbly steps and he managed to pull himself on top of the drifting snow enough to walk with less difficulty.  He squinted through the blizzard and tried to sight the lights off in the distance.

Finally, he turned and looked to Sakura and Calien, who were fussing with local wildlife that was too fool-headed to be outside in such weather. "I suppose none of you thought to pack a sled?"

Out ahead of the group and making considerable progress, the Professor trudged through the snow that reached his armpits.  His arms held up, he worked to make a decent path for the others to follow.  Though he had experience with snowy weather, this was definitely the worst that he's ever seen.

[Fxeni]

"You have a nasty habit a running up ahead there, Prof... you should probably wait for the others," Fxeni said as he ran up and caught up to the Prof. "As slow as they may be."

[Sakura Leic]

"......What's a sled.......?" Sakura asked.

"Hmmm best way I can describe it is a large piece of wood with curved metal pieces.  People ride on them on snow slopes and hills for recreation and travel, I rode one when I was a child on occasion.  It's fast and somewhat nervewracking but fun and exhilarating." Calien explained.

"Sounds interesting."  Sakura nodded "Umm Mr. Riagan where are the others, they're taking a long time......."

(Shrinkage?)

[Quickman]

((Time to zombie!  And shrinkage is... something that happens in the cold... ))

The rest of the party members eventually filed out of the airship, each similarly bundled up, and they fell into step behind Sakura and Calien.

"You have a nasty habit a running up ahead there, Prof... you should probably wait for the others," Fxeni said as he ran up and caught up to the Prof. "As slow as they may be."

"It's not wise if we take too long.  We need, we need to move.  The sooner we get to Heimdall, the better," the Professor nodded as he continued to trudge through the snow.