Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 23:56:46 -0400 Subject: [ffml] [MW] Shadow enters South Figaro From: tha-doggfatha@juno.com (The One and Only Shadow) Sometime after the Caliph's assassination... Shadow was almost to Mog's base. Just a few more miles. He began rummaging through his pack for a map, so he could tell just where the hell he was. Ah, there it was. Carefully removing the ribbon that tied it together, he unrolled it and began to look for his position, and what lay ahead of him. Of course. South Figaro was just a half a mile away. He had heard rumors that it had been laid to waste by moogles. Oh well. He would stay there for the night anyways. 20 minutes later... While walking to South Figaro, Shadow noticed something stationed outside of the town. It looked like a airship. There was a banner waving in the wind on top of the airship. Straining his eyes, he saw the familiar sign of Bacca. Damn. The High Lord was in South Figaro. But, for what? Maybe Shadow could find some information that interested Mog...but, Mog would have to pay a price. The airship began to take flight into the air. There were 2 more next to it. But, they weren't leaving. Just sitting there. Shadow then began to see movement in the town. Bacca was setting up watchguards. "Dammit, why did everything always have to be a little bit harder to do?" Shadow thought to himself. Gathering his stuff, he began his infiltration of South Figaro. Somewhere near the city walls of South Figaro... "Hey, do you have any of that red stuff left?" "Nah. I finished my last bag while we were in the airship." "Damn, that stuff was good too." "Sorry." "That's okay." The two soldiers had been given command to patrol this section of the city walls. They were bored. "Hey, you got any cards on you or something?" "Nope." "Man, did you here about that ghost that was in the middle of town?" "Yeah. That's some freaky stuff dude." "I know. I get freaked out with that paranormal crap. Scares the shit out of me." "Yeah. It's like, leave that for the feds." "Yup." Suddenly one guard hears a sound. "Hey, did you hear that?" "Hear what?" "I just heard something from over there." "Man, your joking." "No, I'm not. I swear I heard something. I'm going to check it out." The guard walks over to the area where he heard the sound and is immediately shrouded in darkness. "Find anything?" "No, I didn't." The guard says as he walks back toward his post. As he does so, a hand comes out of the darkness and pulls him in. He is quickly killed by a cut to the throat. "Oh shit!" The other guard yells, scared. He drops his weapon and begins to run to the steps of the walls, but trips. As he gets up, he is kicked in the back. He falls over in pain, and then is stabbed through the head with a dagger. Shadow has arrived. Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 01:08:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Sky H Ainsworth The cry was heard, the soldiers readied themselves. Bacca was quickly notified and he, the heroes, and the few off-duty soldiers ran in the direction of the sound. They neared the fallen wall and saw a soldier lying face down on the stairs. No one else was around. Bacca ran up the steps, one sword in hand, looking about. "Lady, can you heal him?" asked the High Lord of All That Kicks Ass. "Yes," said the healer, examining the body. Lorinan walked past Bacca, sword in hand and peered into the darkness. Bacca placed his hand on the chemist's shoulder and stopped him. "I'll handle this." Bacca stepped into the darkness and peered about. "It's safe." Lorinan stepped in and his eyes adjusted. He saw a body lying on the ground. "Pull him out of here. Get Lady to heal him." Lorinan did not like the idea, but he grabbed the soldier and dragged him out of the darkness. Bacca stepped out and looked around. "There is an assassin here," said Bacca. "Who else would use a dagger in such a way?" It can't be Shadow, thought Bacca, why would he do this? Bacca looked around. He picked up clues on the ground and began to follow them. "Whoever this is," said Bacca to himself, "I will find him. He is about ready to meet the best swordsman in the world." Bacca followed Shadow's trail. Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 05:29:41 -1000 From: After delivering the body to Lady Paladin, Lorinan took off following Bacca. L: "Here's hoping my tracking skills haven't faded." He mixed a night-sight Potion. Now everything could be seen clearly. Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1998 05:19:59 -1000 From: The One and Only Shadow "Dammit." Shadow uttered under his breath. He was watching the whole scene with Bacca and his troops, perched on a rooftop of a nearby building, shrouded in darkness. As he observed, he noticed that Bacca had many a hero to help his cause. One of them looked to be healing the guard he had siphoned with the dagger. Another looked like a chemist. Now, it looked as if Bacca was following Shadow's trail. This Bacca wouldn't stop until he found the killer. That meant trouble to Shadow. Only if he had killed the damned guards more swiftly, this wouldn't be happening. It was time for him to get the hell out of here. He didn't plan on it to be going this way. Shadow swiftly jumped to an adjacent rooftop, then made it to the edges of town, and, sensing no guards in the area, he left just as quickly as he had came. As Shadow ran through the grasslands, he wondered if Bacca had even heard the news of the Caliph's death yet. He probably wouldn't hear it until he got back to his main camp. After an hour or so, Shadow arrived at Mog's base. There, at the entrance, he met Tifa. "How are you doing, Shadow?" she asked. Having never held a conversation with this woman before, it was strange of her to be asking him that kind of question. "I'm fine, thank you." he answered, "I'll see you later, then." he said as he began to walk towards Mog's quarters. But, Tifa led him into a different direction. "Can I show you something?" she said. "Um, I have to go meet Mog." "Mog can wait, can't he? I'm sure he can compensate for the lost time." "What lost time? There is no lost time. I can make it to his quarters with 5 minutes to spare." "But, that won't happen." "What?" "Your coming to MY quarters Shadow." "Your quarters? Um, may I ask why?" "Well, you'll see soon enough." she said, giggling. Tifa led Shadow to her quarters, and took him inside, closing the door behind her. It was going to be a long night... Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 23:35:17 -0700 From: "Beth Davis" Lady Paladin had been so intent on studying the wound of the injured soldier, she didn't notice that Bacca had left. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Lorinan step close. "Yikes! Don't scare me like that!" the healer looked around nervously. "Wait a second, where is Bacca?!" She began to stand up, obviously intent on heading after him. "No, Lady. He wants you to stay and heal this man." The chemist stood firm. A hiss of air escaped her lips. Leave it to Bacca to wander around by himself when there was an assassin on the loose. Lady Paladin suddenly remembered something. She kneeled on the ground, by all appearances still appraising the man's condition. The white wizard reached to her neck and tugged a medallion forth from where it had been nestled next to her heart. Her platinum medallion was the precise mate to Bacca's, and was designed to monitor his status constantly among many other things. Bacca was still unaware just how powerful the relic was; the twin medallions were considered to be her Life's Work, and had secured her position as Master White Wizard. "Medallion, guard." She mentally ordered. She could sense the green aura around her medallion flare up for a second, and then die down again. "Monitor. Guard status. Track heart rate. Prepare to heal and cure any poisons. Instantly alert me of any abrupt changes in status. Cease regenerative abilities, and leave all cures under my manual control. Guard." In acknowledgment, her medallion began to quietly throb with Bacca's every heart beat. Smiling secretively to herself, Lady Paladin went about healing the guard.