phantasmalrift | DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE SHORE

The morning of the 9th, everyone will get a message sent to their communication devices -

Okay, guys! I think we have enough stabilizers to try and get the shoreline stable. If you want to help out, grab your supplies and come on up to the roof!

When characters arrive at the roof, they'll find Top - with a wheeling table full of many copies of the same odd-looking device - the two exploratory drones, and a ramp down off the roof to the ground. (The latter looks a little hastily constructed.)

"Okay," Top says, picking up one of the devices. "Here's the stabilizers. Stick them to walls and stuff - mostly out of the way places where they're not going to get knocked off - and then press the buttons along the side."

They demonstrate, unfolding the set of legs at one end of the device before showing the buttons to anyone who's close enough. "Go ahead and take a couple, especially if you've got one of those space-saving inventories going on, I know there's like four of you with those? Strange got some first aid kits together, too, if you want."

Sure enough, another table nearby has the med kits... As well as traditional paper bag lunches, courtesy of Bottom. Don't question it too much.

"We'll be staying back here to keep track of the stabilization progress and work the drones," Top says, "but don't hesitate to call if you get in trouble! We'll send one of these guys down to get you an evac if you need it."

And with that, you're free to go down the ramp... Or to make for the beach however else you might choose to go.

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Stone settles back down on all fours again and folds his wings, smoothing down the spines on his neck and head so he doesn't look quite so threatening. Fish hunting can come later, he supposes. He lowers his head in a carefully exaggerated nod, so Prompto can't take it for something other than what it is.

Because yes. This is, indeed, Stone.

"Oh. ...Hey, big guy." He waves a little weakly, but when he recovers himself and smiles, it's bright and genuine. "How's it going? You can't talk in that form?"

He shakes his head, again slowly and deliberately, but that's the extent of speechlessness he is going to tolerate for now. He shifts, disappearing in a Stone-sized cloud of dark mist, which then condenses down into the more familiar gray-skinned old man. "I can communicate some in that form, but not in ways you'll recognize." He holds a hand behind his head, tilting it up and down. "The position of the spines says a lot."

"Oh, really? I guess that makes sense. That's enough to talk to all the other raksura around, though? I can't imagine getting ideas across only with body language."

Deprive Prompto Argentum of the ability to chatter on and on? Chop his hands off instead, seriously.

A large shadow passes over their heads - some kind of bird?

Whatever it is, it's gone by the time they look up.

"Most other Raksura can talk in that form, so the spines just kind of add nuance. It's because I'm so old and big that--" Stone stops, twitches, and looks up immediately at the shadow. He's an aerial predator; the thought of something over his head ready to stoop is a jarring one, and one he'll want to deal with as soon as possible. "The shit was that?"

Prompto's gun is in his hand as fast as his camera was earlier, putting his back to Stone and his eyes to the sky like it's second nature to team up in a fight.

"I don't--I didn't catch it. That was way too fast to be a dropship. M-maybe a bird?"

No complaints at potential teamwork, but that will make shifting a little harder, and Stone tends to be hard-wired into protecting others as much as fighting with them. He growls, rumble felt in the chest and through the feet almost more than heard, and flicks his tongue out to try and catch any unfamiliar scents. "There are birds on the beach, but I think it was bigger. It's too fast to be one of those fish things."

Edited 2018-03-16 16:51 (UTC)

"Maybe a really big bird? Aw man, I wish I had something with more kick to it than a handgun."

His hands are steady on it, anyway, as he looks around. There's no real cover for something big out on the water, besides the haze out beyond their reach, so...

"You think it headed back toward the cliffs?"

"I can go find out. Want a lift?" he asks, twitching his shoulders, a little like he might be preparing for the shift. It isn't very far back they way they came. It shouldn't be too uncomfortable for Prompto.

He blinks. "Really?"

And after another moment, he steps forward and nods eagerly. "Yeah! Yeah, I mean. If you really want to. I'm not too heavy?"

"Other Raksura are bigger than you, and I carry them, sometimes more than one and a time," Stone points out, prodding at the skinny boy's side. "You won't be a problem. I'll carry you against my chest, and you can hold onto the ridges at my collarbone. All right?"

And with that, he shifts up again, and holds out a hand quite big enough to wrap all the way around Prompto's waist and then some-- which, if Prompto doesn't freak out, is exactly what he's going to do.

At least he only squeaks a little. Knowing what to expect, though, Prompto doesn't fight, just follows Stone's directions as best he can.

"O-okay! Ready!"

Stone lifts Prompto up, cradling him between his palm and his chest like he's holding a cat or some sort of small rodent, nudging at his elbow with a thumb to get his hands on the raised scales along the ridge of his collar to hold onto. They actually make extremely convenient hand-holds.

Only once he's sure Prompto has a good grip does he crouch down further, spread his wings, and leap up into the air. It's a bit of a stomach-lurching experience, but if Prompto likes those sorts of things, he might enjoy it.

"Whoa!"

At first, he doesn't do much more than yelp and cling, aware of the earth rushing away beneath them and nothing between him and freefall but Stone's grip. But it's not long before he peels one eye open for a peek, then the other.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Wow! Stone, are you seeing this view?!"

Stone tilts his head so his good eye can see Prompto, and quirks a grin-- his face, for all it's black and scaly now, is still mostly human-ish and can make normal expressions. The teeth are kind of sharper now, though. He can't answer aloud with more than an amused rumble, but hopefully the expression and said rumble is a good enough yes.

Now that Prompto has gotten used to things enough to apparently enjoy it, he dips one wing and drops into a quick (and additionally stomach-dropping) turn. Enjoy that, kiddo?

DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE SHORE

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