Chapter 1: To Deling

[Storyteller]

GC~
Gone was sitting in the pilot’s seat, checking the consoles. He didn’t want to be caught off guard by fried wires. All clear. He’d triple checked everything so nothing could possible go wrong. He smashed his head against the console as he sat up. Gone rubbed it gingerly, he always did that.

"It's a relief you joined, man. I will never again ride a ship Colum pilots..." Zacke said.

Gone looked at him and grinned. “Couldn’t resist an opportunity like this.”

"Gone certainly looks like he knows what he's doing." Jun observed.

Gone felt he was becoming a chestshire cat with his grinning, so he settled for a smirk. “Why, love, of course I do. I’ve been flying since almost before I could walk. It’s in my blood. I’d die, love, I’d die if I couldn’t fly.”

Although he probably looked sarcastic he’d meant every word. If he couldn’t fly, he’d only be a shadow of a man. His thoughts as sappy as they were, were interrupted by a biting voice.

"Like hell he knows what he's doing. I can bet the ship's rigged and we'll crash again."

Blaze.

"Hello, friend. You DID check the ship and there is NOTHING wrong with it, correct? You'll know who I'll come after if this piece of crap makes a dive do you not?" She said sarcastically.

Gone noted the sarcasm. She was trying to rile him up; well he’d rile her up instead. He smirked as he turned towards her.

“Why, love, of course I checked the airship.” He drawled. “She won’t dive unless I make her. Now, if you’re a good girl, I’ll let you keep your lunch. If not… Well, love, be a dear and take a seat. Soon as the rest of them get their arses over here, we’ll be on our way.”

Although he had managed to keep his voice even and affable, he wasn’t unmoved by her dig at his piloting skills. He took pride in his piloting skills and didn’t take lightly to them being insulted. Besides it was just good sense not to piss your pilot off. Losing his anger as fast as it came he grinned and looked about.

“Where’s Kyou? I need my co-pilot.”

[Storyteller]

Auria~
"If you know what's good for you, Sanaku, you'd be best to keep your damn mouth shut," Colum snapped at Blaze. Zacke stared. That was most definitly a threat. Colum had no right to say that.

Zacke took a deep breath, supressing rage, as he watched Colum and Daniel's short conversation. He couldn't take it. He strode the few steps it took to get to Colum, and grabbed him by his collar, and roughly shoved him against the airship's metal interior.

"Unless I misunderstood you," he snarled. "you just threatened her." his head jerked in the direction of Blaze.

His grip on Colum's collar tightened as he pressed him harder against the wall. "You had no right. Our last ship fvcked up and crashed because of you. We. Could. Have. All. Died. She has every right to be pissy."

He jerked Colum away from the wall and let go of his shirt. "Apologize for the threat, O'Donahue, unless you want me to report it to Xu. We both know she'll remove you from the mission for words like those."

[Storyteller]

QuistisTrepe002~
Colum frowned. Great, he thought sarcastically, Now Mercutio's planning to report me to Xu.

"Look, I didn't mean it as a threat. I'm just in a shitty mood, alright, Zacke," Colum said. "I'll apologise."

He walked over to Blaze. "Blaze, I'm sorry I said what I did...I'm just tired, and in a bad mood, and I kinda took it out on you, so I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

Not waiting for Blaze to reply, he raised his eyebrows at Zacke, as though to say "Is that all?"

Dan's astonishment with Colum grew. He's taking Aly's death harder than I thought, he thought, as he watched the interaction between the two.

Doesn't surprise me, though...I'm still getting over it, though I'm not showing it.

"Colum, if your sole purpose at the moment is to piss people off, I'd suggest you don't go on this mission," Dan said, as he spoke in an undertone to his brother-in-law.

"Shut up, Daniel," Colum snapped, "Don't you start on me. You of all people should know what I'm going through right now."

[Storyteller]

Auria~
Zacke watched Colum walk over and apologize to Blaze. The corners of his mouth twitched with amusement. Colum then turned, and Zacke caught the look he gave. He wordlessly stared back, arms crossed, until Colum turned to walk away.

Zacke's gaze shifted to Blaze. "Xu took the Sapphire from you didn't she?"

[Storyteller]

Mercurymari83~
Rika silently entered the hangar with Kyou and Gaiea, the two people she trusted most on this mission. She carried only a small satchel made of Ruby Dragon skin, which matched her skirt. They entered just in time to catch some of the conflict, and Rika couldn't help but roll her eyes and sigh. Feeling that there was nothing better to do, she entered the aircraft (named "Lady Luck," she noticed) and took a seat.

Rika took a quick inventory of her spells, as a second-check; she then unearthed her journal and an old-fashioned fountain pen. The nib scratched along the parchment, and her brow creased with thought as she wrote.

[Storyteller]

Ash~
“Why, love, of course I checked the airship. She won’t dive unless I make her. Now, if you’re a good girl, I’ll let you keep your lunch. If not… Well, love, be a dear and take a seat. Soon as the rest of them get their arses over here, we’ll be on our way.” Gone said cockily.

"I don't trust a word that comes out of your thick headed skull." Blaze replied innocently. "In fact, if you're a good boy, you'll fly this thing without it crashing like last time. Because if it does take a dive, you'll be losing more than just your lunch." She smiled evilly.

"If you know what's good for you, Sanaku, you'd be best to keep your damn mouth shut," Colum cut in as a reply to Blaze's snide remark. Blaze's eyes slowly traveled towards Colum. Silence ensued as everyone waited to see what would happen. She opened her mouth.

"Unless I misunderstood you. you just threatened her." Zacke interrupted. "Apologize for the threat, O'Donahue, unless you want me to report it to Xu. We both know she'll remove you from the mission for words like those." He finished as Blaze stood unmoving, too shocked to say anything.

Why did Zacke say that? Why should he care if a little prick like Colum threatened me? No.. it must be something between them that has nothing to do with me, Zacke is just using this as an excuse to argue with Colum. She thought. Well, there was no way Colum would apologize to Blaze, no freaking way.

"Blaze, I'm sorry I said what I did...I'm just tired, and in a bad mood, and I kinda took it out on you, so I'm sorry," Colum apologized quickly before turning back to get into the airship.

".... No need to suck up to Zacke, Colum. I need no apologizing." Blaze sneered as Colum went out of sight.

Zacke broke the silence after Colum had left. "Xu took the Sapphire from you didn't she?" He asked Blaze.

"I gave it to Commander Leonhart.--" Blaze stopped short and stared at Zacke with suspicion. "Why do you need to know?"

[Storyteller]

Auria~
"Why do you need to know?" Blaze replied, a suspicious expression on her face.

"Hey, calm down, I'm on this mission too. Just making sure I knew where it was and who had it." Zacke retorted. He turned and started back toward his bag, near the back of the cockpit. "Don't whip out the claws on me..." he muttered.

[Storyteller]

ShadowFoxBlight~
Alaxia pulled her heavy duffel bag up into the cockpit of Lady Luck, with obvious strain. "You know you could help your sister out." she called over her shoulder, at Alaxzander.

"That's what you get for packing unnecessary crap." he retorted. She sighed and began dragging the bag deeper into the ship. Alaxzander lifted his bag and stepped up into the ship behind her.

[Storyteller]

Bunny~
Tomoe made her way to the airship hangar and stopped short before the massive ships that loomed before her. She was unsure of where to go until she heard the faint catches of voices coming from one. Gee, maybe that's the airship we're gonna use....

"Ahh, I can hear beloved Blaze's honeyed tones ringing within the Lady Luck," said a voice at her right.

"How's your face, Wolfe?" Tomoe asked, not even bothering to turn her head.

"I'm back to my devilishly handsome self thanks to ice and wonderful curative magic from that cute nurse in the Infirmary."

Tomoe laughed and shook her head. "Same old Wolfe..." She looked up at the airship. "Last time I went on one of these, it crashed."

Wolfe grinned. "Fond thoughts, eh? Sounds great! Let's go!"

Tomoe stared after him, disbelieving, before smiling to herself. "Crazy freak. Same old Wolfe." And she followed.

[Storyteller]

Ani~
“Want a drink?”

The furious pink-head lifted her gaze from the ground to Reese. He was holding an opened bottle, probably liquor, on his right hand and was looking at her. She didn’t say anything but stared back at him for a second as well. She never really understood this guy. And she might say she didn’t care about it but compare to the other SeeDs in this mission, he was the least bit incompetent.

“I’ll pass,” she said solemnly.

That was when Zacke grabbed Colum by his shirt. He looked so pissed. It seemed like Colum threatened Blaze about something. Creasing her forehead, she turned and watched them from her post.

/You’re not going to do anything?/

She shunned Diwata. Apparently, Colum chickened out and quickly apologized to Blaze. She heard Zacke ask Blaze about the sapphire afterwards. Everything was all under control. There was no need to worry about it. She knew that the Headmasters got everything balanced.

Scoffing, Stardust leaned her head back on the wall. She grunted.

“Lowlifes.”

[Storyteller]

Auria~
Reese shrugged indifferently and put the cap on the flask, before sliding it back into the inside pocket of his jacket.

---

"Who's lagging?! We were supposed to take off five minutes ago!" Zacke said exhasperatedly. He ran a hand through his hair and strode up to the front, up beside Gone. "Everything ready to fire up as soon as the rest arrive?" he asked, glancing from the controls to Gone. Just then Wolfe stepped up into the ship, followed by Tomoe.

His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, but drifted back over to the controls. "Hey Tomoe." he said over his shoulder.

[Storyteller]

GC~
Gone finished writing in worn journal, and looked up to see that everyone had arrived. He smiled. Gone turned around in seat, and switched on the engine. Lady Luck needed to warm up. Since she was an older model she didn't have the option of taking off and landing like either a fixed or rotor craft like newer models. Instead she utilised a curious hybrid system of the two. She took off like a helio and flew like a plane. Truth be told Gone enjoyed flying the older models more than the newer. He felt that the older ones required more skill; they weren't just push a button and leave it to a computer chip.

"Everything ready to fire up as soon as the rest arrive?" Zacke asked.

Gone nodded to him. "Either take the co-pilots seat or get out."

Gone got out of his seat and closed the cockpit door, it could be opened easily enough. With the door closed, the din from his teammates was cut off, allowing him to concentrate solely on flying. Although it would be fun to see some of his more irritating teammates injured during take-off, it would reflect badly on him. So sighing he flipped the intercom switch.

"Ladies, gents, we'll be taking off in a few short minutes. So store your gear and grab a seat." Gone announced over the intercom then switched it off.

After waiting a few minutes he started to taxi the airship forward and out of the hanger. Once out on the landing strip, he turned on the landing thrusters and using the collective pitch stick to lift the Lady Luck of the ground. Making sure to apply the necessary amount off pressure to anti-torque pedals, he got them up to an altitude of 1,500 before switching over to the fixed wing system. She was built in a time when the engine wasn't advanced enough to lift her bulk into the air without a whole lot of runway, more than was easily provided.

Once she was switched over, Gone angled a pitch of thirty degrees to take them to an altitude of 50,000ft. He turned on the cloaking device, which hid their airship from most radar. He'd logged their flight path with Balamb Garden in case something went wrong, per protocol.

Once Lady Luck was the desired altitude he evened out the pitch and switched on the intercom once again.

"Ladies, gents, lighten up back there. I can feel the doom and gloom radiated from you dudes. The sun's shining, we're flying. And it's not like the world going to end if we fail."

[Storyteller]

Lily~
Gone smirked at Jun upon hearing her comment of his examplary skills.

“Why, love, of course I do. I’ve been flying since almost before I could walk. It’s in my blood. I’d die, love, I’d die if I couldn’t fly.”

Jun had initially thought he was joking, but upon closer observation, she saw that he was quite serious.

You know, I'm rather envious of him. Wish there was something I could be this enthusiastic about.

Sapph gave a mocking laugh.
{My dear girl, you don't have that kind of perserverance. You can forget about trying.}

"Like hell he knows what he's doing. I can bet the ship's rigged and we'll crash again." Blaze interjected while walking up to them.

Jun sighed inaudibly as Blaze and Gone started trading barbs.

Colum said something to Blaze, apparently threatening her, and was shoved against the wall by Zacke, demanding that he apologised.

Hyne, they're not going to fight, are they? She thought, not knowing if she should step forward to stop them should they come to exchanging blows.

The tense moment soon fizzled, when Colum appeared to have cold feet and apologized to both Zacke and Blaze.

Breathing another sigh, this time one of relief, Jun started looking for a seat, knowing that the Airship would be taking off as soon as everyone had arrived.

"Ladies, gents, we'll be taking off in a few short minutes. So store your gear and grab a seat." Gone announced over the intercom.

Jun took out her new journal and pen, and stuffed her bag into an overhead compartment. She sat down at a random seat nearby, and started writing, tuning out the noise around her.

"...And it's not like the world going to end if we fail." She jerked her head up when she caught the end of Gone's announcement.

Yes it will... She thought darkly. The world will surely end if we fail...

"Failure is not an option." She said in a low voice.

[Storyteller]

Bunny~
Wolfe clambered into the airship, anxiety making his movements feel awkward. Shake it off, Wolfe, shake it off.... To his side he saw Blaze, murderous as usual, her face fixed into a sulky pout that was almost too cute. Wolfe grinned, wondering if he should try again at introducing himself, but decided against it, remembering the past times they have clashed. All the times he had introduced himself to Blaze had ended up disastrously.

Suddenly the intercom crackled to life. "Ladies, gents, we'll be taking off in a few short minutes. So store your gear and grab a seat."

Wolfe obeyed, dropping his body down onto a nearby seat near the back of the airship and throwing his gear down at his feet. He reclined in his seat and willed his body to relax. No use being nervous. He stole a glance at Blaze, still fuming. Unless the violent one decides to sit next to me, which I doubt.......

---

"Hey Tomoe." Tomoe glanced up and saw Zacke near the front of the airship. She made her way over to him just as the intercom came to life. "Ladies, gents, we'll be taking off in a few short minutes. So store your gear and grab a seat." It was a familiar voice, yet Tomoe couldn't quite guess who it was...

She sank down into the nearest seat and placed her bag on her lap. Unconsciously, her left hand traveled to the zipper of her jacket. She hoped she wouldn't have to use the pen...

[Storyteller]

Ani~
"Ladies, gents, lighten up back there. I can feel the doom and gloom radiated from you dudes. The sun's shining, we're flying. And it's not like the world going to end if we fail."

Stardust felt the faint lurch of Lady Luck as it made its ascent towards the horizon. Finally, they were on their way towards Deling. She let her thoughts wander about the mission, staring aimlessly at Reese's shoes from across her, gently unaware of the fact that she was doing it so. She folded her arms.

/So, what do you plan to do as soon as we get to Deling?/ Diwata was at it with her rhetorical questions again.

Stardust was itching to get there and cough up some hefty informations about the second gem. There really was nothing complicated about the mission. They just had to meet the SeeD contact behind a certain store. How hard could that possibly be?

What do you think?

But no matter how easy things could possibly seem, she knew she shouldn't slack around. Bad things always happen at a time you least expected. She had to double her attention.

/Well, do you even know where that 'Something Stylish' store is?/ Diwata chuckled.

She wrinkled her forehead. Did she ask the Headmistress about that?

/But no worries, you and your 'teammates' will just have to find it right?/ the GF teased.