Starfall

[SALSAlys]

Ylliana nodded, the blue light receding slightly into her skin as Jenni tilted herself to sit upright, still leaning against the wall uncertainly as she watched the goddess.

Tanake cocked her head to one side, then turned as Derrik and Kyoko approached, making their way into the cave.

Derrik and Kyoko could see the blue light at a distance as they went into the tunnel, and the goddess as she turned to watch them coolly.

And just for the observant, as soon as Ylliana's light touched the fire that Jenni and Calvin had, it went out.

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

Candice knelt by Jenni, and put an arm around her shoulders.

'Are you okay?' She asked, giving Derrik and Kyoko a quick glance before returning her attention to the nurse and Calvin.

[JoshuaDurron]

Derrik quickly scrambled down into the cave, trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Of course, the floating 'water goddess' was the first thing he noted, and his hand instinctively went for his stunner, while also pulling out a plasma charge for Kyoko's 'baby' from a thigh pocket. (As the man in charge of energy handling, he hadn't wanted more than one of those in her hands at a time, but if what he knew about the supernatural beings on this planet was true, they might need more than one shot to take one down.)

"What happened?" The engineer demanded gruffly. "And who's she?"

[Teh Kev]

Kyoko stopped in her tracks looking over the group. A rather puzzled look quickly came upon her face, and she let out a bit of a huff. "Aiyah.... What is all this? We missed something exciting didn't we...?" She had a bit of a pouty face now but she crossed her arms letting out another huff. "Well care to fill us in?"

[SALSAlys]

"I'm all right. Just tired," Jenni said in a small voice.

"I am Ylliana," the goddess replied to Derrik, fingers tracing over his necklace. He felt a cool tingling from her touch wash over his skin before she commented again. "Red shell necklace— you've been protected by one of Yameli's blessed."

[JoshuaDurron]

Derrik recoiled a step, but did his best to keep his composure. After all, she was a great deal more pleasent than the Bugs, and he hadn't had that much trouble with them...

Of course, part of that might be his memory deluding him.

"Uh, yeah... a man in the marketplace gave this to me. Said something about 'banishing'. I think it drove off the woman I've been seeing in my dreams, by the by. What happened to Jenni and Calvin?"

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

'You're not the only one who's been seeing daemons. Calvin let it get to his head.'

Candice helped Jenni to her feet, or simply hauled her onto them if Jenni hadn't the energy to assist in the effort.

'We should head back, don't you think Captain?'

[Teh Kev]

Kyoko shook her head a bit. "So... yeah, what did happen to those two exactly? And shouldn't we get moving?" The Pilot was a bit confused, and didn't want to think to much about this. Since she was beginning to be one of the only ones not seeing demons or gods in her head...

[SALSAlys]

"You are shielded as long as you wear the necklace," Yameli spoke softly, directed at Derrik before her image began rippling, like the surface of a lake after a stone has been tossed in.

"I'm— you will be leaving the sea area soon. When you reach the mountains, K'lorn the wind god—"

Unfortunately, she couldn't continue before her image wavered out completely.

Tanake gave Kyoko and Derrik a brief summary of what they had seen, glancing at Calvin's unconscious form. He still had the small claws, though the unsettling eyes were closed.

"Don't have any rope, and I don't trust him unbound at the moment," Tanake commented as Candice lifed Jenni. While the nurse was able to walk, she didn't look very steady. "Any of you brought some?"

[Teh Kev]

Kyoko shook her head. "No, I wouldn't know where to buy any, or more so what to pay with." She lookd over at Calvin and shook her head a bit. "Aiyah...."

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

'Yes, but not with me, Tanake.' Candice responded, frowning. 'This could be a problem.'

She was still holding Jenni up, not trusting the nurse to stay on her own two feet just yet.

[JoshuaDurron]

Derrik let a serrious frown grow on his face as he listened to the story. Then he addressed himself to the captain's question. "Well, one of us should watch him while the others go for rope. I think I should be able to handle that. But once he's tied up, what do we do with him? He'll most likely be difficult when he wakes up."

[SALSAlys]

"Not sure as of yet. Don't want him running around hostile, but we can't practically carry him all the time on our trip," Tanake replied, brows furrowing. "Ylliana said she couldn't 'cleanse' him, so it's not like we can get rid of whatever influence he's got in him— and even if we could, it's his temperament that's the trouble, more than any powers he received."

She sighed. "Candice, can you and Kyoko please return Jenni to the temple? Not sure if the priests know anything to help her, but she may just need the rest. We'll keep watch on Calvin."

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

'Yes, Captain. And I'll bring rope back.' The scout replied. She began leading Jenni forward to the cave's exit, nodding to Kyoko for help.

[Teh Kev]

Kyoko nodded back and walked over and started to help Jenni out of the cave with Candice. "All right Ake-chan, we will be back as quickly as possible!"

[JoshuaDurron]

Derrik sat down next to Calvin with a sigh. "Still, I don't like the idea of leaving him. It's not moral, nor a good idea. He'd just provide a soldier for the 'demons', and he's not terribly friendly to the natives in any regard. It's a real pickle, Captain... I'm willing to deal with him if he gets out of hand. I've been in his shoes."

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

The girls slowly made their way back to the temple, where Candice accosted a member of the priesthood and asked them if they could look after Jenni.

While this was being dealt with, the scout rushed back to her room to fetch her rope, a light and strong weave issued to her at the beginning of the mission befure returning to Kyoko.

[SALSAlys]

Tanake nodded, glancing down at Calvin's sleeping form. Though peaceful in appearance at the moment, the claws on his hands were mute testimony of the potential he possessed.

* * *

A somewhat surprised looking pair of priestesses were more than willing to take Jenni to another section of the temple as Candice went to retrieve her rope.

[Teh Kev]

Kyoko blinked as Candice came back. "Aiyah...You had rope all this time? Thats rather surprising.... Shall we head back then?"

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

'I did say I had, but not with me.' Responded Candice. 'And no, you can go. Somebody should be with Jenni... just in case...'

The scout left the rest of that sentence unsaid, and handed Kyoko the rope.

'Hurry back to them.'

[Teh Kev]

Kyoko glanced at the rope for a moment then back to Candice. "Alright..." The pilot said nothing more then that, as she ran back towards the captain and the others.

[SALSAlys]

Once Kyoko reached them, Tanake glanced up before taking the rope, swiftly binding Calvin's hands behind his back with efficient knots, though she left his legs free.

"Help me carry him back to the temple, and watch out for the claws. Even with them behind his back, I don't trust them," the captain said, hitching one arm through Calvin's as she began hoisting him up. The man's head just rolled slightly down, seeming not to trouble his dreams one bit.

[JoshuaDurron]

Derrik took Calvin's other arm. "Do'ya think they'll be able to help him at the temple?"

[Teh Kev]

Kyoko adjusted the bag that was holding Baby and blinked at the claws, finally getting a good look at them. "I should hope so... I wouldn't want to be stuck with him like that on a mountain..."

[SALSAlys]

Tanake mutely nodded agreement as they proceeded to take him back to the temple, dragging his feet slightly in the sand. They received a few rather odd looks from the Myrmians, but none of them seemed inclined to comment on the offworlders before they returned to the temple of the fire god. A priest guided them to the room where Jenni was. Candice was there as well, but their nurse appeared to be asleep, with Eduardo by her bed in his wheelchair. The doctor had come in before Candice, and was watching Jenni worriedly. Edmund and Phillipe were nowhere to be seen.

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

When they entered, they found Candice leaning on the wall by the door, watching Jenni.

'She hasn't moved. Probably a good thing...' She said quietly, stretching her arms above her head. 'I'm losing the plot, guys. What is really going on here?'

[JoshuaDurron]

Derrik sighed. "I don't really care anymore. I just want to go home. With as many people as possible."

[SALSAlys]

Eduardo nodded slightly, face stiff as his fingers tightened about the rims of his wheelchair.

"It would be easier if we waited for the others to return, first," he said at last. "The way we're acting, we are going to be repeating everything at least twice if we keep trying to discover what is going on. And it would be wise to take whatever precautions there are against these... demons."

He said the word distastefully, as though while he could accept the presence of 'gods', or at least beings with greater powers, 'demons' were a difficult concept.

"If there are charms or 'cures' against them, some preventative measures could exist, and possibly be more useful."

[JoshuaDurron]

Derrik fingered the shell necklace he had been given. "Well, this was supposed to act as an anti-demon charm. Although I'm not exactly liking the idea of taking it off..."

[SALSAlys]

"Was its function an antidote or a preventative?" Eduardo asked quietly. Then he shook his head at his own words. "Would it... would we be able to get more? Or find something similar that we could distribute among the rest of us?"

[Blaze Yamato Spirit]

Candice nodded and addressed Eduardo, though her words were really just meant in the way of a brainstorm.

'I'm sure if there's one available we can get more. The question is rather how many we need, isn't it? ...Both Jenni and Calvin have had daemonic experience. Does my connection to the deities give me any protection from daemonic visions?'