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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Ein Kebia[/u]]<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#dcdcdc">[Cornelia Plains - Midland Gate Approach]</span><br/>
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Tifa frowned, but it was thoughtful rather than disapproving.  "Set them against each other?"  It was a notion with merit to it, but at the same time, the notion of waiting for the wolves to begin closing was unnerving to say the least.  "Rikku."<br/>
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"Hm?"  The blonde glanced over, rocking back and forth from the heels to the balls of her feet, a pair of wicked-looking knives that appeared to have been crossed with some sort of punching daggers in her hands.  <br/>
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"Think we can take them out quickly if we team up?" Tifa asked, before looking to Ein as he activated the crystal, squinting slightly at the light that crawled over him as he absorbed the knowledge and skill contained within.  <br/>
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<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#800000">[Job Learned - Fighter!]</span><br/>
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"Do you think you can keep the other one off of us for a minute or two with that?  We shouldn't need long before we can come help you..."  Tifa looked at him worriedly.  "That crystal should give you the resilience to at least stand up in a fight with one of those..."  Ein did realize that not only was he somewhat armored and his 'weapons' -such as they were- looked much sturdier and better suited to battle but he was also invigorated.  His hunger seemed to affect him somewhat less now, and his legs merely felt warmed up rather than how they'd been aching before from the long march.  <br/>
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"A few minutes?"  Rikku scoffed.  "You keep it distracted, and I bet I can get it in less than one."  Tifa shook her head at that, but kept looking seriously at Ein.  "Can you do it?"  She repeated once more, worry creeping into her voice.  It was a bold plan, but maybe he could pull it off...  Just for a minute or two...<br/>
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Then again, they could wait instead...</div>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Thrice X[/u]]<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#696969">[Mirage Sandsea - Southern Pass]</span><br/>
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The two manikins spread apart as Thrice opened fire, weaving from side to side in their bounding progress towards him, causing his first shot to go wide.  His second shot impacted the right manikin's torso with a sound like smashing glass however, and the force of it punched the crystalline thing backwards, flailing as it fell until the trauma of the fall combined with the shot to shatter it as it struck the valley floor.  The second one was drawing closer even as the first fell though, a mere handful of meters away now, and...<br/>
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Hang on, hadn't there been a third?<br/>
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It was right about then that Thrice realized that something was moving in from his right, the side opposite the second gunblade wielder who was just now readying another barrage!  The third one must have circled around, flanking him in a pincer attack!<br/>
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If nothing else, it showed that these creatures were still capable of basic tactical sense on their own.<br/>
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Or perhaps that leader was still lurking around somewhere, directing the battle from hiding...</div>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Michael Fertar[/u]]<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#6b8e23">[Melmond Fens - Western Shore]</span><br/>
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The woman gave a 'hmph' that sounded suspiciously like a concealed snort.  "Hardly...  I was referring to something a little less physical than your mutations."  She watched him carefully, seemingly gauging his reaction.  "You are quite curiously blank, allied to neither side."  She raised an eyebrow.  <br/>
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"You don't even know where you are do you..."  She finally said with the tone of someone coming to a realization of some sort, her words not so much a question as a simple statement, slight amazement slipping into her voice and one eyebrow rising.  "Curious that a creature like you could have a place in this world...  Or perhaps you don't, and that's why you know not..."  She smiles at him, and it is an almost predatory expression.  "Curiouser and curiouser..."</div>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Gauthiant Nadeau[/u]]<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#a9a9a9">[Elven Snowfields - Southern Shore]</span><br/>
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The sound of battle is what awakens Gauthiant.  No great conflict mind you, but a clash of forces nonetheless.  Two voices shouting indistinctly at each other, interspersed with a ring of what sounds like metal on stone.  <br/>
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A snowfield greets him as he opens his eyes, and he can feel cold sand beneath him.  A desert?  No...  A beach is what it seems to be as he sits up, for he can see frozen waves behind him, sea ice clinging to the shore in great bergs.  <br/>
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The sky is dark and star spotted, but for a single beacon of light, almost straight ahead of him.  Looking lower, mountains rise towards the sky in a small range, and lower still, a dark and snowbound forest greets his vision, within which he can now see flares and flashes of light from the combat within.<br/>
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Left or right, along the coastline, or forwards, towards the light.  Those were the only landmarks he had for now...<br/>
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Of course, the light would also lead to the battle ahead...</div>
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