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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Ein Kebia[/u]]<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#006400">[Cornelia Plains - Northern Spit]</span><br/>
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"Really?"  Tifa seemed doubtful, but impressed as she found a few lingering shards still stuck in the wood of the hoe, and even more so as she saw the glowing shard.  <br/>
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"Ooh!  You said it had a sword right?  That's a fighter's soul!"  Rikku jumps in enthusiastically.  By now the three are walking, steadily making their way east.  The air is growing colder, and there are patches of snow here and there as they walk.  "Manikins don't really have souls, but they do have...  Collections of stuff, that give them their abilities.  You can absorb them to gain the same abilities, sort of..."<br/>
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"That shard probably has weapon forms on it, fighting stances, things like that!  If you couldn't fight before, you'd certainly be able to after using it, though you'd still need to train and build muscle and memory..."  Tifa explains a little more sedately.  "As for the portals, they're puzzles, sort of like locks to prevent easy passage from one place to another by those unwanted.  At least, that's what they were supposed to be.  They're dangerous to everyone now ever since the manikins started infesting them..."  <br/>
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The sun is setting now, and Snow is all around the three.  Rikku produced a tattered cloak from somewhere and she's wrapped it around herself, but while Tifa doesn't seem to be shivering she's still crossed her arms over her chest and hunched her shoulders slightly to ward off the cold.  Eventually, as the sun sets and the cold worsens even Tifa is shivering, and eventually the two girls vote to make a camp in an abandoned castle they spy atop the next hill.  "Finally get to warm up eh?"  Rikku nudges Tifa, who flushes and scowls at her.  "Sh-shut up!  Next time we find a Manikin it's cloak is mine!"  <br/>
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Inside the castle, it's still cold, but there is less wind, and the storerooms have plenty of wood stocked for the fireplaces.  It is of course here that they run into the first major snag.  "I don't suppose either of you knows any fire magic?"  Rikku asks, still shivering slightly herself.  "Or have a tinderbox maybe?"  Tifa suggests, with a glance at Ein.</div>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Zwei Kebia[/u]]<br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#800000">[Bahamut Isles - Southeastern Pass]</span><br/>
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"I'd wish you luck in trying, but I doubt even the two of us could manage it.  Kefka may be quite mad but he's terrifyingly powerful, if he weren't always chasing after that 'Terra' girl..."  Elayne shuddered, then shook her head with a sigh.  "His madness makes him tolerant, but beware you do not truly cross him, for he can be quite inventive with his abilities, and he will put it all into making you suffer."  For a moment, a shadow attended the Red Mage's voice, as though she was remembering something akin with those words, but then it passed as quickly as it had come, and she shook her head again.  "Chaos keeps him around for that power, and I've seen him leash Kefka on occasion, but it is rare...  He must have a reason though, he is too intelligent not to realize such potential problems."<br/>
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Elayne leads the way up the final ascent of the pass ocne mroe then descends the other side, motioning towards a coast some mile or so distant as it comes into view.  "There are some old buildings down there, not quite ruins, but good places to camp.  It's all a little lacking in privacy though..."  The silver-haired woman flushes slightly.  "Never thought I'd be bringing back a pr-.  A passenger..."  She quickens her pace.  "We'll make do somehow, come on!  It's dark enough out this far north when we've daylight, it'll be impossible to see once we get past dusk!  I'd rather be inside by then if it's all the same to you!"<br/>
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A quick glance does tell Zwei that the sky is indeed getting darker, the red light that shines through the clouds dimming to an angry glow as the sun sets...<br/>
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The ruins are open and broad, but they do possess functional technology.  Elayne's camp is situated in one corner of the least-run-down room, a small fire to heat the space with a spit over it to cook with, a heavy door dragged into place and barred with a leaned metal sheet, and most importantly to the sand-encrusted lady knight, a shower room with running hot water, albeit without any sort of dividers between the stalls.  "No soap I'm afraid...  Sorry."  Elayne apologizes as she shows Zwei around the place.  She lights the fire with a flick of her fingers interestingly enough, showing her to be a mage as well as a swordswoman.  A curious combination...</div>
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