Landfall [Seafoam Intro Balendin and Odyssia]

[balendin]

Balendin stood sternly on the front of a glorious Lux battleship. He could not help being full of pride. This Lux super-dreadnought battleship was one of the few of its kind. It had taken nearly all of Balendin's pull to convince Lux to pay out to have this ship built and commissioned into the Lux navy. Most Lux officials simply did not have the desire to properly support and fund the navy. They always would point their fingers at those dastardly pirates as an excuse. Balendin would have none of it. Eventually he would see that a proper Lux navy became the pride of the world.

Balendin's battleship led a convoy of smaller cruisers guarding transports delivering reinforcements from Fuchsia City. Nox had made their move on Seafoam somehow carving out a defensive position in the caves. Balendin was not sure how this came about given all the defenses Blaine had created on the islands, but it had come about nonetheless.

The Lux founder was decked out in his usual gear except for one change. At his belt rested a katana. This was no decoration; this katana was made for combat. In a flash of light, an Alakazam appeared beside Balendin. Resting a hand of the pokemon's soldiers, the two disappeared from sight. Appearing on the beach, Balendin was surprised to find it empty. Sending a message to the battleship via Pokegear, he ordered Lux forces to begin landing and establishing a foothold on the island.

Slowly Balendin made his way up the beaches towards an entrance to the caves as his Alakazam followed behind him. He would not let Nox have their way on this island without a fight. Who knew what kind of crazy inventions Blaine had stored here.

Standing before the cave, Balendin stopped to peer inside for a moment. It was dark. Nox could be waiting in ambush. Hell, most certainly they were. That was why he would go in first. If his death could save the lives of others then let it be so.

[fatedagain]

He was here.

She flexed a smile no one saw. If they did - god forbid - they would be looking at a demon with the most serpentine features. Eyes into slits, lips stretched so thin they made into one fine line. No one would ever see her ugly face but she knew they must be able to sense the demonic flare. The intensity, the fury, the passion. She didn't believe in art or poetry but she had no sex life. Her day job allowed no space for emotions. The few instances she could be violent and be forgiven were her sole medium to be human, and it shook within her like a volcano ready to erupt.

However, just as much as her expression stayed hidden, so did her unbridled emotions.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Cold, apathetic footsteps of iron boots against ice-layered rocks echoed throughout the darkness, playing falsely the rhythm of her heart. She could see him standing inches before darkness, hesitant to enter.

"Vat are you vaiting for?" came her distorted, masculine voice, hauntingly speaking as though the cave itself had spoken. "I am 'ere...Balendin."

The chortle escaped her throat and she made no effort to control it. Her laughter bounced around the walls like ringing cymbals. She continued walking, her figure still within the cover of darkness. "Fate iz a funny thing...I am amused. You need to smile more."

She stopped. A ray of the sunlight caught her for a moment but she drew her head back in an instant. In that brief moment, an iron helmet glistened back, no flesh or bone revealed.

Without waiting for another second, she bounded back, rushing inside the tunnels of the cave as her iron boots made hasty clanking noises. The echoes resounded that there seemed to be several copies of her running everywhere.

It was a trap. Clearly a trap. But she'd done her research...and she knew he was far from ignorant. He knew her, albeit only in hearsay and she knew him, though not personally. But it was that which made it interesting, amusing. They've been dancing a waltz for two years and have always eluded the other in the field. She knew this day would come although it was Blaine she had been hunting for. See, it was funny. Very funny.

The last act was today. It was almost sad to see Balendin go.

She wasn't prepared to die; only prepared to kill.

((I suppose we post in the battle thread the moment one of us is ready to begin the serious fight.
If there's something amiss in my post, do tell me.))