"...Well Blank? how bad is it?" Baku, Cinna and Blank are seen gathered outside the Prima Vista whilst the latter inspects the heavily damaged airship. "...Sigh, no good, boss. She'll never...fly again." says Blank, finishing his inspection. "...I was afraid you'd say that. Oh well..." says Baku, taking a minute to himself. "Gosh, who knew that Baku would get so teary eyed over an airship of all things-ouch! h-hey!" says Cinna, as Blank took the former's hammer out of his hand and then smacked him on the head with it. "Don't be stupid, you Bundt cake stuffer. That airship was boss' lifelong treasure. Without it..." says Blank, appearing solemn in concern of his leader. "O-Oh...s-sorry." says Cinna, realising his mistake.
Evil Forest by NyxTheShield-da:embed id="Dl3bD8RFYUU" height="315" width="560" profile="youtube"
Exiting the damaged hull of the ship are Zenero and Benero, carrying the injured Prima Vista orchestra members. Blank replies to the pair of twin brothers with the words. "So? how are they doing? any of them dead?" says Blank in a slightly morbid manner. "!? HEY! you just told me off about being sensitive, ya jerk!" says Cinna, not liking how Blank was being hypocritical. "None of them are dead, that's the good part." says Zenero. "The bad part is that they are all battered and won't be able to walk anytime soon." says Benero, following up after his brother. "Dammit, that's not good. This is the Evil Forest, we can't afford to stay around here. Zenero! see if you can find any undamaged medicinal herbs that weren't caught in the fire!" says Blank, asserting his position of being 1st mate within the Tantalus crew.
Zenero agrees without complaint, heading back into the airship to find what he was instructed just now. Cinna walks away and looks at the damaged cargo boxes everyone was able to salvage. "...So I'm guessing. For the sake of the musicians, we're leaving the goods behind?" says Cinna, asking a question. "Their lives are more important then lauding treasure. What? you disagree Cinna?" says Blank, giving his answer. "N-No! course not bro! just...golly, I thought we were going to rake in the cash for sure on this job. Dang it all..." says Cinna, as he laments how things have turned out. Blank agrees by saying in reply "No choice. As much as things should have turned out the way we expected them to, they didn't. That's cruel and harsh reality for ya, brother." says Blank.
"D'oh…" says Cinna, further depressed about the current situation. Suddenly, they hear a noise. "!? W-W-WHA-WHAT WAS THAT!?" shouts Cinna, on his guard. The noise was getting closer and Blank was prepared to draw his sword upon his back...until. The noise reveals itself to be Zidane, much to both Blank and Cinna's great joy. "!? Z-ZIDANE!" shout out the two together before rushing over to him. "Hey guys, long time no see." says Zidane with a cheeky looking smile, wiping his nose. "Long time no see my butt! we were worried about you!" says Cinna, starting to bawl his eyes out but trying to keep the tears in check. "ACK! enough of the waterworks Cinna, please! I'm begging you! honestly..." says Zidane, rubbing the back of his head and taking a look around at the damaged Prima Vista surroundings.
"...Oh lord. They really...hit you guys hard, didn't they?" says Zidane, walking up to the airship and gazing at the heavily destroyed structure. "Don't pretend like you weren't there, Zidane. Yea...they did a number on the Prima Vista alright. Baku's...taking a moment to himself to grieve for our valiant vessel. She sure was...one hell of a ride." says Blank, as he praises the Prima Vista. Zidane touches the ship, showing care for it. "...Thanks Prima Vista, you...have yourself a good night's sleep." says Zidane, saying "goodbye". Afterwards, he redirects his attention back to his Tantalus brothers. "...Okay. What's the damage report of casualties?" says Zidane, wanting to know if any lives were lost. "Thankfully none. Asides the Prima Vista, everyone was able to survive. Though we're all beaten to bloody heck and back. But we can't remain here, not in this place of every other place to be. Remember? this is Evil Forest. Home to souls of wretches that refuse to depart towards the afterlife." says Blank, giving another explanation though shorter this time of the current location.
"G-GULP! why...why did things have to turn out like this!? we nabbed ourselves a princess and yet! yet! aw hell!" says Cinna, kicking the grass beneath his feet. He continues being in semi-denial by saying "I tell ya, it was that knight captain's fault! if he didn't interfere, none of this would have happened! and now...now...now we've lost...our steadfast galleon." says Cinna, also lamenting the destruction of the Prima Vista. "Cinna. No one's-" before Zidane could speak, Blank says something instead. "No one's at fault, you dummy! listen. Everything is, as is. There's no changing that...what we CAN change, however. Is finding a way to escape alive from this place, no matter what. If not...then. The only blame to pass around at someone...will be ourselves." says Blank, offering wisdom, surprising both Zidane and Cinna.
"...Blank's right, boys. This is no time to dawdle, not when we are in infested grounds of fiends, all the more reason." says Baku, re-joining the conversation. "Boss!" say both Zidane and Cinna in union. "...So, you made it out alive, huh son?" says Baku towards Zidane. "Yeah...though, it was cutting it close." says Zidane. "Hmph, you can tell me the details later. Right now, I need you three to search the decks. No doubt, monsters will have made way into the airship already from the cracks it suffered. Courtesy belonging to those damn harpoon shots weighing us down earlier." says Baku, recalling how queen Brahne had ordered giant harpoons to fire at the Prima Vista. "!? Just a sec boss! we should be looking for both the princess and the Black Mage first! they should be our top priority-" says Zidane...before Baku interrupts by simply saying "Not our problem." much to Zidane's great horror.
"W-What!? WHY!?" shouts out Zidane with Baku replying. "Our operation was a failure and we won't get paid for it. Why risk our lives on the behalves of people we only met on the job, one of them whom was our target no less? forget about them kid. It'll just ease our consciences better...thinking they died in the crash." says Baku, turning away from his subordinates, as they become greatly shocked by the words of their captain. In Zidane's case, he is more so greatly angered above any other emotion. "!? You can't be serious, Baku! hey! old man! look at me when I'm talking! OI!" says Zidane before being stopped by Blank. "Z, that's enough. Captain's orders..." says Blank, deciding not to argue against Baku's command. "!? Wha!? oh come on Blank! you too!? … fine! I'll go find them myself!" says Zidane, breaking Blank's grip and next leaving the crash site. "H-Hey, Zidane!" says Cinna, trying to stop his younger Tantalus brother, only in turn to be stopped by Blank.
"B-Blank!" says Cinna again. "Leave him be Cinna. He'll come back...he always does. Evidently, that monkey's got some issues he needs to solve with that princess of Alexandria. Let him do what he wants for the time being. In the meantime, we've got our jobs to carry out. You coming?" says Blank, heading back into the airship's interior. Cinna is hesitant to follow before looking at the direction Zidane ran off into. The former thinks to himself "...Zidane, you be careful, you hear me!? don't go dying on us and leaving us with bad tastes in our mouths like expired Bundt cake!" says Cinna, using "Bundt cake analogy". Afterwards, he follows Blank into the interior of the Prima Vista, intending to deal away with monsters that have potentially lurked their ways inside.
From Zidane's perspective, he rushes towards the direction of a nearby lake, hoping to find somebody, anybody there. "Tch! cowards! who do they think they are!? abandoning a gorgeous gal like the princess!? I've got to find her and the Black Mage too, no matter what happens!" says Zidane, fully intending to find both Garnet and Vivi, wherever they are across the Evil Forest. Meanwhile...an injured Steiner is seen limping whilst using his broadsword with two hands, as a crutch to walk with. Stabbing the sword into the ground in order to move one step at a time, Steiner says to himself. "...H-Hold on princess Garnet. I...I am on my way..." says Steiner...still intending to "save" the princess, having the same amount of equal resolve that Zidane has, if not more so.
TO BE CONTINUED.
