Rain. Rain, lightning, thunder, wind. Nothing but that. Oh there was fog too. Lots of fog. He was drenched, waterlogged, and practically blind EVEN with the goggles he was wearing. They might have been helping him keep the water out of his eyes, but there was so much water that it really didn't matter. Lightning flashed across the skies and illuminated nothing but fog. 

"RYNN CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING?" he called out over the roar of the wind. He could barely hear himself and if he couldn't see anything even with his goggles, then he was pretty damn certain his companion was going to be seeing anything at all. 

He was about to shout out something else when he felt the familiar tingle of electricity in the air. He could hear the crackle. 

"RYNN HIT THE DECK!" 

Lightning snaked across the sky, the air around the small airship turning red and superheating as it cut straight through the deck. The aiship buckled and Gideon Starchaser looked at the instruments at the helm. He swore. 

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

It had been a miserable time since they had arrived here.  Wherever here was.  The sudden feeling of something inside of her being ripped out of her was the first of many unlucky streaks.  

If only I could feel the Dragonsoul Star.  

That was all that Rynn could think as the rain and wind buffeted them relentlessly.  Thunder crashed around them, the sound splitting through the air.  She could barely hear her partner yelling across the deck, but she knew exactly what he had said.  She felt it too, but was far too late to react.  Lightning crashed into the deck, throwing Rynn into the air.  She landed hard, sliding across the deck back into the helm.  

"GIDEON, YOU IDIOT!" she yelled, struggling to get to her feet as her partner did his best to crash land.  "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST DODGE IT!"  Of course, Rynn would later reflect that it was an impossible thing to do, but during her initial panic, she couldn't think of anything else to say, and thus insulted her partner instead of commending him for his efforts thus far.  

Rynn cursed as she finally managed to stand up.  Of course, it was at that point in time that Gideon crashed, once more sending Rynn flying.  She cursed the world they had found, cursed her partner for his flying, and most of all, cursed a certain dead individual who had gone and done something completely stupid, and hurt her brother.  

Her last thought, before blacking out, was nothing more than cursing the name of Aeolus Alzrahi, her cousin who had gone and died, and left them all alone.  

Idiot. Yeah, of course she blamed him for this. It was a common thing in their partnership. He was a bit too preoccupied with the sudden appearances of cliff faces to really yell back at her. He was barely managing to stay upright and she was being tossed around almost like a rag doll. He had half a mind to throw her a tether, but there wasn't a chance for that. About the point she got to her feet again was when they bounced off one rock face and she went falling again. Wood splintered and he was pretty damn sure he'd just lost the rudder and half of the lower deck. 

All magical power to the small airship died with that hit and they were no longer airborne. Fortunately the ground wasn't too far away after the initial strike. Gideon figured it was probably a good time to grab hold of his partner. This would be one hell of a place to lose her, and he didn't really feel like going it alone in a strange world. He slid across the splintering deck to her and grabbed her about the waist before he held on for all the forces of life as the airship broke apart all around him. They skidded across the ground before eventually coming to a full stop. 

He blacked out at that point, his typically hard head hitting rather roughly on the wood planking. A flash of lightning and then darkness. 

When he woke up again, it was still dreary and gray, but it was at least not raining anymore. Gideon winced and touched the swollen knob on his skull. He was bleeding a little, but they were alive. Mostly just sore from the wild ride. He carefully checked Rynn to make sure she wasn't hurt, and she seemed banged up a bit but for the most part unharmed. It made him sigh with relief. He untangled himself from her, and though it was a bit damp from the rain, he draped what was left of his cloak over her to keep her warm while he stretched his double set of white and gold wings and surveyed the damage done in the crash. 

Yeah, there was no way they were going to be able to get the airship off the ground ever again. It had broken into almost four perfect parts, but the helm was completely smashed and the engine crystals were completely dead. 

"Well.. at least we survived it…" he muttered to himself as he started scavenging the wreck for what supplies and gear might have survived. 

Everything hurt.  Absolutely everything.  Rynn let out a groan as Gideon untangled himself from her, and she rolled over to her side.  She had half a mind to go back to sleep, but Gideon poked at her to make sure she was alive and well. 

Thanks.  I guess.  

Her eyes slowly opened to see Gideon walking away, studying the wreckage of their once proud airship.  Aunt Kyari won't be happy that we broke another airship.  I'll just…withhold that tidbit of information from her.  She sat up, her eyes trying to bring everything into focus.  She brushed several strands of hair out of her face, and started to get up.  "Okay…okay, Gideon….you can fix this, right?"  The world finally stopped spinning as she clambered up, leaning against a part of the wreckage for support.  

"Oh…oh no, that's…that's not fixable is it.  Auntie is going to kill you from crashing it," Rynn said.  She took a step forward and winced.  Her ankle seemed to be burning now.  The adrenaline was running out, and now she could feel the rest of her wounds and bruises, instead of an overall aching.  Her wings were sealed, so that wasn't a problem, Though without access to magic, I can't unseal them anytime soon.

"Any clue where we are?" she asked.  Maybe…I should apologize for calling him an idiot.  She flushed.  No…no, bad idea.  It'll go to his head.  "And are you sure Jace is even here?"  

While waiting for an answer, she knelt down.  Maybe I can…  She felt a pressure in her head; the flow of her own mana moving.  It's been a long time since I've had to do things without the Dragonsoul.  Maybe..I've been taking it for granted.  The mana flowed into her ankle, and the pain subsided. 

"Are you okay?" She finally asked. I probably should have asked that first…. 

He would let her finish her little bout of blaming him. It was something he was used to by now. He cast a slight glare up at Rynn as she was rubbing her ankle, but immediately felt bad about the bubble of anger he felt. He got up and moved back towards her. He heard her questions, but he didn't answer her right away. 

"Sit down Rynn," he ordered her, but gently as he climbed back up onto the busted up piece of ship where she was rubbing her ankle. He gently pushed her to a sitting position and gently lifted her injured ankle. Gingerly he peeled off her boot and massaged her foot. "Does that hurt?" he asked as he gently applied pressure, pushing her foot to the left and the right.  Gauging by how she either flinched or winced, he figured on it being a bad twist or sprain. But both would be painful for her to walk on, so he wasn't about to let her walk around on it and exacerbate it. He pressed a hand over her ankle and a twinkling white light left his hands and spiraled through her muscle and bone, spreading warm relief. 

"There, how's that?" he asked gently. He gave her a gentle smile. "I'm fine. A bit bumped and bruised, but I'm ok," he told her. He stood back up. "In answer to your previous questions: no, there is no fixing it. Even if I could piece it back together, the engine components are completely drained. There's no getting it back up into the air. As for where we are, I believe we are in a world called Revaliir. Southern region of one of the continents. That's what I got out of the airship instruments before we got hit by lightning," he told her. 

"As for if I know for sure Jace is here… I am pretty sure we are in at least the same world. Jace's aura mark is very distinct, but we've been looking for him for over a year, so it was faint," he explained. "But I am pretty sure we found the right place."

Rynn would never admit it to Gideon's face, but she was far more appreciative of him than she would ever show.  The two had a very complicated relationship.  If it hadn't been for the war, they could have been married and had children by now.  Rynn glanced away from Gideon as he felt for her injuries.  She winced, resisting the urge to slap him, and nodded when he asked if it hurt.

"Yes…" she was doing her best to hide her face from him.  Finally he finished working on her ankle, and she could look him in the face again.  "Well, if Jace is here, then he's done a good job hiding himself.  I can't feel anything.  Or…"  Or does this have to do with the fact that I can't feel my star?

"Gideon," Rynn said as she held her hand out to him.  "Help me up.  We need to…talk about something."  

"I can't feel the Dragonsoul.  I can't feel Serah's star either, nor Angel's Heart or Soulforger.  Revaliir must not have them, or if it does, they're different from where we're from."  She shivered.  "It means I might be depending on you a little."  There.  She said it.  And hated it.  But Rynn knew that it needed to be said.  Gideon was more than capable of taking care of her.  

"Anyway, let's…"  She looked around.  "Get…out of here."  It was slowly dawning on her where they were.  Off in the distance, she could make out faint gravestones.  A cemetery.  Rynn glowered.  "Oh no.  I've read enough at the academy to know where this is headed.  We are not going that direction…" 

He stood up and took her hand like she had asked. 

"I know, Rynn," he said softly. "The magic here is different. Those stars are still there, but they are different somehow," he said. He knew it was hard for her to admit she needed his help. It always had been. Her shiver made him pull her into his arms and he held her simply to help her warm up. "We'll find Jace, Rynn. And it might take you a bit, but I am confident you'll connect with the stars again. We just got to find the flow here," he told her. 

He followed her gaze and in the fuzzy dawn morning, he too saw the outline of the cemetery. 

"Yeah, that's a big whopping no," he said flatly. "I wasn't ever into horror or anything, but I do know what is supposed to crop up in places like that, and I'll tell you what, we are NOT equipped for a skirmish like that," he said with a slight laugh. "Come on, help me scavenge for some supplies and I'll fly us out of here," he said as he jumped down off of the piece of decking again and offered his hand to her to help her down. 

Rynn's breath caught when Gideon held her.  It had been far too long since he'd held her.  Her face flushed as she enjoyed the feeling of his warmth.  You're such an idiot… She closed her eyes, and took a deep, calming breath.  "Thank you," she barely whispered, and then tore herself from his grasp.  "All right then.  On to gathering what we can."  She clapped her hands, the sound breaking the morning silence.  

'Oh, look.  My spare sword!" she said excitedly, hurrying off into the rubble as if the moment earlier had not happened.  

It was nearly midday by the time they pulled the remaining salvage from the wreck.  All in all, it wasn't much that survived.  Rynn had some bare basics, her sword and a spare shield, and her cloak survived.  Her current attire, consisting of a ragged tunic and trousers would have to do for now, but she knew she'd need something better if they were to get into a scrap.  

"Well, Gideon…I didn't get away with much.  How about you?"  She sighed.  I already hate this place.  

"Well, I'm ready whenever you are.  Our next goal should be to get some more basics before we search for Jace.  I'd say we search for a town, or at least someone who can point us in the direction of one.  Once there, we can establish our bearings and maybe I can find a star to synchronize with, even if it's just temporary."

Like all their embraces, this one too was short lived. Such was their life. After Jace, Aelous, and Crystal, Gideon had a suspicion that Rynn was afraid of letting someone close again. He didn't blame her. He couldn't. She was ordering a scavenge now, like the boss she was, and who was he to argue. He went back and began picking at the rubble that had been dislodged during their descent down the hill, but all in all there was not much left to find. 

"Well, my armor is gone," he answered her. "If I had been wearing it last night I would have been struck by lightning, so I took it off," he said. "I'll have to see about getting a new set… but, I've got my rapier, my dagger… the clothes on my back… the spyglass and I've managed to salvage the airship's compass… so we won't be horrendously lost," he commented. "Oh, and check these out," he said pulling a couple of things out of his pockets. 

One was a spire of amethyst, easily about as long as his finger, and the other two were fossilized shells that were spiraled in rainbows. "They might be worth a bit of coin when we find a town. Could use it to trade for supplies. Or at the very least a map," he said optimistically. He handed her an apple. It was all that was left of their food stores, or at least all he could find. "Gotta keep your strength up," he smiled.

The sun was coming out and the fog was dissipating. It gave Gideon a pretty good idea of the layout of the land now. He also realized that they had come pretty close to death. Not another fifty feet of sliding and they would have been off a cliff. He whistled. "Well, we got lucky there," he commented. He spread his massive gold and white wings, both sets and motioned for Rynn to hold onto his shoulders. "I can fly us down. The air currents up here are strong so I should be able to carry you for some distance, even with all our gear. Come on."

Rynn cursed under her breath.  Not much survived the crash for Gideon either.  That put them in a really tight spot, buy he had managed to find useful things at least.  Still, his find of the precious stone and the shells might fetch a good price, if Gideon was right and they were indeed worth something.  She smiled briefly, I knew I kept him around for something.  

As he tossed Rynn the apple, she took a better look at the surrounding.  Indeed, Gideon had managed to save them from the cliff side.  Good boy.  She bit into the apple, and a burst of tart and sweet flavor made her smile even wider.  She hadn't realized just how hungry she was.  Well, anyway, we better get going.

"All right, Gideon, you better not drop me," Rynn replied to him, her tone serious.  She gripped his shoulders, leaning into him.  She could feel his soft wings brush up against her exposed arms, and a wave of longing for him made her want to grip him harder.  Now's not the time.  It's never the time…  She took a deep breath.  "Well…get a move on then, idiot…we don't have all day."