It...seemed like a good idea at the time.

[splinterself]

[So after getting the "Where is this, who are you, what is going on?" out of his system, Dirk Strider was purposefully and boldly exploring Mac Anu and was...kind of bemused by the fact that the city wasn't done up in purple and black.

...just saying.

He had ended up at the harbor and there he paused in his wan- purposeful exploring, as...you know what's incredibly distracting? Actually only having one self (at least for the time being) that he was aware of. Also the clothes. Also the fact that he still had no idea what the hell was going on, and, more importantly, what was happening with Roxy.

There was a certain irony in him spacing out just as badly as he did when he had multiple selves to juggle, one which was lost on the guy as he was spacing out, brooding.]

...

[Yeah, this was getting him nowhere. (And shit, the lack of purple really was throwing him off.) That was when he shook his head slightly, turned to the nearest person, and said:]

Hey.

[So verbose.]

Comments

[splinterself]

[Fortunately his end is a bit more straightforward in terms of weapon application. He moved, or tried to, and was irritated at himself. For a flashstep puppeteer he was disgustedly slow. Things would be different if he had Lil' Cal.

Things were never easy for him.

This time he skipped the banter, at least for the moment - when he tried to see how Jake was doing he got a claw for his trouble. No big. His responder did have a point: he was trying to do too much at once. Had too many irons in the fire.

He continued fighting.]

[hoperaider]

[Yes, Jake has to get creative, now. He focuses his efforts on one target, but after a certain point they get a little too close for comfort. He has to dash to the right and put some distance between himself and the goblins, though at the same time it makes him further from Dirk's group. That's both good and bad. Good because it won't overlap and turn into a huge clusterfuck.

Bad because if something goes wrong, Dirk probably won't get to him in time.

Nothing like a bit of danger to spice up an exploration!

Anyway, Jake is basically going to be doing shoot and run tactics, whittling down one of the goblins' health until it finally dies. One down, two to go.]

[splinterself]

[Exciting!

Fine. He defeated the first of the three around the same time as Jake, and he just took dow- no, hold on...wait a second, goddamn thing won't die. It's fucking close to death, almost as if it's doing it deliberately to piss him off. Some damn undead zombie goblin just trolling him. But there, with a slash of his swo-...fuck. Fuck. Flashing his sword again. Okay. There. Just took down his second. Happy?

Working on the third.] Doing ok over there, Jake?

[hoperaider]

[He's about to answer, but a goblin takes a swipe at him and connects a hit to his arm. It's only because he's used to this shit being pulled that he doesn't let go of the bayonet, but damn does it hurt.

Getting the fuck away again.]

I'm fine and dandy over here! How about you?

[Bleeding from his arm is not okay by any stretch of the imagination, but he's not going to say that right this second. He's just going to steadily kill the second goblin, though it's taking longer now.]

[splinterself]

I'm alright, bro. [And in certain ways, he was.] For once I don't have fucking Derse distracting me while I'm trying to get shit done. [Except its absence was more distracting than its presence had been in certain respects.] Dude, I'm even doing...dare I say it? Fantastic.

[hoperaider]

Splendid!

[Getting away to shoot again.]

I suppose this means that six of them aren't a terrible challenge for us, right?

[Oh finally now he's down to one left. One step closer to actually surveying the damage given to him, which hopefully isn't as bad as it feels.]

[splinterself]

Guess not.

[And he's almost...not quite...okay, it might take a bit longer but he's working on #3 and there's an end. It is in sight.]

[hoperaider]

[Which is good because Jake is not the best dodger in the world. He puts up a valiant effort, but he gets clawed again.

Fortunately, this also teaches him that the gun actually does work as a sword in close combat. It doesn't do a lot of damage, but then this isn't the class for that. Still, now he has a shoulder to worry about.

Jake dances away and has to make do with shooting it one-handed, which isn't as easy as it sounds.]

[splinterself]

[And he's done! He turns to-

...what the hell, English. How is that being 'fine and dandy'?

He'll be hurrying over to attempt to keep this adventure from ending in a TKO or having him mourn over Jake's dead body. Sword in hand, ready to slash and skewer, all that sort of stuff. Just...

...

It can wait. Attempting to launch a heroic rescue now.]

[hoperaider]

[It worked in that it kept Dirk from being more distracted than usual! Flighty blonds, gawd.

He's certainly very grateful that his friend is coming over to give him a bit of a break. Though he's sure to get...something after this is done.

Well, whoever kills it, when its dead he's going to go over and rest his bayonet against a wall to give himself a proper look at. To be fair, the wounds don't look too deep, so he got lucky on that score.]

[splinterself]

[And he stared at Jake for a long moment. His gaze shifted to the arm in question and he looked at that for a long moment.

Finally, he asked, in a tone which was deadpan for even him,]

How bad is it?

[hoperaider]

I can't tell with my shoulder, but it doesn't look like it'll be lasting damage. The cuts aren't terribly deep, so I doubt there'll be any sort of scaring.

[He feels bad for lying earlier, but he really thought it was better that Dirk didn't know until after the fight.]

Maybe one of the breakables are hiding a healing potion?

[Jake can't imagine why else they would be in a dungeon.]

[splinterself]

Maybe. I'll check.

[And he starts methodically breaking the...er, breakables. The first two were rather mechanical, cursory. At the third he pauses, and then lunges, sweeping his sword upward with both more technique and more force than was probably strictly necessary.

So far nada.]

[hoperaider]

[Okay Jake can't help a wince at that display. He's not sure if he should say something.]

I saw some others in the other room, if you think we should try those, too.

[splinterself]

[He's cool. He pauses before the fourth.]

Alright. I'll try those next if these don't have any, English. [Two more to go. #4 goes the same as #3.]

[hoperaider]

[Jake is getting the feeling that if there were any goblins around, they would know the fear of Dirk Strider when he's not in his chill mood.]

Dirk? Not to ruin your fun, but are you alright?

[Okay, yes, he'll bite. Getting this over with now!]

[splinterself]

Yeah, I'm fine. [Down goes the fifth. And he hit paydirt, in the form of a medical drink which he picked up and nearly tossed to Jake, before remembering-...yeah, given his arm? Instead he'll walk over and hand it over.]

...

[Pause.]

You mentioned breakables in the other room. I'll check them before we get any further. [And unless Jake does anything to stop him he'll be going to do just that.]

[hoperaider]

[Jake appreciates the thoughtfulness, and takes it from him. He simply nods and doesn't try to stop him.

He so doesn't believe Dirk saying he's fine. Looks, yes he's definitely fine

At any rate, he chugs the drink as fast as he can, making a face at the disgusting taste. Horrid stuff. The wounds are closing up, at least, he just needs to wash the blood off. Still, he makes his way to the other room to check on Dirk.]

[splinterself]

[Wow, he managed to clear out that room really fast, Jake's just in time to see him break the last of them. It's almost as if without an audience he just let rip quickly and efficiently.]

I found two more. [One was for Jake, obviously, and was tossed to him. As for the other...while he too had gotten nicked and scratched it was hardly anything that would necessitate using a potion...yet. That Dirk pocketed.]

[hoperaider]

[He catches it and puts it in his own pocket.]

Thank you! [Jake gives him a concerned look.] Are you alright to go on?

[splinterself]

Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? Me, give up? Not happening.

[He matches the concerned look with a long, measuring one.]

Do you want to go on?

[hoperaider]

Just the way you've been breaking them. I may need spectacles, but that doesn't mean I'm blind.

[Jake sighs softly]

I think we should. I don't like leaving things half finished. [He manages a smile.]

[splinterself]

Ok.

[Can you tell what statement he just completely ignored?]

Man, how deep is this dungeon supposed to be, anyway? [He proceeds to get back to the dungeon spelunking, heading towards from whence they came with the intent of going deeper. Like, unless Jake tackles him and stops him or something.]

[hoperaider]

[Jake can take a stab in the dark on which one it was. He follows along.]

Honestly, I'm not sure. It appears to be random.

[The corridor going north in the room they just cleared of the goblins leads to the next part of the dungeon. I hand the torch over to you for the layout and encounters of this floor.]

[splinterself]

[Fuck you now I'm going to actually draw this map out.

They head north. The next corridor is long, almost long enough to cause them to react to the length of it, but at the precise moment before one of them might've asked what was up with that they encountered the next room. Finally.

There's only two goblins visible. After a glance to make sure Jake hadn't passed out or anything and was paying attention and generally cognizant and all that good stuff, Dirk doesn't hesitate in pulling out his sword and you can guess what happens next. It starts with S, is the last name of a certain Final Fantasy character named Cloud, rhymes with knife.]