The rising sun peeked out from the east at the quaint piece of civilization known as Truce at brown critter sneaking around a tent west of its famous fountain. 'Hmmph..he's still awake. Acquiring them is getting harder to do..' the Eevee thought to himself as he sighed and slowly walked eastwards to plan another approach. These plans to a halt however as he noticed a familiar moogle passed out on the street. With a gasp, Kalin ran towards her and gently placed his paw on her forehead.

Mogwai jolts awake at the attack "Help! Help! We're under att--" her cry of alarm cut short as she realizes that it is, in fact, simply a nice day. She looks down at her little intruder and gives him a weak wave "Oh, hi there. You're not a sword anymore."

Kalin leapt back in surprise, tilting his head to the side. "Vee..? (A wha..are you alright? Why were you just sleeping in the middle of town? I thought you were going to come back to the cave if you couldn't find Finn.)"

Mogwai rubs her arm and looks away from Kalin "Well... truth is I mostly went out to look at the sky. I thought about coming back but... there was a bunch of people. And one of them had a sword that felt like you. I tried to take it... and that's when you showed up."

"Eevee? (How can a sword feel like me? Did have a furry hilt?)" Kalin asked dumbly. And she tried to take it? It seemed they've both been bad about taking things that don't belong to them lately.

Mogwai gestures as she tries to elaborate "Well, it's like... I used Lumina's blessing, and I felt a response. It felt like you... but stronger. And it came from a sword. That's as best I can describe it."

"Vee..eevee. (So..you touched someone's sword, that reminded you of me, and fell asleep in the middle of the town.)" said Kalin, summing up Mogwai's story. Before he could continue to berate her, something dawned on him. There -was- a sword that she would be drawn to! "Vee? (Wait a minute..could that have been Ambience and the Sword of Mana?)"

Mogwai ponders this "I don't recall his name. And he didn't mention the sword at all but... he DID mention you, asking if I was the other person who sought the mana blessings." Something else was nagging her too. Something very important.

"Vee! Eevee. (Yeah, that's got to be him! I saw him in the forest yesterday. He and some other guys are going to go to take down the fortress in the sky with that sword, he asked me to spread the word and have hope. Kind of a hard thing for me to do, since you know..'Eevee Eevee!' and all. But you can help me with that, right?)" asked Kalin, a soft smile taking over the previous confusion on his face.

"Vee. (That's a very special sword, only true heroes can use it. He's going to get rid of the fortress. I just know it.)"

One can almost see the lightbulb going off over Mogwai's head "Oh! Right! He said he was going to meet up with... some guy. Someplace. And that they'd go up to the fortress. I promised to get him a drink when he fails but... you don't think he'll actually succeed do you?"

Kalin's soft smile quickly turned into a mildly upset facial expression. "Vee! Eevee, vee? (Of course he will! Didn't you notice? He's a lot like Finn, and you -know- Finn would succeed. He's from the Mana Holyland, do you have idea how powerful those people are?)" Kalin paused for a second and glanced towards the sky.

"Eevee, vee. (I knew from the moment we left the fortress that the power of mana wouldn't allow it to oppress anyone any longer. Maybe you don't feel the same way because you've never seen the sword until now, but I have faith in them. They've blessed us with so much to be thankful for.)"

Mogwai shakes her head "No... I hadn't seen the sword before now. But when I sensed it, I felt safer. I assumed it was just because it was the same as you but... well, I hope you're right. I'm tired of feeling hopeless. I want someplace safe to rest my head."

The Eevee couldn't help but smile a little at the comparison between him and the sword. "Vee. (Don't worry, there's plenty of hope now! Come on, let's head back to the cave. Candice took the girls to the valley to the north, so it'll be quiet for a while.)" said Kalin, gesturing for Mogwai to follow behind.

"Eeevee. (Oh yeah, Ambience told me about a place called 'Monstro Town' that's south of Viorar. It turns out, that's where the second beam headed. But his friend was able to absorb the beam and save the entire town! Isn't that awesome?)"

Mogwai offers Kalin a genuine smile "That... that's very awesome. Imagine if more people could do that... I wonder if that's why we haven't heard of any more tragedies since Crysta?" she tags along behind Kalin "It'll be nice to have some alone time... and speaking of which, I do wonder where Gizmo went off to. I know she wouldn't have let me leave yesterday. Ah well, we can worry about her later."

"Eevee? Vee. (Haha, who's worried about her? She's fine, she knows everything.)" said the Eevee with a chuckle as he stepped out of the vicinity of Truce, turning north towards the forest. "Vee..eevee. (I have to say though, I'm pretty jealous..you actually touched it? Darkrai was willing to bend time and space for that sword, and you approached it like it was nothing! If he were still watching us, he'd be screaming like a Loudred.)"

Mogwai laughs "Well, there were two little dryad spirits who weren't too happy about that. I suppose that's what I was doing asleep there... I imagine he wouldn't be content with just touching it, he'd want to own it. And I couldn't do that."

"Vee! (Oh yeah! I've met those two before. They're the reason I was able to talk to Ambience. They were also with the lady who took me to the Mana Holyland. It turns out, Ambience is her son! So now do you see why I believe so much in him?)" asked Kalin as he turned west of a massive hollowed out tree.

Mogwai nods "Yes... and I think I'm starting to see the hope you're trying to spread. Still... that thing is still up there. So long as that is so, we're all in danger." she lets out a long sight "I just wish there was some way for us to help. I see now that we can't always be the ones to save the day but... even still, we decided to avoid adventures shortly before this all happened, and I can't help but think things would have gone differently if we looked into it."

"Vee..eevee. (Maybe..maybe not. I'm sorry for not thinking about you at the time, but when Ambience told me his plan..I immediately asked to help fight. But he told me that I could do more to help by spreading the word and asking people to pray for them.)" said the Eevee as he turned southeast of a four-way path in the forest.

"Eevee. (I was thinking of going to Monstro Town and spreading the word along the way. The way he described the place..it sounds like just the kind of place I've been looking for lately."

"Maybe..." ponders Mogwai "Well... actually, the fortress was to the north last night... so going south might help with my jitters. Any idea on when you plan to go?"

"Eeeevee. (Sometime soon. I want all of Fa'Diel praying for Ambience and his friends before they go. I asked him to find me again after they succeed, so maybe he can go an adventure with us sometime! I'll also need to talk to the girls first..they don't know anything yet.)" At last, the cave mouth could be seen, gladly welcoming the Eevee and the moogle home. Kalin's nose immediately went to work at a certain scent rested in the air.

"..Vee..(Hmm..smells like..)" started Kalin before his eyes stopped on a pair of koi left behind on a blanket. He smiled softly, "Eevee. (That Candice, leaving extra food for me like that..she can be so..'motherly' sometimes. Would you like one before you rest?)"

Mogwai nods to Kalin before sitting down next to the blanket and picking up one of the koi. She was always fond of fish, and judging by Kalin's reaction it shold be fresh too. She patted the other side of the blanket for Kalin to sit down before digging in.

Following the gesture, Kalin took a seat next to Mogwai and grabbed the other fish his paws to consume it. "Vee. (You should see watch her cook them sometime. Her entire arm catches on fire and she just kind of holds it for a bit.)"

Mogwai whistles in appreciation "Sounds about as fancy as my own method. Floating fireballs. Ya know, I hear there's these strange people out there who use things called "stoves" to cook dinner. Isn't that silly?" she chuckles at her own joke in spite of herself.

"..Vee. (..'stove'? Sssttooooove. Stove. Huh..sounds silly. Caleb and the villagers would put these rocks together then get a pokemon like Xenayo to breath fire on it.)" explained Kalin, letting out a light yawn. He had woken up earlier than he'd have preferred because he thought that he could sneak into Fritz's tent unguarded.

Mogwai leans over to give Kalin a hug. "You look tired. How about you get some rest, I'll keep watch outside." she says, "For Candice and Gizmo." she adds unconvincingly.

"Vee. (Oh no, you're resting too.)" said Kalin as he returned the hug and attempted to pull her down onto the blanket. "Eevee. (And if you insist on watching, I'll -make- you sleep.)" said the Eevee with a mischevious grin.

Kalin rose a paw to stroke Mogwai's forehead while wrapping his tail around her side. "Eevee. (Don't worry..rest easy. I'll be your Sword of Mana.)"