Favor For A Friend (OPEN)

[Jay Furor]

Jay sighed as she walked through the heat into the ancient Xerxian Ruins. She hated missions like this one. She had to go out and collect some precious metal, a very rare type known as Xerxian Jadestones. They were supposedly forest green with a streak of yellow banded through it. And, she probably wouldn't be doing this if it weren't a favor for Darkamaru. He had promised her a set of new automail limbs if she could bring 75 KG of the stuff back to his shop in New Optain. So, she smiled slightly, thinking about her new limbs. He was going to use a portion of the material to forge them, two legs, and an arm. They would be the color of the gem which she figured would just add flavor to herself. But she really wanted them for their durability and poor conduction. It was about as good at conducting electricity as water is at burning, so she would finally have lightning proof limbs! And they were made to last a lifetime- Or until she broke them, whichever came first. Then, snapped out of her thoughts, she saw a figure up ahead, human shaped...

[196]

[Xan]

Xanthus Icarus rode into the Xerxian Ruins on a mission of his own. Or rather, a few missions of his own. Naturally, one of those was to satiate his own curiosity about the Ruins, as he had only come here a few times before, and neither of those times he had stayed as long as he might have liked. He was riding atop his trusted white steed Lance, and was wearing desert type gear, instead of his usual jackets or trench coat.

The horse’s supply bags were filled with food and an impressive amount of water. Most people would have questioned carrying so much water, even into the desert but then again, Xan was a Water Alchemist.

Another of Xan’s missions was to find a rare material that could only be found in the Ruins of Xerxes, and bring it back to Central. Who had assigned him this mission? No one, Xan just wanted to be prepared just in case he needed some of this material for any purposes, such as selling it to the highest bidder, making something out of it for himself, or just studying it.

Lance suddenly began to make the sounds that horses make when they sense danger closing in. Xan looked forward into the desert and saw a woman’s shape in the distance.

Now who could that be?

[Jay Furor]

Seeing the figure come closer, she noticed a horse, massive amounts of water, and the fact that this man looked military. She carefully reached for her minigun and held it in one hand, pointing at the ground. Sure, he was probably harmless, but she was a careful person. Still, who would be wandering these Ruins anyhow? Perhaps another Jadestone hunter? Maybe. Or he could be after Jay's head for that incident with her bad employer. She actually started to laugh in remembrance of that moment. She had been mad at some crappy mercenary so she killed her employer, left the bounty's ear on the desk, and left a personalized calling card for him. Maybe Jackwad tipped off the cops, she considered. Then she really DID laugh, this time at the idea that any cop could prove a threat to her anyways... What a stupid thought. She was the best there was, no doubts...

[153]

[Xan]

As Xan drew closer to the woman, he noticed that she was holding a minigun. Xan chuckled at the thought of a minigun posing an actual threat to him. He had various ways of keeping himself alive against an opponent with any weapon, but he had especially trained himself to be effective against firearms.

Moving his mind from the minigun, but not his eyes, Xan waved, hoping to show that he had no intention of harming the woman whom he saw much more clearly at this point. Now what might she be doing here, in this desert of all places? Perhaps searching for the rare material, or perhaps she was simply here for sightseeing? Yeah, and he was here just because he liked to be in the Ruins of a long dead civilization.

Jumping off of his horse as he got close enough, Xan waved again.

Now, what would someone other than me be doing in these Ruins?

[Jay Furor]

Jay noticed him wave and slung the gun back over her shoulder. No sense having it out if he was showing he wasn't hostile. But her eyes never left him. She knew better than to let down her guard. If he even made the slightest notion of attack, she would pull out the minigun, blast him to bits and if he survived, take down everything in a 50 yard radius of him with a package of C4. She was ready for everything. When he asked why she was out here, she swiftly replied with, "I could ask the same. I'm here looking for Xerxian Jadestone. And you?" She spoke with a bored tone to her voice. It was also sharp sounding and slightly cold. But, no one ever accused her of speaking too kindly to others. And, even as he approached she checked her clothing for her weapons. Satisfied with the results, she stuffed her hands nonchalantly into her pockets, secretly grasping an Uzi and a .45 calibere pistol.

[169]

[Xan]

Xan nodded, as though he had already known that she was looking for the precious material. Well, he actually had guessed that the allure of the material had been what brought the woman here. Xan looked at the woman in an almost analytical way, as though she were something he had been asked to study, guess what was inside of it, then dissect it to find out if he had been right.

The woman was armed with a minigun obviously, but was most likely also armed with various hidden weapons, just in case the minigun failed to complete its objective.

The Ishvalan shrugged, appearing not to care about very much of anything around him, and simply answered the question.

I am also here looking for the rare Xerxian Jadestone. I’ve heard that it makes a most excellent material for weapons and automail. Well, is this not a fateful meeting then?

[Jay Furor]

Jay nodded. "That was why I'm looking for it. My mechanic," She gestured to her legs and left arm, all automail, " needs the jadestone to make better automail, and simply because of some cultural thing. He's part Xerxian, a descendant of some fortunate guy who left Xerxes before the Xerxian Apocalypse. I figure he wants to make some stuff out of it. Plus, I'm going to keep a bit for myself and have my uncle forge it into a sword. Pretty nice material for weapons or automail." She nodded in agreement with her own statement and released the guns in her pocket, drawing out empty hands. She had looked over the guy and he didn't really seem too threatening. Of course, looks decieve so she would be ready for combat if needed. Thankfully, she was good at hiding her tensity, which was as tense as a rubber band about to break. She seemed casual and relaxed though, on the outside.

[161]

[Xan]

Xan took note of her automail limbs. Metal anatomy, a minigun, hidden weapons of various types. Well, this was obviously not just some random sightseer. Plus, she had just admitted that she was here for the Xerxian Jadestone. Xan thought to himself about what to do next. He could do battle with her, and most likely he’d win, but what would that accomplish except for a waste of good water? At the very least, he could….

Shrugging again, Xan hopped back onto his horse.

Well, as long as we’re not being enemies –at least for the time being- let’s work together to find this most elusive material, shall we? Hop on, if you like, or not. It matters not to me.

Lance, the white horse that Xan was riding on, eyed the woman with a look of curiosity. It seemed to be saying: “Oh, are you going to ride me too?”

[Jay Furor]

She simply shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat." She climbed onto the back of the horse with ease and petted the animal a bit. She liked horses and before the Incident, she would go riding every couple days. "So, do you know where the Jadestones are?" She looked at him, waiting for a reply. She knew exactly where they were, but she figured she ought to tell him if he didn't. No use in going with him if he wasn't going to be able to help her because of a lack of location. But, he more than likely did anyways, else he wouldn't even BE here... And why did he say 'For the time being'? Apparently, he saw her as a threat, as she did him. So in a way, it made sense that he saw them as enemies in a truce, working together until the truce is done and over with.

[151]

[Xan]

Xan nodded at Jay’s question. Naturally, he had known where to find the Jadestones before he had come to these forsaken Xerxes Ruins to find them. The knowledge of their location was not exactly common however, and it had proven to be a bit of a challenge acquiring said knowledge.

Reaching down, Xan grabbed a canteen of water for himself and offered one to Jay, asking her if she was thirsty. The desert heat could be the end for people who were dehydrated, the Ishvalan told her.

Naturally, Xan himself was more resistant to the heat, but still…no use taking any chances, right?

While he waited on Jay to decide on whether or not she wanted some water, Xan took a few sips out of his canteen. The water was cool, refreshing, and reinvigorating. That was one of the reasons that Xan liked to control the water element through his alchemy. It was the most versatile of the elements; the same amount of water could make a man feel like he was in heaven, or make him feel like he had just found the entrance to hell.

[Jay Furor]

Jay shook her head. "No thanks. See, since three of my limbs are missing, I can live longer than most humans without water, going about a week instead of 3 days. It's because my body uses less blood, and therefore needs less water." She then pulled out a canteen of her own. "Besides, I didn't come out here unprepared. I have two canteens and about 4 packs of various food. And if I had to, I could slice open a cactus for water and hunt for desert animals at night. I'm a survivalist, I guess..." She smiled slightly, placing her supplies back in her pockets. She knew exactly what to suspect in the desert. And she came VERY prepared. In fact, she had planned to use all of the things she mentioned, knowing that travelling on foot would take her long enough to use it all. Of course, that changed thanks to this guy's horseback ride.

[156]

[Xan]

Xan shrugged and put the water canteen back where he had pulled it from. After a little while of riding through the Xerxes Ruins, Xan pulled out a map and handed it to Jay Furor. It was a map that detailed the way to find the Xerxian Jadestone caches….all five of them. There was one in each corner of Xerxes, plus on in the middle. Xan guessed that each cache was probably filled with more than enough of the stuff for both him and Jay, so he told her to pick one and they would go to it, take all the material that they could carry, then get out of this desert without any problems.

Most likely however, something was going to go wrong. Things never went perfectly right….especially where oodles of money were involved.

The Ishvallan brought his horse to a stop while he waited on Jay to answer.

[Jay Furor]

Jay thought for a moment, considering the best option. "Hmmm... Well, since we were near the south east corner when we started, I say we go that way for the quickest route and quickest exit. What do you think?" Jay pulled out a pouch of figs from her pocket and placed one in er mouth, savoring the flavor before she chewed it and swallowed it. "Want any? They'll help keep up your energy and fill up your stomach." She tried to smile as she held out the pouch, waiting for his answer. Might as well give him something to eat too, if he didn't have anything already. Besides, it was the least she could do for him offering to take her to a mine. She knew that the mines were unused in centuries, so there would be even MORE jadestone than when Xerxes had been thriving, thanks to crystalization.

[150]

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