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Five-Fingers Frog	As Frog gets acquainted with his newly ascended familiar, he reaches for the folds in his clothing, taking out a letter. Breathing in the faint aroma, he smiles wistfully. "Ah. There's a lovely cherry to Lady Syn's signature." The Harbinger opens up the letter and starts reading. "As expected. Congratulations on the newly made connection, and-" He pauses, a worried expression suddenly on his face. In a flash, he is on Mercury's Tear's back. "Divya. There's an urgent task requiring our intervention. Will you accompany us? I'll explain on the way." He pats his divine mount's side. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you have many questions, but they will have to wait. Do not worry, there is much talk to be had."
Mahendru Divya	Divya notices the letter and nods once, drawing up the trains of her simplistic merchant's robe. Now that she's dressed in her usual field disguise instead of being disguised as Five-Fingers Frog, of course. "Fate waits for no one," she says, with a resigned smile. Mercury's Tear begrudgingly allows Divya to mount, once Frog has had the chance to board and find his own spot to settle in. It's plain that -he's- the dominant one in this exchange...and Divya isn't necessarily more dominant than she is. For her part, the Oracle apparently feels no desire to test or define a relationship with the Sky Titan at this point. Instead, the three are able to get underway in moments. For just a single powerful flap of those immense wings are enough to send the three of them up into the sky. Mercury's Tear isn't much for finer maneuvering on the ground but there's no denying the sheer power of those wings or how quickly the ground begins to pass beneath them. "So talk," she says at last. Her voice is deeper than Divya's. Unsurprisingly, her accent is incredibly familiar as she talks just like a girl from where Frog grew up. "Who do we hunt?"
Five-Fingers Frog	"There's this city, Trinishan. A mad Solar queen ruined it recently - I'm sure some news filtered to Divya through her networks. I would love to help rebuild it, as I've mentioned to a friend of mine, but right now there are more pressing matters. In her insanity, before expiring, the Solar sent a flock of hawkriders at her homeland - to carry out some posthumous pillaging." Frog grimaces. "Chiefly, I cannot stand such wasteful and petty revenge. Ruining people's lives... and for what? At least before she was pillaging for herself. And second - she has already ripped through the Loom with all the grace and consideration only a Solar and their ilk could have. We are trying to limit that by intercepting these people. Hopefully they will listen to reason - but if not, you are the wyldcard up our sleeve. Would I be mistaken in my guess you would enjoy the challenge?"
Mahendru Divya	Divya listens with interest at Frog's laying out of the mission. The mention of a mad Solar queen elicits a resigned sigh before the 'expiring' and 'flock of hawkriders' both catch her attention. Her expression hardens. "It's the sort of thing my old friends used to talk about around the table during tea," the Oracle comments quietly, barely audible over the roar of the wind as the three make tremendous time across the sky. "Power-crazed Exalts like the Solars imperling the populace rather than saving them they way they were meant to. A shame Exaltation doesn't have a better selection system. Can't be helped, though. Not without some kind of predictive program..." While she trails off in thought, Mercury's Tear hrumphs at the explanation, the nonverbal sound rumbling through her great body and briefly vibrating both Sidereals where they sit. The three are already out of the valley of their initial conflict and crossing the first mountain range that'd previously been on the horizon. Finally, the Sky Titan says "I've never met a hawkrider. Never seen a hawk anywhere near the size of me. How big are these threats, to me?" Then: "And why do you careful, master?" The title drops from her beaked mouth reflexively, thoughtlessly, less a mark of respect and more a simple articulation of who he is to her. As if there was no other way she could speak to him, concerning him, with another word or title. "We're leaving my territory behind. Are these hawks invading yours then? They mean to loot what belongs to you?"
Five-Fingers Frog	Frog chuckles. "On the contrary, you will never leave your territory now - unless you wander into Malfeas or the Wyld. Creation is yours. Heaven is yours. The Underworld will be yours after we get some paperwork sorted." He pauses. "Well, yours in a way. I did not lie when I, to you, claimed myself king of the stars above and Heavens beyond - but there are many of us, sovereigns of what is. And you are part of it now." "They are meant to *destroy* what belongs to me - and that I can abide much less than looting. Taking a thing is giving it a new journey. Destroying it means the end of that journey." He sighs. "There is much to tell you on our way."
Mahendru Divya	Frog finds the trip passes quickly enough, long as the journey is. For her part, Mercury's Tear seems to be adapting to her new intelligence with basically no real reaction or angst on her part at all. She's still a territorial, dominant personality in how she thinks; it's just now her thoughts are far more expansive than they used to be. At no time does it seem to even occur to her to not go along with Frog's plans, but neither is she shy about stating her typically blunt, direct opinion on how to go about things. When complexity is pointed out to her, she listens, comprehends the complexity and still aims for the most straightforward, direct solution. For her part, Divya seems to find the conversation between the two entertaining and largely opts to listen and make notes in her journal book, although Jupiter knows what exactly she's writing in it. "I see them," Mercury's Tear says suddenly, interrupting a potentially interesting conversation the two had been having around why they aren't doing everything they can to kill every Deathknight in Creation, now that she knows they exist. She'd been about to say something along the lines of "We should just kill them and if there are consequences we kill those consequences too, or else they'll kill as as soon as they can." But apparently the danger is upon the team. Well, 'upon' is a relative word. Sky Titans apparently have -outstanding- sight. Tear changes course and it's almost twenty minutes before the two Sidereals can see a flock of hawks far in the distance. Mercury's Tear is on an intercept course, approaching at a 50 degree angle, and she's -really- beating her wings hard in a sprint to the finish. There's little question she's a lot faster than the hawks right now, who don't seem to have spotted anyone yet likely owing to the fact that she's coming in from outside their peripheral vision. "Have a plan of attack in mind?" Divya asks, rising to her feet. With a twist of her wrist, a knife falls into her hand from within her sleeve. "I can gain altitude, descend and grab their lead bird. Driving them towards the ground. The rest will follow me to try saving their lead." Mercury's Tear talks as if this is just basic air combat. Which, for her, it may well be.
Fudou the Mountain	As the hawks approach ... A sudden burst of moonlight erupts upwards from the land. A column of silver that blasts skywards in a torrent like a whirling funnel cloud full of hues of blues, whites and silvers that wash out over the entire area as if Luna herself in full glory has descended upon these lands. The truth is not too far off. A groaning of the earth begins. A trembling and shaking of magnitudes capable of swaying some buildings and toppling others. Within the column of light a turly monstrous shape begins to coalesce. Expanding in size.. Bigger, bigger, bigger. The proportions are fundementally monstrous but human. Monstrous in that the proportions would put one into the mindset of if Isidoros himself was seeking to forge a w ork of art. Hewing his version of the very visible incarnation of size and strength into human form. Monstrous in that what Isidoros would consider 'artful' is truly the embodiment of brutal strength and incomparable size. Bigger and bigger the form grows, looming up like a small landscape unto itself as the silver light wraps about it and the sigil of the full moon blares to life on a brow as wide as some streets. Massive oxen lke horns arc and curl up towards the skies around the growing titan. Barbaric gladiator like clothing and torn garments like ship sails, blast wildly about his legs and flanks from the whirling of essence. The behemoth, visage like that of a bearded ox or bull-yeddim, opens his mouth and speaks - deep voice rumbling out to address the riders: "I am Strength of Ten-Thousand Sequoias! I am The World Crusher Titan! You offend me with your approach!" The still expanding titan, spreads out arms the size of fortress towers. Biceps that give the impression of meteors bunching up hugely and casting shadow over the dwarfed landscape as he raises them up and stretches out fingers the size of small homes. "I will drag the skies down to me and you with it..and crush you as the price for your offense!"
Five-Fingers Frog	Frog nods. "You're the queen of the skies among us. Execute plans of attack as you see fit. Whatever the diplomatic route is, they will not be receptive to it right away in either case." He leans over Mercury's Tear's side, examining the ground-side spectacle. "There's... I believe that is a giant person. I know him. Fudou, his name was. Imagine that. He is a friend, and as good a landmark as any to drive the quarry at. This will be easier than I'd suspected." Ever the opportunist, Frog recalls the giant helping in the Iron Simhata debacle - and for the Exalted, Creation is sometimes a very small world. Even if the Harbinger cannot make out the details of the face, the silver light and the general *idea* of the giant are dead giveaways for the Mountain. "Mercury smiles upon us today. You'll meet her later - she's a brilliant person."
Fudou the Mountain	The hawkriders continue on! There is a certain level of logical practicality to not wanting to engage directly with a landscape dwarfing giant, no matter what threats he bellows, for the sake of self-prservation and carrying out the last orders of their mad queen. They have virtually any direction they can go on -but- right at the behemoth and so the hawks alter courses to continue to make for their true target while trying to circumvent the position of the goliath. The riders, however, take careful aim. There's no sense in simply ignoring him. A foolish act ..but there is some distance to consider here as well... Distance that the goliath is less inclined to allow them to keep. "Hey!" he bellows, lowering his massive arms down and his physique sliding into a briefly relaxed state as his gargantuan flex goes un appreciated. "Where're you going!? Cowards!!!" He huffs, bullish nostrils flaring and emitting a huge burst of steam from them as his gaze blazes with molten silver. He then takes a stalking step forward, shaking the earth violently...followed by another step and then another...and then everal rapid steps which cultimate in him springing forward and lifting from the ground like some fortress ascending upwards for the heavens. THe landscape shudders and sunders behind him, trailing debris that includes whole groups of full grown trees as his massive body sails overhead and then lands with a thunderous *TWHOOOOM* into a crater forming impact, nearly adjacent to where the hawks make their play.
Five-Fingers Frog	As the hawks and their riders focus all their attention on the silver giant, they barely notice a shadow falling over them - the just-as-gigantic wings of a sky titan, blocking the Sun for a moment... Until the next moment they are folded and she dives into the fray, stretching out her neck to snap at the leader with razor-sharp teeth.
Five-Fingers Frog	Her rider takes the cue and executes a series of precise knife throws - efficient, calculated. Each is designed to land a killing blow - to a throat, an eye, a heart. Dead bodies slump on the backs of their beasts - trained as they are, they continue fighting still, even as the blood soaks their feathers and drips down on the ground... and the rapidly approaching Fudou.
Mahendru Divya	The sight of Mount Fudou is enough to elicit a "Sweet Golden Thrush's Beak have mercy!" from Divya. And then the battle is upon them. With a discerning eye, she stands and walks to one flexing shoulder of the Sky Titan, eyeing the milling ranks fo the hawks below and around them. With one hand, she traces out a route before nodding in satisfaction. Then she launches herself off the side of the Sky Titan. She plummets for a mere second before that dagger flashes out of her sleeve, trailing a length of stained-black metal chain. The rope dart promptly wraps about the neck of a hawk, even as Divya grips the chain and pulls hard. With a mighty tug, she redirects her fall into a horizontal swing, dragging a strangled gasp out of the hawk. And with a twist of her wrist and a flipping motion of her arm, she yanks the chain loose from the hawk's neck...the bladed edge of the dagger gashing its throat just in time for her to loop another hawk. And then another hawk. Until she finally drops back out of the sky to land on the Sky Titan's back, seemingly unruffled by her brief trip except for the presumptive wash of red from the now dripping blade-and-chain in one hand. "Such a bother to wash all this out," she grumbles as she lines up her knife for the next opportunity.
Fudou the Mountain	Arrows rain down upon the giant as he recoils from the impact of his own landing and the landscape rolls and boils around him from the immensity of his form. As he straightens back up, bloodshed is already occuring in the skies just over his head and he looks up to see the savage strikes of his unlooked for companions. His eyes narrow slightly in the faintest hint of surprise at this turn of events - but an arrow glancing off of his seemngly impervious hide brings him back to the task at hand. His immense legs coil, the landscape sunders from the pressure...and suddenly he's vaulting straight upwards a slight distance, lunging into the air for the hawk riders and his immense frmae seemingly blurring infront of them like a gigantic wall that was just thrust upwards from the ground. Both of his colossal arms stretch backwards as he reaches the height of his movements -- and then they swing, coming around in a thunderous clap like motion that seeks to literally crush into as many of the hawks and their riders as he can in one wild sweeping gesture that would crush into his arms and one aother from the brutish assault. The ground already rushes back up to meet his titanic legs even as this attack happens and once again the earth rocks and shakes violently with the explosive force of his movements.
Five-Fingers Frog	There is chaos in the feathered ranks. Hawks are crushed - alone or together with their riders, - fall to the ground, screech and bleed. Some barely "limp" with their riders - while the latter are still combat-ready, the beasts themselves can no longer fight and start keeping their distance from the fray. It is clear the queen's retinue did not expect this level of resistance - and the legion is quickly dwindling.
Five-Fingers Frog	And yet it takes more than that to stop hundreds of feathered soldiers, and they tear into the giant's skin, swarming him before the jump brings him further once again.
Fudou the Mountain	"Fleas." declares Fudou, deep voice rolling in judgement. Silver boils and crackles around him, bleaching the landscape as it splits under his weight and crouching mass. The arrows and swirling claw swipes of the hawkriders seem to hardly draw his notice. He barely blinks. Instead, his gaze sweeps over the chaotic airspace and lays eyes about that Sky Titan and those riding upon it. His eyes linger there for a second and then... HE gives a slightly lopsided grin and ...winks at them. An instant later there is a thunderous *BOOOM* as the beheomth lunges into action again, once more leaping into the air against the swarming hawkriders. As their bodies flail against him and rain down around him, the giant twists and this time brings a colossal fortress tower arm hurtling downward in a thunderous strike that attempts to pile drive as many of a mass of the hawks and those who ride them, down under his great swing. Once again the landscape will shake, groaning from the earthquake inducing movements and the force of the giants strike and landing.
Mahendru Divya	With Mount Fudou continuing to wreck havoc in the midst of the legion of hawkriders, Divya's not averse to exploiting the strategic advantage. Her study of the Hawkriders suggests their birds are one of their most precious resources, long-lived, slow to reproduce, and much harder to replace than the riders themselves. And so Divya decides taking them out of the fight is her best plan. To that end, she begins to spin her rope-dart on its chain. As Mercury's Tear sweeps through the ranks, that spinning blade scythes through tailfeathers. Pinions. Flight feathers. The blade cuts into flesh and leaves gashes here and there but it's much easier to just wound joints and cut away a hawk's ability to fly. Damage their aerial profile. With each pass, another hawk finds it harder to stay in the air. Another hawk limps through the sky, their ability to even make it to their homebase drastically curtailed. The Secret is that she doesn't need to kill them to stop them.
Five-Fingers Frog	The Secret is for the Oracle. The hunter queen of the skies does not know the Secret. She feasts. As the ever dwindling numbers of hawks still try to maintain battle ranks - they have been trained well, they have! - Mercury's Tear bites and slashes and beats her wings and drinks of their blood and tears out chunks of their flesh. The spectacle, lit up by the silver of Luna and the amber of Mercury, is gruesome and not particularly appealing - but then again, war seldom is. Does Frog still remember his intent for a diplomatic option? Perhaps, but he does not stop his familiar. Her thrill in conquering Creation is important - and a few dead birds are less so.
Mahendru Divya	With the hawks routed, scattered, and utterly incapable of carrying out a proper attack on their homeland, the field of aerial battle slowly clears. Until Mercury's Tear is the only Master of the Sky. She gives out a shattering battlecry of domination and triumph! Her beak and talons wet, her appetite fed and her victory now assured. Then she circles to regard Fudou with dubious eyes. "Friend or foe?" She's looking at the Lunar but asking the Sidereal on her back. Well, the one she actually cares about. The other Sidereal appears to be cleaning the blood off her knife and trying to get viscera out of the links of chain before she rolls it back up beneath her sleeve. The disgusted look on Divya's face is decidedly at odds with the sheer viciousness she'd been slinging that blade around earlier. "Friend," the Oracle offers. "No one asked you," comes the curt reply from the divine Sky Titan.
Five-Fingers Frog	The threads of Fate are... not being mended, they aren't. To mend them would require undoing the damage the mad queen did - rebuild Trinishan, deprogram the raiders, restore the thrashed population of the riding hawks (the Metapalagan economy of looting their neighbours will suffer in the meantime; it is perish or transform - and they will soon be visited by a Guildsman offering the latter). But at least the brunt of the evidently suicidal attack was stopped, and there is time to think about what needs to be done next. With the riders tacitly let go, Frog smiles, beaming with pride. "Friend. Fudou is a friend. And so is Divya - I hope you will get along eventually. We'll be seeing her a lot." The *hopefully* goes unsaid, but, of course, felt.
Fudou the Mountain	He does not know them. Neither introduced themselves to him during the entire debacle that was Iron Simhata and the chaos of the end of the battle - while he saw the intervention of Heaven's agents he did not see -who- was behind it nor did he understand what was happening. But he was told of it. He was prepared for it.. he played a role in it and has continued to have communication with these....'agents'. For now though, as he shakes his vast hand free of bits of bone and blood, he turns his gaze towards the Sky Titan as she eyes him curiously... and he arcs an eyebrow of his own. His anima still burns, his aura silver and bright, but in time it will calm down. However, he sees to have no desire to...ah...become more discreet in terms of scale. "...I'm not hungry." he finally rumbles, addressing the Sky Titan as she cirlces overhead. "Besides...not enough meat on you for my tastes." He gives a slight grin now but then adds, "You have my thanks strangers. I came here to deal with these marauders but did not expect help..."