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Sirxeko sighs and tosses his pack down on the forest floor at the base of a tree. He then plops himself down onto it, sitting on the pack, leaning backward into the tree.
He and his Lucavi companion, Valedus, had been traveling together with the dock city of Dollet being the ultimate goal. They have been traveling together for a while, and they normally would've arrived by now, but due to faulty directions given to them from a Demonic General, they had now been wandering the same forest for almost a full week. But things were looking up; light could be seen through the trees to the north west now, they were at the edge of the forest. They would be out in the open by night fall, and then they wouldn't have to worry so much about being ambushed by monsters, bandits, and fiends.
After about an hour he slouched forward, his head resting in his hands. Vale was off gallivanting around somewhere, doing whatever it is that demons do. This was not the first time Vale had left Sirxeko waiting in this forest, usually returning with food or water or firewood and the like, though normally he returned by now. Perhaps Vale was attacked, or maybe he got lost, Sirxeko was beginning to be both annoyed and worried.
There was the sound of foot steps behind him, and Sirxeko perked up. "About time you got back," He said, getting to his feet, "We need to get moving if we want to get out of here by night fall." He gestures toward the thinning trees in front of him. He didn't bother looking toward the owner of the foot steps, he had just assumed that it was Vale.
Word count - 292 ((I know it's short, but it's the beginning of a thread, I'll get writing longer posts as the thread picks up.))
She'd been walking for hours, when Xahna had finally found her way to a forest. She sighed, and entered. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. She had no idea how far she was from Dollet, just that she was headed in the right direction. " At least I won't get lost in here..."And it was probably true. She'd lived her whole life surrounded by forests, and through getting lost countless times, had learned to adapt to them. The fallen leaves and branches crunched under her feet, as she was reminded of home, once again. She took a deep breath, and set up a faster pace.
The trees around her were a blur of green and brown, as she darted through the foliage at the fastest pace she could manage. Her breaths were quick and steady, and her strides were short and quick. She heard the whistle of birds and the rustle of other woodland creatures as she'd passed by them, but didn't bother stopping, or even glancing back at them. Not watching her feet, Xahna made her way around a huge tree, and tripped over a root. Before tumbling to the ground completely, she spun herself, landing on her hands, and rolling forward. She sat in the soil and grass for a few moments, collecting herself. " I don't even know why I'm doing this.." - She said to herself, as she climbed to her feet, and brushed the dirt off of her clothing, and out of her hair. She turned around, about to start running again, when she noticed a message carved in the tree she had just tripped over. She spun around quickly, looking for any signs of life, other than that of the forest creatures. There was no one to be seen, so she decided to take a moment to read the message aloud to herself. " Dollet.. that way.. ?" The craftmanship was not the best, and the words were slightly difficult to make out, but she'd figured out what it had said. The arrow made it pretty obvious, too.
Xahna decided to take a rest, and walk part of the way. She could see the end of the treeline; she was coming to a clearing, and was glad to be getting out of here, though she knew this wouldn't be the last forest she would have to go through. Xahna's ears perked, as she heard the rustling of leaves and clothing a few metres in front of her. She jumped behind a tree, as she heard someone take a deep breath. She peered out from behind the tree, to see a human slouched up against a tree. He was facing the other way, and probably aware of her presence, as he'd just said something. Get there before nightfall?. Xahna took a step out from behind the tree, as quietly as she could, not noticing the small branch beneath her foot. She placed her foot down, snapping the twig in two. If he hadn't been aware of her before, he was definitely aware of her now.
As it turns out, doing whatever demons do includes following the strange new girl who appeared to be following Sirxeko and his trail. While this was unexpected, Vale had decided not to report back to camp immediately and instead shadow the woman to decide whether or not she was dangerous. He quickly came to the conclusion that she was, most likely, not dangerous and was instead simply very boring to follow about. Sure, he thought bemusedly, it beat simply wandering around the forest scavenging for food- but that didn't mean it was any fun to him at all.
Of course, the thing that could have really been bothering Vale was most likely not boredom, but attraction. Vale had long since learned that in the realm of Gaia, becoming attracted to the opposite gender simply meant problems. First of all, he wasn't human and almost everyone hated Lucavi. Secondly, every girl he had ever hit on either attempted to rob, kill or emotionally abuse him. And thirdly pretty girls always brought problems with them. At any rate, Vale decided to avoid any confrontation with the girl if at all possible. Aside from the one he was about to make at that very moment.
Stepping out from the shadows, the young demon was going to attempt to make a grand entrance, pulling off both the "total badass" and "friggen sweet person" archetypes with such percision that she would simply stare in awe as he explained his presence to her. Unfortunately, things never work out as planned and he tripped on a root and fell flat on his face.
Raising his hands to show he wasn't armed and wasn't planning on doing any harm to anyone- Vale attempted to push himself up with his elbows. Failing at that, he replaced his hands on the ground and pushed himself up; returning his palms to their former face-up position. He sighed and spat out a wad of dirt before beginning to speak to the startled girl. Luckily, she wasn't too startled as his wings were firmly fastened beneath his cloak, thus keeping them from slipping out and revealing themselves to any random women he would meet in the forest (truth be told, he hid them when he first saw her just in case she DID see him before he had a chance to explain himself).
"Before you either cut, shoot or maim me, depending on the weapon you no doubt carry, please hear me out." He was hoping Sirxeko had begun to head their way by now- he was talking rather loudly, and before he showed himself the girl stepped on a branch. "My friend that you've been spying on and myself are simple travelers, headed to the city of Dollet. I was simply following you to find out what your intentions were- seeing as most people don't enjoy getting robbed by odd women in forest."
He looked her in the eyes (he had previously been looking at the ground- attempting to avoid eye-contact. The only reason he met her gaze now was for sincerity's sake.) and gasped a little at her oddly colored eyes. Sure, her hair was a bit more of an obvious oddity about her, but hair color could be changed with dyes and chemicals that Vale himself found incredibly odd to put in one's hair. Her eyes, however... They weren't dissimilar to a Lucavi's, though he was sure the girl was human. He wasn't very used to seeing purple eyes outside his home-realm. He shook his head slightly and attempted to turn his obvious surprise (aka, the gasp) into a slight cold (aka, a cough)- though he failed miserably at it. Thank the gods Sirxeko hadn't been there yet or else he'd probably make fun of the demon for weeks.
Sirxeko heard a twig snap behind him. That was odd. Normally his Lucavi companion was very sure footed...well "sure footed", truth be told, he was sort of clumsy, but he moved silently, and would never snap a twig like that. Sirxeko spun around. There stood Vale, grass stains down his front, and there, standing in front of him was a young woman.
Sirxeko stood looking at her for a moment. Sirxeko knew a little something about attractive women, his old master had often invited young women of questionable morals to spend the evening with him. And while Sirxeko himself was disgusted by this behavior, he couldn't deny that each of his masters guests were attractive. "You sort of have to be attractive to be a successful whore" he thought. But this woman, she was more attractive than any girl the master brought home. And she certainly wasn't a whore either. No, she had a different brand of attractiveness. She was more beautiful than she was sexy. That's not to say that she wasn't carnally appealing to the eye as well, especially given her choice in clothing, but it was her face, her hair, her eyes, her nose, her mouth, those were the most appealing traits...followed closely by the rest of her body.
Sirxeko shook this from his mind, and instead occupied himself with the usual questions; who is she and what is she doing here. They stood awkwardly for a moment, Vale having just introduced himself. Apparently they all were lost in thought. Sirxeko, who's mind was being slowed down by the shock of suddenly having this stunningly beautiful woman here before him, he decided to break the silence. He opened his mouth and closed it, unsure what to say,and significantly more nervous than he had been when he met Vale. He then made a startling realization. She was standing between Vale and himself, that means that Vale must have come up behind her, which means she must have been standing there for some time. He was not sure why, but the knowledge that she was watching him made him even more nervous, though at the same time gave him a dose of determination. He gulped a breathe of air and finally broke the silence.
"Yes, we are travelers. That small androgynous chap behind you is named Valedus, and you, my friend may call me Sirxeko. The two of us are headed to Dollet, to the sea port, more accurately. Vale is planning a long awaited Vacation in the Spiran city of Luca, and I am headed to Midgar. So, now that you know a fair bit about us, do tell me about you. What is your name, miss? And what brings you to this charming locale?" He was always nervous when meeting new people, and he was especially nervous now. Yet for some reason his voice was calm and steady. Not only that, but it had a certain soothing quality to it as well. He was "laying the charms" on this girl without even trying. He smiled. Apparently he had inherited his father's way with the ladies.
word count 524 total 816
((Okay, time for Sirxeko to step it up a notch. He will be more charming and romantic than ever before. Xahna, you are in for a treat. And Vale, you are in for a real challenge.))
((...oh, and Xahna, when I say "in for a treat" I mean "brace yourself". ;D))
Xahna sighed. She realized that she should have been more aware of her surroundings. Stupid twig. She thought to herself, before turning around and coming face-to-face with a young man. He was rather... nice looking, she found. He was very pale, much like her, with dark hair and very bright green eyes. They were abnormally bright, now that she thought about it; she'd never seen anyone with eyes that colour before.
Xahna subtly stepped back, ultimately ending up with her back to a tree, and took a deep breath, as the man quickly explained his intentions. She hadn't expected to encounter anyone in this forest. Before she'd noticed the man against the tree, she thought she'd been alone. Though she had gotten that "somebody's watching you" feeling as she ran through the trees, she hadn't bothered to stop and check if she had been right about being watched. She couldn't find anything to say to these travellers.
Xahna stood against the tree uncomfortably, as the other man, much taller, made his way over to the two of them. Apparently, their names were Vale and Sirxeko. She'd been watching Vale the entire time, until she'd heard footsteps in the grass behind her. She opened her mouth, and then closed it quickly. She swallowed once, and took another deep breath, upon realizing how nervous this situation was making her. Xahna had never been good at talking to people, and the fact that they were both rather attractive, made it even that more difficult. She was afraid she would say something stupid, and make a fool of herself; it's not like it hadn't happened in the past.
Xahna, who had been watching Sirxeko as he made his way in their direction, noticed Vale looking at her. " So I'm odd, huh?" Xahna said jokingly to Vale, as she directed her gaze back to him. There was something.. oddly alluring about him, she found. " I wasn't planning on injuring you." She assured him, as she examined his movements and actions. Xahna had surprised herself. She had actually manage to speak in a calm and steady voice, instead of sounds like an idiot. She'd always had trouble speaking to new people, especially attractive young men. " My name is Xahna." She told the two. " I'm headed to Dollet right now, to collect materials, and then I'm going to Midgar." Xahna's comment about Midgar seemed to alert both of the men, bringing up a different reaction in each of them.
Sirxeko watched her interestedly. She had very pale skin, sort of like Vale's, except for her cheeks. Her cheeks had a slight pink tint to them. Odd that she should be blushing when her voice was so smooth and steady...and attractive. Why would she be blushing? Why would she be nervous? Could it be that she was attracted to one, or both of them as well? Why? It wasn't as if they were the best looking men around; Sirxeko was tall, but he was thin, there were no muscles in his frame, and Vale...well truth be told Vale looked like a twelve year old girl with demon wings. No, it couldn't be that she was attracted to either of them. Then why was she blushing?
These thoughts flew from his mind the moment she mentioned that she was headed for Midgar. Replacing those thoughts was a feeling of excitement and happiness. It wasn't certain, but it seemed that he may be able to spend more time with this fascinating woman. He too was headed for Midgar, and the idea of the two of them traveling together almost made him jump for joy. Indeed he almost asked her to join them right then and there, but his logical side stopped him. He didn't know why he was so intrigued by Xahna, but he realized that the fact that he had not seen a woman in several weeks may be a major contributor to his new found interests. He wanted her to join with them, but part of him knew that a third person would mean they would need more food and it would likely attract more monsters. Even so, he desired her company.
Obviously he was too fond of the new girl to make sound judgments. He turned to Vale to ask his opinion on the subject. But what he saw shocked him. The demon was blushing too! Vale's blush was a lot easier to read than Xahna's though. Sirxeko knew exactly what Vale's expression meant. "Blast it all!" Sirxeko thought. He and Vale had only one thing in commons it seemed; their taste in women. Sirxeko grappled with frustration at his boyish companion and infatuation with this woman, his mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts, partially logic, partially whimsical fantasy. He looked Xahna dead in the eye, a welcoming smile on his face. He had come to a conclusion; he wanted her to join them, and Vale would obviously have no complaints. The only question now was how to go about asking her to join them without offending her in some way. Sirxeko felt the nerves creep up on him again as he spoke again.
"Well, isn't that an odd coincidence. We happen to be headed to Dollet as well. In fact I happen to be headed to Midgar myself, perhaps you..." His voice trailed off. He had realized that he had already told her where they were headed. He was now just repeating himself, making a fool of himself. This of course did nothing to aid his nerves. He shook his head violently, before trying again. "Sorry, about that. What I meant to say was, since we happen to be headed to the same place, perhaps you would like to join us? I, for one, would absolutely love to have you." He smiled. His words were a lot less foolish this time around. "Of course, most people who travel together prefer to get to know one another before hand, so if you'd prefer, we could always make camp early tonight, to give us the chance to chat."
Sirxeko's earlier hopes of getting out of the forest before nightfall were completely forgotten. His only hope know was that Xahna would agree.
Word Count 636 Total 1452
((Okay, so I toned it down a little. Being romantic is one thing, being overbearing is another. Still, Sirxeko isn't going down without a fight. Come on, Beuxhart, give it up. Just think of the Sirxeko/Xahna pairing as an RP tradition. XD))
((Also, when I said that Vale looked like a twelve year old girl, I know that it SEEMS like that was below the belt, but really if you read his bio, that's an accurate description, and in fact, that's sort of how I've been imagining him up to now. I'm not trying to play dirty or anything in my attempts to woo Xahna.))
((And, just to clarify, Vale felt Xahna's presence behind us so he looped back around behind her, right? So Xahna was spying on Sirxeko, and Vale was spying on Xahna. Well, "spying" isn't the right word, but you get my meaning, right? Just making sure I'm on the right page, it's like four in the morning and my head isn't all here right now. YAY for staying up late and leaving random out of character comments! Wooo!))
At the mention of Midgar, the young demon's perked up a bit and he managed to get himself to stop blushing at the girl. Discerning why exactly this girl, Xanha, wanted to go there would help tell the men who exactly she was; or at least what exactly she did for a living. While Vale wasn't overly worried about either of these things, he'd prefer to have some sort of idea about what exactly Xanha did before deciding completely whether or not he liked her. After all, first impressions meant little to nothing to Vale, no matter how pretty the girl.
There were very few things that Vale found humorous in the land of Gaia. People getting kicked in the goods and gratuitous amounts of current pop-culture references were among them. Now the demon had another thing to add to that short list- Sirxeko being just as flustered as he himself was around women; albeit, good-looking women. He catalogued the image in his mind and let out a short laugh to himself. However, the laugh came out at a rather inopportune time (when Sirxeko was repeating himself, go figure)- so it appeared more as if he were laughing at the man than himself.
Before Sirxeko could comment on his behavior, Vale turned back to the girl they had found. "Xanha, was it? Pleased to make your acquaintance- as Xeko said, I'm Vale- or rather, Valedus, should you so wish to call me by my full, less appealing name."
He turned to Sirxeko and shook his head at the man before jokingly stating: "And what exactly are you doing, inviting her to join us like that? It took me at least a few minutes and a coaxing of food to get you to come with me- what gives?" He chuckled again at Sirxeko's obvious newfound attraction (Vale hardly realized how much of a hypcrite he was being) and began to walk again back the direction they were supposed to be headed. "If you want to get to know her, Xeko, do it while we walk. I'd like to at least get into a moderately defendable position before nightfall, and this place is most definitely NOT a defendable position."
He turned back to the two after he rummaged through his pack, pulling out a few strips of venison. "If you're hungry, we've got food, but I'd prefer we eat while we walk... like we've been doing for the past few days. Unless you're tired or something, Xanha? I don't have the slightest idea how long you've been traveling and how much you've eaten in the past few days. I had to slow myself down for Sirxeko over there for a night, so I suppose if push came to shove we could do the same for you."
"And..." He returned to the two with the dried, salty food and offered it to them, "I have to ask something- forgive me for being so rude." He took a deep breath before continuing, feeling the beginnings of another "blush-fest" coming on. "Are your... well, your eyes... Is that your natural color? It's... well, to be completely honest... it's pretty neat."
Inside his head, the cool, badass portion of Vale performed several facepalms before pulling out a pistol and shooting itself in the face repeatedly. "Pretty neat"?! Seriously? A second grader could have come up with better words to describe the beauty Vale saw in them; or, at least, the resemblance to his own kind he saw in them. The young Lucavi sighed and scratched the back of his head, laughing a bit nervously.
"I apologize for my prying... I just have to know. It reminds me of... Ehh..." Vale stopped himself and collected his wits. Listening to himself stutter like that was impossibly annoying to him, and, no doubt, his companions. "It reminds me of home." At this, he turned away from the two and headed back to his pack, waiting for Xanha to decide whether or not she wanted to stay and camp or continue onward.
Xahna.. did not know how to react to Sirxeko's question. Should she go with them? Should she not? It had been so long since she had been in contact with another living, breathing being. She thought it may be a good idea to travel with these two to Dollet, to get away from the loneliness and pain that had been clawing away at her heart. "But will it ever really disappear completely?" She thought to herself, silently. She knew she would never really be able to rid herself of these emotions, she knew it for a fact. She may be able to fool herself into thinking the feelings were gone, but in the end, it would just be an illusion. An illusion she'd created for herself. Her dreams weren't even peaceful anymore, which was something she longed for. Her dreams haunted her. Xahna hadn't slept in days, and because of this, had little red circles around her eyes. "I.. guess there's no harm in this." She thought again, before finally speaking up.
" I, um.." Her nerves crept up on her again. She wanted to travel with the two of them, but.. would it really be such a great idea? The last time she had travelled with someone of the opposite sex was two years ago, and that.. had not ended well. She had always wondered where he had ended up, and what had happened to him. " As long as I don't delay you,or get in your way, I'd be happy to join you two." She noticed, after the words had left her mouth, the utmost honesty in them. She really would be happy to travel with them, and get to know the two of them. The silence was beautiful, but it was just too much to handle sometimes. She realized this, after her family had died. Two of them by murder, and one by suicide; which brought her to her next point.
Vale's comment on Xahna's eyes had shocked her, and made her blush. She'd never been complimented on them before.. everyone she had ever known, besides her family, had thought the colour was extremely odd. Though people generally tend to think that things they do not understand are odd. Nobody, aside from her Mother, Father, and Brother, had ever understood why her eyes had been purple, because she was human. She took a few steps away from the tree, toward Vale, who had stepped away and headed toward a pack. " No harm in asking. I don't consider that intrusive, if you're wondering." Xahna smiled at Vale, who had turned around to listen to her, and blushed some more. Her face was red, and she could see that he was blushing, which only made her blush worse. She thought of a way to answer Vale's question without being completely upfront about the reason why. " Yes. It's my natural colour. I, um... I have my mother's eyes." If her eyes had reminded him of home, then he should understand what she'd meant when she'd said that. And if her eyes had reminded him of home, did that mean what she thought it meant? She was sure it had, considering the colour of his eyes. They were so abnormally fluorescent and bright. She was sure he was Lucavi.
Xahna looked at Vale again, and blushed again, before turning to Sirxeko to answer his question. " Vale's right. If we're going to stop and set up camp, then it would be better to get out of this forest, first." Xahna gazed around Sirxeko and at the treeline ahead of them, and then turned back to him. " It's up to you whether or not we stop, though." She told them. " But if it isn't too much to ask, I haven't slept in days.."
So- two random men in some forest in the middle of nowhere didn't intimidate this girl at all? Jeez... she had more guts than most men he had met. At any rate, Vale was happy to have a new companion in his travels, however short her stay might be with him. A slight grin played across his features before he quickly smothered it. No doubt Xeko would get upset should he realize that Vale was happy about Xanha being with them now, but, then again, he suppose that if he knew that Sirxeko liked Xanha, Sirxeko probably knew that Vale liked her as well.
The demon nodded at the girl- grinning a little despite himself. Sure, he had probably just given away his... rather questionable background, but he honestly didn't care too much. Xanha appeared to be someone who focused less on race and more on how one acted- but then again, he had only known her for a few minutes now. It was still somewhat hard for him to judge her character based off of a few simple moments.
Then he noticed the bags beneath her blood-shot eyes (it was kind of odd he didn't notice it before- but that color... well, he supposed he COULD realize why he didn't notice it) and was about to ask her how well she had been sleeping (because that's not creepy) before she answered for him. Days. She hadn't slept in days. Even Vale, who had considerable stamina even for a Lucavi, couldn't go for more than two days without sleep. And that was pushing it. Before anyone could protest he laid down his pack and pulled out his sleeping bag.
"If that's the case, then, by all means, sleep. We can at least let you get a few hours in and we can walk by the night too. After all, Xeko and I have had great luck with monsters so far- we haven't run into one since we've been together. So long as we keep some torches lit we shouldn't have too many problems with anything..." He nodded to Sirxeko before continuing, "You can sleep too, if you want- in fact, I recommend it since we're going to be traveling at night, most likely. I can keep watch while you two rest." He took a bite of the dried venison and began setting up the tent.
Sirxeko seemed to have finally gotten over the shock of having this beautiful woman just stumble upon them. From the way she was blushing and stuttering, however, it was apparent that she was not over the shock of having stumbled upon them. Sirxeko felt a twinge of annoyance at Vale; if she were frightened of them it was his fault for having snuck up behind her. (Never mind that Sirxeko, a complete stranger, had just asked her to spend the next week together in the wilderness) He was just about to tell Vale off for scaring the poor girl when she spoke up. She agreed to go with them, and Sirxeko's annoyance turned to overwhelming happiness.
This happiness quickly turned into annoyance again though, as Xahna turned to Vale to answer his question about her eyes. Sirxeko bit his tongue. Vale wasn't the only one who had thought that her eyes were beautiful. Sirxeko thought that everything about her was beautiful, Vale had just beaten him to the punch with the compliment. Sirxeko would have to learn to be quicker on the draw next time. He then realized that such thoughts were extremely childish, and he decided it would be best for him to focus all of his energy on listening to the conversation.
He was staring hard at her, clinging to her ever word, so as to prevent his mind from wandering back to its childish thoughts, when suddenly she turned to look right at him, to answer a question, that, quite frankly, he had forgotten that he had asked. This sudden movement toward him surprised him, he was staring right at her. He instantly jumped back a few inches and looked away, blushing, only to look back at her in concern. She hadn't slept in days? Sirxeko had once gone over a week without sleep, but he was leading a very sedentary lifestyle back then and thus didn't need as much energy. He couldn't imagine doing it now, not when he was walking fifteen hours out of the day.
Vale lay out his sleeping bag, to offer it to her. Sirxeko felt another twinge of annoyance, but he couldn't deny that his sleeping bag would fit her better than Sirxeko's would. So instead of dwelling on who got the honor of sleeping in the dirt, Sirxeko instead busied himself with pulling wood out of his pack and starting a fire so that he could cook her some dinner. Vale offered to let Sirxeko sleep as well, if he were tired. "Are you kidding? I was the one trying to rush you out of the forest, remember? I'm not the least bit tired, you get some sleep." Almost immediately after he said that he realized how foolish his words were. How could Vale sleep if Xahna was using his bedroll? Obviously the combination of annoyance and nerves were getting to him. He took several deep breaths as he took the strips of venison from Vale and placed them in his family's old frying pan.
He sat there on the ground, holding the pan over the flames. For some reason, seeing the family crest glistening on the handle of the pan gave him a burst of courage. Perhaps it was because it reminded him of his father, and how his father could always fearlessly talk to women. He was a vile pig of a man, but he did seem to have a way with words. Whatever the case may be, Sirxeko felt the urge to try to strike up conversation with Xahna again.
"You have your mother's eyes? So, did you inherit the rest of your good looks from your mother as well?" Sirxeko said the words without thinking. He could tell by the way she had answer Vale's question that her heritage, especially when it involved her mother, who Sirxeko suspected was Lucavi. Sirxeko didn't know how to feel about what he just said. Should he feel foolish for bringing up such a touchy subject, even if he did so unintentionally, or should he be glad that he finally managed to form his words into the shape of a compliment, however inexpertly executed it was. He was silent for a moment, and then quite upset with himself for bringing up her mother, and even more upset for even questioning whether or not he should have been upset in the first place.
"I'm sorry!" he said, "I take it back." Then he realized the implications of saying that as well. "I mean I take back the part about your mother, you're still very beautiful." Now that didn't make any sense, he thought, he didn't state any thing about her mother, simply asked a question. "I mean I regret asking-" He was flailing like a fish out of water, this was bad. "Oh, look at that, food's done!" He hastily reached right into the frying pan with his bare hand and shoved an entire strip of steaming hot venison into his mouth whole, as to prevent him from saying anything else stupid.
He immediately regretted this course of action, as his entire mouth began to burn intensely. He spat out the meat and gagged, holding his throat. He then dove from his seated position onto the ground, reaching for the canteen laying at the base of his pack. He took a long draft from the container, draining the entire thing in a single drink. When it was done he tossed the canteen back to his pack and sighed his relief. "Gah! I think think I blistered my tongue!" He said, though he was trying his best not to move his mouth at the time so it came out sounding like "I thing I blissert my tong!" He glanced at Xahna and blushed. "This is just great" he thought. "Then again, some girls think a guy's incompetence to be cute...let's just pray that Xahna is one of them."
Xahna blushed some more. She probably should have been intimidated by the two, but she wasn't that intimidated. Just a little nervous. Vale had been staring intently at her for the past few minutes, before unrolling his sleeping bag, and he had grinned to himself for... some reason or another. Sirxeko had been watching her too, and seemed extremely flustered. Xahna still didn't understand why the two men had been so fascinated with her. There really wasn't anything that fascinating about her. She'd even been ridiculed in Wutair a couple of times because of how pale she was, and because she had purple eyes and silvery hair. She couldn't find anything interesting about herself.
Xahna looked over at Sirxeko, who had commented on her appearance. Had he just.. hit on her? " Uh.." She looked at Sirxeko, who had just blistered his tongue with the hot venison. " I actually resemble my father much more than I resemble my mother. The only things I inherited from her were my eye colour and my hair colour." Xahna found this whole situation extremely odd. She had found it really easy to talk to these two, when normally, she found it hard to talk to anyone about anything. Wierd..
Xahna, looking away from Sirxeko, turned around and walked toward Vale, who had layed out his sleeping bag next to a tree. " You sure? I don't mean to impose or anything.." Vale didn't seem to mind. Xahna shrugged to herself, and knelt down beside the sleeping bag. She unzipped it, and crawled inside. It was rather big, and surprisingly warm. She nodded to the two men, before before laying down on her stomach. She rested her head on her arms, and stared out into the forest. She really needed to sleep, but... really didn't want to. She feared what she would dream this time; she was tired of the nightmares. Her eyelids fluttered, as Xahna drifted in and out of conciousness for a few minutes, before, finally, passing out, and being engulfed by her dreams.
"Xahna?" Mother was calling her. Were Father and Brother home? They'd been gone for so long. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen their faces, heard their voices..."Xahna.." Mother was... crying? Xahna turned around, away from the little bunny, to see her Mother's tear streaked face. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her nose was red, too. "Mommy?" Why was Mother crying? Today was the day Father and Brother returned. The war was over now. They could get back to the way things used to be. "Mommy? What's wrong?" Would she even understand the reason why her Mother was crying? She was 3. " Father and Brother.." Her Mother told her, between sobs. " ..Are not coming home."
Xahna stirred in her sleep. She rolled over onto her side, still in the sleeping bag. Sweat beaded her forehead, and she turned over onto her back.
Mother still cried. Every night. 10 years had passed since the war had ended. Everyone else had seemed to move on. They grieved over the deaths of their loved ones, and so did Mother. But Mother had never recovered. Mother would never recoved. She was at her breaking point, and Xahna knew this. She could see it in her eyes, her expression. The kind, loving face of the Mother she once knew, was gone; hidden behind a mask. It almost seemed as though Mother's eyes were permanently bloodshot. All she did was cry. She hadn't smiled once, for the last 10 years. Xahna knew that Mother would leave soon, would go away, forever. She'd hurt herself before. Xahna wouldn't be surprised if she woke up one day to an empty house. That day would be soon..
Xahna stirred again, rolling over onto her other side. A tear rolled down her cheek.
Just as she'd expected. Mother.. was gone. Xahna woke up one morning, and was unable to find Mother. She searched the house multiple times, before heading out into the forest, to Mother's favourite spot, more specifically. She wasn't surprised to see Mother lifeless body. Xahna had expected it to happen sooner or later, but that hadn't stopped her tears. Her Mother was gone. Her family was gone. Forever. She was completely, and utterly alone. She had no one. No one..
Xahna opened her eyes. She'd been asleep for a few hours. She was breathing heavily, trying not to sob. Her face, and part of Vale's sleeping bag, were damp with tears. Her eyes and nose, were red puffy. Xahna sat up quickly, and whiped her eyes. She covered her face with her hands, hiding it from the two men.
Xanha had been asleep for nearly four hours and Vale, quite frankly, had gotten a tad bored. As a result he was trying to see how large he could make the fire that was being used to warm the camp before Sirxeko got upset. It hadn't taken very long for the practical man to tell him to stop gathering firewood and to focus more on keeping an eye out for fiends, beasts, bandits and generally whatever you didn't want in your camp late at night.
After returning to his position by the fire, Vale was greeted by a soft rustle. He turned to see Xanha tossing and turning in his sleeping bag, letting out little moans and such as she did so. If Vale understood humans better he may have gone over to her and woke her from her troubled slumber. However, as a Lucavi he had learned that nightmares were the brains way of dealing with one's troubles subconciously, so he let her roll about and tear his sleeping bag (no joke, there was a hole on the side now. Thank Bahamut for the sewing needle he always kept on hand).
He returned his gaze to the fire and decided it was time to hash things over in his head. Sirxeko and himself were alone in the woods with a beautiful girl (albeit, a tad strange, but Vale had no place to talk) and were headed to Dollet. From there they would split up... Vale would go on his own while Sirxeko and Xanha went off to Midgar for some reason or another. Vale was surprisingly irked by this for some reason. He knew Sirxeko liked the girl, but he had made if obvious he liked her as well. If they were alone on a long trip together... who knew what sort of atrocities Sirxeko would commit on the poor, most likely helpless girl (he couldn't be farther from the truth there- but that was Vale's way of building up worst-case scenarios in his head). He almost decided a vacation to Spira was a bad idea before he realized he was simply being silly.
Sirxeko was (hopefully) a good person and would never, EVER try to do bad things to women when he was alone with them on long trips. Not to mention his hotel reservation was already booked in Luca, as well as a ticket to some Blitzball game or another. He sighed resignedly and shook his head. He would simply have to trust Sirxeko's fidelity and leave the two of them alone.
Just as he finished Xanha had woken up (judging by her breathing patterns. Vale had subconciously been keeping tabs on these for a while now). He scooted over to the sleeping bag, dragging a pack containing some wild vegetables and more venison. When he got to the girl, however, he realized she probably wasn't hungry and was, instead, very upset. He leaned closely to her and handed her a handkerchief.
"Whoa... By the looks of things you've been having some pretty nasty dreams. Care to talk about them? Or perhaps you want to clam up and think about things first?" He sighed loudly before continuing. "I know it's not any of my business, but I'm a pretty good listener most of the time. If you want to talk about it now or later, just say the word." He jerks a thumb behind him at the pack. "If you so desire, there's some food in that pack back there."
Sirxeko listened as she had said that she had inherited nearly all of her looks from her father. Immediately his mind rushed to form a clever line from that. He had just come to the conclusion that saying "your father must have been the envy of all the town's ladies" would NOT be an appropriate choice when she turned away, and the opportunity was lost. After that Xahna settled into Vale's sleeping bag and went to sleep.
Things were quiet. Other then a swollen tongue, Sirxeko was at peace. Sure he had lost his opportunity to hit on the cute girl, but he'd have more chances, they were still days away from Dollet, plus however long the boat ride to Midgar would be. He wasn't too worried about his failed attempts at flirting. His mind was clear. At least it would have been if Vale wasn't acting like an idiot just a few feet away. "Stop it." Sirxeko said quietly and calmly. "The light of the flames will wake her. Just sit and watch for fiends or something." Sirxeko sat in silence from then on, watching the flames, shooting glances toward Xahna every so often. He wasn't sure why he did this, it was not as if he expected her to vanish suddenly into the night, or anything. None the less, every few minutes or so he felt the urge to look her way.
About the second or third time he did this, he noticed that she was not having the most peaceful sleep in the world. He didn't wake her though. He was sure that what ever the dream was about, it was none of his business, and besides, he had an odd suspicion that this was no ordinary nightmare that she was having. It must be a recurring dream judging from her facial expression.
Seeing her having nightmares reminded Sirxeko of his own though. The dark mansion, the empty hallways, the splintered wood, the broken glass,...the blood. There were no bodies, but Sirxeko always dreamed that there were. The Master would always be decapitated, his body sprawled across the floor, with his head set on the nightstand, turned to face the bed, where his wife would lay cut open, and obviously ravaged. Sirxeko would have imagined that they cut off the man's head first, and then set it on the nightstand to "watch" them commit the foul deeds on his wife. The little girl would be hung to the ceiling fan, spinning and spinning around the room, dripping blood in a wide arc. And in the background, underneath these images were the voices of those who had been lost that night. The master, the mistress, and young the maiden. It was a gruesome sight...a sight that haunted Sirxeko for years...despite not actually seeing it. The dreams never did go away, not completely, but the pain that went with them did. Sirxeko couldn't say he was happy now, but he was at a point of acceptance. No longer did he feel like a failure for not protecting his employer, his teacher, and his friend.
Xahna stopped stirring. She had awoken. Sirxeko glanced her way yet again. He saw her eyes glisten, and it was not just from their normal beauty. Sirxeko looked away, and acted as if he had seen nothing, though he was sure that she saw him looking. Sirxeko sat quietly, trying to let her phase back into sleep, if she so wished.
Vale had something else in mind, though. He dragged a pack to her cheerfully. Sirxeko let out a low annoyed growl. The fool. But one look at her face and it seemed he learned him mistake. Vale made a crude attempt at comforting her and then offered her food. In his mind Sirxeko was cursing Vale's inconsiderate tactlessness and stupidity, but out loud he merely said "Leave her be." His voice was cold and his mind jumped to his own torments. "She'll eat if she's hungry." He said. He would have to have words with Vale later.
But right now he turned to Xahna, the look on his face showing his understanding. "Excuse his manners. Vale means well, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed, you know?" He smiled. "You should go back to sleep. There's still many hours until morning. Everything will be alright."
word count 741 total 3199
((Terribly sorry guys. I've had stuff going on, you both know me, I wouldn't keep you waiting on purpose. And, I already had Sirxeko's emo-past lined up in my head before now, so don't go thinking that this is a clever ploy to get closer with Xahna. I'm not that manipulative. Also, I apologize for insulting Vale like that, but offering her food and a shoulder to cry on? That's sweet and inconsiderate at the same time, and Sirxeko would naturally overlook the sweetness, since he's in total denial of any "game" you might have with the ladies.))
Xahna took another deep breath, wiped her cheeks, and sighed. Again. She shouldn't have slept. This always happened. The dream was recurring; it happen every so often, either. A day here, a day there. No. It happened every single time she slept, which was why she tried to avoid sleep as often as she could. But not tonight. She couldn't have fought it anymore. If she hadn't slept, she would have passed out sometime while they were walking; she was burdening them enough as it was.
Xahna looked up, and took note of Vale making his way over to her with a pack; most likely containing food and other miscellaneous items. Xahna wiped her face once more, and looked over at him, who'd crouched down beside her. He opened the pack, about to take out some food, Xahna assumed, before looked up at her. Vale looked a little shocked, and quickly reached into the pack, pulling out a tissue. "Whoa... By the looks of things you've been having some pretty nasty dreams. Care to talk about them? Or perhaps you want to clam up and think about things first?" Xahna nervously took the tissue from him, and looked away. She... couldn't. She'd never told anyone about this dream, and she'd only just met Vale and Sirxeko. Xahna shook her head gently, and looked back at Vale. " I.." She watched Vale as she tried to form a proper sentence. " I'm sorr, but.. I don't think I can.." She then realized how her words had sounded. Cold and harsh." I mean.. That came out wrong." Xahna placed her palm on her cheek. " I meant, I don't think I'll be able to talk about it. It's.. kind of a touchy subject. Sorry if it sounded rude." Xahna smiled weakly at Vale, as Sirxeko called to him, telling him to leaver her be. Honestly, Xahna hadn't minded that Vale had come over to her. It was a shock to her, but she really hadn't minded. At least someone cared how she was doing. That was much more than she could say for anyone in Wutai; or anyone anywhere, for that matter.
Xahna stood up, completely ignoring Sirxeko, who had told her to go back to sleep. She wiped her face with the tissue, and before walking over to the fire, she turned to Vale. "Thank you." She whispered, too quietly for Sirxeko to hear. She slowly walked toward the flame, and sat down on a large rock. "It's alright." She reassured Sirxeko. " I really don't mind, and.. I'm already awake now, so there's no way I'll be getting back to sleep." Sure, it may have been a lie. Xahna could have used a couple more hours of sleep, but she didn't need it. She'd be fine; better than she would be if she took those few extra hours of sleep.
Still a couple of days until we get to Dollet. Xahna thought to herself. She would.. have to sleep again between now and then. There was no doubt in her mind that it would be as bad, if not worse, than it had been this time.
Xahna took a deep breath, and slouched on the rock.
"Whoa... what crawled up your pants and bit you in the ass, Xeko? I was just trying to be nice..." Vale sighed and stood up, brushing off his pant legs as he walked back over to his pack. He had to keep himself from laughing at the tall man when Xanha told him off about Vale's actions.
Pulling his pack onto his back, the young demon motioned for Sirxeko and Xanha to do the same. "Tonight we should probably take it a little slower. While I was out following you, Xanha, I noticed a few odd tracks. May be monsters, may be nothing... but I don't want to take any chances- especially at night." He pulled a torch out of his pack and tossed it to Xeko.
"I'll take point tonight, Xeko- my hearing and night vision is at least a bit better than yours and I'd prefer not to get jumped because you can't see very well past the torchlight. Xanha, you either hand back with Xeko or stay in the middle." He looked at his two companions for a moment before nodding. "I guess we're off then..."
Walking through the forest was more difficult than normal tonight. Tree roots seemed to coil around the trio's legs as they wandered through the greenery. After a few hours of walking they came upon a small marsh full of waist high water. Under normal circumstances, Vale would have tromped right through it- but tonight he hesitated because of his company.
"You guys wanna go through the vomit-colored-water or around it?" As he finished his sentence, a long tentacle whipped out of the bog and wrapped itself around Vale's waist before he could react. It pulled him off his feet and began to drag him towards the murky pool.
Xahna noticed Vale's almost smug expression as he walked back to his pack. She understood Sirxeko's concern; most people wouldn't have wanted to be spoken to or bothered at a moment like that, but Xahna hadn't been. She was.. kind of grateful of it, actually; it was not something that she was used to experiencing.
Xahna slung her pack back around her waste, where it had been previously before she'd stopped her with the two. " O-okay." She said quietly, before following Vale through the rest of the forest. She was so sick of trees; she had come from a forest and now was back in a forest. Xahna sighed at the thought, furrowing her brow slightly, but continued on in silence. She didn't feel like speaking with either Vale or Sirxeko at the moment, after what had just occured; she was rather embarassed about it, actually. Xahna crossed her arms and continued on through the darkness.
After a few hours of walking, the three of them finally made it into a partial clearing. There wasn't as much foliage, and there was a marsh full of waist high water. Xahna rose her eyebrows slightly at it; it looked rather grotesque, but it would have taken longer to go around it. " Through it." Xahna replied, with a small smile. She wasn't looking forward to it, but whatever got them to where they needed to be, right?
Xahna jumped slightly as a tentacle flew out of the marsh and wrapped around Vale's waste. She stood there in shock for a few seconds, as it pulled him off of his feet and toward the murky water. Think quickly.. She thought to herself, reaching for her sword. Xahna was assuming the monster was an Ochu. She unsheathed her Jian, and twirled it around in her hand once, before leaping toward Vale. The purple feather on the end of it's hilt swayed in the wind as Xahna sliced through the tentacle smoothly, causing the attached part to writhe and squirm back into the water. She knelt down beside Vale, pushing the severed part away from him. " Are you alri-" Before she had a chance to finish her question, marsh water errupted in front of them, revealing the monster that it had been housing.
(( Sorry this took so long guys >.> Word Count - 400 Total Count - 2478 ))
Ochu's were unnaturally territorial creatures. If anyone (or anything, for that matter) entered the beast's place of residence, it would hunt and kill whomever (or whatever) the perpetrator was. Unfortunately for the trio that had just wandered into the marshy waters, this particular Ochu was no exception. Not to mention it was hungry.
After being separated from it's first prize, the monster tried it's one and only scare tactic- erupting from the marsh's murky depths and roaring at the top of it's lungs ((do Ochu's have lungs? XD)). Seeing that that had not worked, the fiend simply decided to take the most delectable looking trespasser. It quickly scanned the trio before focusing on the young woman. Females tended to be softer, wear less armor and be slightly more helpless when they were captured anyway. Not to mention she had assaulted the Ochu once already.
One tentacle quickly struck at the female who seemed to be busy looking at the unconscious, dark-haired man. If the Ochu could have, it would have grinned. This was going to be a piece of proverbial cake.
Sirxeko stood up, a hurt and confused expression on his face. He grumbled as he got to his feet after them. “*mumble, mumble*…making me out to be the bad guy…*mumble*… was only thinking of her feelings… *mumble*” he was muttering to himself as he slung his pack over his back and took the torch from Vale.
The trio stood still for a moment, the cool mid-night air was numbing to his face. He did have an ulterior motive in suggesting that Xahna go back to sleep; he, himself had stayed up the entire time. Perhaps it was that he didn’t trust Vale, a single teenage boy, to be able to stand guard by himself, or perhaps it was that he saw the look in Xahna’s eyes when she went off to bed, and had a feeling that he should be there for her when she awoke, or perhaps it was indigestion from eating nothing but dear, rabbit, and wild onion for the past two weeks, Sirxeko wasn’t entirely sure why he felt the need to stay up, but something told him it was what he should do, and he soon was really regretting listening to whatever that something was. He had hoped that by suggesting that Xahna return to sleep, he would not only have comforted her, but also ensured himself at least a few winks before dawn.
But that obviously wasn’t going to happen. Vale was saying something about finding weird tracks, but Sirxeko wasn’t paying attention, he was too busy cursing himself for not sleeping when he had the chance. He sighed. It took him a minute, but the light of the torch in his hand slowly pushed away the grogginess. He fell into step beside Xahna as the trio marched through the seemingly never-ending patch of trees. Sirxeko glanced down at Xahna as he walked. I should say something, he thought. She seems upset that I was telling Vale off, but I was just trying to be considerate. He could almost feel his facial expressions change as he was thinking to himself. He glanced down again, Come on, say something, I’ve got to apologize, or explain myself or something But just as Sirxeko opened his mouth to speak an audible sigh came from Xahna’s, causing Sirxeko to shut his own mouth again without saying a word. That went well. he thought sarcastically. He chanced another glance down toward her just in time to see her cross her arms in what seemed like frustration. Oh, that’s just great! Now I’ve offended her!
The march continued much in that fashion, a combination of exhaustion, nerves, and low-self esteem brought on by his previous failures kept Sirxeko from breaking the silence, but he wondered why the other two were so quiet. This thought was interrupted, however, when they came to a small marsh. At least it seemed to be a marsh, though it looked more like a large hole in the ground filled to the brim with a combination of compost and cat vomit.
Vale turned to face them, asking whether they should go around the marsh or through it. Sirxeko glanced down at Xahna to see her grin and take a step forward. Sirxeko’s eyes widened. Are you both insane? He thought We can’t go in there! I mean, it’s unhealthy! Are you sure that’s even water? It looks more like the stuff that comes out of my grandmother’s foot-boils!
Before he could put any of this in words, however, a large tentacle silently but quickly slipped out of the water and wrapped itself around Vale’s waist and began dragging him back toward the pool of what Sirxeko seriously doubted was water. He immediately reached for his Tantou, but he was fumbling with its sheath, seeing as he only had one free hand, the other hand still holding the torch, the only source of light in the nearly black night. While he was yanking awkwardly at his belt, he saw Xahna spring forward and free Vale. “Gotcha!” Sirxeko said, as he finally wretched the blade from his waist. Just then the beast erupted from the filthy water-like substance with a great roar.
It had to be the largest Ochu Sirxeko had ever seen, standing at nearly twice Sirxeko’s height, not counting the tentacles, its massive frame wasn’t even completely visible in the small circle of light cast out by the single torch. But what could be seen was absolutely heinous. Its four stubbly legs looks like four good sized tree trunks, its “skirt” (which was leafy or floral for most Ochus) seemed to be made of Chocobo feathers, with what looked like large bird bones making up the waistband of the skirt. There was no doubt what this carnivore ate. Its four long tentacles each ended in a pair of claws, just like most Ochus, but this one’s claws were huge, and Sirxeko wouldn’t have been surprised if they were able to cut through any of the surrounding trees with ease. But the opening of its “mouth” was probably its most intimidating feature. Most Ochu mouths were simply fleshy holes at the top of their bodies, but this one was different. The flaps of flesh that over hung the “mouth” and the inside of the mouth itself was lined with row upon row of sharp teeth, the inside of the opening looking like some child’s twisted idea of the inside of a salad shooter. Thousands of pointy triangular teeth gnashing against each other. And what was worse yet, there, inside of the opening, hanging from the teeth, were what seemed to be chunks of flesh. Blood and bones could be seen in the fleshy, toothy pit, and Sirxeko couldn’t be sure in the dark, but it also looked as if there was a bit of fabric from a human’s clothing inside the mouth area too.
Sirxeko took the few seconds while the Blood-Ochu was roaring to think. Now Vale seemed to be unconscious…for some reason or another… maybe he fainted, Sirxeko didn’t know, and at the moment he didn’t care (now was a bad time to mock him for it, after all), he just knew that the trio was down to two and now it was fight time. Several seconds later the Blood-Ochu finished his roar and the first thing it did was shoot one of its clawed tentacles right at Xahna.
Ochus were naturally territorial, but so were Humans, when it came to their friends at least, and this particular Human was rather fond of Xahna and was not about to have her harmed. Sirxeko ran forward, but instead of mimicking Xahna, and slashing at the tentacle, he instead took a different approach. He pulled back, and threw the lit torch right into the opening at the top of the beast’s body. That was the only source of light around, and without it they were practically fighting blind, but Ochu’s were weak to fire… hopefully this was enough to subdue the beast, but Sirxeko had a bad feeling that it wouldn’t be…
Word Count: 1229 Total for Thread: 4428 ((that means that this post is like a quarter of the thread for me! WOO!~))
((Also, I totally created a new breed of Ochu in that post...
BLOOD-OCHUS!!!!
...I'm assuming we're using the FFX version, with four tentacles, and not two?))
((Sure, why not? Also- thanks for getting rid of the light... I don't know about you guy's night vision- but I think Vale is the only one that can actually see it well now...))
It's almost funny how slow things appear to move when everything goes wrong. As he slowly regained consciousness, Vale watched helplessly as Xanha was almost captured by the beast, as Xeko struggled to get his blade free and as Xeko threw their only torch into the mouth of the beast. The Lucavi had some knowledge on Ochus- and realized that they were weak to fire... but Sirxeko, for claiming to be so very resourceful, forgot that this one had just been underwater.
The torch landed in the thing's mouth, flickered once and died.
Cursing like a sailor, Vale sprung to his feet, shouting. "What the FUCK[/b] did you do that for?! Get back- there's no way you guys can fight this thing without seeing it!" At this, the demon launched himself into the air, shedding his crimson cloak and revealing his dragon-like wings, not even bothering to check to see if Sirxeko had paid any attention to him. He briefly checked to see if Xanha was paying any attention- but he couldn't tell from his altitude.
The air around Vale's right hands began to waver, as if it were a scorchingly hot day, as he muttered an incantation under his breath. The words that spilled from his lips seemed to be imbued with some sort of power... even his voice vibrated a little.
"Furnace of Hell, cremate my foes in a cage of fire... Flare!" The heat floating around his arm converged at the palm of his hand and exploded downward towards the enemy with enough concussive force to deafen the demon for a few seconds. His ears, ringing, Vale floated back down to the marshy waters to survey the damage he had done.
The spell had killed the trees around the marsh and had evaporated all of the water in the thing. The Ochu, while not dead, was steaming and screeching- two of its four tentacles lay withered on its right side. Vale almost felt sorry for the thing for a brief moment- before realising that it could still very well kill him.
Pulling a sturdy (but now completely dry) branch from one of the newly dead trees around him, Vale set the end on fire with a small fire spell. He staked the torch into the ground before igniting two more, repeating his previous action. He turned to face the Ochu... and it wasn't there. Puzzled, Vale quickly surveyed his surroundings... He should have heard something as large as that moving. He peered a bit deeper into the shadows, squinting his eyes at the darkness (since he was standing within a ring of torches he couldn't see quite as well in the dark), Vale managed to see the thing just as it's clawed tentacle burst from the surrounding forest, quickly wrapping around him (again) and piercing the skin on his right shoulder to the bone. Vale managed to let out a shout before getting dragged into the treeline.[/size]
OoC: "One tentacle quickly struck at the female who seemed to be busy looking at the unconscious, dark-haired man. If the Ochu could have, it would have grinned. This was going to be a piece of proverbial cake. "
You were the one who said you were unconscious, not me...
OoC: I got all excited too, cuz I saw this thread was the last updated thread, and then I go to look at it, and it's this? Way to disappoint. -crosses arms and shakes head in disapproval.-
Xahna's ears perked, and she gazed upward as the vine whipped toward her. She rolled sideways, as Sirxeko threw their only light into the Ochu. She jumped to her feet as the light disappeared into the Ochu. Xahna rubbed her eyes at her suddenly dark surroundings; she could see better in the dark than most humans could, but certainly not as well as a Lucavi, and she couldn't tell what the Ochu was doing, or where it was. It was obvious that the fire hadn't harmed the Ochu much ( maybe singed some or the leftover flesh left on it's teeth ); it had still been damp from the water it had been immersed in moments earlier.
Vale jumped up suddenly, and Xahna whipped around as he cursed angrily at Sirxeko's actions. Her eyes widened slightly at his reaction to the attempted aid, but returned to their normal state when Vale shed his cloak and rose above them. It'd been a long, long time since she'd seen a Lucavi's wings; it was a.. somehow calming sight, but still too familiar to Xahna. She watched Vale in fascination as he muttered the incantation, and as Flare crashed into the Ochu. The light from the spell illuminated Vale's features, which made him look oddly innocent and compelling, and Xahna watched in awe until the light faded and his figure was lost in the darkness. She blinked and shook her head, then turned back toward the marsh the Ochu had inhabited; it'd lost two of it's tentacles, which now lay in the slude-less marsh, but it'd disappeared ( into the trees, she assumed ) with the other two. Xahna spun around in confusion at the ruffle of leaves, but it was almost impossible for her to tell where the sound had come from, until one of the Blood Ochu's tentacles flew out of the brush toward Vale. She heard a shout, and rushed in it's direction.
Xahna streamed around trees and over roots and rocks until she stumbled upon a bleeding Vale wrapped in the Blood Ochu's tentacle once again. The Ochu struck at Xahna with it's free tentacle as she rushed toward the creature; she slashed at the tentacle and easily dodged the first few strikes, but her exhaustion was weighing on her, and fighting off the tentacle grew harder with each swing. When she reached the Ochu, Xahna gripped her weapon with both hands, pushed off the ground and slashed upward. She sliced through the tentacle constricting Vale, freeing him, but was smashed in the side with the Ochu's remaining tentacle as she landed. Xahna's breath hitched at the impact, and she was thrown off balance. She landed on her shoulder in a cloud of leaves and dirt with a groan and a roll, and coughed as she clambered to her feet. " Dammit.." She dodged another strike, clutching her side, but she grew wearier with each stride and was caught off guard again. The Ochu's remaining tentacle sliced Xahna's arm and smashed into her other side, sending her crashing into a nearby tree with a loud thud, and another groan. Xahna couldn't see the Ochu through the darkness at all anymore; her head pounded, and her vision blurred, and there was a strange buzzing in her ears...
((Why? I mean, come on guys, it was a legitimate strategy, Ochus weak against fire, so I throw fire at it...you do realize that all Ochus' mouths are filled with an acidic liquid, right? Yet it works on all the other Ochus' none the less... You guys are just looking for an excuse to pick on me, huh? -pouty face- Anyway, I'll be posting soon.))
Sirxeko watched as his brilliant plan, the one he had put so much stock in to go so far as to risk fighting blind, was completely ineffective. He didn't get it. Any other big slime-ball Ochu would have exploded as if it were filled with swamp gas (which they may well be) but not this one it seemed. The Blood Ochu showed absolutely none of the Ochus' regular weaknesses. So, when Vale flew high and blasted it with his Flare, Sirxeko was unsurprised to see that it did minimal damage to the beast (considering the awesome strength of most Flare spells, anyway), but it had done the job, it seemed.
That was of little concern to him, though. Vale had told them to stay back and let him handle things, and Sirxeko, while feeling remorse at not being able to aid his friend, didn't argue, as he knew he was useless without his eyes. Xahna and Sirxeko stayed back and watched as Vale launched in the air and cast his spell. Sirxeko glanced at Xahna, her features glowing brilliantly in the light of the Flare spell. It was beautiful...but...it was also concerning. The wonder and fascination on her face, Sirxeko could tell that she was impressed with Vale's magic, and Sirxeko couldn't help but feel worried by this realization.
He had no time to feel jealous, though, he ran forward as Vale methodically lit the semi-circle of torches in what used to be the marsh. Sirxeko ran right up to the beast and grabbed one of it's disembodied tentacles. He had thought the beast dead, and was salvaging as many items as he could. Ochu tentacles would fetch a high price in any apothecary, and if he couldn't sell them there then he could easily make a whip or something out of it and sell it to a weapons shop.
He was on his hands and knees, searching for the second unattached appendage when he heard movement. He looked up, blinking in the darkness, only to see that the beast was gone. Sirxeko was now confused, and a tiny bit scared. He was wrestling with the idea of a Zombie-Blood-Ochu when he heard Vale's scream in the dark. He immediately jumped to his feet and ran after the sound, stopping for a moment to grab one of the torches Vale had lit before following the screams deeper into the dark wood.
He arrived just in time to see Vale fall from the creature's grasp, and Xahna be thrown into a tree. Sirxeko's mind was racing as the Blood Ochu turned his way. His mind shot from the torch in his right hand, to the sword in his left, to the tentacle dangling at his belt. Sirxeko heaved a sigh, and then he grinned. The Blood Ochu showed none of the weaknesses of regular Ochus, so maybe, just maybe, it had none of the regular Ochu's resistances either.
With this thought in mind, Sirxeko thrust the end of the torch and his own blade into the ground. He then slowly got back to his feet, pulling the blade out of the dirt as he rose. The once shining silver blade now gleamed black, and was growing ever darker as Sirxeko straightened up, his eyes closed. Once he was fully straight and tall, he seemed to continue to rise, just a few inches off the ground, his Tantou now emanating blackness, the air arounding trembling with the energy Sirxeko was focusing into his attack. Floating just a few inches off the ground, Sirxeko opened his eyes, and in the blink of an eye was rushing forward, slashing and gashing and swiping and stabbing at the beast as he seemed to fly around it. He had struck at it a good many times, slicing away it's final tentacle in the process. Then, just as suddenly as the onslaught began, he fell to the ground with a large thud, and his blade returned to it's silvery sheen, now accompanied with the sludgy blood of the Blood Ochu.
Sirxeko panted as he turned to see the damage he had caused. The Blood Ochu was now tentacle-less, and it was pissed. It turned in a wide circle, coming to face Sirxeko... of course, Ochu's had no eyes, it was only natural that it'd be immune to that, Sirxeko thought. He stood tall and waited as the Blood Ochu advanced upon him. His grip tightened on his sludge-covered Tantou as the beast got nearer and nearer. It was without tentacles now, and Sirxeko was unsure what to expect for it's next move, but he feared for the worst... the worst possible thing an Ochu could do... The Ochu Dance... Sirxeko watched as the beast rose up, towering before him, it's maw opening wide. And then it quivered, and Sirxeko flinched, nearly soiling himself as he raised his tantou in front of his face. The Blood Ochu shook once more, and then fell over, completely unmoving.
Sirxeko let out a sigh. He was right! The Ochu was susceptible to Sirxeko's poisonous Bloody Haze attack. The poison could have acted a little sooner, Sirxeko thought, remembering the tension and suspense he was just feeling a moment before, but all in all he was happy to have been able to fell the beast. He sprinted to the other side of the clearing, panting and drenched in sweat, conjuring energy to his hands as he went.
He ran right up to Xahna, collapsing to his knees with a huff as he reached her, and immediately began healing her with his light Cure magic, Vale laying motionless behind him. A tiny wave of guilt passed through Sirxeko; Vale's wounds were more serious, and yet he had run to Xahna first, but the guilt was immediately drowned out by a wave of exhaustion. He had focused nearly all of his energy into that last attack, and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass.
Sirxeko didn't want to think of it, he couldn't think about it, he needed to stay focused and heal his new friends, heal Xahna... He turned him mind instead to how he had fell the beast, and how unfortunate it was that Xahna was not conscious to see it. The thoughts of impressing her filled his mind as he finished healing her and turned to Vale. But without Xahna's form directly under his gaze, he found it harder to focus on impressing her, and soon the thoughts of rest returned to him. No sooner had the thought entered his head, he fell backward, laying flat on the ground, panting, leaving Vale's wounds only half healed as he slipped into a state of half-sleep, half-unconsciousness.
word count 1152 Total 5580
OoC: Bloody Haze, for those of you who haven't read my bio, is an attack in which Sirxeko floats in the air, and delivers a series of strikes with his blade, inflicting poison, blindness, and physical damage to a single enemy. The Ochu had no eyes, and thus was immune to blindness, but the poison killed it, see?
Also, you may be wondering what's with the tentacle-gathering...well...that I plan on using in my level 3 CA, which...I think I'll be able to afford by the end of this thread...>_<
Alright, I edited it to have it make more sense, however I didn't change the poison. Why? Because, while Ochu's are part plant, they still have a digestive tract, they still have a Lymphatic System, and as such, are still capable of being poisoned.
OoC: Also, Fool has brought up a good question. How is it that Sirxeko can use Status Ailing CA's when he doesn't have the Status Ailing spells to go with them? Well, may I direct your attention to Final Fantasy X, in which one character, Wakka, has the following Overdrives/Limit Breaks; Elemental Reels, Attack Reels, Status Reels, and Aurochs Reels. In other words, he can use both Elemental and Status Ailing attacks. And yet the only spells he knows are Drain and Osmose, neither of which are Elemental or Status Ailing. Therefore, with FFX as my supporting evidence, there is no reason why I should not be able to do that.
