A quizzical gaze washed over the machine of the excavation site, as the pair of them were on the wave to the new sand worm nest. 'I wonder what these machines are for? Some of them are clearly to help dig up the soil, but the others are not for the same type of function.' Honestly a small part of him honestly wanted to stay with the machines, and have Eliza tell him all about them. Alas, there was an air that said that his friend solely wanted to finish the job, so that they could collect her things and head off. His eyes widen though as he is warned to step away or the blast and the sound wave would be damaging, so instead of entering the sand worm cave, while his golden hued orbs watch as she pulls out a spherical device, pull a sliver of metal from the top, and then throwing it into the cave. Almost as if on a cue, as soon as Eliza counted down from five an explosion rocked the cavern mixing with the sound of the remaining creatures roared and screamed. The young Al Bhed girl proceeding to produce a second device and once more tossing it down the cave, to meet with the rushing wave of the remaining worms. "Those are so cool!" Yuuki called out as the second explosion rings through the cavern once more. A grin crossing his face, as the humanoid form of the slime slide in front of the cavern and leveled his empty hand down the way, "Water Cutter~!" A powerful blast of water erupted from his palm, before narrowing into a condensed stream. The jet of water cutting though so of the rock, the worms, and even letting the water shower down on the beasts that were not in range of its cutting power. Golden orbs look to Eliza, "Soak 'n Shock?" It was a simple question, but one that he knew that Eliza understood.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 1,445 + 330 [x2.5 Interaction: 825] = 2,270
Eliza couldn't help but to smirk and deviously giggle at Yuuki's exclamation of how cool the grenades were. They didn't quite have anything like that back where he came from, so it was nice he liked a bit of the Al Bhed technology that she used. "If you think that's cool, just wait until I get my mom's Caster Gun working! I think you'll really like that!" She'd watch as her Slime companion slid in front of the cavernous opening and leveled his hand towards the dark depths. The worms were only now beginning to come into view, and the young Al Bhed woman already had an idea of what he was planning. Hearing him yell out 'Water Cutter', and watching the stream shoot forth, she grinned as electricity began to dance around her fingertips. She already knew what Yuuki was going to ask, walking up to stand next to him as he asked her about the combo move they shared. "Soak and Shock!" She'd hold her hand level, arm bent at her elbow, before thrusting it forward as if commanding her lightning to shoot forth. "THUNDER!" Crackling, yellow lightning shot forth from her fingers and struck the first Sand Worm to come their way, chaining to all of the rest that were connected by Yuuki's torrent of water. Multiple Sand Worms were hit, but only a few actually died off from the combined assault of the Water Cutter, her Thunder, and the earlier Grenades.
This wouldn't handle all of the sand worms, but would handle at least a few. They have attacked them with four strikes already, so there shouldn't be many left. Nothing more than they could handle, for sure. "Get ready, the remainder of them are gonna shoot out straight, I recommend stepping to the side again!" Eliza would turn back to the side of the cave opening, keeping her back against the rock face, while looking over her shoulder, watching and waiting for the Sand Worms to burst forth, being able to see them get closer and closer. "Get ready!"
So far the mission to clear the excavation site has been fairly successful, due to the combination of attacks launched by the pair. Yuuki's golden eyes gazing into the cavern as the lightning from his partner's spell lights up the darkness, while arcing from target to target. A good chunk of the worms had been taken out by the rapid successions of attacks, though there were still more in the depths. A grimace crossed his face as he once more followed suite with Eliza and had his back pinned to the entry way as the remain sand worms begin to erupt from the entrance of their nest. The slime biting his lower lip as he darts out of cover, using his sword against the worms. "Haa!" He kicks one of the worms away as he stabs another with his weapon. His free hand pointing out to a small group of the beasts, "Water Cuter!" Once more a sharp blast of liquid left his palm, slicing through the defenses of the worms as they are sliced to ribbons by the powerful stream of water. The smile glancing over to his friend, to see how she was holding up against the remaining horde of beasts they were spent to clear out. In that moment though, a worm took advantage of Yuuki being distracted; biting down on the weapon wielding right arm and causing the slime to drop his sword with the clattering of the metal blade on the ground being drowned out as he screams in pain.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 2,270 + 255 [x2.5 Interaction: 638] = 2,908
Eliza stood against the face of the cave as the Sand Worms began to pour out. Only a small handful of them so far, but they were still large. She wasn't quite sure how Yuuki would fare against them, but she was willing to bet they would be done with this little errand of theirs that 'Uncle' had sent them on, and be back to the village by sundown. And then they would be able to head to the inn and get some food and sleep for the evening. The young Al Bhed woman was ripped from her thoughts by the sound of her Slime companion giving out a battle cry as he used his sword to attack one of the worms after kicking another away from him. His Water Cutter would be used again against the cluster of them, slicing through them like a high pressure water drill. Eliza herself was busy delivering slashes with her Kunai, hating the fact that she had to get guts over her clothes. This is why she preferred ranged fighting. Less dirt, grime, and guts.
However, her attention was torn away from her current quarry when she heard her friend cry out in pain, his arm having been bitten and causing his sword to fall to the ground below. "Yuuki!" She wouldn't leave him hanging, not when this was her milk run they were on. Eliza leaped over the Sand Worm she was currently attacking and immediately struck at the one that had bitten her partner. Rage had overtaken her as she yelled out, using all of her might to force her kunai to make a large gash in its side.
Yuuki grimaced hearing and seeing his distressed friend as she risked herself to attack the worm latched to his arm. The male falling into her arms and wrapping his own arms around her shoulders, "Heya Eliza... let my guard down. Sorry." He would say weakly as he laid against her. Another large worm coming in from behind leaping to bite into the young woman's back, only to bite down into Yuuki's damaged arm once more, "Physical Attack Nullification... See if I did not get too cocky... I would not have been hurt." His words were meant to relieve Eliza of her worry. Still Yuuki had a worm gnawing on his arm just behind his friend's back, though a quick Water Cutter splits the beast and releases his arm... only the clothing damaged this time. A light smile crossed his face, "I got an idea." As soon as the words left his mouth the area around them would become hazy as a thick fog filled the air. It was Yuuki's Hidden Mist ability, and it was meant to throw off the worms and to disorientate them. The slime plants a kiss on his friend's cheek, "Lets wrap this up, and get your gun. I am excited to see what this 'Caster Gun' is." He smiles warmly before shifting into his slime form once more and vanishes into the mist that surrounds the area. Now completely invisible to his friend and the sand beasts; Yuuki took his time using his water cutter to cleave through the beasts as they blindly move through the fog. The worms still riled up from the attacks and now blindly attacking anything near them... even their own.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 2,908 + 280 [x2.5 Interaction: 700] = 3,608
Eliza caught her Slime companion, wrapping her free arm around his waist to support her friend's weight. While Yuuki was slightly taller than her, the heels that she wore made her a few inches taller than him, if not more. On top of that, he was far lighter than someone of his height and build would lead someone to believe, which made supporting his weight easier to do. It was a wonder how his human form didn't look more like his weight, but then again, it probably had something to do with his Slime physiology. Eliza didn't know how Slimes were where Yuuki came from, but the closes thing they had to a Slime here were Flans, and those things were not friendly in the slightest. They were monstrous, both in appearance, and in mannerisms as well. The most someone could do with one of them is tame one, but even then, they would only follow the orders of the Beast Master that had caught them.
The young Al Bhed woman wouldn't have to support Yuuki for very long, as he was able to recover quickly, and then harden his arm to protect the both of them from a back attack by another of the Sand Worms. This one bit into his arm, which allowed her variable density compatriot to use his Water Cutter once more to slice the beast in two. Confusion would strike Eliza, however, as Yuuki stated that he had an idea, because immediately after, the area around them became heavy with a dense and thick fog, making it difficult for her to be able to see through. She'd have to rely on listening for any opponents, and she didn't like that one bit. What made things even more confusing was when her friend planted a kiss on her cheek, causing her to both look on in confusion and as blush caressed her cheeks. Eliza almost missed him stating to wrap things up and go to get her mother's belongings. He was interested in seeing what her Caster Gun was going to be, and the young Al Bhed woman was excited to show him exactly what it was going to do. She remembered seeing it when she was a kid, and thought that with her new Mana control, she would be able to recharge the empty shells herself.
She completely missed how Yuuki had just vanished into the mist, leaving her baffled and scrambling to get a grip on her surroundings. She couldn't see him anywhere, and wasn't even sure if he didn't turn himself into the mist itself. Could he do that? Was that something that the Chakra based techniques of where he was from could do? Could she learn how to do that? Not terribly likely, considering her specialty was in thunder magic, but it might be a possibility later on down the road. She would be torn from her thoughts once more, however, as she heard the sound of Yuuki's Water Cutter slicing through the remainder of the Sand Worms. It seemed as if he could see, and that was good enough. She definitely had to get him that Al Bhed Primer Compendium, so that they could strategize and co-operate. And so he could guide her through this goddamn fog.
Being a creature without much of a structural parts, Yuuki was light weight no matter what form he took. He often forgot that he, and his world, were as foreign to Eliza as her world was to him. The slime wanted to explore this place more, and he did not care how long it would take as long as she did not mind his company. The current mission maybe to retrieve the Caster Gun, that Eliza came for originally, but to explore the world that she came from would be a fun adventure, though; she likely felt the same about his own world.
"Soak and Shock~" A familiar voice rang out before the slime bounced onto the shoulder of his friend, "Mist... is just water.. so lets finish this before I melt." Now that Yuuki mentioned it, he looked a bit droopier. The slime smiled weakly to his friend's flushed cheek as he was running low on his chakra now, too much spend on the mist and all those Water Cutter skills.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 3,608 + 172 [x2.5 Interaction: 430] = 4,038
Eliza felt the familiar sensation of her Slime friend perching on her shoulder, smirking as he called for their signature combo attack once more, and going on to explain that the mist was just water, so it'd be a good conductor for her electricity to arc to the remaining Sand Worms. Luckily, there didn't seem to be a brood mother, so Yuuki's request to finish this quickly before he melted would likely be able to be met. The young Al Bhed woman would nod her head in understanding and repeat her earlier gesture of casting, mana swirling around her hand as small sparks of electricity arced around it while she brought it in a horizontal fashion to her chest, before thrusting it forward to sling the spell out into the mist. "THUNDER!" The spell would shoot forth, arcing through the mist as the remainder of the Sand Worms were all hit by the spell. They all cried out in pain, until their cries died down, as the small handful of sand worms thudded lifeless to the ground.
Eliza was satisfied with their work, but knew that they should play on the safe side and check deeper into the cave. "Hey, I know you want to get going, but we should really check to make sure there's not a brood mother back there. It could be protecting some freshly laid eggs, or about to lay some. We need to make sure they won't come back." She'd turn her head to look at Yuuki's droopy form and smile kindly. "Plus, it'll be cooler in the cave, and we can take a moment to rest inside." Without waiting for an answer, Eliza began to head towards the mouth of the cave, knowing that Yuuki would likely agree with her, albeit probably a bit reluctantly. She knew he hated extreme heats like the desert, but she was not one to leave work half finished.
Soon after the lightning elemental magic ran through the thick mist, shocking the rest of the weaker worms that had left the cave system from their initial attacks. "Y-Yea... of course. Never leave a job half finished." Even in his weaken, melty form, Yuuki was one to never really stop cause of the difficulty of the mission. "Just let me... rest up here." He would add in as he stayed resting on the shoulder of his friend. Between the blasted heat of the desert and the over expenditure of his chakra. A weak, but happy smile crossed that slime's face as he looks up to Eliza, "A nice rest in the shade of the cave, would help a lot. I just need to recover before we tackle their Queen." The slime was a bit droopy, but he was relaxed... at least enough that his weakened body was not dripping down his friend's body as well.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 4,038 +155 [x2.5 Interaction: 388] = 4,426
Eliza nodded, noting at just how absolutely drained Yuuki looked. Any further, and he'd be dripping down her clothes. She'd start to walk towards the cave, and soon entered, feeling a cold breeze blow from inside due to the pressure difference between the damp, dark cave and the hot, dry, sunny desert. "Don't worry, take your time to rest up. You used a lot more than I did there, and I wouldn't want you to run on empty. Don't worry, if this is what I think it is, we'll be out of here and back before sundown. I'll make sure to keep us out of harm's way until we get there."
The young Al Bhed woman wouldn't wait before delving deeper into the depths of the cave they had found themselves in. If she wasn't mistaken, it didn't go too far in, just enough to house a larger cavern inside. Maybe the length of a Blitzball field, if that. "Listen, I hear something ahead." It sounded like heavy, labored breathing. If they were lucky, this brood mother sand worm was in the middle of laying her eggs. She would be weakened, and thus be able to be taken out with relative ease. And then they could smash the eggs later.
The young slime took in a deep breath as he rested against into his neck and collarbone, and with his seat on her shoulder allowing him to watch the path for any threat such as more of these sand worms or some different creature that would call this cavernous domain its home. Yuuki knew that his friend would have been okay with the closeness of them, as they had formed a bond over their time in the Academy, outcast and outcast. Even in his own world, the slime was an oddity and often treated as a monster due to his abilities and heritage, but he found an ally in Eliza, who also came with her own outcast status, due to being from this different world. If there was more than even Yuuki did not know about it, as the woman from Spira did not speak of her past, or what lead her, them, on the path they were on now. All that really mattered was that he felt like he had a place to be when hanging out with Eliza.
In the deepest chasm of the cave, laid the nest of those wretched worms, and the signs of their ravenous appetite, and their territorial nature, as stripped and fractured bones of other cave dwellers, as well as workers of the dig site above. The thick, monstrously large queen squirmed in its place as smaller, weaker workers scurried around her. The queen birthing eggs as the pair of them enter the chamber from an upper level as her smaller, weaker workers move the eggs, so not too many are laid in the same place, while others feed their queen. Yuuki leaps off his friend's shoulder, and morphs into his human form once again. His clothes now as spotless as if he hadn't been fighting in them only moments before, "We are so close to finishing this off. How do you spose we end up going about this, Eliza? Got more grenades?" His golden eyes looking to his friend, before aiming his gaze back down to the sights right below the two.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 4,426 + 350 [x2.5 Interaction: 875] = 5,301
Eliza could feel just how exhausted Yuuki was just by the way he leaned against her. The fact that he felt and looked so droopy to begin with was a testament to how absolutely drained he was looking to be. However, they had a job to finish to completion, and she wasn't about to give up now. She would, however, allow her friend time to recoup enough to be able to aid her in the fight ahead. After all, he was the only friend she had, and that accounted both her world and his. In Spira, she was an orphan. Sure, she was raised by the Al Bhed as a whole after her parents died, but she didn't really have any friends from how much she traveled along with her parents and their individual endeavors. After her injury, what kid would want to play with a bedridden girl? Hell, it was only her joining the Academy in Yuuki's world that she even tried to put forth an effort. And even then, she was still looked down upon. Yuuki was the only one nice to her. Of course, he was much the same as she was. They were outcasts, but that made them better for it. They gave each other a chance, and that was all they needed for their friendship to blossom.
As Eliza walked deeper into the cave, the sound only grew louder as she began to see the remains of the sand worms' appetites. Corpses, mostly monsters and other animals, and a few Al Bhed unlucky enough to be caught by them. They normally wouldn't be able to take a fully grown adult like that, but sometimes they just got unlucky. She would stop near them, and clasp her hands together while closing her eyes and tilting her head down. "Veht bayla, yht nadinh du dra Vynbmyha."(Find peace, and return to the Farplane.) After her words, she would look back up and to Yuuki. "In Spira, those that are deceased go to what we call the Farplane. I basically told them to find peace and to return there. Because if their souls become overcome with negative emotions, then they become fiends. And well...that's not good for anyone. Fiends are dangerous monsters, more fearsome than normal ones like these Sand Worms. Let's just hope their souls didn't have time to form one."
However, Eliza would be relieved as she saw only the brood mother sand worm, and a handful of her worker drones. She was currently in the middle of giving birth to a clutch of eggs, and that meant she'd be a relatively easy target for the two of them. She'd look over to Yuuki as her Slime companion spoke, and smirked with a devious giggle. "Oh, I always have grenades!" She would pull a couple out from under her jacket and hand one over to Yuuki. "Hold down this lever, pull the pin. As long as you don't let go of that lever, it will not explode. Once you throw it or let go of that lever, though, you have five seconds before it goes off. Get rid of it by then, or it'll hurt. Got it? Now, throw on three." Eliza took a step back to give Yuuki room to throw. "Aim for those on the right. I'll get the ones on the left. Try to get in the middle of them for the best effect. Throw on three. One, two, three!" With a heave, her grenade flew and hit almost dead center of where she was aiming, leaving her to wait for the grenades to explode.
He was learning so much about this world all in his first trip, and sadly some of it was rather grim. In this regard he learned that souls of the deceased did not rest after death. Instead they lingered and ran the risk of becoming fiends, powerful monsters seeking vengeance. Though he does not know the prayer or the words that his friend spoke, Yuuki places his hands together and says a silent prayer for the fallen workers as well. It may not be many, but he would wish for everyone to pass, and be able to finally rest, peacefully.
His thought process was snapped out of the dark place of thinking about what would happen to them if they failed this, or any other quest. Though his current mind was flooded with worry as Eliza legitimately hands him one of her explosive devices as well as giving him a crash course in its use. “Haaa… I-is it not too soon?! I mean… I have only ever seen one do you not need to be trained?” Though it seems that the young slime male’s worry was over looked this time as the Al Bhed woman began her countdown. Panic flooded his mind, but he did as was instructed; pulling the pin, while holding down the small lever to keep the device from exploding. Once Eliza reaches the countdown to throw the weapon, the slime tosses it but it does not land as neatly as the other Grenade did. Instead… the one that Yuuki tossed hit one of the workers square on its body causing it bounce a bit before landing closer to the brood queen, so when it exploded it took out a chub o of the queen as well as a handful of her workers. “Oh man… that was pretty cool, but I didn’t think I did as good as you did.” Yuuki laughs a bit jokingly as everything left alive run about in pure chaos. The brood mother screams in its alien, monstrous voice as it bleeds from the wounds from the explosion. Once more, Yuuki materialized his short sword once more, before producing yet another in his free hand. “Here you go, Eliza.” He hands his friend that newly materialized weapon, offering her the hilt safely. “Lets finish this up, so we can go on our adventure. What do you say, Eliza?” The smile shown was warm.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 5,301 + 400 [x1.5 Interaction: 600] = 5,901
Eliza watched as Yuuki had followed suit and lobbed his loaned grenade towards the worms. It wasn't as graceful of a lob as hers was, but it still did a decent bit of damage regardless. Yuuki's grenade had done more to the sand worm brood mother than it had the workers, which was great for when they finally got to fighting her. But as of this moment, they only had a handful of seconds to come up with a plan before the workers inevitably found the culprits of their brood mother's suffering, and turned them into food for her recovery.
Eliza would look back to her friend with a wide grin, and nod towards him approvingly. "Fantastic first attempt! Remind me to give you a crash course on how to properly toss one when we get out of this. We'll have you landing targets like a pro in no time!" The young Al Bhed woman gave her Slime companion a pat on his shoulder along with a reassuring nod along with a kind smile, that she meant all of what she said. There would be no tearing down here. Everything she said was always to positively build her partner up.
When Yuuki offered the short sword to Eliza, she was hesitant. She by far preferred range, but then again, they had just done things her way. It would be rude and hypocritical of her to not give her friend's way a try for once. He grasped the blade by the hilt and slowly took it from Yuuki's hand, making sure not to drag the blade edge across his palm. Even though he was a Slime, he still felt pain like she did, so she didn't want to go and risk harming him. Eliza still wasn't quite sure how her companion's healing worked, and didn't want to force him to expend yet more chakra in trying to heal an accidental wound caused by an ally.
Eliza, at the end of the day, hated blades. She hated close combat period. She would much rather be at a distance, taking shots at her enemies, shooting them from afar, rather than getting up close and personal, allowing all manner of viscera and gore to cover her. It was gross, and she hated getting gross. But, she didn't have a gun right now. All she had were her shurikens, kunai, and other various weaponry provided by the academy. Add in this borrowed short sword, and she was all bladed out. Leaping down from her perch, she quickly went in to begin slashing at the sand worm drone workers, taking out the fodder before they had to deal with the sand worm brood mother herself. The drones were easy, but the brood mother could cause a problem even in her wounded state.
Yuuki was impressed with his friend as she delicately takes the weapon from him. The slime knew she preferred to fight at range, but this sword was meant for more defense from his friend, yet she leapt headfirst into the remaining drones. He then would also follow suit as he comes down on one of those sandworm drones. His left hand moved out aiming up to the brood mother before firing off a large stream of water. As his Water Cutter slices right into the large mother worm in the wound from the grenade. Those golden orbs glancing to Eliza once more, "You think so? I tend to focus more on magic and swords more... but this Al Bhed tech is amazing and strong stuff." He spins and kicks one of the drones in its jaw, or what he could make out to be one, with a solid, powerful blow to send it tumbling away from him. The slime grinning warmly to Eliza for a moment before his attention returns once more to the brood queen of the worms. Due to his previous attack she was now lashing out and, unknowing, smashed the drones that were the closest to her.
