The two of them worked in tandem from the opposite outsides, working their way into the sand worm brood mother in a flanking pincer attack. They knew how to divide and conquer, that was for sure. Hell, the two of them had been partners since their first days at the academy. Nobody else wanted to partner with the outsiders, so they were able to learn each other quite well. At this point, they could practically strategize without speaking a word. Right now, Yuuki's Water Cutter was putting in work on that open wound, right as Eliza was finishing up with the last drone on her side. This allowed her to turn her attention towards the mother worm itself and she stopped, standing still as she exhaled slowly, her breath appearing as she did so. She would repeat the same movement as before with her Thunder, but slower, and more smoothly than before. Instead of arcing electricity, a chilling cloud emanated from her hand and shot forth at the sand worm. "BLIZZARD!" Yuuki had mentioned concentrating on swords and spells, but Elliza had a host of spells available herself. The sand worm brood queen reeled back at the freezing cold, it causing Yuuki's water to freeze as well, inhibiting its movement.
The pair worked together rather easily and effortlessly, as no words had to be said yet they were already on the same page. As his water froze over due to that ice magic from his friend, Yuki knew just how to use that to kill the sand worm queen. He leaps off the ground and kicks the icicle, formed from the combination of his Water Cutter and Eliza's Blizzard, deeper in the wound. Splitting the brood mother open more, and causing her gross internals to spill out, when he kicks away from the beast. The queen letting out a deafening roar as pain rips through its body. Yuuki gracefully landing on his feet once more, before aiming his open hand up to the beast, "Water Cutter!" The next sharp blast of water erupting once more from his palm aiming to cut in the thick skin of the queen and bisect the creature once and for all. If his idea works, then the pair would only need to destroy the eggs, and end the threat from these viscous monsters... least till something else made a nest from the former sandworms. A thought occurred to him, "Eliza! Can monsters end up becoming fiends? Do we have to send their souls as well?"
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 6,201 + 210 [x2.5 Interaction: 525] = 6,726
Eliza watched as Yuuki deftly moved around the Sand Worm Brood Mother, driving the left over icicle of her Blizzard even deeper into the viscera of the monstrous worm queen. She was now incredibly wounded, and the young Al Bhed woman knew that they would soon be done with this fight, and be able to move onward to smashing all of these eggs. The roar of anger and anguish echoed around the cavern, causing some of the dust to shake from the ceiling and down onto those fighting below. Yuuki would let off with another one of his Water Cutters, aiming for the now greatly exposed soft innards of the beast, making easy work of splitting it in two. Their quest was now all but complete, with the most difficult bits finally being behind them. Eliza would smirk in victory as she walked over to her Slime compatriot, and gently grabbing his wounded arm before applying the last bit of magic that she knew how to use, with a soft and warm green energy appearing from the palm of her hand as she slowly moved it above his injuries from their previous fight. "Cure." The only restorative spell in her arsenal, but it was more than enough for the moment. The residual energy would heal her as well, if she were injured, but her penchant for fighting at range made that difficult in a fight with beasts that could only hit up close.
Letting go of her friend's arm, she would look to him with a warm smile. "I believe you've seen the depth of my magical repertoire now." She would turn to look at all of the eggs. They were laid at the far back of the cavern, but the numerous growing beasts were enough to replace what they had killed today, with a few of them being eligible to be a new brood mother. "I've got enough in me for another Thunder if you can soak them all with your Water Cutter. If not, I'm sure I've got enough grenades left to blow the rest to smithereens." Eliza would await her partner's answer as she continued to count up the eggs. There were more than she realized at first, and dreaded the thought of having to smash them manually if they didn't have enough resources to do so together. "Please tell me we don't have to smash these things manually."
“Manually? Heavens no… that much would be way too much even for me…” Yuuki would respond as watched his friend healing up his arm, despite not showing any physical damage anymore. He would not stop her either as the spell did restore some of his strength lost from the bite he had gotten earlier. “I am sure your magical abilities are going to grow as we train, but you are super talented in both offensive and defensive magiks.” The slime tenderly shook his head though, “… so I might have used too many Water Cutters… I don’t have too much Mana left.” He did offer his hand as if asking for a grenade, “But ya know… this would be an amazing chance to hone up on my throw. Likely faster than our soak and shock as well.”
The sword he was holding vanishes back into the sleeve of the jacket, making it disappear from sight before the weapon dematerialized into the slime where it had once came from. If they were going to be rid off f these eggs the fastest, and safest method should be the use of those Al Bhed grenades, so not to have them hatch and become another threat for the workers at the above site.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 6,726 + 210 [x2.5 Interaction: 525] = 7,251
Eliza couldn't help but to chuckle at Yuuki's praise of her magical prowess, noting about how she was talented in offensive and defensive magics. In truth, that was far from it. What she had was hard fought, and she was definitely lacking when it came to base ability. The young Al Bhed woman would shake her head as she replied. "No, I'm afraid I'm not that talented when it comes to magic. Everything I know has been grasped and claimed by tooth and nail. I can technically learn magic of every element, but it all comes so much slower to me than someone who concentrates on nothing but magic. But I don't mind. Mana can run dry, but there's no replacement for a good partner at your side." Eliza winked as she pulled a couple grenades from under her jacket. "Last two. Let's make 'em count!" Eliza would hold one out for Yuuki to grab while giving him a reassuring nod. She wanted him to feel like he would do better this time, because she believed that he would do better. The first grenade is always a weird toss, especially if you don't know or aren't used to the weight. The second is always markedly better, for most at least.
The slime smirks and nods as his friend talks about how she could technically learn spells of every element, though it was took more training than those that focused primarily on casting and summoning. "Yea, but anything is possible if you have the need and desire." He takes the grenade when it was offered from Eliza. He tenderly tosses it into the air and nabs it as it is coming back down. Happily he kept the pin in the device as he was not about to blow himself or his friend up. "I agree with you though, a good partner cannot be replaced. I am so lucky to have one myself." Yuuki said with a beaming smile to his taller friend, while he knew that she was talking about him... that street went two ways. She did state that these were the last two of her grenades, so they would have to take care in dealing with those eggs. "Gotcha... I think we can wrap this all up with these two." The slime boy leans in for a half hug to his friend, and comrade, "Alright! Lets go~! I am excited to see this weapon you were left, and then go out and explore with you!" Yuuki's excitement was pure, as he leaped to the side while eying the eggs. "I will go first then. If I have another bad throw.. you can clean it up." He then pulls the pin and gives the small, round explosive a careful toss into the clutch of sandworm eggs. This one was much better than his first, and the explosion took about half, or a bit under, of the clutch of eggs. "Haha! There we go! I am getting better at that!" Yuuki punches the air above him, before leaping into the air and shifting back into his true, slime, form. He lands lightly and gracefully on Eliza's shoulder as he now waits for her to toss her last weapon and finish off the last of those eggs.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 7,251 + 335 [x2.5 Interaction: 838] = 8,089
Eliza couldn't help but to smirk when Yuuki returned her sentiment that a good partner couldn't be replaced. It was nice to have a friend to stand by, even if they were from two different worlds. However, she was surprised by the half hug, unable to return it due to it being short. Her Slime friend was excited though, and she couldn't blame him. She had talked up her mother's gun a lot on their journey, and to finally be able to get it back and put it together... Her thoughts were pulled from the caster gun and drawn back to Yuuki saying that he would go first, just in case he had another bad throw. Eliza could then clean up the rest of the sand worm eggs with her grenade, being able to toss it wherever it needed to be. The young Al Bhed woman would watch as her partner pulled the pin on the grenade and gave it a toss into the clutch of eggs. Just a few seconds after landing, it exploded, Taking out around half of the eggs, if not a bit under half. She couldn't help but to exclaim with pride. "Attaboy! Gettin' better already!"
Aiming up her shot, she would pull the pin and release the lever before counting a couple of seconds to cook the grenade so that it would be closer to exploding upon impact. Eliza would then toss the explosive orb into the center of the remaining clutch, landing it square right before it exploded, taking out the remainder of the sand worm eggs. She would giggle with satisfaction at their job well done, before turning to Yuuki and patting him proudly on the shoulder. "Let's get out of here. I'm starting to get hungry."
The slime leaps into the air as he morphs into his natural, slime form... only to land on Eliza's shoulder. "Awesome... still do not feel use to it, but if I am getting better that is all that matters, right?" Yuuki laughs happily and hardily as his belly rumbles nearly right in his friend's ear, due to his perch on her shoulder. "Oh yea... I am there as well, Eliza. Lets grab a bite, since we wrapped up the mission~." He was an eager ball of slime, but at the same time he was just as exhausted as his Al Bhed friend after expending their energies and efforts into slaying the violent denizens of the dark, dank caverns that the expedition teams had accidentally dug up during their work. Yuuki grins as he relaxes on his favored perch, the shoulder of his friend, as he eyes bout the cavern once more, "...though you said the souls of creatures can become fiends if not sent with a prayer, right? Then would the same be the same for these creatures? I would really like to not cause a bigger issue by having a fiend seeking revenge on us and ripping through the innocent workers at the site above." It was a valid concern, or so he thought, as he was still learning on how the world works. He might have also been super excited to get his hands on the Al Bhed codex, so he could speak to Eliza in her native tongue as well as strategize in a way that the opponent would not be able to understand, or to counter.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 8,089 + 270 [x2.5 Interaction: 675] = 8,764
Eliza couldn't help but to smirk as Yuuki once more leaped into the air to morph into his natural slime form, before landing in his usual spot on her shoulder. She would giggle a bit at his comment on getting better. "Don't worry about it. The feeling will come with practice! I promise you'll get as good as me one day!" The young Al Bhed woman would wink at her friend as she made her way back to through the cave, first having to climb back up to the ledge they were standing on before. Luckily, there wasn't any gore or viscera here, so she was able to get a good grip and climb up with relaitve ease. She made sure to favor her right side, as that was the shoulder that Yuuki chose to make his perch. It just became preferable for the two of them.
Once up top, Eliza began making her way back through the cave, keeping an eye out for any treasure they may find along the way. While the workers had no need to be in this cave, the sand worms occasionally dragged things in by various means that held items of value. Unfortunately, she either wasn't able to spot anything of value, or the sand worms just hadn't dragged anything through in a while. She wouldn't be surprised if some of the workers came in here after the news that it was empty reached around the island that the sand worms had all been taken care of.
As they made their way through the cave, Yuuki had mused about the souls of the creatures becoming fiends. She would smile and shake her head at his questioning. "Nah, no need to worry about monsters. They don't become fiends unless there's an outside force, and that's only when they're alive. No, the only things that tend to beocme fiends after they die are the vengeful spirits of humans. And luckily, neither of us died here. Plus, I already prayed for the one we found before, so we should be set. Let's just hope there's not a catastrophic event. Those tend to leave a lot of vengeful spirits, and that's not a good time. The more spirits there are, the stronger the fiend is."
As she finished her explanation, the mouth of the cave began to come into view. The sun was beginning to set, so she didn't have time to waste."Gonna be a quicker trek than it was before. I don't wanna be out here after dark!"Coming out of the cave, and allowing her eyes to adjust, Eliza took survey of their surroundings. The corpses of dead sand worms strewn about, but no scavengers, yet. They would be about sooner than she hoped, with the sun going down. Without warning, the young Al Bhed woman would bring her right hand up to hold her Slime companion in place as she began to jog through the sandy dunes the best that she could. There wasn't much of the desert that they would have to trudge through this way, as the mining site was rocky. They just had to make it there first. "Can you keep an eye on our backs? I gotta keep my eyes forward so we don't get taken by surprise or trip over something!"
A shiver goes through the body of the slime as the pair walk and Eliza explains that only the spirits of living create a Fiend, without outside help. A part of this 'chill' is partly due to the thought if he were to perish in this world... would he be considered a person or monster, but also due to that thought of a 'catastrophe' and without knowing this world well he could not fathom the scale. "Haha... lets not talk about such dark things." Yuuki nuzzles into the hold of the Al Bhed as she begins to sprint through the site as dusk sets in, and asks him to watch their backs. "On it, Eliza!" The slime shifting around, without needing to move, to face the other way as they moved quickly through the desert area. He did remember that travelling at night was a bad idea, as Fiends came forth at night. These rather powerful monsters were suggested to be avoided, and tended to be far more aggressive than others due to their... nature.
Ah... nature... could one fight their own? A sense dread washed through his exhausted body, as he watched the setting sun leading into the twilight. The colors were pretty, and he wished he could take that moment and pause it, to hold Eliza and watch as the bright star painted the sky in pinks, reds, oranges, and purples. A howl coming from the darkness creeping in on them. Yuuki did not really fear the fiends, just what they represented... and for some reason a pit formed deep within him. It was nothing more than a pearl of self-doubt, that the rules of this world made him question. He had always been an outsider in his world, and it was the thing that brought him and Eliza together. Here he wanted to feel normal, be normal... but the thought was still there. Was he? Could he? ...or was he simply a monster disguised as a person. Was his nature to be like one of the beasts of this world, or a Fiend... would he ever produce one if he died in that cavern. He had not forgotten his duty to his friend, and kept watch of threats coming in from behind the pair. Outside the sounds in the distance though, they seemed to be in the clear... and he knew that Eliza would have them somewhere safe in a short manner, even if not back at her uncle's place before it was too dangerous to risk pressing on. Eyes catching the sparkle of the stars above. Shame that the night was so dangerous given its beauty. 'Eliza... when we visit my home... I want to treat you to a night under the stars.' He would think as he did not have the courage to speak of something like that, they were 'just' friends to his knowledge. A pair of outsiders and loners thrown together and forced to survive in this world... albeit cruel, there was still things of beauty hidden within the least likely places. Something as simple as a sunset... sparkling stars... or a cool rain.
Snapping from his own stupor of morbid thoughts, and forcing back the impulse to question if Eliza really thought if he would make a Fiend, or was his human appearance... just that; a facade to 'act' normal and blend in with those that aren't monsters. Was Eliza ever going to really be safe if he was around? His eyes glance to the back of his friend's neck, "So... think we can make it all the way back before it gets too dangerous, or we got a safe house to stop and rest at for the night?" He was rather concerned with them being out for too long due to the aggressive Fiends and their lack of supplies and mana.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 8,764 + 640 [x1.5 Interaction: 960] = 9,724
Eliza couldn't help but to feel the shiver of her slime companion as she explained how fiends were created from the souls of vengeful humans. It was quite the morbid concept, but that's how Spira worked. The dreams of the dead still affecting the living world was something they occasionally had to deal with. Luckily, it wasn't as widespread of a case as back when Sin was still around. That was long before the young Al Bhed woman's time in this world, however. Hopefully, she wouldn't see death and destruction on that scale ever again...although thinking about it brought back memories of the day her parents died. 'Huh, I guess I have seen it before...' Her thoughts went to a dark place as she began to lose focus on what was in front of her. Luckily, however, this was her home. She knew it well, even with the shifting sand dunes.
Nearing the mining equipment once more, Eliza was thankful that the area was still lit up. The bright lights helped to keep the monsters and fiends at bay. Plus, the ground here was far more solid, so she was able to pick up the pace and begin to sprint back towards the town. She was panting heavily now, slightly sweating as she used every ounce of energy she had to propel the two of them even further away from any probable danger the two may face after dark. Plus, this also meant they were even closer to the gates than she originally thought. However, they weren't home free just yet. There was still one more stretch of darkening sand that they had to cross before they were home free.
As Eliza exited the excavation area, she began to feel a faint rumbling with every step in the sand, which caused her to try to run faster. "Crap, we're gonna be close, hang on, Yuuki!" She was so close, but her lungs burned and her legs ached. She was breathing heavily, panting as her mouth was dry. She needed water, and wasn't sure if she could carry on like this for much longer. One misstep coupled with some loose sand caused her to lose her footing, her next step slipping while turning to cradle Yuuki to her chest as she landed on her back, her breathing ragged as her lungs were on fire. "Yu... Yuuki... hel... help." Her voice was dry and crackly, her breath raspy. She needed the rest, but the rumbling was getting more intense, closer, and louder.
Hearing the rasped, out of breath call for help, Yuuki snapped clearly out of his own head. The rumbling was intense and only getting closer, though he could yet see its source. "Alright... Yuuki here to help~" With little effort he flipped off the shoulder of his friend, and morphed into his human form. From there he quickly swept her from her feet... and begin to bolt off with Eliza in a princess carry position. He did not know if he was as fast as she was, and he knew he was much lighter do to just their anatomical differences. "Rest up, Eliza." A flourish of one of his hands under her produces a bottle of water, "Drink up as well." He was trusting her to let him know if the source of those monstrous noises come into sight. If all else fails... Yuuki knew his body would take a beating before it gave out, so the most important thing to him was getting Eliza to safety. A soft flush crossed his cheeks as he had never held the Al Bhed in so close in this form... though she tended to use his slime form like a plushie on bad nights. Yuuki grits his teeth as he feels another rumble directly under them.. and manages to leap from the ground seconds before a Fiend borrows out from the ground where he stood mere seconds ago. 'Oh great... like the one chasing us was not enough.'
"How close are we, Eliza?" A general tune of worry obvious in his voice as he is running on the top of a wall now to avoid the ground. Luckily, Yuuki was trained in Ninjutsu, as well as being fast and agile enough to parkour, so he could avoid the ground based assaults, even while carrying his friend in his arms. Golden orbs gazing down to the woman in his arms causing that flush on his cheeks to darken, and for the slime to be happy that it was dark out... only hoping it to be dark enough to hide his fluster as they ran.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 9,724 + 350 [x1.5 Interaction: 525] = 10,249
Eliza continued to struggle to catch her breath as Yuuki shifted back to his human form before proceeding to scoop the young Al Bhed woman up in his arms. For once, Yuuki was doing the walking for the both of them. It wasn't like she minded being the one to carry him around all the time. In fact, it brought her some level of solace to know that her friend was so close by when she did tote her slime companion around. But this was nice for once, just giving her legs a rest for this one moment. She would shakily take the water bottle from Yuuki, not only because she was absolutely exhausted from traveling all day and then fighting in the desert, but also because running from this rumbling wasn't exactly the smoothest. The exhausted girl would sit her head up the best she could to take a drink, spilling some on herself before being able to catch the opening in her mouth and greedily drinking to soothe her dry mouth and throat. However, she would be forced to spill the rest over herself and Yuuki as he jumped to avoid a burrowing fiend shooting out of the ground beneath them.
Eliza looked forward after Yuuki had asked her how close they were. They were just a Blitzball stadium's jaunt away from the gates."We're gonna have to fight our way to the gates. We're not too far away!" Eliza tapped her friend on the shoulder as an indicator to drop her so that she could take some of the attention for herself. "Kite them to the gates! We have machina that can deal with them!" The two of them were pretty drained, and not to mention out of supplies. The young Al Bhed woman wasn't even sure where the water bottle came from. No matter, she shook the thought from her head as she slipped out of Yuuki's grasp and hit the ground running. She had to move quickly, and definitely did not want to be caught and dragged under. Her likelihood of surviving that was slim to nothing. Then again, she had a knack for surviving things that would normally kill her. "They probably can't move very quickly side to side, so remember to bob and weave, zig zag, and dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge!"
A soft giggle leaves the slime as his friend makes a bit a mess of herself as she tried to drink the offered water as they ran from their attacks. As Eliza wiggles and breaks free of his arms, he would slide to a stop so she could safely hop out. "Let me take that one under the ground." He kicked off the wall and gracefully lands on the ground like a cat. He then runs past his friend. "If you can.. run along the wall, or run along the roof tops." Yuuki winking one of his golden eyes to his friend, as he had already developed a plan to deal with the fiend in the ground. Each of his steps starting to soak water into the soft ground, turning it to a sticky mud to slow the borrowing Fiend.
The slime was fast, and moved like fluid as he zigged, and zagged, leaving a deep mud under his feet. The Fiend below the ground showing its discontent as it rumbles trying to dig through the mud in a hopeless endeavor. A soft grin crossing Yuuki's lips as he saw the bubbles in the mud as the beast is effectively slowed by the strategy. The beast bursting out from some of that mud, only to be meet by a low fired Water Cutter. The attack skirting just off the ground, so that the underground Fiend could not sense the attack coming till it was too late. Not that the Slime expected that his weaker attacks to deal much damage, but it would help slow the Fiend down allowing him and Eliza to make their way to the defensive machina weapons.
[ Perception: 5 | Reaction: 7.5 ]
Word Count: 10,249 + 280 [x2.5 Interaction: 700] = 10,949 Cashing Out: -10,500 Words [Remaining: 449]
"Run along the wall?! If we were that close, we'd be in a safe range right now!" Yuuki was likely still used to how things are back in his world, but here, especially on Bikanel Island, there was a lot of desert with a lot of nothing else. Hell, at least there were two of them to confuse their attention. At least, that's what Eliza had thought. A larger rumbling appeared below her feet, and it was rising quickly, far too quickly for her to be able to make a reaction against it. The young Al Bhed woman would let out a cry of pain as a large, bulbous creature erupted from the sands below, sending Eliza into the sky, much too far for her to be able to land without some sort of injury, even with the training she had received at the academy.
The creature itself withdrew two, worm-like tentacles back through the ground, one escaping the mud that Yuuki had made and joining with the other tentacle at the large fiend's side. This was the first fiend that Eliza had seen in a very long time, and certainly the first that her slime companion had seen as well. But something inside of her screamed to be let out as panic overtook her. What was this feeling inside? It was like a gate was begging to be unlocked, and all she could do was choose if it were to open or not. With a voice, low enough that only she could hear, Eliza had said some words she was told long ago, when she lay under her dead mother's corpse, words whispered while in her near death state. "The Devil comes for his due..."
