october/november catch-all

[aflowers]

WHO: Aerith Gainsborough (and you?)
WHERE: around and about, mostly in Stygia!
WHEN: through the end of October and any time during November!
WHAT: catch-all; there's some notice board starters in here, or you can wildcard at any time!
WARNINGS: n/a, will update if anything comes up!

Comments

tfw I forgot she wouldn't have materia

[aflowers]

[ It's as she looks up to see the badaliscus flying through the air that Aerith remembers belatedly: She does not have Fire materia. Fire materia is a Gaia thing, and right now all she has is a makeshift staff gathered from the fallen branches around Serene.

So, she ducks— what else is there to do?— before straightening up once it lands on the other side of her, holding the staff out and casting a ward at her feet, one that thankfully holds (she's learned very quickly that they don't always). It will help both her strength and that of her new companion's, who she twists to address: ]

Come stand next to me, okay? I can't heal you, but—

[ Her voice trails off, a dumbstruck look on her face as she sees him, and for a second she almost forgets the creature behind her, almost drops the staff she's holding as her hands tremble. ]

Zack?

[ But is it? Really? He looks young, too young, like they were when they first met, and—

She shakes the thought off.

There's time for that later. Right now— ]

This ward will make us both stronger! Come on, okay?

IT'S ALL GOOD. and nothing like casual panic

[heroproceeding]

[ He hears that bidding- is quick to react, standing closer and taller for a split second. Balking a moment the next because he's pretty sure he heard-

There's a question on the tip of his tongue, but it's quickly dismissed when he sees the thing taking a deep breath and Zack rushes forward yet again. This time, he's not aiming for the weird crocodile mummy though. This time, he's trying to catch Aerith by the wrist? Arm? Whatever works to pull her out of the way from the poisonous breath the thing spews out only seconds later with a: ] Sounds great, but believe me! We don't wanna get hit by that!

[aflowers]

[ It's somewhere between her wrist and arm, in the end, a strong— familiar— grip on her forearm that drags her out of the way of its breath. There's still that discomforting feeling leaving her wanting to stare at him, or fall apart on the spot, but this is neither the time nor the place for that, not when they have one of those creatures immediately rounding on them again.

(Also, there's the fact that he's just a kid, and that means if anything she should be the one protecting him, so...) ]

Okay... yuck.

[ It's a mutter more than anything, said more to herself than him, because the badaliscus is already recovering and moving toward them again; she pivots quickly to the side, lifting her staff to shoot bolts of energy from it— some of which flicker and sputter out in the air. ]

Shit.

[ Well, then there's nothing for it, right? Lifting her staff, Aerith brings it down as if to clobber the creature— undignified, really, but better than working with half her usual capability. ]

[heroproceeding]

[ Maybe undignified? But it sure seems to do the trick in the moment. The creature bellows but backs up for the moment, giving Zack a window of opportunity to rush i from there. He hurries after, slashing forward with a strength that has the make shift blade noticeably faster.

There's a spark of awe that flits across his expression before he grins like a fool and sweeps in with another slash for good measure, the thing hissing and grumbling its way backwards, horking up another disgusting acidic belch at them in retaliation. ]

[aflowers]

[ She wants to follow it, but she sees the belch coming this time and so falls back a few steps, reaching out to grab Zack's arm and pull him back too— she recognizes that foolish, cocksure look on his face before, after all, and she really doesn't want him to get hurt because he's excited over the strength and speed her magic gives him.

Aerith glances at him with a quick smile, a nod. ]

Just a little more!

[ Once it's done horking its way through another spit of acid, she moves forward once more and brings the staff down on it again, and again, knowing he'll do the same with his sword. She's not sure if they'll be able to kill it, but at the very least they should scare it off, right...? ]