escordvi | closed ⚡🪶 and forevermore, i'll be chasing the storm we had.

Maybe. It's been a while since I really heard someone praise me.

[Said a little cheekily as they now step out of the narrow tunnel and out to what looks to be an open plain of lava, a few other tunnel exits visible.]

What, was my singing loud praises of you well into last night not enough?

[Yeah. She went there.

But her grin fades a touch when they finally step out of the tunnel and into an open room where the heat almost sucks all the air out of her lungs. And it's no wonder, considering they now stand near the edge of a very large pool of lava.

With a small groan of discomfort, she swipes her hand across her brow and looks around for a sign of either Chirada or Suparna.]

Is this what he found? There is nothing here.

[Except she misses that small entrance on the other side, as the little Ixion starts to stomp its feet in the air restlessly.]

[That actually gets a snort of laughter out of him, but before he can offer a quip back, they are in this area and he has to look around. Phew.]

...Ah, there's still more it seems. Down that way.

[And he'll start to walk towards where Ixion is trotting off to, not noticing some ominous bubbling happening in the center of that lava pool.]

[Benedikta looks between him and the lava pool, taking a very wide step away from it before following, but she is the one who only gets a few paces away before she notices the sound.]

Cidolfus, look.

[She grabs hold of his jacket and pulls him back, but before she can so much as point out the bubbling, there's a large blast of both wind and heat that meet in the center. The lava erupts from the center, spraying every which way, and the winds blast it back as both Chirada and Suparna come barreling in through the tunnels behind them to take the brunt of the blow.]

What the—

[Fuck.

From the pool emerges the head of a black horse, its mane made of flames.]

[There's a sharp whinny as Ixion flies back, Cid pulling Benedikta back even further and behind him as her egis fly in to shield them both. He would have to thank them later, but for now he's hand is at the hilt of his sword.]

Thought it was going a bit too easy. We could try to run, but we'd worse off if caught in the tunnel.

[She's already drawing her sword as the rest of the horse's massive body crawls out of the water and stares at them through bright orange eyes that look as though they, too, are made of fire. It beats its hoof on the ground, steam flying out of its flared nostrils, and it looks angry.

Meanwhile, Benedikta recovers quickly, the sound of her steel dragging out of its hilt at her hip as she grins, as to goad the beast on.]

No, I think this is exactly what we were meant to find.

[She remembers the sprite talking about the big scary horse, and she runs her fingers along her blade eagerly.]

And where there is a horse, there could be relics.

Edited 2024-01-22 15:49 (UTC)

[Just a half laugh and shake of his head as he fully draws his sword now.]

Just don't get too heated now.

[Yes he punned.

And now the horse charges at them, forcing them to split up before Cid pivots on his heel to bring up his blade as its hooves aim at him.]

[And Benedikta follows the same maneuver, only she falls to the opposite side, splitting off from him like a perfect mirror image. Even the pivot on her heel is the same.]

I should be reminding you that.

[She cocks her lip with a laugh seeing him opposite her.]

Been a while since we've done this properly, isn't it?

[The dolphins and the flower do not count. This feels more like what they had done in the past with their quarries, with the few-day-long hunts that they would often go on together once she had honed the sword and Garuda.

The horse charges at Cid, which leaves Benedikta the opening that she needs. Just as it twists to kick him with its back legs, a wind sweeps beneath its hooves to knock it off kilter so that her sisters can sweep in and shove it back, buying them some much-needed distance.]

Should try to do it more often!

[Said after an appreciative smile with her winds as he takes that opportunity distance himself further before he's releasing a wave of lightning to strike the horse before it fully recovers.]

Then you only need to ask.

[If she's honest, she's kind of missed this.

She hits it from the other side with the wind, the combination of the two creating a brief storm in the center when they collide, but it only serves to knock the horse down momentarily rather than take it out, which is surprising... or perhaps not so much given its sheer size.]

However, I can't say that I have fought a flaming horse before.

[In a sweep of wind, she's brought to his side.]

Any ideas on how to actually beat this thing?

Next date then.

[Even now He does not miss an opportunity.

But as he stares at it momentarily distracted by her egis while she moves back to his side, he just shakes his head.]

Brute force is all I can think. One keeps it occupied, other continues to press, and then switch so not overwhelmed. So long as we can keep it pinned we might have a shot.

[Stop! Calling! Them! Dates!!!

Chirada and Suparna do a fine job of keeping it distracted, but it's as if they have understood Cid's every word because they turn to him at the same time that Benedikta does.]

Keep it pinned, hm?

[They both seem to get the hint, and with their feathered claws, one grabs a back leg while the other takes a front leg, and they drag it as close to the pool of lava as possible, holding it down as best as they can.]

Now, then! Let's see if your plan works.

[Well that's one way— ~~STAGGER TIME~~]

Together then!

[Time to unleash their storm. He'll lunge in first, his blade crackling with his levin as he jumps and twists in the air to create more momentum for a more devastating blow as he brings down his blade, the lightning radiating out as it strikes the downed horse.]

I thought you would never ask.

[She laughs before she follows after him. Wind whips at her feet and curls around her blade, her own movements smooth as she twirls and uses the momentum to slice upwards with it, sending the wind crashing right into the lightning. There's a thick burst of aether, the static churning until the combination forms a thick, dark cloud. Their own small, localized storm.

Chirada and Suparna's shrieks echo out from the other side as the horse flails under the strikes of lightning, its free legs kicking and sending Suparna across into the pool of lava where her form burns away in a trickle of aether.]

And where is yours in all this?

[As she takes Suparna's place, firing off another blast of wind that locks on and keeps the pressure up on its legs.]

It was built more as a scout than a fighter this time.

[He ducks a hoof that aims at him, the movements of the fire horse becoming more erratic and aggressive once it manages to get back on its feet. Still, a good question—where did it go?

However before he could try and figure that out (why does it feel farther away than where they are), he notices the lava bubbling and the flames and skin of the fire horse starting to ignite and rise around. Seeing where Benedikta is, he lets out a shout and rushes at her, crashing and dragging her down away just before a pillar of flames and lava erupts from where she once stood.

And now there is a wave of lava rising from behind the fire horse as it rears up, its unearthly neighs echoing throughout the massive chamber.]

What are you—!?

[When he rushes at her and drags her out of the way, she shouts at him, stumbling and rolling on the ground with him, but everything is interrupted when she sees that pillar of flames where she had once been rising into the air.]

Fuck.

[Seeing the lava, she shoves herself back to her feet and pulls him up with her. They have much bigger things to worry about now than the fact that he probably bruised her side, and her pride, with that tackle.]

Keep the horse busy a moment, will you?

Edited 2024-01-23 15:18 (UTC)

[He saved her life and she's worried about pride...!

Not that he's aware of that, instead getting to his feet with her and immediately taking his sword that had fallen beside them.]

Just don't take too long.

[He won't even question her, instead taking that role and rushing back in after seeing the lava receding and those fires dying down to once more engage it in battle.]

[Yes, because she should have seen that coming on her own and she should not need him to bodycheck her out of the way—!]

As if I ever do.

[Huff!!

She will swoop in behind the horse, taking a spot at the edge where the rocks meet the lava, and with her sister's help, she blasts it back even further. The strong gusts push the lava away, further and further to give Cid extra space to pressure the horse a little more. It isn't much, but it at least keeps them at a respectable distance from it.

And she will keep that up while Cid takes the horse, tossing him a blast of wind or two to trip it up when it gets too close to recovering.]

I could ask the same of you now!

[But she whips around, that wind that she'd been tunnelling into the lava now cutting at the horse, sending it reeling back when it rears at Cid again.]

Hey, I'm the one—[A grunt as he ducks back just before her winds slam into the horse.]—keeping pressure!

[And he'll follow up with lightning that strikes its flank, new smoke appearing from where the flaming hide is torn through with a different type of burn. But even after the cuts from their swords and Benedikta's wind, and the scores from his own lightning, it still stands and continues to move as if unfazed.]

Tough bastard... Not even sure if it's wholly alive.

[She swears under her breath when that strike of his lightning seems to do absolutely nothing. She stands her ground and there's a violent surge of aether around her, the temptation to semi-prime about as strong as the horse's hooves that beat against the rock, looking like it's prepared to charge.]

I'm starting to wonder that, too.

[Less time to wonder as the flames that make up the horse's mane surge with more fire, hotter, brighter, bigger, until its entire body is consumed by it, forcing both Benedikta and Cid further apart, her wind blasting him back and out of the projection of the flames when they erupt from its body just in the nick of time. Hopefully his clothes didn't get singed like hers did, a piece of her collar burning away as she's trapped against the far wall.]

Shit!

[Her outcry turns the angered beast's focus to her, and it finally uses that built up momentum to rush her—]

[It's his turn to swear when she pushes him out of the way with her winds, rolling over the ground from the rough landing but still quick to get up all the same. However—]

Dammit—Ixion!

[It's all instinct and without a second thought as Cid calls back the little egi from wherever the hell it was, focusing all his aether into it. But perhaps it was already on its way back as he feels the snap of his aether in the distance suddenly burst nearby, appearing right in front of Benedikta first in its small form before there's a surge of lightning that erupts around it, momentarily blinding everything before there's a ghastly scream from the fire horse as it's struck away, a large horned horse-like creature now thrashing its hooves and thrusting its horn like a sword to drive the fire horse back.]

[It takes only a second for everything to happen, like a single flash of lightning, only there are several that blind her. She had been prepared to strike it—she held her ground, sword in one hand, wind in the other, and would have taken the damn thing head on if she had to. Mingling with his, there is another spike of her own aether in the air, cool against the heat of his, but there's another, smaller form in front of her before the flaming horse can reach her.

And in the blink of an eye and a bright strike of lightning that forces her to shield her eyes, what was once a miniature horse no bigger than her palm is now a full-sized steed, its horn and its body flickering with purple levin to match the fire on its opponent.

It takes her a moment to register what's in front of her, taking in the sight in all her shock as Ixion charges at the horse, its horn bared and thrashing at it.

Did he...?

No, there's no time to mull over the possibilities right now, or how her heart flutters or where her thoughts had gone because in the center of the room is another blast of wind that churns and swirls before her sisters reappear from it, trapping the horse in a triangle-formation with Ixion.]

[As the egis corner the horse, which is now staring at Ixion warily, Cid gets to his feet and runs over to her.]

You all right?

I am.

[Though she does click her tongue at the burned away pieces of her clothes around her collar, ripping the frayed cloth away as she stares up at this massive lightning horse in front of her.]

You did that?

[He only just learned how to summon an egi, what the fuck!?]

Well like you said, emotion and strong will and desire seem to play a key factor.

[And look what a grand steed Ixion is. Better than a certain six-legged one—]

But is it just me... Or did the other horse get quiet?

[It hasn't really moved much since it's been trapped.]

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