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

[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.]

[That confirmation only makes her heart do another somersault, and it has absolutely no right to be doing that right now. Emotion and strong will and desire... he did not just blast all of his aether into Ixion to save her from that horse's flames, did he?

But his question pulls her back out of those thoughts, and she tucks them away for later as her gaze follows his to the trapped horse.]

No, it's not just you.

[She takes a single stride forward, and there's a zap of tension in the air. She can't tell if it's from Ixion, the horse, or her sisters, but when those bright orange eyes snap to her, she stops.]

What is it doing?

[He may have.

...And he may also be feeling a little winded from it, so he's actually a bit appreciative of this breather. Granted it really was a blind shot of all his aether, so he'll have to refine that control.

When the fire horse turns its attention away from it, Ixion whinnies and shakes it mane, sidestepping to block the view of Benedikta and Cid behind it before tossing its head and trying to drive it back into the lave. Its attention now back on Ixion, it seems a little startled before it takes one step back...and then another...

...

......

But why is it...lowering its head and...averting its eyes...

No, wait, was that a little lift of its head to look at Ixion before looking away again...?

..........Why does this seem familiar—]

I'm not...sure... But it seems to following whatever Ixion is making it do.

[She can even feel the surprise within her connection with her sisters, and they back up as well as Ixion forces the horse away from them but remain ever cautious in case it decides to charge any which way. They flutter there, silently watching, waiting for either something to happen or for Benedikta to tell them otherwise.]

Then we best make the best of this time he has bought us.

[Her eyes move through the room and land on the next one over—that wide opening that leads to where she sees an altar, among a few other things scattered about.]

[He glances over at her direction and just quietly nods.]

Think they got it handled for now.

[And time to sneak sneak over.]

[She can feel the eyes of the horse on them despite their slow and careful movements, but the egis continue to circle around the horse, always keeping themselves between them in case it decides to charge after them. She doesn't dare look back at it, but she can hear its hooves clapping against the ground impatiently, hear the rustle of the fire in its mane, but beyond that, it doesn't move.

And only once they are in the safety of the next room does she finally breathe, though she mostly gets a lungful of heat, as she looks around.]

If I were an ancient relic, where would I be...

Might be hard, especially since others will have come through first. Which means we should probably aim for the less obvious spots...

[He'll walk around the perimeter, noting the odd markings and damage that's already been done. But there is also some odd coloring on the floor, what looks like a pattern of sorts...]

[She's still feeling incredibly wary of the horse, and before they get to snooping around, she flicks her wrist and puts up a wall of wind at the room's entrance. It won't last long nor will it do much to keep it out in the end, but it's just an extra measure to be sure.

And she will waste no time striding right in like she owns the place.]

Less obvious spots being what? The rubble?

[There are old shelves that line the room with tattered books, most of their pages torn or burned away, and she unceremoniously starts tossing them out of her way.]

Perhaps.

[He's eying those shelves before he steps closer to her.]

Or perhaps even behind those shelves.

[She looks at a dusty old tome, turning it over in her hands before she tosses that one to the ground too. They have no time to sift through books!]

I am trying to see if there is some contraption. A hidden door or compartment.

Surprised you haven't taken your wind to it.

[He studies the floor and the base of the shelves before he quickly pats her arm to direct her attention to another shelf that looks to already have been picked through.]

But forget the books, check this shelf over here. Base is clearly scuffed but no recent marks to indicate movement. Bet this is the door but the mechanism must be something else.

[With books already scattered it can't be that, so maybe on the wall? That's where he'll be poking.

But if Benedikta looks closely, there will be soemthing else at the base of the shelf, like a small switch of some kind.]

[Hawk-like eyes follow his down to the base of the shelf, and while he pokes around near the wall of it, she looks downward, kneeling slightly to see if there's anything close to the floor. Or on the floor, even. Uneven rocks make for good hiding places. But her gaze sharpens when she sees something... a switch?]

Do you mean something like this?

[—she gives the small mechanism a kick with her boot, and there's a little rumbling and scraping sound, but beyond that, nothing happens.]

Stuck, you think?

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