[ the fire sails past her, but not before singeing a few tufts of deep brown strands away. the scent of burning hair quickly feels the room, but it is nowhere near the oppressive and all-consuming presence of the monsters. despite this, a grin and twinkle lights up aerith's face.

once, tifa had held her hand out while pulling aerith out of her own fear-sickened panic. it was the first time someone ever came back for her, and though aerith cannot offer her the same thing, she can take her friend's hand into her own, pull her to her feet, and do her best to make her feel like this is just one bump in the road to getting this all figure out. ]

We will. [ where tifa seems terrified and ready to just get out of here, aerith keeps her head firmly on her shoulders. she takes short stock of the other woman, checking her for injuries, before nodding with understanding. ] How many are there? Let's see...

[ dusting off a few pumpkin seeds and strand strands of gourd guts from her pink dress, she looks around the small, enclosed room. it has the perfect configuration for giving cover, but just enough room to make this all the more difficult. the ghouls on the other side of the wall are sure to figure out how to get to the other side (pun possibly intended?) which means they've got moments to figure this out. ]

Three between us two. [ not the best odds, dealing with the undead. she hums, and pulls closer to tifa, as a duo of monsters gets ready to join them again— which means... ] Say, Tifa, I've never been bowling before. What about you?

[ at her feet, she'll feel it: a pumpkin bomb, ready to get used for battle. ]