aterat | Hunting Party

Entry tags:

Hunting Party

Who; Zack Fair, Open
What; Hunting A Bandersnatch Or Three
Where; Chocobo Ranch Area
When; Mid March
Warnings; N/A

I. Have Blade Will Travel | Chocobo Ranch

His intention had not been to get himself immediately into trouble. No, Zack had only come all the way out here to check in on the choco-dame that he'd helped Angeal save months ago. Zack had gotten fond of the old hen, and he'd liked checking in, so he'd been happy for the journey, especially when he proudly wore a new sword he'd dubbed 'Rune Blade' for all the pretty symbols that blacksmith dwarf had worked into it.

It had been his intention to show Angeal the new blade, finally had and ready for his experiences in the world as a mercenary or whatever. Except...

"Wait," he said, stopping by a stable hand. "You said there's been something after the birds?"

Yeah, the puppy was distracted so easily.

II. On The Hunt | The Plains

Okay, he had a mission, he had someone to work with, and he had a blade with which to fight. Oh, and his materia. Once that was all ready, Zack had just walked right off into the plains, barely even waiting for his companion.

"Those poor birds," he said as he walked, his voice thoughtful as he walks. "I mean, they are so beautiful, and so nice. Why do they have to be so mean?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Angeal had been working with the birds and it was always amusing to him whenever Zack decided to stop by and check in on them. Honestly it gave him a break but he never said as much. The owner of the ranch didn't mind the pup stopping in either since it gave him an extra set of eyes especially with the news that just came in.

He stopped once he saw Zack and noticed something different but he couldn't figure out what that was. The other Soldier had stopped the stable hand and nodded behind him. "There's something hunting them, we just got the word in."

Angeal. Zack looks to him, a serious look on his face. He'd gotten so serious as he'd gotten older, working missions like this. Sure, he could still be a goose sometimes, but the hardness was there now too.

"Well, guess it's time for me to head back out," he said, voice serious. "Can't let something after the chocobos."

"You're not going alone." Angeal replied. It would actually be nice to work a mission with Zack and it had been quite some time since they'd had that chance. "I'm not going to let something rampage around and be a huge menace."

A menace like the Vajradhara Wu and the Vajradhara Tai in Wutai that had Zack pinned up against the wall, holding out his sword.

Of course he's not going alone, not if Angeal is here and driven. Zack just offers a nod and gestures for Angeal to follow.

"You still in shape, Ang? Because I don't want to be going slow. Gotta save the chocobos."

Because that's what a hero does.

That question got a scoff. "So say the guy who still refuses to go for a morning jog around town." Being fit helped him in so many ways and it gave his mind some time to just run and concentrate on something else. The pup had learned over time not to run directly in front of the Soldier but beside him, so it worked out pretty well.

"Yeah, because mornings are for sleeping in," Zack said as if that was perfectly rational. Running was for later in the day, or when he was working. But he could run either way.

"You're sleeping in now because you couldn't back home." Still, running in the mornings got Angeal away from all of the bullshit that was Shinra so he enjoyed it. Plus they couldn't give inadequate cups of coffee or food if he wasn't at the Shinra building.

Yeah, that's not inaccurate. The last year back home had been pretty fraught, and moving early in the day was important.

"I liked sleeping in a bit."

There was a small laugh. "Don't let too much daylight pass. Right now we've got a mission, and we'll need to focus on that. We don't need any chocobos to get hurt."

And hopefully so far none had.

"Exactly," Zack said, slipping back into mission mode and starting into a ground eating stride. "Should we make a lot of noise? Try and draw it out?"

Angeal shook his head with a small laugh. "Leave it to you to want to make a lot of noise. I don't see how some noise might be a good idea considering it's probably not going to run from us and is more than likely looking for its next meal."

Then he laughed a little and looked at Zack. "I don't think you could sound like a chocobo."

"I've got a great chocobo impression," Zack countered. He had to learn one, for his chocobo limit. "Wanna see?"

A long suffering sigh came out. But then he paused to reconsider. "It won't take long, will it?"

Um, no?

"I don't think so. Maybe I should save it for fighting. Usually when I do it some chocobo comes along ot help me fight."

His limit really was a weird one.

"You're going to do that in the middle of battle." That came with another sigh.

"I think I've missed a few things while I was gone."

More than a few but he wasn't getting into that.

"Of course," Zack said. Why wouldn't he? It's an attack.

"Probably more than a few."

And his tone says 'who do you think caused that'?

[The First Class had him there. Angeal knew he'd missed a bit and shook his head, there wasn't time for that right now even with that tone. So much needed to be said, but of course when they were together like this, they were on a mission even if they really did need to talk.]

We can go over all of that later over dinner. Right now let's focus on getting our chocobos rescued.

Yeah, that first.

[Which meant finding their target.]

Deeper in then?

[Angeal nodded.]

Keep an eye out, but I wouldn't think something that big is going to want to come out into the open unless it has to.

[As in hunting, but he didn't want to say that.]

So stay alert and we'll try not to make too much noise.

[Zack, not make much noise? What a joke that was.]

You got it, Angeal. I'm guessing you're still better at tracking than I am anyway.

[The former First nodded.]

I think a lot of people are. But let's get going while we still have day light.

While they still have daylight. Yeah, that works.

[Zack continues on into the trees. Which of course immediately led to the Bandersnatch tackling him. Because of course.]

[Of course the damn thing would find Zack first. So as soon as the pup was tackled, Angeal grabbed his sword and began attacking the creature. He tried to stay over Zack as he stabbed and swung at the creature because it would keep the thing from trying to hurt the pup.]

You're going to owe me one after this.

Always do.

[Zack's voice was a bit strained from the being pinned thing, but he was doing his best, hands reaching up to grab the thing's muzzle and wrestle it away from his face.]

Super help.

"Hey! Wait up, not all of us have long soldier legs!" Because it was the long legs that made it hard to keep up and not the fact that maybe Aerith wasn't exactly as physically strong and shaped as Zack was. Nope, that had nothing to do with it. Her lips curled down into a frown as she caught up to his side, gripping onto her metal staff as they walked.

"Maybe it's just looking for food itself...?" Even if she didn't like seeing the chocobos getting hurt she did still have a habit of trying to not think the worst of something or someone. Sometimes she had more luck than others with it than others.

It's not the legs OR the strength OR the shape. It's the Mako treatments, he swears. She could more than keep up if not for those of course.

"Sorry," he said, coming to slow down a bit. "Guess I got really used to solo missions for a long time. And I can't blame it if it's got to get food for itself. But the chocobos can't defend themselves, they aren't the wild sort with magic."

Exactly. He gets it. "It's alright," she said as she fully caught up and then tried to keep pace better. She leaned to the side. "That must've gotten kinda lonely." Then again, maybe it wasn't that bad depending on how focused he got on that mission. "Mm, that's something that seems to happen a lot." The weak getting taken advantage of or the idea that only the strong survived. It was how nature worked, but that didn't change the fact that there was a certain amount of sadness to it. "That's where we come in then! We'll get revenge for the ones that lost their lives and protect the ones left. Heroically!"

Yeah, it... It did sometimes.

"I was sorta picked out, pretty early on, for my potential. Angeal did that. I did a lot more two man missions with him, but after him, it was only really high end stuff where I had other Soldiers for support."

And the occasional stuff with troopers. Or Turks. Or Sephiroth himself.

"After Genesis and Angeal left, there weren't nearly as many soldiers as there had been before."

But hey, they were going to work together, and Zack was okay with that. He would protect her some, though her stories of her time after he left said she could protect herself too.

"Exactly! We'll be heroes together!"

Edited 2023-03-27 16:52 (UTC)

"I'm not surprised, I always thought you were pretty impressive." And that was more than just her own personal bias towards him talking. There was something special about him, both in his desire to help others and his own abilities. "Angeal, huh? He seems like a pretty great guy too." Not that she'd gotten to know him too well here, but he seemed nice enough. Polite too and that always went a long way with anyone.

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing. There being less and less soldiers." But she shrugged there and gave him an encouraging smile.

"A dynamic duo of heroes. It'll be an exciting adventure. I never thought I'd end up having so many really." But it hasn't been a bad thing. Scary sometimes, though she'd be hesitant to admit that.

Had she? Well, he smiles at that. It's awesome to hear that.

"Not as impressive as you, Aerith. I just knock people down. You make things grow. That's really awesome."

For a change he doesn't even cringe or wince to hear her reference Angeal, like he had after Modeoheim. No, he had Angeal back, his mentor still looking out for him. And they'd had their own heart to heart more or less.

"Yeah, we could do with less soldiers. Though you would have looked amazing in the uniform. Should I get one made for you? So you can match Cloud and me? It's great adventure clothes, last long distances."

"The world needs people who can do both. I don't think it makes either of us more awesome that one can do the other. If anything it just helps." Having people around that could do the things another couldn't just made life easier. It made up for things the other might have been lacking and also let someone else feel like they were making a difference with their abilities. She'd always loved seeing all the different things people could excel at. "Buuuuut I still think you're more awesome." With that she gave him a teasing little wink.

"Really? Hmm, sure! Then we could go out as a trio!" No, she was way too excited about this idea now.

"Wow, we're going to get into a contest with it. How about we agree that Cloud is most awesome so we don't fight?" he suggests. See, solutions!

He was grinning at her excitement too, until he heard a snapping sound. A broken twig or branch. Without even thinking he's pulling his sword and holding it before him in a defensive manner.

"Just what we needed. An interruption to a great conversation."

"Hmm...., fair enough. I suppose you win this round with that solution," she started to say something else but the interruption cut that off.

"Phooey, that's how it always happens. It's rude to interrupt you know," she said it quietly though. She wasn't soldier trained (that much was obvious based on her lackluster fighting stance with her staff), but at least she knew better than to loudly announce they knew something was there.

Yeah, he does, doesn't he? He grins because hey, an interruption that came in the form of the beast they were hunting? That's almost good luck.

He lifted his blade from his back and grinned.

"Let's see what you've learned, Aerith. I'm excited to be wowed."

"I'll do my best to not let you down." The first thing she did was spin the staff in her hand and put it down, summoning a small fleeting familiar to her side. The little fairy flit around both of them and then went towards the beast that had now fully made itself known. While the familiar didn't precisely do much damage it was enough to distract the creature while they prepared a better attack on it. It growled and swung it's paws at the fairy as it attempted to get it away.

"You never would," he promised as the creature attacked the little fairy. Of course swiping at it meant that it was off balance and Zack lunged in, slashing at the leg to try and keep it off balance.

"You have any materia on you?"

"Yup!" She took a few hops backwards, further behind him so that she could start casting.

"Get fired up!" Everyone had to say something when casting, right? She shot a sizzling firaga directly at the thing.

Did they have to say something when casting? Zack never had other than the occasional noise of strain or frustration when the force of a spell knocked him back.

Still, it's SO cute and he really likes that. Also, seriously, firaga?

"That a natural one?" he asks as he kicks the thing in the head as it tried to dart after Aerith in response to that fire.

Did they have to say something? Nope. Did she like the embellishment it gave? Yes...yes she did. It also somehow made her feel a little more confidant in a fight, which was probably at least a bit obvious by the way she bounced on the heels of her feet as she finished the cast off.

"It's one I got adventuring with Cloud." Adventuring probably wasn't exactly the right word for it. "A lot more useful than the one in my ribbon, huh?" The one that didn't really do anything. She could still remember how unimpressed Cloud had been when she said she had one too. Evidently everyone had them so it wasn't really that special. But deep down she knew hers was special, different.

"I've got all the elements and a healing one."

Yeah, that's true. Her other one is really not that impressive.

"Nice," he says as he charges up his own fire spell to launch at the creature.

"We didn't get to mess with natural materia much in Soldier. Yours does that whole growing and changing stuff, right? So cool."

At least it has sentimental value, right? And one day it may be important!

"Oh, you got really fired up there." She couldn't help it. It just came out without much thought.

"It went from fire to fira to firaga with more use. Did the ones you use in Soldier not work that way?"

At least that. Something that belongs to people you loved was important. Zack had wished he'd had something of hers when he was away.

"You're a laugh riot," Zack chuckles as the Bandersnatch claws at him. He raises his sword as a shield and is knocked back a bit.

"Nah, Soldier supplies are sythnesized materia. So a thunder materia only does thunder spells. They do grow, but only in how they modify your other ability levels. And you can fuse them."

"That better be a compliment!" She started to charge energy around her congregating from her staff and then shouted. "Watch out!" A second passed by and then she lifted off the ground as an intense beam of energy shot out from her straight through the Bandersnatch. It channeled for a second before she dropped back down.

"Think that got it...?"

Of course it was a compliment. As if he could ever pay her anything but that. Well, there was sass sometimes. And damn he was definitely going to keep positive after seeing that attack.

"That was so cool!" he said as the thing collapsed after her channeled magical beam thing. "Like, I've seen some of R&D's robots do that, but never a person."

She grinned brightly at the compliment and put a hand on her hip. "Guess that makes me better than a robot then, huh?"

"You were already better," Zack said with a smile. He moved his sword onto his back and moved over to offer open arms for a hug.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hunting Party

1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

II

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject