melodiesoflife | Quests Ahoy!

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Quests Ahoy!

WHO: Akane Kurashiki & OPEN!, One Closed Thread to Duster
WHAT: In Prompt 1, Akane and Duster must seek out a rare herb to fulfill the request of the Moogles. On their way, they encounter a dangerous Crystal Geezard! Oh no! In Prompt 2, Akane gears up with her best jobs to seek out a Crystal Behemoth. Someone has to take that thing on eventually, and she can use the extra help. Prompt 3 is a wild card, feel free to start up anything if you want CR with her!
WHEN: December, 2016
WHERE: Northern Mountains of Aqures Ixen, Mysidian Continent

[Closed to Duster]

This might be the most awkward quest Akane had ever been assigned. It was bad enough that, as possessed, she'd tried to stab Duster to death. Then her shadow had to twist all of her insecurities into the most hateful viewpoint possible, lashing out at him when he'd only been trying to help her.

The thing was, she couldn't really deny that those feelings had always been there. She had such a hard time making friends with anyone that she'd assumed he was only being nice to her because she was related to Aoi. That wasn't fair to him, she knew that, but even so...would he even bother with someone like her if he'd never spoken to her brother? How many other people merely tolerated her just because of her relationship to someone else?

The chocobo ride across the Calm Plains was very silent as Akane fidgeted awkwardly with the reins of her bird. Her robes were thick and warm, but the further north they went, the colder it got. Had she been to this place before she could have simply teleported the both of them, but that wasn't an option. They also couldn't teleport back once they'd finished, as they needed to return the borrowed birds safe and sound.

A fierce whistling wind yanked the hood off of Akane's head, and for a moment she flailed comically in the saddle to get it back in place, but not before leaving her hair a wild and tangled bird's nest. Reddening, she grabbed the edges of the hood with her gloved fingers and pulled it down hard over her head.

Reaching the foot of the mountains, she brought her chocobo to a halt and turned her gaze upward. "...Should we continue on foot? I'm not sure how good chocobos are at scaling mountains."

* * * * *

[Open to Anyone]

The Old Man wanted one of every crystal monster there was. Why she felt obligated to go after a Behemoth of all things wasn't something Akane could easily explain. To put it simply? If anyone should go after one of the most dangerous monsters, she felt as if she owed it to everyone else to do just that. She still hadn't forgiven herself for what she'd done while possessed, and she felt as if she hadn't really done anything useful as a Hero of Light since arriving here. Moreover, when they'd taken in the Crystal Geezard, she felt more than a little guilty claiming the prize for what was likely the weakest acceptable monster.

So. A Behemoth was the only fight that would do.

She was confident that using the Maelstrom ability would help them a lot against any sort of monster. The hard part would be taking it down fast and hard before it had a chance to unleash a mega-powered Ultima spell that could easily decimate anyone on the field. If that started to happen, she would grab anyone she could and teleport them to a safe distance away, wait for the spell to finish, then move back in.

It seemed like a sound enough strategy, but as she knew very well, even the most carefully laid plans had every opportunity to go horribly wrong. She'd have to keep on her toes.

Clutching her staff, Akane edged forward. She could see the glittering abomination on the next hill over, and given that it was charging straight toward their position, she was sure it could see them too.

"Here it comes," she warned, creating several Copies of herself to scatter them around in front of her while she hung toward the back.

* * * * *

[Got something else you want to do with Akane that doesn't fit the scenarios above? Let me know!]

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Duster hadn't ridden a Chocobo of his own, and when he had rented one for this trip, he let the bird take control. It was pretty smart, staying behind Akane as she took lead on the dirt trail to the mountains. He pulled on its reins a few times to steer it away from a patch of Gershal Greens, but other than that, he kept his head down during the trip.

He wasn't upset at Akane being possessed. None of that was her fault, and neither was the Moogle's manipulation of Aoi. But the accusation her Shadow threw at him, clung to his heart. Was he being kind to her out of obligation?

The noise of Akane flailing in the saddle briefly drew his attention, but Duster remained seated in his saddle. "That's a good idea." He pushes a heel against the side of his Chocobo and pulled its reigns to a nearby tree, its branches free of all its dead leaves.

"..." His eyes moves to the naked tree and his hands let go of the leather straps. He held onto the back of the bird and swung his left leg over the side, keeping a steady grip on the saddle as he lowered his foot. Once it nearly touched the ground, his right foot pushed off the saddle, and Duster jumped the rest of the distance.

Akane fumbled with the ties dangling from her hood and cinched it tight, almost covering her eyes. Well...if she looked silly, so be it. She'd rather be warm. And she would have looked silly if the wind blew her hair all over the place anyway.

Turning her back against the wind, she took the small book out of her pocket, dragging her gloves several times over the pages as she tried to find the one that contained the Tupperworthy Herb that the Moogles wanted. Small white cluster-type petals on the singular flower, glossy leaves with a lighter pattern streaked up the middle, four inches tall on average. She memorized the details before stuffing the book away and stepping closer to the mountain.

She really hoped the herb grew in the bitter cold of winter, but she supposed if it was found in the mountains, it had to be hardy enough to survive.

Using the butt of her staff for extra leverage, Akane began scaling the mountain slope, squinting against the swirling snow to find the best path. It wasn't easy when almost everything was blanketed in white, but once they got to the lee of the mountain, she figured they'd have better luck. "Um...I guess look for anything green?"

Even with a bum leg, Duster could climb up a steep pile of rocks with relative ease thanks to years of experience. It would be more helpful to have equipped the Monk Job, but the reservations of using those skills that killed Aoi and Jack were still there. Better yet, bundled up in the Santa Claus outfit, he would stay warm, and he'd fall a bit behind so that he didn't have to talk to Akane much.

"Alright."

He vaguely remembers how it looked, but nothing about where patches of Tupperworthy can grow. If he found a flower, only then would be confer to Akane. They less they spoke, the less likely she'd get angry at him.

"Winter plants might be easier to find in alcoves. We can search there first."

"Good idea," she said, tipping her head back to look further up the craggy slope. They'd have to climb pretty high up before they started finding something like that, wouldn't they? No time like the present.

And she should know!

The uneasy silence was more tolerable when they'd been riding and conversation was harder to maintain over the sound of warking and the thump of chocobo feet. Without that, it just made her increasingly uneasy. Maybe he was still mad at her for what her shadow said. She couldn't really blame him for that. But if he wasn't ready to discuss it, she didn't want to force a conversation. She climbed higher.

So focused on what lie ahead, she didn't notice the pitiful looking creature slapping its big fleshy tentacles up the snowy mountain side, but Duster might. It was just a Geezard. But if he were exceptionally observant, he might notice the occasional glint of purple crystal lacing its lumpy body as it continued to drag itself relentlessly after the intrepid explorers.

A clump of dirt slipped out from Duster's shoe, and he made a grab for the rocky ledge. Fortunately, the padded coat cushioned the sudden drop, and he didn't twist his good foot! Unfortunately, he turned around to check where he slipped and spotted the Geezard.

"Geezard behind us." It wasn't that big of a deal. A horde of them left him and Aoi alone when they went on their picnic date. ~~They accidentally killed one on their first date as well.~~ Those monsters reminded him of good things that happened in the past.

He climbed up after Akane and paused when the path became flatter to take another look around. The sound of tentacles continued. Did that Geezard really want to climb the mountain? Duster eyed it again, amazed at its tenacity.

Then he noticed something glinting on his body.

"Um, Akane? Something's wrong with that monster." He yelled upward at her. He couldn't check it out without getting close, but Akane's powers could help. It wasn't that different traveling with Kumatora and Lucas: they used their psychic powers, Duster protected them and waited for something to do.

Akane's head whipped around at the sound of crumbling rocks. Her stomach swooped as she realized Duster had nearly fallen, and she immediately started to backtrack. "Are you okay? Hold on..." She reached out to give him a hand up, but when he mentioned the monster, she glanced up and squinted against the wind and snow. She hadn't run into any of the normal ones before, but there was a murderous lust behind its movements that she did recognize. It was dangerous, but to what extent, she didn't know.

"I'll use Leg Aim to... Wait, does that work if it doesn't have legs?!" She hesitated to draw her gunblade. She could probably get an attack from up here while they were still at a safe distance, but she needed to make sure her quest partner was in a proper situation where he could defend himself just in case that sucker could jump. One never knew!

She grasped Duster's wrist with both hands and heaved, digging her heels into the rocky outcrop to get him situated so they could stand their ground together. "Let's get rid of it now, so if it makes us fall, we don't have as far to go to hit the bottom of the mountain."

A logically sound reason. But morbid.

With one hand on a rock set into the soil, Duster pushes himself up, letting Akane guide him to the next step. Once on steady ground, he dusted off the dirt on the palm of his hands and turned towards the monster. It was likely a particularly mean Geezard, stronger judging by the unusual color scheme. That was the thing about wildlife, different colors indicated different levels of aggression.

"I can back you up with music just in case," he said as he slipped off the boxy satchel wrapped around his back with a singular strap. "...It doesn't hurt to try Leg Aim. It might just be a metaphor."

They did have some time before it managed to reach them where they were perched on the mountain face. Making sure the kickback wouldn't knock her off the precipice, she loosened the gunblade from the sheath on her back and drew it into her hands.

A breath to steady herself, and she aimed the point of the blade.

BLAM!

Akane rocked back slightly with the kickback, but to her dismay, the Geezard didn't seem to have been impeded in the slightest. Did that mean the shot didn't work, or was fortune simply not in their favor? "Um...can any of your songs increase strength?" she asked, sifting through several strategies in her head.

There was no way a Geezard should have survived that shot. Aoi killed one with a grape - albeit accidentally - on their first date, and explosion were more powerful the last time Duster checked. This did not imply that he went around running into explosions, that was Ales' job.

It could be a Geezard out for revenge for its fallen brethren, though joking about a sibling running into the wilderness to fight creatures hundreds of times more powerful than itself was in very poor taste when one was from Tazmily.

"I have something." He moved his fingers across the buttons without pressing them, then started a Battle Scene tune. This surely couldn't be a boss.

Out for revenge? Possibly. It was the Grapes of Wrath!

Akane did feel a little stronger. It was not yet upon them, but she decided to try firing at it one more time just to see if she could keep it in place. If she could, that would make the next part of her plan much easier and likely to succeed.

The odds were in her favor this time as the shot impacted against the crystals, ricocheting into the softer flesh underneath. The Geezard howled and flopped its undulating limbs uselessly against the mountain, tearing up clumps of frozen earth and chunks of ice, but unable to climb any higher.

"That got it!" Akane gripped a fistful of Duster's sleeve, pulling him along toward one of the snow-capped boulders. "Here, help me push this on top of it!"

What was this, a Looney Tune?

A nod. This Geezard was no ordinary monster. This had the soul and tenacity that was almost human; something that could make it invincible. This beast could not be defeated by a mere bullet. A rock will have to do the job. Once turned back, he overtook Akane and reached the conveniently round and conveniently place stone.

"Right here." He slid his hands onto indents, letting the friction work as a grip. "It should roll down this way."

Akane threw herself against the boulder, bracing her shoulder against the craggy surface and digging her heels into the ground for leverage. She'd never been very strong, even for a girl, but with the bard song still dancing in her mind, she found that their combined efforts caused the boulder to budge! It was only a little, but it was starting to tilt.

"Hmmmmmgh!" Akane grunted, eyes squeezed shut as she focused all of her strength. If only she had her Telekinesis skill, this would be a piece of cake! Alas.

The giant rock groaned as it was unearthed from its snowy nest, and then, teetering precariously for just a moment, it tumbled and slid down the steep slope. As it went, it gathered up more momentum, spinning faster and bouncing more violently. It was also gathering up more snow. There was no way for the Calamity Geezard to dodge. It was swept up into belligerent bouncing boulder's path, thick fleshy arms flailing helplessly as it spun end over end all the way down.

Its muffled howls continued even at the bottom, the monster packed firmly into the snow only to roll around and around as the boulder began a short-lived journey across the Far Plains.

Akane leaned on her knees, and huffed a quick sigh of relief. "...I'm not sure if it's okay for me to laugh at that..." She kind of wanted to, but it truly was a goofy way to be defeated. Hopefully it didn't have much pride to start with.

Duster put his good foot forward as leverage as he pushed against the rock with all this weight. Phrygia and Lucas made this look easy just with a few Encouraging Words, but no amount of sweet talking could move this boulder. His muscles strained as it slowly rolls out of the dirt, roots and bugs clinging onto the bottom. Once it got unstuck, rolling it over was easy. He held back an arm once he let go to keep Akane from falling over and watched gravity do the rest of the job.

...A lot of work.

...They have created the world's more perfect snowball.

"Hey, effort in, effort out my dad always used to say." Not that his father was the most trusted source, but it felt like a good, wise thing to say in an emotional moment. "And the rock's having fun at the same time," he added with a smile.

"Tee hee hee!" Akane giggled, leaning on her knees as her head dropped forward. "Yes, that's true. That monster sure was boulder than the rest."

See, Junpei?! SEE? She could make funny jokes too! ~~And then Duster pushed her down the hill too.~~

"Maybe after we find the antidote, we should go back and catch it. The old man at the arena is interested in rare monsters, isn't he? I've never seen anything like that one before." She straightened with a huff of breath, tugging the zipper of her coat a little higher to nestle snugly under her chin.

Duster shoved her down the cliff. He didn't, actually, but with the force that he laid his hand on her shoulder, she could have fallen off from the surprise.

"We could. If we can convince him it's a different monsters." And if there was anything left of it.

"Let's go. It'll get dark if we stay too long," Duster said, looking up at the sun making its way towards the other horizon. He turned to the top of the mountain holding onto Akane's coat.

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Quests Ahoy!

Herb Quest...

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