melodiesoflife | Only the strong survive

Who: Albel, Fayt, Vincent, Terra, and Meredy
What: Monster Hunting! Training for Kalki's arrival.
Where: Calm Plains and Aqurean Forest area
When: July 11 - July 23
Warnings: None!

Once the majority of the civilians had been evacuated from Aqures Ixen, and Albel's general duties for maintaining a calm and orderly pace to the airship had ended, the real work began. Training was required, training with these new "jobs," these new "skills," before the Empire's forces arrived.

Now Albel might be new to this world, and he might have very little personally invested in it. But Fayt was here, Nel's crystal was here, and dammit, as long as he was stuck here he would defend his existence.

To the death, if need be.

But, since that was not the ideal outcome...

On the morning of July 11, several letters went out personally delivered by Mogdelina. There was no decoration, no courtesy of greeting (but for however the young Moogle approached the recipients). But to Fayt, Vincent, and Meredy, a simple invitation was sent.

The Empire is coming. Until then, we prepare. Meet me outside the city.
-- Albel Nox

Threaded | Flat

Albel stood outside the city gates, arms crossed and waiting impatiently for the others to arrive.

The first creature Albel spied was some sort of... strange... living plant thing.

Well, there was hardly anything so threatening about plants, right?

"Our first target!" he decided, gesturing with his blade. "Try to keep up, maggots!"

This was going to be easy, like picking a harmless flower or tearing up grass. A plant! It couldn't possibly be any match for his katana -- just laughable, really. With a wolfish grin, Albel charged forward.

Which was all fine and good until the mandragora started screaming.

After the embarrassing debacle that was charging head-first at a mandragora unprepared, Albel was a little more cautious about picking a fight. The strange one-eyed creatures that flitted and flew nearby didn't look like much...

But neither had that mandragora.

"Hey -- what're those things?" he asked guardedly.

Yes! Now they were getting the hang of it!

It was strange, working with a new group. A new... team. Well, for however long it lasted. It wasn't like fighting alongside Nel or Cliff, or even Maria -- even if Vincent wielded a gun. At least Fayt remained the same: steady, reliable, even with different skills.

At the same time, it wasn't bad. It would take some getting used to, working with others, but... well, it wasn't impossible. These worms were actually pretty useful. So Albel wasn't worried at all to see the spear-wielding reptile; in fact, he was eager to try out some new strategies.

"Hmph. You ready?"

Edited 2015-07-03 04:19 (UTC)

Well that was weird.

"What's a chest doing out in the middle of a field?" Albel scoffed. Some poor sucker was going to be missing his stuff, that's what! Who just leaves their things behind like that?

Hey, as far as Albel was concerned, finder's keepers!

It had been several days of successful hunting. Albel was feeling better already about practicing these new "job skills," even if he still missed his old abilities. And he was successfully learning about the new creatures of this world, taking down buels and mandragora, scaly sahagin and tricky mimics. Yes, he was feeling quite a bit more confident.

The creature he saw now, though, was a new one. A strange cat-like beast, not terribly far from the group. Another new target, Albel decided. He began to unsheathe his blade...

The outskirts of Aqures Ixen

Mandragora

Two Buel

Sahagin

Mimic

Cait Sith - Finally!