Battle on the Plains

[damn_juicebox]

WHO: Rukia Kuchiki, Yuri Lowell
WHAT: While traveling to the Ancient Caves, Rukia runs into a small mob of Sahagin. THEY MUST FIGHT. And then Rukia meets Yuri, unaware that he was the one she'd lectured via Mognet just a few days prior. They are the best of friends! No they aren't.
WHEN: September 18th - Afternoon
WHERE: Between Aqures Ixen and the Ancient Caves


"Miss Rukia! Kupo!"

Rukia turned at the sound of Chappopo's familiar voice, and smiled, waiting for the Moogle to keep up. Chappopo's little wings beat furiously as she dropped to stand next to her hero, and pass her a letter.

"Here you are! I was looking all over for you. It's another letter."

She reached out to take the envelope, regarding it curiously. It wasn't addressed specifically to her, and didn't bear the signs of anything urgent, so she tucked it into the folds of her hakama for safekeeping until later. "You work very hard. Thank you for this."

"It's not a problem! We like helping Heroes! Where are you off to today?"

Smiling, Rukia resumed her journey. The grass of the plains was still full and green, a soft whisper against her sandals as she walked. Chappopo hurried to keep pace. "The Ancient Caves," Rukia said, looking ahead toward the rocky outcroppings far in the distance. "I read that there's a hidden message inside. It may contain answers to some of my questions."

"Kupopo?" the Moogle squeaked inquisitively. "That's a long journey. You shouldn't go alone! What if you get attacked by hamsters?"

"Hamsters...?" Rukia peered at the Moogle. Was this a joke? Chappopo certainly looked concerned, even fretful and nervous.

"Hamsters! They only come out at night, so you're safe for now. But once the sun goes down, watch out! You never know when a hamster will strike!"

A hamster. A hamster. Rukia had heard so much talk about the dangers of monsters that she assumed they would be on the same level as the Hollows of her world. If hamsters were the worst creatures these people had to deal with, then she had nothing to worry about.

Not wanting to belittle Chappopo's concern, Rukia smiled at her, laying a gentle hand on her furry head. "You needn't worry. I'll return long before sundown."

"Po..." Chappopo reluctantly accepted the reassurance. Then she uttered another sharp, inquisitive trill as her head turned to the left.

"What is it?" Rukia asked, straightening.

"I hear something!" Her small leathery wings beat the air, lifting her up off the ground as she hovered close to a large pile of mossy boulders.

Rukia followed. Chappopo had managed to peek out to the side, and ushered Rukia closer with a quick wave and a 'shhhh' motion, paw against her mouth. Oh? What was this? Creeping closer, she decided to chance a peek for herself.

What she saw was a gathering of several strange bipedal creatures, clutching tridents and burbling at one another in strange, thick voices. Fourteen... That was a lot.

"What are they?" Rukia whispered.

"Sahagin," Chappopo informed her quietly. "Dangerous. They shoot powerful jets of water, and those tridents aren't exactly meant for massages either!"

Rukia regarded them through narrowed eyes. She didn't think it wise to charge the lot, not when she had no concept of their strength or capabilities. They looked more threatening than a hamster, she'd give them that. "Are there usually this many in a group?"

"No, kupo," Chappopo shook her head. "It's unusual. They may be plotting some kind of ambush or siege."

"Tch..." In that case, Rukia couldn't simply allow them to be. This would require strategy, and it was obvious to her that she couldn't fight them alone. Save for the occasional rock, there wasn't much out here in the way of cover. If only she'd found them in a forest, or even the cave itself, she might be able to find a slim advantage.

"Head back to town," Rukia advised. "Find one of the others and tell them of the situation. As many as you think are needed--"

A soft inhalation of breath almost wasn't heard. It was the only warning Rukia had. Rukia stiffened, and jerked her head around just in time to see another Sahagin standing behind her, head reared back, cheeks puffed. They'd been discovered!

"Move!" Rukia shouted. She dived for the Moogle to knock them out of the way, just as a harsh jet of water speared the spot where they'd both been standing. Rukia rose to her feet while smoothly sliding the katana out of its sheath. It was preparing to shoot at her again, but Rukia was was ready this time. She darted for the creature, staying low to the ground. The point of her sword slashed upward as she leaped, biting deeply into the armored shell from bottom to top. A wet roar gurgled in its throat as it toppled to the ground, dropping the trident from lifeless fingers.

"M-Miss Rukia--!"

"Go!" Rukia snapped, spinning to face another Sahagin as it charged her head on. She leaped, just over the center of the attack to force the trident's shaft down with her foot. Her sword bit through the air in a clean horizontal swipe. The second creature fell, and two more rushed forward to take its place. She was holding her own for now, but if she stayed in this spot, they would swiftly overwhelm her. At least she was fast, the Ninja job class had seen to that. She sprang away and sprinted, moving in a direction further from Chappopo so the Moogle could get away. "Find another Hero!"

Chappopo didn't need to be told twice. She scrambled to get up into the air, narrowly dodging a spurt of water aimed in her direction before making a beeline back toward Aqures Ixen. She was loathe to leave her Hero behind, but Rukia seemed like she knew what she was doing for now. But only for now! She had to find help!

Climbing in altitude, Chappopo flapped her wings with all her might. Rukia hadn't known which Hero to call, and Chappopo wasn't sure which she favored. It might take all day to find one of Rukia's friends in particular! It was then that she spotted a certain long-haired swordsman moving down the street. That one would do!

Yuri was promptly divebombed by the frantic Moogle, clinging to his sleeve. "Help! On the plains, a huge swarm of Sahagin! She's fighting them alone, you have to hurry!"

Comments

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri had his sword over his shoulder and walking casually by down the streets of Aqures Ixen minding his own business and trying to ignore Acrisius' complaints about his previous messages he was sending out to other "Heroes of Light." Needless to say, his moogle was more or less pissed off at his attitude in the letter and pissing off a few people would cause a massive amount of problems for Yuri. Yet, Yuri didn't seem to give two shits. The people that misunderstood his message, or went do-gooder on him received harsh replies.

He wasn't sorry for them and he would never be. There was something about one tracked minded people that irked him. It was a first time in a long time that someone of noble descent jolted his nerves the wrong way. Yuri swatted at Acrisius again to get the moogle out of his face as he continued to nag Yuri about his behavior.

"Geez, I heard you the first time, stop nagging," he replied pushing the moogle away, "that's their own fault for thinking they would gain anything from acting that way," he replied shrugging again as he kept walking.

"Yuri! Listen to me when I'm talking to you, kupo! What if they put you in jail for that prank, kupo?!" Acrisius was clearly pissed off at Yuri still and he's ignoring the damn moogle altogether until another one nearly dives into his face as he turned to look straight again.

"Whoa there little fella!"

He barely moved out of the way of being assaulted by yet another one of those annoying furball things. He then stared at it for demanding help, "Hey, hey take it easy and start from the top."

Yuri was a prick, but he would never leave anyone without helping them. He wasn't a hero but he didn't like watching other people get hurt unless they wrong him, then that was another story. Yuri was a pretty dark character in general. He knew what kind of person he was and he long accepted it. He did what he deemed was necessary and beneficial to the overall goal. There was nothing he would consider good or evil. If people did something he felt was wrong or hurt others in a terrible way, he would take action. Just like right now, he was sure that whichever poor soul was out there, probably didn't deserve being maimed by monsters.

This icon is the closest thing I have to a Moogle

[damn_juicebox]

"Kupokupokupo!" Chappopo pleaded in her high-pitched, squeaky voice. Her stumpy arms were a blur as she hopped about, like the street had suddenly become hot lava. "Didn't you hear me? Monsters! Lots and lots of monsters, and she's fending them off all by herself! It's terrible! Think of the blood and guts and gore!"

Someone had found Rukia's horror novel.

"Just splashing around. It's so gross! Ahhhh I can't stand to think of it!" Chappopo dragged her paws down her face. "There will be nothing left of her but a greasy puddle on the ground where nothing will ever grow again! Please, please help!"

oh god... D|

[dammit_flynn]

Well that escalated way too quickly and Yuri is stepping back to avoid getting hit in the face with the damn moogle paws and the wonderful gory description of whatever is happening to its hero. Yuri got it after that.

If it will shut up the annoying moogle, he might as well. Yuri tried his best not just walk away from all of this. Like, seriously? He shovels Acrisius at the moogle instead so it doesn't get into his face. Acrisius is more or less pissed off at Yuri for being shoved at the freaking moogle. Of course, Yuri's moogle was nicer than him so he tried his best to calm her down.

"Alright, I get it geez, where is this even happening?" He really needed a new hobby instead of saving people by day, "and leave off the extreme description."

[damn_juicebox]

Chappopo clung to Acrisius, nearly at the point of tears. "Oh thank you! It's to the northeast, by the big pile of boulders!"

Somewhere around there, anyway. The last Chappopo saw of Rukia, she'd been running further toward the Caves. ...Maybe she should mention that too.

"She was heading toward the Ancient Caves. There were so maaaaaaaaaany of them!"

[dammit_flynn]

Acrisius glared at Yuri for shoving him at this hysterical moogle and couldn't do anything more than pat her back in efforts to comfort her while the thing clung to him of all things! Yuri owes him for this.

"Got it," and without making much more of a comment, he's already sprinting down the path to the Ancient Caves, switching his job class to his warrior class, and having Acrisius follow quickly after with Chappopo clinging to him like a rock.

The faster Yuri got this over with, the faster he could move on with his day. That also meant one less obnoxiously loud moogle on his case, and also because he couldn't possibly let someone innocent die now could he?

[damn_juicebox]

BLARGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!

Water punched a hole in the ground right in front of Rukia, forcing her to skid to a halt. Rather than freeze in place and become an easy target, she pivoted on the balls of her feet, pushing off of the ground to leap at her attacker. She swung with her katana, breaking the sahagin's trident before slamming the pommel of her blade into its face to stun it.

There wasn't time to finish it off. Another sahagin had moved to flank the shinigami. It thrust its weapon at Rukia's chest, forcing her to bring up her blade to block. The katana was trapped between the prongs, and she grit her teeth, trying to wrest her weapon loose.

The sahagin was stronger. It swung the trident to the left, dragging the lightweight warrior clean off of her feet, then sharply to the right. Rukia was flung like a rag doll.

"Ngh--!" She hit the ground with her shoulder, sword thumping onto the grass beside her. She reached for it, then quickly snatched back her arm as another sahagin tried to spear her wrist clean through.

She couldn't reclaim her weapon like this. There were too many, and they were starting to tighten the circle they'd formed around her. She rolled up onto her feet, then lashed out with her leg. She drove her foot squarely into the kneecap of one of the monsters, and was rewarded with a satisfying crunch. It howled, and she dropped it with a fierce blow to the back of the neck.

But it wasn't dead. Rukia retreated as it started to lift itself up, hissing.

Damn. She had to keep reminding herself that she wasn't as strong as she once was. There was no way she could reclaim her sword without getting attacked, but she had to risk it.

With a feint to the left, she dived and rolled to snatch up the fallen katana. Clawed fingers tore through the sleeve of her robe, raking her upper arm and shoulder. She winced with pain, but at least now she could retaliate. The tip of the katana plunged into the sahagin's center, before she planted her foot on its chest to yank her sword free. In that moment, her back was vulnerable, and the sahagins knew it. One drew back its trident, preparing to impale the female ninja.

[dammit_flynn]

Eventually, after Rukia took down as much as he she could and was caught in a tough situation, here came Yuri flying down, making his grand entrance. His sword creatively cleaved the creatures that were starting to surround Rukia and he didn't waste another breath to keep attacking them with fluid movement. Yuri was used to fighting recklessly, thus none of this seemed to hinder him. In fact, his sword was being thrown in the air and spinning at random times when he attacked.

It was one of his trademark moves and he wasn't even going to hide the fact that the habit never got fixed. Yuri also took control of the one that was attempting to stab Rukia with its Trident with quick attack. Of course, he seemed to have jumped in at the last minute to save her by eliminating a good chunk of the monsters. That was a lot more trouble than he thought it would be but he at least cleaned up a handful and hopefully Rukia was okay if anything.

"You good to go?" he mused giving her a once over. Though, she didn't look like she was at all. Heck, he didn't think he's seen her around these parts either. That meant she might be a new "Hero of Light," and they got it rough. However, he wasn't sure why she was here of all places with being low leveled on her class as is. Not that he doubted her abilities but in this world, it was hard to be a great fighter even if you were one at home. They take all your original abilities and you pretty much start with the basic of the basic.

Yuri decided to keep them at bay while waiting for her to get back on her feet, while Acrisius was taking care of her moogle, he assumed.

[damn_juicebox]

She would have been killed. Her Transience hadn't kicked in at her most dire moment, possibly because there was nowhere for Rukia to evade to. Yuri's arrival was more than timely, it was crucial. Each time her eyes flicked toward the nearest threat, he was already there, cutting it down and giving Rukia a chance to stand her ground and catch her breath.

"Yes," she replied, standing at his back so neither of them could be ambushed from behind. So this was the one her Moogle had found? There was something vaguely familiar about the face, but at the moment, she couldn't recall where she'd seen him, and therefore paid it no heed. The breath she felt like she'd been holding for hours was finally allowed to ease past her lips in a sigh of relief. "You have my thanks."

Rukia couldn't remain still for too long, though. The pain in her arm was intense, and if she dwelled on it, it would weaken her strikes or even possibly force her to drop her weapon entirely. Until the enemy was gone, she couldn't allow herself to rest. The sahagins had regrouped, and began their second wave.

She narrowed her eyes, tightening her focus, and lashed out with her blade without making a sound. The appearance of another fighter to join the fight refreshed her energy and zeal. A creature rushed to gut her with his trident, and Rukia retaliated with a double strike -- first a cross-cut to knock his weapon off-target, then a follow-up strike to take advantage of the opening she'd just created.

Fighting together, she was far more confident of their chances.

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri was pretty fluid with what he did and he left no room for error. He made mistakes but he was prepared to protect himself. He wasn't like he was in the past. The past Yuri would have been even more reckless and not thought about the consequences of things. Now, this Yuri actually understood the state of his actions and the state of what would happen if he did the wrong or right thing. He was responsible for the outcome whether it was good or bad. He supposed, it was better for it to be good than bad.

Yuri flick his wrist again as another one of the monsters gets cut down with his sword. Yuri's class was pretty decently leveled for him to keep his ground. That and Yuri was a one a military soldier who didn't didn't have a Blastia. Even so, he would actually be able to fight without those strength enhancing devices. That meant that he was prepared to be a lot stronger than normal human with a job class. He was glad to hear that and Rukia got a grin from him.

"Good, now get ready. They're not going to let us go without a fight," he replied. He was serious but there was still a grin on his face, "Don't mention it. If anything, thank the obnoxious furball of yours. She kind of gave me no other choice!"

Yuri leaped at the next one that was coming from the front and swinging for another behind her, "Now tell me, what sort of girl would get herself in this kind of mess? Were you trying to find something?" Rukia's double strike was pretty amazing and Yuri made a whistling sound for that. She's not half bad if she had more people backing her up.

[damn_juicebox]

Obnoxious furball? Rukia chuffed softly under her breath with a smile. She owed Chappopo more than mere thanks. She was indebted to her little friend and her courage and speed. And her persistence too, apparently.

Her blade clashed against the prongs of a trident, eliciting a handful of bright sparks before she twisted away and leaped to slam her sandal on the top of its head. Before it hit the ground, Rukia's sword cleaved the back of its skull and she neatly flipped away, standing shoulder to shoulder momentarily with Yuri before they moved apart.

The youth's skill was obvious. Throwing his sword with a wild flourish would have been reckless were he a less experienced warrior, but it played a pivotal role in keeping the enemy off balance. It created a false opening, and those that rushed in for a sneaking strike wound up doing little more than choking on his steel. An impressive style.

"Yes," she grunted, shoulder-checking another sahagin with her good side before striking it down with a solid chop. "There's a cave not far from here rumored to have clues as to our presence here. We found this unruly lot along the way."

The last creature fell with a hateful hiss, dissolving and dropping coins aplenty. Rukia didn't sheathe her weapon just yet, scanning the plains briefly to see if any others were lurking close at hand. The coast seemed clear. Then there was a tremor. It was so faint, Rukia might have missed it if not for the thin soles of her footwear. She frowned, looking down at the grass as another tremor reverberated, and another, building a steady and heavy rhythm.

By now it was audible, and in the distance, something large and hulking was slowly cresting the hill. Rukia tightened her jaw, readjusting her grip on the katana.

"There's another," she noted, flicking a quick glance at the dark-haired swordsman. "Will you fight with me one more time?"

[dammit_flynn]

It's okay Yuri wasn't only calling her moogle a furball. His got the same treatment to be honest. Yuri didn't even know why he had to deal with them, but he supposed they were useful in their own right in that regard. He continued to keep himself on his task at hand doing whatever was necessary to eliminate the enemy. They were really close to getting this done and he would prefer that they get it done as soon as possible before something worse happens, really. Another swing of his blade as he used one of hit job class' moves to send a lot of them smoldering.

Yuri had connected his sword with the monster's tridents several times as well and he quietly parried them with little or no effort and when he was able to throw them off, he sliced them enough to kill them off permanently. This was getting to be a real chore and he really didn't sign up for this. He always had rotten luck though. What more could he ask for besides rotten luck right? There were plenty of things he could have done really. The man continued to keep his ground with her and when they briefly throwing them off with his wild moves that confused them.

He was a bit flashy, but that flashy style was good at confusing the enemy, because they didn't know what was coming indeed, "Sounds like you're really serious. I don't suppose you want to back off, after going through this far huh?"

He mused with a brief laugh. She seemed serious and he wasn't blaming her for any of it. This person had her priorities at least. He knew that she had something she wanted to get from it and it would probably help serve Yuri some good as well if he were to be able to get some information as well. He didn't know who told her this, but he better hoped there was something at the end of this. He'd be pretty annoyed if there weren't.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice here. Let's get this over with so we can both leave in one piece."

He grinned, as she shifted his footing.

[damn_juicebox]

He'd get fifty percent of the dropped gil, at least. With this many enemies, they'd make a tidy profit. Rukia glanced his way, and shared his brief chuckle with a light hum of her own. He was confident, and that was good. They would need that in the battle to come.

She slid her foot back to assume an attack position, eyes fixed on their new target. The tremors were more than audible as it came crashing over the hill, water dripping from its open maw. She really didn't want to get hit by the water attack this thing could spew out.

"I have a plan," she stated, holding her ground. "If you can draw its attention, I can hamstring it from behind. Once it falls, we can more easily access the head." Rukia eyed the piles of boulders, then the enormous sahagin which was readying a god-sized trident. It was almost within range. "Can you get it to face away from the rocks?"

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri wasn't really after the money to be honest. With his kind of lifestyle, he was used to fighting things like this to earn money. After all, even now he didn't really have a stable job. He was more or less keeping things easy and taking what he could get. He wasn't the type to have a stable job to begin with. Yuri was always confident since he believed in his own skills and with other people pitching in, he could only have things a bit easier.

He raised a brow at their new target if anything, wondering what kind of damage they were going to make in the process. It didn't feel anything like the weaker ones that he had been attacking with Rukia. Something about it told him that it was a lot more powerful than it let on, so he probably shouldn't underestimate it completely.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" he mused with a blank stare at her. Though, he wasn't all for being told what to do, maybe she might make things easier. He couldn't promise he'd follow protocol completely though, knowing how reckless his personality is, "Not that I'm doubting you or anything, but you sure you can handle that with the damage you just received?" She was after ambushed before he came.

"That isn't a problem. I could."

He added.

He'll want the gil for when Cait Sith shows up!

[damn_juicebox]

Rukia inclined her head once, not taking her eyes off of the creature lumbering toward them. She readjusted her grip on her katana, shifting her strength to favor the arm that wasn't injured. "My legs have not lost their strength. I remain capable." Using her speed to make up for her strength, the momentum would surely give her the leverage she needed. She was confident, not only in herself and the plan, but in Yuri as well. As long as she put all of her strength into this attack, enough that the wound would not be too shallow, they could fell it swiftly.

She smiled at his response. "Excellent."

The sahagin lifted its weapon, trident prongs gleaming in the light of the setting sun.

"It comes!"

Rukia darted to the side, staying low to the ground. She was a smaller target, and her black robes hopefully made her harder to see. As long as Yuri used some of that flash and flare he seemed to have in spades, the creature was guaranteed to focus its attack on him.

hhahaahahh maybe he will :D

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri didn't argue wit her since he supposed he could trust on that since the girl seemed like she wasn't lying to him about her condition.

"Alright, all yours then," he replied with a brief smug grin on his face as Rukia said those words to him. Whatever she wanted to do was fine with him, though he wasn't really the type to follow orders completely. There might be a bit of a slip as this went on. When she executed her movement, he followed suit enough.

"C'mon!" he shouted, being overly showy as usual as he aimed to distract the beast from her.

Whatever came next was determined by the both of them and how they were going to execute this.

[damn_juicebox]

The sahagin's reptilian head turned to follow Rukia as she started to run. It was as if it sensed that she'd been impaled and nearly killed by a trident in her past, and was eager to reenact that horrible event. Her eyes widened, but she didn't slow. This had to work. If it didn't...!

Then Yuri shouted to the beast, pulling its attention away from the fleet shinigami. Without warning it pursed its scaly mouth, shooting a violent jetstream of water at Yuri.

"HAAAIII!" Rukia's blade bit through the tendons and muscles of the Sahagin's left leg as she slashed past it. Not slowing, she kept a fierce grip on her katana and tore through the left leg in turn. Dark blood splashed the ground and spattered her robes as it shrieked in agony, starting to drop as its legs quivered and failed.

Rukia's heart was pounding hard, and her hands were shaking with the effort to keep hold of her weapon. Just a little more, she urged herself. They were almost finished!

Rounding back to the pile of boulders, Rukia leaped, kipping off of the craggy surface to vault skyward and twist herself. The enormous sahagin's bulbous head was just below her. Raising her katana high, Rukia descended, a dark butterfly silhouetted in twilight. Steel cleaved through tough scales and sinew, shattering bone as she thrust her blade as hard as sheh could into the base of its skull. Now it was up to Yuri to do the same from the front and finish it off.

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri smugly grinned when it finally payed attention to him, "Took you long enough you giant piece of meat!"

He shouted when the jet of water flew at him, he dodged it pretty easily, leaping away from the area he was standing, probably confusing it as he switched his grip on his sword and when Rukia got her ground again and impaled it through its skull, Yuri cleaved through the rest of the creeps that were blocking his way and thrusting a powerful blow through its chest and proceeding to chop off more of it's body as it was impaled at the skull.

Rukia did a good job getting rid of its movement and handicapping it for his attack. Eventually the sword would make it outside of the creatures body, splattering the blood everywhere, and probably including Rukia and Yuri. No one said the job had to be clean after all. He did what he had to do when he pulled the sword away and smugly grinned.

"Think that takes care of that. The stragglers too."

There was a mass of dead bodies everywhere and it was starting to smell like rotting flesh.

[damn_juicebox]

Fishrot accurately described the smell, yes. The enormous sahagin lay in a lifeless heap, oozing foul liquids from its wounds and its mouth. Rukia remained on top of it, gripping her sword as she panted for breath. At last, it was done, and not a moment too soon.

Shifting her weight, she pushed her feet against the creature's skull to free her katana, stumbling back over the heap of its shell, and sliding off of its side to land unsteadily. Her steps carried her staggering back toward the rocks where she fell heavily on her rear end and sagged. The sword fell from her numbed fingers in favor of cupping her hand to the bleeding gash in her shoulder.

"I thank you," she panted. "Truly." Gritting her teeth, she focused on calling the magic in her veins to her fingertips to administer a Cure spell. It would at least stop the bleeding, she hoped. A few more of these and she would be on her feet again, but for now, it felt nice just to sit in the cool grass and catch her breath.

"We should know each other's names, now that we are allies," she said with a tired, wry smile.

Little did she know.

"Yuri--" "Rukia--" "--Lowell." "Kuchi...ki..."

Rukia peeeeeeeeeeered at Yuri. His name. She knew that damned name.

"YOU!!!! You're the one who wrote those letters--!"

Her shoulder gave a sharp zing, and she sucked in her breath with a hiss. It put a stop to her tirade, and that triggered the remembrance that he wasn't actually entirely at fault for the incident. No harm had been done, and she had been the one to make all of those false assumptions. She lowered her head and swallowed her pride.

"I...owe you an apology. I misunderstood your meaning." Clearly.

[dammit_flynn]

It really did. Yuri didn’t make too much of a face at it, but at the same time there was a lot of things he could say about their current situation that he would refrain for now. The lifeless corpses were a huge mess where they were standing and he sure hopes that someone would clean the damn mess up and it wasn’t going to be him. That was for certain. He shook off his sword, before sheathing it and looking at her when he finished. He needed a bath and quick too since he wasn’t very clean with his murder. Hell, he made a huge mess when he went for it.

Yuri brushed it off a bit as she thanked him, “No need. Like I said, than your animated furball. She sure made a ruckus,” he replied offering her a grin, “You doing alright?”

She might be a little more than worse for wear honestly. The girl was taking on all of those things by herself earlier. He came in when it was nearing the end. He watched her heal herself while moving away from the mess of dead corpses. Acrisius sighed heavily when he and Chapo finally made it to the scene and Yuri made a huge mess. He couldn’t say anything because this was one of those rare moments where his hero actually was doing his job as a hero and not wandering lazily around avoiding people.

Whatever that meant anyway. Yuri and Acrsius re-introduced themselves to Rukia moments later and the girl was sputtering at him as if there was something wrong with his name. Of course he learned the answer soon enough. She had to be one of the girls that were talking with him during the time he was selling off Raven for his own reasons. Not that he would really leave Raven to rot somewhere. He was pretty good with keeping his allies in check.

“Yeah, me. What a coincidence. You must be one of those girls. You said your name was Rukia right?”

He raised a brow at her.

“Easy now, we don’t need you to get more injuries than you have, shorty.”

He replied with a grin.

“All in the past. Don’t worry about it. More importantly, let’s get this over with so we can both take a break. I sure hope we’re not meeting anymore of those nasties.”

[damn_juicebox]

Sh-shorty... Her brow twitched, but she said nothing. She'd probably insinuated much worse in her letters. And it wasn't as if she weren't short, so there was that as well.

"Rukia! Are you okay?!" Chappopo fluttered close to her. "Whoa, that's a lot of blood!"

Rukia uttered another Cure spell, dispelling more of the pain. Her breath eased out of her with a sigh. "I will be all right." She looked up at Yuri, resting the back of her head against the rock. "We felled their leader. It is almost a certainty that any others have likely scattered for the sake of self preservation."

That said, a break sounded good to her. She'd healed enough that she could get to her feet, using the boulder for support. She picked up her sword, cleaning it on the grass before sliding it back into the sheath. She'd wipe it down and oil it later.

"Nyah!"

...Wait, Nyah? Rukia tipped her head back to see a feline face smiling down at the small group, tail lazily swaying back and forth. "Who are you?"

"I see ya made a lotta gil there! Gonna be a pain picking it all up, nyah?" The cat inspected its paws. "Why not let me keep some of it? I'll make it worth your while."

Rukia looked at Yuri, then shrugged. She didn't even know they'd earned gil for something like this. Did he know what creature they were dealing with?

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri didn't seem to be bothered by her twitching eyebrow since he seemed to have enjoyed giving people random nicknames at his leisure. He didn't know her name until she told him, but even then, Rukia was a bit boring. He had to make it a bit more interesting somehow right? He pulled his hair back before turning to her moogle as the thing flew at its Hero. Yuri patted Acrisius on the head and muttered good job to the overly agitated moogle. He crossed his arms, but at least he was respected for his work.

"You know, next time try to make it sound like an emergency instead of a sick description, furball."

He replied with a joke attached to it when he spoke to Chapopo. He nodded his head. There was no use dwelling on it when Rukia stated she was fine. He moved on to more important things, and that was listeningt to what she had to say after that, "Yeah seems like it. I guess we're pretty solid on whatever you're looking for here. Let's get it and leave before more friendly things decide to give us a hello," he replied with a grin.

Then there was a cat thing talking to him.

"Right, and a suspicious looking mascot doll is a better place to invest our money. I am not so sure about that, kitty."

He replied poking the cat for a moment. The gil must be the stuff that was dropped when they massively slaughtered the monsters.

[damn_juicebox]

"S...sorry, kupo!" Chappopo apologized, flustered. "I was frantic. I wasn't sure what to do."

Rukia rubbed the top of her head soothingly. She hadn't been there to witness the exchange, but the Moogle was definitely beyond anxious. How strange to be that worried, after only knowing each other such a short time. It wasn't as if Rukia would have been permanently killed, if crystal stasis was to be believed. Chappopo was genuinely shaken even so.

She looked up at the cat. They were going to get a bargain?

"How much?"

"Two thousand gil."

"OKAY!" Rukia immediately agreed. Chappopo startled at her, staring. W-wow, her hero looked so excited.

"You don't even know what you're getting, kupo..."

Cait Sith smiled a toothy grin, eyes lowering as it regarded Rukia. "You're trusting, aren't you? I like that. You've got my blessing. How about you, Fancypants?" It flicked a paw toward Rukia, and she staggered a little, putting a hand to her chest as she blinked in awe. She did actually feel a little stronger. "What's it gonna be? I won't offer again."

[dammit_flynn]

"Who said you had to be sorry furball? Just take it easy next time so I get the message.

He replied with a chuckle before poking the side of the moogle's cheek briefly. Yuri didn't take things to heart most of the time, seeing that he was the type that would get stabbed and leave it at that while reminding that the person was a bitch to do it. He never really got over that one quickly, but it was beside the point right now. He rubbed the back of his neck as Rukia got comfortable with her moogle.

"Two Thousand Gil huh?"

He raised a brow. Honestly, he wasn't sure what was going but he supposed he could just play along for the time being. If it tricked him, he'd probably hunt it and kill it.

"You sure have no sense of suspicion."

He tried to fight the urge to roll his eyes as he handed over his count.

"Try anything funny kitty cat and I'll be the one you're answering to."

[damn_juicebox]

"Pretty scary, nyah!" the cat grinned at Yuri's threat, flashing its teeth as its green eyes squinted with mirth. "All right, I'm taking my payment, nyah. Be seeing you!" With a flick of its tail, it hovered into the air, holding out an arm as the gil floated up from the ground and into its open paw. It was quite a stack of change. Then it floated away with a trail of sparkles in its wake.

The light fell over Yuri and Rukia, and she felt an odd surge of strength and wisdom. It burned warm in her chest, and her heart beat faster.

"Interesting," she blinked. "I seem to know a few new spells."

"Must have been Cait Sith," Chappopo said, looking up at the sky where the strange cat had departed. "Your jobs probably got an experience boost by granting his request. Pretty lucky!"

Rukia cast a few more Cure spells on herself until the wooziness vanished. She didn't have much magic left, so she would have to rest up tonight and finish the job in the morning. She got to her feet and brushed herself off.

"Let's head back for now."

[dammit_flynn]

"Yeah, well I hope you're not telling lies, then kitty."

He replied with smirk for the comment. Yuri didn't mind being called scary to be honest. It's something he's rather used to being called because of his attitude and personality towards many things. He didn't like dealing with liars. Of course, a lying cat would only make things worse. He didn't care if it was human or a monster, or a freaking cat. He'd give them the right justice if they fooled him.

"Sounds about right," he replied with a brief sigh at the comment. Not that it would do much for his experience thus far. He's almost maxing out some things, so this would be a little more difficult for him to learn all the new spells.

"Cait Sith huh?" he replied raising a brow and Acrisius was sure to nod to him about what Chapopo said.

"Sounds like a plan. Man, I'm hungry. You should treat me to dinner for this," he replied with a laugh, but obviously he was joking partway.

[damn_juicebox]

Chappopo helped Rukia to scoop up the remaining gil, leaving the other half for Yuri. Rukia looked down at the coins, marveling at the sheer number. Had she really slain so many of the enemy? Yuri's comment pulled her attention back to his smirking face. Rather than get upset, she looked back at her earnings, shifting some of the coins aside with her finger.

"I should have more than enough to treat you to a meal," she replied thoughtfully, then nodded. "Certainly." He had saved her life, what reason did she have to balk?

Besides, she was somewhat surprised that he would want to spend time with her after all of her blunders over the purpose of Brave Vesperia and Raven's indentured servitude. She would have thought he would want as little to do with her as possible. What a curious person he was. Perhaps it was worthwhile, getting to know him a little better.

[dammit_flynn]

Yuri handed a good portion to Acrisius to stuff in a bag he carried with him while the rest of it Yuri put in his pockets if they were allowed. He didn't really think that they would get so much money from a creepy cat first off and then beating all those monsters really did put a huge toll on him. He's not exhausted but that was a lot of monsters to take down.

He was a bit fatigued but nothing he would be showing physically to someone he didn't really know too well. Honestly, he wasn't a person that hated others so easily. She didn't really do anything wrong and she apologized, so he had no reason to reprimand her for what she was doing. She was an exceptional warrior, so he could rely on her when he needed back up of some sort if it wasn't just Raven.

"You're serious?" he raised a brow, "Well I won't stop you if you want to do that, Shorty.'

He replied with a brief laugh at her words, "Just doing what I can really. You don't need to take it too seriously," he added as they were walking now. Yuri was never clear anyway, so there was a bit of a misunderstanding on many levels.