It was a little later. Saina was positioned directly under the tree while keeping something concealed in the folds of her cloak. It'd taken them a bit of time to find what she needed but luckily the item didn't prove difficult to come across. Her eyes lowered from the tangle of branches where her indigo chocobo perched to where Urick stood a short distance away.

[color=mediumslateblue]"Are you sure you're going to be fast enough? His claws can be very sharp."[/color]

Urick looked up to the chocobo and tilted his head to the side and thought a moment about the plan Saina had. His eyes then slowly went down to his hands, as they rested upon them he flexed them a few times while moving into a ready position. He probably wasn't fast enough, but any kind of training was good training in his eyes. He was ready for the challenge. He looked back to Saina and gave her a nod before looking up Mercury again. Saina nodded back before looking back up towards Mercury as well.

[color=mediumslateblue]"Hey, Mercury."[/color]

The dark hair woman whistled, causing the chocobo to look down at her, his reptilian pupils narrowing upon seeing his owner. Seeing she now had his attention, she pulled what was hidden from her cloak out--a simple blitzball. Instantly, the massive creature perked up and shook his tailfeathers in anticipation, his eye on the ball.

[color=mediumslateblue]"You want it?"[/color]

Mercury was practically ready to pounce. At this moment, Saina couldn't help but glance at Urick and let a playful smile break across her face as she wound her hand back. She recalled the starting words in the stadium the other day as the threw the ball to him, effectively unleashing the chocobo's patience and sending him hurtling towards the muscular man.

[color=mediumslateblue]"Let's Blitz!"[/color]

Urick wondered why this bird had such a fascination with Blitzballs. He caught the ball, catching out of the corner of his eye, Saina's smile. He only saw it once before, but something about it drew him in, being lost in it almost. His brain clicked as he realized a massive chocobo was hurling towards him. He looked back, his eyes wide at how close Mercury was, Jumping back, he avoided the talons. He then quickly raised his arms, ready to wrap his arms around the birds neck, and wrestle him to the ground if need be. 

The chocobo scurried and craned its long neck to try to bite at the blitzball which Urick help in his raised arms. However, the ball was swiftly removed from Urick's hands by Saina herself who soared over both their heads and landed nimbly further away with the ball in hand. She looked over her shoulder at the man and bird both tangled up with each other, let out a giggle, and dashed away with the ball visibly in hand. With a high pitched 'WAAAARK!' Mercury bounded after Saina, not taking long to catch up with its long legs.

Urick grunted as the bird and he were wrestling with each other, despite training and sparing with Ronso's, Chocobo's were very muscular birds, and also very fast. As Saina had taken the ball and landed a distance away, Mecury had completely forgotten about Urick, and depsite all his strength to hold him, Mecury had escaped his grasp. But Urick was back on his feet in a flash and ran after him, as he had slowed down upon reaching Saina, Urick jumped and landed on the bird back, his arms wrapping around it's neck. 

"AreeHYAACK!!!"

The noise that Mercury made as Urick wrapped his arms around his neck was a mix of his usual chirrup and a choking sound. He stood on his tip toes as soon as he felt pressure on his windpipe and seized up his body.... and with Urick's weight, the two of them fell back, Mercury landing on top of Urick with his talons extended into the air---looking a tiny bit like a dead bug.

Saina turned around from where she had run only to see a mass of blue feathers floating through the air and Mercury on top of Urick's muscular frame. The pale woman pressed her hands over her mouth briefly before quickly clicking her heels up to them, her tone full of concern.

[color=mediumslateblue]"Urick?"[/color]

As Mercury raised himself as high as he could, and Urick being at the angle he was...he closed his eyes at the inevitable...accepting his fate and took a breath while tensing his entire body for the impact. As he hit the ground and Mercury landing on top of him he let out a grunt as the air in his lungs were knocked out of him despite his preparation. There he laid till he heard Saina say his name. His eyes still closed as he twisted his body enough to shove the bird onto the ground, while his arms still around his neck. His grip much more loose, but still enough to subdue him. As soon as Mercury was off of him, he coughed and took a large breath, nodding as he did to show he was ok. 

Saina visibly relaxed as she saw Urick emerge from the luxuriously colored frazzled chocobo's silhouette. She shook her head, looking at the spray of feathers everywhere before leaning down, her gloved hand extended to Urick. She smiled down at him as she waited.

[color=mediumslateblue]"Here..."[/color] 

Urick looked up at Saina as she offered her gloved hand to him. A tint of red appeared on his cheeks as he looked away to the bird for a moment. He very much doubted she could lift him up, but he took her tiny hand in his massive one, wrapping his right leg under him and pushing up mostly with the strength of that leg alone, while pulling on Saina's hand enough to gain a little help from her. As he stood on his own two feet he looked down at Saina, scratching his cheek which was cherry red now. He looked to the Chocobo still on the ground...and said after realizing he might have gone overboard. " Sorry..." 

[color=mediumslateblue]"He can take it. He's suffered far worse afterall..."[/color] She paused to look at the chocobo as well. [color=mediumslateblue]"He's just being a little overdramatic."[/color]

As if on cue, Mercury popped up onto his feet like nothing had happened. He quickly found the blitzball Saina had left behind and squished it between the jaws of his massive beak, every now and then getting a gratifying squeak from the circular object. Saina shook her head once again and looked up to Urick. She needed to pause.... honestly it was easy to forget the sheer size of the man. It was very intimidating, if she were being true to her emotions. And yet somehow, it didn't bother her. She looked down into how her tiny hand fit into his overbearingly sized paw and felt a small tug at her heart that caused her to pull back a little.... but not enough to take her hand out of his.

[color=mediumslateblue]"We should head back..."[/color]

She looked up at him again before pulling away. However, after a few steps which clicked audibly against the stone beneath them, she turned around and folded her hands behind her back.

[color=mediumslateblue]"Which should be more feared..... The Gods.... or Man?"[/color]

As she spoke, the breeze whisked around them, carrying the blue feathers from Mercury up into the sky and into the village below.