...

Really.

I cannot say this is a particular boost to my confidence. While I was capable of tracking them here, I've never navigated these forests without that goal in mind. Thus, I cannot be expected to handle that portion of our navigation to our goal in an unfamiliar land.

Given that fact, why is it that we are lost? Exactly what is the excuse for this?

It's the Edren men's fault. I'm certain of it. This dense, humid forest is so far out of their experience that they have managed to get themselves turned around.

Of course, I am well-supplied with food. A single one of my riceballs a day is sufficient to keep me going without worry of fatigue. With that being said, waste of supplies due to being lost out in the wilderness is hardly a wonderful start to the task we have been assigned.

---With that being said...

The slavering, howling beasts. I am no hunter, but I understand the principles of living things all the same. And while the current task is elsewhere, Cid is directly related to my overarching goal.

I reach into the pouch a my hip, my eyes scanning over the beastly creatures. Their distorted forms evoke a painful image, twisted beasts who are no monsters having been warped into them.

I take a deep breath.

The heart is a difficult target on the larger of them. My physical power isn't sufficient to punch through the muscle and bone in the way, particularly for the bears, with enough speed to avoid counterattack. The wolves and other creatures are somewhat easier, but still perhaps not the ideal target.

The throat. The eyes. Soft, undefended locations even on these distorted beasts. Those are my goals.

The sharp, black form of a kunai emerges from my pouch, and with it---

"I would request that you shield your eyes, for a moment."

I raise the kunai and press its tip to the string.

"Burn."

Fire flows from my veins, deep within me. The Fire Materia is useful for direct offense, but it also reduces the amount of equipment that I must carry.

The heat radiates through the steel kunai, setting it alight and catching the bomb aflame.

I raise it up over my head and take aim. Away from Sagramore-san, as of course the Edren man has chosen to rush in, in order to give him time to react.

As it leaves my hand, I shield my eyes as well, tucking my ears against my head.

Crack---

A flash of light. A burst of sound.

For even a moment, these will serve as needles directly thrust into the senses of the beasts before us.

My pack hits the ground. I need to shed the weight to move faster. In the same moment, my blade swiftly leaves its sheath on the back of my hips.

I'll target the most dangerous of the beasts nearest to the initial blast. While they're stunned, I'll eliminate them. Cut them out like the sad disease that they are.

I throw myself forward, pressing my palm to the kashira and sending a surge of fire up the blade's edge as I swiftly approach the nearest of the blighted bears. They are without a doubt the greatest threat out of the various beasts, and right now they are immobilized, if only briefly.

That is all the time that I require.

It is rearing back, throat out of reach, roaring as its eyes and ears are for the moment disabled and in pain.

I push off the ground, arm rising in an arc.

There is a hiss as fur and flesh and blight meets burning steel, the brief resistance that swiftly gives way, and an arc of spraying, afflicted blood.

I hit the ground and keep moving. The more swiftly I move, the more difficult of a target I am, so I simply won't stop if I can help it.

A blighted wolf is in my way, snapping jaws closing shut just ahead of me. I answer it just as swiftly, thrusting the tip of my sword through its neck and then turning, dragging crimson and fire with me as I look for the next of the bears. They'll recover soon, but---

I can delay that a moment longer.

I take aim as my free hand reaches into my pouch again, drawing another kunai. Its eyes are starting to open, so I simply won't allow that.

A swift throw, carefully aimed and accounting for positioning.

One of those barely-opened eyes is pierced, the beast letting out a bellow as it's sent reeling.

I use its body as a platform, pushing of the ground, onto its side, and thrusting the blazing edge of my sword into its neck.

As it falls, I'm already leaving it.

Beasts are beasts, of course, but they are like humans in many respects.

Even blighted, they will still die from a cut throat.

---

The trip to Brightlam was proving to be almost as much of a hostile one as Osprey- Galahad had not anticipated there being truly so many blightbeasts out here in Drana Asaneu. It made their strict position on neutrality that much more baffling, really. Perhaps the Grovemasters weren't as capable of rule as he'd thought, though Galahad decided not to voice that line of thinking aloud, lest he encourage the others to insist on going forward on eliminating them. They'd been avoiding the major roads, using smaller backroads or just trekking through the rainforests themselves, trees so tall, that Galahad would've been hard pressed to reach the canopy with his leaps. Possible certainly, but not without the risk of cracking his skull or getting caught on a hidden tree branch- though he was sure that would entertain some of the folks in his midst. A smaller group might've been able to avoid detection on more well traveled paths, but their group was hardly small at this point, they couldn't just follow along the main roads, any passing patrol would easily detect their movements, so cutting their own path was required.

The fact that they had run into Cid, again, in the midst of all of this was nothing short of miraculous- especially when they'd been pondering whether or not they were lost just some hours before. But here he was, as was Ramuh, yet another Eidolon, though thankfully considerably less hostile towards them at least. Bolts of lightning cracked from the sky, making Galahad's own look like mere sparks in comparison, though comparing an Eidolon to materia wasn't even a comparison really. Luckily, the Eidolon's wrath was not directed towards them, rather the great sages, both of them, were in the middle of being beset by blightbeasts.

And so, the Kirins were once again called upon into action.

"Scatter them!" Galahad called out, leaping into the air, a relatively shorter hop than he was used to as he capitalized on beasts Rudolf had knocked back with gravity. Armored boots sent a lifted blightwolf crashing back into the ground as Galahad pushed off of it and landed onto the back of a great bear, a magnificent beast had it not been blighted. Raising his halberd up, Galahad reversed it in his grip as electricity crackled down the haft and into the blade before driving it down into the back of the bear's neck, wrenching the weapon upwards to take the beast's head off in a single stroke. At this point, this was more of the same for them- just a bit more beasts than usual was all. Or a lot more, but more blightbeasts didn't make dealing with them particularly different.

From his relative vantage from the top of the bear, Galahad brought his halberd down and around him in broad, sweeping strokes, expertly twisting the haft of his weapon around his torso as his heavy blade made short work of any beast it made contact with. One of the wolf shaped beasts leaped at him to tackle him off the bear corpse, its jaws latching onto the Wyrmfang only for Galahad to spin and flourish and throw the beast off.

"Why is it, Cid," Galahad called over the din of fighting, "That whenever we come across you, at least someone is fighting for their life?" Admittedly, Galahad was half joking, but he was, by that turn of phrase, half serious. "Blightbeasts hate you, the Grovemasters apparently aren't fond of you either- maybe Drana Asnaeu isn't the place to be?"

To be fair, that same statement also applied to them at the moment, and Galahad wasn't expecting a response either. His eyes scanned upwards as he saw Ramuh gather lightning to call down another bolt towards a pack of blightbeasts. Leaping into the air, Galahad swung his weapon as he felt, rather than saw the bolt of lightning crack past him, an arcing trail catching the glinting blade of his halberd as the rest of the bolt crashed down on a pack of beasts. The dragoon grimaced and grunted as he felt residual electricity dissipate across the blue scales of his armor- thank Etro his first dragon kill was a lightning dragon.

Galahad landed in the midst of the pack of blightbeasts scattered by the bolt, his own weapon crackling blue. The Wyrmfang's blade and spearpoint had gathered enough electricity that it looked like he was practically wielding a blade made of it. It wouldn't last forever, but his next swing would deliver Ramuh's bolt directly into the next beast he struck. Leaping back into the air, Galahad brought his weapon back, his eyes quickly scanning the clearing, seeking out a suitable target to deliver Ramuh's 'blessing' to.

---

"Oh, what a bother," Esben muttered as the party dove into the fray with the beasts. Not just for the same reason he always wanted to complain when running into them—his focus as a duelist was already plenty obvious to the rest—but for the overall interruption of it. Between running through various options in his head that they'd have once they reached Brightlam and trying to mentally map out just where they'd managed to find themselves, he needed all the concentration he could muster.

Which, in the face of another Eidolon, ravenous beasts, and Cid's reappearance, was not nearly enough. At least the latter would help make some of his planning easier. "Eos, Selene, you can come out." The pair of fairies peeked out from the edges of his cloak, that he still wore despite the humidity and heat just to keep the rest of his clothes from getting torn to shreds in the forest, before flying out around him.

He was almost certain he could hear Eos breathe out a long, slow "Wow..."

As they took in the sight, he fell back towards the rear of the group where he could more easily overlook the course of the battle. "Keep an eye out in case they hit anybody," he ordered Eos, snapping her out of her momentary reverie staring up at Ramuh. "We don't need any casualties, nor do I want to deal with any of them being plagued by the Blight themselves. Selene, speed them up if you would."

"On it!" The purple-glowing fairy sped away in a heartbeat, casting her light over the gathered Kirins just as she had when they fought with Isolde and her knights. Not that Esben imagined any of them really needed the help with Blight beasts...but it should make the tiresome part go by faster.

---

At the sight of Cid and blightbeasts, Éliane didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was truly getting sick of the old man, no matter how helpful he had tried to be. Everywhere he went it seemed trouble was following him. Éliane was fine with that to an extent—it was a good excuse for the thrill of combat and to keep herself and the rest of the team on their toes and their blades honed… but not when it came bringing leviathans, titans, and enemies that required literal armies and heavy weapons to even contest.

In that way, seeing Cid being beset by blightbeasts was actually a breath of fresh air. Cid hassled brought some petty schadenfreude, and she could shoot and stab malignant fauna all day. The only worry was the giant sage, but he only seemed hostile towards the monsters for now.

“Esben, isn’t this fun?” She commented with some mirth, chuckling as she watched Cid shake off one of the creatures before she surged forward.

Unsheathing her gunblade, she sprung into action, but she held herself back slightly, allowing the newest member of the party to overtake her. Éliane wanted to know what Chisato was capable of.

Shooting into the densest part of the pack, she whistled as the small ninja blew up some of the beasts. “I like your style, kid!” Cackling, and not to be outdone, she lobbed one of her own explosives towards another group of the monsters, watching with satisfaction as it exploded among the group, scattering them further.

If it happened to be close enough to Cid that it singed his clothes a little bit, it was purely accidental, not intentional at all.

Izayoi was a blur across the battlefield, her blade scything through Blightbeasts. Razor wind and battojutsu strikes littered the field before she grit her teeth, stopping in place as she was forced to raise her blade to block a massive canid Blightbeast's fangs. An errant bolt of light magic from Cid eliminated the great beast she was straining against, the samurai giving the sage a brief nod of thanks before diving back into the fray.

Soon enough, the efforts of the Kirins cleared the field of Blightbeasts, leaving sage and Eidolon in the middle of the sacred grove. At its center was a single stone, a lightning bolt engraved on the rock.

"My thanks." Cid exhaled, looking less winded from battle and more simply stressed in general. "Full glad am I to see you still live-"

"Isolde deceived us out of the belief you are some sort of heretic." Blightbeast blood was scarcely flicked off of Izayoi's blade as its owner stared Cid down, out of patience. "Explain."

"Ah." Cid winced. "Her observations are true. Her conclusion is not. My life is extended far beyond its natural limit, yes. This, however, does not make me an imposter or a demon. The grace of the Mother sustains me." A rueful smile. "Why else do you believe that I cannot leave holy ground? Honestly, I expected better of that child."

Izayoi simply nodded at this, accepting the explanation. Above everyone, however, Ramuh chose this moment to speak.

"The Dominant speaks truly."

The Eidolon of Thunder's voice rumbled.

"No unholy mischief is involved with extending his life past its limit. Only Etro's blessing."

His gaze swept over the Kirins for several moments before turning back to Cid.

"I should like to test their worth."

"Do try not to overdo it." Cid sighed, walking off to the edge of the clearing where he proceeded to sit. "Warriors, fear not. Ramuh will not kill you. And I will heal your ills once the battle ends. Who knows? Impress him enough, and he may just reward you." A significant glance was sent Esben's way.

"Indeed."

Ramuh remained where he was in the air as lightning crashed into the clearing. When the flash cleared, a different figure could be seen on the ground: a mighty, draconic being clad in steel roared, two stories tall, lightning crackling across its figure.

"You face mine attendant: Adrammelech, the Wroth."

At Adrammelech's cry, Thundagas began to litter the field, bolts of judgment crashing down without rhyme or reason.

"Show us whether you have the strength to save this land, Warriors of Light!"

Okay, beasties defeated, and she'd done it with a minimum of magic usage on her end – you never knew when there might be some extra threat, and blighted or not… an animal was still an animal. It was the sort of thing that she had grown up being taught to deal with, even if using a sword for it still had some flashes of novelty.

…

"Oh, c-come on!" She hadn't even said anything and still they were fighting another giant reptilian monstrosity! And this one was throwing out lightning everywhere. Of all the… she liked using it sometimes because it was hard to dodge, but that was exactly what made this such a pain. Especially when everyone had bits of metal on them, which wasn't going to help. Fine, fine…

How nice of Leviathan to give her so much immediate hands-on practice with protecting against lightning. Oh, she had been focused on making it as strong and focused as possible, there, but the manipulation and casting was just a different application of the same thing. Concentrate, concentrate, and… ah, there it was, the faint light settling into her skin with an odd, slick feeling. Was it like that for everyone? Maybe she should ask one day. "Th-That should help. Still, try not to g-g-get hit…"