Neve felt as if her feet had been frozen to the floor forever. Eyes wide, she watched as the beasts rushed closer and closer. How were they to deal with them? There was no way they would meet the Blightbeasts’ charge with the same type of vigor. Biting the inside of her mouth, she fully faced them with the intent of forging a shield around them. That was, until Izayoi tore towards the creatures with all of the ferocity of a tempest. Neve stared in awe as blood and intestines gushed into the air and the two halves of the beast slumped to the ground. The other Blightbeasts released a high-pitched cry, and the small cluster of them swiveled on their heels, pelted for the grassline, and disappeared into the fronds.
So they do feel fear. Good. Neve let out a sigh of relief.
The rest of the horde still lingered. Arton and Galahad clustered close as well, which brought her comfort in the face of the ruby-eyed creatures. Gritting her teeth, Neve raised her staff once again. Exhaustion brimmed in her in the form of a heavy fog that weighed her down, though the wild thumping in her chest gave her the strength to stay standing. Her staff glowed a warm golden hue, the light poured out and sworled around the figures of her teammates before the aura evaporated into the dusk. They would be able to drive back the remnants of the beasts with her haste-- all they had to do was give one last, final push.
Above their heads, the night became darker and darker. Its hue was so colorful out in the desert; the stars stood out so beautifully against the backdrop of blues, greens and blacks that sometimes Bluemoon thought she was looking up at the wing of a giant NightWing.
When Hemlock spoke again, she lowered her gaze back to him. ”No, this is the SandWing’s home. They just live here with everyone else. In the past, the SandWing queen lived in her castle in the middle of the desert, but Queen Gila spends so much time here that she might as well live here.” Bluemoon flicked her tail in slight annoyance. ”Many don’t like it, though. Usually the leader of the Scorpion’s Den manages its civilians while the queen is in charge of everything else.”
Bluemoon caught sight of several dragons eyeballing them. One of them, a pale-colored SandWing merchant, gave her a particularly nasty glare. She was probably miffed they were milling around without buying any of her food. Bluemoon ducked her head and strode further down the path.
That night, Sherry felt like she was slowly being swallowed into the Abyss. She had told herself that, if she had to spend one more night sleeping in the same room with someone as atrocious as Leonid, she would rather die. It was a serious enough thought that Sherry had woken up early just to try to speak to the Archbishop and see if she could get her room assignment changed. Much to her dismay, the Dean had intercepted her path and spoken to her before she could even track him down. Iris had appeared to be interested when she listened to the first of her concerns regarding the dorm assignments– but when she spoke about Leonid and how it was uncouth for her to share a room with someone from Cretus. At that point, Iris sent her on her way with little room for compromise.
It was no question that Sherry arrived at class a little late and with a more than upset expression. By the Abyss, she didn’t even offer a good morning to him, which she usually did. She had set her chin in her hand, her gaze staring off into the front of the room as she awaited their teacher. Of course they were late. Of course they hadn’t even been decent enough to leave a note or pass along a message to Professor Talbot, who had gone off to teach the Serpents.
At this rate, she was going to be the laughing stock of the whole continent.
Sherry was pretty close to her snapping point when Theodoric sat next to her. She sent him a sidelong glare and scowled.
”I hardly want to talk about it. Thank Roland made himself useful and made sure the bedroom was clean of any strange items or devices,” she grumbled under her breath. Sighing, she rested her head on the table. ”The Dean refused to listen to my complaints as well. And now the professor hasn’t shown up. My father mentioned nothing about the monastery being such a mess.”
At last, Kimiko and Yurie left him and his curry buns alone. Junichiro said nothing else as he devoured his second bun and quickly started on his third. He was so intent on the flavor of his meal that he hardly heard what Kimiko asked him. Something about passing by her place. He pondered the question. Would his old man care too much about him coming home late again? Eh, he didn’t think so. He nodded at her before once again tucking into the bun.
A third member– a girl that he didn’t immediately recognize– wandered over to their little meeting. Junichiro raised a brow at her, chewing loudly. She had offered her delicious bento box to them. But why give away such savory and beautiful looking food? If he hadn’t shoved the last bite of the curry bun into his mouth he would have immediately accepted her gift. Junichiro gave Kaede a pensive look, then eyed the other two warily. The risk of getting his head bitten off was far too great. Snorting, he turned his nose up at the mouth-wateringly decadent bento in front of him and brought his hands behind his head before he tipped his chair back. His eyes slid closed as he relished his full stomach.
Neve truly believed that the Blightbeast that had snapped its teeth around her right calf was going to break something. Agony, a sensation that she wasn’t quite used to, burned white hot as it streaked up to the inside of her thigh. Spurred by her cry of distress and the stench of her blood, the other creatures lurched forward. Neve flinched, expecting to be overtaken by their number, yet the next thing she knew she was soaring through the air. A strangled squeak of terror ripped from her throat as she clung to Galahad, the one who had brought her so far above the fields of grass. The world whorled beneath her feet and she scrunched her eyes closed as her stomach lurched. However, their flight lasted for a sheer moment before her trembling feet touched down upon the tarp that sheltered their supplies. She brought her head up to see Galahad dashing away, once again taking to the skies to mark the area with bolts of lighting. The others sprang into action as well, dashing towards the beasts with all of the vigor of seasoned warriors. She flinched when Izayoi cut the grass with her wind materia, Eliane right at her feet. Her chest churned when the Blightbeasts slowly surrounded Arton, their maws glistening as they exposed their teeth to the half-lit sky. Aelphis was nowhere to be seen and Goug trembled ferociously with both of his paws wrapped around the reins of the wagon’s chocobos. Neve bristled as she tenderly set her foot down upon solid ground. She was tempted to heal herself, but there were more important matters to attend to.
Gritting her teeth through the pain, Neve grabbed the tarp and threw it over Goug’s head. The moogle hardly let out a complaint as he remained frozen in place and for a moment she felt bad for him. Sorry, friend. But I need to help them.
When that was done and over with, Neve dropped down from the side of the wagon and rushed after the two other women. It was for the best that she stuck with them since Galahad and Arton were so far ahead of them. Since the thick of the Blightbeasts had set their sights on them, her trio had come across stragglers that lagged behind the pack. Neve set her sights on the largest of the abominations, shakily raised her staff, and conjured a fierce Aero spell. The lashing winds sent the monster flying a few feet through the air before it crashed to the ground in a muddled heap. It only took a split moment for it to leap back up onto its feet, screech a blood-curdling cry to rally the singled out pack members, and streak towards them with a frothing jaw. To her surprise, it seemed like the spell hadn’t done much to it.