Do you wanna put up a fight?

[thewingsoffreedom]

Levi had not been particularly pleased about getting the job of training the Lowerworlders.

In his opinion, any group brought to the kingdom with the job of exploring a lost continent should have been picked for their survival skills in the first place, instead of being a grab-bag of what sounded like overpowered idiots who may or may not be able to camp because they may or may not be the Ivalician version of Hunters. Some of them, anyway.

It had to be said, some seemed less like Hunters and more like nerds. The kid with the fringe and the weird metal arm, for example. The pink-haired man with the glasses. Some seemed suited to roughing it, some didn't. Surviving in the wilds for a few days to do a job was very different to surviving that way for what was probably going to be months, but with any luck, after a few weeks training with the Kingsglaive, they should be ready for it.

A couple of them had decided to prove their specific skills in the field and forego the rest of the survival training. Levi didn't care either way, but he privately considered it a little strange, especially since all of them should be able to do the basics -- hunt, field dress, start a fire, set up a tent. All of these things were invaluable when you were out there, especially since setting up camp was more than just picking a flat bit of ground and throwing a canvas up to sleep under, but he'd be able to set enough of them straight that they probably wouldn't die. Or most of them wouldn't, at any rate.

He'd complained about the job to one of his superior officers, but he'd been less than helpful in getting him taken off the assignment, instead telling him it was a good opportunity to see what they could do and what they were about, and so here he was, with the whole lot of them.

The Kingsglaive operated, primarily, as a Daemon-killing force beyond the wall of Crown City. The Black Order covered the rest of Jylland, but a millennia of isolation and old history meant that the Kingdom of Lucis was outside of their jurisdiction. As such, they had needed to start their own, especially when an influx of Daemons a few centuries ago had made it necessary to built the wall to protect the populace in the first place.

Attempts to populate outside it had been more or less successful in the intervening years, with some settlements being established and some being wiped out, if not by Daemons, then by monsters that had grown powerful and fearless after plenty of time without Hume intervention.

The Wall protected the people of the city. Levi knew it had been set up by some King or other, though he didn't care enough about history to remember which one it was. Probably Gavin the Wallbuilder, or some bullshit, he didn't know. What he did know, is that as time went on, the nobby families had a lot of land near the wall and the less wealthy lived closer together, towards the centre. Over time, that had shifted when the need to be close to the capital had arose in the modern day, so now the nobby rich twits lived in ridiculously expensive high-rise rabbit hutches closer to the Citadel and poorer people lived a little further out.

The land on the outskirts had either been set over to farmland, retained by certain bloodlines as Estates, or reclaimed by the Crown, for what they said was valuable open land and greenery, but what Levi knew was often used for training by their soldiers.

It was there where they were this morning.

The ones who wanted to prove themselves capable would be able to do so within the walls, because wild populations of some animals thrived in the fields, open-space and woodland that was either tended and curated, or left to grow wild. To get to the region they would be camping in would have taken a long drive, or, more likely, a long ride out on chocoboback, to Duscae, with its similar landscape and bigger wildlife. There was no point in taking them out there only to have to escort them back if they proved capable.

The area he'd taken them to was on the northeast of the interior, a safe distance from both the wall and open farmland. It was heavily wooded, with trees he was fairly sure had been artificially grown by weird mages some centuries back, because ... well, everything beyond the wall was desert and it seemed weird that there were trees here, but not there.

"We're spending the day here," he said, as he waited for them to get out of the carriages that had brought them. "Those who pass will be taken back to the city. Those who are coming on the proper training will be given chocobos tomorrow morning before we set out and if that's the case, you'll spend a night in an old barracks."

Comments

[declaregamuza]

Nel had to resist the urge to fiddle with her tag. She didn't wear necklaces, as a rule. Short chains tended to disappear between her boobs, and longer ones had a habit of swinging to one side until they hooked themselves around one of the girls like an ineffective single-titty bra. She kept adjusting the tag; combing it central again because a slip of metal getting stuck in her cleavage was more tolerable than a chain draping itself around one boob.

They'd been delivered promptly, as promised, and Nel had taken a bit of time to wander the Lucian highstreet window-shopping. It wasn't until you looked at the shops that you realised what black being the royal colour meant. Everything was available in a rainbow of colours, any colour you wanted, except black. It had been a fun change, if she was honest, even if half of it would clash with her hair.

That was another way you could tell they didn't get Selkies in Insomnia, too. The social convention that black was off limits wouldn't have lasted five minutes if the shops were trying to sell to people that couldn't wear three quarters of the colours they sold. That, and the stares and whispers that had followed Nel, were a big giveaway. She was almost sure that a couple of people had been taking pictures, or tried to. A tall, busty, green haired woman in the city had been quite the spectacle. She almost wanted to be there when they got a look at Szayel.

The ride out of the centre of the city this morning had been fairly pleasant. She had Gamuza by her side. Gamuza had tried to explain to Nel what Cie'th were, but the explanation had been difficult to grasp and had still, in the end, boiled down to 'they're essentially people that became Hollows without dying'. The whole idea was nightmarish, and not, if Nel was honest, too far removed in sound from what had happened to some of the other participants in the Arrancar project.

The city skyline had given way to fields, and trees. If it hadn't been for the big wall visible in the distance you could be forgiven for thinking they'd moved outside the city's borders.

"Bet there's no room service there," she commented with a grin. The more she listened to Levi, the more he reminded her of Ulquiorra. A slightly more talkative Ulquiorra, certainly, but just as blunt and to the point as their resident dour little Rozarrian.

She adjusted Gamuza on her hip, and looked around. The trees looked as if they'd stood here for centuries. The place could have easily been an ancient forest instead of a mysteriously wooded patch of land in the midst of a huge city. The view of the wall was blocked by the wood.

She was willing to bet Marluxia liked it already.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi had absolutely no intention of going outside the Wall on some camping expedition. He expected he'd get quite enough of that on Pulse.

But of course, he had to prove himself to that detestable shrimp. He didn't expect it would be too difficult, all things considered. He could camp already, if he had to. He wouldn't be much good at putting up a tent, but he didn't need to be. He also didn't really need to know how to make a fire, Marluxia could do it.

His role in this trip was never intended to be that of camp homemaker. He'd be good for hunting, he'd be good for the killing of giant creatures, he could take out Hollows and he was useful for being on watch during the dark hours.

So he'd come, armed to the teeth, and ready to demonstrate what he had to.

"A shame," Lumi said. He'd rather liked room service.

[raindownhell]

Fang rather liked camping. She definitely didn't need the training, but she had decided she was going to go along for the ride regardless. Camping was where she was in her element, for all she'd had a home base, a village, back home. She could camp for months at a time, without thinking about it, but she had gotten lazy of late. She found herself liking the hotel room a little too much for her own comfort.

"I don't think Levi's going to be bringing along a team of room service gremlins," she said, somewhat sadly.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith found herself entranced by the surroundings. It smelled and felt so much nicer than the city, even though they were still within the city's boundary. She pressed her hands together and looked up to the tops of the trees.

"Who'd have thought you could find a place like this within the city limits?"

She'd camped with the others, of course. The sky still scared her, a little, and sleeping under the stars had been strange at first, but she'd grown used to it. She could make fire, and she could help pitch a tent, but she'd always had Lea and Saix, and now Fang to help with the rest.

At least they were somewhere safe for it.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia brushed off his sleeves as he stepped out of the vehicle. The trees caught his attention immediately, and he lingered by Lumi's side, listening. Hearing the voice of a wood had been unnerving at first, but Marluxia had grown used to it.

"I'm sure we'll find a good restaurant on our way back tonight," he said, a smile creeping across his face. He and Lumi, after all, would not be staying in any barracks, let alone old ones.

[joinmyreunion]

Kadaj folded his arms across his chest. He'd been used to the finer things in life since being taken in by Kuja, but he was no stranger to roughing it either. He'd spent the better part of a year traveling with Souba and his bike, sleeping wherever he could find shelter and earning his own money from hunts along the way.

He'd enjoyed it, really. Every time he'd gone out with Grimmjow and Yylfordt they'd stayed in the Ragnarok, bunking in the slim berths on the ship. It had felt good to be self sufficient. He'd definitely missed baths, though, and clean laundry. You could manage without them, but it wasn't nice.

"Bet the beds suck, too," he added. "So what we doing first?" he asked, looking at Levi.

[thewingsoffreedom]

Levi waited for them all to get their fill of looking at the scenery with his arms folded.

He was armed. There was nothing dangerous out in the forest, not unless you happened upon a particularly ornery fox or dreamhare, but he knew he'd be travelling out to Duscae afterwards, so he'd decided to dress for it, weapons and all. He carried two swords, one at each hip. Even from a distance it was obvious the blades were straight and slightly wider than a standard-model Zanpakuto or similar sword.

When Kadaj spoke, he decided to cut short their search for wonder in the canopy, and get down to business.

"Who won't be coming beyond the wall?" He asked. "Because if you're not, you get to make your case and go home tonight."

[thesilentstorm]

"I won't be," Lumi said, quietly.

The forest didn't make him as comfortable as it did Marluxia. He didn't like the smell of it. The pine-needles, the leaves, the wood, the scent of the earth below. He didn't like anything about it. The trees blocked the distance he could see and the constant shuffling of the canopy above made it hard to pinpoint where sounds were coming from.

He didn't know what Marluxia meant when he spoke of hearing the wood talk. He wondered if experience was needed to understand, like hearing a Zanpakuto.

"Nor will Marluxia."

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia murmured his agreement, turning his attention from the trees to Levi. "Pleasant as the surroundings are," he added. He did much prefer this to the city proper, and he was willing to place a not inconsiderable sum on Lumi having exactly the opposite opinion.

"And as appealing as the idea of watching certain individuals attempt to put up a tent may be," he continued, unable to contain a smirk, "I fear we have other business to attend."

Whatever excursions Lumi had in mind, for one, and making judicious use of the room service and facilities in the hotel before they went off living on the floor eating whatever they caught for three months on another continent.

[innatelunacy]

Saix watched Lumi and Marluxia with his arms folded across his chest and a sour frown on his face. He liked sleeping under the stars and living off the land; it felt like freedom, and Spira's skies were unblighted by the light pollution he'd seen in so many other worlds.

But he couldn't pretend he particularly wanted to go camping with Marluxia and his follower in tow.

"Good riddance," he muttered, under his breath. He could only hope something ate them while they were gone.

[thatsit]

Ignis shifted his weight on his hips. He'd recruited these people because they should be able to survive and they had skills that might be useful. He sincerely hoped he wasn't about to be proven wrong.

A look around at the assembled faces suggested no one was worried, at least.

He had to attend, too. That had been made clear to him when it had been decided that survivalist training would be issued, just to double down on their mission's chances of success. It wasn't that Ignis, or Gladio - certainly not Gladio - needed the training, it was just that no one, including Ignis, considered it a good idea to leave a cadre of extremely powerful Lowerworlders under the sole supervision of a member of the Kingsglaive.

Particularly when said Glaive was Levi. Noct may like him, but Ignis would have much preferred someone a little more personable.

[thewingsoffreedom]

"Just you two? Fine." Levi shrugged. He'd expected more to try and get out of it, but two wasn't too bad.

He eyed them. They didn't look like much. In fact, they couldn't look like two people less suited to spending time living out under the open sky. One of them looked like he'd be better suited to selling flowers and charming elderly women and the other looked fit for nothing more strenuous than a catwalk. But whatever, who was he to judge.

He turned to the rest.

"Some of you are going to go and get yourself some firewood ready for when we're done. Grab some plants if you think they're edible and whatever else, too. Don't go too far, but there's nothing around here that can hurt you," he told them. "But I want ... four or five of you to come with me, Ignis included, to witness the test, because my superior officer told me to do that and it'll probably make you feel better than I'm not just passing them for the sake of it."

He turned back to Lumi and Marluxia.

"So what're your skills?" He asked. "Other than killing Daemons."

[thesilentstorm]

"Combat, primarily," Lumi said.

It wasn't a lie. Lumi was proficient in hand to hand combat and swordplay and extremely competent with a variety of ranged skills. He could throw knives nearly as well as he could fire a gun and he rarely missed with one of those. He couldn't use magic for love nor money, but that wasn't necessarily a lack for him, not when his partner was such an accomplished mage.

"I can field dress and butcher and I'm a marksman," he added, moving his coat aside to show a sidearm even though he had brought a longarm with him as well and it was clearly visible on his back. "If you have targets, I don't mind hitting them."

He didn't bother to mention his eyes. He could see very well in the dark as could, he expected, Kadaj and Ulquiorra, both of whom had the same slitted pupils as he did. It wouldn't be anything interesting or noteworthy now, but when it came to deciding who was on watch at night, they would likely be a factor.

He hesitated, just for a second and then added: "I also have no detectable Reiatsu. Stealth may be useful for recon."

[thewingsoffreedom]

With the other one out the way, Levi turned his attention to Marluxia.

This one didn't have a gun. He'd also described himself as 'mostly unarmed' or something along those lines. Fortunately, he wasn't here to be tested on his combat skills. 'Mostly unarmed' meant 'mage' and mages tended to have more far-reaching effects in battle than those who preferred a physical style, so he was going to take his word as far as his fighting skills went. This was about survival.

"Since your boyfriend can do the hunting and skinning, you're going to demonstrate making a shelter and starting a fire," he said. "Hey, you. Other Blue-hair. Yeah," he said, when Grimmjow turned in his direction. "Go out a little way and pick a selection of plants. Flowers, weeds, leaves, mushrooms, whatever. Many as you can find."

He watched him go. He'd have sent science guy, but he hadn't missed him barely managing to avoid stumbling over bits of undergrowth, so he picked somebody more surefooted. Like Saix, he glared before doing as he asked, but that was probably because a flower-picking errand was slightly lamer than picking up a rabbit.

[gracefuldahlia]

"That's a common misconception," Marluxia murmured, looking to Lumi. So many people were convinced he and Lumi were an item, and lately that had included the old ladies that lived near their cottage.

They were, apparently, 'a sweet young couple'. Marluxia hadn't bothered to correct them. Better for people to think they were a couple than start wondering why a couple of Selkies had moved in together.

Shelter first, then. The trees that stood were too thick of trunk and old to be readily bent to his will. He didn't see the point in harming them in order to prove himself. Instead he walked out a little way, clear of the shaded ground, and crouched down.

Seeds fell here but never sprouted. The surrounding trees kept the light and the soil to themselves. Their roots, however, weren't as widespread as you'd normally find with such large trees.

He breathed in, settling his palm against the ground, and then breathed out as he funneled his chakra into the earth. There were seeds there, some long dormant, some that had only lain there since last spring. Their parents had grown with a little help, once. Now it was their turn.

Roots first, spreading deeper into the soil, anchoring themselves, and then the sprouts. The first ones emerged from the dirt, pale and thin, leaves opening out like watching a timelapse video taken over weeks. They grew taller, thicker, surrounding Marluxia in a large circle. Branches grew outwards, touched, wound together, forming an intricate latticework that thickened and tightened as the saplings grew.

The tops of them bowed, reaching over the centre of the circle they'd formed and did the same. Leaves began to unfurl, slowly at first, and then exploded in greenery, covering the domed structure that now swallowed Marluxia. The creaking sound of wood echoed as it continued to shift and strengthen.

It fell silent and ceased moving. Nothing more happened for a few seconds, and then the young trees facing the onlookers parted, splitting open to create a doorway. Flowers blossomed around its edge before Marluxia stepped out, brushing soil off his hands.

"That should be sufficiently weatherproof," he said.

[thatsit]

At first Ignis had thought Marluxia was picking a spot, checking how damp the ground was, for example.

His brow furrowed when Marluxia's reiatsu climbed, and then the undergrowth began to shift.

He'd heard that Marluxia has been responsible for the garden at the Desert Palace. He hadn't thought that responsibility would have been in this manner. His eyes widened as a structure formed, and Ignis glanced towards Lumi.

When Marluxia finally emerged, Ignis found himself lost for words. Lumi's display of sharpshooting had been impressive, but as magical displays went, this was something else. They were as gifted as each other in their respective fields.

Ignis pulled his glasses off, blinking in disbelief, and began to clean the lenses while his brain tried to fire back up with something to say.

[sipthehoneylikeabutterfly]

Szayel watched with wide eyes and growing glee.

Mrluxia had grown the gardens, of course, but he hadn't done that in one go, and a lot of the work had involved bringing in young plants and then making them bigger. He'd found Luppi's ridiculous little Malboro as a dormant seed or whatever it was too, but Szayel hadn't considered that Marluxia's abilities extended to this.

The amount of chakra manipulation like this must require. The precision with which it must be aimed and used.

The upwards climb of Marluxia's spiritual pressure was a clue to how much effort was involved, and yet Marluxia seemingly thought nothing of giving it all a final flourish of blooms to leave his mark.

He wondered if a cutting from it would allow him to study Marluxia's chakra in more depth.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi watched, only resisting folding his arms because he still had blood on his hands from the rabbit.

Watching Marluxia work always filled him with a mixture of emotions. Awe was the first, of course. A total non-mage like him couldn't help being awed in the face of such precise, perfect control of another's magical element, especially one as esoteric as plant manipulation. The second was something like a pang. Nearly jealousy. Not over his ability with magic, he wasn't envious there, but because he knew how well Marluxia would do in his home world and almost longed to take him there, even if the result would be raking in the cash. Well, plants didn't grow readily where he'd spent most of his time and they fetched high prices. The last one was always a slightly crawling disgust ... not disgust, just ... discomfort. He couldn't help it, there was something about the sped-up sounds of growing and the maggoty squirming of accelerated sun-searching of new shoots that made him itch. Not to mention the fact that a man was so readily controlling something as ridiculously powerful as ... well, nature, was just strange.

He'd been to places, both in his own past and on Spira, where plants had forced apart ages-old brick and stone, burst out through cracks where seeds and soil had collected, destroyed and reclaimed buildings almost entirely. People rarely considered the power that the more passive-sounding elements commanded and Lumi couldn't quite work out why. Fire razed and earth could be forced to shake and warp, but nothing erased like water, or took hold quite like plants. Certainly not as slowly. The slow invasion of the tendrils, roots and leaves made it seem like it wasn't happening at all. Maybe that's why Marluxia's sped-up version of the same bothered him.

Still, it was impressive. It would have been impressive without the flowers, too.

"It's still creepy," he said when it all stopped.

[raindownhell]

Fang found herself stunned.

The other one's display of sharpshooting had been impressive beyond a doubt. This ... was different. That had been skill, likely years of practice to achieve that sort of accuracy, this was something else. Marluxia's command of nature, of plants themselves, put her in mind of something beyond people. She was starting to get why the Ryoka were considered powerful. She'd never really see Lea or Saix go full tilt, but ... this wasn't full tilt either, and she could almost tell that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Well, that ain't something you see every day," she said.

[thewingsoffreedom]

Levi watched with increasing horror as the plants sprung up around Marluxia and wove themselves into a shelter that a tent could never quite compare to.

It was like a woven basket of living viney trunk things, definitely weather proof, and with a little flowery flourish at the end that he thought was completely unnecessary. The noise made him squirm inwardly. Plants weren't supposed to grow so fast you could hear them creak.

Still, his friend clearly found it as unnerving as he did, so it didn't leave him feeling embarrassingly squeamish. Just understandably so.

"... both of you take the piss, you know that, right?"

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia finished brushing his hands clean and tilted his head, giving Levi a deceptively innocent smirk. "You asked for a demonstration," he pointed out. "Do you still want me to start a fire, or is that a sufficient example of my mage abilities?"

Lumi's discomfort with it always amused him. Marluxia found his disconnect from all things natural to be strange, but at least he still enjoyed the comforts of natural things. Real cotton, fresh vegetables, honey that was unadulterated with artificial colours, he enjoyed those, just not the manner by which they were produced.

It meant Marluxia derived a particular pleasure from indulging him.

[innatelunacy]

Saix huffed quietly at everyone's awe. He'd never seen Marluxia work with his element on Spira, but the manifestation of his power came as little surprise to someone that had known him before.

Even was a terrifying ice mage, Lea could probably raze a city with fire if he took a mind to. Marluxia seemed to do the same thing with plants that Aerith did, except much, much faster, and much more powerfully.

He wondered how Zexion's power had manifested, if it even had. His own had, in its way, with the secondary form he took. Did Zexion retain his illusion powers? Saix had met members of Akatsuki that had the same, after all, so they weren't unknown on Spira.

Marluxia, with his control of the plants, wasn't the scariest one among them. Although he was possibly the smuggest.

[thewingsoffreedom]

"Yeah, I do, you smug bastard," Levi said, rolling his eyes. "Just because you can do that doesn't mean you can start a fire and I know your sharpshooting friend can't do magic any more than I can."

Different skills were always useful. It occurred to him that Marluxia would probably be playing against type by making fire, too. He assumed, anyway. He wasn't sure where plant-type Chakra stood on the whole elemental Rock Paper Scissors wheel, but he figured since plants burn he'd be opposed to it. If he could handle his opposing element, he was fine in his book.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia gave a snort of amusement. "If you insist," he said. He doubted that Lumi was incapable of making fire, given something to catch and something to make sparks, but since this was all about magic...

He brought his arm up, drawing together a firaga spell, no point doing things by halves after all, and then let it loose at the shelter he'd crafted. Fresh wood didn't burn easily, certainly not as well as old, dried out, long dead timber.

The hut burst into flames, the flowers curling and withering as the branches that made up the shelter blackened and caught. The wood popped and cracked noisily as Marluxia put his arm back down, the sap inside the branches exploding outwards and splitting the wood apart. The clearing took on the smell of smoke, and a pall of it rose up towards the sky.

"Anything else?"

[thatsit]

Ignis settled his spectacles back onto his face. The air smelled of burning wood. He only hoped that Marluxia hadn't set in motion the beginnings of a forest fire.

"I rather think that was overkill," he murmured. Still, it couldn't be said that he hadn't demonstrated his ability to start a fire.