spira_rp | The lines are blurred, you keep rubbing your eyes.

The lines are blurred, you keep rubbing your eyes.

Duscae was one of the more pleasant regions that the Kingdom of Lucis controlled. Or, at least, "controlled".

Politically, Lucis was a reasonably large Kingdom. Its territory stretched from the east coast of the northern portion of Eos all the way to the desert in the West and was divided from the neighbouring country of Niflheim, now a self-styled 'Empire', by only a skysea inlet and a small land bridge in the sand. It was comprised of different biomes, with dry eastern scrub transitioning into plains, wet fenland and reasonably temperate forests in the valleys of Duscae and Cleigne. Cleigne also included, nominally, the lands that used to be the independent Kingdom of Glenys, but that one, with its self-governing exception and distant capital, was definitely a political inclusion more than a territorial one.

Realistically, Lucis was just the City of Insomnia. Outside the Walls of the Crown City, there was a general feeling of alienation and Othering from the people within, a separatist mindset that meant that those from inside the walls considered those from outside of it to be Foreign, in spite of the Kingdom's borders and the nationality of all from the north to the Skysea being, ostensibly, 'Lucian'. This wasn't helped by the fact that the majority of the Kingdom outside the walls was empty. There were a few settlements, the main ones being Lestallum, Balterossa and Galdin Quay, but for the most part, outposts and service stations aside, it was uninhabited except by farmers and ranchers.

Governing it was considered unimportant to the short-sighted ruling Class who never passed through the city walls and they all operated independently, either officially as with Balterossa, or effectively, like the others.

It was no surprise, though. A periodic, unpleasant phenomenon that caused an uptick in the number of Daemons had plagued the Kingdom for centuries, and the uninhabited land that came to be the Kingdom for centuries before that. It seemed to be a focal point and that made living outside the protective, probably magically enhanced walls dangerous. Attempts had been mounted, mistakes had been made and now the countryside, fen or forest or plain or scrub, was littered with the bones of towns and villages, all abandoned, all empty and most ruined or well on their way to it.

Levi didn't mind it. He liked the empty country. The Daemons were an issue, but they tended against coming out in the sunlight. As such, days were a risk only by dint of the local wildlife, larger and more aggressive than that of countries with similar emptiness due entirely to its empty period between the Solheim days and those of Lucis.

The nights... they were different.

All over Spira, both Ivalice and the floating continents, Daemons roamed the night, preying on people too weak to fend them off, or each other in the absence of their preferred food. They weren't too common in civilised lands, with only small fry appearing near population centers on account of the measures put in place to keep even the small numbers down. In the more remote spots, where people had died away from others, unable to be Sent and with regrets or anger tethering them to the Seen world, or the Daemons had moved to escape those who hunted them, they grew bigger and more ferocious, able to take more punishment in a fight and deal more accordingly. Unless they strayed across people and caused a problem, they were largely ignored.

In Lucis, they retreated to the old ruins, those that opened only at night, and infested them. Then they emerged when the sun dipped below the horizon to hunt. Elsewhere they could be rooted out in the daytime, when they were at their weakest, by organisations dedicated to the killing of them, but Lucis's interesting local history kept them safely sequestered during the day and their anti-Daemon force had nothing on those of other countries. It made for a strange situation and took away the single advantage hunters had during the day. The Daemons had no such disadvantage during the night, they could roam freely and had, at various points, ruined the chances of colonisation.

These days, there were wards that could keep Daemons away from ranches and service stations, bright lights that could be affixed to poles near the edges of the grounds to keep them away and keep those in the houses safe, but that didn't help Hunters. Hunters and, by extension, the Kingsglaive, only had their wits to keep them alive.

Well, their wits and Havens.

Havens were their single lifeline. Not quite the fortresses the Daemons had in the Solheim ruins, they nonetheless provided small bubbles of protection on rocky outcrops marked with symbols, the meanings of which had been long forgotten, the composition of the paint unknown.

Levi supposed that books existed somewhere, in some library or repository of tedious information, that gave names to them and their meanings, but he didn't give enough of a shit to go looking. As far as he was concerned, they gave the Glaives and Hunters somewhere to bed down if they needed to, allowed them to keep watch and take a break from putting their lives on the line to protect the pricks who were already safe behind the walls of Insomnia.

He could see why the Pulse party had been given the wider Kingdom of Lucis for their training. The land had been abandoned for centuries before the Lucians landed there and had then been ignored for centuries more. Other places, though wild, had been visited or inhabited at some point, or left as real areas of wilderness, unplagued by Mist except after the relatively brief Saturation that had covered the world after some war or other.

The only other landmass apart from Lucis that had been treated in a similar way was, undoubtedly, Pulse. Unless Levi just didn't know about another one that was the sort of monster-filled, Daemon-ravaged spiritual shitshow that Lucis was, at least.

It was the only logical location for their training to take place, the only approximation of their destination, not that they could know for sure. Somebody had mentioned the Wildlands, but somebody else had poo-pooed that comparison with superior experience, or so it seemed. Levi hadn't paid that much attention to the bickering of his charges. It helped, of course, that Lucis owned the land the training was taking place on, were funding the mission they were training for and had expendable Daemon killers with criminal records to try and keep the similarly expendable foreigners alive.

Levi didn't like some of them, but the majority were all right. Most had come with skills that helped and were just expanding their skillsets, others ... were a liability.

Still, a good number, liabilities or not, were equipped with Zanpakuto. They were apparently the best weapons against Daemons, equal to Innocence, and outstripped Levi's own weapons considerably. They were, from what he understood, magical bullshit soul-blades, uniquely specialised in cutting through the ridiculously hard Daemon skin.

He, conversely, had a sword that had been forged with magic. It was an old technique, and some families had ancient exampled each imbued with a different element, but these were relatively mass-produced, included small amounts of Holy magic and, while they cut through the Daemons and allowed them to do their job, weren't a patch on the historical blades or, of course, Zanpakuto.

They could do some of the heavy lifting.

They were camped in Duscae, in the camp that would be their home for the next week or so, and were in a reasonably comfortable Haven thirty or so miles away from the Wiz Chocobo Ranch. The air wasn't too humid, the temperature was neither too hot nor freezing cold and the levels of Mist were good enough to bring the risk of Daemons, but not the certainty of them. That the local wildlife was big and edible helped.

"So, today... some of you are going to go hunting," Levi said. "Who's shit at it?"

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Aerith turned to Ienzo. She was still on edge about hunting an animal, but she was willing to give it her best.

"I might be able to help," she said. "I can separate one to make an easier target for you." And then once it was penned in, away from the rest, they could get to work. It should stop the others getting worried and attacking, too.

"Weapons on hand then," he said.

He didn't intend to get his hands dirty, as such, but if things went sour he didn't like the idea of wasting a moment to produce a weapon when he could be using one. To that effect, he held up a hand and, pulling the moisture from the air, forged himself a short javelin from ice. It wasn't elaborate, but it didn't have the crudeness of a lost stalactite about it either. It looked bright and sharp until frost started to form on the surface, furring it in white.

"That would be best," Ienzo said, pulling his sleeves up a little.

He didn't need to, not really. It wouldn't make a difference whether he had his sleeves rolled up or not, the Alchemy worked the same, just as it worked with or without gloves. Currently, he had them on, not wanting to get dirt or moisture into the working of the automail even if he had been assured that it wouldn't make a difference and the lack of power source meant that he would wash it thoroughly, still attached, with no detriment to the mechanism.

He realised then that he wasn't entirely sure whether Ignis was aware of his talent with Alchemy. He knew he was an Alchemist, of course, but he knew neither how much he knew about the art and its rules nor whether he had been informed that he could perform the circle-less kind and, if he did, whether he would know how strange that was.

Well, he figured he'd see.

It sounded like the best plan they were going to get. Isolate one, draw it far enough away from the others that they wouldn't get involved in the fight, pin it down, and, as it were, go to town. As plans went, Ignis had heard worse.

He raised an eyebrow at Even's choice of weapon. By appearances it was a rudimentary spear, and yet Ignis had felt the bite of ice magic in the air as he'd formed it. Forging weaponry from raw elements was an impressive trick, something not even the highest level mages could achieve in most cases. It suggested a degree of control over his elemental alignment that went beyond mere study.

For his part, Ignis reached into the armiger, concentrating his chakra as he closed his hand around Malystrix. The family Remnant had been handed down to him by his mother on his induction into the Crownsguard, and he'd soon swapped his practice with swords for the spear.

The shape of it glittered blue in his hand as he pulled it from its resting place and readied himself.

"Whenever you're ready," he said.

Szayel watched with subdued interest. Even, of course, was a known unknown quantity. He'd given Szayel and his equipment a fleeting glimpse of what he was capable of before the sensors had well and truly given out to the point that they were beyond rescue. Every little trick he showed was of interest, and yet it infuriated Szayel because he'd always know Even could do so much more.

Ienzo, too, the alchemist, who'd had to relearn so much with his fabulously installed automail. Szayel had never got to sample him properly, and he hadn't seen what Ienzo could do when he was pushed. Ulquiorra was always quite firm on that. He'd seen him work at Midgar. He'd seen such amazing things at Midgar. And yet, like Even, Ienzo held on to his secrets.

Then there was the girl, and Ignis. The girl had used one of Neliel's Hollow's abilities, rendering her entire party indestructible. And Ignis....

Well, well.

"Learning tricks from Marluxia?" he asked. Everyone had heard. Everyone knew about his split second manifestation of a very on theme weapon. Gossip spread fast and far in Khamja, especially if Szayel had anything to do with it.

Aerith looked at the others and gave a nod. The only one that didn't seem ready was Szayel, who was more interested in talking.

She gave Ienzo a nod, clasping her staff in her hands tightly for a moment before she began to walk steadily towards the herd.

She could feel their eyes on her, and she lowered her staff slowly as she got closer. They weren't spooked by her approach; they didn't seem to mind, which was encouraging. She got close enough to touch one of the babies before it scampered off into the midst of the herd, almost playfully.

She crouched slowly, plucking some of the grasses they'd been grazing on in her hand. As she stood she held them out towards one of the adults. They seemed much bigger up close, and smelled slightly of mud and wet fur and other things she didn't want to think too much about. "Hey," she said, keeping her voice soft, "how about this?"

The animal caught the smell and followed it to her hand, taking one slow step towards her. "That's it," she said, keeping her staff tucked behind her, "come and get it."

Step by step she led it around, turning its back on its herd, and drawing it away from them.

Ienzo watched, half amazed.

He'd heard that Wonderweiss, one of the Arrancar, had an affinity for animals, but he was also strictly vegetarian and probably wouldn't consent to luring away one of a herd to murder and eat it.

Aerith clearly had a talent. He wondered if she was a Beastmaster or just ... that nice. It was possible she was just that nice, but then again, she did make friends with Saix ...

When the thing was separated further off he stepped up, carefully moving as not to spook it. He didn't get too close, he didn't need to. When the moment was right, he clapped his hands.

The noise that filled the air went beyond the sound of two palms hitting each other, one metal or otherwise. There was a resounding tone, as if from a tuning fork, and light crackled around the point where his hands had met. He dropped to a crouch and slammed them onto the wet ground. A second later, a slab of rock and earth shot up between the creature's back and the rest of the herd, the noise being what one would expect of a sudden spire of rock erupting from the sodden ground.

He didn't glance at the other members of the part, instead keeping an eye on the herd, the creature, Aerith, should he need to add any other slabs to the one already there.

Aerith let the Garula eat the grass when Ienzo moved. She felt the charge run like a ripple through the ground, setting her hair on its end like a sudden gust of freezing wind.

She backed off away from the animal quickly, clasping her staff in front of her once more. "I'm sorry," she said. It felt like she'd betrayed its trust.

The wall of earth and rock tore from the ground behind the Garula, cutting off Aerith's view of the rest of the herd. She winced, hoping the sudden noises and movement wouldn't spook it into attacking. If it did, she was the nearest person for it to attack.

"There'll be time for questions later," he said. It was as much a reminder to himself as it was a reply to Szayel.

He didn't know much of alchemy, beyond what he'd been able to read on the subject in the Palace's library. It was as niche an art as Summoning, and just as with that discipline, to do well at it required the dedication of one's entire life. He'd looked into it primarily for a little background on Ienzo's abilities.

From what he'd understood, alchemy required the user to spend some time studying sigils and signs in order to draw a circle of power with the appropriate markers that, once energy was directed around said circle, would have the desired transformative effect.

Ienzo hadn't done that. He'd simply clapped and put his hands to the ground. It was possible that he used an advanced form that Ignis hadn't read about.

It was a question for later. For now, they had a surprised and upset Garula to quell, and dinner to consider.

The Garula reared as the wall of Ienzo's creation erupted behind it, turning as if to attack it. Ignis moved in, glad Aerith had already pulled back, his lance at the ready.

He jumped, boosting the move with his chakra until he was clear over the Garula. Then he angled his weapon point down as he dropped from the peak of his jump.

Ienzo kept his eye on the situation.

Szayel was, unsurprisingly, hanging back. Even was a defensive fighter, if he had to fight at all, so he didn't expect him to jump in. He rather suspected that if he had to kill something for dinner, he'd freeze it to the ground and kill it quickly, instead of doing this, but he wasn't alone and didn't need to use that much Chakra. Ignis ... was a Dragoon, apparently.

He wondered where he'd pulled the weapon from. It didn't feel the same as what the ex-Nobodies did, there wasn't the same feeling in the air. Still, the effect was the same.

Even stepped up and put himself between Aerith and the Garula.

It was angry, and this close up it looked like a wall of muscle, coarse fur and tusks. That it had the capacity for rearing surprised him, but also made him very aware that it was probably more able to move, and do so quickly, than its appearance would suggest.

Ignis would probably be able to take the creature out with his spear, but even so, putting Aerith in harms way after she did her bit was unnecessary and Even knew that he was a good enough Sentinel to keep her from harm.

Aerith winced at the sound of Ignis landing. The Garula didn't give the roar of anger she expected from something so big. Instead the sound was high, and quiet, but no less angry and distressed.

She looked at Even. His back was to her as he placed himself between her and danger, and Ignis seemed to be intent on doing the bulk of the fighting. Ienzo was staying further back, out of danger, and Szayel...

Best not to count Szayel. Or think about him much.

Aerith inhaled, steadying herself as she pulled together a barrier spell for Ignis. He wasn't being defended by a Sentinel like she was, so he might need it.

Ignis's spear bit through the Garula's flesh; a severe blow but sadly not a critical one. He landed on his feet on the ground as the Garula reared and danced back to strike a sweeping blow at the animal's flank as it came crashing back to the ground once more.

The earth trembled under Ignis's feet. The animal turned towards him, giving up on the wall. Ignis span, keeping himself towards the animal's rear and out of the way of any attempts to charge or strike back.

The barrier spell settled on him as the Garula spied Aerith and Even. Slower moving targets than Ignis himself, and by now the creature was already enraged.

"Watch out!" he called, sensing what the Garula was about to do the moment it began to move, heading in their direction.

Szayel sighed at the display. So Ignis was a Dragoon, as well as a mage, and the girl was good with animals. Perhaps if this went well, or rather, badly enough he might see some more of what Even was capable of.

He glanced sidelong at Ienzo. That one was every inch the back row fighter, at least. Szayel wasn't about to forget Even 'I'm not a really a combatant' and his deceptions, and every chance to see him in action was welcome.

Szayel gripped Fornicaras' hilt, letting his mask manifest, hidden behind his glasses through the fragments were.

The Garula had turned its attention to Even and the girl. Szayel had seen Even hold off one of Kuja's former pets before now, so he doubted the Garula stood a chance, but it seemed intent on trying anyway. It charged.

Szayel sauntered towards the battle.

Even didn't miss the moment when the creature clocked them.

It was like a bull sighting red. He knew he could fend the thing off, but he didn't want to risk a lapse in concentration what would injure both himself and Aerith. He knew he could activate his usual sentinel ability, but given how surprisingly fast the creature was, he wasn't entirely sure he could bring it up in time.

His shield however...

...that would give him the edge while he got the magical paling up to bolster it. He'd defy anyone to get through both of those things.

He pulled it out of the air, the materialisation as instantaneous as Marluxia's had been back at the meeting. With Marluxia and Saix both having that ability, he supposed it didn't much batter if he showcased it as well. They'd put two and two together fast enough, especially Szayel.

Suddenly Even was holding a shield. One that the garula bounced off harmlessly. Ignis knew better than to dismiss the value of Sentinels, and the usage of shields in battle, and Even executed a defence right out of the playbook without so much as a grunt.

Interesting. He didn't look the type, but looks were apparently deceptive, and his shield had come to his hand with none of the drama of Marluxia drawing his scythe, and as fast as Ignis had witnessed Noct switch his weapons.

Not that he had time to be impressed. They still had an angry, wounded animal to contend with. He span his spear in his hands, imbuing a little fire magic into the weapon. Then he lunged with his elementally primed blade forward, carving into the creature's exposed side.

A shield.

Szayel's mouth stole upwards in a grin he couldn't contain. Of course Even had a shield, the defensive bastard. Sentinel had seemed such an odd choice for him, and yet there was the proof. He called a shield that was as sharp and prickly as the man himself, and blue as permafrost into his hands as quickly as if it had always been there.

Szayel had an Arrancar's eyes, and training. He could see people using shunpo, or sonido, or whatever they chose to call their variation of flashstep, and the shield had been there instantaneously.

He'd heard that when Marluxia had produced his scythe there had been a flicker of reaitsu, a fleeting glimpse into what the man might be able to do. He hadn't caught any of that showboating from Even, sadly, but perhaps it was for the best.

Ignis and Aerith might not have survived it, after all.

"Well," he said, "now I've seen something interesting, let's get this finished so we can talk."

He used sonido to move in on the animal, striking at its throat with precision with Fornicaras' blade. He pulled back as quickly and assessed the damage as the creature endured another attack from Ignis.

Not a killing blow. Its hide was thicker than anticipated, and Szayel wasn't much of a swordsman. Someone like Grimmjow would have downed it in a couple of strikes, however. If that.

Even narrowed his eyes at Szayel, but he intended to dismiss the shield before the thing had hit the mud, so he certainly wouldn't be able to get a look at it.

As it was, he kept the spell up and kept the shield itself between him and Aerith.

If it gored Szayel ... well, at least they wouldn't have to take him to Pulse. Ignis would, if nothing else, be athletic enough to avoid injury, if his performance thus far was anything to go by.

Ienzo could have shook his head at Szayel's comment.

The way he was going, everyone was going to refuse if he went. He was already treating a hunting excursion like an excuse to assess their abilities, which was not what he was there for, nor what any of them had consented to, though he didn't doubt that it was the reason Aizen had sent him.

Still, Aizen would be lucky not to have him returned, bound and gagged, by third class post at this rate.

Aerith kept a firm grip on her staff. If it had only been Ignis in the fray she'd have let loose a fire spell to help, but Szayel had moved in. She'd felt the Arrancar before; they were wrong and frightening, and Szayel had become the same way just before moving in. His wrongness was ice elemental, so he could get caught in the crossfire if she used magic.

Especially because if she was honest, she really, really wanted to smack him. He'd stood back until he'd seen the others enough that it was interesting to him?

"I'd call him a snake, but that's insulting to snakes," she muttered.

It was probably wrong to hope one of your team got trampled, too, but the notion was there, dark and beckoning in her mind, begging to become a real thought.

The garula was badly wounded, and it lurched sideways at Ignis. He threw himself back onto his hands, flipping himself back onto his feet and out of the way to avoid being bodychecked by a couple of tons of angry muscle.

He'd no sooner landed on his feet than he leapt again, blade out and cleaving into the creature's back. He threw himself over, driving the blade down with the full force of his bodyweight as his legs came above his head. He twisted himself coming down again, so that he continued to face the animal and freed his spear from its flesh.

Szayel watched Ignis's display of gymnastics and didn't bother to refrain from rolling his eyes. It was very flashy, almost certainly learned in training and not fighting actual enemies, and a completely unnecessary display of athleticism.

The garula staggered sideways, driven away by the force of Ignis's blow, and crashed to the floor with the heavy thud of finality. It cried pitifully, not that such things worked on Szayel.

"You fight like you cook," he said, giving Ignis a sour look. Then he gestured to the ailing garula with the point of his sword, his wrist limp, as if he was pointing out some trash someone had dropped in his laboratory, "Are you going to finish that?"

Ienzo eyed Szayel and couldn't resist rolling his eyes at him being nitpicky about the one currently doing all the work.

He wondered if Szayel had hoped to stand by, the useless effeminate scientist, all the while hoping they'd struggle too much, like the bad of mages they are, so he could step in and save the day. Well, that hadn't gone to plan, had it?

"Mmmn," Even agreed. Not even snakes, crawling, venomous creatures as they were, deserved to be compared to Szayel. "With any luck he might die."

It would certainly cut out a considerably portion of their future annoyance if Szayel was left in Alstor Slough for the mud to claim him.

"Whichever one of you do it, get it over with," he said.

Ignis fit Szayel with a deadpan stare. Ordinarily, he'd have taken being told that he fights like he cooks as a compliment, but out of Szayel's mouth he knew it wasn't intended as one.

"By all means," he said, gesturing to the felled animal, "feel free to do something of use."

He swapped Malystrix for his daggers, depositing one and retrieving the other from the armiger in a single fluid motion. They'd need to field dress the carcass before they returned with it, and a spear wasn't going to be helpful for that.

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