If you need an explanation

[soundfivebitch]

Things had been fucking weird since Orochimaru's death. The Palace had been a weird place to be; Tayuya answered to Kuja now, and that was weird enough. Kuja had always been the damned prettyboy she didn't have much to do with, except for mocking Kadaj for taking after him. Now she had to report to him, take instruction from him...

They'd had to clear out Orochimaru's labs, too. That had been really fucking weird. There'd been a few samples to terminate and dispose of, and lots of research notes to either move, or destroy. L had claimed some, Kuja had, of course, been given everything relevant to the Sound Five....

There'd been some stuff on the Arrancar. Orochimaru had kept some data records from his encounters with some, like Ulquiorra, and Nel, and lots of data on Wonderweiss. Tayuya hadn't told Kuja about that, she knew what politics in Khamja could be like. She'd considered destroying it, at first, but then.... There was only one person that really should have data on the Arrancar, and she knew that most of it probably wouldn't be new, but some of the stuff on Wonderweiss at least, and the procedure he'd been put through might be helpful.

She'd taken it to Aizen, quietly, and somewhat sullenly, telling him that she wouldn't want it to get into the wrong hands. Kuja wouldn't have any use for it anyway, not that she'd asked him, but whoever was taking over the labs, and it clearly wasn't Szayel because he'd bitched loudly about that fact when he'd found out, might have, and they probably shouldn't have it.

She wondered if it had influenced the later decision to allow her, Grimmjow, and Yylfordt out together. Kadaj's absence in their little party was still being felt, at least by her. It was odd just hanging about the Palace. The rest of the Sound Five, Four now, since Kimimaro had taken the peaceful out offered to him, had got over their anger with her for being friends with the Arrancar. It wasn't her fault Nnoitra had got involved, and anyway, it wasn't like she was friends with Nnoitra. Sleeping with him once didn't make them fucking buddies.

Yylfordt had used the excuse of wanting to stop by Rush Valley and pick up some supplies. It was as good an excuse as any, and clearing it with Kuja was easy enough for her once Grimmjow and Yylfordt had been given the okay. Apache wasn't allowed, though; maybe it was because she wasn't actually part of Skite, or maybe Aizen just didn't want too many of the hotheads going out together. Tayuya was hotheaded too, but Aizen hadn't seemed to make much grumble about her joining them. Of course, she was part of Skite, and wasn't under Aizen's control, but maybe handing over that data had got her in Aizen's good books for a couple of days.

She'd asked Kuja if she could get out of the Palace for a while. He probably knew, or at least suspected, that part of her reason for wanting to get out was to see if they could get in touch with Kadaj, even if he wasn't prepared to come back home yet, but she wasn't about to admit that to Kuja. Still, monkeyboy wasn't dumb.

Yylfordt had done his shopping in Rush Valley, and then they'd moved on to the desert around, killing time before heading back, and picking on some of the local wildlife. Tayuya, at least, was finally feeling a bit better, especially after she'd called on Ifrit to murder some really unfortunate things. Working with her Aeons made her feel better in general, and Ifrit was her first, so he was always special.

Killing things helped too.

She'd dismissed Ifrit and was wearing a wicked grin when the absence of the Aeon's reiatsu allowed another one to creep across her senses.

"You have gotta be fucking shitting me," she said, turning towards where it was coming from. She couldn't see anyone there yet, but she could feel it there. They weren't trying to hide their presence, so they were probably on a hunt, or doing the same as them and letting off steam by murdering things that didn't deserve it.

She'd felt the Ryoka berserker's reiatsu enough times to know it by now.

Comments

[jawmask]

"Yeah," Grimmjow replied, jaw tight.

She was a powerful White Mage at that. From what he remembered, she kept to the sidelines, but neither of the two men she was with were content to let her get hurt. Both would drop whatever they were doing in the midst of a battle to go to her aid. Luppi found that out to his cost.

She was a Synergist too, and she had no qualms about buffing her team mates.

[soundfivebitch]

"Is taking out the healer first an option?" She asked.

She was a bard; silence would be useful, although if the girl was warded against it, it could be a problem. Failing that, if Yylfordt could keep the Fire Elemental busy, and Grimjow could keep the Berserker occupied, for a couple of minutes, she could deal with the healer, and then help Yylfordt. When it came to games of Elemental Rock, Paper, Scissors, Tayuya had a one up on most.

[palehornedprince]

Yylfordt grunted, remembering what Ulquiorra had shown them all. "Luppi got fucked up for going after her," he replied, simply. He looked over at Grimmjow, "I hate to admit it, bro, but I won't last long against someone who can keep pace with Ulquiorra."

He thought about it, and then shrugged. "On the other hand, if Grimmjow doesn't give his buddy time to build his limit first, we might be okay." He grinned; it was a slight dig, but there was a point to it. Grimmjow always went in to enjoy the fight against the Ryoka Berserker; if he didn't give the Berserker that time, the fight might go more their way.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith stroked her chocobo along the side of its neck. It had been unsettled, but in an area where there was known to be a chocobo eater, that wasn't a surprise.

She'd felt that familiarly dark and twisted reiatsu at the same time Saix had. She remembered it well; people who had Fiend reiatsu, and strange Fiendish abilities. They unsettled her almost as much as they were unsettling the chocobos. These people were not right.

But while there were three people, only two of them felt like that.

"One of them isn't like the others were," she said, "they feel," she hesitated slightly before concluding, "normal." Strong, for a normal person, but they lacked that dark malevolence that tainted the other two.

[innatelunacy]

Saix nodded, just the once. "I've met them before; they're part of the usual group." Their previous meeting had been with an unusual group, but not an entirely unknown one.

This was not, however, the whole of the usual group. They were short; the one that had given Saix issue last time was absent.

"Weaker than the last ones we encountered," he added, looking towards Axel, "but not necessarily less dangerous." Last time there had been a woman, a white mage of their own, who had appeared to be in command, and had seemed to try to keep a lid on things. She wasn't present this time, which meant that there would be no one trying to control them.

[gotitmemorised]

Axel's chocobo shook itself again uneasily.

"So what do we do? Y'think we can take 'em?" He asked Saix, not entirely uncomfortably.

The one Axel had faced last time had been powerful and would have probably beaten him had he used his Element as freely as he did himself, but he wasn't there. Neither was the woman with the lance.

After going into the Mark business, he'd read up a little on monsters. There wasn't a great deal of detailed information down on paper, but it seemed to be common knowledge that regular monsters were afraid of Fiends, or Hollows, or Akuma, or whatever the people local to a particular area called them. That group were probably keeping making the Chocobo Eater as uneasy as its intended prey.

"Or... uh, chase them off, of course." He added quickly, not risking a look at Aerith. He knew there'd be disapproval on her face.

[jawmask]

"Yeah, I know," he said, glancing at Yylfordt.

There was no disrespect in the look, or his tone. Ulquiorra was the Fourth most powerful Espada among them and Yylfordt was the Tenth. There was too much of a gulf between their levels and abilities for Yylfordt to stand a chance at besting an opponent that Ulquiorra hadn't been able to quash even after a protracted battle. He was a dour little freak, but he was good at his job and his time in the Gotei 13 had only made him better. Ulquiorra also had the Elemental advantage, but that and all of his skill and training hasn't stopped the Fire Elemental from being able to cut him, hierro and all.

"We coulda done with Kadaj on this one," he muttered sullenly, glancing back in the direction of the enemy party. "But since he ain't here..."

He shook his head, looking at his friends with narrowed eyes and predatory consideration. They had two Arrancar and a Ninja Bard. She had the ability to inflict status ailments, which was a plus. Another plus was that they all had Aeons and she just happened to be a specialised Summoner.

[innatelunacy]

"We can," Saix answered, also noticeably avoiding looking in Aerith's direction, although his expression remained serious. "If we want our Mark before someone else gets to it, we may have to."

Saix would prefer not to leave and come back another day, when another hunter may have already claimed their prize, on account of Arrancar in the vicinity.

He frowned before he looked around directly at Axel. "They don't seem to be making a move to retreat, nor are they advancing on us. If we move away, it could leave us open to attack, potentially with them having had time to gain reinforcements." His frown deepened as he glanced away, admitting, "Or they may also move away and leave us be." Right now, it seemed, the others were waiting to see what they were going to do.

He looked Axel directly in the eye before he asked, his voice low, "If you were in their position, which course would you take?" Axel, of the two of them, had always been the better judge of other people, and he'd always been the wilier one when it came to planning.

[hearstheplanet]

There was disapproval on Aerith's face, but it was mixed with concern. She cared a great deal about Lea, and Saix, even if he tried to be a grump, and last time they'd run into these people, she'd had to see Lea get very badly hurt. She didn't want to see that again. She couldn't be sure she'd be able to save them again.

But the way the blue haired one had been last time, it seemed so unlikely that he'd just let Saix walk away. Whatever was between them was really personal. Saix seemed just as unwilling to walk away from a fight with him as vice versa.

She sighed, unhappily.

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya looked at Grimmjow. They could have done with Kadaj on this one; he'd have swung it far enough in their favour to make it less of a risk.

But he wasn't here, so they'd have to think.

"You deal with their blue haired asshole, me and Yylfordt can deal with the healer and fire elemental." She looked at Yylfordt, "If things start going sour, I'll use some genjutsu."

[jawmask]

Grimmjow looked at Tayuya. Even this small group all had their attributes. Grimmjow himself was easily the strongest of them physically and likely the fastest. Yylfordt was pretty good himself, being both fast and miles stronger than a normal person, but his expertise lay outside the battlefield and their enemies weren't exactly normal. Tayuya ... well, Tayuya was clever. Tactics came easily to her, so Grimmjow nodded in agreement with her.

"Right," he said and turned to Yylfordt. "Red's fast, so don't feel like a pussy if you have to throw up Steelguard. Hierro ain't enough."

In normal circumstances, their natural Hierro would easily be strong to fend off an attacker, but Red had proven able to cut it on a stronger Arrancar than those two. Nnoitra might have weathered it, but if Ulquiorra had failed to, Yylfordt didn't stand a chance. Steelguard on top of it should be nigh impenetrable. Luckily for them, both Yylfordt and Grimmjow were versed in the Sentinel Class.

"If things get sticky, we've all got Aeons." He grinned. "If those three're Ryoka, I doubt they'd be able to get a Fayth to take 'em."

[gotitmemorised]

Axel thought about it.

He'd been told a bit of the history behind the Arrancar vs. Ryoka encounters and none of them seemed to be particularly amicable. All of them had ended in fights which made for revenge on top of revenge as a reason to continue doing it. As well as that, whatever Saix and the blue haired guy he fought last time had going on, it was personal.

"Me? I'd run, because I know when running's a good idea." He looked at his friend seriously. "That guy..?" He inclined his head with a slightly pained expression. "He didn't even want to run last time. The others were circumstance, but he went after you personally. You're right -- if we run now, we risk them at our backs."

His brow furrowed as looked back in the direction that their collective reiatsu was coming from.

"And they have ranged attacks," he murmured, recalling Ceros and Balas, but not knowing them by name.

[palehornedprince]

Yylfordt grinned, "That asshole cut Ulquiorra, I ain't gonna feel like a pussy for using Steelguard, bro." He was the weakest of the Espada, and he was okay with that. He enjoyed a good fight, and sometimes he got in over his head, but he knew his limits, and he wasn't about to suffer any dings to his pride over them.

He rested his sword on his shoulder, still maintaining a cocky grin. "Especially if it's to stop my back up getting hit, yeah?" He jerked his head towards Tayuya.

[soundfivebitch]

"Yeah, you'd better, fucko," Tayuya replied, with a nasty smirk, before she eyed Grimmjow. "Go in hard," she told him, knowing that Grimmjow preferred to enjoy the fight, which meant letting it build up, "then you can help us finish off Red."

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith frowned. Lea was probably right, as much as she didn't like it. She concentrated and drew her chakra together. "If you are going to fight them," she said, with distinct resignation, "then we might as well get a head start."

She cast protect on all of them, before giving Lea a steady and concerned look. "I don't want you to get hurt like that again, all right? Make sure you don't."

[innatelunacy]

Saix nodded, and was about to speak when Aerith spoke. He looked at her as she cast protect, and felt, for a moment, a slight pang. Neither she, nor Axel, had been involved in the Order's dispute with the Arrancar until they'd insisted on standing by him.

He allowed a wry smile to make the corner of his mouth twitch as she told Axel not to get hurt again. "I'll second that."

[jawmask]

Grimmjow looked at Tayuya flatly, but nodded all the same. He did enjoy a good fight, especially against this opponent, but that did mean that he tended to let the fights drag out. Doing that did always give the Berserker chance to use his transformation Limit. His Limit clearly reacted to damage dealt, so a long battle of traded blows was guaranteed to have him hulking and furry before too long.

He needed to avoid that. He needed to do what Tayuya said and hit him hard and hit him fast and prevent that from happening.

"Right," he said, his expression turning to a more characteristic grin. "Let's go."

[gotitmemorised]

Axel looked between them and nodded.

He would have made a quip about them not needing to be worried, or not being his parents, but he was the one who suffered the most serious damage in the last fight and he'd needed to replace his Chakrams after the centaur girl broke one of them. He had, of course, been training himself to use a generated weapon like Saix and the rest of the ex-Nobodies, but he hadn't had as long to perfect the art as they had. He didn't much like the idea of them failing during a battle with a similar group of people to the ones he faced last time and leaving him open.

"Right, right," he said awkwardly. "Let's hit them before they hit us."

[soundfivebitch]

Tayuya followed after Grimmjow's lead, trying to get a handle on their opponents from their reiatsu. Fire elemental meant that Ifrit was a bad plan, although if it came to a pinch, she could always whip him out to smash the healer, knowing that the fire elemental probably wouldn't be able to finish Ifrit before Ifrit finished the girl. Bismarck was a better bet for taking on Red himself, but Tayuya's own element was Fire and Bismarck was one that she was less confident with.

Genjutsu was a distinct possibility. There was the added bonus that her skills with it were conveyed by sound, so she could stay out of the way and let Yylfordt take centre stage while she did it. Maybe let their opponents think she was just buffing Yylfordt and Grimmjow so they weren't paying much attention, and then proceed to fucking them up in their heads.

Would Ryoka know the trick to beating Genjutsu? They hung out with Akatsuki, by all accounts, but Uchiha was infamous for his Genjutsu skills. Would he give away the trick to nullifying them to Ryoka?

The Berserker was easy to pick out. Non-Elemental meant he was raw power, and that was what he felt like. She could pick Red out too, even though she'd never met him. His reiatsu was all about his element. The girl felt like Nel, except where Nel had a hard edge hidden in the undertones, this one lacked that. Not a natural fighter, from the feel of it.

Good.

"Try and keep the fire elemental busy without giving him the impression he needs to hurry up and kill you, all right, Moocow?" Her expression was worryingly intent as she thought. "Try not to piss him off too much," She said with a smirk.

[palehornedprince]

Yylfordt looked at Tayuya, vaguely perplexed. "You mean try not to piss him off too much even though we're trying to kill him, his buddy, and his chick? Might be a tall order, bro."

Although Yylfordt didn't expect that he'd be taken too seriously as a threat anyway. He wasn't on Ulquiorra's level, so he'd seem like easy street to this guy.

Try not to make him hurry to kill you, however, well that was something Yylfordt was going to do anyway. He'd prefer if Grimmjow got the chance to finish off the berserker and then help out killing Red.

He shrugged. "No worries, I'll try not to get killed quick." Szayel would only request his mangled ass be handed over so he could collect the data anyway, and Yylfordt wouldn't wanna make Szayel's day like that.

[innatelunacy]

Saix was about to respond, quip that if Axel got hurt again, Saix would make Aerith heal him just so that he could hit Axel himself, but something else caught his attention.

"They're moving," he said. He could feel the reiatsu drawing nearer. It seemed the Arrancar party had given up waiting for them to make the first move. He forced his chocobo to face the direction of the coming attack, and it warked unhappily, but closing some of the distance on the chocobos was better than dismounting and leaving them here, potentially for a chocobo eater to get them.

That would be inconvenient.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith frowned, looking distinctly unhappy, and began casting Shell to go with the Protect. She didn't enjoy fighting, and the way that Saix, and Lea, both did was a little bit scary.

"Saix needs to learn some better ways to make friends," she said, quietly, and then gave Lea a weak smile. "I'll look out for you both, okay?"

[jawmask]

Grimmjow snorted at Tayuya's instructions to Yylfordt. If the situation wasn't just about to burst into a storm of blades and magic, it would have almost been funny that a ninja was instructing an Espada about how to act on the battlefield.

He kept his sword out and released as it was. Blood and ichor from the Worgen he'd killed still clung to his blade and tainted the air with an unpleasant coppery smell. The fight was going to be an awkward one. Deserts were bad places to battle due to the loose ground alone, but the winds that picked up and swirled every so often always carried loose sand with them. If that happened, visibility would be less than optimal.

Grimmjow found himself nearly wishing that Yylfordt had asked Apache along. Without Kadaj they were underpowered for this type of opponent. The usual party wouldn't have been as dangerous, but Grimmjow was wary of anyone who could go head to head with Ulquiorra and not die. Apache was no Kadaj, but she was nonetheless a vicious fighter. Fast, too.

[gotitmemorised]

Axel nodded at Aerith's reassurance and gave her a smile. If things went bad, he'd have no problem calling for a retreat. Saix would be less likely to flee from a fight, but Axel had no issue with running away and living to fight another day. He didn't care if he had to drag Saix with him to do it.

"Stay out of the line of fire and we'll keep you safe," he said quietly. "Got it memorised?"

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith broke into a genuine smile. "Hey," she said, "I can look after myself, too." After all, she was the one capable of healing magic. "Don't worry about me, I'll be all right so long as you two are."

Of course, she'd mostly be all right by staying back, trying not to get hit, and making sure Axel and Saix didn't succumb to the attacks launched against them. She could bop a mugger in the slums on the head and get away fine, but the sort of people these two tangled with were a bit beyond her physical abilities.