Sharp Exit

[innatelunacy]

They'd managed to avoid the worst of the trouble on their exit from Midgar's ruins, much to Saix's quiet disappointment. They ran into a couple of relatively weak Hollows, new and of low concern, which were quickly dispatched. Saix had hoped for a bigger challenge, but it was probably for the best when they were followed by a shellshocked flock of refugees.

The Turks left for Edge once they'd cleared the rubble, a silent, mutual understanding having been reached with them that it would help no one, now, to continue whatever unfinished business was on the cards. Some of the refugees went too, claiming family, or friends who could help them, but the largest number stayed with the party until they reached Palumpolum. This was, it was reasoned, as far as they could safely take them. Word would be spreading around Edge by now that there had been survivors, and that increased the risks. Rumour travelled faster than feet, and neither Axel nor Saix wanted to run headlong into a welcoming committee that might recognise them for Ryoka.

Aerith, fortunately, agreed. She'd been nervous when they first came out of the shadow of what had once been Midgar, but once they'd travelled further out, to where the wilds of nature shaped the land, instead of the technology of men, she'd seemed to relax and take it in stride.

"Do you want to bring her back to Rabanastre, or do you have somewhere else in mind?" Saix asked of Axel, once the city of Palumpolum was part of the horizon again, instead of breathing down their necks. He was, grudgingly, impressed; Aerith was a city girl, but she hadn't made a single grumble when they'd travelled, which was more than could be said for the refugees that had stayed with them.

Comments

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith looked amused and thoughtful for a moment before she unbuttoned the lowest button at the front of her dress, giving herself more room to move. Then, she lifted her foot up into the stirrup with only a little difficulty. The bird was quite tall, and she'd never had to get her foot up that high before, but she managed it. She gripped the pommel with one hand, and the back of the saddle with the other, and then glanced at Axel and told him, "No peeking!"

Then she hoisted herself up, slightly clumsily to swing her leg round and plant herself in the saddle.

[gotitmemorised]

Axel diplomatically covered his eyes with the palm of his hand but grinned nevertheless.

"Would I do that?" He asked, a laugh in his voice.

He decided that it might pay to get Aerith a pair of trousers if she was ever going to accompany them on any jobs. White mages and healers were undoubtedly useful, but if they struggled to ride a chocobo ... well.

He felt the weight and stance of the chocobo alter when she properly mounted it.

"Not bad," he said, looking up at her. "They're pretty easy to control. Pull back on the reins to stop it and dig in with your heels to make it go. There's a bit more to it than that, but I'm sure you'll pick it up as you go on."

[hearstheplanet]

"Well, I have a good teacher," she said in reply, adjusting herself slightly to be more comfortable.

[innatelunacy]

"If you two are done flirting," Saix chimed in, as he headed over. He sounded like his normal dour self, and walked by as if to slosh cold water on the mood.

"You must have a thing for holy elementals," he commented, as he passed Axel and took hold of an unlucky chocobo's reins. It tried to back off, warking unhappily, and then resigned itself to its fate with a grumpy look that matched Saix's own.

[gotitmemorised]

Axel's eyebrows shot up and, for a second, he almost denied Saix's near-accusation. Instead, he decided to suppress his inner Lea and head off the denial with a sighed "Yeah yeah."

He left Aerith to her chocobo and stepped away, going to mount his own bird, but not until he had affixed some travel supplies to the saddle. They weren't going to do so well if they didn't have those on a long, long trip.

[innatelunacy]

They'd both been carrying supplies when they'd first left. They'd depleted somewhat now, but should have enough to see them through. Saix busied himself with the same, keeping a firm hand on his bird's reins before hauling himself up into the saddle. The bird gave an unhappy wark, but at least let him climb up without a fight, which was more than could be said of Saix's early experiences with the birds.

He directed his chocobo over towards Axel's by a couple of steps, and then, sounding like someone who'd thought about it too much, asked, "Has it occurred to you that you don't have to return to Rabanastre, or the Order?"

It seemed out of the blue, but Saix looked completely serious.

[gotitmemorised]

Had it ever occurred to him? Of course it had.

Although he prided himself on being less like his Nobody self and rather more like his original one, he hadn't lost the sly, conniving edge that he'd so deftly wielded back then. As much as he tried to be a decent person, he still planned and schemed, though generally not for nefarious purposes. It was second nature. Axel knew full well that he could simply 'not return' to the Order every time he and Saix went out on a Mark Hunt together. There were enough dangerous monsters in the areas where they hunted big or troublesome game to claim accidental death.

He stayed out of familiarity, out of a shred of loyalty for his childhood friend and, though he would be loath to admit it out loud, safety in numbers. Xigbar was dodgier than a marketplace spiv with a coat full of falsified licenses, but ... better the devil you know than one you don't.

As such, he grinned. "And make Vexen's day?" he asked, shaking his head. "You wish."

[innatelunacy]

A corner of Saix's mouth twitched upwards, and he nodded. "I'd hoped you'd take that view," he replied. "In the event you ever change your mind," he added, "I'll cover for you." He directed the chocobo away before adding, "Or join you."

Going home and dealing with the fall out of leaving in the first place wasn't high on his list of things to look forward to.

He looked over to the girl instead, "This will not be an easy journey for a first time rider. If you begin to struggle, say so."

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith just smiled sweetly at Saix, and almost seemed to make a point of fussing her chocobo at the back of the neck, a gesture which made the bird wark happily. "Don't worry," she answered, "I learn quickly, but I'll let you know if I'm having difficulty."

[gotitmemorised]

Axel didn't doubt that Aerith would raise comment should she begin to have trouble. From what he knew of her, he knew she had an independent streak, but at the same time he thought her too smart to put herself in and remain in difficulty for the sake of upholding that independence.

He just rather hoped she didn't have any qualms about killing and eating animals in the field. They had dried meat, of course, but that should wisely be left until they had miles and miles of desert to traverse and pickings are thin.

"You'll do fine," he said with clipped confidence. "Just don't wander off, got it memorised?"

[hearstheplanet]

"I promise," Aerith replied, with an amused smile. They were... fussing. Axel, at least, was doing it out of genuine concern, and some amusement, but his friend was harder to gauge.

She had a lot of questions to ask, about that, and about Axel's other friends in particular, but there'd be time for that, later. For now, she had to concentrate on riding a giant bird.

At least it was a friendly giant bird.

[innatelunacy]

Saix's bird was less friendly, or perhaps it was the rider's grumpiness rubbing off on the bird. Still, it obeyed, and Saix took the lead, wordlessly letting Axel do the work of babysitting Aerith.

Saix was at least aware that he wasn't a people person. Axel was better at it. Lea had always been better at it.

He kept an alert eye out for any potential threats, as well as potential prey. One bonus, childish as it sounded, to travelling this way was that he had to contend with less vegetables.

[gotitmemorised]

If Axel didn't know about Saix's reasoning for enjoying travel, he had a damned good idea that fewer vegetables were a contributing factor. Had he stopped to think about it, he'd wonder whether having Aerith there would alter the chance of him having to eat them ...

Still, from Palumpolum and for on, it was green land all around. Rocky outcrops abounded, some of it was hilly, other areas were perfectly flat. Old ruins from various eras dotted the landscape and the further towards the Ozmone Plains they got, the more frequent airship wrecks they saw (though it took positively hours to reach that point). Grass length varied greatly depending on the herbivorous animals present and the number of predators to eat them. It was nice as far as scenery went.