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 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.