Action -- Training Center

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[As is the case with most weekends, Gwendolyn is honing her recently learned skills in the Training Center. This time, however, there's more in her mind than how to take out a group of Grats.

Despite the school gossip that seemed to garner more attention from people, the newsletter has never hidden that they're in a world on the brink of war - maybe not a war to determine who gets to survive the end of the world like in Erion, but war all the same. Not to mention how mere rumors of clandestine missile tests were enough to call Nina out of her teaching position and back into the field.

Gwendolyn knows sooner or later war will break out here, and she needs to be ready for it. Since she's already on her third quarter, she figures she should look into the other requirements for making SeeD... and she knows, from that one fateful visit last year, one such requirement resides in the Fire Cavern...

As she mulls things over, she hears some noises in the distance. Good, she thinks, a chance to unwind already.]

Comments

[shops-a-lot.livejournal.com]

[Bulla's in the Training Center practicing. If possible, she wants to try and pass her SeeD exam on the first go. Magic and using GFs is decidedly not a strong point of hers, but her martial arts skill and her physical strength and durability will help.

She's learned her lesson from when she nearly hit people with flying grats by accident before. It's not that she's going to stop hitting them as far as she can. Instead, she makes a more thorough effort to check if there are people in the Training Center with her first, and shouts a warning if she's launching one in the nearby vicinity of anyone else.

She thought she caught a glimpse of Gwendolyn through the foliage before, so when she punches a grat in the general direction Bulla last saw the other girl, she makes sure to yell out a quick warning.]

Incoming!

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Gwendolyn hears the warning in time, and dodges out of the way just before the grat soars by.]

I see you don't find theses beasts sturdy enough, either.

[shops-a-lot.livejournal.com]

[Bulla runs over to say hi, approaching with a friendly wave.]

Yeah...mostly I just try and see how far I can send them, now. I got some pointers on how to hit even harder but that just got messy and gross.

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Gwendolyn grimaces at the mental image, but still nods in greeting.]

True. Perhaps 'twould be best to save your stronger strikes for something that merits it.

[Granted, that would just leave the T-Rexaurs here, and maybe those dragons from Trabia.]

[shops-a-lot.livejournal.com]

Well, I could try to see how far I could make the T-rexaurs fly...

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Gwendolyn does her best to suppress a snicker.]

Those might be harder to evade than the Grats, I believe.

[She pauses, considering something.]

...you know, Bulla, you have been here for about as long as I have, yes?

[shops-a-lot.livejournal.com]

Well, if I ever get a boyfriend, it would be incentive for him to not act like a jerk.

[She giggles a bit. She's kidding about that. Mostly.]

That's right. I got here in early May.

[bunnypassingby]

[As much as Mikuru knew she ought to practise out of costume, she was still simply more comfortable fighting in it, especially in a place like the Training Center where she was much more likely to get hurt than in class. Besides, though she had made a little progress with pistols in civilian gear, her lasers didn't seem to work out of costume.

[And so Mikuru faces down a grat. Her knees tremble in fear, but still she raises her hand to her eye.]

Mikuru Beam!

[The grat finds itself missing a vine as Mikuru carefully lasers it off from a safe distance.]

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Gwendolyn wanders into this confrontation, looking curiously at the proceeding fight. She's not as surprised as most people would be - her roommate's current costume looks strange, but it's not nearly as bad as what most fairies wear.

The eye laser merits a raised eyebrow, though.]

[bunnypassingby]

[Not noticing Gwendolyn in her concentration, Mikuru repeats the process with the grat's other vines, backing up when it lurches closer.

[Finally, she pulls out her twin pistols from behind her back, where she had tucked them into her apron tie, and begins to shoot. Two-fifths of her shots miss, but Mikuru takes this as an improvement over her shooting at a certain alien on her home world, and she begins to look slightly more hopeful.]

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Gwendolyn notices how Mikuru is faring. It's alright for a greenhorn, honestly.]

Not bad... you could do with more accuracy, however.

[bunnypassingby]

[It's a good thing she's startled out of her concentration just as the grat disintegrates. That could have gotten messy.]

I know... I've been trying to work on it...

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

Perhaps you could try aiming before they can approach you? 'Twould be easier to strike at them then.

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

[A dazed T-Rexaur smashes through the trees not far away -- just as a figure with a solid grip on its head smashes a fist sheathed in ice-elemental energy into the base of its skull. Roaring feebly, the monster staggers sideways.]

Ha ha! Look out below!

[The T-Rexaur collapses with a heavy thud; Snow leaps off it as it does, landing -- well, not lightly, at his mass, but not clumsily either. He straightens up, dusting off his hands with a grin.]

Sorry about that. I didn't think it'd go that far sideways.

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[The T-Rexaur is thankfully far enough for Gwendolyn to move out of its way. Needless to say, she looks as impressed as she'll allow herself to look.]

No harm done, Instructor. I see you're setting the example quite well.

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

[He flashes a grin, though he waves off her praise]

It's not that impressive, they're weak against ice. I almost miss that time we had monsters running through here, it actually gave me a workout.

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

I would wager the 'workout' was more due to their numbers than anything else, not to mention half the other monsters were also weak against ice.

[She considers for a moment before asking the following - he's an instructor, after all.]

Instructor Snowe, do you know of a certain cavern in this island where a Guardian Force resides?

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

[He looks up and away, trying to remember, then back quickly as he does!]

I think I saw it just the other day, actually. From my hoverbike. Though I really wasn't paying attention...

[The Instructor is just a little red.]

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Gwendolyn doesn't mind if he wasn't paying attention - no doubt he hasn't had much reason to pay attention to it since he became a SeeD.]

That's understandable. I brought it up, however, because I intend to obtain the services of said Guardian Force, and I was wondering if you would be interested in accompanying my group as an observer.

[queenmercedes.livejournal.com]

[Several yards off the ground, Mercedes flew about at a brisk pace, making sure to keep herself high enough that she was just out of reach of the monsters on the ground that were waving their little ... erm limbs at the fairy as they chase after her. She was herding three Grats together so that she can fly overhead and fire arrows down at them.

Normally this wouldn't be too much of a challenge if she had her Psypher crossbow with her, but there were reasons she was trying to not rely on using Tasla as a weapon. She wasn't completely useless with a normal bow but she was struggling with loading arrows, and even though it seemed impossible, she still has not given up on trying to fire arrows while in motion.

That is most of the reason why every arrow she fires as she passes over the Grats miss, and also why she was steadily becoming more annoyed with each attempt. Finally after yet another unsuccessful air strike, she lands on the ground so she could turn and face them before shouting in a voice that rang loudly like an order.]

Will you stop moving!

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Hearing the commotion, Gwendolyn wanders in to see the proceedings from a distance - namely, Mercedes missing with a regular bow. She settles for keeping her distance for the moment, since for all she knows, she's limiting herself on purpose - some of the other students do that after a while, with the grats.

She'll still have a Fira ready to cast, just in case.]

[queenmercedes.livejournal.com]

[As the Grats approach, Mercedes backs away trying to keep out of their reach as she pulls another arrow out to fire. She had missed enough firing from the air, that she pauses in order to properly launch an arrow. When it strikes a Grat, she smiles with satisfaction before she leaps into flight.

At the same time, the other Grat had spirited forward with an attack, flailing it's limbs outward. If she had taken off a moment sooner she would have been clear of the strike, but unfortunately the monster was fast enough that it smacked her legs. With a loud gasp, Mercedes fell to the ground and while she managed to not lose hold of her bow, nearly all her remaining arrows spilled out after she had dropped onto the ground. Just one more thing to delay her attack after she recovered from her fall.

As for the Grats, the one that struck was continuing forward, and the other that had been shot was lingering back, perhaps preparing for a different sort of assault.]

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Well, that isn't going well. Of course, the Grat lingering back was the easier target, so its different assault will have to go up in flames. Literally.

Hopefully, Mercedes has already received lessons on evasive action to deal with the one on the offensive.]

[queenmercedes.livejournal.com]

[Mercedes did not lie around for long, and after the shock of her fall was gone, she was gathering arrows. The skittering of the Grat nearby got her attention soon after she picked up a handful of arrows, and with a quick glance she saw it closing in on her. With a gasp she tumbles out of it's path and begins to scramble up to her feet, and soon leaps backward to lift herself into the air as she watches the monster turn and redirect itself to follow after her.

This time she succeeds in putting herself out of swatting range, and once she is at a safe height, she aims one of the arrows she managed to retrieve. It wouldn't kill the creature, but it would buy her enough time to look off toward the other noises she heard to make sure that the other Grat was not sneaking up behind her.

And she sees the Grat flailing about on fire, screeching in pain before it falls over limp and dies.]

...

[Her own monster yards beneath her is forgotten as she stares in confusion, glancing around to find an explanation for the demise of it's kin]

?

[birdwhoseeks.livejournal.com]

[Gwendolyn takes this moment to rush in straight at the remaining Grat, who's not so wounded as to lash out at her. She's quick to parry the strikes, leaving the Grat undefended for, say, an arrow to the back.]