Ｖａｎｉｌｌｅ ❀ №1 ❀ Spoilers for FFXIII up ahead!

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[ The orientation had been over for a few hours. The roaming Vanille finds herself somewhere inside the training center. A wistful hum tickles her throat as she skips through the battered terrain. Content as can be with the abundance of plants, she happily makes her way through the series of trails. A hollowing ROAR puts the small redhead to a stop dead in her tracks, her happy bubble officially burst. Slowly gazing up and up, she finds herself face to face with a T-Rexaur. ]

Whoah uh...uhhhh

[ Quickly glancing around, she decides to carefully trace her steps backwards. The T-Rexaur takes one step forward, provoking a full blown shriek from girl as the ground beneath her trembles. Without another hesitation, she stumbles into a sprint back the way she came. ]

Comments

welp they started out a team in their original game so why not

[fleeorflight.livejournal.com]

Wh- oof!

[Maybe if he were a little bigger, he wouldn't have been knocked down so easily like that, but a full-speed charging Vanille knocks him on his back and over a tumble too, knocking his legs against the very door he had just came from. Nope, not exactly a white knight, this one. Just another damsel in distress, probably.]

hehe naturally

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[The impact is almost strong enough to knock Vanille off balance, but she manages only a stumble.]

Oh!

[Her hands clasp over her mouth to muffle a gasp. It takes her only a moment to recognize the small boy conveniently placed for her rescue. The joy of a familiar face serves enough of a distraction from the bounding giant reptile not far behind.]

Hope! [After a quick back glance, she reaches down to tug his legs back from over his head and pull him to his feet.]

C'mon, up now!

[fleeorflight.livejournal.com]

[He raises his head, relief evident on his face. It's Van- no, wait, it's a massive dinosaur behind Vanille. That takes a little more precedence. With her help, he rolls back onto his feet and immediately jams his palm into the console behind him to open the sliding door, pulling the both of them through it. Just in time, too, because the reptile is quick on their heels.]

This way!

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[The sensation of those behemoth teeth chomping onto the tips of her furtails is more than enough to send her dashing forward again. No point in trying to see if the giant dinosaur could squeeze itself through the door. Although, in all coherence, they were probably safe. Nevertheless, Vanille is going full speed, dragging Hope along behind her.]

[fleeorflight.livejournal.com]

[This would work better if Vanille didn't have much longer legs than Hope, and while he's no stranger to running, running while being dragged is a little trickier. He keeps it up for a minute or so, until they're well out of the vicinity of the training area, and then tries to pull them both to a stop before he trips over himself.]

V-Vanille! Slow down! I think we're safe!

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[Ignoring the gaze of a few confused cadets, Vanille holds her hips as she tries to catch her breath once again. Legs almost shaking from the rush, she squats down before shooting back up, arms in the air.]

Aha! We did it!

[fleeorflight.livejournal.com]

[Hope didn't think Vanille knew the meaning of 'laying low'. He looks back between her and the sealed-off training area. They hadn't really done anything, other than run. Small steps, he thought, brushing himself off from that earlier tumble and managing a tiny smile.]

Heh, guess we did. What were you doing in there, anyway?

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[Considering that they now belonged there and were free to go anywhere in the garden, there was really nothing wrong. The dinosaur didn't follow, so no disruption at all.]

[After a small stretch and a bit of fidgeting with her uniform, Vanille is back to new.]

I was just looking around. It looked kinda neat in there, didn't it?

[fleeorflight.livejournal.com]

[...Maybe Vanille was just more used to dinosaurs after coming from Gran Pulse, he reassured himself.]

I guess. I didn't really...see much of it.

[He looks back a little wistfully. But maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have gone in there alone, anyway. Hope turns back to her.]

But I'm glad you're here. I thought we were all separated.

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

Fang and I thought so too, but not so much now huh. If you're here, then the others might be!

[It is a terrible thought, but Vanille was almost glad to be away in a new world. Her brand had scarred over, there was no need to worry about her focus. No worries about becoming a cei'th. And if they are all here, the same as her, who would be chosen to replace them? And what of their fate?]

Hey.

[She speaks with a tilt of her head, reaching out to grab his wrist with his l'cie mark.]

...is your brand like ours too?

[fleeorflight.livejournal.com]

[Hope's brow furrows. He turns his wrist in her hand and pulls the cloth out of the way to reveal a frozen brand, edges and lines tinted white.]

Yeah it...looks strange. I keep on wondering if I'm going to start turning into a cie'th soon, but I haven't felt anything funny yet. What's it mean?

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[She observes it as he speaks, her expression softening just slightly in relief. He was like her, and probably the rest of them if they were to end up in this strange world. It takes care of one thing, no more countdown]

No no that's not it! It's frozen, just like Fang's and mine now too.

[She lets go to hold up one finger, yes it's time for Vanille's lecture pose.]

Normally, you see, your brand grows and grows the closer you are to becoming a cei'th.

No eye, you're fine.

Eye opens, you're done for!

And yours is not even close! It's stuck on the pause button. So what does that mean? No worries! No cei'th time for you, the clocks gone broken.

i never got this notif WHAT >( Dammit LJ

[fleeorflight.livejournal.com]

[He's quiet for a moment, slowly digesting that information.]

What about Cocoon?

[rebeliune.livejournal.com]

[ Thankfully, Lightning is in the vicinity of the Training Center, and so, when she hears the roar, followed by a familiar scream, she starts running, Blazefire Saber out of its holster. She spots the red head and the huge dinosaur, but runs in front of Vanille and brandishes her weapon. ]

Vanille! Are you all right?

/paradoxhands

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[Seeing a familiar face is more than Vanille could ask for in that moment.]

Yeah. I'm fine! [She reassures with a nod, still recoiling from the giant reptile as it now stared down both girls with a bloodthirsty gleam in its eyes. If Light was to fight, she couldn't very much let her do it alone....but running also seems like a viable option.]

It looks really hungry...

:O?

[rebeliune.livejournal.com]

[ Lightning stared back at the beast with a challenging look, not intimidated by the obviously predatory gaze the T-Rexaur's giving them. ]

I was never one for fast food, so it's going to have to work for a meal.

Escape in one thread & fight in another!

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[Hesitantly, Vanille unhooks the binding rod strapped to her side. Clutching the weapon with both hands, she comes up to Lightning's side.]

If you're going to give it a work out, I'm in.

Ohh... should we run?

[rebeliune.livejournal.com]

[ Glances back at Vanille, only briefly as the T-Rexaur begins to try and circle them. ]

You could still run, Vanille. I'll keep it busy.

Nah, I don't mind. I was just pointing it out.

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[Vanille casts her gaze down for a moment, still briefly considering the window to flee. Her grip on the rod tightens, before looking back up at their enemy. ]

It wouldn't be fair! I've made up my mind.

[rebeliune.livejournal.com]

Here it comes!

[ Pushes Vanille out of the way and dodges the incoming lunge of sharp teeth from the T-Rexaur. She shoots at it several times to get its attention, and jumps to avoid the tail that tries to sweep at her feet. Switching to a Ravager role, she tries a mix of Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and Water magic at the huge dinosaur. ]

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

Let's go!

[Vanille quickly obliges and makes her way around the side of the beast while its distracted, quickly popping a couple protect spells over them. After watching the dinosaur recoil from the onslaught of magical attacks, Vanille switches to Saboteur, casting a combination of poison and imperil at the T-Rexaur.]

[rebeliune.livejournal.com]

That seems to be working. Keep at it, Vanille!

[ Makes several slashes on its hide, earning some pained roars from the assault. Lightning moves out of the way as it tries to clamp its jaws on her again, while rewarding that attempt with another hit on its jaw before backing away and throwing a Blizzard spell. ]

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

Right!

[As the T-Rexaur suffers from poison, Vanille takes this chance to attack it directly with the binding rod.]

Ah!

[She isn't as lucky this time, the sweep of the tail catches her off guard. Vanille manages to keep on her feet as the force whips her back. In retaliation she whips the hooks of the rod back toward its face.]

[rebeliune.livejournal.com]

[ She nearly calls out Vanille's name, but grits her teeth and jumps up high to deliver a devastating strike from above on its head. There's a distinct cracking sound heard when impact happens and Lightning falls back, watching the T-Rexaur start to stagger heavily and roar in pain at the combined efforts of the two l'Cie. A quick Libra skill is used, and finds that the T-Rexaur is weak to ice attacks, and so summons up two Blizzaras, ending with a simple Blizzard. ]

Is that it?

[lacqualia.livejournal.com]

[Vanille cringes as the ground shudders from the fall of the defeated reptile. It's definitely a surprise to her as to how easily it was taken down.]

Phew!

[She sighs, and gives a dramatic wipe of her brow before folding the binding rod and tucking it back in its holster.]

Looks like it...good job!