The darkness never seemed to end; only seeming to spear on ahead of them, churning up dark thoughts to go along with the emptiness surrounding all. There was no relief to the shadows around them, and even when a tiny light flickered off one of their covered weapons it vanished too quickly for any peace to come from it.
Kayden knew that the night in the cave was an illusion, one of a bright sunny day outside. But that meant nothing now. Here he was, with his team, running towards some sort of battle with forces invading a peaceful civilian target in hopes of heading off the enemy.
As he had heard during the briefing; the cadet role during this exam was crucial, maybe even excessive for the amount of experience the entire group had in armed conflict. They were cadets, with no background on war, and they were expected to stop messages from arriving and departing to two major sections of the army. And despite his and Kaidia's talents put together, this almost seemed to be a fail already. If he was familiar with the rules of combat, then this mission handed to the cadets broke many of them. 'I can't say anything though…'
His mother always told him that it is important to be prepared for any circumstance that could incur in a mission, and be ready to handle that situation if necessary. 'But this is stupid! Ryu's beginning to panic already, and we're not anywhere near Suzu to protect him! What if something happens! Suzu's put his protection the furthest away; and we can't disobey or we'll be docked! Hyne this is ridiculous…'
Ahead of him was Ryu, clutching his shotgun almost like a lifeline; as if he was too afraid to let go of it for even a moment. As it stood, he was more likely to accidentally shoot a team mate then an enemy. His hands were trembling so much that Kay was almost sure he would drop his gun. He was also tense, running in jerky strides and nearly stumbling over blocks in their way. Kayden almost cursed when he realized that he had been placed directly behind the scared blonde.
Suzu ran in the lead, his carrying his oversized shuriken across his back in an unlocked position, in case he needed to quickly draw it to his defense. Kay could not see any other visible weapon on Suzu; they did exist though, but were hidden in out of the way locations. Kay had come very close to smacking their 'leader' on the head several times already, but had been forced to bite his tongue to keep his patience.
His performance would be watched most carefully for reasons he had no control over. It did not matter that his mother was one of the SeeDs that defeated the future sorceress, all his problems stemmed from his father, Seifer Almasy.
He loved his dad, they got along great, but his father's reputation had marred his. His instructors knew who his father was, and seemed to be almost angry that he would dare try to become what Seifer could not; a SeeD. And with this infamy against him, many would look for reasons to see his father in his actions. Kayden responded by trying to act more like his mother, only when authority was around. So the face he showed his superiors was vastly different to the one he showed his friends. But during this crucial exam, he would be examined carefully, to see if any rebelliousness existed in him.
And directly to his right was Kaidia. He was close enough to see the flickers of shadows dance across her face, now intent and serious. She carried her gunblade on her back, but in her hand rested a drawn dagger, as if she were expecting some sort of attack. It was held low, pressed nearly into the shadow of her body so that the flickers of light would not reflect off the uncovered blade. He was surprised when he realized he was holding a dagger too, and could not recall when he drew it as he ran. It wasn't a bad strategy, he realized, the best he and Kaidia could come up with, without seemingly disregarding their leaders orders.
The dagger could be used as a throwing weapon, ahead or behind them, or used as a counter for a surprise attack. This would either way rid their hand of the weapon and after discarding the secondary they could then be free to draw their gunblades after. Also, they could be free to cast a necessary spell on themselves, their team or the enemy. He and his girlfriend worked well together, they had much practice in handling enemies between the two, and would not need time to discuss strategies; knowing instinctively who would do what in a certain battle. 'But working with two more may throw us off…What was I thinking?!'
The team had already avoided some attacks, and when forced to fight they would finish up as quickly as possible. Usually it went without saying that the command was to just slip past those monsters, if possible, and engage only if necessary.
Suzu then called a halt, seemingly skidding to a stop just ahead of the shocked Ryu, who slammed into the eldest boy's back and proceeded to stumble them both to the ground. Thankfully, Kayden had been paying more attention then Ryu had been and just managed to slow before crashing over the pile of two boys. Kaidia just stared down at them, as if mentally labeling them as idiots and wondering why Hyne had targeted her in the first place.
"Watch where you're going!" Suzu exclaimed loudly.
'Great! Announce to everything and everyone that we're here!' Kayden complained to himself.
Suzu's angered retort echoed in the caves, sending sound further down the corridor they were standing. Kayden tensed and listened closely, hand drifting up towards grasping the hilt of his favorite sword in preparation to a half suspected attack. Before any more thought could come, they were awash with two monsters, seemingly appearing from the corner of his vision. For a moment, there had been nothing, but suddenly there were two beasts blocking their path. Thankfully they were the same species, unfortunately they were Anacondaurs.
Both were probably mates, as they were together. Their dark green skin was patterned up with diamond slivers of black and mid green. The skin shimmered in the dim almost non existent light of the cave and cast an illusion of wetness to the creatures.
Both snake like creatures reached out from their original coiled position and now swung their blunted heads just above his own arm reach above his head, and they stared down at him and his equally surprised group with dark black eyes; shallow, cold and lifeless. Kay and his group had just become the hunted, the prey, in the bleak eyes of the slithering creatures.
And dinner may be a possibility. All Anaconduars were poisonous, their blood, if splashed on someone would cause physical sickness and dizziness. But their venom was deadly if not treated with an antidote or a curative spell. If injected, without a cure, the symptoms would start with numbness in the legs and arms, making using a weapon to defend yourself impossible. The numbness would lead to paralysis, usually under the cold snakes watchful eyes, and as your heart reacted to the toxins induced to it, it would beat irregularly and suffocate the brain and lungs for crucial blood and air. It was a horrible death. And if poisoned by either, you only would have a period of ten minutes to use an antidote on yourself or suffer death or many hours of pain.
One flashed its tongue out, tasting the air for the scent of what it probably assumed to be its dinner. Kay was sure as hell that he would not be the monstrous creature's next meal. It flickered its tongue back into its mouth and hissed in what could almost be described as pleasure.
The one furthest away coiled up, reaching further above the first, almost touching the top of the cave with its blunted head. It almost seemed to vanish into the shadows of the cave the only visible section was the eerie glowing reflection of himself shining back into its dead eyes. The closer one whipped its pointed tail to and fro, as if to express its irritation for the interruption into its territory.
The snakes' tails were very dangerous. Each section of the cross like tail, including the vestiges of the tail, were covered with a mid level poison. Thankfully the only deadly poison was the one the carried in their mouths, to be injected when they bit a prey. But being cut with the tail would lead to several hours of 'fun' while your body felt like a thousand needles were burning into your skin, if not treated almost immediately.
Near their heads there was a wing like structure that jutted out from their necks, in two waves; the first partially covering the second. Kayden knew that these helped the large snakes balance upright for an extended period of time. These, on both, had blotches of red adorning the almost black green center.
Both had a pale green belly that ended just below their snout and turned to darker colours above, helping them blend into the usual cover a forest would give them.
'What are Anacondaurs doing in a cave?' he thought to himself.
Kayden sprung aside, moving away from the pile up of their leader and their shooter, and slipped ahead of them. There was no way they could avoid this fight, and by the time the two untangled themselves, there would be no time to slip past and get a good distance. Now that the snakes knew that they were here, it was likely they would be followed by them and could be ambushed when they were not expecting it.
"What are Anacondaurs doing in a cave?" Kaidia echoed his thought just as it occurred to him.
She fell to his side, each standing with their gunblades drawn together, glinting dangerously in the dim light that the cave offered. His eyes met hers for only a second, and she inclined her head quickly to the two people behind them, struggling valiantly to arise from the floor. Unfortunately, every attempt the shocked two made to get up, one would end up tripping the other and they remained as they were.
Kay nodded in confirmation to her quiet question; he would be the main attack here, and she would protect the down fighters. He was stronger on brute force, but she was quicker and could dodge faster. Kayden tightened his grip on the gunblade, securing himself physically with his opening move as well as symbolically readying for what was to come in this battle. He charged away from Kaidia using what he hoped to be a surprise attack for the one closest to him.
Above him, a dark and white wave of magic flared following an indeterminate path that Kaidia chose sending her magic towards the furthest Anacondaur.
He just noticed a large dark cloud beginning to form around the furthest monster blocking its vision from both eyes. 'Why did she use blind?' he questioned himself. 'Confuse or sleep would have been just as effective. Or not….I understand now.'
He knew why she picked that spell. There was no need to cast sleep just yet, and confuse may just cause the creature to attack unpredictably instead. It could attack its mate, itself or even a team mate. But blind made its attacks virtually useless, as it could not see where it should be attacking. With this tactic, she had effectively knocked down the creature's strongest offense with one easy spell. But there was no time to guess further.
He danced around the first, barely evading its sharp eyes and even shaper attack. It turned to follow his movements and sprang forward with its prickly teeth baring them through its line like mouth, as it approached him. Kayden dodged again and instead the foremost snake bit down on his gunblade in lieu of his left arm. It had been fast, only a second pause in which he had to react without thought.
Dark green spat up from its mouth, as teeth broke on the sharp metal surface and as it hissed, it brought up more sickly liquid from its damaged mouth and spat it on his sword. Kay dislodged the mouth, which had, for some reason that defied all logic, remained attached to his blade. He was rewarded with the return of the control of his weapon but also with a spray of the green liquid.
'Must use an antidote.' he mused to himself. Kayden knew that a bite from an Anacondaur was poisonous but he was not sure on if the blood held the same lethel toxicity as the saliva. Actually, he wasn't sure if what was spat at him was blood or saliva or a combination of them both.
An encounter with an Anacondaur's blood was only an annoyance, but during this mission, there was no time to slow down and wait for the effects to diminish. He already felt a sickly feeling winding its way though his stomach and his legs and arms felt as if thousands of picks were attaching themselves, painfully. He could not use an antidote or cast a spell while he was entertaining the snake though.
The one he was contending with hissed in anger and without thought Kayden dodged the creatures counter attack, barely catching the whip like tail with the blunt side of his gunblade, raised protectively over his head. Without waiting, he pushed backwards with all his might and sent the tail flying at the serpent instead.
There was no pause. The creature lashed out at him, and before he could even raise the sword to counter, it lashed him in the side, cutting through his uniform to his unprotected skin. Where the contact was made, there was a warm burning sensation, which told him that the poison on the skin had been injected.
The creature struck again and caught him in the leg, but missed the third time. Moving quicker than even Kay thought he could, he darted behind the snake and brought his blade crashing down on the its mid back before dancing back out of the furious monster's opposing attack.
Kay reached into his mind, seeking something. Grasping at one particular spell he threw it out of himself, and aimed it directly at the hissing animal in front of him. His left hand extended naturally from his body, palm parallel to his chest as the dark purple energy gathered its self there for only a second before many light coloured stars circled around himself gaining speed as they did before lancing out towards the snake he was competing with. The stars now circled around the confused snake's head, whose eyes flickered back the colour of the stars. Then the eyes dilated as a sheen of sparks emerged from the dancing stars and surrounded the creature. A moment later it dropped, to the ground. Its heart beat slowed as it entered the realm of sleep.
The spell would not last long and Kay took a breath and steadying his racing heart. He reached into a pouch he carried and drew out a dark green pill and swallowed it quickly. Almost immediately, the tingling began to recede in his furthest limbs, making it easier for him to move once more. As far as he knew, he had at least ten minutes of initial exposure to the toxins to use an antidote pill and have it be effective. If he had waited, it would have had to be one of his Esuna's that would have been used. He needed to avoid that spell though, that was one he had drawn on one his nightly ventures with Kaidia, and the questions that would come from that were not ones he wished to answer.
Behind him, Kaidia was entertaining the second serpent, which seemed to be trying to convince her to drop her gunblade and let it close enough to attack her as well as give it a place where it could expect her to be to attack. The monster took several swipes at her, usually missing by several feet, and she seemed to be fairing well as the obviously confused creature stumbled around uncertainly, trying to sense its surroundings now that it could not see its enemy. She was not even bothering to parry the assaults, just dodged to the right or left as they came and was slipping closer and closer to the enraged beast every moment she evaded its attack. But she did not move too far from her position, directly in front of Ryu and Suzu, who were now just coming out of their shocked stupor and had finally succeeded in jumping to their feet.
A moment later, he heard a gunfire shot to his left and there was Ryu striding forward to join him in the battle with the dozing serpent. When it was hit the creature awoke and instinctively countered the attack to itself by barreling towards both of them. Kayden pushed Ryu backwards and met its charge, catching the creature's descent with the upturned gunblade once more. It was still dozy from the spell, and its strength and speed had not quite returned to it and this would be one of the best chances they would have to remove it from battle.
"Shoot it again Ryu!" he yelled over to the other boy.
Kayden held on for as long as he could and just as he was about to roll out of the way, a gun shot echoed from above him and forced the creature off of himself. It turned on Ryu, who backed up slightly under its approach.
Kay rolled his eyes. 'Do I have to do everything!' He jumped to attack it once more, sending a flash of blood exploding from the creature when he met its turned back and triggered into its unprotected side. If he had not heard it himself, he would not have believed it possible. The snake seemed to scream in both pain and hatred.
A moment later, a second trigger went off and Kay had just enough time to see Kohana jump to her right, to both avoid the monsters blind attack at her as well as to barely miss the incoming silver shuriken that cut rivets of blood from the snake's severed head. The body seemed to fall in slow motion just as the shuriken imbedded itself into the mountain wall.
"And that's how it's done, cadets!" Suzu exclaimed, seemingly proud of himself for killing their enemy, but also nearly killing one of his own team mates with the unplanned assault as well. As it stood, Suzu was lucky that he was too busy with the last threat and Kaidia too shaken up to respond to his statement.
"It's not over yet!" Ryu yelled from his position while emptying a round of gun shots into the raging snake's body, driving the animal's attention back to him once more.
Kayden dove forward and instinctively pushed all his weight downwards, cutting clean to the other side of the snake's swaying neck and triggered into its spine. Its eyes darkened and then went blank as it slowly seemed to dawn on the snake that its meal had just killed it, and it too slowly fell to the ground. It twitched once more and with a pool of dark green blood spilling from the fatal wound and lay dead at Kayden's feet.
Kay took another deep breath and one more to calm himself before pulling his weapon free of the snake's body. Aside from the 'Ochu incident' this was the hardest fight he had ever been apart of and he hoped there would not be a repeat any time soon.
"Did you see how I killed that one!" Suzu continued unaware that he was now in direct center of a dark glare coming from the girl he had nearly killed with his reckless actions.
With that battle, along with the orders he had given, Kayden was almost sure that Suzu had failed the exam already. Especially as the most important rule of combat was to not intentionally harm your team and Suzu had known Kaidia's location, but had thrown the weapon anyway. He was just lucky that the brown haired girl had managed to sense the impending danger with enough time to leap free of both the snake's guess attack and the certain fatal blow.
Kayden walked up to his girlfriends' side, noticing that Kaidia seemed to have given up mentally trying to fry Suzu alive and had fixed her gaze onto her own gunblade in annoyance. He glanced down too, and caught his own reflection in his own sword.
A moment later, a shimmer of dark blue surrounded him and he looked up to see Kaidia standing straight, with one arm extended in a fist perpendicular to her heart. The colour blocked his vision for only a minute before it receded, leaving no trace that a battle had occurred. Around him, Suzu and Ryu had also taken the time to heal themselves.
"That was really well done." Suzu continued; looking down to the black device he was holding in his hands. "We're getting near to our final location. Let's move out!"
"Respectively Sir," Kaidia spoke up quietly, surprising Kayden in the process. She was the last person he expected to come out and say something.
"What is it?" Suzu's whole tone expressed his annoyance.
"Would it not be prudent to find out why Anacondaurs are in a cave?"
"Why does it matter?"
"It is not their common habitat sir." She answered.
"And that's important, because?"
"Sir, it is uncommon. It may be best to at least consider that there may be other monsters in this cave that should not be here."
"We can handle them." Suzu spoke up, thus dismissing the girl's obvious good point.
'How can he dismiss it so quickly…I think it's a real concern! Who knows what else could be in here. And I for one do not want to run into more Anacondaurs!' Kayden mused to himself. 'I, at least, will take that point seriously.'
"Or are you disobeying my orders?" Suzu challenged directly.
"No Sir." She responded immediately.
A moment later Kaidia fell to his side and sent a concerned look in his direction. There was no fear in her eyes, just worry about what was to come. Kayden allowed his own worries to show through his eyes.
"And if we have no more objections…" Suzu started calmly.
'That wasn't an objection…that was her trying to bring a potentially serious situation to your attention as our leader.' Kayden thought spitefully. 'He can't just ignore the concerns of the team like that!' Kay tried to bite down on the thought to smack his leader once more. 'No, that would be similar to pulling what Dad did, and right now Ryu doesn't need to see dissonance between the squad leader and myself. If he does, he may not be sure whose orders to follow.'
"No Sir." Kaidia responded, using a tone that seemed to be cold and devoid of all emotions.
He knew her well enough to know that she was literally fighting the same urge he was to throttle their leader.
"Good. Then let's move out."
They left the twin snake bodies, lying where they fell, and continued on into the deepening gloom of the mountain trail. Kayden was beginning to agree with Kaidia's frequently expressed opinion that Hyne hated her. For the only person that really could offer any assistance, that he would now trust, was Kaidia. Ryu had proven to be unreliable; panicking when the snake approached him, while Suzu had been too blood thirsty; willing to risk a team member's life just to kill a monster. Kay knew SeeD was about risk but that had been ridiculous.
'What the hell did I ever do to Hyne to deserve this?'