Blue Tulips and Firethorn
After days of strategically divided enticement, Mosely had finally convinced Vik to try another weapon. "It's just not working out." Mosely's voice resounded in the Omnivari's memory. "The reason knuckles are used by Bangaa is because it takes advantage of their brute strength, which you don't have apparently."
"Here, try this one!" Mosely shouted. He emerged from the back room carrying a longsword which he promptly handed to Vik.
Vik looked over the blade from base to tip. An eighteen-inch blade stood affixed to a leather-bound handle; a foot-long fuller was cut along either flat. It was a lot heavier than the claws Vik was used to using, which probably meant it hurt more on the receiving end. "So basically, I just run in somewhere and just start swinging this around like a maniac?"
"That's the idea." Mosely responded, selecting another blade from the stand. "Just try and do it in an organized way."
Vik's eyes narrowed. "Care to explain how that would work?"
"Well...I could pretty much sum it all up in two words-" He said, pulling two wooden swords from the case and tossing one at Vik. "Defend yourself!" He gave Vik three seconds to understand the current situation before charging at him, holding his blade parallel to his legs.
Gripping the handle tightly with both hands, Vik extended his own sword, successfully intercepting Mosely's upward slash. "Hey, that wasn't so hard...". It didn't stop there, however. Mosely suddenly forced his sword upwards, knocking Vik's blade back before swinging at his side. Vik quickly moved to block it. He felt the pressure on the sword as the two blades connected but the opposing weapon still managed to tap his ribcage.
"Nice reaction." Mosely commented, swinging at Vik's head. "Try blocking with the forte when you're fighting at a really close range. You'll have more control over it than the edge."
Vik ducked, avoiding the blade by a hair's breadth. "Would you mind telling me where that is?" He inquired, fixing the sword into a stabbing position by moving his left hand over the pommel. He forced it point-first at Mosely's leg but he parried it, knocking the sword aside before landing a kick on the back. Vik toppled over onto his back, regaining control of his weapon just in time to catch Mosely's downward swing.
"Easy, it's the part right here." Mosely answered, moving his sword along Vik's horizontal blade until it reached the the area right in front of the cross guard. "You'll be able to apply more strength because it's closer to the hilt and therefore, your hands."
"Fascinating." Vik commented sarcastically, bring both his knees up to his chest and bracing his both his feet on Mosely's stomach before kicking the teenage soldier off of him. A full set of fitted chain mail absorbed most of the impact but it was still enough to send Mosely flying back a few feet. The both sprang back onto their feet and charged at eachother. Mosely tipped his weapon onto his right and once again swung at Vik's side. Only this time, Vik was ready. Lowering his sword, he caught the opposing blade a good 3 inches from its target.
"Good. You're catching on." Mosely stated, breaking the cross and retreating a couple steps. "So what do you think of sword fighting so far."
Vik shrugged. "It has it's advantages." He admitted, "They're sharp, tough, and easy to handle. I'm still not sure if I like it, though. They're a whole lot better than hard knuckles, I can tell you that much."
"That's good to hear. At least you're on the right track." Mosely laughed, "It's nice to know you're going to start using a real weapon."
---
Two weeks into the job, Captain Acheron decided to give the support clan a 'break' by sending them all on a dispatch mission. Though they were thankful for the down time from government busy work, the mission they were being sent on seemed a bit odd. "Please finish clearing out the field north of my house." Elena read, "I want the grass harvested for hay before the storm hits tomorrow – Alise: Sphrom Farmer."
"Sssince when isss thisss the government'sss businesss?" Yolando hissed, "I mean, thisss isss farming! Why do you even have to sssend all of usss? And armed, no lesss."
"There's another side to this, isn't there?" Vik asked solemnly.
The captain nodded. "Indeed there is." He answered, pulling out a manila folder from his desk shelf and flipping through it. "You see, about a week ago, the woman's husband went out to clear that very field. About an hour later, she heard a wild scream followed shortly for her husband's cry for help. She called up the neighbors for help before running to the husband herself. They found him lying face down on the ground covered in bruises. After he was hospitalized, a diagnosis revealed he had several broken bones and was bleeding internally. They have him in critical condition at Mercier Hospital. He's in no condition to talk but we think he was attacked by monsters."
Monsters. That makes sense. Recapturing them had been the main concern of the palace's main concern since the outbreak. "So what are we dealing with here, kupo?" Kili questioned, "Malboros? Leatherbacks?"
"There have been some reports of Antlions stealing livestock in that area so it's safe to assume you'll be dealing with those." Nicholas returned, "We're not entirely sure but if you run into anything, be sure to bring back the corpses." Having nothing else to say, the teens got up, saluting their captain before leaving the room. They were a bit disappointed that their 'break' mainly involved cutting grass and hunting bugs, but at least it was a lot more exciting than paperwork.
Before the mission could even start, they ran into their first problem: transportation. Sphrom was a good 60 miles away from Bagabu, which would take them about 20 hours to walk to on foot. Taking an airplane there was kind of redundant and the option of riding the rails was ruled out, seeing that they couldn't just pile a hundred dead scarabs into a train car. Luckily, an employee at the Monster Holding wing of the airport agreed to give them a ride in the company pickup truck. When Vik saw there was only enough room in the front to seat one other passenger, he made a mental note not to be the last one back during the return trip. There was no way he was going to sit in the cargo trunk with animal corpses. "Now, now, you're getting ahead of yourself again. First you have to worry about killing the monsters." His brain vocalized as Vik took a seat on top of a picnic icebox which, regrettably, was empty. Sad to say, the winner of the front-seat race was Elena. She would be relaxing next to an air conditioner while listening to her favorite radio station while the rest of them sat outside in the baking summer day. At least the truck driver was thoughtful enough to set up a canopy over them to shield them from the sun, even though there were holes in it.
"I just realized something..." Kili uttered about ten minutes after their departure. "Why does this woman seem to care more about some grass getting harvested than eliminating those creatures that trampled her husband, kupo? Don't you think it would have received more attention if she said 'Kill those giant bugs in my backyard' instead?"
"She wasss probably trying to sssave sssome money." Kili raised an eyebrow, which informed Yolando to explain further. "Pubmastersss are money-hungry individualsss. If a mission ssseemsss important, they could easily charge you over 500 gil more than they would if it were a harmlesss dispatch mission. Ssseeing that farmersss usually don't receive income until harvest ssseason, I'm guessing Alissse wasss a bit short on cash."
"Kupo. I guess that makes sense. But don't you think since it sounds so harmless, kupo, that it would attract only weaker units?"
"Hmm...you've got a point there." Yolando disclosed, "I guess she really does just want that grass harvested."
"She could of at least warned us about the bugs somewhere on the request." Saria put in.
"Farmers tend to be forgetful." Vik returned, leaning his head against the cooler as he tried to get some sleep before they got there. It was a fruitless attempt, however, since the road ahead was filled with pot holes.
---
"Do any of the rest of you get the feeling that we're wasting our summer?" Kili asked as he tied up their third Bushel. The other clan members nodded glumly. They had rushed into the field, expecting to find it crawling with Antlions and Jawbreakers. What the did find, in reality, was about 3 acres of untamed earth. Yellow blades of grass shot up from the ground in random angles, overlapping with trees and bushes. By this time, the sun reached its summit and a cloudless sky allowed the detestable rays to beat down on Clan Senbunsu. About half an hour in, they abandoned their armor; the only bugs they had seen so far were Aphids and it was only weighing them down. Wearing chain mail during the summer was like sitting in a double boiler.
"Quit complaining and get back to work!" Elena shouted from across the field. "That lady's paying us 2000 gil to clear this field but she said we aren't going to see a single cent until we finish. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to finish sometime before nightfall."
"Like you're one to talk." Vik mumbled, grabbing another handful of grass and cutting it as close to the roots as he could. They had all been provided with sickles, which worked much better than flat blades when it came to agriculture. They were also advised to work by sections instead of working row by row. 'Try finding a section that's about a 3 yards in diameter.' Alise's voice resounded in his brain, 'Clear out a space in the center first and then work around it. That way, you'll have room to throw each knot into a pile which can be tied up and added to a bushel. It saves you some time since you won't have to walk back and forth.' Even though they took her advice, it did almost nothing to speed up the process.
"Ow!" Exclaimed a voice from behind him. Vik turned around to see who it was and found Saria sucking disgruntedly on her index finger. It took him a while to recognize her, since it was the first time he had seen her in her job outfit. Her decision to be a Red Mage was resolute but in order for her to start, she needed some fencing experience. Her fencer dress didn't stray too far away from the original design but instead drew inspiration from modern culture. Frog buttons held the bright purple wadded shirt together at the shoulder and continued down the side of the waist, ending in a small leather loop used to hold a Rapier. The skirt extended all the way past the knee, but slits were cut on either side to improve mobility. Since the slits went all the way up until they met the buttons, the self-conscious Saria decided to wear a pair of knee-high pink socks to conceal her bare legs. She topped off her little outfit with a plastic headband, which was pushed all the way back to keep her hair out of her face.
Catching Vik's gaze, Saria used her free hand to point at the section in front of her. The look in her eyes implored Vik to investigate it. Sighing, Vik tossed aside the handful of grass and trudged over to the girl. Using the end of his sickle, he poked around in the designated area until he uncovered a small bush of red berries. "Relax, it's just a Firethorn bush." He said as he dug his sickle into the ground and uprooted the plant. "It's pretty common around these parts. It's not poisonous or anything; just watch out for the thorns." He took her hands into his palms and examined them. A small path of bloody wounds trekked diagonally across the girl's hand. "Dear lord, did you grab the whole thing? I thought you just pricked your finger!" He exclaimed as he dampened a handkerchief with the contents of his canteen and cleaned the blood off the cuts. The girl opened her mouth to thank him but was interrupted when a wooden bucket dropped by her feet.
"We're really working up a sssweat" Yolando hissed, dropping a second bucket next to Vik's. "And it'sss your turn to get the water. The tap's about half a mile north from here; just follow the road. It might ssseem a bit far but it'sss the only place to get clean water."
Vik stared daggers at the two wooden buckets but shrugged off his feeling of hatred in a second. "You wouldn't happen to have any bandages on you right now, would you?" He asked in a tone like nothing had happened.
Yolando gave him a weird look. "Do you need one?" Vik only pointed at Saria, who was still nursing her wounded hand. Sighing, Yolando reached into his pocket and produced a small roll of beige tape, which he promptly handed to Vik. "Try being more careful around Pyracanthasss." He advised as Vik wrapped up Saria's hand.
As he finished tying up the cast, Vik raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"It'sss the Firethorn'sss ssscientific name." The bangaa explained, reaccepting the bandages from Vik's outstretched hand. "And bring your own medical sssupplies next time. I not going to be idly waiting around here for your next accident. You of all people should know better, seeing that both your parents are doctors."
"Yeah, whatever." The human grumbled as he took a bucket by the handles with each hand and started his hike towards the well. He had gone only about a hundred steps when a figure ran up behind him and gently pulled the bucket from his right. Vik looked up in bewilderment only to find Saria walking next to him, slowly swinging the bucket back and forth.
"Thank you." She said, smiling happily. "It doesn't hurt so much now!"
Vik only nodded. "You really don't have to help me, you know." He reached for the other bucket but Saria kept it at an arm's length.
"But you helped me. I have to pay you back somehow."
"No you don't, it was a favor. That means I did it for you and for you alone." He grabbed again for the bucket but Saria quickly moved it behind her back. "Getting retribution for a selfless act kind of defeats the purpose of doing it in the first place."
"Okay. Then I'll do a favor for you!" She said, skipping ahead a few steps so Vik wouldn't make any more attempts.
"Alright, fine. You can help." Vik exclaimed, waving his right hand in defeat. "Just try not to use your left hand so much. You'll weaken the bandages."
By the time they reached the main road, the two of them fell silent. Saria's inquisitive nature and Vik's proclivity towards complaining were both being suppressed by a feeling of insecurity. There was something about the area around them that made the teens feel unwelcome. When they reached the tap, they took a few gulps of water before filling up their buckets and starting the journey back. They decided rush back as quickly as the sloshing buckets would allow. They didn't dare look in any direction but ahead as the feeling they were being watched multiplied. Perhaps what happened next was inevitable.
They were about 2 minutes away from the field when Vik noticed his companion was walking unsteadily; she had completely stopped putting pressure on her left leg. After confirming that it had nothing to do with the weight of the bucket, he strode in front of the girl and turned around to face her. "Saria, why are you limping?" Vik asked, beckoning for her to stop by laying down his bucket right in the middle of the road.
"Limping? What do you mean?" She responded innocently, though that was tone of voice that was normally used when one is hiding something.
"I mean why aren't you walking on your left foot? Is it sprained or something?"
"No. I'm fine. Really!"Saria tried to take a step back but in doing so, she asserted her weight onto her left foot. A sudden pang of agony shot up her leg, forcing her to return to her original position. "Please don't make a big deal out of this." She whispered as she accepted defeat. Saria looked down at the floor and noticed her deeply ashamed expression in the water's reflection. It was only visible for a second more as a series of tears broke the liquid's surface.
Vik sighed. "You better sit down. It'll only get worse if you don't rest." He remarked as he reached down for her bucket. His hand had closed around the handle and still she didn't fight it. Slowly, he pulled the bucket from the girl's hands and laid it down next to his. She swayed a bit due to the change in weight but Vik propped her up and walked her to the side of the road, laying her down in a shaded area on the edge of a large paddock. He waited for her to calm down a bit before removing her shoes.
Had she been fully conscious, Saria would have definitely protested when Vik removed her sock, since he was way too high up her leg for his own good. But this was neither the time or the place for perverted thoughts so she allowed him to remove the article of clothing. For Vik, however, it was definitely an odd position and he blushed fiercely as the relative images poured into his mind. Fortunately, the level of awkwardness slightly decreased when Saria decided to strike up a conversation. "You should get back to camp." She said.
Vik gave her a surprised look. "Why?"
"They're expecting us to bring back water. We can't keep them waiting."
Vik only smiled and continued looking over her foot. "Don't worry, they have plenty of water left. Alise gave us four buckets, remember?" He twisted her foot lightly to the side. "Does that hurt?" Saria nodded, squinting her eyes as she fought back tears. "Sorry." He apologized quickly before continuing. "Before we started, we filled up all four of them with drinking water. Since we were so far away from a source when half of the water is used up, we send someone to fill up the two empty buckets. That way, we'll have a constant water supply." Finally, he took her sock and bunched it up into a pillow on the ground. After resting the foot onto it, he rushed back to the water buckets and wet his handkerchief, which he then laid over the swollen ankle. "Besides, I can't just leave you here alone by yourself." He said, smiling warmly. "You'll be Antlion food."
She hands suddenly clenched up into knuckles on her lap. "I'm not weak, Vik." She said, hiding her face by making eye contact only with the ground. "If danger were to present itself, I would be ready. I don't need you to fight my battles for me; I can do that on my own!"
Vik wasn't sure how to react to this but the back of his brain seemed to feed the words into his mouth. "I don't think you're weak. You're the strongest person I know." Vik had know idea why he chose to say it. Heck, he didn't even know if he really meant it. But in that moment, Saria's face lit up and all doubts he had against those words were blown out of his mind. "I'm gonna go see if I can find something to use as a brace or a crutch." He said, wanting an excuse to break off from the current situation. Wordlessly, he got up and walked into the dark woods behind them.
Back at the tree, Saria exhaled sharply. She was still trying to comprehend what had just happened, though she knew it was a giant step away from the usual. "Vik..."A small smile tugged at the side of her lips but she ignored it. "You big dummy!" She concluded with a laugh. Drawing in a relaxing breath, she folded her hands behind her head and admired her surroundings. Now that the sun was out of sight, the beauty of summer began to reveal itself around her. The branches swayed rhythmically in the light breeze as tiny rays of light broke through the heavy canopy of leaves onto a small pile of blue tulips by the trunk. "Hm...I wonder how one of those flowers would look in my hair." Merrily, she reached over and plucked a stem from the pile. But when she did, an angry roar filled her ears.
---
"Vik sure is taking a long time with that water." Mosely remarked as they tied up the last bushel. "I wonder what's keeping him." Yolando chuckled, receiving curious looks from Kili, Mosely, and Elena.
"What's so funny, kupo?" Kili asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing. It'sss just...I saw Sssaria running after Vik and...oh, nevermind." He didn't finish his theory, but he had said enough for everyone to get where he was going.
"Pervert!" Elena shouted, throwing a fistful of hay at the bangaa's face. "She'll never give into that...that sloth!"
"Hey, I'm only telling you what I sssaw." Yolando replied, blowing a blade of grass off the end of his nose. "Whether you choossse to believe it or not isss up to you to decide."
"Well, it is possible but I highly doubt it's true." Mosely put in. "There are countless problems they could have ran into. Maybe they got lost or their buckets sprung a leak. Or maybe-" A loud roar brought Mosely's explanation to break off. They covered their ears as the thundering voice blew past them, shaking the earth as it resounded off ground and anything else that was in its way. It continued to ring across the plains ten seconds after it stopped, though a sequence of muted roars could still be heard coming from the north of the road.
"What the hell was that?" Elena shouted when their hearing returned. She looked around at her clanmates. They each had the same look as the person next to them; the exact same expression that was on her own. No words were exchanged between them but they knew what they had to do. Stopping only for a second to grab their weapons, they sprinted towards the road in the direction of the cry.
---
Vik didn't know what was happening. One minute he was breaking twigs off a sapling, the next he was slammed into the side of a tree. Jolts of pain surged through his entire nervous system as the impact resounded through his body and rattled his bones. His mouth opened in shock, allowing a mouthful of blood to pour from the sides of his lip. Though his vision was a bit blurry, he could still somewhat make out what had attacked him, though it really helped that it was only 2 feet away holding him against the tree. It was ten-feet tall with golden-brown 'skin', at least he thought it was skin. The creature had a head resembling a goat. A pair of horns sprouted from the top of its forehead and spread outwards and long, rippled mane surrounded its head. It was wearing a full set of upper body armor, silver in color with black elbow guards. Its hands were surprisingly off proportion with his body, almost the same size as his chest. They were covered by black and gold gauntlet which, when seen from above, appears to the viewer as a giant, circular shield. On the hand they were holding him, Vik made out a small bronze ring on the index finger. But the most peculiar detail about this creature was the fact that it was made completely out of wood, yet it was moving as freely as a human would. A pair of wooden wings, which sprouted from the beast's back, were folded menacingly at its side. It had no feet but instead was connected to the ground by a set of roots. "A...tree?" Vik managed to murmur for with every syllable, a rush of pain filled his chest. It was at this time when the creature did something completely unexpected: it spoke.
"You humans are all the same." He growled, loosening his grip and allowing Vik to slide onto the floor. "You think you could move in anywhere and do as you please. You don't stop once to think about how your actions affect others. You are destroying the earth but you don't seem to care." Vik could only stare faintly at the towering figure. He was helpless. His entire body was still numb from impact and his brain was still going through the aftershock. "You people are the real monsters; at least the animals put back what they take from the land." It continued, picking up the branches Vik had broken off the sapling. Vik stared in aw as they simply melted into his hands. The creature drew a finger and pointed to his left. Following the gesture, Vik watched as the twigs grew back onto the tree. Even the leaves he had plucked from the stems regenerated. The tree emitted another growl and waved at his left again. Looking closer, Vik realized he wasn't pointing at the tree, but at the road. "Get out." The armored tree snarled. "Get out before you meet the same fate as that farmer."
Gradually, Vik pulled himself to his feet by supporting himself against the trunk. He could feel the creature watching him as he slowly limped towards the road. He had only gone three steps when something stopped him. It was a voice; Saria's voice to be exact. Though he knew she was sitting by a tree several yards away, the voice sounded as she were right next to him. He quickly glanced at the armored tree and found him glancing from side to side in confusion. 'He hears it too.' He registered.
"Hm...I wonder how one of those flowers would look in my hair." Were her words. To Vik, they didn't seem like anything extraordinary. Girls had a knack for putting things in their hair. But as he glanced over at the armoured tree, a look of pure terror was on his face. "No...stop! Pl-" He called out. An ear-splitting crack echoed through the forest, cutting his plea short. The tree roared in pain, clutching his chest.
At that time, a single word flashed through Vik's brain: run. With fear as his anesthetic, he dug his feet into the earth as he sprang into a dash. Behind him, the tree was ripping apart the earth in a blinding rage. Two loud snaps were heard as it pulled its roots up from the ground, twisting the countless limbs into a pair of legs. The dusty road appeared up ahead and Vik pumped his legs even harder as he attempted to gain some ground. The tree was in hot pursuit, tearing through obstacles with wild fists. Shielding his eyes with his palm, he broke into the sunlight and scrambled over to the edge of the paddock where Saria was sitting. In her hands, she clutched the bud of a blue tulip; her eyes were a mix of confusion and terror. "We need to get out of here, now!" He shouted, trying to pull her onto her feet. But she refused to move, staring transfixed at the entrance of the woodlands. Without warning, a black and gold fist tore through the barrier of trunks, forcing them aside to make room for its body.
"You..." The tree stammered, his gaze falling on the bewildered girl. "How dare you tamper with the life stream. With my life stream!" With a blink of an eye, the world around Vik changed. Streams of purple light flowed all around them, gathering into the tree's outstretched palm. At the same time, another stream of purple shot out from his feet and formed a path right over Vik and Saria. "Vik! Saria! Run!" Called an unseen voice but it was too late. With an uncontrolled roar, it brought its hand down onto the ground, sending a wave of earth at the clanners. Without giving it a second thought, Vik threw himself on top of Saria, shielding her as the wave came crashing down over them.
---
"What the hell is that thing..." The 4 clanners stopped short in their steps as they witnessed the creature's entrance from the opposite end of the road. They watched in awe as it emerged from the forest, only to turn away from the fear-stricken teens. Somehow, they were able to tear their gaze away from the colossus onto the beings next to it. Huddled together a few yards from the creature's feet were two humans, a male and a female. It only took them a fraction of a second to realize who they were.
"Vik! Saria! Run!" Mosely called as the beast raised his hands to attack. It was a useless warning, for the thought had already crossed both of the human's minds even before the arrival of the others. The problem was that there was no place to run to. The four of them looked on helplessly as the creature brought his hand down, causing a wall of earth to spring up and crash down onto their friends.
"Oh my god!" Elena uttered, cupping her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming.
Kili sank to his knees, shaking uncontrollably. "We were too late, kupo."
"This is all my fault."Yolando thought, feeling his fists clench into fists.
Up until now, the armoured tree had hardly noticed the presense of the others. Though it might have been a good idea to keep it this way, Mosely chose to speak up. "MONSTER!" Mosely bellowed in its direction. It was apparent that it had heard him, because it looked up from its current prey and turned to face the others. "This..will..not stand!" Mosely continued, breathing with rage as he unsheathed his sword. "You will pay for the harm you brought upon our friends." Around him his clanmates did the same, composing themselves for battle before drawing their respective weapons.
---
The creature looked down upon the clanners in a pitied manner. They were mere children, yet they dared to raise a sword at him. He reviewed the small crowd, stopping when its eyes crossed over the Viera. "So, even my own people are against me." It thought, smiling with mild amusement. "Fine then. If it's a fight they want.." It pushed his hand onto the ground, flowing his aura into the bed of clay beneath its feet. A spire rose from the earth, growing until it was almost as tall as its creator. As it neared completion, the armoured tree pulled it from the ground and swung it around his head like a club. "Then a fight they will receive!"
---
"Scatter!" Mosely shouted as the club came crashing down over them. The four of them darted in four different directions, narrowly avoiding the being flattened by the clay. Mosely, Kili, and Yolando circled around the armoured tree as Elena notched an arrow into her bow. Yolando started off the attack; his powerful legs pushed him off the ground, propelling him fist-first at the back of the beast's head. It reached out to block him but was interrupted when an arrow whizzed past his ear and embedded itself in its neck. The attack hurt no more than splinter but the split-second pain was just the distraction Yolando needed to land a heavy blow to the creature's skull. It stumbled around, dazed from the resulting concussion. Elena notched three more arrows and continued firing at its face. Its hand reached out blindly in the direction of the missiles, trying to grab at the persisting archer. His attempt was intercepted by Mosely, who drove his sword into a crevice between two armor-plates on the creature's palm. Roaring with pain, he slammed the back of his wounded fist into Mosely, knocking him into Elena. In surprise, she released the arrow she had just hooked. It flew straight upwards, finding its mark on the tree's left eye.
A painful growl emitted from the creature's throat. It stumbled backwards only to get knocked forward by another jump-attack to the head from the bangaa. "Yolando!" Kili called as he touched down next to him. "Throw me."
"What?"
"Just do it. I've got an idea." Shrugging, the bangaa lifted the moogle over his shoulder and chucked the him at the beast's head. Still blinded by the arrow, it made no attempts to stop him. As he neared its face, Kili extended his knife blade and twisted himself sideways. His feet made contact with its collarbone, his spiked boots made it possible for him to hit the ground running as he dragged the knife across the creature's neck. It was the first attack that actually did any damage to the armoured tree. It reeled back his head and issued another earsplitting roar.
Its consciousness slipped from its mind, replaced only with unbridled rage. Kili was nearly at its shoulder when it's right hand reached up and captured him. Another series of arrows made its way for its face but it simply swatted them away before hurling the moogle to the ground. The bangaa moved to catch the furry meteor an oaken boot caught him in the chest, launching him backwards right into a boulder. With two down, the armoured tree's gaze fell on the two remaining. "I hope it was worth it." The creature laughed as it raised his hands up to his sides, invisible aura pouring from his palms. They snaked along the ground, being sure to surround the two teens before twisting themselves into archaic symbols. "Breath of God!" The creature shouted, clapping his hands together. Following the crack of his palms, the area beneath Mosely and Saria suddenly exploded into purple flames.
---
"Vik...help. It's dark!" Saria called out. Her voice seemed muffled but that's what you'd expect when you're buried under a layer of soil. She tried to get up but found her legs pressed against the ground. "Vik!" She shouted out. "Elena! Kili! Anybody!" Her voice resounded in her ears but her call remained unreturned. See that it was pointless to continue shouting, Saria laid her head against the back wall. Luckily for her, the wave had formed a small pocket when it came crashing down around them. Though air and water were plentiful, due to the loosely packed earth, there was no source of food, except maybe bugs. "No! Don't even start thinking about bugs!" Her brain cried out.
Eventually, as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, she realized that it wasn't the soil that was pinning her down. It was a person. "Vik?" She breathed,."Of course. Who else would it be?" Her brain remarked sarcastically as she tried desperately to wake him up by shaking him by the shoulders. "Vik! Com'n! We have to get out of here. I need your help...please..." She reached over to the boys hands and gripped them tightly between her own. They felt cold and lifeless. "Are you...? No...Vik, you can't be gone! Don't leave me alone. Don't leave me..." She released her grip on the boy's hands and held herself by the forearms. "Don't...please...I'm scared..."
And then she saw it. Embedded in the earth above her shoulder was a small blue tulip; the thing that started it all. "It was my fault..." She whispered emotionlessly. "It was all my fault." It was her carelessness that started this whole ordeal. It was her weakness that failed to prevent it. It was her ignorance that almost got her killed. And finally, her mere existence was what gotten Vik in this whole affair and now, he had paid the ultimate price.
"Enough." She whispered, her eyes suddenly growing hard. "I'm sick of being weak. I'm sick of relying on others. I'm sick of it all." She turned herself onto her side, her hand closing around the Silver Rapier sheathed in the loop. "No longer shall I be a burden to those I love. No longer shall my friends pay the price for my actions." She whispered, touching the flat of the blade to her forehead. "It is time to stand alone." And with that, she turned the blade upwards and thrust it through the ceiling. Immediately, the pocket began to fill with dirt but Saria clawed fiercely at the newly made rift, making sure that it didn't all fall in at once and bury her alive. In a matter of seconds, she broke through the surface and sunlight poured into the cave. She continued digging, widening the hole until it was wide enough for her to climb through. When it was over 2 feet in diameter, she reached down and pulled Vik off of her, with much difficulty, before climbing out onto overturned soil.
---
Turning back from the incinerated teens, the armoured tree caught sight of the human girl crawling up from the earth about a yard from where it stood. "You're still alive?" He exclaimed in disbelief. "Impossible!" The girl ignored his cry, her gaze affixed on the gruesome scene before them. The Moogle laid motionless on the ground a couple feet from her. On his right lying against a rock was the Bangaa, a stream of blood trickled from his ear along the surface of the boulder. And behind the colossus's feet were the bodies of a human and a Viera, both covered in nasty burn marks, their faces twisted into permanent agony.
"What have you done?" She cried out in despair. "They have done nothing wrong! I'm the one who should suffer! Not them," A trembling hand reached for the rapier sticking up from the earth. "Not them..." She repeated, gripping the weapon tightly by the handle as she stared up at the spirit with vengeful eyes.
"It really doesn't matter to me." The beast replied without paying her much attention and instead reviewed the damage he had received in the previous battle. "They attacked me and I did what I needed to ensure survival. It's the way nature intended us to be."
"They were avenging me and they had every right to do so!" Saria shouted in return. "But how will you understand these kinds of things? You've never experienced human affection, have you? Well guess what?" She opened up her left hand, revealing the bulb of the blue tulip she had picked. "You can just crawl right back into the earth and rot." As she spoke the words, her fingers closed themselves around the flower, crushing the pedals little by little.
The creature roared in pain as it swiped angrily at the human girl. Saria quickly sidestepped, spinning around as the fist passed by and stabbing her rapier at its wrist. It sunk in a full inch but the beast, already overwhelmed by rage, thought nothing of it and instead reached out with his left hand and pinned the girl to the ground. As she was forced downwards, Saria knocked her head against a rock and her vision immediately grew fuzzy.
"No...not like this..." She whispered. As her consciousness slowly slipped away, she gripped one of the beasts fingers, desperately trying to lift it off. "It can't end like this..." Above her, the armoured tree brandished the knuckle of his free hand, the rapier still stuck its wrist. "I can't die like this."
The beast smiled wickedly as he curled his fingers into a fist. The girl's life was literally in its hands and would take but a single motion to end it. "You're finished." He pronounced, though the girl was already unconscious so there was no way she could have heard him. "But don't worry, I'm going to send you to the same place I sent your friends..." He leveled his elbow to his head and pointed its armoured fist downwards. He moved his left hand downwards to allow him to deal a clear shot at the girl's upper body. "To hell; beyond the river Styx!"
---
The armoured tree blinked in confusion. He felt his arm move as he flowed every last drop of strength into that punch. He had watched as his hand came barreling downwards as the girl laid motionless underneath it. She couldn't have done a thing to stop him but here he was, his fist a mere inch from her face but he couldn't bring himself to finish the deed. Only when he tried to pull back did he realize something was wrapped around his wrist. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a hand. It was only about half the size of his own hands but were far bigger than a human's and were blue. "No, it can't be..." The tree brooded when his gaze crossed the ring. It resembled his own in shape and form but was gold instead of bronze. He looked up to confirm his suspicions but instead was greeted by the second hand right in the face. The force of the punch sent him flying backwards 5 yards and rolling for 10 more. He wasted no time in getting up, turning to face his attacker with an infuriated glare. "Ultima!"
From across the field, the totema gave him an acidulous smile. "Hello Exodus. Long time, no see." She returned as she reached down and scooped Saria into her hand. "I see you still haven't learned to control your temper."
---
A/N: I am not killing off all my characters. They may be dead now, but come on! This is a land of magic! I hope you don't find my description of Exodus a little weird. It may be strange, but it's accurate. The next time you summon Exodus, take a closer look at it. It has a goat head, wings, and oversized hands. Another thing I'd like to make clear is that I have no experience in farming whatsoever. Most of the events in this chapter was created from information I found on google. Is there anyone out there that knows how long it takes to harvest an acre or if there are actually any Pyracantha's there?