I was aiming for around 4k words per chapter but this one came out way longer than expected. This was my first time writing a fight scene so would love to hear feedback on it. Enjoy.
Jett and Ash felt the wind rush past them as they dived headfirst toward the ground. Jett could only imagine what Ash's plan was to survive this drop, and his best guess was dumb luck. He decided that now was an excellent time to plan on how he would survive the current predicament. By extension, also how he would save Ash's sorry ass as well. Although, he was debating letting the idiot splatter across the face of the desert.
Jett's eyes flickered around until he glimpsed a woman utilising her spear to manipulate the wind to slow herself. He spent a brief second analysing her movements before putting his plan into action. Reaching to his waist, he pulled out his kusarigama. He and his friends had created together, aptly naming the weapon Reaper. Turning, he launched the kusarigama towards the controlled air while activating his semblance. When the sickle reached the prevailing winds, the weapon absorbed the traces of dust, infusing it with wind energy. The woman faltered for a second before continuing her technique and shooting him a dirty look.
Pulling Reaper back, he flicked a switch, making the chain rigid and transforming the weapon into a scythe. Turning back to his front, he mimicked the woman's movements, using the absorbed wind energy to slow his and Ash's descent as he had seen the woman do. The two finally crashed into the desert below. Not their smoothest landing, but they were alive.
The rocky landing left Jett face first in the sand. The man's head shot up, coughing and spitting sand out of his mouth. When he turned on his back, he discover Ash offering him an eager hand. He swatted it before getting up and dusting himself off. Putting special care into swiping the sand out of his blonde spikes.
"Nice landing." Ash said as he began to stretch and shake sand out of his clothes.
"Tch, that's all you've got to say? I just saved you from becoming a permanent addition to this desert, and all you can say is nice landing?" Ash started laughing at Jett's visible annoyance. "Whatever. Next time, I'll leave you on your one-way collision course with…" Jett stopped as he tried to search for the finisher to his insult. In then end he never found it, instead kicking a pile of sand and opening his map.
Ash couldn't help but laugh harder at the man's blinding anger. Wiping a tear from his eye, Ash moved to open his own map and plot his course. When he was done, he couldn't help but peek over Jett's shoulder to look at his map.
"Hey! We should team up. It'll be fun working together again."
A growl from Jett was the response to ash's question. He had forgotten how annoying this guy was.
"We've got different spots. There's no point in teaming up."
"Nonsense. If we go to my cache first, yours is only a brief detour from our route to the nearest pickup." Ash's train of thought was logical for a change. Both locations were in the same direction, and Jett would only save minimal time by heading in a straight line. But the blonde was still far from convinced.
"I'm only going to say this once. I am not. Going with you."
Contrary to this, half an hour later, he was walking through the desert with Ash at his side. It had only taken 5 minutes of Ash awkwardly following behind him and making one sided conversation for Jett to give in and agree to team up with him. The excitable man then used that as an excuse to spend the next twenty-five minutes blabbering on about who knows what. As much as Jett loathed Ash, he was still one of his oldest friends and practically a brother to him. So he tolerated him for now. A punch to the shoulder brought Jett's attention back to Ash.
"What?"
Ash pointed down from atop the dune at an object buried in the sand before sliding down to get a better look. Jett huffed before trying to catch sight of the object as well. Typical that Ash would already get a closer look before giving him a chance to even spot the damn thing. Hopefully, it was a landmine that would teach the idiot. He finally spotted the object, having to cover his eyes when the sun reflected off its metal frame.
Ash was already pulling at the object before he called Jett. "Hey! Get down here and help me pull this thing out."
Now equally intrigued, he slid down the dune after Ash to get a closer look. Whatever it was, the only thing visible was part of its frame. He reached for the flexible orange and silver metal pipes and pulled. Ash positioned himself opposite and copied Jett's movement. As more emerged, it became identifiable as a vehicle. His excitement grew as he changed strategy, attaching reaper to the now revealed front and using the chain to pull it out. Ash soon joined him, pulling the chain.
"Ash, you fucker, put your back into it." Jett was barely audible through his gritted teeth.
"Me? It's you who keeps on slipping." Ash's words were hard to interpret through all his grunting.
When the object finally reached the threshold, both men fell backward with a dune buggy now sat before them.
Ash shot up and rushed next to the object, rubbing his hands together as he got a closer look. "I knew I found something good." He slipped inside, sitting in the driver's seat and bouncing. The buggy's suspension creaked with every impact. Jett stood up and watched the man child perform these 'tests'. It was just shocking he hadn't tried to turn it on yet. On cue, the buggy's engine let out a weak spluttering before it fizzled out. Ash frowned with the wind now knocked out of his sails. "Of course, the engine doesn't work. Jett, think you can make it run?" Ash had to crane his head around to find Jett with his goggles on, already tinkering with the engine. "Well, can you fix it?"
"Hmm, the dust core is operable, but a piston needs aligning. And if I just move the motor over here. Clean the spark plug. Move that. Remove this…" Jett's explanation turned into a series of mumbles as he became absorbed in his work. Ash just nodded along as he moved to the man's side and began holding any items Jett still needed. A sudden sense of déjà vu hitting him. He always had been the glorified storage/tool rack when Jett got like this.
Elsewhere in the desert, Tidus was making progress. Well, he thought he was. It was pretty hard to tell when the only scenery was beige rocks and dunes on constant repeat. It was also possible that he had collapsed an hour ago. Everything he was seeing now being the delirium of his dying mind. Just a possibility.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and blew the curly hair from his eyes as he crested another dune. His shoulders sagged at the sight of more empty desert still no sign of any noteworthy landmarks. Sliding down, he continued forward. On the plus side, no Grimm yet. He'd probably just jinxed that. A rumbling approaching from behind answered his question. Yup, definitely jinxed that. He grabbed Sky Piercer off his back and put together a rudimentary plan.
Leap over the dune and stab the Grimm before it even knew what was going on.
He could improvise any other steps. Not that his two-step plan was flawed or anything. As the rumbling grew closer, he gave a few last stretches before leaping forward. His brows furrowed in concentration as he preemptively thrust his halberd toward the enemy. He then furrowed his brows in confusion when he met the faces of two men instead. He and the vehicle clashed in midair with the vehicle continuing on, with him now stuck on the hood and Sky Piercer through the windshield.
When they finally hit the ground, the buggy came to an abrupt stop, launching him from the front. Tidus could hear an angry voice from the driver's seat. "Dude! What the fuck are you doing?!"
"Yo, it's Tidus. Fancy seeing you here."
Tidus didn't even need to look up to know what comedy duo he had just encountered. When he looked up, he found his halberd wedged between two familiar faces. Ash had a smile plastered on his face despite the predicament. Jett looked less than happy to put it lightly.
"I thought you were Grimm." Tidus said, taking a deep breath as he removed Sky Piercer from the front of the vehicle.
"Yeah? Well, we're obviously not. You almost took my fucking head off," Jett said as he gestured to his scowling visage. He was definitely a lot angrier than the last time Tidus had seen him.
"No harm, no foul." Ash gave Jett a pat on the shoulder to calm him down. "Are you heading north as well? You should jump on; we can team up and complete this whole thing faster." Ash pointed over his shoulder to the back of the buggy. The back of the buggy that Tidus observed included no seats.
"You can't seriously be inviting the guy who almost shish kebabbed our heads to come with us." Obviously, the shoulder pat hadn't calmed Jett down.
"Chill out, he thought we were Grimm. And you saw him in action. He almost beat the buggy. When we actually fight Grimm, he'll do good. Tidus, hop on the back." Tidus just scratched the back of the head as the two talked about him like he wasn't even there. It was rather embarrassing to hear someone other than his brother and mother praise his skills. In the end he went with the duo partially because he felt guilty for almost decapitating them, but mostly because he was sick of walking.
Nolan Porfirio and May Zedong were making progress toward the cache. The two had formed an unlikely team when May had found the nervous man suspended by his parachute on an unusually tall rock. After helping him down, the two had teamed up since they had the same cache location. They were becoming fast friends and making quick progress. After dispatching a trio of jackal Grimm, they even agreed they could be a shoo-in for first. That was what they thought until the distinct rumble of an engine reached their ears. The only thing visible in the distance was a cloud of dust rapidly advancing towards their position. Without a second thought, the two of them split, jumping in opposite directions.
"See you losers at the finish line!"
A buggy blasted past, leaving the two of them coughing and spluttering at the sand the vehicle had kicked up. After recovering to their feet, they could only stand there, their jaws agape at what had just passed them by. The next thing they agreed on was picking up the pace.
The buggy was now charging through the desert at breakneck pace. Above the vehicle, a small camera drone was struggling to keep up as it fed footage back to Theodore's office. Inside the office was a large screen with the footage from that drone, simply one of many being played. Theodore sat in his office with the other professors, observing the footage with avid interest.
The Headmaster clapped his hands together and let out a hearty laugh. "Ah, seeing the youth go about it fills me with such vigour. I almost wish to go down there and join them myself."
A largely built man with a long white beard joined in his laughter. "Aye Theodore. Doesn't it remind you of the old days? I remember when we were getting started, we-" Before Professor Rosco could begin one of his epic tales from his glory days, Professor Sunnybrook cut him off.
"I say, Rosco, would you like some more tea?" The blonde gave him a charming smile as she got up to fetch more tea without waiting for a response. Babbling about different flavours to keep the man from rambling himself.
Professor Rumpole scowled at the interaction. Despite the woman's short stature, her stare easily made the other two professors uneasy. "Instead of reminiscing about the past, I believe we should be more worried about the academic aptitude of our potential recruits. Once again, the abundance of participants persists. But brainpower is still lacking."
"Oh, don't be so sour Rumpole I'm seeing a lot of promise out there today."
Rumpole glared at the weapons teacher. She despised that sickly sweet voice of hers. "Professor Sunnybrook, more than half of the recruits failed to make it past the drop from the Dust Clouds."
"Yes, and that's the normal chaff." A slender figure in one seat cut in, now interested in the conversation. "I would say those who are making progress look a cut above our usual students."
"Professor Mirage, you have excessive faith in that man's brother. He is yet to prove himself." Rumpole's gold eyes met Mirage's purple eyes in annoyance. The two of them practically had a glare off going across the room.
Professor Sunnybrook awkwardly looked back and forth between them. They were remarkably similar in appearance, both sharing remarkable beauty and a dark skin tone. The only actual differences were their height, hairstyle and the crux of the problem, their personalities. The two women couldn't be any more opposed and that usually lead them to be at each other's throats.
"He may not have proven himself yet, but I've read the records. The people he's with are also quite capable. Maybe if you had some faith for once, you might see past your ego and spot the potential Rumpole." Professor Mirage's comment had left Rumpole seething. Miss Sunnybrook realised she should probably step in before words got a bit too colourful.
"How about we place bets!" She clasped her hands together and chuckled nervously as both women stared at her. "It seems Miss Mirage is intent on backing those three. Rosco, who do you think stands a chance?"
The older gentlemen seemed a bit out of it until the weapons teacher called for his attention. He sat rigid, collecting his bearings before taking a few thoughtful strokes of his beard. "Hmph, there seems to be a young man braving it solo," he scoured the feeds until he found the man clad in purple armour. "That's him. He's impressed me so far, so I'll go with him."
"In that case, I'll back these two capable girls. With that sand skating semblance, they seem like they'll be next to reach a cache." Sure enough, a redhead and indigo haired girl were drawing rather close to their goal.
Professor Mirage let a coy smile rise to her lips. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Miss Sunnybrook."
At that very moment, a dune buggy soared over the top of the young women. Jett couldn't help but gloat as they soared over their heads. "Sorry ladies, but this win is all ours!" The buggy landed in the next dune over, almost rattling Tidus off, who was still precariously hanging on the back.
"Do you have to gloat at all the people we pass?" Tidus struggled to get the question out without receiving a mouth full of sand.
"Of course I do. It's the only thing keeping me sane sitting next to this idiot."
"Oh c'mon, I'm not that bad. I thought we were having a nice little catch up between old friends."
"A little catch up between old friends? Oh man, you really are…"
And they were arguing again. Tidus sighed and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle. He subconsciously tuned them out and thought to himself. Specifically, about the team he found himself. They were both challenging in their own ways so far. Jett was volatile. There was no other way to put it: the man's temperature was the shortest fuse leading to a stick of dynamite. The only saving grace being that the dynamite was soggy. If his outbursts were any worse, he would have kicked Ash out and run him over by now. He also didn't hold grudges for long. He supposed that was another positive. The only question now was if his arrogance and temper could back his combat skills.
In contrast, Ash was… Yeah, he had no words for it. He wasn't stupid, but he simultaneously lacked large chunks of common sense. The man talked and talked to no end as well. It bothered him less than he thought it would, seems like all that training tuning out Cole must have been paying off. Although Jett obviously struggled with it more than him, he had a niggling feeling that Ash might have been doing it to piss him off on purpose. Ash's other defining quality was the limitless energy he possessed. Whilst he was trying his best to not overexert himself in this heat, Ash did everything with a little extra added on. Maybe he didn't have limitless energy, and he was just leeching it from himself and Jett. Either way, he just hoped the man still had some saved for a fight.
A shift in the conversation topic broke his train of thought. "So Tidus, your brother…" He felt his eyes roll at the question. He supposed this was to be expected, especially since Ash seemed like a bit of a fan of Cole. "What's he like? I've heard so many stories, but it would be awesome to hear from someone who knows him first hand." Tidus fell into thought for a second. Despite having this question asked multiple times with different wording, it was still a pain to answer. People were looking for a certain answer and he never knew what that was. Did they want to hear about the conquests Cole bragged about? Surely not because they probably knew about them already. What he did in his free time? Because that was just eat, sleep, train and give Tidus a newly crafted abstract lecture on life. That was far from the interesting answer people looked for. What kind of soap he used? His favourite meal? Did he snore while he slept?
Well, one girl he once talked to actually wanted to know about the last one. She may have been a bit deluded by the idea of marrying his brother.
After his intense internal debate, he finally settled on an answer. "He's alright"
"He's alright?" Ash raised an eyebrow in confusion at the long-awaited answer.
"Yeah, he's just like any other brother from my experience. Only difference is he goes away for extended periods of time."
Ash was frowning at him now. He was expecting something a bit more interesting. "That's it? I thought there would be something more interesting about the whole thing."
"Not really. He's just another family member to me. Would be like if I asked you about your dad you'd probably struggle since he's just 'dad' to you."
Ash frowned and shifted in his seat to focus back on the front. "I see your point. I just figured that he would at least be more interesting than my old man. Like if he was my brother, it would get me fired up to have someone like that to compete against."
Tidus turned his gaze to the sky as he thought about Ash's word. He envied the brunette to an extent. Sometimes he chased the legend that was his brother fighting hard to surpass him. But then he would slow down and except that maybe that wasn't him and he had another path to follow in life. He wished he had Ash's eagerness to keep in pursuit of those goals, but he wasn't him. Tidus sighed, then chuckled to himself as he stopped the miniature rant that went through his mind. Cole had lectured him on these grandiose topics so much he was mentally lecturing himself. Before his thoughts got any deeper, a sudden bump from the buggy forced him to end his self-reflection early.
"Sorry didn't see that rock." Jett's driving left much to be desired. So Tidus figured he was better off watching the road to keep all their life expectancies longer than the next few hours. The last thing he wanted was for Jett to hit a sudden demise and fuck them all over. A sudden demise was a massive sinkhole in the ground, and they were all over the desert. The group kept on track, eyes trained on the ground, not expecting a different type of demise from above.
A monstrous shadow loomed above them, blocking out the sun for a brief second. Ash was the first to take notice of the shadow, with Jett focusing on driving and Tidus' fringe conveniently blocking his view of it. He peered up, squinting into the sunlight, to spot a flock of birds circling. He let out a snort of surprise. It was actually rare to see birds in the desert, an entire flock of them even more so. Although they were big for regular birds and the more he thought about it, a flock this big was really rare. The cogs began turning in his head as one bird seemed to grow closer. It was getting much bigger.
"Oh shit. Nevermore!"
Ash's call out snapped the other two into high alert, with Jett slamming on the brakes to avoid the dive bombing Grimm. Tidus narrowly avoided getting thrown from the back. Recovering from the whiplash, they looked up to behold the beast in front of them. The Nevermore in Vacuo differed from those elsewhere in Remnant. They took on vulture like appearances with longer necks capped off with bone armoured heads and larger talons. The fully grown Nevermore stood in front of them, towering over them at a monumental height. it opened its monstrous mouth, letting out a raspy hiss. The stench of rotting flesh followed, causing them to recoil in disgust. When the creature spread its vast wings, the three scrambled to get out of the buggy. With one mighty wing beat, the creature sent the buggy flying and pushed the boys back. As the gigantic bird took off skyward, shrill cries from above alerted them to over Grimm moving to besiege them.
The three men moved across the sand with surprising ease. Combat in the desert was no simple task. Luckily it was the first skill any self respecting Vacuan mastered right after learning to walk. The secret was all in the footwork. They measured every step and shift in weight, performing the actions with the utmost precision. Make your steps too heavy and you'd sink, make them to light, and you'd slip across the surface. It was the dance of the desert and Tidus couldn't afford to make any mistakes right now. He weaved with surprising grace for a man of his size between the plunging attacks of three Nevermore. His eyes darted about, searching for an opportunity. All it took was for one Grimm to swoop slower than usual. Seizing the opening, he made a sideways flip over the bird, slashing at its back with Sky Piercer. The beast collapsed into the sand, its body dissipating before the cloud of sand had dispersed.
He steadied himself and raised his halberd above his head, intent on carrying on the momentum he had found in the battle. However, it only took a minor miscalculation in his timing to earn him a bony wing to the stomach. His aura protected him, but he still found himself knocked to the floor, gasping to get air back in his lungs. Before he could attempt to stand the Grimm rounded back, landing and pinning him to the floor with its massive talons. Its head shot forward again and again, attempting to pluck the man's head off. Tidus moved his own head to avoid the bites, unfortunately not avoiding the slobber that was falling on him. In the end, the creature gave up, opting to clamp down on his armoured shoulder, sparks flying off as the bone peak scraped against the metal pauldron. Tidus' free hand scrambled for his forgotten halberd. Gathering immense strength, he lifted the heavy weapon and brought it down in a sloppy swing at the neck.
The attack managed a minor wound that spewed black ooze. Tidus used the relief of pressure caused by the pain to launch the Grimm off him with his trapped arm. He struck like a predator, slamming the overgrown bird's head into the ground, followed by Sky Piercer to complete the decapitation. Tidus stood for a moment, his shoulders rising and falling with uneven breaths, wiping the gunk from his face using his sleeve. The last Grimm approached, giving him no more time to recover. He turned swiftly and leveled the spearpoint of Sky Piercer. It was time for the weapon to live up to its name. His muscular arms made one powerful thrust at the oncoming Grimm, causing its head first charge to clash with the spearpoint. When the two forces met, the bone gave way to metal, with the Grimm stopping dead in its tracks to Tidus' unyielding frame. Tidus fell into a sitting position to catch his breath as the dissolving remains of the Grimm in front of him caught in the wind. That had been his first encounter with Grimm. It had been as exhilarating and tiresome as he always thought it would be. Either way, this was no time for resting, so he stood and moved to continue fighting.
Jett had been enjoying his first Grimm encounter far more than Tidus. He dodged with a cocky air, every move executed with wasted steps and unnecessary style. If you removed the two Grimm from the equation, you would think he was dancing rather than fighting. Jett gave taunts and insults at every failed attack. Even if they didn't understand him, it fed his ego just that bit more. He looked around to assess the wider situation. Tidus was handling himself deftly against the three he was facing (this was before he started getting his ass kicked.) Ash, however, had drawn the shortest stick with 5 Nevermore assaulting him. Jett let out a sigh. He'd have to cut his fun short to save Ash's sorry ass. Again. A serious look crossed his face as he drew Reaper from his hip, twirling it around his body using the chain.
"Alright, playtime's over." Jett's boot met the head of the next Grimm that charged as he leaped over the creature. The Nevermore being sent crashing into the ground and headfirst into a nearby dune. Upon touching the ground, he was straight back into the air, leaping on to the back of the second Grimm. The mouth of the Grimm caught Reaper's chain and Jett used this opportunity to ride the beast like a mount. The Nevermore thrashed around wildly hoping to shake the man from its back, but Jett kept his cool tiring the bird down more and more. One of his ears flickered at a sound from behind him. The first Grimm had recovered from its crash with a broken wing to show for it. With the ability to fly lost, the bird used its healthy wing to launch a volley of bone spines at Jett. With the help of the makeshift reins, Jett twisted his mount around, using its chest as a shield for the deadly projectiles.
Jett couldn't help but gloat as the Nevermore disappeared at his feet. "Oops." No further thought needed. He launched his kusarigama toward the grounded Nevermore, seeming to miss at first. Until with a flick of his wrist, the sickle shot to the side, cleaving the Grimm's head clean off. "Damn, I'm good at this," he looked around himself at the open desert, "but of course, no one's watching me as usual." He turned to help Ash but couldn't help but imitate a few voices of people singing his praises about how cool and handsome he was along the way.
Despite the rough situation Ash found himself in, he couldn't have been having more fun. He thrived on the adrenaline provided from a fight and the challenge it gave him. Ash spent the entire time dodging between the five dive bombing, Nevermore with a wide grin on his face. The only thing hindering his enjoyment of this was being on the defensive. He hated being on the defensive. So he decided no more mister nice guy. He wielded his two tonfas to prepare for his offensive.
"I think it's time for you to face this tiger's Fury," he lifted his right tonfa, "and Pride," he lifted the left one. He broke out into a head down sprint at the first charging Nevermore. Ash brought Pride across, striking the Grimm and sending it spiraling to the side. With only a little time, he was straight back to running, sliding under the next Nevermore dive bomb to keep up his momentum. He brought Fury up on his way under, releasing a shotgun blast from the end of the tonfa that ripped through the abdomen of the Grimm. Ash had to sidestep a third charge as the fourth one was rapidly approaching, leaving him with limited choices. With no other options, he lifted Pride. Two metal plates emerged from the side of the weapon to form a shield that the charging Nevermore crashed headlong into. Sparks flew as it forced Ash back. But he kept himself standing, gritting his teeth and digging in his feet until he pushed back, giving him an opening for a fast combo. The fifth that was still airborne released a hail of spines from the sky. Pride's shield blocked the spines that would hit his inner region, but its small size allowed many to still pass. They grazed his arms and legs, each one causing a flash from his red aura as it worked to protect him.
The stabbing pains from the spines fed Ash's resolve and as the first and third Nevermore grew closer on either side, a burning desire was lit in Ash's blue eyes. "Taste the flames of my ambition!" He slammed a fist into the ground, his entire body glowed with a red aura as his semblance activated. Fire erupted in a ring around him, burning over the surface of the sand. One of the Grimm charging him successfully pulled out while the other continued its collision course with the wall of flame burning up on contact. Ash collapsed to one knee. The red aura that crackled like the fire surrounding him faded as the usage of his semblance on such a large technique took hold. His weakened state left him unaware of the fifth nevermore descending directly from above. It moved with talons outstretched, the angle of attack allowing it to circumvent the wall of fire. Before it could complete the dive, a chained object flew through the wall of fire, absorbing the flames into a sickle at the end of the chain. The sickle then rose towards the Grimm, a trail of fire following. The bird briefly stopped its descent, watching as the chain fell short. Only to be surprised when the plume of fire continued onward, burning a hole straight through its body.
"I'm surprised. You of all people stopping for a little nap mid fight." Ash looked up in surprise as the Grimm corpse fell to the ground next to him. He turned back when a shadow loomed over him. Jett stood, offering a hand.
"I had that under control. Just baiting it into a false sense of security was all." He accepted Jett's help standing. The energy he lacked a few seconds ago now found its way back into his body as he jumped on the balls of his feet.
"You really never want to thank me. That's the second time today I saved your hide. Behind you, by the way." Ash turned, coming face to face with the fourth Nevermore. Even after only a brief encounter, the creature was worse for wear, only managing a sluggish bite. The lunge put its head in the perfect spot to eat a devastating punch from Fury, putting the beast out of its misery. Jett couldn't keep himself from making a comment, "and that's number three. You should pay better attention to your surroundings."
"Me? You're the one who needs to turn around now." It was Jett's turn to face the last Grimm that had landed behind him. He changed Reaper into scythe mode and made a swing for the neck to finish things quick. The Nevermore, however, still had some fight in it blocking the attack with its beak. Frustrated at his lack of a seamless victory, he made another swing. Then another. And another. It quickly became apparent to him that this one had far more energy than the last, and he may have underestimated the situation. He began back pedaling to avoid the Grimm's lunges, slipping and falling when some sand shifted beneath his feet. Panic flashed in his eyes before a shotgun blast rang out and the last Nevermore dropped dead. Ash could only laugh as Jett's usual anger returned. The sense of superiority he had been riding on washed away with this one setback.
"I'm so glad that you two are becoming friends again, but I could really use some help over here!" The shout stopped the two men from starting an argument for the umpteenth time.
Tidus was currently facing off against the first Grimm they encountered. Spinning Sky Piercer in front of his face to deflect the incoming waves of spines launched at him. The action kicked up sand around him, only affording the other men an outline of the action. That was still enough to send them rushing to the action. Before they could reach the combat, a powerful gust of wind blew through, sending Tidus flying out of the sand cloud and into the two. All three now lay in a heap flattened by the taller man.
"Get the hell of me." Tidus then found himself kicked to the side by Jett, who got to his feet. Followed by Ash with a kip-up. Tidus gave himself some time before he stood to analyse the situation. This Grimm was a far more menacing opponent than the rest had been. If they wanted to stand a chance in hell, they would need some level of coordination. Just the concept of trying to get either of the other two guys to agree on one strategy seemed like an impossible feat. Despite that, he figured it was time to give leadership a shot.
"We need to work together on this one. Prioritise its neck that's the weak spot."
Jett didn't exactly see eye to eye with the plan. His embarrassing failure against the last Nevermore still running through his head. "It's no use. We should aim for the wings, ground it, then finish it." Tidus gave a nod. The plan worked for him. Now they just needed to… Where the fuck was Ash going? The brunette had just charged in without a word to engage the Grimm in battle. Tidus and Jett shared a baffled glance at each other before running after the man. They at least needed to make sure he didn't get himself killed. But by the time they got there, Ash was securely in the beak of the Nevermore being shaken back and forth like a rag doll. Jett moved in for the neck, trying to take advantage of the bird being distracted, only to receive a wing to the stomach. The blonde didn't let go and joined Ash in being flung around the spasming beast. The Nevermore wasted no time in making Tidus its last victim. It brought down its massive talon, pinning the man to the floor and squeezing around his body. Tidus' aura worked overtime to prevent the Nevermore from crushing his ribcage.
As if things couldn't get any worse the Grimm flew into the air with the three men as reluctant passengers. The wind whipped past them as hope of survival slipped further away. Ash couldn't fathom giving up. He had come this far and he would not lose to one bird. He brought his tonfa down repeatedly on the beast's skull. Even if he couldn't pull off proper punches, he had to do something. Just then, a clicking noise went off in Fury.
"Ah ha, let's see how you like this!" the wind carried his words out of earshot but he didn't care. He got a rough angle and fired the newly charged shotgun volley at the Grimm's head. The shot only grazed its skull, but the effects were instant. The bird slowed and cartwheeled in the air, launching Tidus and Jett further up. Jett reached his apex first, using Reaper on his way down to tear at the leathery wings. Tidus soon followed, thrusting Sky Piercer at the chest of the bird. At least, that's what he attempted. With both him and the Grimm beginning their descent simultaneously, the thrust never reached its target, and the weapon slipped from his grasp.
Tidus had never thought about what it was like to fall from the sky. If he had, he probably would've commented on how stupid you would have to be to end up in said scenario. Now he felt pretty stupid that this had happened twice in one day.
The landing was as bad as he imagined it. The only saving graces being the lesser height compared to the Dust Cloud and the sand serving as a cushion. He decided he would just lie there for a bit. The soreness running though his body giving no incentive to get up.
"Holy shit, that was crazy!" Ash accidentally kicked sand into Tidus' face when he ran over to help him up. "I mean, that was awesome. Just look at that thing all topped off with your spear to finish the job." Tidus teetered up from the ground with Ash's help, holding his head. Staggering like a drunkard, he waited for his eyes to adjust before surveying the damage in front of them. The Nevermore lay dead with his halberd protruding from its chest. Even if he missed, it seemed gravity finished the job for him. Tidus turned to face Ash. The man had his hands on his knees as he took in ragged breaths. When he looked up, however, it revealed that the same ecstatic grin remained on his face. "I mean, we kicked ass."
"Dude, how do you have energy after a fall like that?" Tidus finally felt his strength coming back as he went to dislodge his halberd from the Grimm.
"Come on, you've got to admit a fight can be really refreshing. Gets the blood pumping and all that." Ash's logic would have made Tidus laugh if he wasn't so tired right now. Jett would probably have some kind of insult all lined about how ridiculous the statement was. And now he had thought about it…
"Where is Jett anyway?"
"Trying to complete this test, unlike some people." The snarky comment confirmed Jett's survival. Off to the side, Jett had flipped the buggy over and was getting ready to start the engine again. "Anyway, pretty sure I spotted the destination for the first cache." He pointed out into the distance at a shadowy structure. Its form distorted by the heat shimmer across the desert. Eager to be back on track, the team mounted the buggy and headed towards the structure. The ride was calm this time around. It seemed the last fight had taken more out of Ash than they originally thought. With no interruptions, they soon arrived at the sunken tower. The tower sat at an angle, and the door had sunk into the desert a long time ago. Instead, they crouched through a large window to get inside. And there, on a rough pedestal, were four gold items.
Sun shined into the room through another window onto the pedestal like a spotlight making the gold shine. The three boys stared in awe at the objects. They looked so regal and expensive. If only they could keep them, they could sell them after. Tidus went to go pick up a gold ball, expecting to feel weight and a smooth exterior. Instead, he got light and hairy. "huh?" he almost recoiled in disgust at the surprising feel. He was expecting more marble orb and less old man's ball sack. He lifted it to his ear and gave it a shake, earning a confused look from his companions. A sound of understanding left his lips, but his brows stayed furrowed in confusion. The other two looked in even more confusion when he stabbed the object on the tip of his halberd and brought it to his lips.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Tidus' actions fully convinced Jett that the dark man had fallen victim to misery's kiss. Or sunstroke in less Vacuan terms.
Tidus just let out a content sigh and wiped his mouth. "It's a coconut."
"What?" Jett said as his confusion grew more.
"Yeah, it's just a coconut. They just painted it gold and called it a relic." He lifted the fruit to his lips again to enjoy more of the sweet nectar.
"What the fuck?" Realisation spread over Jett's face. "Then you better share. I'm not just watching you drink the first liquid I've seen in hours." If Tidus had been a crueler man, he would have drank the whole thing. But with Ash's energy levels falling off a cliff, he gave it to him first, to Jett's annoyance. "You fuck. Ash, you better not drink it all." In the end, Jett got a drink but couldn't help himself from complaining about the lack of liquid left. With the first cache done, the three men stopped in the shade to catch their breath and plot the next course.
Ash was also back to his usual self, which meant a lot more talking. "So were we heading to next Jett?"
Jett closed his map and headed back to the exit. "The old dust mines, then we can head back." Ash nodded and followed Jett out. Before Tidus followed them, he ditched the empty coconut and picked up a new relic. He settled on a golden badge in the shape of a roaring dragon head. In fact, with closer inspection, it looked a lot like the dragon on the back of his coat.
"Hey you coming?" Ash's shout from outside killed his minor curiosity. He put on the badge before going outside and joining the other two.
The next drive was back to the status quo. Ash was back to talking about everything and simultaneously nothing. "Do you reckon we'll get to go up against the Professors? Even better, do you think we'll fight students from other academies? In fact, what do you expect our rooms will be-"
"Bro, will you shut up?" Jett looked at him with a murderous glint in his eye. "Turn your volume levels down to mute for the rest of this trip, or I'll be the one to kill you, not some Grimm." The constant desert heat was doing no favours for Jett's temper.
Unfortunately, Ash didn't get the memo. "I'm just making small talk. You never know, we could get teamed up so preemptively learning about each other seems like a smart idea."
"What? you haven't asked us questions. You've just been rambling on and on about. I don't even know what."
"How do you know I've not been questioning you if you haven't been listening?"
Tidus sanity was riding a razer thin wire right now. This must have been how his mother felt whenever he and Cole got into it. He just tried to think pleasing thoughts to block out the argument. Like going back to Shade, they would assign him a far more reasonable team. He would have food in celebration, maybe a cold glass of milk, and then restful sleep in a cozy bed. If he was lucky, there might even be a pretty girl who'd take an interest in him. Yeah. With a brighter picture in his mind, Tidus opened his eyes, prepared to defuse the argument. But something in the sand caught his eye.
"Jett! Eyes on the road!" Jett focused back on the road, but not in time to avoid their folly. In a split second, he was no longer on the back of the buggy. The sand below them had disappeared, and he was falling again.