After giving the letter to Akira so that she could read the letter and glean more information out of it, Haru turned towards the recruit and began investigating their approach route. “Where is the lake?” he asked. The Page quickly pointed towards the east of the town, towards the outskirts. “You will reach it a lot faster if you simply went around the town and avoided the crowded streets,” he advised. Haru patted the man, thanked him and dismissed him. Before leaving, however, the Page had a request. “Lieutenant, if I may! Please try not to hurt the boars… They are… I’ve played with them all my childhood. They are very docile usually,” he pleaded. Haru smiled, admiring the compassion he showed towards the animals. “We were thinking the same thing! Weren’t we?” he said, turning towards Akira.
Raging Bull [Quest | Akira]
Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:28 am
After giving the letter to Akira so that she could read the letter and glean more information out of it, Haru turned towards the recruit and began investigating their approach route. “Where is the lake?” he asked. The Page quickly pointed towards the east of the town, towards the outskirts. “You will reach it a lot faster if you simply went around the town and avoided the crowded streets,” he advised. Haru patted the man, thanked him and dismissed him. Before leaving, however, the Page had a request. “Lieutenant, if I may! Please try not to hurt the boars… They are… I’ve played with them all my childhood. They are very docile usually,” he pleaded. Haru smiled, admiring the compassion he showed towards the animals. “We were thinking the same thing! Weren’t we?” he said, turning towards Akira.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:30 am
Had she not been quite adept at handling the lack of sleep, the girl would've probably fainted out of exhaustion. Her competitive instinct drove her to continue standing tall as the healer took the lead. She assumed curing people was some sort of an obsession with him, it was one of those rare ways of helping that didn't require either of them to resort to violence and fighting. It worked well for her too, she'd be doing her duty and wouldn't have to deal with any guilt. Nor would she have to be the victim of some ethically dubious or dangerous plan... So it all worked out.
Gerard only seemed to have the time to correspond through letters, either he was really busy or he was simply shirking his duties and expecting the Knights to do all the work for him. She waved her hand indicating that the healer should just summarise for her. She watched the page with mild interest, the flitting expression and his compassion, he reminded her of Tsuru back when they started... 'We'll sure try.' she mumbled in confirmation, but lacking the healer's conviction.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:30 am
Once they were about fifty meters from the pack, the healer picked up a small pebble and waited patiently for an opportunity. Luckily, one among the five broke formation and approached the lake to drink some water. Haru immediately, threw the pebble at the lone boar. The boar obviously wasn’t pleased at that and charged straight towards the two Knights. That was expected; so, Haru wasn’t looking towards the charging boar, but at the other four to see if they were alerted too. Thankfully, they weren’t so far. So, it was just one boar they had to deal with, at least for now. Haru scurried away a little further from the lake, kiting the charging boar to ensure the ensuing fight doesn’t cause the rest of the boars to attack them too.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:32 am
The circumstance grew further in their favour when one of the boars separated itself from the group for some water. All she'd have to do was blast the other four with one of her exploding bullets and subdue this one... But the girl had been working on being less callous about taking lives, even those of animals. In fact in a way, all animals were more innocent than humans anyways, being sick certainly shouldn't condemn them to death... She winced when she realised the implication and was reminded of her mercy-killing, not to mention that time when she thought she deserved death for the magic she couldn't control.
Her philosophy of death over suffering was perhaps a dark one indeed and did need to be put in check. So she bit her tongue and stopped herself from suggesting the bloodier and efficient option, especially when Tsuru had succeeded in increasing the separation between the boar from his pals. She took a few steps towards him as he made it chase him away from the others and still by the banks.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 10:44 am
The red-headed Knight felt genuinely sad knowing that the animal was probably not going to make it past the experiments it was to be put through, and that he was going to play a direct role in it. In his head, this was worse than hunting, where they are usually killed swiftly. However, he could see the bigger picture and saw no other option but to oblige. As the boar neared him, he apologized to the animal before side-stepping its charge and striking its back with a swift punch. The swordsman thought that would be enough to pin down the animal, but he was wrong. The boar got back on its feet quickly and looked even angrier than before. Realizing the job wasn’t done yet, Haru quickly dashed back to safety.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:05 pm
It always appeared angry, but post the consumption it seemed more aggressive than before. She warily watched the interaction between the healer and the beast, while she contemplated the possible circumstances that could have led her to her deduction. It could simply be that the beast was too far and she couldn't see its facial contortions and the rage in its eyes when from that distance, but did see it clearly now.
It could also be that the thirst made the beast feel weaker, or simply that it truly was very frustrated at being interrupted by Tsuru... Despite all her attempts at quelling her instinct with logic she failed, but chose to withhold this information from the healer for the time being. She merely clicked her tongue softly at the way Tsuru leapt away from the beast. 'Do something, anything I do will kill it!' she exclaimed.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 12:36 pm
Dodging the boar wasn’t that difficult, especially after that first attack. It moved in an extremely predictable path and Haru just had to repeat what he did before; sidestep and strike. The boar, however, had learnt a little and didn’t give it to him that easy. While he could still sidestep and dodge the incoming bash, the boar swiftly made a sharp turn and rolled away, avoiding his strike.
“Crafty little animal,” the healer said, almost amused at how well the boar dodged him. Still unwilling to use his sword, Haru grabbed a handful of sand as he missed the strike and his hand hit the ground. Just as the boar came towards him with another charge, he threw the sand at the boar’s eyes, making it groan and stop in its track. The Knight immediately took advantage of the situation; he held the boar by both its tusk and twisted it, making it fall on its back, and then immediately struck its belly, which seemed to be the most sensitive part of the animal. Just as he expected, the boar almost immediately fell unconscious.
Glad that his knowledge of the anatomy made his job a little easier, he dusted the remnant sand off his hands and turned towards Akira to boast. Unfortunately, however, as he turned towards her, his eyes scanned the area where the other boars were… and he saw they were very much on their way towards them. “BOARS,” he yelled, warning Akira, since the pack of boars were closer to her.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 1:07 pm
In fact, she had been so reliant on the more flamboyant aspects of her magic, the girl almost forgot about the weaker offensive capabilities that she still possessed. Scoffing playfully at the victory of the healer, she smirked and stood up straighter, with the intent to go help him haul the beast onto that cloud of his, so they could take him back to town.
Before she had the chance to take even a step, the healer's expression changed into one that warned her enough, even prior to the monosyllable supplementing it. She had that fleeting moment to turn and witness the host of creatures in tandem with his verbal warning. 'Damn.' she hissed. She instinctively reached for her gun and recalled the fact that she'd made a promise.
Grunting softly, she watched her targets like a hawk. 'I'll deal with them, you get to the hospital, we shouldn't keep Gerard waiting!' she said, sharply. In case things headed south, she didn't want him to be a witness.
Fri Nov 23, 2018 3:20 pm
He had no doubt that she could handle herself against these boars. However, he still wasn’t willing to leave her alone. So, when she asked him to take the unconscious one to the doctor, he didn’t budge from where he stood. “No! Let’s just make quick work of this and we leave together,” he said, as he began running towards his partner and the incoming pack.
When the fastest of the boars ran a couple of feet ahead of the rest, Haru took that opportunity and cast his Phase right under it, making it fall into the ground. Once it was halfway in, he clenched his fist, cancelling his spell, ensuring the boar was half buried but still alive. The angry boar screeched and wriggled, trying to dig itself out of the pit. Meanwhile, the other three charged forward without flinching. “One down, three to go,” he said, while thinking what else they could do to trap the boars without harming them because he knew he couldn’t try the same trick again for a while.
Sat Nov 24, 2018 3:52 pm
He was swift to use his signature spell to half-bury a boar in the ground. She fired a simple bullet in the air hoping that the sound would scare them. It served to slow the creature that was already trailing, but the other two still charged on vigorously. She took another leap back, her eyes quickly scanning the area to cook up a ploy. She noticed something of a strait between two deeper wells of the lake, it was marshy and rather swampy. She wasn't sure if Tsuru would understand her intent merely through her gestures, so she resorted to explaining as efficiently as she could. 'In the marsh!'
Immediately following her words she lured them towards the muddy puddle. The two that charged towards her, almost seemed to be in some sort of a duel within themselves, as the competed to get to her first, she exploited their primal competitiveness and set them right up. Using her disk, she toppled the two into the marsh. Much like the phase, it was shallow enough for them to survive, but slowed them almost to a halt, as the disease weakened them into inaction. 'Just the one now.'
Sun Nov 25, 2018 8:17 am
Only the last slow boar was left to deal with then. It was aggressive, but not as much as the other four. Normally, they could have just outrun the slow beast without having to encounter it. But given that Haru had to cast his Nimbus and place the unconscious boar on it before leaving, there was no way to avoid the confrontation.
Thinking of Nimbus, the healer got an idea. He put his hands together and cast Nimbus, forming the three-meter wide cloud right in front of him. Once it was fully conjured, he controlled it trajectory with one hand and sent the cloud flying in an arc between their location and the charging boar’s. The soft cloud was not going to do any damage to the animal, but it was solid enough to push it into the lake. He watched as the cloud hit the side of the boar and knocked it into the marsh, just a few meters away from the other boars. Grinning, he called the cloud back to his side. It was then time to deliver the unconscious boar to the doctor.
Sun Nov 25, 2018 11:53 am
When Tsuru was by her side again, together they did manage to haul the beast onto the cloud, it was apparent that the healer did more of the heavy lifting. When they were well on their way back to town Akira found herself lost in thought yet again. Her eyes scanned the perimeter as the centre of the town got closer and she was greeted with more memories. There still was a considerable distance to the centre of the town, they'd merely reached the periphery after having ventured into the outskirts for the boars. 'Its harder when we vow to not kill things, I wonder if that's the true burden of ranking up...' she mused softly, observing the slow rise and fall of the big boar's belly as it breathed.
As they finally neared the clinic, Akira found herself reminiscing. All those moments that she spent hiding away in alleyways returned to her. She recalled how much she tried to avoid people, in fear that she'd lose control of her darkness and they'd judge, or worse incarcerate her for it. Despite all the changes that her experience and training brought her, it was sure amusing that she still felt the need to avoid the people. 'Here we are...' She could never forget this place, it was where they were offered their very first requests together after all.
Sun Nov 25, 2018 1:19 pm
Haru laughed softly as Akira wondered out loud about how it was a lot more difficult because they promised to not kill. He didn’t hear any annoyance in her tone; just indifferent observation, and that made him laugh. “Protecting is always more difficult than destroying. Never understood why… Especially when they say a kind God exists,” he replied, revealing his scepticism towards religion to his partner for the first time in almost a year they have been together.
When they finally reached the clinic, he found the doctor waiting for them eagerly. He was ecstatic to find that the boar was still alive and requested them to place it on the table. Thankfully, the table wasn’t too high, and he could lift the boar with just his cloud. As Nimbus hovered over the table, he cancelled it and the boar fell with a soft thud. Haru could see it wasn’t gentle enough for the doctor, as he winced inwardly. He brushed it off soon enough and began his work.
-Exit-
Sun Nov 25, 2018 1:51 pm
She was jolted out of her thoughts as a thud declared that their work was done. Curiously, just so it would serve as a distraction, she lurked for just a little longer as the doctor got to work. 'Is he going to survive what you have in mind?' she asked, almost pointedly in reaction to his exaggerated wince. She'd heard the horror stories of the animals that were experimented on, despite her casual and dismissive attitude, she harboured enough empathy inside to be truly horrified. 'Oh of course he will! In fact, not only will he survive, he'll hopefully be cured!' the man responded, almost equally passive-aggressive in his response as she was in her question. He spoke while sifted through his stuff to gather the jewels and compensate the two for their work. Clearly this was their cue to leave... and he didn't want them in his way.
~Exit~
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