boxofsleep | (no subject)

The Thunder, at least, was a relief; Xikkuyo hadn't been sure she'd be able to cast it down here at all, let alone control it any..... It would've been a shame to waste a spell doing nothing but scorching the wall. Even if all she'd managed was give it a little yank, that was enough for the time being.

Still, what was done was done. The Shadows were gone. The smile Xikkuyo returned was shy and still a little uncertain, but pleased nonetheless; it was still hard to imagine having potential as a fighter, much less enough to seem impressive to someone like Axel, with so much more experience under his belt. "Th-thank you....."

Magic, sorted. Physical combat, sorted. That left one area that they really needed to test.

Her specialty. A healer. A very specific sort of skill, that one. Or rather, a skill that needed to be tested under very specific circumstances...

...and slowly, he realised that he was going to have to engineer those circumstances himself. Keep his eyes peeled for Heartless, again... aha. He led her on through the corridors - "So tell me about this inn of yours," he started, edging the pair towards one specific spot he'd noticed.

One where a few flickers of yellow out of the corner of his eye, hidden by the bad lighting, suggested that little flying Heartless were lurking. How to provoke them without her noticing, though...?

"Ah? Well....." There was a flicker of surprise there, a moment of confusion as Xikkuyo padded along after Axel. After all, it hardly made sense. They were training, weren't they? Why did the Inn have anything to do with that at all? It didn't seem to fit, especially if they were looking for more Heartless to fight.....

Xikkuyo looked around as they went, but the lighting was poor, and Axel was subtle, enough so that she didn't notice being led anywhere in particular. She gathered herself instead, unconsciously standing a little straighter and moving a little more gracefully, hands clasped primly around her fan and voice taking on the professional polish of someone long used to making pitches like these. Given how quiet she normally seemed to be.....

"The Amagi Inn is known as the 'Crown Jewel of Inaba'; it's been open since the town was first founded, and is considered one of Inaba's most precious resources. It's the largest ryokan in the prefecture, and one of the only reasons tourists come so far out into the countryside to visit such a small town, so it's the only hotel in Inaba as well. We serve Inaba's famous beefsteak, and remain faithful to tradition while offering modern conveniences--but the real reason people come to visit us from all over the Japan is our natural hot springs. They're very popular with the elderly, especially during the winter, and many people believe that the minerals enriching the water have natural healing properties."

What a professional! Axel smiled on as she gave the little speech, paying attention as much for what it said about her and about her world as anything else. After all, it was pretty unlikely that he'd be needing to stay the night somewhere like that... the last bit, though. "Man, those springs sound pretty good," he remarked casually.

As they talked, he casually moved a hand behind his back, flicked off a couple of sparks in the direction of the hovering Heartless. Just enough to annoy them, he hoped... Ugh, this wasn't going to be fun.

"Sorry to say, but the castle's not the greatest for recreation- ah!"

His plan'd worked too well. One of the little Yellow Operas he'd taunted charged him, the other dropping a lightning bolt on his head. Damn! Was this such a good idea?

"We have some guests who come to visit us every year for them--they say soaking in the hot springs for a few days helps their arthritis even more than their medicine." It almost sounded like they were there, or Xikkuyo still expected to be able to go home; the Inn was her family's, after all, referring to 'us' and 'we' was second nature, as was assuming that she'd just always be there. She knew everything was different, now, but old habits were hard to break.

She was about to ask after the recreation--honestly, the Castle didn't seem like it had anything to do except read and train--Axel was mentioning, when his cry alerted her to something being very wrong. A dazzling flash of lightning followed almost immediately after, and Xikkuyo let out a strangled shriek of surprise and pain as she staggered back; she'd been standing too close to Axel to not get some residual shock from the strength of the bolt. There was no time to think, only to act, reeling and seeing spots from the blast of electricity, knowing that Axel was in trouble.

All she knew was that she wanted them to stop, to get away from them both, for the threat to just disappear. A warm wind whipped past, carrying fluttering pink petals and the soft sweet scent of cherry blossoms--a promise of growth and renewal, of blooming and fruition, of life. A halo of blue light surrounded the pair of Heartless, pulsing like a heartbeat, like the rhythm of breath--or like someone swallowing. The same light thrummed around Xikkuyo, teeth grit and fists clenched, eyes narrow and intent on her targets, the wash of light a bridge holding them together.

The nearer Yellow Opera tried to cast this time, only for its spell to splutter and spark uselessly, too tapped out to manage anything effective. The other swooped in to dive at them as well; Xikkuyo didn't move to block. She was too focused on what she was doing, feeling their strength and vitality fill her; now that she'd sunk her teeth in, she didn't intend to let go. She'd drain them dry, every last drop--it didn't belong to them, after all. Everything they had, they'd stolen. They deserved nothing but to fade into nothingness and vanish, dying a quick and withering death.

The tunnel was quickly growing cooler; small wonder, when Xikkuyo was doing her best to very literally suck the life out of their opponents.

Edited 2014-02-09 00:39 (UTC)

Axel noticed that 'we'. Old habits, indeed... he knew all about them, after all. What was less familiar, though...
What was she doing? He'd expected a straightforward Cure, or another wave of flame like that she'd pulled out earlier. Not - he stared at the Heartless wavering, dropping, fading... what in the world? What happened to her speciality being healing?

As he watched, the Heartless seemed to dissolve, trapped hearts almost not seeming to have the energy to disperse themselves.

Damn. Whatever that was she was doing... that was effective. Axel shivered, and it wasn't entirely because of the cold.

The Heartless never quite reached them. Oh, it tried, certainly, pitching and weaving in midair like it was drunk, or too exhausted to keep its altitude. By the time it managed to get close to them, though, it was just..... breaking to pieces. Dissolving, as everything that held it together unraveled. It wasn't nearly as quick and neat as any typical spell--this was like pinning an enemy down and casting continuous Fire spells until it was nothing but ash and cinders. This was like holding someone underwater until they drowned, kicking and fighting the whole time, or cutting them open and watching them bleed to death.

Xikkuyo was devouring them alive, in the most basic way possible, and she could see absolutely nothing wrong with that. This hungry plague that had descended over her town..... what was more fitting than the hunters becoming the hunted, than prey taking back what was rightfully theirs? This was the right thing to do. This was good.

It took a moment for Xikkuyo to realize there was nothing left to take, by the time the Heartless had broken down entirely. Her mind was buzzing, nerves singing with the surge of stolen power. But there wasn't anything left to fight..... Xikkuyo let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and turned to hurry back to Axel's side, thoughtlessly turning some of the power loose once more like opening a cage full of doves. The breath of wind that caressed him was warm and sweet, and the glow of magic that seeped into him gentle and soothing, just like any Cure spell ought to be.

For her mentor, she had no reason to be anything but nurturing; the expression of concern was one she readily knew how to wear. "Are you alright?"

Axel sighed in outright relief as the power worked its way through him - that was more like it. That was more what he'd been expecting all along. He stretched, brushed himself down: "Never felt better," he said with a warm, open, grateful smile. "Thanks. Those little creeps must've been lurking somewhere. I was looking out for Shadows so hard that I forgot to look up..." He laughed, and scratched his head.

A pause, and he looked sly. "But enough about me! Man!" He reached out and clapped his hand on her shoulder. "That was impressive! Never seen something like that before. So go on. What were you doing there, huh?"

Because he was going to have to make plans.

"Good..... I didn't know they could fly." Xikkuyo sighed in relief, glancing up at the ceiling herself as though halfway expecting more to swoop down on them at any moment. She'd be sure to pay attention to the air from now on..... The flying Heartless definitely seemed more dangerous than the landbound ones, so far. None of the normal Shadows had tried using magic yet, after all!

The clap on her shoulder made her jump a little, but Xikkuyo smiled regardless, awkward but pleased. What had she done? Everything had happened so fast, she'd hardly had a chance to think about it..... At this point, it was hard to know much than Axel did. Still, he'd asked a question; it was her job as a student to answer as best she could. "I just thought they shouldn't--shouldn't be here, hurting you, so..... So I needed to just..... take them away."

Not make them go away--instinctively, she knew she wasn't capable of something like that, even if it wasn't something she could articulate. She couldn't force things on others like that, not with her powers, nothing nearly so violently offensive. But she could take, yes, and she could give. She could nurture and heal, grow and strengthen..... or cripple and steal, weaken and hinder. She couldn't make something out of nothing--it all needed to come from somewhere. Every little spark of creation needed a vessel to touch, and every blossoming new life needed to begin with a seed.

"'Take them away'," Axel quoted with a raised eyebrow. "You did that, okay. We're going to have to work on that little skill of yours, alright? That was good."

He thought for a moment more. "Everything you've done's been as good as I could have hoped for. Better, with that fire move of yours, you know? So what we're going to focus on, I think, is getting the control right. Not that being able to shred a Heartless like that is a problem, of course. Geez..." He scratched his head, smiling a little, still, acting like everything was under control. What else would she be able to do with that skill? He was starting to doubt she'd be the simple backup healer...

The lights flickered again, and went out. Axel cursed, and lit up a fireball to let the pair see what was going on, a bubble of warmth in the corridors. "Speaking of 'never happened before', huh..."

"Alright....." Xikkuyo bowed her head uncertainly; she'd do her best, if Axel wanted her to work on it. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but if he thought it was good..... well, then it must be useful. He liked everything she'd done so far, amazingly, so that just left control..... funny to think of actually needing to work on that, really. She'd never actually had enough power or strength for control to ever be much of an issue.

She couldn't help but gasp, though, at the sudden darkness; below ground like this, with no power, the blackness was absolute. Even Axel's fireball was little better than a torch, casting a warm circle of light around them; beyond that perimeter, the hallway faded back into murky shadows once again. She found herself automatically backing towards Axel, for safety's sake; they were stronger in numbers, after all, and he was so much more experienced than her..... Axel would take care of her, if anything happened. She knew it.

"What--what do you think happened?" What should they do?

"Power cut." Axel put a little more juice into his fireball. "Now, we've got two options. We could RTC - that's short for return to the castle - right now: we've done what we need to. I've seen you do your thing, and I'm going to need to get a plan for what we're going to do next."

"Alternatively..." he shrugged. "We can take a look around and see what's going on. Could be something, could be nothing. It's up to you," he said. After all, trying to fix things? Not part of their mission. They didn't have to go sticking their nose in for the locals' sake, and for all he knew, a repairman might be down soon. But finding out what was what where Heartless activity was concerned? Definitely Organization business.

Were Shadows smart enough to cut power? Or was it jut an accident, maybe caused by fighting somewhere else in these tunnels? They could easily return, if their lesson was done..... Axel was right, teachers needed time to make their lesson plans. There was no reason they couldn't or shouldn't. This wasn't their town.....

But what if something had happened, and people were trapped down here? What if people were hurt and scared and surrounded by Heartless? They had gone into the TV to rescue people before, after all, and even if they didn't know who was getting hurt, there was still no excuse to leave them to suffer..... Besides, this was an abandoned tunnel, Axel had said. They were the only people who probably knew what was happening. Nobody else might even notice that anything was wrong down here; there might be no repairman at all.

If nothing else, it would be bad to still not have power the next time they came, if they didn't do anything about it. Extra credit opportunities weren't worth a thing if you didn't at least make the attempt to turn them in, either. She could do better than just running away. Xikkuyo nodded to herself to cement her resolve, peering out into the gloom to see if she could spot any clues. "We should see what's wrong, just in case."

Good girl. He'd offered her the chance to back down, and she hadn't? Better than some members of the group he could name, that was for sure. "I was hoping you'd say that," Axel said with another grin. He pulled up a couple more fireballs, having them hover near the pair, casting just a little more light - a safe radius, at least.

"Alright. Stick close," he said, starting to lead the way. "Don't bother attacking anything that doesn't attack us first, it'll just be a waste of time. We're looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary. Any signs of damage, anything suspicious. Or if you hear anything, too... Think you can do that?" Never mind the looking for anything, could she even pass a Heartless without draining it on the spot?

"R-right. I can do that." Xikkuyo nodded dutifully, drifting close by Axel's side as she'd been instructed. It had been easier to see in the TV World, honestly..... at least the glasses had helped with the fog. Traveling in the dark by flickering firelight was a lot more difficult and nervewracking, and only made it harder to potentially spot any damage or specific suspicious activity.

She wasn't like Saïx, if nothing else, a berserker on a hair trigger, ready to explode into violence at the drop of a hood. Her distaste for Heartless was pronounced, but she was perfectly capable of passing them by without more than a suspicious sidelong glance, silent and focused in her search as she followed Axel. Xikkuyo was used to following orders, after all; Souji had made for a good leader in the TV world, and she'd trusted him to do what was best for them then.

She trusted Axel to do the same now, until and unless be betrayed that trust.

They moved on. The darkness was thick and heavy, and as used to it as Axel might have been, this still wasn't the best situation to be in, especially with a rookie in tow. But still, they'd get to the bottom of it. He at least knew the layout of the tunnels pretty well, by now, so they wouldn't be getting lost in a hurry. Eventually...

"Right. Generator room. ...Huh."

He could hear something in here. Fizzing sounds, squeaking noises. Axel let the fireball he was holding orbit freely with the others, reached out, and gave the door a good yank.

It looked like they'd gotten to the heart of the problem. ...Or the Heartless of it. A small crew of Yellow Operas were bobbing around the generator room ceiling: and parked on the generator itself, a larger Heartless. Was it - sucking the juice out of it?

"Bingo!"

There was no way she was capable of being anxious anymore. But Xikkuyo could still be tense, following along and mind racing to come up with wild possibilities as the power outage continued. She could picture little Shadows scuttling around in the machinery like gremlins, chewing through wires and pulling gears loose..... The image was a little silly, admittedly, but she wasn't sure what else to expect.

After all, when that other type of Heartless had attacked, she had been a little..... distracted.

The noises were strange..... The sight that greeted them when Axel flung open the door was even stranger. She hadn't known Heartless could be that big! It wasn't quite as strange as her mental image of things, but it was close. Xikkuyo hung back, clutching her fan and looking at Axel uncertainly. He'd said not to engage, so..... Was that null and void, now that they'd found the issue? Or did he have a plan? "What do we do with them?"

Axel regarded the situation himself. Again, on one hand, they didn't need to finish this. They could go back, report what was going on, and be done. But this was the perfect opportunity to really see what she was capable of...

... and after all, even if they dropped the thing right now, they'd still need to send Roxas in later, wouldn't they? At least they'd know what he needed to look out for, could put him on the right track. That was the thing, of course... what they were doing here? Trivial to the Organization as a whole.

So he smiled. "You tell me. How would you tackle them?" he asked her.