Night 55: Recreational Field

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]The field stretched out, wide and empty. Moonlight, even through clouds, made it bright enough that navigation would have been simple, if it weren't for all the snow. It was coming down heavily now; she could barely make out the walls on the other side

Comments

[full_score]

Claude, too, was glad that they'd managed to get to the wall. They still had to climb over it, though, and for a moment he worried about getting Anise to the other side. He was almost surprised to see her maneuvering up the vines with much more ease than yesterday, but then he realized it was because she actually remembered things now. That was a relief, because it meant they could move that much faster.

He, too, threw his flashlight over the wall, hoping that it was sturdy enough to survive the fall. Like Guy, though, he kept his sword. Since he needed his good arm to haul himself up, however, Claude was forced to shift the blade over to the other hand. It wasn't comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it was more bearable than using his injured arm to do the bulk of the work. He was lucky that monster hadn't bitten his dominant one.

When Guy asked if he needed help, Claude stubbornly kept pulling himself upward. "Yes," he answered through clenched teeth as he gripped another another vine. "I'm okay. Just keep moving."

[gald_digger]

Between having done this several times before and being the only one climbing with both hands, Anise's climb went smoothly, and within seconds she reached the top of the wall. She didn't drop down right away, though. Instead, Anise crouched on top of the wall, faced the field behind her, and began casting.

Below her feet, a fonic glyph traced in white light appeared. From the lower part of the wall, the visible half of the symbol might have appeared to be floating in the air.

"Hurry over!" she called to her friends, "I'll cover you if you need it." She wouldn't be surprised if the others had any objections to being protected by the smallest one of the group, but Anise had ranged attacks on her side, and besides! Claude helped her out with climbing yesterday, so it was only fair to return the favor.

If that creepy guy came after them, she could fire off the spell to buy time, and then drop down to safety. And if he didn't come, she could just cancel the spell and move on. They'd be fine. She was sure of it.

[razing_phoenix]

With Claude assuring him that he could get up on his own (in this sort of high-tense situation, all he could do was trust him rather than wasting the time to worry over it) and Anise getting ready to cast a spell if necessary, it looked like they were in good shape. They hadn't been chased the night before, but this was still going far more smoothly now than it would have then.

It was shocking to see Anise casting one of her Artes, seeing how it was something she did very rarely. He knew that it had the potential to tire her out, so he was hoping that they could get through this without her having to actually use it.

Seeing how he'd worked alongside her for years by now, Guy had no qualms about Anise covering them while they got the rest of the way over the wall. Anise was completely capable; if he hesitated, it meant he was denying that fact. So without waiting any longer, he hauled himself the rest of the way up the wall.

It seemed that their potential aggressor was too busy with the other patients to give them much thought, and Guy was going to take advantage of that. "Let's go!" he called over to both of them as he leaped down onto the other side of the wall.

[Escaping here with permission!]