Night 52: Rec Field

[tsunagari]

[from here]This was already further than Sai had gotten the past couple nights, which was saying something. It was getting over the wall that would be the real test, though. The actual act of scaling the brick would be simple, but the night had an odd way of ending before he'd gotten beyond that point. Hopefully the same wouldn't hold true this

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[full_score]

Apparently Asch decided to be reasonable and come along, and Guy didn't have any objections. Good, Claude thought to himself with some measure of relief, now maybe they could get moving now. He was sure that, if they ran into something dangerous, they'd all be able to put aside any differences long enough to handle it.

As they walked out into the chilled air, Claude gazed at their surroundings. It was hard to tell what was going on, but he got the impression there was at least some kind of fight going on. Claude hated having to press on without making sure others in the area were okay, but he'd been here long enough to know that sometimes adding more people to the mix could be more of a hindrance than a help to everyone involved. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.

But Guy was right about staying on guard. They couldn't get distracted by whatever was going on around them just to have something nasty sneak up from behind -- or above, for that matter. "Some of the monsters out here fly, too," he said, mostly for Asch's benefit. "So, yeah, let's keep a tight formation until we get to the edge of the field, at least."

He fell into step a couple of paces behind Guy, glancing over toward Asch to make sure he was staying close.

[mirrorbirth]

Asch wasn't about to bring up his particular issues about staying close, even though he did work with them and make sure he kept up the pace. It was against his nature to cooperate with people or work closely with them. The only exceptions had been Ginji and the Dark Wings out of necessity, and he'd only done that because he could accomplish more with hired help working in the shadows. At least their loyalty could be bought; there'd been more guarantee that his own soldiers wouldn't betray him for Van. Here there was no money, no one to bribe or employ. And now he was with the last person in the world he would ever be able to win over with money.

Instead, he tried to focus on Claude's words, and keeping an eye on their surroundings. Monsters here, too? It figured. Just when he had no weapon or powers with which to defend himself. He knew how to fight without a blade, somewhat, but it wasn't at all his area of expertise. He looked sidelong at Guy. Speaking of weapons...

"My fonic artes don't work here. Where did you get that sword?"

[razing_phoenix]

At the mention of flying monsters, Guy found himself tensing for a moment, though he didn't let it stop him from continuing forward across the grass. It was just that it reminded him of that night when the buses had broken down and those creatures had attacked them all in one huge swarm. He still wasn't sure if Aidou's hypothesis about who they attacked was really true (it seemed pretty unlikely), but either way, he knew that those aquila wouldn't hesitate to come after him. It was one more reason to keep moving as fast as they could without attracting attention to themselves.

Guy didn't think that any of them would have a hard time climbing the wall, but getting there was half the battle. And if they got attacked while in the middle of climbing, that would be even worse, since it could lead to a nasty fall. They were definitely going to have to be careful about this.

When Asch brought up his lack of artes, Guy had to hold back a sigh. Had Luke not explained all of that to him? It was possible there hadn't been time, but still. Guy tried to ignore the somewhat demanding tone in Asch's voice. Natalia did the same thing; he could look past it.

"I've had to wait to get this sword from a friend for... a few weeks, at least," he explained. "They're not easy to come by. But when you were here before, Luke asked me to find a weapon for you. So I've got a knife I can hand over sometime, if you want it." Hopefully Asch wouldn't be bullheaded enough to refuse -- though if he was, Guy was sure he could find another taker without much trouble.

[full_score]

Claude blinked in surprise when Guy mentioned that he was still holding onto the knife that they'd gotten for Asch. He must have disappeared not long after that, then. He almost wondered how he couldn't have realized what had happened, but, then again, it was also true that he and Guy didn't exactly talk about Asch much. The nosy part of him wanted to hear the details of what had happened between them before, but Guy could get weird about even the most innocuous questions sometimes. That was why Claude had never really broached the subject much before.

At least the knife could finally find its way to Asch after all, though. Claude knew that his own room was starting to double as some kind of armory with the guns and blades he'd been collecting. He almost offered Asch something, but the knowledge that those items weren't originally Claude's to start with made him hold back. Until he figured out whether Rey and Ashton were still around, Claude knew he couldn't just go handing out their old weapons like candy. Maybe he could double check with a nurse about Rey, at least. It'd be easier for the staff to know who he was talking about since they used to be roommates.

"Also, my friend Leon is an alchemist who can make you something if you collect a bag of metal beforehand," Claude spoke up. "I'm not sure how long his list is right now, but sometimes he'll announce on the board when he's got a small number of slots available." Leon probably didn't want to spend all of his nights holed up in his room, and Claude couldn't say he blamed him for that.

"Like Guy mentioned, though, sometimes it can take awhile for someone to get to your request," he added. "You should probably take the knife we found for you until you get something better."

[mirrorbirth]

Alchemy? Okay then, whatever. Not caring for more of an explanation, Asch nodded, filing that information away, though he has no idea where he would conveniently find metal for such a thing. Still, a knife was a promising start. He could wait for more if he needed to, and it was apparent that in this place, patience was definitely a necessity.

It was a shame he didn't have more to spare.

Belatedly he realized that he hadn't really answered, so he spoke up at last. "Of course I'll take it. Only an idiot would refuse." He could be reckless, sure, and often stubborn, and maybe he did have those stupid Fabre genes, but in a situation such as this, he couldn't afford to scoff at every offer that came his way. He hated it, but he'd have to start getting a little more cooperative. ...Maybe a lot.

...Or maybe he'd just see how today went, first.

He wondered idly why Guy hadn't offered - or already given - the knife to Luke. A part of him wanted to ask, but at the same time, he felt extremely wary and reluctant to bring up his missing replica to Guy again, so he opted to keep his mouth shut about it. Maybe later.

[razing_phoenix]

When Claude brought up Leon as a possibility for how Asch could get a sword, Guy couldn't help noting how poetic that would be; for both Luke and Asch to get a sword from the same person, that is. Though thinking of Luke's specifically crafted sword also reminded him that he was going to have to drop by his friend's room as soon as possible to gather his things. He needed to save them, in case Luke came back once more. Having a sword waiting for him would make things a lot easier, after all.

It was good to hear that Asch was willing to take the knife, though. As they reached the far end of the field and the wall that was separating them from their destination, Guy turned back toward the God-General and nodded. "We can meet up tomorrow night and I'll give it to you," he promised. Because Luke had asked, and because he was trying to give Asch another chance.

But for now what they needed to do was focus on the task at hand. Just as Guy was about to start climbing, though, there was a disturbance caused by a huge sword flying out at another part of the area where a different group was trying to get over. Eyes widened, Guy glanced back at what had to be a Special Counseling patient before turning to his two companions for the night.

"We need to hurry," he said, his tone urgent without being panicked. "Come on!" And with that, he grabbed for some vines and started to pull himself up with all the upper body strength a swordsman possessed.

[full_score]

Well, whatever Asch and Guy's differences were, it sounded like they were both willing to at least temporarily put them aside in order to beat this place. At the very least, Asch was open to accepting help from Guy if he thought it benefited him. And Guy...well, judging by what Claude knew of him from their experiences in Landel's, it was hard to figure what he might have done if this had been Auldrant instead of Earth. Not that it was any of his business, exactly, but that didn't stop him from wondering from the sidelines. As long as he was spending the night with the both of them, it wasn't as though anyone could blame him, right?

Either way, it sounded like they'd spent enough time dillydallying in the rec field. Things were starting to get crazy, which meant it was time for them to step up the pace. Following Guy's example, Claude grasped onto the vines that covered the wall and began to hoist himself up toward the top. As he moved, he felt his phase gun press against his chest from inside his jacket, its weight familiar yet foreign at the same time. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he'd have to give it a test at some point tonight.

The thought was fleeting, though. A movement against the wall caught Claude's eye as he made his way up, but when he jerked his head down, he only saw the outline of his own figure. Weird. Was he jumping at shadows now?

But Claude didn't dwell on that for long. Instead, he focused his attention on getting over the wall in one piece, trusting that Asch was following suit.

[mirrorbirth]

Asch didn't know what the deal was about whatever was going on behind them, but if Guy was in that much of a hurry, he knew there was no time to inquire about it. Questions could wait until they were free, so without hesitation he lunged for the vine after Claude, scaling it as quickly as he could. At least his body was in good shape for the moment; he hadn't felt any sudden weaknesses or pains in his chest just yet. Whether that was due to his death or an effect of being in the facility, he couldn't tell, but unless the weakness presented itself, he wasn't about to mention it. No point in giving Guy - or anyone else - that sort of advantage over him.

It was all precautionary, of course... but one could never be too careful. Shaking aside such miserly thoughts, he focused instead on climbing.

[razing_phoenix]

Neither Claude nor Asch hesitated in climbing up after him; all of them were obviously used to this kind of physical exertion, because by the time Guy made it up to the top, the others had followed.

It didn't look like the brainwashed patient was letting up any time soon, and Guy didn't really plan on sticking around to see what happened next. He was amazed enough that they'd made it past without getting noticed, but he wasn't about to push their luck.

Tossing his flashlight and sword down ahead of him, Guy then pushed himself off to land neatly on the other side of the wall. Finally, they were getting somewhere!

[To here.]