Resting in the Verdant Fields

[holyrosary]

Who: Rosa and Cecil, OPEN
When: Now
Where: Citro Plains
What: Wandering and walking.
Type: Log
Notes/Warnings: If you'd like to find Rosa out on her own, you're welcome to. If it turns into a fight, Cecil might arrive to rescue.

Comments

[bound_skyward]

Kain was... watching, from afar. He had to take a moment to collect his thoughts, before he approached Rosa at all. He still held feelings for her, after all, still became inwardly anxious whenever he thought about her.

Eventually, he approached. "Rosa..."

[holyrosary]

"Kain!" All it took was his familiar voice to bring Rosa out of her thoughts and to abandon her appreciation of the flora. Greeting him with a joyous smile, she slipped her hands around his arm. A familiar gesture and comfortable. "How long have you been here?" Or more properly: how long have I been unaware and ignoring you?

[bound_skyward]

"Not very long." Just long enough to reignite those feelings which he'd been trying even harder to move past. He couldn't help it, especially since that darker side of him was still latched onto the idea of being with her, taking her for himself...

...sigh... no... Kain didn't want it to be like that. Enjoying her company was enough. "How have you been?"

[holyrosary]

"Worried."

Rosa seldom shared in full what was in her heart and on her mind. Only Cecil and Kain ever had that openness from her, and yet there were still things she held to herself and pondered alone. However, she saw little reason not to be forthright with her friend about her concerns. Surely they all had them as much as she.

"I do not begrudge the calm, but the silence... this I dread. I had thought us soon for home and yet we stand at the edge of the precipice waiting for the fighting to come." She shuddered as she spoke, unable to quell the tremors of fear. Rosa understood what it meant to serve in the army, what it meant to follow into battle, to heal the wounded, to fight as she must. Yet she did not possess within her the bloodlust that made war appealing to her as it did others. Had she the choice, there would never be need for her skills at all. "This is only the facade of peace."

[bound_skyward]

Kain, of course, was much the opposite in attitude about war. It was something he had been raised and trained to participate in. He fought so that his kingdom could remain great, and their legacies passed on. It was his duty as a Highwind, and a path to certain honor.

...The only problem was, this was hardly a war he'd chosen. He still didn't like the idea of fighting under Chaos, but nor would he have been content to serve Comos. He'd already had his share of serving false leaders.

"I understand what you mean, Rosa... We shouldn't be here, drawn into this. It's not our battle. You most of all... you... deserve to be home, with Cecil." They had a life to begin together, after all. A tinge of bitterness came into him at the thought, but he kept it deep within, as best he could.

[holyrosary]

In that, Rosa detected something and it gave her pause. A hint of more of Kain's self-depreciation. Try as she might try to understand his feelings on his refusal to return home, she could not comprehend it. He had been forgiven, so how could he feel he must atone further? Still, she did not have the heart to chastise him for it again, and her asking him to reconsider only distressed him.

No, perhaps she was wrong and he was only being kind. Proof that he deserved to be home just as much as the rest of them, that he had no place with Chaos. Never would she accept that as right. Rising up onto the tips of her toes, she placed a chaste peck on Kain's cheek as an unspoken thank you. "I will be grateful to be home." Although it would not be the same without him. "I pray the time come soon."

[bound_skyward]

Of course, that kiss meant more to Kain than Rosa had likely intended with it. Why did she have to be so wonderful? Why could she not kiss him the way she did Cecil? ...these thoughts made Kain immediately disgusted with himself and he tried to stop himself from thinking them. She deserved better than him for a friend, when his very thoughts were a betrayal of both her and Cecil.

"You and Cecil deserve it..."

He was going to say more, but a sudden motion in the distance caught Kain's eye. "Rosa, look out! Incoming mannequin!" Kain instantly went into a defensive stance, watching as the colorful figure approached... A mannequin of Cecil...? No... it couldn't be...

[holyrosary]

Rosa looked in the same direction as Kain, wishing she hadn't placed her bow to the side and rambled away so far from it. Until she saw who the copy was. Her eyes widened and her body froze with horror. She could not fight Cecil, any Cecil. "No..." That bare whisper became the only sound she could produce, other words failing her utterance.

Dark Flames rushed along the ground toward Kain. All Rosa could do was turn her head and avert her eyes, unable, unwilling to watch. The conflict lay not in that the mannequin would target the enemy dragoon in this territory, but that she could not bear to watch them fight. Not even when one was not real. This was no training match for her to referee, nor even one of any untold rival squabbles for her to break up. This would be as horrible and deadly as when Kain had been under Golbez's control.

Finding her voice at last, she cried out, "Don't hurt him!" Yet the mannequin heeded her not at all and continued to close on Kain.

[bound_skyward]

Kain knew there was nothing else to be done but fight the mannequin. Even if... fighting Cecil would bring forth those darker impulses in him, that side of him that he wanted to keep shut away. He didn't want to face this now, with Rosa but he had no choice.

Those flames hit, causing Kain to shout, both in pain and annoyance. Activating the Darkness Augment, he leapt into the air into a Jump... and came down to stab at the Cecil.

[holyrosary]

To hear Kain cry out in pain smote Rosa's conscience and prompted her to action. While he remained airborne, she began the concentrated incantation of healing magic. In a sense she was fortunate that the mannequin had taken no heed of her at all. It allowed her to assist Kain without having to directly harm the copy of Cecil.

As Kain came stabbing down, she lifted her arm to release healing on him. In so doing, she clamped her eyes shut, unwilling to look at the battle more than she must to keep the dragoon alive and whole until it was over.

"Cecil" took the blow from overhead, staggered by the strike, then changed tactics by taking a vast leap into the air and transforming into paladin form. Once overhead, the mannequin shot a missile of light at Kain, and chased it, darting back and forth at high speed while slashing at him.

[bound_skyward]

It was a good thing Rosa had added the healing when she had, so that he wasn't more worn out by what was to come. Kain cringed a little on feeling the Darkness doing its work, but that draining of his energy meant the strike was successful. He readied himself for an attack, bringing his spear up to defend against Cecil's incoming strike. He wasn't able to block that light missile, though, but pushed himself to keep moving through he pain.

Kain slashed and jabbed his spear in return at the Cecil mannequin. That inner dark side took a sick satisfaction in fighting something resembling Cecil... He loathed himself for not being better than that.

[holyrosary]

Given a choice, Rosa would never be in such an abysmal position, forced to choose between her best friend's welfare against a copy of her husband. Every clash of weapon and armor made her cringe. Yet she could not bring herself to enter the fight on the side of the offensive. Her mind cast about for options and she settled on indirectly assisting Kain. It seemed best to protect him from being hurt further. She layered protective magic in rapid succession, first Shell and Protect. Next she cast Blink. Her hope lay that the additional copies of the dragoon would shield him from injury and buy him the time to end the fight quickly.

This proved to be a mistake. The mannequin jabbed in vain at the replicas then rounded on Rosa for her interference. Kain forgotten, it closed in ominously as it touched down on the ground and flung Gravity Balls at her. Without time or means to avoid the dark orbs of energy spiraling toward her, Rosa was rendered vulnerable to more powerful attacks and driven to her knees.

[bound_skyward]

"Rosa!" Kain cried out and winced on seeing her struck so much. But he lacked the ability to heal her- he would only be able to use Phoenix, and certainly didn't want it to come to that. So instead, he focused on the offensive, on drawing the Cecil mannequin away.

Leaping again to the air, Kain came down strong to stab at Cecil. "Leave her alone!" With the spells in place, Kain felt comfortable once more having Darkness in place, knowing that the combination should give him the strength to finish this. His efforts paid off with a few good jabs. The Cecil figure stumbled more than made any useful effort against him, and Kain took that opportunity to increase his offensive.

[holyrosary]

With attention and attacks back on Kain, Rosa focused best as she could on mending them both although pain made the attempt more difficult. The spell was long and the preparation lengthy, leaving her open to being attacked again. Fortunately the mannequin seemed more intent on finishing off Kain than her as it took back to the air with another launch of light missiles followed by high speed slashing. Splitting the magic between herself and Kain would diminish the effectiveness of the healing, but it would be enough to keep either of them from falling unconscious. At long last, she completed the Curaja incantation, praying that it would be enough and in time to be of use.

[bound_skyward]

It was very good timing, since Kain was wearing himself gradually down with Darkness, on top of the attacks from the mannequin. Although the magic protections stayed in place, so the damage he got was greatly lessened. And he didn't need to use one of the less pleasant Augments, thankfully. He couldn't bear the idea of crying in front of Rosa, after all.

Kain felt a renewal of strength in what that Curaja gave him and he stabbed ahead, finally seeing the Cecil-figure collapse...

[holyrosary]

The death cry of the mannequin pained Rosa. It sounded like a garbled version of Cecil's voice, hollow and unreal, but similar nonetheless. Still, it brought her relief that the danger had passed. Out of concern and precaution, she stepped closer to Kain, looking for further injuries while keeping herself nearer to the one of them that was armed. She felt foolish for having left her bow behind now and scanned the area lest another attack come.

"Are you hurt?" Her eyes looked into Kain's for a response, although in her guilt it was difficult. She had not been able to lift a finger against the mannequin for who it mimicked and without a doubt it left Kain to bear the brunt of the fight.