002. Runaway Bride

[creme_master]

Characters: Francis and YOU.
Setting: Floor Six
Format: Either is fine. I’ll match.
Summary: Francis needed a bit of nature. Francis got a bit more than what he asked for.
Warnings: CRACK! Oh… Maybe language?

Comments

/that makes me feel better ;w;

[prayerless]

Aqua waited, tensed in anxiety for either a reply or an assault. Magic was already beginning to gather in the tips of her fingers, tingling along Stormfall's handle and just waiting to be released. Each breath she took was sparse, so as not to lose her hold on the magical energy from complacence.

When the response was a voice and decidedly not more jagged teeth, she sighed, letting her muscles relax. The forming spell slipped away, dissipating into the air and out of her control. The face that emerged from behind the tree was not familiar in the least -- she expected as much, however. Aqua hadn't really prioritized socializing since she'd come to the Tower.

Instead of answering his question immediately, she lowered her weapon about halfway, turning her head to scrutinize the surrounding flora with a critical eye. Maybe she had missed some indicator or landmark. But, with a twinge of frustration, she realized that was impossible; she hadn't been paying close enough attention. She had gotten far too used to wandering into nothing on a path to nowhere.

"I don't know," replied Aqua honestly as she returned her attentions to the blond man. She was cautious, as the humans (or humanoids) in this place could probably be just as dangerous as anything in this forest. But this man didn't appear to be armed; or at least, if he was, he was not ready to attack. And then, "I'm looking for it too."

Following that, she turned and took a few steps, taking a low branch and gingerly lifting it from her line of sight so that she could duck and peer further into the woods. Still nothing. "How long have you been searching?" queried the woman calmly.

[creme_master]

Francis sighed at her reply. He was a little discouraged. "I've honestly lost track of time. I was chased from the staircase upon arrival." He sounded a little bitter by the fact - understandably. He'd been looking over his shoulder so much his neck was starting to ache and his tracking skills were not what they used to be. After all, he'd enjoyed relative calm for over sixty years. Cheese eating surrender monkey be damned.

The blue-haired girl was strangely calm for being lost in a forest full of worrisome animals hungry for whatever they could get. As if reminded by his own morbid thoughts, he continued in a lowered tone. "What's brought you out here this far mademoiselle? I cannot think a stroll amongst beasts is inviting for a lady such as yourself."

He doesn't know exactly what the blade killed, having never dealt with her homelands; merely extending a few thoughts to get answers about his unlikely companion.

[prayerless]

After seeing nothing of interest through the foliage in her selected direction, Aqua turned instead to move a few branches the opposite way, this time standing on her tiptoes to look over the limbs of the trees. Maybe it was rude to not look at the man while she was talking to him, but if they were both lost, she couldn't let herself get too preoccupied from her task.

His reply found her sparing a glance in his direction. She looked him over once. If he was chased, then he probably really was unarmed. Aqua had a hard time fathoming how anyone could go weaponless in this tower; maybe she was just being paranoid, but his situation seemed to confirm that it was a bad idea.

The Keyblade wielder's lips pulled into a tiny smile. A lady such as herself, huh? "Training," she answered simply, releasing the branches she had in her grasp to readjust her hold on Stormfall. If she saw it fit to elaborate, she seemed to be waiting for her conversational partner to ask first. In that time, she crouched to examine the forest floor in the immediate vicinity, peeking through grass and brush.

[creme_master]

He abandoned his line of trees to head over to stand closer to her, lips curving into a bit of a smirk when she stood on her tiptoes. A sign of youth that surpassed the blue hair and smooth skin - hell, he wouldn't place her too far out of her teenaged years. Filing that away for later use (or none at all, he really didn't know), he stared ahead at the never-ending group of trees that hid much more than a lone staircase.

"Training," he repeated. It wasn't truly a question, though his attention was brought back to the keyblade. So that thing was a weapon. Well, more than he'd originally thought. "With that? It's rather ornate, very pretty." What Francis didn't want to say about Stormfall was that it looked highly impractical as far as weaponry went. Then again, he would say the same for any keyblade. "I suppose I cannot talk having left my protection back in my trunk. So-" Francis paused and pushed off past her with a teasing smile. "Have you ever seen creatures like the one here before? Does that sword work for them?"

A tiny bit of question there on the sword part.

[prayerless]

The grass didn't seem to yield anything interesting to Aqua, so she straightened again, turning her face to the canopy of the trees instead. She had doubts that there would be anything useful to finding a respite from the woods that far up, but it was always best to be thorough. If nothing else, it ensured that there were no demonic creatures of an avian nature in the immediate vicinity.

"Yes," came the confirmation to the nature of her training, as her focus was drawn away from the high-up leaves to the blade in her hand. The Keyblade didn't respond, seeming even sleepier than it normally was in its dormant state.

Her hopes for the forest had been that she would be able to draw magic more easily from lush, natural surroundings, as she'd discovered was the case very early on in her training under the Master. But, to the contrary, this place actually seemed to take her further away from magical energy, and buffer it completely when the monsters approached.

Aqua inclined her head to look at the Frenchman. "No, I've never seen anything like them," she denied, "but my weapon works just fine." It wasn't exactly the same as slaying Unversed, but a Keyblade was charged with enough innate magic (and commonly had enough sharp metal, failing that) to raze nearly any enemy it was presented with. "If you can't protect yourself, maybe we should stay together," she eventually suggested. "I can handle the monsters."

A glance down to her Keyblade was punctuated with a knowing smile. "I promise it's more powerful than it looks," assured the mage, a lightly playful edge to her voice as her gaze returned to the other.

[creme_master]

It would be just like the Tower to throw a wrench in the cogs of its inhabitants' daily lives. Summon magic for strength? No, not anymore you don't! But good try anyway. Luckily for France he was completely and blissfully unaware of the evils she'd gone up against with said ornate blade.

That didn't matter at the moment. A bird called out overhead and he looked toward the tops of the otherwise lush trees with a worried grimace. "I am guessing that the birds are just as intimidating as the rabbits, ouais? This sucks," came the quiet complaint. She'd sounded amused almost...

"It is not everyday a damsel does the protecting; however I cannot say I am against it. Once we're out I will find some way to express my gratitude." A smirk that looked a little tighter than normal met his lips. "What's your name, savior?"

[ooc: I am so sorry for the wait. I can't brain things.]

[prayerless]

Aqua turned quickly in the direction of the bird call when it sounded, raising the Keyblade to a more maneuverable height. After a few tense moments passed and nothing decided to swoop down for lunch on the go, the magician narrowed her eyes in slight suspicion. "Yeah," she affirmed. "I think they have teeth."

Mutant rabbits were bad enough without the threat of toothy birds -- Snow White would turn in her glass box at the sight of these things. Despite Aqua's stance, her side of the conversation was delivered as coolly as ever. "You don't need to do that. I'm just doing my job." Slowly, she relaxed back into propriety to look at her companion, offering a friendly smile. She wasn't completely familiar with all the words he used (another language, she assumed), but he seemed nice, or harmless enough that it wouldn't be too dangerous to escort him.

"My name is Aqua, sir." Absently, she began to weigh their directional options, as far as path-picking went, though her eyes didn't stray from the man as she introduced herself; that would be terribly rude. "It's nice to meet you."

After the formalities were concluded, however, it seemed fair game to break eye contact. She looked away again -- specifically, once more towards where the sound of birds originated. The woman pondered casting a Thunder spell to flush them out, while she was out of range of their strange magic absorbance, but she wasn't sure if it would work to scare these animals like it would normal ones. "Can you remember anything you might have noticed near the stairs?" Aqua prodded. "Like a land mark?"

She'd never picked out anything in particular sans the stairs themselves, but maybe she was just missing something.

[ooc: it's okay! i've been busy anyways, so no worries.]