concoursec | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Character(s): Yuri Otani, OPEN
Location: Training Center
Rating: PG, pobably
Open/Closed/Finished: open
Summary: Borg finally convinces Yuri to take on some monsters...

Ultimately Borg was a hunter and needed to hunt, he had explained to her. Yuri was, of course, reluctant to go anywhere there were monsters, but he had kept pestering her and reminding her that he was her only defense against attack, and if she had to rely on herself for that in her current state, what did she think would happen?

So Yuri had requisitioned some of her old alien fighting gear from storage: knee, elbow and hand protectors, rollerblades for a quick getaway, dart gun, catching net.

She crossed over into the humid jungle, hedged and contained by bridges and metal fencing. It reminded her of an old American movie she'd seen once about a park where they kept dinosaurs.

Her first opponent wasn't long in appearing: a seemingly innocent plant she was walking past reared up and opened strange jaws, leading into some kind of digestive bag. Tentacles whipped out and snapped at her. The grat was easily two heads taller than her.

Borg was instantly on the alert, tense but joyful. His 'wings' extended, and from those, drilltacles snapped out of their sheaths, ready to do some serious weed control.

Yuri, meanwhile, let out a little scream and fell on her butt, necessitating Borg to readjust a moment...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Marco's ears perked warily at the sounds, kicking his own opponent in the head, quickly finishing it off instead of toying around, and rushed over to check from the sides that whoever it was wasn't in too much trouble.

When Yuri opened her eyes, she was looking down the barrel of her dart pistol as it shook in her hands. It turned out to be a moot point though: borg had handily turned the grat into salad. "Maybe three of these at once could be a challenge to me..." He said to the pile of plant-gore.

Out of the corner of her eye, Yuri spotted a newcomer, someone with a strange haircut. To tell the truth he looked a bit like a punk rocker...

Marco bowed politely, rubbing the back of his pineapple haircut. "Sorry for the intrusion, I thought you might be in trouble." He smiled gently, "I'm glad to see that's not the case."

Yuri wobbled to her feet too, and managed an even deeper bow even with rollerblades on. "Thank you, i'm OK. That was a bit scary though." He's a gentleman! Yuri thought, trying to reconcile that with his unconventional appearance...Not that having a froggy drillmonster on one's head was really conventional either.

"Tch, like one of those things could beat me." Borg added unhelpfully.

For the many oddities Marco had seen on the Grand Line, that wasn't exactly even close to one of them.

"Perhaps not, but the rest of you seems scared," Marco arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, me and Borg aren't fused..." Yuri said, nervously waving her hands, and reached up to pull him off her head. "...see? Ah, i'm Yuri Otani by the way. It's nice to meet you, sempai."

Marco tentatively reached forward to shake her hand and nod at Borg. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Marco." If he was startled by this revelation, it didn't show on his deadpan face.

"You seem to know this place, Marco-sempai. Do you know where we could find monsters that are..." And Yuri and Borg finished the question simalteneously.

"...less scary?"
"...less wimpy?"

Marco stared blankly for a moment before explaining slowly. "From what I could tell, you were fighting a grat, which is about the weakest the training center has to offer. If you go deeper, you'll find much stronger things. Maybe it would help if you weren't on wheels? Otherwise, just have faith in Borg, since he seems capable enough."

"Oh man..."

"Exactly what I wanted to hear. Let's go, Yuri. I'm sure if we keep going there'll be more to encounter..."

Yuri looked pleadingly up at Marco. "But this is what we normally have to wear for alien catching back home so I thought...Anyway, that sounds scary! I wish Kumi were here..."

"You want me to come with you? I can make sure you won't get in too far over your head," Marco offered freely, kind of pitying the kid. It wasn't like she wasn't strong, just scared from what he could tell. It reminded him of Toby or some of the new recruits. But the only way to deal with that fear was face it head on and overcome it usually. "What kind of aliens? And I'm not sure wheels are going to work on sort of softer dirt like this, eh? Just get them mucked up probably."

"Would you? Oh thank you so much, Marco-sempai." Her big green eyes wobbled with happiness and she gave him a bright smile, the only reward he was going to get for this. "I guess you're right...I didn't think about the fact that we're only technically on school grounds. I'll just leave these here and come back for them." Yuri said, kneeling to unstrap her skates.

Things were looking up. She might have to pad into the desert in her socks but that was alright. She had a nice upperclassman to go with her, which made the fear a lot easier to deal with.

"No trouble," he grinned softly. "Is your world all paved or something?" He really had to ask.

Yuri blushed as she padded in her socks across the jungle, looking about for anything else that might leap out at her. "Well my school is in the middle of Tokyo, and aside from the Forest of Spaceships out back, it's all concrete."

"Heh," Marco grinned, "Normally the only time someone wears rollerblades in my world is for a game of Davy Back or two."

"Oh what's that? Is it fun?" Borg looked around eagerly for more monsters as they walked farther into the fetid jungle.

"Relatively," Marco shrugged. "It's an old pirate game for settling differences between crews. There's different events depending on how many rounds and who's calling it. And the stakes are the most valuable things we own."

Gakupo was in the training center, battling some Grats with his rather noisy sword and a few good ice blasts. It was also a good time to test out new para-magic.

Just as he felt the tingling feeling of casting another spell, he head a scream in the not too far off distance. He cast off Blizzara before running off to the person. With his heightened hearing, the search doesn't take long before he discovers a young girl on the floor, looking frightened.

It seemed that she was battling her own Grat.

He cast Fira at the creature, standing in front of the girl before readying his sword held in front of him. "Are you alright?"

When Yuri opened her eyes, she was looking down the sight of her dart pistol, which trembled in her hands. She was probably never going to get used to this. She got up slowly and brushed herself off. "I'm OK, thank you."

Borg, however was less appreciative. "Why'd you have to get in my way way?"

Gakupo looked at the...hat that was talking atop the girl's head. What in the world was that?

"As...long as you're okay." He looked to the thing on her head with a raised eyebrow. "It didn't look like you would stand much of a chance on the ground."

He turned to the Grat, that had disappeared after the Fira spell. "Do you need any help in here?" She was lucky to not come across a T-rexaur!

"I wouldn't by myself, but with Borg here, i'm all right, thank you." She bowed politely. "I'm Yuri Otani." She tried her best to sound brave. "I'll be OK, but I certainly wouldn't mind company."

Gakupo gave a nod and a small smile. "Gakupo. Nice to meet you, Yuri." He did give a wary look to the thing on her head. "...what about your friend?"

"Tch, come along if you want, as long as you don't get in my way." Said Borg in his raspy-nasal voice, prompting Yuri to give him a look. "Ah, that's my borg. I'm sorry if he says anything rude, I have no control over him."

"I'll try not to..." Gakupo replied to the borg hat. He turned his attention to Yuri with a wry smile. "It's alright. Is having a headpiece like that common in your world?"

Maybe calling it a headpiece was bad form, but...oh well.

As it so happened, Gwendolyn was doing her usual training rounds at that moment, parrying a grat's attacks. She had learned, over the course of her stay in this world, that the grats would start hitting harder and faster if one spent a long enough time dodging or countering their attacks, which was excellent for training in defensive maneuvers.

Hearing the scream, she parried one last strike before flying off, dashing to its source.

When Yuri opened her eyes, she was looking down the sight of her dart pistol, which trembled in her hands. She was probably never going to get used to this.

Meanwhile Borg had efficiently weedwhacked the grat into its component bits.

"Gwendolyn-sempai!" Yuri said, relieved to find someone she knew. She got up slowly. "Are you here to train too?"

"Too easy...where's the challenge in that?" Muttered Borg.

"Good day, Yuri, Borg," Gwendolyn greeted her roommate and sentient headgear. "I am indeed here to train. Do you seek assistance?"

"Ah, well it'd be nice to have company..." Yuri said, trying to sound brave. She recalled her previous promise. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this. Borg insisted on going."

Gwendolyn shook her head. "'Tis I who should apologize. I should have asked you if you wished to join me more often. Still, you need to not be led around by your partner so much, and perhaps you should have started with the Bite Bugs outside of Garden."

"Pshaw, any easier and i'd have fallen asleep." Borg quipped, idly scratching himself with a drilltacle. "Ah, well he has to hunt too...And i've got to t-try to get braver." Honestly Yuri, if it hadn't happened in a year and a half of facing down monsters back home, what makes you think it'll happen here?

Maybe because here she'd have the support of people who actually know what they're doing and don't see the monsters as minor pests that can't really hurt anyone?

Gwendolyn considered this. "Perhaps you would perform better while fighting in a group... Have you junctioned a Guardian Force yet, Yuri?"

Maybe. Could be. Case in point here.

"Ah, not yet, but i'm supposed to next class. Is it fun? Does it hurt?"

"'Tis not something I would describe as 'fun', though 'tis hardly uncomfortable. Summoning might hurt your head if you don't brace yourself for it, however."

Not to mention the rumors about what extensive summoning might cause.

"Though if you haven't junctioned yet, your options as support might be limited. Tell me, what can your pistol do?"

"Really? Oh man, I must be behind because of all the makeup classes I had to do. I'm gonna study real hard and catch up to everyone..." She didn't look hugely confident, but damnit she was gonna try. "It's just a dart pistol. It's standard equipment. It injects a tranquilizer, enough for most things that aren't too huge."

As they walked into the fetid jungle, Borg kept his eyes eagerly pealed for more things to eviscerate.

"You should catch up soon enough; the teachers seem to give everyone the resources needed to allow the willing to pass the exams." She listened to the explanation about the dart pistol. "I doubt it will aid you much against the creatures here, I fear. How well do you an Borg work in tandem?"

Gwendolyn could hear rustling nearby. Not from a large creature, thankfully - the last thing they needed at the moment was an encounter with a T-Rexaur.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only