concoursec | Reflecting Lights of Ruby

Entry tags:

Reflecting Lights of Ruby

Characters: Ronnae, Ginji, Saber
Location: Deling Sewers
Rating: PG-ish?
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Hunting for GF's! Carbunkle flavored.

Ronnae spent the previous day preparing for this event. Aside from graduation next semester, it would be the biggest event in her academic journey in this world. She went over everything she learned about para-magic and GF's as well as reading up on previous expeditions done by previous cadets and SeeD's to gain knowledge into what she could be expecting.

She was a seasoned warrior in her world, having faced massive creatures, rogue warlords, destructive dragons and chaotic gods and yet it was never easy to face a new opponent without much knowledge about what they could and couldn't do. It would do no good to underestimate this opponent as such and she made sure that all her equipment was up to date and in perfect condition. Having a small team also helped and judging from their abilities she figured she should go into this as a defender instead of her usual assault regalia.

Once she had gathered everything she needed, she made her way to the assigned place and waited, large sword at her side and massive shield strapped to her back. She went over planned scenarios in her head to pass the time and keep any sort of nerves at bay. Truthfully however, she was more excited than anything.

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It would be his very first mission and time outside the school walls and Ginji was excited. Well, excited was an understatement really but there was no better word for it that he could come up with. Going out like this and retrieving some item for a client would be just like the old days! Except without Ban.

How depressing.

Still, he'd keep his chin up through this, if anything because it was a chance to explore and he'd been cooped up way too long thinking about books, studying and trying desperately to pass his classes.

The teen arrived not long after Ronnae, a youthful smile on his face, hands clutching the strap of his backpack. The large size of the items next to her did cause him to do a double take, though.

"Wooow, how are you even lifting that?"

Ronnae turned to look at one of the people who were assigned to the mission and smiled a little. She had only met with him once and afterwards had passing conversations in the hallways with him.

He seemed pleasant enough... but would he be able to deal with the mission? Appearances were always deceiving, she was a walking monument to that expression. A timid, short stature girl with a soft yet muscled frame who could dance with two oversized blades while wearing heavy full plate... She couldn't judge.

"Well, through lots of training I managed to perfect my fighting style and eventually am able to do as such... I ah.. w-welcome I wasn't expecting anyone so soon."

"Ooh," he said in awe, then placed a hand against her shield. "It's just like in the video games!" Ginji took a few more, interested moments to look her swords up and down and barely resisted the urge to attempt to lift them.

"I wouldn't say this is soon," the teen looked up, a finger against his bottom lip. "I didn't want to be late! But, oh...who are the other people who'll be going as well?"

"Like a video game?" She hadn't played too many of them since her arrival but she wanted to. The ones she did play were fun and interesting and she wanted to know how to make them because it tickled the engineer's desires something fierce! All technology did after all...

She shook her head to get out of dream cloud mode before looking back to Ginji, "I know we were assigned one other and a SeeD Instructor to come along. And I believe that is it."

Though a thoroughly experienced warrior, Saber was not at all certain what to expect. There was no Holy Grail to impart information directly, and so she had to become a student as all other newcomers from across time and space had. That she was no longer a knight or a Servant did not so much bother her as the feeling that she was unprepared. And that was a feeling she most certainly did not enjoy.

Nevertheless, she was somewhat surprised she had been selected. The higher powers seemed at once to be ignorant of her identity -- for which she was thankful, if they were -- yet at times seemed to know precisely who and what she was. That was probably the most unsettling of all.

But when she finally arrived, she found that she was glad that she had been chosen. She was curious to see Ronnae in action -- as she imagined the young woman was just as eager to see Arturia herself in action -- and this would be a good opportunity.

"Like a video game," he repeated. To be honest, everything about the green girl looked like it was ripped right out of a game.

"Oh, well I suppose we'll need to wait for the others," he cheerily said, lining up next to Ronnae. "Who do you think it'll be? Someone you already know or--ah, an instructor, too!" Ginji rambled on, his voice immediately switching from carefree to worried.

"Do you think we'll be graded on this? There won't be a test, will there?!" Wrapped up between being excited and concerned, Ginji hadn't even noticed the blonde woman arrive.

Edited 2012-08-02 19:01 (UTC)

Ronnae giggled at Ginji's rambling, he always seemed so cheerful and animated, she wondered what kind of life he had before arriving here.

However, her senses had always been keep and it wasn't too hard for her to notice anyone approaching. The person approaching however, made her smile grow wide and she waved her over excitedly.

"Lady Saber! I'm really happy to see you will be accompanying us!" After all, she had been really excited to hear her stories, so now she could see her in action! She already liked how this was turning out and her nerves seemed to have quiet down for the time being.

She turned to Ginji and tilted her head curiously. "I'm not sure if we'll be graded, but we shall do our best regardless, I'm sure of it."

Not far behind Saber, another figure was approaching, it seemed the SeeD Instructor that was assigned seemed rather bored and uninterested. He was taking his time and stopped every so often to take a drag from his smoke and then continue on his lazy stride... he'd be there eventually.

"I am as well, Ronnae," Saber replied with a faint smile that she made no effort to hide. There was little purpose in keeping herself overly reserved for a girl that she considered a friend and fellow knight.

"I look forward to fighting alongside you." She was, however, as formal as ever.

To Ginji, she bowed politely, maintaining her usual composure.

Ginji eyed the SeeD instructor in the distance warily, though his focus was quickly diverted by the conversation between the two. They must have known each other; that certainly made things easier, even if he'd be the odd man out.

When he was greeted, he returned the gesture and topped it with one of his trademark, jovial smiles.

"Hello! I'm Ginji."

"As do I, it suddenly got a lot more exciting than it was when I thought I was going alone. Having people along definitely makes things more interesting!" she said with a smile as they waited.

After a long while, the SeeD made it to the group and simply gave a curt nod, hands in pockets still. -'Well, let's get this show on the road. Are you all ready?'- he said nonchalantly.

The young man was polite, a definite plus in the King of Knights's proverbial book, courtesy being one of the cornerstones of chivalry. "I am called Saber," she replied. "It will be a pleasure to work alongside you."

The petite knight tapped her chin thoughtfully at Ronnae's comment. "Perhaps this is a teamwork exercise," she mused. Not that this would be a problem, she suspected.

At the appearance of the SeeD instructor, Saber bowed once more. "I am ready," the blonde acknowledged, standing by for the others.

"I'm ready!" Ginji called out, practically bouncing on his feet in impatience.

Before they headed out, he took a moment to glance between his teammates, then slowly lowered his head to look himself over. Between the two girls, he sure did seem under-dressed in his shirt, vest and khaki shorts. And he didn't have any real weapon to speak of but his fists, though they'd served him well so far.

...

Oh well! For what he lacked in equipment, he made up in determination! That would serve them well, he knew. There was no way they could fail with that.

Ronnae nodded and smiled, "It'll be interesting for sure, I'm happy to have you two as teammates on this mission."

Once greetings had been had, Ronnae also turned to the instructor and lowered her helm visor before nodding, "Ready sir." she stated firmly with a salute.

--

The SeeD instructor sighed and shrugged, giving a halfhearted salute before tossing his cigarette aside and lighting another one. "Right, so let's get this mission started. We're here to acquire a 'G F' and we won't be making any progress by just standing around. Let's get this started."

With that, he was the first to enter into the sewers.

Saber was impressed: a good leader was always the first in, especially with generally inexperienced subordinates. Typically, that leader was her, but the instructor was already on the move. Not to mention she was not in any position to lead...at least, not yet.

Silently, she followed suit not long thereafter, mentally preparing herself.

Ginji was quick to follow, though his face immediately scrunched up in displeasure when he saw just where it was they were going.

But...he didn't want to wade through all that mess. Maybe the smell wouldn't be so bad. What sort of GF made its home in the sewers anyways? It was probably some sort of amorphous blob that consumed everything in its path.

Needless to say, Ginji's mind was on everything but the mission as they entered the sewer.

Sewers wasn't an environment Ronnae hadn't been to before, and it certainly wasn't the most unpleasant either. She hefted her heavy shield up with ease and moved forward to the front of the group, after all if she planned on being the front line she had to be ready for anything.

She kept alert, years in the field plus the added bonus of her heritage keeping her on her toes, she made sure to look to every corner so they wouldn't get surprised or ambushed. Every once in a while looking back to check on her teammates.

--

The instructor let her pass, he really didn't seem to have much intention of interfering and took his time walking idly besides the group.

Every now and then he'd look over to the side at a random squeak or rush of water with disinterest and then continued on his way.

Whether Saber found the sewers personally unpleasant or not failed to reflect in the ever-stoic demeanour. Instead, she kept watch for anything that seemed threatening. So far, she had yet to see anything even remotely so, but she did not relax her guard.

Her sword, however, remained in its immaterial state. She would be able to summon it in a fraction of a second in the event of an attack.

Oh...oh it was so much worse than he thought it would be. Okay, he knew what to do. He'd just breath through his mouth instead of his nose and then he wouldn't be able to smell it!

Twice Ginji inhaled deeply, before promptly hacking, spitting and huffing in an attempt to blow the air out of his body and somehow, away from his form completely.

He...he could taste the stench! It was on his tongue, in his mouth. It was lining the walls of his lungs, now!

Chancing a glance to everyone else, they were so calm and composed about it, just like he knew Ban would have been, too. How was it that this damp, smelly sewer where he could feel the filth clinging to the air, didn't bother anyone else? He supposed he should follow suit as well, as best as he could at least.

Turning his focus back to their path, Ginji casually lifted his shirt and hooked the collar over his nose to cover both it and his mouth in a sort of shirt-mask, as if it were the most normal response in this situation.

Ronnae was quick to turn around and look in case something had happened. Once she noticed what was going on she couldn't help but smile and shake her head a little.

"Are you okay back there Ginji?" she asked warmly.

--

The instructor however rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"This isn't a field trip children, let's keep this show moving so we can get out of here as soon as possible."

Saber did not so much as lift an eyebrow; Ginji's response was, in fact, fairly normal. He simply had the misfortune of sharing a mission with a couple of experienced warriors.

She did, however, acknowledge the instructor's command. Getting out of there was much preferable.

"Agreed."

Ginji furrowed his eyebrows, mildly annoyed.

Rude. It's not like he'd slowed his pace or anything, so the instructor didn't have to be condescending about it. He was just having adverse effects to the conditions they were currently in.

Ronnae's voice made his ears perk up at hearing his name. The teen lowered his shirt and flashed a beaming smile, though the strained twitch of his eyebrow gave him away a bit.

"Um, I'm...fine, thanks for asking."

Ronnae didn't appreciate the Instructors mood, but she understood and simply smiled at Ginji.

"We should stay close and focus. There's supposed to be some stray creatures around her but we might be lucky and only encounter our target."

With that said, she continued on her trek with the group.

--

The instructor shrugged and continued along. The sooner they got this done, the sooner he could get to more important things.

The other advantage of the King of Knights was that she was accustomed to working with jerks. The instructor's brusque manner was almost friendly compared to that of her former Master. At the very least, they might find their goal quickly.

But Ronnae's comment piqued Saber's curiosity. "Are they typically aggressive?" she asked mildly, almost as if asking about the weather forecast.

Ginji increased his speed so that he could fall in line with Ronnae, as he was eager to hear the answer to this question, too.

"Are they giant?" he asked, eyes wide with interest. "Are they aquatic creatures? I bet they're giant alligators and turtles," the teen said with an air of knowledge, despite knowing absolutely nothing about what lurked in the sewers.

Now that he'd said it aloud, however, he was going to be disappointed if there weren't any giant alligators and turtles.

Ronnae kept walking at a steady pace as she spoke.

"If I remember my studies well, there should only be a few types of creatures down here. Most of them hostile yes, but chances of meeting one are fity-fifty I'd say." She paused to think a bit on it before continuing.

"I think the more common ones are Creeps and Grand Mantises' if I remember correctly. Which shouldn't really pose a problem to us I'd say. If anything, they might avoid this group entirely which would be good cause then we could focus on drawing the GF once we find it."

--

The instructor listened as he continued walking but didn't add or take from the conversation. Frankly, he really didn't care, he just wanted this petty mission done and to be away from this group.

"Even so, it is best to be prepared," Saber remarked as she followed Ronnae.

She did, however, hope they would indeed avoid them. She preferred to save her strength.

"Oh..." he said, raising his eyes to the darkened ceiling. "Well I guess that's not really a big deal after all."

Oh, well that was a shame. It'd have been nice to see something new down here, though he supposed the less encounters they had, the quicker they'd get out of this foul-smelling place.

Ronnae nodded and continue forward.

Most of the trip was uneventful but the instructor seemed to insist on taking his time trudging through the sewers at an incredibly lax pace. Ronnae was beginning to wonder what his purpose here was to begin with.

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Reflecting Lights of Ruby

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Sorry for the wait, got sick :(

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It's alright ^^b

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