Marco & Espio go on a mission in Trabia

[fierybluebird]

Characters: Marco & Espio
Location: Trabia
Rating: PG-13 for Pirate language and violence
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Trabia Cater Mission at the Center



"Quit whining," Marco chided the chameleon, even though he was the one who'd convinced Espio to take him on the mission on the Instructor's pay grade. In the snow. Despite knowing full well how badly the winter weather affected the chameleon. "You're warm-blooded with the potion now, might as well use it." And he was even more bundled than a fire breathing dragon hanging out in Wano Island. "Besides it'll be fun, eh."

Marco's idea of fun was so rarely shared with anyone else.

Comments

[fierybluebird]

"This one is in a crate," Marco is way too excited about it. Especially for the weather. "Not many animals like crates, eh? Just snakes, and they hate the cold even more than you so we know it's not one of those. Just think of the possibilities!"

[espio]

"Lunar Cry. Monsters. Those things are pretty connected, you know! There were already monsters in the stupid crater!

"Ugh... let's just get this over and done with..."

[fierybluebird]

They head down to the crater, Marco lighting the way with blue flames from his phoenix devil fruit now that there's no one around.

"You just live to suck the fun out of this, don't you?"

There's a definite growling even from a distance and he spares s glance to Espio, completely trolling him, even now. "Dragons don't like the cold or the moon, do they?" Just asking.

[espio]

"The fun wasn't there to begin with. And well," Espio said, trying to be cautious on the icy rock underfoot but slipping a little, "Trabia does have those blue dragons, remember? They were around when the Garden crashed here."

They were weak against ice, which Espio found very confusing considering they lived in an ice field.

[fierybluebird]

"Right..." Marco mumbled and stroked his chin. "This place is pretty counter intuitive sometimes, eh?" Oh well, at least Espio wasn't scared about it, if still annoyed about the cold.

He leaned an arm out to help catch Espio and cautiously made his way down further, occasionally digging talons into ice in order to grip. Sure it was insane to do this in sandals, but that wasn't going to stop Marco. No one was watching, so he was going to use his phoenix devil fruit for traction as much as he wanted.

"Is that a rabbit?"

Only if rabbits were the size of polar bears with teeth just as sharp. Still, it was jumping up and down like a rabbit, and certainly had the ears for one.

[espio]

Espio lifts a hand up to shield his eyes, frowning, still struggling a bit with the uneven and slippery surface but getting used to it now. "Yeah. Looks like...

"That had better not be what they're getting worked up over - blue dragons, snow lions and forbiddens, and they called us out for a big rabbit?"

[fierybluebird]

"But look at the bones," Marco gestured despite the serious lack of bones and a quoted reference that Espio might not even know.

"Hmm, snowy giant rabbits... They said it might be from another world right? Be careful then, eh, these things are hardly alone... if it's a Lapahn like I suspect."

[espio]

Espio most certainly did not know that reference, and even if he did he wasn't in the mood to entertain it. "What bones?" He scanned the area to see if there were any more of them - in this barren area, there weren't many places to hide. He couldn't see any, but he supposed they could be somewhere.

"So what, are we supposed to fight it? Or just, I dunno, capture it? The objective wasn't very specific, just to make sure it didn't threaten anyone... like there's many people around to threaten in the first place."

[fierybluebird]

"Let's capture it. If it's a lapahn, they make great pets!" Great for the kind of people who think dinosaurs are also great pets a fantastic food source. Fortunately, if the Garden's training center was any indication, they certainly counted in that category.

"Got any rope or something? And seriously, keep an eye out for others, eh?"

[espio]

"I suppose that'll do. I can't actually fight like this anyway..." You know. Human, lacking in normal abilities, lacking in his usual sense of coordination and - importantly - bundled up so much he's more packaging materials than anything else.

"No rope, but I've got magic - I just need to be in range, and I can hit it with a sleep or stop spell."

[fierybluebird]

"What if it's immune to magic?" a small pause. It's probably not a reasonable worry, but then again, the dragons are resistant to somethings, so it's a reasonable concern.

[espio]

"The majority of monsters aren't immune to all status effects," Espio answered, recalling his World Bestiary classes. "If I use Double, I can quickfire a bunch of them and see what works. But if it is, sorry, you're stuck fighting it. This is where scan would be useful..."

He hadn't carried scan spells for some time, actually. He limited most of his para-magic, and half of the ones he carried were for junctioning purposes. Still, he cast Double on himself in preparation.

"Indirect magic is underrated enough as it is."

[fierybluebird]

Marco spreads his hands with a shrug. "What can I say? I wanted to focus on anything I could use back home, and magic's not among it. Hopefully your spells will do the trick though, eh? Because my belt isn't enough to loop anything more than a foot."

He rubbed his chin for a moment.

"Actually... you got any food on you?"

[espio]

"No. I had no intention of eating anything while out in an ice field, believe it or not. Magic it is."

Starting with doubling Haste on both of them, without bothering to let Marco know or even asking permission to cast random spells on him.

[fierybluebird]

It's fine, because with Espio as his brother, Marco trusts him with even magic.

"Better just do our best to try to knock it out cold then, eh? Besides, I forget what they eat. Probably meat."

He took off running to meet the Lapahn, and aimed a quick kick at the rabbit's legs, only even with the haste, the rabbit takes a giant jump over his head before it would ever come into contact. "Watch it Espio, they're fast!"

[espio]

Fast, huh? Espio makes a dash to the side, keeping far enough away to hopefully not attract its attention, but still trying to get in range. While the Lapahn is distracted by Marco, he can try to slow it down...

Slow, Blind. Hopefully one or the other will have some sort of effect.

[fierybluebird]

Both do! Because Marco was definitely overestimating their magic resistance, which is nil. That being said, however, their.

Even as Espio successfully gets the Lapahn bound up, five more Lapahn jump out and pounce on Marco, quickly dogpiling on top of him.

He seems to be enjoying himself though, if the maniacal laughing is any indication, and he starts tossing and kicking them off, still laughing like a loon.

[espio]

Aaaand now there's a whole bunch of targets. "Remind me to learn how to use Triple when we get back!" Espio calls out, sending out a pair of Sleep spells. He's not too concerned - Marco pretty much has a constant auto-regen on him, and if he's laughing like that he's clearly not too bothered himself.

As he prepares to send another pair of sleep spells out, though, he hesitates. "Uh, Marco?"

[fierybluebird]

"What's wrong?" Marco makes sure to send the next few Lapahn, away from Espio just in case.

[espio]

Was something wrong? Oh, yes, definitely. Espio goes oddly quiet for a moment as he fumbles around for something, but - much to his great distress - that something happens to be frozen solid and completely useless as a consequence.

"Dammit..."

The potion was supposed to last at least another half an hour! And how come his spare froze so quickly?! He should have kept it closer to his body.

Okay, two choices. Either stay wrapped up in the clothes that are frankly now smothering him and stay warm as long as possible, or try to help finish the fight so they can escape quicker. The former was the most sensible option, so naturally Espio chose the latter, charging towards the nearest Lapahn from behind and slamming it into the ground as his Stop ST-atk junction took effect.

"I have a problem!"

[fierybluebird]

"Shit! You shrunk already?!"

Welp, definitely time to finish this fast. "Get back into those clothes, my flames can only heat you so much. I'm going to knock these out, think your spells can hold the one?"

Marco suddenly stopped in his tracks right as a few Lapahn came running up to him and he flared a little bit of haki, completely cheating, as he held up a hand of blue flames, regarding the Lapahn coolly. "I won't hurt you, you're just protecting your nakama, but I've got to do the same for mine, understand? You can either all come with me and protect your friend, or I'll take the one and separate you. And we both know you can't stop me. Choice is yours, decide quickly."

[espio]

"Shrunk?!" Espio protested. No matter how true it was, he didn't much appreciate Marco's choice of word. "If I hide in that pile of fabric, I won't be able to move!" Besides, it wouldn't keep him warm for very long.

It would be better than right now, though, he had to admit to himself. With freezing air on the outside and with every breath of it taken in, he didn't think he could handle it for much longer. It somehow seemed colder than he remembered, and he was already feeling overwhelmed. He didn't think he could get back over there in a hurry.

"Last time... I used elemental defense so I could fight in the cold..." he recalled. He hadn't thought of it, this time.

[fierybluebird]

"Do you have that with you?" Marco forced his voice to remain calm. Inside he was already inclined toward panicking. It had been all his stupid idea to bring the chameleon out here, to egg him into this, calling him a scaredy-cat until he caved, and now Espio had to pay for it? Definitely not fair. But it would be no good lamenting it. What was done, was done, he just had to start making it better from here on out.

He doesn't wait long to see if the Lapahn decide to come with him, he just runs back to grab Espio and stick him in his shirt. "Don't fight me on this, I can wrap you in my feathers until we get somewhere warm, it'll just be... difficult." Stupid stupid stupid. Horsing around with his brothers was fine when he had 1600 because they were also enough to keep him in check and remind him when he's going overboard and plan ahead for eventualities like this. Damn it.

Marco grabs the sleeping Lapahn, and now checks on the others. And holds Espio out enough just to see them. "Got anymore sleep spells? I promised I'd take them all back. It's not fair to split up family, eh." Never underestimate the absurd morals only a Whitebeard pirate could have.

[espio]

"No - well, I have Elem-Def, but not enough Blizzards to have any effect..." Espio began to explain, before suddenly he found himself in Marco's shirt and up against his chest. Holy shit. What was he, a kitten?

Naturally, he struggled for a moment, but it was a brief one considering what the other option was.

"I always have a lot of sleep spells," he answered, obliging by casting another pair. Sleep being a spell found on the Training Centre monsters, there was always a ready supply.

[fierybluebird]

"Cast it on them and I'll carry them out of here. We'll have to get more rope or something when we can though, eh?"

Marco rubbed his chin. "I wonder if the training center's even big enough to accommodate them all."

[espio]

"Can we figure that out later?" Espio asked, firing off more sleep spells. "You know, when I'm not freezing my tail off?"

[fierybluebird]

"Aye aye, thanks for the spells, eh? Let's get you all out of here." He grabbed he could and got moving.

"If nothing else, I'm sure they can gang up on the T-Rexaurs."