Grouchy Roxas is grouchy

[thirteenth_brat]

Who: Roxas, Ash, Jenn, Aerith, Sora, Kairi, Aria, Pancake, Cloud, Riku, Rox and others as they arrive...
What: Roxas needs to vent. The Maw and any monsters in it are usually good for that. Well, okay, he took a monster hunt and left earlier than he planned to for it since he was ready to bust some heads, okay?
When: Saturday evening
Where: The Great Maw and its surrounding areas
Status: Ongoing
Notes: Can this log not die like the rest? *puppy dog eyes* Posting order... uh, order of appearance and some skipping may happen just to keep the log from dying. 8|



Roxas grumbled and cursed under his breath as he headed out. It wasn't that he didn't understand why they were upset. What was getting under his skin this time was that they were acting like he'd said he was going to run out and kill Josiah as soon as he could. Had they even read the whole entry? He didn't like the idea either, but they really had to consider the possibility. At least a few people had been civil about their disagreement, but some of them...

He paused near the Crystal Fissure and surveyed the surroundings. This was where they'd fought that White Mousse. All reports had indicated that there were plenty of Flan type monsters still hanging around there. Not surprisingly, he had seen a few on the way there, but they seemed to ignore him for the most part. He was headed further out anyway.

The Great Maw was not exactly empty, but there were a few monsters hanging around. In truth, he wasn't heading out here expressly to vent. He'd taken up a monster hunt and was just annoyed enough to head out earlier than he'd originally planned. It was nothing special. The guy just wanted some Ose pelts and those monsters frequented the Maw along with other Coeurl relatives. Not surprisingly, he did find at least one of the monster he was looking for right away. That was helpful and it lightened his mood a little. Now if he could kill it without getting too much blood on the pelt, he might be off to a good start...

Why did he have a nagging feeling that he wasn't alone, though?

Comments

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Truth be it told, Ash was a little surprised when Roxas showed up. She sometimes went out to the Fissures for target practice and for a break from being hunched over a book.

Ash had never had much to do with Roxas, but she appreciated that he had once been a Nobody too. She wasn't even sure he knew her name.

She lowered her gun and gave him a nod. "Hey. See anything besides flans out here? I haven't seen much bigger yet."

[riverfox-237.livejournal.com]

Jenn was nervous. REEEALLY nervous. When she'd mentioned to Aerith that she was worried about how good she'd be at staff-fighting for real, she HADN'T expected Aerith to suggest they make a trip to a place that nearby that actually HAD monsters. But then she couldn't really back down about it; she DID need the experience. But this was freaky. But surely there wouldn't be TOO MANY monsters, so she wouldn't have to worry about getting in too deep over her head.

...Uh, right?

As they entered the canyon, Jenn felt herself shaking a little. This was a bad idea, oh crap, what was she getting herself into...

And then the first monster popped up a little ways ahead, and...heck, it didn't look quite as threatening as she'd thought. It DID look like a moving blob of snot, though, which both disgusted the teenager and made her feel a little less worried at the same time. Jenn went into her default attack position, then glanced nervously over at Aerith. "Um...anything I should know about this thing before I attack it? What's it called?"

[holylifestream.livejournal.com]

Aerith smiled comfortingly at Jenn and turned back at monster. "This one is a Flan," she answered calmly, gripping her staff. "They're usually resistant to physical attacks, but this type isn't like that." She took a step forward cautiously, holding her staff in a defensive position. With a glance back at Jenn, she asked, "Did you want to attack first to try and get the hang of it?"

[riverfox-237.livejournal.com]

"That thing looks nothing like a delicious pastry," Jenn deadpanned.

"Uhhh..." She stared at the Flan (holy COW it was gross-looking), considering the options. "I guess...?" Honestly, she'd be happier if it attacked her first so that she'd feel like she was defending herself.

Still, they'd come here for a reason. She stepped forward and swung at the creature - probably waaay more timidly than she should have, but this was the girl who didn't even like squishing large BUGS. On the plus side, the Flan didn't look like it had a hard exoskeleton for its guts to suddenly burst out of. Although it did kinda look like its guts were already on the outside...

And while all of these thoughts were going through her head (because yes, they were), the creature reared up (if such a thing can rear up), made an unnatural squelching sound, and lunged at her. Jenn shrieked and whacked at it HARD this time, sending it rolling (if such a thing can roll) backwards.

Then the thing split in half.

"AaaeriiiIIITH!!!" Yes, there may have been some noticeable panic there. "They're multiplying like giant amoebas what do I do!!!"

[holylifestream.livejournal.com]

Aerith jumped in front of her, eyes trained on the two Flans. It wasn't uncommon for them to do that, she knew, but she hadn't expected Jenn to hit it hard enough for it to split like this.

"There's a couple of things we can do," she replied, trying to keep her voice sounding soothing. "We can each fight one of them, we can team up to get rid of one and do the same with the other... or we can run, and find something else for you to learn on."

With the way things were going, Aerith was thinking that the last option was probably the best, but she wanted to leave the decision to her disciple. It was a battle, and Jenn had to learn how to take care of herself, but it wouldn't do much good if she was going to panic. And the monsters multiplying certainly wouldn't help.

[riverfox-237.livejournal.com]

Jenn forced herself to stop freaking out, especially when Aerith jumped in front of her to block the two disturbing blobs of menacing goo. She was better than this, she shouldn't be freaking out. Despite her panic the moment before, her brain kicked into gear again. This was what they were hear to do. She could do this. Jenn wiped a strand of brown hair out of her face, huffed a breath, and said, "I-"

She didn't get any further, though. Because at that moment, a nightmare manefesation of deja vu came lumbering over a rise 30 feet away. Five mismatched heads ohshootthiswasBAD! That was the thing that had attacked their encampment in Narnia! That thing shot FIRE!

Staffs are not very good against fire.

"...I think we should RUN AWAY!" Jenn hollered, shooting a wide-eyed glance at Aerith. Seeing no objection from the healer, she bolted off in the direction where she thought she heard other movements...hopefully people movements and not monster movements. There was no WAY she was fighting THAT THING on her first day out!

[thirteenth_brat]

That was why it felt like he wasn't alone. He didn't really know Ash that well aside from knowing she'd been a Nobody for a while and had found Axel to be a nice pillow.

"I'm looking for some Coeurl relatives actually. I see one down there." And he really didn't know what else to say besides answering her question. This was awkward.

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

Sora knew Roxas was upset. Not that his Other would ever admit to it - the other boy was too stubborn sometimes, and not in the best way either. Sora hid a grin, knowing where that stubborness came from... they were, even after all that had happened last year, still sort of the same person.

A little bit.

He still knew Roxas well enough to know that he'd probably take his frustrations out in the Maw so that's where he was headed. The Kingdom Key shimmered into his hand as he bounced into the familiar area with its high rock faces and gravely paths. Hard to believe how much had happened here - was it almost a year ago that they had faced Xigbar down in the tesseract?

He looked around for his Other and spotted him up ahead with Ash.

[ariakitsune.livejournal.com]

Aria was in the maw looking for Pancake. She had been taking a walk with the dream hare when it spotted Sora and run after him. Apparently it had taken a liking to him.

She could see Sora up ahead with the dream hare not far behind him. Pancake seemed to be holding something shiny. Aria wondered why she hadn't noticed it before as she ran after them.

[thirteenth_brat]

Roxas noticed Sora first, then Pancake. The Dream Hare held... something. Roxas didn't really care what the little klepto had as long as it wasn't his. Aria wasn't far behind. Lovely, two people who might try to hug him were approaching and he couldn't very well just run away.

Instead, he sighed and turned back to scanning the area. He'd lost sight of the monster he'd been looking for and wished he'd picked a different day to try this hunt.

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

Sora ran up to Roxas, but didn't meet his eyes right away. Instead, he also began scanning the area, though he wasn't quite sure what they were looking for. So rather than make a big fuss about it, he put his hands behind his head and glanced up towards the sky.

"I guess it'll never get easier, huh," he said with a small grin.

[papoupromise.livejournal.com]

Kairi had gone on a walk to clear her head, trying not to think too much on the weeks before once again. Noticing people headed for the maw, she had followed until noticing both Sora and Roxas up ahead before sprinting towards them.

[thirteenth_brat]

Roxas wasn't angry with Sora. He was one of the few who hadn't gone on the offensive right away in response to the last post. That was greatly appreciated.

"I guess not," Roxas replied, "Then again, it might get boring if things got too easy."

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

The grin widened. "Yeah."

He lowered his arms only to cross them, tilting his head to the side but still not looking at Roxas. "Y'know, we've been kinda lucky. Everything that's happened so far has always turned out for the better." The keyblade master put his hand over his heart, and closed his eyes. "I believe that even now - especially now - that all we have to do is fight, and the light will always be there for us."

He turned a bright smile to Roxas, holding out his hand. In it was dangling a keychain, a tiny chakram, given to him months ago by Roxas' best friend. "Here, take it. So you can remember that we're always fighting so that we can be with our friends."

[thirteenth_brat]

Roxas really had no clue what to say. He could only look at the Keychain and accept it and wonder if he'd be able to jump start his brain to say something.

After a few moments, he gave up on saying anything truly intelligent. What he did say, while maybe not what one ought to say when given a something like that, was still said with great affection. "You sap.

Unfortunately, this cute little brotherly moment had to be interrupted as they heard a shriek and then distinctive 'Oof' of someone running into someone else. The monster following her merited far more attention, however.

"Damn it."

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

"Yeah? Hm. I was kind of concentrating on the weaker shit since I figured I was alone out here and was going for aim rather than experience, but if you don't mind my company I'll come along. Might as well do both."

She paused, noting the awkwardness. "Eh, don't mind me. I'm one person who isn't out for your blood, and we don't need to have afternoon tea or anything. I'd like to ask you something though. Nightmares. You have 'em."

She sighed. "That...wasn't a question. It's just I'm wondering because you were a Nobody too and now you're not...and the only other person I can think to ask has fruity dream powers...so...guess she doesn't count."

[thirteenth_brat]

"Some guy in town wants the furs and I need the munny."

At least he wasn't alone in being aware of the awkwardness. "Well, the only death threat I actually got over that was from Aya. Yeah, I do have nightmares. Not too often, thankfully, but they're there anyway."

He had to think about that one for a moment. "I think I'm still adjusting to that myself and..." Here he chuckled, "Fruity dream powers? That's one way to put it. I dunno."

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Ash's lips quirked up. She almost regretted not talking to Roxas sooner. Or, as seemed to be the case, hanging around him not saying anything unless it was necessary and getting a side order of snark on the sly. There were people you pontificated at and people who were the proverbial goat in the stable. Roxas definitely seemed to be the later, and it wasn't a bad thing.

"I am wondering if it's worth making a case-study out of it." she paused. "Y'know, a post-Nobody thing."

Her gaze drifted a short way down the path. "That...uh...rabbit? It seems to be holding something shiny." Ash knew about the critter but her mind was definitely not making the connection at present. "Should I shoot it?" her tone was slightly doubtful. After all, it seemed to have no inclination to attack them, but fiends were fiends and shiny meant potential net munnetary value.

[thirteenth_brat]

Now that Roxas thought if it, he really hadn't discussed his previous lack of a Heart with anyone at all, let alone anyone who knew what that was like.

"I wouldn't know. I suppose you could. It could end up being helpful information."

Pancake was coming closer and now Roxas thought he might know what the shiny object it held was. "That's... Aria's pet Dream Hare. Little kleptomaniac when she's ignored and no I don't want to know how Aria figured out it's female. Its kind don't attack anyway unless they're provoked."

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

"ooooh. Gotchya. And I'd have to go with 'if nothings' dangling, its probably a chick' which is incidentally lucky for Aria." She lowered her gun but twirled it in her fingers with a shrug. "Guess she's somewhere around then. I've not seen her in awhile."

There was a pause but to Ash at least it felt more comfortable this time.

"Well, like I say, the dream bit might be worth looking into." She smiled a little, watching as the other people arrived. "Looks like this chat is about to become a forum!"

[not-asoldier.livejournal.com]

When Cloud wanted alone time, real alone time, he liked to go train in the maw. Deing able to use that oversized sword of his did require traning, superhuman strenght only gets you so far, you know. And the maw had plenty of monsters and space to spare.

... Which was probablly why everyone else was here, great, so much for alone time.

[thirteenth_brat]

This was turning into a regular party. In his renewed attempt to scan the area, Roxas noticed Cloud.

"Is everyone looking for punching bags today?"

[not-asoldier.livejournal.com]

"It looks like it" Cloud replied, he had almost turned around and went back to the town, but... what the heck, he might as well stick around. It's not like he had anything else to do today.

[thirteenth_brat]

Of course. Why not? Most of these monsters weren't native to the world anyway and were probably causing problems because of it, so maybe a group thereapy session was in order?

So long as no one showed up who might not be looking to fight the monsters...

Roxas was about to reply when he heard what hewas sure was someone screaming.

"What the...?"

[not-asoldier.livejournal.com]

Cloud whipped his head in the direction of the screaming, then he glanced back at Roxas.

"We should probablly check it out."

If someone was in trouble he couldn't ignore it, especially if someone was suck in the maw. And Coud was prtty sure it wasn't just a scream, but a name being screamed. A very important name.

[riverfox-237.livejournal.com]

They didn't have to walk very long to find the source of the screaming. Because just as the two men were rounding a rock outcropping, Jenn rounded the same rock outcropping...and smashed full-force into Cloud. (Aerith was further behind her and thus did not suffer this fate.)

Cloud, being Cloud, didn't fall over, naturally. Jenn, being Jenn, and far lower on the scale of coolness and superhuman strength, pretty much bounced off of him and landed flat on her back, her staff skidding away across the rocky ground. She lay there for a few seconds, dazed, and then bolted upright again, a hand clamped to her face.

"Oooowww...what-!" Sliding her hand out of her eyes, she stared up in astonishment at Cloud and Roxas. "...You guys! What are you doing here? Wait, nevermind, thank stinking goodness you're here, there's a chimera after us and I am not NEARLY that good with a staff!" She cast a fearful look back over her shoulder, sucking in her breath as she saw the monster come stomping around the distant corner. Oh holy stinking crap!

[holylifestream.livejournal.com]

Aerith was jogging along behind Jenn and didn't miss the fall she took. Her immediate reaction was to gingerly help her back to her feet, and handed her the fallen staff, as well. She glanced over her shoulder at the Chimera coming after them and turned back to Cloud quickly.

"I don't think we can fight that with just staffs," she told him. He'd probably seen one before, so he likely knew more about it than she did. "Maybe you can, but we can't. We'll try to stay out of the way, but we'll help how we can. Jenn?" Aerith asked gently, looking back at the girl. "You didn't happen to bring your bow and arrows, did you? You can still fight if you did, but if not, you and I are going to stay toward the back, okay?"

And we shall continue this in the boss battle thread.

[not-asoldier.livejournal.com]

He might not have fallen over, but he did stumble back a bit, but before he could reply he saw the momster stomping around the corner.
Without a single word, Cloud pulled the First Tsurugi out of it's harness on his back and prepared to fight the thing.