Time and Tides Archives

Cissnei grinned when she heard the shot. Tseng. But she didn't have very much time to think about that: Zack was in a poor, sorry state after getting a good hit on the dragon. "Zack, you idiot!" she shrieked, sliding over next to him. "You're SOLDIER, not invincible," she scolded, handing him an uncorked potion and nearly force-feeding him.

She slapped his face lightly to try and wake him up, madly trying to drag him and herself away from a now extremely vicious, extremely angry dragon. How much did he even weigh? To her, it was like dragging a ton of bricks. In a split-second decision, she pulled out a bomb fragment and threw it at the dragon to buy some time for the two. "C'mon, get up," she muttered angrily.

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The shot that rang through the early afternoon sky had him nearly crying for happiness. Tseng! "Good to see you, sir! Welcome to the mud-spa!" he joked briefly, blue eyes never leaving the very angry dragon, even as Zack's attack succeeded and failed at the same time.

"Zack!" he yelped as he saw the SOLDIER fall, frowning and throwing a potion toward the dark-haired warrior and the petite Turk. Of course, due to his own wounds, that throw went wide and crashed directly into the putrid hide of the beast they were fighting.

He cursed as the glass broke and the liquid sank into the wounds on the creature's legs, but perked as - instead of giving the creature more energy or helping close the wound, the dragon emitted another harsh cry of pain. The potion HURT it. Of course it did - it was a zombie. Not alive.

"Got an idea, everyone! Check THIS shit out!" After downing a potion of his own, he pulled his bag over his shoulder, reached into it and pulled out a length of twine that had originally been used to hold some of their food containers closed - now that they'd eaten some of it, there was no need to keep all of it. He wrapped the twin around as many hi-potions and regular potions as he could manage, tied it tightly, then flung it at the dragon with all his might. The ensuing roar that left the dragon's throat had him quite literally jumping up for joy, and whooping as the creature staggered.

"Anyone have phoenix-down? Might not kill it, but it'll hurt it even more!"

Who ever said that Reno couldn't plan? He just was best at coming up with them in the heat of battle.

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"I wouldn't have thought spas had monsters," Tseng answered, raising an eyebrow. He would agree that there was certainly mud, but the place was far from anything he'd ever consider a spa. Especially when there was still a monster to work on taking care of.

True, Reno's stroke of genius (assuming it could even be called that) had saved them some time, but he rather doubted it would go well if they trusted to only one method. Even more so because they didn't know how much damage they had left to do. With something like this... it probably wouldn't even give them the benefit of showing how badly it was hurt.

"I didn't think to pick any up before leaving. How many potions do you have left?"

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Zack tried not to choke as he was force-fed the potion. And then he tried to catch his breath as Cissnei slapped him awake. "I hear ya, I hear ya..." Shakily, he rose to his feet, though his balance was offset by the marshy ground. He hoped Cissnei wouldn't mind if he used her as a leaning post for a second.

The pain in his harm didn't stung yet, but he knew it would soon enough, after the adrenaline of the fight wore off. Watching Reno's grand plan, he saw his sword still embedded in the dragon's leg.

"Crap. I gotta go." It was difficult, but he sloshed his way back into the fray. Now, how to get that close again without any weapons...

"Reno, Tseng, cover me." And he threw himself at the monster, hoping to get the Buster sword back without too much trouble.

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Cissnei gnashed her teeth for a split-second as he supported himself without any real warning that he was going to do so, but managed to find stable footing for the both of them.

Reno and Tseng? Reno and Tseng? Did someone just manage to push one of Cissnei's buttons? You bet. She crossed her way into the battle next to Zack, who was very stupidly valiant in his efforts to get his weapon back. "You're not going by yourself," she informed. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. If there was only some way to pin it down or at least get it to a position where the leg was stunted and useless.

"Don't waste the potions unless you're willing to go get more!" She shouted at Tseng and Reno. Which is exactly when an idea occurred to her. Frantically, she uncorked a potion and doused Rekka in the liquid. Cissnei flung the weapon with surprising force and accuracy, raking the dragon's eyes. "Make it fast, Zack," she snapped.

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"How else do spas keep people in shape if they don't have monsters?" he asked with a chuckle, now that he knew that Zack was okay. Humor was Reno's weapon of choice when things got tough. It gave him reason to keep at it.

Reno patted his pockets at Tseng's question, then wracked his brain to do a mental tally of what he had left. "Hm. I'd say ten more, give or take. Mostly hi-potions, a couple regular. Ciss has more. Zack should have some, too. We kicked the collective rear ends of a LOT of monsters before this one lumbered along." He frowned, eying the dragon again.

"If you take out the other eye, and Ciss can get both wings in shreds, I can zap it's skull again, and Zack gets the ankles, this thing won't be able to move. Or at least, not well. It'll be easier to avoid its claws..." He tutted. "Almost feel bad for this thing. It'll be a sitting duck." A very confused, brain-fried sitting duck.

It was all of their plans rolled into one, and likely Tseng was already thinking the same thing. "I wonder if an antidote can do anything for his breath..." he muttered half in jest, finger hovering over the button that would fire up his EMR again. "Wonder if I can get some of those potions in his mouth? I mean, the effect's gotta be more potent, right?"

Even so, as Zack and Cissnei moved in to get Zack's sword back, he hurled another potion at the creature, trying to distract the thing away from the two opponents. It was 'cover' enough, especially with Cissnei helping the man.

Edited Date: 2010-10-26 11:36 pm (UTC)

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As plans went, it certainly wasn't the most elegant. But it would do, more or less. They'd landed themselves in an unknown and unexpected situation, and as long as they survived, Tseng was willing to count it as at least not a failure, if not precisely a success. Ten hi-potions plus whatever else they happened to have on their persons wasn't a lot to pin their survival on.

"Don't try it unless you're sure you have a clear shot," he answered as the dragon turned in the direction of the person who'd just thrown a potion at it. "I'd rather not have to pick the potion out of the mud to try again."

Assuming the dragon didn't step on it first, and he wasn't at all sure of the effect that would have. It might wound the dragon more, or it might just end up with a potion buried dragon-weight deep in the mud. On the other hand, the fact that it was turning towards them made it a good deal easier to line up his shot, and a moment later another crack split the air as his bullet buried itself in the thing's eye.

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Zack nodded quickly to Cissnei as he ran in toward the creature's leg. If she was upset for whatever reason, she'd have to wait until this was all over for him to make up for it. Whatever that meant.

He saw the leg sinking into the ground and dove for it, his hands catching the hilt of the Buster sword. He yanked and dislodged the steel, naturally angering the dragon, but he gritted his teeth and swung again, slicing through the bone and rotting flesh.

One foot down.

Of course, this only made the dragon even more mad, so he dove out of the way, a little slower this time due to the energy he had just exerted, and warned the others when he got back up.

"Move away! He's pissed now!"

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Cissnei, slightly stunned and alarmed, ran as fast as she could. Even minues one leg, the dragon was impressively quick to catch up. She screamed loudly and nearly cursed as the dragon swiped at her side. She didn't have time to look and continued running at an even faster pace. She dove and slid behind Reno and Tseng then put her hand on the gash to stop the bleeding.

Hands trembling, she fished out several hi-potions and downed them quickly. Cissnei looked down at her bloody hand and the wound, seeing that it was closing, but not as much as she'd like. She drank another hi-potion and got to working on plugging the cut with mud. Crude yet effective.

"I'll stay back and work on the wings," she said between breaths. It was the best she could do at this point, much to her chagrin.

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His features twisted into something akin to horror as he watched the dragon charge Cissnei, his own screams for the younger Turk to get to safety mixing in with her cry of pain when that claw raked her side. "Shit... shit... Cissnei!" He dropped an antidote with the girl as she slid behind he and Tseng, along with a spare hi-potion, then nodded to Tseng.

"I'll distract it." He didn't need to tell Tseng to protect Cissnei - he knew the Turk leader already had it covered. And while Tseng kept the dragon at bay with bullets and potions, he and Zack were fast enough (and Zack was certainly strong enough) to avoid the claws while the two launched more distant attacks.

So he launched himself at the creature, flinching as fingers clutched at the rotting flesh of the decimated wing to fling himself up. Up. And onto the thing's neck, toward his head. His footing slipped a few times as the dragon tried to dislodge him, and he cursed loudly as hands had to grip that nasty, deteriorating monstrosity just to keep himself on it. But eventually he jammed his EMR into one of the shot-out eye sockets of the beast, growling as electricity tingled beneath the hand still touching the dragon zombie. Zapping the thing straight in the head.

Luckily, his hand was still wrapped tightly around the handle of his EMR when the thing rose on its haunches, shrieking in some preternatural scream, because that motion flung the redheaded Turk off it and into the swamp a few dozen feet away. He groaned when he hit, trying to roll a little in the sticky marsh. Everything ached... but the dragon was very seriously injured, and ... um... more pissed off. But disoriented! It seemed to not know where to attack anymore, swiping at thin air with its claws and beating wings that could no longer lift it.

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Had Tseng been the sort, he might have sworn as the dragon caught Cissnei across the side. As it was, his brow furrowed at the sight, his lips pressing to a thin line. For all that they'd started well, it seemed as if things were starting to get sloppier, whether due to desperation or tiredness he couldn't tell.

But there wasn't time to work his way through it at the moment, as Reno went charging in after the dragon - a move that meant that it was his job to cover the wounded. He wasn't about to leave one of his Turks behind if he could help it, and yet again the sound of gunfire rose into the air, this time aiming to distract the dragon away from Cissnei. Little pinpricks of nuisance, aimed at whatever looked like it would offer the most distraction.

And then Reno went flying over head before landed heavily into the mud and Tseng couldn't help but sigh. Something always had to go counter to the plan with Reno, but at least this one was comparatively tame.

"Now's our chance!"

He couldn't say how long it was going to stay disoriented and he wasn't sure if they'd get such a convenient moment again.

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Zack was about to launch himself back into the fray, but then seeing Cissnei get attacked froze him for a moment. Damnit! "Cissnei!" Part of him screamed to take care of her, but then they'd lose the temporary advantage on the creature. Cissnei could take care of herself, though, so Zack moved back in, sword at the ready.

He wanted to slit the dragon's throat, but Zack knew that would be incredibly difficult, and dangerous. Even so, if he could just get one hit in that area before moving to its other front leg...

Running as fast as he could back toward the reeking monster, he grew worried when it rose on its other legs and flung Reno away.

Then again, that was his opening to get to the other leg somewhat easier. Zack ran through the muck as fast as he could, reaching the leg as he swung the Buster at it. Hopefully he could be successful again, but with less damage to himself.

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Cissnei staggered slightly to get up after she drank the hi-potion and the antidote, knowing that the cut was still not fully healed. Leaving the legs to the boys, she threw Rekka at the other set of wings and it shred through the membrane with ease. She promptly flung a potion hard at the dragon's stomach, hoping that it would tip backwards from the bit of damage and let Zack and Reno go in for the kill.

She let herself drop to the floor, the cut suddenly bursting and stinging like no other. The mud, she thought. Cissnei tore off the caked bits and instead plugged it with her shirt, simply shoving the cloth straight into it. It turned scarlet quickly and with that she drank another hi-potion. The cut was much, much deeper than she expected it to be.

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Fingers moved to dust himself off, but thought better of it the moment skin touched mud. And then his attention moved to Cissnei.

Shit, shit and double shit.

"Ciss..." he breathed, hurrying over to the girl (more like limping), dumping the rest of his hi-potions in her lap. "Hey... you take as many of these as you need. And don't you dare fling that monstrosity you call a weapon until you're healed. Kay?" He ruffled her hair gently, hoping it might cheer her up, then nodded once more for Tseng to keep an eye on her. Projectile weapons were great for that kind of thing. He could keep the dragon from even knowing what direction the attacks were coming from, now that it was blind.

As soon as he had the chance, he ran in to join Zack, dodging a clawed foot and smacking his EMR against it to keep the beast from squishing him. The creature reared, then slammed down into the ground, making it shake for a second. "Hey... Zack?" he called out from a dozen feet away or so. "Can you get at its neck when it rears? I can get it up in the air... just hit its neck as hard as you can.... and lace your blade with a few potions if you can. Ciss is hurt. We gotta end this fast."

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Tseng offered a nod in return to Reno. It was bad enough to have had Rude disappear, and he wasn't looking to have to add Cissnei's name to number of Turks he'd lost to his arrival. And the faster they got rid of the dragon the better they could manage that.

"If you're going to get the dragon up, make it quick," Tseng commented, voice carrying easily across the distance, despite that he didn't seem to have raised his voice much at all. "And Cissnei, I'd listen to him. I don't want you to risk injuring yourself further."

Besides, if they could only get the dragon rearing again, he had an idea of his own that should help matters along, but that was assuming that Reno's plan was more successful than his last one had been, as bullets continued to pester the dragon.

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"If I get this foot, maybe it'll keel forward and we can kill it that way."He swung a few times, hacking away. "Or I can try and get up there, but I can't promise how effective I'll be." Zack swung again with all his strength, grunting when the sword hit bone once more. Quickly, he looked to see what the dragon would do. He really didn't want to go flying again.

But he couldn't waste time. Cissnei needed help and this game was not helping them. He yanked the sword out and grimaced when that clawed foot rose, much like the last one had. But this time, Zack backed away and shoved the blade into the ground, holding onto the hilt and using the entire sword as a shield. The claw came his way and Zack braced himself for the impact, falling to the side when the claw swiped, but he was unscathed.

Grunting, he pushed himself up and ran back toward the dragon, hacking away at the wounded foot. Just a few more strikes...

There! Two feet down.

And then the dragon reared in pain.

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Cissnei hated herself for being useless, but she knew better than to go out on a limb and aid the attacks. She didn't even bother fixing her hair as she had more pressing matters to deal with. She uncorked half a hi-potion, drank some and used the rest to clean off the blood around the wound, which stung enough to make her bite her bottom lip. The water is probably as bad as the mud, she thought to herself.

The good news? The wound was closing! The bad news? It was closing slower than she had figured it would. On the outside it looked nearly clean, but she felt the wound in her flesh. Another positive was that it didn't feel as deep as it did at first, but it hurt like a nasty bruise.

So she sat there, tending to her gash and sulking on the inside that she couldn't help. How she got so careless or reckless, Cissnei would need to figure that out later and make sure it doesn't happen again.

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The creature reared, and that gave Reno the chance he was looking for. He jumped just as those claws left the ground, aiming for the wounded foot with his EMR. It would be just enough pressure and shock to hopefully send the thing sprawling backward.

Sizzling metal rod met bloody, severed limb, and he put everything he had into that hit. The ensuing shriek of drastically-wounded pain was music to his ears - as was the staggering he saw the hind limbs do.

"Tseng!!" There was no need to tell the man what to do. If anything, Tseng was the man to tell them what to do! But the call gave the other man the cue that if he was going to strike, NOW was the time to do so. And of course, that call of his boss's name was followed a second later with a sharp "Zack!" as well - both men had the means to send that creature flying backward - and would leave the dragon prone for some wonderful killing blows.

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The shriek of the wounded dragon was music to Tseng's ears, and he barely need to be told what to do next. Now was the time to push the advantage, and he fully intended to make good use of the moment.

Mere seconds later the thunder of repeated gunfire split the air as Tseng emptied every bullet he had into the dragon's head, being careful to place them n the places that would do the most damage. There wasn't any sense to simple letting the ricochet off of the hollow bones of its skull. Forunately, its cries of pain made offered it's mouth as a convenient secondary target.

One way or another he would get to the creature's brain.

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Zack took just a moment to relax after his work, watching the dragon rear on its, literally, last feet. Zack needed to get up there to its neck, but how the hell was he going to jump that high when he had no High Jump?

But Reno grabbed his attention and he knew that not only was it important to get to the throat, but to knock the dragon over. Of course, then it became the question of how to do that. To topple a leaning structure, it was easiest to strike at the weak bottom.

Or, if the foundation were weak, knock over the top with force.

Zack stared at the dragon and its thicker hind legs. It was never easy. Quickly, Zack pulled out a couple potions and doused his sword, the liquid destroying the blood that still resided there with a hissing noise. He took a deep breath, and sloshed as quickly as he could through the muck, sword held tightly.

Once he was close enough, Zack jumped as high as he humanly could and aimed his sword at the dragon's chest, the tip of the blade stabbing into the flesh. The potion began to eat away at the flesh there and Zack knew that he had to act quickly before all of the skin disappeared.

But that gave him another idea. If he could get up to the throat and douse that with a potion, that might just do the job. He fished out another bottle with one hand and stuck it in his mouth before fisting his hands into the dragon. It would be hard, but he had to climb up the damn thing.

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Cissnei watched, fearful of what would happen next. She could easily throw Rekka at the open wound or some other weak point, but there were now two things holding her back: her wound (which she could easily deal with later) and her comrades performing very brave stunts (who she could very easily harm). Instead of using her weapon, she decided that throwing a hi-potion could potentially work. At least if it missed it would help someone out, right? Win-win situation.

Yet soon enough she decided against it as she saw Zack starting to make his way up the nasty thing. Boy were they reckless right now but she really couldn't do much else and have them potentially get very badly wounded. She stood in place, arms crossed, chewing her bottom lip and eyebrows deeply furrowed. All of this for a stupid chalice. Potentially important, but stupid nonetheless. This better be over soon, she thought.

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It was an all-out blitz on that dragon. The faster they all acted, and the harder they hit, the better chance they had of dealing a killing blow. He knew it wasn't going to be his own - his EMR wasn't powerful enough to deal such a blow to a creature like this one. But it COULD stun, and it could hurt...

And electricity could cause muscles to bunch up involuntarily. As Zack moved up the monster, Reno darted back and behind to send a whopping jolt up the back of its hind legs, forcing the muscles to clench, and sending the reared dragon further backward.

Combined with Tseng's hits, not being able to see, not being able to regulate its balance with its wings, and both Zack and Reno's physical attacks, it was inevitable. The monster tipped --- right toward the redhead.

He cussed up a storm as he dodged the falling beast, throwing another handful of potions at it. The last potions he'd dare spare, since he knew they'd need some to heal up later. "HELL YES!" he screamed as he came barreling out from nearly getting squished into the mud by fetid flanks. "Kill this sucker, Zack, and let's get out of this damned swamp!"

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'Get out of the swamp'. Now there was a sentiment he could agree with. He'd need a moment to reload, so everything was on Zack. The last final push and Leviathan be willing it would be enough.

If it wasn't, he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do. Too much longer, and they would be bound to run out of potions for themselves afterwards and that wasn't at all a pleasing prospect.

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Zack wasn't sure how it happened, but he felt the dragon start to tip backward. This was good news, that's really all that mattered. Zack clung to the rank flesh and hung on until it finally hit the ground, the footless front legs flailing uselessly.

Now was the time to end it, like Reno insinuated. Zack crawled the remaining distance toward the dragon's throat and uncorked the potion with his teeth, quickly dousing the creature's exposed weakness. The flesh hissed again, though the dragon's cries of pain drowned it out immediately after. His plan was working.

But Zack wouldn't trust just one potion. It worked quickly, but not fast enough. Backtracking, he ripped his sword from its chest and swung the blade toward the decaying neck, easily slicing the jugular. Thick, black blood spurted out and Zack jumped from the dying creature as its limbs slowly stopped moving.

Gods, he smelled like death. Literally.

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