The Watering Hole | Job | Zoe and Ryo

ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT HER LIPS ALLOW

and it's been a while but

GIVE A LITTLE TIME TO ME - OR BURN THIS OUT WE'LL PLAY HIDE AND SEEK, TO TURN THIS AROUND, ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT YOUR LIPS ALLOW. OH MY MY

oh give me love

A smile illuminated the light blonde haired girl’s face as her partner mentioned that he knew someone who had the abilities of wind as well. The smile was mainly due to the fact that in her lifetime, Zoe had not had the chance to be able to encounter a lot of wind mages – except, for her mother; however, that was not something she preferred thinking about. At the moment, she felt a sudden desire to meet the friend that Ryo was referring to and excitement bubbled up inside of her. “Really?” She questioned him, exhilaration laced in her voice, “If you don’t mind, I would love to meet this friend of yours one day. Mainly, because I haven’t met many others who possess the same abilities such as me and I’m sure it would be delight if I could meet him; I bet we’d get along great!” Unbeknown to Zoe, however, this friend of Ryo’s would not be able to meet her; at least, not in his current condition but perhaps, some day he might be able to.

As the train finally arrived at their destined location, Zoe followed Ryo and Gora outside letting him take the lead because, she knew for a fact that the black-haired man could guide them better to their location of the tavern. And why? Because the light-blonde mage could sense that Ryo was indeed, far stronger than her and also, more responsible; something that she lacked a little bit due to her bubbly and over-excited personality. When they finally reached the tavern, she noticed it was closing down and then, silently listened to the owner and Ryo’s discussion; her blue orbs continuously, scanning the surroundings around the tavern.

It was when her partner spoke to her did Zoe look up at him, a tad bit startled because she had been too engrossed in observing her surroundings. “That sounds like a wonderful plan to me!” She exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air with a determined grin on her face. However, worry gnawed at her at the thought of Gora being inside alone but, she knew he was a very strong wolf and if Ryo had said he would be inside, then she knew he could handle himself. Bending slightly since she didn’t have to bend too much considering the wolf’s size, she petted him on his head once and said, “You be careful inside, okay?”

After ensuring Gora was inside the establishment, Zoe looked up at Ryo with her blue hues and crossed her arms over her chest. “So, now what? We just wait? What if the enemies don’t show up? Actually, more importantly, what if they’re drunk when they show up? That’s going to be nasty because I don’t want to fight drunkards. One; it’s no fun at all and two; it’ll be disgusting because they’ll smell of beer and all and that’s just–” However, before she could continue talking – which she was doing a lot mainly due the fact that she was bored – a noise echoed from somewhere around the tavern, signifying another presence apart from the Sabertooth mages and the wolf and it was at that moment, that the blonde could finally say this.

ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT HER LIPS ALLOW

and it's been a while but

GIVE A LITTLE TIME TO ME - OR BURN THIS OUT WE'LL PLAY HIDE AND SEEK, TO TURN THIS AROUND, ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT YOUR LIPS ALLOW. OH MY MY

oh give me love

Stupefied, Zoe could stare with her mouth slightly ajar as Gora changed his form transforming into three times his size right before the door closed. Her eyes were wide as she witnessed because clearly this was something that the blonde had not expected at the least. But then again, Gora was indeed a strong, magical wolf so this should have been no surprise; however, it was because Zoe had now a fragmented a cute wolf within her mind however, this sight made her feel slightly bad for the ones who would be facing Gora because he could easily squash them like ants. Recovering from her initial shock, a slight grin made its way to her lips. “Gora is so cool! He’s cute and he can kick ass!”

Turning her head to Ryo when he spoke about the fact that they shouldn’t underestimate their opponents and she should be on her guard, a vigorous nod was followed after the statement, “Aye, sir!” from the blonde. Witnessing him emerging some cards from his pockets, the light-blonde wind mage wondered how card magic worked however, she would witness it quite soon. Following Ryo right on his heels as he rounded the corner from where the voice had materialized from, Zoe’s eyes scrunched up as she stared at her opponent. Alcohol roamed the air around them that had arose from their enemy making the blonde scrunch her nose in disgust just by witnessing his pitiful state. It was quite difficult to take them seriously in this form.

Ryo attacked the mage with one of this cards as Zoe’s mouth gaped in awe as it transformed into a bolt of lightning. “Cool.” Her voice was merely a whisper but reverence was clear in it. However, that wasn’t enough for the alcoholic mage as he neared at them again, swinging a beer bottle. With her feet firmly placed on the ground to give a boost, Zoe took off into the air and did a slight twirl before activating her ‘Blades Of Venti’ spells as small, sharp and immaculate wind blades formed; one placed between each of her fingers as she held them in a supposedly, ninja stance before swinging back her arm and launching them towards the alcoholic mage. The blades successfully broke the beer bottle however, they only managed to make the mage stumble a bit before he got back up and cackled; his voice resonating evil.

“I’ll kill you both!” With a roar, some form of black energy formed around his hands which could identified as black magic as the mage charged towards Ryo ready to completely attack her black-haired card magic partner.

ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT HER LIPS ALLOW

and it's been a while but

GIVE A LITTLE TIME TO ME - OR BURN THIS OUT WE'LL PLAY HIDE AND SEEK, TO TURN THIS AROUND, ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT YOUR LIPS ALLOW. OH MY MY

oh give me love

The entire time that Ryo was engaged in combat with the other dark mage, Zoe remained afloat in the sky, witnessing the continuous assault of cards at their enemy. A light grin encompassed her lips as it hastily dawned upon her that her partner for this mission had the upper hand. However, what happened next was not something she expected; not at all. At the impact of the thunderous lightning bolt towards the foe, her right hand automatically flew to her mouth; a gasp of shock echoing from behind her frail hand. The man was dead. With a single shot, he was dead and to say that Zoe was surprised would be an understatement. She was in shock at Ryo’s action and the excuse he made to cover it up still did not make the action justifiable in Zoe’s eyes.

Refusing to utter a single word; simply because the ability to form a coherent sentence was gripped away from her by the aspect of surprise and shock. Her face had occupied upon it a look masking how she was slightly upset and angry at Ryo. First Emilia adopted these methods and now, Ryo. Her capability to understand why exactly they would resort to this was a mess. However, her attention was then diverted onto their next opponent who appeared to be another man in the same drunken state as their previous one.

“I’ve got this.” She muttered, clearly aimed towards her black haired partner and raced forth towards her opponent from the sky as the man let out an incomprehensible roar filled with unidentifiable words; preferably, due to the stoned state he was in. The same blades that she had used the last time to attack their previous opponent formed in her hands; one blade between each finger. They gleamed a light shade of grey depicting themselves as immaculate blades despite having the composition of only the element of wind which was in a state of materialism. Abruptly, coming to a stop with a slightly furious look plastered on her face, the light blonde haired woman let the blades escape her fingers and aim towards the man.

Luckily, they struck him hard causing him to stumble vigorously and tumble downwards on the floor, clutching the areas – mainly, his arms, chest and face – which were bleeding pouring drops of crimson due to the blades. Wanting to defeat him and render him in an unconscious state, the female aimed for another attack by flying closer to him at a fast speed however, what happened next clearly, surprised her.

As soon as she neared her foe, the man hastily raised his hand towards her; a dark black orb forming within his palms, slowly growing in size. And within a mere matter of a second, it shoot forth from it a huge beam of black energy towards the blonde female. Her eyes widened in shock and it dawned upon her that she had absolutely no time to counter it as the attack struck the blonde, making a scream filled with agony echo from her lips. Zoe was sent flying backwards, crashing into the wall of the tavern with such extreme force that the area which she had struck had cracked to a huge extent; the lines whirling to a very large distance, spreading its tentacles far and wide. Fortunately, it was not enough to break the wall however, a little more would have done it as the Sabertooth mage slid down the grey coloured wall, an excruciating groan escaping her lips.

ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT HER LIPS ALLOW

and it's been a while but

GIVE A LITTLE TIME TO ME - OR BURN THIS OUT WE'LL PLAY HIDE AND SEEK, TO TURN THIS AROUND, ALL I WANT IS THE TASTE THAT YOUR LIPS ALLOW. OH MY MY

oh give me love

From the significant impact of the light-blonde haired mage against the bricked wall of the tavern, an immense amount of sheer pain coursed through her entire being as her teeth grit against one another to stop the groan emitted by the agony to escape. However, Zoe’s attention had been completely diverted from the pain to the figure who positioned themselves in front of her. As she sat on the floor, her hair disheveled; she could only stare with wide eyes at the vast magnitude of a purple shade of aura radiating from him. Within the confines of the aura, the female could sense anger, fury and concern. Anger and fury towards the drunken man and concern towards her.

When Ryo fired his cards towards the foe, Zoe instantly knew that the man stood no chance against her partner’s formidable elemental cards; as they continuously struck the enemy, rendering him incapable of even counter attacking, a grimace occupied the female’s features. However, the grimace was highly overpowered by other feelings swelling within her as the grimace disappeared when Ryo approached her, concern laced in his voice about her well-being as he gently inspected her for any fatal injuries. It made a soft smile grace her lips at his worry. “Don’t worry. I’m okay, just hurts a bit but I’m fine. I appreciate the concern.” At this point, the blonde had forgotten or rather, chose to ignore what Ryo had done before. She knew more than well that he was a good man and perhaps, it was okay to let this go. Especially, when he was being so worried about her.

The other feelings that swelled up within her were these; happiness and apprehension. Happiness at this concern towards her and apprehension at her own behaviour, not only towards him but towards her own carelessness as well. Zoe had already displayed a massive sign of weakness making her partner worry however, she did not want to anymore. She wanted to engage in combat; battle her opponents and prove that she is indeed, strong. Her powers may yet be in the phase of developing however, how much she possessed now had to be mastered; completely.

And as she stood up, grimacing slightly at the sudden pain of the action, she looked at Ryo with a bright smile as the ache slowly dulled away. And it was at that very moment that the duo were greeted yet again by foes. It was as though an army of them were slowly surrounding them; emerging one by one, slowly increasing in number. For unlike the others times when they had encountered enemies that were a mere one person, this time there were four of the enemies. However, only two of them radiated the unpleasant essence of alcohol whereas the other two seemed unusually, normal. But Zoe knew that they had to be cautious for who knows what the enemies may have in store for them. Momentarily, the blonde’s mind drifted over to the wolf that was situated inside the tavern, wondering how Gora must be doing. However, she was confident that he would be safe; considering, his enormous size, the lovable wolf would clearly be able to dominate and eradicate any opponents who dared to oppose him.

“Alright, this time, I won’t make you worry like that. Promise.” Zoe spoke, her words waved in the direction of Ryo as an unwavering look occupied her features. She would stay true to her word; she would not let him worry again. And with a resolute faith in her abilities, the Sabertooth mage took off into the air and towards two of them opponents that stood on one side. Both of the men she was heading towards were the normal ones; the ones that had absolutely no signs of alcoholic consumption. However, as she neared them, Zoe figured out what they were as they swiftly, took out guns from within their pockets and shot. The two men were hired mages; preferably, assigned by the ones in charge of initiating the theft of the beers from the tavern. Coming to an abrupt stop, the female rose her hand as the spell ‘Cardea’s Shield’ was summoned; the wind around the female accumulated in front of her to form a protective barrier shielding her frontal area. The bullets from the guns struck the shield as the female raced forth towards the two men, the shield intact with the bullets bouncing off, ready to aim an attack towards the two men.