Crystal Cave Adventures

Noctis had spent a week maybe more traveling to Sakuramori, and travel was exhausting to him, to say the least; but here he was at a small village in the middle of nowhere waiting on his partner to show up. 'She should have been here by now.' he thought as he leaned against a cherry blossom tree as light rain fell on the area, the falling rain cause the scent of the cherry blossoms to fill the air creating an intoxicating perfume the wafted through the damp, cool air. Noctis mused quietly under the tree about the past 2 months' events, trying to compartmentalize everything and internalize it for further use. Still, his mind kept wandering to darker times and things... things he would much rather forget, but due to unfortunate circumstances, he doubts he ever would. Noctis let out a heavy sigh as he opened his eyes "Ok, where the hell is Victoria? Anymore waiting alone with just my thoughts, and I'm going to go insane!" he said aloud since he felt like nobody was around to hear him speak.

Noctis was slightly uncomfortable in his less than usual garb; however, one can not simply mess jobs and stuff in such fine clothes, so he had purchased some nice but durable attire for jobs and stuff. He currently donned an almost floor-length hooded leather coat that was dyed cyan, basic but sturdy black leather bracers with half finger gloves, a black leather shoulder harness that proved moderate protection over some of his chest, fitted pants, a black dress style shirt, a leather leg harness that was the home to several throwing daggers, and calf-high black leather boots trimmed with blackened steel. While not his usual attire, it was better suited for the task he was here to accomplish. He was fairly certain his white dress attire would have been irreparably stained. The thought of white clothes being stained caused his nose to wrinkle and his ears to twitch in mild irritation as he much preferred an immaculate and professional look versus an unruly and unkempt appearance. Noctis sighed yet again before finally deciding to lean back against the tree and wait for his rather later partner on this job as she should have been here at or around the same time as him if not before. Still, it mattered little; maybe he could get a nap in while he waited, he thought as he closed his eyes and started to drift off.

Noctis Word count: 421
Thread word count:421

-On the road to Sakuramori-

Wearing her Azure Armor over her white Steel Matron t-shirt and wearing khaki cargo shorts instead of a skirt for a change, Victoria walked towards Sakuramori to meet up with a new member of Sabertooth who had requested her help with a search-and-rescue job. However, her partner had left the guild hall way ahead of her and had presumably reached the job site by now. That meant that the brunette would have to play catch-up.

Unaccustomed to being late, the brunette realized that she should have used her DH-40 Centaur Prototype to ride to the scene and cover a lot of distance quickly, but she had not thought about using the hovercycle until it was way too late to do so. Oh well. She would just have to remember to use it the next time she went out on a job. Victoria frowned deeper when she walked towards Sakuramori and got caught in a light rainstorm without an umbrella.

This day just kept getting better and better.

First she was late to meet her partner and now she was going to get wet.

At least there was plenty of tree cover that she could use to mitigate the worst of the rain. Victoria hustled under the cover of nearby trees and resumed walking. She needed to hurry up and find her partner before they either got frustrated and left or decided to proceed with the mission on their own. Victoria looked for her partner as she proceeded towards a small village that featured a lot of cherry blossom trees.

-Inside the small village-

Victoria was only lightly wet; her hair had caught the worst of it. Long hair was a pain to keep up, but she could fix it later when she was back at the guild hall. She ignored the state of her hair and looked for her job partner, who had to be somewhere around the village. Victoria walked through it looking around the houses and the trees until she spotted someone resting beneath one of the cherry blossom trees.

He was clad in an almost floor-length hooded leather coat that was dyed cyan, basic but sturdy black leather bracers with half finger gloves, a black leather shoulder harness that provided moderate protection over some of his chest, fitted pants, a black dress style shirt, a leather leg harness of some kind, and calf-high black leather boots trimmed with blackened steel. The man stood out among the simple houses and the cherry blossom trees, so Victoria figured that he was her partner. As the brunette approached him she took a closer look and saw that the man was the cat guy from Red Dragon Inn.

Victoria recalled his ethereal weapons and stopped about six feet from him before calling out to him.

"Sorry I'm late. I got a late start thanks to bad traffic outside Ace of Spades." Victoria apologized to the cat guy. He would probably throw it back in her face with a snide remark, but at least she had tried to apologize.

[Post Word Count: 512]
[Victoria's Word Count: 512]
[Total Word Count: 933/7,000]

Noctis had dosed off underneath the tree; the soft pitter-patter of the raindrops on the leaves and the sweet perfume of the cherry blossoms had lulled him into a light sleep. His ears twitched slightly in his sleep like they always did, except the began to twitch rapidly as Noctis was having a nightmare. Suddenly he was in a dimly lit bedroom looming over the top of an apparent sleeping figure, a wicked-looking dagger could be seen clearly raised and poised to strike the unwitting sleeping victim. Noctis screamed internally 'NO!!!!' as he fought against the impulse, an urge, no a compulsion that was not his own. His mind raged against the compulsion trying to break free from the bewitching, but it was to no avail as everything from that point happened in slow motion.

The wicked-looking dirk fell deftly in slow motion, the tip of the blade piercing the sleeping person's chest once, twice, three times, and so on and so forth the blows fell upon the previously sleeping now dead and mangled corpse, and then blackness overtook him. Noctis awoke with a blood-curdling scream, "Annaliese!" his heart pounded in his chest. The reverberations could be heard inside his head, a rapid heavy thump thump thump thump. His skin felt cold and damp; his breathing was shallow and ragged. It took several moments for him to regain his composure and calm down " It was just a dream, Noctis, it was just a dream." he said aloud, his breathing still ragged. When he finally did regain his composure, he noticed a young pretty lady standing about 6 feet from him.

A moment of recollection and close examination told him it was the young lady from the Red Dragon Inn. He grimaced slightly as he realized she had likely witnessed everything and was horrified that he might have to explain the entire situation to her. As it stood now, this was the second time he had done something slightly crazy and odd in front of her and had already made a rather poor showing of himself the first time they encountered on another. During the internal monologuing, the young woman spoke, "Sorry I'm late. I got a late start thanks to bad traffic outside the Ace of Spades." He blinked slightly at her, his ears twitching. Had she not seen or heard anything that had just happened, or was she just pretending not to have seen or heard any of it?

Noctis became more horrified, realizing that he must really seem like a crazy person to her; he paused to take a deep breath before responding to her, "It's uh... fine.." he said abashedly " Look... um... can we talk for a bit?" he said pausing as he worked out what he wanted to say in his head " I uh... do not think we got off on the right foot at the tavern and after what you just saw... I uh really don't want you thinking I'm crazy." he said as he looked at the ground in a dejected manner his ears going flat slightly "So... yeah... I would like to apologize and explain somethings if that's alright with you." He said as he glanced up into those soul-piercing eyes of hers.

[Post word count:540]
[Noctis word count:961]
[Total word count: 1473]

Victoria was not sure how the cat guy would take her tardiness, but she was pretty sure that closing the distance and tapping him on the shoulder or nudging him awake would result in her being lucky to just lose a limb for touching him. From what she had seen of him in the bar he was no stranger to combat and was able to react to threats at a moment's notice, the exact amount of time he would need to sever her hand or arm with one of those ethereal blades for touching him. While it was true that the brunette was far stronger than her partner, even someone as powerful as she was could bleed out if she lost a limb.

Victoria worried that she was not loud enough to wake him up, but she need not have worried about that. He woke up with a bloodcurdling scream and shouted a female name, an unexpected response which caused the brunette to jump in place and take a step back so that she did not end up getting hit by the cat guy. She waited at a safe distance and carefully watched him. Once she was sure that he was not going to lash out violently she approached to within three feet of him and spoke.

"Um, are you sure you're OK?" Victoria asked him in a voice that was not patronizing. He looked to be physically OK, but she was not sure if he was mentally OK. Sometimes Victoria was not sure if she was mentally OK. She kept hurling herself into dangerous situations and fought things that no ordinary human should face such as demon lords and actual, honest-to-Ishgar demons. Her idea of treatment was a stiff drink or two, perhaps even a whole bottle.

Maybe "OK" was just a mask that she wore to fool herself and others.

Victoria was about to speak further when he addressed her again. What he had to say next was honestly surprising. He admitted that the pair did not get off on the right foot at the tavern and requested a chance to talk to her before they proceeded any further.

Victoria was willing to give the cat guy a chance. If they were going to continue to work together, she and the cat guy needed to make peace with each other and put their differences behind them. While she had thought uncharitable things about him, she was willing to hear what he had to say... and change her mind about him if what he had to say was satisfactory.

Besides, Itori had given her a second chance after Victoria had given the fox lady attitude about taking slavers alive during their job in the Phoenix Mountains, so she owed Cat Guy a second chance.

"Sure thing, Mister. I'm willing to talk." Victoria said in a voice that was free of judgment or sarcasm. She had nothing to lose by hearing him out.

[Post Word Count: 493]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,005]
[Total Word Count: 1,966/7,000]

Noctis smiled slightly when Victoria finally responded. "Sure thing, Mister. I'm willing to talk." with that, he took a few steps closer to her before bowing completely at the waist.  "I seek your forgiveness for my misconduct in the tavern." he said quite bluntly before standing back up and stepping a little closer.  Noctis pulled back his hood, revealing his face fully; his eyes were somewhat puffy and red as though he might have been crying or was just suffering from lack of sleep. Noctis was about to start speaking again when the rain's intensity increased significantly, going from a sprinkle to a downpour in just a few seconds. Noctis sprinted back under the cherry blossom trees branches; the branches provided moderate shelter from the rain though not completely.

Noctis decided they were not going anywhere anytime soon if the weather had its way, so he started talking. " So... about what you just saw, I suppose you would like an explanation?" he asked more so for his own benefit knowing full and well she deserved one. " So about 5 years ago, a tragedy befell me." he said, pausing as this was clearly not easy for him to talk about. " Once upon a time, I was engaged to a woman named Annaliese, It was an arranged engagement typical for families of somewhat noble standing." He said, glancing over at her as he leaned against the tree. " We had known each other as kids, and when we were both sixteen our engagement was announced, at that point, neither of us cared for the other in the romantic way we merely saw it as a duty... no, that's not right a responsibility would be more accurate. " he paused again taking a breath and wiping a raindrop off his nose before continuing " Well as time went on we grew to care for each other, and it started to seem less like a duty and more like something we enjoyed, Well jump ahead 4 years and the wedding was only a few months off." He paused again, trying to maintain his composure

" Well, one night I woke up and I was not in control of my body, I was completely aware of everything going on around me, but my body did not react when I tried to move." he said as he wiped what may have been a tear or raindrop no one could tell for sure " Well, turns out that night my body had a mind of its own, so it wielded a dagger, and the proceeded to stab my fiance to death." he said as he started to get choked up visible tears streaming down his face. "I blacked out after this happened; she must have screamed at some point because the next thing I remember is the authorities rousing me and placing me in cuffs as I was suspect number one." he said, sobbing " Anyways, an investigation was done and I was examined by mages, and it was concluded that I had not acted by my own volition but that I had been magically controlled like some puppet by a mage." he said as he wiped away tears " No culprit was ever caught, but here I am a broken mess and afraid to use my magic because of how it was used on me and what it caused me to do." He said, still sobbing slightly.

Noctis took a few moments after speaking to wipe his eyes and attempt to regain his composure before looking  Victoria in the eyes " So there you have it, and I relive it every time I fall asleep.," he said. "Terrible way to live knowing that sleep only brings pain and misery." he said, wiping away another tear as he looked her over, hoping he didn't seem so crazy now that he had explained his situation to her.

[Post Word Count: 652]
[Noctis Word Count:1,613]
[Total Word Count: 2,618/7,000]

Victoria listened to Cat Guy's story and learned that he had a lot of personal tragedy packed into the brief tale.

He had once been engaged to his childhood sweetheart, the "Annaliese" that he had mentioned when he first jolted awake upon her speaking to him. They were formally engaged when they were sixteen and over a period of four years what started out as a responsibility between the children of upper-class families became less of an obligation and more of a voluntary commitment to one another. From the way he told it it was shaping up to be a match made in heaven, but the moment things were going well for the two was the moment that tragedy struck.

Then it happened.

He then told Victoria about waking up and coming to the horrifying realization that his body was not under his control, a thought which was terrifying enough on its own. What made it worse was that he was fully aware of what was going on and fully aware of what was going to happen as "he" reached for a dagger and stabbed his fiance to death. Things went from bad to worse as he was arrested by the authorities and labeled Suspect Number One. Victoria listened further and learned that there was an actual investigation and an examination by mages which concluded that he had not acted of his own free will, but was rather controlled by someone else. However, exoneration did him little good since the real culprit had never been caught and he continued to relive what happened every time he dared to sleep.

Not even sleep could bring him relief. Instead his trauma followed him there and he was forced to replay it.

Victoria was not sure what to say to that. She did not want to give him empty platitudes and she did not want to say nothing at all. Victoria took a deep breath before speaking and made eye contact.

"Now I fully understand why you reacted how you did. And I don't think you're crazy." Victoria said to him in a serious tone of voice. While her problems were much less intense than what her partner was going through, her mind occasionally turned to the Maws of Hell and the three times she had blasted people to a crimson mess with high-explosive grenades. She also remembered what happened to the people of that village coated in Phaaz so long ago. Even now Victoria could not stand to look at her Sniper Rifle or look through the scope because she sometimes saw ghostly images of human faces on the other end.

Victoria thought a little more about what she had been told, about how someone had turned him into a puppet without his knowledge and used that control over his body to ruin his life. The only way he would ever get any real closure would be to track down the person who did it and either bring him to justice or end their life. She was thinking that Cat Guy was strongly considering the second option and Victoria could not blame him if he did.

"What happened in the tavern is in the past. I forgive you." Victoria told him in a serious tone of voice while maintaining eye contact. She wanted to work with him, not against him. If that was to happen then both mages needed to set aside their issues with each other and let the past be in the past. To make that happen Victoria needed to ask for forgiveness herself.

"...I didn't make the best first impression either. First there was the comment about you being well-dressed, then the implied threat that you'd get a faceful of Bean Bag Round if you stepped out of line after the bar fight. I'm sorry about both of those things." Victoria apologized to her partner for what she had said and done at Red Dragon Inn.

[Post Word Count: 657]
[Victoria's Word Count: 1,662]
[Total Word Count: 3,275/7,000]

Noctis smirked slightly as he wiped away a few more of the tears that graced his cheeks. He reached into his coat and produced a flask. " By the way, My name is Noctis, Noctis X'ail." he said before lifting the flask to his lips and taking a sip of the contents, which just happened to be a rather fine 30-year whiskey. He savored the flavor for a moment as if he was lost in the memory of happier times before offering the flask to Victoria. The contents of the flask would have rich notes of honey, fruit, and dark chocolate.

Noctis finished wiping his face free of the tears only to realize Victoria was staring at him, he was about to speak, but she spoke first. "Now, I fully understand why you reacted how you did. And I don't think you're crazy." Noctis let out an audible sigh of relief as if a small amount of weight had just left his shoulders. "You have no idea what it means to me to hear you say that." he said softly as a wry smile graced his face. It had been some time since Noctis had smiled genuinely; perhaps it was just because he had finally got a lot of what he had kept secret for so long for fear others would flee from him should they find out. This was not the case with Victoria. She just sat there appraisingly as if she was digesting the rest of the information he had just dumped on her, or perhaps she was thinking about her own demons.

The downpour had lessened to a drizzle and Noctis was about to suggest that they get a move on with the job they had been tasked with doing when Victoria locked eyes with him. It was slightly unnerving until she spoke "What happened in the tavern is in the past. I forgive you." He nodded slowly before breaking eye contact as her gaze felt like it was once again looking deep into his soul. " Thank you." he said warmly he was not expecting her forgiveness let alone sit there and listen to all that. Their were both strangers to each other, granted they were members of the same guild but strangers nonetheless. "You have done more for me in the last 10 minutes than I would have expected you to do." he said smiling a bit more]b] "If you ever need anything and I mean anything do not hesitate to ask."[/b] he said in a friendly manner.

Noctis stretched a bit and started walking towards the cave but realized that Victoria was not following. He turned to face her and she spoke "...I didn't make the best first impression either. First, there was the comment about you being well-dressed, then the implied threat that you'd get a faceful of Bean Bag Round if you stepped out of line after the bar fight. I'm sorry about both of those things." Noctis was shocked he had not expected an apology for anything; so he stood there his mouth agape as his brain scrambled of how to respond to that. He walked up to her and lightly poked her nose "I forgive you." he said smirking "Now, I believe we have a job to do, and I would hate to keep our client waiting any longer than we already have." he said as he started for the cave. Noctis walked with a bit more confidence after their discussion and his step had an almost imperceivable amount of spring in it.

[Post Word Count: 596]
[Noctis Word Count: 2,209]
[Total Word Count: 3,871]

"And I'm Victoria. Victoria Sheridan." Victoria introduced herself to Cat Guy, whose real name was Noctis X'ail. She would have to avoid calling him Cat Guy by mistake and would have to use his real name from here on out. Otherwise things would go back to square one with the two of them being on less-than-friendly terms.

After introducing herself in full Victoria heard him say that assuring him that she did not think he was crazy and forgiving him for the rough start was doing more for him in the past ten minutes than he had ever expected her to do. Victoria was a little surprised by that, but she was glad to see and hear him say that. Her being able to show compassion to someone who had been rude to her was another sign that her humanity was not totally gone despite some of the things she had said and done. Maybe there was hope for her yet.

To her surprise Noctis wholeheartedly accepted her apology for her brusque behavior towards him in the Red Dragon Inn and offered her forgiveness. Victoria felt fairly sure that he would feel that she was apologizing just to smooth things over instead of believing that she was genuinely sorry for how their first meeting went, but to her surprise he believed that she was being sincere, which she was. She was genuinely relieved to know that he had forgiven her like she had forgiven him. Now she was certain that the pair of Sabertooth mages could present a united front against whatever problems came their way during this job.

Victoria then heard him offer help whenever she needed it. All she had to do was ask and Noctis would drop everything and come to her aid. Brianna Tano had done the same for Victoria and the brunette did not want to make people feel like they owed her services for basic human decency, but she might need his help one day, so leaving the door open was not a bad idea.

"Thanks, Noctis. I may really need your help one day. If I need your help I'll be sure to ask for it, but I won't abuse the privilege." Victoria said to him. While she was reluctant to expose him to the kind of danger she faced on a regular basis, he did not specifically say that he was to be called only in life-threatening situations. She could ask for his help with less dangerous but no less important tasks like finding her adoptive father or taking on gangs of mundane threats like bandits. However, she did not want to disrespect Noctis by calling him in for basic chores she could handle herself.

After thanking Noctis for his offer of help Victoria recalled him saying that they needed to get going on the job their client had hired them to do. The brunette jolted when she had the realization.

"Yeah Noctis, you're right. We'd better get going before the client decides to hire someone else!" Victoria agreed with him before hustling to catch up to her guildmate as he set off for the cave. Once the brunette had spoken to the "real" Noctis he was a pretty cool cat guy. Hopefully he would find Victoria to be pretty cool once he got past the "angry street kid with a model's body" part of Victoria's personality.

[Post Word Count: 565]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,227]
[Total Word Count: 4,436/7,000]

Noctis smiled Genuinely at Victoria upon hearing her say, "Thanks, Noctis. I may really need your help one day. If I need your help, I'll be sure to ask for it, but I won't abuse the privilege." " I'll be looking forward to it!" he said teasingly as they walked towards the entrance of the cave. It had been a while since anyone was actually counting on him to help them at one point or another.

Noctis knew very little about Victoria other than her name and that she was in the same guild as he was, so he decided to gather some intel as they walked. "So... how old are ya? " he asked casually as he glanced over at her. Noctis had looked gave her a once over at the tavern, but he had not really had a chance to pay much attention due to the little hellion that destroyed half the bar in a single attack over some damaged candy. She was actually fairly attractive, with long legs, silky brunette hair, and big green doe eyes; he was perplexed how someone as gorgeous as she needed to work as a mage when she could easily make a killing as a model. Alas, it was not his life to live, and he was certain she had her own demons to slay or had slain at one point or another.

The cave grew closer as they walked, and Noctis looked back towards the cave, hoping he had not been caught staring at her.  The cave's mouth loomed large and dark ahead; vicious-looking stalactites and stalagmites could be seen dotting the ceiling and the cave floor.  "Well, that looks.... inviting." Noctis said sarcastically.  The job's target was a young girl who was believed to have been abducted or lost, and her location was somewhere in the cave with whom or whatever decided to take her.

Noctis paused outside the mouth of the cave and jerked his hand out to the side, appearing out of thin air was a wicked looking greatsword now firmly clutched within his right hand. Granted, he could have done this at any point but better to be ready for a fight than fumbling around within a dark cave where danger could loom around any corner. Noctis looked at Victoria asking, " You don't, by chance, have a light?" Weapons he had plenty but light sources... well, he had none that were very effective for being used as a constant light source as most anything he had that projected light also caused damage at the same time.

[Post Word Count: 429]
[Noctis Word Count: 2,638]
[Total Word Count: 4,865]

Victoria heard Noctis ask how old she was and decided to go along with it. It was no state secret, after all. Well, maybe it was shrouded in mystery since she did not know her birth name or birth family and thus did not have official records to consult, so she was going on guesswork here. Having a more attractive alternate form that she was currently "locked" into did not help matters, but she was not complaining too much. Who would complain when their alternate form looked like a model?

"I'm eighteen years old, Noctis." Victoria answered. She was not sure if Victoria was even her birth name. Maybe it was something Lawrence had named her so that he did not have to call her something technically true but really awkward like "Kid" or "Girl". She saw Noctis looking at her and saw that while he might not be attracted to her he was paying attention to her appearance. Victoria was amused.

She wondered what Noctis would have thought about her original form. As "Normal Victoria" she could have easily passed for a guy. She was shorter, had short dark hair, was thin, and unless she wore unmistakably feminine clothing like a dress she could easily be mistaken for a guy. Even then wearing a dress was no guarantee that Victoria would be taken for a female.

Victoria saw the cave looming ahead and it did not look like it was a place for tourists. Noctis even commented on the imposing appearance. The stalactites and stalagmites were aligned just right to vaguely resemble a beast baring its fangs at the Sabertooth mages... at least from her point of view.

"Yeah. Real nice place they have there. That's where I'd spend my vacation time." Victoria matched Noctis' sarcasm when commenting about the appearance of the cave. It was about as inviting as an active volcano. She looked towards the dark mouth of the cave and heard Noctis asking about a light source. The brunette blinked.

"I... I forgot to pack a flashlight. I was in such a hurry to get here that I forgot to bring most of my gear except for the body armor I'm wearing... and my wallet." Victoria sheepishly admitted to Noctis. She was in such a hurry to meet up with her job partner that she had forgotten to pack most of her gear except for her Azure Armor. Regrettably a flashlight was not among the gear that she normally packed, but she might need to start adding one soon.

"Maybe we can buy one at a local store. I'll pay for it." Victoria suggested in a hopeful voice. If luck was with her a local store would have a flashlight for sale. If luck was with her Noctis' recently raised opinion of her would not sink too low after she had admitted that she did not bring a flashlight for the cave exploration.

[Post Word Count: 487]
[Victoria's Word Count: 2,714]
[Total Word Count: 5,352/7,000]

Noctis stared into the darkness of the cave, which was not actually dark to him due to his feline-like abilities, but he doubted Victoria knew this. "I'm eighteen years old." He heard her say, "Eighteen, eh? I kinda remember that age." He said, still looking into the darkness, hoping she had a flashlight, or she was gonna have a bad time of it trying to navigate this cave. It was at that moment Vic informed him of her lack of a flashlight or lantern. "I... I forgot to pack a flashlight. I was in such a hurry to get here that I forgot to bring most of my gear except for the body armor I'm wearing... and my wallet." Noctis sighed slightly. He looked at her repeatedly wonder where the hell should have possibly fit a wallet in form-fitting armor with no pockets but alas, questions for another time.

"Well... I got good news and bad news." he said, pausing for effect. " Good news is I can see in the dark and can lead you through the cave if you hold my hand." he said, pausing again " The bad news is no shop has a flashlight or lantern for sale." he said with a grimace. Noctis realized this was going to be rather difficult holding hands was gonna severely limit their combat effectiveness. " We can only hope there is light further inside, but the first few hundred feet is pitch black." He said as he turned back to face her, still unable to make eye contact. It unnerved him to look into her eyes.

Noctis was not entirely sure what they would find within the cave, but he was certain there would be a need for weapons and moderate amounts of violence sooner rather than later. While they had been discussing what to do about the cave, the wind had picked up significantly, and the sky had gotten darker, turning almost green as only a few hundred feet away Noctis could see a driving wall of rain coming in there direction and not really liking the idea of being soaked he made up his mind for them.  In the few seconds after Noctis had attempted to scoop up Victoria in his arms and had blinked the last one hundred feet or so into the dark foreboding shelter of the cave mouth with the rain getting there a few seconds later and all hell broke loose outside. if she had let him, she would be in the cave with him; if not well.. she was likely drenched from head to toe. "Well... I guess we only got one direction to go." he said sarcastically.

[Post Word Count:446]
[Noctis Word Count: 3,084]
[Total Word Count: 5,771]

Victoria listened to Noctis touch on the subject of being eighteen before informing her about a way that they could navigate the cave. She was not sure if she was going to like this or not, but since she had forgotten to bring a flashlight, the fault was hers for them being in this situation to begin with. She braced herself for the good news/bad news segment that was to come.

The good news was that Noctis could see in the dark, making a flashlight more of a luxury than a necessity. The bad news was that in order for them to navigate the first few hundred feet of the cave Victoria would have to hold his hand and let him guide her. Victoria also heard that there was no nearby store which sold a flashlight, something which bummed her out just a little. She had forgotten that she was not in Sakuramori proper, but rather in a small village that was a long way from Sakuramori.

"OK, Noctis. Since we don't have time to detour to Sakuramori itself to buy a flashlight, I'll just let you guide me through the cave and hope there's more light deeper inside." Victoria agreed to Noctis' plan for the sake of saving time that they possibly did not have to spare for detours. While they had been talking about what to do about their lighting problem the wind picked up, the sky had turned a weird green, and a wall of driving rain had appeared to make their day miserable.

Victoria let herself be carried into the mouth of the cave thanks to Noctis' ability to teleport a long way in a short time. Thanks to him she reached the mouth of the cave without getting soaked in the process, something which she was grateful for. Besides keeping her dry, the gesture was also thoughtful because he was considerate enough to make the offer to begin with despite the fact that they had just begun working together.

"Thanks for the carry, Noctis." Victoria thanked the cat guy for carrying her this far. The cave felt kind of cold thanks to the darkness and being wet from the rain would have made traveling through the cave miserable. She heard Noctis comment on them only having one direction to go in and laughed a little.

"Yeah, Noctis. I think the way we have to go is pretty straightforward." Victoria agreed with his assessment of the path ahead. She hoped that he was right and that they would have only one way to go. If the cave branched out they could get in deep trouble. If the cave branched out and they got separated they could get in even deeper trouble.

[Post Word Count: 455]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,169]
[Total Word Count: 6,226/7,000]

Noctis smiled slightly in the dark, unaware if victoria was capable of seeing the smile. She had just thanked him for carrying her into the cave, had he not done so, she surely would have been soaked. "Yeah, Noctis. I think the way we have to go is pretty straightforward." he heard Victoria say, her voice echoing against the din of the maelstrom going on just outside the cave entrance. Noctis laughed softly at her comment " I don't think it will be that straightforward." he said softly, trying to minimize the echo his voice would create as he did not want to alert anything up ahead to his presence more than he needed too.

Noctis could hear in the silence the occasional drip-drop of water from somewhere up ahead. The cave was slightly cold with a soft breeze that seemed to be like the cave was breathing. Noct still holding Vic's hand guided her forward through the cave, their pace was slow but progressive. Noct being able to see every nook and cranny within thirty feet was ok in the dark, but he doubted Victoria could see farther than three feet in front of her face. They walked for about ten minutes. When something suddenly fell from the ceiling, Noct saw it and reacted with a flash slashing it in half, the two pieces falling loudly to the floor. It was just a normal stalactite that had fallen loose from the ceiling. The next ten to fall, however, were sentient to a degree. Noctis backed up with Vic behind him and slowly surveyed the situation before him.

The creatures looked like sentient stalactites, but they had cutes faces and appeared to be capable of floating towards them. Noctis sensed no hostile intent, but the edges of them looked rather sharp. He let the sword drop, and it disappeared into thin air. " Well... we have a predicament." he whispered softly in Vic's ear. He had stopped backing up as the small crystal creatures had stopped advancing and looked somewhat sad that he and Victoria had been backing away from them. " So uh we have these little creatures ahead they appear harmless... So I would rather not harm them." he said softly, keeping his voice low " So I was gonna suggest you hop on my back and I carry you through them as fast as possible as I can run if you're on my back." he said softly again. He really hoped she didn't think he was using all these reasons to touch her as excuses just to be close to her.

[Post Word Count: 435]
[Noctis Word Count: 3,519]
[Total Word Count: 6,661/7,000]

"Of course it won't be that easy. I was kinda hoping that it would be, though." Victoria meekly remarked back to Noctis. He held her hand and continued to guild her through the cave, which was slightly cold but not unbearably so. The brunette listened to the wind blow through and the rhythm sounded like a person breathing. Could this cave actually be alive?

Nah.

She was imagining things.

Victoria continued to follow Noctis as they progressed through the cavern and trusted in him since visibility was absolutely atrocious for her. She walked when he walked and paused when he did so that they did not get separated by abrupt movements. Speaking of abrupt movements, after moving at a decent pace for ten minutes they abruptly stopped and Victoria heard the sound of something being cut and two pieces of that something hitting the ground in front of Noctis. Moments later Noctis warned her about some creatures that had appeared in front of them.

He stated that the creatures were harmless and that he did not want to harm them. Victoria was not sure if that was a good idea... if something harmful or a whole lot of harmful somethings lurked up ahead, she did not want their escape route to be cut off by the seemingly harmless creatures. However, since she could not judge for herself how dangerous the creatures were, she would defer to Noctis on the matter. He suggested that she hop on his back so that he could run and ferry her past danger. Victoria found that suggestion an effective way to travel; they both got past the danger and she did not have to worry about getting separated from him or being dragged along the ground should she fall.

"OK, I'll hop on your back so that we can get by these creatures without harming them." Victoria agreed to his proposal and obligingly hopped onto his back so that they could get moving.

[Post Word Count: 328]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,497]
[Total Word Count: 6,989/7,000]

Noctis was pleased and a little relieved when Victoria finally agreed to let him carry her. Though she sounded less than pleased with running away from the small stalactite creatures, they had no choice. The job contract stipulated that they were not allowed to harm any of the crystal creatures in the cave. So Noctis ran on quietly, avoiding a few crystalline looking fox creatures.  They looked interesting and wanted to stop and examine one, but they had loitered enough as it was and needed to move on. Noctis ran on for a bit dodging a few more crystal stalactite creatures and a few more foxes before the cave started to open up into a large open area that was dimly lit.

In the middle of the dimly lit cavern sat a sobbing child with a fairy-like creature that appeared to be trying to console the child as it was speaking softly, saying things like "It's ok" and "Nothing is going to harm you." Noctis stared on for a few moments in awe of the creature before it spun abruptly as if just noticing his and Vic's presence. The fairy creature did not look happy to see them.

"What brings you to this place?" the creature asked defensively as it placed itself between the child and Noct. "We are from the Sabertooth guild. We were hired to find the child and return them safely back to their family." Noctis said as he held his hands out to the side with his palms facing upward in a non-threatening gesture. "What proof have you that you are a member of this guild?" The creature asked, its tone and demeanor still cold.  Noctis looked to Victoria for help. "Show her your tattoo mines not exactly appropriate," he said sheepishly, all the while the fairy stared them down awaiting proof.

[Post Word Count: 306]
[Noctis Word Count: 3,825]
[Total Word Count: 7,295]

Victoria hung onto Noctis as he took them past the unseen creatures and into a chamber where a fairy-like creature was speaking to a female child. Victoria looked towards them and quickly realized that she was the child they had been sent to rescue. Noctis tried to calm the creature down and assure her that he and Victoria were part of Sabertooth and they had been sent to retrieve the child. However, the fairy creature was not going to let the child go without seeing solid proof that they were friends and not foes. Noctis asked that Victoria present her guild tattoo as proof of her membership in Sabertooth to the fairy creature... he was unable to do so since his was not exactly family-friendly.

Now was Victoria's chance to prove that she was useful!

"I've got this, Noctis." Victoria said with confidence as she calmly walked forward at a slow pace so that the fairy creature did not zap her with magic that turned her into a toad or something. Once she got to a distance where the creature could clearly see her she turned her left shoulder towards it and rolled up her shirt sleeve to expose her left shoulder. The guild tattoo was in black and was visible on her left shoulder.

"Here's my guild tattoo. I'm one of Sabertooth's older members, but I'm far from the oldest." Victoria said to the fairy, staying right where she was and letting it inspect her tattoo whenever it was ready. A feeling of uneasy peace prevailed and she did not want to ruin it by making any moves that could be interpreted as hostile. Victoria would remain in place until the fairy creature was either satisfied with their claim or refused to believe them.

[Post Word Count: 295]
[Victoria's Word Count: 3,792]
[Total Word Count: 7,590/7,000]

Noctis was kinda worried the fairy thought they were trying to fool her as the fairies eyes seemed to narrow for a moment as Victoria walked towards the creature. He watched as she lifted her shirt high enough to expose her guild tattoo as well, which Noctis had only seen once before at the bar when he had asked for proof of membership from her.

The fairy eyed Victoria closely as if expecting some sort of ruse but finally floated closer to inspect the tattoo. The Fairy stared long and hard at it as if she had not expected it to be the genuine article. Finally, she spoke. "Fine! You may leave with the child." she said curtly. "A word of warning though, If you so much as harm a hair on that child's head, you will never make it out of this cave alive." she said with venom dripping from every word.
Noctis nodded in agreement, "Thank you." He said respectfully. Noctis made his way towards the little girl and crouched down in front of her "Ready to go home?" he asked the little girl playfully, his ears twitching. The little girl, hesitant at first, nodded her consent, and Noctis carefully picked her up. He slowly walked back over to Victoria, the young girl still in his arms. "Let's get out of her, Victoria." Noctis said as he put his hand on Victoria, and suddenly they were back at the cave entrance, Noctis having used his teleport ability to get them out of the cave.

They walked back to the in silence as the little girl had fallen asleep in his arms, and he really did not want to wake her. They walked for about fifteen minutes before reaching the village. It took only two or three more minutes to return the girl to her family. Noctis watched the happy reunion before taking his leave to the edge of the village.

[Post Word Count: 322]
[Noctis Word Count: 4,147]
[Total Word Count: 7,912/7000]

Victoria did not think that the creature was particularly threatening, but she decided to let the matter drop now that the child was safely with Noctis. She did not want to go making any more enemies than was necessary. They had what they came for, so she decided to part on good terms in case they had to pay a return visit to these caves one day.

"Thanks. And don't worry about the child. She'll be fine." Victoria assured the fairy creature. Victoria was not offering it an empty platitude. The brunette would make sure that the child they had just rescued was safely reunited with her family. Moments after assuring the fairy creature Noctis put his hand on her and the trio teleported out of the cave with no further opposition.

-Outside the cave, on the edge of the village-

True to her word, Victoria had made sure that the child they had rescued made it to her family without incident. The child had fallen asleep in Noctis' arms and asleep she remained as the Sabertooth mages walked fifteen minutes to the village they had met up at. It took only a couple of minutes for the child to be reunited with her family and for the job to be technically complete. Now all Noctis and Victoria had to do was return to Ace of Spades and they would have completed their first job together.

Victoria met up with Noctis and spoke to him.

"Say Noctis, despite our rough start I think we make a pretty good team. You've got good reaction time, good weapons, and the ability to teleport. I've got decent support abilities and long-range firepower." Victoria complimented him for a job well done. The pair had indeed gotten off to a rough start in Red Dragon Inn, but after their conversation they were working together pretty well. The brunette hated to see such a winning team break up after only one job together, so she thought of something.

Noctis might need someone he trusted to work with. Victoria needed to build up some contacts within the guild. Maybe they could come to an agreement that could benefit them both in the long run.

"I know this is kinda sudden, but would... would you like me to become your mentor?" Victoria asked Noctis.

[Post Word Count: 386]
[Victoria's Word Count: 4,178]
[Total Word Count: 8,298/7,000]

Noctis waited patiently for Victoria to meet up with him outside the village as he was rearing to get back to civilization for a nice stiff drink. She showed up several minutes later and apparently had something to say."Say Noctis, despite our rough start I think we make a pretty good team. You've got good reaction time, good weapons, and the ability to teleport. I've got decent support abilities and long-range firepower." Noctis smirked slightly, " Oh, my reflexes are not that fast." He said, laughing slightly. "But yes, we do make a fairly good team" he said as he started walking, except Victoria didn't follow.

Noctis stopped and walked back, and as he did, Victoria spoke."I know this is kinda sudden, but would... would you like me to become your mentor?" Noct's jaw hit the floor. He was not expecting something like this at all. He was unsure of what to say for some minutes; slightly confused, he finally responded, " Sure, I guess." He said, confused. "I guess you could fill me in on the way back to Ace of Spades ya?" he asked curiously as the two began their trip back to the guildhall to report the job as complete.

[Post Word Count:202]
[Noctis Word Count: 4,349]
[Total Word Count: 8,500/700]