The Rarest Flower (Kara & Akihime)

Now this was a job more to her style, not mucking around chasing after loose pigs and getting her clothes filthy beyond recovery. It was also nice to go on a mission with a fellow guildmember, which would be a first for the wind girl. Akihime had begun a little bit of exploring of the perimeter while she waited for Kara Matheson to announce she was ready to start, the Lamia Scale member being one fourth of Zuo Cii's brand new 'elite team', as Akihime liked to refer to them.

Together, they were half of the new group, and in her opinion more than enough to find a super rare flower for a medicinal shop in Magnolia. Their biggest problem would be keeping an eye out for strange or starving animals, in case they suddenly got put on the menu.

Her long reddish brown hair drawn back into a loose ponytail, Akihime waited at the edge of the forest, clutching a drawing of the flower in question. Her outlook was as upbeat and as positive as it always was at the beginning of a brand new mission.

"Definitely," she retorted, mirroring Kara's grin with one of her own, her confidence boosted by the presence of a guildmember - someone who would have her back if things got outta hand - and this being their first real assignment together.

"This shouldn't take long, I made a sketch of the flower like they described it." Well really the flower had been drawn from a combination of verbal description, written description and a hastily drawn sketch in an old remedy book she'd found in the library - but Akihime was certain they could find the flower now. She practically had it memorized, from the shape of the petals to the location it preferred to grow in.

"We should find it near the roots of a Redflora Tree, and the roots make it a little hard to reach but that won't be too much of a challenge." Akihime held out her drawing for Kara to look at, if she so chose, walking a little ways into the forest in the meantime.

"It looks like a-" Cut off by the eerie presence of growling, low and ominous from the surrounding woods, Akihime felt the tiny hairs on her arms stand at attention, goosebumps covering most if not all of her skin. So that was the feeling of having four sets of yellow eyes peer back out at you from the woods.

Not used to fighting in pairs, Akihime didn't think to move closer to Kara - both to watch her back as well as have Kara watch hers. Instead, she uttered a wind spell, just as a precaution in case they really were attacked.
"Divine Wind - Bracers." It was in those four to five seconds of build up as her spell activated and wrapped her hands & ankles in wind magic that one of the four wolves attacked.

Akihime blocked at the last possible second, narrowly avoiding getting razor sharp wolf teeth embedded in her arm. With her attack power boosted, she let out a small growl, blasted the wolf with wind magic and sent the wolf flying with a sharp kick back into the forest.

"One down, three to go."

Kara's magic was pretty impressive - Akihime considered amethyst to be a very pretty color, though that wasn't what made it so cool - though it only managed to successfully hit one of the remaining wolves. That was a bit of luck on the wolves' part, Akihime was sure.

Intending to pick up where Kara left off, Akihime used her wind magic as a boost and launched herself at the injured wolf. Surprisingly, her fist did not connect with the dense gray wolf's fur she had been aiming for, the creature having put on a burst of speed and avoided her attack at the last possible second. Not wanting to lose her momentum, Akihime drew Air Cutter from over her shoulder, the wind blade pulsing with magic energy.

She made a clean swing towards an uninjured wolf, but the creature was a lot smarter then she'd given it credit for - the air sung as the blade whistled past it's flattened ears, Akihime's noise of shock barely heard above the growling.
I missed?! But how--

To further her astonishment, the injured wolf tried to take a hasty bite out of her leg - but missed, fortunately. While she was distracted with that, however, the uninjured wolf made a swift lunge and sank it's teeth into her arm, Akihime shrieking in pain and trying to bludgeon the creature with the hilt of her Air Cutter.
"G-Get off of me!"

Blood was seeping from the four large puncture wounds on either side of her forearm, Akihime wincing and holding the injured limb to her stomach, feeling her heart pound. "T-Thanks Kara!" She stammered, both shocked by how badly such a bite had hurt and by how angry her teammate had gotten at the wolves. Remind me never to piss HER off.

Resolved to still fight despite her injury, and unable to sustain the Wind Bracers for much longer, the spell dissipated, leaving her arms and legs bare of the magical boost they'd had just moments before. Lifting the sword with her good arm, Akihime's eyes darkened, her expression turning aggressive as she launched her own (and likely her last) attack on the wolves.

"Divine Wind - Wind Slicer!"

A blast of 3 rapid-fire attacks were aimed at the remaining wolves - taking out the injured one finally, the creature collapsing with a tremendous yelp as it's legs were knocked out from under it - but the second wolf dodged the last three wind-blasts. Panting, Akihime threw up her guard, twisting the sword around to hold it in front of her in a ready position - but the wolf was faster. Snarling, it lunged a second time and it's teeth grazed her side, Akihime biting her lip hard enough that it bled in her efforts to suppress another yelp.
Dammit!

She took a half-hearted swing at the beast, but it had already backed up and was circling her, obviously having picked her as the weakest of the two and thus the easier one to finish off.

Kara's bravery and skill in combat was enough incentive for Akihime to keep herself together - though she was certain she'd bruised a rib - standing with a painful hiss of breath. "I'll finish this!" All they come into the forest for was a flower, and had it not been the wolves, this would've been a stupendously easy mission - though, Akihime now understood why wizards had been hired for this assignment and not simple woodsmen or huntsmen.

Gripping her sword tight, Akihime felt the wolf slam into the flat side of the blade as it made another desperate lunge - aware that it was in critical condition and likely wouldn't have the opportunity to escape - her teeth clenching together to suppress and further noises of pain.

Down you go!

With a hasty but precise stabbing motion, Akihime skewered the wolf in the chest, yanking the blade out with a grunt and watching as the animal slumped to the floor - dead or dying.

Now that the fight was over, Akihime felt within her rights to sit down on the ground, a little dizzy yet alert from the adrenaline and pain coursing through her arm - which she still cradled to her stomach. Looking up to Kara, the wind user flashed a reassuring smile. "I'll just catch my breath here a moment. Now where's that stupid flower hiding?"

By happenstance, Akihime glanced in the direction the wolves had come from. There, with its stunning yellow and red buds, was the tree they were looking for. The flower would be somewhere hidden in the shelter of it's roots; all they had to do was retrieve it.