[ xehanort is used to undergoing missions with others. solo adventures were not yet part of his journeys, his classmates travelling in threes at nearly all times. there had been some moments, with just himself and one other, but their friends would never be far off to help. independence was something he had been looking forward to, eventually. being in this world had sort of forced it upon him. but by some stroke of luck, he had found support in other ways. how grateful he was, to have wandered into surasthana cafe that day and found alhaitham by the chessboard. his and kaveh's care and generosity was something he valued greatly.
it's a gratitude he muses on as they take their separate routes. this mission, theoretically, should be easy for the two of them. alhaitham's abilities were more than simply impressive, they were powerful and practiced. the environment was a strange one to be fighting in, and perhaps facing the creature if it was discovered in the forest proper may be difficult to navigate with swordplay. alhaitham's dendro vision and his own magic might be more reliable there.
the stony shore was hemmed by a large peak of rock, past which the border of sea and land gave way briefly to sand (no tracks visible) and then to tangles of mangrove roots that stretched into the forest. the roots themselves seemed mostly undamaged as xehanort navigated through them, trying to not slip into the brackish seawater caught between the larger gaps, but there were larger bones and felled branches caught at the edge of the trees, as if something had come here to dispose of them.
the roots eventually taper back into sand, where on this side of the beach there was more evidence of activity. the sap, much like alhaitham had found, tough and shiny mixed with sand. and tracks -- or marks, really, long dragging ones leading from the water to the treeline. xehanort snaps a photo, sending it to alhaitham as he listens for any ambushes. ]
seems like it's forest-dwelling, but comes down here for some reason. fish, maybe?
[Alhaitham takes a little longer examining the solid ball of sap and sand before he moves on—though not before kicking it off into the sea after he's done, just as precautionary measure. The thing's packed enough to do some serious damage in the right hands, and considering what they are most likely going to be up against...
That feeling doesn't take long to prove itself right after Alhaitham continues down his chosen route. The first dead gull is easily ignored, but after the second and third one that he comes across (and so on) it very quickly becomes clear that this is something that is obviously a little more than one bird (or several birds) meeting an unfortunate end.
Just as he did with the branches earlier Alhaitham also attempts to take a closer look at the birds—the keyword here being 'attempts', for while some of them had been picked at, several others were basically untouched long enough for decomposition to start setting in. Alhaitham makes a note to himself to take a nice, long shower once he gets back home.
His shellphone goes off as he's busy backing away, so it takes a bit before he gets to see what Xehanort has sent over to him, and another one before he actually responds.]
Most likely an attempt to find a new source of food. DO you see any dead birds on your side?
[Unlike Xehanort Alhaitham doesn't send any pictures over. It's for the best.]
[ while waiting for a response, xehanort rakes the beach. the sap is scattered in smaller droplets like a spray as well as larger lumps along a short stretch of sand close to the water. ever curious, he reaches for a fist-sized piece coated in sand and tucks it into his coat pocket at the same time his phone buzzes with alhaitham's incoming text. it's a small blessing no one was around to see how embarrassingly he has started, then.
...birds? aside from some puffs of displaced feathers, he hadn't seen any - suddenly concerned, xehanort climbs back up the beach to the edge of the treeline. there, caught in the thin upper branches, he catches sight of a wing sticking out at an awkward angle. startled, his eyes track along the treeline and thinning shore as it returns to a stony surface. now attentive to it, he begins to make out the shapes before he even approaches; grey plumage and brown, dried flesh over thin bones. not many, but some, scattered over and even pierced onto stones.
he feels a little nauseous, quickly texting back a simple yes to alhaitham as he steps past the most concentrated scene of avian carnage. he's back on sandy ground, phone still in hand, when--
crack
--faint, but definitely not his imagination. the sound of wood splintering, echoing through a dark gap in the dense trees bordering the beach. he listens further, and- yes, footfalls. or... footdrags? it's heavy, in any case. movement. frantically, he blind stamps out another text, eyes not leaving the treeline. ]
di dyou hear that. we shouldbe close by. follow sound? into forset
[Alhaitham has always been a bit more sensitive to sound (part of the reason why he has his earpieces in the first place), so that crack doesn't go unnoticed by him either, especially when the rest of the island is so quiet. He stops in the middle of his trekking after having sent his earlier message to Xehanort, glancing over in the direction of where it'd come from. The forest, from what he can tell...
Xehanort seems to think the same too, given the message that comes in the next moment. The misspellings are a little concerning, but hopefully things should still be alright if he's able to send out a message still...]
Yes. Try to meet in the middle.
[At least in this manner they can try to cover the remaining ground and also catch up on what they've seen face to face. There's only so much these text messages can cover in the end.
With the message sent Alhaitham adjusts his trajectory, moving toward the forest instead of finishing up his trek along the shoreline. There's no need for it now that they've both heard something further in. Alhaitham, at least, can't imagine it to be anything else but their target.]
[ with a quick okay and a last glance along the length of beach, xehanort heads into the forested area.
given how long they'd been on their respective solo walks and how the slope of the island fell, the two of them would have been close to their initially proposed meeting at the opposite end of the shoreline anyway. it wasn't much of a diversion from their path, but a thin veil of anxiety clung to xehanort's shoulders as he headed further past the treeline. even being slow and careful, the dense foliage made silence tricky, and if they could hear the beast, it would likely be able to hear them as well.
so despite how anxious he feels, xehanort chooses each step carefully. the tension and shifting shadows through the leaf-light make his keyblade hand twitch, but he does not summon the weapon just yet. somehow, he's grateful for having to navigate the complexity of scala the past few years, blessing him with a decent sense of direction that had been unnecessary on his tiny childhood island.
it's a few minutes before he hears another crack, closer this time. its vaguely muted, dull tone sounds less like wood splintering this time and more like... bone, he supposes, unsettled and intrigued all at once. he should wait for alhaitham, or at least a sign of him. he should wait, since he couldn't be far off now. he should wait.
xehanort moves toward the source as a low-pitched sound, almost a hiss, comes from that same direction. ]
[Alhaitham doesn't bother to respond to the message this time since he sees no point in doing so, as well as the fact that they're due to see each other face to face again soon enough, assuming nothing gets in the way.
With that settled, Alhaitham goes to pocket his shellphone and focuses on closing the remaining distance that they'd put from each other. The inner section of the island being more of a forested area means that its a terrain that Alhaitham is familiar with, having grown up in the forests of Sumeru for pretty much all of his life. Of course, its not exactly the same, but its still close enough that he can employ the things that he's learned as a child of the forest, such as knowing how to keep his steps quiet enough to not be heard even as he steps across grass and fallen leaves, navigating over elongated roots with relative ease.
He knows he's getting close when he hears that crunch of bone, a sound he's heard enough times to remember—an invertibility, really, when you venture around the forests of Sumeru long enough, especially when its rife with wildlife like the Spinocrocodiles or the Rishboland Tigers. He approaches closer, not drawing his weapon out just yet since he'd rather have both of his hands still free, making sure to keep his movement steady and silent so as to not attract attention.
Its not long before he gets to a bush, and as he peers through he sees Xehanort, moving just as cautiously—but clearly not well enough, judging from the large shadow that looms from behind, about to strike while it has the chance. Alhaitham acts at once, lunging out of the bush with a Dendro projectile in his hand that he immediately throws at the shadow. It strikes true, judging by the pained roar that comes.
Still, there's no time to waste if they want to make this strike count, and so Alhaitham tells Xehanort what to do next once he knows the strike has hit.] Use your electro magic, now!
[ the ability to feel the emotions of others was both a blessing and a curse. one of the more useful aspects of xehanort's empathic sensitivity was the fact that it became very, very difficult for a being possessing a heart to sneak up on him. the few fringe cases had their own oddities about them, and-- well, he wasn't expecting this to add to that limited list.
the beast's roar from behind him is so startling as a result that he barely registers alhaitham's appearance out of the trees. when he does, and that shout of instruction his his ears (what is he, a pokemon?), in the split second it takes for his mind to convert the terminology correctly, he loses the timing to summon his keyblade. instead he charges the thundara through his arms, the wild nature of the spell forcing his hands skyward.
lightning strikes around them as the spell falls, xehanort's keyblade summoned immediately as his hands drop from the casting. panic was changing to alertness, the beast's hulking silhouette backlit by the magic finding its target. it thrashes, but xehanort can make out long, snapping jaws and a large, thick-legged body. ]
Thanks. [ breathed out to alhaitham, as he steps back to fall alongside him. ] The sounds were ahead of me, and then...
[Alhaitham had kind of assumed that the keyblade was a conduit for his magic, but in retrospect it probably should've been obvious that isn't the case seeing as he could use multiple elements with little issue. It's certainly something to think about, on how people from various other worlds are capable of a feat that should be impossible in Teyvat...
But that's something to dwell upon later, when he's not smack in the middle of a fight. Xehanort's electro spell strikes true, and Alhaitham can see the twitches happening even as the beat remains cloaked in shadow, green sparks fliting across its form as the electricity from Xehanort's spell reacts with the Dendro it'd already been affected with from Alhaitham's initial strike.]
Yeah. [He simply says as Xehanort comes to his side, quickly cutting him off before he can start explaining what happened; no point dwelling on such things right now when they have the monster right before them. Doubly so when everything that Alhaitham has seen thus far points to one particular thing.] It was most likely a deliberate move to lure us over. Whatever method that was used to create this beast must have nurtured some form of intelligence in it at the same time.
[The ball made of sand and sap, the bent tree, the dead gulls... as far as he can tell, such things all point to some level of basic intelligence rather than some mindless, hulking beast that's gone wild. Hard to say if that's better or worse for them, however, though it doesn't change what they have to do—putting it down before it can go elsewhere to cause even more damage.
With that in mind, Alhaitham doesn't let himself waste any more time; he summons out his actual sword this time and activates his flicker, teleporting ahead and landing a strike with his now Dendro-infused blade which in turn causes another swarm of energy roiling through. The result is a loud trashing roar as the beast flails, trying to shake off the hurt but to no avail, since most of it is all internal.]
[ while spellcasting without his keyblade in hand was certainly more than doable, it wasn't something done all that commonly. the residual electricity from the thundara made his skin prickle like standing in a storm, the visual cue of the catalysis sparking over the beast's form not helping the sensation in the slightest.
it's disconcerting, to consider they had been baited into the forest. there was no doubt the creature had some form of planning to its actions, and now they were in its preferred terrain.
welp. if alhaitham's diving right in, he is too - not even a moment of hesitation as he darts over the roots and leaves, keyblade swinging to deal the external damage alhaitham's dendro attacks inflict less of. the creature's form is difficult to discern even up close - it seems to have too many limbs, making it hard to focus on, and its colouration blends it in with the shadows cast by the foliage. his blade is able to cut through the thick hide, though it takes considerable effort - to help halt its thrashing, he casts a blizzara from close-range with the intent to freeze its legs. ]
[Unlike Xehanort Alhaitham isn't too bothered by the idea that they'd been lured in. It's what any normal person would have done were they in that situation, and while it is perhaps a little surprising that it comes from a beast like this, the best they can do now is to roll with the proverbial punches and move on. If anything, this only further solidifies the fact that it needs to be taken out—unnatural monstrosities like these tend to bring danger more than anything else.
Being this much close to the beast now, its general form despite the shadows that dapple over it reminds him a little of one of the many saurians species that inhabit Natlan, though that's about where the similarities end. Everything else is just a hot mess, and frankly there's no real point in focusing on that when there's other things he needs to pay attention to.
As Xehanort casts his cryo spell to keep the target in place, Alhaitham continues on with his flurry of Dendro attacks; with all three of his Chisel-Light mirrors out now it means that every strike he lands is accompanied with a shower of Dendro projectiles, all of which are shaped like swords.]
Use your pyro skill when you can— [He tells Xehanort after several blows. With all those Dendro-infused attacks the beast is practically saturated with it right now, which might be bad back if this was in Teyvat but that certainly isn't the case right now. But as evidenced time and again, elemental reactions still work here, so it's time to deal some serious damage.]
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no subject
it's a gratitude he muses on as they take their separate routes. this mission, theoretically, should be easy for the two of them. alhaitham's abilities were more than simply impressive, they were powerful and practiced. the environment was a strange one to be fighting in, and perhaps facing the creature if it was discovered in the forest proper may be difficult to navigate with swordplay. alhaitham's dendro vision and his own magic might be more reliable there.
the stony shore was hemmed by a large peak of rock, past which the border of sea and land gave way briefly to sand (no tracks visible) and then to tangles of mangrove roots that stretched into the forest. the roots themselves seemed mostly undamaged as xehanort navigated through them, trying to not slip into the brackish seawater caught between the larger gaps, but there were larger bones and felled branches caught at the edge of the trees, as if something had come here to dispose of them.
the roots eventually taper back into sand, where on this side of the beach there was more evidence of activity. the sap, much like alhaitham had found, tough and shiny mixed with sand. and tracks -- or marks, really, long dragging ones leading from the water to the treeline. xehanort snaps a photo, sending it to alhaitham as he listens for any ambushes. ]
seems like it's forest-dwelling, but comes down here for some reason. fish, maybe?
no subject
That feeling doesn't take long to prove itself right after Alhaitham continues down his chosen route. The first dead gull is easily ignored, but after the second and third one that he comes across (and so on) it very quickly becomes clear that this is something that is obviously a little more than one bird (or several birds) meeting an unfortunate end.
Just as he did with the branches earlier Alhaitham also attempts to take a closer look at the birds—the keyword here being 'attempts', for while some of them had been picked at, several others were basically untouched long enough for decomposition to start setting in. Alhaitham makes a note to himself to take a nice, long shower once he gets back home.
His shellphone goes off as he's busy backing away, so it takes a bit before he gets to see what Xehanort has sent over to him, and another one before he actually responds.]
Most likely an attempt to find a new source of food. DO you see any dead birds on your side?
[Unlike Xehanort Alhaitham doesn't send any pictures over. It's for the best.]
no subject
...birds? aside from some puffs of displaced feathers, he hadn't seen any - suddenly concerned, xehanort climbs back up the beach to the edge of the treeline. there, caught in the thin upper branches, he catches sight of a wing sticking out at an awkward angle. startled, his eyes track along the treeline and thinning shore as it returns to a stony surface. now attentive to it, he begins to make out the shapes before he even approaches; grey plumage and brown, dried flesh over thin bones. not many, but some, scattered over and even pierced onto stones.
he feels a little nauseous, quickly texting back a simple yes to alhaitham as he steps past the most concentrated scene of avian carnage. he's back on sandy ground, phone still in hand, when--
crack
--faint, but definitely not his imagination. the sound of wood splintering, echoing through a dark gap in the dense trees bordering the beach. he listens further, and- yes, footfalls. or... footdrags? it's heavy, in any case. movement. frantically, he blind stamps out another text, eyes not leaving the treeline. ]
di dyou hear that. we shouldbe close by. follow sound? into forset
no subject
Xehanort seems to think the same too, given the message that comes in the next moment. The misspellings are a little concerning, but hopefully things should still be alright if he's able to send out a message still...]
Yes. Try to meet in the middle.
[At least in this manner they can try to cover the remaining ground and also catch up on what they've seen face to face. There's only so much these text messages can cover in the end.
With the message sent Alhaitham adjusts his trajectory, moving toward the forest instead of finishing up his trek along the shoreline. There's no need for it now that they've both heard something further in. Alhaitham, at least, can't imagine it to be anything else but their target.]
no subject
given how long they'd been on their respective solo walks and how the slope of the island fell, the two of them would have been close to their initially proposed meeting at the opposite end of the shoreline anyway. it wasn't much of a diversion from their path, but a thin veil of anxiety clung to xehanort's shoulders as he headed further past the treeline. even being slow and careful, the dense foliage made silence tricky, and if they could hear the beast, it would likely be able to hear them as well.
so despite how anxious he feels, xehanort chooses each step carefully. the tension and shifting shadows through the leaf-light make his keyblade hand twitch, but he does not summon the weapon just yet. somehow, he's grateful for having to navigate the complexity of scala the past few years, blessing him with a decent sense of direction that had been unnecessary on his tiny childhood island.
it's a few minutes before he hears another crack, closer this time. its vaguely muted, dull tone sounds less like wood splintering this time and more like... bone, he supposes, unsettled and intrigued all at once. he should wait for alhaitham, or at least a sign of him. he should wait, since he couldn't be far off now. he should wait.
xehanort moves toward the source as a low-pitched sound, almost a hiss, comes from that same direction. ]
no subject
With that settled, Alhaitham goes to pocket his shellphone and focuses on closing the remaining distance that they'd put from each other. The inner section of the island being more of a forested area means that its a terrain that Alhaitham is familiar with, having grown up in the forests of Sumeru for pretty much all of his life. Of course, its not exactly the same, but its still close enough that he can employ the things that he's learned as a child of the forest, such as knowing how to keep his steps quiet enough to not be heard even as he steps across grass and fallen leaves, navigating over elongated roots with relative ease.
He knows he's getting close when he hears that crunch of bone, a sound he's heard enough times to remember—an invertibility, really, when you venture around the forests of Sumeru long enough, especially when its rife with wildlife like the Spinocrocodiles or the Rishboland Tigers. He approaches closer, not drawing his weapon out just yet since he'd rather have both of his hands still free, making sure to keep his movement steady and silent so as to not attract attention.
Its not long before he gets to a bush, and as he peers through he sees Xehanort, moving just as cautiously—but clearly not well enough, judging from the large shadow that looms from behind, about to strike while it has the chance. Alhaitham acts at once, lunging out of the bush with a Dendro projectile in his hand that he immediately throws at the shadow. It strikes true, judging by the pained roar that comes.
Still, there's no time to waste if they want to make this strike count, and so Alhaitham tells Xehanort what to do next once he knows the strike has hit.] Use your electro magic, now!
no subject
the beast's roar from behind him is so startling as a result that he barely registers alhaitham's appearance out of the trees. when he does, and that shout of instruction his his ears (what is he, a pokemon?), in the split second it takes for his mind to convert the terminology correctly, he loses the timing to summon his keyblade. instead he charges the thundara through his arms, the wild nature of the spell forcing his hands skyward.
lightning strikes around them as the spell falls, xehanort's keyblade summoned immediately as his hands drop from the casting. panic was changing to alertness, the beast's hulking silhouette backlit by the magic finding its target. it thrashes, but xehanort can make out long, snapping jaws and a large, thick-legged body. ]
Thanks. [ breathed out to alhaitham, as he steps back to fall alongside him. ] The sounds were ahead of me, and then...
no subject
But that's something to dwell upon later, when he's not smack in the middle of a fight. Xehanort's electro spell strikes true, and Alhaitham can see the twitches happening even as the beat remains cloaked in shadow, green sparks fliting across its form as the electricity from Xehanort's spell reacts with the Dendro it'd already been affected with from Alhaitham's initial strike.]
Yeah. [He simply says as Xehanort comes to his side, quickly cutting him off before he can start explaining what happened; no point dwelling on such things right now when they have the monster right before them. Doubly so when everything that Alhaitham has seen thus far points to one particular thing.] It was most likely a deliberate move to lure us over. Whatever method that was used to create this beast must have nurtured some form of intelligence in it at the same time.
[The ball made of sand and sap, the bent tree, the dead gulls... as far as he can tell, such things all point to some level of basic intelligence rather than some mindless, hulking beast that's gone wild. Hard to say if that's better or worse for them, however, though it doesn't change what they have to do—putting it down before it can go elsewhere to cause even more damage.
With that in mind, Alhaitham doesn't let himself waste any more time; he summons out his actual sword this time and activates his flicker, teleporting ahead and landing a strike with his now Dendro-infused blade which in turn causes another swarm of energy roiling through. The result is a loud trashing roar as the beast flails, trying to shake off the hurt but to no avail, since most of it is all internal.]
no subject
it's disconcerting, to consider they had been baited into the forest. there was no doubt the creature had some form of planning to its actions, and now they were in its preferred terrain.
welp. if alhaitham's diving right in, he is too - not even a moment of hesitation as he darts over the roots and leaves, keyblade swinging to deal the external damage alhaitham's dendro attacks inflict less of. the creature's form is difficult to discern even up close - it seems to have too many limbs, making it hard to focus on, and its colouration blends it in with the shadows cast by the foliage. his blade is able to cut through the thick hide, though it takes considerable effort - to help halt its thrashing, he casts a blizzara from close-range with the intent to freeze its legs. ]
no subject
Being this much close to the beast now, its general form despite the shadows that dapple over it reminds him a little of one of the many saurians species that inhabit Natlan, though that's about where the similarities end. Everything else is just a hot mess, and frankly there's no real point in focusing on that when there's other things he needs to pay attention to.
As Xehanort casts his cryo spell to keep the target in place, Alhaitham continues on with his flurry of Dendro attacks; with all three of his Chisel-Light mirrors out now it means that every strike he lands is accompanied with a shower of Dendro projectiles, all of which are shaped like swords.]
Use your pyro skill when you can— [He tells Xehanort after several blows. With all those Dendro-infused attacks the beast is practically saturated with it right now, which might be bad back if this was in Teyvat but that certainly isn't the case right now. But as evidenced time and again, elemental reactions still work here, so it's time to deal some serious damage.]