When the Monsters Win {fate & Syzygy}

[darkest_fate]

Aerith was pissed. Ticked. Ready and able to hurt anyone and anything thing that got in her path. they'd recently been talking, and everyone had seemed to think that she was the weakest member of their party. Even Cloud, quiet though he was, had given her a look that seemed to say "I've been protecting you." Never mind what she'd done, or that she had, by far, the best magic.

Word had gotten out that a group of gargoyles had been seen near Bone Village. This was way out of their normal range, so it was worth investigating. Figuring she could handle herself, and desperate not to show how worthless she was, Aerith had opted to try it on her own. She'd loaded Princess's Memory up with materia, attached a well loaded bangle, and headed out into the snows by herself.

"Should be easy enough," she told herself, humming cheerfully. The bragging rights would be great, almost as good as the look on their faces. Plus, this was helping people, and Aerith was all for that. She picked up her tune, recognizing it as the Golden Saucer's overarching music. Probably in her head from her date with Cloud.

Something sounded over her humming, causing Aerith to pause. Readying her weapon, she turned about, looking for the monster, ready and able to start killing her foes.

 

[Syzygy]

After that strange black-cloaked man had come to their land, the Gargoyles had wisely decided to leave. They knew a greater predator when they saw one.

Bone Village was the perfect place for them to hide, really. It wasn't like there weren't plenty of other statues around from the excavations that made the village famous. They just had to lay still for a bit, wait for a traveler to pass, and then pounce.

When the girl dressed in pink showed up, they almost decided to leave her be. Something about her seemed...off. Not like Him, but she definitely wasn't like the others they had waylaid. But, instincts eventually won out. This was their land now and they didn't care what the squishy folk had to say about it.

The youngest of the pack was flying overhead. Because he was the youngest and the smallest, he was considered expendable; but that was okay, because that meant he got first crack at whatever they caught. He was dropping out of the sky towards her, and that sound she heard was the 'crack' of his wings as he snapped them downward, propelling him back into the air...but with his claws snapping shut around her staff, attempting to yank it right out of her hands.

 

[darkest_fate]

The crack had caught Aerith's attention, to be sure, and it also let her know exactly what she was dealing with. The ex-flower girl quickly recognized the gargoyle, and she knew that she'd found the very creature who had been terrorizing the village, or at least one of their number. Unfortunately, he had a good hold of her staff. Aerith wasn't exactly muscular, instead a more stringy type of thin. There was just no way she'd win a tug of war with a creature made of rock, stone, and muscle.

So she let go. And she hopped back, calling upon the materia within her bangle. The high level ice spell would rocket out from her hands, crashing into the gargoyle and hopefully doing enough damage to finish it off. Losing her weapon had been a gamble, one that Aerith was hoping paid off. Otherwise, she'd be stuck with just the magic from the bangles, and even that could only go so far.

For once, she wished she had armor on instead of her flimsy pink dress. In fact, in her haste at jumping back, she'd nearly dripped on the long, pink affair. It only made her more irritated, and hopefully added more fuel to the spell she sent toward her foe.