Wrote a chunk of this at work and the rest while tired, so it's not polished. Please excuse the generic placeholder title as I haven't a single good replacement in mind.
This idea really got away from me. Anyways. Tired. Have this.
Edit: Fixed a few details.
Nat 1
—
Vyse hissed through his teeth as he crouched down behind several crates, arm hanging uselessly at his side. He could barely move it through the blinding agony, scorched from where a beam had struck him, and although a quick Sacri could mostly heal it, he didn't have the energy to call upon the moons.
Heavy metallic stomps marched in his direction. He tensed, then slowed his breathing and kept still. His cutlass was a comfortable weight in his unmarred hand as he waited.
Clang, clang, clang. They were getting closer.
Clang, clang, clang. Closer. He braced himself. To fight or run he wasn't sure.
Clang, clanG, CLANG, CLANG, CLAng, clang, clang…
…They were gone. Vyse breathed out a sigh of relief. He was safe for the moment, but the reprieve wouldn't last. The machines had chased him this far through this labyrinth of steel and choking smog, though they weren't the only ones stalking him.
Vyse wanted to groan. He and Aika had managed to do some recon for the local rebellion and escape the Empire's army, only to run headfirst into the other Empire. Every route to the more peaceful areas of this strange new land were cut off, either by the militia or machines, leaving two Blue Rogues in the middle of two very dangerous sides in an escalating war.
Hopefully Aika had made it out. Between the Imperial Alliance's forces and the demons, they'd been separated soon after crossing the invisible boundary between territories. He could only guess where she'd gone after the bombs went off.
As bad as the situation was though, there were upsides. Vyse only had his offhand injured, so he could still fight, even if he could only be half as effective. His leg only slightly ached from dodging the huge, lumbering machines. And it was still dark out. He still had time to use the perplexingly moonless night to his advantage.
Vyse peeked over the crates. No machines. No monsters. He gripped his cutlass and moved.
He had to get out of this mechanized nightmare. Find Aika. Get back to Fina and Drachma. Then get to a port and bargain for passage back to Sailor's Isle. And from there, it was smooth sailing to Pirate's Isle. Home.
That was the broad plan at least. A few bumps were keeping them grounded for the time being. Such as the lack of a port with airships. Or a reliable map. The Gallian forces had less of a clue as to which direction Valua was in as they did about the surrounding areas. A problem for certain, but not a permanent one.
Vyse paused as a spotlight swung by, cutting through the shadows. A rough, echoing voice called for reinforcements to the east. Maniacal laughter rose and faded. The shadows drew together again, and he stepped across the path.
He'd never been one for stealth or up close recon, but as one of the few with experience in getting out of impossible places, he and Aika had been asked to find out more about their enemy's movements.
The good news was that they had some pretty good intel. It could even make a difference, however small, if acted upon.
All Vyse had to do was return with Aika and report on it.
Machines marched down roads and stood around in groups. Spotlights blocked paths and shadows made new ones. White hot pain lanced up Vyse's arm. He grit his teeth with a grunt, and kept going.
It would heal. He'd need some rest first, but it would heal.
Carefully, Vyse made his winding way back towards the outer edges of the city. His throbbing arm both distracted him and kept his mind on the present. There was no "what if"s bouncing around his head. Only the certainty that he would find Aika – whatever it took to do that – and they would both take the scenic path to the resistance's headquarters.
"There you are!" Vyse started, then jerked his head up.
There! At the edge of a rooftop. The tall silhouette leapt down, with a couple of flying…robots? Right, robots. Flying robots with lights on them followed the silhouette down, shining a spotlight on the both of them. Vyse winced at the sudden flood of harsh light, blinking rapidly to get his sight back.
The purple demon stood before him. Its long tongue hung between jagged teeth. "You're makin' it real tough to bring ya in alive."
Vyse gripped his cutlass firmly. Slight tremors ran down his other arm. "Sorry to disappoint," he replied, fighting to keep his voice even, "but I'm not planning on staying."
"I'm not askin'." The demon growled with a glare. "Now get over here!" It quickly lunged forward, claws outstretched. Vyse flung himself to the side, narrowly avoiding being gored as blinding pain shot up his arm. Before his vision cleared, the demon whipped around. Vyse raised his cutlass, catching one claw. It slid down, hissing, before the demon swung his other claw around.
Vyse twisted to avoid the attack, a scream tearing free as the burns on his injured arm stretched. The demon grinned, even as he flipped the blade to catch its extended arm. His cutlass barely gained purchase before the demon hopped away, tongue lolling.
Damn it! He couldn't fight like this. One of his blades sat uselessly in its sheath, and he could barely even avoid getting hit. The demon was too fast to hope to outlast it, never mind outrunning it, and constantly dodging would eventually leave him open.
There was only one option left to him. Vyse raised his singular cutlass and spread his feet in the fighting stance his dad had drilled into him.
The demon cackled. "Finally! You've got some guts, one eye! Let's see what they look like!"
Then it moved.
All at once, a terrible realization overcame Vyse as he desperately parried and blocked blurring blows with his blade.
The monster had been toying with him.
Claws raked his good arm. A foot was planted in his stomach. A single stomp left cracks in a dent in the ground. A score across his back was joined by his front less than a second later.
His bad arm shrieked at him. Blood streamed from burns and new gashes. And yet, he had no choice but to keep trying. Running wasn't an option. Fighting was worse, as the demon steadily tore away at him. It gave no reprieve, even as it taunted and cackled.
Distantly, absurdly, Vyse remembered his dad's old fighting lessons. Standing underneath the clear blue sky, wooden blades in his hands as he and Aika sparred. He remembered his old man sitting them down and explaining why air pirates fought in pairs or trios. He remembered the stories. The lessons. Why no pirate fought alone
"They have your back, and they have yours," his dad had said.
And here Vyse was, under blotted skies and down an arm. Not a soul to his back, and an enemy to his front that made the executioner in Valua look tame.
"Wow, that's a lot of blood!" The demon laughed. "You can live without all that, right?"
Was… Was he going to die here? The very thought made his mind numb. He… He couldn't die here! If he was going to die, it would be in the skies or by the side of crew and family. Not here, alone and grounded in an unknown land. He refused to lie down and let this be his grave! He would not leave his loved ones to grieve and wonder what happened to him. He refused!
Vyse was a Blue Rogue. Freedom and courage sang in his veins in a song as old as time. So long as he drew breath, he would never stop.
"Still standin', huh?" The demon turned its head sideways. Its tongue swung to and fro like a pendulum. "Man, you humans are tough. No wonder Zavok's havin' such a hard time with 'em if they're all like you!"
Vyse grunted. His eye stung as blood dripped into it. He breathed in raggedly. "I would have thought," he rasped, "you'd be fighting on the front lines. Not wasting your time here with me."
The demon nodded. "It sucks, yeah, but orders are orders." It rushed forward –
Vyse raised his blade –
"Vyse!!"
The wind whispered –
SMACK!
"Yowch!" The demon spun around, eyes roving the street and the skies. "What hit me?!"
"Moons! Give! Me! Strength!"
Relief sunk into Vyse's chest as the ground immediately lit up at his feet. Concentric circles outlined in a green haze of magic sprung up, with himself at the very center. Countless green spheres swirled around his head like fireflies, then converged on him in a burst of light.
Every ache and shooting pain that wracked his body vanished. Gashes filled in, cuts were wiped away. The trembling in his limbs stopped and the terrible burns faded back to smooth skin.
Sacres. Thank the moons for Aika.
The demon was glaring at him again, tongue flickering like mad. "Hey! No fair cheating!"
"Vyse!" His best friend quickly made her way down from the rooftops, leaping down to ledges and sliding down rails all the way to the ground. She smoothly landed next to him, boomerang at the ready. "I finally found you!" She spared a smile for him, then her eyes fell upon the demon, and she gripped both ends of her boomerang.
"Hmm. I was supposed to bring in just one of you," it said, a grin lifting the corners of its mouth unnaturally. "I guess one of you has to go!"
"The only one who's leaving is you!" Aika shouted. She started spinning her weapon, the entirety of it quickly turning a bright yellow as she expertly sped up its rotation. "Back off! Alpha Storm!" Fiery energy exploded from her, rings of fire smashing into the monster and the two robots hovering above it, sending them all flying down the street in a tangle of limbs and molten steel.
When the energy eventually died out, the street plunged into darkness. "Shoot…" Aika groped around his arm until she grabbed his wrist. "This way," she whispered, and she pulled him away while the demon was still howling and spitting in rage.
As the clanging and crashing of a furious demon's tantrum rang out behind them, Vyse and Aika kept quiet in their retreat.
Which was really the best course of action at this point. In the middle of enemy territory during a war, with no backup, was no place to fight such a brutal monster.
"Where are we going?" Vyse whispered.
"Out of here!" Aika whispered back. Even with the screaming so far behind them, they weren't taking the chance that the demon would find them again. "I found the way leading out of this place. We just have to avoid the main fight and we're free!"
Vyse smirked. "Maybe you should be the captain."
She scoffed. "No way! I'm supposed to be the first mate, remember?" He could hear the smile in her voice, too. "I only take over when you steer us into a stone reef."
"One time…" Vyse sighed good-naturedly, a small smile tagging at his lips as he followed after. When his eyes grew used to the dark again, Aika let go and almost-wordlessly led them to the outskirts. The constant explosions and shouts made identifying the nearby conflict easy. Actually getting around it, however…
"Freeze, rebel scum!"
Proved utterly fruitless.
Let me just say, balancing Vyse's sheer optimism and refusal to be your average angst machine was a challenge paired up with the circumstances above. I think the closest he ever comes to such a thing in canon is around when The Silver Eclipse happens in Nasr and Vyse and co. decide to pull a repeat of their last stunt in Valua. ~With Style~
