It seemed like there were no more traces of Kefka though it had been that way since she had left him back in Auster. She wondered if she had just overlooked him, or just that he simply hadn't cared for her the way she thought. She wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

It wasn't only him though. Rhaegath had disappeared, her uncle's own scent around the Armada had left too. It seemed like everyone around her was dropping like flies, running away, or maybe it was even some wild Abraxas stuff that Kefka had tried to teach her. That was so long ago.

She was less on edge these days. Well, maybe. Seeming like Kefka had lost interest, it was a good facade. But she still had on her mind her dead not so mother who came to see her over the course of events in the last season or so. She knew of Kefka's intentions, Relm wouldn't put it past him. In a wander, she wasn't so tense anymore. If only because so much time had passed.

Around the falls was no new territory to her. It felt like she had been all over the world at this point, and she wasn't lost when it came to the lands. Her memory served her well everywhere she walked, all the way back to her early days when Kefka killed Agria.

She stopped to drink from the sparkling falls, feeling rather plain and emotionless while trying to forget about what she felt she had lost in her short life. She never really stuck to anyone, she had been alone most of her life even when she was with Kefka. Her eyes scanned upward at the sunset fall water running down in pools. And she didn't expect the giant swoop that knocked her sideways into the water. Pushing her body up out of the pool under the falls, she coughed trying to get her lungs back in order from inhaling the liquid. She didn't have much more time to regain herself while she jumped backwards from the large crystal encrusted bear that nearly toppled down on top of her and joined her in the water in an effort to fall over her and drown her in the water. For now she was defensive, she wouldn't have expected to take the bear down herself and her first instinct was to flee.

Fighting Seasonal Prompt
Total Word Count: 398 words
Word Count Goal: 1500 words

"Speech"

Repairing a Damascus steel sword at the request of the Warlord's daughter had turned into more of an undertaking than he had originally anticipated when she first brought the weapon to him, but in the end it was turning out to be a lovely piece of weaponry. He was almost sad to see it go. In the end he always liked seeing a piece he worked on in use rather than just sitting around being beautiful, but he certainly hoped that this Artorias he had heard about from Briar was going to be appreciative of the work he had done. Of course he had no way of knowing what the sword looked like originally, but now that it had a brilliant, feiry luster to the metal, a fresh wrap of leather around its grip, gleaming topaz stones reseated into the guard...

Gods it was hard to see it go. It was really the look in Briar's face when she saw it restored that made him realize that it was not just a sword he was working on and it did truly mean something to her and to the boy she was apparently going off to lead this other pack with. He was not necessarily the sentimental type, but it did make him feel good in knowing that he had done something good for them. It was one of the things that kept him doing what he did and what brought a bit of enjoyment to all the crafting and creating he did. He could create beautiful, useful things, but they only really meant something if they were actually being used.

After several long days of rushing to finish the project before the turn of the season so that it would be done in time for Briar's move to Auster, he felt like he needed a moment to step away from the smelter and the fire. The fur around his paws was pretty much always in some sort of state of singe, often blackened with soot and ash, and his paw pads were tough and worn with all the work he put them through. Now though it had gone a step further and the pads were starting to get cracked where even the thick calluses could not protect him from himself. He had one of the healers in Armada look them over and slap some herbs onto them, but he ultimately knew that the only real fix was to take a few days off and let them heal on their own. He had cut up and ruined his paws more than enough times to know that.

With the sword finished and most of his other projects not in dire need of completion, he wandered out of Armada lands to go do a bit of exploring in his down time. He had traveled around these parts and criss crossed around these lands for a while prior to finally settling in Armada thanks to Sirius' generous offer of a home and a place for him to set up his shop, but he had not done much casual exploring in that time. He had mostly been traveling with some kind of purpose and rarely ever just stopped to see the sights. He walked out toward the near by falls, following the sound of flowing water in the hopes that he might find some clear, cool water to soak his feet him. He did find that, but what he ended up finding in it was far more violent and much more of a problem.

He was just beginning to follow the rolling falls up an incline when he heard a crash of water and a struggle that sounded perhaps like someone was coughing up water after being thrown in. His ears perked and his hackles bristled immediately and he ran forward, pretty easily spotting the giant, crystal covered bear that was standing in the falls with its attention turned down to whatever was under it. If it was not for the wolf's vibrant pink coloring he might have had a hard time spotting her before she scrambled back from her attacker. He had no idea what had made the bear go after her seemingly out of nowhere, but he also knew how much the crystals and mushrooms messed with the brains of the creatures they infected so he also was not entirely surprised. Ruga darted forward as the bear began to make another charge at the startlingly pink young woman, intercepting it with his jaws clamping onto the side of the bear's face as he barreled into it, finding a spot that wasn't encrusted in crystals for him to hold onto as he shoved the predator away.

WC: 782
Total: 1180/1500

"Ruga Amanto"

She found it difficult to maneuver around the water while her cloak had fallen down from the struggle and soaked over her shoulder, creating a heavy burden as she tried to move away from the bear. She tried to watch her feet but that was the least of her worries. At least if she tried to evade the bear while it attacked her, it was for effort even if it ended up fatal.

But just as she was trying to position herself to zone in for a distraction in order to get away, the bear seemed much more intent on something else. She hadn't even noticed the red man who jumped forward to help her out. Taking the opportunity, she started to scoot away from the bear and around it in the water. At least getting out of the pool of water would make her less noticeable when the time came to run. She got a better look at the brute who jumped in to save the day or whatever his intentions were.

Coming around the side of the bear, Relm also had a better look at the bear's protruding crystals along it's back and head. She hadn't seen those symptoms from the ooze since she hadn't seen anyone really, anyone besides Kichi. She jumped forward to take a bite of the bear's back leg and hip on her way out. Now that she was around the back side and close to the bank, it would be easier to jump out and flee. Of course she wouldn't leave the help behind.

The bear's attention turned back to her from her own attack, and it seemed with the two of them it would be easy to drive it away or overpower it enough to get away. She wasn't going to sit here and play in the water with it. She back up onto the bank, her eyes flicking to the stranger making sure he had the same idea. It was time to book it out of here, hopefully he was smart.

Fighting Seasonal Prompt
Total Word Count: 1520 words
Word Count Goal: 1500 words

"Speech"