aterat | Panic at the harbor!

Entry tags:

Panic at the harbor!

Who; Waver and Anyone
What; Smart idiot needs ass saved
Where; Harbor district at night
When; During the event
Warnings; Being attacked by a wererat pack. So there will be fighting/injury/giant rat people.
Note; If you would like something specific or have an idea, you are welcome to talk to me about it. I am also open to writing personalized starters or doing other stuff, just drop me a line over on the plotting post or send me a message on discord @ WhimsicalSpook#8219

Waver had decided to head to his workshop in the harbor district that evening. He cut rather quickly through the more populated area with its businesses. Passing by the forges and the louder taverns where people were being sent away after last call, he started towards the more rundown area where his destination was nestled. It wasn’t too far from the docks, surrounded by a few equally ramshackle, dilapidated abandoned buildings. All he had to do was cut down another back alley stretch and a turn down another and he’d be there.

Truth be told, Waver had been more than a little lucky in his time here. He had picked the area, knowing full-well that it was less desired because of the occasional situation with creatures overrunning the area since they weren’t dealt with as often as they were in the main areas of the city. But he’d set up a solid bounded field to deter things (and strangers) from getting too close to the workshop, and he was mindful of what alleyways had reported sightings of the harbor's less pleasant denizens.

That said, luck had an unfortunate way of running out, considering the recent warnings going out in the city. As the professor fiddled with his lighter to try to get a flame to light a mystic code for the last stretch of his walk, there was the unexpected sound of footfall ahead of him. A group? “Hm?” His eyes narrowed slightly, and he lowered the lighter, the shiny gold glinting in the moonlight as he glanced around, only to spot a group of people-no... Wererats, ahead of him. Those… are definitely some rodents of unusual size… He mused with a growing panic, as one seemed to make a sound and all eyes turned to him.

He had been so confident he knew which routes were best to take to avoid things like this… It was then he realized it was signalling to another of its group, who’d been positioned in the shadow of the building. “When the hell did they get so organized?” The magus jumped back just enough to avoid taking a direct strike, but it still caught his side with a tear of fabric and a shot of pain that caused him to let out a shout.

A follow up curse on the tip of his tongue as he looked to the alleyway’s exit, backing up further to try to keep out of arm’s reach of the wererat that had attacked first. But… Well, there were a few more at either end of the alleyway. A whole damn pack? Fantastic…

Thunder rumbled in the distance as he dug a small glass bottle out from one of the inside pockets of his jacket and considered his options. A storm was coming, probably one of the fast moving ones that had plagued the weather recently. Not something he wanted to be caught in the middle of on top of this. Swirling the liquid inside, he activated his circuits and uttered a quiet word to add a little extra bang to the mixture, then wound back to throw it at one end of the alleyway to hopefully scattered the wererats there. The bang and the flash of light that lit up the night blinding and sending the creatures shrieking. A simple trick, but effective nonetheless. Probably wouldn’t work a second time, so he took off at a run to the next alleyway in hopes of getting to his workshop before they caught up…

Only to get tackled by the first wererat again, the others not far behind to circle around and close them off. Its jaws snapped at him and causing him to recoil and try to push it off of him even as he fell to the street. This was not happening. He was not about to become a wererat himself. Nope. Definitely not!

“Not interested in joining your little club, you fucking demonic beast!” He snapped, tone high in a panic, trying to push back against it and get in a decent opportunity for a feeble gandr shot that might deter it.

This just wasn’t his night.

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Today had been a wash. Sure he had the roof of his future place secured, but the rest of the lumber had gotten wet, so he'd have to wait until it was dried again before attempting the restoration of the interior.

So without a project to do, Terra walked around. There'd be no competitions at the Coliseum with the rain and the lady at Grave Concoctions was nowhere to be found. Since the kid Jacob had left the carpentry place, Terra had started to learn more about home construction from the owner. And that knowledge would get put to use with the restoration project.

If he needed anything from Lauri-Ell he'd go ask. But for now he was just going to walk around and try to see what needed done. Putting his hands in his pockets, Terra endured the rain and headed to the harbor district.

His blue eyes caught sight of movement and Terra immediately took his hands out of his pockets to go follow what appeared to be overgrown rats heading down a path. Curious, he tagged along at a distance behind and then he saw Waver get tackled.

His keyblade came out immediately and he hurried his steps to take a swipe at the one who had the magus pinned to the ground.

Waver had cast reinforcement on his arms to add a little strength to his struggle against the creature, but even that wasn’t going to help him hold it off for long and he certainly wasn’t making enough progress to get another trick going to catch it off guard and give him an opening for escape. He was running out of options…

But maybe, it seemed, his lucky hadn’t run out entirely as the creature was soon distracted by something sweeping at it in an attack. Someone had shown up and Waver felt some relief settle in at that, giving him a little confidence and energy to push himself backwards and away from the damn creature as it jumped to avoid the blade.

That was shaped like a key.

A giant, weaponized key.

The professor felt a part of his brain lock up for a moment, because it was such a weird sight. Like something out of his video games, maybe, knights wielding strange weapons. Waver had seen his fair share of weapons in real life over the years too, of course; but a key was still kind of weird and frankly this whole situation had him a little off balance. Then he realized who was wielding it, and it was the kick his brain needed to get back on its usual fast-paced track. “Terra?” He hadn’t seen the guy in a while, but it was good to see a familiar face now. “Thanks. Might want to watch your back. I counted at least six of these overgrown pests when they stopped me first.” He managed to rattle out as one hand pressed his scarf against his side and the other rummaged in his coat pockets for another vial he might be able to use to at least blind them again.

The wererat that tackled him was hissing at Terra though, moving to charge them in its anger that its target had been taken from it for the moment.

One of the wererats were totally hissing at him, but he nodded to Waver in acknowledgement. "Are you okay?" If the man needed healing, Terra could provide that even if he had a hissing vermin on his hands. Aqua was more attuned to magic than he was even if he could definitely more than wield it himself.

He looked at Waver as he got the report about how many of these monsters there were. "I'll take care of them." Sure the keyblade would be better defending against Heartless, but there wasn't time to go into such a thing. And questions would have to wait until later because he turned to look straight at the one charging him.

Terra wasn't going to hesitate and raised his keyblade in the air for a moment, calling down a Thunder Spell before striking the thing with his blade.

Waver himself is inept at healing magic, and until he finds out someone has such an ability, he’s of the mind that he’s going to need stitches when he gets back to his workshop. Always a fun thought… That, of course, is to say that no, he isn’t fine right now. Waver has always been a bit… frail, according to some, usually a point of amusement. He ends up in the clock tower infirmary more often than others, and even with help from healing magic, it can take him a while to recover.

That said, showing a weakness in front of so many enemies wouldn’t be smart. He knows that much. Terra can just pretend the professor isn’t swaying slightly on his feet as he shakes his head in response. “Ah, I’m not bloody well dying yet.” was his simple response, not a lie and not the full truth.

The thunder spell was surprising. He hadn’t realized the guy had magic. That was going to be a point of interest later, sure, even as much as it was a point of jealousy to see someone casting something so easily and taking down the first rat. Electricity and a soaked terrain? Yeah, it would be potent.

Waver backs up to the wall of a building to give Terra space, though. The flash of thunder is a point of discomfort as much as it is a relief to see a wererat go down, considering a woman with the power of the age of gods behind her had thrown it at him and his students before he got here. With one rat down, the others are quick to retaliate in revenge, snapping and hissing as they charged.

Edited 2023-03-16 15:29 (UTC)

Terra watched the mage and didn't like what he saw, but he wasn't going to overly fuss about it. It didn't seem like the guy was happy to be not looking quite so well, so he nodded. "Just stay back."

Maybe it was an unnecessary warning, but Terra wanted the guy to remain as safe as possible. He could heal the guy afterwards, but right now as the rat went down, he knew the others were coming at him.

He shoved the keyblade at one of them to take it down. And he was more than aware that might cause the others to try and take advantage, but he was a seasoned fighter and he was ready.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw that the mage was up against the building and the rats were focused on him. That was completely fine and he would be over to the man's side as soon as he took care of these vermin.

“No arguments about that.” He responded easily, keeping to the wall and out of the way. For the dozenth time since arriving in this world, he finds himself missing certain people who were usually there in moments like this. Relying on someone he doesn’t know well is a weird experience to being with, and then there’s the fact that he doesn’t know what they can do well enough to offer ideas on how to proceed.

He’s still grateful for the help from Terra, even as he keeps an eye on the enemies and the attacks alike. A part of him wishes he had made more prototypes to help with slowing them down or blinding them, but all he has left are his vials of solutions he developed for investigation… But it’s clear the man knows what he’s doing in a fight, weird weapon aside. It seemed like Terra was making short work of the wererats as they tried to get by the key-shaped blade.

The ones trying to launch a sneak attack from the direction his blade didn’t have the luxury of a surprise, though, as Waver was quick to point out when something was coming. “There’s one trying to take advantage of a blind spot!”

Terra had his hands full, but at least these were rats and not heartless. Still, he didn't underestimate enemies and fought to keep them away from Waver.

It was a keyblade wielder's job to 'keep the peace and order' in the worlds and here Terra was, doing just that, even if there was no one here to keep him accountable as had been the case all of those years ago. At the time, newly minted Master Aqua had been tasked by keeping an eye on him and that hadn't gone over well at all.

Hearing the man's warning, Terra was barely able to give a nod of thanks as he lifted his keyblade to slash at them, after summoning some more lightning to knock them down.

After the monsters were defeated, he looked around, not seeing anything else. Then his blue eyes went to the man himself and he unsummoned his Earthshaker keyblade.

"Are you hurt?"

Waver watched the downed wererats for a tense moment or two once they’d fallen, but when they finally didn’t get back up? The mage felt relief wash over him and his shoulders sagged, letting his sorry attempt at not seeming as bad as he felt go and sinking slightly against the wall behind him. “Shit, those things were abnormally organized.” He muttered, feeling like he wasn’t going to want to look at rodents in general for a while.

He finally looked at Terra as the man spoke up, the wrinkles in his brow deepening slightly as he realized the keyblade was gone again. When he felt less like passing out, he definitely wanted to ask about that thing… The mage nodded reluctantly, though. “A little, yeah. Damned things got the jump on me earlier, before I was tackled.” His words were a little unsteady as he removed the scarf he had pressed against his side for a proper look. It could be worse, he noted, glad he hadn’t taken a direct hit. Probably wouldn’t have been anything to save if he had… And it wasn’t a bite, so that was also a positive… Instead, it’s a slash to his side, and it was still bleeding. So he guessed it could also be better too… “I’ll need to dress it properly at the workshop.” And dump as much disinfectant on it as he could. He didn’t want to think about what other kinds of germs those things carried beyond the obvious.

The world shifted uncomfortably, and he blinked to clear his vision. Gods, he doesn’t want to ask more of Terra after he already owed the guy one… But he also isn’t so much of an idiot to try to make it back on his own. He knows how easily he passes out in this condition. “Don’t suppose you’d mind escorting me there, would you?”

Terra fought through the rats, and had stood, waiting to see if Waver needed help. He'd dismissed his keyblade when he was done and felt some relief when the man nodded at him finally.

But he saw the bite and scowled. How they had gotten a hold of Waver and managed to land that bite was something that just go him angry. And so he simply resummoned Earthshaker. Raising it above the mage's head, Terra's blue eyes looked at the tip and gave it one command. "Heal." As soon as he did that, the healing magic went to the mage, amidst a burst of gold light and gold feathers. Once the magic had been executed, Terra again banished his keyblade.

He waited a moment and nodded. "Let me know if that's any better. If it's healed up, you won't need to treat it." And he tried a tiny smile, sure that it had worked. However, that was up to Waver to tell him.

Hearing that his help was still needed, Terra nodded. "I'll make you get back safe." He was pretty sure the mage would be fine on his own after that, but he would ensure the other man's safety while he was here.

Well, Waver would explain that it wasn’t a bite if he knew Terra had mistaken it for one. It was more of a gash caused by claws, and it wasn’t as though Terra could have prevented it. It happened before the man arrived on scene, when the mage still thought he had a chance of getting away on his own. But it was still not a good thing, nor a comfortable one to think about treating.

The return of the weapon gets a slightly alarmed rise of his brows, eyes darting around as he wondered if the rats had returned, or worse, if something was controlling the man (it happened where Waver was from). Only to find that this was something else entirely as the pain in his side faded and the wound seemed to close up. “Healing magic.” Waver mumbled, feeling a little stupid after his tired ramble about needing to tend to the injury. He hadn’t expected this in the least, but it was a damn relief to know there were people here capable of it when he wasn’t particularly skilled at it either. It wouldn’t help with the fatigue, of course, and his body tended to revolt post injury even with magical aided healing… But it was a big concern off his plate. He wasn’t even sure what he had left in the kit at his workshop to begin with, given how often things seemed to happen in this world.

“Ah… Well, it seems like I owe you more than one now.” He mumbled, feeling a bit awkward, before adding a distracted word of thanks. “Thanks, it’s a big help.” He pushed himself to his feet properly.

It was true, though, once he was in his workshop, he’d be safe for the evening. The wererats, and honestly most unwanteds, wouldn’t be able to make it past a bounded field. Unless you knew what was there, or powerful enough that these things didn’t affect you…? One wouldn’t really register that someone might be there, or that there was anything worth seeing. “It’s this way. I wasn’t far from it at least.” The fact that he’d been so damn close was a tiny point of annoyance though. If he’d been a little quicker, maybe this could’ve all been avoided.

He hadn't been sure as to what to make of the other seeming to get alarmed, but then he figured if he was in the other man's shoes, that would be quite a thing to see. It was just another day at the office as far as Terra was concerned. Rats were fine, he was just really relieved they weren't heartless, or the mage might've been in trouble that the keyblade wielder didn't even want to start thinking about.

Terra shook his head in regards to the being owed. "It's okay. You're safe now and that's what counts." He never did anything with payback in mind, Master Eraqus had drilled that sort of honour thing in him at a young age. Besides, at least at home he was able to get munny and even here he had enough to keep him busy even if there was that fixing up project he had to get going on.

Safety first.

But he walked in the direction that Waver indicated with a nod. "I'm not sure more will want to come back, so you should be safe once we get there." That was always a concern of his and he didn't mind the walk. Besides, it kept him in shape and that was important too even though he did have quite a lot of exercise.

“I will be. I set a bounded field around the location. They shouldn’t be able to cross it.” It would deter them and most people in general from bothering him, and Waver belatedly realized that as they were walking towards his workshop. Probably best to explain that Terra was seen as an ally… So that meant he wasn’t seen in the same light as ‘most people.’ Plus, he owed the man more than one. If he needed help with something, he should be able to approach the damn building to ask him.

Glancing at the man sidelong, he decided it was something worth explaining. “You’ll need to adjust to passing through it, since it’s a barrier that focuses on the mind rather than a physical one. Means ignoring your natural instincts and thought process. What each individual thinks upon coming across one varies. Some think they’ve taken a wrong turn and just go another way, or that there’s nothing of interest to see. Some also describe a feeling of wrongness like they shouldn’t be there, so they leave. Regardless, it can be a little jarring to approach until you’re used to it. Won’t be as bad after you pass through it the first time, though.”

Terra nodded and thought that a barrier was a good idea, especially if these large rats were going to continue to be a problem. Defense was always a good idea in his book and he was happy to hear that the guy would be safe.

Blue eyes turned to look at the mage when passing the barrier was mentioned. Here he thought he'd just leave the guy as soon as he was safe. That's what he was doing here, escorting the guy to safety.

"As soon as we get there, you're going to be safe inside of the barrier you made, right?"

He couldn't come up with a good reason to pass through it, so he was asking to test his theory out.

( ooc: I apologize if this thread has gone on for too long. I’ll ftb here instead. Thank you for the thread. )

Waver nodded to the question. As long as the field held up the workshop would simply pass by people’s notice. That included the wererats and other undesirable creatures that might prey upon humans, unless they were terribly powerful. “I will be, yes. On that note, the edge of it is here.” Which was why Waver brought it up in the first place. The bounded field extended further than the door, all the way to a lamppost near the road. When some people were escorting you, they generally did so to the door and Waver hadn’t wanted the man to be surprised by the mental barrier that was well before that if he did try to do that. “Thank you for your help this evening… I owe you one.” He said, considering Terra for a moment before adding. “So if you need any help with something I can assist with down the line, give me a call.”

And because Waver is still as tired as he is from the ordeal, he offers a nod in parting. “Good evening, Terra. Be careful out there.” He added in parting before heading towards the shop. The minute he was beyond the barrier he would be harder to perceive or focus on even if Terra knew he was there… So that was a good sign that the job was done.

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Panic at the harbor!

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