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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That his embarrassing struggle is not witnessed will be a point of relief later, certainly. He’s already kind of dangling there, trying to pull himself up the rest of the way. He really sucks at this climbing thing. “Well, you’ve got a hell of an audience.” He commented with a wheeze over his shoulder, finally managing to get his elbows up and over the edge to balance there as his legs kicked a bit to find a purchase to get the rest of the way.

“Sorry that my moment of peril is interrupting your busy schedule.” He quipped back in a clipped tone as he nearly slips back off the edge. Recovering the slip, he finally managed to find purchase in a crack in the wall and resumed pushing himself up and slowly onto the ledge. He’s almost there!

Whatever Zack was planning with those little friends of his, it’s probably as good a time as any as the rats ready another charge.

"I'm an expert performer," Zack says with a chuckle. This was something he could do, pretty well. He still had some MP to work with too. But he needed Waver to get away before he could do the Exploder Blade.

"I need you to tell me when you're about ten feet up. It's important."

Ten feet up… Ten feet… Waver, for a brief moment, despaired slightly at the poor life choices that all probably lead to this particular moment in time. He could have set up his workshop in the noble district, but no he wanted the extra privacy found in a less desirable part of the city. Groaning slightly, he finally pulled himself a little further up. “Yeah, I’m getting there.” He responded awkwardly as he managed to drag himself over the edge and getting his legs under him again.

Not ten feet, though… He’d have to try for the next accessible ledge and that should do it. This too takes some maneuvering, and some definite noises of exasperated frustrating and pain at the tug on his side, but he does finally makes it to the next ledge. He sits there for a moment, gasping for breath and trying to catch it enough to speak. “Should be… Should be good now.” He finally called down tiredly, finally tugging off his scarf to tie around his side as he looked below.

Zack, meanwhile, had to fight the damn wererats off. Because he didn't really want bit while he was waiting. The indication that it was clear came as a relief though, and the yellow stone on the metal bracelet at his wrist started to shine. Zack leapt a bit up into the air, performed a whole flip while in the air, and his sword started to glow just as he came back down, striking the ground with the blade.

And damn if the air around him didn't seem to explode with concussive force, knocking the pursuers back.

Waver could only sit there on his safe patch of the roof and watch, eyes darting from Zack to the wererats with the intent to try to offer some warnings should they try to catch him off guard, but it seemed like that thought was unnecessary. Instead, he had a clear view of Zack’s very impressive display. There was some kind of shine coming from something around the man’s wrist, some kind of magical item (always something that got his attention, given his penchant for studying those found), perhaps?

There wasn’t much time to think about that though, as he witnessed the flip and the way the sword was brought down heavily against the ground. The intended effects become rather clear as the force struck the wererats that had been trying to surround him and throwing them back, either to hit the walls of the alleyway or to skid across the ground.

Does Waver look a little impressed? Yes, indeed, he does. But there was also the relief that hit once it seemed like the wererats had either been solidly knocked out or realized their numbers had dwindled to the point that they no longer had the advantage and didn’t regroup.

Good. Zack noticed it too, and he didn't see a reason to hunt the things down. That would be mean. Instead he smirked and jumped.

Jumped up and back. Jumped up and back to a serious height, letting him land on the window ledge one level below and to the left of Waver.

"So, what's their deal?" he asks of the guy he saved, as if the feats he had just achieved weren't impressive.

Waver frowned at how darn easy Zack made that look as he landed on the window ledge below him. That just felt like showing off, making it look that easy when he was still winded from climbing in the first place. Hero types were generally showoffs in some manner, though, so maybe that was to be expected. The question gets his attention first (figuring out how to get down can come after that).

“Don’t know. They’re not usually that organized in their attacks, to my knowledge. Not usually found along this route, either.” He added with a deeper frown, puzzled himself as he finished tying off the fabric around his side. “It’s why I usually go this way to get to my workshop, have been for months and never seen anything like this before.” It’s jarring to have his routine upset like this, without counting the weird fuzziness to his thought process thanks to exhaustion and injury.

Huh, that's not good news. Well, Zack can probably round up Angeal and Cloud and Aerith to help him deal with it. After he got this guy to safety.

"Well then, let's see about getting you back where you belong without injury first. That sound cool?"

That sounds good right about now, though he offered a slight awkward frown as he finally admitted what he’d been unwilling to while the rats were present, shoulder’s sagging a bit with a gesture at the fabric he’d tied in place over the claw wound in his side from the earlier ambush. “A little late for one of those things, I’m afraid, but I’d appreciate the help to get to the workshop so I can try to deal with that.” Because if he knew how his body tended to react to these things, he’s damn lucky he hasn’t passed out and fallen off his current perch.

The safest place for a mage to be was in their own workshop, really. Waver wasn’t powerful by any means, but he was good enough at setting a bounded field that those damn things weren’t going to be able to get past it.

Well then, that sounds like a plan.

"You're going to have to climb up a bit more so I can get to you safely."

More Climbing?? Waver officially hated tonight. This place is clearly trying to kill him either by creatures, weird magical mirror worlds, or people who insist on making him climb when he’s already hurt. Okay… Maybe that’s a little dramatic, but he thinks he has a right to be at this point in the evening.

But considering he doesn’t think he can get to his workshop from here on his own… He hung his head slightly with a sigh. “How much further up are we talking, Zack…” He asked, tone tired and resigned. “I’m not exactly built like you hero types, you know.” He added with a grumble, making sure the fabric was secure around his waist and looking to see if there was anything that would make the climb easier from his current position.

"Roof," Zack said. "Unless you can find a way to get inside. I need somewhere that I can pick you up."

He's got a whole plan here, man.

“Was afraid you were going to say that.” He muttered, glancing further up than he’d hoped to hear. He’ll worry about the second part of Zack’s plan later, because that was a whole other thing. Getting inside wasn’t a bad alternative, though, if he could manage that. Though the mage wasn’t about to hold his breath on that, glancing at the window nearest to him. If it was unlocked, they’d be in business, but who in their right mind would leave a window unlocked in this part of town?

Finally, forcing himself to move and test out the window first in some futile hope that he was wrong... Shut tight and clearly latched. He wasn’t going to be able to get that open unless he had something to force it. This means climbing again, and he’s on his feet with a slight sway as the world tips uncomfortably for a moment, then settles.

The mage gives himself a stern mental talking to about not passing out before on solid ground and reminding himself that he’d been in worse situations than this. He can will himself to last a little longer. Applying a reinforcement spell to his arms and legs to give him just a touch more stability, he starts trying to pull himself up.

Yep, have fun watching ‘Waver Sucks At Climbing - The Sequel,’ Zack.

See, this will be Zack's first time watching. Which he doesn't actually do. He just jumps from his ledge, throwing himself at the building across the way. And he seems to almost bounce off of it. Yeah, wall-jumping. Totally a thing.

IT takes no time at all with the jumps between buildings for Zack to reach the roof. Isn't he grand?

On the one hand, Waver would be utterly relieved that his embarrassing display was once again missed. It’s a rare thing that he gets to avoid someone poking fun at his slightly sub-par abilities in general. That said, he feels a frown tugging at his face again as he finally managed to get his arms up over the edge of the ledge above and sees Zack literally wall-jumping to get up to the roof with just as much ease as when he jumped onto the window ledge before. “Why do they always have to make these things look so damn easy?” He mumbled with annoyance as he struggled to get a foothold to finish pushing himself the rest of the way up.

Taking far longer than the mage is willing to admit, and longer than he wanted to think about given how utterly drained he was, he finally dragged himself onto the roof properly and promptly sat there wheezing slightly and trying to steady himself. On the bright side, lots of stuff hurt from struggling so it muted the pain in his side… “Please tell me there isn't any more climbing in your plan.” He finally commented once he could breathe properly again.

"Nope, no climbing," Zack agrees as he takes his sword off of his back. He holds it up, pressing his head against the flat of the blade for a moment before inverting it and driving it into the cement of the rooftop. It's clearly well sunk there, it would take an impressive feat to pull out the weighty weapon.

"Okay, piggy back time."

The relief at the confirmation was fairly obvious as his shoulders sagged slightly and he took a moment to collect himself. “Good.” Eyes going to Zack as the man removed the sword from its resting place at his back. There is some kind of reference or comment one could make about swords embedded in stone, but he’s too tired and not keen to invite the nightmares that went along with her at the moment. Instead, he tried to figure out what the hell Zack was doing that for.

“Huh?” Really, he should have seen this option sooner, but to be fair to Waver? He wasn’t at his best at the moment. “Ah, right…” As much as he wants to complain about the idea… Well, it’s better than being thrown over someone’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes, right? That’s happened on more than one occasion. And there’s no way he’s getting down from here on his own, let alone to his workshop. So his pride was going to have to take a backseat to practicality here. “Alright, then. If you’re sure about this plan of yours.” He added, eyeing the guy for a moment. Waver wasn’t heavy, and Zack carried that sword around so… That much wasn’t a concern, but it just seemed right to double check before continuing.

Pushing to his feet finally, he winced a little and waited for things to settle again before going to Zack. Yeah, he was ready to get out of here.

Sacks of potatoes weren't as centrally balanced and thus less useful to have when jumping between roofs. Backpacks were a lot better.

"You're pretty light," Zack says, though he's mostly guessing. He does go down on a knee to help the guy get up easily. "Don't worry. I've carried Cloud and my sword for really long distances before. This is simple."

It’s a decent guess, and Waver couldn’t deny that. The man isn’t exactly built solidly, and he doesn’t really eat enough thanks to his condition. So he’s on the lighter end to the point that even his students have picked him up before. Which is embarrassing to admit, so he’s just going to offer an uncertain nod of agreement to that statement.

“I’m not worried! Just… reasonably concerned about falling at this height.” He responded lamely with a little frown at Zack pointing it out. He was definitely lying about the being worried thing and they both knew it.

He sure hoped this Cloud guy wasn’t as light as one, making the comment less comforting than it at least seemed to be. A person and a sword? Yeah, Zack should be fine to get him down from here. Waver tells himself this several times as he stared for a moment before getting on the man’s back, mindful of not strangling the guy but definitely holding on tight due to the nerves.

"We won't fall. Unless you consider the whole 'well we jumped across a rooftop so technically we're falling to the next one' to be falling. Which, yeah, technically."

He wraps his arms around the guy's legs to hold him in place and smiles.

"Which way?"

Smart guy… Waver raised a brow at that before letting out a half grumble, half sigh. “The only falling I’m concerned about is one involving landing on my damn skull below, but I see your point.” He responded with a frown. He’s used to stuff like this, the mage reminded himself. It’s just alarming because of the situation and because he doesn’t know Zack that well yet. If this were someone who was around regularly back in his world, it would be an easy acceptance.

The lecture he was giving himself was interrupted, though, by the question. Waver took a moment to glance down. He needed a minute to get his bearings, the whole running to get away, and the climbing had taken him a little off course… But after he picked out a familiar landmark and was relieved to see it wasn’t too far off. “Not far. Just follow the alleyway we started in, down to the end, then take a left.” He paused, thinking better of just leaving it at that. “Would be best to get to the ground before going any further than that. I have a bounded field set around the area of the building I work out of. It wouldn’t physically stop you… But it can be a bit jarring to pass through the first time.”

It would bombard him mentally with feelings like ‘there’s nothing to see here?? Let’s go back’ and a little ‘this feels… not quite right. I’ll go another way’ among other things depending on the person. The idea of Zack getting hit by that mid-jump led Waver to again imagine him losing his momentum and causing an accident. Once Zack had been to the workshop beyond it and knew better, it wouldn’t really do more than tug lightly at the back of his mind. He was seen as an ally, after all. But for those unwanted like wererats and other low-level entities or people who didn’t know better? They wouldn’t even realize anyone resided there and would simply ignore the building.

"That seems sorta inefficient," Zack said. And with that he ran for the edge of the building and easily leapt across. This would save the left turn for now. He cut across this next roof at an angle, running easily over the rooftop.

"Keep your eyes open for where you want me to go!"

“You’d be surprised.” The professor responded with a small huff. Bounded fields like the one he’d constructed had kept the school he worked for secret for over a thousand years. His weren’t as strong. Of course, Waver didn’t really have much in the way of power compared to his peers. But it still worked, and it meant the wererats and people he didn’t want around wouldn’t bug him.

He considered leaving it at that, but he needed to focus on something, otherwise he was a little concerned he might pass out, and if this were Gray, he would have been explaining it, anyway. “A physical barrier is something most would question, especially if there shouldn’t be one there.” Then with his luck, they’d come back with something that could break it down. “The way this field works is mental. What each person thinks upon coming up to it differs, but essentially it gives you strong reason to think you should be elsewhere, or that there’s nothing worth seeing. They’re less likely to question their own thoughts and what they think they believe to be true.” And if you were hit by that midair, Waver envisions you getting kind of confused and dropping him, Zack. “You’ll see when we get to it.”

When Zack leaped across to the next building, the mage risked a look down and might have tightened his grip just slightly, even if he’d deny it. This was a hell of a way to get around, and he was trying to realign which way they needed to go as Zack cut across the next roof and saved them the left turn. It’s not hard, since he doesn’t have to focus on walking there, but it takes him a moment to respond, given how light-headed he was between the injury and the way they were getting around. “I’ll let you know. It’s a little further.”

Squinting a bit over Zack’s shoulder a couple minutes later, he picked out the familiar chimney sticking up in the distance. “Just up ahead now. It would be best to try to get down to ground level by the end of this roof if you can.”

It was easy for Zack to move like this, quick and easy over otherwise risky or unstable ground. He was, after all, a pinnacle of human fitness. So he ran and jumped, even clearing the road itself, with quite a bit of ease. He even whooped over that jump, before landing easily and continuing on.

Clearly the guy was having a lot of fun as he had run, almost seeming disappointed when he was told they needed to go down.

"I guess you should probably hold on extra tight."

The disappointment is noted, but Waver could hardly feel bad about it considering he was not having fun himself. He wanted to be on solid ground, in his workshop on the other side of the bounded field where nothing else could (probably) happen. So he could dump as much disinfectant as he had in his medical kit on the wound in hopes of killing whatever germs the claws from the wererats might carry and then dress the wound properly, so he stopped bleeding on everything.

“Right, I can probably manage that.” Seriously, he didn’t need to be told twice as he tightened his hold on Zack with a particular nervous energy that was born from anxiety about the descent ahead of them. He was glad he’d at least warned the man about the field, so he wasn’t as worried about that, but there was still the matter of getting down from the roof.

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