raspberryturk | Western Mideel, Gaia, Thursday

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Western Mideel, Gaia, Thursday

Chocobo Lure Materia? Check.

Sylkis Greens? Friggin' expensive, but yes, Check.

Weapons? Reno gave his baton a tap against his shoulder, checked his Materia over, and smirked. Check.

Worm-skinned dude from Arrakis? Yep, Reno had that, too.

"So, the trick is, we follow the tracks," he informed Leto, looking down to make sure he didn't miss any as they walked. "An' then we hunt around for monsters when we find 'em. Chocobos love hangin' around monsters, yo."

Somebody had asked for Chocobos, and Reno planned to deliver.

[NFB for distance, for that worm-skinned guy, and I have no idea why half of this post vanished into the ether so that I had to re-type it. Wtf, LJ.]

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"Really?" Leto raised an eyebrow. "Now I definitely want to meet one."

The worm might be in for a surprise.

Reno couldn't help but bark out a laugh at that request, turning a grin Leto's way and giving his baton another tap against his shoulder.

"Before or after we find your giant chickens, man? Wouldn't want the worm to spook 'em off if we go usin' our greens to catch 'em, but we're gonna have to detour a bit to get to where they usually hang out, yo."

They were going to end up perched atop a giant blue worm, weren't they? Gods help them.

"Before would probably be advisable." Leto would make sure Reno survived. He'd miss the man if there was an accident and Ghani wouldn't easily forgive him.

"Well, then," Reno laughed and spun on his heel, directing his march toward the sand of Mideel's shoreline, "I'd say you were crazy, man, but this is shapin' up to be the most fun I've had in months, yo."

Reno wouldn't be that easy to kill. He'd survived the end of the world, what, three times now? Four? One measly worm was going to have to get in a damn lucky shot to do him in, all things considered.

"Well, I intend to make the most of it," Leto replied cheerfully. "Politics is a completely different kind of violence."

He'd have to invite Reno to Arrakis some time. Ghanima might even want to return for a brief visit.

"Yeah, can't say I really miss bein' in the thick of that kinda mess," Reno snorted, still smirking as he pushed onward, glancing down on occasion to see if he could spot any sand that looked like it had been kicked up more than the rest. "But at least when it gets dirty, you know it's gonna keep you on your toes, yo."

"It does," Leto agreed. He too studied the environment, but he wasn't going to make the mistake of assuming his knowledge of other planets would be entirely applicable here.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing at a spot far ahead where the ground had a different texture.

Reno squinted in the direction that Leto was pointing, and then broke into a full-out grin all over again. If there was one thing he could say for his travelling companion, it was that the guy had a good eye.

"That'd be paydirt, man. Looks like the ground there's been pushed up by a worm recently, yo. Tide won't be in for a few more hours yet, but whenever it does come in, it washes shit like that away."

So you better believe that he was picking up the pace a little, moving along in that direction.

Leto followed, letting Reno lead the way. "Are there any movements to watch our for?"

Reno's shoulders lifted a bit in a nonchalant shrug.

"Not really. You mostly know when they're about to pull somethin' because ~~your turn will be over~~ it takes 'em a few seconds to really get movin', yo. That much bulk to throw around don't wanna move easy, you know? We're quick enough to handle it, but careful you don't get smacked around too much if one breaks up the ground around you, yo."

Leto shot him a quick grin. he could move fast enough, and he didn't doubt Reno couldn't either.

See? That was what Reno liked to see, right there.

"Ready to go drum up a worm, then?"

Reno wasn't even going to wait for an answer, Leto. Reno was going to take off running toward that disturbed earth up ahead. Because, dammit, he was reckless. But reckless was fun.

Leto wasn't goint to object. He reached the spot before Reno ~~unless you object to the modding in which case I edit~~, even if that might be a little showing off. But this was fun, yes, and he needed fun.

Oh, man, it had been a damn long time since somebody had managed to beat Reno in a foot race, and he was practically cackling as he caught up, a split-second later.

"Don't let my buddies in the Turks see you do that," he called, darting hard and fast to the right as the ground under their feet began to tremble, "they'll never let me live it down, man!"

Yeah, Reno was so going to start training harder once he got back to the island. His speed was his pride.

[The mod is totally legit! No worries!]

"They're not here now, are they?" He didn't make a habit of freaking people out unless it was necessary. Or possibly entertaining. He expected Reno not to be bothered. He was Ghani's student, after all.

He then looked at the ground beneath them. "Here."

"Yeah, right here," Reno agreed, managing not to drip as the massive purple-colored creature rose up out of the sand nearby, dwarfing the two of them. It reared up to face them, swaying from side to side as it tried to figure out just what to make of the pair that was apparently stupid enough to go chasing it down.

"Hey there, sweetheart," Reno crooned up at the worm. "Been a while since I saw one of you, pal."

It had been way too long.

[Video of the worm is up on YouTube over here, if you like, and the FF wiki has more info over here!]

It was tiny by Dune standards, but that might mean it moved faster. Leto wasn't going to underestimate it. He moved swiftly to one side to figure out how fast the creature reacted.

The worm responded in a way that suggested that it had decided, all at once, that the two little things on the ground in front of it were definitely going to be categorized as food, and it swung its head after Leto, needing a moment to really work itself up into the movement. But once it got going, it was going to be a tricky creature to avoid, especially since it was aiming to swing all of its girth down on top of Leto, if it could at all manage that particular feat.

Reno mostly just pursed his lips and watched, kind of intrigued about how Leto was planning on dealing with the creature now that they'd found it. The worm's attention was over there, and Reno didn't want to go and kill it or anything until Leto had had his fun with it, so he shrugged and followed along after, keeping an eye out for any telltale signs of an impending earthquake, or a sandstorm.

Fun, yes.

Leto was suddenly quite far away from the point where the worm's body hit the ground in an attempt to squash him. Taking this opportunity, Leto leapt on to the back of the thing, looking for scales to hold on to.

There weren't quite scales in the way that Leto was likely to be familiar with them from the worms of Arrakis, but the Sea Worm definitely had an assortment of bright orange spikes, starting in a crest at the front of its head, and then spacing out so that they were barely just colored bumps running down along the worm's back. More than adequate to be able to grab handholds and footholds from.

The worm, of course, was less than pleased about this development, realizing that it hadn't crushed anything at all, and then rearing up in an attempt to throw Leto from its back.

All the while, Reno was standing back and laughing.

"Shame we can't pack these things through a portal to send back with you," he snorted, breaking into a run to get around to the side of the worm for a better view.

"They'd bee eaten on Arrakis," Leto called back, then let go of one hand and held it out for Reno.

"Here!" Riding a worm was best done in company, after all. And this one was clearly not used to it.

"What, you callin' our worms inadequate?" Reno really didn't seem to mind. It was a worm, after all, and it wasn't like he was terribly fond of the things to start with. But what kind of friend would he be if he wasn't giving Leto a hard time about it?

With a running start, he made a leap for the worm's back, himself, grabbing Leto's hand and pulling himself aboard.

"So, how smooth you figure you can get this thing to ride?"

And, for that matter, how did you steer this thing?

"Not inadequate, just small!" Leto grinned, helping Reno. "As for steering - on Arrakis the worms react to the maker hooks. This one, I think we just have to hold on!"

The worm clearly didn't appreciate having two riders any more than one.

[Sorry for disappearing. Fell asleep. Now I'm going out for the night.]

Reno found a foothold as he settled onto the worm's back, letting out a whoop toward the sky as the worm jerked hard to the side again, trying to throw them.

Those rodeo guys who thought it was a big deal to sit on a bull for eight seconds had nothing on this insanity.

"I'm hangin'! I'm hangin'!"

This was absolute insanity. And Reno loved every minute of it.

Leto clung to the spikes on the worm's back, keeping an eye on Reno as well. The worm threw itself to the opposite side.

"If it rolls over, prepare to jump!"

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