[SP-F1] Courageous Beyond Measure I (Complete)

[Azide 0]

Was it cowardly to be fighting here, on the first floor? These sorts of inquiries could be addressed by a simple question of his own; was it preferable to be found dead in some barren field? Although it was certainly possible that some might in fact opt for the latter, as long as they were remembered as brave, Azide was ultimately the type that preferred life among the living. Even if that meant knocking around a bunch of scrubby mobs all day- he was happy to do it.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Azide

[Azide 0]

As silly as it looked, for a front-liner to be grinding away just outside of the the Town of Beginnings, there was a method to all of the madness. Although this floor held primarily mobs of a markedly weaker caliber, he had discovered a few areas in which they were somewhat satisfiable, at least in terms of health. What had drawn him to these areas, however, was a simple trend which had afforded him the most efficient means of training. The fact of the matter was that though these mobs possessed a health stat equal to roughly half of his own, and thus dropped col and loot, what they did not possess was a respectable capacity to deal damage. In other words: easy money.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Azide

[Azide 0]

Now the only problem was, he wouldn't exactly be working solo today, as he'd initially imagined. He could recall the shrill shrieking of his client as she'd screamed, "The answer is no, absolutely not! You will not be working by yourself on this mission!"

"But-" he'd interjected, trying to talk sense into the woman. Was she aware that he was not the standard level for these first floor mobs? There was absolutely no way that he would be needing help- in fact, almost anybody she paired him up with could only slow things down.

[Azide 0]

The slightest of curls tugged eagerly at her lips, which soon gave way to the most despicable of grins. Her face was nearly cheshire, and easily the thing he disliked the most in this room, aside from the woman herself (of course). If this had been the story of Little Red Riding Hood, it would be easier to imagine the old hag as the wolf than as grandma. "That's right!" she shot back, leaning over the table to an uncomfortably close distance.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Azide

[Azide 0]

"Young man, I'm afraid you do not understand the meaning of the word, no. I'm going to be sending in the cavalry, so that perhaps he might teach offer you a lesson in etiquette and humility," she growled. He hated the awful scratchiness with which words seemed to claw their way out from from her throat, or the raspy grumpiness in which her tone seemed permanently dialed to.

He firmly planted both hands flat against the table, so that he leaned over the desk and looked her square in the eye. "You can't be serious..."

[Azide 0]

"McGonagall!" shouted a young man, spreading his arms out wide as if taking a bow from some impressive performance. It was definitely dramatic, that was for sure.

Azide buried his face deep in his hands, making no effort to hide his groans of displeasure. "For god's sake, I know your name already!" He couldn't even begin to understand the man's train of thought- why did he feel the need to constantly announce his name? The guy was a tool through and through. Unfortunately, this was not the sort of tool he needed, nor wanted.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Azide

[Azide 0]

Shaking off his partner's comments, McGonagall covered his mouth as a yawn worked its way through his body. Wearing an expression that was perhaps a touch too carefree for his current undertaking, he bounced on over to Azide and placed a hand on the green-clad player's shoulder. "So, buddy," he began, ignoring the other boy's look of disdain and seething eyes. "What exactly is it that we're doing on this fine day?"

[Azide 0]

"You are the worst, McGonagall," muttered Azide. He took a step back, hoping to dislodge a certain hand from his shoulder, but was a bit taken back when McGonagall simply took a step forward at the same moment. He flicked his eyes down to the grubby hand sitting on the shoulder of his favorite coat and ground his teeth to hold back a few choice words. "Anyway..." he shot a frosty glare to the man. "We're here today to search for a special stone called a Bezoar, according to the old lady."

[Azide 0]

McGonagall nodded vigorously, and just a bit too long for his partner's liking. At this point, the other boy was not sure whether or not it was intentionally that this idiot went about in the way he did. Perhaps he had simply been dropped one too many times as a small child. In any case, McGonagall gripped at his partner's shoulder tighter as he threw out an energetic thumbs-up at nobody in particular. (Where did he get all of this energy from?) "Great, great, Bezoars. Got it," said MgGonagall, laughing it off as if Azide had instead told him a funny story. "You know, I think it's really great that you do your whole research thing before these little elopements of ours-"

[Azide 0]

"If you're talking about reading the documentation we get before our jobs, I'm pretty sure that's actually in our contracts..." remarked Azide through gritted teeth. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, before releasing through his nostrils as a heavy sigh. "And we are not doing any eloping, mind you. I've got a strong feeling that word means what you think it it does." At some level, and not a particularly deep or hidden one, he wouldn't have minded seeing Kayaba smite this man at this very moment. He really wouldn't have.

[Azide 0]

McGonagall made a dismissive gesture with his hands, as if these were minor details that could simply be waved away just like that. "Bah! Reading was never really my thing back in school. Always did " He smirked as he spoke, and it annoyed his partner to no end.

"No kidding?"

[Azide 0]

The dry retort was met by a hearty guffaw from McGonagall, who seemed to be having too much fun for a guy who hadn't done any prep work for his assignment, and made little effort to hide it. "Nah, it might be hard to believe, but I found school pretty boring. A pretty big waste of time, if I've ever seen one." He eyed the studious Azide with a look of pity, before finally drawing back his hand and straightening himself up. "But anyway, let's not get off track, Azide. As much fun as I'm having right now, I think we should keep in mind that we have a job to do. It might not be fun, and it might not be pleasant, but somebody has to do it."

[Azide 0]

Rather than provide additional fodder for the wretch to mock him with, Azide simply forced his face to adopt something resembling a smile. He nodded slowly, making the movement look as if it'd been performed by a robot in strong need of an oil change. "Yes, you're right, McGonagall. How silly of me." Shaking his head, he shuffled away, ready to get this over with. "Let us get back to work." Gesturing in the general direction of their destination, he waited for McGonagall to indicate understanding of his words before heading off.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Azide

[Azide 0]

"Hey, Azide. Partner. Man-with-the-plan. Friend o' mine. Buddy. Pal. Hey," asked a certain someone as he clasped his hands behind his neck. As the duo traveled that meandering road that trailed into the forest, the two couldn't have looked more mismatched. There was Azide, of the somewhat smaller disposition at a modest five feet and eight inches, dressed in a white collared shirt with a sharp green coat layered over. On the other hand, the man next to him clocked in at a lofty six foot four, if not an inch or two more. McGonagall looked as if he had to have weighed at least twice as much as his counterpart, and most of it was muscle too.

[Azide 0]

A slow roll of his eyes followed by a sideways glance acknowledged that he had heard his so-called partner. "I'm listening, McGonagall." The words left his lips like a sigh.

McGonagall's expression did not change from its usual joviality, indicating that he was either not noticing the other boy's exasperation, or simply ignored it. But in all honesty, McGonagall did not seem at all like the brightest tool in the shed, and he felt almost certain that it was the former. "So what exactly is a Bazoer anyway? And how the heck are we gonna get one?" he asked, scratching at his nose.

[Azide 0]

"A Bezoar," he cleared his throat, "is a special stone found usually in the stomach of a goat," he continued. He raised his hands in front of him and shrugged, as if to demonstrate a great familiarity with the subject. "It can be recognized immediately by its purplish hue, and the faint aroma of lavender." Even if a certain someone couldn't be bothered to do any reading around here, he was more than capable of picking up the slack in that department. It would be a cold day in the fifth floor before he would be caught off unprepared on the job.

[Azide 0]

"Oh," replied McGonagall, wearing an expression that awfully resembled disinterest. The big man seemed more preoccupied with his whistling than with whatever Azide had lectured him with, and was currently caught up in a rather elaborate melody. "Just setting the mood here, if you don't mind," he said breathlessly, before carrying on. To his credit, the man really did give no indication towards any intentional malice- albeit he was no less insufferable even in the face of this conclusion.

[Azide 0]

Azide drew a deep breath as he leapt over a fallen log which had been blocking his path. "Actually, McGonagall, I do not. In fact, I think it would be great if you continued with your whistling, so that we can continue our conversation at a later time. Does this seem like a reasonable course of action to you?" he asked, turning around just in time to see McGonagall clear the log in a single bound. For a larger man, he was admittedly lighter on his feet than one would expect.

[Azide 0]

McGonagall looked straight at him, and Azide stared back as the man's cheeks continued to puff in and out, while his puckered lips performed their own rendition of March of the Gladiators. And just like that, he had finally done it: he had shut the man up. At least, for the time being. For a while, nothing more was said as the two continued to transverse the vegetation-laden terrain. And in that time, he had gotten the chance to listen to several lovely covers of an assortment of music- both popular and terrifyingly obscure. As the songs continued to pour from his lips, he wondered just how much air was in this man's thick head.

[Azide 0]

Perhaps he'd simply grown accustomed to low standards in this crazy virtual world, but for the time being, life was pretty good. A light autumn breeze cooled his face and ruffled his hair like a whispered caress, and the gentle sunlight made his skin glow and kept him comfortably warm. Hell, even McGonagall was making himself useful, whistling the relaxing class: Stranger at the Shore. He hated to admit it, but maybe there was more to this man than he'd initially judged- with the category of musical taste seeing an impressive boost in recent times.

Of course, all good things inevitably came to an end. "Don't worry, I've got this!" yelled McGonagall, as he charged directly at a nearby mob at a breakneck pace.