Crossover Chronicles (6) - (Locked; see final post for details)

"It's no problem," Byleth serenely responded, a hint of a smile coming to her face as she watched Cookie's enthusiasm come bouncing back. However, as the battle was still very much in progress, this brief moment of calm was inevitably brought to a halt. "! ... Your flail!" she gasped when she noticed the two Chuchus making their getaway with Cookie's weapon. "This way--stay close to me...!" she called as she turned and began pursuing the slimy creatures, prompting Cookie to follow her. Before she could reach the two Chuchus she was after, however, an interrupting trio of Chuchus jumped out and blocked her path. "Ngh...!" Gritting her teeth in surprise, she wound up and kicked one of them out of the way.

Cookie looked briefly stunned when her flail was mentioned, as if everything had finally dawned on her at once. "Huh?!" Looking to the side, she saw the slimy bandits slinking off with her weapon. "AAH! H-hey, I need that!" she squeaked in a panic, frantically pursuing the Chuchus alongside Byleth.

When the duo's path was suddenly blocked by even more Chuchus, Cookie stopped in her tracks and momentarily froze, at a loss for what to do. Seeing Byleth swiftly kick one of the monsters away, however, provided her with the needed inspiration in this moment. She wound up as much as she could manage, then delivered a sharply hooked punch at another one of their foes. The delivery was unrefined and clumsy, but the sheer power of the blow knocked her target aside with ease.

Byleth took notice of Cookie's attempt to keep fighting without a weapon--while the heavy punch was clearly quite lacking in terms of finesse, there was no shortage of power behind it. It was quite impressive, actually, just how effortlessly the child's target had been knocked aside. "Nice work," she praised coolly. With enough training, she could probably learn to fight very efficiently without a weapon... she observed, making a note in her mind to bring up this thought with Cookie once the situation was under control.

Until then, she would just continue to try setting an example as they fought. "Next time, though, try to put more focus into the delivery of your punch," Byleth suggested, swiftly dispatching the third Chuchu with a mighty punch of her own as she spoke.

Cookie paused and listened intently to what Byleth was telling her, then watched closely as Byleth took down the last of the three Chuchus. "The delivery of the punch..." she echoed thoughtfully as she processed the advice in her mind. "... Alright, I'll see what I can do next time!" she assured eagerly, practicing her fighting stance as she scanned the area for her flail. "Now, uh... Where'd they go?"

Byleth moved her gaze ahead, searching for the Chuchu thieves. Failing to spot them, it quickly became apparent that they had managed to slip off somewhere amidst the distraction. "It looks like we'll have to do some searching," she responded. "Just remain calm, and keep what I told you in mind. We're bound to come across it while we fight our way forward."

Remembering her own weapon, Byleth glanced towards the ground where it had fallen just earlier. Surely enough, it appeared some Chuchus must have taken it somewhere as well, as it was suspiciously absent. Despite this, her expression remained just the same as she turned to face yet another approaching Chuchu. Just as it began to lunge at her, she swung around to its side and delivered a kick with blistering speed, sending it flying away.

"Oh... OK, guess we should just... get as many of these guys out of the way as we can," Cookie noted, taking a deep breath to center her mind again.

Suddenly, a Chuchu jumped out from behind cover to catch Cookie by surprise--something which it did succeed in doing. She yelped in shock and staggered back from the monster at first, but succeeded in regaining composure before too long. She stared intensely at the Chuchu, sizing it up and planning her course of action. Then, she pounced forward, managed to abruptly stop just in front of her foe without falling over, wound up, and finally struck with a forceful uppercut. Her movements were still quite clumsy and unrefined, but she did seem to put a little more thought into things this time--even if she didn't exactly know what she was doing.

As for the Chuchu, Cookie's punch sent it flying away at an upward angle. It soared smoothly through the air for a short while, then abruptly hit a tree limb and fell to the ground as a limp, quivering blob of jelly.

Byleth periodically looked over at Cookie whenever she could, continuing to make note of her technique from the side. "That's it; just keep refining your motions. You're off to a good start," she both advised and encouraged, briefly watching Cookie's target come flopping to the ground before she rushed ahead to continue fighting.

Out of nowhere, another Chuchu that was hiding in the trees spontaneously dropped, landing right on Byleth's head. Grunting softly in surprise at the feeling of the sudden, blobby impact, she thrust her head to the side, but when that proved ineffective at throwing her attacker off, she simply reached up, grabbed it, and flung it away. Along the way, the soaring Chuchu collided with another, and they were both defeated.

Feeling like she might be gaining some momentum, Cookie charged forward to keep fighting as well. She ran straight towards the nearest Chuchu with an idea in her head. Up until now, she had only been punching; she figured it was time to give kicking a try.

Just before reaching her target, Cookie leapt into the air, aiming her feet ahead for a flying kick attack. Unfortunately, she did not think about how this move would end. Although she reduced the enemy to jelly with ease on impact, she passed right through to the other side and kept going. Her mildly horrified expression at this moment clearly indicated that she was now realizing just how little she thought her flashy move through.

Things didn't stop when Cookie hit the ground, either. As might be expected, the forest floor was becoming more and more slick with Chu jelly as the battle dragged on. Instead of coming to a halt when she hit the ground, Cookie slid ahead, feet-first. Thankfully, a few more Chuchus just happened to be in her path, and ended up being smashed into along the way. Eventually, she simply slowed to a stop.

After she unflinchingly foiled a sneaky Chuchu's plans with a precise kick, Byleth watched to see how Cookie would execute her next attack. She seems to be gaining more confidence already. Good; if her morale is high--...

... ! "Cookie!" Byleth was pulled abruptly from her observations, eyelids flying wide open, when she saw the daring move Cookie had flung herself into. Without hesitation, she dashed to catch up with her, seamlessly punching aside any Chuchus who tried to flank her along the way.

When Cookie's wild ride finally ended, Byleth followed just a moment later, skidding to an abrupt halt--and just barely avoiding losing her balance on the jelly-covered ground, scrambling for just a moment until she was standing up straight. "... Are you OK...?" she asked slowly, turning to Cookie. Her eyes were still somewhat widened after witnessing the disastrously misjudged kick, betraying her mostly steady voice. Still alertly listening for the signature squeaking of a Chuchu behind them, she focused her gaze directly on Cookie, waiting for a response. She had a feeling her ally wouldn't be attempting something so reckless again, but if things seemed to be going that way, Byleth would be quick to advise her against it.

"Whoa..." Cookie sighed, still lying on the ground, briefly thinking back on what just happened and letting the experience sink in. Although things didn't go as she had planned, she still ended up having an exciting experience and coming out of it unharmed, so she didn't mind. In fact, since she also managed to take down a few Chuchus on the way, she was actually kind of proud of it.

Following this brief moment of reflection, Cookie looked over to meet Byleth's concernedly steady gaze with a bright-eyed expression. "Yup! I'm fine," she assured chipperly, momentarily struggling to get her footing on the slippery ground before rising to her feet. "Did you see that? Not exactly what I meant to do, but I think it still worked out pretty OK!" she remarked with enthusiastic optimism.

Byleth's wide-eyed look faded back into her signature, completely neutral expression, relieved to see Cookie unharmed. The excited way her new ally was talking about the greatly misjudged move, however, she found rather troubling; if she kept on trying it again and again, something was bound to go wrong. "Yes," she responded blankly. "... You shouldn't try to repeat it, though."

"Oh. Uh... Right, 'course not. Sorry," Cookie replied sheepishly, lightly clutching her arm. Byleth's calm but firm warning put a swift end to any thoughts of further flying kick shenanigans. "I should probably just stick to punching for now."

"Yes. You're just starting out, so try not to overwhelm yourself," Byleth suggested, her bright blue gaze calmly focused on Cookie as she spoke. "If you find yourself in a situation where you think you'd be better off kicking, though, practice with a less... risky technique."

(Heads-up; this RP is going to have some big renovations, and this thread is being locked. See [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for all the neato details. <3 )