Meeting of Happenstance (Ruo/Hibiki)

As they approached the Shadows, Ruo would get a good look at them. The Shadows were of a more distinct shape this time, one looked like a machine with multiple legs, and another looked like a bird as it floated in the air. Ruo was admittedly a bit intimidated by the foes, as they looked rather powerful. She could try attacking them head on with Hibiki since Hibiki could probably survive them with little problem. But surely Hibiki knew that Ruo was nowhere near his level of strength. Ruo could blast them both with wind, and pray that she would knock one down, but not only did it seem like the bird could take a blast of wind or two, that would ruin her abilities to heal the both of them. She had enough power from her Persona to heal the duo twice more. She had to avoid her elemental skill; she had no choice if she wanted to ensure their survival a bit more. If Ruo’s attack failed, she would be wide open for a blow from either Shadow, or maybe eve both. She always had the option of going into an overclocking mode, Orgia mode. But that would pose a great risk on her if she failed in taking down at least one Shadow. Doing that would overheat her and prevent her from acting for a bit, but in the meantime, she could easily heal the both of them and strike. If it came down to it, she may have no choice, but that was an option to keep down the line. Her fear got the best of her, and she really had no other option than to hold her ground for the time being.

“Hibiki forgive me, but I have to hold back for a moment, I will help you, I have a method to heal us both, so worry little if you can,” she explained. She would then monitor the Shadows closely, while putting her hands near her body, as a defense to guard herself and brace for the next oncoming attack. With any luck, they would not do much in the way of damage to her if they hit. She felt animosity about this action. She wanted to see what the Shadows did, but at the same time, her resentment to her hardware affected her to make proper actions in battle, and this is what it had gotten her. Guarding instead of fighting like she was also made to do.

Action Taken:

Current Stats:

They ran into the next group of Shadows rather quickly, and Hibiki was a little surprised at the difference between these and the previous ones. The current ones looked a bit more creature like, so to say, with one of them even resembling some kind of a bird. Hibiki concluded that it probably meant that they were most likely stronger than the ones they faced back then. That wasn’t nice. While they didn’t have much of a problem in the last battle, it might get dangerous this time around. Not that he could tell just how much stronger they were, but even a small difference could change things around. Hopefully, they could take them down before giving them a chance to dish out powerful attacks at them. He wasn’t sure how much he could handle, and he wasn’t going to guess for Ruo.

‘‘All right, I’ll trust you with that.‘‘, he nodded at Ruo as she excused herself. He could understand if she was worried about those Shadows. They did indeed look more threathening than the last bunch, so he couldn’t blame her. Besides, she mentions something about healing, so perhaps they could pull this off, if she had a plan. He hoped, he’d be able to cause enough of a damage to the Shadows on his own. It worked well back then, but these probably had more stamina. Well, he wouldn’t know unless he tried. Giving one last glance at Ruo, he turned back towards the Shadows in question, summoning his Persona once more. The white tiger snarled at its enemies, before charging up crackling electricity and sending it at the Shadows in the form of two blinding lightning bolts.

Skills and Damage:

Chance of Missing:

Stats:

Like predicted before, Hibiki’s power over lightning proved as strong as the last battle, and completely destroyed the flying Shadow. Ruo could not help but feel as though she was contributing very little to the fight at hand. For once, Ruo was starting to feel a bit frustrated and almost dropped her guard in order to help out. But then she had realized why she kept her guard up. The remaining tank-esque Shadow had stayed in one place and from it, small bolts of lightning had moved to strike the two of them. It had missed Hibiki, but seeing as how Ruo was guarding, she could not avoid the attack whatsoever, and was hit. The small bolt shook her up slightly, and in truth did very little to her “health” as it were, but she realized that lightning would prove rather difficult to overcome given her powers. It seemed to be her weakness, and had she not been holding her guard, not only would the lightning have hurt worse, it would’ve cause even more damage due to it being something she was incredibly vulnerable to. In short, her guarding was most likely the smartest decision, even if it did not seem like that at first for the android made to fight.

Dropping her arms and readying herself, she had recalled that she had recently acquired a power from her Persona that healed multiple allies. And as was her plan, it could help her recover, and help Hibiki regain whatever stamina he may have lost. With that thought in mind, she would nod, her blue flame in her eye still remained aflame and flowing, and Maya would once again be called to action. Maya would this time hold her two hands in front of her, and in each hand, a ball of pink and orange light would form. She would release them, and a ball would float to both Hibiki and Ruo respectively, healing any wound they may have had at the moment to a fairly good degree. One it was over, Ruo would shake her right arm a bit, feeling newfound energy she had, and moved up beside Hibiki so she would be able to fight with him once more. “Not much, but I am hoping it will prove helpful in the long run,” she said without looking at him. Her blue flaming eye remained, cooling down her body as best it could so she could keep up with her ally.

Skill Used:

Current Stats:

The fact that the bird-like Shadow had gone down so quickly had surprised Hibiki at first. He kind of expected this duo to withstand the first attack. Perhaps they weren't as strong as he had originally thought them as. Which, in all honesty, was beneficial for him and Ruo. Still, it was probably better to overestimate, rather than underestimate in such conditions. It is nicer to realise that your opponents are weaker than you suspected, compared to the opposite situation. Nevertheless, the bigger of the two Shadows had survived the electrical shock, and quite fittingly decided to give one, albeit weaker, in return. Its aim hadn't been perfect though, as it missed him. It was close, but a miss is still a miss. Ruo hadn't been as lucky, and the lightning attack hit her, but she seemed relatively fine, quickly calling on her Persona once more.

On a glance, those colorful balls of light Ruo's Persona created looked a little out of place, but they did a good enough job. He did feel quite a bit better, so it had some effect. ''I think it should.'', he nodded absentmindedly, his focus more so on the remaining Shadow. Hopefully, the next attack would take him down. It was getting a bit tiring. Using a Persona wasn't that much of an easy task. Obviously the Shadows didn't care at all, that was a given fact. Not that he would have expected otherwise. Well, unless this one was way too much stronger than its fallen comrade, another attack should be able to pull it down. Byakko seemed to agree with that, as he charged up an electric current around himself, and attempted to slam into the Shadow forcefully, trying to finish it as quickly as possible.

Skills and Damage:

Chance of Missing:

Stats:

Once the Shadows were no more, Ruo would nod confirming the situation. She seemed rather useless in this fight, and she could not input much into the situation without just sitting back and protecting herself. Then again, it was her first time in Limbo, and it was probably expected of her to not be the greatest fighter of all. The flame in her eye vanished as her Persona vanished back into her subconscious mind. It would take a brief moment for her knees to buckle under the pressure of her hardware now finally slowing down after the use, and cause her to fall forward to her knees. She would not be responding to anything until she would stand up slowly. She would turn to Hibiki and give him a half-smile. “Alright. I am unsure if we should go any further. I still have enough to go once more, but I know that Shadow could have knocked me down had I not braced myself for the attack. I am also unsure if we would have a quick way to leave should things go poorly. Perhaps we should come in another day, if that is alright for you,” she said. She would listen to Hibiki, and take whatever advice he gave thought. Though this is one time that Ruo would want her decision to be warranted. Her life was on the line, and naturally, she put it above anything else. As kind and helpful as Hibiki was, she could not continue on with him if he wanted to.

“I shall probably head out and return home. I think I have had enough of Shadows for one day. I do not know how strong you are, so I was not going to advise you continuing onward, unless you think you are strong enough. But you seem capable, as I have seen,” she said. She had no smile, but her eyes showed a bit of admiration for his power. A machine built for combat, and a human that may or may not be new to his power, and suddenly stronger than her. Ruo would have to get some training done either here or perhaps with Hibiki in order to strengthen herself. Ruo would turn in the direction they came and gave one last look at Hibiki, seeing if he would join her before moving on ahead. If he chose to remain, she would nod. "Thank you once more Hibiki Nakahara. Your assistance was invaluable," she would say. Either way, she would be looking behind her a bit more than usual, as in this place, it seemed that trouble was never far away from the fact.


((Nyarlathotep forgot to post the Shuffle Time, so I was able to do it.))

Shuffle Time:

Five stat points go to Hibiki's:

Random number (1,8) :

7

1. HP
2. SP
3. PEND
4. MEND
5. PMSTR
6. PPSTR
7. DEX
8. LCK

Five stat points go to Ruo's:

Random number (1,8) :

5

1. HP
2. SP
3. PEND
4. MEND
5. PMSTR
6. PPSTR
7. DEX
8. LCK

((Forgot to add where Ruo was moving))

Movement:

Finally, both of the Shadows went down, and Hibiki was glad that it was so. It would have been bothersome if it had survived and attacked them again. Its last attack wasn’t very powerful, but he definitely wouldn’t have wanted to see what else it got. Ruo seemed tired enough too, as she had not performed a direct attack for a while, and she practically fell down after her Persona disappeared into thin air. Hibiki figured that it had something to do with her being a machine, and since he had no experience in that field, he didn’t do anything aside from looking at her in case she seemed too troubled. Meanwhile, Byakko vanished without a trace too. And Ruo stood up a while later, so it probably wasn’t anything bad. Well, most likely, as he couldn’t really tell.

‘‘Hm, I would be alright with that I suppose. The Shadows indeed seem to be getting stronger, so it might be safer to turn back for now.‘‘, he said, after Ruo proposed the idea of going back. Honestly, he was fine with that. He didn’t come here with a specific purpose in mind, so he had no pressing reason to go forward. And some of the Shadows were pretty strong, so risking it might not be the best idea. He could understand why would Ruo be cautious about it. In any way, they could still come back later, even if they left, so it wasn’t a big deal. Taking a break was important too. ‘‘Perhaps I could go on, but I do not have a need to do so. Besides, fighting is tiring, so I guess I’ll go back with you for now.‘‘, he added with a light smile as Ruo declared that she was going back, even if it was on her own. She definitely knew how to decide quickly, not that he particularly minded. While she might have been right, and he possibly could take on a few more of the Shadows, he didn’t truly feel like going further, and on his own nonetheless. It was obviously too risky, and he didn’t know Limbo that well yet, as this was only his second time being there. So, all in all, backtracking was the best sounding option at that moment. When Ruo turned to walk off, he went after her, trying to match with her pace. She seemed a bit nervous though, as she kept looking behind her quite often. Perhaps she was worried that more Shadows would pop up. Hibiki certainly wouldn’t scratch that possibility. ''This place definitely doesn't go easy on those who try to investigate...'', he commented lightly as they walked away. There wasn't any reason, really, he just didn't want to walk in an awkward silence.

Movement:

As Ruo approached the red door, he would think to herself. This approach to the world of Limbo was probably for the best. Try and get stronger, and moderate oneself. Hopefully Hibiki was feeling the same. She would turn to him and walk to him. Reaching her hand out, calmly for once, she would offer a handshake, and Ruo would put up a bigger smile than usual. This was something perhaps to celebrate. Every day they live is another day to survive after all. “Hibiki. Thank you for your help. You proved to me you have merit, much more than I can offer,” she would say. If taken, she would shake first for once, and nod before letting go. This man was most likely someone she could see as an ally and not an enemy. She would keep her guard up nonetheless, but she did not feel as paranoid with him as without. She still felt it, but it was something. “I trust you to be well, and I shall meet you in time at Nadashiki if you are still up to it. Well then…sleep well,” she would say before opening the red door to leave to the real world. She had said goodbye in advance because presumably he would end up where she was, but she would not be there. She would make a bit of a dash, and once away from the door, she would slow back to a walk, remaining her worrying safe on the way home.

((Exit))

They made it towards the red door quite quickly, and luckily without running into any extra trouble. Hibiki was glad that it went without any sort of distraction or interruption. That was most likely the last thing they needed right at the time. At least it seemed so. Well, anyhow, they were almost out. Ruo turned over to him before they did so tough, offering a handshake. ''You're welcome, Ruo. You weren't that bad yourself.'', he said, accepting the handshake. Although, she was helpful too, it wasn 't like he did everything. She seemed to like thanking him though. Not that he counted the times she did, but he was pretty sure there were quite a few occassions aleady. ''Sure, you too.'', he nodded at her as she made her farewells. He stayed still for a few moments after she took off before getting through the door himself. She was nowhere to be seen though, and he figured that she had already headed home, wherever that was. After giving a last side glance at the door they just came from, he turned around and started his trip back to the dorms. The day was coming to an end soon after all.

~Exit~