victory_road | away we go

Flying was shaping up to be a miserable experience--not because it was his first time, he’d been on airships before, and if he was uncomfortable in the air he would make a very poor dragoon indeed. But the air in this death trap is stale and circulated, it’s cold and loud, and the worst part is whoever designed it obviously didn’t have anyone taller than average in mind, which he should have expected the moment he had to duck to board.

Estinien had needed to fold himself into a seat, knees pressed hard into the back of the one in front of him, and they were moving so fast that he couldn’t concentrate on anything in front of him, catching sight of the land outside the window speeding by out of the corner of his eyes when he tried made him nauseous.

He eventually settles into an uneasy doze, head tipping forward onto his chest. Or, a time or two, sideways onto whoever’s sitting next to him, though when that happens he’ll startle awake shortly and curtly apologize before going back to shifting uncomfortably and staring forward or out the window.

After disembarking from the plane and grabbing his satchel, the first thing Estinien does is release Iceheart from her pokeball. The second is to find a quiet, relatively secluded area that he can stretch out in, because both his legs are just pins and needles and his back aches horribly from the time spent crammed into the airplane.

At least it will be a few weeks before he has to endure that again, but then he walks into the hostel and realizes that he’s going to have a similar problem here. The fact that he’s sleeping with others isn’t an issue--he’s shared smaller spaces with worse people, having spent a good portion of his adult life sleeping in barracks or rough in the wilderness. It’s not his preference, but it’s tolerable.

But again, he’s finding that nothing here is made for people his height, whereas in Ishgard--hells, even Eorzea in general--he’s perfectly average and most spaces accommodate him easily. The first night makes that perfectly obvious, when he settles into his bunk (floor level, he sleeps light and it’s easier for Iceheart to access, so he doesn’t care about moving up) his knees end up hanging out into the walkway for people to stumble over even though his back and feet are pressed against the back wall.

Already an early riser, he gives up about the 4th time someone trips over his knees in the dark that first night, getting up and going into the common room to exercise, doing pushups with his Vulpix perched on his back.

Throughout the time there, he keeps largely to the same routine, waking early to exercise or go for a run, returning to bathe and make breakfast (which he can be persuaded to make for others, if they are fine with simple fare and his grumbling), then heading out for whatever he has planned for the day.

The underground is slightly better for his budding claustrophobia, mostly because there has to be room for the Mudsdales pulling the carts, and the horses are taller than he is. He’s still not entirely comfortable underground--he’s a Wildwood Elezen, after all, they prefer tree cover to unknown tonzes of earth and stone over their heads. But it’s enough to deal with it, to see what the fuss is about.

He doesn’t entirely mind being put to work, not when he ends up with a fossil and a Fire Stone to show for it. Both will be useful in the end. But he’s not exactly eager to go back for round two.

The trek up the mountain on her Arcanine with Cassandra had been a bit of a trip, and the two had gotten separated after some time catching pokemon and exploring around, but luckily it wasn't too big of a deal since there was still service up on the mountain much to her surprise. On her trek up the slopes, she caught eye of a beautiful white Ninetales, who she absolutely wanted to get a better look at. Not to catch, but to just observe.

Not seeing anyone else around, or really paying attention for that matter, Willow gets closer to the Ninetales after hopping off her Arcanine who sticks as close to her as he can, yellow-gold fur standing out among the surroundings. "Oh my, aren't you a beautiful one, I do not believe I have seen one of your kind before." She slowly reaches a hand out for the pokemon to sniff her hand and then notices the man, presumably the pokemon's trainer and stops her hand where it is. "Oh-- my apologies, is this one yours?" A little embarrassed for not seeing him until just now.

Well used to trekking snowy mountains, Estinien had outpaced Ardbert some way down the ridge. He didn't truly miss snowbound Coerthas, not in a way that made him nostalgic for the snow in his boots and the air chilling the tips of his ears off, but the mountain was making him feel strangely nostalgic. Iceheart also seemed to be in her element, so to speak. Neither were particularly caught off-guard by being approached, there were native trainers on this mountain as well as fellow off-worlders, so it was only to be expected.

Estinien doesn't look offended, at least--if anything, he looks at least a touch amused. Iceheart is rather striking, after all. (It doesn't hurt that he spoils her a little.)

"Aye, her name is Iceheart." She yips right after, as if on cue, and shoves her cold snout under Willow's nose, perfectly willing to beg pets off of other people.

She's both relieved and thrilled she had not offended either of them, and even more thrilled that Iceheart has shoved her snout into Willow's hand. Startling a little bit at the cold, but not as much as if they were down lower where it wasn't already cold.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful creature. I've a Vulpix of my own, but she's the red kind, a fire type I believe?" She reaches with her other hand and scratches gently behind one ear while moving the other hand behind the other ear. Her own Vulpix couldn't get enough of the ear rubs and scratches, it was the same for a Ninetales right?

"Aye, I have one of my own. Her kind originates from a different area, as I understand."

Iceheart is indeed approving of ear scratches, trilling happily before shoving the top of her head into Willow's stomach.

"She is ice-aspected, where the red are fire, thus far they seem quite similar in temperament." Which was one of the main reasons he'd chosen to train a Vulpix as a fire-type addition to his team, he was sort of hoping that the experience would translate. So far Heustienne seems to be a touch more reserved, but he's fine with that.

"Curious that their element.. err.. types I believe, change with different areas."

She makes a soft 'oof' sound when Iceheart shoves her head into Willow's stomach, laughing at the fox's enthusiasm for attention. She obliges the ice type even more pets, after all, what cute creature did not deserve all this attention.

"She loves the attention I see. She's just like Kira, who can't get enough attention either." The Luxray demands attention from any who would give it, and would have leapt from her pokeball were she on Willow's team at the moment.

"Tis not so strange to me, my world has many areas where the land itself is aspected one way or another, and the monsters that inhabit it alike share that tendency, though their shape may be akin to creatures elsewhere."

He shrugs. He might have been a bit over-indulgent, but doesn't truly see the harm in it. She's still a strong fighter, so what does it matter?

"They're fair more intelligent than average beasts, I find. And certainly easier to work with than many travel companions I've had."

away we go

Airplane

Hostel

Underground

Wildcard, as mentioned from plurk on Mt. Coronet! (time is fake so... whenever lol)

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Oops, I'd meant to do brackets initially but went autopilot, I can switch if needed

If you wanna switch that's fine with me, I don't care :3

All good, was just checking to see if you'd wanted to

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