Fiends of the Prairie

[xiv-obsession.livejournal.com]

Who: Xion, Loz
What: Killing monsters/fiends
Where: Mobliz, The Veldt
When: Late morning-noon
Rating: PG

The Veldt, the vast prairie land in the Amagi region of Gaia, housed hordes upon hordes of monsters from all over the world. Many travelers in the past had met their end due to ill preparation when heading out into the prairie. Though truly no one ever traversed The Veldt much anymore. There were simply too many monsters covering the ground area, and the advent of airships had eliminated the need to travel on foot. As such, the town of Mobliz had been left without visitors for years.

Once upon a time, Mobliz had been renown for the rows of cute little houses, lined with beautiful flowerbeds, and few large buildings that made up its structure. Great old trees made for great shade when the summer sun shined down too harshly, and a pond off to one end of the village also helped with the summer woes. The postal building, where the citizen's sent their letters for delivery to the rest of the region, had been the town's pride and joy. There were even farms off near where the town met The Veldt, and from them the villagers' produce came in. The citizens had always been blessed with a good rain and sunshine for their crops.

Now, it seemed Mobliz would never see a visitor or another good crop ever again.

Where there were once houses, there were now instead blackened ash and crumbling foundations. The few large buildings were little more than framework and pipes unless they happened to be sturdy brick. All these were limned with the grave beds of flowers. There were no traces of people left behind save for the ashes that scattered the ruined walkways.

The sight of it all made Xion feel ill. Sure, she had seen destruction of a similar level before. Midgar's Slums were definitely just like this. However, where Midgar had people willing to rebuild, Mobliz had no one. Who could do something to a town she had heard only good things about? The only reason she had ventured so far out into this section of the world was to see the lovely flowers Mobliz was rumored to possess. Such flowers would have made wonderful gifts to people she knew. Now, though, it seemed the entire trip was for naught.

She had left her new motorcycle out by the gate that led into the city. She didn't necessarily figure anyone would come and take it. As far as she knew, she was the only person in the entire region for miles upon miles upon miles. It was a deduction made perfectly reasonable given the sheer melancholy of the region before her.

"What monster could do this...if it was even a person." she wondered, biting her lip. She wondered if Sephiroth had something to do with it. The thought of him made her blood heat up, but not nearly quite to a boil. Xion let out a gasp as a stab of pain pierced her skull, and she had to hold onto the wall of one of the still-standing houses to steady herself. Brief flashes of the burning town raced through her mind, over as soon as they started. The end result left her dazed. "What in the...no, no...I'm fine. It's just...being here that's the problem."

Satisfied with that, she pushed off from the wall and walked out of the town. She picked her helmet up off her motorcycle's seat and undid the clips as she sat on her bike. She really hated leaving without finding anything, but there truly wasn't anything left. She just sighed, pulled her helmet on, then sped off along the grassland that stretched out in front of the village.

No sooner had she gotten more than one hundred feet from the village did the monsters of The Veldt appear in front of and behind her. Having faced this very same problem on her way to the village, she fired spells at the monsters in front and drove right past them.