Chapter 13 - Dudebros

Holly wasn’t exactly sure what she had expected when signing up to hunt Scherzando. It certainly wasn’t whatever was going on here.

A group of dudebros shouted positive affirmations about how they were going to “rock” the Scherzando and then they would go on “bender”, whatever that meant.

Either way, Holly joined the group of three Resonators standing off to the side while the Maestros made fools of themselves. It was a little bit amusing but did make the fruit-bearer’s curiosity itch something fierce.

“Is… are they normally like this?” asked Holly of the other Resonators.

“Uh, yeah.”
“Usually.”
“We’re the designated ‘drag them back to the MA Office’ers.”

“That’s uh fun?” Holly offered, really struggling to keep her positive aura up.

“Let’s fucking goooo!” with that epic battle cry, the Maestros charged into the woods without the protection of their Resonators.
“Just stick with us; if we make it through the evening without one of them on a stretcher it’s a good night,” advised one of the older Resonators.

“’kayyy!” Holly cheerfully called. Though she hoped that Sage Sahji wasn’t watching, lest their night suddenly becomes frustratingly “interesting”.

The squad of Resonators followed along as the trio of boisterous Maestros made sure the entire forest was acutely aware of exactly where they were at all times with their incessant hollering.

“So what are you supposed to be?” asked one of the Resonators of the little newcomer.

“I’m Holly, I’m a zalavan!” she cheerfully replied. She figured there was no sense trying to hide what she was, despite the many warnings that her species was rare in the greater world.

“Hoh? A mirage?”
“No Maestro though.”
“Can she even fight?”

“I can! I’ve been hunting once!” Holly replied – it was only a slight fib, she had “hunted” one Scherzando, but they didn’t need to know the specifics.

That being said, there was much interest in her, and Holly found herself on the receiving end of their curious looks. But that was all they were – a passing curiosity. Perhaps it was because of where they were, a dark wooded area at night, the habitat of the Scherzando. It was probably wise to keep their guards up, lest they end up in a situation like how Holly’s first “hunt” had ended.

Without warning, the fire element of the group ignited their wrists with glowing heat, startling the fire-weak Resonator in their midst. Though Holly wouldn’t have long to fear the open flames, as the fire Resonator pivoted around a beast that jumped their group, and with a strong hook, punched through the shadow. Embers flickered in the air as the Scherzando was sent flying.

“Really? In front of the little plant? Have some tact man.” The water element threw out a hand, their captured liquid catching the stray sparks and finishing the Scherzando with a clean slice.

Holly blinked, it all happened so fast that she hardly had time to catch her breath. “You can cast spells?” she asked with wonder, not having heard anything that sounded like a spell from their Maestros.

The other Resonators laughed.

“You really haven’t been around, have you?”
“These are ad-Libs.”
“Thank god we don’t have to rely on those chuckle-fucks.”

The zalavan furrowed her brow. “ad-Libs, those are the skills Resonators have of their element, right?” She wasn’t familiar with the other element’s capabilities (or her own for that matter.) It was something she had meant to put more effort into researching other than the requirements. All she knew about the nature ad-Libs was they required plant life not attached to a zalavan – such as a forest; which simply did not exist in Inverna.

“Yeah, I got Icarus’ Ala,” said the fire element, flames licking his wrists.
“Poigga Fragola here.” The water element twirled their hands around, water obeying their movements.
“Venti Diurni, the wind is mine,” added the solar element of the group, a small gust swirling around them to demonstrate.

“What about you squirt? What’s yours?” asked the fire element.

“Uhh, I dunno!” Holly grinned. It was the truth. Though she had some passing familiarity with the ones belonging to her native element, knowledge did not equal power in this case. She didn’t know which of the many ad-Libs she had. All the books she read on the topic said-

“Don’t worry, it’ll come to you.” The water element tousled the small girl’s hair. “Oh, feel this! It’s really like grass!” they exclaimed.

And then Holly was being fawned over by the three larger Resonators.

It was… nice, in its own way.

---

The group carried on, the frat boy Maestros being the perfect little morsels for the hungry Scherzando. And while the three grown men got into a mud wrestling contest, their trio of Resonators handled business.

“You know, if she’s out here with us, she’s probably trying to earn some cash,” the water element pointed out.
“Oh fuck, you’re right.” The fire element pounded a fist into their open palm before turning to the little plant.

“You want in on the next group?” he asked.
“Yes! I wanna make money and buy a cake!” Holly cheerfully replied.

“Awww…” the three Resonators cooed at the adorable little one in their midst.

With that matter settled Holly now took the lead where the three had been doing most of the heavy lifting previously. She wasn’t truly in the lead; that honor belonged to the Maestros in high spirits who kept going on and on about whatever and being as loud as humanly possible. At least they made excellent bait… or something.

As they walked Holly went ahead and palmed some passionfruit seeds. “L'Ordine di Michele, Moderato,” she whispered, feeling the seeds turn to dust in her grip. Her body began to glow yellow with the spell’s effect kicking in.

“Oh?” The fire element noted the spell activating. “That one is the attack power buff,” he mumbled.

Holly wasn’t just going to use an enhancement spell and let that be the end of it. The sting of electricity graced her fingertips as she meticulously organized her seeds during their forward march.

Finally, they ran across another group of Scherzando. The oblivious Maestros continued their games unimpeded, even as a pack of beasts jumped at them.

The three Resonators were about to jump to their Maestros’ defense, but Holly beat them to it. She held out a palm, speaking her magic into existence with just four scant words. “Fulmine a Catena, Fortissimo.”

Lightning leaped from her palm, clearing the distance between its caster and its target in an instant.

The first Scherzando was caught and rend to dust.
But her attack continued.
The second had a hole blasted through it.
But her attack continued.
The third was wrapped in the voltage and cut cleanly in half.
But still, her attack continued.
Struck down was the final Scherzando with popping crackling electricity.

As the chain lightning channeled into the ground to harmlessly dissipate, the three Resonators stared in shock at the zalavan as she turned to them. Her eyes glowed with violent yellow rhythm, the aura of her power-up faded from her form and all that remained was her almost malicious smile.

“Did I do good?” she asked, her innocent tone betraying her actions only seconds ago.

---

“I might have messed up,” Holly whimpered quietly to herself. Sure, she had pulled off some pretty impressive seedcraft this evening, but her paltry sum of thirteen seeds wasn’t going to win her any contests.

She had to get flashy out there, of course. “Do I have an ego problem?” she wondered on a breath.

“Hey! What’s wrong, lightning bug?" The fire element patted her back roughly.

They were in the safety of the hunter’s base camp where they had started. The group Holly had spent the night hunting with was about to head out.

“I’m running low on seeds, mister!” Holly pouted.

“You were blasting spells out all night. Surely you can just go buy some,” the water element pointed out.
“That’s what I assumed you were doing already,” said the solar element.

Holly lit up at that fact. “Oh! There’s a seed store here? I just picked these from the wild!” exclaimed the little zalavan. What luck!

The trio of larger Resonators frowned and looked between each other.

“You remember one being here?”
“No, I don’t think?”
“Are there even Revo Repos in Selvica? I thought that was a Lyberteran chain…”

As the trio mused in their thoughts poor Holly was frustrated. Lybertera was the northern content of this hemisphere, but she had no idea what on Riterra a “Revo Repo” was supposed to be.

“Sorry, you might be on your own for that one,” the fire element snapped Holly out of her thoughts. “Never thought to look for anywhere that sold seeds.”

Holly nodded slowly. It made sense. Other Resonators couldn’t use seeds as she could; like a zalavan could. It was just another reminder of how different she was from them. Sure, they pulled from the same pool of spells. Their effects were the same, and their elements were the same, but how they interfaced with that aspect of their world couldn’t be more different.

That being said… her eyes drifted to the dudebro Maestros who were already making a ruckus as they headed towards town.

If she did one day find herself considering a Maestro, she didn’t want a bunch of useless… what was the phrase they used?

Chuckle-fucks, that was it.

A useful Maestro would be a good Maestro. Or at least that was the conclusion she came to after this evening’s events.