fandomhigh | Battlefield Tactics, Thursday

This time, the students' visit to the Danger Shop would reveal a teacher. Kerrigan stood atop a rock, her arms crossed and her bearing very, very steady. "This is a practical course," she said. "Nobody's going to teach you how to run an army in seven easy steps, so I hope that's not what you had in mind when you joined us here."

She raked her eyes over the kids. "Practicals," she said. "The goal is for you to start thinking creatively through experience." A pause. "Or something like that. You, and you. You, you..." She pointed at a few random students, pairing them up one with the other. "Team up. On the other side of this ridge is a small army. We have higher ground, they've got numbers. Near the back of their encampment, against this very same rock, is their food supply."

"You're all outnumbered. So the trick is to starve your enemy. It's going to be hard for them to find another way out of this valley and set up a steady supply route. You've got some Danger Shop explosives to take care of the whole thing, but don't abuse the Danger Shop safeties."

One more glance their way.

"Now go."

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"We never met before class, right?" Karla said, frowning a bit. "Not even at the welcome picnic, right?" There was something so familiar about him; it nagged at her, but turned elusive as soon as she tried to remember.

A moment later she gave up and shrugged. "I'm sorry. You just looked really familiar for a second." She gave him another apologetic smile. "Don't mind me. I'm not crazy, I promise. It's just...like trying to remember a word that's on the tip of your tongue. But it's not important now--we have an assignment to do. Close your eyes?"

At least she didn't mock his hair?

Cloud shook his head. "Never." And Cloud, being like he was, was already considering the worst. After all, Ino knew about him -and Cloud didn't know just how much she knew-, and Reno didn't have the brains to keep people out of Gaia for all that he was concerned. Could Karla and him had met in the future? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Reno showed her a picture or him, maybe she was just...not crazy. But she dealt with magic; all kinds of things happened when you messed with that.

"Alright, not crazy", he sounded slightly amused by that, and it actually showed. "Maybe we do need to talk later." He needed to know now, what was with Karla and his world. Could he look at her the same way? Could Cloud even look at Ino without feeling slightly resented? Focus on the assignment. Cloud nodded slowly, closing his eyes and wondering what was just about to happen.

Karla firmed the air around him at about calf-height. "Take a step up, okay?" she instructed. "Like you're climbing a staircase. And then walk forward. Just a few steps towards me."

It was easier to do this with their eyes closed the first time. Then, all they had to focus on was the feeling of ground beneath their feet. There was no give; it was more like walking on hardwood or glass than true ground, but it was sturdy enough to be comforting.

Oooookay, he felt something. "How much does confidence has a say in this?", asked as he took a step up. And hey, he was stepping on something. Not letting that stop him midway, he lifted the other feet, and was now stepping on air. One step, two steps, and felt as if he was just stading on something pretty solid. Cloud even gave it a light tap before opening his eyes and looking down. He saw nothing, but the feel was there; he could trust that one sense to keep him standing on whatever he was at the moment. Then he looked up at Karla, making his best effort of not letting his inner child -long repressed, horribly scarred, shamelessly hidden inner child- grin in a absolutely idiotic self sufficient way.

He looked rather bright about the whole walking on air thing, all in all.

"None at all," Karla assured him. "It doesn't matter how hard you disbelieve, my Craft will still be there."

Her grin brightened as she watched Cloud adjust to airwalking and the quiet marveling he did. Bringing happiness through her Craft always just felt right. Even though it wasn't enough to make up for what they were planning, Karla felt just a little lighter. "You take to airwalking well," she said with a smile, hopping up beside him. "Just let me know where we need to go and I'll make it accessible. Hope you don't mind running up and down staircases, though."

Cloud's brithgness was momentarily cut off when a though crossed his mind. Was it okay for him to be enjoying himself like that? Not the 'killing the armies down there' sort of enjoyement, but the regular, having an interesting time in a completely light mood sort of one. Okay so they were still planning to strike from the back, but Cloud didn't remember when it had been the last time he had felt like just grinning at something like walking on air. He had been neglecting a lot of things. Now keep your focus on the not-quite-floor. The blankness on his face vanished and was replaced with concentration, although he still felt like jumping on air. "It's good to know I can rely on it then." He tried not to take over too much space, and looked down once more. "I'm okay with stairs; I think J know where we can enter the base. Had you mentioned somehing about being invisible?" He had to see that.

Or not.

Or not indeed.

Karla was a little disappointed when Cloud went back to being all business, but he was right about one thing, even if she didn't know he was: now was not the time for playing. She nodded once, pulled up a sightshield, and vanished. There was nothing to betray her presence, including impressions on the ground since she was standing half a foot in the air.

"I won't put up the aural shields until we're almost within range," Karla said. "We'll put your hand on my shoulder and I'll guide you down, okay? Once we're in position, you guide me along with my shoulder to get us to where we need to be?"

A tug left or right to turn, a squeeze to slow or stop...they could figure this out, right?

She dropped her shield so she was visible again. "You ready?"

Battlefield Tactics, Thursday

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