Round two - Mox Vs Zexion

It was another challenge, waiting on the front of her cardboard fortress. She took it inside and compared it to the first. Only one thing was different, the name. Carefully the cat traced the letters, sounding it out.

“Zzz… zexx…shin. … Zex-see-on?”

She growled some, hating the way the writing made her brain itch. She tucked the paper away inside her shirt and moved off. This time it was Dexanielle she found first.

“Decks?”

Dex smiled at her friend, petting her hair gently, lowering her tone.

“Hiya Mox, what’s up?”

She nuzzled the hand, purring this time. She understood this time, she just wanted to have the name right. Slowly she pulled out the paper.

“Decks, who this? Pleee-ase? How you say name?”

Dex peered at the paper and blinked.

“Zexion. He’s a superior, are you in trouble?”

Mox smiled and shook her head.

“We have… test. Want to be… good.”

Dex smiled and gave her a hug.

“Alright, be careful.”

Mox grinned her Cheshire grin.

“Yus!”

~

She was waiting patiently when the short man came in. He gave her a partial smile when she stood to stretch.

“I was impressed by your fight with Xaldin, it was very good. I want to see how adaptable you really are though. Now, for this exercise, we’re both going to be blindfolded, alright?”

Mox tilted her head, her braids falling in her face.

“Blind-folded?”

“A cloth goes over the eyes, so you can’t see.”

She considered this for a long moment before nodding.

“May has to try first, so… can tell?”

He looked a little nonplussed by the request, but obliged nonetheless. He’d heard that this Nobody’s mind was not where it was meant to be.

Mox touched the blindfold slowly, getting used to the texture. She squirmed some when he tied it around her eyes.

“Can you see anything?”

“No!”

“Then it’s working.”

She didn’t like not being able to see. She jerked and twitched. Zexion watched her for a little bit before guiding her over to her starting point.

“I know it’s unfamiliar, but this is part of the test.”

He waited until there was a small nod before retreating to his own start and tying on the cloth.

Instantly his world became a map of scents. He could place the woman easily in the room, outlined in a mixture of tuna, water, and something almost sweet. He sniffed a few times before shaking his head, he could indulge his curiosity later.

Across the room Mox tried not to tear the occluding fabric from her face. She whined, turning in a circle or two. Cats could ALWAYS see. This was horrible!

Noise. Soft, delicate, feet on wood. She jerked her head up towards it. Speaking!

“Are you ready?”

Yes, sound. She could move silently. She had the advantage. She could cope. So many things depended on sound. Still, she hesitated.

“Yeaaus?”

“Begin.”

And there was sound everywhere. She lashed out at the one right beside her ear, but hit nothing. Panicking, the cat flailed, striking out again and again. Each time, she only struck air.

Zexion slid forward, following the scent. She was moving fast and at chest-level for him. His illusions surrounded them, masking the true Zexion with the noise of many.

Mox was already exhausting herself in fear. For each ‘voice’ she struck at, three more seemed to spawn. Their indistinct chatter and footsteps seemed to crowd in on her, drowning out her thoughts. She howled in fear and turned, running back towards where she knew the wall was, wanting to get to safety.

Some instinct counted steps. She put her hands out to catch herself on the paneling. She hung there, panting hard, then ran sideways, keeping a hand on the wood to keep herself grounded.

Zexion trailed after the scent, wrinkling his nose at the fear. It burned a bit in his sinuses, and it made it hard to smell anything else.

Mox hit a corner and put her back to it, giving her a small modicum of safety as she struck out against the sounds again.

Her breathing slowed, calming. She was in a relatively safe spot, she hadn’t been hurt. The noise was only noise. She tried to focus, swiping only when she thought she heard something a little more “real” in the crowd. Still she hit nothing.

Zexion hefted his book. His illusions were ready. He drew his small arms back and brought it around in a heavy arc that whammed into her side.

It came out of nowhere. Something solid and heavy rammed into her side, driving out her air and sending her sprawling on the ground.

“Yield?”

The voice seemed to come from everywhere. She whined, unable to answer yet, having no breath to do so with.

Something whistled. Instinct kicked in. She shoved off the wall, sliding hard and fast along the polished floor on her cotton coat. It hurt the arm trapped underneath her, but the vibrations told her that the striking object had missed and hit the floor.

The cat rolled and backed off again, trying to catch her breath. Her side ached, but she could still move.

Vibrations in the floor.

The sounds followed her, obscuring things again.
Vibrations in the floor.

Could be anywhere, had to get the wall behind her back again.

Vibrations in the floor.

The insistent voice in the back of her head made her pause, then lay down. For a moment she cursed her vulnerability, then she felt it. A tiny ‘tock’ through the wooden boards.

Zexion frowned as he smelt her scent lay flat again. What was she doing? He took a step…

Mox lunged before she could lose her location.

She was lunging! He swung the book out of instinct!

Wham. Mox was knocked out of the air. She hit the ground and rolled a few times before laying still, her back on the ground, staring up into the deep blackness of the blindfold. She panted hard.

Vibration.

Voices.

She gasped and found her voice.

“Yield.”

The footsteps paused.

“What?”

“I… I yield.”

Zexion thought about it for a few moments, then dismissed his illusions and his book before undoing his blindfold.

“Very well.”

He helped her up, helping her get the ‘fold off so she could see once more. Mox hissed a little, having to cover her eyes.

Victory, Zexion.