#rjoli

Dark clouds were beginning to roll in over the Floating City of Nym as the party stood on the cliff's edge, the winds kicking up fiercely as the rain approached. Lunya relished the feeling of an authentic La Noscean storm—it was too bad Wyda couldn't be home to enjoy it too. Kind of embarrassing, actually, that she was making her friends do something like this instead of heading back over to help out with the research. But Zaya was stretching at her side, a spark in their eyes that she hadn't seen in some time between everything that'd happened on the First. Their enthusiasm was palpable, rolling off them in static waves that raised every hair on Rjoli's body until he was a giant pink puffball. Every bit of movement any of them made created small crackling sounds.

"This is not how Noctis did his warping," Hanami said, crossing her arms as she eyed the storm warily. It was hard to tell if she was just as worried for them as Reese was or if she figured they'd learn their lesson the hard way.

"Well, I don't see Hien and Kirishimi warping around with 'the power of kings,'" snipped Lunya, unless Kiri knew something she didn't. Hanami and Zaya both made complicated expressions at the mention of the Doman lordling. "So we gotta do the next best thing."

Privately, Lunya knew full well that going out of her way to get hit by lightning wasn't at all the next best thing and nowhere close to what their otherworldly friend employed in battle. The technique she was going to use came from another of the Warriors of Light and Seven happened to use it without this dangerous aspect, which frankly just wasn't as fun. She sure as hells wasn't about to tell Reese that, though.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Rjoli signed, a bit stifled by Reese continuing to cling to him like an oversized stuffed bear. "Isn't Zaya's aether…"

"I know Zaya's whole aether situation is like trying to put a sweater on a greased goobbue, that's why they have me," Lunya emphasized with a wiggle of her incandescent, aether-coated fingers.

"That's why I have Lunya," Zaya agreed, giving them all a not very reassuring thumbs up, way more excited about this than any of the others felt they should be. Reese and Rjoli looked at them doubtfully.

The rain rushed in. When the first crack of thunder slammed above them, Lunya clapped her hands with glee, bouncing up and down on the spot. Zaya knelt on the dirt, her back turned to her. "It's time!"

"Like a frog," Hanami muttered, which Lunya luckily didn't hear.

Lunya climbed on Zaya's back. A iridescent sheen rippled across Zaya's scales and horns and down their skin as she pressed a hand to the back of their head, condensing her aether into a thick protective layer over them both. If her hair wasn't already a mess from Zaya's latent static earlier then it certainly was now as tension completely pooled around them and the rain began to soak them through. Every single hair on her body was standing on end and there was a low buzz that hummed in the air.

"At your ready, Cap'n Zaya!" she cheered. The others stepped far, far back, crammed together beneath Rjoli's Serpent of Ronka umbrella.

"Hold on," Zaya said raspily, teeth bared in a huge grin. Threads of aether swirled in Lunya's hands as she gripped Zaya's shoulders, electricity beginning to arc across their skin. The smell of ozone was overwhelmingly sweet in her nostrils, weighing metallic on her tongue.

Lightning struck them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA," they screamed in unison, like idiots, because seriously why did she ever think this was a good idea—but Lunya closed her eyes and searched, following the lines of aether that swirled in the air. She grasped at the lightning aether, grabbed her own in the other fist, and slammed them together. The lightning strike launched them upward and with her aetherial manipulation she pulled another bolt close and Zaya propelled them forward, high, high above the floating city. Lunya whooped in exhilaration as they leaped to the next lightning strike and the next and the next and the next, and the storm swelled fiercer and fiercer above them until they were out of sight, the only sign of where they were being the intensified sound of the thunderclaps and the shaking of the earth with each following strike.

EXTENDED OVERVIEW.

Zaya is reliant on being all up in someone’s face in most fights, since their strength is most of what they have. All of their jobs do physical damage, if you haven’t noticed; they’re basically the equivalent of a DnD character with all their stats in strength and dexterity with nothing in constitution or intelligence.

Speaking of which; Zaya is magically inept. An incident in the Calamity where they faced off against a shard of the fallen Dalamud led to them 1) dying and 2) losing all magical capabilities they had beforehand. To make up for that (seeing as they can cast some magic today, like song and dark magicks), they have a series of magical inscriptions/tattoos on their body. It’s a little frightening to look at with all their scales, so most of them are hidden away with glamour prisms. The only one that isn’t hidden by prisms (instead hidden by an armband on their right arm) is their lightning inscription from a long time ago; it confers them a lot of lightning related benefits, such as full lightning resistance and the ability to discharge collected energy (Greased Lightning >:3). It also gives them a bond with their thunderbird yol, Ochir!

Once in a fight, Zaya will do everything they can to avoid extra damage; unlike most of their fellow Warriors of Light when under the effect of their Blessing of Light, they don’t heal over time. A setback from their aforementioned magical incapability, but it really does blow when they’re the only one around to fight [insert monster name here] since they have to rely on potions specially brewed for them by Tehra’ir. They’re heavily reliant on not taking damage at all instead of just eating it, which changes up parts of their dark knight skillset. The only exception to this is acting as a meatshield; if someone younger or more injured than them is about to take a blow (for example, Elwin or A’dewah), they will more than likely leap into the path of danger, whether they have The Blackest Night, Riddle of Earth, or nothing at all.

In most fights, Zaya will simply stick to one of their various skills to finish the job; most of the time, they’re not running the risk of death should they need to run. However, for fights such as Zenos, Shinryu, Innocence, or Hades, they pull out most (if not all) the stops. Rarely will they be seen using their dark knight soulstone, since the whole concept relies on one having mana to spare; instead of mana, their dark knight skills take from their health in exchange for longer protection/more damage. (Blood Gauge indeed.) They won’t hesitate to play dirty to win if it comes down to it, and are more than willing to die for a better chance of winning the fight for others.

Much of their fighting style is built on quickly defeating the enemy; long, drawn out fights are not their forte. In a one-on-one fight, Zaya will constantly try to trip up their opponent through quick movements and dodges for more free hits, but won’t go so far as to taunt. Hardened, scaley knuckles and kicks from metal boots are enough to knock most soldiers over easily, and their strength from years and years of training only adds to that.