Chapter 262 - 215 - First Response
Rain pounded against the battered, razed landscape; leaves, limbs, and other tree litter blocked the road. That wasn't all however. Getting soaked alongside the upturned nature was the remnants of civilization that was torn asunder by the storm – pieces of buildings, cars, lampposts all lay in ruin. Only a single light shone in the community plunged into the darkness.
"Alright girls, ready?"
"Ready!"
"Famiglio Incendio, Moderato!"
In the circle of Taika, Pacifica, and Rebecca a healing attribute fox appeared. Shouri cast in tre corde nine more times, with each call bringing a new rhythm beast into existence until their numbers reached ten total.
"Okay, each one has three shots of La Bella Vita or higher levels if needed. They're small enough to get into a tight space if we need them to," he told the group.
"I've never seen this done before…" Gabriel gasped, looking over the healing attribute rhythm foxes.
"Didn't know this was a thing," Tyson agreed with his Maestro. "This is revolutionary," he added.
"Yeah, all search and rescue teams need this kind of magic!" Gabriel nodded in agreement.
"You think so?" Shouri asked.
"Definitely! Can you do this with other spells?" questioned the storm chasing Maestro.
"Basics only, but we've been able to make smoke, ice, water, and shadow foxes this way," said Shouri.
"There's tons of uses for that kind of flexibility," Tyson hummed, considering the possibilities.
"We can talk about that later, tell us what we need to do," Shouri urged.
Gabriel nodded and focused on the task at hand. From a storage compartment in the vehicle he drew out rain gear and passed out the coats to the crew sans Rebecca.
"I'll keep your tuner on, let us know if you sense anything from the foxes," Shouri instructed his fire Resonator, who flashed a thumbs up in acknowledgment.
"Rilevare l'intenzione, Rubato, keep us updated," instructed Shouri of Taika. She nodded and tightened the grip on her medical bag's strap while focusing on the spell requested of her.
"Where are the other chasers?" asked Pacifica over the roar of the storm.
"Still chasing the storm. We got this area for now. Mostly we're here to be of immediate help before emergency services get here," Gabriel replied.
The trek was rough. It was still raining and lightning only offered small flashes of visibility. Shouri and Taika could see fine, while the others carried flashlights. The rhythm foxes spread out into the devastated neighborhood, glowing as they dove into the wreckage.
"Sho!" Taika called out.
Then there was the other complication to their search and rescue efforts: Scherzando.
The beasts were on the prowl, looking for the remains of life that may have been clinging to survival.
"Pacifica!" Shouri called.
"I'm on it!" The otter rushed towards a group of beasts who were pawing at the wreckage of a once proud home for a possible tasty treat. With the massive volumes of water surrounding her, Pacifica was armed and dangerous. As she ran, she pulled more and more water into her rhythmic grasp, rending and tearing the Scherzando who hadn't expected the one otter army.
"Taika, Fissare la Ombra, Piano Staccato – these should fly further than you can throw Luce Lunares," he instructed.
"Si!" Taika confirmed, firing off shadowy arrows into the straggling Scherzando.
Gabriel and Tyson watched as the two Resonators tore through the ranks of Scherzando that the storm had attracted.
"What do we do now?" Shouri asked, snapping the two from their awe.
"Sorry, you're really good at this," Tyson admitted.
"Rianima il Bullone, Rubato – let's be ready to heal anyone we find," Gabriel told his Resonator.
Shouri wasn't too familiar with lightning magic, so it was surprising to hear the lightning element possessed a healing spell.
Now wasn't the time to question it, they had to focus, and Rebecca's voice was just the focus he needed at that moment.
"Sho! The house near you has someone trapped!" she called out from her tuner. Sure enough, he spotted the glow of a healing fox nearby. The home itself was standing, just barely. While it didn't take a direct hit from the tornado, it did take a severe beating from all the debris churned up when the funnel passed by.
Shouri took off towards the structure. "Rebecca, send the fox in and have it keep the people inside calm."
"Got it!"
At its summoner's behest the fox dove into the structure while Shouri arrived nearby to take in the extent of the damage and figure out what they could do.
"Do they have a basement? Or did they hide in the interior rooms?" Shouri wondered. Based on how Rebecca's fox jumped through the broken window it must have been the latter. Even over the roar of the rain, he could make out the strained creaking of the building.
"Taika! Pacifica!" he called out.
Though, that may have been unneeded as the two were already on their way, alongside Gabriel and Tyson.
"There's people in here according to Rebecca," he apprised the group of the situation. "Gabriel, can you and Tyson keep the Scherzando off our backs while we try to get them out?"
"How? It doesn't look stable," Tyson pointed out.
"Both Taika and Pacifica have their ad-Libs. We can use that to force our way through while holding it up," Shouri explained.
"Wait, you're going in with them?!" Gabriel exclaimed.
"Of course I am," Shouri said as if it should have been obvious.
"We couldn't stop him if we tried," Pacifica said with a shrug.
"If anything it'll make us try harder," Taika added.
Without another word, the trio made their way through the front door.
Taika and Pacifica were at their maximum alertness, eyes darting around, ears twitching as they listened for any change in their situation. Water circled around Pacifica and Taika's beads rattled at the ready.
"Rebecca sent one of the foxes in to mark where they're at and heal anyone," Shouri informed his pair.
"They're gonna need more than the fox can give, hurry!" Rebecca urged from her tuner.
Taika scanned the building with Rilevare l'intenzione. It took only a second for her to lock onto their targets. "This way." She took the lead, guiding them deeper into the rapidly crumbling home.
Sparks of electricity arced from the broken lines, water poured in from the holes in the roof and ceiling, rubble got in their way, necessitating a careful and methodical approach. They reached the inner part of the house. Taika's ears twitched.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
"H-help! Please!" a child's voice cried.
Their advance towards the trapped was halted. A huge slab of drywall that barred the way and from initial inspection it didn't appear that there was another way to get to the spot where the child was trapped.
"You think we could get through it with a spell?" Pacifica wondered.
Shouri shook his head. "It doesn't seem stable. We could make it worse," he grunted in frustration.
The creaks of the structure above them informed of the limited time they had.
"Sho!" Taika cried out.
The boy gulped, his heart pounding. They didn't have the luxury of time. If they hesitated anymore, they might need rescuing themselves and the ones trapped here would be…
Pacifica's tuner began urgently beeping.
"Manga de Agua, Fortissimo!