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Éliane had been on guard ever since they entered the tall grass, fully aware of the ambush potential from both apex predators and other opportunistic creatures even in the daylight. In fact, she was about to further inquire about the potential threats the local fauna might pose when her question was answered for her. She had never seen a blightbeast before; they were not native to Skael or the places that she had traveled, but she immediately reacted the moment she saw the monkey-like creatures bull through the tall grass and into their midst. 

Unlike some of her companions, she didn’t immediately abandon her chocobo, preferring to cling onto the higher vantage as long as she was able, but she wasn’t an expert rider, either. With only seconds to react, she drew her weapon even as a beast flew at her—it seemed the things liked the tactic of trying to knock riders off their mounts. Had she been simply wielding a sword, remaining on the chocobo might have been a liability, but a snapshot from her gunblade took the creature out from the running, even as she slashed out with the blade to divert the falling creature’s momentum elsewhere. That… only partially succeeded, and she had to wildly dodge the falling body so that she wouldn’t get knocked back by it, to her chagrin. 

A ding to her panache aside, confident that the immediate threat to herself was dispatched, she quickly scanned the new battlefield. She was satisfied to see that nobody had died yet, though Neve had gotten close before Galahad had intervened. With the ambush mostly broken for the moment, she took to shoring up where help was needed. Finally leaping off her chocobo, she counter-charged the blightbeasts that had taken after Arton, falling into concert with Izayoi as she took on the two beasts that had slipped her grasp. She placed two shots into the side of one; the other quickly wised up and evaded as she tracked it, before leaping at her. Expecting this, she dodged to the side as it entered her personal space. Her blade cut through its fur before its claws could tear at her exposed throat; with a frown, she kicked it away before its blood could soil her clothes too much. 

Then, Izayoi’s spell cut through the grass, revealing the remaining ambush. [b]“Right! On it!”[/b] Briefly acknowledging the samurai, she let a small grin creep across her face at the challenge. She sprinted forward, already shooting as she engaged the remainder of the pack, using her own little wind spell to propel herself all the faster.