aionmods: (Default)
Aion Mods ([personal profile] aionmods) wrote in [community profile] aionlogs2022-08-18 12:17 pm

EVENT #6: BY HEAVEN OR HELL

By Heaven or Hell
THE BURNING
Achamoth, as it turns out, is no stranger to public killings... the burning of two Pleroma, however? That's special. Abel and Himeka's upcoming execution date seems to be regarded by the city's populace as something akin to a holiday, with the upper crust of the social stratum fighting for positions of prominence in the festivities, including the best possible seats. It's been decades since any Pleroma have been brought to heel in Achamoth, and it would only be prudent to place yourself at the forefront of this exciting new trend. There's a sense of pageantry to it: ritualized ceremonies, public sermons, and strange religious 'décor' are all part of the process.

The city is in the throes of these preparations when the two Pleroma captives are finally brought to a central square not far from the Citadel's front gates. Two burning pyres have been set up for them, about ten feet apart. While Abel and Himeka's bodies are chained to their stakes, their shards will be handed off to Silco, Ciel, and Makoto to be brought along separately. The set up of the execution is thus: while their bodies are ravaged by flames, their shards will be bound to an altar in advance of the pyre. Via a kind of alchemical 'fuse', the pyre being lit will trigger a reaction that will gradually result in a explosion on the altar just large enough to destroy the shard in turn. The shards will be bound in position with a series of jewelry-like metal prongs that could be pried away, but would take some time to do carefully.

As the Pleroma make it to the city, the sun will be setting on the 17th of Firaseri, with the execution about to be underway. The pyres will not yet have been lit, but are fully prepared. All Kenoma will be called upon to guard the city, with the warning that the Pleroma are mounting a raid to rescue their imprisoned comrades. For Kenoma both new and old, it's a time to test your mettle. Those that defend Achamoth valiantly can expect to be rewarded.

INNOCENCE ON FIRE
The city of Achamoth looms ahead, a seat of power in Horos in every fashion. It sprawls outwards, claiming the lands around it in a lazy confidence. The spires of the city grow up and up like a mountain, dragging the eye towards the Citadel. The walls that surround it are modest in height as if offering a challenge to any foolish enough to attempt to climb them. Who would? The Regent's eye is ever-present and the guard towers that line it like beaded pearls on a string are reminders that nothing goes in or out of the city without notice. Openings in the towers and the walls threaten the use of projectiles while dark, shimmering crystals float above with the quiet hum of protective magics. Only a fool would breach these borders.

Initially, getting into the city unmolested will be a considerable struggle for the Pleroma. It's military is robust, its fortifications solid, and even without the Kenoma's added resistance, the sheer numbers could be considered insurmountable. Stealth could get them some of the way, but its sentries are watchful, and immigration is strictly controlled. With faith alone driving the Pleroma towards their goal it's fortunate, then, that something is there to answer their call.

Estinien will feel the presence of the Innocence Entity rise up in him again, and this time it is offering him a choice. He may utilize its power to save the ones he loves, while risking both the brutality of the Regent's defenses and the threat to his own soul by channeling such power. It will stand with him against the darkness, it says, if it is truly his will. Emboldened by the power of the Firebrand and his love for his comrades, it is no surprise that he accepts.

Light will flood the sky above Achamoth, an ethereal aura combatting the encroach of the night. From a great miasma of wings and flame, a colossal dragon emerges, coiling above the city skyline. Its luminescence rains down upon the city, and all Achamites exposed to it will be enchanted into finding the idea of committing acts of violence unthinkable, at least so long as no violence is brought against them in turn. With much of Achamoth's defenses having lost the will to fight, only the Kenoma will stand in the Pleroma's way as they penetrate the city, making their way to Abel and Himeka's pyres.

As the Pleroma forge ahead, this draconic being that was once Estinien Wyrmblood will guard from the skies, drawing the attention of the Kenoma towards it and it threatens to bear its might against the Citadel itself. Fortunately for the Kenoma guarding the city, they will know that the Regent has a plan. All they must do is hold off the beast long enough for the Regent to wield their own strength in turn. The battle against this creature will take place here, with combat rules being explain in this OOC post.

As the power of the Innocent washes over Achamoth, those of its Legacy, or those marked by its Promise or Touch, will hear it speak on the winds in a chorus of voices:

Aions of this new dawn... I have honored your choice... fight... if you will... and I will follow...

FIREBRAND RISING
Beneath the moon of Firaseri, however, the Innocent isn't the only force at play. Firebrands of both sects will find themselves spurred on by a rush of Legacy-based power, as if inspired by the tumultuous environment of an anti-authoritarian raid. How precisely this manifests will depend on which side they are fighting for.

PLEROMA
The Firebrands among the Pleroma raiders will feel a sense of vindication and rightness come over them, set as they are to challenge the Regent's rule. Their powers will be amplified during the battle, and those that witness them and are inspired may find their performance boosted. The nature of these enhancements is fairly flexible. For the Firebrands, the use of their regular skills and abilities may be amplified beyond normal boundaries, whereas those following in their wake may find themselves with usual endurance that allows them to push their their usual limits.

KENOMA
The Firebrands of the Kenoma's inspiration is more complicated in nature, given their roll in defending Achamoth's status quo. However, they will find themselves bolstered while facing the pacifying might of the Innocence Entity. Firebrands will experience a natural resistance against any Innocence based attacks that would stop them from fighting, and will be able to use this blessing to rally NPCs that would otherwise be rendered useless to their cause, in defiance of the entity's command for peace. In general, they will see a boost in strength while fighting the raid boss in particular, unable to be deterred from their goals.

In general, all Firebrands will feel untethered by their regular inhibitions, fighting for their desires at all costs. Abilities intended to bind them or control their will, will be largely ineffective, and they will find shields both physical and magical particularly easy to break through.

QUESTIONS
Q: What is the best way for Pleroma to travel to Achamoth?
A: Akua and Estinien are both setting up portals from Godsblood to the outskirts of Achamoth from which to begin mounting the assault. Caitlyn will be providing a back-up in the case either of those portals go down.

Q: Can my character make use of the chaos and try to raid the Citadel?
A: They can try but there will be mod rolls involved for any attempts. NPCs inside the Citadel will not be affected the same way the NPCs outside in main area will be. We do not want it to seem like the Citadel is defenseless otherwise.

Q: If Kenoma cause damage to the city during the raid, how will the Regent feel? Will there be consequences?
A: It should try to be avoided, but the Regent will understand if there is collateral damage in battle as long as they aren't being careless about it.

Q: Is the "no-combat aura" completely incapacitating NPCs?
A: No, it is only stopping them from aggressing the Pleroma. If they or their property are attacked they will defend themselves, and are otherwise operating with a normal level of cognizance. Kenoma Aions can order them out of the area to avoid being hurt if necessary.

BOSS BATTLE:
Q: I would like my character to take part in the battle but want to limit the outcomes in a way that isn't too devastating. Is that possible?
A: We think in that case we would basically only be acknowledging the possibilities between the "The attack either misses, is ineffective, or it triggers a counter attack from the boss." and "The attack hits with moderate effectiveness, as determined by the nature of their action." range. So, you can't get taken out, but you also can only deal moderate hits at best. You could still trigger a counter attack from the boss, but the damage taken from that is more flexible and free form than the 1-5% zone. If you make an attack with this restriction just add a little OOC note to your initial attack tag.

Q: How can a support character engage in the combat?
A: If your character is providing support, you may team up with an attacker to submit a "group attack". This means that your character is putting their effort towards supporting that attacker character that round, and will not be able to submit their own separate action. In exchange, that attack will receive two mod rolls instead of one, and the attack itself will be based on the more favorable of the two rolls. (Sort of like rolling with an advantage in modern D&D.) We will make as many rolls as there there are character combining their effort and select the best of them.

If any character rolls in the 1-5% zone they will still be taken out, however. Click the link above for more information.

Q: Can my character take a hit for another character after a mod roll?
A: We would be willing to accept this in the case of the defender taking the hit for the attacker, which would mean that if it's a 1-5%, they would be taken out in the attacker's stead.

cutlery: (god damn filthy hand holders)

i am here for horsegirl cr finally

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-19 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ In the sky, Sebastian clicks his tongue in disappointment as his claws don't quite find the purchase he wants. He digs them in further into scaled flesh as he bears down, trying to keep his grip to strike again, but he's thrown off. A small (insignificant, really) amount of flesh and scale comes with him as he loses his grip and falls, though there's at least not nearly as far to fall now, at least. He has to twist, but he hits the ground on his fit, but with far more force than his should be possible for his frame. His hand relaxes, and the clump of flesh in one hand falls to the ground, and the more viscous one that he tried to go for his eye drips with remainders of the effort. Sebastian's jaw clenches as he looks up at the dragon, teeth openly bared as he calculates, but—

Instinct bristles against his consciousness, and again having to tap into more of his ability than he would necessarily like, he jerks back. A powerfully shot arrow passes just before his face, close enough to take some of the long hair of his bangs with it. It's a moment that feels slightly slower for him, since he immediately looks towards its source with eyes much, much sharper than a humans.

"She sniped at me without warning," he recalls, though he must admit that this probably does not count (of course, having missed the warning entirely).

It's a half-attempt to hide his unusual reaction time as he takes a half step back in surprise, and as he whips to face her, his hands shift back to their human appearance without ceremony. His expression is serious, but not vicious. At least, not yet. ]


Hold, Miss Hayame!

[ Yes, he knows you. His voice is stern, but it's still careful. The other Kenoma had warned she shouldn't be reasoned with, but that wasn't quite his intention. He would hold his hands up, but as they're still covered in a bit of viscera, he keeps low, and it's his posture that stays guarded and ready to react. ]

We needn't quarrel! It is this city and its people that I wish to defend.

[ A lie, naturally. But if she is honorable, he wants to see the bounds of it. ]
Edited (TOO MANY NEEDS!!) 2022-08-19 19:45 (UTC)
warmare: (狂っている)

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-20 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[Close. But not close enough.

By the time Hayame's arrow reaches this new and unknown enemy, she has another already whipped from her quiver and notched it on the string, the movements practiced and smooth as only a woman who has held a bow since she was old enough to wrap her fingers around a grip could manage. She's ready to fire, the obvious muscles along her bare arm ripple, her finger twitches-

And then he calls out her name. It's a moment of surprise just strong enough to stay her second arrow, to put confusion on her features. She had memorized the faces of every single Kenoma that had been brought into the court of shadows with the Regent during that speech before everything had gone to shit in Venera and Godsblood, committed each enemy to memory, but this man had not been there. He had to be new, so how-]


Who are you, to call my name- ?!

[-- Barnaby. Perhaps it had been him. What a fool she'd been to even attempt to trust one of these accursed Kenoma. His scent was around here, she'd smelled it on the wind, but when she found him... Or no, it might have been Liem- If he had been tortured before he had surely been killed, perhaps her name might have left his lips...

Lips that form her name. That claim they needn't fight, that this man was only acting in defense of some innocent people, when-

A mix of blood and viscous aqueous humor drips down the man's hand and hits the ground. The thing in the sky above them that had once been a man she'd promised her bow to, who had given her the knife on her "hip" and treated her as a fellow warrior roars in anguish and rage.

Hayame sees red just as bright as the bizarrely glowing blood, her gaze noticably changing at the sight. Her pupils tighten. Her expression turns. It was the wrong color, no man's blood should be that color, that appearance- An anguished sound of her own escapes a taut throat and jaw, crawls past the sharp fangs clamped tight...

And her second arrow flies towards a stranger's heart.]
Edited 2022-08-20 03:47 (UTC)
cutlery: (bride's maids were decoys)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-20 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ His expression of concern stays convincingly in place even as she nocks another arrow, but his gaze is also just a hair sharper than that. It's subtle, and almost certainly missed as her hot temper gives way to rage, but he's not simply looking at her. He's watching her like a predator watches its prey. Every detail from the fluidity of how she readies her next shot to the tenseness of her muscles is being noted. But perhaps more importantly... Her emotional reactions. ]

I am—

[ He starts to respond, fully ready to give a (fake) name, but he sees where her eyes drift, and minutely, he tenses. It was a bit of a gamble anyways, since trying to start a conversation when covered in blood is always a bit difficult, but ah, what a reaction that is. The rage is painted clearly on her face before the sound even escapes her throat, and that's enough for Sebastian to not hold his ground any longer. A half-second before the arrow flies, he darts to the side behind the cover of a few crates leftover from setting up the "celebrations" of the day. Her arrow follows him and punches a hole through the layers of wood to graze him on the shoulder as he darts past. He feels the bite of the arrowhead, the pressure of it moving past his back, but he can't help but smile slightly.

She was strong, wasn't she?

He doesn't stop running past his cover, but once he emerges from it, he kicks off with a burst of speed that's definitely not human, but not his full capability, since it's just to avoid another shot if it comes and hopefully waste it. ]


My, is that beast a dear friend?

[ His voice is calm, relaxed even, but loud enough for her to hear. That kind of rage felt unusual, and if there was even a small crack in her heart, he knew to dig his claws in. His tone is more curious than mocking, but it's also said just as he dips back behind cover. He's circling around her, since he wants to get close or lure her out after him. ]
warmare: (暴れる)

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-20 06:28 am (UTC)(link)
[A flimsy layer of wood might stop arrows fired by a human from a shortbow, but it doesn't stop Hayame. For all her upper body seems to dismissed or explained as "the human half", anyone with keen enough eyes for anatomy could note that there are actual rather notable differences going on beneath her skin. The thick knit of muscles in her "waist", steel core, and strong crisscross of tendons over long spine needed to support her while moving, and especially running, have other uses as well... including adding inhuman power to the bow draw she was capable of.

She can't tell yet if her shot landed, there's too much blood in the air already, and-

There's a flower. Something that looks like a wildflower has sprung up where the strange blood of the Innocent thing hit the ground, and the reminder that after all she had done to call him back from that forced, crystalline sleep might have been ruined, the worry that this time she would fail, for who could reach a dragon in the sky... She covers all of it the only way she knows how.

With desperate rage. (That couldn't be what they were. Friends. A dear friend. She would never let herself be so weak. Even if she were, who would ever call her that? No one, least of all those few people who she'd-)]


Shut your mouth, Kenoma!

[This one, too, like that dark-haired swordsman in Venera, is fast, too fast for a human. She has to fire where she things he'll be instead of where he actually was, smoothly loosing another arrow even as she throws herself into a gallop to try and keep him in her sights, circling around the opposite direction of her opponent.

Maybe Liem had been thinking far too highly of her, when he had called her honorable. Or perhaps the shape of her honor was simply not the sort that showed mercy to those who harmed her-

Her comrades. However devastatingly few they were in number.]
Edited 2022-08-20 06:37 (UTC)
cutlery: (yelling into his vape pen)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-20 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The sound of her breaking into a gallop gets him to nod lightly, since it's what he had been hoping for. She's skilled, that much is clear, but it's just as much that she's young, since the bait is readily taken. That temper—Yes, he can work with this. ]

Ahh, no time to chat at all...? How cruel.

[ Now his tone is mocking as he continues forward. The cover of the festivities' leftover debris won't last very long, but he has a strategy in mind now, and it won't be necessary for it. ]

You should be grateful to the kenoma, you know. The abyss came for your world, and yet, you were the one to escape. You would not thank it for such mercy? You were chosen amongst all you knew.

[ He darts out from behind his cover, and his eyes meet hers, even from the distance between them. His eyes are shining like an animal's, but it's distinctly cruel and arrogant. He's a cat toying with a mouse, and that's exactly the perception he wants her to have as he emerges and continues to run, but he's in a clear line of fire for a shot from her bow with only a combat knife in hand. He's fast, but she has range.

Or so he's goading her into believing.

It might be his own imagination more than anything real, but he can almost taste her rage in the air, and he wants to to burn hotter. ]


Would you despair to see the dragon swallowed up in the same way, I wonder?
warmare: (騎射)

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-20 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Time to chat. If this were the courtyard where the mores soft-hearted members of their so-called team struggled to free the two of their number who'd been too coward to kill themselves instead of be used as pawns and bait, then perhaps she would talk. When she'd still been at their fringes, that is the job she'd taken upon herself- distraction. But ever since the beast that had been Estinien had come under more and more attacks-

It is she that had grown distracted. She isn't trying to buy time, anymore, she's trying to take out anyone who might be a thread in the skies. Which apparently included this man.]


I never asked for mercy!

[That snarled response comes out too harsh not to betray something painful had landed. Any single other jinba that she knew... Strong and yet gentle Matsukaze, gregarious Koume with her rounding belly, armless Kohibari yet determined and childlike, her trusted brother Yubari, even that demon Mikuni... Any one of them would have been more deserving of survival than her, the woman who had doomed her one chance at happiness and freedom because of her inability to believe in a future that was happy.

Any one of them would do a better job as the last jinba in the entire world. Worlds. And though she wanted desperately to believe that they were alive, that she could return and kill herself as she had promised to...

Estinien had kept her from turning her knife on her belly and her shard, in this place. And now-- This man looks at her arrogant and cruel, like he knows something more than just her name...

Hayame looses her next arrow at him without a moment's hesitation when he comes back into her line of fire.]


cutlery: please do not take! (hold my pre-beer beer)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-21 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ As soon as he sees the tension of her arm to release that arrow, Sebastian surges forward instead, now faster, brushing just shy of that new limit Horos has placed on him. But more than the speed that shows he was holding back, it's likely more startling that he meets the arrow without hesitation.

He shifts slightly to alter its target, since he's fairly sure that he can no longer actually bear it through his heart, but she doesn't need to know that. The arrow finds its mark in his right shoulder, punching right through his flesh halfway to the fletching. But he's not slowed in the slightest. Part of using his speed was simply to offset the force of her shot, since he'd fully planned to bear it. The pain is sharp and immediate, but conveyed as a single, barked out as he bares his teeth.

The knife in his right hand is another surprise, because he throws it. It's shockingly precise in its aim for her draw hand as she would be reaching for another arrow, but even if it misses, it's likely to find a target in her torso. It's absolutely a shot aimed so she has to make an impulsive decision about what to do. If she's a ranged fighter, then he's going to make that task exceptionally difficult for her, one way or another.

Whatever his plan is, she likely only has an instant to react before he's quite suddenly in very close quarters. ]
warmare: (追いつかれた)

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-21 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Not many people turned in to the path of her arrows. That in and of itself would be shocking. Not many people (not any human, nor even any jinba) should be able to move that fast, either, it's even quicker than his previous dodge. Her arrow finds a mark in his shoulder, but she can't feel victorious or risk thinking that was enough, she reaches for her quiver--

There's a glint, metal, a knife, and instinctively she draws back, saved from an injury to her draw hand and then saved again by the armor she'd had made for herself before this battle. The blade bites into the leather, penetrates at her lower shoulder, but the momentum is slowed by the thick material and doesn't pierce in as far as it could.

But then he's there. There, right in front of her, and-

Hayame rears up on her hind legs into a intimidating nine feet or so in height, powerful hooves lashing out. Whether it crushed his skull like it should (if he were human, but no, he couldn't be-) or just forced him back from that close quarters...]
cutlery: (Run bitch ruuuun!)

cw: eye gore... again...

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-21 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ He was a bit curious how she would dodge, if only for an unfamiliarity with facing an actual centaur. Her torso is up, well out of his reach, and that in itself is a little information about her to tuck away. But he had also never intended to attack it straight on in the first place.

Sebastian slips as deftly underneath her raised hooves as if it were a dance. He skirts along her side instead. He could use his strength to throw her off balance, since it wouldn't take too much of it when she's forced to two hooves instead of four, but she's still dangerous that way. There's only one place where her threat is nearly mitigated, and he's uniquely agile enough to exploit it.

It's nearly by her haunches that he half-pivots, but it's immediately to jump, but not far. He jumps onto her back, landing hard as he digs his heels in to provide traction against her armor to prevent slipping off. His right hand grabs her human shoulder tightly for support by the time her front hooves would touch the ground again, but also to pull himself forward so that he's as flush to her back as the arrow will allow. The left, though.

Sebastian reaches from behind her and places that hand directly against her cheek. She'll be able to feel the warm, viscous mix of blood and vitreous humor. It's gentle, just like his words that are murmured darkly behind her ear. ]


Why, then mercy you shall not have.

[ The gentle touch is a mockery, after all. He wanted her to know that it was the same hand. It hadn't found the exact target he wanted, so he'll at least find it here. His hand only moves a few centimeters up, but two fingers dig into her eye with an expertise that could only come from experience. He'd needed to mutilate the Sanctifier's eye because of its size. For her, it's easy enough for fingers to hook around to the back to pluck it out. ]
Edited (forgot that he still has a fCUKING ARROW IN HIM) 2022-08-21 05:30 (UTC)
warmare: (失敗)

1/2

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-21 10:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Hayame’s hooves lash out, wild and strong, with enough strength to cave in a skill or split it open onto the streets below… if they collided with more than air. But her opponent is inhumanly quick, and even though she had known it, seen it happen… a part of her mind still doesn’t want to believe it, even in this impossible world of impossible sights. That a man who looks like a human can move like a demon from a story, faster than even a field jinba who has trained to be a warrior from the moment she was big enough to wrap her hand around a bow could follow.

He is a flash of darkness at her side as she starts to come down from her defensive rear, for a moment she expects a blow and is glad she had bothered with armor, but then his weight lands heavy on her withers, right where a rider would sit, and Hayame-

Something goes wrong. She hasn’t been forced to bear a human’s weight but one time, the annual occasion in which all yearlings in the stable turning fifteen would be saddled and ridden by the grooms that had hand-reared them in place of their Armless mothers. The lesson was clear. If they were good horses, that would be the only time they were straddled like beasts. If they were not… they soon enough would find their arms replaced and the smooth edge where they’d once began harnessed with leather tack and metal rings to attach reins, and they would become accustomed to the bit and the saddle.

A sick surge of nausea overtakes her, but she can’t act on it, not now.

Desperately, she twists on the way back down to all four legs, struggling to reach behind her with her right arm to grab and rip him from her back, but then his arm locks around her shoulder from behind and arrests the movements, so instead—-]
warmare: (破れ)

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-21 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
[His hand is on her cheek, just below a dilated pupil and storm dark iris surrounded by fearful exposed white. His fingers are hot with Estinien’s blood and humors. Her weight is heavy still on her back, triggering all of the instinctive fears she had spent her life suppressing in order to stand proud as if she weren’t only a single level above the chattel humans called Armless.

In that second, as her eyes roll back, as her body seizes, prepares some new way to throw him from her body, her gaze catches on the flaming white of wings and scales above them.

Then those already blood-stained fingers plunge into her left eye socket and a feral scream rings out over Achamoth.

At first, despite the searing pain and sensation of pulling, ripping, she cannot truly realize what had happened. The pain is so intense that she can’t take stock yet without risking collapse or heave, she can only react, over seven feet and a half ton of muscle hyper focused only on getting her opponent off, she has to get him off.

An animal could only kick and slam, but Hayame is not an animal. Throwing her body into a violent series of bucks, lowering her upper body to try and force him further up her withers as blood pours into (from?) her eye, she suddenly whips herself back upward, twisting from the “waist” with a rabid, fang-filled snarl and snapping to grab at the front of his clothing with her left hand—-

So that she might drag him from her back and slam him back to earth, towards the trampling, crushing slam of her front hooves.]
Edited 2022-08-21 12:02 (UTC)
cutlery: please do not take! (this last ex done fucked me up)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-21 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ What a sweet, beautiful sound that scream is.

This is why Sebastian is a Celebrant. Horos has denied him the pleasure of his meals, but for this moment, he feels nearly as satisfied as if he had swallowed her soul into the abyss of his stomach. His mouth still waters for it all the same. He's sure that if he knew where it was, he would dig his claws in down to bone to rip it out.

The bloodlust doesn't overpower him though, since it's a feeling he drinks in, but is well tempered to. As soon as he feels the distinct snap of the optic nerve tethering it in place, he pulls his hand back and starts to throws weight back, but she's not completely overcome by the brutality, as it turns out. The bucking he expects, but as she lowers the front of her body, his shoes lose their grip as he slides forward and slams into her back, though at least not with any unusual amount of force. His shoulder meets hers, and the fletched end of her arrow likely digs into her own skin enough to pierce it, but not nearly as much as it forces the arrow further through Sebastian. The pain shoots through him in a way where he chokes out a noise that sounds closer to a growl, but it puts their faces close when she turns to grab him.

It's the sort of sight that causes an instinctual shiver for most. His snake-slit pupils are dilated wider by the flash of renewed pain, and the blood-red iris glows with unnatural light that flows from some part of his being hidden underneath this human mask. His teeth are bared back at her, but not a single one is human, or even set in a sensible pattern like a predatory animal's. Every single one is razor sharp and made to tear flesh to shreds, not to eat. For that glimpse, it's clear: Sebastian is a monster, in the truest sense of the word.

Hayame grabs at the front of his jacket, and without even thinking about it, he slams his head against hers. It's not enough to crack either of their skulls, since he's not sure how that would go for him either with Horos's limitations, but even if his own vision swims slightly, it's preferable to being dragged at her mercy. He feels himself slip to the side as she pulls, though, and momentum does the rest even if she's addled by the headbutt.

He at least twists a bit before he's off her completely to throw his weight back and to the side. His right hand hits the ground first, and the strain it puts on his shoulder is another vicious jolt of pain that has him gritting his teeth hard enough that they would surely crack if they were human. But with that pivot point established, he kicks at her side before he falls all the way. It's another display of agility that would only be possible for the best of humans, if that, but it pushes his momentum away from her as he does a clumsy back handspring.

It's not completely before her hooves catch that arm, though. Since it's the anchor point, his right arm is also the last portion to leave. He's pulling away quickly to avoid being pinned, but her hoof still meets his forearm with enough force for it to crack audibly. He lands on his feet, but only just, and the impact point on his right arm now bends at an odd angle, though bone doesn't break through the skin. ]
Edited (sends tag immediately sees extra comma) 2022-08-21 22:54 (UTC)
warmare: (野生化)

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-22 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
[If this were any other day, in any other place, perhaps that attack would have left her convulsing upon the ground clutching helplessly at a bloodied face, her large, strong body rendered useless by the shock her kind were slightly weak to. But whether Hayame or her opponent realize it… the Firebrand moon is rising, and no matter how much disdain Hayame feels for the idea that she would be claimed by such a legacy… Claim her it had. She is stronger now, more durable now, and though she wasn’t faster enough now to dodge the blows of a demon who moved like the wind-

The pain of her own arrow digging into her back is nothing in comparison to the ball of fire that is the left side of her face. The snarl and snap of a man with sharp teeth is nothing to a woman whose canines are just as sharp, who instinctively bares them back, tightening her grip on the man’s jacket-

And slamming her skull right back into his. There is less force, reacting to meet him rather than attacking, but thankfully for Hayame a jinba’s skull is thicker than a human’s, and the Firebrand bolsters, flaring to life the more she needs of it. The pain almost seems to focus her, she has an enemy right in front of her she needs to kill before he kills her, she has to trample him underfoot until his face wouldn’t even be recognizable to his own godsdamned mother.

An it’s an enemy who is slipping, falling… and then isn’t. He’s catching, kicking, and thankfully the armor absorbs some of the impact and it pushes her back rather than breaks ribs, giving her time to stomp, to feel the give and hear the crack of bone. But it isn’t enough. They’re both propelled away from each other, there’s a moment to gather her strength where she sways on her shaking limbs, crimson weeping hot down her cheek like tears she has always struggled to shed.

It was gone. Her eye was gone.

Hayame’s bow clatters to the ground. Her hand moves instinctively to find what had been lost and instead there is only pounding thunder and lightning flashes of pain, deep in her head in the back of her socket where Estinien’s blood mixes with hers. An archer with a single eye, a pathetic excuse for a mare with no sight on her left… If this were her world-

It isn’t. But her haunches still bunch as tightly as if she would need to flee from the fate of an Armless, her anger still bursts into flames much like the name of her legacy, and another primal scream of rage and blinding pain tears from her throat as she regards the man who has taken from her, who still has the audacity to stand and make ready-

She charges, ready to wrap her bare hands around his throat and snap it, to simply slam her superior weight into him to crush him against a wall behind him if she needed to, but instead, just as they get close once again, ready to strike…

Thick, wet ropes of the wounded Innocent entity’s blood fall heavy and viscous from the sky with a strange, pleroma-laden glow.]
cutlery: please do not take! (mmm mmm watcha say)

my turn to 1/2!!

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-22 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ As soon as his feet are remotely steady, he's upon on his feet and drawing back to create more distance between them, since it's her equine half that presents a danger to him now. As he moves, he reaches to his back and squeezes the arrow until it splinters in his hand and breaks off, only to make sure that side of his body is as functional as possible. He's used to only fighting with one hand, since one arm had tended to be occupied by the young master that he carried, but a broken arm was a bit different. It pulses with pain that's duller than what a human would feel by leagues, but it's still a tactical inconvenience.

Blood trickles down his face from where their heads split skin, and as comes towards his lips, he flicks his tongue out to take a taste. He breathes out a laugh at the feeling, though, one that's shaky and dangerous, though it's likely not something Hayame hears.

But she will hear his taunt, just before she charges. He holds up her eye between two fingers so it looks back at her. ]


Do not wail so, Miss Hayame, for I shall deliver you a sweet death.

[ Even now he's viciously toying with her, and it's for nothing personal. He feels no resentment towards the injuries. They were ones fairly given, and if anything, he's actually impressed with her strength. But it was a demon's job to do its work perfectly and cruelly, if honeyed, poisoned words wouldn't work.

She charges, and he's expecting her blindness both figurative and literal. He's not moving as fast as he had been before as he runs to make her give some chase. It's a distraction to make sure she doesn't notice how the shadows around his feet darken, how the very edges of his black jacket almost look indistinct and fuzzy. It's a trap. ]
cutlery: (WHERE IS WALDO)

[personal profile] cutlery 2022-08-22 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ But as soon as blood falls from the sky in between them, the shadows dart away from it in a way that makes it clear that they're anything but natural. They race back towards Sebastian like they're contracting, but not before a thick globule hits Sebastian himself to cover half of his face and torso.

And immediately, it burns.

It's not so bad physically as his skin blistering when he had been exposed to mustard gas, but it feels like it cuts deeper. After all, Sebastian was already much closer to the Kenoma than most. The shadows that he was about to use to trip her and snap those delicate legs may as well be a cousin to the sludge that he had drank. So he immediately reaches up to wipe at his face (with the broken arm, no less, showing his repulsion from it), though it's clear right away how it burns at him, if only minorly on the skin. It feels much worse than that, though.

It changes his tactics immediately. This quarry was no longer worth the risk.

There's another burst of his strength and speed, but now it's absolutely to get away from her. He jumps high, well out of her reach to land on a low rooftop nearby, but only just. Distantly, he's now quite glad that he had gone for her eye, since he's definitely more vulnerable to an archer now than he had been before, since this is how he'll have to flee.

But he stands straight as he turns back to regard her. ]


It seems we shall have to leave things here for now, Miss Hayame.

[ He does feel relatively safe up here, so he leans into the dramatics. It's partially because he's fairly certain it'll infuriate her all the more, but. It's also another, much simpler game he's playing. If he can make collating information about him a little more difficult, then it's worth the flair, in his opinion. ]

My name is Gabriel Lactance. I do hope I shall see you again.

[ Sebastian gives another little wave with her eye in hand, but with that, leaps back to disappear over the eaves of the house and into the city rooftops of Achamoth. ]
warmare: (号泣)

[personal profile] warmare 2022-08-22 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[It could be said that Hayame is not as crippled by the loss of her eye as some others might be. It was common enough for archers to close an eye when aiming, she had trained since three or four springs to fight, to know exactly the limits and capabilities of her body... but now there is only pain and rage and the sound of the draconic thing in the sky roaring, drowning out her half-feral scream. All she can see is red, whether its blood in her socket or metaphorical...

Her cracked hooves pound the dark stone of the Achamoth streets. Her distorted vision mostly misses the play of shadow. Her hands reach, her long, thin legs tear up the distance between them, wanting only to reach the man who laughed and smiled and held her godsdamned eyeball between his fingers-

And then the strangely glowing blood falls from the sky. Her enemy isn't the only one hit, either, she feels the wet splash of impact on her rump, a foreleg, a shoulder and into her hair... But on her, it does not burn. It does not slow her down... He speeds up, though. It burns him, and in the space of seconds the distance between them is too great. The height is too great, he jumps straight from the street to a rooftop as if it were merely the space between one stair and the next, her bow is abandoned behind her, even if she could calculate the distance when firing...]


We aren't finished yet!

[If she could just-

She shouts after him, even as he waves (waves with his trophy still between his fingers), as he disappears from sight, and Hayame... slams into the wall of the building he had stood on, cracking her first impotently against the surface as she screams up at where he had been.]


Come back here, you demon!

[Another pound of her first, a rear and scramble of hooves, and yet each moment is more pointless than the last despite how much desperate violence boils over in her body, because he's gone, her eye is gone, and Estinien's twisted blood is dripping off of her and no matter how much she kicks or how many crates and festival decorations are destroyed in her vicinity...

Hayame stumbles, half-collapsing against the wall as she feels her throat begin to tighten, the threat of a sob trying to claw its way out of her mouth. To stop it, she digs her fangs into her lip, her fingers into her arms, slowly collapsing into a bloody, wretched heap as her legs finally give in to the shock of her injury and start refusing to support her weight.

She has to get back up. She has to keep fighting, because there is no honor in dying of a wound alone in a back alley. She has to kill the man who has taken something so precious from her. She has to take up her bow again to defend the man she had followed here to prevent him from being overrun by the Kenoma. She has to go back to her world, and die in Matsukaze's arms like she'd sworn she would, and yet-]

Come back and finish me...

[All she can do is let out that weak, shameful sob as she cradles her mangled face in her hands, begging for the glorious death in battle she has been denied time and again.]