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WHO: Pyra/Mythra, Tristan, Xie Lian
WHERE: Waaaay into the forest
WHEN: July 1st - 3rd
WHAT: Guardian!
WARNINGS: Nothing so far
[ A few days' walk into the forest following a river that Pyra had found on a previous venture into the woods eventually brings them to an area where mist permeates though the dense temple of trees. The entire time may have felt as if someone or something had been watching them, but until now the presence had been distant, at most causing a prickle, a chill at the back of their necks. Now the feeling is an otherworldly pressure, as if the cool, dewy fog is stifling smoke instead. It's less likely that the pressure of this place is just the ambiance, but the entirety of the monster's aura itself. It's here that Pyra stops, raising a hand. ]
We're close... [ She says, her voice quieter, cautious. As brave as she likes to imagine herself to be, she is much more wary when others are with her-- others that she knows she must protect. ] It was right around here that it attacked us. [ She frowns at the memory, knowing how the guardian had come upon both her and Shen Qingqiu without warning and either of them noticing. They had just managed to escape, and that was only because Mythra had awakened and the guardian did not pursue. She does remember, however, how terribly strange it had seemed, that whatever attack-- no matter how strong or weak-- Shen Qingqiu or Mythra had given it, it was always made to automatically match their strikes. It was surreal, strange, and unsettling, less a beast and more like a wall that had accommodated and adapted to whatever it was presented.
Eyes narrowing, she attempts to peer into the forest further. At times she thinks she can see flickers of shadows, but everything is too obscured within the dark to tell. It's a shame, too. Pyra had wanted to encounter the shadowy guardian by day, but it seems under the dense shadow of the forest, night and day are the same. Straightening up, she looks back to the other two men with her, looking at first to Archer, and then to their resident god. ] Xie Lian... [ She manages a small smile for him. ] Before we start, there's someone I'd like you to meet.
WHERE: Waaaay into the forest
WHEN: July 1st - 3rd
WHAT: Guardian!
WARNINGS: Nothing so far
[ A few days' walk into the forest following a river that Pyra had found on a previous venture into the woods eventually brings them to an area where mist permeates though the dense temple of trees. The entire time may have felt as if someone or something had been watching them, but until now the presence had been distant, at most causing a prickle, a chill at the back of their necks. Now the feeling is an otherworldly pressure, as if the cool, dewy fog is stifling smoke instead. It's less likely that the pressure of this place is just the ambiance, but the entirety of the monster's aura itself. It's here that Pyra stops, raising a hand. ]
We're close... [ She says, her voice quieter, cautious. As brave as she likes to imagine herself to be, she is much more wary when others are with her-- others that she knows she must protect. ] It was right around here that it attacked us. [ She frowns at the memory, knowing how the guardian had come upon both her and Shen Qingqiu without warning and either of them noticing. They had just managed to escape, and that was only because Mythra had awakened and the guardian did not pursue. She does remember, however, how terribly strange it had seemed, that whatever attack-- no matter how strong or weak-- Shen Qingqiu or Mythra had given it, it was always made to automatically match their strikes. It was surreal, strange, and unsettling, less a beast and more like a wall that had accommodated and adapted to whatever it was presented.
Eyes narrowing, she attempts to peer into the forest further. At times she thinks she can see flickers of shadows, but everything is too obscured within the dark to tell. It's a shame, too. Pyra had wanted to encounter the shadowy guardian by day, but it seems under the dense shadow of the forest, night and day are the same. Straightening up, she looks back to the other two men with her, looking at first to Archer, and then to their resident god. ] Xie Lian... [ She manages a small smile for him. ] Before we start, there's someone I'd like you to meet.
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In a flash of glorious light that ripples out through the trees and forest and then condenses back into the crystal once more, a figure forms.
Mythra steps down from the place she hovers, recalling the light into herself, radiance solidifying, bright, golden eyes looking upon him calmly. ] I... [ She touches down upon the ground, hair falling about her shoulders like a cloak. ] ...am Mythra. I'll be the one joining you two in battle.
[ Aaaaaaaaand her introduction is not given with any apology.
like an assholeSorry-not-sorry for basically lying to you the entire time about having another self....!! ]no subject
....Well it isn't quite Pyra anymore, is it? His eyes widen at the sight, unsure quite what to say at such a sudden change of companion--so rather than thinking about it, he simply days:]
...Ah. Hello. [A pause, and a quick cupping of the hands for a sort of semi-formal greeting.] I...look forward to working with you. Should I introduce myself as well?
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I’ve known you for almost half a year now. [ She somehow manages a gentler expression, although it seems that she’s long been unsecured to such smiles. ] It’s nice to finally meet you.
[ Neither may know it, but Pyra had told her to be nicer during that pause. And, ya know, to at least give him a smile! ]
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Best to just leave it at that for now, he thinks, as he manages to bring back a smile of his own. She seems nice at least...Xie Lian finds himself relaxing, just a little, though he still looks a little confused.]
Oh, yes, it's nice to meet you--were you here the whole time? I hope what you've seen of me meets your approval, at least.
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...Heh.
Yeah, you’re the best god I’ve met, ten out of ten, Pyra would head pat again.
[ Her smile seems somewhat softer after that. Mythra lets the comment sit for a moment as she wonders how long it's been, how much she has changed, for her to say something like that so openly... even if it may sound flippant. ]
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But we can talk more later. This area that we're in-- we're close, and it's possible that the the guardian already knows that we're here. On the way here, I already told you what some of its abilities are and how quickly it moves, but I don't know if that's what it only can do. [ It could have a few more tricks up its sleeve, for all she knows. ]
This thing... is dangerous. Powerful. It blends in with the shade of the trees, and will wear the shadow beneath your feet like a second skin. It uses darkness as its power, and it reigns in the absence of light. It is intelligent and adaptable. Whatever attack you hit it with-- if you strike it with a tree or fire energy at it... it seems to be able to shift its constitution to sustain your attack.
[ She shifts her weight from one leg to the other, arms crosses beneath her chest, looking somewhat troubled. She would have told them about how closely Shen Qingqiu came to dying on their previous journey, and they can both be certain that she's thinking of it. However the moment passes along with a timid gust of mist that rustles through the branches, picking up strands of her hair, and she raises her head. ]
But we have these new journals that can create something from ink and imagination alone... and. We have our bonds, while this guardian stands alone. [ Her arms uncross. ]
Archer. Xie Lian. [ She looks to either of them when she calls their names
in alphabetical order, her golden eyes alight. ] I didn't ask you both to come with me by chance. The two of you are roommates, your bond is strong already, and... I have had the privilege of fighting alongside the both of you at one point in our time in Chroma. I have linked with you both, lending what power I could at the time. [ As Pyra, anyway. ]Archer, you are a knight. You've vowed to me that you will stand by the cause of this world, to honor and protect it.
Xie Lian, you are a god. You've proven that you're willing to go to great lengths to help others, even at the cost of your self.
To the both of you, although you have known us as only Pyra... we feel very grateful to have gotten the chance to know you.
[ ... ]
If success in trekking through the forest involves stronger bonds between people, then I believe that our bonds [ She steps close to them, looking from one to the other. ] ...may be just enough to break out of it.
[ If not today, then some other day, she thinks to herself. They just have to keep on fighting and pressing on. They both agreed to come with her, even when she had told them that it might be an arduous journey and battle; and she knows that even if they are defeated today, they will return to try again. And again, and again.
It's one thing to not say anything at all before a big battle, but she feels that she had to. Speaking among themselves about how well they work together, how that specifically working together can help them overcome even the greatest of dangers-- this is what her found-family had done before... before they lost everything, of course, but. It's a nice little reminder to her of what she's managed to make for herself here: friendships like these, bonds like these, as tacky as it sounds. Five hundred years ago, it would have made her roll her eyes. Now, she only looks upon them with appreciation. ]
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He can’t help casting worried glances at Xie Lian, though. He’d felt a little betrayed the moment he realized they were both heading in the same direction. ]
It is true that I would prefer to emerge victorious from this, but both your safety is paramount.
[ He cracks his eyes open, to deliver a very pointed glance at the both of them. Never mind his servitude to Mythra and never mind his prayer to Xie Lian to protect this town, even Shen Qingqiu nearly got away from this in pieces. He doesn’t want to see the same thing happening to the both of them, and well…he’s always been a pessimist. ]
If the situation is beyond hope, we must fall back. I will not hesitate to drag you both to safety if I must.
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But his expression stays calm as they speak.]
I agree that safety is important. But if the three of us work together, we should probably be able to strike a serious blow to this enemy, if not kill it outright. That is ultimately what we're here to do, isn't it? [And a small smile to both of them.]
I believe that all of us have the strength and skill to get out of this without serious injury if we try.
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Due to recent events, Pyra can’t exactly support that friendship and bonds can get them through everything. It didn’t help her and Shen Qingqiu fight and win against the guardian on their own, and they have a particularly strong bond. Mythra’s been somewhat jaded, actually, too for other reasons. Or at least more cautious, when she uses the term “bonds”. They’re so easily breakable, after all. ] We’re going to have to become creative.
But the good news is that it might not follow us if we have to retreat.
[ It’s then that Mythra glances from one to the other, noticing their, uh, looks....
And then clears her throat. ] When I tether to the both of you, [ Like how she’s done in their battles before. ] the transfer of power will be easier if all of us are working in sync. The sooner we can reach that point, the better. If you two need to air out any grievances, do it now.
Trust me, better late than never.
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Still, he looks guiltily from Xie Lian to Mythra, and sighs, shaking his head. ]
Forgive me. I know that you are both determined, but you are very dear to me, and…
[ He’d already lost two roomies. Had they gone the way of the forest before vanishing? ]
If our bonds truly matter against such a foe, then I would at least like to trust the both of you not to… [ He trails off with a wince, unable to really say the D-word. Either D-word, come to think of it. ]
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...I know...I can be rather unlucky, when it comes to keeping safe. But I can promise to do my best to stay safe, if it helps. And as experienced fighters, I really do like to think that the three of us have a decent chance--at surviving, at the very least.
[Stop worrying, Archer!!!]
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We'll retreat if necessary. We all have the individual strength enough to do that, if one or two of us should fall.
[ With that out of the way...
The shadows seem to pulse out towards them, and the mist ripples as if something has just stirred and sighed from its sleep. With it comes a coolness that chills the air around them, making her breath condense into a cloud as she speaks. ]
...Look alive.
It knows we're here.
[ She summons her sword... and hands it to Xie Lian to use. With its radiance illuminating the space around them, the shadows around them seem to retreat by a centimeter or two. It really does not like the light, and a vicious, chattering hiss can be heard within the shadows. ]
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But Mythra’s right, though. Their best chance of survival lies with him getting over that and trusting in the two enough that they can work in sync. ]
…Very well.
[ He’s not wholly satisfied, but they don’t have time to dally, do they? He can feel the forest’s oppressive atmosphere closing in, his fingers tightening around his harp, his entire body tense and wired for any sign of danger. It wouldn’t be the first strange threat he’s encountered in the forest and it won’t be the last, but…it’s not easy, not knowing the true nature of your enemy like this. ]
Then let us assume a proper formation. Melee combatants to the front, support to the rear.
[ Berkut’s not the only one to grasp such things, after all! ]
I…do not need to stay close to the enemy to damage it, so I will support you from behind.
[ He doesn’t like not being the meat shield, but this way he’ll have a better view of the battlefield and yank his allies away in case of danger. ]
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I'll take point then. Py--Mthra, Archer, I'm counting on you both.
[To fight, to support, to cooperate. His mind's already running through all the battle strategies he knows, as he prepares himself for the creature to show itself from the shadows.]
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She hadn't handed her sword to Xie Lian just because he's used it before, but because he's probably the best suited candidate to wield it out of anyone. She is a tool, a weapon, made by the god of her world, after all. And for whenever Xie Lian decides to charge up that sword with his own energy, she is sure to feel it for herself.
And when that happens-- when all three of them are truly in sync-- there might not be a need to words between them as they fight, when she tethers them all together. ] Don't forget the ink...
[ Light dances at her fingertips as she peers through the darkness, and before she or either of them utter another word regarding the notebooks with magical ink, spears forged from the shadows strike out at them.
Instantly Mythra throws up a shield around them; woven from golden light, it shines further whenever a shadow-spear strikes it, the kinetic energy absorbed into its lattice-like structure. Mythra steps forward, then widening her stance and pulling back her hand as if tugging on something heavy as the barrage continues. The darkness has not yet fully condensed into the guardian's form itself, but just the appearance of light causes the shadows to shrink back into the trees. They might need to strip away its excess shadow to reveal its true humanoid shape. ]
--Archer, you can attack through this shield! [ She shouts, clenching her jaw to hold it intact. What attacks don't hit them knock through the trees, cleaving through them like butter. Wood snaps, splinters, and sprays around them like rain. ] Xie Lian, I can make one for you at a distance, if you need to get closer!
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Not that that stops him from feeling apprehensive about all this. He’s long since learned not to underestimate his friends, and yet…
But then the guardian attacks, and there’s no other room for thought. At Mythra’s prompting he raises up his harp and fires several arrows through the shield, the threads of music finding their marks, but…
Nothing. The arrows strike the ground and the trunks of the trees where the shadow’s long fingers have receded. A ghost, then? But no, his arrows would even strike a ghost for true. ]
My attacks cannot harm it!
[ The frustration is clear in his voice as he tamps down the urge to ask the others to fall back. They wouldn’t, anyway, but already he feels like a weak link in their defenses. ]
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Another shield would be good! [he says as he swipes at another reaching shadow, resisting the urge to chase too far after it on his own.]
We need to get it out of hiding, take away its cover somehow!
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[ Mythra waves her hand, a shiing followed by a glimmer of light flickers around Xie Lian. The shield will be there following his movements and lighting up to showcase its pattern whenever an attack collides with it. It's not permanent, however, and should he rely on it instead of dodging too much, it will shatter. Either way, Xie Lian using her sword is going to be the biggest damage-dealer of their group.
As for Tristan-- damn, she would have thought that the heroic spirit would mean that his attacks had some magical quality to it, or that his arrows would carry that sort of inhuman property against the guardian-- but either it's not the right element or the guardian is just that strong. Which means that if Tristan is going to be focusing on support and coming up with a way to use their combined ink, she's going to have to be the tank. ]
Hey-- you!
[ Mythra calls out to the beast, leaping into the air-- and then appearing right behind it. A charge of light is already illuminated within her fist, but she doesn't strike just yet, as her intention is first to distract. She blinks out of existence when it strikes at her with an arm, reappearing by its side, then again when it turns to strike at her again; one more time she flash-steps out of its reach, and it's completed a stumble of a turn just to keep its glowing, malicious eyes upon her. When she it's just right, Mythra delivers a swift, hadron-charged punch into its gut. Not as strong as if she had her sword, but it's going to be bright.
Miasma and shadow pour out from where she's struck it, but she's manage to launch it a few yards back and out of its shadowy veil. It screams as it scrambles, promptly unleashing an area-wide spray of shadowy needles in all directions, like a porcupine launching its quills. ]
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[ But there’s no time to bemoan not having invited his king and her impressive forest-leveling abilities. Mythra’s attacks and tether certainly remind him of its holy light, but it’s too late to back down now that they’re in this deep, and the shadow-creature is unlikely to allow them to escape given its impressive reach.
He thinks of that incident with Amon, and shakes his head. Now is not the time for doubts, nor to lament for what cannot now be. Once again, the shadow is on the offensive, and he doesn’t know if her shields have any blind spots.
He’ll worry about that later. ]
If I cannot strike you, then—
[ He strums at his harp once more, hurling his arrows in all directions. The threads of music catch at the tree branches, closing around them—
With a snap those gray branches crash to the ground, obstructing most of the shadow’s attacks as its fingers cut through the wood instead of flesh. Tristan, meanwhile, feels a small part of his soul fade away, but he’d already known that damaging the trees of this forest comes at a very great cost. ]
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The falling branches certainly help to block the brunt of its attack, and he ignores the few tendrils that manage to slice past the wooden barrier in order to strike at its now-exposed body.]
It's open-!
[The glowing sword, charged with two kinds of intertwined energy, causes the creature to scream out again as it tries to dodge.]
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She stumbles back, clutching her side, eyes narrowing.
But she stands her ground when Xie Lian charges up the sword with his own qi. And that feels like the sudden updraft that precludes the leading squalline, like fire overtaking a forest, like a stampede of energy rushing in. She's invigorated once more, and that invigoration is shared with them through the connection. Now they'll begin to feel the boons of the tethers: they might feel as if they're far lighter and faster upon their feet, or perhaps their focus has been increased, that despite the chaos of the whipping shadows and splintering trees, their targets will be clear to them.
Which is something they they might need, considering that even with the attacks from all of them, the guardian is still not out. They need to do something more, they need to weaken it more-- it seems that it cannot be beaten simply by brute force, and she hopes Tristan is working on that.
In the meantime, she flashes from her spot to be beside Xie Lian, placing a hand upon his shoulder, and the light within the sword flares up like a geyser. The shadows scurry further from the main body of the guardian like rats from a carcass, shrinking it. ] Together!
[ Xie Lian will know through their connection that all he needs to do is swing down the blade for a devastating attack. But will it be enough! ]
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[ He’s going to call out their names a lot, he realizes. It’s that kind of battle, and he can only do so much. Now that he can see that this creature is not entirely shadow when it strikes, it may be of some benefit to them if light-based attacks are not enough.
He cannot catch it, if it is solid one moment and then spirit the next. Light can hurt it, but not quickly enough before it finds a way to kill them. How to defeat it, then…?
The answer comes to him in an onrush of warmth and a memory—caroling at wintertime, with Pyra, Nero, and Wei Wuxian. That strange feeling of synchronization that’s rather like obtaining the blessing of a Command Spell from his master, only within this forest and given Mythra’s resolve and the strengthening of their mutual tether, that sensation seems to multiply tenfold.
He’d brought the forest’s secrets to light before. Who’s to say he can’t do it again? Once Xie Lian makes that attack, he’ll quickly cut in— ]
I need ink. And your books—quickly!
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And he takes this moment to pull his own book (and ink) from his shirt, throwing them in Archer's direction.]
Catch!
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Yet a critical hit comes with a built in automatic heal, and another flash of light erupts around all three of them to reseal any wounds. Mythra's close almost within an instant, the light that had peaked through the puncture wounds obscured by her shell of skin once more. ] I'm fine, here--
[ She chucks her book and ink at Tristan.
Meanwhile, close to Xie Lian and Mythra, the guardian is already pushing itself back onto its feet, shadows seeping from its limbs onto the ground, caustic and boiling miasma, which spreads across the forest floor. ] Oh no you don't-- [ And Mythra leaps at it, tackling it to the ground.
The beast struggles against her and her light, her palms burning what shadow-made-solid flesh it does have, and she's trying to restrain its arms even as the shadows sear at her skin. ]
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Ouch.
He drops his harp to catch that bottle of ink in both hands, but the notebook conks off the side of his head instead. Yet the pain fades just as quickly away with Mythra’s powers, and Tristan manages to catch both her articles without as much trouble.
Can he even use the enchanted ink despite not being their owner? Well, they’re all from Bluo, aren’t they? Perhaps that is enough. He can only hope, in any case.
He kneels to the ground, trying to ignore the danger Mythra and Xie Lian are so clearly in despite that surely deadly blow against the guardian. It’s hard, forcing himself to trust them so blindly like this. He knows well that their victory also hinges on his focus—he can only hope that this focus will not have been misdirected. ]
Remember me, forest…
[ he begins to mutter as he writes furiously into Xie Lian’s notebook first. This is no time for verse as when he’d summoned up the vision of the young man of Blue, but his words are heartfelt all the same— ]
Thou art the repository of this world’s memory; thou art its soul entrapped. I beseech thee, open my eyes and make me the avatar of thy memory. Thy song is my own, and my voice is thine—
[ He gasps then, but not for any stray shadow attacks, though several tendrils will no doubt reach for him, disarmed as he is. He drops that quill and nearly spills the rest of Xie Lian’s ink as he hunches over the notebook. For a moment he’s stunned as some unseen breeze flips through the pages to a fresh one—perhaps he’d accidentally jostled one of Failnaught’s strings, who knows? In any case, he begins writing furiously into the notebook, using up the rest of his ink to compose a new set of verse.
Give him a while. ]
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Mythra, your weapon--
[He tosses the sword, a little more lightly than he tossed his book a moment ago, and grabs a particularly sturdy fallen branch to stab at one of the guardian's free limbs instead.
Whatever Archer's doing, Xie Lian will do his best to help hold the creature down until it's complete.]
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The creature melts into the shadows, vanishing from Xie Lian's grip entirely. Her strike impales upon the ground with a loud crack, sending a seismic ripple of light into the earth and creating a crater. ] Damn.
[ The guardian is still there, somewhere in the shadows. But the question is-- whose shadow will it appear out of next?
They don't even need to guess, for the world suddenly turns awash in stale gold around them. Both Tristan and Xie Lian will be able to move, but everyhting else around them will be slowed to a snail's pace, any movement that's not them generating sequential image after sequential image, as if following a path. This foresight lets her (and the both of them, since she is tethered to them) see where the next attack will come, from where the guardian will emerge--
And it seems it will appear next by Tristan. ] Archer! Duck!
[ Time resumes.
She flings her blade outward.
It strikes right where the guardian appears behind Tristan, impaling it and sending it against a tree, snapping the trunk in half. Mythra cringes, feeling the loss of-- some emotion, whatever, it's not important-- but also at the feeling of the caustic shadows tangling against the rays of the light-borne blade. It seems the monster has become more powerful in its rage.
Mythra staggers from the duel between the light and shadow; hopefully during the time-stop Xie Lian had already begun to run over to grab the sword once more from the guardian. ]
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He ducks, listening to the tree snap behind him and hearing the guardian’s cry of anger, which sends its eerie reverberations throughout his soul. If its range makes it stronger, it will only make him all the more resolute. ]
Mythra, catch!
[ He flings Xie Lian’s notebook at her, even as he begins furiously writing into her notebook next, this time filling it with his own memories—of the time he had gone caroling at Pyra’s home with Nero and Wei Wuxian, and of when he’d first met Xie Lian. ]
That embrace between my friends erased the chill of winter. So too did the smile of a young man who had finally graced the threshold of that accursed home…
[ Somewhere in there is a plea for help—an extra something which crystallized the bonds he’d forged through these long months in Chroma, in winter and in spring, and there a flute finally materializes, which he promptly chucks at Xie Lian. ]
Xie Lian, you as well! See if you can subdue this creature as you had done the mice that day we first met. And you, Mythra, you must now be our lead vocals!
[ With all that writing and strategizing finally done, Tristan picks up his harp and strums it. This time, with the surge of borrowed power from Mythra, his arrows emerge as rays of thin light, flying in all directions around them, caging that shadowbeast in. ]
Think of this as…as…Eurovision!
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Eurovision-?
[At least he knows what to do with a flute...and he trusts that Archer knows what he's doing, too. He jumps back, tossing the sword back to Mythra again, and - after the slightest hesitation - begins to play the same tune he'd played back on that first day.]
1/?
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little bitch you cant fuck with me
if you wanted to
these expensive
these is red bottoms
these is bloody shoes
................................ ]
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Regardless, she is determined to use any means necessary to get them through this fight. The connection between all three of them begins to strengthen already, the excess golden energy pulsing and dancing off of them with each beat.
She wait for the appropriate timing in their music, and when the intro seems to be making way to the body of the song, her lips part, and... she begins to sing whatever it is that she's supposed to sing, attuning her voice to the harmony of their instrumentals. And while she is by no means the best singing out there, any faults she has as made up through the synchronicity of their music they make together. ]
done
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Also she may or may not have been singing this.His music becomes ever more frenetic as they continue on, his harp unleashing more and more of those binding threads of light that trap everyone in—them and the beast both—and wherever the monster attempts to escape through gaps in the cage, new arrows cut into its retreat. That strand of Mythra’s hair that Tristan’s tied among his harp strings glows brightest of all, as if lending its light—her light—for their cause.
And there is no other way for the monster to go but toward them. Smoldering eyes burn with cold fury at these invaders into its domain. Its strength flags and it seems to fade into almost nothing, battered as it is by light and music and the bonds which bind the trio.
But it is not yet defeated.
With a final shriek of rage, it lunges forward, brandishing its shadowed claws for one last swipe at them. ]
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He's just going to focus on that part. The flute is the only weapon he's got on hand now, so he puts his all into playing it, keeping the noise strong even as the monster makes its final lunge. If he gets hit that's just a risk he'll have to take!]
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This is a-- that's a..... thing. And they are doing the thing, the guardian is wailing, the music is playing, she is singing, and Architect dammit, it's working, it's working!
She can feel the power surge from between the three of them, and it charges up her own further like oil to an inferno. It's an energy she can see herself becoming overwhelmed by, a power that she could easily just consume more and more and more, taking it for herself, draining them in return, vicious and eternal like the light within her... but it's their bonds that steady her, that keep her control from slipping. Their energies are unique to them, as if they're not only playing the song at a distance, but standing right there with her, a hand on either of her shoulders, steadying.
The guardian will not even get the chance to move a meter more than its initial lunge-- Mythra vanishes from her spot, reappearing mid-sever through the beast in a flash, the sword already swung through its body. A moment passes, then another.
Shadow sprays from the wound like a fanned hose, painting the branches above in inky blackness. It stays still for a second longer, croaks,and then falls apart like piecemeal to the forest floor. Mythra leaps up just in time to avoid being toppled by the collapsing guardian, and lifting up the sword above her head, she swings it downward to impale the last of the shadow to the ground. Light scourges through the shadow and earth, dismantling the remnants of the beast into a golden energy before that, too, vanishes like a whisper in the night.
Neither shadow nor light remain when it's over, only the blade impaled into the center of a crater of super heated glass.
She hovers down, stepping onto the ground, and with a cock of her head the sword vanishes into dust. ]
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Hell yeah.
[ She cheers, throwing up a fist. ]
That's what I'm talking about.
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So we’ve won. You have both done well.
[ There is no mirth, no sense of congratulations in his voice even if he’d meant every word of it. A moment later and he staggers to his feet, trudging toward that crater with a despondent look. He remembers how Artoria had destroyed the demon pillars with one strike of her sacred blade. He remembers how he’d felt then, because he feels it again now, as he kneels at the edge of the blast zone and sighs, leaning against the shaft of Failnaught like a staff. ]
How sad…to think that it must sacrifice its future that we may find ours. Poor creature! We knew not even your name…
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You could always name it? Though I'm sure it's better off returning to the cycle than continuing to haunt this place.
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[ A lot of ridiculous, dramatic shit has gone down recently, and who knew, who knew that channeling all that into a fight would help? This actually feels as if she's done something important! What a treat, and what sweet, sweet vengeance it is to take out the guardian that nearly killed a friend. She won't be missing the beast, and she won't be giving it the dignity of having a name. ]
C'mere, you two.
[ Mythra marches right on over to them, one arm hooking over their shoulder to pull them into a group embrace. Watch your heads, and hopefully she doesn't clonk them together when she brings them in! ]
We did it! Don't you guys know how to celebrate?
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[ Now there’s a thought, but it’s one that will remain unfinished, as Mythra tugs him over for a group hug.
…He still hasn’t gotten used to those, but it does feel nice. ]
There will be time enough for that.
[ He hasn’t quite gotten over his grief yet, even if this monster had almost killed his Shifu. ]
But now that the creature has been slain, we have no further reason to linger.
no subject
It was a well-fought battle! You both did wonderfully.
[Smiling! Fights are just so fun, he hasn't fought like this in a while, it was nice--but Archer has a point too, I guess.]
Let's press onward then. Who knows what we'll find up ahead? It must be something very interesting, for it to have such a powerful guard.