awashlogs | [ CATCH-ALL ] it’s july, and i have hope in who i’m becoming.

[ dextera looks back at berkut, like he’s surprised. it would certainly be the kindest method, but dextera thinks the naga, like the jorogumo, is a creature best dispatched of entirely. ]

…no.

[ it’s a decision he comes to slowly. it’s not merciless in tone, even if the result itself is somewhat cruel. ]

Good.

[ the last time he attempted to dispatch a beast, he got assaulted for it. one of the great spears is one thing; if someone like dextera were to attempt the same, berkut can't say that it would end well.

but that's no concern now. he motions for dextera to lead the way. a god can be afforded the privilege of guiding a noble. ]

[ despite himself, dextera feels some pride at being praised. it isn’t exactly a good quality, the desire to kill, but it’s something that berkut has dignified it all the same.

they walk slowly, silently, without any small talk, and then—dextera stops, crouching behind a tree and motioning for berkut to stop as well. ]

…

[ he narrows his eyes. ]

It’s here.

[ perhaps he does deserve the title of god. berkut doesn't sense anything yet; he stops as bade, and it's fortunate that the growth around here naturally conceals most of their party.

now where does the naga emerge? ]

[ the naga has an ominous presence that dextera can sense thanks to his heightened regard for the cores of creatures, and it’s much less protected than a normal human’s would be. it’s not that the naga isn’t sentient, but rather, it has a lot less to guard. ]

…

[ dextera can only see her, however, when she slithers through the trees. she has very human breasts exposed, and dextera averts his eyes—not from politeness, but because this is the worst place to get a boner in the world. he has to focus on the mission. with that in mind, he points out the naga’s tail: thick and shimmering. and powerful. ]

[ dextera had better not.

berkut's interpretation of the scene is that dextera can't handle something like a proper warrior. of course, the naga's appearance is scandalous. but it shouldn't affect performance. as focused as he is on their task of hunting the naga, he doesn't even glance at her assets.

rather, his eyes shift toward dextera. he lifts his chin in the direction of the naga's tail. he sees it. so what's dextera going to do before berkut takes off? ]

[ it’s not an incorrect interpretation. dextera is used to fighting by himself, and suffering by himself, so it takes a little bit of self-correction in order to look like a functional person when he’s working with other people. ]

…

[ dextera glances to berkut’s weapon. then, after a pause, he switches to sign language. ]

I’ll get her attention. Can you pin her tail?

[ and getting turned on by himself, (almost) evidently.

it's a series of familiar gestures, and one that berkut understands well enough. he gives a small nod in response, leans back toward buceph, and waits for dextera to kick off the battle. a part of him is curious to see how this organ-eating god performs. ]

[ this organ-eating god is… not bad, apparently. he manages to get himself some space without giving away their temporary hiding spot, but that isn’t the goal of his movement. once he’s able to, he charges his sword with bright, holy light, and brings it over his head to slam down with the force of a thunderclap.

it kicks up a cloud of energy around him, but more important than that, the naga immediately whips around to face him. ]

…

[ he knows better than to bait her, at least. his sword glows again, and he carefully steps away, slowly, to get her to turn her back to berkut. ]

[ with a power like that, who needs a proper sword?

as impressive as the display is, berkut wastes no time in mounting buceph and going around to rush the naga from behind. he's never been one to hang back. the moment an opening presents itself in the naga's posture, he charges without hesitation, poised to strike the serpentine tail with his lance.

he hits his mark. alas, the naga's tail is as sturdy as the rest of her, and the manmade weapon fails to pierce through the appendage. with a tsk, berkut directs buceph to kick back out of the naga's reach. ]

Huh?

[ dextera didn’t expect it to just not work. it’s not that monsters are usually vulnerable, but he realizes that he’s always gone on these quests with people who have extraordinary powers—maybe he should have seen it coming. ]

I can help.

[ he thinks so, anyway. the naga’s attention has been drawn by the attack on her tail, and she bares her fangs at berkut, but dextera opens his hand on the other side. ]

Pass me your lance!

[ what, so he can eat it? ]

Be quick!

[ for the lack of a better option, berkut acquiesces to dextera's demand. spinning the lance, he raises it over his head, takes aim, and tosses it like a javelin with great finesse. the lance plunges into the earth by dextera's foot, but berkut doesn't need to look to know where it's landed; his focus now is on evading the naga's attacks by deftly maneuvering buceph away. ]

[ the naga is armed and large, but the fact remains that it can’t completely keep track of two people when one of them is on a horse. it has to twist and turn and make decisions, and the decision it makes is to follow the trajectory of the thrown lance since dextera is easier to grab.

before it can reach him, however, he pulls the lance out of the ground and tries to charge it with the same power he gave his sword. ]

I can’t use it.

[ he explains this, as he gently tosses it away distinctly without finesse for berkut to pick up. in the moment it takes him to do that, however, the naga manages to get the end of her tail around dextera’s legs.

with his purification over the lance, it should, at least, be able to pierce those tough scales. ]

What?

[ then why say he can help? and what self-respecting god tosses a lance aside so lousily? oh, of course—dextera has no self-respect.

with an irritated huff, berkut changes his course. leaning low to the right, he reaches down to pick his weapon off the forsaken earth. surely dextera did something. berkut swerves and, twisting at the hip, uses the momentum to throw his lance at the naga's tail. ]

[ when he’s not in the middle of a fight like this, he actually has a remarkable throwing arm—what he lacks in training can be made up by necessity, when it comes to tossing away swords and bones at monsters when they don’t serve a better purpose in his hand (or mouth).

unfortunately, that’s definitely not seen here, and as a result he’s more worried about berkut’s ire than the naga’s constricting tail. ]

—!

[ when the lance connects, dextera can feel the opposing divinities of his own and the naga’s clash, and the great beast shudders—surprised to have something able to hurt it. the lance is sunk in its loosening tail. the naga hisses, and dextera grabs some of its human hair to pull it down and drive some of the spikes on his sword into flesh.

that, too, clearly hurts. ]

You… should be able to attack her now.

[ hm. so he's capable of violence.

while dextera holds the naga in place, berkut goes to retrieve his lance. doing so draws blood from the naga, who lashes out at dextera with the injured tail. berkut has long galloped out of range on buceph's back, and he makes a wide turn to pierce the naga's torso from behind. ]

[ dextera gets a good smack right to his chest with the tail, and it knocks the wind from him briefly. it’s only because berkut is so quick with piercing the naga that dextera is saved from something much worse—something potentially with fangs and claws and poison. the purity-charged lance does much better than a plain one, and it strikes the naga right through her spine to her front. ]

Hissssss…

[ of course there’s no love there for the action, and she swings around to try to his berkut off his horse with whatever connects first. ]

One more… [ dextera wheezes. ] And I can…

[ buceph is quick on his feet; berkut, less so when his feet are in stirrups. the naga's arm slams into berkut's side and all but rips him off the seat of the saddle. fortunately, he's armored from neck to thigh, and this alone is what prevents claws from sinking into flesh.

unfortunately, it's a rough and heavy tumble that knocks the breath out of him. with a cough, berkut rolls onto his feet. buceph has retreated across him where the naga can't reach, leaving him stranded on the other side.

well, he can fight on foot just fine. his stubborn grip saw to his keeping the lance, which he aims at the naga. ]

One more what?

[ it’s not a good sound when the naga successfully throws berkut off his horse, but neither buceph nor berkut seem to be suffering from her venom. dextera is not a healer. ]

If you can hold her…

[ dextera has neither the time nor the strength to completely blast her with the shock from his sword, as he did before, but he can charge it up again and—slice off her arm, just as she reaches out to swipe at berkut again.

the naga cries out, thick blood glopping down from the new wound. ]

Fine.

[ an uncomfortable pressure presses into his side. it seems the naga has dented his armor, though not so severely as to constrict his breathing.

the god is fond of maiming his foes, isn't he? berkut takes advantage of the opening created by dextera's attack by lunging for the naga's intact shoulder. as soon as the hit connects, he flips his lance so that the blunt end comes down on the naga's head in the hopes of dazing her. if it's a distraction dextera wants, berkut will bear the subtle humiliation and give it to him. ]

[ berkut is really impressive.

even without magic, he’s able to do this much—he has control over his movements, over everything, and dextera is only fond of maiming his foes because he doesn’t know how else to fight something of this size. when berkut successfully dazes her, dextera takes a deep breath and tosses his sword aside.

it looks like a stupid thing all the way up to the point that he puts his bare hands on the naga, but then there’s a brilliant flash of light, and the sound of searing flesh. the naga squeals, but the purification winds into every nook and cranny of the creature’s body. dextera winces away from the brightness of it, but a moment later, a small crystal is left in his hands.

he exhales, dropping to his knees. ]

…there.

[ tossing a weapon aside again?

berkut raises an arm to shield his eyes, but is a touch too late. once the light dies away, he blinks several times to regain his vision. just like that, the naga is no more. so this is the power of another world's god? he's seen uglier.

as he approaches (and buceph trots toward them), his gaze falls upon the crystal in dextera's hands. ]

What is that?

It is… the Naga.

[ dextera sounds tired now, but he didn’t want to resort to eating the naga’s heart in front of berkut. he knows he’s always on thin ice, and that more than anything else seems like something that would get him in trouble instantly. ]

I can use it… so I wanted it.

[ although the answer tells him nothing, berkut isn't invested enough in dextera's power to care. with a muted sigh, he moves to mount buceph. ]

I take it that this will be all for the quest? Then I shall return to town.

[ if dextera wants to stay behind and eat the crystal while berkut's not looking, it's not any of the latter's business. ]

[ he’s not going to eat it!!! ]

Um… thank you for coming.

[ that doesn’t feel like quite the right thing to say, but he doesn’t think he should just leave it at berkut leaving wordlessly either. he naturally goes to follow the horse, as he pockets the crystal. ]

You’re not hurt, are you?

[ CATCH-ALL ] it’s july, and i have hope in who i’m becoming.

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