awashlogs | catch-all for jan!

[ Defeat the Dastardly Demons.

Pyra, being a blue, is more than up to the task for that alone, but what she isn't so sure about are the demons themselves. While she's revealed to a few here that she is able to fight and fend for her own, she's kept the extent of her abilities by and large concealed. Before she puts herself out there for this quest, she would want to know exactly what she is up against. If, if these demons require more power to be vanquished than what she's comfortable with revealing to a potential demon-hunting partner, she'll simply have to pass on the quest. There are enough capable people here to fulfill this sort of task, anyway...

She doesn't even know what to expect when encountering a demon. The term exists, as does the lore with its various cultural connotations, but by and large the word demon is more ascribed to monsters or those who display inhuman or inhumane traits in her world. It's not literal. Her plan here is to only observe the demons and nothing more...

...That plan is, of course, entirely up-ended when she sees a horde of lesser demons piling upon a greater one, their screeches and howls making her feel as if her ears could begin bleeding by the sound alone. It's difficult ot make all the forms out in the shadows of the trees, but-- are they feeding off the greater demon, attacking one of their own? Narrowing her eyes, Pyra carefully steps closer through the snow and slush, observing from behind a bare tree the writhing dogpile of monsters that tackle the larger one to the ground. This greater demon looks... hurt-- and oddly, strangely familiar, although she cannot quite put her finger on it.

She wonders if the old mantra-- that the enemy of my enemy is my friend-- might apply here....

A great jet of fire-- or, something that suspiciously looks like fire-- blasts five of the lesser demons off the one they've been tackling; the ones caught directly in its blast are incinerated on the spot, with the others that managed to be only damaged are instantly crippled. Leathery wings are melted together and ghastly burns reveal innards that fall, coiling on the snow-covered ground like a drawer of snakes, as they screech and turn their attention from what their initial target to turn towards the origin of the pillar of flame. Pyra leaps from her hiding place and sends another attack of fire across the field, clearing the distance and smashing down onto one demon as she falls. A molten inferno erupts around her with the impact, melting the snow and causing a few of the creatures to stagger back in the shock's wake.

Her attack may have been decent enough to knock a few away, but it only serves to enrage more of them. In the meantime, she turns her head to look at the greater demon that all the others had seemed so intent on consuming. She's banking on that it has some sort of intelligence to fight the horde and not her, which is partly the reason she had helped it. But if it's going to attack her instead, she'll be ready. ]

[Akira had taken the quest on not because he cared about a reward or restoring colour, but because if there are demons posing a genuine threat to the town, he guesses he's the strongest and most experienced at hunting and destroying them. He's confident enough that he can handle them alone without Ryo's help.

What he doesn't expect is that the demons here know about Miki. Not only do they know about Miki, but they turn her against him, one of them taking on her image and screaming that she's lost and needs help. It's not the first time a demon has used his loved ones against him, and it's enough that the mob of demons get an ambush on him before he can realise she's a fake. More than the element of surprise, they have sheer numbers to overwhelm him and keep him boxed in. He keeps fighting and fighting, and by the time Pyra finds him, his left leg is in shreds, exposing bone and muscle that drips with a sickly yellow blood, and his wings are in tatters, stopping him from fleeing by air. The rest of his body is a mess of bites and lacerations.

Things are looking bad, so much so that a battle against what should normally be weak opponents is spiralling quickly out of control. They're coming at him faster than he can kill them, pinning him to the ground, and he lets out a bestial roar--

--and there's a feeling of hot flame and demons being incinerated. Instinctively he throws up his tattered wings to try to protect his body and face, and when the fire fades his blank, gleaming eyes widen as he sees...

Pyra.

This is bad, but he still can't run, not when there are more demons and she's in danger, too. So he staggers to his feet and continues to fight, grabbing the nearest demon and pulling it apart with a vicious snarl. All he can hope for is that she doesn't recognise him.]

[ She doesn't recognize him, how can she recognize him-- the creature before her is bestial and-- and grand despite its wings crippling it upon the ground.

But it isn't attacking her, it isn't ripping her apart, no. It's the other monsters that it picks up with ease despite its injured, bleeding state, it's them that the greater demon tears apart like shredding leaves off a tree. The ground beneath them is saturated with blood, the brilliant strange yellow of the demon that's fighting on her side, swirling with the viscous, inky black of the horde, enough that it feels as if she's walking upon mud or clay instead.

She doesn't know why this beast is fighting the horde, or why the horde is attacking him, but she's not going to complain-- and...

As the demon stands, she will gently brush her hand along its forearm right after it releases the last demon it rips apart. It will be a brief touch, fleeting, but he will both see a golden light seep from her fingers and transfer to him-- and feel it as well: a sudden invigoration, a heightened sense of strength, awareness, and focus-- the ability of honing one's attack so that when he strikes, he strikes true.

That when he strikes, it will be deadly. ]

[ She doesn't know if the demon can understand her, but she speaks anyways, softly, and... warily, as she watches the rest of their opponents begin to regroup. Her eyes narrow. ] ....Together, now.

[ And with that done-- she'll be leaping into the battle herself, flames already summoned to her hands as she ducks beneath one demon and strikes another with a torrent of fire, energy, heat, and fire again as the battle commences once more. The good thing about fire is that it's very, very effective against demons, apparently. But it's chaotic-- everything is chaotic in this battle-- both the energy she wields and the demons that attack her, and with their flurry of limbs, wings, talons, and teeth, she can hardly distinguish one monster from the next.

However he might notice that she does not stray too far from his side, for when she fights, she fights with someone. She will be covering his openings, she will be deflecting ranged attacks made to strike him; she will be making up for his faults-- at least, to the best of her ability to read how he fights in turn.

She won't be walking away from this unscathed, however, that's for sure. But if they keep up a good pace, maybe-- just maybe-- they'll be able to take on this battalion of monsters until no more are left. ]

[Akira won't speak for fear of giving away his identity, but to that remark, he nods. If she's so intent on helping him he's grateful for it, and the surge of focus she grants him helps him resume the battle with renewed energy.

He's not used to fighting with someone, however, and it shows: while he generally tries to keep demons away from her, he otherwise just fights like an aggressive predator. Instead of taking into account strategy or how best to fight with his new ally, he runs on instinct, setting on the lesser demons and biting, ripping, and tearing them to shreds. Even through the pain he seems to be enjoying himself as he crushes throats with his jaws, tears off limbs, smashes skulls, all in the most gleefully violent ways possible.

The demons had not planned on showing him mercy here, so why should he offer it to them?]

[ With their fighting, the horde begins to thin out. The scent of blood is thick in the air, as is everything else that comes with dismembering and disemboweling and incinerating flesh, leaving their corpses to rot upon the forest ground. She wonders if anything will ever grow upon this part of the land again.

Pyra is mindful of her... "ally". Granting him extra power to use is one thing, but her tether to him won't grow throughout the battle as it should naturally-- her wariness caps it at a certain point. She's being careful around him; grateful for the help against slaying these demons, but very much aware that he looks like he belongs among them himself.

But eventually they'll clear out the remainder of the demons, after which Pyra takes a step back from the carnage to collect herself. She's expended a great deal of energy-- and... is not without a few clear gashes across her arms and legs. But whereas an actual human might have bled a lot more from the cuts, hers do not. And they would not, because she holds no vessels, no tissue beyond anything that is skin-deep, although whatever lies beneath her skin is hidden by what blood does comes out.

She turns towards the greater demon she had been fighting beside-- and.... wonders if there is some sort of ploy to this quest. Some trick. That she would have to exterminate a demon that she had fought alongside. Even if that's the case, even if she is still cautious-- it just seems cruel. ] --....Are you the last of them? [ She asks it, if it can even understand her. ]

[Once the last of the demons is felled, Akira drops its corpse from his jaws, panting and mouth dripping with inky blood. He gives Pyra a once-over to check she isn't hurt, and... There's something odd about the way she isn't bleeding too much, but he's already guessed there's something different about her -- he just doesn't know what it is yet.

Nor should he dwell on it right now, when he has other things to worry about. The injury on his leg is bad, and while it should close up quickly, he does need to think about how rapidly it will drain his energy, and he won't be able to hide behind this form forever. In short-- he needs to leave.]

I'm not one of them. [He says it softly. As he does so, he fans out his ruined wings to check the damage -- sure enough, it's too severe to get out of here by air. So he turns to stagger away, simply hoping she won't pursue him, or worse, try to attack.]

[ There's something familiar about his voice, too...--but again, she cannot recognize it completely. But--

I'm not one of them, it--, no, he says, and it's enough to get her to double-take, to frown, to... actually be a little more worried for him, and not just her own safety. ] --Wait. [ Wait, she says, as if he might stop on his own. But he's already staggering away, bright blood leaving a trail upon slush already stained with demon blood. ]

Your leg, it's injured. [ N O P E, she's following him! ]

[Akira stops to brace a clawed hand against a tree, surveying her with a troubled look of confusion as she pursues him.] It'll heal.

[He can say that with confidence -- he once lost an arm and got impaled through the gut, but he got better. This is a less severe wound, so as messy as it looks, he should manage.]

For Akira

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

for wei wuxian

swanning in finally....

SKEET SKEET MOFO

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

For Akira, NUMERO DOS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject