Washed Away [OPEN]
Characters: Anybody washed into the desert by the flood, a shitload of Kishin Eggs.
Location: The desert and ruins surrounding Death City.
Rating: R, in anticipation of swearing in terror.
Time: Sept 14 and onwards, for the duration of the monsoon.
Format: Action or Prose
Description: Whether by accident or in the interest of having fun, more than a few ( Read more... )
Location: The desert and ruins surrounding Death City.
Rating: R, in anticipation of swearing in terror.
Time: Sept 14 and onwards, for the duration of the monsoon.
Format: Action or Prose
Description: Whether by accident or in the interest of having fun, more than a few ( Read more... )
Noticing the tendrils just in time, the Meister just managed to leap back in time before they could grab at him. Skidding as he landed, the samurai channelled another bout of energy from their resonation and through his sword arm, unleashing out in a shockwave as he swung the claymore in a fast but wide arc. The shockwave swept through the air, knocking the kishin back and Date instantly took his chance to deal the next strike.
"Hah!" he let out a shout as he boosted himself with a dash forward towards the beast without pause, skidding across the ground once again when he was close enough and thrusted the Weapon forward in the Stinger attack with enough force and velocity to skewer their opponent right through - if the attack hit, of course.
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By now Dante's contribution to this whole thing (other than you know, his actual body as a Weapon and his soul energy) was reduced to little more than little interjections every time a combo ended. Hopefully Date didn't mind, unlike Dante who did mind that sort of thing as evidenced with Agni and Rudra.
Date was doing remarkably well in imitating the Weapon's moves. So it was unfortunate that remarkably well was not quite good enough in this battle. The attack was a beat too slow and the Kishin just managed to avoid getting skewered. With a scream of rage it lunged at the duo.
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Or perhaps, the exhaustion which had affected his entire body to the point of being immobilized had decided to give him hallucinations. Either way, he felt that he should alert Justin that the constant praying was not actually helping and the two who were protecting them required his actual assistance rather than the so-called spiritual assistance that the young priest was calling upon.
"You should cease praying." Even so, his tone did not change from the same monotone as before. "I do not see how it will help our current predicament if we are still going to die. Which is becoming increasingly a high probability with your lack of assistance."
As he finished his observation, the Kishin egg lunged at Dante and Date. The tendrils had been knocked back by the initial attack, but returned to turn once more into spears -- lashing out to launch themselves toward Date to skewer the other's limbs as the creature itself tried to knock the meister over with its weight. Mouth open full of teeth as it snapped at Date's face, claws poised to try to dig into flesh just as much as the tendrils of before tried to do.
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✝I am a pillar of justice... a blade of faith...✝
Charging was almost complete. The next prayer was the trigger, and hopefully the others would have the sense to get down when it fired. Admittedly, it was hard to not notice it, but still. They didn't seem overly intelligent. Still, for a seemingly new and temporary partnership, they fought together well. The situation was actually quite convenient; if that behemoth weren't here, it would've been impossible to keep the large number of lesser creatures at bay long enough to take them all out in one strike. As it was now, they were clustered in one group as a perfect target.
Whether by chance or because even their stunted intellect could sense a climax coming to the fore, the pack of Kishin Eggs ceased their skulking and fanned out in a loose semi-circle behind the bigger beast. Claws and fangs were bared, and some were even now crouching low to prepare to lunge forward for the kill. Those closest to the center tentatively took a step forward or two, sizing up the large one as if expecting it to be its new target. The eyes of the rest narrowed on the Weapons and Meister, tense with readied action.
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Cursing mentally when the stinger attack failed to make its mark, the samurai leaped back just in time before the Kishin could retaliate at him. He barely had time to gather back himself before the tendrils were flying at him and the Meister did the first thing that came into his mind. Channelling the energy from their partnership, Date leaped into the air to avoid the tendrils. The tendrils tried to chase him, but then the Meister grinned and then suddenly leaped again the air solidifying around his feet for moment from the intricate circle of magic that had formed for all but a brief second.
This move's pretty useful, Date remarked mentally to Dante before gripping the claymore tightly, making sure it was firmly in his grasp before he twisted in mid-air, bringing down the giant blade from above his head and right down onto the kishin with the Helm Breaker move, complete with warcry.
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Of course it's useful, everything I do is useful, was his oh so brilliant reply. Although he did wonder why Date could do that when he couldn't any more. He had totally taken the time to see what he could and could no longer do. The could not list was generally just filled with anything that was linked to his demonic blood for obvious reasons. This thought was registered at the back of his mind while he was concentrating on this fight.
The Weapon echoed the Meister's war cry and a sickening crunch was heard as he made contact with the monster. It was unclear if that blow was enough to completely take it out and it looked like that there wasn't enough time to check before the rest of the pack moved in on the four. A conclusion was expected to be swiftly made, but in whose favour?
Let's finish this!
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Even if he felt mostly apathetic at this point, merely because he had accepted his fate the moment that he could not stand on his own, he still would have liked for something more to be done to save the other meister and weapon. Useless. Just useless. He closed his eyes as he found that he had no wish to watch either of them die.
It seemed like Nataku had thought too soon for the end.
The charging creature had missed; both tendrils and muscle had failed to tear the two down, or at least Date. There was a moment of harsh laughter just before it thought that it had caught the meister - barking and harsh - which was quickly silenced when he jumped out of reach. It did not give the Kishin egg enough time to retaliate, to redirect. The shadows were cleaved away by the blade, before it sunk into his arm. Tearing through the weak block of muscle and bone, it ripped through the shoulder and threw the beast down into the mud.
Naturally, the other smaller pack had taken it upon themselves to split into two groups. One to tear into and quickly feast upon the injured and dying creature while the rest charged toward Dante and Date. Screaming like the screaming of that summoned the packs of before began, but this was far different. More joyous and calling more to the souls than summoning any others to their aid. Surely, the meister would not be able to fight all of them off.
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A similar fate seemed to awaiting the stalwart Meister and his Weapon as more of them charged forwards. The time for prayer had ended for Justin, however; the corona of pulsing energy dissipated abruptly and a righteous - possibly also indignant - fury burned within his eyes as he set his sights on the Kishin Eggs. Blue and Red had just completed their aerial attack, so if they were lucky they would probably slip on the muddy, unstable ground beneath their feet upon landing anyway. If not, well. Maybe they'd react in time.
✝In the name of Shinigami, take this!✝
✞LAW ABIDING SILVER GUN!✞
With a brilliant flash of blinding light, a titanic wave of silver energy surged forward from Justin's arms and engulfed all before him, eradicating everything within its path. The blast tore through the masses of Kishin Eggs, first merely drowning out and then completely silencing all of their unholy screams in near-unison under the faintly shrilling roar. When the light began to fade and vision slowly returned, where bodies once had been there were now floating, red spheres.
All except for one: though terribly singed and barely holding onto life by the skin of its teeth, the largest of them twitched feebly. Horrifically injured, there was no fight left within it, but it needed to be finished all the same before it would relinquish its physical form.
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--except he couldn't, because the next thing he knew was Justin's all-out attack and Date was forced to duck before it hit him. The samurai hit the ground moments before the giant silver wave energy flew above his head, Dante in his grip as the claymore clattered onto the earth as well.
The attack was like nothing that he had ever seen; the screeches and cries of the kishin were a testament to the power of the attack, and it even took Date by surprise at the force of the move. So this was the power of what a Death Scythe possessed... incredible. If he could get Dante to work with him, would the Weapon be like that as well? Of course, first he had to convince Dante to work with him once all of this was over...
He broke out of his thoughts by the weak cry of the last kishin that still was clinging onto life, and Date turned around to look at it for a few moments. Looks like we still have one last one to take care of, he went, as he raised the sword back up into stance. Let's finish this!
Channelling whatever energy that he still had, the Meister dashed forward, throwing Dante forward straight and true towards the twitching and dying Kishin, impaling it with the blade. That wasn't the end though, as Date grinned as he jumped, leaping forward with a leg out at the ready as he kicked the sword right through the beast with a finishing cry.
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One last Kishin to take care of and then it was all over. He was looking forward to a long shower after all of this. Let's do this!
Dante was kicked clean through the Kishin and as the Weapon was sailing out he managed to transform back. The remaining Kishin had been taken care of and Dante grinned at their handiwork before promptly collapsing when his legs gave way. "Whoa!"
He hadn't realised just how much energy had been expended during the battle. He must have looked like a real sight, lying on the ground covered with sand, blood and other questionable things.
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Nataku did stop to look toward Dante when he fell. It seemed like he was all right, and he supposed that he appreciated the company. The exhaustion in his limbs was still evident, but fading just enough for him to finally be able to at least push himself up to be sitting on the ground. He raised his hands a few time, flexing his fingers. Looking between the three, he felt he should congratulate them on staying rather than leaving him to die -- and dying in turn. A slight tilt of the head before he started to clap his hands.
"Good job." His hands lowered down to his sides. "Now who gets to devour these souls?"
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✝Now, let us pray.✝
Not that he actually expected the others to, all things considered. Even so, without so much as looking up again he raised his right arm and it began to slowly pulse with light. The floating Kishin Egg souls began to gradually drift towards him, at least until his guillotine blade jutted out from his arm and they all streamed towards him rapidly, being sucked into it and bathing the silver in a crimson glow.
Well, all except for two. The soul of the largest Kishin Egg remained close to where it was before by the Meister and Weapon, and one of the lesser ones now drifted above Nataku. In a rather rare display of consideration, Justin grasped it in one hand gently and knelt down on one knee, holding it out to the boy. Previous annoyance aside, he needed to be able to move at least a little if they were to make it back to Death City.
There were more Kishin Eggs out here, likely, and there was no sense in lingering any longer than necessary. Regardless, certain rituals were sacred among Technicians, and enjoying the spoils of a partnership's first battle together was one of them. Justin waited patiently and vigilantly for the others.
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Pushing himself up with some effort, Date took a moment to attempt trying brush off the sand stuck on his now-not so drenched clothes before Nataku's clapping directed his attention. He was about to reply, but then he noticed the eggs floating away and he turned to see Justin taking the eggs for himself. Well, almost all of the eggs anyway. The smaller of the two that remained was offered to Nataku, which meant...
Date turned towards Dante at that, breaking into a grin as he jerked a head towards the lone kishin egg that remained. "Well, what are you waiting for? That's yours, so take it."
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To be honest, those souls reminded him of the demon souls back in his world and he had never contemplated eating one of those. Although he didn't consider himself one of them, this felt a bit like cannibalism. Dante addressed Date. "Mine, huh? So I'm supposed to eat this thing?"
Dante really wasn't enjoying finding out just how little he knew in how things went around here. Conveniently ignoring the fact that he was the one who had chosen not to listen to all the explanations because they were too long. For now there didn't seem to be much to do other than go along with it all. He reached over and floated the soul towards him.
"No sauce? A pity." And with that he scarfed it down. The taste was... indescribable and it definitely wasn't anything like pizza. It wasn't disgusting, but it wasn't something he'd willingly choose to eat either. Surprisingly it seemed to have given him a boost of energy and he found he wasn't nearly as exhausted as he had been. With his new energy boost Dante pulled himself back up and ran his fingers through his hair in a way that echoed his brother minus the fact that the action was to dislodge as much of the whatever it was that was coating his hair.
"So when's round 2?"
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But, I did not do anything save tell them what they should be doing, and they ignored me. Still, it seemed like the same would happen if he were to bring this point up to Justin. They would do what they want and so he weakly reached up to take the offering. "Thank you for the meal." Tossing it into his mouth, he tilted his head as he did feel a surge of power that helped with the exhaustion that he felt. Just a little, anyway. Is this delicious?
Standing up carefully, he still felt a little sore but at least he would be able to walk. He paused to turn and stare at Dante. Round two? Meaning, he would like to fight like this again, even though he was so exhausted afterward? Why? "It is as I thought." A beat. "Lack of common sense is contagious. I wonder who is the immediate cause." His gaze drifted between Dante and Date before allowing himself to tangent and look to Justin.
"Praying gives you strength, how is that possible?" Nataku allowed another pause. "I would like to hear on it when we are back in Death City."
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