excitate vow e somno, liberi fatali

[hdmaster_cid]

WHO: EVERYONE
LOCATION: EVERYWHERE
WEEK: 65
TIME: Early (12:15am onwards) Saturday morning through Sunday evening
WHAT: ANNIVERSARY EVENT
RATING: Inferi, violence, shenanigans - It could get pretty high. M to be safe, for now.
We will be posting another giant event log for the recovery stuff, this is purely for stuff during the event!

Please note

Comments

[delbosqueverde]

She didn't have to scream. The thing didn't have to laugh. Yellow's chest had already seized with fear when he felt Kairi's hand tearing out of his. He had already known something was horribly wrong before he turned around. Except, really, he hadn't, because he did turn around, and nothing could have prepared Yellow for the creature-the monster-that was attacking his friend. It was horrible, rotting, laughing. He screamed,

(she screamed, unable to suppress the reflex)

but his wand was already drawn and incantations were tearing through his mind even as Kairi fought the claws raking across her face. Lightning, the Chairman said lightning, he thought numbly, and shouted, "F-fultacio!"

Sparks shot weakly from his wand. Kairi cried out again, unable to shake off the Jockey. Yellow had failed.

(She'd never cast a curse successfully in her life, of course it wouldn't have worked now. Even if she needed it to.)

"Let her go!" he shouted, circling them desperately and trying not to show how helpless he felt. The thing only laughed. Fire. Fire, I can do this, I can do this. "Incendio!"

The flames were strong, stronger than he was usually capable of, but they veered off and fizzled out just before reaching the Inferi wrapped around Kairi's shoulders. Yellow couldn't do it. He couldn't risk hurting his friend. His will kept giving out and hindering the magic. "There has to be something I can do," he gasped, blinking back tears.

[driftingtides]

It wouldn't let her think, wouldn't even let her breathe, as she opened her mouth to draw in breath to scream again and the creature grabbed her jaw, laughing like a hyena as it jerked her head one way and then the next. She bit her tongue, hands coming up to fight it ineffectively-- she had no leverage to land a good blow and her wand was hardly a match for it, when she couldn't even see to cast anything.

The creature was horrible and strong and it smelled and suddenly, Kairi felt her shoulder smack into a stone wall with a bright, piercing pain. She tripped over her own feet and tumbled to the floor, attempting to roll, anything that might get this thing off of her...

[delbosqueverde]

Yellow shouted, watching as Kairi was jerked around like a puppet. Panicked, he began noiselessly mouthing the incantation over and over again but was unable to put any strength behind it. What if his friend got burned? What if he couldn't control the spell?

(She didn't want to fight!)

But then, without warning, Kairi collided with the wall, completely disoriented with the Jockey impeding her vision and movements. The girl fell, flailing, but the monster still wouldn't let go.

Something in Yellow snapped. The thing wouldn't stop until it killed her. Nothing he did could be worse than what the Inferi was doing now. Taking a deep breath, he drew his wand again. "Kairi, I'm sorry. Don't move."

(Sometimes you had to fight. She knew that. And sometimes your friends got hurt.)

"Incendio!"

This time, Yellow didn't let the flames falter. He gritted his teeth and aimed as best he could. The Inferi finally stopped its terrible laughter with a chilling shriek, jumping back, and Yellow ran forward, not letting up on the spell. He closed his eyes and put more power into the magic, trying to ignore its screams and the fact that, up close, the Inferi's face was still almost recognizably human. Yellow didn't look again until all that remained was a charred, oozing mass of flesh.

He lowered his wand, bile rising in his throat. Forcing himself not to be ill, Yellow slowly turned to Kairi and tried to smile.

[driftingtides]

Something very, very hot swiped past her cheek and touched her shoulder, but then that creature finally, blissfully let go. It shrieked and clambered off, and suddenly she was alone on the floor, lying there gasping.

She struggled to sit up, to help Yellow, but a burning pain pierced her shoulder and she nearly dropped again. Levering up on her good arm, she was able to see just as Yellow fell in on the creature, and the flames ate it black.

Even when Yellow turned and offered her a timid smile, she just sat there, staring at her friend with one hand grasping her shoulder, trying her hardest to still the shaking that still trembled through her body. After a good moment she finally managed a quiet, "...Thanks," slowly trying to get back to her feet.

She swallowed, staring once at the charred mess that that had so recently been clawing her to death, then looked away again. This time, in a firmer voice, she repeated, "Thank you. Really."

There were soft thumps sounding from not far down the all, and Kairi gulped, walking quickly towards Yellow. "Let's keep moving..."

[delbosqueverde]

Yellow's poor attempt at a smile nearly disappeared completely when he didn't get an immediate response from Kairi, who was shaking badly. For a moment the terrible thought crossed his mind: Did I really look so terrible, fighting that monster? But he didn't linger on it, dropping to one knee and helping the girl to stand. And Kairi's muttered word of gratitude, though quiet, sounded genuine.

The wash of relief he felt when she finally spoke didn't last long, however, and not just because of the sounds she had pointed out. "Your shoulder," he said, dismayed. He reached for the wound out of instinct and slowed his walk. With the adrenaline slowly draining out of him, the Inferi seemed so much further away, and Yellow could tell the wound was painful.

"Let me heal it," he said quietly, unable to look her in the eyes. He didn't bother to reach for his wand, not with the emotions still swirling around in his mind and making it difficult for him to choose a specific incantation. One hand began to glow white, and as soon as it made contact with the burn it started to fade-powerful magic.

Magic that Yellow couldn't afford to be spending right now.

[driftingtides]

"It's okay," She protested, not wanting Yellow to waste more energy on a simple burn-- but Yellow had already committed herself. The pain faded away abruptly underneath the cool waterfall of Yellow's healing magic. She reached up, catching Yellow's wrist and gently pulling his hand away. "I'm okay." She gave him a rough smile. "Much better than I would have been, without you. Thank you."

The groans were getting closer, and Kairi made the mistake of glancing back. Something... something had definitely just darted past the crossway just behind them. She gripped Yellow's hand tighter and pulled her around the next corner, heart picking up. Then again, had it yet slowed down?

Her other hand tugged at the charred remains of her sleeve and pulled the rough threads loose. Her shoulder felt... baby soft, like brand new skin. How powerful of a healing spell had Yellow just worked?

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN.

[delbosqueverde]

"It was nothing," he told her with a smile much brighter than the one he'd tried a few minutes ago. The panic and fear in his stomach began to loosen at her words. "You would have done the same for me-"

Yellow was cut off as Kairi glanced over her shoulder and abruptly quickened her pace, pulling both of them around the corner. Was that another Inferi moving in the corner of his eye, or just a shadow? He turned his head too slowly to tell, movements just a tad sluggish, almost unable to keep up with his companion as they sped down the hall. Maybe he should have held off just a little bit on the healing spell...

"Kairi," he started, and then it happened.

One minute they'd been darting through a dark, relatively empty corridor, and the next a shimmering wall sprung up directly in their path. Yellow shouted, skidding to a halt, and whipped back around around just in time to see a similar barrier materialize directly opposite the first. He began to move to the left, but it was no use: within seconds they were completely boxed in.

Tightening his grip on Kairi's hand, Yellow fumbled for his wand with the other and aimed a spell for the magical barrier. A jet of energy fired from his wand, however, the second it hit the nearest wall it simply vanished, with only a handful of ripples in the surface left behind to indicate anything had happened.

"What is this? A trap?" he muttered anxiously, running forward to test how solid it might be...but the instant he released Kairi's hand, she vanished.

"No!" he shouted, spinning back around, but to no avail. He couldn't see her, or feel anything but air when he reached out a hand for the spot she'd been. He ran along the length of the confined area, but no use: he was alone. "Kairi!"

Outside the barrier, a number of Inferi were slowly being drawn in by the noise and light. They circled and clawed at the walls but were unable to get through. Spooked, Yellow drew back into one corner of the box; they were like an audience waiting for a spectacle. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when a sinister laugh echoed through the ring and made his blood run cold. "Where are you?" Yellow screamed, spinning around. He was alone.

(She was alone.)

But then there was suddenly noise echoing from all around, aggressive music without any clear source. The roars of the cirlcling monsters became jeers and hollers, and a booming voice shouted, "Round 1…FIGHT!”

And then, abruptly, Yellow was not alone. An Inferi, terrible and rotting, appeared in the opposite corner, crouched to jump. Yellow pulled out his wand and braced for a battle. This time, he didn't need to be told twice.

SOMEDAY, BB, SOMEDAY WE'LL HAVE ALL THE SOUNDS

[driftingtides]

She had barely begun to notice that something wasn't right about Yellow; the way he moved, turned his head, was different than he had been a moment ago. She gripped his hand and pulled him forward, worried, wondering if something had gone wrong with the spell. The Inferi weren't far behind them, and she didn't have the time to pause and check--

And suddenly she nearly ran into a wall.

An invisible wall.

It shimmered into place out of nowhere, directly in their path. She barely managed to stop before she smashed face-first into it; Yellow, slightly behind her, fared a little better with the abrupt change of pace. Kairi glanced behind her, just in time to see another shimmer flutter through the air, like ripples in a pond. The Inferi were still coming towards them and she felt something cold dig into her stomach. Without thinking, her hand moved for Sakura's medpack, flipping it open and reaching inside to blindly grab a vial.

Yellow broke their contact to run at the wall and-- and-- and Yellow was gone, vanishing like she had only ever been a dream. Kairi's eyes went wide, and she stepped forward to where her friend had been only moments before, heedless of the approaching undead. "YELLOW!" Where had she gone? What had happened to her friend?

She thought she heard something; a flutter against her ears, something that sounded like Yellow's voice and her name-- but then there other sounds to worry about, a chilling laugh and strange music, the Inferi collecting around their trap-box. At least they couldn't seem to get through, but their rotting, open faces this close was enough to give her the chills.

She crouched down, trying to see if there was another way out; perhaps the invisible wall was weaker near the bottom, perhaps Yellow had gotten out that way...? She carried that hope for a brief moment until she realized she was suddenly not alone anymore.

A new Inferi had materialized in the corner, directly opposite of her. It lifted a clawed hand at her, it's dead, reddened eyes staring hungrily down. Kairi froze, hand curving around the hard glass of the vial in her palm, barely hearing the voice telling her to fight.

Okay.

Okay. She watched it warily, gritting her teeth. Okay. If she had to, she could take this thing down. Anything to make this ... this spell give Yellow back to her.

In one smooth movement she rose, flinging the vial at the Inferi as hard as she could. Her other hand lifted her wand, a fire spell at her lips, just in case the potion wasn't enough to take it down.

AND WHEN THAT DAY COMES WE'LL REPOST THE ENTIRE GD THING

[delbosqueverde]

Yellow opened his mouth to shout the incantation, but a sudden sound gave him pause. It wasn't a voice but something like a whisper, something desperate and familiar and scared. "Kairi?" he gasped, looking around once more to see if she'd somehow reappeared. The split second of distraction was enough; the Inferi leaped up, one arm outstretched, and suddenly the world turned to fire.

Yellow screamed, shouting a stream of words without registering them. The fourth-year tripped backwards and hit the ground hard, but the excruciating pain of burning was more than motivation enough to roll over. Tearing off her hat without thinking, Yellow used it to pat down the remaining flames on her clothes.

They can use elemental spells, she told herself, looking around wildly for where the monster would strike from next. Her newly-freed ponytail whipped around as moved her head. We learned this. We learned this. I have to pay attention! Ignoring the pain of the fresh burns on her torso and legs, Yellow raised her wand, spotted the target, and fired a stunning spell without waiting to see what it would do next.

"Where is she?" Yellow screamed upward, wondering who on earth could be controlling what was going on inside the barrier. Her only response was a renewed fervor among the Inferi outside...

AGREED! Also lol I should not post incomplete comments.

[driftingtides]

The inferi went down easily enough when the potion exploded, but it wasn't detroyed. Kairi watched, unnerved, as it beat away the flames all too quickly, as if the attack had done no damage at all.

The way the inferi outside jostled and bounced in their excitement made for an unnerving audience. She was sure they were waiting for the other one to get up and eat her, but she would not let that happen. If the trick to saving Yellow was to defeat this inferi, she would not allow herself to fail.

Except the inferi wasn't dying. It was getting up, moving, head turning to track Kairi's movements; a wisp of decayed hair fluttered along behind it. It saw her and opened it's mouth as if to scream, and then-- it's hand lifted, not to claw her, but instead sending a foul stream of dark magic straight at her.

She dived out of the way, a split second too slow; the magic slammed into her left side and suddenly everything went numb. Her left knee gave out, her left hand abruptly could not grip her wand and she fell, slamming hard into the floor. She rolled, digging into Sakura's pouch with her good hand and flinging another potion at the inferi, although her aim was not her best at that moment.

As she struggled to get up and move before it pounced again, Kairi heard it -- that faint whisper, the touch of another voice, just as lost and scared as she was. She thought she could make out a faint where...? before the sound faltered and faded again. She pushed herself up using her good arm, grabbing her wand from where it had fallen. She would have to cast with her off-hand until the feeling returned to her right side-- if it returned at all.

"Yellow, if you can hear me, just hang on!" She reached over, pressing her hand against the very shoulder Yellow had helped heal not long before. Her magic warmed her skin, but the numbness was hard to undo. Her leg shook and threatened to give out again, so she shifted all her weight onto her right leg.

Okay. If she could not maneuver very well, she would wait for the Inferi to come to her. She collected magic in her fist, concentrating on equilibrium and control. If it came at her, she was going to give it one hell of a counterattack.

<3 I'll love you no matter how incomplete your comments are. ALSO LATE TAG

[delbosqueverde]

Yellow's heart leapt almost involuntarily when she saw that her spell had hit the monster despite its attempt to leap out of the way. The fact that it had even tried was a bad sign, very bad; it meant that these things were smarter than she'd given them credit for and she had more than sheer muscle and magic to fend off. The thing stumbled and fell, patches of gray skin bleached pale by the spell, but Yellow's split second of relief was cut short when the inferi wildly aimed one arm up from its position on the floor and sent more magic barreling at her. It was favoring one side, yes, but she hadn't taken it down by a long shot.

Yellow cried out and threw her wand arm over her face, expecting more fire, but instead of the agony of a burn there was suddenly no feeling at all-her wand fell from numb fingers and clattered to the floor, and nothing happened when she tried to grab it in the air. Her arm was frozen. The creature's aim hadn't been spot on, preventing full-body paralysis, but this was more than enough to leave her effectively handicapped.

Panic rose in her chest: she was going to die; she wouldn't be able to save Kairi. It felt hopeless. But the voice was suddenly at her ear again, so quiet it might have been in her own head and achingly familiar, just hang on.

It gave Yellow the strength of will to fight her terror. This wasn't something she could or couldn't do, it was something she had to. There was no choice. It wasn't just her own safety at stake. And she'd faced far worse than this. Determinedly she leapt down to the floor ahead, not caring that it meant placing herself right in the line of the inferi's range even right as it was pulling back its good fist to strike. Her fingers closed around her target and she sprung up as quickly as she could, firing a bolt of electricity from her wand and not caring if the creature's blow connected first. "I won't lose!"

EVEN LATER TAG. Do I win the failprize ;;

[driftingtides]

Kairi concentrated, gathering every last bit of magic she had just behind her knuckles. The Inferi came right at her, just as she thought it would, and--

--She hesitated. She had the thing right where she needed it, but for the briefest second as it lunged for her, that emancipated face looked hauntingly familiar. Then it opened it's fanged mouth and screeched, and Kairi swung into motion, slamming her fist home.

She missed.

The strike was off-center; landing on the thing's collar bone rather than it's head. She had hesitated a second too long and the thing had moved too fast, and a whisper of Yellow's voice distracted her as electric magic burst forth from the inferi's hands.

Everything vanished under a white-hot pain that consumed her.

She fell back, hitting the ward that kept her locked in with this thing, as every bone in her body lit up under a furious stabbing pressure. It took her a minute to realize she was screaming.

lmfao you're asking ME?

[delbosqueverde]

Yellow barely had time to register that her spell had made contact before it happened: a bony, decaying fist was suddenly slamming against the right side of her collarbone with more force than she'd ever thought possible, fracturing the bone with an audible snap. Yellow saw stars. She was thrown violently backward against the floor, and lay motionless for a few seconds before she began to actually feel the pain.

However, there was also something else going on in the trap, something more pressing than her new injuries. Yellow could hear screaming echoing around inside the barrier, terrible screams of agony. Kairi's screams.

"Kairi?" she cried, looking around wildly and bolting upright. "Kairi? Kairi!?" The panic rising in her chest was suddenly like a caged beast; it was only a matter of time before it broke free and consumed her. Except she couldn't let that happen. Despite the excruciating pain of her broken collarbone (surely it couldn't really be fractured more than one place; surely that was just in her mind) Yellow found the strength the raise her wand with her right hand. With her other arm paralyzed, there was no alternative.

The inferi was still down, splayed against the barrier separating them from the outside. She couldn't trust that it would remain subdued for long. Breathing raggedly, Yellow tried to think of an incantation. It was hard to concentrate, the lank red hair framing the monster's head was simply too familiar...had it been like that a moment ago?

;;

[driftingtides]

With an extreme effort of will, Kairi pushed herself up to her knees, muscles still spasming slightly under the remnants of the electric spell.

She looked up at the Inferi, and realized that the creature was a bit shorter than she had originally assumed. That blond ponytail was a pale, irritating reminder of the girl Kairi was fighting to save. She could hear Yellow's voice calling for her, frantically. Was Yellow fighting a battle of her own? Kairi drew in a breath to call back to her, but her lungs protested, and her throat was still sore from screaming.

She glared at the inferi instead. "Why won't you die?" She asked, truly bewildered and frustrated. If the key to saving Yellow lied in defeating this creature...

Wait. Kairi froze in the motion of lifting her wand, still on the floor. The inferi was standing, facing her, it's own arm lifted almost in parody of her own attempt. But it was hesitating.

Why would an Inferi hesitate?

And ... what if defeating it wasn't the answer? They had been told that was the point of the trap, but... everytime she had struck, every time she had seemed to land a winning blow... Yellow's cries had gotten even more frantic.

What was going on? The answer was right there, just out of her reach. Hovering around the edge of her mind.

The Inferi did look different than it had originally. It was more... alive-looking now, still with the pale, sallow skin, but shorter and better proportioned and with more hair and--

Oh, God.

The eyes.

It had Yellow's eyes.

Kairi tried to swallow past the dry sawdust in her throat. "Yellow?" She croaked helplessly.

/curls up in shame

[delbosqueverde]

She'd hesitated too long. The creature was getting up, already at its bony knees, albeit moving slowly. But Yellow couldn't attack. There was one more harsh whisper fluttering in the barrier, and then, Kairi's voice had suddenly stopped, and that frightened her far more than any of the monsters or her broken bones. She couldn't concentrate. Why did it have to have red hair?

"Please," she begged as the Inferi lifted one arm. She tried to keep the helplessness and exhaustion out of her voice. "Please, I don't want to do this. I just want my friend-"

The monster hadn't attacked.

(Her friend.)

The monster hadn't killed her.

(Her friend.)

The monster suddenly met Yellow's eyes, looking as trapped and helpless as she felt. They were in a fight to the death in a vicious cage match, but something was wrong and Yellow just couldn't understand why.

(Her friend.)

Rashly, Yellow dropped her wand arm and staggered forward, reaching out with her mind the way she'd always done with pokémon and sometimes people. She hadn't thought to try it before, but there had been a spark of emotion in the Inferi's face that she couldn't ignore. Yellow? came the voice, both mental and audible, and the girl suddenly, finally realized what was going on.

"Kairi!" she shouted, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline as she collapsed on her knees at the Inferi's side. Yellow had done this. Yellow had been the one hurting her friend the whole time. She hadn't meant to. She didn't want to hurt anyone. But there was time to fix it.

"I'm so sorry," she whisphered, reaching out one hand. "Please trust me."

She hadn't thought to use healing magic before, either. If it was powerful enough, it could finish an Inferi off. Either way, this was going to end. Taking a deep breath, she focused every remaining ounce of strength into her outstretched hand and poured it into the monster. If it really was Kairi, then all the better.

Shame? Shame? YOU have shame?

[driftingtides]

The inferi suddenly came nearer, an unexpected movement that made her tense and pull back, hitting the barrier before she realized. But the monster's arm had dropped, and it wasn't looking at her like it was going to attack her.

It was looking at her like it was sorry.

Oh, God.

"Yellow." How hadn't she seen it before? That was Yellow's heart shining through, all the worry and care and frantic energy, displayed in her eyes as open as a book. Yellow collapsed at her side, although her figure was bony and emancipated and -- was Yellow trapped inside? Or was this all just an illusion? Either way, Kairi was frozen in terror at the thought of how close she had come to -- and how much she had hurt Yellow before she had had the peace of mind to stop and think for just a second--

When Yellow reached up to touch her, Kairi didn't flinch backward this time. Her own hand came up, touching the inferi's face which contained the fragments of her friend. Kairi had hurt her.

Kairi had hurt her friend.

The warmth that was seeping out from Yellow's touch was familiar and strong, but Kairi hardly paid it any notice. She was already flattening her palm against the wounds she'd dug into her friend's mangled body, concentrating and spreading out her magic to fix the damage. She'd only tried such a powerful healing spell on the dummies in class before, but she could not hold back now. Yellow didn't deserve to hurt anymore.

"It's all right," she whispered slowly, concentrating.

Quite suddenly, the zombie flesh before her began to melt away, much like the first time she had performed such magic against an undead. That time, it had been an attack. This time, the magic was what it was meant to be -- healing.

She didn't worry, because Yellow wasn't crying anymore.