A shadow past..

[bondedgryphon]

Who: Zhaneel and YOU
Open: Yes
When: Backdated to the 25th (same day as insect monster has been sighted)
What: ZOMBIE GRYPHON
Where: Temple Grounds to as far as Ardel

Comments

[bondedgryphon]

Zhaneel skids past, claws and talons scouring the ground as she moves to turn quickly back around. Her prey had moved quicker than she might have expected, but then she was of the mind that they should simply stand and let her shred them apart. That so many seemed to have a will to live was as frustrating as it was exciting; a will to live meant more of a fight before the kill.

As he crouches before her she hisses softly, ears flicking backward as her beak parts. She begins to stalk around him, tail flicking in slow sweeps behind her. The motion is unmistakably predatory and she cares not one bit for the finger sweep he grants his bracelets.

She circles him, creeping steps carrying her low to the ground. Her circles begin to tighten and hindquarters tense before she springs at him again. A downsweep of her wings acts as additional momentum, surging her forward as she rakes out at him with fore talons, attempting to rip or grab.

If he side-steps those talons, he might want to pay extra attention to that beak, easily capable of splitting human skin or breaking bones as she jerks it quickly to the side. If she doesn't catch you with her sweep of talons, she'll settle for hooking or slicing with her beak.

1/2

[knowsvinewhip]

One hand remains on his ear -- on the limiters. He doesn't want to let himself loose. It didn't end well the last time. He still remembers the manic glee of tearing into Goku's true form, the sadistic pleasure of rending flesh and breaking bone... and arms around his shoulders, pulling him back from the brink, back to himself.

... Gojyo isn't here this time.

But, then again, neither is the Minus Wave, theoretically. And if he doesn't do something, he'll be nothing but a smear on the ground.

I'm terrified of dying.

He watches the creature circle, his own body tense and ready. When it lunges, he waits for half a second before nearly hitting the ground, attempting to avoid the pounce. It's only somewhat effective. The creature's claws rip his shoulder open nearly to the bone. His crouch and dodge turns into more of a dazed roll across the path, leaving a bright trail of red behind him.

Hakkai manages to get to his knees, one arm hanging limply, and coated in blood. Even if he hadn't been considering it earlier, he was now. His other self could survive this sort of wound far easier than he could. There was no choice, now. Plus, if it got past him, it would hurt more people.

Pale, shaking hands reached to his ear, deftly flicking off each individual cuff. As the last piece came free, he tensed again, waiting for the pulse of power, the crawling sensation of change...

[knowsvinewhip]

... and feels absolutely nothing.

Hakkai's breath goes still in his chest, his heart all but stopping. This isn't right. It's not right at all. He can't move, can't think -- he's paralyzed by the lack of reaction.

Slowly, he raises a pale, shaking hand. There's no claws. No nothing but his own blood coating his palm. His limiters are on the ground beside him.

And he is, entirely, unarguably, human.

[bondedgryphon]

As the spray of Hakkai's blood splatters on her chest and cheek, Zhaneel practically croons in delight. Drawing first blood was a victory in its own right and generally the sign that she was about to best her opponent, even if she'd only had a handful of those thus far. He is in pain and that delights her crazed mind, eyes narrowing as her ear tufts pin back.

The sound that comes from her beak is guttural and eager, tail lashing in angry flicks behind her. Her talons were now coated in his life essence, feathers stained red as he stands before her. And yet, he is not fleeing, nor is he attacking. She watches him without approaching, uncertain what he is planning.

When he removes his limiters, she cannot possibly know what it means, but she sees his face fall. Whatever his plan had been, he had failed, the trinkets falling to his feet.

He seems paralyzed and in her mind it is because of his fear of her. She is a killer, after all and he would be just in fearing her. He's paying more attention to his hand than her and she lets out a sound that just might be a sickly sounding chortle.

She leaps forward and moves to catch him off guard, head swinging to knock him over. If she can get him onto the ground, she can kill .. after all, what can he do with only one arm. Can you manage to escape, Hakkai? Or will you join the others in a pool at her feet? :D

[knowsvinewhip]

He's sitting there, his mind in pieces. He's human. He's human. The words pound through his head, a deafening, blinding chorus. This has to be a hallucination. Something brought on by pain, and blood loss. That's the only possible explanation. The only way his sin could be erased so easily. He can feel himself shaking -- the bleeding, most likely, says the detached, clinical voice in his mind.

It's that same voice that picks up on the noise, and the sense of movement.

His expression suddenly closes off, survival instinct taking precedence, and moving his shell-shocked body before he can even begin to think about it. He swings up his already wounded arm with a twist of his torso, the motion sending blood flying as he does his best to block the strike, his other arm coming up to support it. His legs tense, shoving up off the ground, and away from the creature.

This would be the part where he struck, but his body knows better. It gets him to his feet, and keeps him moving at an awkward, staggering clip down the path.

[bondedgryphon]

Instincts were a damn fine thing when they were working the way they were supposed to. Unfortunately, Zhaneel's programming was a bit off right now, although Hakkai's seems to be working pretty stellar! His blood scatters across the ground and surrounding foliage as he secures his arm, and the motion protects him from most of the hit.

As a matter of fact, with the motion he makes to the side the hit with the side of her beak is all but a glancing blow. She snarls in anger, watching for a moment as he stumbles quickly down the path away from her. She slashes at the tree closest to her, tearing into the bark before moving to pursue.

She's far larger than Hakkai, however, so if he manages to duck off the path there was any number of places he was certain to find to hide himself. Hopefully she would lose interest in him ..

[knowsvinewhip]

It would be smarter not to tax his body, and keep staggering down the path. However, that way lead to civilization, to people. Young people, as well. To lead the creature to them was certain death. Hakkai hesitates a moment, before he darts, suddenly, into the undergrowth surrounding the pathway. It's less of a duck so much as a sudden listing sideways.

And, of course, there's a slight incline.

He trips. He goes rolling down the hill, crashing through bushes and bouncing off of rocks. There's a trail of broken branches and blood behind him. His body doesn't stop rolling until it crashes through a patch of thorns, the plants catching and tearing at his clothing.

Once that happens, he shoves himself to his feet again, using his good hand. Then he's off, winding his way through the patch of thorny bushes quickly, slight build being an advantage, for once.

[bondedgryphon]

Zhaneel is nearly on him when Hakkai ducks to the side, managing to cut through the undergrowth before she reaches him. Her snarl follows his tumbling form, but she already knows she cannot follow the same path.

She stalks back and forth at the point he vanished from the path, hissing low in her chest. Part of her heat maddened mind presses her to follow and take her quarry while it is weak, but another part gives her pause.

Bristling along her spine she gives one final glare to where all the noise has settled, Hakkai already trudging off to safety. Then, she turns on a hind paw and moves off. There was surely more prey along these pathways and if there was, she would find it.