[Closed]

[justiceisdue]

Characters: aiursfavoredson, justiceisdue, soulparadox, dungenessmaster

Location: Romania

Rating: PG-13

Time: December 8th

Description: Team Three Aliens and a Clone head to Romania to take care of a fire breathing dragon.

Comments

[soulparadox]

Kneeling down, Nataku picked up the snow in his hand. It was cold in Death City but it had yet to snow. He wondered if it would at all. Would it be as white as this? Little thoughts that he realized were not particularly helpful to the mission, but he was yet in the mode where he was going to focus completely upon it. He formed the snow into a ball, rolling it around a few times before dropping it back down into where it came, and watched how it sank

[soulparadox]

"There are three heads." A calm observation -- pointing out the obvious, he knew -- but he felt that it needed to be mentioned.

Nataku coiled himself close around Tassadar when he left before lashing out immediately when they landed. There would only be a small bit of time before they would be in "trouble." He wondered if he would have enough to wrap around all three heads, but he supposed that it was not the time to doubt himself. It seemed like the others would do the same -- to believe that they can survive regardless if logic may state otherwise. He wondered if that was correct way of thinking, probably.

As his mind carried on these thoughts, the ribbon started to warp around one of the mouths of the leftmost head while it left enough slack to go to pull down to try to pull it to wrap around the right head in a crisscross manner. If he did not have enough to bind all of them, he could do as much as he could to ensure that enough were hindered for Selendis and Karkat.

I'm so sorry for my fail at tags the last 2 weeks : <

[aiursfavoredson]

'Indeed,' Tassadar murmured. He could feel Selendis rushing into battle as he and Nataku began. Tassadar held no doubt that both she and Karkat would come out of this battle without injury, just as he would make certain that Nataku and himself would. That was why he leapt up and over the first incoming head snapped when the dragon attempted to get him off of its back

no worries, we understand c:

[justiceisdue]

The dragon was up on all four feet now, and Selendis realized that while they'd surprised it, this wasn't going to be over as quickly as she'd hoped. Its talons dug up the earth, tail lashing back and forth and taking down trees. The good news was that it wasn't much of a multitasker, as most of the heads were preoccupied with Tassadar and Nataku

yeah, no problem at all!

[dungenessmaster]

From Karkat's perspective, the fight was marginally more interesting than the usual kinshin beatdown because of the dragon's size and ability, but the whole strategy they had come up with earlier was pretty straightforward. So this thing was marginally intelligent? Big deal, he'd taken down smarter things during his travels through Sgrub.

He kept his eyes on the monster, using his admittedly very cool Weapon-related perspective to watch out for any nasty tricks, but as luck would have it, it wasn't feeling very creative; all it did was shoot more flames at them. He was about to roll his eyes and start complaining -- hadn't they already proved they could easily dodge this attack? -- but something was wrong this time.

Selendis wasn't moving.

Through resonation he could feel her calmly doing something, or at least trying to... and then having the Protoss equivalent of an "oh shit!" moment when that something failed to happen. Karkat's eyes flicked up to her, then back at the fire. She had finally reacted, but she wasn't moving fast

will wait forever for you!

[soulparadox]

Tassadar. Nataku still did not know how to properly raise his his voice. Yelling never seemed like something that he should do, but he did feel a rush of something in his chest. It did not matter what it was, but he could only do what he was now -- looped over to contain the two heads yet unable to protect Karkat and Selendis. Even if he did not care about all people in the world, he did care about those two. Did they not make a promise that they would look after one another?

There was nothing that could be done at that moment. The fire was already upon them. He wondered if a Protoss's body could withstand such flames on their own, or not. The clone could only hope for the former while he tightened the hold on the necks of the beast they fought. It was all that Tassadar and he could do, correct? What was the feeling that was coming over the cold that settled in his chest? Everything was slowing down, but then it returned to normal.

What is that? Within his Weapon Form, he felt what he knew to be surprise. The two of them were safe.

Thank you all so much! o3o

[aiursfavoredson]

Tassadar had nearly faltered in his attack when he'd sensed Selendis and Karkat's situation. It had been a long time since he felt anything remotely similar to fear within, but he did in that moment as the flames moved in to engulf the pair. Nataku appeared to be experiencing the same sensation from what he could tell.

As he righted his balance and clung onto the dragon's head, he instantly reached out with his mind to assure himself of Selendis' safety. The fear he felt seemed to fade away when he still sensed her within his mind. She was safe, and he held no doubt that her Weapon was as well.

The dragon didn't seem to wait while the rest of the battlefield paused. Trying to unwind itself from Nataku's ribbon, the giant kishin egg began to thrash around in order to dislodge the pair. Tassadar, however, was not going to allow for that to happen as he sprung back into action. While he didn't speak, he allowed for Nataku to feel what he had felt through their connection.

my turn to say sorry for being a bum about tagging D:

[justiceisdue]

Selendis had braced herself for the pain, unsure if she would survive but determined to do just that despite whatever the injury to herself. That tiny shift in their resonation, though, changed the course of her thoughts in an instant when she saw the shield go up. Her instincts didn’t fail her this time, and she dropped down in time to feel the fire graze her shoulder armor, the heat intense enough to be painful. It was like all the moisture was sucked out of the air and her skin, but she stayed behind the red shield until the dragon exhausted its breathe

and again, no biggie! o7

[dungenessmaster]

The shield faded away as the fire streamed past, as if it had been melted by the heat. Karkat hadn't known he could do that and even with the desire to protect Selendis, he was going to need more practice and kinshin eggs to maintain it for more than a few seconds. He was thrown for a bit, shocked that he'd been able to pull something like that out of nowhere right when he needed it, but Selendis's emotions snapped him back into the game. At the moment their resonation was good enough for him to clearly feel the fear, the anger, and of course the gratitude. It felt pretty good, but as Selendis seized onto her anger he did the same, easily amplifying it but watching her carefully; the Vriska chase had taught him what could happen if he sent her too much of that at once

[soulparadox]

Nataku did not understand what anger was. Yet, he could at the very least say that he knew that Selendis felt that way -- judging only from how he saw her eyes flare and the way that her body now appeared. The clone had a moent of feeling proud. At least, that was what he believed that he was feeling. Proud because he had been able to properly identify what it was that the other Protoss had been feeling with such little cues; proud because she did not need their protection to kill the head that had threatened to kill both Karkat and her. Yes, he would have to think more about what these feelings were at a later date. Now was most assuredly not the time to focus on what he had felt, because tehre were still two heads left to deal with

[aiursfavoredson]

There was a barrage of emotion felt, but now was not the time to be distracted. He had every trust in Selendis and her partner to get the job done, and he had to uphold his portion as well. So when the dragon attempted to dislodge the pair from the captured heads, Tassadar slammed his hands down towards the scales. His long claws grasped onto what flesh they could, and he held on tightly as the dragon thrashed about

[justiceisdue]

Selendis was forced to give ground when the kishin increased its efforts to get loose, lashing out with its tail and wings. The two bound heads didn't even seem to notice her, but even in their fury they failed to dislodge Tassadar on their own terms. The heads went down with him easily, but probably wouldn't stay that way for long. One of them let loose another volley of fire, but it had no target save for more trees. The other head had the intelligence to try and twist down, intending to chew up Tassadar and the ribbon that bound it

[dungenessmaster]

She might as well have saved her worry: Karkat could see Tassadar and Nataku's position clearly, and she would have gotten one hell of a jolt through resonation if it looked like she was about to hurt them. Even in the moment Karkat had to appreciate the other pair. He'd been wondering how the hell Tassadar planned to hold a dragon with a strip of ribbon, but it looked like trusting in Selendis's faith in the two of them had paid off. This wasn't easy, but they were making it possible, and as reluctant as Karkat was to admit it, this unheard-of-for-a-troll concept of interspecies teamwork was going well.

Two heads down -- even if the one his blade just bit through was still alive, that was mostly a technicality at this point -- one to go. It was almost over; he was still looking out for any funny business with the claws and tail, but it seemed to be out of tricks.

Growling, Karkat refocused and echoed Selendis's anger. This felt good. It felt right.

One to go.

[soulparadox]

It seems as though it is now up to them to finish the job. One of the ribbon ends turned toward the blade, as though to offer recognition for what Karkat and Selendis have already done. With the second head now disposed of, he wonders if the other can even really survive on its own. It is scratching about the ground, but it seems more in the throes of death than able to offer anything else. No more fire, no more resistance. He did not like how he has been swung left and right by the best all this time. Nor did he like that Tassadar could have fallen. Nor was he particularly fond of the thought that those who came with him could have died

[aiursfavoredson]

He did what he could to hold the beast in place, but he had every faith in Selendis and Karkat when it came to taking out the next head. They did so quickly and efficiently. Without waiting for them to deal with the third and final head, Tassadar could feel Nataku's intentions moments before he felt his Weapon beginning to tighten his hold.

When the head was severed from the dragon's body, he tugged on his arm to gesture for the young Weapon to recoil back against him even as the Kishin Egg slumped to the ground lifeless. It didn't take long for the body to disappear, and in its place stood two glowing and pulsating orbs.

'You fought bravely today, Nataku,' he murmured to his Weapon before eventually turning his attention to the other pair. 'I trust that you are without injury?' While there may have been some small injuries he couldn't see from a distance, he could not see anything substantial, and for that he was thankful.

[justiceisdue]

She was ready to take on the third head, but backed off when she saw the way the ribbon constricted around its neck. Had Tassadar told him to do that, or had Nataku done it on his own? She couldn't even begin to guess, considering how little she understood about Nataku's mind.

Selendis didn't approach until after the head hit the ground and the beast was reduced to nothing but the two red orbs. It was a short walk across the mud, snow and crisp grass, but she didn't let Karkat go until she was a few feet away from Tassadar. They had all come out of it mostly unscathed, but her skin still felt dry and tight from the fire. At least her armor wasn't hot to the touch anymore.

"Yes," she said, looking away from Tassadar, instead focusing on her partner. Most of her anger had faded when the kishin fell, but what was left was directed at herself. "Thanks to Karkat."