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 Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 12:17 pm
A Sequel to...!Quote: Snow on the ground glistens under the moonlight and seems to illuminate everything with an ethereal glow. Destiny City feels almost safe, even at night. The fresh fallen snow seems undisturbed and brings a sense of peace. Only, there’s something eerie about it. After a while, it feels like someone--or something--is watching you. In the shadows of the trees, a set of milky eyes watches. Whatever it is, it’s tall and bulky. If you walk quickly, you feel it follow you but once you leave the line of trees, it disappears. If you try to approach it, a great beast will screech at you: a six foot tall snowy white owl takes flight. It may tackle or claw at you, depending on how you approach it, but it will always take flight and disappear in the night. If you choose to attack it, for the next few nights any time you look out your window you will see glowing eyes in the distance--or worse, hear it scratching to get in. Eventually, the temperature rises and the visits stop. For now.
She'd heard of the owl, she'd even seen it on her way home.
At first she'd ignored it, that eerie sensation that something was watching her. She'd had her fill of odd, stalking shadows in recent ones and it was safe to say she had no interest in humouring them now. However, eventually the odd pitter patter had become more insistent and ever present until she had finally turned round and walked towards whatever it was. That had been when she'd seen it, the massive owl that had towered above her.
The meeting had been a brief one, no sooner had she crossed its path than it had shrieked and soared into the air, but it had left her with a semblance of concern. In some respect it had been stalking her and what would have happened if she had walked a little slower and hadn't turned round to check?
She didn't have a plan in mind yet but she had come to the conclusion after a few days of musing that in this festive period it would be more advantageous for her to pursue this thing. While youma were a real dangerous there was no telling what the festive magic beasts could do. Thus, she now found herself out in the snow in her standard attire, in search of what could only be described as an Abominable Snow Bird.
She hadn't found it yet but if she wandered back towards that forest then in theory it should show up again, right?
...What she was going to do if she did find it though wasn't something she had worked out yet though. She'd have to wing it when the time came.
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 3:43 am
Even before the war, Cybele hadn't liked mysteries. Everything tended to go more smoothly when the bits and pieces were categorized and accounted for. As an eternal, she was getting to the point that she could almost do the same with anything she encountered while she was out as a senshi. Youma died. The human agents got one chance, or maybe two, to show some sort of remorse before she hunted them. She was trying to get better about making connections with her allies, these days, and she'd even finally figured out the Dark Mirror Court. This owl did not fit into anything she understood, and she did not like that. She tended to consider anything magical that she didn't understand to be some sort of Negaverse trick, although in this case she wasn't sure. Still, the uncertainty was a knot in her stomach. It would be just like them to engineer some new kind of youma with no aura, one that was prettier, more subtle, less suspicious. Maybe it was just an owl and the anxiety was getting to her again. In any case, she was out hunting in the deep, wooded park she'd been in before. At least, she was glancing at every tree branch she passed. Really, she had no idea how to track something that flew and had no aura. Nearly half an hour passed before she noticed anything at all, and even then, it was something different. It was something Order. It was just a small one, and that made Cybele's brows knit. There was no way to know how dangerous it was out here at the moment. Some unassuming new senshi could easily get themselves in over their head. She turned on her heels and broke into a jog, and before long she saw a hint of red and purple through the trees. "Hello!" she called out, keeping her voice bright. "Are you on patrol?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 4:25 am
"In a roundabout way, yes," Adorea seemed to be accustomed to people popping up without announcement. Whether this was a good or bad sign was very much up to Cybele to decide, but the senshi in question neither seemed shocked or surprised by the sudden appearance of the Eternal. Interestingly, she didn't even seem to be overly surprised by her power either.
...Suffice it to say that Adorea had met more senshi who were stronger than her than she had those who were more her speed. More interestingly, they were more disorganised and scattered than the countless Negaverse agents she'd met. In the grand scheme of things it was no wonder chaos seemed to have the upper hand in that respect.
However this evening wasn't about chaos, that wasn't why Adorea was here.
"Though not for the usual suspects," she added with a small shrug. She finally took the opportunity to turn on her heel, affording a proper look towards the Eternal who had stepped into her immediate vicinity. Another new face, though Cybele did have the advantage of looking more interesting, she was the first Adorea had seen with antlers, although the red head was at least savvy enough to assume they were probably for decoration rather than real.
"Following the rumour mill as it were," she pursed her lips and flicked her gaze back towards the forest. "Holiday season really seems to enjoy bringing out trouble for everyone," she wrinkled her nose. "And by everyone I mean everyone." She added. She'd had the pleasure of speaking with a General before now, one who had made it abundantly clear that this was not of chaos's making (or at least not their version of it), and thus they were all subject to these paranormal encounters.
"At the moment I'm chasing a bird," she admitted. "A giant white owl," she clarified and motioned towards the trees. "This is where I saw it the last time and if it's got a thing about stalking people then I'd much prefer I spent the evening chasing it away in case stalking turns into something a bit more nefarious," she explained.
"...You haven't seen it have you?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 11:13 am
As Cybele got closer, something started to look familiar about this senshi, although it took her a few seconds to put her finger on it. It was the colors. They reminded her of Anser's brother, and even though it was likely a complete coincidence, it was still enough to make her smile go just a little softer than usual. It wasn't enough to make her forget the owl, though, especially as the other senshi brought it up. "I'm not sure it's the holidays," she said. "Strange magic seems to almost always be around in this city." She tilted her head for a moment. "Although I suppose it was around this time last year that I was nearly trapped in that forest. Hmm." She glanced around once more at the shadows cast by the surrounding trees. It still didn't seem like a safe place, but it wasn't particularly ominous or dangerous like that one had been. It was simply a good place for the usual monsters to hide. "I've seen it," she said, and nodded. "Not today. It was a few days ago, around here somewhere. I'm looking for it, too. I'm not sure if it's some new kind of youma, or something else." She also wasn't sure if two people would actually be better at hunting something than one, but she didn't want to leave this senshi out here alone to face it, even if she did seem to have a plan and a decent head on her shoulders. Her gaze hadn't left the treeline, but there was still nothing there but shadows. "My magic can help with tracking, but it doesn't last long, so I don't want to waste it unless there's at least a hint that something's around," she said.
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 1:06 am
"Well," Adorea pursed her lips. "Only ever seems to happen when this city is celebrating something large," she replied. She hadn't been awake for long enough to have experienced much beyond this year, but just as that General had said, when a holiday period rolled around the spooks came out to play. Holiday mischievous was afoot and short of leaving the city it was a little hard to avoid it.
"At first I thought it was the Negaverse guys but given that stuff comes after them too, I've come to realise that there's some things in this city even they don't control," she pointed out. Admittedly she didn't know what that was and nor did anyone she had met so far. Sure there had been a Mauvian trying to research it but in the grand scheme of things they had all come up empty pawed (or handed).
...Whatever these gremlins were, they weren't exactly easy to pin down.
"Truth be told these festive periods are the only times of the year where I get categorically nailed by most of these things so yah know... Happy Holidays and all that?"
She paused momentarily to listen to what the Eternal had to say though, relieved that the other senshi was of the same mind as her. They may not have planned to work as a team but they'd been of one mind in the sense that they recognised the danger it posed and had taken action to minimise it... Or at least they were trying anyway!
"How close do you need to be for it to work?" she asked curiously. Youma or otherwise, if Cybele's magic could track it then Adorea was more than happy to help, she just needed to know how to do that. Tracking wise, the red-head had simply intended to walk about until she felt the familiar sensation of being watched, until she heard that faint shuffle and noticed those milky eyes. However if there was an easier way to find it then she was definitely open to hearing that too.
"I figured I was just going to walk around nonchalantly like I did the last time until the weird stalker bird showed up again," she admitted. "Figured I'd start chasing it after that."
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Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 1:23 pm
"It makes sense," she said. "It's a time when there's a lot of energy around, both the kind the Negaverse collect, as well as the more," she paused and pursed her lips, looking for the right word, "Atmospheric sort. There's decorations. There's crowds. It's easier to hide something strange and magical in a party than in an empty room." She looked up again. This time her gaze went past the highest branches, towards the moon. It was so bright tonight, so beautiful. Its soft light illuminated the forest, leaving a pleasant crisscross pattern of shadows and glimmering snow on the ground. It looked like something out of a holiday card, or a children's book. It wasn't the sort of thing she would normally think about, but the light had had the same mystical quality the last time she was out. "You're right, though. There's a chance this isn't the Negaverse. There might be other magic. Maybe those fairy tales were right and the lines between worlds are thin now." Her eyes narrowed. "That's not something I understand, and I don't trust it. It could still be dangerous." She shook her head at the question about her magic. "Not like that. It's for us. It would help us focus and-" There was a sound in the distance. Cybele froze. It was a very subtle sound, a sort of woosh. It could have been the wind, but it also could have easily been a giant bird. Then it happened again, and again. Wingbeats. Cybele glanced over to Adorea.
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Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2019 7:14 am
It was for them...? Adorea afforded Cybele a closer look and lifted a brow, if she had understood her correctly then did that mean that Cybele possessed the ability to affect her allies as opposed to her enemies? Adorea had yet to find a real use for her own abilities beyond healing a scrape or two, but it seemed that despite the supportive role Cybele should have played she had come out the other end with more than her fair share of capabilities.
...She was an Eternal and a competent one at that.
Perhaps there was hope for Adorea yet, but for the time being it was more useful for her to place such musings to one side. Instead she cast her attention back towards the sounds that had caused present company to freeze mid-sentence. Her lips pursed and glanced towards where she had thought it had come from. She'd tried this once before and it hadn't gone well the last time, the last time it had simply outrun her and this looked set to follow much the same trend if she wasn't careful.
"Either it found someone or it's moving to look for someone," she said softly and shook her head. "We need to work out where it's going to land," she added.
"Every time I tried to work this out last time I kept getting it wrong but maybe with two of us we might be able to pincer it in?" she suggested.
Admittedly there was no way to tell how well their plans would go, whether the large and otherwise abominable snow owl would be something they could stop. In this festive world seemed that both chaos and something beyond that sought to flourish; it was as if most of the most unusual and unexplained phenomenon were all for a specific purpose and more often than not they seemed to be deliberately alluring. This one might not be a trap, but it was certainly there to cause a reaction and in some cases injury... She would prefer that it didn't happen to anyone else if she could stop it.
She fell silent as she gazed upwards, holding out a hand to catch several small snowflakes. While their current location might be a thing of beauty now it might have been due to have a little bit of a chaotic makeover, if only for this evening...
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Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2019 11:23 am
The time for musing was over. Cybele's eyes were glued to the sky, and she glanced over her shoulder towards the sound of the wings. There was a flash of white through the gaps in the trees. A moment later it was gone. "There," she said, nodding in the direction where she'd spotted it. She caught another glimpse a few trees over. "I think it's still circling." Her lips narrowed into a thin line, and then she glanced over to the other senshi and looked her up and down one more time. She didn't know anything about this girl's magic, or fighting style, or strength, but she did seem to have a grasp on strategy. That was a good sign. Cybele nodded, and there was a hint of a true smile on her face. "I'm faster," she said. "I'll see if I can get around to the other side." She waited for one moment more, with her knees bent for a sprint on a moment's notice. The moment came when she got another glimpse of it. "Here," she murmured. "Hunter's Deadly Grace!" A bow formed in her hands, unfortunately one that was ethereal and a glimmering a bit much for stealth. She shot it towards the sky right away, and more magic fell back down around both senshi to make the surronding world snap into crystal focus. To Cybele, the sensation was a familiar one. She was off as soon as the magic hit, weaving through the trees as fast as she could with her eyes ever trained on the owl's last location. She was fast, and even faster with the magic, and before long at all, when she looked back, she thought she could see something winged in the sky, and the colors of the other girl's outfit on the other side of it. Epine de Rose Cybele summons a bigger bow with three arrows. The speed boost they provide is slightly more noticeable than Hunter's Grace. She shoots the bow straight up, and the arrows automatically target her and up to two nearby Order aligned beings (including cats). However, if there don't happen to be enough Order aligned beings around, the remaining arrows will randomly fall, and can be easily or even accidentally intercepted by anyone else around, giving them the benefits. The arrows can target Order aligned beings within five feet of where they are fired from, but arrows without targets tend to fall closer to that spot. The effect lasts for 30 seconds. She can use the bow to threaten people, under the same conditions as before. She can use this attack twice per battle.
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Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:32 pm
All right, so this was kind of cool.
It had taken the senshi a couple of seconds to adjust to the fact that she had been made even faster than she had been originally. She certainly couldn't hit the speeds that Cybele could, but the ramp up in speed was a new experience. She'd never been in to sports but in the given circumstances she was confident she could probably successfully run track and win at this rate!
Ah, but one couldn't use their powers for nefarious purposes could they?
With the owl within Cybele's sights though the Senshi of Optimism was keen not to let the Eternal down and rather than contemplate the uses that super-speed could have beyond chasing a bird of prey, she instead focused on darting in the right direction to assist in cutting off the rather large owl.
It would have been a lie to claim that the woman was particularly graceful, she left much to be desired and stumbled on more than one occasion, but she did have enough balance to keep on her feet. Swooping down to collect several small, but thick, sticks, she had selected her 'weapon of choice' as she closed the gap between herself and the owl... and sure enough, within moments it came in to sight.
Large beating wings cast a shadow, colouring once white snow grey beneath it. It was just as big as she remembered, and to be quite honest, just as impressive. Nevertheless given the danger it posed she still deemed it unwise to simply let it wander, Cybele might be capable and Adorea might personally be all right...but what of civilians?
Rather than jump in immediately the senshi drew to a halt, her pace more measured as she drew ever closer. To strike now might blow it for them both, she needed to be patient (for once) and wait for an opening.
If anyone could spot one of those then it was most likely the Senshi of the Hunt!
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:01 pm
Cybele watched. Before, she had been looking at the trees. Now, her gaze pierced through to the sky beyond, where glimpses of the owl were getting frequent enough to give her a much clearer picture. It was getting closer, and fast. It was more mid-range than far away. She could have hit it with her real bow, and maybe even with her magic. "All right. Come on," she whispered, digging her heels into the ground and leaving just enough bend in her knees that she was ready to spring forwards at a moment's notice. With the focus her magic gave her, she could see the owl's exact position and the way that the wind rustled its feathers as it flew, but it would be better if the thing would get close enough that she could use the boost to pin it to the ground. She didn't have to ask twice. The owl's feathers rustled again. It was readjusting. Turning, and turning towards her. Cybele took that moment to peek back the way she'd came, to double check for the new senshi. She was there. That was when the owl broke through the treeline and came swooping down. Maybe this wouldn't just be a chase. She locked eyes with it and found an intensity there that made her think that she, too, could be prey. It wouldn't be the first time. Her eyes narrowed, and she gave a half-chuckle that was a challenge. She curled her hands into fists. She braced for impact. "Adorea? Now!"
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Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 2:57 pm
Cybele's cue carried across the echoing expanse; in a park that should have been a bustle of activity, only silence met them and as a result, her words were impossible to ignore. Adorea may not have been world class by any means, but given that Cybele was now in the direct path of their quarry it was her duty to make sure that she had the cover she needed.
She sprung forward, braced herself, and with all her might she thrust herself into the air as high as she could manage. It was from that vantage point that she readied her 'weapons'. With her own strength as a senshi these simple sticks would turn in to daggers, whether they did anything remained to be seen, but on this occasion Adorea wasn't about to doubt herself to the point that it was too late to act.
Mere seconds later a flurry of 'daggers' were cast down from above the owl, falling in much the same way an icicle would towards its target. She'd tried her best to make them fan out, but she may not have gotten the spread that Cybele would have considered ideal. Suffice to say there was room for improvement and if they got out of this in one piece, then Cybele was more than welcome to provide her with some tips on how to improve.
...For now though, the more powerful senshi would have to make do with what little Adorea could provide in terms of cover.
At the very least Adorea could heal her if things went south, so that was something, right?stari_maga Holy moley I am so sorry, you should have kicked me for this ages ago!
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 11:40 am
Adorea's stick-daggers served their purpose well enough. Moments before the owl would have been right in Cybele's face, she watched its eyes go wide as it gave a startled screech. She took that opportunity to lunge at it. The struggle that followed was short and anticlimactic. She was trying to grab or pin it rather than really fight, but the thing was fast. She thought she felt her fingers close around something, but a few moments later, all she had was a fistful of feathers and a few gashes where it had managed to claw her before darting off again, up towards the sky beyond the trees it had come from. That was when the magic faded, and Cybele clenched her jaw tight to try to keep focused. After the clarity that came with Hunter's Grace, the first few seconds back to reality always felt especially muddled. It didn't seem focus would have done her much good. She couldn't go flying after it, and it didn't seem to be coming back for another round. Instead she just stood there and gave a frustrated growl. "Oh, you slippery little thing," she said, and threw the feathers she was holding at the ground, hard. At this point she didn't think it was acting quite like a youma but that didn't mean she liked it.
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 10:08 am
For something so large it moved incredibly fast.
Cybele seemed to be trying her hardest to grab hold of it, but all the more powerful senshi managed to acquire was a handful of feathers. It was difficult to understand how someone couldn't find purchase on something that big, but Adorea had seen with her own eyes that whatever that thing was, it was far from 'normal'.
She had landed soon after she tossed her 'daggers' and had already begun to stride towards the Eternal as the owl flew off. It was comforting to see that on this occasion even Cybele was frustrated, despite her own abilities she had been bested (for want of a better description) and in the grand scheme of things it made no logical sense as to why. In the short time that Adorea had been a senshi she hadn't actually seen any youma possess these abilities, so what did that make the owl?
"Are you all right?" she asked gently, glancing down briefly towards the discarded feathers before turning her gaze towards the night sky and the now departed avian.
"I've never seen anything move that fast," she added. "At least not something that size," she murmured.
Actually, now that she'd taken a chance to look down at the ground her sticks had mercilessly pierced, it didn't even look like they had done anything either. Sure, she might have startled it, but did she actually manage to do anything to physically harm it?
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Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 1:26 pm
Cybele huffed one last time and then turned towards Adorea. This was strange. The owl had been bigger and faster than natural, but it hadn't been obviously magical, either. She wasn't sure what to make of it. Cybele didn't particularly like mysteries, and she hated loosing prey. "I'm fine," she said through clenched teeth. Then, she took a deep breath. "It's not bad," she added, softer this time, turning her scratched arm so they both could get a better look at it. It stung, and it was bleeding, but only a little. If someone looked closely, her shoulders were a mess of scars from youma claws and swords. This was nothing. She wiped her arm on her skirt and stood up taller. "It doesn't feel like a youma, and it doesn't act like a youma," she said, feeling a little like she was stating the obvious. "It's not normal, either, but I can't tell if it's dangerous or just territorial." Her lips pressed together. Now that the initial frustration was passing, she knew she shouldn't kill things just because she didn't understand them.
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2020 5:27 am
"I'm pretty sure that it can be both," Adorea admitted as she leaned forward to observe the current injuries. Fortunately this particular senshi was well equipped to assist with this type of challenge. She might be a disappointment in most combat but when it came to aiding someone, that was where she shone... or where she was supposed to shine anyway.
Eventually she would grow to embrace the fact that she was there to support and in doing so she would play hero in her own way, but for now, she'd continue to envy senshi like Cybele who had the capacity to do some serious damage in combat.
"If rumours are to be believed then whatever it is has been terrorising more than its fair share of people and it wasn't here before," she pointed out and held out her hand towards the scratched arm. A quiet murmur (Sailor Adorea's Optimistic Smile) and she cast her own ability towards Cybele, it wasn't particularly powerful yet but maybe some day it would be much more impressive!
"Although maybe instead of going for them it'll start going for us for a while and give everyone a chance to breathe," she added thoughtfully.
"How's that?" she asked finally as she moved her palm away. "A little better I hope?"Adorea's Optimistic Smile Sailor Scout Attack: Adorea Optimistic Smile!
Adorea calls the name of her attack and smiles at an ally; the ally will immediately feel like everything is going to turn out well, that everything is going to be okay.
Scrapes/abrasions will be healed for as long as the magic lasts. The effects of this attack last 30 seconds, and it can be used three times a battle.
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