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 Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 10:38 am
When it came to getting the freshest produce in summer, Siobhan felt that the best place to look was at the open air farmer's market that opened weekly near the edge of town. The stalls were always so stuffed to the brim with vegetables, fruits, and homemade baked goods that it often made it hard to choose which ones to pick from. Today, though, she was on a particular mission to pick up a blueberry pie a day ahead of her brother, Sparrow's, seventeenth birthday party and, while she'd practically filled up her basket with fruit already, she was gradually making her way towards the pie stand.
"EEEK! RATS!"
The shriek startled Siobhan away from the mangoes she'd been eyeing and towards the opposite side of the market. The stall directly across from her, well-known for selling peaches and pears, had clearly become the target of a group of rather voracious rats. However, even from this distance, Siobhan could tell something wasn't right with them. Chaos energy. She'd felt this many times before, but actively chose not to fight because she didn't feel like she could handle it herself. Though... How bad could a few rats be? She glanced around as people fled, dropped her basket, and ducked into the shadows of the nearest alleyway.
"Virginiaterese Power, Make Up!"
And out she went again, her boots clacking down against the pavement directly in front of the Nega-rat infested stall. She could see that there were at least four of them up close, a number she could, hopefully, reasonably handle. First, she had to get their attention and drive them away from the stall.
"Hey-uh-you RATS!" She called, waving her hands around. "Over here!"
The rats raised their heads and stared at her, beady red eyes glowing furiously, and from under the pile of fruit came at least ten more. Virginiaterese swallowed hard. Well, she'd put herself out this far, now she'd have to see this through. She turned and bolted away from the market, letting out a "battle cry" as the tiny horde of Nega-rats gave chase after her.Epine de Rose I hope this is good! She's such a dork. |D
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:14 am
A day to day patrol was nothing new, in fact that was literally his day job. This afternoon he'd been tasked in the morning briefing with watching the markets. Sure, it wasn't the most exciting of tasks and next to nothing ever happened at these sort of things, but Regula was one who accepted that community policing could be particularly important. He was only there to be a deterrent and a first responder if someone should get hurt in a minor accident.
It was for this reason that he hadn't put much effort in to this afternoon, if anything he had taken to relaxing in the shade of a nearby tree as he watched each person go about their day. His own partner had wandered off to explore some of the more curious stalls, acknowledging that when it came to this assignment they weren't going to have to do much today.
...Or so Regula had thought.
Firmly settled into his spot, it took him by surprise when he felt the faint 'ping' of chaos energy and then the ruckus that occurred several stalls away. The order pulse that came afterwards only served to make him stand to attention almost immediately. Now that wasn't something he'd expected and it wasn't something that he wanted any civilian to see or experience - it was bloody daylight so why were the Negaverse out at this time of day?
"Athalia, Power Make up," He slipped into the shadows and growled his own enchantment into his henshin pin. He didn't have one of the most extravagant flourishes as his fuku replaced his normal uniform, but there were benefits to this, he was able to continue striding towards the source of the energy as he changed.
Or he was striding towards it.
Then it ran passed him.
No, correction, a young senshi ran passed him with a garbled war cry and then shortly after a series of tiny youma bounded after her in a flurry of activity. He slowly turned round to look after them as he processed what he'd just seen before he shook his head and sprinted after her.
He'd catch up eventually, she hadn't been going at an extremely fast speed, but he was going to have to put some effort in to closing the gap. At the very least he was able to grab one of the trailing youma and slam it into the wall with such force that it disintegrated. Unfortunately, the revelation that one of their own had fallen did seem to enrage the tiny creatures and before his very eyes they seemed to be getting bigger.
"You can't keep running from them you're going to have to hit them at some point!" he called after her, his voice raised just enough to be heard. He hadn't yet realised that some of the now not-so-small rats had slowed in their pursuit of Virginiaterese and seemed to be turning their attention towards him.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 11:52 am
Virginiaterse continued to sprint away, eyes firmly clamped shut, until Athalia's call had her heels skidding in the dirt. She did an about-face, her head moving quickly back and forth, before she finally spotted him a few feet behind. Now, she wanted to call back that she knew that she had to fight back eventually, but they were still too close to the market for her liking and... Well, in her moment of hesitation, a rat decided to chomp down on the tip of her boot.
"Ah! Get off, get off!" She shrieked, flailing her compromised foot outward. The rat firmly held on, much to her horror, and allowed a perfect opportunity for another one to latch onto the hem of her skirt. This sent her into a rather pathetic spinning motion, her hands grasping onto the skirt rat's back to try to tug it off, while the boot rat screeched at being flopped against the ground below. Some of the remaining rats watched this, obviously waiting for a place to strike for themselves.
If there could have been a more embarrassing way to introduce herself as a fighter, she had no doubt that she'd find it soon enough.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 12:38 pm
He could say he'd seen worse but that might have been a lie, there was every possibility that this scene was on par with another one he'd encountered before. It would have been comedic if it wasn't for the fact that given enough time their little visitors could do some damage to both him and her. He couldn't afford to remain stupefied by the scene for too long though and he was reminded of that as one of their new-found friends decided to take the opportunity to latch on to his brace.
A wave of his arm made it abundantly clear it wasn't going to come off without considerable persuasion.
"Oh for the love of -" he glowered as he ceased his own flailing, looked around him for something that might assist him, and finally located a rock. It was big enough to at least do the job and he knelt down to rest his own hand against a nearby wall... before promptly using his free one to smash his new accessory in the side. It wasn't quite enough to kill it, unfortunately Athalia was not as ambidextrous as he'd like, but it stunned it enough to loosen its grasp and he was able to pull it off.
"Don't you have powers or something?" he asked.
She was still spinning.
He swapped his dazed buddy into his right hand and brought it backwards, bracing himself for the right moment when he could launch it at her skirt and maybe knock at least that one off her. He couldn't guarantee his aim would be true, but even if he missed the force of throwing this one would at least dust it against the wall, with or without its skirt-riding ally.
He threw it, and hoped for the best.
In hindsight though?
"You know this would be a lot easier if you held still..." he admitted in a somewhat wry tone. Their exchange continued to be watched by the now predatory youma-rats, each of which were seeking their own opportunity to strike, though it seemed at this particular moment in time they deemed it unwise to pounce while one of their own was already soaring through the air.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 2:33 pm
Between the spinning and the screeching rat, Virginiaterese found it difficult to hear anything else, but Athalia's question didn't fall on deaf ears. In fact, it only made the situation all the more humiliating for her. How did she explain that she, quite literally, could only summon small creatures for healing and had little to no idea on how to do anything else? She clenched her teeth, cursing herself for being the way she was, and slammed her unaffected foot down on top of the head of the boot-chomping rat.
This action was a double-edged sword. Yes, the force of her heel was enough to stun the rat and cause it to release it's grip, but it was also enough to hurt the top of her foot. She yelped, grabbed it, and hopped a foot or so. Luckily this put the rat affixed to her skirt right in the path of the rat that Athalia had thrown and knocked it off. Both rats were tossed to the dirt, with the one that Athalia had thrown dusting nearly on impact and the skidding a bit before righting itself. The remaining rats observed this and quickly turned their sights on both senshi, growing more ferocious and angry. Virginiaterese knew she had, maybe, a second before another attack began.
"I'm sorry about this, really, I am!" She exclaimed, eyeing the rats with increasing worry. God, what a nightmare. "I don't exactly have any defensive or offensive powers, only healing? It's not easy to expla-"
Her words were cut off by a sudden hissing sound and dodged as another rat came lunging for her skirt. She then evaded another coming for her boot and kicked it backward, albeit unintentionally, towards Athalia.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 2:46 pm
"No that -" he was unceremoniously interrupted as another rat careened towards him, this time directed squarely at him by his new friend. For someone who didn't necessarily know what she was doing her aim was phenomenal. He'd give her kudos if it wasn't for the fact that he was a little more focused on raising his own foot to kick it out of the way. Alas, what happened was more of a soccer trick to an on-looker as he booted it upwards several times with his toes before finally managing to kick it off in some sort of direction.
...He surmised it would probably be back, the damn things were more durable than he liked sometimes.
"Is perfectly -" Another interruption, this time from one who had realised his toes were exposed and therefore edible. This time he did manage to aim a genuine kick and the unfortunate soul (did they have souls?) was sent hurtling into the sky. When it landed it wouldn't get back up again, at least not at the heights it seemed to be achieving at this currently point in its life.
"You know what just grab something heavy," he ordered.
Attacked from behind it was now his turn to have the blasted youma stuck to him, with a small group attached to the back of his skirt. Was it his turn to wriggle? Probably, either that or he was going to have to pile-drive himself in a few minutes to squash them under his own bodyweight but for now it seemed more useful to provide Virginiaterese with an out.
"It can be a stick for all I care, you just need something to smash them with."
He paused.
"Hope you're good at softball."
If she wasn't then what he was about to do was probably going to cause him a world of hurt. Knowing his luck he'd probably get nailed in the face or other sensitive regions unintentionally at this rate... But hey, at least the youma would be dusted right?Bouquet of Diamonds Lmao can I keep her? She's beautifully clumsy and can totally win everything by fluke. xD
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 3:24 pm
Virginiaterese felt the combined, metaphorical, slaps of all of her ancestors come down upon her at once. Grab something heavy, a stick, something to smash them with? Why had she never thought of that before? No, really, what kind of moron was she? All these years of being a senshi and avoiding fighting because she thought she couldn't be of much use, and only now did the idea of using objects to help defeat her enemies became an obvious solution to her. She couldn't help be feel like this could have come so, so, much sooner.
But the past didn't matter. This fight was happening now and she had to figure out what could be used to their advantage before one of them got rabies or something.
At his order she continued to dodge and kick at the rats bent on latching on to her and scoured their surroundings for something, anything, she could use as a weapon. Trash can lid, rat, basket, RAT, a fallen branch, FREAKING RATS-Wait!
That branch was just thick enough to be used as a bat! She kicked another charging rat away and tried to grab the branch off the ground. Unfortunately, a rat took it's chance and latched onto the back of her skirt on the first attempt and she had to steel herself before being able to snatch the stick off the ground and leap back into position. The rat on the back of her skirt kicked around, making her grimace so hard it felt like her face would fall off, but she faced Athalia with as confident of a pose as she could.
"Okay, I've got something!" She announced, before processing the next thing he said. "Wait, why would I need to be good at sof-"
The same rat that had been trying to get at her boots for the last minute decided to go for another attempt and she slapped it as hard as she could with the stick. It seemed stunned for a second until,-poof!-, off it went in a cloud of smoke. Now, if only she had eyes on the back of her head, then she could rid herself of her little unwanted piggy-backer.Epine de Rose LOL. She thinks she's literally the worst and needs it knocked into her that she can use not only her terrain but also objects in order to defeat these things. |D This is such good practice for her! (Sorry for double quote; Forgot a word in her dialog, LOL.)
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 3:40 pm
"Because I'm relying on you to nail these things before my ears get bitten off!" Athalia replied, she'd already proven that she could use something given the opportunity, now she just needed to deal with the damn things at speed. With now being as good a time as any to test those senshi-reflexes, Athalia had already taken advantage of the distraction she'd caused to the remaining rats on the ground and had scooped all of them up.
One after the other he had balled them and launched them right at her; she'd have to swing with as much enthusiasm as she had before to make sure she dusted them one after the other, but all being well they might stand a chance of dealing with the ones waiting for their 'chance' and they could focus on the ones who had decided they were really quite fond of senshi fukus.
With several rats now soaring in her general direction he'd begun his own 'dance' in circles to weight up his options regarding what he might be able to do about the guests on his own skirt. So far letting himself fall backwards into the ground after he fell from a height seemed like a viable option but he would have preferred to avoid winding himself.
Mmm.
Maybe if she managed to deal with the presents he'd sent her way then she could aim for these ones too? He'd field that question in a moment, it was better not to interrupt someone if they were under pressure, he might put her off. Consequently he remained silent for the time being and merely glanced over his shoulder towards her just to make sure she was all right.
It was only then that he noticed her own guest; he'd have to get that one off her in a minute. These little ones really were determined, they were probably the most annoying ones he'd encountered so far.
...And today was supposed to have been a quiet day.Bouquet of Diamonds x3 Then I'm very glad Atty could be there to remind her that she's got more in her arsenal!
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 4:27 pm
Oh, sweet sugar honey iced tea. Suddenly rats were being flung straight at her like wads of wet paper. If the situation weren't the way it was she might have found the little rat balls amusing, but that was what hindsight was for. She swung around furiously, the rat on her back probably regretting it's choices right now, and smacked each rat that came her way with a force that she didn't know she could muster. Each one dusted on impact, and when the dark cloud cleared, Virginiaterese stepped forward to try to assist her ally.
The rat on her back, however, had other plans. She had a moment to process that the weight of it's terrible little body had grown heavier before a sharp pain sent a scream out of her throat. It managed to claw itself upward and had clearly drawn a nice mark into her back. She swung herself around, sending the rat flying off of her and onto the ground before taking a deep breath in through her nose. Keep your cool, Virginiaterese, keep your cool.
"Want me to get those off you?" She asked, keeping an eye out for the one she'd just thrown down. It seemed stunned, for now.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 4:36 pm
"If you would be so kind?" He replied.
He kept himself still although his little companions didn't seem to have the same intentions. Positively inspired by their stunned cohort they had begun to ascend to the lofty heights of the man's shoulders. He'd have much preferred to be without any puncture wounds, he wasn't entirely sure if youma carried diseases but he was not the sort of man to test that theory either.
Still, given she had been bitten he did afford a half nod towards her, chin lifted towards her as if to point towards where she'd been bitten.
"Are you all right?" he added.
She could probably swing as hard as she wanted, it wouldn't be the first time he'd gone careening forward in his senshi career if she didn't angle her bat properly. Provided that they managed to get them off him he wouldn't complain too much.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 5:22 pm
"I'm fine, totally fine." She huffed. Or at least she would be after a hot bath and an awkward trip to the doctor's later. She wondered how she was going to skirt a rat bite of this caliber around her family. Maybe she could say she fell on glass instead?
Okay, now she really had to focus. With the rat on the ground still trying to get it's bearings, the ones currently ascending Athalia took priority. She readied the branch, took careful aim, and breathed.
"Apologies now, if I leave you a bruise or two." She said, shortly before swinging the stick down toward the rats on his back with a slightly less lethal force than before. As long as she collided with their heads and the branch didn't keep going down, she wouldn't accidentally hurt him. Right? She closed her eyes, praying that she'd swung the right way.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 5:55 pm
It wasn't the worst beating he'd ever had and he'd take that as a blessing, but there was always going to be a moderate amount of damage done to him by proximity. She'd done her best and he'd acknowledge that, in fact as her 'bat' collide with each of his guests it did the job it was meant to do. Suffice to say that on this occasion he was more than happy to take a slight nick to the shoulder blade and calf muscle.
With his little conundrum dealt with, he was free to do what he had intended to do and with that in mind he rather unceremoniously swung round, kicked the remaining youma into the air and then promptly leapt upwards himself. A minor spin (more of a flourish really) and he slammed his foot down on to it in a much more familiar and acceptable form to him.
In those moments it might have been evident that he had martial prowess.
The rat fell to the earth with a small 'bump' and then promptly disintegrated. He landed soon after, kneeling to soften the blow before he straightened and turned towards her. At this point he did point directly at her neck and raised a brow.
"Well done," he started and offered a wry smile.
"I'm aware introductions are something we're in need of but it would be pertinent to look at that. Can you use your magic for that?" he asked. He didn't know if she could aid herself, he knew others that could only assist their allies, but it was worth a shot.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:36 pm
When Virginiaterese's eyes opened again after the swing, she quickly found herself awestruck. Did he just... Spin kick that rat into oblivion? The action had been so quick, so fluid, he'd clearly some kind of formal training. She held the stick close to her as he landed, as smooth as stunt in an action movie, and tried to keep her jaw from touching the floor.
"That... That was some talent!" She stammered, allowing her arms to fall naturally at her side. "Where did you learn to do that?"
It was then that she realized that she was obviously still quite enamored and shook her head to try to break herself out of it. She owed him quite a bit for the assist, even though it was... Really well more than an assist, and there she was looking at him like she had an empty head. She straightened herself out and offered a laugh.
"Oh right! I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot I could heal myself." She said, moving to touch the puncture wound the rat had given her. Ah, yeah, it should be small enough for her buddies to handle. She set the branch down and placed a clasped hand to her chest. "Boo-Boo Buddies!"
After a soft glow enveloped her hand she released it and revealed a palm-sized ethereal sparrow with an equally ethereal bow wrapped around it's neck. She smiled toward it.
"Hey buddy, I've got a bite I think you can handle." She said, motioning toward her back.
The tiny bird immediately nodded and flapped a wing as though saluting her before hopping over her shoulder and locating the wound. It chirped a few low notes, as though saddened for it's summoner, and pressed itself against the wound. As it's ethereal body began to glow and slowly fade back into her, the wound rapidly began to heal, and Virginiaterese turned her attention back to Athalia.
"They don't stick around for very long, but they're very useful in a pinch." She explained, letting out a sigh of relief as the buddy fully faded away. Good, that was taken care of, now for an overdue introduction. "... I'm Virginiaterese, by the way. I'm really thankful you showed up when you did. I have no idea what kind of misery I'd be in right now if it weren't for you. What can I call you?"Epine de Rose Boo-Boo BuddiesIf Virginiaterése or one of her teammates should sustain a minor injury, she can summon one hand sized familiar to heal the wound. (Like a sparrow or a tiny frog) The wound can't be anything larger than the forearm or too deep, or the familiar won't be able to help.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 6:54 pm
"Well that has to be one of the sweetest things I've seen all week," Athalia admitted as he bore witness to the ethereal sparrow and its ministrations. If anything, the senshi seemed somewhat distracted by it. To him the fact she had workable magic was impressive, he was a touch envious, but placing that to the side it genuinely was an endearing scene.
"Uh -" he snapped himself back to the present and offered a wry smile. "Not talent, just practice," he waved his hand. He wouldn't call himself a natural, he'd spent years learning to do what he did and there had been blood, sweat and literal broken bones to get there. If he found anyone who had this as a natural talent he'd be recruiting them in seconds if he had the capacity to do so!
"Black belt," he explained at last and cleared his throat. "It just helps that when I turn in to a magical boy I get significantly more powerful," he added. He still hadn't quite settled in to the fact he did have magical powers, he was still somewhat uncomfortable with the fact he had a past life, but up until this point he'd received no visions and no indication of what he may have been and who he might have been in aeons past.
"My name is Athalia."
He paused momentarily and stepped forward to check that her wound had healed, his smile deepening with appreciation. There really was something genuinely special about magic that worked.
"You fought well by the way, maybe softball is a career you should consider," he offered in jest.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2020 6:52 am
Virginiaterese tried to stifle a giggle at Athalia's reaction. Yeah, she thought it was pretty sweet too. The only thing she wished her little buddies could do was cause a bit of damage to her enemies while also being able to heal. If there weren't any wounds to heal, they just... Kinda sat there in her palm wondering why they'd been willed into existence. At least they were adorable, right?
"A black belt, huh?" She commented, her head tilting slightly to the side as though considering it. "Do you think as an expert in your field that it would be worth it for someone, like me, to learn martial arts? I mean, I can't always depend on finding stray branches and rocks lying around whenever I need to dole out some damage."
She looked down to where she'd placed the branch with an awkward chuckle, before allowing that chuckle to erupt into more of a laugh. Really? A career in softball? Being a senshi was difficult enough as it was. She shook her head.
"I think I'm fine with what I've got on my plate already." She said. "Though, I won't rule that out as an option."
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