Everything was so... quiet. Like the freshly fallen snow was a blanket that muffled everything. Standing in the shadow of a building, looking out over one of the city's parks, Fafnir was almost regretful that the last of his quota was in his hand and it was time to return to the Dark Kingdom to turn it in. He would rather just... stand here, for a while, and let the soft hum of traffic lull him. He could pretend he wasn't anyone, that no one had any demands on him, that he had no responsibilities, just for a little while... and feel a deep sort of peace he so rarely got.
He'd been on edge ever since his corruption, really. This tension went back that far. His corruption, and then his brother's disappearance. His general's demands on him, his expectations. And then his promotion, and an entirely new set of expectations, but far, far more work than before. His only peace came when riding, or swimming... or in those rare moments between events where he could just... exist for a little bit.
Fafnir rolled the ball of energy between his fingers as he thought about it, the peace he'd felt slowly fading as the fine hairs on his arms... prickled.
Quote:
Prompt 4 (Fear and Feathers): The moon is bright tonight and reflects off of the snowy ground, illuminating 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, nothing is ever as good as it seems, and 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.
Note: The owl is not a youma but can be used as a battle requirement for a character. It can only be used as a battle if there are two powered characters involved; you cannot write a solo and count this as a battle, and your character must be powered to count this for a battle. If you repeat the prompt with the same character, only one will count for a battle requirement. The owl will not appear to have any magical abilities and seems to simply be a very large, aggressive owl.
Strickenized
Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 1:10 pm
Just off the cusp of Fafnir's aura, another Negaverse senshi took a break in the lulling quietude. Typically, this senshi took breaks from his draining duties every ten minutes, but on a night like this, it felt criminal to focus on diligently spinning energy off of strangers that he'd never want to meet twice.
Jet wasn't there to keep him on task, so Niter broke off from passing through streets and found a short building to climb. He wasn't much on leaping his way up, yet; often he had to first stand on the closed lid of a dumpster or a stack of crates before he would chance jumping on the rooftop, so unsure was he concerning how high he could now jump. But once he was up there, and once his legs stopped shaking for the possibility of skidding and falling off, he ventured a few careful steps toward the opposite lip of the roof.
If he stood a few feet back from it, the view of the snow falling past the city's lights like slow-motion rain was breathtaking. Niter understood why his grandmother was constantly going on about it. Then he began to wonder — what if he got a better view?
Most of the buildings in that row were similar height, but if he went east, he could manage another ten feet by jumping into the taller ones. It helped, too, that they were all strung together, or close enough that only three feet of space remained between them. On he went until he felt a Negaverse aura stronger than his, and he felt the distinct drop in his gut that he was busted already. He thought he saw someone just loitering in the penumbra of a building, but above that? That looked like an owl, but bigger?
Jet would make him do something about this. Sighing, Niter retrieved his communicator and set it to broadcast, then held the pen near his mouth. "Uh, person in the shadows? You've got like this mega-owl staring at you from above, and it's creepy? I think it might attack you if you don't, uh, move."
The dark-haired corrupt nearly jumped out of his skin when his communicator went off, a young voice speaking out into the silence of drifting snow.
An... owl?
Fafnir eased away from the building as he dug the pen out of his uniform. His eyes scanned the trees, the bare branches reaching like skeletal fingers... until they found the milky white reflection of... eyes in the darkness of a pine. He froze in place, feeling a sick little fizzle of fear coil in his gut. He wasn't even sure why, but he felt pinned in place by those eyes, like they had a tangible force to them. His throat felt locked up too... no sound able to squeeze its way past the tightness of it.
What was that thing? A youma? No real owl would be that eery... he wasn't even sure owls came within the city limits, parks or no. It couldn't be natural... and youma weren't fond of senshi. Even super senshi. He knew he needed to move, to find somewhere with more cover, but his instincts screamed that if he moved, it would attack him from behind, sinking what was no doubt impressive, deadly claws into his back.
His fingers twitched, closing tighter around the pen like it might make any sort of weapon against this... thing.
Strickenized
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2021 1:27 pm
The person on the other end didn't respond, but they jumped hard enough that Niter could see it happen from his vantage point. He frowned; he hadn't meant to startle the person. And they hadn't answered him, either, so… Maybe he was being nosy? Or ignored for a reason?
Probably ignored for a reason. Okay, so don't contact the guy. Niter could do that; reaching out to people was far harder than just looking down and pretending that nobody else in the world existed.
But what about the owl? It looked like it was ready to kill a man and eat his entrails, and the prey of choice was someone who was on his team. Even in pug teams on Overwatch, Laike wasn't one to just abandon someone to getting nuked down by the enemy team. He wasn't about to let that slide for real life, where leaving someone behind had like, permanent consequences.
Niter knew his magic was useless here. Really, his magic was always useless forever. So, as he looked around, he hoped to find something a little less useless. But the area was pretty clean of anything but some scattered detritus — a drowned newspaper, some year-old candy that must've gotten thrown, and… Nope, the small black thing wasn't a loose piece of metal, but a fixture capping a pipe, probably.
Sucks to suck, he guessed. Niter stooped and took off one of his shoes instead. He reeled back, aimed as best he knew how, and threw the shoe at the owl.
It didn't hit, instead smacking the side of the building near where the owl sat, but it was enough to send the thing off its ledge.
Something came flying out of the darkness and it broke the frozen tension that had locked Fafnir in place. Things happened very quickly then, starting with the... small, soft thing smacking lightly into the brick across from him.
Fafnir started and the owl burst from the tree, either startled or set off by the movement. Feeling his heart trying to climb out of his chest through his throat, the corrupt bolted in the opposite direction, hearing a voice calling somewhere in front of him. He made for it desperately, boots pounding the pavement to the near silent whoosh of wings beating the air. God, owls were so quiet... it made him ten times more wound up, unable to really pinpoint where the thing was behind him while his breathing and his boots covered its ********, ********, ********!" He gasped out as he broke past the building and skidded, making a sharp right turn and slamming his back against the wall again, watching as the large, dark shape winged past. It banked, wings rowing, and made to circle back around. Crouching, Fafnir got ready to dodge it, praying he'd be able to get a hit on it before it literally ripped his face off. Hopefully who ever the other person was would be able to do something, 'cause aerial combat was not his strength.
Strickenized
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:35 pm
s**t.
s**t s**t s**t. That wasn't what Laike wanted to happen —
The owl took off, swooped down while his fellow Negaverse senshi took off just the same. Perfect predator and prey moment, and Niter felt like he was watching a Let's Play full of bad user errors — same level of secondary embarrassment, too — while the gigantic owl thing swooped over the senshi. It occurred to him that they might be fighting a youma, but he couldn't say for certain; his experience with auras was still too unrefined to confirm his suspicions one way or the other.
While the Negaverse Super hugged a wall somewhere below, Niter caught sight of the owl shooting into the alleyway between his building and the next. He needed to do something —
Yet his only option was to cast. Quickly, Niter hummed a short song, and felt hope bloom in his chest as he saw the interstellar cloak enfold the creature. But just as it blocked the owl from sight, the cloak faded, and the thing was looping around to dive on him directly.
"Heck," Niter muttered lamely as he ducked down and crossed his arms over his head.
whimsical blue
Interstitial Aria ;; Range: 10' of self Duration: 30 seconds Use Count: 2 Miss Chance: Target moves out of distance before the tune ends, or the object is dismissed Effect: Nycticorax hums a short tune. An interstellar cloak enfolds the target if it is within 10' of Niter. A nonliving magical target is banished to the interstice, a sort of in-between space, like if reality had a separate layer beneath it. The interstice is more of a shadow realm and not an actual location. The target is unhurt, unseen, and untouchable. When the time expires, the target will return to reality within a 10' radius of Niter.
Whoever his companion was, they had magic, because something large and formless tried to engulf the owl as it swung back towards Fafnir. It gave him the chance to duck out of it's way, even if it didn't last long... and even drew attention away from him in the process.
Not a great idea, maybe, 'cause now his rescuer was in trouble too.
"Fafnir's Blight." He murmured, drawing in a deep breath and then blowing it out again. A dark, murky purple cloud exhaled with his breath, flowing out before him in sickly swirls. It didn't go far, but the monster swooped right through it, letting out a squawk of pain and disorientation as large wings stuttered and flapped disjointedly, throwing it off it's balance. He heard the weight of it impact the concrete as he gathered himself and leaped to the roof, searching about quickly for his rescuer.
The owl shook itself, gathering its legs up under it. They didn't have much time... There! Another corrupt, younger, in pinks and black. Fafnir made for him, stretching out a hand to grab at his arm.
"Come on, let's move! Before it gets airborn again." He gasped out, tugging the other up.
Super Sailor Scout Attack: Fafnir's Blight Fafnir blows out a cloud of gas that's more intense than before. Those caught within the cone will see signs of disease on expose skin and eyes, and are significantly sickened by it as it saps their energy and health, affecting their performance. The gas can travel up to ten feet, but fades away after a few seconds. The effect can last up to 30 seconds. Breathing does not affect it, and he can use it twice per battle.
Strickenized
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:43 pm
Niter wasn't sure what he just saw.
Well, he was sure what he saw, but he wasn't sure how to interpret it. The blue-and-purple Negaverse senshi with the cute dragon horns blew out… Some kind of awful-looking smoke cloud. It reminded him of the smog attack from Pokemon, or the emperor's cloud of blight from Okami, and the smell of it must've bowled the owl over. Niter was stunned enough to stand and gawk at it until the Super Senshi made his way up and snatched his arm.
Niter was jerked backward, which was enough to convince him to run. He'd watched the owl begin to recover; sticking around seemed like a terrible idea.
Still startled, he looked over at the stranger senshi. "Did you just bad breath it? Are you a Marlboro?" He wanted to look back, but something told him he'd eat concrete.
Behind them, the bird shrieked. Having regained its balance, it launched itself into the air once more, and gained altitude over them. However, someone else had stolen its attention, and it peeled off, which must've meant it thought the pair more trouble than they were worth.
The inane comments got little reaction from the older senshi, most of his focus on getting somewhere safe, and not on some kid's incredulity about his magic.
Bad breath? Whatever. His magic was effective, and it got the result he wanted. And he liked to think it looked cool, whatever someone else thought of it.
"Get over here!" He hissed as he dragged the senshi across the rooftop and behind the structure that housed the entrance to the stairs down into the building. He plastered himself into the scant protection of its lee, his hand still clamped tight around the other's wrist, and waited to see the owl swoop past, or come around the other side, or something... Moments passed, and nothing happened. Fafnir couldn't hear wingbeats, as little as there was to hear, but it took time for him to relax, slowly, his heartbeat slowing to something a bit more normal.
Only then did he turned to look over his companion, remembering to let go of him now that they were safe.
"Thanks." He said after a moment, running a hand back through his hair as relief flooded him, pushing out the adrenaline.
Strickenized
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 6:01 pm
It occurred to him, as the unknown senshi snapped his wrist up and started dragging him at the speed of mach ******** down the stairs, that he made a huge mistake. Not just huge, but monumental — big enough to nearly trip on his own two feet and send himself tumbling down to the bottom. He didn't, but he wished he did.
Niter paled when he figured it out, and suddenly the owl didn't seem so important anymore. In fact, if it turned the corner and ripped his face off, that might even be a blessing. He would prefer that, actually, over having to retrace his steps and apologize for being an idiot.
"I — uh — wait, I didn't, you're not, so what I said before, it's like —" His lungs felt tight, like he wasn't getting enough air, and Niter swallowed as if to clear the blockage. It didn't help.
"You're not a pack of cigarettes, but there's this —" He sucked in another breath, feeling his chest growing tighter and tighter. Or maybe his lungs kept growing, getting thicker until there wasn't enough room for air. He couldn't tell what was going on with himself, just that it felt terrible. Bad enough that he was no longer thinking about the owl by the time they made it to the bottom. "There's this thing in a game that has this, uh, it's like a really powerful side effect magic that it breathes on you, it looks kinda like what you did, they just call it bad breath? And I'm — I think it's really cool, your attack, I saw what it did to that owl —" He caught another couple breaths.
"I guess I'm trying to understand it. Anyway, I'm Niter. And I'm sorry." For being an idiot, and for needing to be rescued. "And you don't have to thank me." He wasn't able to do much to it.
He gave his arm a brief once-over, if only to see the white marks where the senshi white-knuckled him. He forgot about it afterward.
"Uh, thanks for the quick thinking. We both needed it." One day he'd get that good — when he actually got used to all their abilities, and figured out whatever the ******** his actually did.
Fafnir frowned at the boy's stumbling attempts to apologize, giving him a once over that took in the obvious fear and... panic? that radiated from him. For the first time in a while, he felt... concern, for someone other than himself.
The kid looked so young... Younger than his brother would be, now. Barely seemed to know what he was doing, and yet he'd thrown in on the fight rather than run away. Fafnir couldn't have faulted him for abandoning him, if he had. But he'd stayed...
"What? No, its fine." He said, waving a hand to brush away whatever he was prattling on about in relation to the comment about his magic. A video game? As some one who didn't really play them, it didn't make a lot of sense and rather made the gap in their ages more pronounced. "My magic makes people sicken. Its just temporary, but its good for throwing them off and giving me time. And you're welcome. You helped me out, I had to make sure we were both safe."
The tall senshi slumped back against the wall now and breathed deep, letting the adrenaline seep out of his jellied limbs.
"I'm Fafnir." He said finally.
Strickenized
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 2:50 am
Makes people sicken. Like vomit, or get ill in some other way? It wasn't really Niter's business, and he wasn't feeling up to asking more questions anyway. He already made a fool out of himself once.
Still, Fafnir knew exactly what his magic did. That was more than he could say for himself. Fafnir had to have figured it out by using it on other people, or practicing with other officers, like Jet. And since he was a Super Senshi, Niter figured he had more than just the one magic to use — and he'd had to have figured out that one, too.
But Niter didn't have a senshi mentor. He had Jet, and Jet was good, but he wondered if he could chat with someone like Fafnir once in a while, too.
So Niter nodded, caught his breath himself. It was different, encountering creatures out here instead of in a game. He used to get spooked by big bosses in games, but that adrenaline wore off over the years. Out here, though? He felt it just the same as he did when he was a kid. Only this time, he couldn't pause the game. Couldn't restart if he died, either.
Didn't take long for Niter to feel ready to go again, but he couldn't see or hear the owl. And Fafnir was looking like he'd rather a nap than another go at the owl.
"I guess we should get going, huh? Before that thing comes back." Niter spared a moment to peer around the corner, but he didn't see anything. Nothing perched, nothing flying.
Fafnir rubbed his face and then pushed fingers back through his hair, adjusting the fake horns his outfit granted him.
"Yeah, probably. I did not expect to run into something like that tonight... I'm not even sure if it was some wild youma or something. It didn't feel like anything." The bizarre nature of the whole thing was an irritation, mostly because even though he planned to ask around about the creature, he suspected there would be very little to find. Who tracked youma, anyway, if they weren't attached to an officer?
"Do you... need a ride home?" The tall senshi asked as he straightened, smoothing down the front of his uniform. Belatedly, and even more annoyingly, he considered that he could have teleported away from the beast to a safe distance. Or even back to Negaspace itself. All that fuss, when he could have just blinked away... but then he'd have left this young man behind, perhaps to face the monster alone. It was, ultimately, probably better that he hadn't, in the end.
"I've got another teleport in me, I think."
Strickenized
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:26 pm
"Oh, um, thanks." He reddened at the thought of it. Not that there was anything strange to him about being teleported around — Jet chauffeured him a few times by now — but when someone he just met offered to do it? He felt like a burden. Maybe that meant he needed to do whatever had to be done so he'd become a Super, too. Then no one would feel like they had to offer him a ride.
"It's not far, if that matters?" He started picking at his nails. Started thinking, what if Fafnir was expecting him to say no? Or wanted to save that teleport for something else? What if he thought Niter caused him trouble?
He was reasonably certain he'd pass out, soul leaving his body to high-five god, if that happened.
Taking a breath, he forced the words out. "It's. Um. By the mall. Uh…" Great time to blank on the name of the mall that he literally worked at. "East End. East end mall."
Fafnir held out a hand to the younger man, nodding as he agreed. He felt the nervousness to him, the way he hesitated about the offer. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he suspected it might have something to do with Fafnir himself. His rank, maybe, or maybe it was just as mundane as him being so pretty it made the other nervous. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time...
"The East End Mall isn't too far, and I wouldn't be doing my duty if I left you here to fend for yourself if that thing came back. Come on. I'll drop you off and then we can both go home. I don't know about you, but I am ready to get out of this uniform and into my own clothes." He said, forming one of those serene and guileless smiles on his face to put the other at ease. He projected 'big brother' as best he could, relaxed and easy, and pondered what he should put into his report about the incident later.
