If the page thought that he could get away by slipping into the subway entrance was going to allow him to escape, he was wrong. Koschei had to pull his wings into himself in order to fit but he did.
His head craned forward and his beak caught some part of the page's uniform and he tugged.
"It's not time to jump down the rabbit hole!" He shrieked, voice echoing through the hall.
The action jostled the young woman in his arms enough that she tumbled out of them. Despite her attempts to catch herself, she tumbled down the stairs, landing at the bottom with a groan.
Turquoise hair was tossed back and she looked around for her companion who seemed to be on the other side of things. It would take more than a scramble to get to him, but Rory was climbing to her feet.
Her shoe was tugged off her foot and she chucked it at the bird who'd begun advancing on her friend. It hit the youma in one of his eyes and he turned with a squawk. "Leave him alone you giant chicken nugget!"
She needed to draw the attention away from her friend and it seemed like it worked because Koschei was making his way towards her. "Ah so the girl is the ring leader then? Where's Alice, ocean girl?"
beejoux
Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 8:08 am
Baikal swore loudly as he felt Rory slip from his arms as a yank on the back of his jacket jerked him backward. "Rory!" s**t! He watched her fall, stomach sinking in a sick feeling as her small frame tumbled down the stairs. please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay... That had been a nasty fall, and he thought maybe he'd seen her head bounce off a step, but as she came to a stop she groaned, and Baikal let out relieved sigh before a thick length of wing caught him in the ribs and sent him crashing back against the stairs with a grunt.
For a moment he seemed to have the giant bird's full attention. All six of it's eerily glowing eyes were on him and he could hear the sick scrap of long talon sized claws scrapping up the concrete.
Then something hit the side of it's head from behind and he could hear Rory screaming at the bottom of the steps. "Rory run!" She's not going to, and he knew it. The knowledge of it sat like a lead weight in his stomach.
The bird turned and Baikal scrambled to his feet and summoned his snowball again. He had to keep it's focus on him. Winding up, he pitched the frozen ball directly at the back of the that nightmarish, black head. "Pick on someone your own size!"
nuxaz
Beejoux
Wrathful Demigod
Offline
Nuxaz
Offline
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 4:48 pm
He should have known sooner that she was stubborn and as such, Rory wouldn't go anywhere without him. But, to be on the safe side she re-asserted the knowledge. "I'm not leaving you!"
Who would she be if she abandoned her friend, one of the only ones she had left?
It didn't matter that as Aurora Willows she held no strength, no command. She wasn't going to abandon Axton-- or whomever he was now. (Her head still spun from the shock of the information, but she was trying to compartmentalize. Poorly.)
Her chest heaved as she stared at the bird who looked at her with eyes that blinked in succession. "If he turns, will you look away and let it happen or will you stop it?" The bird asked the girl and she didn't understand but she didn't have time to try because her friend was doing exactly what she had done.
The snowball splattered against his feathers and the youma turned, body half pressed against the ground before he was spreading his wings and opening his beak.
"It is the folly of man, to think he is less of a monster," he commented and Rory thought he was spouting nonsense.
It didn't stop the screech from dropping her to her knees, hands covering her ears.
Raven's Screech: Letting out a screeching caw, Koschei produces a sound wave that's ear splitting and the force of the sound wave pushes the targets back or brings them to their knees.
Duration: 20 seconds
beejoux
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:03 pm
A pained expression flickered across pale features at Rory's adamant refusal to save herself. He obviously wasn't in any position to make her leave, but assuming they both walked away from this they were going to have to have a chat about collateral damage and his deep desires to keep her from being lumped in with that.
The massive bird had been talking again, but it was no less cryptic than it had been before. It was the first time Baikal had heard any youma speaking, but he wasn't entirely sure that wasn't just a lingering aspect of the crow it seemed to have mutated from. They mimicked and imitated, maybe this one did too?
Not that it mattered.
And then nothing much mattered at all beyond the sudden piercing pain in his ears and head as the damned thing opened it's beak wide and screeched at him. It not only drove the page to his knees, it drove every thread of conscious thought from his splitting mind. It legitimately felt like his brain was melting and at any moment would just start leaking from his ears.
He didn't immediately notice a strange building warmth in his chest, not until it had spread out and out to the very tips of his fingers. Something washing over him, filling hip up like he were a cup. It was pushing back the sound, or maybe he was actually going deaf, but regardless of why it was gradually growing more and more endurable. He blinked open his eyes as he brought his hands down from where they'd been clamped at the sides of his head over his ears, and there was a tingling in his fingers.
All at once he felt the last drop hit the surface and that building warmth finally spilled out from him in an almost electric rush. Baikal gasped breathlessly and closed his fingers around something cold and metallic. Chain rustled as he climbed to his feet, and at one end he felt a swaying weight. The appearance of the weapon wasn't the only change, but it was the only one that mattered in that moment. The newly christened Squire straightened, head still splitting, but it wasn't crippling anymore.
Lips drawing back from his teeth, Baikal brought the chain around in a wide arch, ice weight swinging around him. It was awkward, he wasn't quite sure how to handle this, but he knew he had to make that damn noise stop. So he swung, letting the chain slid through his fingers as the ball looped in from the side, and he smashed that icy weight against the side of the giant bird's head.
nuxaz
Beejoux
Wrathful Demigod
Offline
Nuxaz
Offline
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 6:21 pm
The screeching hurt.
Rory could feel the sound crawling down her spine and back up and she felt paralyzed which only intensified her fear and worry. She needed to move, to do something to help Axton, to get them away from the youma and to keep it from turning it's sight on any of the people who were in the mostly empty subway.
If she managed to be grateful, it was about the fact that it was late enough most people didn't need the train.
She couldn't even lift her head to figure out where her knight-friend had moved to or where the youma was.
Oh no, oh no....
Koschei's beak shut moments before the weapon struck him in the side, his massive body hopping forward to close in on the page so that he could terrorize him further. "Ocean girl is import---" He squawked instead, already moving to catch the chain in his mouth and tug, one talon lifting to stomp on it.
Moving closer, he refused to let go and flew upward, thwarted from gaining proper height by the low ceiling. "That was cold of you," the bird taunted, seeming to laugh before he swooped, lashing out with talons.
beejoux
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:03 pm
It was an odd and unexpected turn of events . The shrieking stopped on it's own as the weight whipped through the air, and again the bird was speaking, only to stop mid word to snap it's beak around the chain before the ice ball connected. <******** s**t! He had time to rationalize that that didn't bode well, and then he was being jerked forward by the length of chain in it's beak and a sharp talons were coming right at his face.
The squire snapped back, trying to avoid claws as long as switchblades, but he wasn't quite fast enough. Talons racked across his throat and his chest, tearing through fur and dark fabric and into the flesh below. With a gasped grunt Baikal threw himself backwards, only dimly aware that the bird was using puns now.
Puns.
Knowledge he didn't understand the source of drifted to the surface and the squire reached for the ring on his right hand to touch the tips of pale fingers to the silvery metal, drawing on that part of himself that came to the forefront when he powered up. Cold electricity tingled through him, and Baikal watched his hands glitch in and out of focus before his very eyes. This was new.
ASPECT OF MERCURY: A Mercury Knight's form becomes staticy / glitchy in appearance, as if they were products of the advanced technology that is their planet's pride and joy. This enables them to blend in with their surroundings slightly: opponents have trouble seeing them if they are standing still, and their movements can be difficult to read in close combat.
nuxaz
Beejoux
Wrathful Demigod
Offline
Nuxaz
Offline
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:14 pm
With the screeching having stopped, Rory was able to climb back to her feet. Her ears were still ringing and her entire sense of balance appeared to have shifted and she couldn't focus on anything. In fact, all she really knew was that there was a blob of dark feathers in the subway in front of her and Axton looked...well even more different than he had before.
She stumbled forward and fell to her knees again, her equilibrium shifted too much to be of use.
She needed to think--
Koschei appeared amused, as much as a giant, murderous bird could be amused at least and he watched the page-- no, squire, that energy signature felt stronger.
"Did the ice boy find a bit of strength?" He asked, tugging on the chain again only to caw indignantly when the squire's form began to appear glitch. Red eyes narrowed and he landed, blood dripping from talons to the subway floor before he moved forward.
"Where'd the cat disappear to?"
beejoux
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:09 pm
Baikal wound the length of the chain back along his arm as the bird landed on the stairs in front of him. Whatever it was he'd tapped into seemed to have worked. He'd wanted to startle the youma, confuse it maybe, to give himself enough time to gather his wits and think up a plan.
It gave him a second to think. To lean to the side enough to see Rory getting to her feet at the foot of the stairs. She was alright, or at least alright enough to be walking around.
If he could chase off the monster he could get her out of here, take her home where she'd be safe.
"Yes," he countered smoothly to the youma, gaze flicking back up to it. "The ice boy found some strength. Do you want to see?" Letting the ice ball drop along his side he turned his wrist to start it spinning again, and when it'd picked up enough speed he released half his hold, letting it shoot out right at the damn beast's head.
nuxaz
Beejoux
Wrathful Demigod
Offline
Nuxaz
Offline
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2018 9:10 am
Koschei's head twisted, six eyes blinking in rapid succession as he swooped forward, only to be on the receiving end of a hard smack that caught one of his wings instead of his intended face and with a shriek, the massive bird crashing into the wall and slumping to the ground for a moment.
Something akin to a wheeze escaped his beak and if birds could grin, he would surely be grinning at the squire.
"The reaper's watching," he warned, laughter erupting as he sunk into ground, choosing now as his exit back into the rift.
Tentatively Rory had crawled back onto her feet and staggered over to the powered individual who made up her friend. She was cradling her arm, shoulder aching from the tumble down the stairs. "A-ax?"
beejoux
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 9:17 am
Pale eyes wide, Baikal watched as the giant bird sank straight into the ground and just disappeared, and the chaotic aura that had been hounding them along with it. He stood there for a moment or two, waiting for...something. Another attack, or something to burst from the wall, he didn't know, but when it didn't came he let the new weapon disappear and turned at the sound of his name from a tentative voice.
"Rory!" Everything ached on him, and his chest and next stung where the talons and cut deep, but that didn't keep him from racing down the stairs to get to her.
She was cradling one of her arms, and that kept him from scooping her up entirely, but he did reach for her shoulders as she slid to a stop in front of her, pale features concerned as he looked down at her. "Are you alright?" That had been a nasty tumble she'd taken. "Do you need to go to the ER?" As gently as he could he slid his hand down her arm to lift it gently, trying to see how badly she was hurt.
nuxaz
Beejoux
Wrathful Demigod
Offline
Nuxaz
Offline
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:07 pm
Axton was concerned about her but Rory was concerned about him, his injuries visible ones and even as he checked her for damage she was reaching to touch the areas that had been cut. Her pale brow crinkled with concern and she was frowning, touches ginger but her fingers still came away with blood on the tips.
"I'm fine," she insisted, ignoring the headache she'd developed or the other aching of her body. "A fall down stairs isn't going to kill me, I'm more worried about you." And if they'd been seen, if anyone could see them now.
The youma's words had been vague but something left an uncomfortable weight on her spine. Reaper.
Had she heard that before?
"We need to take care of you, these. I...I don't know a lot but I can help or we should get to the ER, instacare? Somewhere. Axton, please."
beejoux
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:18 pm
It'd been easy to ignore the stinging ache along his chest up to that point, but he winced as small fingers touched him gently, letting go of her shoulder to catch her hand to keep her from touching again. "It's fine, I'm..." There was blood on her fingertips. Not just a light stain, but enough for him to look down to see the spreading darkness across the front of the black and glowing blue jacket.
"Alright." It came out resigned, and he loosened his old on her hand. "We can go to the ER, but if you're hurt I want them to check you out too, please."
But first he was going to have to find a place to power down. Somewhere less likely to have surveillance camera's watching every corner. Turning his head hurt, made him grit his teeth as he drew in a sharp breath. "We should get out of here first. I can't power down here, someone might see." Someone other than her.
It made him wonder if there'd been anyone else on the street with them when he'd powered up. Not like he could do anything about it now.
nuxaz
Beejoux
Wrathful Demigod
Offline
Nuxaz
Offline
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:28 pm
Rory drew her hand back towards her chest, swallowing visibly when she nodded. "Okay." Her tongue wet her lips and she looked around, gaze settling back up the way they came. Her stomach twisted unhappily but there was nothing she could do about her worries or fears in that moment and she had to accept the facts for what they were.
"I hurt my shoulder but I'm fine," she insisted, knowing that she would cave and let herself be checked out at his insistence anyway. The idea of impending medical expenses made her unhappy but there wasn't exactly anything she could do about it if she wanted to make sure that her companion got the care he needed.
Besides, maybe youma could give him like rabies or something so it was best to get it checked out.
Rory reached for his hand. "Somewhere you can change, then ER."
beejoux
you can probs wrap us up
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 1:05 pm
"Can we let the doctors decide if you're fine?" It was gentle but insistent. He'd worry endlessly otherwise, and he was sure she knew that. Just like she'd worry over him if he'd refused to get checked out.
As she took his hand he gave her smaller one a soft and reassuring squeeze as they headed up the stairs. Surely there was an alley nearby, and after that they could get an Uber to the hospital. If she was worried about bills he'd cover any expenses for her. It might have been crazy to think so, but he felt responsible for the youma attack.
