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 Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:34 am
Chibi Sailor Cruithne - 100HP
Cruithne's delighted expression at having caused a monster to roast itself from the inside out faded quickly into one of horror as she turned back to where the Captain was now on the ground and bleeding. Part of her wanted to go and try to heal that battered body, but some distant part of herself held back, stating that this was how things needed to be.
That didn't make it any easier to watch. Shivering a little, she watched the odd, nasty smile that curved Ganymede's lips, watched her spit at the downed officer. But when she saw the rock come up, she knew what was going to happen. Rapidly she turned away, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears with her hands even as she crouched down, trying to make herself as small as possible.
She's only doing what they'd do to us, she tried to tell herself. She is doing what has to be done. I just wish she could have picked a quicker, cleaner method.
Huddled in a tiny, shivering ball, Cruithne was very sure that she didn't want to look again until she could be sure it was over. Watching and hearing someone being bludgeoned to death wasn't all that high on her bucket list, after all.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 8:25 am
Asclepius: [143/150hp]As the feathers of the avian youma faded to dust, Asclepius turned back to Amphitrite and knelt beside her. Her expression was mostly stoic, but she could not mask all of her concern. She positioned herself deliberately with her back to Cipritine, and motioned for Cruithne to join her at the Seashell senshi's side.
She lifted the tail end of the train on her uniform, brushed the sand from it, wrung out the sea water as well as she could, and began to tear off a strip of fabric. "Let me tie that bite up for you, to help it stop bleeding, at least," the brown-haired girl suggested to Amphitritie.
"The salt water will make it sting either way, and you'll need to get something more substantial on it later anyway," she went on. "But it will help some for the moment."
A fake, doctorly, 'everything-will-be-okay' smile for the chibi senshi faded almost immediately into a gentler, truer, but more pitying one. "If nothing else," Asclepius added to Amphitrite, "It will let me show Cruinthe here how to bind a wound like that." And distract her from what Asclepius could her transpiring behind her.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 10:07 am
Sailor Amphitrite - 74HPAmphitrite wanted to go home. She didn't know why she'd been dragged here, she didn't know why this wasn't some twisted dream, she didn't -- she just didn't know. She didn't know why that one guy -- a prince? -- had to sit there and drag it out, getting her name and making her even more human. The whole thing actually made her pretty angry, and she didn't even realize she was glaring at him. Even if it was fleeting, she'd rather be angry than scared and miserable. If he really wanted to, couldn't he have made her help? Couldn't they have done something else other than -- She looked away as Ganymede spat in the dying girl's face, and paled as she thought of how she'd been desperate enough to throw her damn shoe into the fray. Amphitrite hadn't been thinking, she just -- she just wanted to help be a hero, that's all. They weren't terrorists like people kept saying. They were heroes, she tried to remind herself, wincing as she pulled herself into a sitting position. She shut her eyes as though that would do anything to muffle the dull thud of the rock against the captain's head, a shuddering breath escaping her as another senshi made to finish the job by magic. They were not terrorists. They were heroes, she reminded herself again, trying to pull herself together enough to smile at Asclepius and Cruithne, although her eyes were unnaturally bright with tears that she desperately didn't want to cry. "Thank you, " she said, and even if it was going to hurt, she'd rather deal with a stinging bite than focus on what had happened over there. It was the first fight she remembered outside of a vivid dream with a negaverse officer, she realized belatedly, dully. It would also be the first time she watched someone die, wouldn't it?
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:07 pm
Cipritine says one more thing before the rock comes down: "You do, too." It is impossible to know what kills her: the rock opens up the side of her head, leaving a massive dent in her skull where flesh hasn't given away entirely. Her eyes are unfocused, brown with dissimilarly sized pupils. They widen one more time before spasms take her, shivers and twitches that lead to her violet crystal falling from her hand and shattering upon the driftwood. A pulse of Chaotic magic rides over the island, destination unknown. She is still breathing, but it is obvious to all parties that Cipritine is not quite there any more. Wave 1 is over! Congratulations! Now you have a choice: continue to follow the beach and hope to find a way out? or head into the forest?
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iStoleYurVamps rolled 1 12-sided dice:
6
Total: 6 (1-12)
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:52 pm
Pollux, 150, attacking Ganymede for 6There was fighting, there was murder, there was acting, and then there was the simple finality of death. In war, you fought and you used everything in your power, there was no dirty fighting, but there was torture, there was disgrace, humiliation, there were lines you crossed and didn't cross. There was pleasure in victory, in the thrill of a challenge, in battle. Yet in terms of war, there was always to be a level of humanity, of dignity and respect. Spitting on your enemy and going to murder them with a blow to the head was hardly showing the enemy any of these traits, and it was disapproval quickly shown as Pollux, who'd been reserved in his motions stepped forward, moving towards the captain and the eternal. "Do you feel strong?" He asked, voice clipped. "Do you feel proud, knowing you killed someone, that when they were defeated; you sought to disgrace and humiliate them, to show you superiority... for what?" The body would shift soon enough, leaving behind a corpse, or might as well have been one. The wound was too deep, and the reaction telling. The negaverse did not take their wounded to hospitals. They did not arrive to magically save lives. They used the near dead and remade them. They fed them to chaos and remade them. A head wound was death- if by lack of proper medical attention, or to be consumed and made a monster. "You killed her without striking the final blow. She dies from trauma, or she dies, consumed and remade." The salt air would cool it quickly, the rot in the water speeding decay that would set in. It would lay there, exposed to the elements, forgotten and abandoned. He moved past Ganymede for a split second- Only to slap her. "We may be murderers, but we are not without dignity. Your enemy gave you respect in battle for your power, do not lower yourself to disgrace them for their lack of." His tone was annoyed, gaze pointed. He expected better of senshi. He expected nothing less than basic decency from those who would call themselves what he was. The body of the captain was not light- it was a body, a corpse to be- yet still he picked it up and carried it out of the sand, laying the soon to be deceased on the edge of the forest. "I am sorry." He said, less to the senshi and more to the captain. " Farò questo rapido. Soffrire non di più." Two hands upon her broken head, taking in the sight of her eyes before he twisted, the snap the final note death for the agent. He set her frame as best he could, taking slight care to close her eyes and make the wounds less grotesque. Mercy had it place. Dignity in death had another. "They'll be here soon. Our best chances are to head inland and trying to find higher ground." He paid no more mind to the remains. They were dead now, and he'd done all that was required of him.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:25 pm
Methone watched as Pollux gave the final blow, and moved herself to Castors side again. She rather preferred the senshi prince at the momwnt...and she wasn't quite sure if her mentality was catching up to the gravity of what was going on. Her silent stance next to castor was the indication that the woman was still dealing with just how easy it seemed to kill. For any of the members who committed it. Was she ready for this? Probably not. But she had no real other options then. "I'm sticking with you Castor." She hissed.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:29 pm
Sailor Ganymede – 127 – 6 = 121 Completely unplanned character development ftw. My favorite kind. No. Nonononononono. This wasn't happening. It was a mistake. She hadn't meant it. She'd only... only meant to incapacitate the Captain. She was still alive, wasn't she? She was still breathing, wasn't she? She wasn't dead. She wasn't, she wasn't, she wasn't.
Don't let her be dead. Don't let her be dead. Please, don't let her be dead.
Snapped out of the moment as soon as rock connected with scull, Ganymede could only look upon the limp and motionless form of the Captain with horror. She couldn't look away, though she wanted to. She wanted to desperately. She'd known death for years. Elysion, which filled her with fear and shame; the Surrounding, which brought her nothing but frustration; all the countless battles since then, which brought terror to her dreams; and her father, the memory of whom still brought tears to her eyes. Death was not a stranger to her.
Nor was it a friend. She did not fancy herself a murderer. The idea of a cold-blooded war repulsed her. She fought in self-defense. She fought to protect her allies. She fought to save innocent civilians. She fought so that one day she might have a normal life.
This Captain was a part of that.
What else was she supposed to do?
She hardly heard Pollux, registered his voice and knew it was directed at her, but she didn't hear the words. The slap came as a surprise and knocked her out of the daze she'd fallen into. From numb fingers the rock fell to the ground. The noise it made as it landed among shards of bone and other debris sounded unusually loud to her ears.
“That's ironic coming from you, considering who your brother is... and what he's done,” Ganymede rambled. Her voice was weak, lacking emotion—not because she was incapable of feeling anything, but because she felt too much to process.
“I didn't... I wasn't trying to kill her. She was... I wanted her unconscious. She would have caused us trouble if we'd just left her there.”
It all sounded like one excuse after another, even to her.
What am I doing? Why am I here? If she would just open her eyes...
But she didn't, and she wouldn't ever again. Ganymede flinched back as Pollux snapped the Captain's neck. She shut her eyes and turned her head, put her back to the scene like it wouldn't be real if she didn't see it. Behind her eyelids, burning tears rose. Ganymede took a stuttering breath, swallowed down the sick feeling that inched up her throat.
What have I done?
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:25 pm
Castor's hand simply reached down, brushing her shoulders in small movements. Comforting for himself more than her perhaps, yet touch was helpful. Grounding. Another living being warm and near aided the aftershocks. It helped from going numb. "Alright Gorgeous." Be bent, kissing her forehead. "We're going to see a lot more like that tonight. You going to hold up okay?" His gaze drifted towards the others. "The same goes for you all- you think you'll be alright?" Mentally. Children, healers- they were not the ones made to kill. They were not the ones who would seek blood when the call for blood came. Pollux however, was still reserving himself. Bottling as Castor put it. What emotions were exposed were genuine and raw, unfiltered. "No." He answered surprisingly calm. "Castor and I do what we must to incite and draw attention to realities. You smiled Ganymede. You took pleasure in your actions. You were ready to kill her when you picked up that rock. Whatever your intent, you must be ready to face the consequence. Had we left her, she would have died if from blood loss, or her starseed consumed and used to create youma. You killed her the moment you stuck her. If it is a small comfort, a broken neck ends the pain, and perhaps in her next life she will not be pulled into our war." He pulled his sash free, offering it to her. "Removing the blood helps your mind process. Hallucinations aren't uncommon after you kill the first time, nor is nausea. If you feel ill, say so. I do not want you to become a target for what might be after us." He spoke calmly and as kindly as Pollux could, though it still came off as unattached and formal.
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iStoleYurVamps
iStoleYurVamps
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:51 pm
Sailor Amphitrite - 74HP
The surge of chaos energy made her shudder, huddling over and clutching her injured arm a little closer to her own body. Blood was getting on her fuku, although she hardly seemed to notice of care. All she could hear was the snapping of a neck, and it was the only sound that seemed to matter.
For a split-second, she sought some twisted solace in hearing Ganymede's reaction -- it had been an accident, she hadn't meant to, this was a terrible mistake but it was still a mistake -- but that other guy had to open his mouth and say what Amphitrite was thinking deep down, and she sort of resented him too for giving the thoughts a voice.
The remaining scallop shell on her "good" arm was still warm to the touch, laced with burns on either end; she finally thought to pull it aside, throwing it towards the water with a little more force than necessary.
"I don't want you getting involved with those people any more than you have, Natalie. Do you hear me? They're terrorists -- they're dangerous!"
"They're -- We're not like that Dad! That's just what they want you to think! We're heroes you know! Like... like Batman or something!"
"Do you even hear yourself? You're sixteen now Natalie you need to grow - honey, listen. Just listen. None of that is real."
She toyed with the aching, burning flesh of her arms idly, her eyes downcast as the arguments with her father since she'd spilled her big secret playing out again and again in the back of her mind. She didn't want to look at Castor. "Can anyone just tell me why we're here? - does anyone know? - and I want off this stupid beach."
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 10:48 pm
The fight had started, and just like that, Sarras' mind seemed to go on a trip, leaving his body in a haze. Things were going on around him, but he wasn't watching. He wasn't even sure he was there, or where he was. At least, not as first.
He looked around but didn't see a beach with driftwood, rotten produce and a captain with three youma. He saw cold, barely lit corridors, the slosh of waves were drowned out by the more annoying electrical hum of the mechanisms behind the walls, unseen but ever present.
He wasn't sure what it was that triggered it, but he knew what had finally pulled him out of it. The sound of the driftwood he clung to splashing against the water at his feet when his hand finally released it, the sound hitting his ear and snapping him from his trance. He stood at the ready, but it was too late. The fight was over, yet by the way he held himself and gasped at the air, one would have thought he just spent time in the boxing ring. He wasn't sure how he managed to keep standing, or how he had missed everything, but after a few wavering breaths and the reassurance that perhaps no one saw him or noticed how he had simply locked up, he forced himself to reclaim the fallen driftwood and move towards the shore. Maybe the feel of the earth beneath his feet would ground him back to reality...
'Get your mind in the game, Sarras,' He told himself, keeping his gaze set ahead and refusing to look at the others, refusing to be drawn into whatever drama that were involved in. He knew he'd come off as callous and even useless, but he didn't want to admit to them, or anyone, that he could barely handle his own s**t and didn't need someone else's to compound it. Only when he was on shore did he look back at the scene, and even then, he wasn't fully invested. He wanted to get out of this part and move on... so he chose the forest.
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 12:09 am
Cipritine's body crumpled on the beach, not exactly lifelessly, but close enough for horseshoes. The fight was over, and it looked like they wouldn't have to figure out what to do with a captive officer. Maybe even free up enough time to figure out what the hell was going on. Tension escaped Nyx's body in the form of a deep exhale. She silently asked the cosmos for a small bit of quiet while allowing Ganymede and the others to gather themselves. Then she became really, really confused at whatever misguided notions the Royal's second began spouting. (The cosmos rarely listened, after all.) Dignity, disgrace? For what Nyx had seen, Ganymede had given the captain at least the same great level of respect she had been extended. For her reaction, he may as well have slapped Nyx along with Ganymede. She tried to reason that perhaps the spitting had gone too far, but to call out their own like that? Right after such a fight? It was so confounding that she actually hesitated. He finally did the only thing that made sense - finishing off Cipritine. No lingering misery to question, no extra youma, no worrying about a vengeful agent if she did survive. Nyx could not entirely pick up on their conversation, but Ganymede did not look… well. And, much like before, she had had enough. “Ganymede!” Her tone insistent, not a pleading inch in it. The sand was loose and helter-skelter under her boots from their fighting as she closed the distance and kneeled next to her rare comrade, offering her presence as support for what it was worth. She didn’t cut Ganymede off from the offer Once upon a time, she had to begrudgingly rely on Pasiphae's word for her Jovian friends' abilities, but by now she has seen it in action enough times to really believe it. To put her faith there. One could never say they worked together very often, but it counted for something. “Hey, are you alright?” A soft, quick pause. Nyx wasn't accustomed to this sort of thing, but this closer look at Ganymede urged her on. “I don’t know what he’s feeding you, but I just saw you defend the lot of us from a Negaverse agent who refused everything except what she got. In her face. And she was pretty dirty about it! And… I appreciate it.”
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shibrogane rolled 2 6-sided dice:
5, 6
Total: 11 (2-12)
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 2:03 am
As you progress into the forest, you hear an enormous gonglike sound and see a flash of bright golden light. With no other clues as to where you're going, you proceed towards it.
Something stirs in the foliage above you...
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shibrogane rolled 4 12-sided dice:
9, 4, 7, 2
Total: 22 (4-48)
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 2:19 am
You have been ambushed by five youma! At least it's not more people, right? Flaming Youma Joan [50HP] targeting Super Sailor Pollux! [9dmg] The first to appear is a beautiful young woman, wreathed in flame. When viewed out of the corner of your eye, she looks like a desiccated corpse. Her flames do not seem to hurt the trees around her, but she throws a punch at Pollux and it seems to set fire all right. Shadow Youma Tanner [50HP] targeting Super Sailor Asclepius! [4dmg] Next is something hard to spot: a small, insidious pool of shadow creeps through the underbrush, and springs up just in time to trip Super Sailor Asclepius. Cipritine's displaced personal youma, Corrina [50HP], targeting Eternal Sailor Ganymede! [7dmg] Then something else comes, drawn by the shockwave of Cipritine's destruction of her crystal. It is best described as a unicorn... if unicorns were black and soaked liberally in salt water and seaweed. Wilted flowers are braided into its mane. It is, at most, a yearling. It lowers its head with its long black horn and charges Ganymede. Lantern Youma Edgar [50HP] targeting Super Sailor Pollux and Eternal Sailor Castor! [2dmg each] With Pollux and Castor at the head of the pack, it's not surprising that they draw the most aggro. Where Joan focuses her ire on one team, the... floating lantern?... wheels around and spews ice at the brothers. Saintly Youma Marion [50HP] is targeting no one! A figure shrouded in white is sitting in a tree overhead. Its hands--which have far too many fingers--clutch its knees. Wave 2 has begun, and your magic has refreshed!
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Sunshine Alouette rolled 1 20-sided dice:
10
Total: 10 (1-20)
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:20 am
Sailor Ganymede – 121 – 7 = 114 HP – Targeting Corrina for 10 damage! “I wasn't going to kill her,” Ganymede insisted, her voice small and weak.
She'd never even thought it. When she'd spit into the Captain's face, when she'd taken that rock, when she'd smirked her victory, she'd never once thought of killing the Captain. Ganymede didn't think it was in her to do so, and certainly she took no joy from it. She was disgusted with herself for taking things so far, for not restraining the strength behind the blow to the Captain's head, and she was disgusted with Pollux for finishing the job, though she knew now that it had to be done.
Better that someone who could handle the horror and responsibility do it, than one silly little girl who hadn't even been aware of what she was doing, so lost in her anger in that moment that she couldn't even control herself.
And that frightened her. What sort of person did that make her now?
Ganymede never wanted her teammates more than she did then—Europa and her steady guidance, Pasiphae and her kind understanding, Kallichore and her firm resolve. And Valhalla...
Valhalla would be even more horrified than Ganymede was by what she'd done.
She took Pollux's sash as it was offered to her, but couldn't make herself take stock of her injuries and begin to mop up the blood—most of it hers, she was sure; the Captain hadn't bled much, if at all. Instead, Ganymede brought the sash to her face like she meant to hide behind it, dropping to her knees on the ground as her tears escaped. A little voice told her she should have remained standing; she should have owned up to what she'd done, deal with it, and move on. But she was nothing more than one lost girl among many, not a soldier.
Then Nyx was there, and Ganymede looked to her for solace, because Nyx brought comfort and understanding. She was not Valhalla, or Europa, or Pasiphae, or Kallichore, but she, like Athene, was a friendly face in a crowd of mostly unfamiliar people.
Ganymede took the sash from her face to look at Nyx with an expression that showed her loss and desperation. “I...” she began, swallowed again, shook with heaving breaths, dimly aware that she was close to hyperventilating.
She was going to be sick. She couldn't go on. They should leave her here and continue on their way without her. She was no use to them like this, if she was ever any use to them at all.
She didn't have a choice. She never seemed to when it came to the war, despite what she or anyone else said about choices and lost opportunities. From the forest sprang five more youma. Ganymede found herself the victim of what could have easily been a deadly charge. She pushed Nyx out of the way before the unicorn could strike, and barely had time to stumble back onto her feet. The unicorn's horn caught her in the side, where the stiff boning of her corset offered some protection. Even so, her fuku tore, and the horn opened her side with a deep (but thankfully not fatal) gash.
Operating on instinct more than awareness or skill, Ganymede's hands shot out to grabbed the unicorn's horn, stalling it long enough to aim a kick to its head.
She didn't let herself think. She didn't even really let herself feel, despite the tears that still slipped down her face. Now wasn't the time. She couldn't run away from it, as much as a part of her wanted to. This was her duty to the cosmos, to Earth, to Ganymede, and to her allies.
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eldritch stardust rolled 1 8-sided dice:
5
Total: 5 (1-8)
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Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 4:25 am
Chibi Sailor Cruithne - 100HP: Targeting Shadow Youma Tanner for 5 damage
Cruithne was half aware of Asclepius pulling her over to help bind wounds. Half aware of the group heading for the forest and the strange golden light. Tears still leaking out of her eyes, she was lost in her own thoughts.
At least until the youma appeared and attacked. Blinking as a shadow rose up to trip Asclepius, Cruithne reacted instinctively and kicked out at the inky form.
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