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 Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:02 am
Patrolling after the night he had previous probably was not the best idea, but Camelot did not want to go home. He did not want to talk to anyone he knew, and he did not want to think about his life, his misery. All he wanted to do was find someone to help.
To make himself feel better.
It as strange, the dependency he had developed on this second life of his. In a general sense, he simply could not exist knowing there were people in trouble, and there were things he could do about it. He always had a white knight complex, so to speak, and only recently was he given the ability to act on it. Without putting himself at risk each time, anyway. More than that, though, he was beginning to feel like he needed this 'job' to keep himself happy, in a strange way. Saving those lives, knowing he was doing good, was important to him as a person. He wasn't detached, he felt obligated and concerned, he felt compassionate and he deeply understood what it was like, being the one that needed saving.
Maybe he was still making up for all those times.
Whatever the case, whenever his 'real' life was getting too complicated for him to enjoy, he found slipping into his powered up costume and going out to find a youma to fight helped level him. That made him feel slightly bad, in turn, because he was basically hoping to find someone in trouble...
But it was also inevitable. All of it. The trouble, him getting used to it, even him liking his duties. He was walking down the street, away from the library, shield on his arm as the sliver of the moon rose over them. He looked up at it, pondering these things, as well as the moon itself and the stars surrounding, as he was walked.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:18 am
She ran. Partly because, despite her rigid pride, Crux was a realist. She believed herself to be so. Her feet hit the ground, thudding against unforgiving pavement. Crux did not hear it, not against the sound of her breath. Winter was unforgiving. But Crux did not feel the cold air bite at her thighs, her exposed arms.
She ran because on principal, she did not considering running away cowardice. The youma wasn't something she could face. She couldn't beat it. Even with her powers, she'd only managed to gain a small lead. She couldn't win. She knew, and acknowledged this. To face the youma was to die. So Crux ran. She ran through empty streets, through empty parks, past familiar places. If only she could lose the youma, find somewhere to hide or somewhere safe, then she could retreat. Retreat. Lick your wounds. Return stronger than before. What didn't kill you only made you stronger, but if you died then it was all over. Over head, a park light flickered. Crux could get away. The youma should lose her in the twists and turns of the park. She was nearing the exit, could almost see the public library ahead. Crux should be able to get away.
But she'd miscalculated. It was faster than she thought it would be. It had more stamina than she thought it would have. Crux was panting, drained and tired. The youma kept getting closer. She could hear it closing the gap between them. There would be no retreating, no wounds to lick or heal this time.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:57 pm
Camelot felt the familiar spark of an aura drawing closer, and he recognized it to be a senshi. He felt it moving away now, though, and realized it was on the move and fast. His instincts kicked in.
If there was a senshi running, it might mean trouble. They were in trouble, or chasing something that was causing it. Camelot had to investigate it.
He climbed to a roof top and ran as hard as he could toward the source of the energy. It was farther than he thought but he cut the distance from above, leaping over roofs and cutting across inaccessible paths down below. He saw the senshi soon enough.
Immediately, he knew she was in trouble.
Then he saw the youma.
"Duck to the side!" Camelot yelled, leaping down from the roof, shield ready. He held it high, to drive it down on the youma as he fell down from above. He missed, though, the youma slowing down and throwing off his calculations. He did, at least, manage to get right in front of it.
And it slammed into him.
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:43 pm
Crux heard the scream just a little too late. She'd fallen to her knees in the park grass, tired and worn. Then a slam, a resounding slam that rang in her ears. The dull smack of flesh on metal. Crux looked up. The youma had slammed into a man's shield. He was dressed in chain mail, brown hair and a beard. The man was standing right in front of the youma, shield raised as if ready to take another hit.
"Are you crazy! What are you doing?!" She screamed.
Then she realized he had a shield. A shield. Senshi didn't carry weapons, Marlo had said that. He's not a senshi. She realized.
Immediately she sat up. If this man was a negaverse agent then she was in big trouble. But was he? If he was a negaverse agent, then he should have just let the youma take her. Plus, she didn't get any bad feelings from the man. He had an aura but it wasn't a dark one. Crux didn't feel as if she was in danger, from the man at least. The youma was a very different story.
She should run. This was the perfect opportunity. But if she ran, then that meant leaving this man alone to face the enemy that had been targeting her. Crux swallowed. Her life or the life of a stranger?
"Run away!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:26 pm
"Helping you," Camelot said, looking at her briefly with a glance over his shoulder. He smiled reassuringly, but the expression fell back into seriousness as he focused on the matter at hand. There were fights to fight, always.
He shook his head.
"We can't run away! Someone will be hurt by this thing, if we don't stop it! I'll fight it if you're injured, if you can't. I'll help you: but we can't let this thing hurt anyone else. Just think, if it has you on the run, what can it do to a civilian?" He was firm in his beliefs, at least, and a dutiful knight of the city. He served his people, the people of Earth, first and foremost.
The youma had bounced off his shield but it was coming back. It wanted Crux, it seemed, and would fight through Camelot to get to her. It slammed into him again and he skidded backwards, groaning with the effort of trying to keep it back. He channeled his magic into his shield and a barrier extended from it, effectively creating a larger shield to keep the youma from getting by him. He couldn't hold it for too long, though.
He had never used his magic before: he never knew he had magic. That was a lot of learning going on here.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:22 am
The smile the older man flashed towards Crux was not reassuring in the least. She thought of heroes, of obligations and a chronic hero syndrome. Though admittedly, his smile was a lot more comforting than, say, the face of a youma about to eat your starseed.
His next statement only reinforced her suspicions. Crux wondered if she should correct him, should inform him that being able to run her down was no achievement at all. The youma charged again. This time, the man slid back, steel boots biting into the soil. It came again, and again, a relentless barrage of charges all aimed at the shield. Whatever she thought about his beliefs, she had to concede. The man's determination was amazing. That he could stand here taking so many hits for a person he didn't even know... It was something that Crux couldn't do.
She felt the magic surround her, envelop the area as if a shield. And she felt it falter slightly. There was the smallest change in strength. This man, and his magic, would not last much longer. Crux needed to do something or they would both be toast. Her fingers curled in the grass. The youma still at strength, but only a fraction of what it had started with. A portion of which had been lost in it's chase of Crux, a lot of which had been lost banging against this man's shields. She glanced at the man's armor, took into account his unwavering stance, righteous feelings, and decided that she was willing to gamble.
"Listen to me! Run, get out of it's path and let it charge at me. Hide somewhere and wait for an opening. I'll distract it. It'll be dazed, won't attack me for-" She paused, took a quick moment to calculate, taking in her current condition, the youma's strength. "Ten seconds, maybe fifteen at the most."
She stared the man in the eyes.
"Can you take it out in that time?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:43 am
Camelot always did his best to be friendly and welcoming, wanting to keep people at ease rather than panicking and freaking out. Not that he imagined things would get that bad now, but...
Now was not the time for him to be getting distracted, though, and he found that out very well. The youma was relentless, and in turn, Camelot had to be so as well. He had to hold his ground and keep his shield up, his head down, his body tight and his muscles coiled. He braced himself to avoid more damage than necessary as he defended, his stance wide but solid.
He was focused on the defense, but it was draining him physically. Each blow from the youma hurt more and more, and he shook with increasing intensity with each hit. He couldn't hold it forever.
He couldn't hold it for much longer, in fact.
When he heard her yelling instructions he glanced in her direction, grimacing as the youma slammed into his shield again. He nodded, though. At this point, he knew better than to let his worry get the better of him. He had to trust her. He had to find his timing, and he waited for her to prepare for what he was doing, though she just prompted him.
He moved to the side, ducking out of the way and rolling off to the side. The youma crashed forward, balance thrown off.
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:57 am
She almost missed the nod. But as the youma charged, the knight rolled off to the side and the monster crashed forward, even without warning, that was her cue. Crux pulled herself off the grass and onto her feet. She needed to get the youma while it was still down and slow moving. Drawing upon the reserves of her strength, she pulled the magic out from the depths of her soul. The girl reached out and grabbed the youma's scaly arm.
"Absolution!"
Ten, nine, eight --
Crux didn't let go of the youma. She was so close, close enough to feel the faint coldness that seemed to radiate off it. The coldness that sent shivers down her spine even though she was sweating. Close enough to realize that what she felt wasn't cold but something akin to fear. Not fear, but something close. It was this lingering feeling, this innate knowledge that the thing in front of her could kill her.
seven, six, five --
She closed her eyes and hoped that the man would be able to take the youma out or else. Well, Crux didn't really want to think about what would happen if he didn't make it in time. It was scary. She was putting her trust, and her life, in the hands of one man. It was an action Aithne would have never considered, but here she was anyways.
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:33 pm
Camelot moved.
He had to get to the youma and he charged forward when he saw it stop moving. It was dazed, just like she said it would be. That had to be a useful power. Of course, most senshi magic looked very useful. Not that he could complain about his own powers. His shield had a little spell of its own, and the crystal held magic as well.
Still. Senshi magic fascinated him.
Not the time to be thinking about that. He was getting distracted.
Charging forward, he pulled his shield back and then slammed the edge of it as hard as he could into the youma. He got a good spot on its back that made it jerk in pain and then, after a moment of shock, it exploded into dust. Camelot stumbled but stopped himself, taking a breath and then coughing on the dust.
He hated when he breathed that stuff in.
"Excellent work!" He said, grinning broadly in the excitement of victory.
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Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:29 am
She felt the relief sink in. She was alive. This was over. She was alive. Crux hadn't thought she'd make it out alive. After-all, her head had been inches away from the youma and if Camelot had been any slower, then she wouldn't have had a head anymore. Probably. The dust whipped around in the wind, kissed the folds of her skirt and the bare exposed skin. She looked up at the man and smiled in relief. He'd take no more damage than she.
Standing up, she brushed the dust off her fuku. "I'm Sailor Crux, thank you for helping me."
She felt the exhaustion sink in. And though her legs felt weak, Crux willed herself to stand. There was a touch of shame, she had dragged someone else into her own mess simply because she was too weak to handle it herself.
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Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:25 am
Camelot smiled and nodded his head. Sailor Crux. He would remember her name, as best he could. He found he was reasonably skilled at remembering names of each senshi, though he sometimes got a little mixed up with the ones he only met fleetingly.
And some of their names were unfairly similar.
Crux, at least, was unique to his ear and he felt some hope that he would not call her something embarrassing when he saw her again. Which he hoped he did, of course.
He saw her wobbling and moved to support her gallantly.
"My name is Camelot. Ah. Is there somewhere I can help you get to?" he asked, looking worried all over again. Relief was fleeting with him, most days, as there was always something to worry about. He didn't want to leave her weak and vulnerable, after all that.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:01 am
She felt Camelot's arm wrap around her gingerly, offering his support. Crux flinched. She certainly wasn't expecting that, nor did she want it. She was sure the man was just worried about her, but the simple movement seemed to magnify her own ineptness.
Crux removed herself from Camelot's grip. "No. I'll be fine. Thank you for offering and your help." She gave the man a curt nod and left.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:27 pm
Camelot watched the senshi as she fled from him and he smiled thinly, nodding his head. He understood her being tense, and he knew why she did not want to be near him.
Youth was powerful. It made its captives feel invulnerable, it made them feel prideful. It made them reckless and angry and he knew it made them a danger to themselves as much as their actual enemies did. And in this case, they had very real enemies.
He watched her, then bowed politely.
"I hope we meet again. And that you feel better soon." He smiled. It was part of his nature to want to defend her, to protect and shelter her. He couldn't help her by making her feel worse though, and he knew this was something she had to do on her own. He made to escape, though he would keep an eye on her. Just in case.
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