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 Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 2:40 pm
Being a Knight was a strange thing.
She didn't entirely understand what had happened, or what she was supposed to do with it all. Who was Hercynia? Why did she have her golden rope? Why did her clothes change when she picked it up?
Even now, knowing she could change back and forth from her civilian guise to this strange other one, the teen had a hard time understanding it. But then, such was the way for her life. Sudden changes always left her floundering, without someone to explain them to her. Its why she was often to reliant on her parents, and so disinclined, at 18, to move out of their influence. She was quite happy to remain for as long as they would let her.
As the end of the year approached and graduation loomed, Hercynia didn't find much time to explore this new alter ego, but it wasn't something she could utterly ignore, either. It scratched at the back of her mind, unwilling to let go. She'd finally given in, and after walking the three blocks to the park (which turned into six blocks when she went the wrong way and had to back track), she finally powered up in the shadows of the playground equipment.
They stretched long across the ground, the park empty of any other human life. This time of the evening, the sun just set and the color fading out of the sky, everyone else seemed to have gone home, either because they had things to do, ore maybe because they knew better than she did to be out in the City after dark. Hercynia hadn't understood that, at first, when she had been a fresh transplant from New York.
Now? She had something of an idea.
Gathering up her golden rope, the young page looped it a few times in her slender hands as she set out across the park with a determined step. This new power seemed to come with new abilities and she figured at the least, she could explore them and see how they worked. Maybe the physical exercise would help clear her mind, or maybe she'd run into Syrtis again and he would do some more explaining.
Wandering the streets of Destiny City at night was a strange feel, when you were powered up. People tended to look at her weird with her wood crown and draping sleeve, so she'd taken to back streets instead and less populated areas.
The rattle of a trash can as she passed made her jump nearly out of her skin and the thin blonde clutched her 'weapon' to her chest as she backed away from it, blue eyes wide. A silent pair of eyes stared at her before slinking away into the darkness, the feral cat finding no interest in the page who'd startled it as much as it had startled her.
Hercynia sighed as she lowered her rope, her bare shoulders heaving in relief. At least, until a low growl rolled out of the darkness and the hairs along the back of her neck rose. It had a goopy wet quality to it, like its throat was full of phlegm, and it was no dog growl Hercynia had ever heard. Frozen in place, she slowly forced her head to turn, searching till her eyes found the hulking shape that shifted and rolled strangely, slinking out of the dark towards her.
Oh god... Its one of those monsters...
Her mind short circuited, fritzing out as she remained stiffly in place, to scared to run or even scream.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 5:48 pm
"Hey! Watch your head!"
Chauvet was still pretty green in many aspects of Knighthood, but she had learned this in the tender weeks since her awakening--monsters were bad, and you hit them or you ran. As far as this one was concerned, she planned on doing both if need be. It would be too easy to assume that this thing could get dusted on one attack.
Her trusty ball appeared in one hand as easily as if it had always existed, and with a powerful backwards sweep she wound herself up like she was at the pitcher's plate. When she swung, the ball arced true, impacting the awful creature with a wet squelch that made the page crinkle her nose. There was no way that stuff was coming off easy. But for all her efforts, the only thing she'd managed to accomplish was anger the beast, who let out a shrill roar that sounded like pipes bursting. Chauvet's confident stance wilted, and she looked with wide eyes at the other page, who for the moment still seemed to be frozen in place.
"Shiiiiit," Chauvet whimpered, a gloved hand on her head. "C'mon, baby Arwen, let's goooo." She was all about respecting someone's personal space, but that thing in the alleyway looked like it was rearing up to charge, and she wasn't about to let little miss spring florals become squash.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 8:20 pm
There was a shout and something came whizzing out of the darkness to impact with the monster's head. Hercynia jumped, blinking rapidly in surprise.
The thing that had flown by was apparently a ball with a star emblazoned on it. A darted look behind her showed a red-headed woman in a glamorous dress, all white and gold and starry purple. Was she a knight too? Or was this some civilian who had been on the way to a costume part and decided to lend her a hand? She had only ever seen her own style of outfit and the greek style of Syrtis, so this was far out of her experience.
A roar from behind her snapped Hercynia's attention back to the monster and she began to back away from it, her eyes wide and every motion stiff and fearful. Her throat worked as she swallowed dryly, hearing something called from behind her and simply unable to respond to it. She would make it there eventually as every slow, scuffing step took her there, but the youma was snarling in front of her and it's soft, wet form seemed to be coiling up to launch an attack.
Hercynia's arms went out, brandishing her rope out in front of her. It probably wasn't going to do much, but its all she had.
Maybe later she would remember and be flattered to be compared to the elegant and poised Arwen.
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:54 am
The beast charged but the page stood still, and Chauvet's eyes turned to saucers at the oncoming destruction she saw for the little elf-girl. She felt fear like lead in her legs, holding her down, pinning her the same way as the girl, but overflowing past that was the rampant need to run forward, to intervene.
Chauvet did not have time to think. She planted her weight on the toes of her feet and began to sprint, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye. She had just enough presence of mind to wrap her arms gently around the other page to scoop her up and over a shoulder before she barreled past the impending track of the youma, stopping only when she could hear the thing's hideous shriek.
"Alright, so here's the game plan," Chauvet wheezed, placing the girl gently back on her feet. "A little less 'Toro Toro', we don't want you getting messed up, okay?" She fluffed the Earth page's blonde hair and gave a half-cocked grin, if only to pretend like things were going to be just fine. She wasn't looking back, but it sounded like the youma had careened into somebody's car and was furious about it. They could handle that later--Chauvet needed to make sure sweet pea was okay first.
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 12:22 pm
The world spun crazily as something crashed into her and her feet left the ground. Hercynia couldn't help her squeal of surprise as she found herself awkwardly draped across a shoulder that was digging uncomfortably into her ribs. Things bounced around her as she was carried off, but as the youma was being left behind, she was at least grateful for that.
She was also grateful when they finally came to a stop and her boots were placed back on the ground. A little wobbly, but she steadied as she straightened, her blonde hair tousled and her branch crown askew. The muss was not helped by the ruffling the other woman gave her once she was settled, but Hercynia took it in confused, if good natured and grateful, silence.
She nodded along gamely with the 'game plan' as it was laid out, all too grateful not to be in the path of a youma rampage. She hadn't meant to be there in the first place, but the monsters were not obliging in that respect. Up close, the woman who had rescued her was even more impressive, showing muscle tone that spoke of fitness, rather than Hercynia's own lanky thinness.
This stranger was like... a sparkly Xena in purple and gold, rather than brown leather and bronze breast plate. A true warrior princess come to save her and blue eyes grew admiringly wide in her long face. At least until a movement behind the other drew her attention and she pointed over the warrior's shoulder, her other hand clutching her golden rope to her chest.
The youma was back up on it's feet, shaking off the disorientation from its impact with the car. Someone was going to be very upset about the size of the dent it had left, but Hercynia was more worried about them than the car.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 10:04 am
"Awesome sauce," Chauvet nodded brightly, glancing back over her shoulder in time to see the youma recovering, getting ready to charge. "Okay, Chauvet, think think think," she muttered to herself, patting the other page on the shoulder as she turned back to face the phlegmy creature. It looked like some amount of the goop had stayed on the car, and that the beast itself was favoring one side as it began to tumble their way.
Chauvet wasn't going to be doing any significant amount of damage to it, not with a baseball, but Baby Arwen had a rope...could they work with that...?
Running out of time before the youma was upon them, Chauvet reached for the other's pages wrists and began to jog backwards, out of the path of the rolling monster. It careened past the pair with a screech of inarticulate rage, then barreled into a park bench, where its limbs got tangled up between the wooden slats making up the seat.
Chauvet watched it crash with an intrigued expression, and then her eyebrows shot up as the idea hit her. "Actually, 'Toro Toro' could work. I'll be the flag, keep it distracted, and maybe you can lasso it down and, um...then it won't be able to run anymore. Yeah, and then it's just a matter of stomping it out." It wasn't an elegant or pretty plan, but it was just crazy enough to get the job done.
Gathering the train of her skirts in each hand, Chauvet swished them back and forth to simulate the process, then grinned back at Hercynia. "Sound good? I'll try to keep it off you as much as I can."
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 12:56 pm
Chauvet? Was that her name? It was a pretty name, that fit with the pretty look of her in her white and gold dress. Pondering it over was a fair distraction, till the grip and tug on her wrist pulled Hercynia out of her thoughts.
Her pale boots tripped across the ground as she followed with wide-eyed blinks. Right up until she caught the youma rushing past them and was reminded why they were here and what they were doing.
Right. Gross monster. That Xena is saving her from. Chauvet, who wanted to distract the youma while Hercynia... lassoed it? The Page blinked down at the rope in her hands with a dubious expression on her long face. She'd never done that before and her mouth opened to say so... then closed after a moment. Maybe she could do it if she tried? Maybe not all fancy like on TV with the loop swirling over her head, but if she passed a loop through the loop on the end, she'd have something she could maybe throw over the youma's head. And Chauvet was right... it would give them some control over it, like an unruly dog.
Not that she'd ever had a dog either...
Finally, her grip tightened on the rope as her expression firmed into determination, a sharp nod her answer. Stuffing a loop of rope through the end was accomplished easy enough and Hercynia fussed to get it big enough it would go over the beast's head, without also losing the end and ruining the whole thing.
She might have doubts about this, but she had to remember Ares, and now Xena. They were strong and brave... she had to do her part to help them.
"Okay." She said, which was about the only thing she'd uttered this whole time, and her knees bent as she awkwardly took what she thought might be a ready position.
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 6:59 pm
Making the plan was the easy part. It was simple, easy enough to understand, and it made Chauvet sound like a total badass.
However, skirts in hand, staring down the beast as it tore itself free, she began to have...maybe a few reservations about the whole ordeal.
Still, she had baby Arwen to take care of, and she was a Knight--well, Page--of Cosmos, and it was her duty to fight monsters and protect damsels and save the day, wasn't it? That was why the magic cosmos ball had shown up in her bedroom, right? Because she needed to save the Code and the populace and look great while she was doing it. She was Chauvet and Chauvet was awesome and that meant that under the mask of it all, Katie Catigern had to step into some sparkly shoes and figure out how to be awesome, too.
Wood splintered and snapped, the creature tearing itself from its park bench prison. Chauvet was out of time and hype.
She jogged a few paces away from Hercynia, waving the bustles of her skirt back and forth so it caught the light. "Hey Ugly!" She made what she considered to be eye contact with one of the thing's beady orbs and then twirled in place, a slow twister of white and gold and the purples of a sunset. "C'mere, you--living goop thing," she called, and the creature responded with another steam-powered screech, tumbling her way with its strangely articulated limbs. As it barreled for her, she danced and swayed to some sort of beat, and just when it seemed like the beast would be upon her, she dove away from Hercynia, just in case the thing learned how to turn on a dime.
"Now!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 8:47 am
Long, slender hands gripped the rope nervously, squeezing and twisting. Adjusting and readjusting her hold on it as the monster worked it's way free and Xena Chauvet teased it with her turning dance. White, gold and purple seemed more interesting to it than brown and green, but then Hercynia's nervous fidgeting wasn't nearly as flashy.
Then the chance came. Her one moment to stand up and be the hero the magic had made her out to be... as the monster lunged at Chauvet and Hercynia started, nearly dropping the rope she held before she fumbled it open again. A few running steps put her into decent range and the young page tossed the rope, saying a silent prayer in her head.
She'd never been an athlete... never the kind to do more than run around playing tag with the other kids, and even then, her coordination had been... less than stellar. Gangly and awkward, all knees and elbows... but if you got close enough, and the loop was big enough... even someone like Hercynia could throw a hoola hoop over a trash can, right?
Uncomfortably close, but it made the difference. The loop of gold rope settled with finality over the beast's head and the page gripped the end, giving it a firm yank to cinch it closed. Her hold was put to the test almost immediately as the monster hit the limit of the rope and nearly yanked it right out of Hercynia's grip. It did knock her off balance, sending her stumbling after it in an effort to keep hold. She clapped both hands around the rope and struggled to set her heels, skidding across the pavement before it suddenly swung back around to glare at her.
Hercynia's nervous swallow was visible as she stared at the gaping jaws displayed for her benefit, her blue eyes round as saucers.
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 8:12 am
For a thrilling moment, Chauvet turned and saw the golden rope around the beast's neck, her heartbeat pounding to the beat of 'she did it, we won'. And then the creature jerked, and it turned back towards Hercynia, and it was only then that Chauvet realized her fatal mistake. It wasn't enough to just tie down the monster, not when it still hand teeth and claws and was now staring down the one person she'd been trying to keep it away from.
"No no no no," Chauvet groaned, feeling like she was moving in slow motion as she stumbled to get her feet beneath her. There was so little time to think, and so much distance between them, but she set to sprinting anyway, arms open wide. She hit the creature with the power to send them both tumbling and sank her arms into the cold goop for her best attempt at a grapple. Over and under foot, Chauvet felt the monster's aggrieved scream more than she heard it, but she didn't stop reaching, didn't stop pulling the creature away, finding her hands together around some part of its midsection and wrenching--
Something popped, and the world around Chauvet exploded into dust, leaving the page on the ground and tarred and feathered by youma bits. She breathed in deeply, then bent over with a sharp cough, covering her mouth. She lifted her head just enough to see the shape of green and brown, then used one hand to offer a shaking thumbs up.
"See?" Chauvet said, her voice muffled by her hand. "Easy peasy."
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 4:12 pm
It happened so quickly all Hercynia could do was gawk stupidly, trying to think of a way to be useful. Some way to protect herself... but the bright form of Chauvet, her Xena princess, brought the fight to the monster, valiantly defending her from it. It could have been a scene from an ampharos, the warrior straining against the beast... before it abruptly ended in a shower of fine dust Hercynia recognized.
The rope in her hands went slack and she blinked owlishly at the scene, Chauvet's white and gold gone grey with ash as she sprawled on the floor. The danger was just suddenly gone and in its place was a feeling of relief that quickly grew to satisfaction and giddy elation.
They'd done it! They'd slain the beast, saved the city and each other, and shown they were true heros!
Hercynia's grin stretched nearly from ear to ear in her long face, taking advantage of a mouth a little to wide for her lean features. Easy peasy. She nodded vigorously as she paced forward to offer the downed warrior her hand. If only all nights went this swimmingly... she might managed to make a passable hero in the end.
"Chauvet?" She asked, her smile still broad and uncomplicated. "Hercynia Silva. Page of Earth."
Ares... Syrtis, had told her that, the day she'd awakened. Knight of Earth. Protector of the unicorn forrest. It made her wonder where Chauvet was, and if it took the form of a forrest, or a river or mountain. Something impressive, for sure.
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Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 12:38 pm
"The one and only," Chauvet chuckled, shaking another cough off before taking the other page's hand. With a nod and a shuffle to get her feet under her, she used the hold on Hercynia to swing up to her feet, and then it was back to brushing dust off of her dress and out of her hair.
"Hercynia Silva, that's beautiful, it totally matches the look," she smiled, able to properly appreciate the delicate weave of the girl before her now that no monsters were about. Chauvet couldn't help but feel warm and protective of the elf girl--her smile was honey-sweet and genuine, and the Cosmos page was hyped enough to wrestle a hundred more goo creatures if she could see it again. It was all well and good to want to slay beasts for the glory of it or because it saved the world, but the pure look in Hercynia's eyes was inspiring enough to want to save. And she was a fellow knight, which had been hard to come by ever since she'd been to that meeting in space. As many as she'd seen there, she'd expected they would be running about everywhere in defense of the cause, but apparently the two of them were a rare breed.
Beating the creature made them friends, probably. Definitely. Chauvet had already decided. They were friends now.
"I'm a Cosmos page, means I'm supposed to fight monsters and look glam, I think," she explained, shining one of the six pointed stars at her hips with a smudge of her thumb. "I don't know what I would have done without your help. That was the biggest one I've seen yet." Chauvet smiled and she reached out and patted the other girl on her shoulder, nodding her head. "We make a good team, don't you think? We could do this all day, you and I."
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:20 pm
The weight of the other woman as she climbed to her feet wasn't insubstantial, the frame that rose one that had seen its share of physical activity to hone it. Of a similar height, now that they stood close together, Hercynia couldn't help feeling like matchsticks and rubber bands next to Chauvet's solid frame.
Built like a brick house? Is that what they call it? She could probably carry me over her shoulder powered down. Xena had been a good name for her, even if the coloring between this rainbow lady and the dark warrior princess was starkly different. The comment about her look drew out a smile, but she quietly didn't comment about being beautiful. Such a sweet thing to say, regardless.
Cosmos page? That was what the lady on Mars had been, if she remembered correctly. Hever-something-she-couldn't-pronounce. Did this warrior know that lady? The meeting had given her a lot of information, but the volume, and shock, had been enough she'd only retained a small part of it. Enough to know what her purpose was, and that there were things out there she could grow in to. There had been something about stuff on her wonder too, and a ring she hadn't gotten a chance to retrieve. Running about the city fighting monsters had seemed enough of a challenge to start with.
"You did most of the work." Hercynia commented finally, warmth behind her slow voice. She certainly wouldn't mind doing this with someone like Chauvet all day... it would be safer, and easier, than doing it alone, and bonus, she'd get to be with the pretty woman. Maybe asking Syrtis to join them would be okay? If two was better than one, then three more than two, even. Right?
"I liked being a team."
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 2:01 pm
"We did it together. Teamwork makes the dream work," Chauvet grinned, and with a gloved hand she patted Hercynia's shoulder, right above where her green and gold sleeve fell. It felt like it was all finally coming together--super powers, fighting monsters, making super friends. What else could the Cosmos Page ask for? More teammates, perhaps, but that was a little ambitious when she'd only met a few people one on one who could do the things she did.
Baby steps, Chauvet, baby steps. Start with her instagram, maybe a phone number if she was feeling committed.
"Can I walk with you until you're somewhere safe?" Chauvet asked, extending a hand. They were teammates now, they had to have each other's backs. "I can give you my number, and then--I'm probably gonna take, like, three showers I think." She laughed, wiping away a layer of dust and grime from one of her freckled cheeks.
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