Wanted Wisps (11) : Small, wispy orbs are floating through the city. They can be found during the day but are far more visible at night. They seem to bob along a few feet off the ground and sometimes flicker in and out of sight. They are warm to the touch and seem to be somewhat magical in nature. Anyone can gather them in their hands; they do not quite feel solid but cannot slip through fingers or escape any container. If you find one of these, you must return it to the merchant. If you do not roleplay with him, it will be assumed that you returned the piece to him anyway; there is no way to keep these. Please see this post for information on turning in the Wisp and claiming your prize.
Being outside around the holidays almost seemed like it was asking to be a victim to Destiny City’s brand of mysterious and undefined magic. Rakovanite might have preferred to avoid such risks, considering no one had ever told him how or why his home was such a beacon for these things, and there was never anything to do to prevent it.
But life went on, regardless. The civilians seemed ever-oblivious, and perhaps unsurprisingly, no one was deterred from enjoying beautiful and warm summer nights. He was even guilty of collecting a certain gold star trinket during an evening after work…
He still had tasks to do. He might as well get on with it.
The auras he felt in near proximity included a senshi and a youma. They felt close enough together that Rakovanite expected the senshi had engaged the youma to prevent it from working.
As he drew nearer, close enough to actually come upon the scene, Rakovanite began to wonder if that was true. The youma, a thing that appeared to be a centipede from the waist-down and a deep grey-skinned woman from the waist up, was chasing hard after a peculiarly wobbly senshi.
Spots flashed in glowing patterns in the youma’s body. Her long tongue flicked in and out like that of serpent as she lunged quickly after the poor senshi girl.
Rakovanite had met this youma before and knew her ability first hand. Her magic was… disorienting, and he had to imagine that this senshi had fallen victim to it before trying to escape. It was futile, of course. The creature knew that this was her best opportunity for a kill, and she took it. Her hand sank into the senshi’s chest as the girl stumbled and fumbled toward escape. The senshi’s starseed was removed and she crumpled to the ground.
The prize was devoured immediately, with the youma’s long tongue swirling out around her captured prize to draw it into her mouth.
It was only then that she noticed Rakovanite, and she canted her head at him.
He had only the one interaction with her, and he was not very fond of youma in the first place. “You took that knight’s starseed and ate it while we were trying to collect it,” Rakovanite commented lowly. The assignment he and Calaverite had been on a few weeks ago had been intended to result in a dead knight and a starseed for the Negaverse. It hadn’t been a complete failure; the knight was dead. But Rakovanite hadn’t left with what he’d expected to leave with. That was upsetting, to say the least.
The youma blinked at him quizzically. Her antenna twitched. Her dark hair fell to the side as she tipped her head.
Did she even recognize him? The centipede youma woman didn’t speak, and he wasn’t sure what the level of intelligence for these creatures was. It often seemed to be zero, so it seemed gratuitous to expect more than that, but Rakovanite was almost positive that she recognized him. She may have even understood his upset.
She scuttled near, and the sound of the tips of her feet clicking on the ground immediately put Rakovanite on high alert for her abilities, her magic that could penetrate his mind without him even noticing.
It had already gotten him once, and he wasn’t even sure if the youma was aware of it.
Her body stretched, long carapace covering ground quickly, as her torso dropped down, crouching before him- she looked like a cat about to vomit, and he had to resist the impulse to back away in case she did just that. Sure enough, she lay her lips to the ground, obscured from Rakovanite’s vision. Her saw the swipe of a long and bright red tongue and a very faint glow.
The creature stood to her normal height, and scuttled back, blinking at him with a sort of cocked semi-smile and gesturing to what she’d left on the ground.
Rakovanite did nothing to hide the disgusted grimace that slid into his face. A flickering, glowing, wispy orb was settled in the ground before him. It looked… he thought he’d seen this pictures somewhere. That bubble. The Merchant. He was looking for these. The youma had found one.
He eyed her. She gestured again, long skinny arms extended toward the thing. A present?
An apology, Rakovanite thought, for stealing a starseed that was his to claim at their last encounter. He was still wary, even more so as he stopped to cup the wisp in his gloved hand. She seemed pleased, though. Perhaps thinking that his acceptance of her offering equated to forgiveness.
