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 Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 9:55 pm
Quote: Insidious Insects (18 ) : In the first week of July, the area around the tree is just buzzing. The call of the cicadas is loud and droning, and it’s constant. You start to hear it all over town, too. All sorts of insects seem attracted to the strange pods, and it’s not uncommon to find nearly any species curiously investigating. If you listen closely, you notice something else strange–it’s not just the bugs that you see making the familiar call of the cicada. It seems like it’s coming from inside the pods, too. Any pod that wasn’t leaking sap suddenly begins to snap open, and giant cicadas, crawl out. Their full wingspan can reach up to a foot and they’re hungry–and angry. It seems like the pods that were leaking sap were slowly rotting, but the ones that didn’t leak were being eaten from the inside out–and now that the cicadas have run out of food, they’re out for anything they can find. Though there are several notable differences between these insects and the common cicadas, their low, chirping wail makes them easy to find–as well as the fact that they spit acid. These bugs are incredibly hostile and will attack indiscriminately, powered or unpowered, human or alien, day or night. They have a protective shell that makes them easy to crush but they’re hardly the most menacing foe you’ve faced–but if they reproduce, you could be in some real trouble. Better to crush them now before they become Destiny City’s next invasive species… Oh, ******** all the way off with this. This... magical person thing was annoying enough. But Dunnottar was nothing if not bound by duty, so he started to learn what he could. It wasn't much thus far—he tended to stay away from all other magical powered beings for the moment, because the last thing he really needed was to deal with another b***h-fight of some kind, or some brat he begrudgingly respected for being a brat in a fun way. He doubted there were many like Casablanca. But this meant figuring things out alone, and the seed pods... Well, they were definitely interesting. Something probably magical was happening with them. Now that he started to connect the dots, there was plenty around that happened in Destiny City to start filtering through his new "actual magical bullshit" senses. When the first seed pod exploded and a giant bug flew out, welll, he wasn't exactly surprised. Still not a fan of bugs, though. He growled and smacked it out of the air with his wooden lollipop. Ah, dead. Easy. Then the swarm started to build.
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 10:51 pm
The seed pods in the park were, of course, of interest to Izanami. They were potentially dangerous, and as a Senshi who cared very much about being a Senshi, that meant looking out for potential magical threats.
Also, she was just curious. A tree that had come back to life suddenly, without any real explanation...it seemed...well.
It reminded her of her world, and it made her wonder if the same magic that brought back her sakura tree might have somehow revived this tree, right here in Destiny City. It seemed unlikely, if she was honest; she'd never heard of a Sailor Earth, and she was fairly certain her bond with her world was what was restoring it; but maybe it was still...something special.
So she wandered to the park, followed the strange swarms of insects, and frowned the whole way. This...was not the kind of magic she had expected. The growing drone of cicadas made her shudder, a piercing sound that crawled under her skin and made her want to turn around and run. But she didn't. Especially not when she saw the Page, getting attacked by what looked like--
Insects, coming out of the seed pods under the tree.
"Cremation Blaze!"
Her magic snapped from her fingers, blue fire alighting on the bugs as she came up on them and the page they looked to wish to overwhelm.
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 11:05 pm
It was overwhelming. And normally he didn't have any problems killing bugs. He rolled his eyes all the time at people freaking out over a silly little bug, as though it would ever actually hurt anyone. Not any of the bugs in Destiny City, anyway. Maybe if they went out looking for the poisonous kind of bug in deliberate stupidity, they should worry, but to Dunnottar, it didn't matter. A bug was a bug, and a bug could be squashed rather easily, usually. However. The swarm definitely was starting to get to him. These things were horrible. They definitely had some kind of bite to them that he might have been allergic to, because he felt itchy wherever they managed to scrape their awful jaws against him. And then, with a sudden blast, most of the swarm surrounding him burst into flame and died instantly. He felt the wash of heat, but as he wasn't a target, it didn't feel like very much. All that mattered, though, was that they were mostly dead, and he was able to smack more of them from the air until the buzzing fully died off. "Good evening," he grunted at the senshi who'd appeared, giving her a brief nod. "Thanks."
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 11:29 pm
Really, this was the sort of thing she was made for, wasn't it? Destroying monsters with magical power. It was why she had fires at her fingertips, why she got to be the Senshi of a sphere like Cremation. Because she was willing--eager, even--to fight. And so she got amgic that let her.
At least, that was what Izanami wanted to think.
Especially if it helped people. Like she'd done now. The Page got a warm smile, and she approached, extending a hand.
"Glad to help," she said. "Everything I'd heard about this tree--nothing indicated anything was dangerous, but I suppose things change quickly, mm? Ah, magic. I'm Izanami. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She didn't think she recognized his Knight affiliation, but that didn't mean much. There seemed to be far more than one person could reasonably expect to keep track of, and so she would simply continue being surprised whenever she ran into a new set of colors and a new symbol.
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2023 11:34 pm
Dunnottar hummed in acknowledgement, eyeing her hand for a moment before shaking it. He wouldn't be that rude, certainly. "I suppose that's how things go in Destiny City," he agreed, giving the tree another wary glance. Then he looked down at his weapon, and, while he wasn't normally squeamish, it was still a relief to see that the stupid thing wasn't covered in bug guck that he'd have to try and clean off. "I'm Dunnottar, Page of Lysithea, or so I've heard. I'm still, ah... quite new to this whole magic thing." And I am very much not a fan, he thought to himself, but he wouldn't say that aloud. "Nice fire magic. Very useful."
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2023 12:01 am
"It really is," Izanami sighed, heavily. "This city is....quite the place," she shook her head, unhappily. "But we persist."
In the end, that was all they could do. Persist and keep fighting, whatever weird magic was thrown at them.
"Glad to meet you, Dunnotar of Lysithea. I'd ask how you're finding Knighthood so far, but it seems sort of a silly thing to ask." She shrugged her shoulders, amused. "But it's true--my magic is quite useful. I'm the Senshi of cRemation, so....well." She smiled, wryly. "I prefer not to use it on people unless I have to. But monsters...it dispatches them well enough."
She hummed, briefly.
"Do you want to stay here? Keep an eye out for more bugs? Or perhaps we can patrol together for a bit." It was, after all, important to look after those who were less powerful than her.
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2023 8:00 pm
Dunnottar shrugged, silently agreeing—it certainly was a silly thing to ask, but she admitted it, so he didn't feel inclined to mention it aloud himself. For the first time in a while, though, he was jealous—that kind of offensive magic seemed to be something he could only dream of. He was unsure what he had to look forward to for himself. "Hmm." It would be prudent to stick around someone with such powerful magic. Even if he wasn't very social. "Let's go together," he said. May as well. A star charm glittered in the dirt and he picked it up, frowning—ah, ******** litterers. He'd probably just give this to someone else, but it had to get off the ground for sure.
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